The palace was stunningly quiet, and nothing about it would betray who was lived within. Snow could barely believe she had called this place home. It was cold. It was horrible. It was something she could not recognise. She swallowed back the urge to scream, to let out a horrible cry of anger for what had happened to her father. But she didn't. Instead, she let herself cry, albeit silently. Beside her, Red and Charming each put a hand to her shoulder. A few minutes passed. Snow let the warmth from their hands, and the warmth of the night, punctuated by a soft breeze, giving herself a chance to regain her calm. Then, looking back up at the palace, she found her eyes staring up at the room in the palace where she knew Lynn slept. Would Regina be in there? She was terrified to know. Nevertheless, she met Red and Charming's eyes, before nodding. With that acknowledgement, Red smiled at her and silently climbed up the sides of the palace, evading where any guards could be, finally slipping into the princess' room.

Regina was not there. It was just the princess, though Red was certain there were guards outside of the doors. The balcony doors were only open to let in the breeze, and the little princess was sleeping peacefully. Red found herself wanting to start to cry, shaking a little under her cloak. The princess had no idea what kind of monster her mother was. She had no idea Regina was violent, vengeful, that she killed people who stood in the way of what she thought was justice, vengeance. Regina did love her daughter, none of them could or would deny that, but she was not good for her. She wouldn't realise it, but her ideas of protecting the daughter she was so worried about at all times would hurt her. It wasn't going to be good for her. This environment was not a good one for her to grow up in, one where the only person whom she was consistently around was someone who only cared about her, herself, and perhaps a handful of others. It was not a long list of people that the Queen had any care, any love in her heart for.

Red briefly startled upon hearing footsteps, the clicking of heels, starting to approach the room. Her heart racing, Red ran silently to scoop up the sleeping princess, keeping her wrapped warmly in her soft, fur blanket, before jumping off the balcony, climbing effortlessly and silently down the side of the palace. She paused halfway down, however, upon hearing shouts, shouts of anger, of fear, of upset. Red gently cupped her hand around one of the little princess' ears, keeping the other pressed against her chest. The little girl stirred, but she did not wake up. Red let out a soft sigh of relief, reminding herself that her hearing was so significantly heightened that nearly any sound could reach her as a shout, depending on the tone, and especially so near a place where echo could so easily bounce everywhere. She glanced down to where Snow and Charming were, them hidden from the view of whatever guards could be around the palace or summoned. Then, she looked back up, holding herself in a secure position to listen, feeling almost as if she were in the room being spoken to directly despite her presence being unknown.

"Where the hell is she?"

"Your majesty, I never left this -"

"Who did you let in? The both of you!"

"We saw no one, heard nothing!"

"We were here the whole time, never wavered, never moved!"

"She might have just wandered -"

"She doesn't 'just wander' off, if that's what you're implying!"

"Regina?"

"Daddy, I'm in no mood!"

"What's -"

"Lynn! She's gone!"

"Oh, Regina, we'll -"

Groans, cries of pain could be heard. Red felt horror bloom in her chest, and she looked down at the still sleeping princess.

Just because she thought they didn't do their jobs right, she ripped out their hearts and crushed them? Red forced herself not to let out a scream of horror of her own. Oh, Lynn, you're going to be safe. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry your mother is this heartless.

"I don't care what you have to do! Find her…and kill whomever took her!"

Without another thought, without a moment to hesitate, Red quickly slid the rest of the way down the palace. Silently, she ran, and Snow and Charming followed her the second they saw her go past. Red began to slow, knowing the weight of all their supplies the two were carrying would make it even harder than it already was to keep up with her. This went on for over an hour, though how long it was felt different to each of them. Adrenaline rushing through her, Red couldn't believe making off and away to a safe site, deep in the woods to set up camp took more than fifteen minutes. Charming, feeling almost certain they were being tracked, could have sworn it had been hours upon hours, though it would be quite awhile before they saw the sunrise. Snow was the only one who could feel the time for what it was. She looked around as they walked, their pace having slowed when Red realised they needed to. It was quiet, and she knew full well there was nothing around them but the trees, the area all around them. Safety.

By the time they were sure they were alone, at the safe site, surrounded by the canopy of trees, the three of them began to set up camp. It was at that point Charming realised they hadn't been followed. He felt his chest tense, a reaction to the way his 'father' had always treated him. King George had never let him do anything without his permission. He had to know everything, at all times. He still couldn't believe he had been able to get away. Then again, he was almost certain King George had become well aware he could never regain control of him, that he had never truly had him under his thumb. He didn't doubt King George would be more than happy to take him back, to torture him or worse, if he found him, but he also doubted he was wasting resources trying to actively look for him. If anything were certain to him, it was that. As they continued to set up the tents, Charming watched how maternal Snow was with her step sister, whom Red had set in her arms to help with the pitching of tents and the cooking of the food they had procured.

"Pass me the mushrooms and potatoes, will you?" Red grinned when Charming tossed them over to her. "Thanks. Kid is really young, probably best to give her things that are softer, easy to eat."

Charming laughed. "How do you know anything about children?"

"It's just the powers of deduction," Red replied, beginning to light the fire. "Thank God we were able to carry extra water, I'm glad I don't have to go down to the stream."

"I'm just impressed by how your nose can easily detect freshwater," Charming said. "You're abnormally capable, all things considered, but still. It is absolutely impressive."

Red smirked. "Just be glad I'm on your side."

Snow glanced to her, quirking an eyebrow.

"What other side would you be on?"

"Rogue," Red jokingly replied, starting to laugh. "Sorry, sorry."

Snow and Charming managed to laugh a little too, while Red hummed to herself, continuing to prepare their breakfast. Of all of them, she needed the least sleep, and they all knew full well that, while they could get at least a couple of good hours of sleep, they wouldn't be able to get as much as they otherwise would.

But it was well worth it.

They had the little princess, after all.

They had saved her.

She was going to be alright.

And Regina wouldn't be able to hurt her.

"I can't believe anyone would not want to let you around her," Charming finally said, laying down in the tent beside Snow. "You're so good with her."

Snow rolled her eyes. "Just because I'm also able to keep her asleep like Red doesn't mean I'm inherently good with her."

He passed a blanket over to her, the two of them both laying down, the little princess curled up between them, unaware of where she was.

"You're a good person, Snow," Charming told her. "And you were right. She needs to be protected."

Snow smiled. "Thank you, Charming."

He yawned. "Absolutely," He said. "Now, for the sake of sanity, we should probably sleep."

"True," Snow said, rolling over and closing her eyes. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight to you too."