A/N: I'm not all the way back yet but I was having a lazy weekend (at least in life's responsibilites). So here you go read:

Regina was in the kitchen when she heard the knock on the front door. She was rinsing out a wine glass. After Henry had gone to bed, Regina had settled down with a glass of her favorite Bordeaux and a novel but had found that she couldn't concentrate on the book. Her mind had been filled with memories from the Enchanted Forest, with things she'd done. They weren't pleasant memories but they were necessary ones, reminding Regina of the kind of person she'd been and never wanted to be again.

Now she was ready to go to bed and she had planned on calling Emma to have her listen in on her... private ritual. But those thoughts vanished as Regina heard the knock, hoping that it would be Emma who would join her in person tonight. Regina was smiling as she opened the door.

It wasn't Emma who stood before her, it was Neal and he looked up at her in that sheepish way he had, hands in his pants pockets, shoulders haunched as if apologizing for his mere existence.

"Mr. Cassidy," Regina greeted in a not too friendly voice and lifted an eyebrow in question as to what he was doing at her doorstep.

"Good evening, Madam Mayor. I know it's late but I wanted to talk to you about something."

"If you wanted to see Henry, he is already in bed," she told him.

"I'm aware of that. It's important."

Regina was reluctant to open her door at this time of night and especially to someone she wouldn't even trust as far as she could throw him but something in his demeanor told her that he had something important to say. She suppposed it had something to do with what they were looking for, why else would he come here at this hour?

Regina opened the door for Neal and he stepped inside.

"If you go on ahead into the living room?" she pointed as she closed the door. She thought of offering him a drink but she had detected a whiff of liquor on his breath as he'd walked past her and decided against it.

They walked into the living room and Regina closed that door as well, as she didn't want for them to wake Henry.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Cassidy?" she asked as he stood by the mantle and looked at the pictures there. He took one, looking at it intently.

Regina could see that it was a shot of Henry and Emma. She was about to repeat her question when he said:

"You can leave my family alone," he said and looked over at her.

"Excuse me?"

He held up the picture.

"They're my family," he said.

"Have you talked to Emma about this? She may have a word to say about it," Regina gave back seemingly cool but there was a fire slowly building in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't give me that. Emma loves me, she told me so in Neverland."

"She also told you that she wished you were dead, yet here you are," Regina said with a sweet smile, the flame inside her burning at her intestines now. She wasn't going to let this guy tell her who Emma loved, she knew it better than anyone.

"She loves me," he insisted.

"I would rather you leave now, Mr. Cassidy," she told him.

Neal still held the picture as he came toward Regina.

"You're not going to get my family, Evil Queen. Henry is not your son, he's mine and Em..."

She was in his face so quickly, he didn't even see her move but her hand was firmly on his collar holding him in place.

"Say again that I'm not Henry's mother and I'm going to show you how evil I can get, Mr. Cassidy," she said as he gripped the hand holding him to free himself. He found that he couldn't and she was pressing his windpipe. "Listen closely, you son of an imp. Henry's mine, I raised him, I loved him when you didn't even know he existed and couldn't care less. If you so much as try to take him from me... and Emma, I'm going to reunite you with another part of your family - your parents. Do you understand?"

Neal was still clutching at her hand, trying to free himself, his face had taken on an unbecoming red color.

"Nod if you understand," she told him and he did. She let go of him immediately and he began coughing, gulping air and coughing some more.

Regina looked from the man at her hand which was shaking, her whole body seemed to take its clue from the hand as she felt a blistering cold surge through her body.

"This isn't over yet," Neal ground out as soon as he was able to speak but she looked at him with those dark menacing eyes and he fled the mansion, the picture he had taken from the mantle still in his hand.

Emma was running up the walk to the mansion in a wild panic, her hair flying. The front door stood ajar and she pushed through it, stopping short when she saw her lover. The picture that presented itself to Emma stole her breath and every coherent thought but her emotions were on overdrive. There was fear, there was rage, there was... so much love and the need to protect it at all cost.

"Regina," she uttered breathlessly and ran toward her.

The dark-haired woman was sitting on the lowest step of the stairs clutching the banister, sobbing heart-wrenchingly.

Emma kneeled in front of her, taking her hands from their wooden hold and pulling Regina into her arms.

"Emma," came the sob-choken voice of her love but not in it's usual deep alto but a panic-y octave higher.

"I'm here, love. Everything's gonna be alright. Shhhh, you're alright."

"I...," but another series of sobs made it impossible for Regina to say more.

Emma kissed Regina's hair, her cheek, her eyes. Her hands rubbed her back soothingly until the sobs finally ceased.

"What happened?" she then asked as she hadn't been able to make any sense of the phone call she had received from Regina earlier.

Regina took a steadying breath and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she looked down at her hands that were held by Emma's once again.

"I... choked Neal... I... almost killed him," she then said.

"What?" Emma asked and in the unsure second when her hands let go of Regina's, the dark-haired woman pulled them from Emma to look at them. "No," the blonde said and covered Regina's hands with her own. "Tell me what happened. Start at the beginning."

She looked at Regina imploringly and the mayor found herself unable not to comply, she had hardly ever been able to resist those green eyes even when they had been - or should have been - sworn enemies.

"He came here... Neal. He'd been drinking but he seemed sober enough. We talked, he told me to stay away from... 'his family.' And then I choked him," Regina said.

"He... what the hell?! Has he lost his mind?" Emma called out.

"He? Did he lose his mind? What about my mind? I almost killed him, Emma," Regina argued.

"Yes, because he came into your house and threatened to take the people you love away from you. I'm not saying... it was right to... I mean... but you..."

"I'm losing it, Emma. I'm losing control," she said.

They looked at each other for a long moment. Then Emma smiled.

"No, you're not," she said.

"What...?"

"You did not lose control tonight, did you? You stopped. Neal's alive because you have control over the Evil Queen, not the other way around. She may be pushing you, she may be lurking in your shadows but she's not here right now, is she?"

Regina shook her head slowly thinking about what Emma was saying.

"It's just you and me, babe. You fought your worst enemy tonight and you beat her. And you will beat her again, and again, because it's what's best for Henry."

"I think I told you not to call me that," Regina said automatically and in answer to Emma's questioning face: "Babe - don't call me that."

Emma laughed.

"Never again, love," she said and then leaned forward and kissed Regina. "You're alright and you're still in charge."

Regina smiled weakly.

"At least one of us is convinced of that," she said.

"I'll make you believe it, too, I promise. But not tonight, it's late." Emma stood and pulled Regina up with her. She hugged her tightly and then took her time to kiss her lovingly. "I love you, woman, and I'm proud of you."

"I love you, too, Emma. It's scary how much."

"It doesn't scare me," Emma said and looked at Regina. There was such confidence in her eyes that Regina had to believe her words. "Come on, let's get you to bed. You have an early day tomorrow."

"Will you stay?"

"Sorry, I have to go back to work. It's a hazard to be as dutiful as us but somebody's got to do the job," she said as they were climbing the stairs.

Regina gave a small smile and Emma gave her one of her own.

"I'm staying until you've fallen asleep, okay?" And she did. When she was sure that Regina was fast asleep, her body safely tucked under the covers, she kissed her temple and left her side. She walked across the hall and was about to descend the stairs when she stopped looking at Henry's bedroom door. She tiptoed toward it and then opened it carefully. There was no light on and she couldn't see inside the darkness. She wasn't even sure, Henry was asleep but she had to tell him one thing now because she knew what she was going to do next would hurt him, or at the very least confuse him:

"I'm sorry, kid," she said and then closed the door again. A few moments later she left the mansion.

Emma noticed Neal upon entering. He was sitting in the same seat Regina had sat that night that had changed their lives and the sheriff sensed that this night might change hers again. But not as positively.

She had been looking for her ex at his apartment and had even driven out to Gold's house but he hadn't been there. So instead of going on a wild goose chase through town, she had texted Tink and asked if she'd seen him. The answer had come only a minute later:

'He's at the rabbit hole and drinking like one 2. If I was taking a guess I'd say it was about something he overheard at Grannys earlier, some folks have been talking bout you and your lady love.'

It was the answer to several questions Emma had had and she'd driven over to the local bar.

She now crossed the room and without any words of warning, grabbed the back of Neal's jacket collar, pulling him from his stool.

"Hey, what...?" he started protesting but as he struggled to remain upright he looked into her eyes and fell silent.

"You were saying?" she asked him as he stood before her.

"Listen, Emma, it's not..."

"What I'm thinking? Well, I've done my thinking and it looks like you're guilty of something. I'm gonna arrest you now," she told him and he looked at her bewildered.

"For what?"

"Oh, well, let's see. Trespassing, assault, oh, and..." she took a step towards the bar and picked up the picture frame that lay there. "Theft," she added to her list.

"Emma...," he tried to reason but she interrupted him:

"Will you come peacefully or do I have to cuff you?"

Neal took a deep breath and for a second it looked like the alcohol he had consumed might make him brave enough to resist her but then he smply exhaled and lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Good. Walk," she told him pointing in the direction of the exit.

He did as she had told him and she followed him aware of the stares at her back.

Emma put Neal in the backseat and ignored his apologies and accusations for the ride to the station. She wasn't really sure she wanted to talk to him at all but not talking to him had brought them here and to him threatening Regina. She wasn't going to make that same mistake again.

They entered the station and she walked straight to the cells opening the door for him.

"Emma, is this really necessary? I told you..."

"In," she ordered and he stomped by her into the cell. She closed the door and then locked it.

They were looking at each other through the metal confinements of his cell. They were both angry and they knew each other well enough to be able to seize the extension of the other's anger. That was probably why Neal fell silent, he sensed that her anger far outweighed his own indignity.

"How does it feel, Neal? Being put behind bars by the one you love?" she asked him.

"Emma," he pleaded.

"Now imagine being 18 and pregnant and thinking that you have been so gullible to believe that he loved you."

"I did love you, I still do," he argued.

"Really? You loved me when you let a stranger talk you into giving me up for a crime you've committed? You know, between you, your dad, Whale, Jefferson, and August you've manipulated Regina and myself into doing the most horrific things... and yet you still stand there and feel superior. You still think you're so much better than her, don't you?"

"At least I didn't kill people," he gave back.

"No, people like you never have to. You're just going to grow up as the spitting image of your father and have others do your dirty work," she accused.

"I'm not like him!"

"No, you lack his finesse or you would have been able to manipule Regina into leaving me out of her own free will, so to speak. Maybe you should take notes for the next time you don't approve of my life choices," she said sarcastically.

"Are you sure you actually made that choice? Could it have been...?"

"If you suggest that she's cursed me or put a love spell on me, forget it, my dad already tried that reasoning and it blew up in his face," Emma interrupted him. "Why is it so hard to understand that I love her? I love her, you hear me?"

"And how can you? She's the Evil Queen!"

"Oh, and your dad is Santa Clause, is he? Your mother never cheated on him and you weren't in love with a woman who later turned out to be a kidnapper! And let me not even start with you! Check your priviledge at the door, Neal Cassidy, this is not Fairy Tale Land, this is Storybrooke, Maine. There are no saints here, only a lot of slightly demaged, slightly enchanted people... for God's sake, you haven't even met the Evil Queen, have you? What makes you such an expert on who's good and who's not?" Emma took a deep breath after her little speech and looked at Neal. He was wearing a frown and she was almost sure she knew what he was going to say next. She already heard his whiny voice in her head before he even opened his mouth.

"I know about evil because I've lived with the evilest of all, Emma. Don't tell me about how manipulative he was, I experienced it first hand."

"And you decided to continue the family tradition?" she gave back.

"I'm not the one manipulating you," he said.

"No, you just go behind my back and threaten the woman I love. Did you honestly think that a stunt like that would make me want to be with you? But then... did you even stop to consider what I'm feeling? What I want?"

"I was worried about you," he said in way of an apology that he hadn't really thought about what Emma might want.

"Right," she said. She turned from him and walked to her desk. She simply stood there for a moment collecting her thoughts. "Here's how it is, Neal," she started again and turned. "I'm in love with Regina. She's... amazing and caring and loving..."

"She almost choked me to death," he interrupted her and just for a second there was a patronizing glint in his eyes but it vanished as his remark failed to shock her.

"You came into her house and threatened to take away the people she loved, what did you expect she'd do? Invite you to dinner?"

"She almost killed me!" he repeated. "Are you so deeply in her thrall that you don't even care what she does?"

"You threatened a woman who is stressed out of her mind because she tries to undo the bad she's done, Neal. And you actually wonder that she doesn't cave and cry but comes out fighting? That's ridiculous! It's exactly how she became the woman she is - in fighting back! First against her mother, then against everybody else because nobody was on her side. You know nothing about her! And considering that your father was the one who introduced her to magic, manipulated her into cursing everyone so that he could find you, I think you're the last person who should judge her!" Emma yelled at him.

She took a step back and bumped into her desk. She turned and looked at the thing as if seeing it for the first time. She was so angry, she was mad with anger and she knew that it wasn't going to solve anything if they kept screaming at each other. But then, they seemed beyond the point of solving anything between them.

"I should have told you about Regina and I," she said in a low voice and he looked up surprised. "I should have just told you but... I didn't want to have this discussion with you, the same discussion I had with David. That's why I didn't. I don't think I have to defend myself for loving someone. And Regina is an exceptional woman. Henry and her and I, we are a family and I'm happier than I've ever been," she told him.

"She's evil, Emma," he said into her pause.

"It doesn't matter what you think of her, Neal, because you... have no say in who I'm with. I don't know you anymore and I don't want to know you. You can come and see Henry but only if you refrain from saying anything about Regina to him. If you upset him with... whatever you think is the truth, you're not gonna see him again. Regina and I are his mothers and that's all you need to know and respect. If you can't... you don't have a son anymore."

He looked at her in shock, his mouth slightly open, his eyes wide.

"You can't do that," he whispered.

"I can and I will if you don't leave her alone, Neal. I love her and I'll protect her. Do you understand?"

Neal had an unpleasant flashback to earlier when Regina had his hand on his neck but this time it was Emma who was forcing the breath out of him - with her words alone.

"Do you understand that, Neal?"

"Yes, I understand," he said, his voice still low; he was too stunned to speak up.

Emma nodded and went back to his cell; she unlocked it.

"Go home, Neal. I'll see you next weekend."

"You're still going to..."

"Help everyone find a way home, that was the deal," she said. "Would you rather we didn't and everybody stayed here?"

He shook his head.

"No," he said and then left - the cell, the station, Emma's life as someone she had once love but didn't anymore.