A/N: I apologize for the flood of chapters in the next couple of days…but this story is up to about 9 on another site, so I thought I'd get you all caught up here. Some of you may be familiar with this story from when it was originally posted.

For the first night, he kept his captive in a partially open empty chest freezer. She was bound hand and foot, with a blindfold over her eyes and a gag over her lips. He would fully open the lid and lean against the freezer to look at her. Surprisingly enough, she struggled little. He was expecting more. Then he would carefully close the freezer so it was still open just a bit. He didn't want her to suffocate.

On the second day, he opened the lid fully and lifted her out. This time, she struggled. She didn't like him touching her. Pity.

In the center of the dark, cold basement was a cage that ran floor to ceiling even though it was only about 4' x 4' wide. Carefully, he laid her on the floor with her back and bound hands leaning against the bars.

He left the cage and moved behind her from the outside. Withdrawing a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, he clicked one cuff onto her right wrist just above the restraints that were already there. Then he wrapped the small amount of chain around the bar before connecting it to her left wrist. That limited her motion further.

Smiling, he got up. Taking the key ring from beside the door, he locked the cage before rehanging the keys. Strolling up the stairs, he was pleased at how well his plan was working.

Flashback

"I desire nothing more from you, Sidney." The Snow Queen smiled at him. "You have done you work, and that is that. And I shall give you your freedom in return."

She opened the door, waiting for him to leave. But Sidney Glass hung back.

"If it pleases you, your Majesty. I'd like to discuss something with you."

"Oh?" The blonde's blue eyes widened as she looked up at him. "What can I do for you?"

Sidney's face darkened.

"I am tried of being used by the Evil Queen."

"Ahh," Ingrid nodded. "I do know your history with her. You wish some help in….dealing with her?"

"I wish to destroy her." Sidney growled. His face was set in a mask of anger at the woman. He had been framed for murder, imprisoned, and victimized countless times by the horrible Queen. He wanted nothing more than to bring her to her knees…to show her what it was like to be trapped. He wanted her to see the terror she had inflicted on others by living it.

"Destroying a woman like her is quite difficult." Ingrid smiled.

"Indeed." Sidney agreed. "Which is why I bring it to you. I need your help to take her…fully."

Ingrid crossed the room to a dressing table. From it she withdrew a small vial which contained a black smoke.

"I can give you two things," she turned to face him as she held out the vial, "but I will warn you now if you fail: she will overpower you-and probably kill you. You must act fast."

"I will do just what you say." Sidney hated the Queen so much he was well prepared to take the risk.

"Take this vial." She laid it in his hand. "You must get yourself into the same room as her. Open this vial. The smoke inside will counter her magic as soon as it is inhaled. But it does not last long. You will only have about an hour to get her under your control-and to some place that will stop her magic."

"Controlling her will not be a problem." The Queen was a small woman. Overthrowing her physically would not be a problem once she was powerless. But finding her a place where her magic didn't work? That was more difficult.

"Listen to what I said," Ingrid spoke to him as though she were speaking to a child, "you must get her somewhere that blocks her magic. The ice cream parlor."

"Yes?" He was curious now. "How does that work?"

Ingrid shrugged.

"I didn't want to get into battles with others in my shop….so I put a spell on it. Get her into the shop…preferably the basement as it is the best to hold someone you don't wish to be found…and she'll be unable to fight you. But make sure she is well restrained. She is smart….not a woman to be underestimated. She'll fight you."

"I'm well aware of the type of woman she is." Sidney slipped the vial into his pocket. "Thank you, your Majesty."

"Of course. Good luck to you, Mr. Glass."

Sidney left through the open door, mentally preparing for what he was going to do.

****Scene****

She was gone. Not in the house…not upstairs, not downstairs. Robin had checked. Her car remained, as did her keys, and her purse. There was no further blood in the other rooms of the house. That made him feel better. Regina hadn't lost enough blood to be dead. So somewhere, she was still alive. At least she had been when she left the house.

After his final pass through the house, he stood in the overturned foyer and withdrew his phone.

"Hello?" Snow was curious to be woken so late.

"It's Robin." He was pacing. He couldn't stand still. Not while she was missing. Not while Regina was somewhere unknown with someone who obviously wanted to harm her. "Is Regina there?"

"Robin? No, she's not here. Why do you ask? She should be at home."

"She's not." Robin bit his lip with apprehension. "Tell David and Emma to come. It's urgent.

When the two showed up a few minutes later, Robin met them on the sidewalk and ushered them around to the back of the house. He showed them the broken door, the disarrayed living room, and finally the bloody front hall. He heard their collective gasps.

Emma took a step forward and knelt by the overturned table. She touched the wood with two fingers and held up her hand. Blood now coated her finger tips.

"Whoever hit the mirror pulled back bleeding." Emma pointed to a few drops on the floor. "And then either stopped, or was put into some position where the blood didn't fall on the floor anymore."

"Whoever?" Robin echoed.

"We don't know this blood is Regina's." Emma stood up. "It could be from whoever she was fighting with."

Perhaps he was being pessimistic, but Robin hadn't thought of that. He had assumed the blood was Regina's-and that she was hurt. The idea that it belonged to her attacker made him feel better.

"But why didn't she use magic?" David asked curiously. "I cannot imagine Regina sitting back and letting someone get their hands on her."

"Neither can I," Robin looked over at him. "That's why this doesn't make any sense."

"Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt her?" Emma looked from man to man.

"A year ago, I would have said anyone in town." David shrugged. "But Regina's been so helpful lately….everyone's been a lot more accepting. There's only one person in town strong enough to overpower her magically."

"Rumplestiltskin." Robin whispered.

"It wasn't him." Emma sounded firm. When the two gave her an odd look, she shrugged. "It's a long story…but Belle forced him over the town line with the dagger the other night. He's gone. And he went alone."

As much as this perplexed Robin, he wasn't in the mood to debate Belle and Gold's marital issues.

"So when was the last time anyone saw her?" He hadn't seen Regina in almost three days-not since she'd return Marian's heart. But he'd been avoiding town as well.

"I saw her night before last at Granny's," Emma thought, "but not since then."

"So she could have been gone for almost two days and no one noticed?!" Robin was horrified that a town full of people who pretended to be so decent and kind could have not noticed that one of their most prominent citizens hadn't been seen in days.

"Hey, sometimes Regina disappears. It's been happening a lot lately." Now Robin didn't really like Emma's accusing tone.

"That being said," David glanced hesitantly at Robin, "are we sure Regina isn't behind this? That she didn't stage this scene so she could disappear and be left alone?"

All three were silent. They all knew Regina had good reason to do just that.

"She'd be in her vault if she was." Robin muttered sadly.

"She knows it's the first place we'd look." Emma sighed.

"But we still have to check." Robin started for the door.

Had Regina really gone out of her way to stage her own kidnapping? Robin truly, truly hoped not. He did not want to believe that her life had saddened her so greatly that she had resorted to this type of disappearance.

Regina was smart enough to do this, Robin knew that. But the sense of dread in his heart told him that what he feared was real. And that somewhere in town, Regina was in true danger.