A/N: Here is Chapter 2 of Cursed Hearts!

Disclaimer: I do not own characters from either universe.

Enjoy!

Cursed Hearts

Chapter 2

Pure, unadulterated terror was coursing through Regina's veins as she ran with David toward the stables.

Please let Henry be okay.

David came to the hospital after getting a call that Dr. Whale had been attacked. She tried to explain what happened to him, but of course David initially accused her of being responsible. Regina supposed she couldn't really blame him considering their history, but eventually she did get him to believe her. She told him about Daniel, and when he asked her where she thought he might be, she paused.

"I think… I think it's like when you woke from your coma. I think he's following his final thoughts to the place he last met me. The stables."

Regina watched David's eyes fill with panic when she said it.

"No. Henry… Henry's at the stables!"

She understood the moment David explained how he'd left Henry caring for the horse he'd gotten her son. It meant that when Daniel arrived at the stables, Henry would be alone with him.

In her heart, Regina still believed the Daniel she knew would never intentionally harm someone, let alone a child. However, she remembered the state she'd found Dr. Whale in, and her motherly instinct kicked in and took over the part of her that still loved Daniel.

Please let Henry be okay!

When they got close enough to the stall Henry was in, she could already hear her son struggling.

"Daniel!" Regina yelled before they'd even reached the door, and if the adrenaline hadn't already been coursing through her veins, she would have stopped dead in her tracks.

Daniel had Henry in the air with his hand around his throat, and Henry was squirming uselessly.

"Let him go!"

Daniel's head turned, and upon seeing Regina he instantly dropped her son. Henry fell to the ground, and Regina was aware of David racing forward, grabbing Henry under his arms and pulling him down the corridor. She allowed herself a moment to feel relief that her little boy was safe again before she really studied the man she'd loved so many years ago.

"It's true… You're really here."

Physically, the person in front of her looked like the Daniel she remembered. But even so, she could tell there was something very wrong about him. As if she needed proof, Daniel's face suddenly twisted and he advanced toward her with a growl.

Regina didn't have time to move; she wasn't sure she would have been able to, but she didn't even have to think about that when suddenly she was forcibly pushed away from the entrance to the stall.

Regina gasped as she stumbled, spinning around to see David slamming the door of the stall closed and locking it to stop Daniel from escaping. He leaned against it when Daniel started throwing himself against the door.

"It won't hold for long," David told her, and she believed it seeing the way the door shook. "Can you cast a spell to subdue him?"

"No, I won't use magic on him!" Never on Daniel.

At her refusal, David pulled his gun out of its holster. Regina felt her heart lurch as she reached for it.

"What do you think you're doing—" She screamed at him. The sound of the safety being taken off was deafening and it made his intentions clear.

"He's a monster Regina!" David screamed back. "If you won't put him down, I will!"

He reached for the latch on the door, but Regina managed to grab his arm.

"David, please!"

The man paused long enough for her to continue. "Just let me talk to him."

He shook his head, "It's too big of a risk. There's no telling what he'll do!"

"You have to at least give me a chance!" She insisted, but the resolve in his eyes didn't change in the slightest. If anything, his eyes only hardened further.

"Get out of the way Regina, now!"

David pushed her violently away from the door, and Regina felt desperation unlike anything she'd felt in years.

No, not like this! I can't just let David murder him in front of me!

Fear and anger had her heart nearly beating out of her chest. Regina saw David reaching for the door latch again and her heart plummeted.

She screamed as she launched herself at David with all her strength not even a moment after he'd pushed her away.

"No!" She grabbed his arm and shook him as hard as she could. "I won't let you hurt him!"

David's position didn't even budge, but she punched him in the arm anyway as she cried.

"He'll listen to me!" She yelled desperately and grabbed his arm again, willing him to understand. "Please!"

David paused, staring at her. Regina knew he'd never seen her like this before. The woman he knew was the Evil Queen, and this was the first time she'd shown any real emotion in front of him.

"Let me talk to my fiancé." She pleaded, quieter and as calmly as she could.

Regina knew there were tears in her eyes, and she knew David could clearly see them. Regina no longer cared; even if she humiliated herself, she couldn't allow David to kill Daniel without even letting her try to reason with him.

The silence stretched on for what seemed like forever as Regina held her breath waiting for David to make his choice. Finally, mercifully, she saw his hard eyes soften just slightly.

"Fine." He sighed, moving away from the door. "I'll go check on Henry."

Regina nodded, giving him just a ghost of a smile as thanks. She waited for David to turn the corner before she took a deep breath to steady herself and reached for the latch.

Slowly, she opened the door of the stall and allowed the light to fill the small space. Daniel was leaning against the wall opposite her, and when the door opened he turned his head to look at her.

Regina sighed, smiling at him as she felt her tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks.

Daniel…

His walk toward her was slow, and there was no obvious threat even as his arm came up to reach out for her. Regina smiled even bigger, waiting for the hand she'd thought was going to cup her face.

Without warning, the almost loving look in Daniel's blue eyes evaporated into something malicious and deadly, and his hand grabbed her by the throat.

Regina gasped as he advanced further and she felt him push her against the outside wall of the stall. His grip on her tightened and she flailed for a moment before she grabbed his wrist, but Regina knew he was much stronger than her.

"Daniel!" She tried to speak to him despite the fact that she barely had the air to even whisper it.

"Please... stop…" His hand shook with the force he was using to press against her throat, and he pushed her harder into the unrelenting surface behind her.

"It's… It's me." Regina tried again, but her voice only got weaker each time.

The tears finally fell, and all at once the doubt she'd felt when she first saw him in the stall came rushing back as she realized… this wasn't Daniel. Her Daniel would have never hurt her; she didn't even recognize the look on his face. She looked into his eyes, hoping, searching with increasing anguish for the man she knew. All Regina saw was pain; Pain, rage and hatred directed entirely at her.

These were not Daniel's eyes.

He's not Daniel… He's a monster.

Far too late Regina understood the meaning of Dr. Whale's words from earlier. She would have sobbed if the pressure on her windpipe weren't getting worse, threatening to crush it and rapidly cutting off the little air she had left.

Suddenly her mind turned to Loki for the first time since she'd left Dr. Hopper's office the night before. I miss him.

Regina's eyelids fluttered as she closed them against the sight of her ex-fiancé's unfamiliar blue eyes, and all she could see was Loki's beautiful, mischievous green ones.

I'm so sorry, my love.

The Bifrost deposited the God of Mischief directly in the middle of Main Street. Loki knew immediately that Regina was not here, and he summoned his magic without thinking. He didn't have time to run around endlessly, so he allowed it to travel the entirety of Storybrooke for him, looking for any trace of Regina.

It felt like an eternity, but really his seidr found Regina's magical signature within a minute. He could feel the familiar pull of his beloved's magic and even that gave him the smallest bit of relief that at the very least, she was still alive.

The stables.

That's where he sensed her, and the realization did not sit well with Loki. He was well aware of Regina's history with stables, and even after all these years she found it difficult to be in one. Loki hasn't blamed her at all. The man she'd loved had been murdered in one while she watched, so her hesitancy was understandable.

Of course, he and Regina spent a great deal of time riding horses back in the Enchanted Forest, but Loki never made her go inside the stable. One of the stable boys or even Loki himself was always happy to bring the Queen her horse.

Loki allowed himself to be transported to her immediately. The god did indeed find himself at the stables, but Regina's back was to him. She didn't seem to realize that anyone had arrived. That surprised Loki, because she'd always been able to sense him when he was close to her.

Loki tried not to let this concern him when he realized she was staring at someone in front of her, and he looked over her shoulder to see who it was.

His breath caught as he stifled a gasp, and the fact that she was distracted suddenly made sense, because the man in front of her was Daniel.

Loki had only ever seen the man the way he'd been in the glass coffin Regina designed for him, but he hadn't needed to see his eyes open to know who this was.

How?

It was the only question Loki could think of, because Daniel was dead. Mortals couldn't just suddenly come back to life, especially not after so many years! Who had done this?

His heart stuttered in his chest as he watched his queen's lost love walk rather haltingly toward her with an arm outstretched. The gesture seemed harmless enough, perhaps even loving, but something about it made a shiver run down Loki's spine. His magic sensed something; there was something wrong with him.

Suddenly Daniel's face twisted into something unrecognizable and he gripped Regina's throat and slammed her against the side of the stall she'd been standing outside of. Loki's mouth opened to cry out to her, but no sound would come out.

His vocal cords betrayed him again and again with every attempt as he watched with increasing horror as the woman he loved flailed in her ex-fiancé's hold. His terror only built with each second that passed.

His blood was pounding in his ears but he could still hear her beautiful voice attempting to reach the man that was actively trying to choke the life out of her.

Loki was shaking, whether from fear or anger he didn't know, but he needed to do something. His queen was being attacked in front of him; he needed to move!

But his body refused to obey his commands. All of his limbs felt like dead weight and Loki watched helplessly as Regina's brown eyes became unfocused; he could hear her voice getting weaker. It had only been a matter of seconds since Daniel cut off her air supply, but she was quickly losing the battle.

The moment he saw the eyes he loved so much flutter closed, Loki felt a fear like nothing he'd ever experienced in all his years. Regina was going to be killed in front of him. He would lose her and she would never know that he'd been here, cursed for thirty years in Storybrooke with her, silently supporting her when she thought she had no one.

Loki opened his mouth, and the desperate cry of her name had never sounded so wonderful to his ears as it ripped itself from his throat.

"Regina!"

A/N: Please review!