"Where do you go when you go to sleep?"

Snow seemed almost as thrown by the question as David had and stared oddly at her for some time before crossing her arms over her chest and answering "Storybrooke, this apartment actually. Why?"

Next to her Regina sighed. "Well there goes that hunch."

"What?"

"Wait!" she interrupted looking her over. "Is there anything odd about it? Anything strange about the place you go? Something that makes it different than here?"

Snow glanced between the two of them, and she could see the suspicion growing more and more in her eyes. "What is this all about?" she questioned desperately.

But Belle only shook her head and dismissed it. She wasn't as ready to give it up as Regina was. Hope wasn't lost. "Is there anything?" she pressed.

"Um…" Snow closed her eyes and shook her head. "It's…it's blurry and…I don't know, kind of hazy…gray, I guess?! Yeah…you know it's kind of like-"

"The Underworld but gray instead of red," she prompted recalling David's answer to the question.

"Yes…what does that mean?" she asked hopefully. It was her tone, the hopefulness of it, that made her stomach pitch forward in a way that had nothing to do with morning sickness. This was a hunch, nothing more, nothing less, did she really want to give her hope over a hunch?!

"Her theory is that the Evil Queen created a dream realm where the two of you go when you are under the curse. She wouldn't have thought to make two dream realms because it would have been more work and she never would have thought about either of you entering it and waking each other up with True Love's Kiss in the dream realm."

"True Love's Kiss works in the dream realm?" she questioned.

Belle nodded, remembering her own dream not long ago and the kisses that she'd received there. Her son. She remembered the face of her son so clearly it might as well have been yesterday. "It's how Rumple woke me from my own sleeping curse."

Snow White took a moment to consider her options and what all that meant before realization suddenly dawned on her. "So…David is dreaming of Storybrooke too?" she questioned looking over her shoulder at the form of her sleeping husband behind her.

"No," she answered quickly. She wanted to be clear that this was only a guess and prevent any kind of false hope. "David is in a forest somewhere, but doesn't know where."

Snow's eyes went wide. "There are miles of forest in Storybrooke! David could be out there and all I need is to track him down! I'm the best tracker we know."

"Now, hold on, it's not as simple as all that…"

"Regina what's not simple about it?!" she demanded grabbing her phone.

"For starters it's a hunch! We can't prove David is in the same dream realm as you. He could be in the Enchanted Forest, or Wonderland, he could be trapped in Neverland for all we know," she explained.

"Regina a hunch is all we have!" Snow exclaimed so loud that behind her baby Neal began to cry. It broke the look that Snow had in her eyes, the concentration she'd had directed at Regina and the idea faded as her instinct forced her to turn around and answer her child's cries but Regina was not compelled. She took advantage of her silence, pulled a vial of red liquid from her jacket pocket as well as the charm that she had shown to Regina earlier and set them beside her next to her pancakes.

"That is a potion made from poppy seeds, it will put you into a deep sleep that should last for a few hours at best! This charm…it should allow you to keep your conscious when you are under. Let me be clear…this potion is extremely dangerous if you take too much of it in. What we are offering you is not something you can try every day for the rest of your life. You get one chance to find David and if he's not there we move on. And let me once again stress to you, and you..." Regina stated turning her gaze on her as well. "The very possible scenario that he might not be in the same dream realm. You might not even wake up in Storybrooke! You might only be able to get to this place if you are under your sleeping curse. There are no guarantees here. This is just an experiment."

Snow White stared at the objects in front of her as she cradled and rocked Neal side to side. What she saw on her face was true consideration and though it wasn't happy, it was exactly what she wanted and needed to see on Snow's face at that moment. She knew exactly what she was getting into.

"Just let me call the school and tell them I'm not coming in today…I never should have volunteered to go back in the first place. Belle, Ashley should be coming over to pick Neal up in about forty-five minutes, until then would you mind-"

"Yeah, I'll…I'll watch him," she agreed moving forward to remove the boy from her arms. She liked Neal, and she may as well get the practice in."

"Alright," Regina sighed. "I'll call Emma and-"

"No!" Snow interrupted. "No…if this doesn't work I don't want to get Emma's hopes up. I don't want to distract her from what's important. And the same goes for David! I don't want anyone to tell David unless we know it works. He'll only want to try it himself and I'm the better tracker. If he is in Storybrooke's woods I'll find him. And if not…we'll move on."

She and Regina exchanged looks at her odd resolve but eventually the Queen nodded and agreed to the terms. Snow White called the school and explained that she wouldn't be in to work that day and to get a sub, lesson plans for the day were on her desk. She held Neal, changed him, and fed him as Snow White dressed in something comfortable and put the necklace over her head before taking the vial with red liquid with her to bed.

"We'll stay here until one or both of you wake up," Regina promised as she got herself positioned just right. She watched as Snow White nodded, took the drink, and then fell back almost too perfectly on her pillow. Regina plucked the vile out of her motionless fingers and moved back to the living room. "Now we wait…"

Yeah, I'm sorry about this one. There is a lot happening in between 6x07 and 6x08 and this particular chapter just didn't really fit with anything else. I know it's short, but it wouldn't have been right to put it with the last chapter and when you read the next chapter I really don't think it would have been appropriate putting it there either. It's not really a filler chapter because what is going on and how they use this plan is important but there just isn't much here because I didn't think drawing it out would be in character. It's an important chapter; it's just short.

Thank you, Grace5231973, Fox24, and Curly J, not just for your reviews but for sticking around and reading. I know this isn't exactly fun, but I appreciate knowing that there are still people around to read! I consider it a personal favor. Thank you! Peace and Happy Reading!