Chapter 3

Regina muffled her scream with her hand. Her eyes were shut, she couldn't bear to look. But then she heard it, a sniffle from in front of her. She opened her eyes and looked up; Henry was still standing there, covering his eyes with his hands. That's when Regina realised there had been no gunshot, only a click. She dropped the gun to the stone floor with a clatter and ran to her little boy as Mr. Gold laughed.

"I'm sorry Henry! I tried not to, I couldn't stop. Are you alright?" She choked as she held him close to her and buried her face in his hair. Tears were flowing freely from both mother and son's eyes. Henry turned towards Regina to lean into her embrace but Gold suddenly forced them apart and shoved him aside. Henry tripped and fell to the floor while Regina was dragged away, still reaching out for him. Gold flung her against the bars and she cried out in pain. He stood with his face threateningly close to hers and pinned her arms against the bars. She tried to kick him but he pressed her body against the metal using the weight of his own.

"You told me she was dead!" He yelled at her, "She was alone for years in our world and it's your fault! You kept her from me, and then you locked her underground in one room for TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS!" He shoved her hard against the bars again. Regina was refusing to look at him and was trembling under his anger, but she didn't know if it was more from fear or regret. She tried not to weep as he pressed her wrists even harder against the bars, cutting off the circulation. He was glaring at her with such despise. Regina glanced over at Henry who was huddled in a corner with his knees pulled up to his chest, and his face hidden by his arms. She turned her gaze back to Mr. Gold, who could easily see the hurt and distress in her eyes. Seeing this gave him a sense of accomplishment.

Regina took a deep, shaky breath to steady herself, and barely making any sound she said, "I'm sorry."

He grabbed her throat and squeezed, "sorry?" he repeated incredulously. Stepping back, he lifted her until the toes of her shoes barely touched the floor. "You think 'sorry' is going to cover it?" Regina tried to respond but he was crushing her windpipe. She tried to pry his hand from her neck with her free hand but Mr. Gold threw her the ground. Regina whimpered faintly as she attempted to breathe, and finally Gold loosened his hold. She gasped and coughed for air while trying to get away but he grabbed her and held her down with her back to the floor. While she struggled she felt a sharp pain as he kneeled on top of her legs, pinning her down. "I am going to kill you," he whispered dangerously as he ran a hand through her hair, "and maybe even Henry." Closing her eyes briefly, she shuddered at the thought. "But first, now that my power has returned to me... I have the ability to make your nightmares real."

Regina's chest was rising and falling rapidly as she breathed. "What are you talking about?" She asked weakly, eyeing him uncertainly.

"This!" He snarled, and Regina fought to get away from the purple smoke. It quickly engulfed her and for a brief moment she felt as if she was floating, and she couldn't see anything. The smoke cleared up and she saw that she was standing outside, in a place surrounded with trees. She recognised it; it was her family's estate. She turned around with despair as she heard familiar voices coming from the stables behind her. It was young Regina and Daniel; they were preparing to run away. Regina stepped inside but the couple seemed not to notice her. It hurt to see Daniel again, knowing he could still never come back to her. He was so beautiful, and he had always known exactly how she was feeling and how to cheer her up. As Regina was reminiscing, Cora appeared. Regina clutched her waist; she didn't want to live through this again, the most horrible night of her life. She wished she could stop her mother, to prevent Cora from killing her true love, but it was impossible. Regina was nothing more than a ghost observing the situation. She willed herself to wake up but it was no use. All she could do was cry as the moment where her beloved Daniel's life would be destroyed came closer and closer.

And then came the awful moment when Cora led Daniel away from Regina, "No, don't make me watch this again!"

XxXxX

Henry heard the pain in his mother's voice and he wished he could help her. Her eyes were closed as if she was asleep but she was thrashing around and screaming, begging for the nightmare to stop. Gold had released his hold on her and was standing back watching with satisfaction. Henry crawled over to Regina, and reached out for her hand. At his touch she stopped moving, but continued to moan sorrowfully. Henry leaned in to whisper something comforting to her but stopped when he heard a voice that made his heart skip a beat.

"Turn around and put your hands up!" Shouted Emma, her voice strong and fierce. Mr Gold turned and raised his hands with a smirk on his face. As soon as he had lost concentration the spell on Regina broke and she opened her eyes, tears were streaming down her face. She looked up at Henry who was very close to her, his hand in hers. However he was looking away from her. As Regina sat up she saw Emma Swan slowly making her way into the cell with her gun pointed at Mr. Gold. She had never before been happy or relieved to see the blonde, but right now she felt both emotions.

"Emma!" She called out as she placed an arm around Henry's shoulders, "be careful he has ma..." but she was cut off as Gold raised a hand and the gun flew from Emma's hand and fell to the floor across the room. Regina could see the shock on Emma's face quickly turn to determination as she made a move to attack Mr. Gold empty handed. With another swish of his hand Gold sent Emma flying against the stone wall.

"No, Emma!" Henry ran at Gold so fast that neither of the women saw him even get up. Henry jumped at Mr. Gold from behind and covered the man's eyes with one arm and hung heavily from his neck with the other. Mr. Gold stumbled with a grunt and pulled at Henry for a few seconds before successfully flinging the boy off of him.

"Henry! Are you ok?" Emma asked immediately. Mr. Gold was just about to send another spell at Emma when the room filled with the sound of gunshots. Henry and Emma looked around at the noise and saw Regina firing at Mr. Gold continuously, her eyes full of anger. Before Mr. Gold could fight back he fell to the ground, unmoving. Emma half smiled with relief as she recognised the gun that Regina had just dropped as her own. Regina then suddenly collapsed to the floor.

"Regina!" exclaimed Emma as she and Henry ran towards the mayor.

Regina placed a hand on her chest, "I'm alright", she breathed. Henry placed a soothing hand on her back while Emma helped Regina into a sitting position, allowing the other woman to lean against her for support.

"What the hell was all that about?" Emma asked the other two. Regina just closed her eyes and clutched her stomach so Henry answered the question.

"Rumplestiltskin got his magic back somehow." Emma found this hard to take in but continued on anyways.

"And what did he want with you two?" When neither responded Emma didn't push it. They had both been through a lot and she could understand if they didn't want to talk about it just yet. "Come on, let's get you out of here", she said kindly as she helped Regina up. "Are you alright to walk?" she asked the brunette.

"Yes. I'll be fine."

"What about you Henry? No broken bones? You took a pretty hard fall."

"Nope, I'm ok."

"How did you find us?" Asked Regina.

"Henry forgot his backpack in my car, so I went to your house to return it but no one was home. The lights were on and the door was unlocked which is unusual. I called your cell phone but there was no answer, and that was strange because you pretty much always pick up." Emma smiled at Regina. "I was able to track your number and it led me straight here."

"You saved our lives!"Henry beamed. Emma smiled back and after patting him on the shoulder she left Regina's side to pick up the two guns, careful to avoid the pool of blood that was growing steadily larger as it seeped from Mr. Gold's wounds. As Henry wrapped an arm around Regina's waist she placed her arm around his shoulders, and they followed Emma out of the basement.

XxXxX

It was getting extremely late in the night, or rather early in the morning depending on how you looked at it. Emma had accompanied Regina and Henry back to their house just to be certain they were alright. The paramedics had made sure all three of them were ok before letting them go home. They had wanted to take them to the hospital for further examination but Regina and Henry both refused, insisting they were fine. Both were beginning to bruise, Regina much more than Henry of course, but other than that they would be able to fully recover without medical assistance. Emma decided to remain with the other two so she also declined the hospital exam. Emma was going to sleep on the couch that night, just in case she was needed. Regina seemed to be in shock and hadn't said much since they left the scene. Emma didn't think it would be a good idea to leave her alone, even if Henry was there to be with her. Regina had gone up to bed and Henry sat and talked with Emma for a while before he headed upstairs. Emma asked him about what happened that night and he did his best to explain every detail. Emma was disgusted at what she heard and did her best to comfort Henry. Henry was starting to fall asleep where he was sitting, so he hugged Emma goodnight and went upstairs. When he got to his room he paused, and then turned and joined his mother in her room instead. Regina was still awake and there were tearstains on her face, however she smiled when she saw her son. He slipped under the blankets and cuddled up beside her. She wrapped an arm around him and the two fell asleep together, both so content in knowing that they had the other's love. Nothing is more important than family.

The End. Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are also highly appreciated. I have a few one shots planned and one complete, this one will be posted within the next week.

P.S. I am also very sorry for Gold/Rumplestiltskin fans, please don't hurt me. I promise I don't actually hate him