The next morning, Regina headed out when she saw Henry at school, filling up the bird feeder in the big tree on the school grounds. "Good morning, Henry." Regina smiled, from the other side of the white fence, making Henry look shocked to see her. "Um... What are you doing here?" He asked when he stopped filling the bird feeder while Regina walked around, heading into the schoolyard. "I've missed you. And I wanted to show you something." Regina said when she pulled out the bag with the bean in it to show him. "Emma and Mary Margaret and David have been keeping this from you, darling. They've been growing magic beans in secret. They want to take you... and your sister to the Enchanted Forest. Without me." Regina sighed, explaining what she found out to Henry.
"Maybe we're all going, and they just haven't told you yet?" Henry asked, sounding optimistic.
"No. They won't let me help. They don't see the good in me. The good you've seen. And your sister sees. They only see the Evil Queen, which they made me. And I don't want to be that anymore. This is my chance to go back and start over. For me to be the hero." Regina explained, bending down to Henry's height. "And you'd like that, right?" She asked him when he nodded, smiling.
"I'd love it." He smiled at her.
"Here's how it will work... There's a fail-safe built into the curse. A trigger." Regina started to explain. "Like a self-destruct button?" Henry asked, interrupting his mother. "Like you never did it?" He continued to ask when Regina nodded. "Yes. It's the next best thing to turning back time." She smiled at him.
"That's amazing. What happens to Storybrooke?" Henry asked when Regina sighed a bit, standing up.
"It disappears. Forever... And no need to worry, dear. We can get away first. Back to the Enchanted Forest, using this." Regina said, bending down a bit again. "But what about everyone else?" Henry asked, worried about his family. "They die..." Regina sighed when Henry took a step back, and his eyes widened.
"What?" He asked her, making Regina sigh.
"I don't have any other choice. As long as there are other people in our lives, you and Dream can never fully be mine... You loved me once. With them gone, you'll love me again. And you can see me for what I truly am. A hero." Regina said, trying to explain what she was thinking to Henry. "Not if you kill everyone! You're a villain." Henry spat, making Regina look hurt at his words. "Me? They're the ones that have been keeping us apart. They're the villains." Regina retorted when she scoffed at his comment.
"How could I ever love anybody who would do such horrible things? Why would you even tell me this?" Henry asked when Regina sighed, seeing the look on Henry's face.
"Because I don't have anyone else to talk to."
"Well, I'm going to stop you," Henry said when Regina pulled her mother's spellbook out of her bag. "Everything I just said will come to pass..." Regina sighed when she opened it up. "Never. Why would I let you do any of this?" Henry asked her, sounding confused and hurt.
"Because you won't remember a thing," Regina said, waving her hand when Henry paused, changing his mood, while she put the spellbook back into her bag.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" Henry asked, with a calmer, happier mood than before. "Just came to say hello. I've missed you." Regina smiled when Henry smiled back at her. "Why don't you show me that bird feeder? Sure it'll make the birds very happy." Regina smiled when she watched Henry go back to filling the bird feeder, then showing her all of the birdhouses.
Meanwhile, Dream was making her bed while she stacked up the books from her desk, putting them back on her bookshelves. She sighed when she moved to go clean up her bathroom counter. She walked back with a basket of her laundry, setting it on her bed when she went to pick up the sheets that she had just changed.
"Ooh... These are quite something, love."
Dream turned, jumping at the sound of a familiar voice. Hook. "What are you doing here? When did you get back? And why do you have a pair of my underwear?" Dream scoffed when she grabbed the pair of pink underwear from Hook's hook hand. "I came to pay my favorite princess a visit. Got back last night... and you left the drawer opened." Hook smirked, answering all of Dream's questions when she threw her underwear back in the drawer and shut it.
"Look, Hook... I don't have time for any games." Dream sighed when she moved back to grab her basket of laundry while Hook followed her down the stairs.
"No games, love," Hook smirked when he waited around the kitchen while Dream did laundry. It was like it was nothing for Hook to be just waiting around for her while she did her daily chores. "Then, why did you come here? Because last time I checked... you stole my heart several times... and put a spell on me to do your bidding." Dream said while putting her clothes in the washer. "Because I need to know where your mother is." Hook said when Dream closed the lid to the washer, walking out of the laundry room with the empty basket, seeing Hook leaning on the doorframe.
"So, you came here instead of looking for her?" Dream raised her brow, stopping to look at him.
"Well... I figured it would be a pleasant part of my day to pay you a visit. Seeing as I do enjoy our time together." Hook smirked when he raised her wrist up with his hook when Dream's bracelet showed the memory of them kissing on his ship. But Hook also noticed that she was wearing the bracelet from Anton's treasure room. Dream looked down at the memory that seemed stuck in her head since it happened, but this was Hook's memory. "I was under an obedience spell. Remember?" Dream scoffed, pretending it did not affect her like it does when she moved her wrist away from his hook.
"Not in that moment, love." Hook smirked when she looked up at him due to the height difference. "For someone who claims to be well-adapted in magic, like her mother... You do not know how spells work. The spell only works when the person under it is ordered around, which is not all the time, love. You did that on your own. And very well, I might add." Hook smirked when he moved his hook under her chin, making sure that she was looking at him.
Dream felt her breath hitch in her throat, wanting to kiss him, but she shook her head, moving back. "She's at her office, Hook." Dream said, moving back before she went to head upstairs. "Then, I shall be off... If there's nothing more--" Hook went to say, smirking, when Dream kept walking upstairs, rolling her eyes at him. "Nope... Bye, Hook." She said, walking up to her room when she shut the door behind her. She leaned her head back on the wall when she dropped the basket onto the floor, trying to slow her breathing. That interaction with Hook was making her heart race in her chest. All she wanted to do was go back downstairs and kiss him, but she could not. He was not a good guy. He was a villain.
*Regina's Office*
Regina was looking at the bean plant she had taken from the field since she had put it in a transparent aquarium tank. She smirked to herself before turning at the sound of footsteps. She walked towards her desk but stopped when she saw Hook opening the door. "Captain?" Regina gasped, shocked to see the pirate. "You look like you've had a rough time." She continued to say when he closed the door behind her.
"Indeed, I have... I've come to ask you for your protection." Hook said, walking into the room.
"From Gold?" Regina asked, raising her brow. "I'm surprised you'd show your face in this town once you noticed your murder didn't take." She continued to say when Hook moved to stand in front of her.
"Well, we've got bigger problems. That man, Greg Mendell? The one who hit me the night I shot Belle? Well, he's in league with some woman. She abducted me in New York and dragged me back to Mendell... They want me to make an alliance with you and then betray you. That's why they let me go. And I say, let's you and I make an alliance... and we'll... We'll skip the unpleasant betrayal business." Hook said when Regina raised her brow, smirking at him. "Why should I trust you?" Regina asked him. "I took up with your mother for a reason. Perhaps the four of us could reestablish our alliance. You know, along with your charming daughter." Hook said when Regina sighed, scoffing at Hook's comment about Dream.
"My mother died..." Regina sighed when she watched Hook look distraught about the news.
"Well, that is sad news indeed. I'm sorry... She will be missed." Hook said, giving Regina his condolences while she looked around the room, trying not to think of losing her mother. "I will tell you this, Regina. I knew her well enough to know that what she wanted most in the world was to see you win. Now, I failed in my revenge. The best tribute I could give her is to help you with yours." Hook said, causing Regina to look back at him.
"Can I..." She paused before letting out a sigh. "Let me show you something," Regina said, walking to the bean plant.
"Escape plan? Oh, she'd have loved that. She brought that giant for the beans, so she could go back and start over with you." Hook said when Regina smiled to herself. "And now, I'm going to do that with Henry and Dream... if you'll help me. This is how we're going to escape the total destruction of Storybrooke. If I can trust you." Regina said to Hook, smirking to herself still. "Now, when you say "total destruction," including the crocodile, yes?" Hook asked, making Regina scoff out a chuckle.
"Oh, yes... Rumpelstiltskin will die. If you help me."
~season 2, episode 20: "The Evil Queen"~
~1726 words~