"So, did you manage to find Daniel?"
Chad gave her a smile. "Yes. It seems that Daniel Colter has relocated to Odessa."
"Odessa? Where the hell is that?"
"Texas."
Zelena's eyes widened. "Texas? But... that's on the other side of the bloody country!"
"Almost," said Chad, "but not quite. It's still pretty far away, though."
"Shit," Zelena muttered.
"So, you know where he is. How sure are you that Regina will go there?"
"I can't think of anywhere else she could be," said Zelena.
"What, then? Are you going to go after her?" Chad wanted to know.
"Me?" said Zelena, letting out a scoff. "I have school and studies that I need to commit to. I don't know what's going to happen... maybe one of Regina's parents will contact the police there, or maybe they'll contact Daniel's house themselves. I'm not sure. All I know is that they won't stop until Regina is found."
"Hm... well, if it'll help, I could contact someone who might be able to help."
Zelena looked at him. "And who would that be?"
"Someone whose job it is to find people," said Chad. "Kind of like a bounty hunter, except she'll accept any job... for a hefty price, of course."
"Really? Who is she?"
"I don't know her real name," Chad replied. "But on the internet, she is known by the name 'Bo Peep'. She has a one-hundred percent success rating. There hasn't been anyone that Bo Peep hasn't been able to find."
Zelena crossed her arms. "How come you didn't tell me about her before?"
"Because in order to operate, she needs a location. Think about it. If Regina's parents contact the authorities in Odessa and get them to search the city for Regina, all that'll do is drive her back into hiding. You need someone who is stealthy, but potent. Someone who will do their job efficiently, while also giving Regina a false sense of security until the last second."
Zelena knew that he had a point there. Mrs Mills had said that being efficient was a useful quality.
"I'll talk to Regina's mom about it and see what she thinks," said Zelena.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. Silence filled the Gardener household, until Chad broke it.
"What changed your mind?" he asked. "About coming here, that is. You seemed pretty sure of yourself before."
Love can also be a weapon, Mrs Mills had told her, if you are strong enough to use it.
Zelena gave him a shrug. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to come back here... and see you..."
She approached him, moving closer until her face was only inches away from his own. Chad's blue eyes met hers, and then he took the plunge, moving his mouth onto hers. Zelena wrapped her arms around him, returning his kiss with equal passion. She could feel his fingers moving through her long red hair. When their lips parted and he moved his face away, Zelena could see that he was blushing.
"Wow," he said, as if out of breath. "Do you, uhh, want to go upstairs?"
Zelena looked up at him and smiled. "Why? There's a perfectly good table right here, and your mom won't be home for a while."
"Okay," replied Chad, grinning. "As you wish."

In the early hours of the morning that followed, Zelena managed to sneak back to the Mills residence, quietly closing the front door behind her. She moved upstairs and got changed into her school uniform, before descending the stairs and moving into the kitchen. Zelena was startled to see Mrs Mills already there, making herself a cup of coffee.
"Coffee?" she offered.
"Oh, uhh, yes please," said Zelena. Does she ever sleep?
"So," said Mrs Mills, getting a second mug from the shelf, "did you have fun last night?"
Zelena shrugged. "You could say that. I have to say, it feels much better when there's no other sort of commitment necessary."
"Relationships are tedious," Mrs Mills replied, filling both mugs with black coffee. "Do you take cream and sugar?"
"No thanks."
"Oh good, because we're out of sugar. All we really need in life is to fulfill our basic impulses. Human beings are pack animals, which means we crave being with those who make us feel happy and safe. We also have other desires. Some impulses overpower the others. We try to disguise it as love, as if what we feel is anything more than it is. We're animals, Zelena. Never forget. And only the strong survive."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Zelena. "I guess the strongest are the ones who see things as they truly are."
Mrs Mills took a sip of her coffee before nodding. "Love always feels real at the start, but it's an illusion. Eventually, it fades, and then you're left with nothing."
Zelena sipped her own coffee. "And power? What about that?"
"Power... true power... endures," said Mrs Mills, "and then you don't have to rely on anyone to get what you want. So then, did he tell you where to find Daniel Colter?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah," Zelena replied. "He's living in Odessa."
Mrs Mills lifted an eyebrow. "You mean, all the way in Texas?"
"It seems that way."
"I see. Well then, I'll have to see what I can do about that."
"Don't use the police," said Zelena, perhaps a little too abruptly.
"No?" said Mrs Mills, looking curious. "Why shouldn't I? If anyone will find my daughter, it'll be them."
Zelena remembered what Chad had said to her earlier. "If the police in Odessa start searching around for Regina, they'll draw too much attention to themselves, and it'll risk her becoming more withdrawn and careful, even more so than she already is. She might even leave and travel somewhere else."
"What do you suggest, then?" Mrs Mills wanted to know.
"Well, Cha... Hades told me of someone who finds people for a living," Zelena explained. "Someone who could find Regina in Odessa in a much stealthier way, so that she wouldn't even notice someone tracking her down."
"Who is this person?"
"Apparently, she goes by the name 'Bo Peep' on the internet," said Zelena. "I don't know much about her, other than the fact that she will take any job for a hefty price, which means she must be good at her job."
"Either that," said Mrs Mills, "or she's just good at ripping people off."
"It's worth a shot, at least," Zelena replied. "Although, it's up to you, of course."
A few moments passed where Mrs Mills didn't say anything, and Zelena knew that she was mulling it over.
Finally, she said, "Tell Hades that I'm interested. I'm guessing he already has my contact details. I want to speak with this Bo Peep."
Zelena nodded. "I'll let him know."
After finishing her mug of coffee, Zelena found herself thinking about love and power as she made her way to school.
Does Chad love me? she wondered to herself. Or is he only interested in the physical aspect?
Some part of Zelena didn't really want to know the answer to that.

FOUR MONTHS AGO

Regina wiped the tears from her eyes as she ran away from the place that she had called home for as long as she could remember, feeling the weight of the hastily-packed schoolbag behind her. She supposed that it might have been heavy on her back if she had taken the time to take out the school books before she had stuffed the bag with clothes, but there hadn't been any time for that. As she walked down the streets of Storybrooke, it didn't take long for Regina to remember the name of the address where Robin lived.
19 Marian Street, she told herself. It was only across the road from Sherwood High School, which is where Robin had originally come from and where he would have been forced to return to, unless her mother had planned to run him out of town the way she did with Daniel. Regina knew that when she had found Sherwood High, she would have found Robin's house. She already knew how to get there, and once she found herself standing outside the gates of the now empty school grounds, Regina turned around to face the household on the other side of the road. It was a relatively small house, much smaller than the home that Regina lived in. The brick walls were covered in dark green paint that was peeling all over, and several tiles were missing from the roof. It was a poor family's house. And yet, despite this, it had a certain charm.
Much like Robin himself, Regina thought as she crossed the road and approached the Locksley house. When she saw that there was no doorbell to ring, Regina knocked on the front door. She was glad when Robin was the one who opened the door and saw her.
"Regina?" he said, looking somewhere between happy and concerned. "What are you doing here? What's wrong?"
"I'm leaving," Regina told him.
"Leaving? What do you mean?"
Regina showed him her schoolbag. "Leaving Storybrooke. I'm getting as far away from this town as I can."
"But... where will you go?" asked Robin. That made Regina frown. She hadn't really thought that part through yet.
"Wherever we want," she decided to say. That seemed to puzzle Robin.
"We?" he said, scratching his head. "You mean, like... you and me?"
"Yeah," said Regina. "We can leave this place together. Start a new future, and never look back. Neither of us would ever have to worry about my mother ever again. What do you say? Come with me, Robin."
"Regina, I-" Robin cast a reluctant glance backwards into his house. "I can't just leave Storybrooke. I have a life here."
That had been the last thing that Regina had expected to hear. She was starting to feel fresh tears sting the corners of her eyes.
"What life?" she heard herself say. "Living in a place like this? You'll be forced to go back to that scummy Sherwood school... you won't have a life anymore. There'll be nothing left for you here, my mother will make sure of it! She... she might even run you and your family out of town. She's done it before. Believe me when I say that you don't know what she's capable of."
Robin crossed his arms. "I'd say I have a pretty good idea of what she's capable of, Regina. I don't smoke weed, for a start, and I'm no thief. The only explanation is that it was your mom who framed me in the first place. She can try to make us leave Storybrooke if she wants. I'm not scared of her.
"Well, you should be," said Regina. She could feel something rising within her. Anger?
"Well, I'm not," replied Robin. "Your evil bitch mom is lucky that my parents aren't suing, but if she tries to mess with my life again, we won't hesitate to bring her down. She might own half the town, but she doesn't control me or my family. I'm not going anywhere."
"Please, Robin," Regina found herself pleading. "Come with me. I don't know where I'm going to go, and I don't want to go alone."
"Then maybe you should stay," Robin said. "Running away from your problems isn't going to solve them."
Regina shook her head. "No, I can't stay here. I'm leaving Storybrooke tonight, with or without you!"
She watched Robin's face intently as he let out a sigh, hoping that she had convinced him.
"Well then, Regina, I wish you the best of luck. Have a nice life."
Before she could come up with a response, he leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead, then went back into his home and closed the front door. As she heard the door lock from the inside, Regina let more tears roll down her cheeks. She wanted to scream and kick down the door and force Robin to run away with her. Instead, she turned around and walked away from Robin's house, trying to tell herself that he would regret not leaving Storybrooke with her.
He'll realize that I was right when my mother ruins his life, she thought as she started making her way across town towards the road that led out of town. Maybe he'll come find me when she drives him out of town, the way she drove out Daniel.
That was when the thought had arrived in Regina's head suddenly.
"Daniel," she murmured to herself, out loud. Just before he had left Storybrooke, they had met one last time beneath the oak tree atop a hill. It had been their secret spot where they would meet up. Regina's mother had never found them there. When Daniel had let her know that he had no other choice than to leave Storybrooke, he also told her that he would be moving to Odessa in Texas, where his dad lived with his new wife.
Odessa, she decided. That's where I'll go.
Regina's mother had told her that she would never see Daniel again. Now that she had taken the first steps in defying her, Regina realized that she was now free to go wherever she wanted. She would go to see Daniel and reunite with him in Odessa, far out of her mom's jurisdiction.
What about Robin? a small voice inside of her protested.
He made his choice, said another, stronger voice that dominated the other thoughts in her mind.

The sun had well and truly set by the time that Regina had reached the green sign that said: 'Leaving Storybrooke'.
"Yes," Regina said to herself out loud. "I finally am."
However, her legs were aching from the long, lonely walk across town. Regina knew that she wouldn't be able to do much more of this without stopping for breaks every five minutes. She would probably collapse and pass out if she continued to persist. It was a shame that there were no buses or trains that went through Storybrooke. There weren't even any taxi services that would go beyond the town line. Just when Regina was on the verge of giving up and sitting down on the concrete sidewalk, she heard a car behind her slow down and eventually pull up on the side of the road. Regina winced at that sound, hoping and praying that it wasn't either of her parents.
"Are you lost?" a man's voice called out. Regina turned around. The man had his head poking out of the window of the driver's seat.
"No," she said. "I'm leaving Storybrooke."
"What a coincidence, so am I! My name's Jefferson. Need a ride?"