Regina rode hard and fast.

Rocinante might have easily seen behind the glamour, but Regina was still having some minor difficulties in maneuvering her new body. It was very much like her own, but still, there were some things that were simply different. She felt her arms much stronger than before, her breasts were slightly bigger which made a whole set of things more tricky than before, she knew she was a bit shorter than she used to be, which meant that the adjustments she had made on Rocinante's saddle weren't quite fitting her.

But still, she rode and tried to ignore those minor issues, focusing on the road ahead. She knew where she was heading, the genie had mentioned the village had been suffering the attacks of a lone werewolf. She knew which village it was for she herself had ordered for a party of black knights to investigate it and bring her back something on this lone creature, but her incompetent soldiers had come back empty handed. Regina had actually been interested in that kind of monster for quite some time. Having werewolves on her side would help her track Snow White in mere hours. Maybe Regina could kill two birds with one stone in this small solo mission of hers.

Solo

Thinking of how she had chosen to be alone in this quest made her think of the thief she woke up on top of. He was a mystery to unfold, and the fact that she wanted to know more about him scared her out of her wits. Regina did not know if she had gotten in too deep with the outlaw already, she knew she had feelings for him, but events like last night, in which she let a small portion of them show, quite simply could not happen. She did not trust herself or him enough.

It took her about an hour on horseback to get to the village, she arrived at about noon and the streets were busy but thankfully also rather wide. She dismounted Rocinante and continued her quest on foot but chose to take her friend with her, not trusting any stables that could possibly house her. The city was bigger than she had imagined, Regina went by at least five taverns in a few minutes of walking on the stone ground of the streets.

She found it odd how the place vibrated, the colors of the flowers, drapes, and dresses seemed so much more intense, having condemned herself to living in a grey castle would do that to one's eyes apparently. Regina could not help but breathe in deeply, taking in everything about the small but vivacious town, and actually feeling good. That she could walk along the streets with no worries, that people would not cower at her feet at the mere sight of her, the feeling was freeing and odd.

Commerce was heavy and people here and there screamed and shouted in order to attract customers. Regina imagined this was the very core of the city, where business was made during the day and ale was drunk when the moon came up.

People went about their daily routines, children ran about playing some silly game, a pair of young men played sword fight with wooden blades under the watchful eye of a man bound to be a parent. Three women passed Regina by carrying baskets filled with bread, they were chatting quite animatedly, their giggles kept Regina's attention on the group. A young boy suddenly came into the picture and started to recite what seemed to be a poem to the three ladies, who eyed him with contained smiles on their lips.

While they were distracted, a sleazy little girl with raven locks managed to steal two loafs. Regina chuckled at the whole thing and the simplicity of everything she saw. Her blood ran cold when she spotted a black guard nearby. Thankfully, the man seemed more interested in talking to a blushing young woman with a generous bosom than reprimanding the thievering pair.

Regina could count half a dozen blackguards about the streets, but while one of them flirted with that young lady, two others sat just outside a tavern sharing two generous jugs of ale. They clicked the metal things and Regina was tempted to scold them but quickly reminded herself that she did not look like the Queen that she was, such a thing would probably get her back to her castle, but straight to the dungeons.

She should not be distracted by all this mundane nonsense.

Regina had to figure out how she would get to that old woman, she did not even know a name or anything of the sort, only that the woman owned a crossbow and was a fan of knitting awfully distasteful-

"Hey!" a male deep voice called out.

Rocinante was the first to react by neighing loudly as Regina felt her arm being seized by a large hand while the other one tried to control her mare.

It was agitated by the intrusion and Regina used her free hand to try and soothe her friend into at least stop moving. A few words and strokes to the muzzle did it and Regina then, was able to face the person who had grabbed her, ready to give him a nice kick where the sun did not shine.

Her body spun around to come face to face with a man she had never seen before, but from the looks on his face, he had seen her.

Had her glamour worn off already? Damned imp!

Curiously enough, just like the outlaw, the large man before her looked like he had seen a ghost, or more like, was seeing a ghost. He was very tall but also rather fat, his hair was boring, dark brown, curly and almost reached his shoulders. He was young, maybe a little younger than Regina but his beard was full, making him look a little older and a tad tougher. Most of the color had drained from his face and he knitted his brows together as his dark, brown eyes regarded her with amazement and apprehension.

Regina broke the silence, "What?" she made a brusque movement with her seized arm and he released it.

He blinked a few times, his face still scrunched in confusion, "Milady-" he opened his mouth to speak further but no words seemed to come out, Regina's patience was wearing thin.

"Yes? What do you want?" she tried not to sound too annoyed, but annoyed enough to let him know she would kick him in the shins if he touched her again, after all, even if he proves to be of some assistance, no one went around grabbing her.

The man's frown deepened upon hearing her voice and Regina had to kick herself inwardly because she had forgotten her voice remained the same. Although it would be pretty difficult for anybody to recognize Regina for her voice alone, maybe Snow would be able to. But not a simple peasant, after all, Leopold made sure the only thing she showed off was her beautiful face, but almost never allowed her to open her mouth in public.

"Forgive me milady-" he still looked at her funny, "-but you look so much like someone I once knew."

Now it was Regina's turn to frown, there was a catch in her disguise, the imp never revealed all his secrets, Regina had to wonder what it was. First the outlaw looked at her as if she had grown another head and now this complete stranger told her that face was familiar. Regina's curiosity won over and she decided to investigate, maybe all-you-can-eat-buffet guy could help her with that. But in order for him to cooperate, she would have to toss her bitter disposition aside and pretend to be-

What was the word?

Amiable.

"Do I?" she asked, faking gentleness but with true curiosity, "What is her name? Maybe we are distant cousins-" she felt extremely foolish while trying to do this correctly.

The man seemed to buy her act, but the smile he gave her was a sad one, "Her name was Marian." He emphasized the word 'was' and looked down at his feet, "She passed away a little over a year ago."

"I'm so sorry for your loss." Regina gave him, although she was not sorry at all. People died all of the time, most of the time, she was the cause behind it. Regina wanted to learn more, "Was she from this village?"

"Oh no," he looked up and gave her a small, sad smile, "We lived in a ca-" he stopped mid sentence and Regina had to wonder why that was, he cleaned his throat and started again, "We, me and her, and the rest of our company, we used to live in the outskirts of Nottingham, at Sherwood Forest."

"Company? And actually in the forest?" Regina asked, "Are you a nomad?"

"Not exactly," he itched his curly brown mess of hair, "More like-" he bit his lower lip, he was thinking so hard Regina could almost physically feel it, "-moving good doers." He concluded.

Regina was not able to suppress the look of what-the-hell? she had on her face. She shook her head remembering something else and asked, "Nottingham? Prince John's domain?"

Wasn't the thief, Robin, from the whereabouts of Nottingham?

"That very same milady." The man replied, seemingly happy that she recognized the name. He seemed to remember his manners and gave her, "I'm John by the way."

"Re-" she stopped mid-word but it was too late, at the nick of the moment she could not think of a single other name beginning with 'Re' other than her own, "Regina, my name is Regina."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you milady Regina," he bowed his head a little towards her and Regina was grateful he had not asked for her hand to kiss, "Forgive me for grabbing your arm." a small add of red to his cheeks accompanied his apology.

Regina smiled at him and hoped she could sell it, "Forgiven." There was a small pause and she took her leap of faith, "Could I possibly ask you something?"

"Of course!" his chest inflated a little bit and Regina knew she could ask just about anything.

"You say you and your friend were from Nottingham-" she started, she knew she should be asking about crossbow granny but her curiosity was going to be the death of her.

"Yes." he confirmed.

"I wonder, were any of you two ever able to meet-" Regina looked to the sides to see if there was anybody spying on them and spoke in a hushed tone, "-Robin Hood?"

The paleness his face had carried when he had first looked at her was nothing in comparison to how white he looked with her question.

He blinked a few times, his mouth was slightly ajar, "Robin Hood?" he half whispered.

"Yes," Regina found herself whispering as well, but with excitement for this man obviously knew Robin, "I have heard so many stories about-" she continued, trying to lure the man into disclosing anything about Robin's past but he cut her off.

"He's gone." His tone was dead serious.

"You mean he's dead?" she knew that was not true, for she had woken up on top of him that very morning.

"He might as well be." There was bitterness in his tone and Regina was taking a wild guess that this man had once been a member of the band of outlaws known as the Merry Men. Regina knew that the group was a thiefering lot, but was also well aware of the fact that they had a very strict code of honor.

Robin had most certainly not been honourable since he came into her life, and even before that, which was why she had sought him out in the first place.

Still, she played dumb, "Why?"

He cleared his throat and glanced to the sides, checking for something, before he spoke, "After his Marian died, along with their baby boy, he lost his sense completely."

Regina's heart went cold, she felt goosebumps rise in arms and she could not hold back a gasp.

Oh no

"You mean-" Regina was connecting the dots and most certainly did not like the image they painted, "-the woman I resemble, Marian, was Robin Hood's wife?"

"Yes." the man sighed, he turned his head a little to the side and spoke softly, "Gods, you're the spitting image of her."

Everything made sense now. The reaction she had gotten from the thief, his stiffness, his haunted look, his insistence in not looking at her.

Rumpelstiltskin was truly a cruel thing.

And he deemed that I should suffer as well, she could hear the outlaw's words ringing in her ears, now they made so much sense it was almost painful.

Regina could not help but imagine how she would have reacted if it had been the other way round, if the imp had shapeshifted the outlaw into her long lost stable boy. She would not have been able to hold her cool like the outlaw had been able to. She had to remind herself that he no longer had a heart, but still, the feeling behind his eyes was painfully real. She could sense something was off and although he was quite skilled at hiding his true colors, she knew there was something amiss.

She felt her heart shrink with sentiment for the man. Regina imagined how her very presence must have caused him a significant amount of suffering and felt even worse.

"Milady?" the fat man was speaking to her again, she had almost completely forgotten about him, he looked concerned.

"I'm sorry, I did not know," Regina spoke softly, but the words were more directed at Robin than at the large man standing before her. Her aching heart beat fast against her ribcage, wanting to quite simply disappear and go back to that morning bliss she had had with the thief, in her own skin.

"It's quite alright milady," he gave her a friendly smile and Regina thought that was a start.

She could hold back her next question, "What happened to him then?" she half whispered, "To Robin Hood?" Although she knew exactly what had happened, she found herself curious to know this man's point of view.

The man's face twisted in sadness and after a moment's silence, he gave her "He's lost himself completely, nothing of the man I used to know remains." his tone was grave.

Regina had to wonder if that was true, she didn't think he was all that bad. Come to think of it, to her he was actually quite good. Then again, she was probably just as lost in darkness as Robin was, so her judgement was different.

"He's been working for the Queen now." the man added, pulling Regina from her thoughts, "Hunting down Snow White." That sentence was delivered with a tad more bitterness, "I'm surprised he hasn't come after us-" he stopped mid sentence, looking as if he had said something he wasn't supposed to.

"Why would he do that? Are you wanted by the Queen?" Regina was quick to ask and he looked very unsure, "It's okay. I'm not going to turn you in." Regina thought fast in order to create a believable story, kicking herself inwardly for not having done so while riding there. "I'm an outlaw" her voice was a whisper, "The Queen wants me dead."

She watched as his face morphed from unsure to surprised, she could trace empathy in his eyes and tried her luck.

"You were part of Robin Hood's band. Weren't you?" she used all the power of persuasion she could muster.

There was a beat before he replied, "Yes, yes, I was." He looked up as if remembering better times and took a deep breath, "I am wanted by Prince John, not by the Queen. I have to thank my lucky stars I am wanted by a pathetic monarch like Prince John and not by someone as cruel as the Queen." There was a beat when he looked at her and continued, "But if the Queen wants you dead, you should really be on the lookout for Ro-" he stopped and corrected himself, "For him." He gave her a worried look, "He nearly killed Snow White and mangled her companion to pieces." He had distaste written all over his face as he finished, "They say he'll do everything that Evil Queen orders him to do and that she has no heart."

That last sentence hit a hard cord inside Regina's chest. She was a monster in this man's eyes, she had no heart. And it was all Snow White's fault.

She reminded herself she had to focus on her mission, she was there - in that cruel joke of a disguise - for a reason, to learn the location of Snow White and to try to make an alliance with the werewolf that terrified the village. She had to think of a way that this man would trust her and help her find her way to crossbow granny, not try to dig into the outlaw's past.

"You're not from here, are you?" he asked in a different tone.

"No, I'm-" Regina took a deep breath and gave her story it's best shot, "I have heard of an old woman who has been sheltering outlaws in this very village, they say she's quite skilled with a crossbow."

The man gave a hearty laugh and for a terrifying moment, Regina thought he was going to turn her to the blackguards. He placed his big hand on her shoulder and squeezed it a little, Regina had to use all the strength in her body not to sneer and shrug off the large hand.

"Granny Lucas' reputation most certainly proceeds her," he regarded Regina for a beat, "She also can throw a very mean punch."

"Do you think she'll help me?" Regina gave it her best shot.

"Don't worry milady, I'll take you to her."

…

Regina was apprehensive about this man, he seemed to believe her rather too quickly and had been far too willing to assist her. She had always been the suspicious kind of person, always thought all did something for something, and for all she knew she was dealing with a thief. She was sure that at some point he would make his price known, Regina just hoped that by the time he did, she would at least have her magic back.

Nevertheless, she followed him, bringing Rocinante alongside them, which gave Regina some sense of security, were anything to happen, she could jump on her horse's back and ride as fast as she could.

Maybe this whole idea was foolish, to go with this man she barely knew in search of a woman who aided her enemy. Yet something deep inside her reasoned that he was a bandit himself, he could not turn her to the black guards without getting himself taken as well. Plus, he seemed like the kind of honorable annoying person who always did the right thing. Regina had to wonder if Robin had once truly been like this. It seemed so unlikely given his lack of scruples, but if Regina knew one thing, it was that death could affect a person in the most twisted ways.

They walked side by side but talked very little, for which Regina was thankful, she still had to make up an entire story about 'Regina, the bandit' so she could convince the old lady to trust her. It seemed a bit ironic that she would disguise herself as an outlaw, but what was downright cruel was the fact that she had to do so wearing Robin's dead wife's face. Regina had to wonder how it was that the imp knew how Robin's wife even looked like. Had they met before? The imp and the thief did not seem very content about seeing each other that morning.

The house was nowhere near the place where John had found her. She figured she would have wasted a very long time searching for it, for it was out of the way, off the market and city center. They had to track for some minutes about the outskirts of the woods and cross a bridge over a river to get to the small cottage. The place was the perfect hideaway, a wee house, somehow isolated from the rest, innocent looking enough, with a gray haired old lady by the door and the smell of freshly baked bread. No one would ever suspect a thing. But Regina knew appearances could be deceiving.

Regina had to thank her lucky stars that the old woman by the door was indeed the one she had seen in her mirror.

"Granny, this is Regina-" John said as they took their final steps towards the woman who smiled warmly at her, "-she says she's in need of shelter."

"It's only for one-" Regina started but stopped mid sentence as the older woman moved quickly and started searching Regina, who was too stunned to react.

The woman patted her sides and her back, lifted her skirts and searched her legs for a weapon of some sort. Regina was able to feel victorious for a second before the woman found the dagger she had been hiding in between her breasts.

"There we are," the old woman had a rough accent that screamed that she was not from those parts, or even from Regina's kingdom at all. She was a little on the heavy side but not too much, her blue old eyes glistened as she inspected the small blade Robin had given her, and Regina could not help but feel violated and robbed.

"Are you quite done?" Regina could not help but ask bitterly, wishing she could summon her magic and fry the old woman's face off.

"Yes quite." She had the nerve to reply and pocketed the dagger in her apron.

"That's mine." Regina could not help but protest, she knew she was doing no good for her cause acting up this way, but she quite simply could not help it.

"I know that-" the old woman replied, as she patted the pocket where she had placed the small blade, "And I will give it back to ye when ye leave."

"And how am I supposed to protect myself without my weapon?" Regina was outraged.

"Ye're under me protection child-" Granny Lucas frowned, "-ye will not be needing yer weapon here."

The fat man John had the audacity to give Regina a reprimanding look.

"What?" Regina spat at him, she knew that if she kept on showing her true colors she would blow her cover before she even got a chance to enter the house, "Am I to wander around unarmed?" She raised a single brow at him.

"Of course not," the old lady agreed, "But rules are rules. No weapons in the house." She patted the pocket once more and looked Regina from top to bottom, seeming to examine her, which made her feel rather uncomfortable, "Now, let's get ye inside, shall we?"

…

John left, most thankfully, and Rocinante was left outside for her much deserved rest. Regina was ushered inside by the enigmatic woman John insisted upon calling Granny. Inside the house was simple, woody, but cozy. There was a vast amount of colorful wool rolls and knitted everythings scattered about the place. Regina quickly spotted the rocking chair she had seen Granny Lucas knit before she grabbed her crossbow that morning. It faced a fireplace with a shelf on top of it, there, amongst trivial objects, Regina could see a mirror facing down, which reminded Regina to remain on her toes.

"Have you eaten?" Granny asked her, snapping her out of her haze.

"I-" Regina started and had to think back to the last time she ate. She could not remember eating anything that day or a day before, "I had some wine yesterday evening-" She tried and Granny immediately shot her a look of reprimand.

"Ye young things-" she grabbed Regina by the arm and guided her through a door that led to the kitchen, the whole way she kept on babbling. "Ye think that a glass of wine will keep ye on yer feet?" She let go of Regina's arm, leaving her by a wooden table as she went on grabbing several objects and then putting them down in different places. She stopped and looked at Regina for a beat, "Wait until yer me age-"

Regina was a bit shocked about being dragged about the house and told off by a person she hardly knew, nevertheless, she had to maintain her cover, if she was too sour, the old bag would spill nothing, "I'm sorry, last night I was-" Regina tried to explain but stopped mid sentence.

The old woman was setting the table and looked up when Regina stopped speaking, "Ye were what?"

Suddenly remembering the night before brought an involuntary blush to Regina's cheeks. The old woman simply smirked knowingly, "I see-" she continued to set the table, "-we usually forget a great number of things when we are-" she cleaned her throat, "How should I put it?" she looked up at Regina again, "Otherwise engaged."

Regina did not know why but that only managed to make her blush deepen, she felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment, which was ridiculous since she was definitely not ashamed of what she had done with the thief the prior night.

"Am I embarrassing ye, lass?" Granny asked having finished with the table and sitting herself down in one of the chairs, "Come-" she motioned for Regina to sit in the chair across from her, "Sit," she removed a clean cloth from a tray, revealing a freshly baked loaf of bread, "Eat."

Regina complied, sat and before she knew it was eating the simple but surprisingly delicious bread in the most unladylike way, she was truly hungry and she had not even noticed.

"Forgive me-" Regina tried to give the old lady once she had eaten half of the loaf, "It's just-" she swallowed, "Talking of such things with an older woman makes me feel I'm talking to my mother." She tried to change the subject but noticed only too late she had entered an even worse territory.

"Was she a good mother?" Granny asked, she seemed interested.

"She was a horrible mother." Regina gave her with hesitation.

"How so?" the old lady inquired, bringing her arms to rest on the table.

"She killed my fiancé right in front of me because she thought I could do better than a stable boy." It was out of her lips before Regina could help it.

The woman in front of her made no sound, she did not need to, her expression was quite enough. It morphed from the initial shock, to pity and finally rested on something fierce and revolted.

The old woman broke the silence, "What happened next?"

Regina was thankful the woman did not take her hand and gave her the pity look and the 'I'm so sorry for your loss dear' that she was expecting. But she was asking for a story, so Regina put her half fake, half true tale to the test.

"I was forced to marry a man of high birth who was old enough to be my grandfather only a week after my fiancé was murdered. It was not what mother had said-" Regina swallowed, "Mother had assured me that-"Regina looked from the woman to stare at her hands, "He was not-" she entwined her fingers, looking at them fiercely, "He was not gentle." She had to stop there for a moment, given that this part was the truth, retelling it was affecting Regina more than she had expected.

She had to get a hold of herself.

"So I ran." Regina swallowed the tears that she knew would come if she kept on that track, "I took my horse and rode as far from that awful place as possible, never looked back. Have been on the run from him ever since. It has been years since that day, but now, at least, I'm free. I have the sky as my roof and the earth as my bed." Regina felt a pang in her heart in wondering if she would have been happier if she had just left all those years ago, or if she had simply gone into that tavern to meet the man with the lion-

"Yer a brave lass." Granny gave her, "Ye've got fire and quite a little bit of spunk, I respect that."

Regina lifted her eyes from her hands to meet Granny's gaze and the old woman was regarding her with a whole new set of eyes, she thought she could even see some admiration in the mix.

"Thank you" Regina found herself saying sincerely.

The old woman smiled warmly at her. It seemed that Regina's tale had struck a hard chord with her. She could only hope that it had convinced her Regina was someone who could be trusted, a true outlaw on the run, a survivor.

Although, after being married to Leopold for ten torturous years, Regina was truly a survivor.

"And what of this lad who warmed yer bed last night? What is he to ye?" she asked abruptly.

Regina was a little dumbfounded that the woman was being so direct.

"How can you be sure he warmed my heart?" Regina replied.

"I may be old, and I may be a tad bit deaf of one ear, but I know that look and that particular kind of blush ye had on yer cheeks, lass." she said, "And I said 'bed', not 'heart'." She looked at Regina knowingly, a tiny smile on her lips as if she had seen that scene a dozen times before.

Regina felt her cheeks red and knew it was doing very little for her case, "It's nothing-" she managed, "Nothing serious just a-"

"My dear-" this time, Granny did place her hand on top of Regina's, "I'm not a fool-" she patted Regina's hand twice, "I have seen that twinkle that is sparkling in yer eye many times before." She released Regina's hand and took a deep breath, "It was wiped away from me granddaughter's eyes quite recently."

Regina was trying not to register the words the old woman was saying, for she did not want to acknowledge that whatever feeling she had towards the outlaw was 'twinkling' in her eyes.

Her voice was weak when she asked, "What happened?"

"He died," she said simply, "She feels responsible for it."

"Was she?" Regina was almost afraid to ask.

"Yes." The answer came fast and direct.

Granny stood up and crossed the kitchen, silence reigned but for her footsteps. She looked down at a basin on the floor and sighed, crouching down for a moment then coming back up with her hands on her hips.

"We'll have to get some more water." She said, still looking down at the basin.

Regina hummed in response, still not quite knowing what to make of this strange woman.

Granny spoke again, "Pick up that bucket behind ye lass." She pointed over Regina's shoulder.

Regina quickly got up to retrieve the object and Granny left her alone in the kitchen for a few moments before she returned wearing a knit scarf over her shoulders and a crossbow in her arms. She stared at the woman for a little while, a little unsure as to what to say.

"Ye don't think I can use it?" Granny asked the silent question holding the crossbow a little higher.

"No-" Regina started but immediately corrected herself, "I mean, yes-" She was stuttering, what was wrong with her? Had the mere mention of her feelings towards the outlaw left her in such a state?

Granny gave her a grave unimpressed look.

"What I meant to say was-" she managed to get her wits about her again, "Yes, I do think you can use the crossbow, forgive me Granny."

"'Tis all right." She gave her, turning her back on her and heading towards the door, "Yer not the first to doubt it." Regina followed her outside while the old woman continued to speak, "In fact, the last lass I helped-" Regina's ears picked up like a hunting dog's, "-had doubted I could even lift it."

"Really?" Regina asked, her heart started beating fast as they had finally gotten to the right subject, Snow.

"Aye-" Granny continued to speak while leading the way out, into the garden while Regina followed behind, "In fact-" she lifted one finger but did not turn around to deliver, "-that lass had that same twinkle in her green eyes, but they were sad and battered."

This was way too good to be true, Regina felt herself smile at the news of Snow being heart broken and tried to ignore the fact that the old bag had just compared her to Regina.

She could not help but ask just as they were crossing the gate, "What happened to her?"

"She had to make a sacrifice in order for the man she loves to live." Granny gave her as they walked, "They can't be together, it's-" Granny stopped and sniffed once turning around to face Regina. Her words died on her throat. Instead, her expression shifted from shock to complete anger as she aimed the crossbow in Regina's direction.

Her eyes were wide with fury and Regina could not understand why, the old woman spat out, "You!"

"What about me?" Regina asked, waving her hands and that was when she saw it.

Her hands had turned back into their original color, her nails were now painted with deep red and there were several expensive rings on her fingers. She slowly looked down at herself and saw she was no longer wearing brown, plain cotton but shinny, crimson taffeta, one of the many exquisite dresses she owned.

The Queen owned.

She did not know how, but her cover was no longer and by the look on Granny's face, the old woman knew only too well who she really was now.

Without warning, the old bag fired and by sheer luck, since her powers had returned, Regina had been ready and grabbed the arrow with her hand just before it hit her right in the middle of her eyes.

"Ye vile monster!" Granny spat at her and Regina could hardly recognize the woman who had been feeding her and telling about twinkling eyes only moments ago, "You will never have her."

Regina could not show weakness, Regina was, amongst a lot of things, rather pissed at the woman in front of her. She smirked and waved her hand. The dagger that Granny had pocketed in her apron for safety reasons flew from its confines into Regina's grip.

"I believe since we are no longer inside the house that I can have my dagger back," she gave the mad looking old lady as she toyed with the blade, throwing it from one hand to another. "Now-" she gripped the dagger firmly in her right hand and pointed it towards Granny, "Where is Snow White hiding?"

The answer came quickly in the form of another damned arrow produced by the crossbow, Regina caught it and threw it on the ground. She took one step forward and another arrow came flying her way, she caught it as well and snapped it with her bare hand.

Regina stood her ground, "Tell me where she is!" she nearly screamed.

Granny's eyes were cold and unfeeling as she released another arrow from her crossbow, and again, she was able to grab the arrow just before it hit its fatal target.

"I'm going to ask you one last time, don't test my patience grandma, you'll regret it dearly." She chose to wave her hand once and make the crossbow disappear so that Granny Lucas had much more of a disadvantage then. "The bandit Snow White, where is she?" Regina gave her one last chance. She had so many mixed feelings about what she would do if the old bag did not do as she was told. Maybe Regina could bully her into speaking, but she did not know if she had the heart to actually torture the information out of-

Suddenly, she did not have to decide anymore. For the woman in front of her, Granny Lucas, who had helped Snow White escape Regina's clutches far too many times, but who had also shown her compassion and understanding was gone. She simply disappeared.

"What?"

The answer as to why came quickly. An irritating giggle rang from behind her, and Regina immediately closed her eyes and huffed in annoyance, she spun on her heels to come face to face with the Dark One himself.

"Oops" he placed his overly glittered hand over his mouth.

"I'm in no mood for games." Her voice was low and dangerous, if the Dark One thought he was going to play with her, he was going to get more than he bargained for.

He let out another one of those annoying laughs only he seemed to be able to fabricate and Regina found it odd that he was in such a merry mood being that last time she had seen him, he had been heart broken.

"This was not part of the deal." She gave him, "I know the shapeshifting spell did not simply wear off." She took one step in his direction, "You lifted it right when that old sack of bones was going to tell me where Snow was hiding."

His face turned serious then as he replied, "There will be no more deals." Regina frowned at that alone, she made to say something but Rumple lifted a finger in order to silence her and continued, "You broke our deal."

"I did no such thing." Regina's voice was a little weak as her heart rate accelerated with nervousness.

He squinted and waved his pointing finger in her direction, "Oh yes you did, you deceitful snake." That last insult got Regina by surprise and she had to suppress the gasp that almost came out. "Now-" he folded his arms about his front, "Return my maid Belle-" Regina's eyes went wide with that, "-or I will turn you into a pot of Regina stew."

Oh shit!

Regina managed to keep her face from betraying her feelings, years of training had done the trick, but she could not help but feel a burning turmoil inside. She was scared, more than she would ever admit, and treading on a very sloppy surface, for she had never dealt with this Rumple. One that was clearly in love. Regina knew love was weakness, but she also knew that love made people do unspeakable things, and being that she was dealing with Rumpelstiltskin, she could expect anything.

Regina had to rail in every insecure thought that haunted her mind in order to deal with this in the most logical way, in order to escape with her life and her prisoner, she was not giving up on either since that girl was perfect leverage.

He had learned the truth, of course he had. Regina knew it was only a matter of time before he found out that the fate she had painted for beautiful Belle was simply a work of fiction, but he had been faster than she had expected.

She had to throw him off his game, right now he had a very clear advantage. Regina concentrated on her rage and wordlessly cast a protective shield about herself. She hoped her heart rate would return to normal with this small but still there defense.

She needed make him uneasy, he always made stupid decisions when he was distressed. Luckily for her, she had spent far too much time in the company of the imp, so she knew exactly where she should shove the blade and twist it. Plus, Regina had one thing that he did not, Belle.

"Oh!" she laughed, "Well-" she clasped her hands together and smiled, "This just got fun." Regina allowed herself to feel a little thrill at mocking the imp, "The great and powerful dark one-" she made sure to imitate his voice and ridiculous hand gestures, "-has gone through this much trouble because someone took his maid?" she mocked the title Rumple had given his one true love.

It seemed to work because the wicked smile he had been wearing dropped from his lips completely, "Coyness never suited you dearie." He practically spat it out, "I know you lied about her being dead, she has not been seen anywhere near her father's kingdom ever since I took her." He delivered in between his clenched teeth, his eyes were wide with a new tint of madness she had never seen before.

"Well-" Regina started, trying to sound as disinterested as she could, after all, she did not know how much he truly knew. "I have to admit I did make that up to amuse myself a little bit on the account of your misery." She gave him a wicked smile, "I mean, you did that to me for, what?" she looked up pretending to count, "Years!" she let out an amused laugh, "I learned from the best."

Regina might be pretending to have a lot of fun poking fun out of the Dark One, but Rumple was not looking like he was going to swallow it for much longer.

"I know what you did Regina." He was dead serious, "I did not see a single trace of her in that kingdom but-" he lifted a finger, "-I did see your raven."

"My raven?" she asked amused, "Darling I don't use ravens, I use crows." She could almost breathe more at ease for it seemed as if the imp did not know about the fact that Regina had Belle locked in a cell. She had to pat herself on the shoulder for not keeping her in the dungeons but high in a prison tower nearly no one had access to.

But more than that, for Regina had not sent any of her winged spies to Belle's kingdom, which could only mean that Rumple was either trying to point the blame at her at all costs, or that he was far too distracted by his emotions to truly grasp the truth of the situation. Either way, these two things served Regina quite well.

"But you-" now it was her turn to point a finger at him, "-you don't usually make stupid mistakes." She took one step towards him and knew that now was the perfect moment to pin Rumple's love for Belle against him, "Which means something's got under your skin." She gasped in mocked and faked surprise, "You're emotional over this Belle." Regina pronounced the name so thoroughly it sounded like an insult. She was happy to find her act had its desired effect.

"You're lying-" his tone was low but she could see uncertainty in his black horrid eyes.

"You like this girl!" Regina beamed and threw the fact at his face.

"I own her!" he nearly shouted, "Nobody takes what's mine!" He was clearly so very taken with Belle, and Regina could not help but roll her eyes comically at his distress.

Teasing the man about this particular thing gave Regina an odd type of pleasure. She then realized that this was payback for the time he made her believe she could bring Daniel back, when he mocked her love and told her to toss it aside.

Love is weakness

And now, look at him, the heartless queen's voice spoke, barely able to tell truth from fiction. Love has blinded him.

You have his weakness, the evil queen whispered in her ear.

Love is weakness, both queens spoke in unison.

"You're quite lucky it wasn't you-" he brought her back to the here and now, he sounded more serious than mad, which was not a good thing but he did seem to believe Regina had nothing to do with Belle's disappearance, "But do not try me any further." He pointed his glittery finger at her again threateningly, "Do not give me any further reason to unleash my wrath. Because if I do, it won't be pretty."

Regina knew she was acting a little suicidal but she quite simply could not resist the pun, "Pretty?" she released a small laugh, "Pretty like Belle?" She made sure to use her tongue all the way to pronounce the girl's name.

His face was paralyzed with anger and Regina could not help but laugh at him, she was really getting to a hurtful place and it scared her half to death but excited her beyond belief at the same time.

"Don't test me." He warned her.

"I'm not testing you." Regina dismissed his words, "For once I'm giving you a bit of advice." She decided to stop her teasing for now, she wanted to enjoy this dish little by little, meeting by meeting. So she gave him the best and worst advice she ever got, "Be careful with that shriveled-" she looked down at where his manhood was, or should have been, Regina really did not know if the imp possessed such a thing anymore but got a little nauseated at thinking about its color. She looked up instead and continued, "-dark heart of yours." She looked him right in the eye and finished, "Love is weakness, didn't you know that?"

Regina was able to feel victorious for exactly three seconds before Rumple huffed out a laugh, "Oh yes, I do-" it was now his time to look her uncomfortably in the eye, as if he knew something she didn't, "I once knew someone who lived by that saying-" he looked away from her, "-she probably still does."

"Probably." Regina tried to shrug away this new disposition of his, for some reason it made her uneasy.

"But you-" he turned back to her, looking at her funny, "You're one to talk."

"About what?" she was momentarily confused.

"About love dearie." Malice danced in his eyes.

"My true love is dead Rumple." Even after ten years, saying it aloud still stung at Regina's heart, "No one can use him against me."

He giggled and Regina felt dread invade her chest, "I'm not talking about Daniel, Regina."

It infuriated Regina that Rumple mocked her true love's name just as she had done with his own, making the name slip slowly from his disgusting lips.

"Don't-" she could not help but lose her cool, "Don't you dare say his name." she nearly screamed.

"Why on earth not?" he seemed to have gained his footing back completely while Regina was once again stepping on eggs, "After all, you've already handed his title to someone else." His eyes shone with anticipation, Regina had to fight not to swallow at that.

"You're completely demented Rumple." Regina wanted to dismiss him, wanted to tell him and herself that what he was getting at was not true, could not be true.

"Am I?" He challenged her with his stare, "Or has the thief stolen your reason as well as your heart?" He was gawking for a reaction.

Regina managed to laugh and do her best to conceal the truth, "Robin?" She spoke his name and realized too late that that was the very worst thing she could have possibly done.

"Oh, it's Robin now?" Rumple rolled the 'R' on Robin and moved sideways in a dancy way, he seemed more excited than ever then.

"It's his name." her voice was grave and serious.

"You don't call people by their names Regina." Rumple threw at her. "Insults are more your thing."

Gods, she cursed him for knowing her so well.

"You talk a big talk about love being a weakness." He got closer to her then, walking slowly like a hunter closing in on its prey, "But you-" he grinned, "-were sleeping right on top of yours, dearie."

Regina's eyes went wide at this but she decided to pick on the less aggravating of the problems in hand, "You were spying on me?" She looked at him as if he was covered in puke, "You twisted, disgusting-"

"I have spies everywhere," he talked as if he was the King of the world and Regina wanted to punch him, "-lucky for me, they refrain from telling me the more gory details-"

Regina had had enough of that, she did not want to digest that information just yet, so she interrupted him, "And why on earth did you give me his dead wife's face to wear as my glamour? What did that accomplish?"

He jumped like a circus monkey at that, clutching his hands in his front like an eager child, the sight was unsettling, "Well-" he licked his lips and looked more like a toad. "It did not accomplish anything for you-" he pointed at Regina, "But at that time I was in need of a bit of a laugh, and his shocked face and inability to speak did do the trick."

"You're sick." She spat at his face.

"Most definitely, yes-" he agreed nodding seriously, "But-" he gave her a show of his rotting teeth, "-so are you Regina."

Her heart started beating even faster against her ribcage and Regina did not know if it was because of the revelations Rumple had just made or the realization that she had somehow turned out like him, or even worse, like her, like mother.

He took a few more steps but did not come nose to nose with her, instead he chose to stand a few feet away, but too close for comfort somehow. His smile was intact as he crooked his head to the side and looked a tad more maniac than usual.

"Maybe it is you who should be taking your mother's advice Regina." He made sure to pronounce 'mother' very slowly, "Love is weakness indeed." He widened his eyes at 'indeed', "And you and that pick-pocket don't fool me for a second."

He grinned once more as if he had all the answers in the world and disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke leaving Regina behind with heart beating so erratically it felt as if it was going to come out of her mouth and a head filled with contradictory ideas that were sure to only cause her misery.

After all, she destroyed everything she touched, laid waste to everything she loved, why should this – whatever this was – be any different?