Hearing the snow crunching under the weight of her boots, Regina walked around the trees near the church in search for firewood, the day after she found Zelena and Robyn.

"These are all too wet." Russell groaned only a few feet away from her.

"The snow should be completely gone in another month or so." Regina mentioned.

"It won't matter, if we all freeze to death in that church one night or starve. Whichever comes first." Theodore worriedly pointed out.

Regina just shook her head and sighed walking on top of the snow to look for more fallen branches. It was the end of the day now, and would be getting dark soon.

Ruby and the team hadn't come back yet so they were stuck at the church for another day. Earlier that afternoon Regina went out into the woods and scanned around for any burrowed holes near the trees; setting up a trap at the entrance of one she found that looked pretty big.

But when she went back earlier she saw that the rabbit hadn't even tried to come out. Regina sighed but accepted her defeat, Graham was better at this than she was.

Zelena and her group had found some canned goods from an old food drive but those cans were running low and no doubt would be gone in a few days. The meal of rabbit meat they provided yesterday just bought them a little time.

Walking back to the church with damp branches in her arms, Regina walked around the building and found Zelena and Robyn waiting anxiously on the steps of the church.

Robyn saw Regina first and tapped her mother's hand to let her know she saw her Aunt Regina. Zelena's head turned and they both stood up and walked to her.

"I'll take those." Theodore spoke up from her right.

Regina jumped a little but grinned and put them in his arms.

"Thank you, Theodore."

"No problem, and just call me Theo ok? Everyone else does."

"Theo." Regina nodded.

Theo smiled and walked away, Robyn was only a few steps away before she started running and jumped into her Aunts open arms. Regina smiled brightly and lifted her up into her arms, showering her face with kisses.

"Bebita! Don't grow up ok? I need you to stay this size forever." Regina held her close.

"I have to grow up eventually, Auntie Gina." Robyn giggled.

Zelena walked over and Regina pulled her into her side, kissing the top of her head as they walked back to the church.

"Regina?"

"Hmm?"

"You said it was February right?"

"Yes, the beginning of February."

"So did your birthday pass?"

Regina paused at that. "It's...today actually."

"What?" Zelena gasped.

"It just completely slipped my mind." Regina shrugged.

"Auntie Gina your birthday was today and you let the whole day pass not remembering it?" Robyn scolded.

"How could you not remember your birthday?" Zelena squeezed her side.

"I was just caught up in having found you two." Regina shrugged again, chuckling, as they continued to walk.

"Did Emma know?" Zelena asked as they walked up the stairs.

Regina felt a little pang of guilt, "Yes she did." she winced, "She had something planned I believe."

"You missed your birthday party, Auntie?!" Robyn gasped.

Regina chuckled and bounced Robyn in her arm, "It is only a day, bebita. We can celebrate together. All of us once we get you back to the prison ok?"

Robyn couldn't argue with that logic and shrugged nodding her head. Going over to their designated area, Regina put Robyn down and took off her wet boots. Dorothy came around holding a big blue crate, dangling it in front of her.

"How many cans are left?" Zelena asked as she got close.

"Not enough to last us till next week, I'll tell you that." Dorothy sighed but handed them some cans of diced fruit.

Regina declined and so did Zelena, but she took one for Robyn to eat.

"You're not going to eat, Mommy?" Robyn looked up at her.

"Not tonight, sweet pea." Zelena grinned down at her. "I just want to make sure you eat ok?"

Zelena handed her the can and Robyn nodded, walking back to their corner. Zelena watched her go before turning back to her sister who was also watching her niece. Regina felt eyes on her and turned.

"What?" Regina smiled.

"Do you think your girlfriend is upset over not being able to see you today? I mean it was pretty big. The first birthday she'd get to spend with you...you know as a couple." Zelena smirked.

Regina sighed and really thought it over, "She was trying to figure out what she could do to make it special but I told her I only wanted to spend the day with her and Henry and father and that would be good enough for me. But this! This is better than anything else I could have gotten." she smiled at her. "She maybe a little upset but not in the sense that she's angry over it. I know she's happy about this too."

"Do you think she'll come back to the church with your team?"

Regina sighed, she didn't answer as she thought it over.

"Do you even want her to?" Zelena laughed.

"She and Henry and August haven't left the prison in months." Regina reasoned. "They don't need to, so they don't go." she shrugged.

"And I take it you prefer it that way? Her there all the time?"

"Well of course." Regina huffed, "I prefer them to be safe behind the walls of the prison. The outside world is too dangerous, if it's not the dead it's the living you have to worry about."

"They'll have to get back out there at some point Gina." Zelena laughed. "Trust me when I say I want to keep Robyn inside as much as possible but being out here has been good for her. You should start allowing the kids at your prison to have a more hands on approach to the outside world. Because in only a matter of months, things have changed. They need to know what to expect. And Emma and her brother should better their skills and what not, being in there all the time will just make them rusty."

Regina listened to everything her sister said, she knew she had a point, and some very good reasons to back it up. But keeping Emma and Henry inside was what felt best to her, they could get hurt and she wouldn't be able to handle that.

Two days later, from inside the church, laying back with her hand behind her head Regina heard a motorcycle roaring from down the road. Quickly grabbing her rifle and going to the front doors of the church, followed by Karen and Dorothy she opened the doors and stepped outside.

"Does anyone else know you're here?" Regina asked over her shoulder.

"What do you mean? Those aren't your people?!" Karen hissed.

Walking down the steps and out into the road, Regina peered around the trees and saw a figure riding down on the black motorcycle.

"August?" Regina titled her head.

Behind him Kristoff was driving his truck and Jefferson had his head and body hanging out of the window waving down at her.

"HEY! CAP!" Jefferson yelled and smiled. "We brought food for the kiddos!"

Regina looked at his face, all colors of black and blue and purple. Feeling worry settle over her, Regina walked down the rest of the way to meet them as they parked. August turned the roaring machine off and pulled a bandanna down from his face, breathing out and smiling at the older woman.

"That! Was amazing!" August laughed. "I have missed this so much!"

August bent over the length of the bike and wrapped his arms around it, as Kristoff and Jefferson and Graham climbed out of the truck. Regina was still confused seeing August on a motorcycle and looked up to Jefferson quickly rushing over to him.

"What the hell happened to your face?" Regina took Jefferson's chin in between her fingers and turned his head side to side.

"OOh boy." Jefferson started to chuckle.

Everyone else started chuckling with him but quickly stopped as Regina gave all four of them unamused looks.

"What the hell is so funny? What happened to your face? And where the hell did you get that motorcycle from August? Did you leave?" Regina fired off questions sternly.

"You have to let us get the whole story out, ok Gina?" Graham spoked up and stepped to her side.

Narrowing her eyes at them, she nodded her head once, her arched brow telling him to go on. Graham took a deep breath and opened his mouth but nothing came out.

"Kristoff you go on and tell her." Graham squeaked out and stepped back to stand at Jefferson's side.

Kristoff sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes, mumbling something about cowards before he turned to Regina and saw the already annoyed look in her eyes. Kristoff took a deep breath and quickly spoke.

"So after we left you here...we talked to Gus and Jaq like you said. They told us all the issues still going on with the bus and that we needed to get some more things to get it to function properly. So they told us but also told us it would need gas, so Emma came up with the plan to make biodiesel to put in the engine but we didn't have everything she needed at the prison to make it. Soooo Emma mentioned a hardware store and Ruby agreed to let Emma come out with us to get the things she needed-"

"You did what?!" Regina blanched.

"Ruby did!" Kristoff rushed out.

"And you agreed to let her go!?" Regina looked back at August.

"I didn't agree to anything." August clapped his hands together slowly and suck his teeth.

"Don't get yourself all worked up now, Gina. He has to tell you the whole thing." Graham spoke up from his position leaning against the truck now.

"So...Emma came along with us for the run...Philip couldn't come cause of you know, his knee, and August has his leg-"

"But yet you're on a god damn motorcycle?" Regina squinted and questioned.

"This isn't my motorcycle. And it's different than having to run." August reasoned. "I have a bandage wrapped around my leg to help."

Regina huffed and turned back to Kristoff and thinking, then who the hells motorcycle was it?

"Emma knew what she needed to get and felt she was the best option so Ruby agreed and she came with us." Kristoff sighed. "We found everything we needed and we managed to get the parts we needed but...while we were there this group of goons, this asshole Walsh and seven other guys-"

"Where is Emma?!" Regina gritted. "And Ruby?! And Mulan?!"

"She's fine! Well-, she's back at the prison! They're all fine! All six of us made it back to the prison okay? Let me just get that out there." Kristoff stressed.

"I suggest you not interrupt any more." Graham winced.

"Please hold all questions, comments, concerns and outburst until then end." Jefferson laughed.

Regina was flaring her nose and her eyes were narrowed at them, Kristoff took a breath and continued.

"We were split up in groups of two, Graham with Emma, Ruby with Mulan, and Jefferson with me. And after getting everything from the stores, and siphoning the cars. The three of us went to get the parts from the bus that we needed...Things were fine and we were looking out for trouble but Walsh and his guys snuck up on us from the front while we were getting the parts out of the back of this broken down bus. Jefferson's rifle was on the side so they got ahold of that. We didn't bring our rifles, by the way! We didn't have enough bullets so Ruby told us to only bring handguns. But of course Jefferson had to be hardheaded and bring his." Kristoff looked pointedly at the man.

"Where were Ruby, Emma, and Mulan?" Regina bit the inside of her lip.

"So...after getting everything from the stores Ruby suggested they all split up to get through some stores faster-"

"She was alone-!"

"Let me finish!" Kristoff urged and touched her arm.

"...Emma went to check out these two stores to the right and Ruby and Mulan took stores down the road to the left...Emma was fine, the whole time we were out Ruby kept telling her to stay alert and stay on her toes you know?...Anyway, Walsh and his goons, got the three of us down and then they got Ruby and Mulan somehow and walked them out at gun point. But they didn't get Emma!...She was in this fireworks store and she must've slipped out the back or something." Kristoff shrugged.

"Fireworks?" Regina's brow furrowed and she whispered.

"They had us all down in the line on our knees and this fucker Nikko was beating Jefferson before that, that's why he looks like that." Kristoff explained.

"Are you okay?" Regina looked to him concerned.

"Yeah Cap, nothing I couldn't handle." Jefferson smirked.

Kristoff and Graham both rolled their eyes at him.

"So Walsh was giving this antagonizing ass speech and pointing Jefferson's rifle in his face threatening to shoot him...Then all of a sudden this motorcycle came zooming down the road and Ruby told us to scatter! There was this thick black smoke everywhere! And then their truck blew up in this big explosion! And Emma just kept coming back on the bike! They were shooting-"

"EMMA WAS ON THE MOTORCYCLE!?" Regina shouted.

Kristoff closed his mouth and clasped his hands in front of him, Jefferson started to chuckle again and Graham was trying not to join in at Regina's expression. Looking back at August who was now leaning on the bike, Regina scuffed.

"She was on that thing?!" Regina looked at him.

"Let him finish." August smirked.

Regina huffed and turned back around. Kristoff explained to her how Emma was on the motorcycle and lighting explosives and fireworks and the goons were shooting at her at point blank range but she still continued to ride on. He told her how Emma stabbed one of the men and they started to help her out and shot the men down in the smoke. He explained Ruby was grazed by a bullet and they managed to get through smoke and biters after shooting the goons down.

Regina's expression only turned more horrified at what he told her next.

"Emma got off the bike...and Walsh knocked her down pretty hard but we were too far...he started hitting her and banging her helmet into the ground and Emma blacked out from how hard he slamming her head down. The glass from the visor cut into her face...He was going to slit her throat and kill her but Jefferson showed up and shot him down!" Kristoff quickly added in.

Kristoff looked over to Jefferson as he stood next to Graham and smiled. Regina was blinking and looked over to Jefferson too, who was digging his heel into the ground.

"I told that fucker I was going to kill him and I did Cap." Jefferson squared his shoulders and Regina looked back at him with pride. "Emma saved all of us, I wasn't going to let that asshole kill her. She's going to have some scars...and she's got a nasty concussion right now but we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

Regina was still eerily quiet and standing there with her hand on her hip, rifle clutched in the other hand. She turned to August.

"You should have stopped her. Why would you let her go?" Regina asked him and then turned to the others. "Why would you take her out there knowing she hasn't left that prison in months?!"

"It was Ruby who agreed-" Kristoff started.

"And where the hell is she? Why is Ruby not here?" Regina's nose flared.

"Because she knew you'd yell at her." Jefferson snickered and smiled.

Regina's eye twitched and Jefferson straightened his face immediately. Turning back to August she clenched her jaw.

"Why didn't you stop her?"

"I tired!" August laughed.

"You didn't try at all! She could be dead!"

"I did! She wouldn't listen to me! She was determined to go on that run, I told her she could get hurt and to just let someone else go but she didn't listen! She insisted on going, she's hardheaded! You should know this by now!" August huffed. "None of this is my fault! You weren't there."

Regina clenched her jaw stopping herself from cursing at August, and Kristoff spoke up.

"It wasn't anyone's fault Cap!...Ok maybe mine and Ruby's but no one else is to blame. We agreed to let her come even when we knew you'd say no."

"Of course I would have said no!"

"But Cap...she was fine. And sometimes these things just happen...She held her own and she saved us out there. The way she did it was pretty crazy but...she saved our assess."

Regina was beyond irritated and she wanted to yell at someone, preferably Ruby and Emma both.

"We got the parts too though and everything else. It was a successful run. Scary as hell but successful." Graham spoke up. "Gus and Jaq have been working on the bus for you the last two days and it's just about ready. Emma told us she'd seen a walnut tree past the gates and she found some old vegetable oils stored away, way in the back of the kitchen. We found some kits and the presser thing she needed. So when her head doesn't hurt as much she'll do her nerd chemistry stuff and start on making the biodiesel."

Regina sighed, and calmed herself down. That was all good news, really good news in fact. But that didn't change the fact that Emma left the prison and almost died, the fact that that asshole was on her and hurt her.

"That's good." Regina sighed, "That's- I'm glad you all are alright." she turned biting her cheek.

Regina eyed the motorcycle with distain. "...So...that's, Emma's motorcycle?" She spat and pointed at the machine with her rifle.

August nodded and pushed off of the Yamaha Bolt, "Yup." he popped the P. "This is all hers...I'm just borrowing it."

Regina felt a strong wave of irritation flow through at the sight of it. She needed to see Emma.

After giving the group of 36 the food they'd brought back, and promising Zelena and Robyn and Dorothy that she would be back, Regina hopped in Kristoff's truck to head back to the prison. Zelena refused to leave without everyone else even though she really wanted to see Big Henry, so she chose to stay.

On the ride back to the prison, Regina made Kristoff tell her the run down of everything that happened again with Walsh. Irritated as she looked out at August riding ahead of them, she thought of everything she was going to yell at the young idiotic blonde about once she saw her.

Pulling up to the gates and parking the truck in the courtyard, Regina sighed as she hopped out of the truck seeing Ruby standing near one of the posts. Regina handed her rifle over to Jefferson.

"It's a good thing Ruby told everyone to leave their rifles." Jefferson laughed a bit. "With all of them there it definitely would have been a different situation."

Regina rolled her eyes and watched him walk away, she turned, tugging her belt up on her hips as she walked over to Ruby.

Stopping only a few feet in front of her, Regina saw her bandaged arm and the black and blue bruise on her cheek. Ruby pushed off of the post and stepped up to Regina looking down at her feet.

"You can look at me Ruby, I'm not going to yell at you." Regina huffed.

Ruby looked up with her head turned to the side and bit the inside of her bottom lip.

"I understand if you want to." Ruby shrugged.

"No I'm not going to." Regina pursed her lips. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Ruby let out a relieved huff and looked down at her arm. "Doc stitched me up a bit and gave me some meds for the pain."

"Good...where is she?" Regina looked to the entrance of the prison.

"In your cell with Henry I think, I haven't seen her since before the guys left." Ruby looked over her shoulder. "I already yelled at her for being stupid by the way."

"Kristoff told me." Regina nodded.

"I-...Everything was just happening so fast. When I didn't see her in the line with us I was glad because they didn't find her. She got away...But I won't lie...I was pretty scared of what they were going to do to us. Frustrated that they managed to get us, but still...kinda scared."

"I would have never taken her out there, Ruby."

"I know."

"And I never would have allowed her to go off on her own."

"I know. It was just going so well!...But she held her own."

"Even so, she could have died. You didn't have your rifles, and you all could have died." Regina sighed and clenched her jaw.

Ruby sighed sadly and looked away, "I know it's my fault. You never would've let something like that happen in the first place...I was trying to-..."

Regina rolled her eyes and stepped forward pulling Ruby in for a hug, Ruby sagged against her hold and accepted the comfort.

"No one is at fault here. Ok? I'm glad you're alright." Regina squeezed her tight.

Pulling back and tipping Ruby's chin up, Regina stepped away to enter the prison doors.

"Are you going to go yell at Emma?" Ruby asked and smirked.

Regina scuffed and laughed, mumbling something about 'you bet your ass I am,' as she walked away, her jaw set and her face hard.