Prompt number:

36. Robin or Regina have to pick up a drunk Henry or Roland.

Entry Day: Wednesday

Day three of #OQPromptParty2018

Any mistakes are mine and I hope you can forgive me for them.

Enjoy!

Punishment to Fit the Crime

She is boiling, absolutely seething. It's a damn good thing Robin is driving because she would be destroying every speed limit she's ever approved with her lead foot. Would be gripping the steering wheel so hard it would turn to dust like the hearts she used to crush.

It's taking everything in her not to look back, she is actively forcing herself to keep her eyes forward because if she doesn't the exact second she lays eyes on her son she won't be able to stop herself from yelling. The goal is to wait until they're in the safety of their home to lay into him. It likely won't do any good though, with the state he's in. She'll have to do a majority of her yelling and berating in the morning when he's a bit more coherent.

This is all still so unbelievable. Her son, her incredibly bright boy, went to a party and drank. In the Enchanted Forest this may be a bit different seeing as there are no drinking laws, but here, in the real real world, there are laws against anyone under the age of twenty-one consuming alcohol, and Henry is still just sixteen.

He has never done anything like this. Henry has always been very smart and well behaved. Something like this is so out of character for him. There has to be something going on that he's not telling her. Something he's keeping bottled up and is now trying to forget with alcohol.

How could she not have noticed something happening with him that could drive him to this? She feels like a terrible mother.

He needs to be punished, to be made aware that this behaviour is one hundred percent unacceptable. After that is accomplished she will talk with him, find out what's going on that he's keeping from her. But first, he will be severely disciplined.

There is no way in hell she will be able to talk with him camly until she yells a bit first.

When they got the call, one clearly not intended for them, and heard his slurred words they were out the door and in the car within a minute. Upon arriving and seeing him throwing back another gulp from a beer bottle she almost shot out of the car to run up to him and slap the bottle from his hand. Before she can even unbuckle her belt Robin's hand is around her wrist.

"I'll go. You're too worked up."

She has to break eye contact before she shakes her head and says, "I'm fine," or he'll know for sure she's lying, which she is. If she walks up to him now while he's joking and laughing with his friends and throwing back a drink she will explode and show everyone that the Evil Queen is still very much inside her. That's not something she really wants to do, but the embarrassment alone would likely stop him from ever doing anything like this again.

"You're not." He shakes his head and brings the hand he's holding to his lips. "Let me. We both know you'll do something you'll regret later."

She scrunches her face and mumbles, "Fine," because he's right.

"Alright." He leans over and kisses her cheek, "I'll be back." And with that he's exiting the car.

Sitting in the car and watching him walk up to her intoxicated son is harder than she thought it would be. All she can see of Robin is his back, but she can see Henry's eyes widen when he sees Robin approaching him then they shoot over to where she is in the car.

The drink in his hand is quickly passed to the person next to him and he's saying something to Robin, likely defending himself, but Robin simply points to the car and there on their way to her.

When Henry gets in and sits down he says, "Mom," then pauses. She knows what's coming and she is not in the mood to hear it.

"Don't," she says simply. An explanation will definitely be heard, but not while they are sitting in different rows of a car, she wants him to look her in the eyes when he tells her why he was so irresponsible.

When Robin gets back into the car a moment later his hand immediately falls to hers on the armrest and stays there the entire ride home.

When they pull into the driveway no one moves to get out of the car, they all sit there in deafening silence like they did the entire ride home.

"Go to your room, we'll be up in a while." Regina orders calmly. She needs him out of her sight for a while.

Henry listens, of course he does, starts weaving his way up towards the house and she has to drop her head into her hands.

"What do we do?" She mumbles into her palms. This is not something she ever imagined having to deal with.

"We talk to him." She feels Robin's hand rub between her shoulders. "We find out what pushed him to drink and we fix it." His voice becomes louder and she realizes his head is directly beside hers when he kisses her hair. "He's a good lad, he'll listen and never make this mistake again."

Pulling her head from her hands she moves them to his cheeks. "Thank you." There's a smile spreading on her lips despite how horrible she still feels, she can't help it when she looks at him after he's been so calm and level headed in a situation that has her more than worked up. This man, this damn man, he's perfect. "I don't know is what I'd do without you."

He's smiling then and pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. Those lips deserve to be kissed, he deserves to be kissed until he knows just how much she loves him and appreciates him. And so she does, kisses him deeply and slowly, so he knows exactly how she feels.

When she pulls away he's licking his lips and humming and damn it if that isn't the sexiest thing she's ever seen.

"And you'll never have to find out." He kisses her again, just a quick peck, over in a second. "Now, what shall we do about our delinquent?"

"Well," she sighs, "He is most certainly grounded." That much is definite, what she's unsure of is what exactly is the best form of punishment for his crime.

"The hangover to come can serve as a portion of it." Robin says with a chuckle.

"True," she smiles. He's in for a rude awakening in the morning.

A wicked smile spreads on Robin's face. "I may have an idea," he says with an evil glint in his eyes.

He looks positively mischievous. What is he scheming?

"I'm all ears," she says with a wave of her hand between them. She certainly doesn't have a plan.

"What are some of the things you want when you wake with a hangover?"

"Aspirin, coffee, dry toast," she lists off. He knows all this, has brought her these things many times after nights out with Mal. "Why?"

"You like your sleep as well, and quiet, dimly lit rooms."

"Yes," she nods her head once and narrows her eyes at him, "But what does this have to do with a punishment?"

He looks at the clock on the dash, "It's nearly one. I say we leave him to his own devices tonight, wake him bright and early, open the curtains, maybe even let Roland do it. We both know how loud he can be in the mornings." They certainly do. There hasn't been a morning since the Hood boys have moved into the mansion that Roland hasn't woken them bright and early, yelling for them to get up.

"Maybe tell him we were going to bring him some aspirin but we ran out." They both smile at that one because she has magiced aspirin in her palm before when they had none. With the state they know Henry will be in in the morning the possibility of that likely won't even cross his mind. "I can cook some very runny eggs in the morning as well." That's something that makes him nauseous even without a hangover.

"Hmm." All of these ideas are very evil, may even be too much so for her, the former Evil Queen. Her son is where she has always drawn the line on manipulation, but after a stunt like this it seems some is in order. "Shall we say six am?"

"The sun comes up at five forty-five," Robin says with a smile.

"Five forty-five it is," she leans in and kisses him again with a smile.

Roland is in there room in the morning at precisely five thirty, he's never one to sleep in. They send him to Henry's room when they see the sun peeking in through the curtains and follow closely behind him to make sure Henry's blinds are wide open and the sun is streaming fully in.

Just as they predicted, Roland jumps directly on top of Henry and continuously yells for him to wake up.

"Roland," Henry sits up and grabs his head, "Stop yelling." He's squinting and groaning the second he opens his eyes.

Robin and Regina share a smile, their plan is working beautifully.

"Roland," Robin says when the boy looks a little hurt by his brothers reaction. "Why don't we go make breakfast?" He jumps at that, always excited to help with something that makes him feel grown-up.

"Be downstairs in ten, Henry." Regina instructs before walking out and closing his door. Robin winks at her and smiles before they're heading down the stairs to the kitchen.

Henry comes down fifteen minutes later, which she has decides to let slide because he's looking like death. He's pale, his eyes are barely open to keep out the light and he's rubbing his temples to soothe the ache in his head.

"Do we have any aspirin?" He whispers as he sits in a stool by the counter.

They glance at each other with barely counseled smiles as they prepare the eggs and pancakes. "I took the last two yesterday I'm afraid. Haven't had a chance to go out for more." Robin announces as he pulls the pan from the eye and evenly plates the eggs.

She hears Henry groan behind her as she flips the last pancake. This all feels so cruel. But she has to do it, Robin is right, it's the best way to keep him from drinking again.

"Not feeling too well this morning?" She asks casually after dropping the plate rather loudly on the countertop top. Henry flinches at the loud clatter and she would feel bad if he didn't deserve this, to feel the full brunt of his first hangover and never want another, ever again.

"No," he finally answers after Robin loudly places a plate of severely undercooked eggs in front of him. "My head is killing me."

"Oh," Regina fakes surprise, "Well, we'll try to keep quiet then." She smiles at Robin as they sit in their seats and pick up their knives and forks. They had also made pancakes for a reason, the noise that comes with cutting them into bite sized pieces, especially when Roland does it.

It's a full breakfast of Henry cringing when a metal knife slides against a glass plate, or Roland asks a question very loudly to then remembers he's supposed to be quiet. Henry hasn't touched his food and he's gone a bit paler than before. The smell of the food in front of him must be churning his stomach.

"You need to eat something, Henry. It'll help your head." Robin suggests before sliding his knife across his plate a little more harshly than he needs to and popping a bite of syrup coated pancake into his mouth.

Regina smiles into her plate when Henry grunts again at the harsh squeak of the knife. This is pure torture, and it's working.

Henry picks up his fork and slowly scoops up one of the few pieces of egg that's fully cooked and mixed with the runny mess. She watches him shakily bring the bite to his mouth and close his lips around it. The fork is still between his teeth and he seems frozen. He hasn't moved since the egg made contact with his mouth. All she's seen him do is swallow, very thickly.

The runny eggs have been churning her stomach a bit as well, which doesn't normally happen, so they must be making his do summersaults.

All of a sudden the fork is dropped to his plate with a clatter and he's pushing back the stool so fast it flips to the ground. He is out of the room in a flash and they hear him slam the bathroom door shut.

"Is Henry alright?" Roland asks with a mouthful of pancake and his brown eyes as big as saucers.

"What do we do when our mouth is full?" Regina asks with an eyebrow raised at him.

Rolans takes a large swallow and sinks down a bit in his chair after being chastised. "We wait to talk. Sorry."

Regina smiles before saying, "Good." She just can't seem to stay mad at him when he looks at her with those adorable brown eyes.

"What's wrong with Henry?" Roland asks as he looks between them.

Robin pulls Roland to him and sits him on his lap. "Henry's fine, he just drank something that made him sick."

"Was it poison?" Roland nearly yells, concern and imagination running wild behind his eyes.

"Sort of." Regina says as she moves to sit in Roland's now empty seat to be closer.

"Did someone try to poison him?" Roland moves to sit on her lap after he asks the question so he can curl into her chest. They've made him nervous. He always wants to curl up with her when he's scared.

She looks at Robin as she wraps her arms around Roland and rubs his back soothingly. The poor boy is so confused. How do they explain this adult thing to such a little boy?

"No, son," Robin sighs, "Henry drank it himself."

Honesty has always been important to them. From the beginning neither of them wanted to lie to their children. He thought it would be better to tell him Henry drank it himself so he wouldn't be scared of someone poisoning him too, but he just looks more confused.

Roland pulls away from her and sits up board straight. "Why would he do that?"

"Roland," Regina says so he'll look up at her. "The poison Henry drank is something called alcohol." She glances over to Robin and he nods his head for her to continue. "People like to drink this poison to help them forget bad things that happened to them."

"Like when Mr. Gold almost shot me with an arrow?" Roland asks innocently.

"Yes, sweetheart." Regina nods and runs a hand back through his curly. She still feels terrible about that. She was the reason Gold was there in the first place. "Henry had something he wanted to forget, but he drank too much of the alcohol and it made him sick. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mama," he nods and slithers off her lap to the floor. "I don't ever want to drink alcohol," he says with an adorable pinched little expression while shaking his head.

"Smart, lad." Robin pats Roland on the shoulder with a wink that makes him giggle.

When the doorbell rings Roland jumps and immediately asks, "Can I answer it?!"

Regina opens her mouth to tell him no, but Robin cuts her off. "Yes, my boy. I think it's for you." And Roland is gone in seconds.

"It's for him?" Regina crosses her arms over her chest and raises a brow at him.

"Yes," Robin smiles. "I called Little John and asked if he could take Roland for a while, so we can talk to Henry without interruption."

"Smart," she nods. "Explaining that was hard enough."

"I know," he agrees.

It takes about twenty minutes, but Henry is finally shuffling back into the kitchen and sitting down.

"Henry, you feeling better?" He shakes his head with a groan and she feigns a pout. "I saved your food if you'd like," she offers, knowing full well he'll reject it.

"I know what the two of you are doing," he eyes them up accusingly. "You're making this harder so I never drink again…" he takes a deep breath, "And it worked. I'll never drink again."

Regina and Robin share a smile before she says, "Good."

"Can my punishment be over now so I can have some aspirin?" Henry wines as he drops his head to his folded arms on the countertop.

Regina smiles as she sits next to him and rubs his back. "Yes, you can have some aspirin." With a wave of her hand a pill shows up in her palm. She waves it again towards the counter and a glass of water appears. "But you should eat something first."

"I don't think I can," Henry whispers. "My stomach is flipping.

"That's what happens when you drink too much, especially when you've never had alcohol before." She runs a hand over his forehead and pushes his hair back. "Why would you do this, Henry?"

It really is hard seeing him so miserable. He brought it on himself by doing something irresponsible, but this is enough, he's suffered enough.

"I'll get some crackers from the pantry," Robin offers, but she knows it's an excuse to give them a minute alone.

"What's going on, Henry?" She leans down to catch his eyes. "This isn't like you."

"Violet broke up with me," he announces before turning his face down so she can't see him.

"Oh, sweetheart," she rubs a hand through his hair at the nape of his neck.

She's a little relieved that it wasn't something more serious. Losing your first love is certainly not easy, but there are worse things. Like watching that first love be murdered right in front of you. But this isn't about her, it's about Henry and how torn up he is from his first breakup that it made him want to drink.

"I know it's hard, but you'll get past this," she encourages.

"Will I?" He turns back to her with tears in his eyes, it breaks her heart.

There's a soft, genuine smile on her lips as she says, "Of course."

"How did you get over Daniel?" And that's a tough question to answer.

"Well," she clears her throat, "As you know, not very well."

"Yeah, you went full Evil Queen," Henry says as he sits up in his seat and wipes at his eyes.

She nods. He hit the nail on the head with that one. "I did some pretty terrible things out of hurt and anger because I thought that's what I needed to do to get past that loss. Get revenge on those that wronged me. I couldn't have been more wrong."

"But it helped a little didn't it? Getting out all your anger." She can see the fire behind his eyes as he speaks now. There's as much anger in them as there is hurt, which is alright, as long as he controls it and doesn't let it consume him.

The answer she's about to give will come as a shock to him.

"No." She says truthful, to Henry's surprise. His eyebrows pinch together in confusion. "It just made me numb." She leans into him to nudge against his shoulder, "Like what you tried to achieve with the alcohol."

His expression softens and he looks away from her to his lap. "I think I get what you mean."

"And what's that?" she asks. Has to make sure that what he is thinking is what she is saying.

"You can't run from your pain," he sighs, "You have to face it to get past it."

She smiles at him. "See, I knew you were a smart boy," then leans in to rest their foreheads together for a moment.

"Thanks, mom," Henry says when she leans back, "For talking and not yelling. I know how angry I made you and I'm sorry."

"Don't thank me," she cups his chin and shakes her head, "Thank Robin. This was all his idea."

"Are the two of you talking about me?" Robin asks from behind them and they both jump.

"Seriously?" Henry asks, his surprise clear. "It was your idea to torture me?"

"Yes," Regina nods and looks up at Robin when he moves to stand beside her, "It was his form of punishment." She pats his hand resting on her shoulder.

"I have to say, it was a very effective punishment."

"I'm glad to hear it." Robin nods his appreciation at Henry's commendation.

"Don't think you're getting off that easily, young man," Regina cuts in. "You're grounded as well."

Henry sighs and slumps forward in his chair. "I figured that much."

She has to smile at his childlike behavior. He seems so young sitting there pouting after receiving punishment. It makes her feel like he's not growing up as fast as he is. Her little Prince.

"Now," she takes the packet of crackers from Robin, opens them and sits them in front of her son, "Eat your crackers and take your aspirin. You've suffered enough."

"Thanks," Henry sighs gratefully and plucks a cracker from the package.

Robin loops his arms around her shoulders from behind and drops his chin to her shoulder. She leans her head against his and they both watch Henry struggle to eat.

She sighs back into Robin and smiles. Something she thought was going to be a huge issue turned out so have a simple fix. Her son has vowed never to take a drink again and already seems to be in a better mood.

A parenting job well done. They make a pretty good team.