What's up guys?! These reviews are FANTASTIC! Look at all of them! This is so exciting! It has been a BUSY week and I've been writing at every free minute I come across! This is just a quick chapter to get everything set up and such :) I hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions or suggestions or scenes you would like to see then please feel free to leave them in a review and I will answer as soon as I can!

It had been nearly two weeks since he had fallen in to this world and they were no closer to finding him a way out. She had been doing better. There had only been a handful of arguments between them but none escalated quite as far as their first. She was stubborn, and so was he. Something he undoubtedly learned from her long ago.

They were getting along incredibly well otherwise. He still often caught her staring at him in wonder at how he kept his word to stay with her and how much he enjoyed her. He loved it. He found it endearing and amusing.

He grinned with his bottom lip caught between his teeth as he snuck up behind her. She sat in an ornately carved chair of a dark wood as she flipped through the pages of a book. One of many in her surprisingly large library. Probably some spell book of sorts. She was still set on having Snow's heart in a box but it wasn't so much a blind obsession anymore. He didn't really expect anything else yet.

He stepped right up behind the chair and held his breath as he moved his raised hands forward and gently clapped them over her eyes. He let out a light laugh in delight and mischief when she jumped just a little in surprise at the contact and loss of sight and then let out a long pleasant hum as she put the book back on the table.

"Did you need something?"

"No," he laughed with a shake of his head and she gave a short hum with a small nod of her head, her cheeks moving beneath his hands with the beginnings of a smile. He gave another quiet laugh before he removed his hands from her eyes and left a kiss on her cheek, something he knew quite well wrung a little life back in to her heart every time.

"It's time for my archery lesson," he grinned and she scoffed a quiet laugh with a shake of her head.

"No it's not."

"Sword?"

"You just returned from it."

"Riding?"

"We previously agreed on late this afternoon."

"Come on," he groaned a whine with his laugh and hung his arms around her as he dropped forward and rested his chin on her shoulder causing her to bite back a growing smile, "please?"

"I'm busy," she excused kindly and he let out a long dramatic sigh but nuzzled his chin in a little further to her shoulder and tipped his head so it rested against hers a little. She didn't really know how to react to the gesture so she simply didn't react and tried to continue on normally. However none of this was really all that normal to begin with. She did quite enjoy his company though. It was a surprisingly welcoming feeling to not be feared. She was still trying to wrap her head around it.

"What are you doing anyway?"

"Research."

"On what?"

"Methods of world travel."

"Find anything yet?" He asked curiously as he hugged his limp arms around her shoulders and looked down at the book still on the table.

"Not anything without a catch, no," she shook her head a little and then swallowed tightly in her discomfort at being out of her element with his arms wrapped around her.

"Hmm. What about magic beans?"

"There are not very many. It would take time to locate one and even longer to acquire it."

"But it'd work, right?"

"I don't see why not."

"Well then let's start looking for one!" He smiled and she shrugged, "I mean worse comes to worst we can go up the beanstalk and see if we can talk Anton in to helping us."

"Who is Anton?"

"The giant that lives up there. He is in Storybrooke now and you and him are working together to rebuild the magic bean crop that had been destroyed. You had stolen a plant before the crop was burned to the ground. Worked out pretty well for you actually," he chuckled and shrugged his shoulders up a little.

"This supposed future of mine perplexes me..."

Henry chuckled and gave a small shake of his head, "you'd throw me in to a mad house if I told you everything."

...

Regina walked down the spiralling stairs in to the dungeon, a sway to her hips, and fingertips gently trailing along the wall. She walked silently and nodded to the guards standing at their posts as she worked her way down the tunnels and slowed her pace in front of David's cell. He stood when he saw her, a scowl on his mouth and fury in his eyes. But she was not affected by it and slowed to a halt when she was perhaps a stride from the cell door.

He stared at her through hard eyes and she studied him carefully and slowly. And thoughtfully. What would happen if she were to let him out? How would she play her cards? How would he play his? Was the boy right? Or was he wrong? Would this shepherd aid her? Or cause her distress?

David watched her with his jaw clenched in rage and his brow furrowed for the same reason. She still said nothing and he was growing irritated by it. She just stood there. Studying him. He wanted to know why. He had yet to interact with her. He had seen her from a distance and he had seen her up close when she had taken him from George's guillotine but he spent the ride to her palace in a carriage of iron bars and she rode ahead on the back of a black horse.

He was irritated by that fact. That he had yet to hold a conversation with her even after being thrown down there in her dungeon for two weeks. And now there she stood before him. Silently.

However something was different, something was off. She was...curious...she was studying him but not with malice, not with any sick twisted playfulness. She was quiet and calm and curious. This was not the woman he knew her to be, "what do you want," he hissed furiously as he stepped right up to the bars with his teeth bared and his posture aggressive. Her dark eyes snapped up to his but they were not storming with rage or dancing with the game. They were analyzing him and it infuriated him.

"What do you want?!" He yelled and hit the bars hard with the palms of his hands. She didn't so much as blink. He snarled at her and her eyes never left his own as she stepped up to the bars with a gentle tilt of her head and a smooth sway of her hips. Her steady eyes never faltered and his furious ones didn't either. Not until he heard the distinct click of a metal lock being opened. He looked down to find she had inserted the key in to the lock and was now unhooking the heavy lock from the thick chain around his door.

He looked back up at her again and her eyes hadn't seemed to move. He looked her up and down quickly and she pulled she chain from the door, outstretched her hand to the side and let the heavy metal drop to the ground. Then with one last look at him, she turned and walked away as though nothing had happened. He watched her leave from behind the door and just before she disappeared in to the dark, she looked over her shoulder at him and then her eyes were lost to him.

For a little while he stared down the tunnel where she had disappeared and then he looked down at his door and gave it a little push and it slowly swung open. So he cautiously stepped out of it.

...

"What's up?" He smiled and her eyes flicked to his in a question and he laughed a little and rocked his head side to side in small movements as he rephrased, "what are you thinking so hard about?"

Regina watched him curiously, her elbow on her knee, her thumb beneath her chin, and her pointer finger against her temple as she sat on the stone stairs outside in one of the courtyards. After a a few moments of contemplation regarding the boy, she dropped her hand from her face and laid her arm across her thigh, "I let David out."

"You did?!" He grinned and she nodded once, her analyzing eyes betraying nothing, "well where is he?"

"He'll be up here soon I imagine."

"That's great! Is he going to stay?!"

"I don't know. I haven't spoken with him yet."

"But you're going to right?" He grinned excitedly and she nodded, her expression still giving nothing away as she studied him.

"Yes."

...

David walked down the courtyard with guards on either side of him and a scowl on his face. The sound of laughter caught his attention but did not change his expression and when they rounded a corner he was only confused by what he saw. The queen was in a small decorative water feature with a young boy and the pair of them were kicking water at one another, their laughter turning shrill when they were hit by the spray. The woman wore a deep red gown with a low sweetheart neckline embellished with jewels and different threads. It looked much different when she had come to him in the dungeon. Much softer and more feminine now in the daylight. Not that he had been paying much attention to what she had been wearing in the dungeon.

Her dark hair was left down and the ends were wet from their...game but he was not deterred by her new appearance. When the guards stopped he stopped as well and a moment later the queen and the boy came to a stop as well.

"Hi David!" Henry waved with a laugh and David furrowed his brow in response but Henry ignored it and sent one last kick of water in his mother's direction. He revelled in the startled shriek she gave before she laughed and kicked some back at him.

With a laugh still vibrating in her throat, Regina stepped out of the water and toward the prince, "you are dismissed," she nodded at her guards and they took their leave.

"I want answers."

"Of course."

He was taken aback by her open tone but his pause only lasted a moment before he snarled out, "why am I here?"

"Well originally you were here to be used as a taunt but that boy behind me has changed my mind. You are here now because I am going to give you three choices."

"And what are those choices?" He snapped angrily.

"Kill me," she offered and he squinted his eyes skeptically, "leave to go find your dear Snow White, or," she nodded and then took a step closer, "stay and keep me from falling back in to the dark. I cannot do it alone and this child will be going home soon," she admitted calmly and held his sharp blue stare. When a quick hand firmly gripped around her neck she was not surprised and remained unmoving and held his gaze.

He could feel her pulse beneath his fingers but it was steady, even when he squeezed his hand tighter around her fragile neck her pulse remained the same. Only her breath stopped. Her eyes were soft, calm, and accepting and she didn't so much as blink. Just as she had responded to him earlier. He didn't have it in him to kill with his bare hands when the victim of his rage didn't so much as try to fight back. Furious, he let go and pulled his hand away with a clenched jaw. Still she didn't so much as bat an eye and instead gently cleared her throat.

He was sure he was going to regret that decision later when she started killing again. But despite that assumption of regret, he took a step backward and then turned on his heel and walked away from her and toward the exit of the courtyard, taking a quick look at the boy who stood at the edge of the water feature he had been playing in. His expression was one of disappointment and what the boy was disappointed of, David couldn't say. Nor did he care at the moment.

He didn't know what game the woman was playing. But he needed to get back to Snow.

Henry watched David leave with a small frown and dropped shoulders. He really had thought that David would stay and help. Perhaps he was just too angry in this area of time. Or had been locked in a dark dungeon for a few too many days. He swivelled his head to look to his mother and she wore a face of indifference as she watched David leave. When she looked down to him she held his gaze for a moment, her dark eyes analyzing and learning his expression before she tilted her head in a quick subtle motion for him come with her as she turned back toward the castle.

...

David grumbled furiously to himself as he walked from the castle with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back. "Locked in a dungeon for two weeks," he grumbled with his quick pace, his arms starting to move in random flailing gestures as he rocked his head on his shoulders, "I changed my mind, David, I'm gonna let you out, David, oh and you want to try and kill me, David? Go ahead! I'll make it real easy for you now! I won't even flinch! Ready, set, go! That arrogant little wretch," he snarled through his teeth with his fists balled tightly in rage at his side.

"What even was that?!" He spun around to yell at the castle in the distance. He wasn't too far from it. He was right at the tree line of the forest. He was even more furious when the castle didn't offer him an answer. He was actually genuinely surprised she had let him go without incident. No guard stopped him on his way out, they didn't even look at him. But that surprise was not a priority when it came to the anger and confusion as to what the hell was going on with her.

And then for her to offer for him to stay and help her? Was she serious? Why would anyone in their right mind wish to stay there with her?! He let out another furious growl and turned his back to the castle and began walking away only to have Snow's voice chime in his head.

"You don't know her like I do! She is not this person!"

"She can be saved, David."

"I ruined her life. I need to right that wrong."

"Give her a chance!"

"Her heart is good!"

"You don't know who she is! I am the only one that does!"

"She is the greatest person I have ever met. I need to find her again."

"Why can't you just trust me?!"

Every argument with Snow regarding Regina bounced around in his mind, all different tones, different volumes, different levels of anger and frustration at one another's stubbornness. He let out another furious yell and then spun back around and walked toward the castle again, refusing to admit to himself why he was really doing it, "I forgot my fucking sword!"

...

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

"You sure?" He asked in concern as he rose on to his tip toes to inspect her neck for any blemish left by David's hand.

"Yes," she assured but he was not convinced and stepped even closer to her, "Henry-"

"I just want to make sure!" He insisted, more than a little panic and worry entering his voice as he looked up and met her dark curious eyes for a moment before looking back at her neck. Her shoulders dropped with her exhale as she conceded and let him inspect her neck and he worked on easing the slight churn to his stomach. "Your neck had a purple handprint on it for days after D-..." He cut himself off quickly and swallowed. She didn't need to know the story of Daniel in Storybrooke.

"You almost died and the whole thing messed you up for a while and the bruises freaked me out because...I just don't want to see them on you again," he shook his head quietly, his eyes focused on her throat.

Regina frowned and felt her heart soften in understanding while his steady focus remained on her throat. Slowly she bent down a little until her eyes were at his level and he had no choice but to look her in the eye. She reached forward with one hand, the backs of her gently curled fingers tenderly moving across his cheekbone to his temple and down his jaw. He leaned in to the contact with eyes that were staring to gloss with tears and she gave a small smile that was part frown and whispered kindly, "I promise I am alright, little prince."

Henry's expression creased at her gentle voice and choice of words that had a tear rolling down his cheek. It was all so familiar and comforting and with a choked breath her jumped in to her and wrapped his arms as tight as he could around her middle. He let out a shaky breath when her arms easily wrapped around him and held him close as she curled around him and he felt her soft breath ruffle his hair. Everything was okay.