Chapter 11: Reasonable Doubt

Regina was in hell.

And it was in her town's sheriff station.

She paced the small square of her cell but could only take a few steps before she either hit her bed or the brick wall. Regina groaned as she sat down, covering her face with her hands. Closing her eyes, she prayed that when she opened them that the nightmare would be over.

It never was.

"I'm back," Emma said, walking into the sheriff's station. She held up a white bag. "I got you dinner."

"And am I supposed to eat it on my bed again?" Regina asked, annoyed that she wasn't even allowed out to eat. It was bad enough that she had to go to the bathroom in the same room where she slept let alone also eat there.

Emma stopped in front of her cell, looking rather smug. "Where else do you expect to eat?"

"The table?" Regina suggested, pointing to the one right behind Emma.

"No," Emma said, almost gloating as her eyes lit up. "You're a flight risk."

Regina glared at her, certain her rival was enjoying this torture and delighting in new ways to make her life miserable. "How am I flight risk from inside the sheriff's office?" she asked.

Emma shrugged. "You could overpower me or trick me and lock me in the jail while you make off with your car. By the time I can either get out or someone can come get me, you're miles away and on a plane to a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States."

"Seriously?" Regina asked, seething. "You're getting your escape plans from cartoons?"

"That actually happened. Someone I had to track down did that except he wasn't smart enough to go someplace that wouldn't send him back. I found him at his mistress' house," Emma explained. "You, though, are smart enough to run faraway so I'm not taking any chances."

Regina's ego got a boost hearing that Emma considered her smarter than the average criminal she had once pursued but her anger overpowered any satisfaction she felt. "You think I would just leave my son? Or were you hoping so you could take him?"

"Henry wouldn't go anywhere with you," Emma replied. "He's happy where he is."

"He should be with Robin," Regina reminded her, anger boiling the blood as it flowed through her veins.

Emma raised one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "It was decided he should stay with me."

"You have no legal rights to him," Regina replied, still sore over the decision. "You signed them away."

"I still had more of a right to take him than Robin. I'm at least Henry's birth mother. He's just your boyfriend," Emma pointed out. She then smirked as she said: "Besides, Henry chose me. That was ultimately all that mattered."

Regina knew she had a point but it still hurt that temporary custody of Henry had gone to Emma rather than Robin, who she had requested and who had fought hard for her son. But even though Henry seemed to like Robin, it hadn't been much of a surprise that he had chosen the birth mother he idolized instead. Still, it had crushed her and made her feel like Emma had won.

What was worse was that Emma clearly felt the same way. It was clear by the way her eyes seemed to get brighter and in the constant smirk she wore when talking with Regina. But this was likely only a battle – there was still time for Regina to win the war.

And she was going to win.

"Anyway, you are not allowed out of your cell," Emma said, thrusting the bag toward her and reminding Regina about what the conversation had really been about. "Eat it before it gets cold."

Regina pressed her lips together as she took the bag, realizing she would have to eat another meal on her bed. "Thank you, I guess."

Emma nodded before walking away. Sighing, Regina sat down on her bed and pulled out the lukewarm hamburger that would be her dinner. Biting into it, she wished once again that she would just wake up in her own bed and learn that this had all been just a bad dream.

It never happened.

As she started to nibble on the cold and soggy fries, she heard the door to the sheriff's office open. Emma greeted whoever had entered, asking if they were off shift for the rest of the day. Regina was about to tune the conversation out when she heard a voice that always made her heart skip a beat and her stomach do flips.

Robin had come to visit her.

"Can I have some privacy while I talk with Regina?" Robin asked, his eyes flickering toward her as she stood in her cell. There was a seriousness in his tone that made her stomach twist into knots and she wondered what he had to tell her.

Emma hesitated. "I don't know about that…"

"I'm not going to let her out," Robin promised. "If you want to put us in an interrogation room, that's fine too. I just want some privacy with her without the law listening in."

Emma pressed her lips together as she crossed her arms. Regina could tell she was trying to come up with a reason to deny his request. When her shoulders slumped, Regina knew she didn't have a good one. Hope filled her as Emma nodded, even though the sheriff offered a condition. "You let me lock you in. You can call to be let out," she said.

He nodded. "Agreed."

"Okay then," Emma said, retrieving her keys. She unlocked Regina's cell, allowing her to step out for the first time in days. Emma then led them to an interrogation room as Regina tried to catch Robin's hand to hold it but he remained just out of reach. Her heart sank into her stomach, hoping things would get better once they were locked in the interrogation room together.

But once the lock clicked and Regina moved to hug Robin, he stepped out of her way. She realized he was avoiding her touch but tried not to read too much into it. After all, she hadn't changed or showered in a few days. She wouldn't want to be close to herself now either.

"Sorry," she said. "I must be a mess."

Robin frowned as he studied her. "Are those the same clothes you wore when you got here?"

She nodded before saying: "This is also the first time I've been out of my cell since then as well."

"That sounds awful," he said, sitting down as he regarded her with concern in his eyes.

"It is," she replied, sitting as well. She put some space between them, aware that she had to have some odor, even though she wanted to sit closer to him and hold his hand. "But we have limited time together and I don't want to spend it complaining. I want to talk about my case."

He nodded, solemn. "I have to warn you, Regina, it doesn't look good."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her heart skipping a beat.

"I mean that from what I can tell, Emma has been able to corroborate a lot of what Sidney has told her," he said.

It felt like someone had dropped a stone into her stomach. "What?"

He nodded. "She found a lot of evidence. Like the shovel in your garage."

"Shovel?" she asked, frowning. "I keep my shovel in the shed and only use it in the winter when it snows."

"Well, Emma found one and it had dirt on it," he said. "And she's having the dirt analyzed but it's likely to be similar to the dirt under the toll bridge, suggesting you buried the box with the human heart."

Regina's stomach turned as she swallowed. "Where does she think I got the heart from?"

"The hospital," he said. "She hasn't found proof yet but that's her best guess since I've seen her interviewing people there, especially lab techs. I guess she assumes you also paid off someone to falsify the DNA results as well."

"Do you believe any of that?" she asked him, wondering if he also suspected her.

"About the heart and faking the DNA results?" he asked. He shook his head. "Not at all."

She felt relief for a moment before realizing that he hadn't completely declared her innocent. "But you believe some of it?"

He studied her, his eyes guarded in a way she had never experienced with him before. "You have every key to every building in Storybrooke," he said, not asked.

She swallowed, realizing that Emma must've found her skeleton key ring. The curse had given her those keys, giving her unlimited access to every facet of Storybrooke. But she had barely used it over the years. There really hadn't been a reason to do so and so she had just left them in a drawer in her office.

"Regina?" he asked, waiting for her response. "Don't deny it. I've seen them."

"I do," she said softly, trying to come up with a plausible reason to have them. "I inherited them as mayor."

His eyebrows went up. "You inherited them? You mean all mayors have had access to those keys?"

"Well, I'm not sure all mayors but the last few certainly have," she lied, hoping it sounded believable enough. "They were just to be used in case of emergency. You know, wellness checks or something like that. I've never used them."

"Emma believes you used one to get into Mary Margaret's loft and steal her jewelry box, planting the heart in it and then using the shovel to bury it in order to frame her," he told Regina.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "And why would I want to frame Mary Margaret?"

"Gold has posited that you framed Mary Margaret to force Emma to arrest her best friend and watch said friend get sent off to prison outside Storybrooke. That would either disillusion Emma from being sheriff or make her determined to prove Mary Margaret's innocence. Either way, Emma would leave Storybrooke and you would get her out of Henry's life for good," he said.

"He said that?" she asked, cursing under her breath. He had given away the entire plan, tipping Emma off to it. Why had he done it? Did he want her plan to fall apart and make Emma more determined to stay? Or was it a game of reverse psychology, making Emma believe that since she had stopped this attempt that Regina wouldn't try again. That way, their next plan would be foolproof.

Well, if she decided to trust Gold again at all after this.

Robin nodded, that same guarded look in his eyes that now made Regina's stomach turn yet again. "Yes, he did. And Emma thinks it's very plausible."

"Do you?" she asked, nervous to hear the answer.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" she asked, feeling her heart break. She thought she had found someone who always saw the best in her even when she couldn't but it seemed he was just as ready to believe the worst about her just like everybody else.

"Regina, you haven't really hidden how much you dislike Emma and how you want her out of Henry's life," he said, looking pained as those words came out of his mouth.

She swallowed, knowing that was true. It was likely why Gold was using it against her. "And you think I would frame an innocent person to achieve that?"

"I don't want to think it," he replied, "but I can't say that I don't have my doubts."

"Oh," Regina said, feeling like she was going to be sick. She swallowed. "I didn't know you thought me to be that evil as well."

He pressed his lips together before saying: "Not evil. But I know you're desperate and at your wits' end with Henry. And I can see you doing something stupid out of your love for him. We sometimes don't make the best decisions when we're operating on pure emotions."

A small voice told her that he was right and that she had a history of doing that. She pushed that voice away as she asked: "Do you think that's what I'm doing?"

"I don't want to but…" He trailed off, his gaze now fixed at a spot on the table.

Regina frowned, her stomach twisting into another knot. "But what?"

He sighed before looking up at her. "I spoke with Dr. Hopper. I knew that he probably couldn't disclose too much due to patient confidentiality but I was hoping he could at least be able to show that you were dealing with your relationship with Henry in a healthier way and not framing an innocent woman to get rid of your son's birth mother. Imagine my surprise when he told me you had only one session with him and you walked out of it before it was over."

"He told you all that?" Regina asked, feeling both angry and worried. "So much for confidentiality."

Robin crossed his arms. "He told me that reluctantly. I had to pull it out of him. But I find it telling that you focus on that rather than the fact that you've been lying to me for weeks now."

She swallowed, nodding. "I know."

"I don't understand why," he said, his voice cracking. "Why did you feel like you had to lie? Why not tell me?"

"You were so proud," she replied. "I didn't want to disappoint you."

Anguish filled his eyes. "I wouldn't have been disappointed. I know how hard therapy can be. I walked out of two sessions myself before I really stuck with it."

"That would've been nice to know before my first session," she said, annoyed. How could he be angry at her for something he himself did?

To his credit, Robin did look sheepish. "Fair enough. But why didn't you trust me to tell me?"

"I didn't want to disappoint you or change how you look at me, just like what's happening now," she said, wanting him to understand.

He sighed. "I'm disappointed you lied. And I'll be honest, that has shaken how I see our relationship. You were the first person I let in since Marian died. I introduced Roland to you. I really do see a future with you but now I wonder how serious you really are about us."

For a moment, Regina only saw red after that statement. But the fire flooding her veins quickly became ice as she said: "I could say the same about you."

He blinked a couple times, clearly not expecting that response. Regina didn't know what he had been expecting – crying, begging for forgiveness perhaps – but he had said his piece and now she would say hers.

"I've told you a lot about my past, more than anyone else," she said, keeping her voice even as she felt the comforting presence of her anger. "You are the first serious relationship I've had since my marriage ended. Everyone else, including Graham, was just for sex. I originally only wanted a sexual relationship with you too. Scratch the itch and then go home. No dinners, no long talks, nothing romantic. That was safer for my heart.

"But even from the very beginning, you were so much more to me. I told you things I couldn't even admit to myself. You had this way of making me feel safe and cared for. I have been judged my whole life and founding wanting but you never made me feel that way," she told him.

She paused as tears filled her eyes. Regina swallowed down a sob, determined not to cry in front of him. "I let you in in every way possible. My home, my heart, my life. You met Henry and have been developing a relationship with him. I spent the night with you. I normally don't sleep with someone I have sex with but that night was different. You were different.

"Or I thought you were," she replied. "I lied and it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it. I should've trusted you more. But I had already opened so much of my heart and myself to you and that never has ended well for me. I am never good enough, I could never live up to their expectations, and it has been made known time and time again to me that unless I'm perfect, I'm worthless."

"You are not worthless," he told her, his voice firm. "I don't want perfection. I want someone who is real."

"I am real," Regina snapped. "I have been more real with you than anyone else! I'm sorry the real me is a fucking mess! I don't need Archie fucking Hopper to tell me that!"

Fire burned in Robin's eyes. "I can handle messy because I can be messy as well. But we need to trust each other and right now, it feels like a one-way street."

"That's rich," she said. "From what I can tell, there is no street."

"Are you saying I don't trust you?" he asked, sounding almost insulted.

If she wasn't afraid of laughing of crying instead, she would've laughed. "You said you didn't trust me. Not in those exact words but I got the message clear enough."

"I think you're reading too much into things," he replied. "Or maybe I've gotten too close and you're scared so now you're trying to push me away. Is that what happened to Kathryn? Is that why you had her kidnapped?"

"I didn't have her kidnapped!" Regina yelled, slamming her hands on the table as she stood from her chair. Robin jumped back, eyes wide. For the first time, he looked afraid of her.

She wavered a bit but her anger and indignation took over again. He asked her to trust him yet one mistake on her part had him doubting everything and believing the worst about her. It was a joke.

Except she wasn't laughing.

Robin stood, slowly approaching her as if she was a wild animal about to pounce. She slowly backed away as she kept her eyes on him. "Contrary to what you believe, I did trust you. Clearly, that was a mistake. Once again, I've failed to live up to the expectation to be perfect, no matter what you say, and so I must be a perpetual fuck up."

"Regina, wait," he started to say, reaching for her.

The door to the interrogation room opened and Emma stood there. "I'm sorry, but I have to get home to Henry and need to lock Regina back up in her cell."

"It's okay," Regina said, still holding Robin's gaze. "We're done here."

Emma glanced at Robin, who nodded. She then approached Regina. "Alright, Madam Mayor. You can come with me."

They walked down the hallways back to the main area of the sheriff's office. Emma walked right next to Regina but did not hold her arm, as if finally acknowledging that Regina was not a flight risk. Robin's footfalls echoed behind them as they walked silently together.

Emma locked her back in the cell and Regina sat down, pointedly not looking at Robin. She heard him talking in a low tone with Emme before clearing his throat. "Goodnight, Regina," he said.

Regina didn't respond.

Instead, she stared at the wall as she heard the door close behind him. She continued to stare as Emma approached the cell. "What the hell happened in there?" she asked.

"None of your damn business, Miss Swan," Regina replied. "That's what the hell happened in there."

Emma sighed. "Fine. I'll see you in the morning. Have a good night."

"Doubt it," Regina muttered as Emma turned off the lights in the station. She alarmed the place before locking it up for the night, leaving Regina alone.

As always.

She laid down on her uncomfortable bed, curling up as she felt tears run down her cheeks. Had she been a fool to think that Robin loved her? Or had she just imploded the best relationship she had due to her own issues?

In the dark cell, she feared the answer to either question as she slipped off into a troubled sleep.

Regina left the palace, the hood of her cape up so no one would recognize her. The night was dark but the courtyard well lit, forcing her to keep to the shadows to ensure she wasn't seen as she made her way to the stables. She opened the door and stepped inside, joy and excitement bubbling through her as Daniel emerged from a nearby stall. They rushed toward each other, embracing and kissing.

"Everything is prepared," Daniel assured her when they broke their kiss. "You ready?"

She nodded, eager to leave and start her new life with the man she loved. Taking his hand, Regina turned around as she said: "Let's go."

Before she could take another step, her eyes landed on the imposing figure emerging from the shadows. Her blood ran cold as her mother stepped into the light come from the torches illuminating the stables. Mother was dressed in dark colors, as usual, which had likely helped conceal her presence from them. Though her expression was neutral, Regina could see the anger in her mother's eyes as she asked: "Going somewhere?"

Everything sped up – though Regina heard snippets of conversation in her mind. Mother embraced Daniel as Regina tried to stop her, knowing what came next. But she was frozen in place and could only watch helplessly as Daniel's face contorted in pain. As Mother pulled away with his heart in her hands, her fingers closed around his heart and she squeezed it as the red, glowing organ disintegrated into a pile of gray dust at Mother's feet. Daniel collapsed, his body limp and unbreathing.

Regina dropped to her knees, gathering his body into her arms as she kissed him over and over. But not even True Love's Kiss could undo death. Daniel was gone and her happy ending was lost forever. Angry, she looked up at her mother to yell at her.

But it wasn't Mother looking back at her.

It was Regina herself.

She wore one of the tight skirt suits she favored in Storybrooke and her dark hair was cut short, just as she wore it in her new realm. That Regina opened her hand to let the last remains of Daniel's heart fall to the floor. Her eyes looked more like Mothers than her own and when she spoke, it was Mother's voice that came out of Regina's mouth.

"Foolish girl. How many times must I remind you that love is weakness. It keeps you from fulfilling your true purpose. Once again, I have had to remove the obstacle to keep you from being distracted.

Confused, she looked back down at the body in her arms. Her heart jumped into her throat as she realized it wasn't Daniel she was hold. Instead, it was Robin, dressed in his EMT uniform. His eyes were closed and his lips pale, his chest not rising or falling. Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head. "No, no," she pleaded. "Not him."

"Yes. He was making us weak." The voice now sounded like her and Regina looked up at herself.

"No, he wasn't," Regina said. "He was making us happy."

A cold chuckle drew her attention to the other side as another version of her emerged from the shadows. This one wore an opulent dark purple gown with black velvet designs on it and had a tight bodice. Regina recognized it as the dress he wore when she gave Snow White that cursed apple.

The Evil Queen stood before her.

"Happy? Are you happy now? Sitting alone in a jail cell after he told you he thought you were behind this plan?" the Queen asked.

"He didn't believe that," Regina protested. "He was upset because I lied to him. I didn't want to lose him."

"Well, it looks like you lost him anyway," the Queen taunted her. She crouched down and lifted the head of the person in Regina's arms. "What about our plan to destroy Snow White?"

Regina frowned. "I'm still working on that."

"Are you?" Storybrooke Regina asked her, tilting her head. "Because it seems like she's about to get her happy ending back. Her prince and her daughter, who is about to take our son. Once again, she's going to have everything and we're going to have nothing."

"No," Regina insisted. "We've just hit a momentary roadblock. But we'll get rid of Emma Swan, keep Henry, get Robin back and keep our happy ending."

Storybrooke Regina tilted her head. "Is that so? Because we were on track to do that but then you bungled it."

"Yes," The Queen agreed, crouching to look Regina in the eyes. "You got soft. We never cared about who we hurt before to get what we want."

"I know," Regina said softly. "But maybe we should've."

The Queen laughed. "You have gone soft. You are weak."

"We can have it all," Storybrooke Regina insisted. "You just need to stay focused."

"I know," Regina replied, looking between her two halves. "But what happens after we get what we want?"

Neither version of her answered. Her heart hammered in her chest as she asked: "Don't we deserve to be happy?"

The Queen and Storybrooke Regina looked at each other before they laughed, cold sounds that didn't feel like her own laugh. Both started to fade away, revealing Rumpelstiltskin where the Evil Queen once stood and her mother in place of her Storybrooke self.

"Foolish girl, who ever made you think this was about your happiness?" Mother asked.

Regina turned to Rumpelstiltskin. "That's what you promised me, right? My own happy ending?"

"Did I?" he asked.

"Yes, you did," she insisted, though now she wasn't too sure. Maybe she had just assumed that.

He laughed, that high-pitched sound that still sometimes haunted her dreams. "And you believed me?"

"You need to stick to the plan," Mother insisted.

"What is the plan?" Regina asked, feeling lost and confused. "And does my happiness play into it?"

The silence that followed her questions was deafening.

Mother and Rumpelstiltskin laughed together, the sound painful to Regina. She covered her ears as her heart seemed to speed up. Regina hunched over, closing her eyes as she wished for it all to end.

"Wake up," she muttered to herself. "Wake up, wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!"

Regina shot up from her uncomfortable bed, her heart and head pounding. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she held up her hand, attempting to conjure a fireball she knew would never come. After all, there was no magic in this realm.

"Bad dream, dearie?"

Squinting, she made out the form of a person standing in the middle of the sheriff's office. The form walked closer before Regina could see it was Gold, smirking as he looked through the bars at her. "Well, well. Look at what we have here," he said.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, standing. "How did you get in?"

"You're not the only one with unfettered access in this town," he told her. "Perks of being a landlord."

She frowned, several questions coming to her. Though she had been suspicious that her mention had managed to escape the memory alterations caused by the curse, several encounters early on had confirmed that he was completely affected by the curse and had no memories of being Rumpelstiltskin or the Dark One. He was just Mr. Gold, pawnshop owner and landlord who seemed to own all of Storybrooke. It felt like a lifetime since she and Robin had questioned how he had gained so much power and control in their idyllic hamlet but maybe now she could finally get the answer.

"How did you end up with so much property?" she asked, approaching the bars. "I certainly didn't give it to you nor did you buy it during the curse."

"I have my ways," he replied.

Annoyance flooded through her. "Can you be more specific?"

"I could but where's the fun in that?" he asked, grinning impishly. He almost looked like his old self.

"I hate when you talk like that," she replied, gripping the bars as she wished she could just yank them away and wring his neck. "Can you just give me a plain answer?"

He stepped closer, studying her before asking: "You know what I enjoy a great deal in this world?"

"A whole new system you can twist for your own gain?" she asked, glaring at him.

"Well, yes," he replied. "But I also enjoy movies, don't you?"

His question surprised her but also made her suspicious. Unsure where his line of thought was going, she said: "Yes, I do."

"There are a lot of people who work on a movie to make it the story we see on screen," he continued. "You have the screenwriter who writes the story, the director who brings that story to life and the editor who fine-tunes that story and makes it perfect."

"Are you just going to wax poetic about movies or are you going to help me figure out how to get out of here?" she asked him hotly, done with his nonsense.

He tilted his head. "Why would I do that?"

"Because clearly the plan backfired," Regina said. "I'm glad you didn't really kill Kathryn, though why didn't you tell me?"

Gold held her gaze. "Because you are a shit liar."

She scoffed. "Please. I've been lying about who I am for almost three decades."

"Have you?" he asked. "Because sometimes, I feel like you're also cursed and that you now fully inhabit the Regina Mills you've created in this curse."

"Maybe I have," she replied hotly. "But this is supposed to be my happy ending, isn't it? Why shouldn't I finally become the person I want to be?"

She thought of the life she had built over the decades – a successful career as mayor, a beautiful family with Henry, a lavish house and wardrobe as well as the best of everything for her son. Regina also thought of everything she had started to add to her life recently – her romance with Robin and her relationship with his son and his firehouse family as well as her friendship with Kathryn. Never having a best friend before who wasn't a porcelain doll, it felt nice to have a confidant and supporter, someone to have lunch with and just talk to about anything.

Maybe she did let herself get caught up in the fantasy. After all, she enjoyed coming up with a fun story of teenage rebellion the other day. It certainly had been a lot better than most of her childhood memories. As she said, this was supposed to be her happy ending. That meant she could define who she wanted to be.

And despite the turn that her life had taken in the past few days, it was the one she wanted to keep.

Gold hummed. "Regretting a few things now, are we?"

"Yes, but maybe not the ones you think," she said, realizing that almost all her current problems stemmed from her decision to work with him. His plan to help her preserve her happy ending just made everything worse and was likely to hasten the end of her curse instead.

A chill swept over as she came to a sickening realization. "The plan hasn't gone wrong, has it? You wanted it to fall apart, didn't you?"

"Now why would I want a thing like that?" he asked. While his expression remained neutral, there was an undertone of glee in his voice.

"I'm not sure," she replied, feeling as if the ground was tilting. "But I know I will find out."

He chuckled. "Even if there was something to find out, I doubt you would."

She scowled, knowing he was now taunting her. "Have you come here just to mock me?"

"No," he replied. "I came to see if the Queen was finally ready to come out and play."

Regina's dream haunted her mind at his words and she regarded him with suspicion. "What do you need the Queen for?"

"I really don't," he said, "but I think you do."

"What do you mean?" she asked, though she had a feeling deep in her gut she already knew.

He motioned around them. "You've been playing it safe and look where it got you."

"The Queen is ruthless," she reminded him. "She won't care who gets hurt."

"Exactly," he replied, grinning. "She could absolutely destroy Emma Swan. Consider that."

He didn't wait for her to respond. Instead, he just bowed his head. "Goodnight, Your Majesty."

And then he was gone.

Regina felt as if her mind was spinning in several different directions. Would it be better to let the Evil Queen out to play? Could she make everything better and make sure their happy ending remained intact?

She laid down on the bed again, staring at the ceiling as she imagined the look on Emma Swan's face as she raced to get away from Storybrooke. None of the woman's street smarts or brash attitude would be a match for the confidence and clever tactics of the Queen. Perhaps Emma would've already been gone if she had let her inner Queen out sooner. It did seem that as Regina, she had lost some of her touch when it came to underhanded tactics.

Probably because she hadn't needed them in almost thirty years.

Instead, she had built a beautiful life on her own without the need to torture or terrorize anyone. She had adopted her son and created wonderful memories with him until he had learned he was adopted and then got the storybook. The queen would've destroyed it, not humored it.

Maybe then she wouldn't have any of these problems.

But then maybe she wouldn't have met Robin either.

Her eyes grew heavier and she closed them, letting herself drift off into an uneasy sleep. She could always make her decision another day.

"Good morning, Madam Mayor," Emma's voice pierced through the haze of sleep. "Rise and shine."

Every limb in Regina's body felt sore as she opened her eyes. Pain also pounded right between her eyes and her stomach rolled, no doubt from the greasy food Emma had been feeding her since locking her up. She also needed a good shower and a new change of clothes – something else denied to her. Regina wasn't sure if that was protocol or just Emma going the extra mile to make her imprisonment worse.

Regina sat up, groaning. "Am I allowed aspirin or is that banned?"

"What do you need an aspirin for?" Emma asked, leaning against the bars. It seemed she was trying not to smirk but failing at it.

"This isn't the Ritz," Regina replied, pressing her hand to her back as she rubbed a sore spot. "Every inch of me hurts."

Emma looked pained, though Regina doubted it was an empathetic response. She figured Emma wanted to say something smart but for some reason was holding her tongue. Maybe someone told her to watch out to make sure her bias didn't destroy their case against Regina, even if most of it was false.

"We can get you aspirin at the hospital," Emma said, holding out a duffle. "I've brought you a change of clothes."

"The hospital?" Regina asked, her stomach churning as Emma unlocked the door. Images of Henry sick or injured filled her mind as she took the duffle bag from Emma. "Why are we going to the hospital?"

Emma paused for a moment before saying: "I'll tell you once you shower and change. Follow me."

But Regina move, fear keeping her rooted to the ground. Emma stopped after a few steps, looking back and then sighing. Her expression softened as she said: "It's not Henry. He's safe in school."

"Okay," Regina replied, relieved to know it wasn't her son. She took a few steps out of the cell before stopping again. "Then who is it?"

Emma hesitated, looking around as if trying to find some answer written on the wall. When that failed, she sighed and stepped closer. Her response stopped Regina's heart and made her blood run cold.

"It's Robin. He's been in an accident and…it's bad, Regina."

A/N: Uh oh. Things aren't going well for Regina. She's in prison, Robin is doubting her…and now he's in the hospital. What will she do next?

I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you on cliffhanger for a bit longer than usual. This chapter took me a bit longer than I expected, especially the fight between Robin and Regina, so I don't think I'll have the next chapter ready for next week.

I hope you all have a great week!

-Mac