Sorry for the update delay. The unrest within the SQ fandom has made it difficult to write on top of my life getting really busy. No matter what, I plan on concluding my fics. Hope you enjoy, and thank you for your patience!

Dinner was as pleasant as she could have hoped it would be, given the circumstances. Emma made eager work of her burger and fries while Henry filled her in on everything from his school work to town gossip and even video games.

Gaming was an activity that Henry and Emma had bonded over during their year in New York. Emma was a casual gamer in her time, but orphans don't really have the kind of money necessary to keep up with the latest game systems.

Regina had set them up with a financially secure life in New York, and thankfully, she and Henry had really wanted for nothing. Emma tried countless times to find the right moment to properly thank Regina. No matter how hard she tried, the moment just never came, as she could never really find words adequate enough to express what it all meant to her. Regina gave Emma the gift of love, a life and a family – something that she had always dreamed of – and she gave it to Emma and Henry without a thought to herself. How do you thank someone for such a genuinely selfless act? While Emma and Henry were sitting on their couch, liberating Westmarch from the clutches Malthael, Regina was off in the Enchanted Forest fighting Zelena to ensure that they would remain safe. A simple thank you never seemed like it would ever be good enough for what Regina sacrificed for them.

Emma scanned Regina's face as she stuffed the last couple of fries in her mouth and closed the styrofoam container. Regina had remained mostly silent during their dinner, letting Henry speak and picking wordlessly at her Cobb salad. It was unlike her not to participate in a conversation involving Henry, and it was clear to Emma that something was on her mind. Emma couldn't deal with her own problems properly right now, let alone someone else's, but she hated seeing Regina with anything other than a smile on her face.

Emma's thoughts were interrupted by the nurse knocking lightly in the doorway, pushing a vacant wheelchair into the room.

"I don't mean to interrupt you, Mayor Mills, but Doctor Whale wants Emma out of bed for at least 20 minutes today."

Regina dabbed her mouth with a napkin and closed the to-go box containing her salad before turning to the nurse.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer it if we take Miss Swan for her excursion around the hospital."

The nurse looked a bit surprised by the request, but darted her glance over to Henry and consented out of what must have been sympathy for their situation.

"I'll just need to get her transferred from the bed to the chair if you'll just give us a few minutes."

Regina inclined her head at the nurse and held her arm outstretched towards her son. "Thank you. Come Henry, let's give your mother a few minutes of privacy, shall we?"

Henry smiled and nodded, helping Regina gather the remnants of their meal while being ushered out into the hall to wait.

After the two disappeared into the hallway, Emma started to break out into a cold sweat.

I knew something was wrong. Regina wouldn't want to spend 20 minutes pushing your sorry ass around a hospital unless she had some bomb to drop on you.

"Are you feeling alright, Emma? Your heart rate is up, are you in pain? Maybe now isn't the best time for –"

" - I'm fine." Emma snapped, causing the nurse to recoil. She took a deep breath to regain control. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just going a little stir-crazy on this glorified cot you guys pass off as a bed, and I'm eager to get moving around again..."

The nurse gave her an understanding smile and a small tentative nod, while continuing her work to transfer her IV over to the wheelchair.

Henry and Regina were seated in the hallway, waiting for Emma to get situated in her wheelchair. They both had discussed Emma moving in with them for the time being, so Henry understood what Regina was angling at.

"You know you mother is emotionally driven, so it's best that I do this alone." Regina explained.

Henry nodded. "I get it, Mom. You do what you have to in order to get Ma to come home. I just hope she listens. She needs us."

Regina squeezed Henry's hand.

"I know, Henry. As much as she may be opposed to it, staying with us is her best option. She'll see reason."

Henry shrugged and sighed.

"I hope so."

The doors to Emma's room whooshed open revealing a pale but rather spry looking Emma accompanied by her nurse.

"So who's going to be my co-pilot?" Emma asked, hoping desperately that Henry would be a part of their excursion. Regina wouldn't say anything in front of Henry that would upset him.

Regina rose from her chair and smoothed out the front of her pants.

"You'll have to settle for an ex-Evil Queen, if that's alright with you."

Emma swallowed a giant lump in her throat.

"Anything to get me out of this room." She responded as neutrally as possible trying her best to mask her anxiety.

Regina forced a smile and turned back to where Henry was seated.

"We won't be long Henry, you'll be fine here for a bit?"

Henry held up the latest issue of Batman's New 52 and responded with a genuine smile.

"I'm all set Moms, see you in a bit."

The nurse took her cue to leave and exited down the hall, leaving Regina to take up the 'reigns' of Emma's wheelchair. Regina began pushing Emma down the hallway, but several minutes passed before either of them spoke. It became apparent that neither of them seemed to want to be the first to break the awkward silence between them.

After the two of them made it outside to the courtyard, Emma took in a long cool draw of fresh fall air. It had been a while since Emma smelled anything other than the hospital's industrial disinfectant. She was looking forward to getting out of this hellhole of a prison and back out into the real world. Emma had had just about enough of being poked and prodded at and looked at like she was a nut case. She wasn't sure yet what she was going to actually do once she left this place, but anywhere was better than here.

Regina pushed them over to a wooden bench that overlooked the trees and flowers in the courtyard. She parked Emma next to the bench and then sat down and crossed her legs. Her gaze seemed fixed on some distant object, almost as if she was intentionally avoiding looking at Emma, which only made Emma more anxious about what Regina had to say to her.

"I spoke with Doctor Whale and he says they're likely to discharge you tomorrow."

Emma let out a puff of air and shifted slightly in the wheelchair, wondering what exactly Regina was getting at.

"Uh, yeah, he told me earlier today."

"You don't sound as relieved as I though you would." Regina said, finally turning to look at Emma.

Is she trying to make small-talk with me? Regina Mills does not make small-talk…

Emma shrugged. "I am. I'm happy to get out of that damn bed of course, but the rest of it all, not so much..."

She hated being alone with Regina like this. When Regina looked at her it felt like she could see through the wall Emma was trying to put up between them. She was afraid that Regina would ask a question that Emma didn't have the right answer for. The last thing she needed was to spill her guts about how she felt. It was bad enough that she tore everyone's lives apart by this whole debacle. Now was not the time to create another problem.

"You don't have to have everything sorted out right this moment, you know. I'll make sure that your job as Sheriff will be waiting for you, however long it takes you to heal…"

Emma knew that Regina could sense her discomfort but there was no way that she wanted to broach her true feelings about the subject. Her job was the least of her worries, but it's not like she could say, "I love you so much I can barely look at you, especially when you're with him." Instead, she figured it best to volley the ball over to Regina's side of the court.

"Thanks…" Emma let a few moments hang in the air and then continued. "So...I know you could have let that nurse push me around, but instead, you went out of your way. I know when something is on your mind Regina, so why don't you let me know why we're out here appreciating the garden in the middle of autumn?"

Regina seemed to be surprised by how direct Emma's question was and responded defensively. "Perhaps I just wanted to ensure that the mother of my son is properly cared for?"

Emma chuckled, stifling a cough. "Come on, Regina. You don't think I can't recognize when you're bullshitting me by now? I know you think I'm an idiot, but give me some credit…I'm not my parents…"

"Fine." Regina shifted on the bench to face Emma more directly.

"Henry and I have discussed it and we both agree that it would be best if you stay with us while you recover. You can decline, but I know that staying with your parents isn't really a viable option…"

Un-fucking believable. I should have known they were up to something when Henry wasn't putting up a fight to co-pilot this damn chair.

Emma closed her eyes and squeezed the arm of her wheelchair until her knuckles went white. She let out a long breath and looked back at Regina, probably revealing the anger brewing inside of her. "As much as I don't like how you and our son are trying to make my decisions for me, I can't possibly stay with you."

Regina recoiled a bit but appeared to be more offended than anything.

"And why not? Is the prospect of having a quiet room to yourself and spending more time with your son so abhorrent of a suggestion?"

Emma rolled her eyes.

"Of course not. You know I love spending time with Henry."

"Then what is it?" Regina snapped.

Emma sighed, her anger waning.

She just wants to help you, stop being such an idiot. There are a million reasons why this is not a good idea, just pick the one where you don't tell her you're in love with her.

"Look at me." Emma gestured to her battered, bruised and casted body. "I'm going to require a lot more care than you have the time or patience for. You have a full house and a busy life with Robin and I'd just get in the way…"

Emma dropped eye contact with Regina and fixed her gaze on some cracks in pavement, trying to pretend that she did not just mention Robin…

Regina sighed and knelt down in front of Emma, forcing her to meet her eyes.

"I know we've drifted apart over these past few months, but that doesn't mean that anything has changed between us. You'd do the same for me if I were in that chair….Say yes, Emma."

Whatever Regina wanted or what her motives were, Emma knew it would never be a good idea for the two of them to live under the same roof…not if she wanted to keep her feelings in check.

"Does Robin approve of you taking in a stray?" Emma joked, offering up a smirk to mask her true concerns.

Regina stood up and took several steps away from Emma, before taking a deep breath and turning back around to respond.

"Robin and I broke up…so I have plenty of room to accommodate you."

Regardless of her feelings about their relationship, Emma was shocked to hear that they had broken up.

"What? Why? Wasn't he supposed to be your soulmate or something? You can't just dump your soulmate, can you?"

Regina hesitated for a moment, picking at the imaginary lint balls on the sleeve of her blazer before taking another step back towards Emma.

"Well soulmate or not, I wasn't happy, so I did." Regina said dejectedly, kneading her hands together.

Emma could see that Regina was still very much upset about the break up and wanted more than anything to make her feel better.

Say something. Anything. What would you want to hear?

"Destiny and fate have pretty much fucked us both over more times than we can count. I don't think anyone would fault you for wanting to finally have a choice."

Emma smiled tentatively at Regina, who to her surprise returned the gesture. After an awkward few moments of silence, Regina cleared her throat.

"So you'll be staying with us then?"

Emma sighed. As much as she knew this was not by any means a great idea, what other options did she really have? She couldn't exactly ditch town until she could walk on her own. At least this would buy her some time to figure out how she would handle everything. With Robin gone, it was tempting to stay, but the reality of it all was that everyone forgot about her. She wasn't important enough or needed enough for anyone to even notice that she spent most of her nights getting obliterated. They only cared now because she crashed her bug straight into a tree. Once she got on her feet again, they'd all go back to their lives and leave her in the dust.

"Yeah…but only because Henry wants it."

Regina looked down at her wristwatch to check the time. "Alright then, I suppose we can discuss the details later, I think it's about time we head back." Regina walked around the chair and began pushing Emma out of the courtyard back towards her room.

"If we're away much longer they may assume you've escaped once again…" Regina said with an air of humor, in an obvious effort to lighten the mood.

"Or that the Evil Queen took the Savior as her prisoner." Emma added, thankful that the uncomfortable part of their conversation was now over.

When they arrived back at the room, Emma smiled meekly as the nurse walked over to transfer her over from the wheelchair back to her bed.

"Thanks for coming, Regina. I know it must have pained you to buy me a burger and fries."

"Don't get too accustomed to it, Sheriff." Regina replied, with a warm smile. "Henry and I will be back again tomorrow to take you home."

Emma nodded and Regina re-entered the hall, leaving the nurse to tend to Emma. She draped an arm over Henry's shoulder and led him out of the hospital.

"You think she'll be okay, Mom?"

Regina squeezed his shoulder gently.

"After everything all of us have been through together, I know things will get better, she just needs some time. Your mother is one of the strongest people I've ever met."

After inhaling a rush of cool fall air, Henry turned to his mother.

"It doesn't matter what she did, I know she loves us..."

Regina felt a shot of adrenaline surge through her at his use of the word 'us' but quickly dismissed the idea that Henry meant anything by it.

"Let's go home and get some sleep, okay? We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

w."