A/N: I was supposed to be wrapping up my fanfics... oh well! Enjoy! :)

(The first short scene is lifted word for word from the episode Saving Henry.)

"You knew..."

"Knew what exactly?"

"The child that you located for me in Phoenix?! His mother was found in the woods outside of Storybrooke... Eighteen years ago..."

"What a startling coincidence."

"Eighteen years ago?!"

"I'm afraid I'm missing the significance? You'll have to forgive me; my memory's not what it used to be."

"Henry's mother was found as a baby, on a very significant day... The day this town... The day this town..."

"This town what?"

"...She's important isn't she? This... Mother...?"

"Is she important?... I suppose in as much as she gave birth to your son..."

"You... You built this... Into a whole thing, didn't you? You made this happen! Because the mother... She's... She's..."

"She's what, Madame Mayor? This mother that you seem to fear so much?"

"Oh, you really know nothing of what I'm talking about?!"

"Well, I know you're upset; that much is clear..."

"You told me I'd come to you... That I had a hole in my heart! And... You want this to end... This town that I built... You want to destroy it all by bringing this mother back! That's why you did all this!"

"...Did you know you have dark circles beneath your eyes? And a weary tremble to your voice?... Look what motherhood has done to you..."

"Play dumb all you want, you little imp! You should know who you're dealing with by now... I sacrificed everything to build this life! And nothing will tear me away from my revenge!"

Heated words.

The brunette frowns as she studies herself in the looking glass; tweezing away the few errant imperfections to her brow.

Gold...

... The mother...

Her scowl deepens as she purses her lips and shuts away her makeup case.

She is unsure what to make of the information gleaned from Sydney's fax. It is ominous- more than ominous- but what to do with such a threat, she knows not.

What to do about this Emma... This Emma Swan.

Henry's birth mother...

... And a woman found abandoned- according to her files- not much more than a mile away from where she now sits.

"Woman?"

She sniffs dismissively; her full lips curling a little at their sides.

Hardly.

An eighteen-year-old hussy more like.

Not unheard of in that old, better world, but here, in this world, the girl she seeks isn't even old enough to buy liquor.

Whom I seek?

Dark eyes glitter back uncertainly at her from the glass, but she supposes some truth lies in that notion.

The imp seems oblivious to the reasoning behind her anger, and thus she concludes her curse has worked... Shoddy, then, to allow this last little nuisance to live.

The girl.

The girl found in the forest.

... Emma.

Snow's whelp.

The Savior.

She chuckles darkly at the thought... At the thought of some pale wretch born of that traitor's womb coming to best her... She can see the little bitch now; soft-spoken, fair-skinned, and sporting dark, raven hair just like her mother... Perfect.

And that simply won't do.

Plucking her phone from the dresser, she dials impatiently and waits for Sydney to answer.

The reporter heralds her upon the forth ring.

"Sydney?"

"Madame Mayor?"

"I need you to look after Henry for a short while. I have some business to attend to out of town... I don't imagine it will take too long..."

Regina grimaces; stretching her back with a wince as she has been sat behind the wheel of her Benz for the past two hours.

She studies her surroundings shrewdly.

Nervously.

Ordinarily, nerves are not customary in her way of approaching things, but to be so far beyond Storybrooke's walls- out here in the unknown- is something entirely unheard of. True, she had travelled beyond her little town's boundaries in order to collect her son, but that had been both a special occasion, and in an area far less worrisome than that in which she finds herself now.

Ghastly words sprayed upon dirtied walls.

Streets that appear to lead nowhere.

A curious woman with a fat paunch and skeletal limbs swaying against a garage door, with metal links binding her scrawny wrist to a mean-mannered dog.

A young, olive-skinned boy strutting the street in a cardboard ensemble informing onlookers that their greed will amount to the world's end; two-toned hair greasy and unkempt.

The brunette wrinkles her nose; checking the placard at the corner of the street for the third time.

PLEASANT VIEW.

The irony lends her an ill-humoured grin.

"What a joke..."

Not that getting this far has been all that much of a joke.

Quite the opposite.

It has proven harder than she'd anticipated to track down the Swan woman; this elusive 'Emma' born of the Fair Wretch's filthy deceit seeming to favour the road over any concrete address.

Not that the 'address' registered in Phoenix could have been any more concrete.

A jail cell.

And doesn't that just fill in any areas of doubt...

Regina smirks; hands tightening around the wheel of her car.

It has taken her a lot more effort than she might have liked to wind up here (wherever here might be), but her search is at an end. The Swan woman pays rent to a landlord that owns the buildings that surround her, and she doesn't plan on leaving until she susses out which one.

And then what?

She doesn't know.

Originally, she had entertained the idea of concealing a small blade on her person in order to render her business with the Fair Queen and her hateful spouse final once and for all, but she has learnt to take caution where the Golden Imp and his creations are concerned.

Death may prove a little too permanent for the promiscuous little bitch she seeks.

Best play it safe.

Let it suffice for now to at the very least spy on the enemy.

Giving an authoritative nod of resolution, she steps from her car; making her way to the first of the beaten doors that line the militant block of apartments. She raises her fist to rap upon flaking iron but is interrupted by a wolf-whistle that sends the hairs along her spine rippling on end. Turning swiftly on a sharp heel, she scans the dilapidated parking lot for her perpetrator.

"Oh..."

She utters as her gaze falls to the far right of the tarmac baking in the summer heat. It seems she should have factored in a plural threat; three men pushing themselves to their feet to stalk closer in a fashion that hardly speaks of kindness.

"Hey Baby-"

"-What you doing here?-"

"-What you want, mamacita?"

The brunette's brow furrows and she shakes her head irritably

"Excuse me?"

"You lost, bella?"

"... I'm looking for someone. Maybe you could-"

"-Ain't we all, ain't we all? And you, girl, you got a fine piece of meat out on offer. You-"

"I beg your pardon?!"

Regina hisses; tightening her stance as her companions draw ever closer.

"You had all better stop-"

"-That real silver round your neck? That real silk hiding the prize? That-"

"-Why? Looking for an outfit to wear to trial, Denny?"

A low growl from the Queen's left.

Feline.

Predatory.

The man closest to the brunette scowls- offering a remarkably visual gesture as to where their new guest can shove their opinions- before striding off with his apparent cronies lumbering in his wake.

Frowning up at the eroding stone that lines the path above the lot- and hosts the owner of the low growl that had sent her possible assailants on their way- Regina flicks back dark hair with practised arrogance; narrowing her eyes at the skinny blonde regarding her curiously from her perch.

"You-"

"-Are you stupid or something? Rocking up here dressed like that?"

"No... I'm looking for someone."

"Uhuh, I heard you say."

"... Who are you?"

"Who's asking?"