The knotted rope of aged twine lay on the desk. Regina brushed it gently with her well-manicured fingertips. She had begun periodically taking it out of the well-organized draw of the desk in her town office. Though she was no longer mayor and had been forced to relinquish her reign to Snow White and her sickening family, she was, after all, the face of the town to outsiders; appearances must be kept up.

The twine lay innocently on the desk as she considered the scene by which she had come into possession of it. The kind-natured child that had offered it to her; he was, on some level, Henry's predecessor. It was Owen's influence in Regina's life that had led her to believe that a son could fill the aching need in her heart.

Now, Owen had turned into the balding, desperate-eyed man questing for his father. Regina's mouth turned down in a frown as she considered the conversation she had with Mendel the previous week. She had yet to run him out of town because she had been loathe to actually make good on the threats she had been making.

Pushing herself up from her desk and striding to the decanter in the corner she considered the look in her son's eyes when she had burned the love spell. Fear and hope and relief had flickered there; before he had turned and promptly run into the Sheriff's arms. Anger rankled through her at the remembrance of the blonde's surprised gaze on the fireball in Regina's hand.

Emma had been seemed astounded that the mayor was capable of selflessness. Had Regina not proved that she could do what was best for Henry in spite of her initial reaction? Did she not deserve a little benefit of the doubt? She muttered to herself as she sipped her cider.

Images of Snow dropping to the ground, apple in hand; David fighting desperately against iron bars; Graham's wild eyes glaring up at her in hate from the sheets of her bed. How many lives had she ruined? All for the sake of what she wanted. Henry knew the truth now and there was no going back. Regina sighed and took a mouthful of bourbon behind her teeth. Spending the past months without him had been torturous; she was resolved to do what it took to prove her love for him.

She turned back to the desk and sat down once more. Regina pensively brought the twine between her fingers and grazed it across her lips. So what was she to do about Owen/Mendel? A thought struck her mind and she pushed it away violently. She loathed the idea of turning to her enemy for help but knew that she needed to follow due process if she was ever to see Henry looking at her with trust in his eyes.

Regina refilled her glass before picking up the phone on her desk. She dialed a familiar number and brought the receiver to her ear delicately.

"Sheriff Swan."

"Sheriff." Regina said a paragraph in one word.

"Madam Mayor." Emma said out of reflex. Regina was no longer the mayor but she wasn't quite ready to accept her as the Evil Queen either. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"I have some information I want to discuss with you."

"If this about those kids egging your house-" Emma began but Regina waved a hand, she of course couldn't see, to an empty room and interrupted.

"No, Miss Swan, this about our friend Mr. Mendel."

There was silence on the other end of the room as Emma fought to ask the question on the tip of her tongue. Namely, What did you do to him? Instead, she cleared her throat and cast a meaningful glance across the police station to her father. "Is everything ok?"

Regina chose to ignore the accusation in the blonde's voice. "Yes, quite alright, for now. I just wished to discuss how best to deal with his unwelcome presence." Her voice lowered and Emma could hear the secrecy across the phone.

"What do you know that you aren't telling me?"

"Tomorrow night, Sheriff Swan." Regina replied. "Please stop by my house and we will discuss what I know." There was silence on the other end of the phone and the brunette cleared her throat. "Miss Swan?"

"Sure, tomorrow night." Emma closed her eyes and gave a shrug that Regina could hear over the line. "I'll be there." She hung up the phone and David stood tentatively.

"Regina?"

"Yes." She sighed and leaned against her desk.

"What did she want?" Bare suspicion swan in his sparkling blue eyes.

"She wants to tell me what she knows about Mendel." The words coming from her mouth sounded absurd; Regina, offering help?

"What does she know?"

"Beats me." She shrugged narrow shoulders at her father. "But she wants me to come over tomorrow night."

"To her house?" David burst out with his pale face reddening. Emma just stared at him and answered him with her eyes. "Emma, you can't go-" he began.

"I have to."

"It's what she wants. It has to be a trap."

"You saw her burn the spell." Emma put her hands in her pockets.

"I did, I also saw the desperation in her eyes."

Emma looked down; he had her there. She had seen the desperation and grief in Regina's eyes as well. The blonde knew better than most that a desperate woman was the most dangerous…but she had burned the spell. "Look, Mendel is a problem. Regina and I are in agreement there." She tousled her blonde curls absently. "That woman knows that he could destroy our lives if we slip up; therefore, we have a common goal. That has to stand for something, doesn't it?" She asked herself more than her father who was watching her closely.

"You remind me so much of your mother." He said fondly, though he wasn't smiling.

Emma's mouth twitched but she arched a brow; she was still getting used to the whole family thing. "How so?"

"She was always willing to give Regina just one more shot." He came to her and put his hands on her biceps.

"But it never made any difference back then."

"She didn't have Henry back then." Emma muttered and pulled away gently. "I get it. Really, I do." She said. "I know you know her as Regina, the Evil Queen. But I see her as Regina, the Mayor, and Henry's other mother."

"Emma, I'll admit. She's not the same woman we knew in the Enchanted Forest." He closed his eyes and opened them slowly as if emphasizing his words to his daughter. "But the fact remains that she has done unspeakable things and that she is more than capable of doing those things again."

"Maybe." Emma shrugged him off and walked around behind her desk to gather her coat and keys; leaving him standing in the middle of the room. "I'll take patrol tonight so that you can work it tomorrow night when I go to the Mayor's." She said and twirled the keys.

The cold night air penetrated her nose and lungs, clearing the fog in her mind. She slid behind the wheel of the patrol car and started the engine; willing the car to heat up more quickly. She appreciated the concern in her father's voice and the exasperated compliment he had handed her about her resemblance to her mother. But the fact was, she wasn't trying to give Regina another chance; she was simply glad that the woman was offering her a plan for dealing with the major threat that the stranger posed. The blonde had been expecting to simply wake up and find the man's corpse one morning. It relieved her that Regina wasn't going to unleash her vigilante brand of magic.

But what had caused the Mayor (Emma still thought of her as such) to change her crooked mind? The blonde hadn't heard in guile in the woman's voice; but as it was, Regina's husky tones had always been difficult for her to read. Why was she choosing to turn to Emma now? Offering knowledge which Emma knew that Regina viewed as power? It just didn't add up with the woman's previous actions and the surprise of it all set the blonde on edge. Emma didn't like to think of what she would have to agree to for the brunette to divulge what she knew; if she actually knew anything.

She knocked the car into gear and began her route. Emma sighed and admitted to herself that her father was probably right. How many times had the mayor betrayed she and Henry? How many more chances would they give her before they learned their lesson? How many more times would Henry have to be hurt before Emma put a stop to it? She sighed again and turned down the street.

She pulled over on the curb and watched as snowflakes hit the windshield and melted slowly. She hated the idea of running to Regina because she dangled a morsel of knowledge from her long, wicked fingers. The exquisite face swam into her memory and her mind's eye watched the mayor purse her full, smirking lips and arch a brow. Anger bubbled to the surface and Emma whipped out her phone, with half a mind to dial the woman up and tell her exactly where she could shove her proposed parley. Her fingers rubbed over the dialpad on her screen as the words 'Mayor Mills' popped up with a little green phone icon.

Emma laid her head on the steering wheel as another image of the mayor flashed into her mind. Regina's look of wonder and fear when she found that Emma could do magic, the animal grief in her slumped body as she clutched her dead mother's body, the sincerity in her eyes as she burned the spell. These were portraits of the Regina she knew. Emma slammed her fist down on the dashboard. "Damn!" she growled and tossed her phone into the passenger side, resuming her patrol.