Snow found Emma still in the back room of city hall. She had sent Charming home, telling him that she would find their daughter and speak to her. When Regina had walked back into the hall by herself, Snow figured that things hadn't gone well.

"Regina left with Henry," Snow said. "They are headed to the mansion to talk with Mal and Zelena about magical tactics."

"Yeah, why include the person who has the most powerful magic," Emma shrugged. She had been left out since the beginning of this – with Mal and Zelena constantly telling her that they didn't need her, and she wasn't knowledgeable enough with magic to help.

"Are you ok?" Snow asked as she found Emma sitting in a chair in the room.

"I don't even know anymore," Emma replied. "Nothing has been like I thought it would be, you know?"

"Emma honey, I can tell you have been carrying some sort of burden with you since Regina left," Snow said. "I had hoped whatever it was you would feel comfortable enough to talk with me about it. I know our relationship started oddly in being friends before we realized we were family, but a mother knows when their child is hurting, and they want to do anything in their power to help."

"I don't know how you can."

"I won't be able to if you don't tell me whatever it is that has been haunting you since she left."

"I did something stupid and selfish," Emma said. "She left because of me."

"You can't blame yourself for this," Snow said. "Robin had just died, she removed half of her heart – you aren't to blame for that. She decided to leave and that is something she will have to come to terms with now that she is back."

"She's not planning on staying," Emma said. "She's going to leave again and I … you can say it's not my fault, but …"

"Whatever it is, just tell me. You've been holding it in too long."

"Killian took her heart because of me," Emma said. "We had gotten into a huge fight and I told him to leave. He must have come back the next day while I was work and stolen it. I didn't think … it never occurred to me that he would do something like that, but maybe it should have."

"How would you even know he would do that? I know the two of you had problems but still."

"We had problems because … because he could see things more clearly than I could," Emma said. "He knew before I did and that is why he kept trying to get me to stop looking for her. Maybe if I had, none of this would be happening now. But then I think if I had stopped then maybe he and I would be married by now and that thought scares me because I know if I had married him, I wouldn't be happy."

Snow considered what her daughter said but knew for all she was saying there was a lot more she wasn't. Even before Killian had taken the piece of heart, Snow knew the two had arguments about Emma leaving to find Regina – that much Emma had confided in her. But still, even with that, she had been surprised when he had taken it – and surprised that Emma wasn't more upset at the ending of the relationship. No, her daughter had made it clear that she wasn't upset, she was angry at Killian for taking the heart.

Snow knelt in front of Emma. "Whatever happened between you and Killian, whatever happened between you and Regina – just know that you have your parents' support no matter what."

"I know," Emma said. "This is just something I need to handle on my own. I hope you understand that."

"I do," Snow said, getting up. "But just know if you need someone to talk to, I will always be here for you."

…

Regina entered her former home and was immediately struck by the lack of changes to it. Yes, there were some small differences – mostly signs that a young child was there, but nothing else really stood out.

She was also surprised by Zelena's choice of a babysitter for young Robyn – one of the dwarves, Happy.

One of the guest rooms upstairs had been converted into a room for Robyn and another one for Zelena. Henry's and Regina's rooms sat untouched.

After her self-tour while Zelena was making sure Robyn ate – apparently she was quite a finicky eater – Regina returned to the kitchen where Mal and Zelena were – only after pouring herself something to drink. She had sent Henry away – telling him she would speak with him later and eliciting a promise from him that he would not tell anyone about her heart.

She wanted people to continue to think that she was unaffected by all of this. Henry didn't want to promise and only did so after he got a promise from her in return – that she wouldn't leave Storybrooke again without him. It was not a promise she wanted to give because she knew she couldn't just leave with him without speaking with Emma first. And maybe that way why he made her promise it.

She would worry about that later. For now, she needed to figure out how to deal with the Home Office.

"I'm ready for whatever lecture you want to give," Regina said, directing it toward Mal.

"The fact you know you deserve a lecture is growth on your part Regina," Mal said. "You've come a long way from the young woman I first met. Yet, you seem to be making the same rash decisions."

"When the world decides to stop kicking me around, I will stop making rash decisions," Regina said.

"The world isn't out to get you," Mal said. "Perhaps it's time you grow up and start taking some responsibility for your actions."

Regina took a drink, a stall tactic, to maintain her composure. Fooling Emma and Lily was one thing. Fooling the townspeople – easy. Even fooling Zelena whom she didn't know that well was not her concern. Fooling Mal was a whole other game.

"As fun as it would be to rehash the past with you, Mal, why don't we focus on the present," Regina said. "Now, how have they been attacking the barrier?"

Mal studied her a moment before beginning to tell her how the Home Office started with an all-out assault of magic – hitting the barrier with seemingly everything they had. But it held with Mal and Zelena reinforcing it. Then they started a more targeted approach which was much harder to combat because they never knew when or where it would happen. They had managed to make small breaches but so far Mal and Zelena had been able to close them in time.

This was the first time they had gotten to rest without worrying about a breach. Mal explained that they used their magic to supplement the barrier's magic but once Regina got across the town line they felt a dramatic increase in the barrier's magic, allowing them to rest their magic.

"It begs the question, why did the Home Office let you enter?" Mal said.

"And what exactly do they want?" Zelena said. "Is this really about wanting to send us all back where we came from?"

Mal was right, it made no sense for them to have let her in. They were knowledgeable enough about magic to realize that if the barrier was tied to Regina's magic that her coming back would only reinforce it. One thing she was certain about, there was a reason for letting her in.

Which meant she was right where they wanted her to be. When Lawrence had let her go by outside the town line she knew it was strange but she didn't know exactly what their plan was here. She did have some knowledge though from her time at the Home Office. Even that first day there it was made clear that they wanted something from her specifically.

Regina woke with a headache in a room she didn't recognize. She sat up on the strange bed and rubbed at her neck. She remembered now – she had been at the airport in Portland, Maine, trying to figure out what flight to get on. She already missed Henry and was rethinking this whole leaving thing when she noticed two men taking more than a passing interest in her.

She had noticed them on her way in and now they were both trying to look casual as they stood off to the side engaging in a conversation that included one of them looking over in her direction constantly.

Not having her magic available to her made her more than a little wary.

She didn't have a lot of experience being out in the real world. The last time she had been she had been with Emma. She didn't want to appear naïve in front of Emma so she let her handle a lot of things because she felt more comfortable in the confines of Storybrooke after spending all those years there. But Emma had been out in the world and Regina found she trusted Emma.

Don't think about her, Regina internally scolded herself.

She was out there to forget about Emma.

She looked up again at the board to decide on a flight. California was an option. It would certainly be far away, she thought.

The two men started to move and they were no longer where she could see them.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, she thought.

She approached the counter – she had made her choice. Yet, a step away from the counter, she turned around and walked away.

What am I doing, she thought? I have a child. I can't leave Henry.

She couldn't do it.

It was time to go home and face the music. She made her way out to the parking lot and almost made it to the car when she heard someone behind her. She didn't even get the chance to turn around when the electricity from the Taser went through her.

Then she was waking up in this strange room and once her vision began to clear, she realized she wasn't alone in the room. A woman was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.

"I hope you won't hold it against us, but we need to ensure you got here without any issues," the woman said.

"Where am I?"

"Boston," the woman said. "That is about as specific as I'm looking to get at the moment, Regina."

"You appear to have me at a disadvantage," Regina said, getting up off of the bed. "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"Wendy Darling," the woman said.

Regina smiled. "Funny."

"I'm quite serious," the woman said. "I mean I did have another name once upon a time, but I left it behind when I took over the Home Office. The leader always takes on the name of Wendy Darling."

"That must be difficult for the men," Regina said.

"If they weren't strong enough to take on a name, they wouldn't be good enough to be where I am," Wendy said, standing up. "I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"I wish I could say the same," Regina said. "But I don't take kindly to being kidnapped."

"Well, I would have sent you a written invitation," Wendy said. "But it's not like I could get it into Storybrooke."

"What do you want?"

"You Regina," Wendy said. "I wanted you, so I imagine my surprise when one of our spotters who I have assigned to keep tabs on Storybrooke told me that you had left. What are you doing out here in the real world?"

"That is none of your business," Regina said. "And as flattered as I am about your interest in me, I am not interested in anything you have to say. So, if you don't mind, I would like to leave."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Wendy said. "You see, you and I have a lot to talk about."

"I can't imagine anything you and I would have to talk about."

"We're going to talk about you and your magic," Wendy said. "We're going to talk about how you managed to bring an entire town into this world."

"We aren't going to talk about anything," Regina said. The moment she had woken she knew she was on her own – her magic wasn't available to her wherever they were at. She had no idea how many people this Wendy had with her.

But she wasn't about to tell this woman anything about magic.

"Oh Regina," Wendy said. "We're going to be such good friends."

"Regina, Regina," Mal was saying, knocking her from her memory.

"What did you say?"

"I asked what do you know about all of this?" Mal said.

"Not enough," Regina said.