Emma and Regina returned to the mansion to meet with the others. On the drive over, Emma had considered what Regina said and she knew that Regina was telling the truth – the other woman was scared. She wasn't used to this Regina, one who seemed more full of doubt than the confidence she exuded when they first met. It was like every time she thought she was getting to know Regina, there was yet another layer to her.
But she knew that she didn't want Regina to leave again, didn't want her to return to Florida.
Emma had been unsure what to say after this revelation and Regina took the pause to say that they needed to get back to the mansion.
She was still processing all of it – including the idea that Regina had returned home and it happened to be that disastrous night that Killian had asked her to marry him. If only she had waited a few minutes more Regina would have seen her reject Killian's proposal and the continuation of the fight they were having before he dropped to one knee.
"Emma love, you know we are meant to be," he said to her after she told him to stand up.
"No, I don't," she said. "If I did, I would have said yes just now. I can't even believe you asked. Did you really think this was the right time for such a thing? You literally got done telling me what to do and you think asking me to marry you will fix all that is broken in this relationship?"
"The only thing broken in this relationship is your obsession with the queen. If you wanted her so badly, why didn't you do something about it when she was here? Clearly, she was willing."
"Don't be an ass," she said. "Me looking for Regina has nothing to do with that. Henry needs his mother and I promised him I would find her."
"Don't use Henry as an excuse. She abandoned him here. You are the only mother he has now, and I was willing to share the burden of parenthood with you, but what I'm not willing to share is you with her majesty the queen. You don't get to have it both ways. It's either her or me."
Emma stood there in disbelief for a second. "Thanks for making it simple for me. It's her."
Killian opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but then stormed out.
Thinking back now, Emma wondered if that whole thing had even taken five minutes. Five minutes and Regina would have seen that she rejected Killian and … and what, she thought, what difference would it have made? Would Regina have revealed herself, and even if she had, what would Emma have done?
Emma didn't know the answer, and that scared her.
When she had come to Storybrooke, when she finally found her place in the world, somehow she thought everything else would fall into place. She thought everything would settle down, she would settle down and all would be how she had once dreamt it could be. When she was in the foster system, when she had no one but herself, she always fantasized about finding her place and in those dreams, she knew that when she did find her place, she would find peace.
But she hadn't found that peace, not yet.
That is why she was scared. And when she was scared and it made her even more unsettled and it made her want to run. Until she had come here to Storybrooke, that was her M.O. – running from place to place.
Could she begrudge Regina for doing the same thing?
Once they were all gathered, Ruby and her father told them what they knew about the Home Office and Hannah. Emma noticed that Regina stayed on her feet and on the outskirts of the rest of them.
"They are stationed about five miles out, in the clearing in the woods," Charming said as he went on to explain where the camp was and what the layout was like. "There are maybe 20 to 25 of them – all armed, and from what we overheard, it sounds like they have more people nearby for reinforcements. Ruby and I were planning on scouting in some other directions tomorrow to make sure there aren't more encampments like that one near our borders."
"Did you see Hannah?" Regina asked.
"Yes," Ruby said. "She appears to be unharmed. They had her under guard but not tied up or anything. She seemed free to move around in the main tent, at least as far as we could see. Wendy was with her practically the entire time and they appeared to be in a heated discussion but we were too far away to be able to make any of it out."
"What about Killian?" Emma asked.
"Nowhere to be seen," Charming said.
"I don't suppose you happened to see a container with my heart in it?" Regina asked.
Charming shook his head no.
"Ok, so what is the plan?" Maleficent asked. "It's outside of the town limits so our magic will be of no use and with them all being armed any kind of assault on our part would be foolish."
"There is no reason for any of you to risk your lives," Regina said. "I won't have blood like that on my hands. This is between Wendy and me. It's a contest that started the moment she had me abducted, and despite our little ploy out there to buy us some time, I don't see any other way but for me to go out there. Ultimately, it's me she wants, not Hannah, so I will go out there, I will speak to her, and …"
"And what?" Snow said interjecting. "She only wants you to get Storybrooke. Going out there would serve no purpose."
"If it frees Hannah, then it does serve a purpose," Regina said. "I'm not going to give up Storybrooke to Wendy, so if that is your concern, rest assured, I will not be putting the residents here at risk."
"Yes, that is a concern, but not the sole one," Snow said. "Our collective concern is Storybrooke, you, and Hannah, in no particular order. You handing yourself over won't stop Wendy, and from what you said already, she didn't take that offer when you made it out there at the border, so why would she take it now? We don't need you to be a martyr, Regina, we need you to be a leader."
Regina's eyes went wide in surprise at this.
"What?" Snow said. "You have been queen, mayor and frankly whether we liked it or not, you have been pulling the strings on our lives for a long time for bad and good, so maybe it's time you remember who you are and not let this Wendy beat you. If nothing else, you have been doing this longer than she has."
"She's got a point," Maleficent said. "I've never seen anyone attack a problem quite like you."
Regina laughed out loud. "You all can't possibly want me to be in charge of this."
The rest of them exchanged looks. "I think it's time for you to go evil queen on her ass," Maleficent smiled.
Regina looked at Emma as if seeking her to bail her out of the situation. "And you aren't doing it alone," Emma said. "We're all in this together. All of Storybrooke is your army, your majesty, so what do you want us to do?"
Regina could hardly believe these people were looking at her to lead. It made no sense.
She didn't exactly have a great success record.
Then again, there was no way she was going to let Wendy win.
"I guess it's time we go on the offensive," Regina said and she created a fireball in her hand for a moment before extinguishing it. "And I may just have an idea thanks to what Maleficent just said."
"What did I say?"
"The Home Office, if they had any weakness, it is a rudimentary understanding of magic and how it works. Despite all the time and effort they put into gathering magic or stopping magic, they make assumptions about things or conduct trial and error. For them, it was enough to know an item was magic and what it did, but not the why of the magic or even the rules of magic," she said. "But as you pointed out – outside of the borders our magic is useless."
"Yes, so what do you propose?" Maleficent said.
"We extend the border and catch them unaware," Regina said. "Then Wendy will have to deal with the evil queen."
