Henry charged through the moonlit graveyard. Ruby and Emma called for him to slow down, but he ignored them. He had to get to Regina and tell her the truth. She needed to know that her mother was in town. Fear had shone in her eyes that day at the well as he begged her to trust in him. His own terror had kept him from paying attention to hers, but dread crept up his spine: for who could scare the Evil Queen?

"Hello?"

He stopped in his tracks, head snapping toward the unfamiliar voice. After searching the darkness for a moment, his eyes landed on a strange woman. Her hair was pulled into a bun and she wore a cloak.

"Excuse me," she said. She didn't sound dangerous. "Can you help me? I'm looking for my daughter."

"Sure," Henry said. The full moon flooded the graveyard with light as the clouds drifted out from in front of it. "Who is she?"

"Cora!" Emma shouted. "Get away from him."

Henry paled. He backed away, eyes darting from Cora to the Mausoleum and back. Could he make it if he ran?

Cora smiled at Emma. "I'm just saying hello to my only grandchild."

"Henry, run!" Emma commanded as Ruby threw off her cloak. The next second, a huge wolf stood where she had been. A snarl ripped from its throat. Emma shouted again, "Run!"

Henry tore toward the Mausoleum. Paws pounded behind him. Gunshots cracked. He hauled the Mausoleum door open. Something slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground. He heard a hissing and a whine just above his head. He glanced up. The stone wall was blackened and smoking. A flash of heat, then a ball of fire scorched his leg. He screamed, struggling to pull himself across the ground.

Pain exploded through his arm: Ruby sank her teeth into his right arm and dragged him into the Mausoleum. Once he was inside, she leapt over him and tore towards Cora.

Henry scrambled to his feet, gingerly putting weight on his left leg. He pressed both hands against the coffin, and pushed. His right arm seared with pain. The sight of his blood dripping to the floor made him dizzy. I need Mom. The tomb ground against the floor as it moved. Once it opened wide enough for him to slip past, he cradled his arm to his chest, clenching his jaw against the sobs that struggled to tear from his throat.

He stumbled down the stairs. "Mom! Mom! Mom, please." Henry hated the sobs that tore themselves from throat. Heroes don't cry.

But then he heard Regina crying "Henry!" and he collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath as tears streamed down his face. He squeezed his eyes shut, not looking up when he heard high heels clacking against the stone floor. Only when he heard his mother drop to her knees in front of him and scoop him into her arms did he open his eyes, tears running down his face.

"Henry," Regina gasped, leaning back and gently touching his arm and staring at his leg, "what happened to you?"

Henry swallowed hard. "Ruby. Your mom. She and Emma are fighting your mom. We need to help them." He struggled to focus his thoughts.

Regina's face paled. She crossed the room and rummaged through a wooden chest. She pulled out another of her gowns. She ripped off one of the sleeves and tied it tightly around Henry's arm. He watched her, head feeling fuzzy and fighting to focus.

"I need you to stay here." Regina's voice was stern. "I'll come back for you, I promise." Before he could respond, she dashed up the stairs and out of sight.

Henry dragged himself over to lean against a wall. Taking deep breaths, he closed his eyes and listened hard, but he couldn't hear any sounds of a battle. His head swam. He felt exhausted. Scared, he opened his eyes. His breathing was shallow. Hurry, Mom. Please. I'm scared.

After what felt like hours, he heard paws pattering down the stairs. He pried his eyes open. Ruby rushed toward him, whining. She nudged his cheek with her cold wet nose.

"It's okay, Ruby." He grimaced. "You didn't hurt me too much. It'll heal."

Ruby whined louder.

Regina dashed down the stairs and knelt in front of him. "Oh, Henry..." Her eyes widened. "Did Ruby do this to you?"

"She was protecting me."

Regina took deep breaths, and Ruby's whining reached a new pitch. He didn't understand what the problem was. Ruby had just been trying to get him to safety, that was all. What did it matter that she'd bitten him? It wasn't the end of the world, and it would heal and-

He blanched. "I'm a werewolf?" His voice cracked.

"Don't worry about that now," Regina said. She placed her hands over his wound. He felt a warmth encase his arm and then it cooled, and he couldn't feel his arm at all. The blood stain on the cloth around his arm continued to spread, but it didn't hurt. Regina took her hands away and absentmindedly wiped them on her dress, smearing blood along her front. "Let's get you back into town. The two idiots need to know my mother is here."

"We know," Emma said, appearing finally. She held Ruby's cloak in one balled fist. Tossing the cloak over the wolf, she leaned over Henry. "We need to get him to the hospital. I've got my car. You can sit in the back with Henry. Ruby," she added to a now-human Ruby, "can you carry Henry?"

Ruby carefully scooped Henry into her arms as easily as if he were weightless. "Let's hurry."

. . .

Snow White burst through the doors of the hospital. "What happened?" Her gaze trained on Emma, and Regina thought that maybe she hadn't noticed her presence. "Is Henry okay? Ruby said he gotten bitten. Bitten by what? And..." She clamped a hand to her mouth, eyes widening. "Is that Henry's...?"

Regina remembered the three of them were covered in blood from wrapping Henry's wound and carrying him into the hospital. Emma blanched as she looked down at her blood soaked shirt.

"Yes," Ruby said, grim-faced. "But he'll be okay. Whale's already given him a blood transfusion. He'll be okay."

"What happened?" Snow asked breathless.

Emma shifted uncomfortably. Regina sighed, stepping forward. Snow turned to her, seeming to notice her for the first time if the shock on her face was an indication.

"He was bitten by your precious pet wolf, Snow." She ignored the way that Ruby flinched, furious with her for hurting Henry and relishing the horror on Snow's face. "However... From what I understand, she was protecting him." Because all things considered, Ruby had saved Henry from her mother, and so she owed her. "Aside from being covered in fur three nights a month, he'll be fine. It's the burn on Henry's leg that I'm worried about. Wounds from magical fires can be tricky to heal."

"He was burned?" Snow glared at Emma and Ruby. "Does anyone else have anything they'd like to share? Like what you were protecting him from?"

"My mother."

Snow gaped at her. "Cora attacked him?"

Emma took a step forward. "Cora knew where Regina was hiding. Did you get my text about Archie?" Snow nodded. "Yeah, well, we got there at the same time. Henry knew where Regina was hiding."

"Why didn't he say anything?"

"You heard him. He was convinced she'd been framed. Until Archie showed up, he didn't have any proof. Why would he tell us?"

Regina tuned out the conversation, watching Henry sleep in a hospital bed. His burns had been bandaged and his bites stitched. He had been given some painkillers that had put him to sleep fifteen minutes earlier. Regina strode into the room, paying no attention to others, and sat down on the edge of his bed. She ran her hand over his hair, tears pricking her eyes. She couldn't believe she could do this; when she had seen Emma tell him she had murdered Archie, she thought she had lost him.

The door opened and closed softly, and boots scuffed the floor as someone headed toward her.

"Ms. Swan, pick up your feet properly. You wouldn't want to wake Henry would you?"

"Sorry," Emma said. She stopped beside Regina, crossing her arms. Her tone sounded only partly resentful. After a minute of stony silence, she added, "I'm sorry for falling for your mother's trick."

"She made an airtight case. Anyone would have believed it."

"I still shouldn't have..." Emma ran a hand through her hair. "I shouldn't have said the things I did."

Regina didn't say anything. Emma's words still rang through her head, haunting her. Emma may be regretting them then but what if she decided later that she didn't? Hadn't she and the two idiots already taken over the role of Henry's family? Hadn't he called Emma "mom" at the well?

"Look, I know you don't like me, and frankly I don't like you either. But if your mother is in town, we're going to have to work together to defeat her. Deal?"

"Only if Henry stays with me on the weekends," Regina said, not able to keep a hint of accusation out of her tone. "And any other time he wants to."

Emma stiffened. "I was just thinking of Henry when - "

"I'm not in the mood for your excuses, Emma." Regina frowned, turning away. She took a deep breath. "You're right, however. We will need to work together to defeat my mother - and for Henry's sake."

"Truce?" Emma asked, and there was no trace of reluctance in her voice.

"Do you agree with my terms?"

"You're - oh, yeah. Sure."

"You have yourself a deal." Regina ran a hand over Henry's hair. "He will also need to stay with me during the three nights of the full moon. Ruby may be able to teach him how to control himself during his transformations, but that could take some time. He'll need to be under my supervision where I can subdue him if necessary."

Emma stared at her in shock. "You want to use magic on our son?"

Regina's lips twitched at use of "our". "Yes. Unless you suggest that we should shoot him instead?"

"What? No way! I wasn't - "

"I know. But while I can use magic to paralyze the beast or put it to sleep, the only hope you'll have of stopping it is to kill him."

"I don't like the idea of using magic on him."

"You think that I do? Ruby will be there to oversee Henry's transformation. You needn't worry."

"I'd feel better if I were there myself."

"And I would feel better if you weren't. Dealing with a werewolf is hard enough without having to consider the safety of others."

"Fine."

"I'm glad we can agree on something. Now I suppose we should rejoin your parents. I can only assume they're coming up with some idiotic plan to use against my mother."

Emma sat down on a hospital bed next to Henry's, heaving a sigh. "I wish we could catch a break around here."

"I know the feeling."

Emma ran a hand over her face. "Are you sure he'll be okay?"

"There are ways of managing his condition," Regina said carefully. "We have the resources and the knowledge to manage it which minimizes the impact of the condition itself. It's the reaction of others that I'm most concerned about. People are not kind to those who are different from them."

"He's a kid. What's it matter if he's a werewolf?"

"It matters." Regina looked out the window and watched the frantic conversation between David, Snow, and Ruby. She felt like suggesting they return to the discussion of Cora, but Regina found herself unwilling to leave Henry's side. Emma glanced out the long window with a conflicted expression and turned back to Henry.

They watched him sleep in silence.

. . .

After a while, Ruby came and got them.

"Regina," Snow said, "we're going to need your help to defeat Cora."

Regina rose an eyebrow. "Why should I help you? Weren't you just accusing me of a murder I didn't commit based on the testimony of a dog - don't look so surprised, Snow. Henry told me what you did - and telling me I would never see my child again?"

Snow looked like she'd been slapped. "Regina - "

David stepped into Regina's personal space, towering over her. Regina glared up at him. She refused to give into his cheap intimidation tactics.

"Look, Regina," David growled, "we've given you more than enough chances - "

And then Emma stepped in front of Regina, pushing her father away.

"Back up, David. Let's all try to be civil, okay? Regina has every right to be pissed."

Snow placed a hand on David's shoulder. "David, why don't you get us some coffee? I have a feeling we'll be up late tonight." Grudgingly, David stalked off in search of a coffee pot. "Regina, please don't rile him up. We need to work together on this."

Regina shook her head. "After everything, Snow, you expect it will be that easy?"

"It has to be," Snow said. "For Henry."

Regina frowned. She considered snapping at Snow for bringing Henry into this - she was so tired of him being used as a pawn against her - before brain caught up with her heart. Snow wasn't using Henry as a pawn; this time she was genuine. This time she would set aside all the hurt and mistrust and bad blood between them in order to keep Henry safe.

And Regina would too. For all her show of resistance, there had only ever been one choice.

"Fine. Where do you propose we begin?"

Snow stared through the window at a sleeping Henry. "I don't think Cora will show up anytime soon. She wants you on her side. She clearly didn't intend for Archie to escape."

"No, I don't think she did," Regina said. "She'll lay low until she can find another way to get what she wants. Until then what do you propose we do?"

Snow took a deep breath. "I think we should help Henry deal with what's happened to him. I mean, Ruby can teach him to control himself, but he'll need a few days to process."

"We should also consider his safety from others," Regina said.

"What do you mean?"

"He's a werewolf. People aren't exactly accepting - "

Snow shook her head. "Henry is a good person. No one will hold this against him."

When Snow glanced through the window again, Regina shot Ruby an incredulous look. Snow had not been in Storybrooke when King George had easily riled up the townspeople into a mob with the intent of killing Ruby, but surely she had realized the dangers Ruby had faced in the Enchanted Forest as well?

"I guess there's nothing else we can do tonight," Emma said. She ran a hand through her hair. "We should probably all go home and get some sleep. Henry can come back to the apartment tomorrow morning." She turned to Regina. "I'll pack his bag tonight and drop him off at your house tomorrow."

"What are you talking about?" Snow asked, brow furrowed.

"Regina and I decided it would be best for Henry to start spending the weekends with her again. He misses her, and she's made a lot of progress with her magic. She's far enough along with her progress that she can start taking care of Henry again."

Regina bit back her retort at the way Emma framed her demands. The only thing that held her back was the knowledge that presenting it as anything other than a carefully considered decision made in the best interests of her "redemption" would likely spark a controversy between Snow and David, and that Henry would be thrust into the middle of it.

Snow glanced between Emma and Regina. "If you're both sure this is best for Henry."

"We're sure," Regina said curtly.

Emma nudged her arm with her elbow. "Play nice." She uttered the command through clenched teeth.

Regina suppressed the magic that longed to crackle at her fingertips.