A/N: How guys! How's all your week going so far? I'm ready for mine to be over-it's been long and I'm excited to visit a friend in AC (Atlantic City) for the weekend! You know, we're getting closer and closer to the end of the fic now! It's kinda crazy! Anyway, enjoy! And, of course, the OUAT characters don't belong to me.

Vicky opened the door and Snow enveloped her in a hug. "Vicky, thank goodness you're okay! I don't have time to explain but—" She paused, eyes roaming agitatedly around the room. "Where are the girls?"

"They're out." Vicky parroted Regina's words. "They took Emma for a walk, said they were tired of being cooped up."

Snow nodded slowly. "Where did they go? I didn't see them on the way in."

"Who's this?" Vicky asked, changing the subject as she turned to look at Charming.

"This is Charming, my husband and Emma's father. Charming, this is Vicky. I'd really like him to meet Emma and the girls, so we'll just go out and meet up with them. Where did they go?" She asked again.

"What a stupid name," Vicky commented and Snow blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"Ah, I mean, that surely isn't his real name."

"No," Snow spoke slowly, suspiciously. "It isn't." She didn't offer up his real name. Instead, she stared curiously at the woman in front of her, so unlike Vicky. Her face was paler than normal, making her red hair stand out brilliantly, and her eyes were wide and as agitated as Snow's own. Even so, she spoke smoothly, none of the tension on her face mirrored in her voice. Snow knew that when Vicky was expressive, she was expressive in every way.

"Regina." She spit the Evil Queen's name in revelation and anger. "Where are Emma and the girls?"

"Don't worry," Vicky spoke. "They're with me."

Snow's heart began to pound in her chest, each jolt of fear bringing with it an intense guilt. She had left Vicky and the girls alone in the room knowing that Regina was out there somewhere, eager and ready to hurt her and her daughter and anyone else who stood in her path to them.

"All the more reason to worry." She heard Charming mutter behind her and felt his comforting hand at her waist. It alleviated some of the intensity of her guilt.

"We'll find her." He leaned in to whisper in her ear and she nodded. Of course they would. They always found one another. This time would be no different. Still, her eyes teared at the thought of her infant daughter with Regina, and the two girls she had grown to love, as well.

She stared into Vicky's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Vicky. But we'll get your girls back safe." She promised. And your heart, she added mentally. She could only hope that they got to them in time before Regina decided that Vicky was little more than collateral damage and crushed it.

Vicky nodded, some of the tension fading from her face, but Regina's cruel words spilled out of her mouth. "Sure, you'll find her in that oh so precious way you Charmings always seem to find one another. But in what state? Or these other girls for that matter?" Vicky's lips began to tremble at the mention of her daughter. "They're unimportant, a nuisance, in fact. And I do need a few more hearts for my collection. It's gotten so dull since this curse."

"Don't you dare touch any of them!" Snow exclaimed, heart aching at the thought of the girls being hurt. "What do you want, Regina?"

"What I've always wanted. You, dead."

"You didn't always want that." Snow spoke softly, the image of a younger Regina tearing after her on her own horse and the hug she had enveloped her in afterwards firmly fixed in her mind. It didn't seem to ever go away. It stood as a reminder—no matter what evil things Regina did, there had been plenty of good in her once, and there could be again.

"Well, it's what I want now. Meet me at the hospital in an hour."

"And you'll give us Emma back?" Charming interjected.

"And Katie and Lauren?" Snow asked.

"The hospital," Vicky repeated. "In an hour. Don't keep me waiting. I'm not a patient woman."

After a moment, Vicky slumped over, grabbing her throat as she tried to catch her breath, her voice and her words now her own once again. "What…?" She began. "The girls…my daughters…Emma…" She was starting to tremble and Snow wrapped a nearby blanket around her shoulders as Charming paced in front of them.

"They'll be okay." Snow assured Vicky as much as herself. She couldn't think of her kidnapped daughter without tearing up, and so she tried to focus on the meeting at hand.

"Who are you?" Vicky stared at Snow in something akin to horror, her eyes flickering briefly toward Charming.

Snow offered up a sad smile. She didn't have time sugarcoat things and it certainly wasn't how she'd wanted to truly introduce herself to Vicky, but Regina had left her no other choice. "I'm Snow White. I'm afraid that Regina, the Evil Queen, has our daughters."

Vicky stared at her for a moment, eyes large and unblinking until they rolled back into her head and she passed out. Snow caught her quickly and laid her out on the bed, frowning worriedly. She would come to in a few minutes, but Snow was sure that her mind needed a break from first Regina's take over and then her own mini bombshell.

Charming paused his pacing to look at her and despite her worry and fear and everything else, her heart still filled at the sight of him. "Snow, I can't lose you again. I just got you back." He spoke softly, but the anguish in his voice was enough to start up her tears again.

"I know. You won't. We'll think of something."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yes, but what? We'll need backup, for one. We'll have to talk to the others."

Snow nodded in agreement. "What about Rumpelstiltskin? I haven't seen him around here, but Regina has magic here, maybe he will, too?"

"He'd never help us without a price."

"That can be figured out after we have Emma, Katie, and Lauren back."

Charming shook his head. "Snow, we should know better than to trust him by now."

"Well, we don't have very many other options!" Taking a deep breath, she swallowed down her anger. She knew she wasn't angry with him, that it stemmed from worry for Emma and the girls and frustration with the entire situation, but either way it wasn't at all how she'd imagined their reunion. It couldn't even be a real reunion without Emma.

"We have to give her what she wants. I'll give myself up and she'll give us the girls. We can figure out another plan from there."

"Snow…" Charming frowned. He wanted a clear plan to save both his girls. He didn't want to just play things by ear.

She shook her head, offering up a smile. "Let's get Vicky up and go talk to the others. Regina can't be the only person with magic here. We have to find the Blue Fairy, or find Rumpelstiltskin."