Chapter Six:

Archie was dead. Somebody had killed him in cold blood murder. Of course, the town jumped to the conclusion that it was Regina. Snow and Emma had cornered David and told him what Ruby had seen. He didn't believe them. Not until he saw Pongo's memories. He wanted to fight for Regina, but the evidence was clear. His stomach turned, and he felt like he was going to vomit. That was not the woman he knew.

"I'm sorry, David." Emma told him. "I believed her too."

"Do you see now?" Snow asked him. "She's a villain. She used you to get what she wanted."

"I can't believe it." David said sadly. "She actually liked Archie."

"It was a façade, David." Snow said softly. "She wanted to get between us. It's okay, we can figure this out. We can take the baby when it's born. I won't treat her any different just because-"

"Stop." David snapped. "Just stop. I need to go. I can't do this right now."

He all but ran out of the sheriff's station. His brain told him that Regina was guilty. That you can't fake magic like that. But his heart was a different story. It reminded him of true love's kiss and the baby they created from that love. There had to be an explanation.

Somehow the former shepherd ended up back at the mayoral mansion. He wondered how long it would be before Emma showed up to tell Regina about the dream catcher. Blue would be there too, to assist with magic. He had to warn her.

"Regina!" He called, making his way to the room they shared. "You need to get out of here!"

"No." She cried with tears running down her cheeks. "I have no reason to run, David! I didn't kill the cricket!"

"I, I saw it with my own eyes, Regina." He sighed. His heart hurting at the sight of her tears.

"Please, David, you were with me last night. I couldn't have possibly been to places at once. Someone was using magic to be me." She explained. "I think…I know….Cora is here."

"No. She can't. It's impossible." He knew Cora would bring danger.

"She must have found a way." Regina stated. "She wants me."

"She won't get you." David promised. "I'm going to protect you and our daughter."

"By taking her from me and raising her with Snow?"

"How did you-" He stopped when Regina waved her hand.

The giant mirror in their room showed the empty sheriff's station. She had seen their encounter. David shakes his head. Of course she wouldn't just wait around for them to come to her. She was far too smart for that.

"I would never, ever, take our daughter from you, Regina." David assured. He pulled Regina into her arms. "I admit, I did doubt you for a moment. I was in shock. Deep down, though, I knew you hadn't done it."

"No one else believes me." She said sadly. "Henry won't either."

David wanted to tell her that wasn't true, but he knew Henry probably would listen to Emma. It made David sad that he could do nothing to help Regina. Until they had proof, no one would believe that she was innocent.

"What do we do?" David asked her. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect you."

"If Cora is here I'm not the one who needs protecting, David." Regina told him. The thought of her mother crushing David's heart like she'd done to Daniel pained her. "You need to stay away from me."

"Regina-"

"No, David, this is not up for debate." Her voice left no room for argument. "I will not let her hurt you."

"What about you?" He asked. "And our baby?"

"I'll be fine." She insisted. "And I can keep the Little One a secret until we figure things out."

"I don't like this." David told her.

"Neither do I." Regina admitted with a sigh. "But there are no other options, and I need you to keep Henry safe. My mother likely knows about him, and I can't allow her to get her hands on my son."

"He'll be safe." David promised. "And we will figure this out, Regina. You and I, we're a team. Nothing can keep us apart."

They had agreed to not tell anyone about Cora until they had proof. No one would have believed them, and David needed to be near Henry. He didn't even tell them that he had seen Regina. They all just thought she went into hiding after murdering Archie.

"David?" Henry asked him one day when it was just the two of them in the loft. "Do you really think she did it?"

"No." David admitted. "I don't."

"You know where she is, don't you?" Henry looked down at his cereal bowl. "She didn't trust me enough to tell me."

"That's not true, Henry." David quickly assured. "She wants to keep you safe."

"Is she safe?" Henry looked at David, his eyes were full of worry.

Before David could answer, Emma and Snow returned from their trip to the store. In the week he had been staying here, Snow had been trying to convince him that they belonged together. He knew how desperately she was hoping he would come back to her. He felt guilty that he couldn't tell her that he was still with Regina, but they had agreed it was best that everyone thought their relationship was over. He hated how people were talking about Regina. Claiming that she killed Archie. That she used David and had run off so that he couldn't take their child from her. It made his blood boil, and he could do nothing about it.

"David, I was thinking, maybe we should have dinner tonight, just the two of use." Snow suggested. "We really need to talk."

"I was thinking of taking Henry to the arcade anyway." Emma added with a smile. The idea of her parents reconciling made her hopeful.

"Uh, sure." David offered a half hearted smile.

"Perfect, I can't wait." Snow smiled.

It was awkward, to say the least. David couldn't think of any neutral topic to discuss other than the weather, and that took up a whole two minutes. Snow either didn't catch on or didn't care. She was smiling as she munched on the dry chicken she'd cooked. David missed Regina's banter. And her cooking. He just missed her in general.

"So, what's next?" Snow asked him. "Do we keep going date night?"

"Snow, I don't think I'd call this a date night." David sighed.

"Well dinner date then." She grinned. "I know we have a long way to go, but-"

Before she could finish her thought, a knock at the door stopped them. David looked at her questiongly, but it was obvious that she didn't know who it was either. David rose and went to answer the door. He was shocked by who was the other side.

"Archie! You're alive!"

A/N A little bit of a short chapter, but the next one will make up for it! -Kaila