A Thief and a Queen

Finding Robin

A/N: My first entry for Inspired By OQ Week. This one is inspired by Jen's (starscythe) January manip for this year's OQ calendar.

It was a freak accident.

That was what the investigators said. The plane had been serviced and passed an inspection before Robin had flown to South America for his latest relief mission--delivering much-needed medicines to remote villages--and the airport he took off from there certified that the plane was still in good condition. The investigation would take more time to determine why his engine had burst into flames once he got into American airspace but their best theory was that he had hit a flock of birds, probably geese.

They also told her that while there was no concrete evidence that Robin had died in the fiery crash, they were confident he did. They were confident all parachutes were accounted for and they doubted Robin would've jumped into the thick forest he was flying over. He no doubt would've tried to escape the plane before it exploded but they didn't think he made it out in time.

Regina Mills, though, couldn't accept that her partner--in relief work and in life--was gone. Friends of theirs gathered around her and tried to conduct a search and rescue but in the end, the forest proved far too dense. After several weeks of trying, they had to give up. She had to move on, to make sure the organization they worked so hard to build didn't collapse. It felt like she was giving up on Robin, like she was failing him somehow.

Dr. Hopper told her that was normal, that it was part of the grieving process. She tried to believe him but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was out there, somewhere. And she wasn't even trying to find him.

A dream of all things changed that.

She walked through the halls of a hospital, feeling like a ghost as no one seemed to acknowledge her or answer when she asked what was going on. Regina found herself drawn to one particular room--Room 23--and she entered, finding doctors standing around a bed. It sounded as if they were talking in a fishbowl, their voices muffled and hard to make out. She strained to do so, able to figure out that the patient was some sort of John Doe who was in a medical coma for one reason or another. If they couldn't figure out who he was or who his next of kin was, they were going to have to release him to a long-term care facility.

Regina tried to get closer to the bed, to see who the man was but it felt like the curtain around his bed was an iron wall. It kept her from going any farther, forcing her to jump back each and every time she tried. "Who is it?" she yelled, hoping someone would hear her.

Instead of an answer, she felt as if someone kicked her in the chest. She flew backwards, ending up in the hallway again. The doctors and nurses left the room, closing the door behind them. When she reached for the door handle, her hand went right through it. She tried to go through the door, but it was as sturdy as ever. Whatever was going on, she could not get back into the room again.

She just didn't know why.

"Who are you?" she asked, yelling at the door. "Why are you haunting my dreams?"

"Regina..."

Her heart stopped as she heard the voice she had longed to hear the most the past few months. The low tenor with a slightly hoarse quality to it and a British accent she found irresistible. She missed the way her name sounded when spoken by that voice and it brought tears to her eyes. Regina knew it was her subconscious drawing it up from her memories and that the voice would only live on in her dreams.

"Regina, look at me," the voice repeated.

She slowly turned around, feeling like a vise gripped her heart as the voice's owner came into focus. He was taller than her and his blond hair had spattering of gray in it. She had often teased him about it but she loved the fact he was turning into a silver fox. The blond scruff on his cheeks and chin were still blond as ever and she reached out, wanting to feel the prickle of it against her palm again--even if it was just a memory playing out in her dream.