When Regina woke the next morning, she saw red mist coming toward them. Jumping to her feet, she shook Robin's shoulder to wake him. "Robin, wake up! We have to move!"

He woke far too slowly for Regina's liking. "What's going on?" he asked groggily, his eyes opening at a glacial pace.

Regina pointed. "Zelena's up to something- and judging by the look of that, it can't be anything good."

"Help me up?" he asked, his hands reaching for her.

Regina obliged, hauling him to his feet and helping him to the far corner of the cell. He clung to her for support as the mist got even closer. As it approached, Regina could see tiny flecks of broken shards of what looked like a knife in it.

Robin reached out and turned her chin so she faced him. "Regina, no matter what this magic does, can we agree that it won't change anything between us?"

She laughed. "What exactly is between us?" Initially it was only animosity, but now she didn't know.

He wrapped her hands in his. "Two people who are putting aside their differences and getting to know each other, yeah?"

She nodded. That much was indisputable, at least.

He held her gaze as the mysterious mist approached. As it started to surround them, she could see the subtle changes in him: his grip on her tightened, and his relaxed posture stiffened. As it reached his eyes, she saw the knife shards go directly into them, and his grip on her tightened even more.

As they entered her own eyes, the shards felt the same way they looked: like a million tiny little knives piercing her. Once they did, she realized her eyes had been blind the entire time, and now she was seeing things clearly for the first time in too long.

Everything hurts.

His legs, his arms, his chest, his face. The witch had done so much damage to him that there wasn't a spare inch of him untouched by her cruelty. Add to that that he was sharing his cell with the Evil Queen, who shared the same powers as Zelena, and his odds of making it out of here alive were slim to none.

"I can't believe you haven't figured out a way for us to get out of this cell," he muttered. "Even without your magic, shouldn't you know some way to beat the Dark One at his own game?" It made no sense to him.

"I can't figure out a way out of here without my magic," she retorted. "What about you? Shouldn't you, the best thief in all the realms, be able to get out of a simple cell, even if it was designed by Rumple?"

He gestured to his leg. "In case you've forgotten, I'm injured all over. I can barely stand on my own, let alone do it long enough to figure out a way out of here."

She groaned. "I can't believe I took care of your son, woke you from the sleeping curse, basically bringing you back from the dead, helped take care of your wounds last night, told you how I got my scar, all so you could be ungrateful for it all. Although why should I expect any different? I gave those peasants running water, heat, air, processed meat, and what do I get in return? Not even so much as a 'thank you.'"

He laughed incredulously. "Did you really expect them to thank you for that? You cursed them so they didn't remember their real identities and were separated from their families. Who would be thankful for that?"

"Says the man who does nothing but steal from people," she bit back. "I can't believe I thought I loved you, that I kissed someone who smells like the forest he sleeps in!"

"At least my heart is pure, unlike yours," he lashed out. "Go ahead, rip it out, see just how different we are, Your Majesty."

"Fine, I will."

She reached out and he gasped as she pushed the bones of his ribs aside and yanked out his heart.

They both looked down at it, glowing crimson in her palm, and he grew horrified as she cackled triumphantly. It seemed that they had simultaneously noticed the same thing, a theory she confirmed when she gleefully explained what he was seeing. "Seems that the noble thief isn't so righteous after all."

How could this be? Had the deeds of his past led to this? Every day since he had gotten free of his father, he had tried to live honorably, especially once Marian had helped him start stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. "This can't be."

She laughed. "Believe it, thief. Turns out, you're just like me."

"No, I"m not," he refuted indignantly. "I can't believe I ever entrusted my son to someone who never cares about anyone but herself. That love potion really must have been accidental, because I would never have amnesia so severe that I would think I loved you." He shoved himself off the ground, using the wall as support. "That's it, I"m out of here. Roland's birthday is in less than a week and I will be there for it if it's the last thing I do."

The look on her face was disbelieving. "How do you think you're going to do that?"

"There has to be a way," Robin told her. Using the walls as a crutch, he made his way to the bars of their cell. To his immense surprise, at his touch, the bars separated at the point of contact, sliding into the ceiling and the ground, leaving his way clear.

He stared back at the Evil Queen to see an identical expression of astonishment on her face. "How did you manage that?" she pondered slowly.

He shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

He turned to slam the door shut and (hopefully) lock her in again, but she ran up and grasped his hand in hers. "Wait!"

He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall behind him for support. "There's nothing you can say that will convince me to not lock you in here. You can deal with your witch of a sister on your own. I'm done."

"What about Roland?" she asked. "He'll expect to see both of us and ask you where I am."

He sighed, defeated. She was right. How was she so infuriating? One minute she was casting curses and throwing fireballs, the next she was tugging at his (apparently darkened) heartstrings with tales of her son. Add to that the fact that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen… He didn't love her, but could lust have really been the key to breaking the sleeping curse he had been under? Was it the key to breaking whatever was going on now as well? Yes, she was infuriating, but he prided himself on being an even-tempered man. He would do anything to ensure that he returned to that person by the time he returned to his son.

He strolled toward her purposefully as she smirked. "I knew using Roland would work. You're so-"

But he never found out what she thought he was, for at that moment, his lips melded with hers. A bright light surrounded them, and at the sudden light and return to normalcy, he stepped back. "Was that…"

She sighed. "Congratulations. Like it or not, it appears you're in love with the Evil Queen."

"And she loves me," he marveled wonderingly. All of this- the discovery of his magic and the fact that that kiss had worked, that his heart was racing for an entirely different reason than it had been a few minutes ago- was too much.

He nodded toward the exit. "Come on. Let's go."

"I have an easier way," she said, holding out her wrist. She raised an eyebrow. "If you think you can trust me?"

For a long moment, he just stared at her. Did he? He had just found out that his deeds hadn't been as righteous as he thought, and all he wanted to do in that moment was get back to his son. If he knew anything about Regina, it was that she cared about children, both her own and his, more than anyone, and if her story from the night before and treatment of his son was any indication, her heart wasn't entirely filled with darkness.

He reached out toward the cuff on her wrist slowly, questioningly. A part of him couldn't believe he was doing this at all. Hadn't his father always told him that magic was dangerous? Hadn't it killed his mother? He didn't want anything to do with it, but if using hers could return him to his son… "What do I do?"

"Normally, only the person who put the cuff on can take it off," she explained. "However, given what I just witnessed, I think your magic may be the exception to that rule."

He grasped the cuff, and at his touch, it fell away.

Regina pulled her hand back, wringing her wrist. "That feels good. Shall we?"

She put a hand on his shoulder, and with a cloud of purple magic, they were gone.

Prompts included in this chapter: 15) OQ as parents, 22) Work on any wip/ the next chapter of a fic you started, 24) back from the death, 27) enemies to lovers, 52) Regina kisses Robin on a dare, 70) one of them is sick/injured & a bad patient, 96) Robin hurts his leg and is bed ridden. Regina sees how a sick Robin acts, 106) oq get trapped together somewhere during the missing year, 118) Regina tells Robin how she got the scar on her lip, 130) Missing Year: Roland's birthday, 131) Robin comes back to life, 140) both robin and regina get put under a curse during the missing year similar to the shattered sight curse where the worst of them is brought out, 142) robin asks regina to rip his heart out in the missing year to see what it looks like and it has a some darkness swirling through it, 160) "Is that all you got?", 162) One of them is tortured, the other cares for them after released from torture, 170) a kiss to heal, 175) amnesia, 180) accidental love potion, 182) random act of kindness, 193) Robin thinks Regina has fallen out of love with him, 237) Robin discovers he has magic, and a personal prompt: next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this, let me know what you think!