NOTE: Okay, so before you read this, I want you to know that these events, as well as those in the next chapters, are what I had planned from the beginning. This is the story I wanted to write and I've been anxious to get here. If you believe it too implausible, I will simply remind you of what's happening on the actual show. I imagine something similar will take place in one way or another soon enough. Read with an open mind please.

Return of The Forgotten

Regina really did wish to continue. Emma's hands were strong and not very shy and Regina had to admit, she liked the blondes body against hers. Their lips had joined and the feeling was more than just pleasant for both of them. But now really was not the time. In fact, it was thinking about the time that finally got her pushing the younger woman back.

"Emma." She started and felt a hum against her collar bone as Emma moved on to another spot.

"Mmmm, what?"

"It's been too long. The boys should be back by now." She pushed on Emma's shoulders again and now, she responded.

"You're right." She admitted reluctantly. "Wonder what's taking them so long." She said curiously. She stood and dropped her hand down to help pull Regina up.

"I don't know, but I'm not waiting to find out." She stepped away from Emma, and towards the direction they had retreated. "Come on." Emma caught up with her and they made their way into the woods.

"Does the air feel…weird to you?"

Henry shook himself out of the stupor created from the fall and the sight of Luca. He stepped forward, closer to other boy.

"Are…are you okay?" He was just too thrown by the sight to care about anything else. In fact, for that second, all feelings he had about Luca were virtually nonexistent. Luca was still lying on the ground, but his arms were lifting his upper body and Henry moved even closer.

"Yes, can you help me?" He asked, his eyes still slightly fearful. The pain shot through him and he repressed a hiss. "Just try to lift that so I can get out."

"Okay." Henry moved back over to where the beam was and grabbed it with both hands. It was heavy and the first tug didn't show successful results.

"Ah!" Luca cried out involuntarily when the beam moved.

Henry looked over apologetically. Regardless of anything between them, he didn't like causing pain. Luca's expression, no matter how hard he was trying to control it, said this was more than just very unpleasant for him. Henry took a deep breath before giving it another go. On the next pull, Luca winced, but focused and slid forward as the weight finally lifted from his leg.

"Is it broken?" Henry asked, looking wearily as Luca grabbed for his leg. He felt a bit nauseated at the purpling deformity he saw below Luca's knee.

"I think so." Luca's lip wobbled slightly, but he didn't want to show his pain.

He spent many years of his life playing tough. In Neverland, you got no sympathy. Crying was weakness and only got you hurt further. While he had learned to be more of a child with his mother and let himself be comforted by her, being in this situation with Henry in the middle of the woods, brought him right back to those years and old habits died hard. So with that occupying his mind, he started moving again.

"You should stay still."

"We have to move. We have to get out of here before it caves in again." He started trying to use the wall to help himself up, but Henry shook himself and reached out for him. He crouched down and pulled Luca's arm across his shoulders to take on more of his weight. "I should have listened to you. I guess it's really not safe." Luca said, but Henry shook his head.

"No…it's never been this bad. This is part of the mine they work in, it shouldn't be caving in like this. Something's not right." He said wearily, eyes shifting towards the unstable walls.

"Are we going to get out?" Luca looked to Henry in concern.

"Yeah…yeah we will. It's not far." He said as they started moving forward. It wasn't a fast pace and Luca was wincing nearly every step, but they kept on. "Um…thanks…by the way." He said awkwardly. Luca glanced over at him again.

"You're welcome. We're even now." He said lightly and Henry nodded. They made it a few more seconds before Luca's foot accidentally touched the ground and pain shot up through his leg, the responding gasp alerting Henry.

"So…uh…how long were you in Neverland?" Henry asked, trying to think of a distraction. Luca's expression grew further pained, but he opened his eyes and focused.

"I don't know. A long time."

"Do you remember where you lived before that?" He kept on, realizing they might be in there for quite some time.

"Only a little bit, but I don't want to remember any more." A small shiver escaped him at the flash of memory he had recalled. Flames and screams entered his mind but he shut it down fast.

"Oh…okay." Henry didn't miss the tone in his voice and didn't push that further. "Did you have any friends in Neverland?" He tried and Luca gave him a look that matched both one of his own, and that of their mother. It was startling.

"I wouldn't really call them friends, Henry. But some of us that were younger played together when the older boys were out doing Pan's work. They weren't all bad." He would have shrugged if his muscles weren't so tensed up.

"Oh." He really didn't appreciate all the feelings and thoughts filling him since their time down here.

They continued on for the next few moments in silence. They had slowed even further and Luca was feeling slightly lightheaded. He almost thought he imagined the voice when it sounded above their heads, though that didn't slow the flood of relief that surged through him.

"Is that-"

"Yeah." Henry finished and then responded to the voice without thinking. "Mom?!"

"Henry?!" Was the immediate reply. "Where are you?!"

"Down here!" He yelled as loudly as he could. It took only seconds before purple smoke filled the air around them and Regina appeared in front of them. Her eyes were already wide.

"What happened?!" She lunged forward and knelt down, her hands on both boys, trying to asses the situation as fast as possible. "Are you okay?"

She didn't really need to ask that. She saw Henry holding Luca up and her eyes traveled over her younger son. When her gaze landed on the dark deformity, her hands automatically started reaching out.

"Oh, sweetheart. I've got you." She managed to lift him up as she leaned back, sitting onto the dirt ground. Magic elevated his leg as she placed him in her lap. Henry released his own hold on Luca and stepped back. "Alright, hold still for me, okay? This may hurt a bit." She said honestly and he just nodded, the pain stopping his voice.

Henry watched as the hand not wrapped around Luca, moved to his leg. Thin wisps of magic started transferring from Regina to Luca. His hands balled into tight fists and his face turned into Regina's shoulder as bone fragments snapped painfully back into place. It only took a few seconds all together and once the pain subsided, Luca pulled his face away to see the limb back to it's original shape and color.

"There. All better." Regina said gently as she looked back to his face that was slowly relaxing now. Luca took a deep breath and reached a hand to touch it, confirming it healed.

"Whoa." He said and she smiled.

"Okay now?"

"Yes. Thank you, Mother." He leaned into her again and wrapped his arms around her neck. She hugged him back gratefully, relieved to see them safe for the moment. When they pulled back, Regina helped him stand again and stood herself.

"Are you hurt?" She looked at Henry and though he looked fine, she wanted to be sure.

"No."

"Okay boys, what happened?" She asked and Luca glanced at Henry before looking at her again.

"I was trying to get some fire wood. Henry said it wasn't safe but I stayed, and then I fell and Henry tried to help but we both fell down." He finished and Regina immediately looked to Henry, a small smile on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked again.

"Yeah." Henry nodded, a little more relaxed.

"So that's how you hurt yourself?" She looked back to Luca.

"No, part of the wall caved in on us." Luca pointed back behind himself.

"It just happened out of nowhere, I think…I think something's wrong." Henry said hesitantly. He expected a dismissal, but Regina's own features were a little concerned as well.

"I think you're right." She started. "That storm came out of nowhere and the air feels…magical. Something's happening." She took Luca's hand. "Can I take you up?" She looked at Henry, knowing he may have an objection. His face though, said his concern over what was happening was greater than his weariness of her.

"Yeah." He said and though Regina looked surprised, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. One big swirl of purple smoke clouded their vision and the next thing they saw, was the forest surrounding them. "Where's my mom?" Henry asked immediately.

"She's looking for you two. We split up, I think she went back towards the well." Just as she finished, Henry started walking. Regina just kept Luca's hand and followed after. Something didn't feel right and after what just happened to them, she understood Henry wanting to see Emma and chose not to be bothered by the lack of thanks.

"It feels weird." Luca said and they looked up towards the sky. It still looked dark an stormy despite the opposite weather report and she had to agree with her son's deduction. It definitely felt off.

"It'll be alright, sweetheart." She pulled him closer and looked up just in time to see Emma running towards them.

"Henry!" She ran up to him and pulled him into a hug. She went through the normal questions of if he was okay or not, and Henry briefed her on what happened in the mine. After confirming everyone was safe, she stood up and looked wearily at Regina.

"What is it?" Regina asked her.

"The well…there's magic. A lot of magic." She started, looking both confused and concerned.

"Gold?"

"I didn't see him." She said and Regina considered that for a moment.

"Well whatever it is, if it's magic, it could explain parts of the mine collapsing." She paused and looked around. "Okay, you three stay here, I'll go-"

"No." Luca tugged on her hand. "I want to stay with you." He insisted but Regina held him back by the shoulders.

"It's okay, I'll be right back. You stay with Emma, understand me?" She said but he looked down. "Luca, answer me." She said gently. She wouldn't put it past him to follow after her, knowing his curiosity and concern knew no bounds. But she also knew that if he promised not to, he would have a much harder time disobeying her.

"I understand." He mumbled. Emma came up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Good boy." Regina gave his arm a small squeeze, before very subtly grazing over Emma's hand. Emma gave her a small nod.

Regina made her way quickly out towards the well. She felt increasingly uneasy with the feel of magic. It was strong. Definitely not someone performing a simple spell. The closer she got towards the clearing in the forest, the thicker the magic and stronger the feeling. The wind picked up and she saw leaves circling wildly on the ground.

She knew Luca was worried about being separated and her walking into what could be a dangerous situation. In the end, she wished she had just walked into a dangerous situation. She could defend herself from a threat. She could fight off virtually any attacker. She had no fear when the danger was solely about her. She would have preferred a one on one fight with the Dark One to this.

As the portal died down and a body climbed out, Regina was momentarily stunned.

"Regina?" He seemed to recover from the ordeal quickly and jumped down before stepping closer. His eyes were narrowed and weary.

"Neal." Regina breathed, unable to quite believe her eyes.

"Where are they?" His voice was strong and slightly threatening. Regina didn't step back, but she wasn't feeling overly confident either.

"You're dead." She said disbelievingly.

"Not so much. Just a little slip through a portal. Now where's my family?" He demanded. Regina tried to shake out of it, but was still adjusting. "Tell me!"

"Calm down." She bit back now, a natural reaction to being threatened. "They're here."

"Where?" He still sounded threatening and Regina was trying to resist falling back into her previous persona. Instead of answering, she just started walking. Neal's eyes narrowed, but aside from wandering into town, he had no other way of finding them. Going against what was probably the smart decision, he followed.

Regina really felt like she needed a minute to process this. Although her time with Henry was still strained, she had finally fell into a normal life. They were painfully slowly rebuilding. At least things were calm, but now here was Neal, a giant disruption in her finally peaceful life.

She knew the moment she stepped into the camp site, that everything would change. Luca and Emma were faced away, but Henry was up walking around and was the first to spot them. Despite all the progress she made, it was still painful to see a look aimed at that man, that Henry hadn't given to her in years.

"Dad?!" He was sprinting in an instant. When Emma turned, Regina caught her confused eyes for only a second before her gaze shifted to the man next to her and her expression turned stunned.

She watched it almost in slow motion. In reality, it should be a beautiful and emotional moment. Henry was in Neal's arms instantly. Emma made eye contact again, but only briefly, as she moved hazily towards them. Regina watched as Neal reached out and pulled her into his arms. She watched Emma fall into the embrace. She watched them all as if it was a dream.

"Who's that, Mother?" Luca was at her side and she blinked a few times to try and focus on him.

"He's…he's Henry's father." She shook herself again. Luca's head was tilted as he studied Neal for an extra second. Regina had the unfortunate timing of glancing back at the second Neal's lips touch Emma's. She spun back around in an instant, an unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Come now, sweetheart." She had Luca's hand and started walking almost without thinking.

"What are we doing?" He asked, trying to keep up with her pace.

"We're leaving." The foreign sound in her voice rose Luca's concern, but also kept him from asking questions. He could tell that now, was probably not the best time.

Regina was acting on autopilot. She grabbed her bag from the ground and turned to move back towards the car. Only then, seeing the sight of the yellow bug, did it occur to her how they got here.

"We're going to have to use magic." She said and Luca smiled lightly. He was never against using magic. She threw her bag over her shoulder and pulled him closer.

"Regina!" Emma came running and but Regina's eyes remained forward. "Regina?"

"Miss Swan, I imagine you are wanted over there right now." That particular use of her name, told Emma everything she needed to know.

"I don't…I don't know what's happening."

"Go back to your family, Emma." She tried to turn around but Emma reached for her arm.

"Regina, I-"

"Emma?" Neal approached, his arm around a beaming Henry, and Regina took a deep breath. She had Luca in front of her, hands on his shoulders. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine." Emma gave him a smile, but tried to face Regina again.

"What's going on?" He stepped closer, his eyes taking in the scene around him curiously.

"It's nothing, Neal. It's a long story-"

"Wait." He stepped closer, his gaze narrowing on Luca.

Regina couldn't help the involuntary tightening of her grip around him. This whole situation was just a bit too overwhelming and after watching that man's hands on both Emma and Henry, seeing him even looking at Luca angered her.

Luca was confused, but he didn't fight the hold. He had an odd feeling about everything and preferred staying closer to Regina. When the new man moved closer again, he backed himself further into her.

"Mother?" He looked straight up at Regina, though she was glaring at Neal who was staring much too intently at her son. He might be Henry's father, but he had absolutely no right whatsoever to be near Luca without her permission.

"We're leaving." She said firmer this time, but saw Neal's eyes widen as he continued watching Luca. Just as she was about to transport them, his voice halted them.

"Michael?"

I demand you not hate me for this! ;)

Also, I ask you not leave hurtful reviews…telling me you don't like it, or it was a bad choice…etc, is not constructive. I understand full well there are plenty of people who will not appreciate the direction of the story. People will hate Neal. I would be willing to bet there are few who hate Neal as a character more than me. However, as I said in the first note, this is what I wanted to write. I started with this idea going forward, and then worked backwards to form the story. I hope there are still people willing to see where it goes.

Also, there were 2 people a while back who called it on who Luca was. Kudos to you! I'm sorry I forgot who you were, but feel free to claim it in a review :)