True Love's Kiss
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the television series Once Upon a Time and I'm not making any money from this fic
Summary: With magic now back in the world, there is nothing more powerful than true love's kiss - as Regina learns
Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers up to and including the season two episode Lady of the Lake; AU; some mentions of violence
Author's Note: I couldn't help it. Sorry. This has taken me a while to write and I hope people enjoy reading it. I don't personally like how it turned out, but I didn't want to leave it unfinished
When Daniel's fingers closed around her throat, the first thought that went through Regina's mind was that she deserved death. She had been struggling with everything she'd done ever since Emma Swan had broken the curse and made everyone in Storybrooke remember who they really were.
Somehow, getting that revenge hadn't been nearly as good as Regina had thought it would be.
It was difficult to get any words out through the hand wrapped around her throat, but Regina choked them out anyway. "I love you."
Recognition sparked in Daniel's eyes and he slowly loosened his hold on Regina's throat, stumbling backwards a few paces. There was shock and a kind of sick horror on his face.
Regina put her hand slowly to her throat, realising that she would probably have bruises there later. But that was only minor compared to what emotions were going through her right now. She stepped forward, struggling to pull back the iron control that had served her so well in the past. Daniel's appearance had startled her far more than it should have done, but she wasn't the naive, love-struck child anymore who'd believed in happy endings. She'd even stopped believing in the power of true love's kiss.
Until Emma Swan had used it to bring Henry back and return everyone's true memories in Storybrooke.
As Regina stepped nearer to him, Daniel stepped back, holding his hands up. "No! Stay back!" His voice shook a little, but he remained standing, even though he looked like he was quite weak.
Regina stopped where she was. It pained her a great deal to see Daniel hurting so much, even though she wasn't surprised by it. He'd died and been forced back to life in a world that wasn't his own. Regina was sure no one could have predicted the effect bringing magic to this world would have on bringing someone back to life. "You can't tell me to do that," she said quietly.
"I can't control myself. There is nothing I can do. Don't you understand?" Daniel looked anguished. "I should never have been brought back."
Pain, white-hot and intense, sliced through Regina at those words. It took a few moments for her to be able to speak. "We'll deal with... whatever this is. I promise you that."
Daniel looked down, shaking his head. When he looked up, his face was clouding again; as if a stranger was looking through his eyes.
Regina knew that she only had two choices here. Daniel clearly didn't think he could control himself and perhaps he was right. The kindest thing to do would be to let him go... to let him die in peace. The thought of losing him again was a crippling one, but wouldn't it be better to let him go in peace?
But Regina knew that she wasn't willing or prepared to do that. If she could help it, she didn't want to lose Daniel again. Keeping her eyes focused on his, knowing that there was still a part of him that was the Daniel she knew, Regina stepped closer to him. She ignored the violence inherent in the way he held himself, his entire body shaking with the force of holding himself back.
Putting her arms around Daniel, Regina could feel how tense he was. He stiffened even more against her, but Regina refused to allow him to pull away. She took a step closer to him and, without any hesitation at all, pressed her lips to his.
The heat that rushed through Regina at the moment of contact was nothing like magic - at least the kind of magic she was used to. Daniel stiffened in her arms at first, but then relaxed into both the embrace and the kiss. Regina felt his shaking arms come round her, cradling her in quite a weak way.
Regina didn't know if she was saving Daniel or freeing him. She could feel his warm breath against her cheek as he leaned his head against her shoulder, his entire body trembling. He didn't move - didn't try to speak - but the wrongness Regina had been able to sense inside of him was gone.
"Daniel?" Regina was unwilling to break the silence of the moment, but she needed to know if it had worked.
Daniel drew in a deep, almost shuddering breath before replying. "I'm so sorry."
Regina felt her eyes mist with tears that she quickly blinked away. "Come on. We should get inside." She waited for Daniel to argue, but he just nodded slightly against her shoulder. She relaxed, releasing a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding, and slipped one arm around Daniel's waist to support him, carefully steering him inside the mansion.
As Regina walked into the living room with Daniel, she half-expected him to try and attack her once more. She reached the sofa without incident, though, and sat down, gently pulling Daniel down next to her.
"Where are we?" Daniel asked quietly.
Regina glanced sideways at him. "You weren't told?"
"I might have been. I don't remember very much," Daniel admitted. "The only thought in my mind was coming here to find you... and then I did and all I felt was the rage."
"You wouldn't be the only one angry with me," Regina said with far more bitterness than she'd intended.
Daniel met Regina's gaze and took his time before speaking carefully. "What happened after I died?"
Regina didn't want to think about that time. She didn't want to remember the pain and heartache she'd felt after Daniel had died. And buried underneath her own self-pity were other emotions that she didn't dare dig deeper into. She wasn't ready to face them yet. Maybe not ever. Unable to hold eye contact with Daniel, she instead looked down at the carpet and didn't say anything.
"What did you do?" Daniel asked softly.
"Maybe I'm just a victim," Regina returned.
"You've changed. I can see it in your face. You're harder. Do you remember what you told me about your mother? About how she abused her magic by using it on you when you couldn't defend yourself against it?"
"Is there a point to this?" Regina wasn't quite able to keep the sharp note out of her voice.
Daniel didn't say anything for several moments and Regina found herself feeling bereft. She'd lost everyone she cared about and now she was probably going to lose Daniel for a second time. Not wanting to have him reject her, she spoke when he didn't. "You don't have to stay here."
"Do you want me to leave?"
"It doesn't matter what I want."
"You wanted to marry me once. Has that changed?"
"A lot of things have changed." Regina stared at the carpet. "We're not the same people anymore."
"What did you do, Regina?"
Regina didn't want to talk to Daniel. She didn't want to drive him away from her as well. She hunched over almost protectively on the sofa, not saying anything. She didn't even look at him, not wanting to watch him walk away.
A hand closed over Regina's wrist and she jerked slightly before tugging at her wrist, trying to free her hand. "Let go of me," she said, as imperiously as she could.
"You never used that tone of voice with me when we were alone before," Daniel said.
"I told you. I've changed."
"That doesn't matter."
"You don't understand." Regina couldn't keep the weariness out of her voice. "I'm not that innocent young girl who fell in love with you. She's gone. I've done terrible, awful things. If you knew half the things I've done in the name of revenge, you'd leave."
"I'm not going to leave."
Regina shook her head. "You can't say that."
"Yes, I can. And more than that, I can prove it to you." Daniel tightened his grip on Regina's wrist and tugged her across his knees.
Back in their own world, spanking was a fairly common punishment, though only Regina's father had ever actually raised a hand to her - and then only when she'd been a child. She instantly recognised the position she was in, though, and immediately tried to lever herself up off Daniel's lap, bracing her hands against the sofa cushions. "Take your hands off me!"
There was no response from Daniel, but Regina felt a stinging swat land right in the centre of her bottom. She lay frozen in shock, unable to believe that Daniel - her Daniel - had actually spanked her. Another stinging swat landed, harder than the first, sharp enough to take her breath away. She was wearing trousers, but they offered her little protection as the swats overlapped all the way down to her thighs.
Daniel paused, resting his hand on Regina's bottom, already stinging just from that one circuit of swats. Regina struggled to catch her breath, digging her nails into the sofa cushion. Was he finished? She tested the grip he had on her, but found it unyielding. "What do you want?" she demanded, frustrated.
"I want you to talk to me."
Regina shook her head. "You're not going to like what I have to say."
"Why don't you let me be the judge of that? Regina, why won't you tell me the truth?"
All sorts of replies ran through Regina's mind. She was used to hiding her true feelings underneath a shield of words. But this position drove away all her diplomatic answers and when she opened her mouth, what came out was an honest answer. "If I tell you, there'll be no reason for you to stay."
"It won't be that easy to drive me away."
"You can't say that."
"I love you, Regina." Daniel's voice was soft, but no less sincere. "We're in a different world now, but I imagine true love still exists here. You stopped me from being a monster. Let me help you in the same way."
The promise of love was too much for Regina to resist. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against her arms before she began speaking, quietly, beginning the story of what had happened after Daniel had died.
The End