Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews! Hope you enjoy this ch.

Forgot to say this in the last ch. I don't own anything. Srsly. You should really know that by now.

Chapter 2

Storybrooke, Maine. It was amazing just how similar it looked in the three years Regina had been gone. Everything looked relatively unchanged. It was as if nothing had changed.

Except that everything had. Regina thought bitterly. It had been three years since she last saw Henry. Her son. Not Emma's. Hers. And now, thanks to Emma and the two idiots, Henry hated her. Had been biased against her. None of this would've happened if that bitch hadn't tried to steal her son.

Cora placed a hand on her shoulder. "Patience, my dear." She said softly. "Emma will get everything she deserves in due time."

Regina nodded. It was amazing how well her mother knew her despite everything that'd happened. She closed her eyes, breathing in the familiar salty air, remembering the day she'd first seen her mother in that underground cell.

"Mother?" She'd breathed. She pressed her back against the wall, attempting to put as much space between her and that evil bitch as possible.

"Yes, it's me." Cora nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked harshly. "I thought Hook killed you…"

Cora laughed, causing Regina to shudder with horror. It was the same laugh that had haunted her dreams years ago. "Hook's a pirate, my dear. He'll do anything if the price is right."

"But I stood over your coffin." Regina protested. Her heart thumped with terror, for she knew how dangerous her mother was and the unlikelihood that anyone here would come to her aid. "I saw your body."

Cora shrugged. "I'm a good actress." She edged closer to her daughter, who recoiled in horror. "I heard everything you said. And I understand why you did what you did."

"You do?" Regina asked in shock.

Her mother nodded. "Yes." Her face, bathed in the glow of the moonlight, was filled with sadness. "I haven't exactly been the best mother. I shouldn't have pushed so hard. I just wanted you to have everything you deserved. I love you, sweetheart, even if I've shown it in all the wrong ways."

Regina studied her mother's face. It seemed sincere, but then again with Cora you could never tell. "You don't understand everything you've put me through. If it wasn't for you, I could've been happy!" She argued, trying to ignore the stream of tears running down her face. "If you hadn't killed Daniel…"

"I know." Her mother said, looking down. "I lost my temper, and I'm sincerely sorry."

But Regina wasn't done. "You ruined my life, Mother. My one chance at happiness!"

"But look at everything you've accomplished since the unfortunate incident with the stable boy. You gained the use of magic and became the Evil Queen." Cora pointed out. "You built yourself a life anyone would kill to have."

Regina sank down to the ground. "Then why am I so unhappy?" She whispered, more to herself.

Cora sat down next to her. "What do you mean?" She asked softly.

"I've lost Henry." She answered.

"Who?"

"My son."

"You have a son?" Cora asked, puzzled.

"Yes, in Storybrooke."

"Ah, where everyone went after the curse." Cora surmised.

"Yes. Until that bitch Emma took him away." Regina began explaining everything that happened, starting from the day Emma drove into the town and ending with being shoved into this cell.

"She took my son." Regina finished, her voice breaking. "The only person I had left."

"No." Cora said softly. She placed her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "You have me. Listening to your story has made me realize that you need me. If only I hadn't been such a horrible mother to you. Then maybe I could've taught more so you would've known how to deal with Emma."

Regina rested her head on her mother's shoulder, against her better judgment. Just like when she was a little girl, Cora began combing through her tangled black hair.

"I'm going to prove to you that I can be a good mother. The mother you need. And together, we're going to take the bitch down."

"Brings back bad memories, doesn't it?" Cora asked as they strode down Main Street. It was the middle of the night, and the streets were empty.

Regina didn't answer as she studied the familiar line of shops. Her gaze hardened as her gaze fell on Granny's, where Henry used to love to eat with her way back before Emma came to town.

They walked farther through town, finally stopping at Regina's old house.

"Judging by your expression, I guess this was your house." Cora said. "They've really let the place go." There were weeds everywhere, and many of the windows were broken. It looked like crazy crowds of teenagers partied there every night.

Regina nodded angrily. She'd spent so much time making sure her house was perfect, and to see it in this horrible state…well, it really drove home the fact that revenge was just what they deserved.

"Real shame." Cora said. "Well, no worries. We can just fix the place right up." She raised a hand, but Regina stopped her.

"Mother!" She hissed. "If we live here, everyone suspect something. And we can't let anyone know that we're here!"

Cora nodded, lowering her hand. "You're right."

Regina was momentarily taken aback, for she still wasn't used to having a mother who actually admitted it when she was wrong.

"Where do you propose we stay then?" Cora asked.

"Follow me. I know a place." Regina said, heading towards the graveyard. Yes, it would be a tad awkward and not to mention morbid to live in the place her father's corpse was kept, but it was the only place left that was safe enough.

They reached the graveyard in minutes. Regina could tell that the place had been ransacked. All her hearts were gone. They'd really ruined everything she'd worked so hard to construct.

"Here." Regina pushed aside the coffin, revealing a set of stairs. Waving her hand over a mirror glued to a wall in the vault of hearts, Regina led Cora into the secret safe house she'd built when she first planned out Storybrooke.

"Nice place." Cora said, looking around the decorated apartment. At least that looked the same as it had three years ago. It was still undiscovered. The perfect hideout.

They sat down on some comfy looking chairs. "So what do you suggest we do first?" Regina asked.

"Why, we move on with the plan of course." Cora answered. "What we need to do is find someone who knows everything about this town. More importantly, knows everything about Emma."

Regina nodded. "We need to catch ourselves a cricket."

Author's note: Yep. This is similar to Hook and Cora's plan to use Archie from The Cricket Game. Please review! Its not that hard and it lets me know what y'all think so far.