A/N: Thank you so much to those who have reviewed! I really appreciate it. This chapter originally included chapter 6, but it got a little long, so I split it into two parts. Here, David pays a surprise visit to Regina. In chapter 6—brace yourselves—I introduce a plot point, and in chapter 7, Henry finally talks to his mom.

I hope you enjoy this. Reviews are always appreciated and help me write.

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The week passed in a blur for Regina. Since declaring her intent to help David and Henry get Emma and Snow back from The Enchanted Forest, she had spent every waking hour (many of which were hours that sane people spent asleep) investigating methods for restoring the hat's dimensional travel capabilities.

Not that she had anything to show for it.

She ran her hands through her hair and began tying her tennis shoes. A good run always cleared her head, and, given that she was completely stuck, she thought she might as well burn off some of the restless energy bottled up from days of rummaging round her house.

She grabbed her cell phone—in case Henry finally calls—and headed out the door, nearly smacking into David.

"David!" she exclaimed, putting a hand over her heart. "You startled me. What are you doing here?"

David was slow to respond, taking in the unusual appearance of the former mayor. The sporty look definitely worked for her. The high-cut jogging shorts accentuated her toned legs, and having her hair pulled back from her face made her look more youthful and—dare he say—cute. He shook his head to dispel these thoughts—this was the Evil Queen he was thinking about. She was evil. Not cute. But maybe she could be both . . .

"Oh, um, I just dropped by to check in and see how you were doing," he said.

She quirked a quizzical eyebrow, clearly skeptical that he cared about her.

"I was hoping that maybe you found something we could use to fix the hat," he confessed.

That was more like it, Regina thought. He only sees her as a means to an end. Like everyone else, if he isn't afraid of her, he just sees her as a tool to be used. Irritated, she snapped, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you're just going to have to go without your precious Snow a bit longer."

He flinched, nodded his head once and turned and began to walk away.

Damn it. Why did he have to look like she had just killed his puppy? And why did she care that she hurt him? Wasn't that what she had intended?

"David, wait," she said. "I'm just frustrated. This kind of magic is tricky. Even if I had all the resources available to me that I had in our land, this would be a daunting proposition. It's going to take time." Why was she comforting him? What was wrong with her? She just wanted her son back. Making some Charming Prince feel better had never been part of the plan. "Would you like to come in?" Where the hell did that come from?

Somewhat wary of her sudden mood swing, but eager to get more details on the magical end of their plan to retrieve his family, he said, "Sure."

She gave him a smile intended to reassure him, but it came out more like a grimace. She was out of practice playing nice with others. Out of practice—ha—who was she kidding? It had been nearly half a century since she had been nice to someone besides Henry and meant it.

She held the door open for him and invited him in with a nod. As he passed through the threshold, he was stunned for the second time since arriving on the former mayor's doorstep.

"Nice redecorating," he commented mildly. Her immaculate house was in a state of complete disarray. Books, charts, sketchpads, and odd objects littered every available surface.

"Ha ha," Regina deadpanned, walking past him to the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?"

"I'll have what you're having," he replied, still taking in the mess.

"Worried I'm going to poison you?" she quipped, referencing the axiom known by assassins' targets everywhere: don't drink something that your enemy hasn't consumed first.

He looked at her. "I didn't mean it that way. I trust you." Huh, he thought. He did trust her. How odd.

Maybe it was seeing firsthand the evidence that she was working hard to find a solution to Snow and Emma's disappearance through the hat. Or maybe it was an accumulation of everything she'd done—and not done—since the curse had broken. Like letting Henry live with him, relinquishing her authority as mayor without a fight, and—most interestingly—refraining from using her magic.

Surprised at his declaration, Regina did not have a reply and settled for bringing him a glass of water.

"How's Henry?" Regina asked.

"He's good," David assured her. "He's really enjoying his tracking lessons with Ruby. And I think she's having more fun with it than she would like to admit. The two of them seem to follow a lot of wolf tracks," he grinned at her. "He's not bad with a foil either. Obviously, his height puts him at a serious disadvantage in a swordfight, but he's pretty quick and nimble. He should be able to hold his own after his growth spurt."

Regina smiled, imagining her son's enthusiasm for these 'knight lessons', but her smile didn't reach her eyes. She wanted to be the one driving Henry to fencing and tracking lessons and hearing him describe everything he was learning in excruciating detail.

She wanted to be the one giving him the lessons.

He hadn't asked to go riding with her yet.

David noticed her melancholy and gallantly changed the subject. "I don't know how you did it," he said.

"Did what?"

"I mean, I know you had the whole town under a curse, but I still don't know how you stood being mayor of all of these crazy people. If I have one more person insist that I arbitrate some petty dispute, I am going to cross the border just to wipe my mind of all of their nonsense," David ranted good-humoredly.

Regina chuckled at the all too familiar frustration he was expressing. "Easy," she replied casually. "I made everyone afraid of me. They were all too scared to interact with me unless it was something really important. Your problem is that you've got the whole 'Prince of the People' thing going. They love you and therefore feel entitled to your time," she teased him. "Stop being so nice to them, and they'll start to leave you alone."

"I don't think I can do that," David shuffled uncomfortably.

The situation clicked for Regina and she started to laugh. David was startled to sense just how much he enjoyed that sound. "You didn't come here for an update," she accused him with a smile. "You could've called for that. You came here to hide out! At the Evil Queen's house!"

He had the decency to look embarrassed and slightly ashamed at being caught.

"You should just move in!" Regina continued to laugh. "Then you would be safe from the oh-so-scary, harmless townspeople that want you to solve their problems, and I would get to see Henry." As her son's name slipped out, she stopped laughing, but still smirked at the Prince. "Very brave of you," she teased.

"I know, I know," he replied to her teasing. "I'm not exactly taking the high road. I should just go out there and help them." He sighed. Why couldn't he be a better leader? Snow always made it look so easy.

Regina sensed the shift in his mood. Did this man ever stop carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders?

"No, you shouldn't," she corrected him.

"Come again?" he asked.

"It is okay to need a break," she told him. "More than okay, actually. It's necessary."

He looked skeptical. All of his training formed him to believe that a good leader—the opposite of his father, King George—put his people first, considered their welfare first.

"David," Regina said seriously. "You have to take care of yourself first." She held up a hand to stall his protest. "If you don't take care of yourself, you won't be in any shape to take care of anyone else." She let that sink in and then concluded. "So, if you need to take a break every now and then, that is okay, and you shouldn't feel badly about that. And, if you want to exploit the town's distrust/anger/fear/whatever-it-is toward me to get that break, that's fine with me."

And it was fine with her. Strange. "You're welcome here anytime." He is? And why am I hoping he'll take me up on it? I know this house feels big and empty without Henry here, but David's presence is nothing but an imposition . . . isn't it?

"Thank you," David said, genuinely touched by her support. "I suppose you're right."

"I am," she replied pertly.

David laughed, "I don't have to like it though."

"I'd be concerned if you did," she said.

"Well, why don't I show you some of the progress I haven't made?" Regina said wryly, gesturing toward the mess of magic-related items in the living room.

"Sounds great," David flashed a grateful smile.

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