A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to what turned out to be a very much transition-y chapter! A lot of resolution and set up in this one as we turn up the heat and sprint ever closer to the end of this arc. Lots of threads to tie together, which means lots of fun chaos for our characters to deal with. Enjoy!

(Edited and updated 11/16/2015)

A Gambit in Trust

Regina III

Regina wet the end of her finger and flipped a page in her notebook, skimming over her talking points with a halfhearted ambition to put them to memory. The worn leather of her chair became more comfortable with each passing second, making it all the difficult to bring her attention to focus. A faint headache threatened on the edge of her awareness and she let her eyes drift closed.

"It's a bold strategy," her self-appointed political adviser said. "But I'm not sure how well falling asleep on the job will go over with the average voter." Regina took her time in responding to the woman, taking solace in the brief moment of respite while she could.

Kathryn sat across from her, thumbs tapping away at her phone with reckless abandon. "Jim thinks the Hogg brothers are a sure thing," she said after a particularly satisfied press of her thumb, and set the phone down. Amusement glittered in her blue eyes. "With them locked down, you're almost definitely going to win the anthromorphic bloc."

"I suppose opposable thumbs are enough to forgive being cursed into becoming butchers." Regina mused with a small amount of surprise.

"Really went for the irony on that one, didn't you?" Kathryn laughed and then arced her back over her chair, stretching. Regina watched observed the woman for a moment before she took the opportunity to rest her eyes again, wishing nothing more than to curl up as the light of the setting sun warmed the back of her neck.

"I'm telling you something is going on, brother!" Regina snapped out of her moment of pure relaxation as her Sheriff appointed escort entered her office with another new guest that would not have been within miles of her home on an average day. "They won't even open the door to the public today." Leroy wrung his hat in his hands, the early evening light gleaming off his bald head.

Charming closed his eyes and Regina saw him mouth numbers as he mentally counted to five. "Like I said last night Leroy." He turned and braced his hands on the dwarf's shoulders. "I called the convent and spoke to Blue. Everyone's accounted for."

Color rose in Leroy's cheeks, from anger or embarrassment Regina could not discern. He glanced to her and Kathryn and leaned toward David, lowering his voice but failing to keep her from hearing it. "We've been meeting every day since… you know." His blush darkened and Regina blinked in disbelief.

How did she get to the point that the business of an illicit love affair between a dwarf and a fairy ended up in her home office and she was not even surprised?

"Now she's missed two nights in a row. You've got to get to the bottom of this."

David frowned, hesitant before speaking. "And you're sure things didn't… end?" Leroy bristled, rising up to his full height.

"Not the right call." Kathryn muttered just quiet enough so only Regina heard. She quirked her lip in amusement.

"Yes, I'm sure." The words came laced with restrained anger and David held up his hands in a placating manner. "Even if things went bad – which they aren't," Leroy said with the absolute certainty of someone speaking truth or lost in denial. "Nova would never just stop talking to me. She's better than that."

Having met the awkward but cheerful fairy, Regina felt obliged to agree with the dwarf's judgment of her character. It helped that she spotted a way for her to be rid of the man who had been her shadow the entire day. As worried as she was regarding the looming threat of her mother, Regina could not fathom remaining sane in Charming's constant company much longer.

"That woman has always kept fairy affairs close to the chest." She said, standing and hating the loss of the comfort her seat offered. Charming and Leroy looked to her, surprised and suspicious respectively. "It's possible if something has happened that she is trying to keep it under wraps."

"You see, brother. Even she agrees." David regarded Leroy's beseeching face and sighed.

"Or she found out about you two and doesn't approve." Leroy's head snapped in Kathryn's direction, but she held up her hands as if to stave off his sudden anger. "Just saying," she said. "Mother Superior had control issues." Regina held back a scoff at the understatement.

"Either way," Leroy said, his voice rough. "We need to get to the bottom of this." David studied the dwarf, and Regina could hear the gears turning beneath his thick skull. Duty to his daughter weighing against wanting to help ease his friend's worries.

She made the decision easier for him. "Go, Charming." He moved to argue, but she held up a hand. "The wards work, and, frankly, you're doing nobody any good here." He stood taller as he took insult. "You're the only active deputy." She reminded him. "Go. Calm minds. Keep peace."

"Fine," he said at length, running a hand along the back of his neck. "If anything even remotely suspicious happens, call me or Snow." Regina held back her incredulous laugh for the sake of avoiding further argument. Who said she couldn't be diplomatic when needed? David addressed the blonde, "Kathryn, mind staying until I get back?"

Kathryn held up a hand in the 'A-Okay' sign even as Regina objected. "I am capable of taking care of myself." She could not remember the last time she had any proper amount of time alone (time spent in a panicked state of inebriation notwithstanding). She had not realized how much she missed her time to herself until a full day with David as a companion – talkative and opinionated as he was.

The deputy and Leroy took their leave, the shorter man mumbling something under his breath the entire way. Their departure harkened the return to the sense of privacy her home once had. The only guest she had actually welcomed into the manor that day stood to her feet, checking her watch.

"What do you think, give them a five minute lead before I can go without raising alarm bells?" She grinned and Regina felt a rush of appreciation for the woman. She could not being to understand Kathryn's acceptance of Regina's past wrongs, but she was grateful for it nonetheless.

"I think that ought to be enough." She flipped her notebook closed and dropped it on the desk, tired of its company as well. She traced a hand down its worn cover, her notes floating through her mind of their own will despite her tiredness.

"You'll do well," Kathryn said, gathering her jacket and slipping it on. Regina flicked her eyebrows in doubt.

"If nobody tries to stone me on stage, I'll considerate a success." Kathryn let out a soft laugh. "A debate less than week after everything was put into motion," Regina continued. "Midas certainly went into this with a plan."

"We've already knocked it off course," Kathryn said. "Now you just have to completely derail it."

"Easier said." On her desk, her phone's display lit up as it scuttled a short distance with a pair of quick vibrations. The moment Regina saw the sheriff's name on screen, she snatched the device up and answered. "Tell me you've found Gold's spawn and are bringing our son back to Storybrooke, Sheriff," she said by way of greeting.

Kathryn gave a cheerful wave and muttered 'goodbye,' leaving the room.

"Mom!" Henry's voice greeted her rather than Emma's, laced with the loud rush of panic. Regina's heart skipped several beats as dozens of scenarios played through her mind's eye.

"Henry? What's wrong?"

"You need to get a couple ambulances down to the docks, now! Mr. Gold says we're almost at the magical border and he can teleport the ship without getting everyone hurt worse, and they need help."

Regina could not process his quick chatter properly. "Are you okay?" She demanded, hand shaking in a clasped fist.

"Yes!" He said, impatience bleeding through his desperate tone. "But Emma and my dad and Sister Astrid and Hook all aren't."

Dad!? Regina's breath hitched on the word, and a thousand questions burned in her head, demanding answers, but she killed them on her tongue and collected herself to a focus. Her son needed her and her confusion and fear took a backseat.

"I need you to start from the beginning," she said, grabbing her jacket off her chair and yanking it on.

He gave her an obviously shortened play by play of the day's events, and her stomach turned with each additional detail. When he finished, she longed to introduce Rumplestiltskin to a new realm of pain. "And then Mr. Gold made Mr. Smee bring us to Hook's ship and it turns out he knows how to sail, and we're almost back."

"I'll get everyone in place," she said, forcing herself to remain in problem solving mode. "Let me know the moment you cross the border." Her son gave a quick affirmative and the line clicked dead. Regina took a single, brief moment to gather her composure.

It seemed her son had a knack of leaving town and bringing back wayward parents. She wished she had the proper time to figure out the tumult of emotions she felt, but fate seemed determined to not give her any respite. She let out a harsh breath and pushed herself forward.

She had someone else's mess to clean up.

Regina managed to gather all four EMTs, both ambulances, a worrying Snow and her husband, a grim-faced Belle, and the pining dwarf in the twenty minutes since Henry made his call. All were watching the horizon as the Jolly Roger – missing the main mast and sail - loomed ever closer at an agonizing pace, their expressions ranging from disbelief to outright worry. When the remaining sails drew down and the ship lost speed, the others looked between themselves in confusion.

"Get ready," Regina said, hands flexing, her magic held just beneath the surface. Crimson smoke surrounded the vessel and the air thundered to fill the void as the ship disappeared. It rematerialized by the docks a heartbeat later with another echoing boom of misplaced air

Henry leaned over the side the moment the magic dissipated. "Hurry!" He called as the gangplank slid over the edge of its own accord and thumped against the dock. Regina broke the surprised inaction and raced onto the ship. Footfalls echoed as the others raced behind her.

"Here," Gold said from somewhere to her right, but Regina only had eyes for her son. She ran to him and checked him from head to toe with a critical eye, ignoring his protests. His jacket and pants were scuffed up, his hair a mess, and his scarf was missing, but he appeared otherwise in the same condition as when he had left.

A weight lifted off her chest and she breathed easier. Convinced her son was no worse for wear, she snaked her arms around him and held him tight. His warmth comforted her and anchored her back to reality. After far too short a time, Regina released her son from the hug and turned to study the situation as a whole. One pair of EMTs were taking the weight of a man off Rumplestiltskin's shoulder, his feet dragging listlessly between them. His ashen, sweaty appearance did not bode well for his health.

Nor did the look of abject desperation and fear on the Dark One's face. Regina blinked, startled. It was the truest emotion she had ever seen cross his visage. Belle lingered at his shoulder, but her touch and quiet words seemed to have no effect on the man.

"So that's his son," Regina said. She saw Henry nod out of the corner of her, but her son remained quiet as the medics dragged the man down the gangplank. Regina studied him as they passed, surprised by how average the man seemed. Typical height, short dark hair, unremarkable features that may have leaned towards handsome on a better day. She did not see much of Rumplestiltskin in him.

Her stomach twisted as her mind worked of its own accord and processed who he did resemble. She wrapped an arm around Henry once more, instinct telling her to mark him as hers.

Gold and Belle followed hot on the medics' heals. Regina locked eyes with Rumple for a brief moment before they stepped overboard, and past his anguish she saw the same understanding she had just come to.

Irony of ironies, but they were family now, however tenuous the relation.

How absurd.

She shook the thought away and found the second pair of medics kneeling on either side of Hook, who laid sprawled out on the deck, unconscious and with his left leg and arm wrapped in torn sections of his own clothing, drenched crimson. She sneered at the sight, a new level of loathing developing for the man as his foolish quest left people she cared about in danger.

She repressed the urge to tear his heart out and relieve Hook of his miserable existence.

"Regina." Though soft-spoken, the voice was firm and carried over the wind, drawing her attention. Emma leaned inside the doorway leading below deck, her left arm shaking as she used it to brace herself on the frame. Henry's scarf wound around her right – the same one the giant had dislocated, Regina noted with a frown - from forearm to shoulder, the grey stripes having disappeared as blood stained them to match the red. Worry flittered unbidden through her as she took in the Sheriff's state.

She had foregone her typical jacket and sweater, leaving her at the mercy of late autumnal winds in nothing but her tank top and jeans. A harsh bruise covered the left side of jaw, the rest of her skin ghostly pale, and her eyes were lined red with restrained emotion.

"Emma!" Before Regina could make a move, Snow and Charming stepped onto the deck and ran to their daughter after a single glance. David put Emma's good arm over his shoulders and supported her weight while Snow fretted over Emma's wrapped injury, fingers hovering an inch above the cloth as if she were unsure whether to unwrap it to check the wound for herself.

Emma did not object to the attention, relief cracking through her guarded features. Regina's eyebrows lifted in surprise, but attempted to remain focused on solving the current problem before wondering about the Savior's mental state.

"Where's the fairy?" Regina asked her son, but was unable to tear her eyes away from the familial display.

"Below deck, sleeping," Henry said. "Mr. Smee's down there too, but he's, uh, tied up." Regina wondered when Hook had had time to find any of his old crew. She squeezed her son's shoulder and led him to his other mother and grandparents, idly noting the EMTs loading Hook onto a stretcher with the help of the dwarf as they passed, their expressions grim.

"I've seen worse," Snow was saying as they approached. She peeled back Henry's scarf to reveal the bloody slash marring pale skin. The wound had closed, but it seemed a tenuous thing.

"Regina," Emma repeated, her voice still that odd combination of faint and firm. "Heal it."

"We've gone over this Emma, I don—"

"I don't care." Heat entered the savior's tone as she shoved the wounded arm toward Regina with a grimace as blood flowed anew. "I'm sick of being on the defensive all the time, and if we're going to take the fight to your mother, I need to be at a hundred percent." Crimson flowed over the limb in multiple rivulets, speeding up every time Emma so much as twitched.

"Emma…" Worry laced Snow's voice, but she did not outright object to her daughter's demand. Charming stood, silent and unwavering.

"Fine," Regina said, letting her annoyance bleed into the word. She was convinced to try not by the seriousness of the wound, but the intense hazel gaze Emma held on her, beseeching and demanding. "It's going to scar." She warned, and Emma gave a jerky nod. Regina took the wounded arm in her hands, studying it.

It had been almost three decades since Regina had seen someone wounded by a sword, even longer in seeing such an injury close up. To her untrained eye, the cut seemed to be clean. Two sections, a half foot long apiece, were separated by a hands-width of clear skin along the inside of her elbow. She could not judge the depth well, but Regina had the unsettling suspsicion she could see the woman's muscle through the blood.

"You look green," Emma noted, her lips quirking up in a smile that more resembled a grimace as she began to shiver. Regina hoped it was from the cold and not a sign of shock.

"Quiet, Sheriff." Regina placed a gentle hand on Emma's bicep, trying her best to ignore the sensation of warm blood flowing beneath her fingers. She licked her lips, trying to bring together her fears, angers, and frustrations to bear into formable will.

"Just saying," Emma said after her breath hitched at Regina's touch. The former queen lessened the pressure of her grip as much as she could while still keeping contact with the woman's skin, trying to minimize the pain she could not avoid causing. "You used to rip out people's hearts. This should be nothing compared to that."

Regina saw the jibe for the defense mechanism it was and fueled the annoyance it sparked into her magic rather than a biting response. Her will coalesced and coiled, ready to strike, and she pictured her intention in her mind's eye with a sharp intensity before releasing the pent up energy.

Regina witnessed a healer's magic only once in person. The process had been slow, careful, methodical in every sense of the word as the wound stitched itself back together inch by agonizing inch, leaving unblemished flesh behind. Rumplestiltskin had seemed an artist at work, each moment a calculated expression of his will.

Regina's execution resembled someone zipping a jacket with far too much vigor.

Emma jerked forward as the magic raced up her arm, her eyes wide. "Son of a fucking bitch." The blonde cradled the arm to her chest, hunched over, and let out a series of rattling breaths as David's grip became the only thing keeping her standing. Three sets of wide, fretful eyes landed on Regina and she bristled, defensive.

"I did warn her," she said, and stumbled as the price of her spell caught up to her in a rush of lightheadedness. She latched onto the closest thing to her – Emma – to avoid falling. The sheriff recovered enough to stabilize the pair of them before Regina's weight sent them both sprawling.

"Mom?" Henry's worried voice had Regina cursing straining herself with unpracticed techniques. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to regain control of her body despite its seemingly complete lack of energy.

"You okay?" A new note of concern Regina had not heard before entered the savior's tone. She forced out a nod and moved to stand on her own balance once more, ignoring a faint promise of nausea her stomach sent her. Worried hazel eyes studied her own and Regina noted that color had returned to Emma's cheeks.

She suspected hers had paled.

"I will be," she said, and cut a look to Henry, offering him as reassuring a smile as she could manage. "Don't worry." He frowned, unconvinced, but nodded.

"Well, thanks. Again." Emma said and stepped out onto the deck. She wobbled for a moment, but found her balance as she rolled the healed arm with a frown. "It's still stiff, but I think you got the shoulder too." She stretched her arm out wide, and the twin jagged lines of freshly sewn flesh almost seemed to glow red against the pallid skin surrounding them.

Each scar was as wide as a finger, and Regina could not help but wonder how much less of a mark a proper healer would have left.

Emma poked at the puckered flesh with curiosity rather than anger. "Just about good as new," she said, easing Regina's burgeoning sense of guilt. "Now, let's—" Emma started to take a step and her equilibrium failed her again as she stumbled forward. Regina caught the woman on instinct, her hands latching onto Emma's hips and her feet shuffling in quick steps back to dissipate the momentum.

Regina grunted in the effort to keep them both upright and felt a bubbling sense of embarrassment creeping up.

"How much blood have you lost, Sheriff?" Emma mumbled something that Regina could not make out even as close as they were. The woman's eyes were shut tight, lines forming in her brow.

"A lot," Henry said, his worry plain. Frowning, Regina moved a hand from hip to forehead, finding the savior's skin clammy and cold. Emma's eyes blinked open as she came back to the present.

"Don't say it," she said.

Regina did not have to as David stepped forward. "The only thing that'll take care of this is rest." He took Emma's arm around his shoulder and once again the blonde did not object, resigned to her fate. "Last time I had a run in with a sword, it took twenty-eight years for me to sleep it off."

"Not funny, David," Snow said, the back of her hand resting against Emma's forehead. "Get her back to the apartment and make sure she actually rests," the woman instructed her husband.

"Go with them, Henry," Regina said, arms crossing as the frigid air started taking its toll on her as David started to lead Emma away. "Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." Her son nodded, eyes faraway. Regina watched him and held back the expression of pure regret that threatened to make its way to the surface. Her little boy had been exposed to so much that he shouldn't have…

The trio trudged off the boat at a glacial pace, and Regina was put off by the lack of objections coming from Emma. The dwarf passed by them as he raced back up the gangplank.

"Those guys are on their way to the hospital, sister." He reported to Snow, ignoring Regina's presence altogether. "Any sign of Nova?" He looked to ready himself for bad news as fright and hope battled for supremacy in his eyes.

"Henry says she's down below," she said. Snow put a hesitant hand on Leroy's arm, squeezing.

"She crossed the town line, Leroy." She offered a smile that Regina supposed was meant as sympathetic. "You know what that means." He jerked his head in a jittery nods.

"I know," he said and pushed past them both. His lumbering steps echoed as Regina shared a look with Snow. This was not going to be pleasant.

She followed after the dwarf, pushing the memory of the last time she went to the bowels of this ship out of her head. They found the nun in the first room on the left, sleeping on the hardwood plank that served as a cot, Emma's jacket serving as pillow. Leroy slid his cap off his head and adopted a small smile, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder to urge her awake.

Nova jerked to consciousness, eyes wide and wild. She saw herself surrounded and pushed back into the wall as far as she could go.

"Hey, easy, easy," Leroy said, holding his hands out and wide, palms forward. "You're back in Storybrooke."

The woman blinked, her pupils constricting as she came back to the present. "Leroy?" She let out a slow, raggedy breath.

"I'm here," he said and moved to offer her a hand. She flinched away. The dwarf faltered, but managed to keep anything but a smile showing on his face. "It's okay, you're safe again."

She nodded her understanding, eyes downcast. "I just… need a moment."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Snow asked softly. Nova cocked her head to the side at the question, brows furrowing.

"No…" She said with a weak chuckle. "I remember waking up here, tied up and alone for hours." Her voice cracked. "And nothing before, it's just blank." She pressed the heel of her palms into her eyes. A foreign surge of sympathy ran through Regina as she traded another look with Snow.

"Nova…" Leroy spoke, eyes full of the frustrated empathy of someone who wanted nothing more than to help, but had no way to do so. Regina shifted, uncomfortable, having last seen that expression in her own father's eyes in his final moments...

The nun smacked her hands against the cot, driving herself to her feet in a rush of sudden motion. "That's not my name!" Leroy stumbled back as if the woman's words struck a physical blow. She brushed past Snow, but Regina caught her by the arm before she could get out of the tiny room. The nun spun around on Regina and, for a moment, she braced herself for an attack before the woman brought herself under control.

"Take a breath," Regina said in her no-nonsense tone. Nova averted her eyes, shame replacing panicked anger. "You've lost a lot of time. It's going to take a while to get your bearings."

"I know it's hard to believe," Snow said, coming up to squeeze next to Regina with her damnable hopeful grin. "But that time you're missing is more than just a few weeks. It's your whole life."

Nova looked dubious but did not argue. "I just want to go home," she pleaded more than said. Regina released the nun and flicked a gesture toward the dwarf.

"Leroy can take you to the convent." The man stepped up, hesitant as he played with his hat in his hands. Nova looked doubtful for a moment before nodding her acceptance. Leroy offered her a hand, but she shook her head and started down the narrow pathway. Dejected, Leroy followed after.

Snow moved to go with them, but Regina blocked her way. "We have another person to take into custody," she said. Snow looked torn but followed after Regina.

"Alright…" The one Henry named Mr. Smee lay on the floor in the same cabin the giant had occupied. His hands and feet were bound, his red hat stuffed into his mouth to act as a gag. On their approach, his eyes widened and he tried to shuffle away from them, his entire body contorting in the effort.

Regina suppressed a morbid grin the sight inspired and squatted down, ripping the hat from his mouth and leaving the man spluttering.

"Now, Smee, we're going to have a little chat." She trailed her fingers through the air, resting in place inches above his chest.

"It was all the Captain's idea!" He shouted, still trying to scoot backward. "Everything. Stealing from the convent, kidnapping the fairy girl. It was all part of his plan to kill the Dark One." Regina blinked, surprised by the man's quick confession.

"You're quick to place blame," Snow said and Regina heard the other woman step up just behind her, a looming presence over her shoulder. "Why should we believe you?"

"Because why do I care about messing around with the Dark One?" Smee's eyes were wide and darting, likely searching for an exit path. "Captain shows up and asks you along, you follow his orders."

"Just following orders." Regina scoffed, the excuse sounding hollow. "I've never heard that one before," she mused.

"That justification does not have a history of working out well for the person trying to use it." Snow's voice gained an edge that sent an instinctive shiver down Regina's spine. "And you following orders put my family in danger." The woman squatted down next to Regina, head cocked slightly to the side. "So try again," she said. "Tell me what you had to gain from all of this."

Smee wilted under their combined attention, sweat pouring down his blotchy face and into his unkempt beard. "Home," he said. A determined flint glittered in his eye and he drew enough courage from the word to jut his jaw at them. "He promised me a way home. No more gutting fish all day every day. No more going home to a tiny apartment, alone, to waste away my life doing nothing."

"And you believed him?" Regina laughed, quick and harsh. "You're a bigger fool than I gave you credit for."

"Captain doesn't lie," Smee said with surety of a pious man. "Not to his crew."

"Cora must have a plan to get them back to the Enchanted Forest." Snow concluded, her eyes narrowing. Regina refrained from revealing how unlikely her mother was to take on extras and let Snow follow her train of thought. "What do you know of it?"

Smee hesitated until Regina pressed her fingers against his chest. She relished the power of reputation as he started stumbling over his words again. "If that crazy bitch had a plan, I don't know it. She and the captain had a falling out right after I signed on."

"If Cora's on her own…" Snow trailed off and Regina nodded her agreement at the unspoken words. It would be a massive change in the situation.

"Keep talking," Regina urged the bound man.

"Not much left to tell," he said. "Plan was simple. Kill the Dark One, come back and gather the old crew before using a bean to get the hell out of this godsforsaken realm." He shook his head. "Went right to shit when we found the savior with him." He let his head bang off the floor, forlorn.

"Well she does have a habit of doing that." Regina stood, eyeing the prone man with contempt. "But your plan would never have gotten off the ground, anyway," she said. "There are no magic beans in this realm." With a flick of her wrist she cast a quick sleeping charm and caught the man in an invisible grip, holding him several feet off the ground. Blackness edged onto the corners of her vision and she stumbled, catching herself on the wall. Her spell held, tenuous at best, and Regina took slow, even breaths to maintain control.

"Damn it." Snow remained in position, pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes screwed tight. To Regina's relief, the woman had missed her episode.

"What is it?" Regina forced the words to hold an energy she did not feel.

It took a few seconds before Snow responded. "We played right into her hands." Snow stood, eyes opening but focused on something unseen.

"Explain," Regina demanded with a sinking feeling.

"Anton," she said with a sigh. "He had a viable seed with him. We agreed to be lenient on him if—"

Adrenaline eked energy back into her system as her mind processed the new information. "If he grew a stalk," Regina concluded, the pieces snapping into place. "My mother's exit strategy." She had to admire its boldness as much as its brilliance. "Either the giant kills us all and she just plants the seed herself, or she lets us do it for her." She shook her head, daunted by the thought that they had only scratched the surface of her mother's forward thinking.

"We should destroy it," she said after a moment's consideration. "Trap her in Storybrooke with the rest of us and make sure she knows it. She might make a mistake."

Snow looked as if Regina had suggested they kick a puppy up and down Main for laughs. "We can't," she said, adamant. "That beanstalk is the best chance we have of getting everyone home."

"Assuming everyone wants to go back." Regina countered, Kathryn's arguments having gained traction in her mind. She ignored Smee as he snored in the air next to her. "Who else knows about it?"

"Just Charming, Anton, and the dwarves. All trustworthy."

"You consider the giant hell-bent on murdering your husband trustworthy?"

"Cora tricked him." Snow defended with a challenging brow rising toward her hairline. "Hardly the first person that's happened to."

Regina smiled, the taste of bitter, angry words scalding her tongue as she held them back. "No, I suppose not," she said instead. Snow's phone chirped with the sound of a bird call Regina did not recognize, distracting them from the mounting tension.

"It's from Doc," Snow said as she read the message. "They've gotten Gold's son stable, but are bringing Hook into surgery." She pocketed the device and met Regina's eyes. "We should get over there."

"Why?" Regina asked, and Snow blinked. "Let Rumplestiltskin worry about his son." She clarified. "Hook's off the board. We can finally focus on a single threat."

"You agree with Emma," Snow said, surprised.

"We know what she wants," Regina said and jerked a thumb to her unconscious prisoner. "And now we know how she planned to get away." She held a hand out, palm up. "We just have to lay a proper trap and…" She clenched the hand into a fist.

Snow seemed dubious. "Easier said than done."

"Which is why we shouldn't waste any more time." Regina was already following the floating Smee out of the cabin as she began speaking. Snow followed hot on her heals. "We need to come up with a plan before everything settles." She glanced behind her, finding Snow grim-faced and unsure. "Take advantage of the chaos before she does."

An odd sense of anticipation built up within her as she strode through the underbelly of Hook's ship, and for the first time since learning her mother had come to Storybrooke, Regina felt an emotion that was rare to her at the best of times.

Hope.

E/N: I won't lie, this one was a bit of a struggle to get out. Regina's voice was harder for me to find this time around, and I'm not quite sure why, but I did manage to eventually eke out something resembling a chapter here. A lot of the differing factions are moving around off screen and will be coming to a head in the coming chapters, so I focused this one on mostly setup.

Please let me know what you thought!

How did you enjoy Regina's dynamics with the characters here, especially Snow? What do you think of Nova being the victim of memory loss in place of Belle? Do you enjoy the dwarves (at least Leroy) maintaining their revelance?

Anyway, next time up we will have Rumplestiltskin's first pure PoV chapter, and it ought to be a doozy!