He's already decided to lie to his friends, to keep them out of the mess his life has become in the less than twelve hours since he last saw them. So the easiest course of action would be to pick a range far away from anyone he knows. And yet here he is, standing in front of Sherwood Forest Archery, staring at John's ridiculous don't nock it til you try it slogan on the window. A part of him just wants to be back on his own turf, to let the familiar replace the constant uncertainty of this day, consequences be damned.

He takes a few moments to collect himself and pushes open the door.

Relief washes over Robin when he sees only Alan behind the counter, John nowhere to be found. It isn't as though he wants to lie to Alan, but it would be exponentially harder to do so to his oldest and closest friend.

However that relief is short-lived when Regina walks up next to him and a wide grin spreads over Alan's face while his eyes light up. It hadn't occurred to him that his friends would think - well he hadn't really put much thought into Regina in this situation at all, save for hiding his true connection to her. They're a tight knit group, by no means hostile to new people, but it is out of the norm to see any of them with someone their circle hasn't at least heard about.

"Robin! I didn't expect to see you today," he says brightly.

"Couldn't sleep," he lies, shrugging. "And how's John?" he deflects.

"Suffering," Alan replies with all of the satisfaction of someone who had tried more than once to cut John off and been repeatedly shut down by the man himself. "And who's your friend here?" he continues, in possibly the worst attempt at casual Robin has ever heard.

Regina reacts by taking a step away from him and he immediately feels the loss of her body heat (which means they probably were standing a bit too close, which however does not mean anything to anyone but Alan).

Robin shoots his friend a disapproving look that hardly seems to deter him and responds, "Alan, this is Regina. She's looking to get a bow off of her hands, and is graciously letting me try it out before buying it."

Their plausible cover story does nothing to dampen his friend's enthusiasm.

"So great to meet you Regina," Alan says while giving him a meaningful look. "Robin and I will head into the office while you take a seat and read over the safety protocol."

He could refuse, probably should, but that would only convince Alan further than his mistaken assumption is true so he doesn't object.

"Oh I'm not doing any shooting," she replies, looking like a deer in headlights, seemingly a bit on edge now that she's no longer the one in control.

"It's just standard procedure. We'll be back in just a moment," he says eagerly enough to make Robin wonder if it is just standard procedure or an excuse to interrogate him about Regina.

He shoots a sympathetic look to a none-too-pleased Regina, who at his non-verbal apology softens slightly and gives him the smallest possible reassuring smile, and follows Alan through the door.

As soon as they're alone his friend turns to him practically vibrating with excitement.

"She seems nice," Alan starts leadingly.

She hadn't really given any indication of that in the short time they've been here, but he knows the words are merely an invitation for him to speak.

"There's nothing going on. I barely know her," he defends, at least able to tell the truth in this matter. In some ways, though inconvenient, Alan coming to the wrong conclusion may be the best outcome for him.

"You can tell me it's nothing Robin but I haven't seen you with a woman since-"

And at the point Robin feels he has to interrupt and defend himself because "you've seen me with plenty of women since then."

Alan simply raises an eyebrow.

"Spending time with your friends is not what I'm talking about and you damn well know it," he says back impatiently. "And no matter what you say, I think it's great that you're spending time with someone you're so obviously attracted to," he baits, and it nearly works because Robin can't deny the truth, especially since he doesn't know if is just obvious or Alan is merely testing the waters. So instead of responding he pulls out his wallet, knowing it will instantly change the conversation's course.

"How many times do I have to tell you that your money's no good here?" Alan asks, rhetorically most likely, but they've had this disagreement so frequently that Robin simply ignores intent.

Placing the bills down on the counter he gives his standard answer.

"Apparently as many times as I have to tell you that you can't stop me from paying," he replies, refusing to break eye contact.

Alan backs down first, as he always does, looking away and sighing dramatically.

"Hey if it was up to me, we'd be getting rich off of you, but John won't stop insisting," he says with put upon exasperation. "And I figure since you introduced us in the first place, you wouldn't want our marriage to collapse over something so trivial," he teases with a clap on Robin's shoulder.

His friends are far too kind, too generous and it is one of the things he hates (loves) most about them. Often when they get into this argument, John and Alan rightfully point out that if the roles were reversed he would do the same. And yet he knows they could always use the money, especially now that they're looking into adopting, so he persists.

"Well consider this a bribe to stay out of my nonexistent," he emphasizes, "love life," he finishes, pushing the money closer to Alan.

This both does and does not have the intended effect.

"There isn't enough money in the world my friend," Alan replies with a laugh, pushing the money right back.

"Convincing my best friends to get married was the worst mistake of my life," he grumbles, feigning annoyance.

To his surprise, Alan's tone turns sincere.

"We were pretty fond of it ourselves," he says sadly and as it often does, it hits Robin that he is not the only one still impacted by Marian's loss.

"I guess it wasn't so bad," he answers, voice thick with emotion, memories of those years playing in the back of his mind.

"We just want you to be happy. She would want that too."

He and Alan both blink back tears, and he wonders if talking about this will ever stop feeling like reopening a barely stitched up wound for any of them.

"I know. And I truly do appreciate that." They're silent for a moment until Robin puts the money back into his wallet. "You two are getting free drinks for a very long time, no arguments," he insists, both of them letting out a relieved laugh at the broken tension.

With one last affectionate squeeze to Robin's shoulder and an ambiguous you know what you're doing, Alan opens the door and allows Robin to follow him out.

While he is hesitant about subjecting Regina to Alan's overt attempts to create something between them, he has little choice but to grab the bow and begin practicing.

It takes him a few shots to get in the swing of it, but once he starts hitting targets his worries about Alan and Regina melt away.

Little relaxes him quite like archery, so by the time he is confident in his mastery of the bow, he feels far more at peace with this absurd day and more than ever determined to make the best of his new task.

He walks back to the waiting room to Alan's fragmented "- and then Rob- oh hey man."

Regina doesn't look nearly as desperate to leave as he'd feared so he'll have to call this a win.

After he and Alan say their goodbyes, along with some birthday well wishes from Alan and hangover well wishes to be passed on to John, he follows Regina out.

For a few blocks they don't speak, for him at least out of some paranoia that his friends will somehow hear.

"I'm sorry if whatever Alan said-" he starts before switching gears "he thinks he's being a good friend."

Regina smiles, genuine and with no trace of scorn, and answers his unasked question.

"He talked about his band a bit, talked you up a lot," she says teasingly. "I mean how else would I have known that you donate blood every three months?"

He's unable to stop himself from cringing, the thought Alan pitching him to Regina too embarrassing to think about.

"Sorry I thought I dissuaded him but clearly I wasn't as effective as I assumed."

"It's not like I'll be seeing much of him so it hardly matters," she points out. And to Robin's surprise, her words don't act as the reassurance that it should, leaving him feeling something uncomfortable that he can't quite identify.

They stand there in awkward silence for a few moments more, neither sure what to say or do, until Regina speaks.

"So unless you need a ride back," he shakes his head, "I should get going," she finishes brusquely.

Before Robin can say anything else she turns and begins to walk away. She's only taken a few steps when something dawns on him.

"Wait," she turns back to him, lips pursed and annoyance flashing in her eyes," how will I know when Emma uh finds her?"

She walks back briskly, digging around in her bag for her phone. He easily pulls his out of his pocket and they quickly trade numbers.

When they're both finished, Regina opens her mouth as if to say something else, but apparently thinks better of it as she closes her mouth, nods, and leaves.

As the next week goes by, things return surprisingly close to normal.

Robin spends Sunday constantly checking his phone, convinced that at any moment he'll get the text from Regina and have to hunt down Cruella Feinberg. Mulan, Ruby, and Mer start to shoot each other concerned looks at work when he steals a few seconds to look at his phone one too many times, but no one says anything directly.

As the days go by, this entire endeavor seems less… imminent. He falls back into his routine of going to work, spending time with his friends, volunteering at the homeless shelter Tuck manages, and watching Netflix. When John texts him and Mer to confirm that they still want to pick up some extra cash and teach at the kids' archery camp this summer, he only hesitates for a moment before responding that in an expensive city like Boston of course he needs the extra income. As far as he's concerned the damn… well damned souls can wait until he can make rent to be caught.

The only real change is the amount of times he starts and then erases texts to Regina. He can justify it as thinking they should get to know each other if they're going to be spending so much time together in the foreseeable future but the truth is that he's drawn to her in some inexplicable way.

On Wednesday at 11:45 am he is off from work, a little bored, and a little high, so he finally sends out the care for a drink? that's been sitting on his phone since Sunday. It's probably an ill-timed attempt to spend time with her as evidenced by her I don't daytime reply twenty minutes later that he doesn't know whether to write off as a temporary or permanent rejection. She doesn't respond when he texts perhaps some evening then back, which isn't the best sign but it does quell his desire to text her for the time being.

He doesn't hear from her again until the following Tuesday, only a second from leaving the blessed air conditioning of Sherwood and facing the summer heat. He's been occupied for the past few hours teaching children how to hold bows and nock arrows, a both exhilarating and exhausting process. He loves spending time with kids, loves passing on a hobby he enjoys so much, but it's bittersweet knowing he will never get to do so with his and Marian's own children. It leaves him craving a distraction, itching to be consumed by something. He has a perfectly inconvenient amount of free time this afternoon, with a few hours left before his shift at the bar but not enough time to get out of the city and hike.

He goes to double check his work schedule, half-contemplating texting Mulan and asking her if he can just start early when he sees Regina's text. Its timing is ironically miraculous, considering the opposing nature of what it signals.

The message, sent less than an hour before, simply reads Emma found her.

Robin hastens his departure, and as soon as he's sufficiently far, he pulls back out his phone.

"What took you so long?" she hisses out after the second ring.

He rolls his eyes and takes a few deep breaths before replying, letting go of the urge to snap at her. He isn't normally this easy to rile but it appears Regina is uniquely qualified to do so.

"Working."

She huffs out a loud breath but doesn't berate him. She quickly explains that Emma's found the hotel Cruella's staying in and despite covering up her signature black and white hair with blonde dye, the private investigator is sure it's her.

And so he finds himself stuffed in the back seat of an impractically bright yellow bug, idly chatting with Emma about the Red Sox while Regina glares forwards and makes a concerted effort to neither look at nor speak to either of them. They have a perfect view of the hotel lobby but there are no signs of her entering or exiting.

Hours pass, they move on to Stranger Things and the ins and outs of being a PI, but still Cruella doesn't appear. The hours and then minutes to his shift tick down until he regretfully admits "I'm sorry but I have to get going."

He and Emma exchange cordial see you laters, while Regina continues to scowl at him via the rear view mirror, he assumes either angry that he's leaving most of the waiting around for her or that she's been confined with Emma after everything that's happened between them.

He makes what he considers a valiant attempt to remain focused at work while discreetly texting Regina in an attempt to gain updates. Each text gets a little read receipt almost immediately, but not one receives a response. And although he would prefer to hear it from Regina herself, he can deduce that if any progress had been made she wouldn't be checking her messages so frequently.

As soon as the clock strikes eleven, he calls Regina. And when she doesn't pick up he calls her two more times. He's standing a few blocks from the bar, regretting not getting Emma's number so they could avoid this entire situation when he gets a text from Regina.

Come find us, stop being so annoying.

When he makes his way back to the bug, both Regina and Emma look a little worse for wear after spending so many hours in the cramped car together.

Regina turns around when he knocks on Emma's window and almost looks pleased to see him, a function of boredom more than any actual fondness he's sure.

"So how was your-" Emma starts when he gets into the bug and then stops, going from slouching to upright, her right hand moving to the gear shift. And despite the obviousness of it, she tells them, "that's her."

He follows Emma's line of sight to a pretty blonde in a simple black dress. She's unassuming, someone he'd never have recognized as the fur-draped, harshly made up Cruella Feinberg. Without the crazy hair and the overdrawn eyebrows, she has a disarming softness incompatible with the woman Robin's seen on the news. It's a perfect disguise and only now that he's looking for it does he connect the angularity of the woman he sees with the one he's heard of.

A black midsize sedan, an Uber he'd bet, pulls up in front the hotel's doors and Cruella gets in the back seat. As the car pulls away, Emma, preceded by a warning "buckle up" skillfully follows the car as it weaves through the traffic. He can't figure an obvious destination, and as they get farther and farther, he grows more confused. And apparently he isn't the only one getting antsy.

"We've been driving for twenty minutes already," Regina complains, though Robin suspects that it has more to do with her frustration at spending the hours prior waiting around then the current drive.

But as if by magic, Cruella's Uber starts to slow down, heading towards the Franklin Park Zoo parking lot as soon as the words leave her mouth.

Emma looks at him with an eyebrow raising in question, but he shakes his head, also having no idea why she would be at a zoo that's been closed for hours.

Cruella makes her way in, easily passing by the sleeping security guard. Emma holds up a hand in warning, waiting until Cruella is far enough away to start following.

"Emma wait," he whispers just after they enter, "there's something we need to tell you."

Regina's shaking her head at him but at some point he'll be shooting arrows and he'd prefer Emma not call her friends in the police department when he does.

He gives her the quickest summary he can of the events of his birthday and who Cruella really is, feeling crazy as he says it all out loud.

Emma looks to Regina, and at her lack of reaction stops in her tracks.

"You two are insane," she says a bit too loud, to which he and Regina emit simultaneous shhh's.

He can't blame that impulse in the slightest so against his internal frantic need for her to get onboard he does the best impression of logical and calm he can manage in such a situation.

"I know that's how it sounds but it's true and she may have powers so we really need to-" he starts, carefully measuring his words, but pauses when he notices Cruella stop. She's far enough away where their whispers aren't likely to be heard, but the reality of the situation necessitates that they figure out a plan.

"Give me the bow. I'll hit her before she even notices we're here," he says to Regina, careful to keep his voice just audible to the two women next to him.

Regina gives her head a little half shake, and makes no delay translating the disapproval he sees in her eyes into words.

"That is a terrible plan," she spits out. "When you miss, she'll be prepared. We should engage her and attack when she's distracted."

It's not that she's proposing a bad plan, even if he thinks it's the wrong approach, but the derision with which she dismisses him triggers his tempter in a way he would never have expected.

"I won't miss. Why can't you just trust that I may actually have a worthy idea?" he snaps back, struggling to keep his voice down.

While he and Regina continue to bicker, Cruella turns around. They're quick to hide behind some trees, quick enough that she couldn't have spotted them, but she knows they're there and thus their advantage is gone.

Instead of coming towards them, she stalks towards the lions' cage. He looks at Regina and Emma but he sees his own confusion mirrored in their faces.

They all watch anxiously as she walks right up to the glass and breathes out green. While the lions remain asleep as the breath reaches them, green apparitions rise. The animal ghosts - for lack of better explain action at the moment - look to Cruella, who simply gestures in their direction lazily.

The lions begin to run and easily cover the few hundred feet between the enclosure and their hiding place. Before they have any time to process what's just happened, Robin finds himself pounced on, paws pressing him to the ground. It feels as though claws are really digging into him, but when he looks down there is no blood.

He glances over at Emma to see her struggling as he is to get out from under the lions but Regina simply lies there, resigned to their fate.

Cruella saunters over to them and Robin is sure this is how they'll all die, and yet she makes no move to hurt them.

"Well darlings, this is where I take my leave," Cruella drawls. "I suggest you take my mercy and remember that if you come for me again, it will not be given."

The sound of Cruella's footsteps grows more and more faint as he and Emma continue to fight their mammalian captors. Eventually it comes as close to silence as one can get in Boston and the lions dissipate along with the noise.

Tentatively, he puts his palms to the ground, testing his ability to push up. When he encounters no resistance, Robin gingerly gets up, hyperaware of the pain on his entire back side.

While Emma quickly follows him to her feet, Regina teeters on her heels before falling back to the ground. On instinct he reaches out a hand. She considers it doubtfully for a moment until ultimately reaching her hand out in return and allowing Robin to pull her up.

It's the first time he's touched her and it takes him a moment too long to drop her hand, something Regina strangely does not object to. Immediately Regina busies herself smoothing over her dress (practical in its black color but not in any other way) and brushing off any dirt, not sparing him a second glance.

"I guess you guys aren't crazy after all," Emma concedes a little unsteadily.

He gives Emma a cursory nod in response and without discussion they begin to make their way back to the parking lot.

He purposefully falls into step with Regina, who he assumes has deliberately set a pace slower than Emma.

"We need a better plan next time," she mutters almost to herself, startling slightly when he responds.

"At least now we have the advantage of knowing what we're up against," he reasons.

"Well aren't you an optimist."

They're out of the zoo and nearing Emma's car before he speaks again.

"We're going to have to trust each other if we ever want to succeed," he says, voice lowered enough that Emma can't hear.

"Trust is earned," she replies immediately, and he can feel the weight behind that belief. While in his life he's found the opposite to be true, that distrust is earned, he understands why for most people that may not be the case. So he doesn't argue the point.

"Be that as it may, we have to start somewhere. And I think getting to know each other is as good a place as any," he suggests, keeping his tone casual and trying not to sound too hopeful. Because there is something about her that draws him in, that makes him want to know her.

She doesn't dismiss him outright as he feared she might, instead cautiously asking, "And how do you suggest we do that?"

"Well you do still owe me that drink," he answers, a hint of teasing in his tone, unsure if pushing the issue was the right move.

She doesn't say anything now that they've reached the car nor during the ride to the closest T stop but right before go their separate ways, she gives her answer.

"I suppose I do," she says and for a moment he honestly has no idea what she's talking about, "owe you that drink," she clarifies and he can't help the wide grin that breaks out on his face. She rolls her eyes at him, but when she says, "good night Robin," there's something like fondness in her voice. She doesn't wait for a response from him, simply turns and walks away.

And while they may not have accomplished their task, Robin thinks that perhaps things couldn't have turned out better.