Red rimmed eyes gazed out the window at a lone apple tree. Not wanting to hear any more of Emma's pity, Regina nodded and walked away, seeking solace in the presence of her apple tree. She didn't trust the steadiness of her voice to say anything, nor did she want to run away like a hurt puppy. So, she opted for a simple nod and a calm walk as far away from Emma as possible while still staying in the false comfort of her home.

When the finality of Emma's words sunk in, Regina's vision became obscured with unshed tears. She finally closed her eyes and let the tears roll down her cheeks, every shuddering breath into her undeserving lungs like a stake ramming deeper through her bruised heart.

Hearing footsteps and the weight of heavy luggage behind her, Regina kept her eyes shut while trying to shrink her body away from the unwanted presence. She tried to steady her breathing, hoping to hide as much shameful evidence of weakness as possible from prying eyes.

After sensing that the unwanted presence had left, Regina unclenched her jaw and put her head in her hands. Upon doing this, she felt a crumpled piece of paper the size of a gum wrapper stick to the side of her wet cheek. It was the piece of paper Dr. Suresh gave her. Wanting a distraction from the sudden onslaught of heartache, she takes a deep calming breath and dials a number on her phone.

Emma grunted under the weight of Henry's luggage.

The kid's got a buttload of stuff...

She looked around for Regina, not knowing why she wanted to find the brunette woman. Maybe to say a quick goodbye, or to criticize her for spoiling Henry with a bunch of stuff, just anything to get that woman to talk or even bicker with her. Ever since the recent major events in Storybrooke (the breaking of the curse, Cora's death, etc), Emma hadn't seen Regina as often. She almost missed her irritating presence. Emma understood that Regina didn't feel the need to stroll around Storybrooke now that everyone recognizes her as the Evil Queen, and that she needed time to grieve for her mother despite their twisted relationship. But Emma couldn't help but feel like things haven't been the same lately. Like their dynamic has completely changed.

Do we even have a dynamic?

Jesus, Emma. You come to her house practically looking for arguments. A bit masochistic of you, isn't it? Of course today had to be different than usual. You came to her house for Henry, because your son asked you to. Not for any other..."weird" reasons you'd have, you weird, sick masochist.

Damn, I gotta stop talking to myself.

Emma halted her steps when she heard something that made her eyebrows scrunch together in concern. Walking in the direction of the sound, she found Regina in one of the back rooms of the house. Regina was standing in front of a broad window overlooking the apple tree with her back facing Emma, shoulders slumped, and her head down. It was an odd sight to witness since Emma's always seen the Mayor confidently composed.

With slow and steady steps, Emma walked closer, approaching the drooping Mayor as if she were an easily alarmed doe. From here she could see that Regina had a hand clasped over her mouth as if stifling a cry. The Mayor's beautiful hair covered her face from view, and Emma almost breathed out audibly because she wasn't sure if she could restrain herself from hugging the daylights out of Regina if she saw tears on her face. She felt uneasy seeing the usually strong-willed woman like this. She never longed for another one of the woman's acidic retorts, glares, smirks, and sneers as much as she did right now.

Feeling like she's about to intrude in Regina's personal space, Emma reeled her reaching hand back and darted her wide eyes left to right before cautiously walking away, rushing out of the mayor's house. She stopped in front of her yellow bug, glanced back at the domineering mansion with a heavy sigh and turned to her car again, stuffing Henry's things in the back with a solemn expression.

Regina smoothed out the wrinkles on her pants and knocked on the door, hoping her newly applied makeup concealed the painful events of her day. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding once seeing Mohinder's face behind the door.

"Please Ms. Mills, come in."

Dr. Suresh handed her a file, which she promptly opened, her lips pursed in concentration when examining the contents.

Her driver's license photo in black and white clipped to papers listing her full name, blood type, all her basic information, and a few papers in the back that were totally nonsensical to her are what she finds in the file. Glancing over the information of her birthdate and birthplace, confusion comes in as quick as it leaves as she brushes it off as a product of the curse.

"How did you get all of this information on me?"

"I found it among my father's paperwork. He has a hidden list of people with special abilities that he managed to track down. There are probably many more out there we don't know of..."

"How did he discover me then? I've never met your father before in my life," Regina looks up from the papers on her lap.

"Like I've told you before, as a geneticist my father has been enthralled with the idea of humans with super abilities for as long as I can remember. He's done research after research after research," the doctor pauses and closes his eyes with a deep sigh before opening them again.

His lively eyes were now filled with sadness, "Honestly, I don't know my father that well. His research was practically his life. Unfortunately, I've never had the chance to properly talk to him about it. All I have on the details of his research is the hard drive I found with all the genetic research my father had done and a list of names of people he tracked down. People he believed to have abilities. Your name showed up, Mayor Mills. So to answer your question, no I do not know exactly how he managed to record your information, nor do I know why he assumed you out of all people to have an ability...but he wasn't wrong in assuming so, was he?"

Looking at a spot on the rug, Regina couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. She was overwhelmed about everything happening to her today, how her relationship with her son won't be the same, how there are other people like her out there, how a man she never met before was trying to track her down all this time. She was emotionally exhausted.

"No, he wasn't wrong about me. I do have...special abilities."

Mohinder nodded and leaned over, opening his mouth to say something yet hesitant about his words, "Ms. Mills, my father was murdered because of his research."

"Oh...Dr. Suresh, I'm so sorry for your loss. He seems to be a great man to have done all of this work."

"Thank you, Ms. Mills. As you can see, my father created a program after his research to track down the Superhumans. However, something went wrong. Absolutely wrong. One of them killed my father."

Regina's brows furrowed in concern and she leaned over in her seat shaking her head, "Dr. Suresh─"

"You don't have to apologize for that monster's actions, Mayor. However, there is a more pressing matter here. Because of that man and others like him using their powers in heinous ways, the U.S. Government is coming after us. All of us."

"Even those who are not using their powers for criminal acts?"

"Yes, even the innocent. They're rounding us up like cattle to the slaughter. They claim to be taking us to a facility where they will 'control the Superhumans,' but their recent acts show otherwise."

Regina looked at Mohinder in horror, "Besides that, what they're implying is life imprisonment. They can't just quarantine all of us. It is inhumane," Regina bitterly laughed to herself as she spoke against inhumanity. She is the Evil Queen, or was. She was the epitome of cruel and brutal behavior. She deserves what is coming to her.

"Exactly. Most of us are living our lives like ordinary people. The government is violently ripping us away from our lives and treating us like terrorists. They'll take you anytime; when you're doing your grocery shopping, even when you're sitting in your living room watching tv. They've already snatched a few of us, and they're torturing them like it's a sick experiment. Ms. Mills, they will even take children! Even those with harmless abilities like breathing underwater!"

All of the stress is bringing a throbbing pain in Regina's temples, "How is it possible that powerless humans are able to take down the superpowered? The Superhumans should be able to dominate them. That's why we have the gene and other's don't," Regina brought down a hand in a chopping motion to enunciate her point, "Survival of the fittest, I know my biology as well doctor. Therefore, I know that we should win in this struggle for life."

Nodding enthusiastically, Mohinder stresses his point, "What you should also consider is how there is strength in numbers. Since the government is making us out to be terrorists, we have a whole nation against us! Usually we would run and hide behind a new identity, but that game has shifted and we're on red alert now. This man called Danko is the real head of the operation. He's ruthless and dangerous, a deadly combination. You need to come with me and help us stop him."

"Look Dr. Suresh, I'd love to help you with your mission, but I can't just leave my son behind. I've managed to remain undiscovered for so long, I can do it again for a while more," Regina put on her signature mayoral smile to put an end to the discussion, "thank you for the warning doctor. It is much appreciated."

"Ms. Mills, have you forgotten that even I have managed to find you?" Mohinder raised his voice in aggravation.

"You found me because you had that damn list. Lets not forget about that very informative file you've got handy as well," the bitterness dripped off her words.

"Which the government also has a copy of! They have a map with photos of their targets! Your face is plastered on the state of Maine on a map the size of a wall as we speak!" Mohinder's chest puffed out as he pointed at her after every stressed word, "He. Will. Kill. You. Danko will kill you and leave your son motherless, unless you come with me and help us with our mission."

Regina's eyes darkened dangerously at the mention of Henry. She resisted the urge to throw him across the room at the idea that she would leave her son. But the doctor had a point. She can't be so selfish to stay in Storybrooke with Henry just to wait for Danko to kill her off, leaving Henry motherless and possibly traumatized. But then Regina remembered Miss Swan and her earlier visit. Henry has Emma. He wouldn't care if Regina left Storybrooke. He'll probably be relieved that the Evil Queen is no longer around to bother his new family anymore.

"Very well, Dr. Suresh. You've gained yourself an ally," Regina stood up and stuck out her hand, offering a handshake of comradeship.

He stood up with a smile and clasped her hand shaking it vigorously, "Thank you Mayor Mills. Words can't express how relieved I am to hear it. And please, call me Mohinder."

"Since we're on a first name basis now, you can call me Regina."

"Absolutely, Regina," a curious expression appeared on his face, "may I ask what your power is? We'll be meeting a group of people later that I managed to recruit for the mission. We need to know what we'll be working with here.

Regina hesitantly opened her mouth to reply, not sure how to word her...situation. Finally, she decided to be blunt, "this whole time I thought it was magic."

A/N:

FINALLY mission accepted! Alright, the next chapter is where it gets really exciting, I promise!

Also, not sure if I should do Swan Queen or not, but right now Emma is just awkward with her "relationship" with Regina now. She feels something, but not quite sure if it's an attraction or whatever.

Family Guy's Stewie Griffin singing "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" scene kinda applies to Emma's situation :D