A/N:

Disclaimer: This story contains adult themes including-violence, torture, implied rape and other adult/mature events. If you cannot handle these themes, please do not read this story as the first 6 chapters will be heavy with these types of things. I am not going into heavy detail with any of these as I don't want these themes to be the entire point of the story and my goal isn't to see how much people can be upset. If you cannot handle the average episode of "Law and Order SVU" or "Criminal Minds" this story is probably not for you.

Robin was trying. Marian was unfrozen, Roland was happy, and he was simply trying.

What he genuinely wanted to do-but could not bring himself to say-was that he wanted to leave to be with Regina. It was one of those decisions in life where one convinces themselves that they're still thinking it over, that they haven't made a "real" decision yet, but in honesty: they know exactly what they're going to do.

None of those things stopped him from trying. He took Marian and Roland for walks in town and in the forest. He sat and laughed with Marian in the evenings, and he had managed meaningless sex with her precisely once.

After two days, he was exhausted. Marian was not Regina. And he did not want her the way he wanted Regina. He was beginning to think he was no longer being noble. Was leading someone to believe that you still loved and wanted them truly honoring them? Was it honoring your wedding vows? He thought not.

It was late in the evening when Marian joined him at the fire he'd settled himself beside in the darkness. He didn't want to talk to her, he didn't want to go to bed with her…he just wanted to be left alone. To think. To think about how to tell Marian he didn't love her anymore….about how he loved the woman who had killed her in a past world. About how he'd been having sex with that particular woman while she was frozen.

No, nobility was definitely out the window now.

"You're quiet." Marian told him as she settled herself across from him.

"Just tired tonight," Robin smiled over at her. Saying he was tired may kill the potential of sex in a few hours. He couldn't do it. The sex with Regina was just…better. He realized now that the sex with Marian had been lacking before. Maybe, truly, all this talk about them being soul mates was true-because the connection with Regina was like nothing he had ever felt with Marian.

"Robin, stop." Marian looked through the flames at him. "Just stop."

"Stop what?" Robin asked, feeling the tension rise in him.

"Stop pretending that you aren't in love with Regina." Marian sighed the words, and Robin saw the sadness on her face.

"Am I really that obvious?" He felt horribly guilty, but relief was tugging at the back of his nerves.

"Yes," Marian whispered. "Everyone knows. You can't keep doing this to yourself."

Now that surprised him. Was his wife really sitting here telling him he couldn't put himself through the heartache of being away from his true love? That seemed a bit farfetched.

"You love her-and she loves you." There was acceptance in Marian's voice. Her tone was firm and solid. There were no tears. She'd thought this out. "You should go to her. You should be together."

"But Marian-." He stopped to compose himself. Hundreds of emotions were flooding his heart right now, and he had to stop himself to think carefully. "You and I-."

"We had something…years ago." Now Marian looked down at her lap. "But…too many things happened. What we had…we lost."

"You were dead." Robin leaned forward. "Marian, I never would have…. Not if you had been alive."

"I know." She met his eyes in the firelight. "I know that you wouldn't have. But what's happened…happened. You can't go on pretending to love me. We're not doing Roland any good being raised by two parents who don't love each other."

"I'd been worrying about that," Robin admitted. "I don't want to hurt him."

"He loves us. And he loves Regina. If nothing else, you did manage to fall in love with a woman who adores our son."

"What will we tell him?" Robin wondered out loud. "What will we do?"

"We'll think of something." Marian assured him. "I don't want you to be with me out of obligation. If you want Regina, I'll step aside."

"I hate asking you to-."

"You're not asking me." The firm, solid tone again. "I'm telling you what I don't want in my life. I want a husband who loves me. Not keeping me because he feels he has to while he truly wants a woman he'll be longing for every time he sees her in town."

Robin finally looked over at Marian again. There was something he needed to tell her.

"Tinkerbelle-the fairy-told Regina years ago that her true love was a man…with a tattoo." He held up his arm. "A lion tattoo. Pixie dust said we were destined to be together. That we were soul mates."

That didn't exactly seem to be the words Marian had been dying to hear, as she turned her head to look out into the darkened forest. Robin frowned sadly, fighting back tears that pricked his eyes as he moved over to embrace her.

"I'm sorry." He breathed the words into her hair.

"Go to her." Marian held him with one arm around him, the other hand resting on his arm. "Go to her. Stop putting yourselves through this. Tell her you love her…and you want to be with her."

As guilty as he felt, those were the words Robin wanted desperately to hear. And there was nowhere else he wanted to be than with Regina. He kissed her cheek, rose to his feet, and disappeared into the darkness.

****Scene****

Robin was surprised to find Regina's house dark. It was only 10:30, and he knew she was always up until at least midnight. He wondered what had happened tonight that had sent her to bed so early. He knocked and rang the doorbell, but got no answer. That also surprised him. She wasn't such a sound sleeper that she would have been sleeping through a knock AND the bell.

He called her cell phone. Straight to voicemail every time. What on earth was going on with her?

It would not be unlike Regina to be sitting in the house ignoring everyone-including him.

Robin reached to the ground and gathered up a handful of pebbles. He began throwing them one at a time to her bedroom window.

"Regina!" He called up to it. "Come on! We need to talk! This is important." He paused, waiting to see if any lights came on. When none did, he added: "it's good news! I promise!"

Still nothing.

Robin really wished he had a key to her house.

Sighing, he tried the front door just for the heck of it. Locked as he suspected. He could have picked it now, but he didn't want anyone disturbing his gallant entry, so he trekked around to the back of the house to try the back door.

As he reached for the door, dread settled deep into his stomach. The glass pane over the knob was broken. And as he pushed the door, Robin realized that it wasn't locked, it opened on its own.

Something bad had happened. Something very, very bad.

"Regina?" Robin called as he pushed the door open. Stepping inside, he heard the glass crunch under his boots. He reached to his right and felt the wall for the light switch. He flipped it on, illuminating the room.

The kitchen looked untouched, except for the fact that someone had clearly broken in. Robin decided to try something. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and redialed Regina's number. From in the house, he heard the sound of the phone ringing.

"Damn." He had hoped that she wasn't home…that she had been out when someone had broken in. But if the phone was here…and she was not….

Robin took a deep breath, let it out slowly. He knew two things: if Regina was in the house she was unable to call for help-due to one reason or the other. Or she was not in the house…and that could potentially be just as bad.

He made his way through the dining room, turning on lights along the way. Nothing. But the living room was a different story.

A small lamp beside one of the tables had been left on. He hadn't noticed it through the heavy curtains. But it gave off just enough light to show that this room was further indication of what had gone wrong here.

The coffee table was overturned. On the floor, a china teacup was smashed. Throw pillows were strewn about in chaos Regina never allowed.

"Regina?!" Robin jogged through the cluttered room. "Regina?!"

He froze when he reached the front hallway. The worst of it was here.

Glass from broken decorations and vases were smashed onto the floor. A hallway table was on its side. On the wall, the mirror was shattered. And in the center of the shattered glass was…..

Blood. Someone had bled a decent amount.

It was impossible. No one could have gotten Regina out of the house in a fight like this. Not with Regina's magic. She would have fought back. She would have defended herself. And with the power of her magic-she would have won.

Unless she was fighting someone with magic much more powerful than hers.

But given the looks of the house, Robin knew that her magic had failed her. And that had caused something terrible to happen to her.