"You skipped school." Snow greeted him at the door with crossed arms.

Henry wasn't sure how to respond so he remained silent. Its not that he thought his absence from school would go unnoticed he just didn't think Mayor White would care. Though he should have realized she'd be keeping tabs on him since he was trying to break her curse.

"Leo, look I know we got off on the wrong foot, I don't know where you came from, but I think if you gave it a chance you could be happy here." Snow offered him choice, they didn't have to be enemies, as long as he stopped trying to break her curse.

Henry scrunched up his face trying to figure out her angle, "How can you say that when you're not even happy here."

"What makes you think that?" Snow knelt down to his level, a smile was on her face but it wasn't real no matter how much she lied to herself.

"I know, because there is another version of reality, one where I've seen you happy, one where you have yourtrue love and a daughter. " Henry tried to explain.

"You're lying." She dismissed the idea and her smile faltered.

"Its true." Henry pleaded. "This David doesn't love you but the real one does."

Snow paused to think about what he was saying. The idea of a husband and child was something she'd dreamed about since she was a little girl. The dream though tempting was just that, a dream. She'd made her choice long ago, a choice to give in to the darkness to become the Evil Queen, and evil could not be loved.

"It doesn't matter," Snow finally regained control of her emotions. "It wouldn't be me, I'd be dead and other-Snow would take my place."

"But…" The boy stuttered.

"The moment Graham mentioned a boy wandering about I knew who you were. The Dark One warned me that there were ways to break the curse, he warned me about you. I took care of one solution long ago but you're still a threat, and well, I can't have that."

Any trace of hope or kindness was now gone from Snow's face as she dragged Henry up the stairs and locked him in is room. As soon as he could no longer hear her steps Henry ran over to the window planning to escape like he usually did but when he pulled back the curtains he gasped as he found the windows barred.

He was trapped.

Henry paced around his room he tried to pull the bars off but with no success, he then desperately tried to knock down his door but when Snow came back and open the door he stopped. She didn't have to say anything it was just a look, but it was the look of an evil queen.

When the door had opened Henry could smell the oven heating up and he was genuinely scared that she was going to cook him like the witches in stories. He ran over to the window again and tugged even harder at the metal rods locking him in. Just as he was about to give up hope the sight of something in the bushes got his attention.

"Paige!" He yelled to her once he realized who it was.

The girl snuck closer to the house she was afraid enough by Mayor White but if the stories of Henry and her father were true than she was also an Evil Queen.

"Henry," she called up to him as loudly as she dared once she stood below his window. "I saw some men installing those bars earlier I was worried about you so I decided to come back once they'd gone."

"You gotta help me escape."

"I don't think your hair is long enough for me to climb," Paige teased but Henry could tell she was scared, she may not fully believe in the idea of a cursed town but she believed enough to be afraid.

Henry told Paige to keep an eye on the Mayor and to give him a signal if she left or became distracted enough that Paige could sneak in. Despite her visible unease the young girl nodded and crouch down by the window to keep watch. Eventually Snow entered the study with a book in hand and closed the door behind her. Paige gave a low whistle and Henry tossed down his keys to her so that she could get in and unlock his door from the other side. When Paige disappeared from his sight Henry feared for a moment that she wasn't coming back and his heart felt as though it was going to beat through his chest.

After a few minutes, though it seemed like an eternity, Henry finally watched the doorknob turn and let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on," Paige whispered to him.

Grabbing his bag Henry quickly gave Paige a kiss on her cheek. The two blushed and quickly escaped from the house. When they were far enough away Henry told her they should split up, he didn't want her to get in trouble if she was caught with him.

"Fine," Paige agreed, "just please promise me you'll be safe. I'd hate to have rescued the Prince from the tower only for him to get caught again by the Evil witch."

"I'll try," Henry agreed and began to run off to Virginia's apartment.

As he began to run up the stairs a recognizable voice made him freeze. How stupid can I be, he wondered. He hadn't thought twice about the Mercedes sitting in the street, once again forgetting that his alteration of events had reversed Snow and Regina's roles so the black car belonged to the presiding Mayor.

"I know how much you love apples, so here." Henry could see Mayor White handed the other woman a small brown bag. "Just a small something to say thank you for looking after my son, its been quite a transition."

"Well, thank you." Virginia replied awkwardly.

"Speaking of my son is he here?" Snow stuck her head forward to look around the apartment. Had she looked down the stairs however Henry would have been caught.

"Last time I saw him was at Granny's this afternoon, he told me he was heading home." The schoolteacher frowned.

"Ok, well you enjoy that."

Upon hearing the farewell Henry turned and ran down the steps as quickly as he was able with out making too much noise. The boy held his breath as he hid under the stairs waiting for the mayor to leave. Once he heard the door to the street close he counted to five before letting out a sigh then running back up the stairs to Virginia's apartment.

"Leo," Virginia looked surprised when she opened the door. "You mother was just here, she's worried about you."

"She's only worried about us breaking the curse, that means we must be getting close." Henry had pushing his way into her living space like he'd done on the first day. Seeing his book on the edge of her bed he put it in his bag. "You gotta be more careful with this, there's no telling what she'll do if she knows you have it."

"Leo." She tried to get his attention.

"Hey what's that?" He noticed the package in her hand.

"Just something Mayor White brought me."

"It's the sleeping curse." Henry recognized the turnover as soon as she pulled it from the bag.

"Pardon?" She assumed she hadn't heard him correctly.

"You can't eat that. It's poison."

"What?" Virginia asked.

"It's a trick, you did the same thing to Emma to try to get rid of her."

"Henry, come on. I think she's just nervous about being a mother to you. She came here to thank me for looking out for you. Why would she try to poison me?"

"Because as long as you're alive, you're a threat to the curse."

"You've got to stop thinking like this."

"But it's the truth!"

"Look I'll prove it to you." Virginia began to take a bite of the pastry.

"No!" Henry yelled and grabbed the turnover. He remembered what had happened the last time and realized it had never been about Snow White and Prince Charming so it wasn't about Regina and Daniel. In that moment he knew that his mother just had to kiss him like Emma had and the curse would be broken.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this. I didn't say it enough before, but I love you. You may not believe in the curse… Or in me. But you did once and I just need you to know that I believe in you."

With that thought in mind he took a bite of the turnover. For a moment he saw his mother's face, a look of concern that didn't belong to Virginia Regan but Regina Mills. The look of worry disappeared when the effects of the sleeping curse didn't take over instantly.

Virginia let out a sigh of relief, "Would you like some ice cream with that? And then we can go back to talking about –"

She didn't get to finish as Henry fell to the ground.

"Leo? Leo!" Virginia ran to the boy's side but he didn't stir.

The end.

Just kidding, though it will probably be a little while till I post again. I'm on my second rewrite of this next chapter. Things get more complicated as I get closer to the end. Thanks again to all the readers out there who have favorited followed and reviewed!