"Look, I know you probably don't want to hear this right now, but I am sorry," Emma said.

She was driving Regina over to the diner to have lunch with Henry after their disastrous planning session that morning. Well, she thought it was going ok up until she brought up that Killian had some knowledge of the curse. From there, things completely devolved.

"You're right, I don't want to hear it right now," Regina said. "I just want to have lunch with my son."

"I get that, but I would like to talk to you – maybe afterward – alone."

Regina glanced over at her. "About what?"

"What do you mean about what?" Emma said. "Don't you think you and I should talk about well everything?"

"No."

"Come on," Emma replied. "We can't keep doing this."

"I suppose not," Regina said. "But I'm not quite ready yet for that. Is that ok?"

Emma was shocked that Regina would ask if it was ok that she didn't answer immediately. "Um of course it is ok," Emma said. "I just needed to know that you and I can talk about this."

"What is this exactly? You say we should talk about everything, talk about this, but what is it exactly? Do you even know what it is that you want to talk about?"

Emma pulled the car over even though they weren't at Granny's yet.

"I want to talk with you like we should have talked before you left," Emma said. "Do you think that I wouldn't have talked with you if you had come to me? I would have talked with you. We could have talked about the things you wrote."

"Yes, and talk is all it would have been," Regina said.

"You don't know that."

"Really? Emma, you were in a relationship, what would you have even said if I came to you?" Regina countered. "Don't insult me by saying it would be anything different. Don't do that."

"I'm not trying to say I would have broken up with Killian on the spot or anything, but … all I'm saying is I would have listened to what you had to say," Emma said. "I just … I thought you and I had finally gotten to a good place before all of this. I thought I knew who you were and then you left and then I find you in Florida and it's like before – like I don't know you and we have to be at odds. I don't want that for us. Seeing you down there in Florida, it was like seeing a stranger and … and I hated that. I hate that we are back to like it was at the beginning where it seems like anything we do or say sets the other one off. It doesn't have to be that way."

Regina looked out the passenger side window in silence.

"For right now, we need to concentrate on this situation with the Home Office," Regina said. "Perhaps we can speak of other matters before I return to Florida."

"Why do you want to go back there so badly?" Emma asked.

"Because I don't know how to be here," Regina said looking at her.

Emma didn't respond as she wasn't sure what Regina meant by that. Instead, she put the car in drive and took her to Granny's. Regina got out of the car, not saying anything else to Emma who merely sat there watching her enter the diner before she left.

…

Regina was a little nervous going into Granny's. This was the first time she would be in "public" as it were since she arrived back. She immediately spotted Henry who was sitting in a booth and smiling at her. She took her seat, keeping focused on Henry and trying not to look around to see if she was getting any attention from anyone else.

"I missed you," Regina said, even though she knew she had told him that already upon her return. "You don't know how much I … look, I hope even if you don't understand my reasoning for what I did, that one day you can forgive me."

"I missed you too," he said. "And while I hated that you left like that, I guess you had your reasonings for it. I just wished you would have called or something to let me know you were alright. I was worried that something happened to you."

"Something did happen to me," she said. Before she could go further, Ruby approached the table.

"Welcome back," she said.

"Thank you," Regina replied.

"What can I get you?"

"I already ordered," Henry said to his mom.

Regina almost said the usual, but she realized that perhaps her usual was no longer on the menu or perhaps Ruby no longer knew what her usual was.

"The usual?" Ruby asked when Regina remained silent. Ruby gave her a little smile.

"Yes, that would be wonderful," Regina replied.

"What happened to you?" Henry asked once Ruby was away from the table.

Regina was silent as she considered what she should say to him. This was her son, he shouldn't be worrying about her.

"The people who are trying to get into Storybrooke, the Home Office, they held me captive for a time shortly after I left here," Regina said.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No," Regina said. "There was just a lot of talk."

Regina knew she was going to have to rely on her cunning to get out of this situation as she was being held somewhere where she didn't have access to her magic. After she had woken up in that room and been introduced to Wendy, she had been left alone. Someone had brought her food, but she left it untouched as she considered her options.

She suspected she was being held underground somewhere as there were no windows and she couldn't hear anything outside of the room that gave her any clues. The room itself reminded her of a hotel room – a somewhat plain décor with no personality to it.

Wendy had locked the door behind her when she left so Regina hadn't bothered trying it. She needed more information about why she was being held here and what exactly Wendy wanted. Despite what the other woman said, she highly doubted they would become friends.

But perhaps if Wendy meant to hear about magic, she would be willing to take Regina somewhere that she could demonstrate her magic and that would give her the opportunity she needed to escape.

Regina couldn't rely on that kind of luck though, which meant finding other means to escape.

It was many hours later when the door opened once more. Two men came in carrying a table and chairs. They were followed by others who put dressings on the table, followed by more who placed food down on the table. Finally, they all left as Wendy entered.

"I understand you didn't eat earlier, so perhaps you will be hungry enough now to share a meal with me," Wendy said.

"Why not," Regina said approaching the nearest chair and taking a seat while Wendy did the same.

Regina waited for Wendy to make the first move to eat. She didn't believe that the food was poisoned – after all why go through this trouble to abduct her just to kill her. Still, Wendy smiled at her when she picked up her fork to begin to eat.

"I suppose we could spend the next hour or so talking around each other, but I don't see why we should waste the time," Wendy said. "Do you?"

"I do not,"

"Very good," Wendy said. "I want you to tell me how you created Storybrooke here in this world."

"And why do you want that information?"

"You must admit that creating an entire town in a completely different world is quite a feat," Wendy said. "And to maintain that town for all these years without outsiders finding out about it is even more remarkable."

"Seeing as it's not unknown to outsiders such as yourself, I'm not certain I would term it as remarkable," Regina casually responded. "And you still didn't answer my question."

"I'm not going to answer it," Wendy said. "Not yet anyway."

"Then why should I bother telling you anything?"

"This isn't a negotiation Regina," Wendy said. "I'm choosing to do this the nice way because I don't see any reason why we should be uncivil to each other. As I said, we can be friends."

"You have yet to offer a reason for why I would want to be friends with you."

"I suppose the best answer I could give you is that you don't want to be the alternative. You don't want to be my enemy."

"If you think you can intimidate me, I assure you it's a waste of time," Regina said. "I have lived long enough not to get intimidated by mere words."

Wendy smiled. "Exactly, you have lived long enough. How old are you exactly?"

"That is hardly polite dinner conversation."

"One could argue we aren't having a very good conversation at all. We can keep going round and round with each other, but I assure you it ends the same way – with you giving me what I want."

"What makes you so confident of that?"

"Because I always get what I want, can you say the same, Regina? Why exactly did you leave Storybrooke anyway?"

Regina put her utensils down and sat back in the seat. "If you don't want to do this whole run-around conversation, why don't you tell me what exactly you want from me?"

"I already have," Wendy said. "I want the details on how you created Storybrooke."

"And if I should choose to give you that information, then what?"

"How do you mean?"

"What do you plan on doing with that information?"

"Isn't that just another way of asking why I want the information?"

Regina got to her feet. "I can see this conversation is pointless, so why don't you just let me leave or tell me what you want."

Wendy also got to her feet. "You won't be leaving, of that I assure you, but if you continue to make this hard believe me, I can make it hard on you. That is the last thing I want Regina. You should understand something, our organization here, it predates the founding of America. We have been working for centuries and we have amassed great stores of knowledge, yet never before have we seen what you have accomplished, so of course, it would be of interest to us. You show us loyalty and we will return the favor."

"How so?"

"Come with me," Wendy said as she walked over to the door and opened it. Regina paused and then followed her.

…

"Did you know they were going to come here?" Henry asked.

"No," Regina said. "If I knew they would do what they are doing now, I would have returned immediately. I thought … I thought when I escaped from them, that their only interest was in finding me. I didn't expect them to attempt to get in here. I should have though. I should have known that when I didn't give them what they wanted that they would try a more direct route."

"What did they want from you?"

"Information on the town, in how I did it, how I cast the curse," Regina said.

"Why do they want to know that?"

"I think that their leader, this Wendy woman, wants to cast the curse," she answered.

"So, she would have to kill someone?"

Regina nodded. "Although I'm not sure who that would be for her. She doesn't let people get close to her."

Regina thought about it again, just as she had earlier when Mal brought it up – who did Wendy love?

"Were you lonely there in Florida?" Henry asked suddenly.

"Lonely? Sort of. I missed you," Regina said. "But I had a friend down there and she made me feel less lonely."

"Who was she?"

"Her name is Hannah and she runs an orphanage down there. She helps children who have no one else to help them," Regina said. "She's a good person."

"What were you doing down there?"

"Me? I was trying to be a good person, but I don't think I succeeded," she said. "It's like I can't quite get it right, you know, the being good part."

"But you are good," Henry said. "I know you are."

Regina reached out her hand and Henry took it. "Your faith in me is all I need to make sure I do all I can to be good."

Ruby came back with their food and placed it in front of them, but just as she did, Regina felt a twinge in her chest, followed by another one.

"Are you ok?" Ruby asked as she saw Regina rub the area on her chest.

"Yes," Regina said, somewhat breathlessly.

"Mom?"

Regina got out of the booth "If you'll excuse me I need to …" the pain shot through her this time and she grabbed Ruby to steady herself. She was about to apologize, but another wave of pain hit her. This time she fell unconscious with Ruby managing to catch her.

"Call an ambulance," Ruby called out.