For Day 6 of the EC week Sleeping Curse or when Regina takes David's place and goes to sleep forever... or does she? Evil Charming, Regal Believer, Snow Queen, Charming Believer family. This is part of a two-shots, the second part (and technically the prequel to this one) is coming on Sunday.

Many, many thanks to my darling LillieGreyfor her beta work and to Lolymoon for her live reactions and encouragements.

First attempt at Evil Charming, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: OUAT and its characters are not mine, no matter how much I wish they were.

Let the sleeping Queens lie

It was calling to her, as if whispering her name, and she vaguely recalled a similar scene in that poor imitation of the Sleeping Beauty story she had watched with Henry when he was little.

Regina knew it didn't happen that way, after all, she had been there when Maleficent had gotten her revenge on Briar Rose's daughter, but she could still feel a pull towards the sharp needle on the spinwheel. After all the trouble it had caused her to let go of magic, she had been asked to use it again, 'for a good cause.' It was her curse, she made it herself in a rare moment of bonding time with her son, but she sensed it turning against her.

She wondered if it was because the intended victim was supposed to be David. Things had shifted so much between them since Snow and Emma fell down that portal. He was her friend in a way; they had crossed a line very recently, a moment of weakness she regretted as soon as she had woken up the next morning.

She could only hope that David would keep quiet, that he wouldn't use it against her to separate her from Henry again after his wife and daughter's return. Although he was as willing as she was. There was never a second where she doubted he wanted this as much she did.

She had been grieving Daniel, again, not that she ever really stopped, the loss even more violent and traumatic since she was the one who had to end his life once and for all. David had shown more understanding than she would have thought him capable of. He had been a welcomed distraction, but she felt weak and foolish for giving in and letting this happen. If Snow ever found out, Regina knew she would be the one on whom the blame would fall, and she shuddered at the thought of what it would mean.

She was vaguely aware of Henry and David talking, her son giving his grandfather the necklace supposed to keep the flames of the netherworld at bay, and of Rumplestiltskin's eyes on her as she stepped closer and closer to the shining pin.

She didn't even realise when she raised her hand and pricked her index finger. She looked down at the drop of blood, the slight pain only just registering in her troubled mind. She felt her eyelids becoming heavier and heavier until she couldn't lift them up anymore. She went to sleep hearing three people cry out her name in various states of panic, fear and concern, with only one thought in her mind: that Henry wouldn't have to be afraid of anything going wrong for his grandfather in the limbo of the cursed world she just condemned herself to.

She was never aware of the two strong arms that broke her fall.

Stupid woman, David thought as he laid her down on the small cot while Henry covered her with the blanket she had brought from home for him. "Why the hell would she do that?" he asked Gold, without turning from the dark haired woman lying lifeless in front of him.

"I have long since stopped trying to understand this woman," Gold replied, and it was supposed to sound uninterested and uncaring, but after throwing a quick glance to the side, David saw that the Dark One couldn't look away from Regina either, and his frown was definitely not indifferent.

"How is she going to wake up now? She doesn't have a true love," Henry inquired, biting his lip to stop it from trembling and David pulled the boy against him.

"We will find a way," he tried to reassure him, adding in his mind "You've got to stop scaring the boy like that, Regina."

"What's going to happen to her there?" Henry continued, this time towards the shop owner. "Will she be in the room in flames?"

"Not exactly," Rumplestiltskin answered. "This room is only accessible to those who have been woken from the curse."

David bristled. "Why didn't you tell us that before?"

"Did I not? Must have slipped my mind."

The Prince snorted. "Of course, it did. How will she find the room and Snow then?"

"Well, that's a little conundrum we are all counting on her to solve. I'm sure our dear Queen is more than capable of rising to the challenge. The question is: will she want to?" Gold taunted and both David and Henry's eyes widened.

"You don't think she would do that just to not follow the plan, do you?"

"Don't tell me that possibility hasn't crossed your mind? Since when are you so trusting of Regina?"

David stayed silent, his jaw crossed, glaring at the man.

"Hmmm, interesting…"

Henry looked between the two of them, without understanding. "Is she going to be okay?"

"We will make sure she is," David replied and he was surprised to find that he meant it. When did that happen? He took off the necklace that Henry gave him moments ago and put it around Regina's neck.

"She will need it more than I," he told his grandson, who hugged him in response.

Regina woke in a dark room, it took her a few seconds to adapt to her surroundings. Some torches on the walls gave the room a faint glow. She took one of them to examine the setting. She startled when she came face to face with her image in a mirror.

Actually, all the walls were covered in mirrors. Her reflections staring at her from all sides, she felt a violent shudder when she studied them more closely and realised that each mirror represented a different time of her life. Her young self, back when Daniel was still alive, another on the day of her wedding, another right after Leopold's death and it went on and on, the milestones of her life staring, fixed barely moving. She was suffocating. She needed to get out of here and fast.

A necklace appeared around her neck and she recognized it, her heart squeezed a bit when she realised Henry probably put it there. She felt calmer with it and she closed her eyes to ignore the visions torturing her.

She needed to find the room in flames, give the message to Snow and be done with it. The necklace felt heavier all of a sudden, she opened her eyes and looked down at it, it was glowing a faint blue light, she moved and it glowed even more, pulling towards the ground. She crouched down slowly and felt some warmth which seemed to emanate from the soil. She let her hand hover just above the ground and almost burned herself at the contact.

What she was looking for must be below, she thought. She used the heavy torch to hit the ground and a crack appeared. She repeated the action until a hole was formed. She lost her footing and fell through the opening she created, letting go of the torch and clutching the necklace so no damage would come to it, landing harshly in a huge room. Her vision filled with red, as she she found herself surrounded by giant flames.

The heat was unbearable, the flames licking at her from all sides, she tried to protect her face with her arm, holding the necklace with the other. She focused and the flames obeyed her, withering away.

She heard a voice calling Henry's name and looking up, she saw Snow standing at the other end of the room. She took a few steps towards her former step daughter, who gasped as she recognized her.

"Regina? What are you doing here? I thought Henry…"

"Well, you thought wrong," Regina interrupted rudely, barely a minute in the younger woman's presence and she was already fed up. "Spending too much time in this room was hurting my son," she put as much emphasis on the last two words as possible, and the way Snow tensed let her know she had made her point. "I wasn't about to let him come back here."

"Why you? Why not David? You won't be able to wake up from this! You don't have a true love," she exclaimed and Regina grimaced.

"Thanks to you, I don't," she snapped. "Does it really matter whether I wake up or not? Wouldn't it make all your dreams come true if I didn't? Finally rid of the Evil Step Mother who ruined your life? Free to live your little fairytale with your Prince Charming, your perfect precious daughter and my son?" She spat, making Snow recoil.

"You know that has never been what I wanted! All I wished for was to get back the girl who saved me from a runaway horse."

"You destroyed that girl!" Regina screamed. "You and Cora and your father and Rumplestiltskin, you all destroyed that girl and she is not coming back! It's high time you should realise that," she yelled angrily, pointing her finger at Snow with emphasis. "Not that it's going to be a problem anymore," she added under her breath.

"The fact that you're here tells me that she might not be as far away as you believe she is," Snow told her softly and Regina rolled her eyes.

"Only you would see it that way. This is pointless! Listen, and listen well because I will only say this once. Last time Henry was here, he couldn't tell your friend about Gold's idea to defeat my mother. You're going to have to use the same trick as when you trapped him," she explained.

"With the enchanted quill?" Snow asked.

Regina glared at the interruption, causing the girl to lower her eyes. "It wasn't the quill, it was the ink. Squid ink, he managed to store some of it, you will find it in his cell."

Snow nodded. "Squid ink, in the Dark One's cell, got it. Anything else we should know?"

Regina smirked. "One last thing, if you let Cora come to Storybrooke and any harm comes to my son because of it, I will haunt you until you draw your last breath, am I clear?"

Snow gulped. "Yes, very clear." Just then, she felt a pull. "I'm waking up," she said.

"Then go. Henry will be happy to see you again," the words almost stuck in her throat and her eyes burned with unshed tears at the thought that Snow would never have to struggle for Henry's affection, it would be freely given, no conditions required.

She was handing her happy ending to the person she tried so hard to destroy on a plate, with the Prince and her son and her town. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Regina," Snow called out and the Queen abhorred the expression on the girl's face, she could never stand pity. "Thank you for doing this for me, for us."

"Just go," she growled. The moment the Princess disappeared, she fell on her knees, sobbing, a hand pressed against her mouth.

She was stuck here forever, no one to kiss her awake, no one who cared enough to want to do it.

They kept vigil by Regina's bedside, looking for a sign, something that would let them know she succeeded and found Snow to deliver the message, but there was nothing.

If they didn't know any better they would believe her to be dead and David caught Henry trying to check her breathing once or twice.

The boy blamed himself, that much was obvious. David hadn't been able to get much out of him but he had heard Henry whisper that he was sorry, that he never wanted all of this to happen.

David wasn't really sure how to feel about the whole thing. He had spent so much time fighting against Regina in Snow's name, and then suddenly during the curse, as David Nolan, he had considered her a friend. He still saw, more and more lately, the woman who had offered him comfort and advice, no matter what her true agenda at the time was.

And then of course there was the not so small business of the night they spent together. He hadn't expect anything of the sort to happen when he went to the Manor that evening to make sure she was alright after the gruesome encounter with her former not quite dead fiancé. Finally understanding the whole truth of the origin of Regina and Snow's feud felt like a shock of ice water running through his veins. He wondered why his wife never told him the whole story; he had put some pieces together on his own, but the whole picture had eluded him until then.

It certainly put things in perspective..

He knew that Regina regretted their shared moment of weakness as she called it, and apart from throwing him out of her bed the next morning, she hadn't wanted to speak a single word about it and pretended it never occurred.

He wouldn't be as categoric. He cheated on Snow, and he certainly wasn't comfortable with the idea, but he wouldn't go as far as to say he wished it never happened. He had felt a connection with Regina that night, had gotten a glimpse of the person she used to be, the person Snow had met and wanted so much to find again, the person Daniel had loved.

As crazy as it sounded, he was beginning to trust Regina, he knew she would do anything to make Henry happy and he had relied heavily on that during their search for a way to bring back his family. With her being out of the game, he only had Rumplestiltskin to count on and he didn't like the idea much. He couldn't vent his frustration at getting absolutely nowhere to the Dark One the way he could with Regina.

He needed her, he needed his friend, or David Nolan's friend. He would have to ask Belle if she knew any means to wake someone from a sleeping curse, apart from True Love's kiss.

She didn't know how long she stayed there, on the ground, the flames roaring back to Life around her as she sobbed to her heart's content. As the last few tears leaked from her eyes, a sound broke her trance and she looked up to see a door opening at the other end of the room.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she got up to investigate. The door slammed shut behind her the moment she stepped over the threshold. She found herself standing in the Storybrooke stables, and her blood ran cold.

Right in her front of her, she saw herself being strangled by Daniel, the scene, the memory really, playing in slow motion in such a way she could almost feel his fingers closing around her throat again. She stood, rooted in place, watching, until the moment Daniel pronounced his last words, "Love again", and she couldn't stand it anymore. She closed her eyes and screams invaded her ears, her screams in a much younger voice. Turning towards the sound, she knew what she would find. She was unfortunately right, her seventeen years old self was indeed there, cradling Daniel's body in her arms, unable to accept what her mother had just done.

Once more, she had the desperate instinct to flee, but the door she had just come through was tightly shut and wouldn't budge. She walked backwards, looking from one side, with her Storybrooke self crying over the ashes that were all that remained of Daniel, to the other, with the young girl who couldn't let go of her love's dead body.

Her back collided against a strong chest, startling her. She swirled round and came face to face with another Daniel and her jaw dropped.

"But, but..." She stammered. "What's going on? How are you here?"

"I brought you here," he replied and the cruel smile he sported had nothing to do with the man she knew and loved.

"What? Why would you do that?" She breathed.

"To show you who you really are. That's twice you have killed me, Regina. A murderer, that's what you are," Daniel accused, seizing her arms.

Regina paled. "Daniel, please stop, you're hurting me. You are not making any sense," she pleaded.

"This is just retribution for your awful actions," a voice she knew all too well intervened and unpleasant shivers invaded her.

Leopold appeared, horribly disfigured and discolored, leftovers from his gruesome end at the fangs of the Agraban viper.

"You did this to me, you horrible, evil Witch. After all I did for you; you never wanted for anything when you were my Queen," he spat, his once honeyed and sweet tone nowhere to be heard.

"Except love and respect," Regina found the strength to retort and tried to struggle against Daniel, who only tightened his hold.

"Love is weakness, my darling. You should know that by now," Cora came into view. "Look where loving that son of yours got you. You are stuck here, to pay for your sins. You tried to have your own mother killed, you ripped your father's heart out, what kind of person does that?"

It was becoming too much to bear for Regina. The three crowded her.

"Murderer. Evil. Weak," they chanted. "Murderer. Evil. Weak," again and again, trying to drive her mad, but the voice of her son broke through the fog.

Henry, despite David's insistence, had categorically refused to move away from his mother's side. How was he supposed to go to school and focus on anything when three quarters of his family were either lost in another realm or in their own mind?

His grandpa had found nothing to refute that and went off to find Belle for some research purpose he hadn't wanted to talk about, leaving him in charge of watching over his mother.

"Mom, I'm not sure if you can hear me, I know I could hear some people sometimes, I could hear you. I just wanted to say that I hope you're okay and we will find a way to bring you back, you won't stay there forever, I promise," Henry waited for a reaction and sighed when there was none.

He got up to explore around the shop, his naturally curious mind feeling at home in such a mysterious place. He let his fingers run along shelves, gathering some dust, stopping here and there to pick up an object, until he noticed a chest on one of the counters. He opened it and discovered several wands stocked there, he recognized one from Cinderella's story and he pulled it out, studying the blue handle and the glass body.

"You shouldn't touch objects like that all on your own. Those are dangerous and unpredictable," Mr Gold said and Henry jumped, not having noticed the shop's owner standing right behind him.

"I'm sorry, I was just passing the time," the boy replied sheepishly.

Gold's expression softened a bit. "No changes with your mother I gather?"

Henry shook his head. "Nothing. I just wish there was something I could do to help, I feel so useless."

"The best thing you can do is look after her, stay safe, and let us handle the rest," Rumple countered, and there was something in the way he said it that gave Henry pause.

He frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just that we don't know if your mother was able to give the message to Snow White. We can't be sure who will get through the portal back to Storybrooke."

"I know they will do it, good always defeats evil, Emma and Mary Margaret will make it," Henry stated forcefully.

"You have a strong faith, as all children do, but you don't know Cora like we do. She is powerful and remorseless, she will stop at nothing to get what she wants," Gold explained, a hint of impatience in his voice.

"Including hurting them?" Henry asked.

"Including that," the older man nodded. "There is a very strong possibility that Cora will be the one to come through, and with your mother in her current state, I fear her reaction even more."

"Mom gave Mary Margaret the message and she and Emma will defeat Cora just like always. They always find a way," Henry refused to accept anything else and it made Gold smile, but even the boy could see it wasn't sincere.

"Just don't touch anything without permission."

Henry recognized the dismissal for what it was and returned to the back room, thoughts swirling in his ever active mind.

David came back to the shop, feeling defeated. Hours of research in the library with Belle, looking for a way to wake Regina led nowhere. He was no closer to having his family back and had no solution to break the sleeping felt like a failure to Henry.

He found his grandson exactly where he left him, frowning at his brunette mother as if he could wake her by sheer mind power.

"Your face will be stuck like that permanently if you keep going," David told him, trying to break the gloomy mood.

"Did Belle find something to bring back Mom?" Henry inquired, not looking up, the lines on his forehead smoothing slightly.

David's eyebrows flew up. "How did you know that's what we were doing?"

The boy shrugged. "I figured. It was pretty obvious, what else could be important enough for you to leave me in charge here."

"Whenever did you get so smart?" David asked, impressed, and not for the first time, at his grandson's cleverness.

"I guess Mom didn't do such a bad job raising me," Henry replied, smiling down at his mother, taking one of her unusually cold hands in his to warm her up.

"Yes, I guess so," David approved, sitting down on the cot to imitate Henry, he adjusted the blanket over her feet and took Regina's other hand.

"What's the deal between you and Mom anyway? You two have been weird lately," the ten years old seemed way older when he studied David so closely, looking for any reactions on his part.

"I don't know what you mean. We have been civil, some would even say friendly," he answered, not meeting Henry's gaze, wondering where this would lead.

"I know but still, she has been avoiding you lately. Ever since the thing at the stables happened," the boy continued, undeterred by his grandfather's evasive reply.

"That was very hard for your mother Henry. You know she stayed home for a while after that," David explained carefully.

His grandson sighed, frustrated. "I know that, but it's just... You went there that night, and ever since things have been weird, you're both so polite and you never stay alone in the same room together and I didn't pay too much attention to that before because it was just Mom being Mom and doing things her way, but now, with what she did...I guess I just want to make sure that nothing happened that I don't know about," he rambled quickly, leaving the interim Sheriff a bit stunned.

"I tried to make sure your mother was alright, I stayed until I was certain she would be okay on her own, that's all. I don't know why your mother went under the sleeping curse, but you can be damn sure we will ask her when she wakes up," it wasn't the whole truth, far from it, but there was no way David would confess it to Henry. Whatever happened between him and Regina, was for the both of them to discuss, if she ever decided to be an adult about it, instead of avoiding him.

"You really think we can do it? Wake her?" Henry asked, brown orbs full of hope.

"It's the family motto, son. We always find a way."

The ringing of his cellphone broke the moment. He answered it, frowning in confusion at the rapid speech that greeted him.

"What do you mean gone? How can all the diamonds have disappeared like that?" He asked and Henry's eyes widened, he jumped up and ran towards the front of the shop.

"It's gone," he said a moment later. "He took it."

"Who, Henry? What do you mean?"

"Mr Gold, he has some magic wands in a chest and there is one missing, he must have used it to take the fairy dust from the mines."

"Why would he do that?"

"He doesn't think Emma and Mary Margaret can beat Cora, he said even he fears how she will react if she comes through and finds Mom like that."

"So he is going to try and stop that from ever happening. You heard that guys?" David asked the dwarves on the other end of the line. When he received a positive reply, he told them to meet him in the woods. "The portal must be the well, where the magic came back from," he had barely hung up when Henry was already heading towards the door. "You're not coming, Henry. Your mom would have my head, both of them," but it was too late, Henry left just as Belle was opening the door.

David sighed, grabbed his sword and his gun, and threw one last look at Regina. "The stubbornness, he got that from you. Look after her, please," he added to Belle as he passed by her, not taking the time to clear up her confusion.

He ignored every speed limit on the way, got a few angry honks in reply to his reckless driving, and prayed that nothing would happen with Henry in the car with him. They
met with Ruby and Grumpy and all sprinted towards the well.

They got there just as Gold was raising the wand in the air and David tackled him without thinking, taking the sorcerer by surprise, and they both rolled on the ground, the wand falling from Gold's hand.

The Dark One managed to get his bearings back just as Ruby was reaching for the fallen instrument and he called it back to him with magic.

"I won't let you put my family at risk, Gold. Stop whatever you intended to do," David ordered.

"You will be putting everyone at risk if it's Cora who comes through, there will be nothing you can do to stop her from destroying everyone you care for, at her leisure. I am certain she intends to bring your dear wife's heart on a platter for Regina," Gold argued, raising the wand again but David hit it with his sword.

"Snow and Emma are stronger than that, they can beat Cora. We beat you and Regina, why would it be different?"

"And yet we were both still standing, until very recently, weren't we? Tell me, Dearie, how exactly do you think you have defeated us?"

David's only answer was to attack, hoping he could break the wand somehow, but the fragile looking glass seemed to absorb every hit and was left intact.

Grumpy and Ruby tried to help him, distracting the wizard long enough to allow David to charge again. It lasted until Henry suddenly screamed "Look!"

They all turned towards the well, where they could hear the water boiling and suddenly a hand appeared, followed by a arm wearing a red leather sleeve, the rest of Emma Swan was soon to follow. She got out of the well and helped Mary Margaret do the same, who immediately ran to David to kiss him.

"I knew it! I knew you would succeed," Henry exclaimed, throwing himself at Emma, who only seemed to realise who was also standing there.

"What's going on here?" She asked, looking from her father's sword, hanging by his side, to Gold's wand, to Ruby and Grumpy, out of breath, leaning with their hands on their knees.

"Not all of us here," David answered, throwing a dark look at Gold. "Thought that you would triumph over Cora."

"Well, it was a close thing. That woman is a piece of work!" Emma said and Henry hugged her tighter against him.

"I'm glad you stopped her from coming here and hurting Mom."

"Regina is still asleep?" Snow asked her husband, who nodded.

"Yeah, Belle and I looked everywhere, but apart from True Love's kiss there is no other way," he answered, looking sadly at Henry.

"She seemed pretty resigned to that when I saw her," Snow told them.

"What did she say?" David asked, trying to control the eagerness in his tone.

"Not much, she wasn't happy to see me, but she told me what we needed to know. She seemed convinced that I would be glad to see her under the spell unable to wake up."

"And are you?" David inquired cautiously.

"Of course not," Snow asserted. "You know that! I always believed she could change and I do think this proves that I was right. The Regina who cast the curse would have never helped us like that."

David felt uneasy when his wife spoke so warmly about Regina. He knew how much Snow regretted that her relationship with her former stepmother went sour, especially since she didn't understand why for a long time. The guilt hit him suddenly and he realised that their actions could break this newfound willingness of Snow to give Regina a second chance. A sleeping curse did sound like a nice escape right then.

"I wanted to go back to sleep to find her but we didn't have enough time." Snow went on, unaware of her husband's dark thoughts.

"I tried too," Henry admitted. "I couldn't find her."

"Henry," David scolded gently, pushing away his dilemma for now. "You know that's not what she wants."

"I just didn't want her to be alone."

All the adults looked down, moved, but not all ready to admit it.

"Well, then we should head back to the shop," David announced.

The drive back was filled with exchanged stories from the Enchanted Forest and what the women missed in Storybrooke. When David said a few words about Daniel's return, all the occupants stayed silent for a long moment as Emma and Snow tried to digest what it must have meant for Regina.

They finally arrived at the shop and Henry was the first one out of the car.

"You did it, Mom, you saved them. Thank you so much," he said, throwing himself on his mother's still form. "I love you," he whispered and kissed her cheek.

A bright white light spread from the two people embraced on the bed, the force of the blast accompanying it sending everyone reeling backwards.

Regina focused on her son's voice, pretending that her tormentors weren't there. He wanted to know if she was okay, he was promising her that they would bring her back and it gave her strength, so much strength.

When she opened her eyes again, Daniel, Leopold and Cora were gone, as were the stables. She was standing in an open field.

"Regina?" Someone called her and she recognized the voice at once.

"David? What are you doing here?" Regina demanded, wondering what this meant.

David shrugged. "I guess you needed someone who made you feel somewhat safe and your mind conjured me. Not even at your lowest point would you imagine Henry here."

Regina looked at him, her eyebrows having flown up. "Yes, you can't possibly be the real David, he is not that smart."

Her mind's version of David chuckled. "You still chose me. That's saying something."

"Only that I tolerate you. You haven't been as insufferable as most of the town's residents."

"That's quite a compliment there, Your Majesty. Although I know that's not the whole truth since, well I'm a creation of your own mind."

Regina's lips pinched. "I have no idea what you are on about."

"That night meant more to you than you are willing to admit. You were vulnerable and I, he, whatever, didn't take advantage of you. He only took what you gave, and that left you feeling unbalanced. You didn't expect that, you didn't plan it, and you can't deal with what it means."

The calm tone "David" used as he spoke the harsh cold truth made Regina bristle.

"None of this matters, he is married to his perfect snowflake, and if she isn't back already, she soon will be. We will never mention it again and life will go on, assuming that I ever wake up," she stated, waving her hand as if to dismiss the whole thing.

"What if he felt differently? How would you know? It isn't as much about David as it is about you believing you can mean something for someone, that you can be enough."

Regina scoffed. "Wonder where I ever got that idea," she mumbled under her breath.

"Things can change, if you accept the possibility. You heard your son, he didn't give up on you, he wants you back and he will do whatever he can to make that happen. What if his love is sincere enough to make a difference?"

"It won't be," Regina assured, even if the thought wrenched her heart.

"Are you certain?" Her version of David asked and she felt a strong pull, a warmth invaded her body and the whole setting disappeared in a bright white light.

She opened her eyes, gasping and she sat up. She found herself staring at David, the real one this time she was almost certain and her eyes widened in panic, there was no way this was happening. Before she could say anything though, a body collided with her, knocking her backwards.

"I woke you, I woke you," Henry chanted, laughing and crying at the same time, and Regina pressed him against her until he couldn't breathe and had to protest, although he did it reluctantly. "Don't ever do that again, Mom, please. I need you, I need all of you," Henry said and Regina raised her head to see Snow and Emma standing at the foot of the cot.

She noticed Snow's smile was a little uneasy as she looked from David to Regina.

"Welcome back," Regina forced out and it wasn't as difficult as she first thought while having her son in her arms.

"To you too," Snow replied. "Although I'm a bit curious as to why you seemed to think that David had woken you up?"

Regina tried to ignore the way David blanched at his wife's question. "I'm not sure what you mean, I was rather confused. As you know, sleeping curses are rather unpleasant and I certainly wasn't expecting to be woken up at all."

Snow studied her for a moment but seemed to accept the explanation.

Regina caught David's eyes, the message clear "We need to talk."

Thoughts?