So I'm not caught up on ONCE I tend to get bored fairly easily with this show and it was only Regina and Robin's interactions that got me excited... so I've been watching their scenes, and I have conflicted views... I think my story has sort of followed the basis of the show, where Robin and Regina are cheating even if they're sugar coating it.. and I feel uncomfortable to a point but Lana and Sean's chemistry seriously makes it feel so right.. lol. IDK what do you guys think? One hand – yes, Robin Hood is married and his wife is frozen and he should be doing everything to save her, even if it's just because it's the right thing to do. On the other hand, I think it's sort of fated to be this way, because Robin and Regina are soul mates and they are meant to be together... but yeah, that's me.. ignore my rant.
"I am so sorry. I thought it would work, it did back home in Arendelle." Ana said, frowning in the hospital waiting room.
It became a lot less congested once the snow stopped and it was safe to leave without fear of freezing.
"This isn't your fault," Snow tried to reason.
"Things like this happen all the time," David added, holding Neal to his chest.
The sisters gave each other weary looks.
Hook leaned against the far wall, his attention focused down the hallway, where Emma walked off over an hour before. He couldn't see her, but he wanted to be the first face she saw when she emerged from Henry's room.
The group went in blind. They rushed to the hospital quickly, not knowing much. Hook, Charming and Snow needed to be there for Emma. Elsa and Ana followed, not knowing anyone else. Tinkerbell and Grumpy drove around Storybrooke in his truck, insuring that the Gaea's magic thawed every inch of town. Gold and Belle left the diner quickly, locked themselves away in the pawn shop for a much needed discussion.
Doctor Whale explained that the patients weren't waking up, none of them. It didn't matter that the snow disappeared or that Ana and Elsa were on their best behavior – Henry was still in danger.
Inside the boy's hospital room Emma stood near the door biting her nails down to the beds. Regina stood at the window, monitoring the sun, making sure it remained high in the sky. To keep her wits, the Mayor practiced evaporating the condensation on the outer glass of the window. It made her feel better, knowing that now she could.
Whale was busy checking Henry's vitals. Emma watched with a possessive glare, one Regina was sure she matched. The mayor tapped her foot impatiently on the polished floor – a sound the doctor was ignoring.
The man grunted, jotted something down and then continued the process. This went on for fifteen minutes before Emma Swan had enough.
"Well?" the blonde asked, a little exasperated. Regina's eyes narrowed, waiting for his response.
Doctor Whale removed the stethoscope from his ears with a sigh. "It's curious." he nodded.
"Henry, like all the patients in this ward are dropping rapidly in body temperature, but everything seems normal. It's like he truly is frozen."
The doctor seemed amazed. Probably thinking of some way of harvesting organs or other sick thoughts Frankenstein was known to have.
"And this spell doesn't seem to care that the process has been reversed. It's no longer chilly outside, and yet, Henry remains this way." Whale's eyes glittered with intrigue.
Emma shifted her gaze to Regina. Neither liked the way the mad Doctor was looking at their son.
"That doesn't help us, now does it?" Regina scoffed. "What else can you do for him?"
With a kind smile, Whale shrugged. "This was done by magic, Regina."
Emma blinked, waiting for either of the two to follow up with something more constructive. The savior was lost. "So?" she wondered when realizing no one was going to say anything more. " Can't medicine fix magic?"
Whale looked apologetically at Emma. His shoulders rose and fell once.
Regina pursed her lips. "Will you excuse us, Doctor?" Whale cleared his throat, ignoring her tone. "I have other patients to check on," he nodded, leaving the room.
"So?" Emma wondered with a sigh, her blue eyes watched Whale go.
"Elsa did this." Regina began, pacing the small width of Henry's hospital bed. "When it happened in her land, Elsa said Gold made everything go back to normal."
"Now we know it was Ana," Emma added, her arms crossed.
Regina hummed quietly, a finger traced her lower lip. "We can fix this," she insisted, looking at Emma.
"We just need to stop thinking emotionally." Regina shrugged.
"No," Emma stated, her blue eyes widening, the way they usually did when she realized something wasn't just a fairytale.
"What about true love?" Emma asked excitedly, she looked at Henry. "Didn't Elsa say something like that the other day? That true loved saved her sister?"
Regina blinked, her heart bounced once in her chest. Emma was right. Straightening – trying to hide her excitement, she looked pointedly at the blonde woman – not ready to waste anymore time.
"Would you care to try first, Ms. Swan?"
Emma smiled and walked over to Henry's bedside. She brushed the hair off his forehead and kissed his chilly skin only a way a mother could.
Nothing happened.
Standing back with disappointment, Emma nodded, and moved out of the way for Regina to try. Clearing her throat, the Evil Queen smoothed out her blazer before bending on the opposite side of Emma, kissing Henry's forehead with such pressure, her lips hurt.
Their son remained stagnant.
With a displeased sigh Regina laced her fingers together. "I would say this is stupid in normal conditions," she began, looking across the room at Emma. "But considering the gravity, I'm just going to offer it."
Emma crossed her arms with a small, amused smile.
"Let's both try. Together."
Regina didn't like asking for help. Especially from Emma Swan. She wanted to do things on her own. She wanted to save Henry. But she wouldn't be selfish and risk his life now.
Emma shrugged. "It's worth a shot," she agreed and stepped closer.
The women looked at each other, complete anxiety and a little doubt in their expressions. Emma nodded once, which seemed to be the go ahead, because both mother's leaned down and kissed Henry at the same moment.
The room filled with a hot, white light. The force knocked Regina back, she stumbled on her heels and nearly hit the wall. Emma's eyes were wide, she pushed the tangled, blonde hair from her face in shock. A small groan came from Henry's bed.
"Henry!" Emma gasped, flying to his side, hugging him to her.
Regina's eyes closed, a hand rested against her forehead, and for the first time in over a week, it felt like she could breathe.
"Mom? What happened?" Henry asked weakly. He shivered once, Emma held him tighter.
Laughing, with glittery eyes, Emma nodded at Regina as she gingerly got off the bed. "I'm going to get Whale." she slipped her fingers through Henry's hair once, before leaving the room.
"Mom?" the boy wondered, the blankets wrapped tightly around his body.
Regina let out a shaky breath, resting on the bed beside her son. "Henry," she whispered, pulling him to her tightly. He was still cold, but there was color in his cheeks and his eyes searched hers aggressively.
"I'm sorry we kept this from you, Henry." Regina frowned. "I thought I could protect you, but that was foolish on my part."
Henry shrugged, "It's okay, Mom. Don't start crying." he begged while forcing a hand from the confines of the blanket to wrap around her shoulders. "I was under another sleeping curse?" he wondered.
"No, you were frozen," Regina laughed, because surly she could now.
"What? No way!" Henry gasped, his voice cracking as it got higher with excitement.
Regina rolled her eyes, "That was why I didn't want you outside," she arched a brow, her son rolled his eyes.
Whale rushed into the room. He grinned at Henry while Regina pushed off the mattress. "Welcome back," he greeted, clicking a small flashlight. "Follow the light for me," Whale asked Henry.
Regina moved away from her son, towards Emma. "Good thinking, Swan." Regina crossed her arms, and the Queen even went so far as to bump her shoulder against Emma's.
The blonde looked surprised, but her face slowly morphed into a soft smile. She looked at Henry. "Do you think we'll be able to catch our breath before the next impending complication?" she teased.
Pursing her lips, Regina glared at the savior. "Don't start," she warned. Emma's laugh followed.
Snow insisted that Henry needed chicken soup, two pots of it. She busied herself back at the loft with her husband cooking for her grandson and all the others who were unfrozen with the force of true love.
Emma, Regina and Hook stayed at the hospital, telling Henry everything he missed while he was under. Whale explained that some people remained frozen, popping in and out of Henry's room with quick updates.
That knowledge saddened Regina. Some would never find true love. She wondered what would have happened if Marian had fallen under that spell instead of having been fated with her own set of issues.
Regina wanted to rush up to her room and see how she was. She wanted to make sure Marian was healing, without magic. Whale was a fine man when it suited him, but Regina never trusted him fully in medicine.
"Regina," someone whispered from the door.
The Mayor spun on her heel to see Robin Hood in the doorway, grinning tentatively at her. Regina matched his smile, beckoning him inside.
The outlaw stepped over the threshold, grinning once he saw Henry sitting up in bed, Emma's arms wrapped around him. Hook on the other side, holding Henry's steaming cup of tea.
"Henry, glad to see you again," Robin smiled at the boy, genuine relief in his eyes.
"Thanks," Henry nodded back, looking across the room at his mother with a mischievous grin.
Regina rolled her eyes playfully at Henry before watching Robin walk towards her. "May I have a word?" he whispered, and Regina nodded.
"I'll be right back," she promised, following Robin Hood out into the hall.
Once alone, Robin let out a long breath. The corner of his eyes crinkled, sensing Regina's happiness and absorbing it as his own. "I take it Henry is well, then?"
Regina nodded, a soft laugh escaped from her throat. "He is. And Marian?"
Robin tilted his head, "She's still weak, but Dr. Whale explained that he gave her something for the pain, and since Marian stopped refusing, the effects are almost instant."
He sounded lighter, a lot more sure of himself than he had for nearly a month. Regina smiled, her fingers grazing his forearm which was bare, the tattoo that started the whole mess uncovered. Regina's dark eyes found Robin's. The corner of his mouth lifted, knowing exactly what she was thinking.
It was like he refused to hide – exposing the lion tattoo was a literal version of sealing his fate.
"I'm not sure we can ever go back," she whispered, "You know that don't you?"
The outlaw looked down, his eyes still lively but his mouth in an empathetic frown. He nodded slowly. Looking back up into Regina's awaiting eyes he said, "I don't want to go back, Regina. I've told you I love you." he said, his voice velvet to her ears.
"You're stuck with me." he insisted, a mock look of sympathy on his gorgeous face. Regina heard herself giggle, but couldn't even be upset with her girlish ways. Robin made her feel that.
He stepped back, his hand collected hers, a deep silence followed. A nurse walked by, smiling brightly at the pair as she breezed passed them. "But, I do think we should wait until Marian is better before anything else happens,"
Regina smiled, "I think that's for the best. She needs to hear it from us, and then we'll figure out the best course of action."
Robin chuckled. "Sounds like you're planning a war, Your Majesty."
The Raven-haired woman laughed once, but arched a brow. He had no idea.
The morning was warm. Something Regina Mills believed she'd never witness again. She strutted down the damp sidewalk, smiling kindly at whoever passed her by. It was a lovely morning. Birds chirped overhead, cars drove down Main Street, townspeople walked slowly.
Little John and Roland rushed out of Granny's diner across the street. She pushed forward, not needing a reason to postpone her quest. She was sure the two were heading to the hospital, where Robin spent the night with Marian, not ready to leave her alone.
Regina was fine with it, something that even surprised the Evil Queen.
Gold's Pawn Shop door stated clearly they were closed but Regina was never one for following the rules, she barely lost momentum as her arm shot out to force the front door to swing open as she entered. The man she was looking for was behind the counter, a bored, frustrated frown marring his face.
"Good Morning," she said sweetly, walking straight up to the counter. She laced her fingers on the glass, smiling at Gold.
Nodding at her, Gold continued to organize a small collection of watches, stuffing the lot back into the showcase before looking back at Regina. He sighed dejectedly, knowing this wasn't a casual visit.
"Henry is doing well. Emma is going to pick him up from the hospital at noon." the raven-haired woman explained, lazily dragging a finger across the glass counter.
Gold hummed, not impressed. He watched the streak her fingerprint left on his perfectly clean glass.
"I hope you're happy with yourself." Regina said, a cold, threatening edge in her tone.
The man looked up, not surprised by the intensity. "How could you let your own grandson suffer to hide your secrets. If Neal would be disgusted with you – "
"Well, he's not alive. And Henry was never in real danger."
Regina was fuming. "How can you say that? He was sick. He was frozen solid like a block of ice and you saved yourself like you always do."
Gold chuckled, shaking his head.
"I hope to god Belle sees through you one of these days."
Something passed over his face, something dark and menacing. Regina's lips curved up into a smile. "You're worried," she snickered.
"Not at all, Dearie." he turned his back on her.
Regina was furious. Her son was in danger. No matter what Gold said, he couldn't have known for sure that the freezing curse was safe. What if she never let Ana out of her prison? Would Storybrooke still be at the mercy to a woman out for vengeance?
"You need to start respecting the people around you, Rumpelstiltskin." Regina hissed.
He turned back around, smiling at Regina mockingly. He challenged her with his eyes. Regina smiled back, her face softening into amusement. Arching a brow, the former queen rose a hand, ready to smooth out her sleek, black hair. She gave a delicate but deliberate twist of her wrist, listening as a latch broke from behind Gold. A long, rectangular box opened to reveal the real dagger wrapped in a velvet tarp.
Regina sighed contently as the object quickly zipped past Gold and fell right into Regina's hands.
The man looked ready to kill. He started to jump over the glass counter but Regina smirked, holding out the dagger. "I wouldn't do that." she said sweetly.
Gold paused.
"Now," Regina cooed, letting her finger slide down the length of the blade. "I want you to stop keeping secrets. People in this town want to help you – and Belle, for whatever reason loves you, and I don't think that anyone wants another war."
Regina let the dagger fall limply at her side. "We're both reasonable people, Gold." The man snorted, knowing neither of them believed that.
"I'm going to give this back to you, with the hope that you finally tell Belle the truth." Regina said hoarsely. "But first," she said, "I need you to do something for me."