Hey guys! This is my first attempt at an EvilCharming story, so I hope you like it. It is set seven years after season 2 (but a lot of season 2 is referenced), and is canon divergent. I hope you enjoy… please leave a review and let me know what y'all think! :)

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Chapter One:

This isn't right. It's not fair. He had just kissed her goodbye two days ago before he headed into work at the sheriff's station. Now, he's lying here, unconscious, and the doctors don't know when he'll wake up. If he'll wake up. God, she hopes he does. She's angry, so angry at Leroy and his drunken self for getting behind the wheel of his car, crashing into her love's truck and flipping it across Main Street.

The sight had been awful, blood and broken windows, glass shattered all over the road, and both men lying there, unmoving. It was like something from her worst nightmares. He had, luckily, been wearing his seatbelt so he remained in his car, but his head hit the roof of his truck over and over again with each roll it made along the pavement's grainy surface. Leroy hadn't been so lucky, not wearing his seatbelt and all, and was thrown from his car, slamming into the nearest light pole, effectively breaking his leg. He's fine though, the lucky dwarf, a few broken ribs along with his leg and a sprained wrist. Isn't that how it always goes? The victims get far worse than the person who caused the accident. Leroy was discharged yesterday, but not for long. As mayor, she made sure that Emma, the deputy sheriff, arrested him for drunk driving. It's what he deserves. He should be the one lying in this hospital bed, head injury and broken ribs, unaware of the family that waits for him to wake up.

He groans, and Regina's eyes pop open, frantically finding her husband's scruff covered face as he shifts his body ever so slightly in the bed. The monitors around him beep continuously, no change in their rhythm.

"David?"

He groans again, head tilting in her direction, but his eyes still aren't open. She'd give anything to see those baby blue eyes again, the eyes she loves to stare into each morning before she drags herself from the comfort of his arms. "David, can you hear me?" Regina reaches out a hand from where she's perched in the oversized hospital chair, wrapping her fingers around his hand.

His eyes open at the contact, blue eyes unclear for a moment before the cloud around them vanishes and they settle on her brown ones. Regina's face splits into a wide, toothy smile upon seeing them, but his brow furrows when she sits up to move closer to his bed.

"R-Regina?"

She sighs a breath of relief, thankful that he still knows who she is. The doctors said there was a possibility of amnesia after his car accident due to the impact on his temporal lobe. There'd been no internal bleeding, thank God, but the scans had shown that his hippocampus and thalamus had both been bruised in the accident. The amount of hits his head took to the metal roof could pose a problem. Retrograde amnesia, Whale had called it, saying there was a chance David could wake up with memory loss, they just wouldn't know for certain until her husband eventually awoke.

"Oh, thank God, David," she says, leaning in to kiss the knuckles of the hand she's holding.

Before her lips can make contact though, a flash of anger crosses his features and he rips his hand from hers. She sits back, stunned, staring at him in confusion. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"Don't call me that," he hisses, sitting further up in the bed. "Where's Snow?"

Shaking her head slowly, she informs him hesitantly that she's most likely at home.

"Well get her here. She's my wife! She should be here, not you."

Panic. Fear. These are the emotions she feels in this moment. She knew there was a chance he wouldn't remember some information, had been told that several times over the last two days, but she never truly believed he'd wake up still believing himself to be married to Snow White.

Taking a deep breath, Regina leans forward, conscious not to touch his hand again, fingertips just lingering beside his, close enough to feel their warmth. "David, I'm… your wife."

His face contorts in anger, then confusion, as his brows pinch together then smooth out as they raise to his hairline. "That's impossible!" he shouts, shifting in the bed, heart monitor starting to beep just a touch faster. "You're the Evil Queen!"

If anything could ever remind her of the time her own mother had reached inside her chest and squeezed her heart, this was it. The Evil Queen. Her husband's mind has taken him so many years back to when she was the ruler everyone feared. She's come so far since then, redeeming herself, trying to be better for Henry and the rest of her family. Pain is all she can feel at his words and the look of disgust on his face.

She closes her eyes, breathing in slowly, then opening again. She adjusts her body in the seat, fanning out her black tunic before slouching over, hands on her knees, as she leans closer to the bed. He's looking around the room, asking for Snow over and over again, getting more frantic by the second.

"Okay, okay," she concedes, picking up her phone to send a text to her friend. "I'll get her here."

Luckily, Snow had been close by, retrieving a few books from her classroom. The pixie-haired brunette comes rushing in, bending over to sweep Regina into a hug from where she sits planted in the chair and asking if everything is alright.

"Snow!" David exclaims happily, sitting up, still trying to remove the tubes and wires from his skin. Snow and Regina break apart, turning to see David gazing at them, confusion coloring his face. "Why are you hugging the Evil Queen?"

Snow sighs, looking at Regina sympathetically as she takes the seat on the other side of David's bed. Taking his hand in hers, Snow begins to explain. "She's not evil, David. She's your wife."

He shakes his head furiously, denying that fact over and over again, claiming it to be impossible. With each denial of their marriage, their love, Regina's heart aches a bit more.

"No, no," he chuckles indignantly, "You are my wife, Snow. What is going on?"

Snow makes eye contact with Regina, wordlessly communicating her support. "You and I are divorced, David. And have been… for seven years," she finishes with a grimace.

David scoffs, roaming his eyes between the two women, telling them they've both lost their minds. He tells them that Emma just broke Regina's dark curse, and they've finally been reunited again after so long.

Snow and Regina sigh in unison as Regina tries to take his hand again, out of habit, and explain it all. Yanking his hand away once more, he drags it over his face and into his hair, scratching lightly at the part of his scalp not covered in a bandage.

Regina feels for him, she really does, knows that suffering from this memory loss can't be easy. He's missed so much, seven years of life just… gone.

"David…" Snow begins, "You've missed a lot. But you'll get your memories back, I just know it."

Regina rolls her eyes; she's always been so hopeful. Regina envies that, wishes she could have hope in this moment that her husband would remember her, would remember their life together. This is torture.

David lets out a defeated sigh, admitting defeat after a few elongated moments of silence and asking what all he's missed, why he and Snow aren't married anymore, what happened to get him here.

It's a long story, it really is, so Snow and Regina try to condense it, piggybacking off of what the other one has to say as they go. They tell David how after the curse was broken, Emma and Snow fell through a portal in Jefferson's hat.

"We were gone for awhile," Snow recounts, pursing her lips in thought, "Over a year." She tells him how when she came back from the Enchanted Forest, she felt differently for him, had realized she wasn't in love with that man anymore.

Regina joins in, saying while they were gone, he and Regina were here, raising Henry together while trying to find a way to bring them back. She tried everything she could, wanting to bring back her son's grandma and biological mother, and also wanting to bring back David's wife and daughter. She searched spell books and conjured up every potion she could think of, but nothing ever worked. They had become close friends, and she hated seeing him miss his family so much. Overtime, though, "We thought they were never coming back," she tells him, as he closes his eyes and drops his head against his pillow. Opening them back up, he looks to Snow.

"So I just gave up on you?" he asks sadly, breaking Regina's heart. Giving up on Snow was the last thing he did, which she assures him of.

"You didn't give up, David," she promises, shaking her head. "Neither of us did." Regina slowly tells him that he admitted to having feelings for her ten months after Snow and Emma disappeared. She felt the same, of course, after so many months of working together, parenting together, becoming friends, but she needed to wait and see if they could get Snow back before they let it go anywhere. She never wanted to break up their marriage, always encouraging David to not give up. "At first I thought you were just lonely, and that's why you wanted to be with me," she admits before Snow jumps in, adding, "But that wasn't the case. You had real feelings for Regina."

"Which you always reminded me of when I would try to fight this," she chuckles lightly, waving a hand in between their bodies. It had been so hard, fighting the feelings she had for him back then. He swore up and down that he wasn't just lonely, that he would feel the same way for her whether Snow was there or not. It was hard for her to believe; things never worked out well for her when it came to romance.

"David," Regina says sadly, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. "You can't have feelings for me. You love Snow, you're just missing her and-"

"Will you stop saying that?!" David cuts in, exasperatedly. "I'm not just lonely, Regina. You're my best friend, and I want to be with you. Snow or no Snow."

Regina sighs, pulling herself from the wall she's found her body pressed against. Ducking under his arm, she walks over to her desk, picking up a city ordinance paper to glance at, trying to do anything but have this conversation. Again.

He's told her multiple times in the last few weeks how he feels, all about his strong feelings and how he's falling for her, has already fallen for her over the last few months if he's honest with himself. She's rolled her eyes each time, never believing that Prince Charming would choose the Evil Queen over Snow White. It's preposterous.

"Regina," he says tiredly, turning his body away from the wall to face her once more. "You and I have become so close. Closer than I ever thought possible." He smiles, and she smiles too despite herself. The last ten months have been hard, trying to find a way to bring back Henry's family, but they've also been wonderful. She and David have taken Henry to school together, or picked him up almost every day. They've had family dinners and movie nights complete with popcorn and hot chocolate, walks in the park as Henry played on the playground, and it's all been… fun, comforting, how she always imagined life being. But she can't let herself give into these feelings.

He's married. To Snow.

She can't do that to him. Or to Henry. She cares about them both too much to do that. If she's honest with herself, she still cares about Snow too and wouldn't want to hurt the girl, no matter their complicated history.

"I know, David, but that doesn't mean you have feelings for me. We're just... friends."

"Best friends," he corrects, looking pointedly at her. "But you're so much more than that to me. Why can't you believe that?"

She sets the paper down, roaming her eyes from the desk back to his slowly, pursing her lips in thought. "Because you are Snow's true love."

He sighs and shakes his head at that, always frustrated when she brings that point up. David's always telling her that she was his true love, but things have changed, they're both different people now.

"You don't want to be with me," she declares wearily as he moves closer to where she stands, guarded behind her desk. David never had a problem breaking through her defenses, though, and he steps into her personal space, placing his hand on her hip to turn her body so it's facing his.

"Yes, I do," he whispers reverently, leaning in so close that she can feel his breath ghosting against her lips.

"David," Regina breathes out, closing her eyes, deciding how to stop him. They've kissed before, a few weeks ago when he first admitted his feelings for her. She'd been weak then, giving in and letting her body take what it wanted for the briefest of seconds. But she'd realized then what was happening, realized he was just missing the comfort of his newly awoken wife after the curse broke and didn't really want her. He just wanted someone.

Before she can say anything else, he leans in fully, closing the small gap between their lips and crashing his onto her hers. It steals her breath for a moment, her head foggy as his plump lips cover hers fully. His lips are soft, and they glide against hers with a seemingly practiced ease. She does love his kisses, has dreamt about them since that first one in fact. She sighs, giving in for the moment and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer to her body. Their chests are pressed together as closely as possible now, can feel the rise and fall of his stomach as he breathes into their embrace. She's positive he can feel the moan that rumbles in her chest against his own. His tongue seeks entrance, but before she allows it, she pulls back, tracing the outline of her mouth with her finger tip."We can't. I want to, you know I do, but we can't," she vows, looking up into his beautiful, pleading eyes, "We will get Snow back somehow, and you'll see that it's her you want. Not me."

He sighs dejectedly, taking a step back and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "No matter what you think, my feelings for you are real, Regina, and I'm not going anywhere. When you're ready, I'm here."

He still looks hurt, and confused, and Regina knows none of this can be easy to hear. Snow goes on, telling him how he put himself under a sleeping curse to communicate with her, a last attempt Regina had thought of when Henry started having nightmares of a burning room.

It had worked, putting him under, he was able to communicate with Snow and help her and Emma get back through taking the magical wardrobe's ashes to Lake Nostros.

"There were complications, of course," Snow laughs, eyeing Regina who chuckles breathlessly back at her. "But we finally made it back."

Complications, Regina snorts to herself. Her mother was a complication alright, but with the help of their new friends, Mulan and Aurora, Emma was able to defeat Regina's mother before she joined them in the open portal. It'd been hard at first to hear, but in the end, Regina had come to terms with it. Her mother never loved her anyway, so it wasn't as difficult to accept as she once thought it would be.

Regina tells him that once Snow and Emma returned, Snow tried waking him from his sleeping curse but it wouldn't work. Fear had gripped her heart then, thinking he would never wake up. Upon Snow's suggestion after seeing the way Regina was looking at David's sleeping form, she had leaned in, placing her lips softly to his and the spell was broken. "True loves kiss," Regina says with a sad shrug.

David looks at her then, longer than he has since he's woken up, and she feels a stirring in her chest. Hope blossoming at the thought that maybe this little trip down memory lane has been enough to bring him back to her. His face crumples, however, and a scowl graces his lips. He turns his head back to Snow, asking her to continue.

"We tried to make it work for a few months when I got back, both of us trying to pretend the truth wasn't staring at us to clearly in the face," Snow tells him, rubbing comforting circles along the back of his hand. "But after a while, we just realized we were different people. We both had feelings for other people."

That had been challenging, knowing David loved Regina thanks to that kiss, but Regina swore she wanted he and Snow to try and get their love back, knowing how strong it had been before she cursed them all. Snow struggled too, though, knowing that she had found love in the Enchanted Forest with someone other than her husband; she was just too afraid to admit it when they first climbed out of the well.

David tilts his head in confusion, asking, "You were in love with someone else?"

Snow nods, a small smile on her face. It's weird to talk about it now, after so long. They've all come to terms with it, all worked out the emotions plaguing them back then. Now, this is just how life is. And it's wonderful, as perfect as anyone's life can be. David and Snow are each married to different people and are happily living their lives. They're happy. They're all still family, one thing Regina thought she'd never have.

"Yes, David," she grins, pulling out her phone to show David a family portrait stored in her camera roll. Snow, Mulan and their twin toddler boys all sit perched on a bench, each woman holding a three year old dressed in matching khakis and red sweater vests. "This is my wife, Mulan, and our boys, Eli and Eric."

Snow and Mulan had become close friends in the Enchanted Forest, working together to help Aurora contact Henry and keep track of the time that passed as Emma climbed the beanstalk. Snow's feelings were conflicting, she never thought she was attracted to women, but as the days passed, she found her heart growing more and more fond of the warrior woman and her strength.

Once back in Storybrooke, and trying to make things work with David, Snow finally realized that she couldn't love David the way she was supposed to because she was in love with someone else. Luckily, Mulan and Aurora had accompanied she and Emma back to Maine, so the two were able to make their relationship work. The two women married eight months after returning from the other land and have never been happier.

"I can't believe this," David mumbles, lying his head back against his pillow. Snow and Regina exchange looks, Snow's gaze turning sympathetic toward her stepmother. "This isn't right. This can't be real."

Amongst the sadness she feels at her husband not remembering his love for her, anger also bubbles in her gut. Yes, this is complicated, and yes, this is confusing, but damn it, she is his wife. He loves her. He has to remember.

Huffing, Regina pushes a piece of hair back behind her ear, telling him sternly, "Yes, well, you better learn to accept it. If not for my sake then for— "

Before she can finish her sentence, though, the door to his hospital room flies open and a mound of long, raven hair comes bounding in with a squealed, "Daddy!" falling from her lips.

Regina smiles at the bundle of excitement bursting into the room with her big brother trailing behind. Regina looks to Snow, asking how the kids knew to come. "I called Emma on my way over."

"Ah," she says, smiling at Henry who stands behind Snow, then down to her daughter as she climbs into the tiny space on her lap.

Wrapping her arms around the little girl's middle, she looks over toward David.

Stunned is the only word she can think of to describe how he looks right now. Shock has been evident on his face the last half hour as she and Snow have explained everything he's missed, but this is more. This is a mixture of all emotions - shock, confusion, hurt, anger, sadness - she's not quite sure what to make of this face he's displaying.

"We…" David starts cautiously, blinking slowly in the little girl's direction with a crease in his brow, "...have a daughter?"

"Yes," Regina breathes, tears welling up in her eyes. She blinks them away quickly, sweeping the girl's long hair behind her shoulder and giving her back a small rub. "This is Olivia."

Olivia giggles then, looking between her parents in confusion. "Why are you acting like daddy doesn't know me, Mama?"

Regina smiles sadly down at the little girl, always so observant of the world around her. Regina scans her eyes over to David, then to Snow and Henry before looking back at her daughter.

"You know how daddy was in an accident, baby?" she asks cautiously, situating herself more comfortably in the chair. Olivia shifts on her lap, twisting to look at her mother more fully.

After her affirmed mmhmm, Regina explains that, "Daddy's brain is... confused right now."

"Like when I don't get how to add my numbers!?" Olivia asks excitedly, trying to make the connection to something she's experienced in her six years of life.

Everyone, except David, who still looks at his daughter in shock, lets out a low chuckle as Regina says, "Yes, baby, just like that."

She tells her that daddy's brain is sick and he doesn't remember marrying mommy or having a baby. That part had been hard to explain, a lump forming in her throat as her little girl's eyes clouded with tears. "But he's my daddy. He doesn't remember me?"

Olivia looks over to David then, their matching blue eyes finding each others. Regina closes her own, leaning in to press a kiss to the back of Olivia's head and breathes her in. She still smells like the baby shampoo she'd used on her this morning, and it brings a bit of comfort to her that not everything in her life has changed.

David goes to say something to the little girl, but Dr. Whale comes in, interrupting the tense moment.

"About time you got here," Regina huffs, rolling her eyes in the doctor's direction. "He's been awake for almost an hour. Where have you been?"

"Apologies, Your Majesty," he croons, a sly grin on his face. She's always hated this man, ever since he tricked her into giving him a heart back in the Enchanted Forest when he pretended to try and bring Daniel back. "I was delivering a baby, you understand."

Rolling her eyes once more, Regina leans forward, letting Olivia be closer to her father. The little girl's hand rests next to his, her pinky toying with his larger digit while the doctor looks over David.

Whale monitors David's vitals, checking his reflexes and shining a light into his eyes, then clicking the light shut, stuffing it into his lab jacket's pocket. He asks David a few questions - his birthday, place of birth (which makes everyone roll their eyes), last memory he has - all while jotting his answers down in his notebook. "Well as I thought might happen," he starts, stepping back from the bed and snapping his miniature notebook closed, "it appears David is suffering from retrograde amnesia." He tells the room that he will need to run some tests, give him another scan to check him over, before he can be released.

"Now, my suggestion would be to live as normal of a life as possible until your memories returns," he states, holding up a finger and pointing it in David's direction, "If they return."

"What do you mean if?" David asks, concern in his eyes.

Whale explains that there is no certain way of bringing back memories. Amnesia is very tricky, the brain reacts differently in each patient. Some patients lose a few weeks worth of memories, some a few months, and other years, as in David's case. "Going about your average, daily routine is a good way to help trigger your brain's activity into remembering, even if it's just small flashes of a memory."

David sighs, closing his eyes. He opens them, scanning the room at all the faces around him. His gaze seems to settle on Olivia's, apparently having a hard time believing that he's made a child with the Evil Queen. His pointer finger makes contact with the girl's pinky, seemingly out of habit, and he looks up into her blue eyes as she moves her head from where she's been staring at the TV in the room to look at her father. He gives her a small smile and she ducks her head down, tilting it to the side and giving him a tiny one back in return.

He looks up toward the doctor, thanking Whale, who makes his exit after telling Regina that if she needs anything, to call. It surprises her, even though he is technically their doctor, to see the man display any type of sympathy for her.

She thanks him and watches as he leaves the room. She looks over to where Henry is still standing behind Snow, asking where Emma is.

"She had to go back to work after dropping us off here," he informs her, "Said she'll check in later to see how everyone is doing." Regina nods, asking if he wants to sleep in his room or at Snow's tonight.

Her son hesitates, looking down at Snow and asking if her and Mulan would be okay with him staying there. "Of course!" she promises, telling him he can keep the boys occupied while she cooks dinner. Henry laughs lightly, nodding and checking once more with Regina that it's alright. He doesn't know how to act around David just yet, and understandably so, though he shouldn't feel awkward. The only one David seems to hate at this point is her.

"Of course, sweetheart," she says, smiling at him. It's probably better for him to not be at home when David gets there; she doesn't want him to see how much David truly hates her still in his mind.

"Can I cuddle with you, Daddy?" Olivia asks suddenly, twisting a finger around a lock of hair. "You give me cuddles every night. Even though it's not night time, maybe it'll help your brain not be so sick."

Regina gives David a sad smile, hoping that despite how he feels about her, he'll at least let their little girl in and not break her heart. She doesn't think she could take it if David were to turn their daughter away.

"Oh," David says, taken aback. He looks around the room between Snow and Regina before settling his eyes back on his daughter's and nodding. "That's… fine."

Olivia smiles brightly, crawling onto the bed and snuggling into David's side as Regina warns her not to be too rough since daddy's ribs are bruised. The girl mumbles an, "Okay, Mama," before laying her head gently onto David's chest. She reaches up, stroking his scruffy beard and patting his cheek.

Regina drags her gaze from Olivia up to David and sees him smiling softly down at his little girl, which warms Regina's heart. Maybe their daughter can help bring him back to them in her own little, innocent way.

They all sit there in silence for a few moments, Henry finally settling onto the arm of Snow's chair. There isn't much to say, she and Snow pretty much said it all earlier. They'd left out a few details of how her and David fell in love, but he'd gotten the big picture. He was terrified of that picture, but he had it now nonetheless.

After a few moments of listening to the monitors beep and Liv hum a quiet song to her daddy, Snow stands. "I better get home. Mulan will be home from work soon, and I need to pick the twins up from Granny."

She claps Henry on the back, asking if he's ready. The boy nods, standing and stretching his back.

Regina stands then, making her way over to hug Snow and Henry goodbye. "I'll call you in the morning," she tells Henry, saying they can maybe go to Granny's to eat or he can come by for breakfast before school.

After kissing her son goodbye and hugging Snow, she turns back to face the bed. David and Olivia are still cuddled together, making her smile as she lays her hand over her stomach. David, who has been staring down at his daughter's face finally looks up, meeting her gaze.

The moment doesn't last long, however. His eyes practically bulge out of his skull as he looks from Regina's face, down to her protruding belly that she's gently resting a hand upon.

"You're pregnant?"

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Thoughts? :)