Wow 50 followers! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read and follow this story that means so much. Here's chapter 16. This and the next few chapters are going to be very Regina-Centric. This one alone features SwanQueen, RegalBeliever, and a tiny bit of OutlawQueen. Enjoy!

Getting Regina home was a blur of tears and anguish. Now that the anger had left her she could feel all the pain she'd buried deep. It took both Snow and Belle to get her up to her room. The queen remained silent the entire journey there. All that could be heard were her tears and quiet sobs. As soon as they got home Snow arranged for Doctor Whale to do a home visit with Regina, while Belle let the rest of group know that the coast was clear. The women were silently waiting in the kitchen when Emma arrived with Hook and Henry.

"Where's my mom?" said Henry rushing into the house.

"Calm down sweetie," said Snow softly. "She's upstairs with Doctor Whale. He's just checking her out."

"Well what the hell happened?" asked Emma urgently. Snow and Belle quickly relayed the events of the night to the trio. Hook raised his eyes in surprise.

"She outsmarted the dark one?" he said. "That's impressive."

"I'm just glad that we got there before she did something she would truly regret," said Belle.

At that moment David arrived with Robin. The archer's eyes were wild with concern for his soulmate. "Where is Regina?"

"She's upstairs with the doctor," said Emma. "We're just waiting to see how she's doing."

Before he could ask another question Doctor Whale came downstairs. Everyone rushed over to him eager to know what he'd discovered. "How is she?" asked Snow.

"Well," started the doctor, "she has a broken bone in her left arm, a shattered talus in her right ankle and she's covered with cuts and bruises."

"But she's okay?" asked Henry his voice trembling with concern.

"Yes," said Whale. "Physically, she should heal just fine. Emotionally, I can't really say."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the doctor's news. As long as she was okay physically they could help her get back on her feet emotionally.

"Can we see her now?" asked Robin.

"I would prefer for you to wait until I've treated her injuries more thoroughly," said Whale. "I have to pick up my things at the hospital though."

"You know what," said Emma. "I can take care of the bones and cuts. She's been teaching me how to heal for the past few weeks anyway. Thanks for coming though."

As Belle walked Doctor Whale to the front door Emma headed up to get started on Regina's injuries. Halfway up the stairs she noticed Henry had rushed behind her. "Hey what are you doing?"

"I'm going up to see mom." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. His mom was hurt so of course he was going to be with her.

Emma leaned down to his eye level. "Henry I know you're anxious to see your mom but right now she's in pretty bad shape. I'm not saying you can't see her soon but just let me take a look at her injuries before you go up, okay?"

"Fine," muttered Henry sullenly. Whenever things go wrong everyone started treating him like a baby. As he sat down in the kitchen Belle fell on the chair next to him and grabbed his hand. "She'll be okay Henry. She's strong."

"I just don't get it," he said shaking his head. "Zelena tried to wipe all of us out existence. Why is mom so upset about her? It doesn't make sense."

"Well of course it doesn't make sense to you lad," said Hook from the corner. "You're surrounded by family."

"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Henry. Of course his mom had family. She had him and she had Snow and Belle and everyone else on her side. It's not like she was alone.

Hook sat at the table next to Henry. "Okay, Henry I want you to listen to me because I am going to talk to you like the adult you are. And that might include some harsh honesty."

"Okay," said Henry crossing his arms.

"What you and your mother have is very special," started Hook. "You mean so much to each other and anyone can see that. But you also have Emma, your birth mom. And Snow and Charming, your biological grandparents. Now, you and I both know that the blood doesn't mean that they matter more to you but you have recognize that to a lot of people you share an invisible, unbreakable tether with them that you just don't have with Regina. And it's a tether that she doesn't have with anyone. And quite frankly that's something that you and the rest of the family used to throw in her face quite a lot."

Henry frowned as he thought back to when he first found out about the curse. It pained him to think about how he'd belittled her role as his mother. "But that was during the curse. It's different now. She knows that she'll always be my mom."

Belle could see that Henry was starting to get defensive so she decided to jump in. "Of course she knows that. Everyone knows that but what you have to realize is that when you hear people say things like that… you never truly forget. Even though she knows that you love her and that she'll always be your mom there will always be a part of her that's afraid that you'll reject her again. You see Henry because she doesn't have the same tether to you that Emma does, she feels like if she isn't exactly what you want her to be that you'll have no reason to keep her around."

"Henry you are your mother's only true family," said Hook. "If you were to decide that you no longer wanted her in your life in her eyes she'd have no one else. She'd be alone again. That's why Zelena's death hurt her so much. She might have been the Wicked Witch of the West but she was also the last blood relative she had left. I think your mother would've given almost anything to have the chance to form an actual relationship with her. I know because I would too. "

"You would?" said Henry.

"Henry I have no family left," said Hook solemnly. "I know I have your mother and I love her completely but it's not like we're married. If one day she realized that she was too good for me I would be alone again. So, yes. If I was to discover that I had one last living relative, it wouldn't matter to me if they were a thief, or a murderer, or whatever you could think of. I would still want to reach out. And that's what your mother is upset. Not that she lost Zelena. But that she lost the chance for her and Zelena to actually become family."

Emma closed her eyes and focused on the magic pulsating from her hands. She could feel Regina's ankle slowly begin to mend. God, four years ago she never thought she'd be using magic to mend the bones of her son's adoptive mother after she battled his paternal grandfather. It had really been one hell of a day.

"How that?" she asked Regina.

"It's good," replied the older woman quietly staring down at her hands. She'd stayed silent through the whole healing session. She was too exhausted, both physically and emotionally, to talk. The queen just lay on her bed perfectly still leaning against her headboard. Emma looked at her with sad eyes. She'd never seen Regina look so small.

"Okay," said Emma slowly standing up. "I took care of all your bones and cuts. Your bruises might need more time though."

Regina just nodded her head slowly.

"I've done all I can do right now so I'm just going to send Henry up okay."

"Please don't!" said Regina snapping her head at the blonde. She'd been so close to darkness she couldn't let Henry near her right now. "Please just… don't let him see me like this. I-I can't let him see me this way. "

Emma looked into the queens eyes seriously and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "Regina, I know you're tired. And I know you're hurt but our son needs to see you. He is terrified and you are the only one who can help him. So please just give him ten minutes to see that you're okay. And then I promise you can take all the time you need. Do you think you can handle that?"

Regina wiped a tear from her from her cheek and nodded. "Okay."

As Henry walked up the stairs to his mother's room he thought over what Hook had talked to him about. He'd never really thought about how lonely his mother's life must truly be. Looking back on his life he remembered that his mother had always spent a lot of her time alone. He only realized now that it wasn't because she thought herself superior but because she thought she would be unwanted.

As he walked into her room he saw her laying on the bed. She looked… tired. "Mom?"

"Henry." She smiled at him. Though she was reluctant to do so, it was good to see him. He walked over to the bed and sat by her side.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"Not as much as I'd like to be," she said honestly. "But I'm better than I was a few hours ago. I'm sorry for scaring you honey."

"You're not my first mom to lose control of her powers," chuckled Henry. "At least you didn't throw me across the forest floor."

Regina forced a smile at her son's words. Though he was making light of it she often wondered how easier his life would've been if he didn't have a Savior and a dark sorceress as his mothers. She took his hands in hers. "Henry I know you want to stay here and take care of me. But you have to understand that's not your job. I have some things I need to deal with on my own right now. So I think it would be best if you stay with Emma at the loft for a couple days. You know until I have things under control."

"I don't want you to be alone," said Henry sadly.

"I won't be," she said quickly. "I'll have Belle here and I know Robin will come by often. And I promise we'll see each other every day for dinner. I just don't want you to feel like you have to prop me up. I'll be fine."

Henry leaned over and gave her a hug. "I love you mom."

She wrapped her arms around him. "I love you too Henry."

Once Henry left the room Regina silently started to cry. She couldn't believe she was sending her son away again. She knew it was for his own good but it still hurt. She wanted nothing more than to close her and sleep the pain away. It wasn't much later that she heard a knock on her door.

"Regina?"

It was Robin this time. He walked toward the edge of the bed and looked down at the woman he loved. It killed him to see her like this. He sat down on the bed and took her in his arms.

"It is going to be okay," he whispered. She just continued to cry silently into his shoulder.

Snow and Charming silently moved around the library trying piece back together Regina's house. Charming then turned to his wife. "Do you think we should wait to pick up Neal until tomorrow?"

"Well it's already past one in the morning," said Snow. "It'd be rude to wake up Phillip and Aurora now."

"Yeah I guess we can head over in a few hours."

Snow groaned. She was so tired and she missed her baby. Charming observed as his wife stretched her neck. "Do you want to head back to the loft? See if we can catch a few hours of sleep?"

The princess turned to her husband. "Actually I was thinking I should stay here for the night."

"With Regina?" he questioned. "Don't you think she'd rather be alone?"

"I think she's been alone for far too long," Snow responded sadly. "I'll be back home tomorrow but tonight I really just want her to feel supported."

"Okay," said Charming shrugging his shoulders. "Neal and I will meet you back at home."

"Okay," she said giving him a quick kiss goodbye. As Charming walked out of the library Belle made her way in.

"You're not going with him?" she asked Snow.

She shook her head. "No I think I'm needed here."

Belle tilted her head at Snow. "You're worried aren't you?"

Snow sighed. "A little bit. I know she's changed but the last time she lost someone like this she went dark."

Belle nodded her head in understanding. "Well, last time she didn't have us."

Aww Belle and Snow are going to stick around to comfort their friend. Please follow and review!