"It's no use hiding down there!"

Comes a husky warning, before dust and stones precede the light thump of a pair of boots hitting the dirt.

"Not if you two are going to weave around like a pair of whispering drunks."

Tink finishes off teasingly, before stalling with her hands on her hips and a frown as she drinks in the scene portrayed by the others. Emma stands pressed into the brunette; Regina's hand clasped in hers while the Mayor links her other arm protectively around the blonde's shoulders. A moment of silence passes between the three of them as the fairy raises a brow, and the Queen and the Sheriff let go of one another while fully aware that it's a little too late to avoid any of the questions Tinkerbell is bound to have.

As it is, Tink merely shares a weighted look with Regina, before brushing herself down and moving over into the shadows herself.

"Are you two okay?"

"We weren't weaving."

Emma scolds her immediately, before adding defiantly

"And we're not drunk."

"Like a pair of whispering drunks I said, it was a metaphor."

"That's a simile."

"Enough!"

Regina interrupts, throwing the Sheriff a look of utter bemusement before turning to Tink.

"Did you talk to Henry? How is my son?!"

"I did, only for a little while before I had to make myself scarce, but I saw him and passed over the obsidian."

The fairy assures, her eyes narrowed as she glowers at Emma, before beckoning the others to a small cove a little further up the rock so that they might talk without being discovered. The brunette follows readily, glancing over her shoulder at the blonde and shaking her head

"Do you just enjoy being contrary when becoming acquainted with others, or is it just for my benefit?"

She mutters irritably, and Emma shrugs as she tags close behind; her eyes trained on the Mayor's backside as she scrambles up the rockface while emitting a series of disagreeable noises.

"Well, she was wrong, it wasn't a metaphor... We were also doing just fine before she snuck up on us, or do the last couple of hours not count?"

"They don't if it's the last couple or seconds that get you caught."

Tink interrupts, and she extends her hand to pull Regina up into the cove before doing the same to Emma. The Sheriff regards her offering with distaste, and the fairy sighs as she reaches a little further.

"Look, I didn't mean to insult either of you, I was only pointing something out. I'm actually surprised you've come as far as you have given you were taking the track. When I heard noises down below, I thought it must have been one of the Lost Boys at first, only they don't bicker like you two."

Tinkerbell explains, grinning when Emma accepts her hand after all and pulling her up so that she perches in the dark little cove; a close fit now that all three of them hide within.

"We don't bicker."

Regina frowns, and the fairy looks from the Sheriff to the Mayor before rolling her eyes, and Emma moves around so that she crouches beside Regina and faces their informer; nudging the brunette in the side and confiding beneath her breath

"We bicker."

Sighing as she is unable to catch what the younger woman says but recognising the venom in the Mayor's eyes easily, Tinkerbell clears her throat and calls the others back to the matter at hand.

"I believe you wanted to know about your son?"

"Of course we do!"

"Is he okay?"

All sense of waspishness vanishes instantly, and Tink looks from one to the other and nods. It still surprises her to see such a genuine look of care on the brunette's face given what has come to pass over the years, but after watching the darker woman help the Saviour seek refuge in the cave the previous evening, she understands that however warped it might appear from the outside, there exists amongst these two women and their son a family unit that possibly makes sense to none other but themselves. Similarly, however prickly she might find Emma- and it is a character flaw that is oddly growing on her somewhat as she has been able to glimpse a little more between the lines since being stuck with her company- the look the Sheriff offers her now is one of pure earnest and hope.

"He seemed fine; a little confused I think about the bigger picture, but he looked well and unharmed."

"Oh, thank god."

"Thank you."

Emma offers pointedly, and the fairy nods in acknowledgement before continuing

"You should be thanking me; Pan has the camp on high alert, the place is under guard."

"Did you speak to him?"

Regina asks with a frown, and Tink shakes her head with an expression of open relief

"No. Pan and Felix- his dog's body of sorts- have gone out looking for the two of you. He'd left one of the older boys in charge of Henry, so I couldn't talk to him properly... I talked to some of the others, though... You two better be sure this is how you want to go about this; you've got targets on your backs, and not the kind you're going to come out of this unscathed with. I'd ordinarily scoff that it might sound dramatic to warn you you'd be lucky to escape with your lives, but I'm beginning to feel a little uneasy even on that count."

"Well, what other choice do we have?"

"None... I don't think there's another choice for you to take, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't warn you that your numbers are up."

"They've been up since we got here."

Emma points out, and the fairy makes a gesture with her hand that suggests she's uncertain this is the truth.

"Maybe... I think pulling the stunt you did with the Shadow and then the two of you disappearing might have sealed it."

"There was no 'stunt', Tink."

Regina warns dangerously, although she supposes in the fairy's defence that she might not call it that if she actually understood what had happened. Still, something in her tone must convey the need to tread carefully, as Tinkerbell's glance shifts from her, to Emma, and back again, before she continues quietly

"Pan hates to meet a fair match, that's all I'm saying... Not that he plays fair, mind, but no one has ever been able to call him on it before... He's worried, else he would have stayed with your boy and sent the others after you."

"Well, good. He should be worried."

Emma growls, and Regina turns to study her pensively before blinking in surprise when Tink laughs softly

"You sound just like the Queen."

The younger woman raises an eyebrow as the fairy points at the brunette, and meets Regina's gaze in the shadows with a small smile. Sensing that the Mayor has taken Tink's words mockingly, she shrugs and confides quietly

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing in this instance."

"Please, like you could pull it off."

Regina scoffs with an edge to her voice, and she strives to change the subject before she's forced to explain the reason behind it.

That is a part of myself I both regret yet sorely miss; the power and what it did to those around me. When your mother fought to take the throne, the thought of her conveying that same magnificence was laughable to me, but with you... Thinking about it invokes feelings I neither know what to do with, nor imagine can be acted upon with an audience without you holding the fact against me.

Blushing delicately as she gathers herself and pushes away all fancies of the look on Emma's face- nevermind Tinkerbell's- should she make a rather sordid bid for dominance, she ignores the younger woman's grumbling beside her and looks back up at the fairy.

"Did Henry say anything to you? About us? About any of this?"

"No, he's been closely shielded from the truth. I chanced a slip of words and confided that two women were out looking for him, but to say more on the matter would have been foolish, as I hope you can understand."

"Yeah, that's fair. And he'll have guessed it was us, as unless there's a whole lot the kid is hiding, I'm not sure who else that might suggest!"

Emma grins, and Regina nods with a bemused look. Tink shrugs and continues

"What little I did say was dangerous. We'll have to hope that it's given your boy pause for thought, as I had no way of telling him what was in the volcano glass."

"If anyone can figure that out, it's Henry."

The Sheriff assures and the brunette agrees readily

"He'll know you were there for a reason, and that's a big step already."

"Well, I hope you're both right... About all of this. I hope you know what you're doing."

Tink sighs, before moving to the enterance of the small cove and swinging her legs out into the light.

"I better get back to Matty; those boys are crazy breaking ranks with Pan. You two had just better remember your promise to those kids... If you don't help them, they're doomed."

"That's cheery."

Emma sighs, and Regina frowns as she watches Tinkerbell begin backing out down the slope.

"Wait, you're leaving?!"

"I told you; I want no part of the front line when things get dicey."

"But-"

"-Look, the camp is ten minutes or so away; forty if you're lying low until the undergrowth gives out. Then, I don't really know what to suggest..."

"If we wait until nightfall-"

"-You stand a better chance."

Tink agrees, before warning ominously

"You may also be feeding right out of Pan's palm. He's twisted and malevolent but he masks himself as a boy, and as such his expectation of when bad things strike is fairly ingrained."

"What do you mean by that?"

Regina asks, her brow furrowing as her mind goes back to the dark thoughts suffered following Pan's disturbing ploy to get Emma off his tail.

"What do you mean that he masks himself as a boy... What hides beneath?"

She urges, and Tinkerbell pauses- her hands gripping the lip of the cove, leaving only slim fingers and her face visible to the women that hide in the darkness- before shaking her head and jumping down onto the path below.

"What hides behind any mask?"

"Someone trying to hide their identity?"

Regina frowns, before the Sheriff shakes her head and replies much more simply

"A monster."

The fairy nods at this, standing with her jaw cocked up to them as the pale sun casts her shadow long and withered on the track.

"Emma gets it."

She agrees cryptically, before waving her hand and wishing them luck, leaving both women frowning after her, feeling suddenly very much out of their depth.

"What did she mean; you get it? What made your suggestion better than mine?"

Regina asks irritably, and the blonde pulls a face as she moves a little to the side so that she can stretch her legs out in front of her and rest.

"This island is run by kids. Even if Pan isn't one, his power lies in who he oversees. The concept of a monster is pretty standard in the eyes of a prepubescent, even if it wears a mask... Every kid's afraid of a monster."

"Were you?"

"Sure. As a kid. Weren't you?"

"Well... I was always told those fears were unfounded and a sign of immaturity, even as a girl. I was told not to be so foolish."

"... That doesn't answer the question. Were you scared of monsters? Of what your mind perceived to be a monster, even if it was just your ridiculous collection of gowns or whatever bustled in the shadows of your wardrobe once the lights were turned on."

"That's both presumptuous and inaccurate; I had a dressing room detached from my chambers."

"Well, excuse me!"

"... But, yes. Yes, I suppose I can see what you mean."

Regina sighs dismissively, and Emma grins at her, finally pulling the handkerchief from around her head.

"Are you sore because your friend chose my answer over yours?"

"Hardly."

"You know, I think she's beginning to kind of like me... Funny how that tends to happen."

The blonde flashes her tongue and the brunette rolls her eyes, before calling the younger woman out and stating solemnly

"Whichever one of us was right means little without a plan..."

And suddenly the air between them is once more somber.

"Well... I guess we wait until nightfall..."

"And then what?"

Regina snaps, but her tone is fractured not with anger but with fear, and the blonde bears her no grudge.

"That's what we need to figure out... It's a shame Henry's not here. He'd be great at this."

"He would."

The Mayor agrees wistfully.

"Well... How would he go about it?"

"He'd make a plan... Call it something ridiculous... And badger either you or I to humour him."

"Okay, so let's try that... Give me a name..."

"... Why? So that you can shoot it down?"

"Of course!"