You were Missed
Chapter Two: Will you join me in this drink?

Summary: Originally thought as a one shot, this may turn into a series of missing moments from the forgotten year with Outlaw Queen. A consistent theme those left behind after the curse was cast, were not exactly safe without the Evil Queen. If you enjoy the story, please review.

A/N: This is my attempt at explaining how OQ was fast tracked in Storybrooke as well as explain Robin's obsession with having a drink with Regina. This is set about a month before they broke into Rumple's castle. I hope you enjoy it.

"I don't understand, I didn't gain this much weight when I was pregnant with Emma," whined Snow as she stood in front of the mirror in profile.

Regina rolled her eyes. "What does it matter? You could grow the size of a castle turret, Charming will hardly notice."

Snow turned to her former adversary, a grin on her face. "Is it just me or are your insults becoming more flattering?"

"It's just you."

Just then Roland popped up off the floor and raised the parchment he was working on. Regina glanced down at his drawing, a landscape scene of the forest, it actually was pretty good for a four year old. "Great job, Roland. If you keep improving in your drawing, I will have to hire you to commission my portrait."

The boy smiled then turned to show Snow he took the drawing and agreed. "Regina is right. I may have to keep this."

"Oh, no," Roland said, frowning. "It's for Gina!"

Regina had to bite back a smile. "That's right, Snow, if you want that you'll have to fight me for it."

Concern crossed Roland's face, not wishing the women to fight. "How 'bout I draw another one?"

Snow laughed, "I think that's an excellent idea."

"Great!" Roland sat down, pulling out more parchment. Using the more primitive pencils, he quickly got busy.

"You're really good with him," Snow whispered. "He adores you."

Henry did at that age too, Regina thought sadly. When they first came back, Roland's sweet disposition and wide eyed wonder reminded her too much of Henry. But over the months, spending time with him had grown easier and now she looked forward to seeing him. It was a good thing too. Roland frequently sat with her whenever his father would go out on patrol. Those flying monkeys were wreaking havoc and Regina didn't like them coming so close to the castle. But one upshot was she genuinely enjoyed spending time with Roland now.

Unfortunately it came at a cost. She could hardly avoid the father when the son was in her presence. And Robin used it for all it was worth. Ever since they worked together to get into the castle, the outlaw did his best to get to know her. Infuriating man. Why couldn't he be like everyone else that looked at her with the contempt she deserved? Instead he chose to treat her far better than she treated him. She didn't know what was worse: Robin seemingly unaffected by her constant insults at him or the fact that in spite of her walls and defenses, from time to time he got through, allowing her to feel things she didn't want to be feeling.

Footsteps in the hallway alerted Regina and Snow that someone was approaching and judging by how fast they were coming, it was important.

"Your majesties!" the guard said right before he ran in. "We spotted the patrol coming back and…" He paused just as Regina and Snow exchanged worried looks. "It's clear someone has been injured or killed."

Regina's eyes made their way to Roland who was old enough to understand exactly what the foolish guard had said. He looked at Regina, tears already pooling in his eyes. Keeping her voice calm, Regina reached for his hand, pulling him to the guard. "I'm sure everything is alright, Roland. Guard, take the boy down to the courtyard where the rest of the Merry Men are. I'm sure even you can't miss Little John."

"But what about Papa?" Roland asked.

"I'll take care of him," she replied, rather shocked at how accurate the statement was.

Both Snow and Regina headed down to the entry court, they could hear the horses by now. Regina cursed how slow both of them were, Snow's pregnancy and Regina's ostentatious dress restricted their ability to run down the stairs. Regina really wanted to just use magic but she also needed time to compose herself. What if Robin had been hurt? Or worse? And since when did she care?

When they got outside, another guard approached them. "They are almost here. We can make out Prince Charming riding and he appears fine."

"Thank God!" Snow exclaimed. Regina asked, "Can you make out who is hurt?"

"No, Your Majesty. It's clearly one of the Merry Men, but they tend to look alike. Judging by the way he's attached to the horse, I'd say he's dead."

Dammit. Regina steeled herself. If she had more time, she would try to understand how she could possibly care about the insufferable thief. It must obviously be her affection for his dear son.

The gate opened and the men galloped in. It was four of them that had gone out, a rather small party. Only three were sitting up on their horses while a fourth was slung over his horse sideways. And unmoving. But Regina's eyes barely went to him, they were focused almost entirely on Robin who seemed uninjured. She told herself the immense relief she felt was nothing.

Charming barely had enough time to disembark before Snow leaped into his arms. Considering the woman's size, Regina was impressed that the prince was able to remain upright. "There, there. I'm okay. Did you…did you run down here?"

His wife pulled back, tears were flowing in her eyes. "We heard someone was hurt or…" She didn't finish.

Charming nodded. He looked at Robin who was tending to the dead man. He was talking to the guards and the other man in his unit. Because his back was to her, Regina couldn't hear what he was saying.

"Everything had gone well or so we thought," Charming explained. "We had just gone out yesterday and taken care of some of the monkeys so we thought today would be lighter. It usually takes the wicked witch a week to replenish their numbers. On the way back, we were ambushed by three."

"Thank God you made it home," Snow said, throwing her arms around her husband again.

Regina glanced at Robin who looked like he flinched on hearing the princess' words. "But not all of you made it."

Now he turned to her, approaching them. "No, we did not."

"Who was it that fell?" Snow asked.

"Sade," Robin answered in a voice that didn't sound like his at all. "The monkey's wounds were too deep to save him."

For the first time since meeting Robin, Regina desperately wanted him to look her in the eye but his eyes never left the ground. She had this anxious need to know if the rest of them could have met Sade's same fate. Instead, using the most detached voice she could muster, she asked, "Where was the attack?"

Charming answered, "About two miles away, like I said, on our way-"

"Two miles? How far did you go out?" Regina didn't like that one bit. When it was a small party, they were to keep close to the castle.

"About five miles, Your Majesty," Robin said, still glaring down at the ground.

"Five miles?" Both Regina and Snow repeated. Snow was even less happy at this news. "David, I thought we decided to keep the patrol limited to just a 1-2 mile radius."

The prince shrugged. "We started widening it. You know we've thinned out the trees near the castle, the monkeys love to hide in the foliage. But this group, they're more coordinated. They are adapting to our techniques."

"But David, five miles? Just the four of you?"

"Honestly we hadn't realized we had gotten that far out," Robin said. "Once we realized..."

"Once you realized? So you mistakenly led everyone from the safety from the castle?" Her temper getting the better of her, Regina stomped her way into his line of sight. Her mind raced with all the possibilities today's fight could have gone much worse. And without informing them of the new parameter any rescue parties sent out would clearly have failed. "We rely on your talents as a woodsman! Foolishly allowing a small patrol to get too far from the castle, do you not realize you could have gotten yourself killed?!"

Instantly his head shot up and the look on his face made her take a step back. She'd never seen such anger across his usually handsome features before. "I'm well aware of my limitations, Your Highness. And if I wasn't, you never seem to fail to point them out. Right now, I need to go take care of Sade since I clearly failed in doing so when he was alive. If you will excuse me."

Regina watched as he walked away. In the past months, with all her insults against him, he's never lost his temper, not once. Now he misunderstood her words to think she was condemning his actions. It wasn't her intention at all.

"Regina," Charming said quietly. "You need to go easy on him. He took Sade's death very hard."

"How did it happen?" Regina tried to keep her voice even. Why did she care? But she did.

"They attacked from behind and nearly got Robin but it's like his horse sensed them, lurching forward at the last minute. Robin yelled for us to get in formation and we made a circular parameter. It didn't take the monkeys long to figure out who the weakest link was, as it happens, Sade. Marcus, the other man with us, said Sade was bad about forgetting the tactics Robin had taught them. I think that is why he came along on this trip. We thought it would be an easy patrol and he could gain some experience. But instead, the monkeys marked him up so bad." Snow took her husband's hand as he told the story.

Thinking Charming was done with the story, Regina began to walk away. But the prince called out to her. "I didn't even see Sade go down but apparently Robin did. He yelled for us and we converged on the monkeys but by then it was too late. On our way back, Robin didn't say much, but I could hear him cursing himself."

Regina's eyes followed the path Robin took with Marcus and poor Sade. Taking her skirts in her hand, she lifted them as she went up some nearby steps. Walking down a long hall, she stopped at a window that overlooked the grounds where most of the Merry Men had setup camp. She watched as Robin was hugging Roland, the boy so happy to see that his father was okay. He put the boy down and spoke quietly to Little John. He then turned to the Merry Men. Realizing Robin deserved privacy with his men, she turned away to give him that. It was harder than she thought it would be.

Hours later, Robin was in the kitchen pantry looking for some alcohol. He had skipped dinner and kept to himself talking to the Merry Men. It had been a long time since he had to bury one of their own, and it didn't help Roland was old enough to notice Sade's absence. Now that Roland was down to sleep for the night, Robin wanted to finally allow himself the luxury of giving into the guilt.

But it was looking less and less likely he would find much. He knew there was a royal wine cellar where the good stuff was kept; he was sure the queen would have him executed if he touched any of that. But he couldn't believe there wasn't an ale bottle around the panty. Granny served ale during dinner so where did she keep it?

Sitting down, Robin rubbed his eyes and temple. He really didn't think today would be dangerous. Usually they would go weeks without seeing a monkey and even then it was just one. The day before they had killed two so he was sure things would be quiet today which was the only reason he let Sade go. Sade. That boy's death was on his head.

With no expectation of an answer, Robin said, "I could really use a drink."

But he got one. "Guess it's good I'm here then."

He practically jumped out of his seat. Looking up, there was the queen. Did she seek him out? Clearly he must be dreaming. "Your Majesty? What are you doing down here?"

She almost looked amused. She then held up a bottle. Dear God, it was wine. She brought him alcohol? Now he knew he was dreaming. "I thought you probably needed something after the day you've had."

Taking the bottle, he looked it over. "This is expensive."

"Would I drink anything less?"

All these months when she acted like she wanted nothing to do with him, now at his darkest hour she was seeking him out. Robin wasn't sure if that made him relieved or pathetic. Yet now she was practically taunting him. In spite of the horrible day, Robin couldn't let such an opportunity pass. "So you will be joining me?"

He got her with that. She hadn't expected the invitation. For a second Robin was afraid she would do what she always did, walk away. But then she surprised him. "Well, given your bad day, the least I can do is share a drink with you, if you promise you won't try anything."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He had stood up to get glasses but she waved him back down. She went and got a couple of glasses and Robin almost laughed at the sight of the queen, dressed in formal attire, wandering around her servant's kitchen like she had made the dinners at the castle herself.

She sat down and proceeded to pour them a healthy portion from the bottle. But once she set the bottle down, Robin picked it back up. "I really think glass makers intend for us to use the full height, otherwise we are wasting their craftsmanship."

With an expert hand, he poured enough to get it just to the edge on each of their glasses. When he took his glass, he looked up at Regina waiting for her to follow.

Taking her own, she arched an eyebrow. "I think you could have poured yet another good centimeter more."

"Nah, it would have spilled."

"So?"

With as much sincerity he could muster, he said, "That would be wasting it."

She smirked and Robin's heartbeat quickened. "True."

They raised their glasses and Robin drank. He kept his eyes on her as she drank. God, she was beautiful. And in spite of her resistance and rudeness, he had dreamed of a moment like this, the two of them sitting down and sharing a drink.

The glasses were large so it wasn't really possible to drink in one swig. In truth, it had been years since he would spend hours at a pub so he was well out of practice. She set her glass down first but Robin had to at least to make a good show. He was an outlaw after all. When he set his drink down, he was pleased to see he had drank it halfway.

"That is really good." He realized. It was too good to drink so fast.

She nodded. "It better be."

His mind raced of something to say, something clever. Even when she would ask him to go away, she seemed to enjoy their sparring. Now he had her in front of him willingly. But his mind failed him. It was her eyes, those big dark eyes that told him too much and too little of what she was feeling that were his undoing.

"So, how long ago did Sade join you?"

He tensed as guilt flooded him. Bless her for reminding him this was no ordinary visit. He took another gulp. "A year ago."

"Really? That isn't long." Her eyes were studying him and he wasn't sure he liked it. Not like this. Not when he had blood on his hands.

"No, it's not." After taking another sip. He grabbed the bottle and began refilling his glass.

"You weren't done with the first yet."

"It was getting too low." He topped it off again. He brought it to his lips and drank. It really did taste good. But he wasn't going to try to chug it again. Not with her eyes on him like that. She actually looked worried. The alcohol must be getting to him.

She kept staring at him and he sighed. "I met Sade at one of the villages we visited often. He would beg us to let him join."

"Bringing in that loot you were so good at stealing, right?" she smiled at him. An honest to goodness smile.

"Actually, as I tried to tell you earlier, my robbing days had come to a close not long after you cast that curse."

"What do you mean?"

He had tried to tell her before but the pain of giving up Henry, she must have forgotten that conversation. "The people that were left behind, some of them were very glad you were gone."

She sneered and Robin could see her self loathing all too clearly. "I have no doubt."

"No, Regina," he dared to use her name. "They were glad you were gone because now without a ruler they could do what they wanted. Take what they wanted. Hurt whom they wanted."

He could see in her eyes she now remembered that conversation. "What did they do?"

"Whatever they could." Robin really didn't want to get into it. Not tonight. "Sade's village used to be an easy target. But eventually we helped the situation and Sade looked at us as heroes." Now it was his turn to sneer.

"If you protected innocents, you were heroes." Robin wondered if she was trying to kill him by saying such things to him.

Shrugging her comment off, he went on. "Eventually I let Sade join. I knew quickly he wasn't cut out for the rogue life. He did fine in camp but in combat, his skills were lacking.

Once I realized he was a threat to himself, and to anyone he was around, I decided to give him more domestic duties. Unfortunately he caught onto what was happening and would insist he could get better with more experience. His heart was that of a warrior, but his body was that of a cook.

Since coming to this castle, and the fact we had cooks for us, he felt he wasn't useful anymore. He would ask over and over again to come along on the patrols. Today…I really thought he'd be safe."

Robin hadn't dared to look at Regina during his monologue. He was afraid of the inevitable disappointment in her eyes, but risking a look at her, he didn't see anything like it. Taking a breath, Robin said what she should have been thinking. "I should have cut him loose a long time ago."

"So he would have returned to his village?"

Damn, she knew how to get to the heart of the matter. "See, that was it. His family had been victims of…those people I told you about. We were too late for them, his family, but we got there to stop…well, we got there in time to save him I should just say. I wish we could have gotten there sooner. His parents, older siblings, he was the youngest of them, the baby and I guess had come to depend on them. With everyone gone, he had no one to look to. With us, he said he would make himself useful."

He noticed her hand left the glass and came towards his. But she changed her mind and it went back to the glass. "It sounds to me like you cared enough to find him a home even when on the surface he had no place with you. I think most leaders wouldn't have tried at all."

He squeezed his glass now. He hadn't thought of it that way. "But a good leader wouldn't have let him die either."

"What do you mean? Charming told me how the fight went down. There wasn't anything you could do."

Robin almost laughed. "I should have kept a better eye on him. But once we are off the horses and getting into position, I didn't even think…my mind completely forgot it was Sade with us. It didn't even occur to me…"

"Robin, I think you are expecting the impossible. You can't expect yourself to be organized amongst chaos. Charming said it wasn't a minute after Sade fell that you were chasing the monkeys away."

"So I remembered him after he was dealt a mortal blow. Why couldn't it have occurred to me when there was a chance to help him?" His eyes were heavy now, clearly the wine was having an effect.

Regina's hand left the glass again. It moved to the middle of the table as she leaned in. "Sounds to me like you helped him over and over."

His hand moved a little towards her. A couple of inches only separated them. "Obviously it wasn't enough."

"If it wasn't for you, he would have met his fate far earlier and in a much worse way, sounds like." He held his breathe as her hand came close to his. "I'm sure Sade is thankful that he died as a soldier instead of as a victim. You gave him that."

He was touching her now. Barely. His fingertips touching the edge of her hand. The simple contact was enough for the hairs on his arms to stand up. He lifted his eyes to hers but she was still staring down at their hands. He could really use another drink but he didn't dare move either of his hands for fear she would pull away like she usually did.

She said nothing so he moved his hand some more. A little. His fingers were now on top of the back of her hand. Her skin felt so smooth. No doubt his fingers were rough but her eyes widened as the contact.

"I appreciate you making me feel better, Regina."

Her eyes narrowed. Damn. He went too far. "It's not my job to make you feel better, thief."

His heart sank. There was that wall again. Yet she had left her hand. Without missing a beat, he covered hers entirely so she started to pull away but it was only a half hearted effort. It seemed she was reluctant to break contact too. He squeezed it. "Nevertheless, you're good at it, when you try, that is."

Now she did jerk her hand away. He set his back on the table. Trying to regain that haughty composure she relied so heavily on, she stood up, "Honestly, Robin, all the time I was queen, I never thought twice of the casualties I created to both my victims and my own armies. The fact you can't lose one man without the guilt overtaking you speaks volumes on your integrity and heart. And I have no doubt any of your men, even now, would think twice about following you into hell."

He stood with her. "They don't have to follow me to hell, they just need to follow me while I follow you."

"Some would say it's the same thing," she snorted.

"No, it's not."

"How is it not?" she laughed and tried to walk away. He quickly rounded the corner, meeting her face to face.

"Because Your Majesty you're not the same woman you once were."

She backed up. "So what? The point is I was that woman, that evil queen."

He stepped towards her. He wasn't going to let her make light of her accomplishments. Not today. "No the point is you were the evil queen. And now, now you aren't. You changed. And you move forward, taking it day by day..."

"Dear God, you've been spending too much time with the two idiots."

He knew she would compare him to the Charmings! Maybe it was the wine, but he was taking the direct approach. "No, I have been spending my time with you, Milady. And I would argue it's not enough."

He was very close to her now. And she was up against the wall so she couldn't step back anymore. Her breathe was on his, he could almost taste her. Never in his life had he wanted to kiss someone so badly. But not tonight. Having her choose to see him was enough of a milestone and he didn't want their first kiss to be on the night of Sade's death.

Stepping back, he saw her disappointment. She wanted him to kiss her. Oh and he would. Just not now. She held her head high, he waited for the inevitable insult. "Well, I guess I have done my charitable donations for the week. If you could hand me the bottle."

"Oh, no, Your Majesty." He picked it up and corked it. "I'm taking this with me."

"You're stealing it?" She asked. The light in her eyes told him she didn't mean it.

In his cheekiest way, he shrugged. "You can't steal something that has been given to you." At his words, she harrumphed and walked away. Robin watched her go. He wished he could tell her how much she did for him tonight, someday he would. And he also vowed they would have another drink in the foreseeable future.

I don't own them. I wish I did. Please review!