A/N: Thank you to those of you who left a review on the last chapter! The next one is finished, I just need to edit and go over it again. Leave a review and let me know when you want it ;) I hope you like the new update xx

The sun was getting low in the sky as the yellow bug pulled out of the driveway and turned towards Main Street. Emma intentionally took her time, watching for people passing by as she did. She glanced briefly at the woman beside her, making sure the blanket was still covering her. The brunette was curled a little bit sideways and the side of her head was resting against the back of the seat. She was facing Emma, but Emma couldn't see her eyes behind the oversized sunglasses she was wearing. Emma parked the car at the stop sign at the end of Regina's street, reaching over to adjust the scarf which she had previously wrapped around the brunette in order to cover her head and neck. Once she was satisfied, she turned onto Main Street. Still driving quite slow, Emma sized up the people who were milling around the town's center. It wasn't long before people started to take notice of them. No one really did anything threatening, but just slowed what they were doing to watch the car driving by. Emma practically held her breath as she turned into the Marine Garage and pulled up beside a gas pump. Her heart was beating a little quickly as she turned off the car and got out, waiting for someone to come out of the auto shop. She looked around, still not used to the full-service this garage provided. Finally, a hesitant looking employee emerged from the building.

"Hey Michael." Emma sighed through her words, tired, and just wanting to be on the road already.

"Sheriff," Michael nodded once, his jaw was tense as his eyes drifted over to the passenger's seat.

Emma's eyes followed his, before flicking back towards the mechanic.

He gave a bitter laugh, shaking his head. "I'm surprised she can sleep, knowing the grief she's caused everyone here in Storybrooke. You know she didn't even apologize for casting the curse?"

"If I remember correctly, I think I apologized on her behalf at the town hall meeting. She's felt horrible about it for a long time; she would have apologized to everyone herself had she been given the chance instead of being brutally kidnapped from her burning home." Emma replied heatedly.

"Maybe she wouldn't have gotten herself kidnapped if she hadn't ripped us all away from our homes to begin with."

Emma resisted a sudden urge to punch him in the face, and instead channelled her anger into an annoyed sigh. She had to stay calm. "Look, I didn't come here so you could criticize Regina, I just need you to fill the tank, that's all." She said, gesturing towards the car. "I would have done it myself but I know you guys don't trust anyone with this shitty, ancient equipment." Emma took a stab, despite her actual fondness of the antique station.

"Fine." Michael said, moving around her to get to the pump.

Emma noticed the way his distrustful eyes kept drifting towards the interior of the car. She stepped in front of the passenger door, folding her arms and giving him an obviously false smile. She kept looking around, making sure no one snuck up on them from the other side of the car while she wasn't paying attention. She noticed that a few people were gathering together, conferring with each other under their breath. A few had moved closer to the garage but mostly people were keeping their distance. So far at least.

"So, you two going somewhere?" The mechanic asked.

"What's it to you?"

"I just heard that Regina was wanting to escape town."

"Hm," Emma replied indifferently.

Emma noticed some movement from inside the car and opened the door to assist; the blanket had slipped off of the black wool and cashmere coat. Michael tried to see past Emma to see how Regina looked, but all he could make out was the passenger's black-gloved hand pulling the blanket back up. Other than that he could still only really see her coat and scarf.

They must have really done a number on her. Michael thought to himself.

"Hey, I'm really sorry Regina but I just realized I forgot to grab your purse before we left." Michael heard Emma say as she placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Looks like we're going to have to go back to the house... but hey, at least it'll give Henry another chance to hug you before we go." Emma tried to look on the bright side.

The gas pump clicked just then, causing Michael to miss Regina's response. Emma closed the passenger door and once Michael was done, she handed him a couple of bills. "Keep the change," she said.

"Thanks." He said, although he didn't sound entirely grateful.

Emma got back into the car. Her eyes followed Michael back into the shop. She then scoped out the area around them, watching the suspicious citizens getting closer and slightly growing in number. It was hard to say if their intentions were malevolent towards Regina, or if they were simply being nosy about what kind of state she was in. Among the throngs of people whose motives were questionable, there were also a few friendly faces. Emma could see the dwarves scattered about, and she could also see Granny who had come out of the diner and crossed the road to chat with Frederick. Emma had been expecting to see all of them here, and was relieved when she did. They had kept their word. They were here to help with crowd control and protection if things got messy.

"How is it looking so far?" A hushed voice asked from beside her.

"Good." Emma replied, still watching the people around them. "I can even see some people on their phones... probably calling in the cavalry." Emma cleared her throat, it was getting more difficult to stay calm. "You know, I think this actually might work." She turned to smile at the brunette, whose face was barely visible under the blanket, scarf and sunglasses. "Thank you for doing this Mary Margaret." Emma breathed a heavy sigh. "Alright, let's go back to the house."

Emma switched on the car and then pulled through to the garage's side street entrance rather than doing a full one-eighty to use the entrance she had came from. She turned the car left in front of the library to turn back onto Main Street. She could feel her adrenaline going as her eyes scanned the slowly growing number of people on the street. Everyone seemed to be looking at her car. A few people had crossed the street and for a nervous second Emma wondered if she and Mary Margaret were already going to be stopped. Luckily though, they were allowed to drive back down Main Street without incident. Emma's eyes met Granny's as they passed by the diner; neither of them acknowledged each other, but visible communication wasn't required. Once they had passed the Post Office Emma looked up into her rear-view mirror and saw some people walking towards the Marine Garage, clearly wanting to hear all the juicy details from Michael.

"This is good," Emma said, although she wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or to her mother. "Michael will tell them we're about to leave town, he'll tell them we're stalled for a few minutes getting your–Regina's– purse... and possibly having a second tear-soaked goodbye with Henry. Hopefully anyone who's been set on stopping Regina will be heading in this direction now." Emma breathed a heavy sigh as they turned back onto Mifflin Street. "This is still so dangerous. Are you sure you don't want my gun?" Emma asked for the hundredth time.

"No... You'll be able to see more than I can. I trust you. But please Emma, don't kill anyone if they come after me. I don't think they'll hurt me when they discover I'm not her."

"I'll do my best. But I can't promise I won't shoot anyone in the arm if they try to touch you. I don't trust them. What if someone is in a fit of rage and doesn't realize you're you until it's too late?"

Snow smiled, but it quickly faded. As they pulled back into the driveway of Regina's house, Snow subconsciously felt the soft fabric of her stepmother's coat. "Do you think they're okay?" She asked hesitantly.

Emma bit her lip as she stopped the car. She kept her eyes straight forward and maintained a firm grip on the wheel. "They have to be." She responded.

"We can always call them to see how everything is going?"

"No... I don't want to distract David. Besides, if anything bad happens he or Ruby will let us know. They'll be fine." She breathed in another deep breath. "They'll be fine."

One hour previously:

"You're right, the plan does sound crazy... and risky as hell. But... I think it's worth a shot." Emma said. Her hand was resting on Regina's shoulder as the brunette lay down beside her.

"Emma," Regina whispered in shock.

"What?"

"No. It's too dangerous."

"Any attempt to get you out of town is going to be. But it's not nearly as dangerous as it would be if we stayed here in town."

Ruby nodded. "Regina there are people everywhere just waiting to pounce. I'm surprised they haven't come here to be honest."

"I think it's because they know we would have the advantage from in here if they did." Emma replied.

Regina made a noise of disbelief. "What advantage?"

"We would have the cover of the house and if anyone became too hostile I think they know by now that I'll be willing to shoot them." Emma responded, taking her hand off of Regina's shoulder. Not to mention, I think that whole thing with the fire kind of freaked everyone out."

"You make it sound like a war zone." Regina said too softly for anyone to really hear. She closed her eyes.

"Which reminds me..." Emma went on. She reached for a bag which she had left on a chair, and unzipped it. "I stopped by the Sheriff's Station on my way back from Gold's earlier. I thought we could use some extra defense." She pulled out a gun and handed it to David, who took it with a curious look. "I'll feel better knowing I'm not the only one who has one." She concluded.

"Emma I've never used a gun before." David said, his tone anything but worried as he examined the weapon with interest.

"I'll teach you," Emma said, earning a satisfied nod from her father. "Okay... so I do like this plan, but I'm going to change a few things if that's okay. Regina is going to go with David instead of with me. Instead of Kathryn, I will go with Mary Margaret so I can protect her and so the townspeople can see that it really is me in the car. It will make them more likely to believe it is Regina in the passenger's seat. Kathryn, if you're comfortable with it, I want you and Ruby to follow behind us separately, one of you behind me and Mary Margaret, and the other behind David and Regina. I want you guys to keep a safe distance so it doesn't look like we're together. That way you'll be able to let us know if someone is tailing us. Make sense?" Emma looked around for everybody's confirmation.

"Of course," Kathryn said. "I agree it makes the most sense."

"What about me?" Henry asked. "Who am I going with?"

"You'll stay with David and Regina," Emma replied softly. "Sound good?"

Henry looked relieved. He nodded, and smiled at David when he gave the boy a kindly wink.

Emma smiled at Henry. "Regina?" She then asked. She looked down at the brunette who still had her eyes closed. "Regina?" She asked more softly. "What do you think?" She brushed her hand through the other woman's hair.

Regina seemed to struggle to get her eyes open. "What?" She breathed tiredly.

"What do you think?" Emma repeated.

"Oh..." She gave a quiet sigh, closing her eyes again. "I don't like it. Someone could get hurt."

"Whatever we do someone could get hurt. I think this could really work Regina."

"It's absurd. What if they see through it?"

"It's the best plan we've got. We'll just have to move fast okay?" Emma's brow furrowed as she looked at Regina, the woman had gone pale, she kept closing her eyes as if she were going to fall to sleep. She seemed so up and down. One minute she seemed to be doing better, talking more, eating, and the next she seemed almost as bad as when they had first brought her here.

Regina didn't respond, she just shifted a little closer to Emma. The blonde felt a painful twinge of sympathy for her, she placed a gentle hand on her arm, and at her touch Regina closed her eyes, breathing a soft sigh. Maybe all it was, was that Regina needed to sleep again; she had been up for quite a stretch already.

Snow eyed Regina in concern, "we should do this as soon as possible. It's already starting to get dark."

"It's okay, that's even better for us." Emma said. "If we go soon there will be just enough daylight left for people to see into the car, but hopefully not enough to see that you're not Regina."

"How many cars do we have here right now?" David asked.

"Yours and mine, Emma's, Regina's, and Kathryn's." Snow responded.

"Could Ruby drive Regina's?" David glanced down at the mayor, he was sure he knew what her answer would usually be, but in their current situation he thought maybe she would let it slide.

"I think it would bring up too many questions." Kathryn responded.

"We could go back into town to get Ruby's car?" Snow suggested.

"No it's okay," Ruby said. "I'll walk back. We don't want to bring too much attention to ourselves by moving cars around. I'll stay in town until we're ready to go, and then I'll head in the direction David will be taking Regina and wait there."

Emma nodded her agreement. "Okay, so if you're good to go now Ruby, the rest of us will start preparing here."

Ruby gave her a single nod, "good luck." She said. Snow squeezed her hand and Ruby gave her a reassuring smile before turning and leaving the room.

Emma bit her lip, she could feel a growing nervousness in the pit of her stomach but she pushed it aside. She looked towards Henry. "Kid, make sure you have all your stuff in the car alright? I want you to double check everything. Do it now okay?"

"Okay." Henry said, glancing towards Regina, who wasn't looking at anyone. Soon he gave up trying to make eye contact with her and started to leave the room.

"Wait... Henry? Let me move my car into the garage first." Emma changed her mind. "I don't want you to go outside by yourself and I don't want anyone seeing you packing your stuff."

Henry nodded, instantly moving back to his seat on the bed.

"Alright... David? Do you think your truck will fit in the garage too?"

He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about it. "It should, yeah."

"Good." Emma said in relief. "I don't want anyone to see Regina or Henry getting into it. As far as anyone else is concerned, Regina is with me in my car, and Henry is staying here with Mary Margaret. Regina's car is in the garage right now and Mary Margaret's is in the driveway so we're going to have to move them both. Even without Ruby bringing hers back it looks like we're still going to have to play some musical cars here today. Hopefully it won't draw too much attention. Okay... so is everyone ready?"

Everyone except for Regina and Henry responded.

"Alright, let's do this. Fast."

Kathryn, David and Snow left the room, leaving Regina, Emma and Henry.

Emma turned to look down at the mayor again. "Hey... you've been pretty quiet Regina, I know you're not really a fan, but are you okay with all of this?"

"It's fine." Regina whispered, not opening her eyes.

Emma placed a hand on her arm. "Are you feeling okay? You don't look too good."

To Emma's dismay, Regina shook her head.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Regina shook her head again. She blinked her eyes open. "I think I probably shouldn't have eaten anything. It just made it worse. I thought it might help give me some energy."

"Do you feel like you need to be sick?"

Regina shook her head.

"Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

Regina closed her eyes, huffing as though the question annoyed her. She shook her head.

"Okay... Do you want to maybe try sitting up for a bit? It might help you to digest it."

Again Regina shook her head.

Emma sighed sadly. "Okay... well... why don't I go move the car, and then you can tell me what last few things you want to add to your suitcase okay? Think about it while I'm gone... it might even help take your mind off of everything."

Regina gave a small nod, keeping her eyes closed.

Emma felt a pang of sympathy. It was clear that Regina still didn't truly want to go, but at least now she had accepted that it was her only option if she wanted to keep herself and her family safe.

"I'll be as quick as I can." Emma said, touching Regina's shoulder before getting up to leave the room.

"I'll stay with you Mom," Henry said in a small voice.

Emma hovered in the door to Regina's softly lit bedroom. The brunette was barely visible under the pile of covers. She had her back turned away from the door and all that was visible was the top of the back of her head.

"Henry go double check your room okay?" Emma whispered to him, assuming that Regina was asleep.

Henry nodded, he looked at Regina before leaving the room.

Emma slowly walked into the room and sat down carefully beside Regina so as not to startle her too much. When Regina failed to react to her presence, Emma laid a soft hand on her arm.

"Hey," she said softly. "Are you awake?"

After a moment's pause, Regina's delicate shifting of positions gave Emma her answer. Regina turned over to look up at Emma, and Emma saw the pained look in her eyes.

"We're all set downstairs." Emma gently affirmed Regina's unasked question. "Are you ready to go?"

Regina stared desperately up at her for a few moments before she had to look away. "No." She whispered.

Emma held her breath for a moment or two. "Look I know it's hard but it's for the best, you know it is."

Regina didn't move, but with her tear filled eyes she glanced mournfully around the room.

"Regina?"

Regina didn't respond, she just closed her eyes in attempt to hide the fact that she was crying yet again.

Emma could see it in the way Regina had burrowed herself in the blankets. Even after what had happened here with the fire and with Blue, here in her home Regina still felt comfortable and safe, but out there in the streets there was no telling what could happen.

Emma scooted a little closer to the brunette and reached into the blankets to lay a comforting hand on the brunette's arm.

"I know you're scared Regina," Emma said quietly. "But we have to do this while we still can."

Regina took in a shaky breath as she held onto Emma's arm. "I know." Her voice trembled as she responded.

"I'm sorry..." Emma said.

Regina sniffled. Needing the comfort, she closed the space between the two of them and wrapped her arms around Emma's waist, settling into her lap. She couldn't explain it, but every time Emma was touching her the pain seemed to be a little less intense, everything seemed a little more bearable, and she always felt a little lighter, calmer. She closed her eyes when Emma returned the embrace. Maybe it was true, maybe Emma's unconfirmed and still questionable magic was helping her after all. It would certainly explain her mysteriously disappearing bruises. In fact Regina suspected it would explain many things about the progression of her condition, or rather, why she wasn't worse. She knew that with how bad of a state she had already been in before being kidnapped, the brutality she had been subjected to by her abductors likely should have been too much for her to survive; and yet, after spending a few hours with Emma, she could feel a significant change. She still felt dreadful of course, but at least now she felt like she could at least function a little bit.

"Regina..." Emma swallowed remorsefully as she brushed her fingers through the other woman's hair. She breathed a heavy sigh. "I'm not going to promise that I won't let anything else happen to you... because every time I do I always end up letting you down. But what I will promise you, is that I will do everything I possibly can to keep you and Henry safe tonight."

Regina took in another shaky breath as she closed her eyes more tightly. She nodded softly in thanks, but Emma could see the tears falling down her face.

"We can still fix this Regina." Emma said, wiping away a few of the brunette's tears with the back of her finger. "But in order to do that we have to get you out of Storybrooke."

Emma heartbrokenly watched Regina's crying for a few minutes before checking the time again. It wasn't like they were on a set schedule, but Emma could still feel the pressure.

"Come on, I know you're dreading it, but we really should get going." She pressed gently.

Just then David cleared his throat from the doorway, causing Emma to look over at him. "Hey, is she ready?" He asked.

Emma looked back down at the brunette, her eyebrow raised in question. "What do you say?"

Regina sniffled, nodding.

"Good, " Emma smiled softly. "David's going to help you downstairs, we figured it might be easier for you."

Regina gave another single nod, closing her eyes briefly. "Thank you."

"Mom?" Henry's voice asked from behind David, he soon appeared at his shoulder.

Regina looked over at him, trying but failing to force a smile as a tear rolled down her face.

Henry's eyes saddened as he saw her once again burrowed in his birthmother's embrace. "You're scared aren't you?" He asked quietly.

Regina didn't respond as she began to withdraw from Emma's arms. At her silence, Henry had his answer. He moved towards them and sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "It's okay. I am too."

Regina wrapped an arm around him in response, she gazed at him lovingly.

Emma stood up now and David had moved closer, waiting for Regina to tell him she was ready.

Regina looked up at him briefly, before dropping her gaze again. "Okay," she whispered.

He gave her a small, understanding smile when she met his eyes again.

"We'll go down to the living room first so you can get your coat and shoes on." He said. "Let me know if I'm hurting you okay?"

She nodded, but she knew she wouldn't. Of course it was going to hurt, every part of her hurt. But it wouldn't get any better the longer she put it off. Without saying anything more, she lifted her arms towards him and he leaned forward to take her delicately into his own arms. Once she was settled she closed her eyes again, but when she felt him beginning to walk she forced herself to open them. If this was the last time she would be home she wanted to make sure she studied every inch she possibly could. It felt wrong to leave, it felt almost like she was giving up without a fight. Storybrooke was her home, she had grown to love this peculiar little town and now the rest of its' citizens were running her out of it. Leaving now, it felt like running away and giving up, just like the townspeople had accused her of trying to do. Maybe in a few ways it was wrong, but she also knew that if she did not leave, she would certainly die here.