Double Trouble 57

A/N: Thank you, lovely readers, for being so patient with me! Thanks especially to the readers who left reviews and messages, I really appreciate it and I will get around to replying properly. I'm trying to get back on track with writing so here's a another longish chapter that hopefully makes up for the wait. We are getting quite close to the endgame, which I'm totally exciting about because there are a few scenes that I've had written for ages that I'm dying to work in.

Chapter 57 'Crushing'

19 Tremont Street

Ri pressed the doorbell and glared at the gold nameplate underneath which read 'The Ganders'. She had an irrational desire for the entire family of that name to feel her anger right now. The sound of heavy footsteps came running and the door opened to retrieve a largish pre-teen boy. He was not too much older than Henry but definitely bigger overall. His sullen brutish face was recognisable from her own world.

"Yeah?" said the insolent boy. He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Whatdya want? Or go away."

"Don't talk to a lady like that," Ri chastised. "I see your manners haven't improved at all, Georgie Porgie."

"I'm Ethan here, duh. Girls are so stupid."

"Where is your grandmother?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Don't care."

"She is here, I know it. Let me in."

Ethan went to slam the door in her face but Ri stopped it and shoved her foot in the gap. She flicked her index finger against his forehead and he flinched. Greenish mucous magically gushed out of his nose. It blew back and covered his face.

"Ewwww!" said Ethan, swiping at the disgusting sticky mess. "What'd you do that for!"

"That's what you get for being such a little snot. Bully my son again and you'll get much worse."

Ri huffed and brushed straight past him into the house. The TV was blaring in the living where Ethan had presumably been interrupted when he had to answer the door.

A cursory search of the austere barely-furnished rooms turned up nothing. It almost looked like no-one lived here, since there was nothing homely about it. No toys or books or any of the usual trappings of family life, which was strange knowing that a child lived there.

Maybe Ethan hadn't been lying. Maybe Mrs Gander hadn't brought Em here at all. Ri decided to check everywhere again, just to be sure.

"I've been expecting you, Miss Mills."

The voice speaking behind her was unmistakable. It was the Goose. Ri turned around and saw the elderly lady standing there in a threadbare white dressing gown and worn slippers. Her grey hair was still scraped into the same bun hairstyle she wore during the day.

Only someone who knew the older Regina would guess that Ri's polite smile was full of malice. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Mrs Gander. I believe you have something of mine. I'd like it back."

"Follow me."

Gander led her through the hallway and into a room that Ri had somehow missed in her search.

Em was sitting on a straight-backed wooden chair, just sitting there, as though she was at school waiting to be called into the Principal's office. Her dejected expression showed how trapped she felt. But her ankles and wrists were unbound and she was silent despite not being gagged. Obviously there was something more than physical restraints holding her back.

"Em!" Ri ran to her and cupped her bare face with both hands. "Are you ok?!"

"No," grumbled Em. "I've been kidnapped by a Nursery Rhyme character. How embarrassing."

"Did she hurt you?"

"Nah."

Ri sighed. "I was so worried about you. Where are your glasses?"

"The Goose took them. I can't see well enough without them, especially outside in the dark, so I don't know where we are. How did you find me?"

"I have your phone. I used the Googler for directions."

Em laughed. "Don't ever change, Ri."

Ri smiled. For the moment, her love was safe and nothing else mattered. She leaned in for a soft kiss, wondering if she had ever been as relieved to see Em as she was right now. Every time she saw her made her feel like she was falling for her just a little bit more. She remembered back to the first time she'd felt that for someone, when she met a tomboy-ish girl in the woods. It seemed so long ago now that they had met for the first time, and how unlikely it was that they had met at all. She had been so afraid back then landing in such a strange world completely alone. Em had comforted and protected her from the very beginning. It was her turn this time. She could be strong too.

"Can we get out of here using your ability to you-know-what?" Ri dropped her voice lower.

Em shook her head.

"But aren't you like Houdini?" asked Ri, using Em's catchcry from when she'd first arrived in Storybrooke which referred to her knack of getting in and out of locked buildings. The day they had met Em had boasted that she could escape the cell at the Sheriff's station.

"I can't do that anymore. Not since H."

Ri racked her brain for options. She realised why Em hadn't simply gotten up and ran away from Gander, she couldn't escape her captor on her own because her powers had been dormant ever since she became pregnant. Neither could she run out into the cold night not knowing where she was and not being able to see very well. Ri knew it was up to her now. She was the one with magic now as well as the advantage because Gander might not know that.

"I don't like being locked up," said Em in a small voice. "I hate feeling like I'm trapped and can't get away if I need to."

"I know, sweetheart," Ri whispered, stroking Em's cheek. "I will get us out of here, I promise. Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

For a minute there the girls had almost forgotten that they weren't alone.

"Your friend is my insurance," said Mrs Gander, emotionless as she watched the two younglings interact. "She is not to move from that spot until you give me what I want."

Ri turned around with a hard look. "And what is that? You are presuming that I have what you want and that I am willing to turn it over."

"I think you will, Miss Mills. You'll notice that I refuse to acknowledge you as either Queen or Princess. Your older self will certainly not be re-elected as Mayor if I have anything to do with it. You see, I've finally put all of the pieces together about what has been happening here in Storybrooke lately. I know that you and the young Emma Swan do not belong here."

Ri rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's true. We are not our older selves, we're teenagers. Congratulations on finally noticing."

Gander seemed pleased. "Thank you. It also means that no-one will miss you if you go missing. Or if something untoward were to happen to you... how could one be held legally responsible for the injury or death of someone who is technically still alive?"

"Oh wow," said Ri in an exaggerated voice. She pretended boredom by examining a nail. "That is a really good point. Did you hear that, Em? I think she's threatening us."

"If anything happens to either or both of you here in your future the past will change - for everyone. The Evil Queen will never cast the curse, the Saviour will never give birth, and Storybrooke will never exist. The crown will never rest upon your brow if I have my way. The tyranny of the Royals will end."

"Sorry to ruin your nefarious plan," Ri contradicted her. "But you can't change the past. Everything that is happening here now for Em and me is already part of Emma and Regina's history. That's how I know we leave here unscathed. We get away. You're going to lose. Everything will happen the way it happened and I will be both Queen and Mayor no matter what you do."

Mrs Gander lips tightened almost like a beak and she tipped her head. "We'll see."

108 Mifflin St

Downstairs in the mansion the heating and lights were still on even though it was well after midnight.

Mary Margaret and David had gone home to salvage what they could of the rest of the night's sleep. There was a delicate task ahead for early the next day. They would have to face the public try to quell the panic until the plan to concoct the True Love Potion could be enacted. Even in Storybrooke the people still turned towards the Royals for leadership.

The teenagers hadn't been heard from since that morning despite repeated calls to Em's phone. Regina was worried but Emma maintained that the girls had obviously gone out for a reason and that they should be trusted to come back on their own. Regina commented that it was highly suspicious of her to say so given her previous distrust of the teens, especially Em. Either Emma knew where the girls had gone (using her ability to magically locate people) or she didn't want them to come back just yet. But she refused to say which.

There were only three left at the Swan-Mills household and one of them had already fallen asleep. The other two were sniping at each other and occasionally lapsing into silence while they worked.

At first Emma tried to help with the potion-making but her "helping" was more like "getting in the way". She broke a pippette, made yuck-faces at the ingredients, and generally acted like a pest. Regina ordered her far enough away so that she couldn't ruin anything.

"I'd prefer you to be out of hearing distance too, dear, so I don't have to listen to your smart comments!" Regina called out sarcastically.

Emma ignored her and went upstairs to lay down. Presumably she'd fallen asleep soon after because they hadn't heard a peep from her since.

Regina thought it best to sit side-by-side with Henry and help him at every step of the way as he made the potion. She had sat down with him many times at the dining room table in this way when helping him with his homework. That aspect of motherhood required endless patience and persistence but this involved a whole new level of self-control.

The True Love Potion was critical. It could only be used once. Any mistake in the making of the final product would be lethal. They had only one chance.

Henry didn't seem to realise how dangerous the process was. Either that or he had taken to foolish levels his unwavering belief that everything would be okay. Regina blamed his Charming genes for that. She was not so confident. The desire to take over and do it for him was strong. She had to make sure he got the final product perfectly correct and so she was watching his every move like a hawk.

"Mom! Let me do it myself ok," Henry complained. He grabbed the mortar and pestle and held it away when she tried to take it from him. He was too stubborn to give it over to her and kept going.

"Henry!" chastised Regina. "I'm just trying to help. I've crushed the exoskeletons of parasitic insects more times than you have crushed that candy game on my phone-"

"You sound like Ri. It's 'Candy Crush Saga'."

"-There's a particular way in which it must be done. You must grind the shells with the pestle in circular motions until the powder begins to heat up. Three turns anti-clockwise, then one turn clockwise, and then repeat until-"

"I know. That's what I'm doing."

"Yes, that's good. But-"

"Mom!"

Swirl-swirl-swirl-

"Not too fast!" Regina's warning came a second late.

BANG!

There was a bright flash in the small stone mortar and the powdered bug shells puffed into a small cloud of dust which dissipated into the air. They both leaned back so as not to breathe it in. Henry waved his hand in the air to swoosh the dust out of their faces.

Regina gave her son a parental look. "You were doing it too fast."

"You were nagging me too much," said Henry in an identical snooty tone.

"You need to be more careful where magical substances are concerned. I cannot emphasize that enough. What if it had been the Fire Ants?"

"I guess they would have caught on fire."

"Yes, that's exactly what would happen. I can't believe Mr Gold hasn't taught you better than this." Regina muttered the last part, it was more of a criticism of the master than the student.

Henry ignored the slight and went fossicking in the wooden chest for more supplies so that they could start over with the Bed Bugs part. Regina had some of her own incredients but a lot of the substances were brought over by Cora who had left them in the Mills vault with the rest of her belongings before she died.

Regina disapproved of her master's failure to teach her son proper safety for performing magical chemistry. She watched Henry pour out another measure of Bed Bugs, hoping that he would get it right this time. They didn't have the luxury of time or enough supplies to keep making mistakes. She had to restrain herself from commenting as he crushed the shells for the second attempt.

This time Regina held her tongue and let him do it in his own way. It worked and when Henry was finished heating the bug shells he sat back in relief.

"This is a weird potion," the boy announced. "It's got Bed Bugs, Fire Ants, and digested butterflies in it. I've never heard of that combination before. Not to mention all the other unrelated ingredients. Mr Gold said every element in a potion is essential to the finished product and the recipe says we have to do all these complicated steps. Then it's supposed to explode at the end and glow afterwards. What does that have to do with love anyways? I don't get it."

"Ask your mother," Regina muttered. "The other one."

"Why not you?"

"I… I think Emma wanted to give you that talk."

"Why?"

"Because she missed out on so many of your milestones growing up. I thought she would appreciate this one."

Henry became suspicious. "Are you guys fighting again?"

Regina deflected the question. "That's not important right now,"

"Yes it is!" her son insisted. "This whole thing is about the two of you. Everything that happens is always about you and Emma. You belong together."

"I don't know if Emma believes that," Regina admitted.

"But it's true! You have to help her believe."

"I can't. You know what a skeptic she is when it comes to magic."

"Yeah, but... I wish you two wouldn't fight," Henry said with a pout. "I love you both and I want us all to be together."

"I know, honey. Me too. Come here."

Regina drew Henry into her arms for a hug. It was both a comforting and terrifying reminder of what she was risking. Her son. Her precious little boy. She had vowed many years ago that she would do anything to protect him. That had always been her fervent promise. Whether it was in her power to do so was an entirely different thing.

If she didn't survive the rebound of her curse, Henry would lose a parent. It would be up to Emma to raise him alone. Regina hated the idea that she wouldn't be around to see him grow up into a young man. She had a fundamental need to be there for him in life. But if she tried and failed to make the potion that would break the curse he could be killed. If it was a choice between her life and his, she knew what she would do without question.

There was nothing in the universe worse than the helpless feeling of not being able to protect your child.

It was lucky that Henry didn't question her about why his mothers were fighting. Regina wanted to be able to say that it was nothing to do with him, that it was just a disagreement that adults have sometimes and it didn't mean that she and Emma didn't love each other… but she couldn't. Their fight had everything to do with Henry. Their son was what they always fought about. They hadn't talked about it yet and she wasn't sure what Emma wanted with regards to their future. It had been a pretty serious fight. She couldn't help feeling intensely angry about it and Emma was no doubt still seething as well.

Perhaps this way it will be easier on her… if she has to lose me. If she has to carry on and raise our son alone...

It seemed ridiculous now to waste time fighting over their child's parentage when their time together might be running out, minute by precious minute.

Henry yawned and closed his eyes. He was getting sleepy. Regina rubbed his shoulder and leaned over to place a kiss in his hair. "It's very late. Why don't you go on up to bed and have a sleep?"

"But I have to help make the potion-"

"The next part has to simmer for a while. Love takes time to develop. I'll stay up. I promise I'll wake you when it's ready."

Regina gave him another goodnight kiss and sent the reluctant eleven-year-old off to bed. Through the archway she watched him drag his feet upstairs. As soon as he disappeared she got back to work by herself.

3am

Hours later Emma woke alone and went to investigate why Regina still hadn't come to bed. A quick check of Henry's room revealed that their son was sound asleep. She went downstairs looking for the other Mills in her life.

Emma leaned in the doorframe watching Regina fiddle with her glass chemistry pieces. Something was bubbling, something was letting off steam, and something was producing an undesirable smell. She had no idea how any of it worked but it looked impressive.

It would probably not be a good idea to tell Regina how much she resembled her cartoon alter-ego from the Disney movie right now. The only missing elements were the skull, the crow, and the crone's cackling laughter. In this case the Evil Queen was preparing a potion not to take a life but to save one. Plus restore an entire town's memories permanently.

"Is the potion coming along ok?" asked Emma, announcing her presence.

Regina looked tired as she adjusted and monitored the chemical processes. In one swift movement the beautiful sorceress picked up a tiny mixing flask and hurled it against the wall. The tinkle as it smashed to pieces answered the question more than words could.

Emma raised her eyebrows. "I'm gonna take that as a 'No'."

"Shut up," snapped Regina. "Or the next thing I throw against a wall will be you."

No objections here, Emma wanted to say. Instead she decided not to antagonise. "So... what's wrong with the potion?"

"I can not get it right! I followed the instructions that Gold gave us but it's not working the way he described it."

"Maybe the instructions are wrong?"

"Emma," Regina sighed in frustration, gesturing unnecessarily. "Do you ever pay attention? I said I can't do it. Magical chemistry is a very delicate field of study. Henry and I have been working on this for hours to get it right and it's still not working. A complicated potion like this is useless if the smallest amount of any ingredient is off. We can't even consider using the final product unless it's perfect. It's too risky. I must be doing something wrong."

"Or - like I said - maybe it's the instructions that are wrong." She saw Regina about to speak and hastily continued. "Wait. Before you get mad, hear me out. Gold says this True Love thing is rare right? So he's probably only made the potion once before, when he used my parents' love to bring magic to Storybrooke. He gave you the instructions for their love, not ours."

The idea peaked Regina's attention. "You think the potion is unique for each True Love pairing?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know. The relationship is unique so why not? Why do two people fall in love in the first place? The reasons can't be written on paper. Maybe you need to feel for the right way to make the potion instead of following a set of instructions. It's love, it doesn't do what you want it to do. Not in my experience anyway."

"Then the magic of True Love is just as unpredictable as dark magic. If that is the case it doesn't help us much."

"Why?"

"Because I'd have to invent a new potion for us from scratch. We have only a few days left, less perhaps, if things deteriorate more quickly. Even if I could manage such a task there's not enough time before the town is destroyed."

"You'll do it. Somehow. You know what's at stake-"

Regina's eyes flashed and her famous temper flared into an outburst. "I do, yes! Believe me I know. Do you think I don't feel the pressure of this crushing me? Do you think I'm unaware that I'm this close to losing everything dear to me? If I do nothing the town goes back to the miserable state of the curse, which means that you lose your parents and it's my fault for not preventing it. Or, I fail to make this potion correctly and my son is killed in the attempt. I'm powerless to stop my own curse! Everything I love is to be taken from me. How can I opt for either of those choices?!"

"There's a third option. Make the potion, restore the town, save our family and then -"

"Live happily ever after? How quaint your delusions are."

Emma fought an eye-roll. "Well, it's not exactly helpful assuming that it's impossible is it. If we lose hope then we're automatically defeated. Hope is the most important thing we have."

"You sound just like her," Regina said spitefully. "Your blind faith that Good will prevail in the end clouds your ability to see the present reality of how insurmountable this task is. Unfortunately that kind of baseless idealism seems to run in your family. But I can't trust it. I won't."

"We have to do this because there is no other option."

"You're saying 'we' a lot. I'm the target of the curse rebounding."

Emma was running out of ideas. She could tell that Regina was spiraling into negativity and didn't want her to lose faith. Even though she was close to it herself.

The Sheriff pushed away from the arch and went to take the chair opposite Regina at the dining table. As she sat down, Regina's eyes tracked her every move.

"I don't know much about magic," Emma said softly, pleading with her face. "But whatever happens I know it's gonna suck a whole lot less if we get through it together. It's our best chance."

Emma offered a small smile as a gesture that she was open to resolving their fight. But the blank stare she got in return wasn't encouraging and her hope that they could sit down and talk about it evaporated. Clearly Regina wasn't ready to patch things up. In fact, it was the opposite. She looked like she was working her way up to downright hostility.

"Before I forget," Regina said, turning her attention back to the potion kit and changing the subject completely. "Henry has a dentist appointment at 2.30 on Wednesday. Are you available to pick him up from school and take him? I've got meetings all afternoon about budget proposals for my re-election campaign, provided that I'm alive and the town is still standing that is. But I can shuffle things around if I have to. I need to know one way or the other."

"I'll be there." Emma ran her hand through her hair in exasperation. "Why do you ask like I'm gonna refuse? You know my workload is light. I've got time to make sure my kid's teeth aren't rotting in his head for god's sake."

Regina wouldn't meet her eyes and Emma got the feeling she was deliberately avoiding eye contact. "I was a single mother for ten years. I'm perfectly capable of managing my son alone. If I'm still alive next week, I can go back to that life if I have to."

"You won't have to! Let's be clear. You are not dying, and no matter what happens between you and me I'm not leaving him."

"You mean you're not leaving him again, dear. You have once already."

Emma slammed her fist on the table and the sound shocked them both. "That is unfair and you know it! I hate it when you're like this, Regina. You're trying to piss me off on purpose. Why are you acting this way?"

"Keep your voice down, you'll wake Henry." Regina glared.

ARGHHH! Emma screamed out her frustration in her mind. It was maddening as hell when Regina did that. When she changed the subject in the middle of an argument, especially one she was losing. She was taking cheap shots and rubbing salt into old wounds. 'The Mayor' was back in her least favourite incarnation.

Emma so wished that they were past this already. She was sick of arguing and tired of being attacked for every flaw in her past that her son's adoptive mother felt compelled to remind her of. Regina couldn't let it go. Ever. She took every opportunity to accuse her of abandoning their son as though she'd wilfully cast him aside and had never wanted him. Regina knew that was untrue and still she'd said it! After everything they'd talked about and gone over together as a couple, Emma's feelings about giving him up and Regina's reasons for adopting him… she'd thought they'd made progress towards coming to terms with their pasts. But perhaps she was wrong? Was everything unravelling now, thread by thread?

Earlier tonight they'd fought over Henry's custody as though it were last year and they had only just met. Sometimes it felt as though they were back at the beginning. Their son was the keystone of their relationship and it was he who had brought them together initially. The one thing they had most in common was also the reason they sought to tear each other down.

What's happening to us?

Across the table Regina didn't seem to be experiencing the same turmoil that Emma was. It looked like she was content with fiddling with her little bottles of hocus-pocus in silence.

Emma rose with an inaudible sigh and snatched up her jacket and keys. "I have to go."

"Where are you going this time?" Regina's head whipped around in her direction. "I meant what I said earlier this evening. I'm not going to put up with you walking out on me every time we have a fight. It's manipulative and I refuse to live like that, since apparently I'm not allowed to die. I will not sit at home and wonder whether you're leaving me for good this time."

"I'm not leaving you! I'm pissed at you, there's a difference. I'm going out because I got woken up just now by a call about a missing kid. The Mom is frantic and didn't want to wait 'til morning to contact the Station. She said she's your friend, Janet Meadows?"

Regina's face turned to confused worry in an instant. "Yes. Her three children are Henry's friends. Janet dropped Henry home tonight after the movies. What happened?"

"They went home after that and the kids went to sleep. Apparently the Dad woke up around midnight for some reason and when he went to check on the kids the youngest was gone."

She thought that would be the end of it but as soon as Emma grabbed her keys and headed for the front door, Regina got up to follow her out. Apparently she had given her enough information for her to want more. It was mildly gratifying in a pathetic way, Emma caught herself thinking it. The Mayor still needed her for something after all.

"Jenna's missing?" Regina clarified.

"Yeah. The parents said the bedroom window was left open and the room was freezing cold. Doesn't seem to have been a struggle and nothing was missing. It sounds like a runaway to me."

"But Jenna wasn't unhappy at home as far as I'm aware. It doesn't sound like her."

"Hey, I've known a lot of runaway kids. Trust me, some of them have good reason to run away and it's not always obvious to other people. Some families look like rainbows and hearts from the outside, but inside it's a whole different story."

"That isn't the case here. I know the family."

"Well, I don't and I'm the Sheriff," Emma replied stubbornly. "So until I determine whether the kid's ok I'm not ruling anything out."

"What are you going to do?"

"It's too early to know for sure. But the least I can do is drive around and see if I can spot the kid. She's eleven, right? If she has run away she's probably gone to the park or something. I'll find her."

Regina nodded and crossed her arms. "Very well. Go. Keep an eye out for the girls while you're at it. If you find them remind them that there's a perfectly decent bed upstairs and that they shouldn't be sneaking around outside in the middle of a storm. We're long past the point of stopping them from pawing at each other as they are wont to do."

"Don't worry about Em and Ri. They'll be fine." Emma dismissed the concern with a lazy wave.

"How do you know?"

"Because they're together. They're not like us, or our potion apparently. Things don't have to be perfect for them to get along just fine."

Emma inserted her key into the deadlock on the front door and twisted it with a clunk. She felt Regina step closer next to her. She frowned when the other woman smooth fingered the hem of her shirt, pulling it down. Being sniped at in the middle of the night had frayed her temper and she knew where this was going.

"You can't wear this-" Regina started.

Emma batted the hands away from her shirt defensively. "Get off it, Regina! I know you hate this shirt. You've told me a billion times that flannel isn't an acceptable fabric to wear in public. Newsflash, I don't care. It's the middle of the night and I threw on the first thing I could find. My job is rough and messy sometimes and I need to be able to move. I don't priss around in an office all day wearing Prada. I'm the Sheriff. No-one cares what I wear except you."

"At least cover it up with something." The way Regina sounded she wasn't bothered by the explosion of anger at all. She held out her hands in front of her like she were carrying something draped over her forearms. There was a purple puff of smoke and a second later a bundle of clothing appeared there. It was an all-weather parka with the title 'SHERIFF' written across the shoulders in white block lettering. She offered it to Emma without explanation.

There was no point arguing. Emma took the proffered jacket and added the extra layer over her flannel shirt, then ran her hand around the collar to free her long blonde curls. She glanced upstairs. "Is Henry asleep? He might know something. If Jenna was planning to run away she might've told her friends."

"Don't wake him."

"Why?"

"Because if he knows Jenna is missing he will want to go looking for her. He has a hero complex, like someone else I know. I doubt she told him anything."

"Alright. But if I don't find her by morning I'll have to question him then."

As soon as Emma opened the door the strength of the wind hit and nearly slammed it shut in her face. Regina held it securely and they both glanced overhead at the clouded night sky where no stars could be seen.

"It's dangerous to be out in this weather," Regina commented, acting as though nothing was out of the ordinary. "You must find Jenna right away. The storm sounds like it's getting worse."

"Yeah, I don't want to be out longer than necessary. Stay inside, ok?

Emma bit her lips together and fidgeted. There was a lot she wanted to say but not right now when they were angry with each other. She wasn't sure how to reassure Regina that she wasn't going to leave, having already broken that trust. She struggled to find words but didn't want to leave without saying anything.

"I will be back," Emma nodded, feeling nervous and lame. "Then we can uh, work on the potion stuff. Maybe we can talk later or something?"

Regina didn't answer so she hid a sigh of disappointment and made her way to the yellow Bug which was parked in the driveway behind the sleek black Mercedes. The wind was blowing hard enough to make it difficult for or her to walk in a straight line, hitting her in gusts from alternate sides. The rushing howl made it hard to hear and she wasn't sure if she could trust her own ears.

Getting in the car she thought she heard Regina say something behind her, but when she turned around the front door was already shut. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but it sounded like the voice said: "Be careful, Em."