Hi! This follows EC Week Prompt for Day 3 - Regina and David are married during the curse. A lot of it is the show plot line with prompt mixed in. Would be a good set up for a multi chapter...let me know what you think!
"They're headed to Reginas house - they're going to kill her!" Doctor Hopper said between heavy breaths and David hated the way his stomach dropped immediately at the thought of her in danger.
"Lets watch!" Grumpy snorted from behind him and all David could do was stand beside Snow silently while his insides churned.
"No we cannot stoop to her level. No matter who she is or what she's done, killing her is wrong," Dr Hopper remained the voice of reason as everyone stood in contemplation. David felt like he was being torn apart inside; one half of him hating Regina for everything she'd done and the other half of still seeming to still have feelings for her. He prayed it was remnants of the curse that would soon fade, but right now the thought of Regina being harmed made him see red.
"He's right, Please! She's still my mom," Henry piped up then and David felt an extra stab or pain in his heart. Regina may be a monster but she was the only mother Henry knew and despite her crimes, she had been an excellent one to him. He couldn't in good conscious let something happen go the woman he had shared a life and a child with.
Emma nodded in agreement with a serious look at him and her mother, "We have to stop it."
"If the blue fairy is right, magic is here and Regina may have her powers back. They could be walking into a slaughter," David spoke up quickly in agreement. He saw Snow look at him conspicuously as if she doubted the true reasoning behind him wanting to stop the mob from getting to Regina. He didn't blame her; the curse had only been broken for a moment and he had been married to Regina for years during the curse. Snow gave a nod after a moment and that was all it took for them to take off towards the place he had called home before all of this.
David could barely see Regina as Wale's form cowered over her after backing her up against the column of her house. Emma took command and immediately began pushing her way through the mob and David was immediately grateful. The idea of Regina being in harms way and not knowing how he should respond made him freeze up mentally as they shoved their way past angry townsfolk.
"Why should I listen to you?" Wale snarled back at Emma as he reached for Reginas neck.
"Because I'm still the sheriff!" She yelled and David was right behind her, shoving people back as they moved towards the entry way of what still felt like his home.
"And she saved you! All of you!" David yelled at them, directing his anger and frustration at the crowd. His head spun but he knew he had no time to think about his feelings now, let alone sort them.
"And because no matter what Regina did it does not justify this!" Snow yelled, clutching Henry in her arms protectively.
"We're not murderers here-" Emma said firmly to the doctor. But there was a murderer here - the woman he had called his wife for years.
"Yeah well we're not from this world-" Wale replied smugly and David felt his anger bubbling within him.
"Yeah well you're in it now-" David heard Emma say before he snapped and stepped in front of Emma, shoving Wale to the side.
"Okay Wale, were done-" He grit out, stepping between the man and Regina. He didn't catch the expression on her face or the way her eyes shifted in surprised irritation at his defense of her after the tumultuous last few weeks.
"Back off, you're not my prince-" The man spit back at him and David wanted to snap his neck.
"Who are you?" David glared at him.
"That's my business," He smiled ruefully in return.
"Well my business is making sure this town doesn't go to hell so wether or not I'm your prince isn't the issue. We have a lot to figure out and this isn't the way to do it," David clenched his fist as his voice grew louder before Snow stepped in.
"And Reginas death wont provide any answers. She needs to be locked up for her safety and more importantly for ours."
"So I'm a prisoner now?" Regina smiled fakely at the man who she had just called her husband as the door to her cell slammed shut. He stepped up to the bars and looked at her directly, causing her stomach to flip even though she refused to show it. She tried to mask her hurt and looked back at him with an attempt at a neutral expression.
"If the curse is broken why can't we go back?" He insisted and she wanted to scream. She knew it was only logical after everything that his concern would be returning with Snow to the Enchanted Forest but it still hurt that he could be done with her so easily.
"Because there's nothing to go back to-that land is gone," She said and her voice was weak as the lump grew in her throat. Snow stepped up beside of him and said something about going to Gold but Regina was in too much pain watching David respond to his real wife that she barely heard it.
She wasn't supposed to fall for him and she hated herself for it. She let herself get too comfortable. She let herself believe it was real and she had enjoyed having a companion. He had wormed his way past the facade she created with the curse and their marriage had turned into something real. At least it was for her. She knew anything he felt was because of the curse and his one true love was really Snow White. He didn't reciprocate any real feelings for her and she was a fool to have ever believed he would.
Still, to see him so callous, to see the look of hatred in his eyes when he spoke to her - it made her feel sick. The overwhelming wave of self loathing threatened to drown her as her past sins came bursting out of the closet and were thrown in her face. Everything she had created had crumbled the moment Emma Swan kissed her sons forehead and broke the curse. The only people she loved looked at her like she was a monster now and the worst part was that she knew she deserved it. She had done this to herself.
Regina sat down on the cot in her cell, rubbing her thumb over the wraith mark scorched into her hand by Rumple. In a matter of hours or maybe even minutes, the wraith would find her and take her soul. There was nothing she could do and no way to escape it without her magic.
Even if she did, what was she escaping for? The town would likely end up executing her or locking her up for the rest of the life and she didn't know which would be worse. Having to see David and Emma at the sheriff station each day as she rotted in a cell or dying at the hands of people who hated her. At least this way the wraith was a third party and no one won in the end. The town didn't get to kill her and she didn't have to put up with the morally superior hypocrites anymore.
Henry would be better off with his real family. She loved him more than anything but she had caused him more pain and trauma with all of this than any good mother ever would. She had turned into Cora.
He had already insisted on being with the Charmings ever since Emma came to town, having known the storybook was true since Snow gave it to him. Regina had made him feel crazy for believing it and that she was ashamed of more than anything.
David would make sure her baby boy was taken care of. They had been father and son since Henry was adopted, after all. The four of the Charmings would be a happy family and would put this all behind them as soon as she was gone. She wouldn't be missed and she'd be erased from their memories as quickly as a bad dream.
She looked up from her hand suddenly when the lights began to flicker and her heart nearly stopped when a black figure swooped in from the ceiling. She stood up and stepped back, jumping when the jail cell door was torn off violently by the wraith. It zoned in on her and she swallowed hard in fear when it held up its bony hand, instantly feeling the pull of its dark energy.
Soon her head was thrown back and her body went stiff from the force of her life being pulled from her. The sucking became more violent and soon took her ability to even scream, only seeing the light of her soul and energy being drawn out in a rapid stream. This was it.
"Hey!" She thought she heard a familiar voice but was too light headed and in pain to know if it was real. Suddenly the wraith screeched and spun around when a metal chair hit it and bounced off of its form. Her eyes widened when the beast turned and she could see David behind it. He didn't stand a chance against the evil strength of the creature and soon went flying across the room and into the desk so hard she was sure he'd broken something.
"David!" She called out in fear but before she could go for him the wraith had his hand up again, intent on finishing its job. She wasn't sure what happened after that but she saw a flame shoot through in the air in her peripheral vision and the wraith took off through the window, causing her to collapse in a weak pile on the floor of her cell.
Regina gasped for her breath, feeling as if the air had been knocked out of her as she tried to lift her front off of the cold tile. She felt strong hands grip her upper arms, tilting her up into a sitting position. Her head was dizzy but she knew exactly who held her when he scooped her up and sat her down gently on the cot.
"Regina?" He stood on his knees in front of her, holding her head between his two hands gently, "Regina? Focus, it's okay - you're safe."
Her eyes finally focused in on him and she swallowed at the knot in his throat, the feeling of him being so close instantly making her emotional. For a moment it was only the two of them in the room. It was a husband concerned for the safety of his wife. It was a wife who desperately wanted comfort from the man she loved.
"What was that thing?" Emma broke the silence, causing David to seemingly remember their current situation and he withdrew his hands quickly. Regina bit down on her bottom lip to suppress her heartache when he stood and stepped back to stand beside Snow who only glared at her now. He awkwardly stuck his hands behind his back and looked over at his daughter while avoiding Reginas gaze like nothing had happened. She saw his jaw tense as if his mood shifted instantly and she recognized that he was angry with himself for forgetting and being soft with her.
"It was a wraith," She grit out, still trying to steady her breathing. "A soul sucker."
"Did I kill it?" Mary Margaret raised an eyebrow and Regina wanted to twist her neck like a twig for even speaking.
"You didn't kill it. It's regenerating and it will be back. It won't stop until it devours it's prey," She gave a bitter smile as she delivered the news they likely wanted to hear and held up her hand with glossy eyes, "Me."
"So how do we kill it?" Emma insisted with a frown.
"You can't kill something that's already dead." She muttered and stared down at her hand, rubbing the burn mark on it that continued to sting in pain.
"Then we have a problem-" Emma began.
"No we don't, Regina does," The voice that spoke the words nearly made her want to throw up.
"You want to let her die?" Emma frowned at him and Regina felt herself getting light headed waiting for his answer. She was stupid. So stupid for ever letting herself love again.
"I don't know!" He yelled, his anger bubbling over suddenly, "If she goes away then we're safe, right?"
Regina felt her own hurt and anger coming to a head, standing up from her cot quickly, "That's quite an example you're setting for your son and your daughter there isn't it?" She snarled, tears glistening in her eyes. If she didn't scream at him she was going to cry in front of them and that was something she refused to do.
"You don't get to judge me!" He bellowed and closed the distance between them with a couple strides, hand pointed at her, "Not after what you've done!"
"Oh because you had it so rough during the curse didn't you?!" Regina laughed bitterly with glittering eyes, "Living in the biggest home in town, having meals prepared for you, not having to do anything that you didn't want to do! Having everyone in this town love you! Your daughter grew up in the foster system bouncing from home to home after you gave her away and you have the audacity to complain about how YOU'VE had it during the curse?!"
"You really think that I enjoyed any part of being married to you during this curse?! It was all fake Regina. You know if I had any idea I was sleeping with the enemy that I would've been disgusted - I never would've come near you!" He yelled back at her, his face turning red with anger.
"Well you sure weren't complaining during your marital duties now were you David?" She smirked up at him, goading him from her place of hurt. If she didn't taunt him she was going to let out a sob of pain and she'd rather call the wraith back to kill her first.
"Enough!" Snow yelled firmly, causing them both to snap out of it and look to her. Regina realized again there were others in the room, seeing Emma's look of sheer shock and Snows irritated expression.
"Look you two need to stop this-" Emma looked between David and Regina, "We made a promise to Henry that Regina stays alive and that's what we're going to do. So if you two can be adults for five minutes, we need to come up with a plan."
"If it can't be killed then what are we supposed to do?" Snow frowned and let out a breath, bringing them all back to the topic at hand.
All of them looked to Regina and she frowned, knowing they were waiting for answers from her. Wasn't it ironic that the people who were going to claim to be heroes for saving the Evil Queen were asking her how to do it? She sighed and shook her head slowly, mulling over what Emma said just a moment ago, "Did Henry really ask you to protect me?"
Emma nodded without hesitation and Regina knew instantly that she had to stay alive for her son. If he cared for her at all she would not make him go through losing her, "We have to send it somewhere else."
"Where are they?" David screamed as he stood slowly, a renewed look of hatred in his fiercely blue eyes as he started towards her. The portal had closed and the wraith was gone along with Emma and Snow, leaving just the of them in the room.
"I have no idea," She began to panic for multiple reasons, taking a step back at the rage she'd never witnessed in him before.
David stepped towards her quickly, his frame towering over her. Part of her wanted to be defiant and not show any fear but he was angry and so much bigger than her that she stepped back just as swiftly as he came forward.
"Are they dead?" He demanded, breathing heavily in anger.
"The curse destroyed everything-" She replied before she was cut off.
His eyes glistened and he screamed in her face this time, "Are they dead?!"
"I don't know!" She yelled back, her temper glaring from hurt at the way he looked and screamed at her. It was such a contrast to how gentle he used to be.
"I should've killed you when I had the chance-" He glowered and his words felt like a punch to the gut, twisting her insides and bringing tears to her eyes.
His rage seemed to overcome him and he stepped forward, hands coming up to her arms and slamming her back against the wall. Her back hit the wall with a thud that made her angrier but satisfied her in a sick way. She could use her magic to defend herself but no matter his actions she still couldn't bring herself to hurt him. No, she wouldn't hurt him but she could goad him, at least - give him permission to lash out at her the way he wanted to.
All traces of the David she knew seemed to vanish and he shook her by her shoulders roughly, "You're going to get them back! Do you hear me?! Look what you did to us!"
"I don't know where they are!" She yelled back at him, her eyes widening at how his anger spiraled out of control. One of his hands came up to grip her neck tightly and she gasped audibly when the back of her head hit the wall.
"What are you doing to me?!" He screamed in her face so loudly his voice went hoarse half of the way through.
She held off as long as she could, steeling her expression and defiantly refusing to show any emotion. It was okay for him to be angry and he had every right to be. She deserved his rage and his punishment but she refused to give him the satisfaction of letting him know he actually scared her.
"What's wrong with you?!" Tears were in his eyes now and she felt his grip tighten though she didn't even know if he made the decision consciously or if it was a side effect of the anger.
Regina's facade began to crumble and fear crept up within her as breathing became harder with his grip of her neck. Soon she felt it cut off completely and she began to panic, "David-" She whimpered suddenly.
"David, please-" She said a little louder, her tone pleading and fearful. His eyes shifted instantly when she spoke up, "You're hurting me-" She whispered and his eyes widened in realization, his hand dropping quickly.
He almost stumbled back from her, looking down at his hands before back up at her in a daze. He seemed to be processing what he had been doing and for a moment before he let go he was looking at her like he used to. Like he loved her and couldn't imagine hurting her. Like she was his wife again.
David shook his head and her heart sank for him when he fell down on his knees and then back on his haunches, running his hands over his hair and to his face as he broke down. She wanted to go to him, to comfort him. But she was the cause of his pain. She was the reason the man she loved was in the floor, breaking down from heartache. "What have you done to me?" He mumbled again, face covered by his hands.
What had she done?