Regina and Robin walked together towards the town square, holding hands. Robin's free hand was grasping his bow, while Regina's was outstretched, ready to conjure a fireball if needed. They traveled in silence for a long time. Robin's eyes constantly roamed the terrain ahead of them, watching for trouble. Regina's grip on his hand tightened, and Robin could sense her anxiety.

If she was being honest with herself, Regina was afraid. She knew that any number of her victims could come after her. Many of them were surely waiting for her, filled with unfinished business, probably revolving around their want of getting revenge. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind, the danger she would be putting herself, and Robin in, until they stepped off the boat. She had been so involved in restoring Emma's happy ending that she hadn't stopped to think about the possible consequences. The selfish part of her wanted to abandon the group and demand Charon to take herself and Robin back to Storybrooke. But after all Emma had done to bring Robin back and fix all the damage she had caused, Regina felt an obligation to help.

In the strangest of ways, she and Emma had become their own obscure version of friends. There were moments when she became irritated and downright furious with Emma, and she knew there were times when Emma felt the same towards her. Emma had been just like her mother: the girl who never left Regina alone. The difference was that Emma had suffered similar hardships, albeit some of them caused by Regina's hand. Just as Emma had returned her happy ending, Regina was now going to repay the favor.

Regina would never forget the look on Emma's face as she first watched Killian dying in Camelot, and then again when Emma herself had to kill him in Storybrooke. She knew that look all too well. She had worn the same gaze when her mother crushed Daniel's heart. She had tried to resurrect Daniel and it had been a mistake. He was never meant to come back, so when he did, he was a monster. But Emma? Emma had a chance to really get her love back. That is, if all worked out correctly.

Regina's head turned when she thought she heard whispers. Robin leaned into her ear.

"I hear them too," he said. "It's going to be okay, you know."

"I'm sorry," Regina replied. She didn't want to say it, but she didn't know when her past would come after her, and it had to be said.

"For what?" Regina sighed.

"For getting you involved in this. You have a son, and a daughter now. And instead of being back in Storybrooke with them, you're in Hell with me." Robin let out a soft chuckle.

"You need to realize that I will go on every adventure with you, whether it's to Camelot, or to the Underworld." Regina smiled and they continued their trek. They were in the town center now, and the place was still eerily quiet.

"Why are we going to your office again?" Robin asked a few minutes later.

"Well, if my office is anything like my real office back home, there will be censuses that will list if Hook is actually here. It may provide a clue as to where we can find him. The sooner we get this figured out, the sooner we can go home." They reached the office, and before entering, Regina noted the sun's position. They didn't have a ton of time before they had to seek shelter in the library, but hopefully it would be enough. She opened the building door and the pair stepped inside.

The energy felt different, off. Magic was certainly pouring from the walls and ceiling, but it wasn't hers. It was vaguely familiar, but sinister enough for it to be what she thought it was. When she made it to the office door, she waved her hand in front of it. She did not detect a protection spell. She nodded to Robin who placed his bow at the ready. She opened the door and the two stepped inside. The second they entered the room, Regina noticed her desk chair facing away from them. The chair was occupied. It took a moment for it to work, but Regina conjured a flickering fireball and held it at the ready.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my office?"

"Your office, dear? You must be mistaken. I'm the Mayor of this town," and the chair spun around. Regina's eyes widened in shock and the color drained from her face.

"You?" she asked incredulously. The woman stood up, a smile on her face.

"Now really, Regina, is that any way to greet your mother?"

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"Mother? What are you doing here?" Regina questioned, not believing what she was seeing. Cora stepped forward and uncharacteristically embraced her daughter.

"Waiting for you," she answered simply. Cora noticed Robin then and sized him up. "Regina? Who is this?" Regina was returned to reality. She nervously wrung her hands.

"Mother, this is Robin." Robin stepped forward and shook Cora's hand. In the process, his sleeve rode up, revealing the lion tattoo on his forearm. Cora's eyes narrowed for a brief moment.

"So, you found him at last," Cora said. Regina stepped in front of him, shielding him from whatever is coming, as Robin threaded his bow with an arrow, holding it at the ready. Cora rolled her eyes and sat back down behind the desk.

"Really, Regina. I'm dead. Why would I go after him now?" Robin began to let his arm fall.

"Not yet," Regina hissed, her eyes not leaving Cora.

"Why did you say you were waiting for me?" Cora smiled. It was oddly unsettling as it was not the twisted smile Regina was so accustomed to. It was small, but genuine. Her face was relaxed and her eyes glistened with something Regina couldn't remember ever seeing.

"Dear, you know what the Underworld is. It's a place for souls to go who have unfinished business, or are to be punished for their deeds until it is decided for certain where they will go." Regina laughed.

"You had all the magic and power you wanted, Mother. Why would you have unfinished business?" Cora's eyes fell for a moment.

"It's not that simple, Regina. I am here for many reasons. First, I am being punished. Not only for harming Snow's mother, but for countless others. However, I have fulfilled enough repentance, that, if I should get to move on, it should be to the better of the two options. The second reason I have been stuck here is because of Zelena." Regina's head snapped up, malice in her face.

"Zelena?!" Regina spat out. "Because of that greenie? Why?"

"Apparently, when Zelena embraced her extraordinarily strong powers, she traveled here to make a deal with Hades. She wanted me to be sentenced to an eternity here, and, to have any contact with me prevented." A look of realization dawned on Regina's face.

"So when we tried to make contact with you about the truth of my sister, an imposter came through instead. That's why you attacked Mary Margaret and refused to give an answer." A small smirk graced Cora's face.

"Well, if I'm honest, I would have tried to attack her myself, but yes, that is why you didn't get an answer about the history of Zelena." Regina was still puzzled.

"But, what could Zelena possibly offer Hades in return?" Cora's eyes flashed.

"My servitude for as long as he wants it. I am in charge of the Underworld. I keep the records, notify Hades of any large issues, delegate tasks. I am lucky. Hades quite took a liking to me due to my awful past, so a possible endless life of servitude isn't the worst thing that could happen." Regina simply nodded. She didn't have much to say. The relationship she had with her mother had never been easy or pleasant. It was hard to forgive or forget all that had happened.

"Regina," Cora began, standing up once more and taking Regina's hands in her own. "I need to apologize. I took so much from you, so much happiness I negated. It would be easy to use my lack of a heart as an excuse. And it's true, I did want what I thought was best for you, without putting love into the equation. The second Snow shoved my heart back into my chest, I realized my mistake. I remembered the love I once felt for a man I had grown fond of. I was wrong to kill Daniel, was wrong to kill Eva. I shouldn't have tricked Snow into divulging your secret. I cared for you, but without my heart, couldn't love you. Couldn't see that your happiness was more important than my own. I know I will never be able to right all the wrongs I did, but I offer any help I can here in an effort to try to make it up to you." Regina didn't know what to say. She knew she shouldn't trust her, that she had feigned kindness more than once.

Without warning, Regina released her mother's hands, and thrust her own hand into Cora's chest. Cora's eyes bulged and she gasped as Regina drew forth Cora's heart. Regina stared at it for a moment while Robin looked horrified.

"Regina, what are you going to do?" Robin asked nervously. Regina's focus returned and she shoved the heart back into Cora.

"I was just checking." While Robin didn't quite understand the purpose, Cora did as she nodded towards her daughter. "Okay, Mother, turns out we do need help." Cora leaned on the desk, her interest piqued.

"Go on," she prompted.

"We're here to look for someone. Well, actually, to rescue someone," Regina began. Cora's eyes widened.

"Dear, you know that's impossible. No soul leaves the Underworld."

"We believe that we have a way. The one we need to bring home shouldn't have been sent here to begin with. Rumplestiltskin tricked us all again." Cora drummed her fingers on the desk.

"Well, consider me intrigued. Who is this person?"

"Killian Jones. Well, you probably know him better as Hook," Regina said. Just as she suspected, her mother's face paled and shock crossed her features.

"You're here for Hook?" Regina nodded.

"I must say, I'm surprised. I thought you had changed. What need do you have of him?" Regina could sense the slight undertone of disapproval in her mother's voice. It made sense then. It wasn't the shock of Hook being there, it was the surprise of wanting to bring him back to the living.

"Look, we don't have a lot of time," Regina began, looking out the window. The sun was falling lower into the sky. "Turns out, I'm not the only villain who can reform. Killian fell in love with Emma. Long story short, Killian sacrificed himself for all of us under false pretenses. Emma helped me reunite with Robin. It's only right that I repay the favor. But we don't know where he is. Is he here?"

"Yes, he's here," Cora said slowly. Regina began to grow impatient.

"Where is he?" Regina asked quickly.

"I don't know," Cora answered. Regina looked out the window again.

"What do you mean, you don't know? If you know he's here, you must have some idea as to where he is." Cora sighed.

"Sit down, Regina, Robin."

"Mother, we don't have time," Regina countered.

"You forget who I am. I will make it known that you and Robin are not to be harmed tonight. I need to give you this information. Of how things work here. So please, sit." Regina and Robin sat down.

"Look, Hades' first rule here is that, relatively, there are no rules. As I said, this is a place of punishment, or for those with unfinished business. Now, those with unfinished business usually aren't in much danger. When their unfinished business is resolved, they get to present themselves to Hades and move on to either the Heavens, or eternal damnation. However, for those here for punishment, things are usually bad. While you technically cannot die a second time, you can be tortured, beaten. Most of the souls here with unresolved issues usually have to do with wanting revenge on those who did them wrong.

There are no rules on the limit of how far one can go in harming a person. Hades wants it that way. Hook had a lot of enemies. When I heard he had arrived, I could not even give him the process of how the Underworld worked. I couldn't get near him for the crowd surrounding him. I have yet to see him. I sought out his brother, Liam, and told him where his brother had been attacked, and have not heard from either since. I can only assume that Liam has hidden him and is trying to help him recover." Robin and Regina looked horrified.

"There must be something you can do," Robin finally spoke up. He had been afraid to speak for fear of coming between the already tense dynamic between the two.

"I'm afraid that I can't. I can only interfere when Hades orders it." Regina looked horrified.

"What is the point then? The torture must end sometime, right?"

"There are only two ways the torture stops. Either the torturers become satisfied and go to Hades to move out of the Underworld, or…".

"Or what, Mother?" Regina encouraged.

"Hades likes to break the souls that enter. The ones who are tortured only have one way to stop it. Each night, Hades sends these beasts throughout the Underworld to collect souls who have given up or are too weak to take shelter. Those souls remain in the open at night. When they reach Hades, they enter his sea of souls where they begin a new torture process while it is decided where they will move to. If they have 'paid' enough for their crimes, they will move on. If not, they are sent to the deepest of painful purgatories." Regina could not speak.

"So, he may not even still be here," Robin brought up for her. Cora looked a bit disheartened.

"I always liked the pirate. I mean, I liked him better as a villain, but he was interesting. But, yes, he may already be gone. With the amount of torture he was receiving even upon his arrival, he may not have even survived the first night."

"Isn't there a record or something we can check?" Regina asked.

"Sadly, no. Your best bet is to try to locate his brother, Liam. While I do not know what his unfinished business is, I know that is why he is here. He is not in danger for his wellbeing, so he usually does not hide. He looks much like Hook-same eyes, dark hair, but of slightly fuller build." Regina nodded and noticed it had grown quite dark. The rest of their party must be worried sick about them.

"Thank you, Mother. You've been unusually helpful." Cora stood back up, and Regina did the same. Cora gathered her daughter in her arms.

"This was part of my unfinished business. I cost you much happiness. If aiding you will help you return to Storybrooke, then that will help relieve my conscience. I want you to be happy." Regina smiled.

"And I will be. Robin and I are very happy. Thank you again. We'd be lost without this information."

"Yes, thank you," Robin added, still feeling very awkward. They both turned to head towards the door.

"Oh! Regina! One more thing." Regina spun back around.

"Yes?"

"While I do not know if this is true, I have heard tell that not only is time a problem in terms of if he will succumb to torture here, but also that the longer he stays, the length that he goes without eating, without medical care, and so on, catches up with him the second he returns to life."

"So, if it takes us another week to get him out, he could drop dead all over again from starvation the second we step off Charon's boat?"

"Unfortunately, yes. So you need to hurry." Regina gave a slight nod, and she and Robin hurried out of the door. Cora watched them go, then went to the window to see them walk away. Though her heart was no longer beating, the love radiating from it within her chest filled her with the emotion she had denied herself, and Regina for decades. She knew her servitude to Hades prevented her from helping them much more, she'd already be punished for what she'd said already, but it had been worth it. She just hoped that Regina's rescue mission wouldn't take too long. While she did not lie, she truly did not know where Killian was, she was getting updates from a few of the souls, and Killian was upon the brink of throwing himself at Hades' feet. She expected they had another day or two at best. That is, if he was even still there at all.

A/N: Okay, readers! I know this was a long one! From the promo it appears that Cora is the new "mayor". And interviews suggested that her having her heart again does play a part in where 5B is going. This chapter was hard to write, and I'm not quite sure I liked how it went. We have a few more chapters before we finally show Killian, so please please be patient. There is more drama to come! And, as always, I love the reviews! They feed my plot bunnies.