Emma was watching Regina from the other street. She saw when Cruella's ridiculously flashy car appeared at 7 PM. Nobody was driving it, the doors opened by themselves. Regina was standing in front of the library, the wind blew, she was freezing. After Cruella's car, Maleficent arrived too. She stepped next to Regina and asked:

"Ready to take a drive?"

Regina almost laughed at her face.

"You want me to get in that?" She pointed at the car with her index finger.

"Cruella enchanted it to drive itself. Or you could take the wheel, if you prefer." Maleficent said.

"Where are the other two?" Regina asked.

"Don't worry about them. Tonight it'll be just the two of us. Like in the old times." Maleficent smiled at her.

The car went on the road by itself. Regina was sitting in the driver's seat and start being really uncomfortable, because she still had no idea where they were going. After a few minutes, the car stopped. Regina looked around. They were in front of Marco's alias Gepetto's home.

"We are here." Mal announced.

"This can't be right. This is the town handyman's only magical object here is maybe the duct tape." Regina said.

"I assure you we will find something far more valuable." Mal said with a confident smile. "Or someone."

Regina listened to her patiently.

"That piece of wood, he calls a son." Mal became more clear.

"Let's be more specific. You are after Pinocchio?" Regina asked.

"He has information about the Author. And we intend to make him tell us."

"I had tried that already." Regina said quickly. Maybe Marco was not her favourite, but his son is a child. Regina didn't want to let the little boy around the witches. "When August was turned back into a boy, his memory was wiped. He doesn't remember anything."

"Maybe the problem was, you didn't ask your question more forcefully." Maleficent said.

"He is a kid." Regina reminded Maleficent. Well, maybe they had their cruel times back in the Enchanted Forest, but none of them tortured children.

"I'm beginning to worry that Cruella and Ursula were right. You've spent so much time around the heroes, you've forgotten who you really are. Or is it because of the pregnancy?" Maleficent scoffed.

"You know maybe your child is also doomed." She continued, when Regina didn't say anything. "I heard about Rumplestilskin's son. He was living apart from his father, in this world and when they reunited, he just died. This is the fate of a villain's child. He or she can't be happy, because of your sins, Regina. Things are working like this."

"I promised I would help you, but none of us were torturing little children." Regina said she pretended she didn't care about Mal's former words.

"You want to prove to me you're the Evil Queen?" Maleficent asked impatiently. "Go inside there now and steal that little boy."

Regina sighed, got out of the car and went to Marco's door. She knocked on it and when Marco shouted "come in" she entered the house.

Pinocchio and his father were working on a rocking horse.

"Hello, Pinocchio, Marco!" Regina greeted them.

"Regina." Marco had a confused look. "What a coincidence."

Regina frowned, now she didn't understand what he was talking about.

"I was at your office today, but Miss Ginger told me you had a day-off." Marco explained. "I think I owe you an apology. I think you heard my words when the sheriff and you tried to speak with my boy about the book."

Pinocchio didn't care about the dialogue, he was rocking the toy horse.

"Doesn't matter." Regina said. "You were right. Maybe I don't deserve a happy ending."

Regina closed her eyes as she used magic on them. Father and son fell on the ground.

"I'm really sorry." Regina whispered to them.

That was the moment when Emma suddenly appeared at Marco's house.

"Emma, what are you doing here?" Regina became upset. Because of Emma, she will lose Maleficent's trust.

"I've been watching you and when I saw you cast the spell my gut said something was wrong."

"Well, it will be if you don't get out of here." Regina whispered.

"Not until you tell me what Maleficent has you in here doing."

Regina sighed and nodded.

"They are after Pinocchio."

"I told you these things never ended well. We'll have to do this quickly. Let's sneak him out the back and then find a safe place." Emma said.

"One little snafu and you are ready to pack up?" Regina snapped at her. "What happens when Mal realizes and lets loose her inner dragon?"

"This is a child, we are talking about Regina." Emma was really stubborn. Just like her mother.

"I know. I'll be there and keep him safe." Regina answered. "If they try to harm him, I'll stop them. I'll find my way out."

"Three of them, one of you, and you are…"

"Pregnant, I know." Regina finished her sentence. It looked like Emma is the biggest supporter of her child. "I got this, Emma, I'm not stupid."

"No, indeed not. You just find something to deal with instead of your life."

"What? You really have to play Archie right now?" Regina lost her temper. She has to sneak out with the kid and Emma has to disappear as quickly as she can.

"I still don't understand why my parents let you do this bullshit. I'm the sheriff, I'm the savior. It looks like everyone, including my own family, is keeping something from me." Emma said.

Regina didn't say anything for a few seconds. Emma should not see anything on her face. She really understood Emma's parents. Regina also didn't want Henry to know about her former crimes. If Emma realizes that her parents sent all her darkness into Mal's baby and after they let the child fall into a portal to this world alone and motherless, she will be really upset and disappointed.

"Emma, the only ones keeping secrets are Maleficent and her friends. Maybe we have to break some rules, but we can't let them win." Regina said.

"I'll be right on your tail. I see anything I don't like and I will come in blazing"

Regina nodded and picked up the fainting Pinocchio. As she went to the car and put the boy into it, covered with a blanket.

Maleficent smiled at her.

"It's good to have you back." And she got into Cruella's car. Before Regina followed her, she dropped her phone on the street. She didn't want to risk Emma finding out something and now she couldn't follow her.

When they were going to Gold's cabin, Regina had a bad intuition. Rumplestilskin was exiled by Belle with the dagger weeks ago. She didn't understand why they used his old house to bring and question Pinocchio. Maleficent saw the confusion on her face.

"Don't worry, we just need a place out of the way where we can hide our kidnapped puppet. And this little hovel became available to us."

In that second everything became really clear. Maleficent did not come back from the dead by itself. Ursula and Cruella did not come to Storybrooke by themself. Gold was also back.

"No. Your dark magic is not a spell or an object. It is…" Regina said and someone familiar stepped suddenly to the room.

"That's it, dearie. It's me." Gold looked really satisfied with his entrance. "You know, Regina I was thinking of your words outside of Storybrooke and you were right. Sometimes the teacher needs to learn from the student. And sometimes you need to fall very far to finally see the lights."

Regina smirked at him. He was as pathetic, as always.

"Well then you've finally accepted the same truth I have. You can't get your happy ending without finding the Author."

"You are right again, dearie." Gold nodded.

Cruella and Ursula brought Pinocchio to the cabin, the little boy was still fainted, they put him in a chair.

"But with the little boy, we can take our first steps." Gold said.

"What are you going to do?" Regina asked, and she tried to pretend she was not worrying about Pinocchio.

"Step aside and I'll show you." Gold answered, but Regina didn't move for a second. "Or are you gone soft?" Gold scoffed.

Regina smiled again at him and let out a never from her mouth. She stepped away from the front of Pinocchio. She knew she had to wait. She had to make them believe she is still evil. Gold stepped closer to the boy with his dagger and started speaking to the three witches.

"We are not starting to torture the young boy. It'll be useless. We'll ask the man he used to be." He started to wave with his dagger and the next second Pinocchio was not a little boy anymore. He became his old self. It was August again. The man who came to Storybrooke after Emma, the man who knew everything about the book, about the curse and about the inhabitants. Regina didn't feel relief. She really went soft. Maybe Pinocchio is not a kid anymore, but August was someone's son. Someone who needed to sent his boy to this world because of the Evil Queen's curse. He was also Henry's friend. Emma's friend. Regina hoped he would be smart enough to answer their question, because maybe she could fight against the witches but not against the Dark One. No chance, she could protect August from Gold.

—

They asked questions about the Author, but August repeated he didn't know anything. At once Ursula just lost her patience and she held a knife to his neck.

"No, that knife is not gonna make me remember something I don't know." August said.

"Wait." Regina held out her hand, with her magic the knife disappeared from Ursula's hand and it popped up by her.

"Is there a problem?" Ursula asked.

"I knew she didn't have the stomach for this." Cruella mocked her.

"Please, I was torturing people back when you were still playing with puppies." Regina said and got closer to August who was still sitting in a chair, his hands were tied. "He was a piece of wood back in his time, so let's light a fire under him and see what happens." A fireball appeared in her palm.

The trick worked, August's face went pale and he said he maybe knows something about the Author. He said he met with a guy in Hong Kong, who was a mystic and his name was Dragon.

"He had been looking for the Author for years. He couldn't say his results to me, but I took his research with me to the town." August finished his story.

"Is he telling the truth?" Mal asked from Rumplestilskin.

"Once he lied on my face." He said. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to pay a visit to his trailer and find out." Gold went to the door, he grabbed his coat.

"Should we carry on with the rest of the plan?" Maleficent asked.

"Rest of the plan?" Regina asked. It was not enough to kidnap a little boy, turn him back to his old self and ask him questions? They were doing this for hours. Regina was exhausted.

"You are gonna have to do a lot more than just kidnap a marionette." Gold turned back to her. "But you have to wait, dearie, I'm still not sure if you've chosen the winning side."

Cruella chuckled. Regina didn't say anything, she just crouched down by the stove. She had something on her mind, she knew she should send a message to the others, so she made it in a special way. She sent her voice, where she explained what happened to Pinocchio and that Gold is back. She hoped for the best.

The witches were really boring, they were chatting about the past. After an hour Ursula disappeared, Cruella also went out to smoke a cigarette. Regina was sitting next to August, she should've been watching him, but she didn't have a proper sleep for two days. Being pregnant was the most tiring thing in the world. It was a wonder she made it that long without throwing up. Whale told her that after the first trimester it would be easier but she was not there yet. She elbowed on the armrest and tried to hold her head. Maybe Emma was right, this whole thing was so irresponsible from her. And maybe she was right when she said this whole thing just distracted her from the problems. She was not thinking if she should call Robin or not in the past two days. No, she was worrying about a strange kid and his old father, about Emma and her parents. Because it was easier than facing the truth. As she was thinking, she felt her eyes and her head heavier.

She was walking on a path in the forest. There was a page with her from the book. The page 23. where she and Robin were kissing each other. It was found by Robin when he decided to help Regina find her happy ending. This scene never happened in real life, but it just appeared to Robin and they believed it meant they could have their happy ending. As she was watching the page she heard a girl's voice from faraway.

"Mama!"

Regina stopped immediately.

"Mama!" She heard again.

Regina looked around, at first she didn't see anything, there was a fog in the forest. But after a few seconds there was a little girl standing on the path, feets away from her. They were staring at each other, when the girl suddenly decided to run closer to her and hugged her.

Regina couldn't move, it can't be the truth, it can't be real. The girl was about six years old, she had long, dark hair and she looked up at Regina with her blue eyes. She was beautiful but scared.

"You have to help him." She said with a firm voice. There were tears in her eyes. "You have to help papa, she will hurt him."

"Who?" Regina asked instantly.

The answer never came, because she just opened her eyes and realized she was still in Gold's cabin. It was a dream.

"If you're having trouble sleeping, I have something that might help." Maleficent said. "Even in your condition."

"What kind of condition?" Cruella asked.

"I'm fine, thank you." Regina answered before Maleficent had a chance to answer.

Luckily Gold returned in time, but Regina could barely pay attention to him. It was her daughter in her dream. She wanted to warn her. You have to help papa, she will hurt him. But who wants to hurt Robin?