A/N:

Hey guys! It's that time again! Apologies in advance for the lack of SQ in this chapter. I mean there's some, of course, but not as much as I know I would like if I was reading…BUT this chapter contains some crucial things to the storyline so it's pretty necessary for moving things along. Again in this chapter I've been baring in mind the TV storyline while mixing things up a bit, my favourite thing to do! This previous chapter saw the passing of 5000 views which is pretty damn awesome and I'm super super grateful to all of you who read, review and favourite! So happy reading, enjoy.

Rosie xx

(I do not own and characters from OUAT. No copyright intended).

Since Regina and Emma's encounter with whoever cast the curse, there had been a town-wide search going on everyday. They knew it was someone who could break through the blood-magic, but other than that they still really didn't know who they were up against. As far as Regina had been told her whole life she was an only child, she didn't have any aunts or uncles or extended family to speak of, they were all dead, but then again, nothing that Cora ever said could be taken as truth. With the missing year, and this conundrum bouncing around in her brain the brunette couldn't pinpoint what she knew and what she didn't anymore.

The mayor heard the clock quietly ticking away in the background as she worked at her desk in the study, for some reason constantly conscious of the speed at which time was progressing today. Last night had been…Interesting. Regina had opened herself up to Emma more than she had to anyone in a very long time. She had allowed Emma to get a small peek into her psyche. To allow someone to see her vulnerability, to understand the things that kept her up in fear at night and truly know what was going on inside her head was the most ultimately terrifying concept to the brunette. More terrifying than almost anything; the only thing which scared her more than opening herself up to someone emotionally was losing her one and only light in the world, Henry. That was more than she would ever be able to take. She had come so close so many times, but if she really did lose him, she would not be able to go on. This was one of the things that she couldn't admit to anyone. This and many, many more. There was a part of Regina which realised she had started something last night when she asked the blonde to promise that she and Henry wouldn't be separated again. She vowed that from now on she wouldn't discuss her feelings with Emma, the blonde didn't need to know any it only made her appear weak. Opening this door would help absolutely nothing.

As her boredom mounted, Regina decided to go for a walk and see if she found anything out of the ordinary. She could have been in the office working today; but she needed felt like she might get more work done at home. She had been wrong. Leaving her paperwork mid-sentence she gathered her things and put on some sturdy hiking boots. She thought it might be a good idea to canvas a few of the outer parts of Storybrooke, places that others wouldn't think to go; she had, after all, created this town.

She had been walking through the woods when she noticed a building in the clearing ahead. She had never seen it before, which immediately raised red flags. There was an entrance to something in the field by the house, which looked as if it had stairs leading underground, however on approaching it Regina realised that it was locked. She tried magic, but nothing worked; she must be more powerful than I thought, said Regina to herself.

There was a gravel path leading up to the house and the former Queen's heeled leather boots crunched on the stone beneath her feet. As she made her way closer to the house, she heard a rustling from the bushes ahead.

"Show yourself!" she yelled as a figure moved around the corner of the house.

She heard the thrum of a bow in front of her and raised her hand just in time to catch the arrow that had been shot directly at her. It had been years since she had been the target of this sort, yet her reactions were still as good that day as they had ever been.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were the Witch, I now realise I was mistaken," came the deep throaty voice from across the pathway.

The man walked towards her; he was good looking, tall, dressed in plain clothing that blended into the surroundings nicely. Strangely, she felt as if she had seen him before, but that wasn't altogether uncommon in a place this small. As their conversation continued she had an inexplicable feeling that this entire meeting had happened previously; like it had happened in the missing year.

"And you are…?" she asked, looking him up and down in a way she was prone to do when trying to intimidate someone. Her eyes narrowed as she took in his appearance. He was an attractive man but there was something about him that she didn't trust, his eyes had something hidden in them and his face would have appeared much more approachable had it not been constantly held in an unattractive grimace.

"Robin of Locksley, Robin Hood, at your service," he bowed slightly and extended his hand, which Regina promptly refused.

"Well, Robin Hood," she said with a vaguely disrespectful sneer, "come with me." She beckoned him behind her as they walked towards the house and entered slowly and quietly. Regina had her magic at the ready, bubbling at the surface of her skin and crackling around inside her veins in anticipation of attack. It appeared however, that the house was empty. Once Robin had cleared the house he returned to the small, plainly furnished dining room. Whoever this witch was, Regina could tell that they didn't have much of a proclivity for interior design. She wondered how a person related to her could ever live in a place like this as she ran her finger through a thick layer of dust on the table.

Robin walked towards the large wooden bureau that leant against the far wall of the room, rolling his sleeves up while his back was to Regina.

"Drink, Madame?" he asked, brandishing the bottle of whiskey in the brunette's direction.

"Yes, and I prefer Your Majesty, thank you very much," she said curtly. In fact, she didn't. But this man hadn't yet earnt the right to call her anything else.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," he replied whilst pouring two generous helpings into cut crystal glasses from the cabinet. He turned around, moving towards Regina who was leaning against the small table that sat in the middle of the room. He handed her one of the glasses, and as he did, she noticed the tattoo on his right forearm. She immediately looked up at Robin with confusion lining her features. This was he; the man who Tinkerbell had told her would be her soul mate. With everything else going on Regina didn't know how to process this, so she dropped her glass on the floor and walked swiftly out of the house, not even saying a word.

It was the tattoo from the tavern over 30 years ago, but what perplexed her even more was that she was sure, and she couldn't say why, that she had seen this tattoo again since that night.

Tyres screeched as the black Mercedes Benz pulled away from the grass verge on which the mayor had parked it, mud flying up from the wheels as the car spend along the quiet country road back into town. Her brain was directing her hands, steering this way and that, but she didn't even have to think about where she was going. She headed home to get changed out of her dirty hiking gear and into something more appropriate. Within minute she was back behind the wheel of her car speeding towards the convent. There was only one person in Storybrooke who could help her with a predicament of this sort, Tinkerbell; she had been the one who had told her about this man, after all.

The brunette slowed the car as has approached the tall concrete posts which marked the entrance to the convent's driveway. Gravel crackled under the wheels as Regina pulled the car into park and stepped out, marching purposefully to the door and locking the car nonchalantly behind her. She grasped the brass door knocker banged it against the door three times before stepping backwards. When the door opened in front of her the person on the other side was none other than Tinkerbell herself.

"Mayor Mills," Tinkerbell said, "what a lovely surprise. It has been a while," the woman continued with a smile on her face as she beckoned Regina in across the threshold. "Come in."

"Lovely isn't necessarily the term I would use," Regina answered, clearing her throat softly. Tinkerbell looked slightly taken aback by the Mayor's comment and spoke, effectively cutting Regina off.

"Are you here to see Mother Superior?" the blonde asked politely, "i'll go and fetch her."

"No dear," the brunette, grabbing the fairy's sleeve as she began to move away, "I came to speak to you."

"Oh, okay then, what was it you wanted to speak to me about?" she asked in her accented english. "It has been an awfully long time since you came to me for advice," she added jokily, but her face neutralised when she saw the look on the other woman's features.

"Where are the other fairies? May I speak freely?" Regina was worried that they would be eavesdropping. Fairies had a tendency to be nosy little blighters.

"They are all in the garden, Your Majesty," Tink answered, reverting to Regina's old world name as a sign of respect which went entirely unappreciated by the mayor.

"I am no longer a Queen," she snapped, "Regina will suffice."

"Very well, would you like to sit down and have some tea?"

"No, thank you," she said sincerely, "this will only take a minute."

"Ask away then your…Regina," Tink blushed at her mistake but the brunette was forgiving. So many people had it engrained into their minds that she was still the Evil Queen and that would never change, at least the woman corrected herself.

"I met a man today, who goes by the name of Robin Hood. Robin of Locksley I believe. He has the tattoo," Regina began and watched Tink's interest spike when she mentioned his name, and the marking. "He is not someone I have ever seen before, which means that he only came over with the curse. Do you know of him?" She watched Tink's face closely for signs but the woman seemed genuinely surprised.

Tinkerbell looked at her, shock painted on her face. "No, I haven't heard of him before, other than by reputation obviously."

However, what Regina didn't know was that in the time she had gone home, Robin had also paid Tinkerbell a visit. The two had been friends for years and years, and the fairy's allegiances would always lie with him, no matter what. She had told him about the fairy dust, and how one day a long time ago in another world magic had lead Regina to a man with a lion tattoo, Robin knew that the man could have been any of his men, but he liked to think that it was he and Tinkerbell entertained his idea. If she told Regina the truth, the real truth, the woman would undoubtedly reach a level of anger which the blonde didn't even want to think about experiencing. The information was irrelevant now anyway, or at least Tink told herself it was.

The fairy continued, "I have seen him around town and on patrols occasionally but we have never spoken. I'm sorry I can't be of more help," she said, as sweet as candy.

"Do you think it could be him?" Regina asked. "It is a distinctive tattoo after all, I am surely not mistaken about that."

"It could be," Tink answered, not wanting to speak too much on the subject lest she give herself away. "Maybe you should…pursue it." The blonde woman thought that encouraging Regina to give Robin a chance was a great thing to do. It would make her happy, give her a distraction. The two hadn't always been eye to eye but Tink liked to think that she had Regina's true interests at heart.

"Well, I don't know about that," Regina answered, more truthfully than intended. She really didn't. This man wasn't who she wanted, wasn't who she saw herself with.

"Think about it," the fairy added, reaching her hand out to brush the mayor's shoulder tenderly.

Regina looked at the clock above Tinkerbell's head in entrance hall, it was almost time to collect Henry and go home for the evening.

"Well," The brunette said turning on her heel towards the door, "thank you very much for all your help Tinkerbell, the information is appreciated. Good day."

"Goodbye Regina," Tink said politely.

There was something not quite right, Regina thought as she exited the convent, leaving a smiling Tinkerbell behind her to close the door, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She wished momentarily for Emma's lie-detection powers, they really would come in useful sometimes.

Regina, Emma and Charming were driving slowly along the edge of the field neighbouring the Witch's house. When through the headlights Charming saw a large row of trees in front of him he pressed the breaks, put the car in park and killed the engine. When Regina had informed them of her discovery from this morning it was decided that they should return immediately; time was of the essence in this situation after all.

Emma, who was sitting in the front seat, turned around and greeted Regina with an optimistic face.

"Let's go", she said as she turned around and unclasped the seatbelt around her midsection. They had discussed their plan on the journey, and it had been agreed that they didn't have a plan; they were just going to have to go for it. Regina did however say that if they encountered the Witch and she just poofed away again – because that was something which they could all foresee – Regina would try and follow her magical trail, since it appeared that she could use blood magic to trace her. It was something she hadn't thought of before, but on researching blood magic she found that there were other things which came with using it that went past being able to break their spells. The only people Regina would have ever used blood magic on were her mother and father, and Henry; she had had no need to use magic on her father or Henry and no courage to use it on her mother, so this was relatively new to her.

They exited the vehicle and soon they walked into the corner of the pasture, using torches to guide their way. Charming was the leader he opened the gate, putting his torch in his mouth for a minute to use both hands.

Once they were all safely through the gate they walked in a line across the large field, keeping pace with each other until they reached the outer fence. Emma ducked down first and rolled under the fence, which they could safely say was probably electrified.

Regina, almost disgusted that Emma would just roll on the ground, ducked gracefully under the wire and wisped herself back up into standing position. Charming, being significantly bigger than both women had to resort to crawling under on his hands and knees. Regina almost laughed but managed to hold it in. If it wasn't for the fact that they could have been heard she would probably have laughed a high throaty chuckle and probably been told off for it.

The trio approached the large shelter in the ground and crept further forward. Their feet squelched in the mud as they walked along the side of the house, keeping their heads just underneath the windows. Suddenly, Regina sent her hand behind her. It hit Emma's shoulder and stopped her from moving any further. There had been a noise around the other side of the house and there were movements in the shadows across reflected from the interior lighting. The Witch appeared from around the corner, and Regina was able to take in her face for the first time.

Behind her Emma heard her father unsheathe his sword and simultaneously raised her firearm to point at the threat in front of them. She watched Regina raise her arm slowly, and imagined that her face was becoming that terrifying mask that mostly consisted of Who the hell do you think you are and don't piss me off. Emma had seen that face more than a few times, it was the face she saw the first night she met Regina.

The Witch in front of them stood stock-still. They were all poised for battle and watched her face intently. A small, sly, sneering smile slowly crept onto her face as her eyebrow lifted up in challenge.

"Catch me if you can", she said in a singsong tone as she disappeared in an effervescent cloud of emerald smoke.

Immediately, Regina's presence left Emma's side and she watched as her son's other mother ran towards the spot ten feet away from them.

"Be careful Regina!" Emma cried in panic as she watched the former Queen stand still, her hands outstretched in front of her as her purple smoke mingled with the remnants of green. It crackled loudly where it merged. When the crackling was over and the smoke had dispersed, Regina was gone.

The brunette felt her feet firmly touch the ground as she landed in her as yet unknown location. Her own purple smoke was still surrounding her, twirling mesmerisingly in front of her eyes. Everything was moving in slow motion and the earth span inside her head. She felt the way she had the very first time she ever practiced this spell. Typically, moving from place to place was one fluid motion, she would simply picture where she wanted to go, and appear there. It felt like the magic was coursing through her veins like millions of tiny stars twinkling throughout her entire being. That was what magic felt like most of the time. But this time it was different. Using someone else's magic certainly had less than desirable effects. Instead of stars, her body was filled with countless minuscule razorblades. Briefly, the fleeting thought that the woman could have attempted to protect her magic against Regina crossed her mind, after all she didn't know how powerful a sorcerer she was facing.

All in a second Regina's mind came back to her as if her magic had finally won the fight against its counterpart over her body. The smoke cleared and permitted her to see the Sorceress in front of her, as well as finally being revealing their whereabouts.

It was cold, was the first thing the brunette noticed. It was then that she quickly absorbed the sight in front of her. The huge stone walls which should have been confining them now; but Regina knew that if her enemy had managed to get in here, she would be able to get out just as easily. They were in her vault. Of course we are, thought the former Queen sarcastically, because you want to taunt me and I have no way of keeping you out.

She met eyes with the Witch in front of her. She had another one of those "you can't beat me" looks on her face, and Regina would have been disconcerted by the fact that her face exactly mirrored that of Regina's mother when threatened, if it hadn't made her so angry. No, the Mayor hadn't verbally threatened her yet but for people like them, who had experienced true power and evil, someone using your magic to chase you is most definitely construed as an intimidation tactic.

Regina's eyes bored into the defiant, bright green eyes in front of her with her chocolate pools tinged purple with rage. Her loathing for everything this woman was and was trying to do prompted her to boil over the surface.

Storming furiously towards the woman across from her who was darkly dress in a black dress and long velvet cape, Regina exploded.

"You!" She said, pointing her finger more than accusingly.

"You are pathetic," she spat maliciously, "you have taunted and teased me, disappearing away at the first second I get a glimpse of you." Before she continued, Regina raised her hand and grasped the woman's chin with brute force, tilting her head towards her. Her victim slowly and deliberately raised her hand, no doubt summoning her magic to the surface in response.

"But you're afraid. After all this…cursing us all and playing with me, that you might not be able to defeat us. You're scared that the Evil Queen might be stronger than you after all, and you know what?" Regina asked cruelly, her eyes opening scarily wide as she glared into the face in front of her with hatred as blistering and treacherous as a thousand burning suns.

"I am."

"I am better than you, and I am stronger than you and I am altogether more formidable than you and," she emphasised, letting go of the Sorceress' face, "I have a whole lineup of people behind me. I will break you. Stop the feigned cockiness and fight me, because I assure you." She paused, "you will not win."

She didn't even realise what had come out of her mouth until her lips had stopped moving. I told her to fight me, Regina berated herself silently, I sound like Emma. Oh god.

As the brunette's brain was freaking out, she noticed the tugs of a smile appear on her counterpart's face. The corners of her mouth titled up as her nose scrunched just minutely and she breathed in deeply. Regina dropped her outstretched hand from the woman's jawbone and raised her hand up, her fingers curling gracefully as her magic was roused to her defence.

The showdown continued, both women staring at each other with fire in their eyes.

The auburn woman's mouth opened, her cunning smile broadening as she expelled the sentence that knocked Regina for six.

"See you later…" she said, emerald vapour beginning to rise from the ground around her, her eyes glinting with malice.

"…Sis."