Regina had been beside herself with worry, typical mayoral facade gone in the face of her son's disappearance. Hands shaking, she had started barking furious orders at the Sheriff, which he'd patiently taken, with a ridiculous look of understanding on his face. When nothing had turned up, and she'd stepped back inside the mayoral mansion, Regina had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown, only belated realizing she ought to call her ex-wife with the news.

That was when Emma had called first instead.

"Uh, Regina?" Even through the crackle of static, the voice was achingly familiar.

There was an awkward pause, as Regina struggled to gain her bearings enough to reply, with a short cough, "Yes?"

"Look, I'm not sure how, but, well, Henry's here." Emma spoke, the inflection in her tone showing her own disbelief over the situation.

It was nothing compared to what Regina felt though.

"What?!" Regina shrieked, a deafening noise that made Emma cringe on the other side of the call. "In Boston?"

"Yeah, he took the bus, apparently." The other woman explained, as she rushed to reassure. "He's fine, Regina. Not a scratch on him. In fact, he's drinking me out of my orange juice right now."

Slowly, she allowed herself to relax with the thought that Henry was fine and safe with her ex-wife (his other mother, she thought). The attempt at humor was just like Emma, and she gave a small choked laugh. "Of course, he is." He has your appetite, Regina wanted to say, before she remembered herself.

There was a soft chuckle on the other end of the line, as though Emma had heard it anyway. She didn't say anything more though. Instead, she announced, "Anyway, I'll be taking him back to Storybrooke now."

Relief washed over her at the pronouncement, and if she hadn't already been sitting down, she would have certainly as she felt her legs buckle underneath her. "Thank you." Regina managed to breathe out.

"No problem." Emma replied easily. "We'll be headed out soon. I'll text you when we're near."

"Not while driving, I hope." Regina spoke, tone teasing in a way it had not been for a long time. It was instinctive and out of he mouth before she could stop herself. Inside, she cursed herself. It was always so easy to lose herself with Emma, as though no time had passed at all, and they were still the happily married couple they once were.

Once more, Emma gave a short laugh. The sound made her neck tingle, and think of a time when those had been so easy to come by. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine the other woman there, lips pressed close to her ear as she laughed.

"Don't worry." Her ex-wife's voice came from the phone, breaking her from her thoughts of days long past. "I know better than to text and drive. I'll do it when we stop for gas."

There was a pause, and a slight crackle on the other end that must've been Henry speaking, as Emma clearly replied, amused. "And bathroom breaks too, yeah."

Regina smiled despite herself, and once again, she could not help but think of old times. Henry and Emma had always shared a special rapport, once she always claimed was because Emma was essentially an overgrown child herself.

All teasing aside however, she knew that because of her past, Emma had always been wary of becoming a mother. Regina had been the same. But between the two of them, they had managed with Henry. Lost in memory, she had nearly forgotten about the real Emma she was still on the phone with, until she spoke once more.

"Anyway, we'll see you soon."

Regina nodded in response before she realized the other woman would not see it. Flushing slightly, she replied. "Of course. Have a safe trip." She added, with a hint of concern, remembering all too well the car Emma continued to choose to drive.

"Your trust in my Bug is well appreciated, Gina." Emma only said dryly, before she finally concluded. "Bye."

"Goodbye." Regina managed to reply, before the phone clicked, and she was left with the overbearing silence of the empty mansion once again. It didn't feel quite as oppressive now that she knew Henry was safe and would be returning shortly, but it still felt deafening in the midst of her rattled nerves.

She could not help but remember a time when the house was always filled with noise, from either Henry or Emma. The memory of it was so strong that if Regina could swear she saw them just there in the corner of her eyes. Her heart clenched, and she shook her head, trying to banish the ghosts from her mind.

Briefly, she wondered if she should call Graham over, perhaps. He was still out looking from Henry so she should certainly at least inform him of the new development. Maybe they could do it in person. Now that she had calmed down, she could appreciate how good he'd been about the whole situation, as both sheriff of the town and the man she'd been discreetly involved with for some time now. No one knew yet, except perhaps Henry did, and that was why he had suddenly run away to Emma, still a week away from her next scheduled visit.

Perhaps it was a bad idea then, to call him over. But the silence was suffocating, and she itched with the need to chase away the ghosts the continued to creep up on her after everything that had happened today, the stress of it all catching up to her in a wave of exhaustion and weakness.

So, Graham came over. He was appropriately relieved at the news that Henry was fine, and just a little concerned over Emma's involvement, supposedly for her sake. Perhaps it was even true. Regina felt brittle, all the hollows in her heart gaping open, after a single static-filled phone conversation.

She allowed herself the comfort of her lover's arms, and ignored the pang of guilt, of wrongness that seemed to be echoed in the eyes of a ghostly Emma that remained standing in the corner of her vision. Instead, she closed her eyes and allowed Graham's name to fall from her lips.