A Thief and a Queen

Truth Revealed

A/N: This is my third entry for Inspired by OQ Week. This is based on February's manip in Jen's (starscythe) 2019 OQ Calendar.

Robin sulked on his couch, drinking his third beer of the night. He was definitely buzzed but found no solace as the sounds of New York City echoed outside his apartment—car alarms, horns honking, dogs barking and a fight from another apartment. Part of him knew he should just go to bed before he went through the entire six-pack he had bought along with dinner that night. Getting drunk wouldn't help anything--no amount of alcohol held the magical ability to fix everything in his life.

To magically transport him back to Storybrooke.

Him and Roland.

Robin leaned forward, rubbing his face as he thought of his son. His boy was sound asleep in the big bed in the next room, surrounded by several pillows so he didn't accidentally roll off it and hurt himself. There had been a few moments when Robin thought he had lost his son forever and he was grateful to have Roland with him once more, even if Marian was gone.

She had left him a few weeks ago, storming out after yet another argument. Even though he had deleted her number from his phone, it still hadn't been enough to convince Marian that he was dedicated to rebuilding their marriage and being a family again. She had wanted him to be the devoted husband she remembered, the one she had left before Emma and Hook had brought her back from the past. It was difficult for her to understand that he had lost her, that he had spent years mourning her and that he had moved on. That he had experienced some real and deep with Regina, something he couldn't just forget and turn away from. He needed time to grieve the loss of his relationship with her and time to get to know Marian again. Robin felt he needed to court her again but she just wanted him to jump all in again. He didn't understand the rush--when he left Storybrooke, he understood they would never be able to return. Even if they could break the curse on the town line, they couldn't break the ice curse on Marian and he wasn't going to abandon her to this strange world or keep her from Roland. Nor would he leave Roland. They then had all the time in the world to rebuild their marriage.

Or he thought they did. But after only a month in New York, thirty-something days of her insisting the only way he would move on and prove he was dedicated to her was by having sex with her, she gave up and declared their marriage over. She packed up two bags—one for her and one for Roland—and insisted she was going to live with a friend she had made. Robin begged her to stay for Roland's sake, that Robin was the only parent he had known and it wasn't fair for her to take him away from that. Marian though had bundled up their son and told him that if he wanted to be a family with Regina, it wouldn't include Roland and then left him alone.

Distraught over the loss of his son, he decided they both needed time to think things over. After a long night of doing just that, he accepted that his marriage was over and that he needed to find a way to convince Marian to co-parent peacefully. He tried to call her to tell her that he wasn't leaving New York, that he wanted to be Roland's father, but his calls kept going to voicemail, worrying him as he hoped she hadn't disappeared with Roland.

Robin went to the playground Roland loved the next two days, hoping Marian would take him there so they could talk things over. He knew he had hurt her but hoped she would see that staying together in what was essentially a sham of a marriage would hurt more in the long run. That she would agree to at least discuss a way for them to be parents together and maybe friends again one day. They both had think of what was best for Roland.

On the third day, a strange woman came with Roland. Robin tensed up as she approached with his son, a bag on her shoulder. He stepped closer and Roland smiled as he ran toward Robin, yelling: "Papa!"