A/N: This chapter is structured differently from the previous installments. I hope it works. As always, your feedback is appreciated and helpful!

Y'all have Sky Fenty to thank for the quick update. Thanks for keeping me honest! ;)

xxxxx

As Regina retraced her route toward her house from the stables, she replayed last night's dinner in her head for the twentieth time. While David's impromptu visit caused her to put off her much needed run until now, she wouldn't have traded it for the world. Without his visit, she wouldn't have gotten to spend time with her son. Not just time, either, but good time. Time when he let her teach him something—even if that something was how to pick up a toad without crushing it—and time when they got to laugh together.

She could tell that he still wasn't ready to discard his "evil queen" label for her, but at least there seemed to be moments when he forgot that she was The Villain in his storybook world of Right and Wrong. He allowed her, however briefly, to be his mom.

She missed him so much.

And he asked her to take him riding! She was going to take him on Saturday. Maybe they would ride together first, so that he could get the feel of it, or maybe she's lead his horse while he road alone, or maybe she should start by making sure he knew the proper vocabulary . . .

She had plenty of time to plan their first lesson—he had called it his first lesson—there would be more! —she just hoped that he loved riding as much as she did. Maybe if she had allowed herself that joy and shared it with Henry before now . . . well, maybe things would be different.

She shook off the impending regret and increased her running pace to a full sprint. She ran as fast as she could until she thought her lungs would burst. Then she kept going.

She found ignoring her limits comforting.

She smiled again as she remembered the look on Henry's face when he caught Toad David. He was so proud of himself—and he was excited to show her what he'd accomplished. How she'd missed that!

And, maybe, just maybe, she could get him back.

She slowed her pace down as she neared her house. Unfortunately, to get her son back, she had to get Emma Swan back as well. Not to mention Snow.

Her face wrinkled into distaste. How had her life turned into this? Somehow she had become Co-Captain of the effort to bring the two people she least wanted in her life back into the middle of it. And she was working with none other than Prince Charming himself. Her life was a farce. Someone, somewhere, was having a good laugh at her expense. If she didn't know better, she would've suspected Maleficent.

She couldn't believe that she had actually told David and Henry about that. Her face flushed in embarrassment at the memory from dinner.

xxxxx

"Now Regina," David teased, "I enjoy spontaneous amphibious transformation as much as the next guy, but why do you have a jewel for that?"

Henry was giggling—it wasn't every day that your grandfather was turned into a toad!—and Regina just quirked an eyebrow at David.

"I know, I know," David said. "Evil Queen and all that. But turning someone into a toad with a rock seems relatively non-threatening, especially since the spell was so easy to break." He looked at her. He sensed a story, and he was determined not to let the subject drop until he got to the bottom of it. His flirtatious comment before dinner had her off-balance, and he wanted to press his advantage. Regina in control was stunning; Regina with her guard down was luminous.

Regina suppressed a smile; the Prince's deductive skills were sharp, and, oddly, her associations with the green gem were some of her happier memories from her time as Queen. She didn't want to set a bad example for Henry, but she supposed she couldn't set much of a worse example than cursing everyone he knew, so why not share this particular story?

"It appears," she stated dramatically, "that you have found me out."

Henry chuckled as David teasingly exclaimed, "Ah ha! I knew it!".

Regina rolled her eyes in mock-frustration. "As I was saying," she cleared her throat meaningfully in David's direction. "That gem was not intended to hurt or threaten anyone." She began to blush. Admitting to such childish behavior was not in her nature. "It was a prank," she said quickly.

David laughed, and Henry's jaw dropped in disbelief. "You played a prank on someone?" he asked his mom.

"I did," Regina confirmed. "But, only because she pranked me first!"

David couldn't stop smiling. The most feared woman of any realm he'd ever visited was invoking schoolyard logic to justify a toad-transforming gemstone.

"Well," he said, with good-natured authority. "Henry and I are going to need to hear this story from the beginning then, I think. Wouldn't you agree, sir?"

Henry nodded with dramatic-solemnity. He couldn't wait to hear this. Who knew that grown-ups—who knew that his mom—could be so fun?

"Then I guess I have no choice but to explain myself," Regina said in a tone of exaggerated suffering. This story was relatively harmless, and she enjoyed putting a smile on Henry's face.

"For the first six months after Leopold—Snow's father—and I were married, it felt like we were constantly entertaining." She smirked at David's nod of understanding, but elaborated for Henry's benefit. "The politics of royalty dictated that every neighboring royal family or person of standing had to visit us and pay their respects. Otherwise, it would have been considered rude and negatively impacted the trade between Leopold's kingdom and whatever area they were from."

"So, it was this endless drone of people and gifts, and every social engagement felt exactly like every other." Lost in her reminiscing, Regina's carefully controlled mask slipped from her face, and Henry and David could see the frustration, boredom, and irritation of the young queen clearly.

"I would smile and curtsey," a false smile graced her face, plastered there as if by muscle memory. "And tell everyone how grateful and honored I was"—she nearly spat the words out of her mouth—" To be married to such a wonderful and generous king." This many years later the thought of being grateful for the event that sentenced her to life imprisonment still felt like poison running through her veins.

"Regina . . ." David had nothing to say. He had never thought about Regina's marriage to Leopold from any perspective besides Snow's, so her manner of description was sobering.

Regardless, he thought it prudent to interrupt her. He suspected that she had completely forgotten Henry's presence, and—now that he considered her situation—he suspected that continued uncensored remembrances might be inappropriate for the boy's ears.

His interruption had the intended effect and snapped Regina back to the present. "Yes, well," she said, embracing the lighter role of external narrator rather than autobiographical commentator, "At one of those dull balls, I slipped away for a bit. One of the visitors was, well, the Duke of South Hills," she looked at David, who winced.

The Duke of South Hills was notoriously handsy, and apparently Leopold hadn't cared enough about Regina to check the man's behavior. David was disgusted. He knew Leopold had never recovered from the loss of Snow's mother, but he should never have allowed any woman, particularly his wife, to be subjected to that man's behavior.

Henry caught the look between the two adults but didn't understand it. He was beginning to think there was a lot going on that he didn't understand. He didn't like it.

"What was wrong with the Duke of South Hills?" he asked.

"He was obnoxious," Regina replied emphatically.

David snorted a laugh in impressed shock. Regina managed to tell Henry the absolute, complete truth without telling him anything at all.

"So I slipped away," Regina continued her tale. "I chose the wine cellar as my hide-out. The servants were always diligent to move the appropriate number of bottles of wine to rooms closer to the banquet hall on days Leopold entertained, so I thought I would be unnoticed." She paused, drawing out the suspense for Henry's benefit.

"Did you? Go unnoticed?" Henry asked, on the edge of his seat.

David was also on the edge of his seat. Regina must have been young and naive at the time. Sneaking away from the group had been more dangerous than staying put. He assumed nothing bad had occurred, or she wouldn't be telling this story to Henry, but, nonetheless, he was anxious for the young woman hiding in the wine cellar.

"Of course not," Regina winked at Henry. "Where's the story in that?"

"Mom!" Henry whined at her teasing.

She flashed a smile at his response. She loved having him home.

"Someone else had beaten me there!" Regina said as Henry's eyes went wide.

"This woman, wearing a dress covered in purple ruffles with blonde hair piled on top of her head and her shoes kicked off, was laughing as she juggled wine bottles in the middle of the cellar. Only she wasn't touching any of them!"

Regina smiled at the memory as David guessed, "Maleficent?"

She nodded and was about to continue her tale when Henry interrupted, "Maleficent? You mean the Evil Fairy from Sleeping Beauty?"

"Stop calling people evil, Henry" Regina snapped. "It's not very generous of you."

"It's also not very accurate," she said in a softer voice, but the mood had been broken. Henry looked like she'd slapped him, his enthusiasm for the story of the green gem's origins gone.

"I'm sorry, Henry," Regina said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. But I do wish you would stop labeling people. It's not very nice. And it is rarely just."

"It's okay," Henry said, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.

After an awkward moment, David asked, "So why did you use a toad-transforming gem to prank a wine-juggling fairy?"

Regina smiled at him, grateful for his support. "Well, to make a—very—long story short, after meeting in the wine cellar we became good friends. I wasn't allowed to see her, of course, but we found ways to keep in touch and to generally get a good laugh and a bit of excitement out of each other." Regina's eyes danced at the memories of their contrivances and tricks to see each other or pass messages without notice.

"One day, I was waiting in the tower for her crow to arrive with a letter, but, instead, she sent a legion of flying monkeys!"

At this, Henry had become re-interested despite himself. "Like the Wick—like from the Wizard of Oz?" he asked, stopping himself mid-label.

"Yes, Henry," Regina smiled approvingly at his restraint. "The very same monkeys. Someday maybe I'll tell you more about that."

"I was horrified," she continued. "I had enough trouble explaining the appearance of the occasional crow. I had no idea how I was going to justify the presence of all of these flying monkeys, especially since they wouldn't leave before eating us completely out of bananas."

Despite the humor she used to describe the scene, David could tell there was a darker side of this story. It sounded like the young queen was strictly controlled. He had the sudden impulse to take Regina into his arms and tell her that it would be all right.

Which, of course, it wasn't.

And he didn't.

"I obviously had to retaliate," she continued. "I could not allow a horde of flight-enabled destructive foragers to go unanswered. I don't care how funny Maleficent thought it was."

"I knew that she was expecting a visitor that she was very much looking forward to seeing," Regina said simply. Henry didn't need to know the details of her former friend's dating life. "So I arranged for her to purchase this gem at an auction, knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist displaying it and that it would turn her visitor into a toad. Then, when she figured out the nature of the spell, she would either have to ask for my help or help from Aurora's family."

Regina smirked. "It was gratifying."

"So you had to kiss a toad?" Henry asked.

The smirk was back. "Yes," she said. Hardly the worst thing she'd ever had to kiss. And Maleficent still had not appreciated her kissing her male friend in whatever animal shape he happened to take.

"Why didn't it turn Maleficent into a toad?" David asked. Regina had developed his sense of magical curiosity.

"The gem only transforms men," Regina replied.

"Ahh," David said. "So you made a sexist stone?"

"Yes," she smirked. Any further retort was not for Henry's ears, and she and David both knew it.

xxxxx

Regina stretched after her run. Her left hamstring had been really tight lately.

Yes, she thought. Her life was most definitely a farce. While she regained some ground with her son, it was her consequential relationship with the prince that was improving significantly.

Improving too significantly.

She had to focus on Henry. Henry was the goal. And Henry would not forgive her if she homewrecked Snow White's life.

So it didn't matter that David was thoughtful and kind. Or surprisingly intelligent. Or that he treated her like a person and not like some kind of ticking time bomb.

And it definitely didn't matter that his eyes were the clearest blue she'd ever seen. Or that his calloused hands conveyed the most genuine reassurance she'd felt since . . . well, since lifetimes ago.

No, it didn't matter that the Prince was gorgeous and made her feel more . . . connected.

It mattered that he was Snow White's husband.

And that mattered to Henry.

One more thing Snow stole from her.

No. She would not go down that road again.

At least, not today.

She had to complete her plan to get Snow and Emma back so that she could continue her mission to regain Henry's affections.

As much as she wished Ms. Swan wasn't the linchpin to her mission, exploiting Henry's desire to get her back did seem to be slowly helping their relationship.

xxxxx

"So, Henry," David said. "Aren't you glad your mother is helping us? With her help, once the dwarves find diamonds, we'll be able to fix the hat in no time." He knew it wasn't that simple, but he had noticed how Regina cherished any hint of kindness from her son. She had been working so hard to help them; it was only fair that Henry recognize her contribution.

If he had another motivation besides fairness, like just wanting to see her smile, he refused to acknowledge it.

Henry gave his mother a small smile. "Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome, Henry," she replied. Even though it offended her pride, she appreciated David's interference on her behalf.

"Henry," Regina said after a brief silence. "Bringing back Emma and Snow is going to require magic . . ."

"I know, Mom," he said. "It's okay. David explained it to me. You can use magic for this. Since you're helping people."

"Thank you, Henry." She felt as though a weight had been lifted off her chest. She had assumed that David had convinced Henry that involving her—and her magic—was the right decision, but she felt better receiving Henry's blessing directly.

"Maybe you could also hide the apartment from the rest of the town," Henry suggested.

"What do you mean?" she looked at him in confusion, before becoming instantly worried. "Has someone threatened you? Are you all right?"

"Calm down, Mama Bear," David told her as Regina leveled a glare in his direction. "Henry's fine. He's just been frustrated by the number of visitors we've had lately."

"They never go away," Henry grumbled.

Regina quirked an eyebrow at David. "You really did need a place to hide out."

David shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to complain or say anything ungenerous about his fellow townspeople. "They are . . . persistent."

"Mrs. Appleseed has basically moved in," Henry told his mother. "If you weren't Snow White's true love, I would think she was trying to date you," he finished.

Regina and David shared a fleeting, awkward glance, before Regina said, "I could, you know. Put up some kind of enchantment to discourage visitors."

David shook his head. "No. Thank you for the offer," he said sincerely, "But I will figure this out."

"And," he turned to Henry, "Mrs. Appleseed is not trying to date me. She just has an agricultural dispute—"

"Sure," Henry said, rolling his eyes.

Regina smiled at her son's antics but made a mental note to speak with David about the town's harassment of him. It sounded more serious than he was letting on, and, while it wasn't her place to interfere with his affairs, she was concerned that it was affecting Henry. And just who was this Mrs. Appleseed woman anyway? And where was Mr. Appleseed?

She shook off those irrelevant thoughts—why should she care if someone wanted to date David?—and focused on the teasing that had continued between the two boys at her dinner table.

xxxxx

Regina couldn't help smiling at the memory. Having Henry home was wonderful, and David's presence was not unwelcome as she had previously assumed. Maybe with his help she could get her son back sooner rather than later. Hope sprang in her chest.

And for Regina, hope was always quickly followed by determination.

Yes, she would win her son back. After all, he had finally included her in one of his "operations"—and not as a target.

xxxxx

Henry swallowed his bite of spaghetti. "What are we calling it?"

"Calling what, dear?" Regina asked.

"The mission to get back Mom and Snow," he replied.

'Mom'. Regina felt like she'd been stabbed with her serving tongs. She shot David a grateful look when he spoke, "We were hoping you could help us with that."

"Yes, Henry," Regina rejoined the conversation. "We couldn't name it without you."

"Operation Scorpion," he suggested immediately.

"Do you think we're going to have to poison someone?" Regina teased him.

"Hmm, good point," Henry carefully considered alternative names while the adults watched his intense pondering in silent amusement.

"How about Operation Boomerang?" he asked excitedly. "You know, because we want Emma and Snow to boomerang back to us!"

David let out a laugh at Henry's imagery.

"Very clever, dear." Regina nodded in approval. "Operation Boomerang it is."

xxxxx

A/N: Coming attractions: a little more Regina and David, but with a set change! Then, we should be ready for some more plot in Chapter 10. ;)