OQAngstFest Day 2.

Prompts: 1, 5, 31, 42, 44

Thank you for reading!

The road down to Storybrooke is a slippery hell. The snow is falling down, thick as a curtain, clouding their sight onto the road. Ice and snow, beauty and danger combined. Way too often does the car slip deadly close to the edge despite the spikes, when they carefully round a corner and every time he catches it at the last minute. The world is covered with a good five-inch layer of snow now, and a look outside the window makes it clear there won't be an end any time soon.

Robin glances over to Regina more than once during their ride. She is sitting next to him, wrapped in the fluffiest winter coat, with little baby Henry wrapped against her chest. The baby seems content, softly babbling and sucking on a pacifier, eyes big, watching his Mama. No word has been exchanged between the adults and Robin worries that she's still in shock. It's not like he can judge her. She did, after all, kill Sidney Glass earlier, stabbed him multiple times until he was dead, lifeless and bleeding on the ground. If he'd been there, he would have shot the bastard in the face after threatening the life of her innocent baby. She did the right thing, and everything must have happened so quickly for her.

He'd introduced himself, had shown her his ID and talked to her while Granny had thrown some of her clothes into a duffel bag, as well as readied a diaper bag for Henry. Regina hadn't wanted to let go of Henry and it took some persuasion from Granny to convince her to hand him over while she slipped into her jacket. The woman was scared to death. Although Agent Fireberg had told him she was a tough one, Robin had gotten to know her a little closer over the past months.

Disguised as Ranger Robin, he'd frequently visited the little inn and held correspondence with Granny. He'd seen Henry grow up, had witnessed the relationships evolve; between her and Granny, and between her and himself, all the while he had to keep his identity a secret from her. For their own protection of course. What happened today shouldn't have happened. The inn had been safe; he'd watched Regina's interactions and correspondences. He'd background checked every person who'd stepped a foot inside the inn, put them under surveillance until he had been sure they wouldn't pose a threat. It seems as if it's been all for naught. Someone talked. Someone higher up must have talked and this endangered everything even more. Her life is on the line, her and Henry's and Robin has sworn to protect them until his last breath.

On a good day, their journey would have taken about two hours. Due to the weather conditions, it's a little less than four as they arrive at the little cottage deep in the mountains. Despite the darkness of the night, the bright white snow offers some light to their surroundings. He stops the engine and holsters his weapon.

"I'm going inside to take a look if everything is clear. Please stay in the car and lock it from the inside." Robin doesn't receive an answer, just a short nod. It should be enough for now but he knows she will break sooner or later. The little bit he knows about her temperament, it will probably end in a fight. Robin decides though, he'll gladly take her screaming at him over the silence.

He gets out of the car and locks it, snow crunching under his heavy boots. The first thing he'd checked when they drove up the road was to watch out for tire tracks which would have indicated someone who doesn't belong, coming all the way up here. There's only one way in, nothing else leads up here, except the trail over the mountains, but it's not been passable for months. Robin throws one last glance at the car before he unlocks the door and heads inside.

The cottage is dark. It smells quite musty and he makes note to open up a few windows later before he gets the fire oven started. The generator provides the cottage with power and as it only consists of a living area with a small kitchen, a sofa, and a bed, as well as a separate little bathroom with a toilet and a basin, Robin checks it out rather quickly. He opens two windows, shivers at the cold breeze and heads back outside to bring Regina and the baby in. This will be their home for the next few days until he receives a message from Agent Fireberg on how to proceed.

Regina is still not talking when he gestures for her to unlock the doors. He holds out his hand to help her with Henry, but the brunette only presses her son closer to her chest and awkwardly wriggles out of her seat. While he waits, Robin collects their bags from the trunk and gestures for her to follow him inside. She seems a bit wary of him, walks hesitantly, eyes constantly darting around to check for danger.

"It's not much but it should do for now," Robin says quietly as he closes the door behind her. Luckily, the musty smell has gotten less, so he sets their bags down, closes the windows, and pulls the curtains close. He gets right to starting a fire to heat the place up, as he doesn't want either of his two charges to get sick. When Robin turns around, Regina is still standing in the middle of the room, eyes fixed on Henry who grows fussier by the minute.

"I'll start the kettle. The little guy must be hungry after the long ride. I think Granny packed some of his formula into the diaper bag."

"What are you going to do to us?" Regina asks quietly. Her voice is thin and defeated. She can't look at him but he can clearly see how worried she must be about her son, about herself. Robin quickly starts the kettle before he walks over to ask her to sit down on the couch. Regina should get out of the coat, should undress Henry and probably change his diaper but she doesn't move.

"I'm here to protect you, Regina, I told you…"

"Excuse me if I don't know whom or what I should believe right now. I came with you because I had no other option! It was either stay and wait for another hitman, or follow you. I just murdered a man! I killed him in front of my son. Henry saw me stab him." Her voice is shaking, as is her body. Regina looks disgusted with herself, shocked with the realization as if it's just setting in once again.

"I murdered him. I murdered him!" She yells at him and Henry starts crying.

Regina is barely able to stand on her own feet anymore, her arms are shaking so hard Robin is scared she might drop Henry. He guides her over to the couch, careful to keep his touch light and without pressure. She follows willingly, turns away though when he offers to take Henry so she can get out of the coat. The baby is crying, the pacifier has dropped onto the ground. Regina tries to calm him down, tries to shush him and rub his back, but he is exhausted. Tired. Hungry.

"It was self defense, Regina. It's not your fault. You tried to protect yourself and Henry. You protected him. Every mother would have done the same, but you're in shock, Regina. Henry needs…"

"Don't tell me what he needs! I'm his mother, I know what he needs!"

Her outbursts aren't helping the situation. Robin wants to say something but he doesn't, because, well, she's right. She is his mother and he's a practical stranger. The kettle boils and Robin gets to prepare the formula and readies the bottle. It's been a while since he's done such a thing, and the pang of sadness in his chest is difficult to swallow down, but he still hopes he gets it right.

"You should get out of that coat," Robin mumbles when he hands her the bottle.

"Stop. Telling. Me. What. To. Do!" She checks the bottle for heat and looks at least a tiny bit pleased that he's done one thing right. Henry latches onto the bottle quickly, interrupted by a few wails. He finishes it all, falling half asleep before Regina gets a chance to burp him. Robin takes the bottle and washes it out and when he turns around, Regina has finally shrugged off the coat and nestled Henry back in her arms, watching him sleep.

She's almost smiling, has blended him out completely. It's a sweet picture, mother and son, one he's seen often over the past few months. "He's asleep?"

"Yes."

"Would you like something to eat?"

"No." She puts Henry down onto the couch, caressing his face with her fingertips.

"Regina…" he sighs. "I'm here to help you. I know this is a messy, complicated situation and what happened today wasn't supposed to happen. But I promise, my one priority is your and Henry's safety. So please give me a chance."

Regina ponders his proposal for a moment before she looks up, finally meeting his eyes. "Excuse me if I don't know what to believe at the moment, Robin - if that's even your real name. One moment you're flirting with me, the next you almost kiss me and then suddenly you're an FBI Agent… It's like I don't even know who you are anymore. Now that I think about it, actually I don't. I don't know who you are because the whole time you pretended to be someone you're not. And now I'm up here, in the middle of nowhere, all by myself, worried about my son, myself, our future, I don't know what's going to happen next, I don't know if I will get out of here alive, I…"

She's crying now, the weight of the situation has finally caught up with her. Her face is buried inside her hands. Her sobs are silent as she doesn't want to wake Henry, but she feels so alone right now, so desperate. She wishes she never agreed to this.

Robin looks at her, his heart aching to hold her. She's right, absolutely right. Over the past few months he's somehow, against his better judgment, become attached to her. He's flirted with her, has let down his guard around her up to the point where it's become dangerous. Granny had warned him to be careful, after all, she was his job and he needed a clear head. The magic of Regina and Henry Mills has captivated him though and now he's stuck. She's scared, she's confused and he needs to set things straight. Carefully Robin kneels down in front of her, not too close so he won't invade her personal space.

"I had to pretend to be the ranger in order to keep up appearances, Regina. It was purely out of safety reasons and please believe me when I say I wanted to tell you. I had to follow orders though." Regina is still not looking at him, but he can see she's listening.

"And that almost kiss… It's just sometimes hard to control myself when I'm around you."

Now she finally looks up, eyes red and puffy. "Why?"

"Because you're incredible. I admire you, Regina and how you handle everything. Not everyone would have agreed to do this. And because you're smart, you're a wonderful mother to Henry. You're beautiful, you're sassy, and you're so strong. And you make amazing hot chocolate."

"So when you almost kissed me…" Her teeth start chewing on her lower lip, eyes lowered to the ground. Robin wants to laugh, doesn't know how they got to this point. It's against each and every rule. Should Agent Fireberg find out she is going to have his head served on a silver plate.

"I really did want to kiss you, Regina. More than you know. But I'm here to protect you and Henry. I've been trying to stop myself from falling for you and I'm doing a very, very bad job. Your safety is and must be my number one priority at all times and I promise you that I will never again let Leopold's men come as close to you as they came today."

Regina finally meets his eyes. "I'm scared, Robin."

"I know."

"I don't know how much longer I can do this. After what happened today, I just… Can you… Just please don't leave us."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay with you until this is over."

One moment she's looking at him, the next she has her lips pressed against his. He lets it happen although he knows he shouldn't. It's what she needs right now, it's what he's been thinking about ever since that rainy evening. Falling in love with her has put both of them into an even more dangerous position.

Now it is everything or nothing.