This chapter is for Lanafan7151977 with the prompt: "Regina's sessions with Archie"

Regina paused with her hand on the door to Archie's office. She hadn't really wanted to come here, but Emma had set up the appointment for her. She had no doubt that Emma would check in with Archie if she actually went or not, which was why she was actually making the effort to go.

Before Regina could turn away and walk back down the stairs like she wanted to, the door opened to reveal Archie. He smiled warmly at her, but all Regina wanted to do was flee. She had made him a therapist, and now it was very much backfiring.

"Before you run away, keep in mind that that's an Emma move," Archie said. "You never run from your problems, for as long as I've known you."

Regina sighed in defeat. He was right. She walked past him, ignoring his satisfied smile, and took a seat on the couch opposite Archie's. Archie took a seat and grabbed his notepad and paper before turning his attention completely to Regina.

"You look like you're waiting for me to say something," Regina said.

"Isn't that what you came here to do?" Archie asked.

Regina shook her head. "I came here because Emma set up the appointment, and I have no doubt that she'll be checking in to see if I actually went of not. Now you can say I came, and I can leave."

Regina stood back up, walking towards the door. "Emma booked this session because your nightmares have been getting worse," Archie said.

Regina froze. "I don't have nightmares."

"Emma would beg to differ," Archie said. "And since you won't open up to her, it has been requested that you open up to me."

"And why would I do that?" Regina asked.

"Because deep down you do want to talk about it," Archie said. "If you talk about it, I can bet that the nightmares will go away."

Regina wrapped her arms around herself and sat back down. "Fine. The nightmare is the same every time."

"What happens?" Archie asked.

Regina squeezed her arms tighter around herself. "I used to have lessons with Rumple to learn magic. In my dream, it's a typical lesson until Emma and Henry show up. And he makes me choose which one to kill. And every time that I refuse, he kills them both without a second thought."

"Have you ever tried to save them?" Archie asked. "Or go along with his wishes?"

"I could never kill one of them," Regina said. "But even then, I can never move. I'm forced to stand there and watch as he kills them both. Every night."

"I think I know what's going on, and how you can deal with it," Archie said. "But you have to trust me completely, and do what I say or this isn't going to work."

"And if I don't?" Regina asked.

Archie smiled. "No matter how stubborn you try to be, hiding this from Emma is just going to tear your relationship apart. The next time you have this nightmare, talk to her. Talking to me is great, but I don't have the relationship with you that Emma does."

"Thank goodness for that," Regina mumbled.

Archie chuckled. "Just talk to her. The nightmares are happening because you're so scared of losing her that those thoughts are being brought to you in your dreams. Talking to her will help."

That night, Regina sat up in bed with a gasp. Emma was instantly awake beside her, and sat up slowly. She had no idea what Archie and Regina had talked about, but she knew that Regina had gone.

"You okay?" Emma asked hesitantly. Probably the stupidest question to ask after a nightmare, but she never knew what to do. Regina never wanted to talk about it. Or go back to sleep.

"No," Regina said. Emma looked at her in surprise. Usually Regina just shrugged and got out of bed, leaving Emma alone to fall back asleep. This was a new twist.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Emma asked.

Regina took a deep breath. "Not really. But I've been hiding this from you for too long, and it's time that I told you what's happening. Because you were right. They are getting worse."

Emma nudged her gently. "Told you I'm right every once in awhile."

Regina chuckled. "Yes well. Apparently Archie was a good choice for town therapist."

Emma just smiled and wrapped an arm around Regina. Regina sighed and leaned into the touch, resting her head on Emma shoulder. "The dream is the same every night. I'm in the forest with Rumple for one of our magic lessons, and then you and Henry show up."

Emma didn't say anything, just rubbed her hand soothingly up and down Regina's back. Regina took a deep breath before continuing. "He tells me that love is a disadvantage, and if I truly want to be powerful that I must kill one of you. I refuse every time of course, and then he rips out both of your hearts, and kills you. I try to stop him, but I can't move and you both just collapse to the ground. And that's when I wake up."

Several beats of silence passed before Emma spoke. "You know, I had nightmares in Neverland about you dying. We weren't together then, so I didn't say anything. But I forced them to go away."

"How?" Regina asked.

"I repeated to myself over and over again that it wasn't real," Emma said. "That usually woke me up without feeling panicked. I had control over the dream."

"But it always feels so real," Regina whispered.

"I know," Emma said. "But here's why it's not. No one has ever been able to rip out my heart, right? Why would Rumple suddenly be able to?"

"Oh," Regina said. "I guess that's true."

Emma chuckled. "Would you look at that? I was right again. I'm on a roll tonight."

Regina just rolled her eyes. But it was true. Emma was on a roll.

"So, how have things been going?" Archie asked from his spot.

"Good," Regina said. "I haven't been having the nightmares as frequently, and whenever I do, I talk to Emma about them."

"And does this help?" Archie asked.

Regina nodded. "I can actually go back to sleep and not have another nightmare. If I keep this up, the nightmares might disappear altogether."

Archie smiled. "That's what I like to hear."

Regina smiled back at him. "I may have given you this job from a curse, but you're actually pretty good at it. For a cricket."

Archie laughed. That was about as good of a compliment that he had ever gotten from Regina. "I'm just going to ignore the cricket jab and say thank you."

Regina laughed. "You're welcome."