She wanted him gone, out of her sight before the idea of simply snapping his neck overtook the little that was left of her reason.

But his eyes-

She was immediately brought back to the dream she had about him a week ago when his blue pools transformed into Daniel's gentle eyes. A million thoughts raced through her mind as his gaze pierced through her soul, their connection buzzing through the arrow she had shoved where his heart had once been. She had to make it stop, she wanted the numbness of being heartless not these uninvited feelings, so Regina summoned her magic so she could send him as far away from her as possible.

She decided to send him to solid ground instead of the usual watery one, after all he would be making his arrival with an arrow shoved in his chest, back to his chambers so he could lick his wounds and think twice before he acted in such a ridiculous manner ever again.

A cloud of purple smoke swallowed the outlaw's body and the next moment, he was gone.

Regina felt as if she was taking her first breath since just before he shot the arrow. She simply stood there, eyes fixed ahead but not looking at anything in particular as all the emotions ignited by his presence faded away reminding her of the absence of her heart. She felt oddly dizzy and slightly drained; maybe due to the excessive amount of loathing she had just felt, which only made her even more uneasy, because she should not have felt anything at all.

Jamie cleared his throat and she looked in his direction meeting his eyes, he had been holding his once wounded hand as he uttered a sincere, "Thank ye Regina" the 'R' of her name rolled more than necessary because of his accent.

She huffed in response and looked at the burly, young man, examining him from head to toe, remembering her original plan. Even though Jamie had never looked better, and the idea of negotiating in the midst of golden linen bed sheets with him was quite enticing, - her heart being too far away for her to hear it screaming that she should not do it - Regina felt tired and too lazy to go through with it.

He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and let out an exhale of air before asking, "That captain of yer personal guard. Quite devoted to protecting yer honor," he joked waving his now healed hand.

"Quite devoted to annoying the shit out of me," Regina confessed, rather tired of wearing her royal mask.

Jamie liberated a small laugh and looked at his feet before adding, "If my memory does not fail me," he pressed his lips together trying to subside a smile and continued, "Ye had always managed to come up with mysterious disappearances for those who 'annoyed' ye."

Regardless of her prior enraged disposition, Regina could not help but crack a malicious grin at the memory.

For having a heated affair, right under her husband's nose, inside his very castle, with his daughter's fiancé, had been rather trying when it came to keeping the whole thing a secret. They had gotten caught several times, and in those times – since she had not yet yielded the memory spell that had saved both their sorry asses when Leopold caught them – she had killed whoever had been unfortunate enough to catch them during the act. Snapped their necks, thrown them out of the window and sometimes even practiced her heart crushing abilities. They had been mainly guards and the occasional chambermaid, nobody she cared about, for Regina did not care about anyone-

"Hun?" Jamie was looking at her expectantly, and Regina realized she had not heard a word of what he had just said, too lost in the memory of different times when a chance at freedom seemed to be a distant dream.

"What?" she asked, frowning a little.

"Why don't ye get rid of him then?" he asked simply, Regina remembered how most conversation had always flown easily between the two of them.

"I just did," Regina replied, feeling a strange pang inside her chest, knowing that that had not been what he had asked, her definition of 'getting rid of' not being as final as his.

Jamie squinted and looked right at her for a moment, "Ye didn't kill that man just now," he arched a brow and continued, "Ye always got a crazy shine to yer eyes after ye killed someone,"

"What?" Regina asked, she was rather incredulous at his boldness.

"Yer eyes," he repeated himself, "They would get that hint of madness, they grew large and dark, I remember it quite well." He looked away from her a little and up at the sky whilst he paused and then continued, bringing his gaze back to her, "I would try not to speak to ye during the rest of the day fearing ye'd just snap me neck for upsetting ye further." He recollected as if the thought of the marring memory affected him as much as a picnic in the woods.

Regina huffed and felt slightly bared. She did not enjoy the feeling at all, she had forgotten how she had let Jamie into her life all those years ago and was genuinely surprised to find he could read her so well. She did not like having people see her true self, she felt vulnerable and young and utterly incapable of doing anything.

She needed to get out of this situation and leave his presence at once, lock herself in the solitude of her bedchambers and shut out all those stormy feelings she was being bombarded with and find a damn way to catch Snow-

Oh

She needed his help. The last turn of events had made her completely forget why it was that she was letting this young man palm her breasts in the first place. That ship had sailed, she was not sleeping with him, the mood was completely broken and the very idea of shedding her clothes to a man who could already read her so well whilst fully clothed was downright terrifying.

Don't be weak Regina, the heartless Queen reprimanded her.

You know you can trust him, the young woman with braided hair told her.

Just leave him there and go find the thief Regina, it's been WEEKS! that depraved half-dressed Queen whined.

He will help you dearie, the impish voice whispered in her ear, for a price

"What will it take?" She asked bluntly as if the man was aware of the mental battle going on inside her head.

"Pardon?" He asked, crooking his head slightly to the side.

"What do you want in exchange for aiding in finding Snow?" She asked impatiently.

"Oh," his eyebrows shot up, "I was actually wondering if ye were going to ask that-"

"Why?" Regina's eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Because she went to my uncle's estate and asked for shelter." Jamie explained matter-of-factly and Regina knew she was supposed to feel agitated because of the information being disclosed, and yet, she felt nearly nothing, "He offered his help to her but sent word to me that she was hiding there." Regina inhaled, feeling a small victory on the pit of her stomach, "In the letter, he also advised me to keep me distance from ye, to break our dealings."

"Oh?" Regina had to ask, "And why was that?" although she already knew the answer.

"Well," he started again looking at his boots before meeting her gaze once more, "-the princess revealed to him how the Queen had sent an assassin archer to kill her-" he lowered his chin a little, still looking at her, "-and how the Queen had spread malicious lies about her, calling her a traitor, murderer and criminal, forcing her to run away from her own kingdom."

Regina felt a strange lump on her throat and asked with an air of defiance even though her voice came out a tad croaky, "Did you believe her?"

Jamie responded right away, "Yes, of course I did, it surely does sound like something ye would do, at least to her."

Regina felt a hint of rage try to surface, "And I assume your uncle is sheltering her still?" She uttered with contempt, not believing for a second that she had ever let that worm touch her, the betrayal cutting in deeper than she had expected.

To Regina's utter surprise, he cracked a smile and replied, "No, actually, when his letter reached me I sent word to him immediately, instructing that he should keep her there until I arrived. I explained that I knew Snow White was a treacherous thing, and that he should not believe a word she said, for she was the one who had killed the King, in order to take over his throne."

Jamie winked at her and Regina could not hold back a tiny grin that tugged in the corner of her mouth. He drew in a big breath before continuing, his smug expression falling a little, "Unfortunately secrecy is not my uncle's strongest suit, and word got out that I was on me way, and since it is no secret that I have a strong business association with ye, she fled."

Regina listened to his tale and while she thanked her lucky stars that someone of political power had chosen to side with her, she cursed at the girl's luck. For such a spoiled brat, she was managing to slip like seaweed.

Upon Regina's lack of response he continued, "I've set the warning to all me family's land to seize her and bring her to me alone if anyone ever came upon her," he inhaled deeply, "but I guess that brat does have more tricks up her sleeve than I had expected, she managed to cross the border that very day, so I was told."

"Little shit!" Regina's rage was beginning to surface, thinking of how Snow must have charmed her way out of the highlands with her innocent eyes and sad story. But there was nothing sad or innocent about that girl, she was selfish and spoiled, she had ruined Regina's life, condemned her to rot in darkness, making Regina play the role of mother and living doll for her own egoistic amusement. Regina felt her face grow red, her head start to ache and her hands to tighten in fists, making her long, sharp nails dig into her flesh, and the pain of it woke her from her rage-filled haze just as Jamie began to speak again.

"So the man who attacked me hand was the archer ye sent after her?" He asked conversationally, their deal, although it had not been discussed thoroughly, had been apparently settled.

"Yes," Regina hissed a response not liking the fact that their topic was once more that damned man.

Jamie huffed, wiggling his eyebrows once apparently unimpressed but commented, "If he was truly aiming for me hand, he was indeed quite good," he took a few paces away from Regina and leaned back on the pillar where his hand had been most uncomfortably attached to only moments ago, "But I have a niggling feeling he was going for yer head,"

"He was doing no such thing," Regina replied almost protectively, in a small, out of character defense of the man who had just openly shot an arrow in her direction.

Jamie frowned a little at her response, "How can ye be so sure? He's an assassin, no?"

"Yes!" Regina replied a little too exasperated, "But I-" she tried but the words got caught on her throat for she actually had no plausible explanation to back her previous statements with.

It was ridiculous that the only justification she could come up with was that she could feel it. She could feel it in her gut that he would never harm her, even though everything that had been happening lately spoke against it – the dream of him plunging Daniel's dagger up her gut, this pathetic demonstration of jealousy…

Regina felt her breathing quicken and her cheeks grow hot as she fumbled over her head to try to come up with an excuse, a fact, anything to shut Jamie up and end this conversation.

Unfortunately, Jamie beat her to it, grinning like that infuriating cat she had once come across in Wonderland as if he knew all the answers in the world, "Ye have feelings for him." It was not a question, it was a statement, and Regina cursed her cheeks for turning even redder.

"Don't be absurd," Regina replied with speed, even though her blushing face betrayed the truth, "I have feelings for nobody, let alone a filthy, common outlaw." She defended herself, because no, there was no way on earth she had any feelings towards that ridiculous outlaw that were not sex or murder related.

"Then why keep him?" Jamie looked at her expectantly even though he was leaning against the pillar, as if daring her to give him a convincing answer.

"He owes me a debt for failing to kill Snow," Regina replied, trying to keep her head cold.

That was actually the truth, he was paying a debt, he had offered his services (more like his heart) in exchange for… Now that Regina thought of it, he never asked to be pardoned, he had just offered the heart with some excuse but Regina knew he had an agenda that most certainly involved that dead wife he had and-

"Yes?" Jamie asked, startling Regina back into reality. This was getting downright ridiculous; Regina could only blame her lack of heart for her mind drifting off with so much ease, "A debt? And?"

"And," Regina started impatient, Gods, she wanted to disappear, "-now he's paying it,"

"With what exactly?" he squinted only a little and Regina knew he was having way too much fun tormenting her with his silly questions, thinking that their history together gave him some immunity to her fireballs.

Her expression changed. Regina took a deep breath, managed to drain most of the flushed coloring from her cheeks, crossed her arms, raised a perfect brow and told him, "If you ask me one more question James, I swear to every high force there is above, that I will burn down your entire reproductive system."

She took one step towards him and saw his slight smirk dropped completely with the dead serious tone she was using, and he somewhat recoiled a little against the pillar, "Do not think for a minute that I've grown soft over the years, pet." She spat the title she had given him oh so long ago with venom.

Regina took yet another set of steps and came to stand right in front of him, "If anything, my fuse is shorter than ever." She widened her eyes a bit for dramatic effect. It worked, Jamie looked like he was doing his best to conceal the fact that he was terrified, "You were just witness to what happens to those who irritate me." She took a few final set of steps and closed the distance between them, her lips mere inches from his, but Regina looked him straight in the eye, "Now be a smart lad and shut up."

Regina was out of his personal space the second he dropped his gaze to his feet and cleared his throat. She had her back to him, not interested in looking in those green orbs. For even though she had managed to scare him, Jamie knew, he could somehow tell there was something more happening between her and that filthy man, and she cursed herself for talking in the first place. Regina was not ready to acknowledge what it was exactly that she felt towards the outlaw that prevented her from harming him fatally, but it was there; Jamie had seen it, and who was to say that someone else hadn't noticed as well?

He was the one to break the silence, his voice was deeper, all business, which Regina appreciated a lot, "I-" he cleared his throat one more time and continued, "I'm going to keep my man looking for her in the highlands."

Regina turned her head to the side and gave him a simple, "Good" before she quickly disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke that sent her directly back to her bedchambers, where she collapsed in bed after another wave of her hand that rid her entire body of everything she wore.

…

Turned out that falling asleep stark naked over soft, silky covers without her heart back in place, was not the smartest move Regina could have made. She had a restless night even though her eyes remained closed and her body unmoving upon her luxurious bed.

She was wondering about her castle, although everything looked dreamlike, her vision a little blurry, color and light drained a little whilst she crossed hall after hall, went down corridor after corridor, all of them looking so confusingly alike that Regina had no idea where she was headed. Night still reigned, that she could tell, the castle was mostly empty and oddly quiet, one or another guard stood at their post – some half asleep – but none of them paid her any mind, it was almost as if they could not see her.

Regina preferred it that way since upon a quick inspection she noticed she was stark naked, just as she had gone to bed earlier. She was quite aware that this was a mere dream, so Regina did not bother to put on anything to cover her bare body. It actually felt rather freeing to be able to roam about the castle that was rightfully hers in the nude, something she was sure she could never do in real life.

After some time, Regina noticed that she was not walking, her feet did not touch the ground, but rather, she was floating, like a ghost. She moved faster than usual, making her way to some place inside the confines of her castle, she turned left twice, and after following another corridor, turned right. It was only when she went through a dark wooden door - like the ghost that she was - that Regina realized where her gliding feet had taken her.

He was out, sound asleep over the covers of his bed, slumbering on his stomach, and Regina noted with a slight chuckle that he snored a little. She approached the bed that housed his sleeping figure with unnecessary caution - if the guards could not see or hear her, it was most probable that the outlaw would not as well.

There was a single candle burning on the bedside table, which assisted her in seeing his discarded trousers and boots near the bed along with an arrow, which Regina was almost sure was the very same that she had plunged into his chest.

She frowned, remembering the happenings of less than a few hours ago and looking at the man sprawled on the bed. He looked as if he had simply rid himself of the arrow on his chest as easily as he had discarded his trousers and boots, and carelessly thrown himself in bed.

She had plunged the arrow where his heart had lain knowing that it would not kill him for his heart, his life line, as was safe and sound in her vault. But even só, there should have been blood, on the arrow, on the clothes or the floor. She could spot no red as she scanned the room looking for a stained cloth or a water basin or maybe a-

Do not be daft Regina, this is a dream! It is not reality! That man is not the actual outlaw but simply a product of your twisted, ridiculous imagination, you silly girl, a severe voice told her, it sounded like very much her own but only graver, maybe mother's, but different somehow, unlike any of the others which insisted in tormenting her.

Regina blinked several times until the harsh voice disappeared from inside her head.

Yes

This was a dream, a silly dream. Just a dream, once she woke up it would be over, as if it had never happened, no one would ever know what she did or did not do because it was quite simply not real, Regina herself might not even remember it once she woke.

With that reassurance in mind, Regina approached his bed; she found it odd her mind could come up with such a detailed version of his bedchambers, for she had never stepped inside them before, but she remembered vaguely that she had set aside a good room for him. He had pleased her a lot even if he had failed in his mission, so she felt strangely generous and gave him one of the bedchambers that belonged to one of those disgusting nobles.

Dark, heavy velvet curtains concealed the moonlight, there were fine pieces of furniture about the room, but it was almost bare of any other objects save for a few clothes and boots scattered around, his bow resting against the dresser along with his quiver.

When Regina was finally hovering just beside the bed, her eye was caught by the drawer of the bedside table that was slightly ajar, and inside she could see a folded piece of parchment. Mindlessly, she made it to take the paper but her hand went right through it, a ghost she was indeed.

Bubbling curiosity suddenly invaded her, and she quite simply had to know what was written in that sodding piece of paper. Concentrating as much as she could, she tried to use her magic to at least unfold the parchment. It took a little bit off her, but eventually the bending of the paper gave in and opened up to reveal Regina's own handwriting and two words that brought a smirk to her lips.

Nice Ass

Regina could not help but laugh a little at her boldness at the occasion and sensed a little fire build up on the pit of her stomach as she thought of how magical it felt to have his warm body against hers.She inhaled deeply through her nose and finally turned to the man in question, who was still dead to the world, snoring blissfully, unaware of her ghostly presence.

Even though he was only illuminated by a single candle, Regina could see his covered up back rise and fall quite clearly, his head faced away from the side of the bed she was standing at, and both his hands had found their way underneath the pillow, making it a little higher than it normally was.

Regina did not remember when she had gone to the other side of the bed and managed to ghostly sit herself on the bed, her spiritual form leaning over him to find that he was actually frowning. It felt foolish to try to touch him, she was quite aware that her fingers would simply traverse his form. He shifted a little and Regina could see that even though he was wearing a shirt, it was open, revealing just a little bit of skin to her.

Regina could not help but try to trace a particularly eye popping scar on his left shoulder. It had been clearly created a good while ago, for it had no trace of redness about it, but still Regina could almost see how a sharp blade must have carved that mark on the man, one swift swipe that created a long line.

Against her better judgement, Regina's hand ghosted over the scar from the base to his shoulder, she could feel sizzling energy emanating from his skin and felt a cold shiver up her spine. When she reached the end of the scar, Regina gasped when her fingers actually came in contact with his skin, sending a shock of electricity so strong about her that she immediately withdrew her hand and stood. He shifted a little bit more to lay on his side to reveal his bare chest, Regina could just stare hauntingly at what was imprinted on the skin where his heart had once been.

A scar, a thick pink line marked the exact same spot she had impaled an arrow that very evening. Regina's eyes grew impossibly large at the sight, she felt so confused and panicked, her head started getting light, as if she was going to pass out. She blinked several times and noted that the frown had left his forehead and a wee grin tugged on his lips. That sight brought a new wave of panic throughout Regina's body, making her remember his sickening smile in a dream past where he had shoved Daniel's blade up her gut.

Regina took a few gliding steps back before everything went black.

…

When Regina's eyes shot open, she gasped for air – even though she had been breathing normally whilst asleep – and every last hair on her body stood as a great shiver went through her. Her body was buzzing and so were her ears as she realized she was on her stomach instead of on her back – position she normally slept in – and also that she was still very much naked.

Her body protested when she rose from the bed too soon, her back giving a nice crack but her head becoming light, the buzzing in her ears worsening.

Too quickly, too quickly, she thought whilst she closed her eyes. Her feet were already touching the fur rug beside her bed, whilst she took a deep breath and tried to quiet whatever alien thing that was coarsening about her body, her heart-

HER HEART

How could she have forgotten about her heart of all things?

Ignoring the protests from her recently awakened body, Regina hastily made her way to her dresser. She saw little black spots in front of her eyes while trying to locate the box, once she found it, she quickly ran her hand over it twice and concentrated on her blood magic. The box opened to reveal her blackened heart, intact, or at least looking like it had when she had ripped it out the night before.

It was only when she took her beating organ in hand that Regina noticed a thin golden line on one side, it was a little long and slightly curved. Regina traced it with her pinkie, the contact giving her goosebumps. A gush of wind invaded her bedroom through the window and diverted her attention.

Her eyes went to the half-closed curtains and she could see a little of the Sun from where she stood, little enough for her to know that it was way beyond the early hours of the day, as it shone brightly right in the middle of the sky.

She huffed and closed her fingers about her heart, took a deep breath and pushed the heart back inside her chest upon the exhale.

Regina had endured pain before, during her magical training, during her first year of being married to Leopold, during all those torturous years of being raised by her mother. This brand of pain, however, was something different, it was as if she was given a shock's worth of all the feelings she had been deprived of since she had been parted from her heart.

Pain, regret, self-consciousness, affection, hate, all rushed through her veins like venom; Regina was hardly capable of registering everything. The next moment, she could feel her body embrace the lost organ as they all became one once more and it started beating at a normal pace.

Regina had not realized she had closed her eyes in the process, but when she reopened them, a single tear fell onto the surface of the dresser. Another gush of air from the windows made Regina aware of the sweat drops along her naked body and she waved her hand, letting her magic wash away the sweat, remains of dirt and dried blood that still rested on her skin.

With a new movement of her hand, her bare feet stopped touching the ground and met the soles of ridiculously high-heeled shoes, and her torso and legs were covered by a random Queenly gown from her endless collection. Hair pinned up, face painted, as if she had spent hours making herself ready.

Mindlessly, Regina went to her full-length mirror in order to inspect her magic's work when a memory hit her, almost like a tornado, the images of a hazy, odd dream Regina was sure she'd had the night before flashed before her eyes.

The untouched arrow on the floor, the note on the nightstand, the frown that had turned into a haunting smirk on his features, the pink scar on his chest where there should have been bandaging and blood.

The whole thing seemed hazy and yet so painfully concrete, even though it had been anything but solid in the dream. Her hands had gone thru everything she tried to touch, except-

Regina did not let her mind wonder a second more about it before she was out of the door and making her way down her tower. She knew where she was going, she was following the hazy path she had made the night before in her dream, half-wishing she was wrong and half-wondering what she would find if she were right.

When Regina finally came to stand before the door she had walked through the previous night, she took a deep breath before trying to open it. It was locked, but a little bit of magic was all it took for it to swing open.

Her heart started racing when her eyes accounted that this had been the room she had visited the prior night in her dream. She quickly scanned the place, finding the sheets ruffled but still in place, as if someone had slept on top of them, and an arrow – the arrow from the night before – was now on the nightstand. Regina approached the piece of furniture and took the item in order to get a closer look, but her gaze was quickly drawn by something that confirmed her worst theory.

The drawer of the nightstand was still ajar and inside she could still see her handwriting on a piece of paper now mocking her. As if seeing a ghost she walked backwards, feeling her face grow cold and pale, her fear becoming true, the illusion of the dream breaking apart.

For it had not been a dream. Far from it, it had been only too real.

…