Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT and never will blah blah blah you know the drill.

A/N: This is basically my rendition of Regina wanting Red on Team Evil that evolved into a Red introspection piece.

Anyway, enjoy!

Red readjusted her quiver.

As she walked through the entrance hall, she could hear the ballroom music a few floors up, and if she really concentrated, she could occasionally distinguish Snow's voice through the cacophony of music, laughter, and cheers.

Red continued out the front gates and straight to the forest.

Ella and Thomas were getting married, and Red had accompanied Snow and Charming to Thomas' castle as a sort of the security detail. With Regina still out there, one was always better off safe than sorry.

But that didn't mean Red was invited to the wedding.

Snow was a princess, and Red was a peasant (not to mention a werewolf). It was as simple as that, and truthfully, she didn't mind. Sure she hated that Snow got awkward about it when she couldn't come along to royal functions, but the overly poofy dresses and tolerating men who thought they owned the world had never seemed appealing.

As she caught a whiff of her potential prey, she smiled. This was definitely better.

She followed the scent, gingerly weaving her way through the branches. She was getting close. She could smell it.

"Night hunting. You really are a wolf," came a voice behind her.

Whirling around, Red's eyes landed on the Evil Queen herself.

"Your highness," Red greeted with annoyance as she heard her prey scamper away.

"You're not at the wedding?" Regina tsk-tsked. "I thought Snow would have secured an invitation for you. You are her best friend, are you not?"

Ignoring the dig at Snow, Red asked frustratedly, "What do you want? You just cost me my prey."

She made no attempt at civility. If the Queen had wanted her dead, she would be. That Regina was making the most obnoxious form of small talk to ever exist meant she wanted something, which in turn meant Red could speak freely without fear of repercussion.

Regina shrugged nonchalantly. "The night is young. I'm sure you'll find another."

"I'm sure I will." Ruby turned around to continue her hunt. If the Queen wasn't going to be straight with her, she certainly wasn't planning on sticking around to figure things out.

The Queen followed her.

Red carefully traversed the forest, nose and ears on alert for the next sign of game. Regina, on the other hand, made no such effort. She obliterated any shrub or tree that stood in her way and chattered away about nonsensical things.

"... are off having fun, and here you are, missing out on so much."

Frustrated, Red stopped abruptly. She was never going to get close to any game with the Queen blasting away at plants every few seconds.

"I cannot miss what I've never had," she said as she turned to face Regina, annoyance written all across her face.

The Queen smirked. The battle was won, and now it was time to win the war. "But you can still yearn for it."

Red shook her head. "You don't know me at all."

"I'm just saying, dear, you could have so much more."

"I don't want more."

"Maybe you do," Regina baited the younger woman. "And you're just too afraid to reach for it."

Annoyed that the Queen was starting to get under her skin, the werewolf snapped, "What do you want?"

"Work with me."

The simplicity of the statement left Red suspicious. "Or else?"

"You mistake my intentions. I come with an offer, not a threat."

Red eyed the other woman suspiciously. "That doesn't sound like you."

"You don't know me at all," Regina echoed Red's earlier words with a smirk. "Let's just say I admire a woman who can tear armies apart with nothing more than her teeth."

Red fidgeted uncomfortably at that, and the Queen smirked in triumph. She leaned forward and slid the back of her hand down the younger woman's cheek. "We're so alike, you and I - both of us full of tragedy and power. We could accomplish so much together."

Stepping back awkwardly, Red declined, "I'd rather not."

Regina continued on undeterred. "You'd rather trail around after Snow like some sort of pet?"

"I am nobody's pet," Red snapped.

"Mm, I'm sure," Regina said in her most condescending voice.

Before Red could come up with a retort, the Queen said, "Think about it," and disappeared in a swirl of purple.

Red stared into the emptiness before shaking her head to clear it and attempting to resume her hunt.

But the thoughts wouldn't leave.

Snow was family, plain and simple. There was no way Red could see herself working with Regina. She and Snow looked out for each other. That's the way it'd been since the day they met.

Except now Snow had James.

And Red was glad for her. She really was. Snow certainly deserved to be with her true love, at least one of them did. It was just that ever since James became a permanent fixture in Snow's life Red had started to feel less like family and more like a consultant. Ok, maybe that wasn't fair. Maybe it hadn't gotten that extreme, but time spent with Snow was time spent with Snow and James, and even then most of it was battle strategies and scout reports.

It left her feeling strangely confused. She was starting to feel bitter about spending time with Snow because it reminded her of just how much times had changed, yet she relished being needed because it meant being called upon, meant being wanted.

How was it Regina had put it? 'Trailing around after Snow like some sort of pet' or something like that.

Snow probably didn't even realize it, and Red certainly wasn't going to mention it. Nothing good could come of mentioning it. Snow would get sad, feel guilty, and apologize profusely, and Red would feel guilty for mentioning it in the first place because all she would have accomplished was to make both of them feel guilty for something that probably couldn't or wouldn't change. Snow had a kingdom to defend (James') and a kingdom to recapture (Regina's), and that meant what little free time she had was spent with her husband. It was just the way things were to be.

But why was she even thinking about this? Ughhh... she was going to drive herself insane. Damn that Evil Queen.

A loud snap broke her out of her thoughts.

Red looked down to see a newly broken branch under her right foot.

She sighed and turned back towards the castle. There was no point in trying to hunt now, not if she couldn't concentrate.

As she neared the castle, she could immediately tell something was wrong. Gone were the festive sounds, and Red instead heard murmurings of panic and chaos.

"Red!" Snow darted forward as soon as she saw her best friend. "We need help finding Thomas."

Still on edge, Red snapped, "I'm not some hound you can just send about at your beck and call."

"I... I'm sorry." Snow stammered, taken aback by her friend's uncharacteristic behavior. "Red, I didn't mean to offend you."

Dropping her chin to her chest in contrition, Red closed her eyes and muttered, "I know."

Snapping at Snow was the last thing she wanted to do, not to mention alerting Snow to how messed up she was was feeling.

"Are you all right? What happened?" Snow asked, the look on Red's face momentarily erasing the matter at hand from her mind.

Red shook her head. "What's happened, and why does Thomas need to be found?"

"Rumpelstiltskin," Snow said shortly, and that pretty much told Red all she needed to know.

"Do you have anything of Thomas' that I can sniff?" Rumpelstiltskin meant magic, and magic meant Red's wolf senses were unlikely to be of any benefit, but she'd still give it a try.

Hesitantly, Snow held out one of Thomas' coats, pulling back slightly as Red began reaching for it. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Grabbing the coat, Red took in Snow's look of genuine concern and resigned herself to her fate.

"I'd do anything for you."

fin

Thanks for reading!