"Gina!" Roland cried in a squeaky voice as he came waddling out of his bedroom, still in his pyjamas.
Regina pushed back her empty plate and stood up to catch the little boy in her arms as he jumped at her, "Sir Roland! Why didn't you join us for breakfast?"
"You're silly! It's way past breakfast time. Papa already gave me toast and sandwiches."
"How about that? Looks like Miss Swan and I lost track of time."
Roland giggled. "You're naughty! The morning is the most important part of the day, right papa?"
"Right you are, Roland." Robin grinned.
"Papa said that Henry was here, why didn't he stay to see me?"
"Henry got here very early this morning," Emma explained, "He was really busy and didn't have time to stay until you woke up."
"I miss him." Roland sighed. "I miss mama, too. When is she coming back, papa?"
Emma grimaced, the sooner they got ahold of a forgetting potion for the kid, the better.
Robin's voice caught in his throat and Regina interrupted before he emitted a sob rather than an answer. "You'll see her soon, sweetheart. Did your father tell you that we're going to go back to Storybrooke? She's going to meet us there."
Roland's eyes immediately lit up and he grinned like it was the greatest news he'd ever heard. "We're coming back?!"
At Regina's smile, Roland tightened his arms around her neck and squeezed hard.
"I can see you every day!" He said to her and Regina found herself looking almost as happy as he did. She had always been fond of the boy and hearing how much he'd missed her warmed her heart.
"Now, young man. Didn't I ask you to get dressed?" Robin asked, sternly.
"Fine!" Roland mumbled as Regina let him down. Robin followed him into his room.
A little while later, Robin was wandering about the house, looking for anything to clean in order to keep busy while Emma showered and Regina washed dishes. When Regina's phone rang, she rushed to it and was excited to see Henry's name flashing on the screen.
She answered.
"Mom?" Henry said, urgency in his voice that immediately put her on edge.
"Henry? Is everything okay?" She asked.
"It's fine, great even." He said, stumbling over his words excitedly.
Regina sighed with relief. "What is it?"
"I found the key." He squealed down the phone. "The key to the door!"
"What? Where? Have you used it yet?" She asked, heart in her throat.
"No, not yet. I wanted to tell you first. It was in the apprentice's house, in one of the drawers." He explained.
Regina sighed in relief, "Okay, that's good. Really good."
"Should I do it? Release him?"
"Not yet. We can't give Gold a chance to get his hands on the author and it's easier to hide a page than a person. Especially a person we know nothing about."
"Okay, that makes sense."
"I assume Gold's been searching for the page. I trust it's still well-hidden?" She asked.
"Somewhere he'll never find it. I haven't even mentioned it out loud to anybody."
"Good boy." She praised.
"You taught me well." He said, and Regina could practically hear him grinning down the phone.
"Indeed, I did." She smiled. "Have you seen Gold around at all? He hasn't caused anymore trouble?"
"No, no-one's seen him. I saw Cruella and Ursula at Granny's earlier, they were just getting coffee to go."
"And Maleficent?" Regina enquired.
"That was the other thing I wanted to tell you."
"Oh?"
"She was here, in my room this morning."
"What?" Regina yelled down the phone. "Did she hurt you? Threaten you? Are you alright?"
"Mom, I told you, everything's fine."
"Well then, what did she want?" She asked, confused.
"It was weird." Henry said. "She said she didn't have much time, so I assume she didn't want anyone to notice she was gone. She asked if you and Emma were okay."
"Really?" Regina frowned in confusion. Sure, there had been a time when her and Maleficent had been friends, at one point even more than that, but then she'd cursed her, forcing her to live as a dragon for twenty eight years and then dust for three more. If she had actually meant everything she'd said whilst going undercover, about joining the dark side once again, perhaps they might have had a chance to reconcile. The moment she'd been found out, though, and Maleficent knocked her out with a sleeping curse, any hope she'd had for their relationship had vanished with the light. She had betrayed her friend, yet again. Surely Maleficent couldn't still care for her? Not after all that she'd done.
"She sounded really worried," Henry explained, "and she was angry with Gold, really angry. When she mentioned him her eyes glowed a funny colour. I thought for a moment she might transform into a dragon."
"That's interesting, indeed." Regina said, thinking hard. Did this mean they had a potential ally? A person on the inside? "I trust you told her that we're fine, but didn't give away where we were?"
"Of course not." Henry scoffed. "I'm not an idiot. I just told her that you guys were fine and she was satisfied with that, she didn't ask any more about where you were or what you were doing."
"Promise me you'll cal me straight away if she approaches you again?"
"Will do."
"Is that Henry?" Emma asked as she came out of the bathroom with wet hair, draped only in a towel.
"Um," Regina stuttered, "Yes, you want to speak to him?" At Emma's nod, she said to Henry, "Emma's here, dear, I'll hand the phone over so you can talk."
"Okay, love you mom."
"Love you, too." She said before passing Emma the phone. She took it and asked Henry how he was as she sat down. Regina looked about the room, awkwardly trying to avoid Emma's barely-concealed body, and eventually decided to go into Robin's bedroom where she found him making the bed.
"Sorry, we should have done that." She said.
"It's no problem." He assured her.
She smiled and shifted about on her feet for a moment before saying, "Henry called. He found the key."
"That's great." Robin smiled. "Now we have a way to get to the author first, assuming the page is still hidden?"
"He hasn't even told me where it is."
"He's a clever boy."
Regina nodded in agreement before taking a seat on the freshly-made bed. After a moment's pause, Robin joined her.
"Do you think we could talk, sometime?" He asked.
"We're talking right now."
"You know what I mean." He said, eyes pleading with her. "I want to talk properly, alone. How about we go out for dinner, tonight?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea." Regina said, eyes avoiding his gaze, not wanting to see the hope in his eyes.
"I'm not asking for a date. I'm asking for a conversation. One I'm sure we'll both benefit from."
"You sound sure about that," Regina murmured, "but perhaps talking isn't want we need. Perhaps, we just need to move on."
Robin's face immediately dropped. "Well, if that's what you decide, I'll respect that. I would be tremendously appreciative, however, if we could at least discuss it first. I don't know about you, but my head is a mess of conflicting thoughts and I'll feel better once I've spoken them out loud."
Regina sighed. Her head was indeed a mess of conflicting thoughts, most of them unwelcome. What Robin didn't know was that the blonde woman sitting in the other room was the root cause of them, not him. In fact, Emma had left her feeling so confused after their night out that the space in her mind previously occupied by Robin had shrunk considerably. Regardless of her feelings, however, the pain in Robin's eyes had struck a chord and she felt that she owed him this at least. "Fine."
Robin let out a long breath. "Thank you." He said as he placed a hand on hers and gently squeezed.
His touch brought Regina back to a time when it was welcomed, anticipated. A time when he had ravished her all throughout the night, brought her pleasure upon pleasure. Yet, as he laid his hand upon hers now, the sparks that she'd come to expect didn't follow. Not in the way they'd started to whenever Emma so much as brushed past her. It was an empty touch, devoid of attachment.
"I'm going to run to the shops and stock up the fridge, care to join me?" He offered.
"I think I'll stay and talk to Henry a little more once Emma's finished on the phone." She said, thinking quickly for an excuse.
He nodded and left her there, twiddling her thumbs.
When she heard the front door close she simply closed her eyes and lay back on the bed, feeling utterly spent. She stated there for a while, letting thoughts swirl about her mind in a flurry. As much as she now dreaded the dinner with Robin, she supposed it might help to clear the air a little. The two of them really hadn't had much chance to speak properly since she'd arrived with Emma.
Soon she began to feel tired and she knew if she stayed still she'd fall asleep again so she rose to her feet and returned to the living room. Emma wasn't even on the phone anymore.
"So we have a way to get to the author and it sounds like Gold's losing the loyalty of one of his minions." Emma smiled widely. "Good day!"
"Indeed." Regina said, simply, sitting down next to Emma.
"How about while he's gone, we discuss last night?" The blonde suggested.
Regina rolled her eyes. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. "I don't believe there's much to discuss."
"You do remember last night, don't you?" Emma asked.
"Unfortunately." Regina felt a twinge of guilt as the word left her mouth, wiping the smile off of Emma's face.
"So, what? You were just going to never mention it again? Pretend it didn't happen?"
"Mention what?"
Emma scoffed, "You are a real piece of work, you know that, right?"
"I'm genuinely confused." Regina just couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She knew it was a defence mechanism, an instinctual reaction. She was well aware of what Emma was referring to, the moment they'd shared, the moment shattered by their son's arrival. A moment which gave Regina goosebumps just thinking about it.
"Okay, just answer this. Please." Emma said. "If Henry wasn't standing across the street, what exactly would have happened when we got back?"
"We would have entered the apartment and gone to bed."
Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Gone to sleep!"
"Right."
"I don't know what you're going on about."
"I was about to kiss you, Regina, and you were about to kiss me back." Emma yelled, slamming a fist next to her thigh.
"I was not!"
"I don't know why I bother." Emma groaned. "Fine. If you're that disgusted with yourself, I'll let you pretend like it never happened. How's that?"
"Great."
Emma visibly flinched, hurt suddenly apparent in the tears glistening in her eyes.
"Emma, I didn't mean it like that." Regina said quickly, reaching out for the blonde's hand, but she pulled away. "I'm not disgusted, I just-"
"Don't bother." Emma said, rising to her feet and grabbing her jacket. "I'll see you later." With that she let herself out of the apartment, leaving Regina alone.
She sighed heavily and rested her face in her hands.
"Gina?" A concerned, high-pitched voice said.
"Roland." Regina forced a smile. "Are you okay, dear?"
"Is Emma upset?"
Regina shook her head, "Why would you think that?"
"She slammed the door."
"Well, sometimes grown-ups just get a little frustrated."
"Are you upset? You look like you're going to cry."
"I'm just fine, sweetheart." Regina reassured him. "Hey, how about we go and get some ice cream? It's a bit lonely cooped up in here by ourselves, isn't it?"
"Yay!" Roland cheered, already waddling for the door. "Can I have chocolate?"
"Anything you want."
As she closed the door behind them, she forcefully shoved all thoughts of Emma and Robin and Gold from her mind, clasping the little boy's hand she told herself it could all be dealt with later, when her mind was clearer, when she'd had her fill of ice cream. She decided maybe she'd buy a bucket of it for later, too.