Regina sat in the living room, listening carefully to any noise. After everything that had happened with Pan and Neverland, Regina wanted to always be ready for anything. She couldn't remember the last time that she actually had slept, or the last time that she had allowed Henry to leave the house.

Hearing a creak on the stairs, Regina immediately lit a fireball in her hand, ready to spring into action. She slowly walked around the corner and nearly ran into Henry.

"Henry," Regina said, extinguishing the fire in her hand. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same question," Henry countered. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I was just about to head to bed," Regina said, smiling gently at him. "Go on back to bed. Don't worry about me."

Henry narrowed his eyes at her before crossing his arms. "You go to your bedroom first."

Regina sighed. "Henry, this isn't necessary. Go on, go to your room. I'll head up to mine shortly."

"No you won't," Henry said. "I'm pretty sure that you haven't slept since we got back from Neverland."

"That's not true," Regina said. "I've been sleeping every night. I just go to bed later than you do."

Henry rolled his eyes. "I'm not dumb, mom. Now go to bed, or I'm calling Emma."

Regina's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"Oh I would," Henry said. "She loves you, and she's the one who always seems to make you cave. So either go willingly, or I'll call her."

Regina glared at him. "Who did you learn your blackmail skills from?"

"Learned them myself," Henry said, smirking. "Now go to bed."

Regina sat in her bedroom, unable to fall asleep. She knew that Henry had watched her enter her room, and had probably waited for a while to make sure that she stayed there. But now she couldn't even sit still.

Standing up, Regina walked over to her door, hesitantly opening it. She peeked out and sighed in relief when she saw Henry's door shut. Walking out of her room, she opened Henry's door, glancing inside to see if he was all right.

Henry was sleeping peacefully in his bed, oblivious to his mother watching and worrying for him. Smiling at him, Regina slowly and quietly shut his door.

She walked downstairs, headed back for her area in the living room. Surprisingly, she wasn't even tired. Well, she tried to tell herself that she wasn't.

Regina walked into the living room and stopped in shock at seeing Emma sitting in her chair. "What are you doing here?"

"Could ask you the same question," Emma said, crossing her arms.

"I live here," Regina said.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Why are you up?"

"I'm not tired," Regina said, walking over and sitting on the couch.

"Really?" Emma asked. "Because the kid called earlier and said that you haven't slept since we got back from Neverland. Which was quite a long time ago."

"I'm fine," Regina said. "You should go home and get some sleep."

"And you should go upstairs and do the same," Emma countered.

"I don't need sleep," Regina said. "I need to make sure that Henry is safe."

"So that's what this is about," Emma said, getting out of the chair. She moved over and sat on the couch next to Regina. "He's not going anywhere."

"You don't know that," Regina argued. "We thought that everything had died down and that he would finally be able to be safe, but here we are. We almost lost him!"

"Regina, he's upstairs," Emma said. "You haven't let him leave the house since we got back. He's going stir crazy."

"He hasn't said anything to me," Regina argued.

"That's because you'd probably just tell him that he's being ridiculous and that the town isn't safe," Emma said.

"Well it isn't!" Regina said. "Not anymore."

"You can't just keep him locked up in here," Emma said.

"Magical barriers are incredible things," Regina said.

Emma grabbed Regina's hand, intertwining their fingers. "You aren't going to be able to protect him forever. You need to let him leave the house every once in awhile. And you need to sleep."

"That's a lot to expect of me at once," Regina said.

"Then we'll do it in steps," Emma said. "We're going to go upstairs, and go to sleep. Tomorrow, we'll all go as a family to Granny's for lunch. It's out of the house, but you'll still be with him. Deal?"

Regina bit her lip as she thought about it. "Okay. That sounds fine."

Emma smiled before standing up, pulling Regina with her. "Good. Let's go get some sleep."

"I'm not sure I can," Regina said as she looked at Henry's door.

Emma squeezed her hand. "He'll still be here in the morning. I promise."

Regina looked at Henry's door but allowed herself to be pulled into her bedroom. "Alright sleepless protector," Emma teased. "Time to get some sleep."

To the reviewer Harleyxx7, kudos to you for reading every chapter at once. The chapter you're looking for is Day 17, Red Rose.