It was rather a peaceful morning as Regina made her way towards the vault. The brightly shining sun gave the otherwise cool morning the illusion of warmth, and despite the sombre atmosphere of the cemetery, the day was already turning into a beautiful one.

As she approached the door to the mausoleum, a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature ran through Regina.

She could hear something, it was so quiet that at first she couldn't make out what it was, but as she got closer to the structure she could swear she heard crying. Regina froze, looking around the otherwise quiet cemetery for the source of the noise.

She felt her heartbeat increase ever so slightly as she realised the sound seemed to be coming from within the mausoleum itself. She supposed the noise must have been amplified by the stone walls inside.

Regina took a few cautious steps closer. She raised her hand in front of her, flat against the space in front of the door to test the spell she always kept placed around the mausoleum. The air in front of her shimmered blue for a few moments and then went still again. She dropped her hand, her eyes were narrowed in confusion. The barrier she had placed around the crypt was still intact; no one had broken through it or even hijacked it.

However as the crying persisted, by now she was certain that it was coming from inside.

She continued to listen, but a little more closely this time. And as the realisation finally hit her she felt her stomach drop.

She recognised that crying. She knew very well who it belonged to.

"But it can't be..." She whispered.

Her eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area again but still the graveyard remained empty. Or at the very least, it appeared to be empty.

After taking a deep breath, she removed the protection spell from around the crypt with a wave of her hand and proceeded to slide the key into the lock on the door.

Keeping her guard up as she stepped into the mausoleum, her eyes quickly scanned the room that held her father's grave. She could still hear the crying, but it sounded like it was coming from below.

She could feel herself beginning to shiver, but she wasn't certain if it was from the chilly atmosphere or the somewhat uncanny sound that was echoing throughout the mausoleum.

She swallowed hesitantly, and then pushed her father's grave to the side to reveal the entrance to the vault.

Her high heeled shoes echoed loudly as she went down the stone steps. The crying was getting louder the deeper she went. When she got to the bottom of the staircase, she stood almost frozen to the spot as she tried to determine from which direction it was coming from.

"Hello?" She called into the darkness.

The crying ceased for a few moments, but then carried on again, a little louder than before.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, Regina took a vigilant step forward.

"Hello?"

The crying faltered again.

"He–" She whispered, not able to finish the word this time.

She took another step forward.

"Henry?"

The crying fell silent again.

"Henry is that you?!"

The vault remained silent for a few heartbeats until she finally heard a response.

"Mommy?" Came a small, frightened voice from somewhere in the depths of the catacombs.

Gasping in shock, Regina took a faltering step backwards.

It was him.

"Henry!" She called again, immediately moving deeper into the vault.

"Henry?" She grasped at the walls on either side of her as she chose a hallway at random. "Henry where are you?"

"Mommy!" The frightened voice called again.

"Henry tell me where you are!"

"Mommy I'm scared!"

"I'm coming Henry! Just wait right there!"

"Mommy!" The voice echoed throughout the vault.

Suddenly Regina forced herself to stop. She was holding onto one of the stone archways that led to another section of the vault. She was breathing heavily as she pondered her current situation.

There was no way this could be happening. Henry was with Mary Margaret, she had just left him less than ten minutes previously. He had been with her when she sensed something happening down here and it had only been three days ago that she had seen Henry physically turn back to his proper age. There was no way this Henry could be here now. And in the vault of all places, none of it made any sense.

"Mommy?!" The frightened voice called again.

Regina's breathing was coming more staggeringly and she could feel a few tears forming in her eyes as she heard her little boy desperately calling for her.

Could it be possible that this was all just a trap?

If so, she didn't know who could have done this. The protection spell had still been intact when she had arrived here and to her knowledge, there was no one in Storybrooke who would want to do this to her.

As well as that, apart from Gold she didn't think there was anyone in Storybrooke who was even capable of doing something like this.

"Please Mommy I'm scared!"

The fear in his voice went through her like physical pain.

When she failed to respond to him she could hear him starting to cry again.

Regina took in a deep breath, she turned around as her senses locked on to the direction the sound was coming from.

She folded her arms tightly, debating on what to do. She knew this could just be a cruel trick to lure her into an ambush, but the problem was that she just wasn't certain. And if it was really Henry down here she couldn't just leave him on his own, frightened and confused.

She shook her head warily as she came to a decision.

"Henry I'm coming!" She called a little faintly into the semi-darkness.

She began to make her way back towards where the voice was calling from.

Regina was blinking back tears as she somewhat stumbled into the room where her mother's casket was kept. Her hand reached out to lean briefly against it as she regained her balance.

Her eyes had hints of anguish and fear in them as she looked down at the coffin. It was as if she was hoping Cora would be able to somehow tell her what could possibly be going on, or perhaps give her some guidance as to what she should do. She wanted to believe it was Henry she was heading towards, but she also knew that the risks were high.

Ignoring her shivering, Regina gathered up her courage, moved away from her mother's coffin and continued towards the sounds of Henry's crying.

She turned a corner into another room and froze in her tracks, gasping as her eyes fell on the tiny figure huddled in a corner across the room. He had his knees pulled up to his chest and his face was buried in his arms.

"Henry?" Regina whispered, stepping cautiously forward.

The little boy sniffled, looking up at her through tear-filled eyes.

"Mommy?"

It was him.

Regina was stunned, she reached out for the wall in order to keep her balance but it was too late. She found herself somewhat collapsing to the floor as Henry ran towards her.

"Mommy!" He threw himself into her arms.

"Henry," she nearly wept. Her eyes were widened slightly in surprise, but she wrapped her arms tightly around him as he clung fiercely to her. "Henry what's going on, what happened to you?"

"I'm scared Mommy."

"Shhh, I know sweetie, I know. It's okay."

"Where are we?"

Regina felt a tear escape her lashes as she held him closely. "Shh. It's okay Henry I've got you. You're safe now."

He was still crying as she pressed a long, gentle kiss to the top of his head.

"Henry how long have you been down here?" She asked, her voice breaking.

"I don't know."

"Surely you haven't been alone in here for days?" She asked, horrified. How could something like this have happened?

Henry shrugged, his face was still buried against her chest.

Regina pulled back a little from him. "Henry what's the very last thing you remember before finding yourself down here?"

Henry only kept sobbing in her arms.

"Henry listen to me this is important okay? Tell me what you remember."

The three year old sniffled as his mother wiped his tears away with her handkerchief.

"We were on the street by the woods..." He began. "You were crying... I was with Mary... and then you gave me a medicine..."

Regina nodded, starting to feel sick.

"And then I was here."

"But Henry how long ago was that?"

Henry shrugged.

"Was it hours? Days?"

Henry shrugged again.

"And you don't remember anything else in between?"

Henry shook his head. "Mommy I'm scared. I don't like it here."

Regina sighed. "It's okay Henry. We'll figure this out."

"Mommy I'm scared."

"I know honey... I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. If I'd had any idea you were down here I would have come straight away."

Regina rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Oh sweetheart you're freezing." She took off her coat and wrapped it around him, pulling him into her embrace again once it was around his shoulders.

"What's going on?" The three year old asked in a small voice.

"I don't know..." She whispered. "But Henry it's okay. You don't have to be afraid anymore. I'm here now and I won't let anything happen to you again, okay?"

Henry nodded, huddling closer to her again.

As Regina wrapped her arms more protectively around him in return, she couldn't help but wonder if this was really happening. Her mind was telling her it was impossible but her instincts were telling her it was true.

He looked so real.

He felt so real.

Despite her panicked state, she found herself smiling as she held him closely, whispering soothingly to him as he continued to cry in her arms.

He had come back to her.

Fifty Minutes Later:

"So you mean to tell me, Regina hasn't answered atext for an hour and that's cause enough to drag me away from my day?" Gold asked irritably from behind the counter in the pawn shop.

"She could be in danger." Snow replied.

"And what proof do you have of that? Perhaps our dear queen just doesn't want to be disturbed?"

"No, I know it's not that. The way she left the house this morning... something bad was definitely going on."

"She said she wouldn't be gone long." Henry added.

Gold leaned against the counter. "If we go all the way down to the cemetery and it turns out Regina's merely been avoiding you lot–"

"Look, you don't have to come." Emma interrupted. "But Henry's been getting these weird vibes lately, this morning some creepy door-that-should-have-been-locked-but-was-hanging-wide-open thing happened at Regina's house, and then she sensed some bad stuff going down at her vault... and now she's not answering her phone or responding to any of us. She said she would meet up with us at Granny's and she never showed. I think Henry and Mary Margaret are right, something's up."

Gold sighed, debating his decision. After a few moments he picked up his coat from the back of a nearby chair. "Very well, I'll accompany you to the vault. But if this all turns out to be nothing, believe me, the result won't be pleasant for anyone. I don't appreciate my time being wasted."

"And don't we know it." David replied, patting Henry on the shoulder as they all began to file out of the shop.

"Thank you," Snow said gratefully to Gold as he followed behind them.

"Well don't thank me yet. Let's just see what this is all about first shall we?"