Henry stood in the hallway at the top of the stairs as he waited for Emma to shrug on her coat and for Archie to attach Pongo's leash. In the pit of his stomach, Henry was nervous and if he could admit it, a little scared. Not long ago he'd been plotting defences if ever his mother were to come for him, when he'd known in his heart that the last thing she'd ever want was to see him hurt. He'd known that, he'd felt it all his life.

It was only as the curse broke that he was able to see what was truly in her heart; that he'd been able to see how complicated she was or just how much the curse had corrupted her. It was as if the curse breaking had opened the flood-gates on her heart, and everything she'd been trying to feel all his life, suddenly flowed out of her with more strength than either of them could handle. It was what he'd always wanted, it's what he'd always hoped she could give him – and it wasn't until that moment that he truly understood that she couldn't have loved him like that no matter how hard she tried – and then all of a sudden she was grasping at him, clinging to any semblance of what they'd had because she was terrified she'd lose him. It had frightened him.

He'd fought her; and he was starting to wonder if that had been the best idea. The adults didn't tell him much; they'd send him off to school and he'd come home to be told that his mother had killed one of the first people he'd really trusted or cared for. He only saw snippets of what happened around him, waist height to the rest of the world, Henry was frustrated that he was never allowed to be a part of the action.

He'd told them all that he wanted to be a hero, and they all seemed to think it was a novel ideal; but when it came down to the really dangerous stuff, he was hidden away in his bedroom like a little child locked in a tower; not trusted to help. But he knew if anyone was going to get through to his mom, it was going to be him.

Archie grabbed his hand and Henry grinned up at him, jogging down the stairs with his friend; Pongo ambled down beside them and as he threw a look over his shoulder, Emma smirked and winked her eye at him, strolling down the stairs with her hands in her pockets.

They were going to find his Mom and he was surprised to find that he was actually excited.

They made their way out into the street. Archie let Pongo's lead out a little as they walked, heading down the road towards Emma's car. Halfway down the lane they all froze; Henry and Archie turned around, facing Emma with wide eyes as her phone started the chirp.

Henry watched her patiently as she answered the call. "What? What do you mean?" Emma's impassive expression turned into a frown. "Yeah, sure, I'll be right there."

She hung up the phone quickly and tucked it back in her pocket, turning her eyes to Archie momentarily and Henry couldn't quite pin-point the look she gave him, before she pulled his attention with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Henry," She spoke gently, looking down at him from her superior height. "We're going to have to put the search on hold."

Henry's heart broke in half. "What? Why?" He hadn't realized how much he'd really wanted to feel his mother's arms around him, forgiving him, until he felt the tears prick at his eyes.

"There's been an accident, Henry; at the town line." She glanced up at Archie, lowering her voice with a serious timbre. "Gold and Belle were attacked," She frowned.

"Belle said when she found me, that Hook was after Gold." Archie added and Emma nodded.

"I have to go, Henry, I'm the sheriff."

"But what about my Mom?"

"We'll look for her after. I'm sure wherever she is, she's safe. If anyone knows how to protect themselves in this town, Henry," She smiled an oddly proud smile and Henry's head tilted just slightly. "It's your Mom."

"We can't just leave her!" He cried and Emma looked up to Archie for support but the man shrugged his shoulders.

"What would it hurt for us to keep looking and coordinate with you when you're done with Hook?"

Emma turned to Archie, brows set in a straight line and her lips tight. "If Cora is loose in this town, the last thing I want is for Henry to be in danger."

"All the more reason to keep looking for my Mom." Henry's voice drew the eyes of the two adults and he felt their silent push to continue his thought. "Cora's here, so my Mom needs to know that we don't blame her. She needs to know that we trust her."

"Henry's right, Emma," Archie frowned apologetically. "Right now, Regina could use all the help she can get. She's in a fragile state. She's out there all alone, she's pregnant; her emotions are going to be all over the place and the accusations of the town over my murder, can't have helped. She needs to know she has our support or her mother is going to manage to reel her in." He sighed.

Emma found herself reluctantly nodding her head slowly, remembering the almost feral look of determination in Cora's eyes as she'd fought them for the compass. She'd wanted to get through, to get to Regina and Emma wasn't entirely able to comprehend the relationship that they had, but she was starting to understand that whatever it was, it was poisonous to Regina.

"Regina!" David called down the stairs. He'd tried the stables, calling her name down every corridor and into every stall, spooking the horses unintentionally as his worry grew higher and higher. She hadn't been there and he hadn't really been all that surprised. It was cold there; and dark and musty from the cool mist sweeping through the town. She was devastated but she wasn't stupid and he knew she wouldn't risk catching a fever in the night air.

She didn't answer to her name, but David was sure there couldn't possibly be anywhere else she'd run, short of fleeing the town forever. A part of him knew it'd take a lot of force to get her to do that, though. As strong as she was, he had the overwhelming feeling Regina was Storybrooke's greatest advocate.

"Regina!" He called again, listening to his boots on the cold concrete as he stumbled down the steps. His fingers trailed along the course red-bricks as he rounded the corner and staggered into the corridor, wishing there were more light. "Regina, are you down here?" He asked the walls of mirrors lining the hallway. There was one large one at the end of the hall, framed with smaller, intricate mirrors to each side.

Still, there was no response. He turned his head, catching his finger on the edge of the ornate mirror as he turned to leave, but he froze when he heard an almost inaudible click. He turned around; realizing that his finger had brushed a small latch underneath the edge of the mirror and the wall had come away.

"Regina," He breathed, pushing gently at what had now become a door, until he found himself surround by light, stepping into a room entirely different to the hallway outside. This room was gently lit with light glittering off the shining decorative apples adorning a white tree. Beads hung from its boughs and around it stood the ornate gowns of the evil queen. More mirrors covered the walls and as David let his eyes travel around the room, he could see flowers and crystals and Regina's jewellery hanging on carved mannequins.

"How did you find me?" Her voice was soft and quiet; it was almost hesitant as he looked up to see her peering at him through the branches of her tree. David didn't know how to answer, letting his eyes roam around the room once against, realizing where he was before he set his eyes back on her.

This was her sanctuary.

"You weren't in the stables, and I remembered Henry came here once." He studied the gown closest to her with recognition – it was the one she wore when she held him captive and taunted him with the apple – and she noticed him looking at it, letting a frown tarnish her features as she watched him remember. But somehow, looking her up and down and studying the gown, he couldn't seem to bring himself to associate this woman with that dress or the memory.

She looked so small, standing there with her hands on her belly, tears glistening in her eyes but not falling. She wasn't the fierce woman that had sauntered into his cell in that dress, flaunting her victory in his face.

She nodded her head slowly, twisting her fingers together as she stepped around the tree. The room wasn't large and with the amount of Evil Queen Memorabilia filling it, David and Regina were forced to stand closer than he'd expected; but he didn't step away from her, something stopped him. "Why did you come? You were all so sure I was guilty."

"No," He sighed, reaching out to grasp her arm gently. "No, Regina, that's why I warned you they were coming; I don't think you are."

"Okay," She cast her eyes down, taking a deep breath and staring at her shoes. "So what do we do?" She looked back up and David could see, for perhaps the first time, the fear in her eyes. "I can't go back there; they all think I killed Archie."

"Then we make them believe that you didn't."

"How?"

"By," David's phone ringing caught them both by surprise and Regina jumped back, pressing her hand to her heart as she stepped away from him. David pulled the phone from his pocket, watching Regina as she stepped around him, averting her eyes as though some moment they might have had, where she trusted him and wanted his help, was suddenly destroyed.

He watched her carefully, meeting her eye just before he raised the phone to his ear and answered. "Hello."

His eyes widened, shock written all over his face and Regina stared, confused, as his mouth gaped in shock. "What? How?" He frowned, gripping the phone tighter as he listened to the caller on the other end of the line. He was trying to watch Regina's movements as he listened; even going so far as to reach out and grasp her hand gently, as if to let her know that he wasn't giving up. He'd come looking for her, he wasn't about to abandon her now. "Yeah, I'm with her," He nodded his head as though the person on the other end of the line could see him and he let a small smile grow on his lips as she watched their hands together. "You just stay there; we'll come to you."

Both of their attention was caught by a voice coming from the hall and David watched distractedly as he listened to the phone, and Regina stepped up to the mirror. She waved her hand and suddenly the mirror became a window to the hall outside, revealing Henry, tossing his head from side to side, searching for her in the darkness. "Mom!" He called but David could hear another voice on the other end of the line that sent a shot of terror through his blood.

He watched, frozen, as Regina pulled the door open and the little boy they both loved, fell into his mother's arms. David quickly hung up, tossing his phone onto the table and striding across the room. He reefed Regina and Henry apart, holding them each at arm's length as he placed his body in front of Regina.

"David, what are you doing?" She hissed, shoving his hand away and trying to reach for her son.

"Mom, what's going on?" Tears sprung to Henry's eyes and David practically bared his teeth at the boy.

"This isn't Henry, Regina."

"What?" She gasped, looking between the two with surprise and mistrust. "That's not possible, David. It's Henry." She tried to shove him away again but David grabbed her shoulders with both hands and gently shook her. He stepped completely in front of her, blocking her view of Henry as he peered down at her.

"It's not your son, Regina, I know because that was Archie on the phone."

Regina's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"He's alive, Regina and he has Henry with him."

"No," She whispered, letting a single tear fall. "No, this is Henry. He's come for me."

"He is coming, Regina. He's searching for you. But this isn't him."

"Listen to the Prince, Darling," The sudden sharp-tongued voice, startled them both and David's arms instinctively wrapped around Regina, pulling her close as he tugged her away from the woman that appeared in a cloud of dark-blue smoke. "He's actually right, for a change."

"Mother," Regina breathed, clutching David's jacket so tightly her knuckles went white.

"Yes, dear, it's me. And I must say," She chuckled, studying the way they held each other. "This is something I did not expect." She eyed David with a smirk. " I suppose that would make you the father then?" She questioned and David narrowed his eyes at her.

"Don't come any closer." He warned and Cora took a teasing step forward with a sinister grin on her lips.

"Do you honestly believe you could stop me, if I wanted you out of my way?" She blinked and David could feel Regina's grip on him loosen. She pulled away from him and the confusion on his face was clear as she stepped out of his hold.

Regina stepped in front of him. "Leave him alone, Mother."

"Now, darling, he just threatened me; why would I do that?" She tilted her head.

"Because I'm asking you to."

Cora watched them, the way David stepped up behind her daughter and placed a hand around her middle, pulling her back against him with a large, protective hand across the small round of her belly. "This whole scene is startlingly familiar, sweetheart. You, standing against me with a poor stable-boy. Didn't you learn? This one might call himself a prince, my dear, but he's still a shepherd and we can do so much better for you."

"Just stop it!" Regina cried. "You've come all this way just for this?" Regina shook her head, stepping out of David's grasp and pushing his hand away.

"No," Cora shook her head with a smile. "No, I've come to make amends."

Regina looked sceptical. "Really?"

"I want to help you. Because I love you," Cora sighed. "I've always shown it in all the wrong ways," David could see Regina's eyes fill with tears as she turned her eyes down to her toes. "I'm so sorry."

Regina looked back up to her mother. "You framed me for the Cricket."

"I wanted you to see what these people really think of you." David clenched his teeth, taking an angered step toward Cora, but Regina stopped him with her arm.

"You made an air-tight case," The tears in her eyes started to spill over as she gripped the front of David's shirt, never looking away from her mother. "Anyone would believe it."

"Regina," David breathed, but Cora ignored him and pushed on.

"I didn't want you to reject me; again."

Regina shook her head. "You wanted me broken."

"Receptive," Cora corrected.

Regina laughed bitterly. "I'm not going to argue, mother." She grabbed David's hand, much to his surprise and pulled him towards the door. "Come with us, we're going into town."

"It's the middle of the night."

"I don't care," Regina stopped with her hand on the doorknob. "We're going to town and you're going to tell everyone how you lied."

"Give up, Cora," David loomed over her, stepping towards her with Regina's hand still in his behind him. "You came here to win your daughter, but you've failed. She's changed and no matter what you say, you won't win her back. She's too strong and she's got too much to fight for."

"You think you're so righteous, don't you, Prince?" Cora gritted her teeth. Reaching her hand up towards his chest; David didn't recognize the movement right away, continuing to glare down at the sorceress as she pulled her hand back and thrust it towards him. David jumped, startled when Cora's hand froze millimetres from his shirt and his eyes widened as Regina stepped around him, her hand risen and crackling with magic.

He could see fear in Cora's eyes as Regina pushed David aside, keeping her hand up and clenching her fist in order to keep her mother frozen. "David, grab that lamp." Regina kept her eyes set on her mother's as David did as instructed and she could feel her heart pull as her mother's dark eyes begged her. "Never again." Regina spoke softly, just loud enough for her mother to hear as she leaned in close to her face. "You took Daniel away from me and even though David will never be mine," Even though her voice was soft, in the confines of the small room, he could hear every shaky word. "I will not let you take him from my child."

"Sweetheart, I would do anything for,"

"No," She breathed, cutting her off. "This is the last time you'll ever manipulate me, mother. I'm done." Regina took the lamp from David, twisting the hand that was holding her mother in place until rich purple magic engulfed Cora and twirled around her. Cora's eyes never left her as the magic whirled around her, pulling on her until the magic completely wrapped her up and pulled her down into the lamp.

"That's a genie lamp." David spoke softly and Regina nodded.

"It's enchanted," She spoke absently, handing the lamp back to David. "I've spelled it so that she can't ever get out."

He watched her as she walked towards the door, resting her hand on the knob before taking a deep breath, letting her shoulders slump. "Regina," He spoke softly, staring at her back, but she shook her head; not wanting to hear it. "She was your mother; it's okay to feel,"

She cut him off. "Its fine," She looked over her shoulder with glassy eyes. "She'd have only hurt me again," She pressed her hand to her belly, smiling even though it didn't entirely reach her eyes. "And you were right; I have too much to fight for now."

David set the lamp on the table and reached for her; grasping the hand that she had against her belly and pulled her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest until she relaxed into him, letting his warm arms encircle her as she breathed in the smell of him. She pressed her eyes closed, wondering if she could imagine they were Daniel's arms. The smell was almost the same, but where Daniel smelled of hay-bales and the fresh, autumn air, David smelled of saw-dust and coffee. Close; not entirely unpleasant and the feel of his arms around her settled her nerves so much that for the first time in weeks, she felt safe.

To Be Continued.