Author's Note: As I wanted to keep this as close to the show as possible there was no way around this. As for Miser Gold's first name I never managed to capture him having one at the show, so I took what felt right to me.

Warning: Death of main character, strong scenes.


The accident

It was about a week after Daniel and Regina had broken up that he had insisted on driving to stable and check on the horses. Outside the storm was rising and the making it more difficult to drive. He could hardly see a hand ahead of him as he drove there. In fact it was so bad that Regina didn't want him to drive, even if they were no longer a couple she cared deeply for him and he still lived at the house, mostly because of Henry and the fact she couldn't bring herself to throw him out yet.

Now he had managed to secure and calm down the ten horses, among them Regina's brown stallion Applejack and her brown mere Ruthie. She didn't have much time to ride them so he took care of that, hoping that she one day would get on them. After all she had been there a lot tending to them.

As he stroked Applejack, his phone started to ring. By the ring tone Applejack he knew it was her, and said, "Hey Regina, the horses are all secured, so I should be home in not long."

"Daniel, I really don't want you to drive home from the stable in this weather," she said, her voice sounded worried and scared at the same time.

"So you suggest I stay in the stable overnight?" he asked with a frown.

"At least until the storm clears a little, please Daniel," she pleaded.

"Regina, sweetheart, please calm down, I've driven in worse condition than this before, if not even worse. I'll even be extra careful if that helps. I promised to stop by Ruby on the way, so I'll be back in a couple of hours," he said in a calm tone.

"I prefer if you waited, but okay, say hey to Ruby and I'll see you soon," said Regina with a heavy sigh. She had a very bad feeling about this.

"That you will, Regina…" he stopped, not knowing if he should say it or not.

"Yes," she wondered.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too, just be careful and come home to us," she said in a soft tone, before hanging up. He smiled, you might say a lot about her, but her love for him was still running deep. Even if she was starting to work out things with Emma.

"See you tomorrow boys and girls," he said to the horses as he locked up the stable, he really loved them. He hoped to teach Henry how to ride sometime in the future. He unlocked his car and got inside. Slowly he got inside and closed the door, sighing, he didn't like driving in this weather any more than she did.

He started the engine and backed so he could drive away from the stable, slowly as the windshield wipers washed the water coming from everywhere away. He smiled as he thought about Regina, his Regina, his darling woman. Only she was no longer his, the brunette had taken a liking to Emma. He didn't mind it though as he liked the blonde as well and they did seem to click in a good way. The morning after Neal had caught them he knew her to go back to where she came from for a day or so, finishing up a job so she would have some more money. She had bought Regina a very cute bear on the way back, saying, "I love you." Regina had loved it. They had spent a lot of time together after that and Emma was looking for some kind of work in town he knew.

For some reason he didn't know Neal had stuck around also, he had seen her from time to time eying Emma and Regina, but he didn't go further. It was creeping him out, as it was almost in a stalker way. He learned from Ruby that Neal had tried to hit on him, but as she knew better she had given him the boat. The last week the two of them had however grown closer, and now he was looking forward to seeing her over a cup of hot chocolate and maybe a toast before going home.

Daniel would however never get that far, because before he knew a car was coming out of nowhere and hitting him in the side driving both of the road. The last thing Daniel would think of before his eyes closed was his beautiful Regina and their son.


Regina waited for what seemed liked forever, but in fact it was only a little over two hours. Her heart was pounding when she called Emma to come over and look after their son, so she could go over to Granny's diner to see if maybe Daniel was there. The blonde made it there fast and gave her a kiss and a promise to drive careful as well. Regina had nodded, truth to be told she was a really good driver, that very seldom drove fast, unless she was in a hurry, but that rarely ever happened.

She however made it to Granny's diner very fast and parked up front before going inside. Once inside she looked around, but her heart fell when she didn't see Daniel anywhere.

"Ruby!" she called out, her voice was shivering and everyone looked at her. Ruby came outside from the kitchen and walked over to the other woman, saying, "What's going on, Regina?"

"Daniel, has he been here?" Regina asked, her voice still shivering.

"No, he texted me saying he was leaving the stable, I took he went right home as I didn't see him," said Ruby honestly. At once worry would spread when she got that wasn't a fact, or Regina wouldn't be here.

"I knew something would happen, I just knew," she said, picking up her phone and calling Emma saying, "He never made it here, I'm driving to the stables to find him."

"Regina, don't be stupid, you are in no shape to drive up there," said Emma, as Regina's voice was trembling with terror.

"I don't care, I need to find him," said Regina, just as a wet Gold and Belle came inside.

"What on earth are you doing here in this weather?" Ruby asked surprised to see them.

"I promised to take my lovely out for a burger no matter weather, so here we are," said Mr. Gold.

"He's right, I said we could wait until the weather was better, but he kept insisting," said Belle with a giggle.

"Well then you'll come here and I'll drive and look for him," said Emma with a sigh.

"You…you don't even know where the stable is," said Regina in disbelief.

"What's going on?" Belle asked Ruby.

"Daniel went to the stables to check on the horses, he said he was driving back two hours ago, but he never made it. Now She wants to go there, but she is in no shape to drive, look at her," said Ruby, nodding towards the Mayor, she was shaking.

"Mayor, if I may, I know the way," said Mr. Gold as he did.

"Fine, then I'll drive with him, just get back here, I don't want Henry to be alone, he seems scared enough as it is," she heard Emma said, as she had hear Mr. Gold in the other end.

"I guess I can go with that," said Regina as she hung up, turning to Gold saying, "I'll send Emma back and you better make sure both she and Daniel are okay."

"I'll do my best, Regina, just go," he said and gave her a nod.


Emma finally made it back to the diner after trying to calm Regina a million times, or what felt like it. She walked inside the diner and said, "Are you ready, Mr. Gold."

"I am, I'll see you in not long, sweetheart," he said and gave Belle a kiss. She nodded and gave him a look that meant, 'Please be careful out there." He nodded as he walked out with Emma.

She started her engine and said, "So Mister. Gold, do you have a first name?"

"It is Rex Sebastian," he said, looking out the window, adding, "Left here."

"Like seriously, that's so upper class and with the Gold after, did your parents want you to become king or something?" Emma said.

"Seriously, Miss Swan, and what about your parents?" he asked her.

"Uhm, I moved out and took another name, their name are Nolan, I think ma's maiden name was Blanchard or something like it, she just signs with B. Nolan and mine used to Nolan," said Emma.

"You mean you ran away, how old are you?" he asked her.

"Twenty-five, why?" she asked as she continued on the road through a wooded area.

"That means if I am right you were sixteen or so when Henry ran away, does your parents know about him?" asked Mister. Gold.

"No, why should they, I gave him up, we are not in touch and I don't plan to include them in my life either," said Emma, sounding like a stubborn teenager.

"They must really have been horrible, stop," he said as it seemed like there had been some disturbance next to the road. She did and they got out as she said, "I don't care to talk about it."

"Alright," he said, shielding his eyes as he walked into the woods, trying to see, there seemed to be two sets of tire tracks even if they were vague due to the rain that was falling from the sky. As they were walking Emma came to think about something and said, "You've known the Mayor for some time right?"

"I have yes," he said, wondering where she was going with this.

"Do you know how old she is?" Emma asked.

"Forty-three," he said as he gasped and pointed. There smashed against the tree was Daniel's green Bentley, with Neal's black Alpha Romeo crashed into the driver's side. Emma ran over to the driver's side of Neal's car, and opened it, he was bleeding from the head and his pulse was very weak, his arm seemed to be banged up, but he was alive.

"I'll never forgive you for this if you come out of it alive, as you deserve to die," Emma hissed. She didn't give him more concern, instead she and Gold managed to get the back door of the Alpha Romeo up and Emma got in and climbed throw the driver's seat. As she saw Daniel, her tears started to flow as she knew he was not alive and he would never be again.

"No, no, no," she whispered, shivering.

"Is he?" Gold asked her.

"Yes, how am I going to break the news to her and Henry, she'll be crushed," Emma whispered through her tears, closing Daniel's eyes.

"I don't know, but what do with do with him," said Rumple, nodding towards Neal.

"Let Regina kill him, he deserves no mercy. We need to get the body back somehow," said Emma.

"I'll call for an ambulance to remove both and help get Daniel out, this will take some time, but whatever happens she can't see this," said Rumple in a serious tone.

"I know," said Emma as he went to make the call. As he did so she got out of Daniel's car and walked back over to Neal's. He opened her voice, looked at her and whispered, "Emma.."

"No, we have nothing more to say to each other," she whispered, turning away, crying. Rumple got aware of the situation, looking at the other man he just wanted to strangle him. He didn't know Emma that good yet, but he knew enough to say this was breaking her and it would crush her lady. All due to one stupid man. Rumple let her go as he bent down over the other man, saying, "If she doesn't kill you, which I hope, you are going away for life, I'll make sure of that."

"You can't do that, I didn't mean to…" Neal weakly trailed off.

"You drank before driving that will be your death sentence, and I will testify against you if I have to, you'll never see the light of day again," said Rumple. Neal swallowed hard, knowing he was right. He wouldn't even try to speak Emma's name again, not after this, truth to be told he was to black out shortly after hearing Gold's words.


It would take a couple of hours to get Neal to the hospital and Daniel to the morgue. Regina would have to fill out his papers, but as most knew the effect it would have on her, they decided to let it wait for now. Instead Rex Sebastian would drive Emma back to Regina.

They hadn't spoken much after finding the two men, but now he turned to her and said, "I trust you will break the news gently to the Mayor?"

"As gently as I can, can I trust you to do the same with Belle?" asked Emma in return.

"You have my word, I'll most likely see you at Granny's tomorrow," he said with a sigh. She nodded and thanked her for the ride, before walking towards the front door of what had once been Regina and Daniel's house. Now it would just be Regina and Henry's. As she looked at the name plate next to the doorbell she couldn't help to think about how unfair it was that Neal, that had gotten behind the wheel under the influence was now at the hospital fighting for his life, while Daniel had died moments after the crash. He never had a chance.

Sweet, kind Daniel, the man that fathered the son she once gave birth to, for eight years, Regina's first love, a man so pure to his heart ha he could never do anything wrong. Even if he had his flaws, he had deserved better than this, so much better.

The blonde pressed on the door handle ever so gently, before walking inside. She could hear the television set was on, some kind of cartoon. She took of her boots and put them at a shoe rack, and put her jacked on a hanger in the closet. Sighing heavily she walked inside the living room where she saw their son laughing of the cartoon he was watching. He was sitting on the couch in front of the TV set, while Regina seemed to be sleeping in a chair near by. A magazine lay on the floor in front of her chair, Emma assumed her to be reading it and having a sip or more of the wine glass, that stood on the table next to her to steady her nerves. Then at some point she had to have fallen asleep.

The blonde sighed deeply knowing there was no easy way of doing it, so she walked over to her and said, "Regina."

Startling the brunette got drawn out of her sweet sleep, only to look up at the blonde. Slowly she would raise so they were on the same level. She looked at her lover, she seemed to have been crying and her eyes was filled of sadness. The hope that Regina had felt before her arrival sank.

Leaning her arms on Emma's shoulders, looking into her eyes, she needed to know the truth. She swallowed and with shaking voice managed to get out, "Da…Daniel?"

Emma didn't answer at first, she didn't know how, making Regina certain something was not as it should. Her worst fears was again woken, leaning in so her lips was inches from Emma's ear as she whispered, "Please tell me he's okay, that he's coming home, please."

"I'm sorry, Regina, but I can't," Emma said.

The effect of her words would be heartbreaking. The brunette would weaken in her knees and sink to the floor in both shock as well as sorrow. Her tears would flow from her eyes at once, along with what would seem like howls of pain. They didn't even seem human.

Henry looked at his mother with scared eyes, never before had he seen her like this. She was howling like she was in intense pain, crying and shivering on the floor. Something had to be wrong, he just knew. And why hadn't his father come back with Emma?

Emma sat down next to Regina and pulled her into her arms, trying to calm her, to ease her pain. Regina clung on to her as she was afraid to let go, shivering violently.

"I told him to be careful…" it came between her sobs.

"And he was, there was another driver, he was drunk and didn't have control of his car. He hit Daniel in the side, pushing both of the road, Daniel's car got smashed between another car and a tree," Emma tried to explain without breaking into tears herself.

"The other driver…?" Regina asked, somehow managing to gather herself just a little.

"Fighting for his life….Regina, it was….Neal," Emma said, with a heavy sigh.

"He…he…he," Regina couldn't get her words out. Instead she got up on shaky legs and headed for the hallway. Emma could hear her grab her car-keys that was on the dresser in the hallway and the door slam shut. It was then she got aware of Henry that was looking at her with confused eyes.

"Emma?" he said, looking at her.

"Yes, kid," she said and tried to smile at him.

"When is daddy coming home?" he asked, his voice was shivering.

"Oh kid, your dad isn't coming home again, he was in an accident," said Emma swallowing hard, wondering if Regina had ever told her son about life and death.

"He's dead?" said Henry, his voice was so sad.

"Yes, kid," said Emma.

"No, no, no, but we aren't finished with our tree house and he was going to teach me how to ride, not fair, not fair," he said, as his eyes were filled with tears. Emma quickly wrapped her arms around him, "I know, kid, but I'll help you with your tree house and I'm sure your mother can teach you how to ride."

"It's…it's…not the same," he got out between his heavy sobs. She just held him, letting him cry, praying to God that Regina wouldn't do anything stupid and that she would return.


Regina parked her car at the lot outside the hospital and went in. Of course she would have no trouble locating Neal's room due to her position. She walked up to the bed, her heels clacking against the floor. As she stood next to him, she hissed, "You took his life, and I should take yours."

He groaned in his sleep, being hooked up to machines and being on a strong dose of painkillers. She looked at the machines, then at him saying, "You're not worth it."


As she walked out of there she didn't see the man lurking in the shadows, she might not have taken Neal's life, but by morning he would be dead. Justice is best served called they say, and his killer was cold blooded with no remorse. Why should he be when this man killed the father of a boy he cared about? If there was any justice at all it would be that he died instead of Daniel, and in the killer's eyes Neal got what was coming for him.


That night Regina would lay tightly wrapped up in Emma, wakening from time to time, crying, but the blonde would not leave her side, she would hold the otherwise strong Mayor and support her, after all what else could she do when the woman she loved was crushed like that. As Regina snuggled closed for what seemed like he hundredth time that night, she would collapse from exhaustion, and the blonde would turn of her alarm the next morning. For the first time in ages, the mayor would not be in, it was a simple as that. As the blonde watch her sleep she wondered how she was going to help her through this, knowing she would do whatever she had to do, because it was no way she was backing out now.


Thank you for reading, feedback is always appreciated :o)