Rufflettes! I have received your reviews and can I just say, thank you! Wow wow wow, it is not everyday you write something and get blessed with such responsive readers! Second, as I am sitting in my fave coffee shop (drinking tea - I blame ID for this(; ) and have forgotten my charger, I will make this short.

Third, thank you to Inquisitive Dreamer for staying up super late and beta'ing this last minute! For those of you that don't know, there is an 8 hour time difference between her and me and I tend to ask her to read over/beta my work right as she's cozying into bed. Love you. You are just incredible!

Fourth, judging from your responses, it looks like WH will be the next to update, followed by Sir Dimples or DQ as you all like to reffer to it as(; (another thing I blame ID for(; )

Last, you may have noticed from the title that this is not a continuation of No Strings, WORRY NOT, the next part of NS is being written. I wasn't actually going to post this until it was done with NS but a dear friend of mine, those on Twitter might know her as Nicole, was having a particularly hard day and I decided to get it out early. This was from a tweet that I saw on her Twitter that turned into a prompt and I promised I'd write it is for her and then this life thing got in my way.. So Nicole, this is for you. Be prepared ya'll... this is called Two Heads are Better than One for a reason... all of you dirty minded people just got that... (for those of you that are more pure of heart - the prompt was a Regina/Robin/and the Evil Queen threesome)...but this is just part 1 - I am not one that can just write a threesome between these characters without writing out the build up and explaining every little detail/emotion, so bear with me... however, I will have to bump the ratings on this fic next update... muahha!

Ruffles

Part 1

He wasn't normally into this type of thing. He was more of a one man, one woman kind of guy. He had values, he had morals, he even had a code, of which he stuck too religiously. He wasn't a saint - no, far from it. But he did believe in the power of kindness and doing onto others as you would have them do onto you. But nothing, no training, no studying, no morally binding code, could have ever prepared him for Regina Mills.

There was a mechanical 'click' of the clock sitting on his nightstand signalling that it was midnight. Robin lay there, the covers half on, half kicked off, staring blindly at the ceiling as the sound of soft snoring came from his wife, sleeping soundly beside him.

He couldn't sleep. He was wide awake. He hadn't been able to close his eyes once for the past week without seeing her in his dreams. Her face, her eyes, her lips, her hair. Regina.

Everything about her was tormenting him. The sway of her hips when she walked, the scar that sat faintly above her succulent lips, the taste of her mouth on his, the sweet and spicy smell of cinnamon and baked apples that he now associated only with her.

Robin sighed, screwing his eyes shut as to keep the tears that he felt forming in the corners at bay.

They had only had a few weeks together, as a couple. She had found him in the woods, the night after her sister had gotten a hold of her heart. He had felt so bad, knowing that he had let her down. He had been the one she had given her actual, physical, beating heart too to protect -no one else - and he had lost it! He had wanted nothing more than to shoot himself in the foot at his stupidity but when he had seen her that night he had vowed that he would get it back, and intend too he did.

Instead of being mad, instead of being upset, like anyone else would have been, she had been the very definition of indifferent. The thought had crossed Robin's mind that she didn't even give a damn about the status of her heart for a moment but then she had done something completely unexpected, which surprised and shocked him. Grabbing him by the collar of his jacket and bringing her lips to his. She was so soft, so smooth, and he was instantly addicted to the intoxicating sensation.

It was short and sweet, yet there was an underlying sense of power and passion that he had tasted, behind her supple lips and on her tongue. Like there was more to her than what he was seeing, of what he had heard. But her kiss had distracted him from exploring that thought further. It quite literally had stolen the very breath from his body; if he hadn't of ran one of his hands through her hair and the other snaking around her back, anchoring him there, to her, he might have floated away. Of that he was most assuredly certain.

They had been inseparable since that moment. She was the mayor of the town however, and a mother to Henry; so, during the days, she would be in her office and at night at home with her son. But he had snuck in countless times, surprising her, bringing her flowers, calling her secretaries to block out her schedule so he could take her out to lunch, and appearing outside of her window at odd hours. She had told him countless times he was being to much, but he never relented. He couldn't. Not when she gave him that megawatt smile every-time that he came up behind her, making her laugh and then moan as he pressed a kiss to her neck.

He had fallen for her, head over heels. He had been attracted to her from the first moment he had layed eyes on her back in the enchanted forest, and again when he had nearly shot her with an arrow at the wicked witches cabin in Storybrooke. She was beautiful, strong, smart, bold and audacious. Her smile was like a ray of sun on a cloudy day, and her smirk was cupids strongest arrow straight through his heart. He was hers from the first time she had spoken to him in the Enchanted Forest. Or, insulted him to be more accurate. She was witty. She knew how to make him laugh, she knew what made him tick and what brought tears to his eyes. They had only been officially dating for two weeks, spending most of their time cleaning up the mess that had been left in her sisters wake. Therefore they had had very little time to spend together alone as a couple, except for during the day, sharing intimate conversations over quick coffees and passionate kisses in back offices. They hadn't even had the chance to become physically intimate.

But he knew the night was there for them to bring their relationship to the next level when they had walked hand in hand, with Roland in the middle of them down from their play date at the ice cream shop and over to Granny's. She had given him a look from over the top of his sons head as he was picking his favorite ice cream flavor. Just a small smile, nothing to obvious, but it was the glint in her eye that had caught his attention. There was a flickering light behind her chocolate eyes and he knew. She wanted this just as badly, if not more, as he himself did.

He had called Little John no more than an hour before, begging him to watch Roland for the night. Judging from the snickering and the 'it's about time Robin' that he had gotten from his best mate, it was just as apparent, to not only himself, but everyone else, just how much he had fallen for this woman. He was in love with her and everyone knew it. He had planned to take them to Granny's, drop Roland off with John, possibly grab a quick bite to eat before whisking her away, back down the street and to her house to make love to her endlessly, as sweetly and passionately as he possibly could.

They had let Roland run ahead, making it to the diner before them, so that he could pull Regina in and place one last kiss on her soft lips before walking in. He knew that she didn't care much for public displays of affection so he took advantage of the last few seconds before they made it into, what he predicted to be a very crowded Granny's on a Friday night, and he poured his heart and soul into that kiss. Little did he know that it would be their last.

Everything had gone awry the moment that they had walked through the old diner doors.

He had spotted John sitting in the corner and he smiled at Regina, letting go of her as she chatted with Emma who had just walked up to her; weaving his way over to his mate. And then, if thunder sound effects could have been applied, the lightning struck and all hell broke loose. There, in the middle of the diner, was his wife -his dead wife- standing there, looking just as alive and beautiful as she did on the day before she had died. He had nearly choked when he saw her. He could still remember the emotions running through him, shock, confusion, excitement, happiness, elatement, doubt, fear. Everything had become such a jumbled mess. His brain lost its ability to function and he acted without thinking, running to her, and holding her close in his arms. It wasn't until he heard the voice of his son saying 'mama' that he realized what was happening. She was real, it wasn't just his brain playing tricks on him, making him believe that somehow she was there. No! Somehow she was there and very much undead. His heart began to thud and his palms began to sweat as he turned, finding the eyes of Regina who had been standing behind him the whole time, watching the happy reunion.

Seeing the hurt in her eyes, he had wanted nothing more than to punch himself and wake up from this bad dream. But it wasn't a dream. When Emma had come back through the portal she had brought his long time deceased wife with her, accidentally resurrecting her and transporting her into the modern day world of Storybrooke, Maine. Culture shock couldn't even begin to describe the feelings that had to have been going through Marian right then.

Robin had felt so overwhelmed in that moment, torn between the woman he had made his wife and the woman who now had his heart. He had lost Marian such a long time ago. He had grieved for her, he had mourned her, he had picked himself up and learned to move on with his life for himself, but more importantly for Roland and he had finally let her go. But now? Now she was standing right in front of him, holding up their son in her arms, placing warm, tender kisses in his curly hair. Robin didn't know what to do.

But he had made his choice. He had chosen to do the honorable thing and go with his wife, to protect her and honor the vows that he had made to her once, many moons ago.

And it was eating away at him.

He had done it, not out of want, but out of honor. What he had wanted was to be on the other side of town. He wanted to be sleeping soundly, basking in the feel of Regina's soft body cuddled up in his arms. He wanted to be awoken by her silky hair on his neck. Her even breathing on his chest. Soaking up all of her warmth.

He wanted to be with Regina.

Robin rolled over, his head almost coming into close contact with the small table sitting next to his bed. He shifted his hand in order to readjust the pillow that had become limp underneath his weight and that's when he saw it.

His phone. The one Regina had given him no less than a month after they had landed in this world. The little black device, that's screen lit up whenever a communication came through. With one touch of his thumb he could unlock it and, with a swipe of his forefinger, he could read said message and respond back. It had been nearly three months since he had had the device and he still had no bloody idea how one little message that someone 'typed' out across town could go from one little contraption held in their hands, through the air and appear on his. This land may not have magic, but that was some hardcore sorcery if he had ever seen it.

He grabbed the device, spotting the new message icon just as the lights of the screen were beginning to go out. He clicked the home button, turning it back on and he felt his heart beat skyrocket.

It was Regina!

She hadn't contacted him, called him, messaged him or even spoken to him since that night. He knew it wasn't out of hatred, as she had made that clear to him when she had walked away. If she had hated him she wouldn't have left. She would have burned him and Marian to the ground. But she didn't. Instead, she had gone against everything that he knew she had wanted to do, and she had left, walked away, in to the night, alone. She was truly changed. She had removed herself from the picture and left him alone with Marian and Roland, giving them a chance to go off and live their lives together and it was killing him, slowly.

He wanted to see her, to hear from her, to talk to her again. But he knew her absence was for the best. If he spoke to her now he knew he would be unable to leave her again.

Feeling the phone buzz once again in his hand, he looked down, reading the messages.

Robin, I need you.

Now.

xxx

Robin raced down the street. He had thrown the covers off as soon as he had seen her message, disregarding everything that he had been trying to convince himself of before as he tore through his room searching for clothes. She needed him and he couldn't resist that. No matter what he had chosen, no matter what his brain knew was morally right, Regina needed him and he needed her, therefore he ran towards the closet with as much momentum as a horse. Grabbing the same outfit he had worn that day, a light blue Henley and a pair of jeans, he threw them on and rushed out the door.

His heart was racing. In his rush he forgot himself and completely by-passed his car, opting to make the trek to her house on foot. He ran full speed down the back roads of Storybrooke, following the familiar route, jumping a few fences and even startling a few cats out roaming through the dark streets.

His pulse was spiking. He wasn't sure what to expect. Initially he had thought that maybe, just maybe, she was feeling the same way as he was and couldn't hold herself back any longer. That maybe she was missing him just as much as he was missing he, and she was wanting him just as much as he wanted her. But, as he neared the familiar street, his mind took a turn for the worst. What if she wasn't texting him out of want, but need? What if she was in trouble? It wasn't like her to text him in the early hours of the morning. He knew that she valued her sleep. He had come to learn that on one of the nights when he had appeared outside of her window uninvited, right around 1 am. After her initial shock, thinking that he was someone coming to rob her house, she had been relieved and happy to see him for almost a full minute. Then everything changed. She had nearly thrown what he had come to learn was a baseball bat in her hands at him for waking her up so 'god damn early'! He had learned that day not to wake her majesty before 8 am. Or better yet, not to wake her at all until she was done sleeping! But now she was messaging him, after a week of no contact at all, and in the middle of the night no less? Something must have happened. Robin kicked up his pace.

He arrived at her driveway no more than a minute later, but when he had gone up to her house the lights were out. The door was locked -which was not unlike her- but whenever she had called him in the past she would leave it open, or at least, she'd leave a key under the doormat. But there was no key there tonight. His mind began to spin.

Whipping out his phone he texted her back.

Where are you?

Quicker than he could take another breath her response came back.

Vault.

xxx

"Regina!" He called out, hearing the worry in his voice echo soundly off the stone walls, "Regina? Hello! I'm here. Regina, where are you?"

There was nothing, no response, as he reached the base of the staircase he called out again.

"Regina?!"

Still nothing.

Robin stood silently, listening until the sound of his echoing cry faded, trying to locate her with only his ears. Suddenly there was the shuffling noise of moving feet and what sounded like a soft sniffle and Robin whipped down the corridor, around the pillar, and into the room that had been separating him from her.

There she was, sitting on top of the overly large leather chest, her short, black hair pulled back behind her in a low ponytail. Regina.

Robin stared at her for a minute as his heart was still beating rapidly in his chest, fueled by anxiety and adrenaline, taking in every detail of her appearance. She was dressed in the most laid back outfit he had ever seen her in; a long cardigan, thrown over an old tee shirt, on top of a pair of black jeans. If he didn't know any better he would have said that even though she had her hair pulled back, it had grown, for the tips of her raven colored locks were just brushing her shoulders whereas the last time he had seen her it was a good inch above her collarbone.

Had it really been that long?

Had enough time really passed that she could have changed so much and he didn't even know it?

Robin shook his head looking at her slumped figure on the chest, her eyes cast down, sitting almost hunched over, like she was trying to roll herself into a ball and disappear. Robin felt his eyebrows begin to furrow.

She had never acted like this before, at least not openly. He had seen her in her highs and he had seen her in her lows, and she always managed to keep up her game face. But not now. Now she was letting her hurt shine through for all of the world to see, and Robin swore he felt his heart break in half when he realized why.

She was broken beyond repair.

And it was all his fault.

It was apparent by the lack effort that she was putting into herself. The jeans, her hair. If this had been the Regina of the week before she would have never let herself go this far. But Robin knew why. Even if she hadn't said it to him verbally, he had felt it. She had been holding onto a thin rope that was tethering her to her happiness, keeping her from falling into the icy depths of the darkness below. But the moment that he had chosen Marian she had let go.

Robin felt his throat begin to constrict. A burning sensation was beginning to sting at the corner of his eyes, but he blinked away the unshed tears. He needed to stay strong, if not for himself then at least for her, to give her whatever comfort he could. He knew that he hadn't meant it but he had been the one to hurt her, and he would make that up to her.

He walked towards her, slowly.

From his angle he could barely make out her face, but he would guess that she was wearing no makeup -a true sign that she had given up caring-. Moving closer he saw that his assumptions were indeed correct, there wasn't a lick of artificial color on her face. A small smile began to curl at the corner of his lips however, because, despite everything she was still stunning as ever.

Robin could feel his heartbeat pounding away heavily in his chest as he walked. He couldn't bear to see her hurting like this. The pain, the anguish, it had to stop. He knew that he had chosen to go with Marian out of duty, because he was trying to do the right thing by his wife, but his heart -his soul- everything in him that made him, him, lay with Regina.

With each step that he took he became more and more convinced that he had made the wrong choice. He shook his head. Choosing to go with Marian had been wrong. He didn't want to be with her. He didn't even want to be near her! No, he shook is head, he wouldn't do that again. He wouldn't make those same mistakes. Now, Robin thought, now he would right his wrongs.

"Regina!" He said, getting her attention, "I'm here. What is it-" He began, but when he caught the look in her eyes as her head snapped up and he spotted their red, red rims, he dropped out.

"Regina?" He began again a moment later but, this time, she stopped him. Jumping up, she bolted from her spot on top of the leather chest, and came towards him at full speed, grabbing his arms.

"Quite! She'll hear you!" She said, her voice coming out in nothing more than a rasped whisper. There were still unshed tears pooling in her eyes, which lead him to believe that she had been sitting in that fetal position for far to long. But, by the way in which her eyes were open wide, what with their brown irises bouncing back and forth, and all over the place, her hand coming up to her mouth, it made him think that she was in trouble.

"What?" Robin looked up, locking his eyes with hers. Her chocolate orbs were racing around the room as if they were searching for something... Someone.

"Who, Regina?" He asked again, feeling her fingers digging into his biceps as is if she was trying to 'sush' him. "Who will hear me?"

Regina's eyes were still darting around the room frantically, and Robin watched intently as her mouth opened, as if to speak. No words came out of her, however, as an entirely different voice all together rang out through the vault.

It was low, sinister, sensual, and familiar? With one word Robin felt the hairs raising on the back of his neck, goosebumps pebbling his skin and he wasn't sure if it was more from fear or arousal... The voice was deep, yet still feminine, with an almost guttural hiss to it that reminded him of a poisonous snake that was on the hunt.

"So this is him."

Robin felt Regina freeze in his arms and the blood ran cold in his body. Her eyes had finally stopped shifting, her body becoming completely immobile as her chocolate brown orbs locked on to something standing not to far behind him, and her olive skin went pale.

He could feel her palms beginning to sweat, her pulse elevating, and he felt himself growing even more concerned. He had never seen her like this; even with her sister. She had been nervous at times, anxious, not sure if she had enough light magic -or any- to defeat her. But even with the menace that was Zelena, Regina had never shown more than a passing doubt or apprehensiveness. Right now however, she was full on scared. And that scared him.

Her face went as white as a sheet. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates. She was shaking from head to toe.

Her breathing had stopped too, at least from what he could tell, as he couldn't feel her ragged pants on the bare skin of his neck any longer and Robin lost it. He gripped her strongly in his hands, trying to pull her back from whatever realm of fear that she just entered in her mind. It worked, at least for a second as he saw her eyes shift, flitting to his momentarily before snapping back to the figure behind him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said, her voice surprisingly steady for how violently her body was trembling in his arms.

"Don't play dumb with me, Regina," The voice hissed, sending shivers up his spine. "I know exactly what you're thinking, remember?"

Robin had yet to turn around, he was to intent on protecting Regina, holding her close, in his arms and focusing his strength on her, to really care what the person behind him looked like. But in his mind he imagined an old woman, with a long, crooked nose and messy hair. Looking slightly possessed, like one of those witches that Roland had shown him on the covers of the Halloween movies in the store. He wouldn't be surprised if she even wore a pointy hat and long robes with the way that her voice rasped -like that of a smokers- but he couldn't shake the heavily sensuous tone that she had, that part was throwing his image of a decrepit old hag for a loop.

There was a shuffling behind him, like the shifting of thick robes, and he assumed that the unknown woman was nearing closer to them as she continued. "Right now Regina you're trying your best to conceal him from me, to protect him. But the question is why, dear? I know this is the man. The man that's taken you from your former glory and transformed you into this...This weak, frail, mess of emotions." The voice said, beginning to grow louder with each word, shaking with a fury that was making the hair on the back of Robin's neck stand up. "You should be furious!" It said. "You should be shaking with rage that he even has the nerve to come near you anymore, to touch you! To hold you so freely in his arms, like he has any right to your heart! But instead you're allowing him to. Willingly, I might add," the voice said, dropping now to a equally sinister whisper before finishing, "Why?"

Regina only gulped, her eyes shifting quickly down and gluing themselves to the ground.

There was a beat, and a perfect silence permeated the vault chamber only for it to be broken by a sharp intake of breath from the figure behind him, followed by her hiss of a release. 'Oh'.

"You want him. Don't you?" the unseen woman inquired, releasing what had to be the darkest chuckle Robin had ever heard, "Oh, well then why didn't you say so dear? Please, by all means, be my guest." the voice said. "Take him."

Regina's body was now shaking violently, her fingers trembling on his arms disturbingly so. Robin felt his eyes snapping to and fro, trying his hardest to stay focused on the woman in his arms, but the pull to turn around and see who it was that was causing her so much distress was almost to strong. It was maddening.

The voice spoke again.

"Take him dear, or I will."

That did it. With a quick breath, Robin gripped Regina tightly, turning his body round quickly enough so that he that kept himself in front of her, able to protect her with his own flesh and blood if need be, and faced the intruder.

The sight that greeted him on the other side of the room though was the last thing that he had been expecting to see, and Robin felt his mind leave him as his heart stopped beating and jumped directly into his throat causing him to choke on his shock.

There, behind him, stood Regina.

But not his Regina.

No, this wasn't the one that he knew, she was currently shaking uncontrollably behind him, terrified by the presence of the woman before him. This other Regina wasn't soft nor caring, or someone who chose to wear her frail heart on her sleeve for anyone to come by and see, continuing to trust beyond trust that she still had a shot at redemption, that she could still attain her happy ending if she tried. No, this woman was nothing like the one that he had come to see, to know and to love. This one was dark, fierce, and threatening. She was clad in the most sinister looking attire that he had ever laid his eyes on -yards of black slik that plunged into an extremely sharp neckline and tapered off into tight leather - and Robin felt his blood begin to freeze in his veins as his face found the harsh visage of the woman before him, the most feral looking gleam flickering threateningly at him in her cold black eyes.

This wasn't Regina at all.

This was the Evil Queen.

There was a moment of silence and Robin could feel his heart beating so hard on the inside of his chest he would have sworn that she could see it. He jumped when he heard the voice of the Queen across the room ringing out, her words dripping with venom like a snake, her voice was it's fangs, piercing him, ripping his flesh from his bones.

"Robin of Locksley, we meet again."

thank you for reading! looking forward to your lovely reviews! also, if you have a twitter and or know Nicole, please send her some love! (She's NicoleLeeTV ) much love! ruffles! x