Let's play the good news/bad news game, ok? Bad news: the identity behind the eerie red eyes isn't revealed yet - I do enjoy you guessing though. ;) Good news: this is basically pure Regina and Robin interaction, and disagreement abounds. Enjoy, and thanks for the reviews!

"We have a guest over for breakfast," Regina's gleeful voice announced.

Robin turned around and almost dropped the piece of freshly-roasted meat into the fire. Regina had stepped from the thicket with a self-conceited smile on her lips, followed by a giant of a Cyclops trailing behind her, tame as a lamb.

"Where did you-? How?"

A smirk settled on Regina's face. Surely there hadn't been a fight. Robin looked her up and down and, much to his relief, found not a hair out of place - she was perfectly unharmed. Not so the Cyclops: the robust, muscled creature was shrouded in some strange purple substance - a cloud of magic of some sorts. His only eye looked glazed and his stare absent.

"Have you cursed him?"

"Of course not," she returned with a note of irritation. "But he would hardly have come with me voluntarily, and we have good use for him. Look."

Robin's look dropped to the Cyclops' helmet in Regina's hands.

"An officer?" he guessed at the sight of the full horse hair plume on top. He looked back at Regina, who was wearing a contented smirk. "He can tell us about the Witch's defenses," he said with a swell of hope.

Regina gave a small laugh. Under her pointed look, the Cyclops waddled over to a log and sat against a tree trunk. She rolled up her sleeves and reached towards him without a moment's hesitation, pinning the Cyclops with a cold, hard stare that made Robin shiver.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Interrogating our prisoner," she snapped, "what does it look like to you?" She turned back to the beast with a malicious glint in her eyes that he hadn't seen there before. He didn't have to think twice to imagine the method the Queen was opting for would be highly unpleasant. He had to stop this madness before it went too far.

"Regina," he began warily, "I hardly think this is appropriate."

"Appropriate?" she spat, her voice dripping sarcasm. "This Witch has been kidnapping children. I'd hardly call that appropriate."

That was true, of course, but it didn't justify what they were about to do.

"We have no need of your magic to do this."

Regina seemed to think otherwise.

"I captured him with magic," she said with increased annoyance. "Why shouldn't I interrogate him the same way?"

The challenging, over-the-shoulder look she threw him cut right through the veil of reason he was struggling to employ.

"Oh, I don't know," he scoffed, "perhaps because he might be willing to speak without torture?"

He shouldn't have done that - shouldn't have let her provoke him into the increasingly heated tone matching her own. Yet here he was now. What was it about her that was making it impossible to stay calm?

"I tried that already," she retorted with her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. "He laughed in my face! No one laughs in my face," she finished darkly with unmasked threat.

"So this is really about your vanity?"

Her face darkened. It was too late now to take back the unfortunate choice of words.

"No, this is about the price of things." Her eyes darted to the Cyclops, then back to Robin. Something had changed in her expression, some kind of bitterness had crept into her face as she continued. "Sometimes you need to get your hands dirty doing what needs to be done. Nobility won't get us anywhere now."

"I prefer to remain within the boundaries of humanity whenever I can," he said in a level voice. Maybe he was being too judgemental, too pushy. Perhaps she would see the error of her ways if she didn't feel challenged by his attitude.

"I'm not asking you to give up these foolish ideals of yours," she said flatly. "I'll do the dirty work."

There was something about her voice as she said it that unsettled him, and it wasn't anger or arrogance this time.

"It makes no difference if I stand around while you do it," Robin answered, looking her in the eye.

She didn't miss a beat, nor did she show any sign of unease.

"Well, you could try stopping me and end up senseless, too, like our guest," she offered dryly. "Would that make you feel better? If so, let's be done with it."

Her patience was running out again, clearly. So was his - they were wasting precious time.

"Regina, if you would just-"

"Do you want your son back or not?"

"Of course I do!" he shouted.

Whoa there. He ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh. It'd been a while since he lost control like that.

For a moment, his outburst seemed to shake her just as much as it did him. Then she simply turned her attention to the Cyclops, who hadn't made a move during the entire exchange. Before she could do anything more, however, Robin was at her side, and wrapped his fingers around her arm to prevent whatever she was about to do.

"How dare you!" she boomed, whipping around to face him. Her eyes burned with fierce rage, and he could almost feel the heat rising in her cheeks as their faces were mere inches apart. The Queen's rage was infamous, and it seemed he was going to witness it first hand.

But Robin Hood wouldn't be intimidated into silence.

"I'd like to try my way first," he hissed. "Then we can consider yours."

For a moment nothing happened. Everything froze apart from their eyes, which were engaging in a staring contest of sorts. Who would out-stare whom?

"Fine," she said eventually through gritted teeth, "if wasting our time is what you desire, suit yourself."

Regina waved a hand in front of the Cyclops' dazed face, and his expressionless eye came to life again. His vacant face reassembled into a mask of hostility.

Regina sat down on a log, crossed her legs, and arched an eyebrow in expectation. He would have sworn once it wasn't possible to convey such an amount of sarcasm by just a look or posture, but right then she was proving him wrong. He turned back to the bound Cyclops - she hadn't bothered undoing the binding spell, and for now that was probably for the best anyway.

Robin begin to question the brute about the palace: what protection spells were in place, where the guards were positioned, where the children were being kept. He asked about the Witch: was she at the palace, what did she do with the children, what were her larger plans? But the wretched Cyclops held his tongue, eyeing Robin with utter contempt.

With each unanswered question, Robin's rage grew along with his despair. He could beat that mass of yellow-clad muscle unconscious - and did he yearn to! Damn, Roland was in there, and had been for days. He was taking too long to reach his son as it was, and now he was failing at obtaining crucial information from a creature that would probably kill them in a heartbeat if it had the chance - and all this just because his notion of honour was making him squeamish about torture. What did the means matter anyway, with his son's life at stake?

Conscience cried out in alarm at the thought, but at the same time Roland's image swam before his eyes. Robin would live with the guilt of mistreating the enemy before he could ever live with the guilt of losing Roland.

"Fine," he sighed in resignation, and pulled his dagger, "have it your way."

The prospect was sickening, but it had become necessary. Before he made the next move, however, Regina spoke from close behind him - how and when she had gotten there was a mystery to him.

"Have you ever had your heart ripped out?" she addressed the Cyclops in a low, threatening voice. A momentary look of panic crossed the rough features of their captive. "I thought so. Well, this shall be a first. Then you shall have no chance but to talk, and I can make sure your situation is extremely…unpleasant," she snarled in the Cyclops' face with her fingers digging into the striped shirt over his heart. Robin just stood there and watched her, utterly mesmerised. "Or," she pulled back a notch, removing her hand, at which the beast visibly relaxed, "you could just be reasonable and answer the questions the noble bandit here asked so politely."

The Cyclops looked around, took a deep, rattling breath, and a grunting noise issued form his mouth. He was speaking - and once he stated, there was no end to his words. The petrified creature told them all they wanted to know - or all it knew - and more. The palace was shielded by a protection charm. Every entrance was heavily guarded, but there was hardly any Cyclops force inside the palace itself. The abducted children were kept in the dungeons, but the Cyclops knew no details of their treatment. He seemed to know much of the Witch's plans when it came to army movements, which would certainly be useful once the Charmings mustered a force sufficient to take them on, but had no information about the Witch's overall motivations or plans.

"Do you believe he's telling the truth?"

Robin blinked at the sound of her voice. It no longer sounded as...disturbing as before. He surveyed the Cyclops.

"Yes," he nodded.

Apparently she had reached the same conclusion, or had by some miracle chosen to go with his view, because she didn't challenge it.

"And what do you propose we do with him now? Release him?" There it was - that sarcastic sneer again.

"No. We'll leave him here, tied up." To his own surprise, his answer was perfectly calm and collected, yet decisive. "That way he cannot forewarn the defendants of our arrival, and once he breaks free, it will be over."

Regina frowned at that, but didn't argue. Robin retrieved the slices of meat and began to warm them over the dying fire. Breakfast was in order, and then - planning their move on the palace.

If the bandit thought she was going to relent after a poorly seasoned slice of chewy venison in her stomach, he was badly mistaken. He should be grateful she had come to his rescue with the wretched Cyclops - the man had seemed so dismayed by the idea of dirtying his hands that she'd decided to step in. He didn't know that of course - he had no idea why she'd done it, and she certainly wasn't planning on telling him. Even is it was he'd had too much leverage on her - she hadn't ripped the beast's heart out or subjected him to torture as she might have - and would have, had her little make-believe not worked. But worked it had, and eventually all she'd had to do was play at Evil Queen without actually doing the deed.

Why had she chosen not to do it? She would have enjoyed the moment once. Did she regret not doing it now? No.

Regina shifted uncomfortably on the log.

"I know how we'll get into the palace," she said, redirecting her thoughts.

Robin raised his head from the chunk of bread he was finishing. "How's that?"

"There's a secret passage the Witch probably knows nothing about." The damn Witch may have usurped Regina's palace and staged twisted reenactments of events from her past, but Regina still had the upper hand. The palace had, after all, been the closest thing to a home she'd had for years. There was something else, too, to make her lips twitch. "Or even if she knows, she has no access to it."

Robin only took a moment to answer. "Let me guess - it's sealed by magic."

"That's right."

"But this Witch has magic, too."

Thanks for stating the obvious. Perhaps it was the consolation of her advantage that restrained her from carping at him further.

"This is different," she replied simply. "There's no way around blood magic, no matter how potent your powers."

Robin eyed her for a bit. He seemed about to speak but weighed his words carefully. She bristled at that: apparently, whatever he had to say, she wasn't going to like it.

"So you'll take us through the passage and let us in," he finally said. "Then I'll go and find Roland."

"Excuse me?"

He hadn't just said that, had he? He couldn't possibly mean to do this by himself. And the rigid resolve in his tone! What ever gave him the right to think he could boss her around like that?

Robin seemed unsurprised by her outraged reaction, and kept a solemn face.

"Regina, when I get back with those children, we need to be sure the passage is still safe to use," he reasoned without a hint of irateness. The man was getting increasingly insufferable by the minute, and this superior attitude he was taking with her would certainly do him no good.

"You think you can do this alone?" she challenged. "Are you really so overweening? In a palace that, even without actual enemies, is full of magical traps? You don't even know the way to the dungeons." She couldn't resist the jibe. "Talk about conceited," she threw at him with a direct, provocative look.

"How hard can it be to find the dungeons? You just go down to where it's cold and dark." Some exasperation had made its way into his voice, and some flurry. "The point is-"

"The point is you don't want me around," she snapped. The thought actually stung, and she ploughed on all the more vehemently for it. "Which would be fair enough if it weren't utter nonsense. This is why you asked for my help, remember? To free your son? Because I had magic?"

He was making no sense, and he seemed to be aware of it well enough, for as he was losing ground, a frown was settling on his brow.

"Yes, and now we're here and I'm ready to do my part."

"Why? For the glory?" It was a possible explanation, and really it should have made more sense to her than it actually did. Her gut was saying that was not it, though.

"Don't be ridiculous," he dismissed the idea at once. His patience must have been on the run-out, because he added with heavy sarcasm: "Where's the glory of a thief anyway, right?"

No, this wasn't about glory. Of course it wasn't. It was something else entirely. It was always the same with people when it came to her: sooner or later it would come to this, even when at first they had pretended to be accepting. Why would he be any different?

"You don't want me anywhere near your son." Damn, what was that bitterness doing in her voice? More importantly, what the hell was it doing in her heart? The boy was nothing to her. This man was nothing to her. What did it matter if he thought she couldn't be trusted?

"Regina..." he said, flustered. "No, you're wrong. I never once considered that." His surprise was so evident it was quite clear he was telling the truth. She waited. Robin watched her for a moment and sighed. "I don't like the thought of the kind of magic that would go down in there," he admitted.

He didn't like magic, that much was clear - anyone would have seen that. But he had always known she practised it - after all, that had been her greatest asset back when he'd suggested the alliance. The change of heart now made no sense whatsoever. Perhaps reason would work, perhaps it would show him his bias.

"You use weapons. I use magic. What's the difference?"

"The difference is magic comes with far too high a price." The damn man always had a response ready - worse yet, he managed to throw her off-balance with it. But he wasn't done yet. After a short pause, he continued, watching her closely. "And I think twice before loosing an arrow. You seem ready to throw a fireball at the slightest provocation."

The cheek of the man! How dare he say such a thing to her - and be right about it. Patience wasn't one of her virtues, even she had to admit that, and she'd often been accused of rashness. Her hot temper had actually cost her some in the past. That didn't mean he could get away with stating it so bluntly, though. Patience she might lack, but sass she had plenty of.

"What do you know, I might just be the Evil Queen," she mocked him. "Oh, wait - I am."

If he had bickered back, she would have known how to handle it, but he wasn't having any of that now.

"It's dangerous, Regina. It's unpredictable, and it's costly."

His calmness seemed unshakable...and his eyes so - genuine. She would almost have said he was worried - but letting it on would make things way too complicated for her liking.

"I know how to handle my magic, thank you very much."

"Magic has failed you before, remember?" He wasn't even being hostile; he was simply stating a fact.

How did he know about the battle - how she had lost her powers temporarily just before the wild ride? He didn't. It was the unicorn he was referring to, of course. That's what it must have looked like to him: that she hadn't finished the animal because her magic had fallen flat.

"That had nothing to do with magic," she said without thinking.

"What was it, then?"

Damn. She'd have done better to shut up. Now he'd start asking questions she had no desire to answer, or even think about at all.

"My magic will be fine, you needn't worry about it. The Witch should, though," she leered. With a little luck, Robin would jump at the subject of the Witch and forget about the unicorn fiasco.

That part clearly worked, but the reason was not what she had thought. Robin's expression changed.

"She might be waiting for you," he said with a note of exasperation. "Is it a coincidence she hasn't shown up yet to stop us? To stop the Evil Queen-" Regina fought back a shudder at the sound of that. "-whose palace she had taken, and in whose name she's been wreaking havoc lately? Have you entertained that notion at all?"

She had finally succeeded in put him out of countenance, except in a rather unexpected manner.

"Are you saying it's some kind of trap?"

"What do I know?" he shrugged. "It could well be."

If only she could tell what on earth was happening here. One moment tempers flared - especially hers - and the next he was being all concerned and earnest with her. The former she knew how to handle, but the latter was filling her with unease.

"I can take care of myself," she muttered. She needed to pull herself together, what was wrong with her anyway? She forced her mind to operate within reason - at least he seemed to respond to that. "Besides, we want to finish this Witch, don't we? So we'd come face to face eventually anyway."

The truth was, there was more than one benefit to facing the Witch. Regina needed to know who this woman was, what she was intending to, and above all, why the Witch harboured such hostility for Regina. Unlike many a victim of Regina's deeds, with the Witch they had never even met before, so it was next to impossible for Regina to gather. Then there was the most alarming fact of the Witch having so much knowledge of Regina's life - too much knowledge. No one was supposed to know about certain things, and yet...

"Regina."

She flinched at Robin's voice. Her mind had wandered quite a bit there, and she caught him looking at her with those bright blue eyes.

"You won't listen, will you?" He wasn't arguing anymore, and the deflated look of him almost worried her for a second, when she should be rejoicing that she'd won the argument. He looked genuinely concerned, though. Could part of her actually be...pleased? What a completely ridiculous notion.

Anyway, he needed to understand she would have none of this nonsense in the future.

"I'm not a child, Robin," she said, but she wasn't as bitter or scathing as she might be. That didn't mean she was any less resolved, though. "I'm not one of your Merry Men. You can't tell me what to do or what not to do. I'm going in with you whether you like it or not, and we're getting your son out of there exactly like we agreed. We're on the same side, so just be glad for it."

Robin kept quiet for a good while. Was he working on a retort, or was he simply resigned? Eventually, his pensive gaze focused on her again, and a mischievous glint crept into his eyes.

"You do know you're incredibly stubborn, even for a Queen," he stated. The corners of his mouth twitched. "I'm talking mules, milady."

She should be offended by that. Or should she?

Before she had time to decide, his grin faded and he added quietly, still not breaking eye contact: "Thank you."

"Shut up and finish your breakfast, thief."

She stared into her bowl and wondered how on earth the smile she was concealing so hard had made its way into her words.

So how about this? Was this the appropriate degree of sassy and "argumenty", or am I still too soft on the two of them? :D