AN: No sex in this chapter. Sorry, just dumb angst and stupid pain. :) The next chapter will have a pay off though.

A little Outlaw Queen just in this chapter, and some Swan Queen if you squint

It was three a.m. when she got the call, her phone obnoxiously buzzing on the night stand next to her bed. Henry mumbled something against her hair, curled up into her back with his arms wrapped around her. Regina reached over to turn it off, looking at the number for a few long moments as her eyes adjusted to the light.

The caller ID displayed the number for the Rabbit Hole, and after a moment of confusion, a feeling of realization, dread, and annoyance mixed its way into her head.

"Who's it?" Henry mumbled, stirring more, but still sounding half asleep. Regina shushed him before sitting up and placing the phone to her ear.

Her room was quiet, and she knew that he would be able to hear both sides of the conversation regardless, still she turned the volume of her phone's earpiece down before speaking briskly.

"Yes?"

And it was the owner calling her.

"Do you have any idea what time it is—?" She started, then stopped to listen for a moment.

Robin was at the bar, as he usually was.

And he was drunk, as he usually was.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Because he won't leave, and the owner was trying to close for the night. Robin won't leave until she came to pick him up.

She sighed heavily into the phone, all too aware of how still Henry had gotten next to her, and knowing it wasn't because he had fallen back asleep.

The owner said he could call the Sheriff, but she cut him off.

"No. No, there's no need. I'll be there in a minute." Her voice had an obvious tone of defeat, as she ended the call, reaching over and turning on the bed side lamp. She got out of bed, making her way to her closet to dress in something more appropriate than one of Henry's oversized tee shirts. Regina purposely avoided looking at him as he sat up in bed, already feeling his eyes burning holes into her.

"Who was that?" By the tone in his voice though, she could tell he already knew.

"I just have to go out for a minute." She replied over her shoulder, as she quickly got dressed in khaki pants and black polo shirt.

"Why did he call you?"

Because Robin had done this before, but that was over a year ago, and she really thought that she wouldn't have to go through this again.

"I—I don't know." She muttered, looking over at him when she heard him move out of bed as well. He didn't look angry, but he did look upset. "But it'll just take a minute. I'm going to drive him home, then I'll be back."

"I'm going with." He stated, no room for argument, but she was still his mother—at least sometimes she thought she was, so Regina argued regardless.

"No, Henry. Stay here and I'll be back—"

"I'm going with." Now she could see some anger in him, a little hurt too, and it was too early—or too late—for her to debate this anymore.

"Fine. Get dressed, but you're waiting out in the car." She replied sternly, grabbing her coat from the closet and mumbling as he made his way out of her room. "You're not even old enough to legally walk into a bar."

She wasn't sure why she said that last part, but it caused Henry to pause for a moment and look back at her silently, before she glared at him.

"Dressed. Now."

He was the only one left at the Rabbit Hole when she got there, aside from the owner who was cleaning up the bar, sparing a glance at her as she spotted him at a far booth. Once she made her way to his table, he looked up at her with a lopsided smile and she could tell already that he was completely drunk.

"Regina, you look beautiful." He said, his accent thicker and slurred from the alcohol. Her face stayed stern and annoyed, because this was a bad idea, and she should have just let Emma come and get him herself.

"I look like I just woke up, because it's three in the morning." She reminded him harshly, in no mood for him to get the wrong idea of why she was here. He looked down at his glass of whiskey, and finished off what little he had left before responding.

"Yes, well they cut me off. Didn't want the whole night to be a waste."

She rolled her eyes and sarcastically responded; "How thoughtful of you." Regina crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at him sternly. "Where's Marian?"

"She left me." He said with a sigh, almost used to sound of those words coming from his mouth. Regina wanted to roll her eyes again, but now he was watching her.

"Why this time?"

Robin shrugged and shot up from the booth like bullet, surprising her and causing her to take a stumbling step back.

"I work too much, I don't work enough, it's always something." The volume of his voice got louder, causing her to make a shushing noise, even if they were the only ones in here. That brought back his lopsided grin, leaning down towards her slightly. "We can talk about it back at your place."

Regina sighed and took another step back, already smelling the liquor on his breath and it, among other things, were making her stomach churn.

"We're not going back to my place. I'll call a cab, and you're going home before you have to spend the night at the Sheriff's station." There was no room for arguments in her tone, but it didn't stop him from trying.

"What, are you seeing someone?" A shot of anger went through her at the disbelief and mocking in his voice, then another feeling of guilt started to swell at the thought of Henry waiting out in her car. This was such a bad idea. Regina glared at him and then shook her head.

"Fuck you." She whispered, turning to walk out of the bar, and at that he was all apologies, and hands gently on her arms, 'woah'-ing her and standing too close, as she stared at the floor.

"You know I still love you." He said quietly, as his lips brushed against the top of her head, pulling her into him. But her hands went up to his chest, stopping him from closing the space between them, as she shut her eyes tight against the tears that sprung up from his words. Pain and heartbreak from years ago coming to the surface like it was yesterday.

"Don't." Was all she managed to choke out, feeling trapped and vulnerable, but he ignored her, moving to take her hands in his, and right before she was going to rip herself away from his grasp, they both turned towards a demanding voice from the sudden presence of Henry walking briskly towards them.

"Get your hands off of her." He was almost angry, but when he finally reached the two of them, his anger grew tenfold when Henry saw the tears that refused to clear fully from her eyes.

"Henry I told you to wait in the car." Regina said, after pulling away from Robin and taking a step back, clearing her throat to gain more volume. Robin just grinned like the drunk idiot he was, completely oblivious to the hurt and anger that was swelling the space around them.

"You grew up, didn't you? Practically a man." At the condescending tone, Henry pushed Robin back by the shoulders, a brisk but rough shove that the older man wasn't expecting, causing him to stumble a few steps back, and the surprise of the action left Regina stunned for a moment.

"What the hell did you say to her?" He demanded, already advancing on Robin, before she stepped in his way slightly, her hand on her son's shoulder.

"Stop, just…please." The last thing she needed was a fight to break out and have to explain any of this to Emma. "I'll be out in a minute." Her eyes pleaded with him to just walk away, and it made his sight land on her, scanning her face before glaring back Robin, who seemed to have gained his footing back, along with his lopsided grin.

"I'm not leaving you here with him." Henry said, monotone but there was red in his eyes.

"Listen to your mother, boy." Robin said in a patronizing way, and she felt his hand move around her shoulders. Regina jerked her body away from the unwelcomed touch, turning to scold him rightfully for making a complete mess out everything, but before she could get a word out, Henry reeled his arm back and punched him square in the jar.

Close to twenty minutes later, Robin was in the back of Emma's squad car, and Regina stood next to Henry outside the bar entrance, as he sat on the curb, looking angry and sullen, cloths still rumpled from the altercation. The sheriff ushered a few nosy onlookers away before standing in front of mother and son with a flabbergasted sort of expression.

"So, explain to me why you decided to bring our son to a bar at 2 a.m." She started, looking at Regina with only genuine confusion more so than anger.

"I told him to wait out in the car." The older woman snapped a little too harshly, automatically expecting Emma to turn this into a fight, but after the defensive and quick words came out of her mouth, Regina looked down apologetically.

"Why was he in the car to begin with?"

The sheriff asked, and Henry was just so quiet, leaning his arms on his knees as he stared down onto the road. Regina sparred a glance at him and spoke without thinking.

"He wouldn't let me leave without him, the call woke us both up, and he insisted—"

"It woke both of you up?" Emma asked, confused and suspicious, causing the other woman's eyes to widen a bit before covering quickly for her slip, and looking back at Henry so she wouldn't see that she was lying.

"He heard me get up from his room. I was rushed, and I woke him with the noise."

The blonde sighed and was silent for a moment.

"And what about you?" She said to her son, her voice sharpening a bit. "Got anything to say?"

Henry's hands curled into fists, as he shot up from his sitting position quickly, causing both women to take a step back.

"Let him out of your squad car and I'll do it again."

Regina tried to forget about how deep his voice sounded, or how tall he seemed right now, all red knuckled and angry and protective. It was affecting her though, despite the fact that he was acting out in a way he shouldn't, maybe for a girlfriend or a teenage love, but not for his mother.

"Henry—" She started, a little scolding and a little understanding. He ignored her though, walking up to Emma.

"He was all over her. She was crying when I got in the bar." Henry snapped, just getting angrier and his eyes growing darker. Regina wanted to reach out to him, pull him into her and comfort him and show him that she didn't belong to anyone but him.

And that thought.

That was horrible and terrifying, and took the breath right out of her lungs.

"Okay, calm down—" Emma tried to gently push him back with a hand on his chest. He didn't budge though, and only looked over at the squad car down the block. This was escalating to a place that was dangerous.

"I don't know what you saw in that jerk off."

"It's not your place to know, young man." Regina snapped, all mothering anger and stern tones. That got his attention, looking at her cold glare, as if suddenly remembering where they were and the roles they were supposed to play for others. It wasn't right, in any way, but it was what they did. He knew that. So, with downcast eyes, he took some steps back and moved closer to Regina as if he was a scolded pet.

"I'm going to call Ruby, have her take you back to my house." Emma said, already reaching for her cell phone.

"No. I want to stay with Regina."

The two women paused at that. It wasn't odd, that he would call either one of them by their given name, maybe a little more odd for Regina, but it still happened occasionally because sometimes 'mom' and 'ma' and both of them in the same space caused a little confusion. So it wasn't odd, not in itself. But the way he said it, the way he said her name was so possessive, and nothing like how he had said it before. It caused a shiver to run down Regina's spine, and Emma got very quiet. Just watching him with an unreadable expression, then her eyes went on her, and that shiver she felt before grew cold as her stomach sunk.

"Alright…" Emma said slowly, drawing the word out, and her voice was dark. Her face moved back to Henry. "Go wait in her car."

He looked over at Regina, who in turn nodded her head very slightly towards her vehicle, and only then did he leave, and placed himself in the passenger seat of the car. Emma caught the subtle exchange between them, and Regina's nerves were starting to overwhelm her, as the silence between them grew longer.

"Well, it's late and we're all exhausted I'm sure. So if we're done here—"

"We're not done." Emma cut off her forced casual words, with a sharp tone, and it suddenly reminded the older woman of when she first met the other woman, all fire and snark, always pushing back, always a challenge in her eyes, and it was more fun then, as opposed to now.

"I'm going to ask you a question Regina, and I'll know if you're lying." Her eyes were burning holes into the former Queen, and she was frozen by it. Frozen in fear and the sobering realization that she was going to die. Emma was going to kill her in front of this bar, in front of Robin and Henry and random onlookers. This was how her life would end.

There was a moment of silence between them, tense and terrible.

"Are you and Robin fooling around again?"

Another moment passed, and Regina blinked a few times.

"What?" Because of everything that she expected to come out of Emma's mouth, that wasn't it. The blonde's features softened with a sigh.

"I mean, it would explain why lately you've been acting so…guilty."

And at that, Regina did feel a sharp pang of guilt and fear, hating that she had seemed so obvious, and hating that there was something to seem obvious about. Emma was still waiting for an answer though, thinking that this was about Robin. Because they had talked about this before. A few years ago, when the loneliness was consuming her, and she got a phone call from the bar. Robin was drunk, and Regina was stupid. So she picked him up, but never dropped him off.

They had sex that night, and it was horrible and stupid and regret was thick in the morning. She had told Emma about it almost immediately, because Regina didn't know what else to do, and the other woman was understanding and listened, and told her everything she should. That it was wrong, and he was married, and it was just another bad mistake that Regina could add to the ever growing list.

"I ended it." She finally answered quietly, and it wasn't a lie. Because it was only a week long affair that she did end, years ago. Emma's eyes narrowed at her, but not disbelieving, just slightly suspicious. "It was brief, and it was a mistake." The mayor continued, more convincingly, before looking over at her car down the road and seeing Henry watching them like a hawk.

"Look, I get it." The soft and understand tone was there, and as Regina looked back at her, the blonde took another step towards her. "It's hard to meet people, and there really hasn't been anyone since Robin…" She was looking at her again, as if trying to spot a lie, or get her to elaborate on her statement, so Regina decided to stay silent, looking away.

"It won't happen again." Is all she gave in response, just wanting this conversation to be over.

"You don't answer to me, Regina, that's not what—" Emma stopped suddenly, struggling with her words, stumbling over her meaning, and it brought the older woman's attention on her a little more. "If you need anything though, I mean if you want…" Suddenly the blonde was nervous about something, her eye line not settling, hands shoved in her coat pockets, and at that moment, Regina was struck with how much she looked like Henry. "I'm just a phone call away." Those green eyes looking at her almost desperately.

She took a quick step away from Emma, and it was obvious and made everything awkward.

"I should get Henry home." She said quietly, giving a small smile she didn't feel, and then walking back to her car.