Chapter Three
Regina awoke the next morning with a sense of dread filling her. When she first woke before she opened her eyes she was filled with a warmth that followed her from her dreams. She revealed in the feeling of Daniel. But as soon as she thought about Daniel she remembered what she thought she had seen the night before. Then the realisation hit her that Daniel was dead and she was all alone. The vision from the night before haunted her and she realised she needed to check if it was really him.
She got dressed at a speed unusual and was out of the door without even taking a sip of her usual morning coffee. She drove at haste through the streets out to her vault. Parking up she shot out of the car and made her way through her crypt into her vault. Once down the stairs she took a different direction to the one she usually would. She came to a room at the end of a corridor. Taking a deep breathe she opened the door.
The sight inside elicited a gasp from the brunette. Inside there was a glass coffin which usually would contain the reserved body of her once true love. She had preserved him all those years ago when Frankenstein had tried to bring him back to life. It had failed and Regina back then, not ready to let go, did the only thing she could think of to keep Daniel with her forever.
But that was all for nothing. The coffin lied empty. Regina turned on her heels and headed straight back to her car. Something inside her told her that whale was the one responsible. She drove over to his office. Seeing the door opened she entered. As she walked through the hallways she had a sense of foreboding. As she got closer to whales actual office she heard a whimper. She entered the room and the sight before her took hr breath away. The examination table had been overthrown and blood was smeared along the wall. Behind the overturned table the whimpering losses got louder. Approaching Regina found Whale. His arm had been completely torn from its socket.
"What did you do?" Regina screamed at him. "Wheres Daniel?" She asked.
"He's a monster" Whale responded, his voice full of agony. "You stupid stupid man" Regina called him before leaving the room oblivious to the shouts of Whale behind her.
Over at the loft Emma awoke to a whimpering coming from beside her. She shot up as soon as she realised the noise was coming from Henry. It seemed he was having a nightmare. She tried to coax him out of it. Slowly Henry came round. Emma reared him by rubbing his arm but this elicited a yelp from Henry and he moved his arm away.
"Henry What…" Emma started but she was cut off by the revelation of what looked like a burn on Henrys arm. She grabbed his arm. "henry what happened?" She asked. Henry let out another whimper.
"I don't know. I was having this dream where I was trapped in a room with flames. There was this other person in there a woman. I tried to help her but as I got closer the flames got higher and one of them got me" he finished. Emma was baffled. She didn't have any idea what this could be. Her maternal instinct kicked in. She got out of bed and motioned for Henry to get comfy. She went to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit she knew Mary Margret kept. She moved to the stove and out on some hot cocoa. Once she had made both herself and Henry a cup she sprinkled cinnamon on them and went back to where he was. She handed him one cup, placed hers on the bedside cabinet and opened the first aid bag. Using her basic first aid skills she acquired when regina had sent her on a first aid course when she became sheriff she tended to Henry's wounds.
Once she was satisfied they were clean she allowed Henry to finish his coca before suggesting that they go up to the 's face it up at this suggestion. He loved to ride and tend to the horses but Emma had shown a disinterest in horses. To hear her say they could go satisfied him to no end.
Emma got ready and fixed them both breakfast and soon enough they were in the yellow bug heading out towards the stable. Emma planned to let Henry tend to the horses while she contacted regina to get her opinion about the burns. Once they got there Henry left Emma outside to make a phone call. Emma watched as he walked towards the stables. She pulled out her phone and tried to contact Regina. She wasn't picking up her phone. After the fifth time of being directed to Regina's voicemail Emma was halfway through leaving a message when Regina's black Mercedes pulled hazardly into the stable car park. A deranged looking mayor shot out of the car towards Emma. "Wheres Henry?" She screams at Emma. Just as Emma was about to answer a young scream filled the air, originating from the stables behind them. A cold chill went through both mothers and in an instant they both were sprinting down the pathway towards Henry.
Emma was surprised at Reginas speed. They both arrived at the same time and the reason behind Henry's scream became evident. In the doorway to his horses unit stood a man. Emma made a move to draw her gun but Regina placed a hand on her arm to stop her. "Get Henry" she whispered to Emma and she watched as Emma snook out of sight towards the other entrance.
"Daniel?" Regina called out. She didn't really believe it was him. "Daniel" she called again and the man turned to look at her. Emma had made her way towards the other entrance and watched as Daniel turned to look at Regina. She tried to signal to Henry to come towards her. She caught his eye but the movment from Henry in the stall caught Daniels attention and he turned away from regina and walked into the stall. Emma watched as Daniel approached Henry. Henry tried to put his hands up to stop Daniel and let him know that he meant no harm but this seemed to anger him. In a rage Daniel lunged towards Henry but he managed to dodge his grasp. He ran out of the stall as Emma leapt forward closing the stall door, locking Daniel inside. "Henry go outside! Now!" Emma called at him. She turned to look at Regina. The former mayor had an expressionless face, she appeared to be caught in a daze. "Regina! Who was that?" Emma asked her. When she didn't reply Emma raised her voice a little higher. "REGINA" she called and Regina looked at her. A scream from inside the stall alerted Regina to the dire situation. It was only when Emma pulled out her gun that Regina burst forward from her daze.
"NO You cant do it! I wont let you kill him" Regina cried out trying to fight with Emma to get her away from the door. "We have to do something Regina he nearly killed Henry!" Emma shouted at the brunette. "Let me talk to him. He'll listen to me! Please Emma give him a chance" Regina pleaded. Emma took in Regina's appearance. She was actually pleading with her. Emma placed her gun back in its holster. She nodded. "Im going to go check on henry. Deal with that!" She motioned to the stall "Any commotion and ill be back" Emma warned.
Emma walked away and regina composed herself before opening the stall door. Daniel was backed against the wall.
"Daniel" she called out entering the stall. He looked up at her words. "Daniel" Regina chokes out unable to contain her emotion. She reaches out a hand but before she knew what was happening Daniel had her against the wall, his hand around her neck. She clawed at it trying to get free. "Daniel Please, Its me. I Love you" she chocked out. At these words Daniel let go of her. He looked at her differently than he had moments before. "Regina?" He asked. He seemed to have regained his memories. A tear dropped down Reginas cheek as she nodded. She moved towards him and they embraced. "Regina held on tight whispering "i cant believe its really you". The moment of happiness was short lived as Daniel recoiled in pain. Regina watched heartbroken, seeing her true love in pain. "Daniel?"
He turned to look at her clutching his heart. "Just stop the pain" he asked, desperate for it all to be over. "How?" Regina asked, willing to do anything to help him. Daniel approached her and placed his hands lovingly on her neck. "Let me go" he whispered to her. Regina let out another sob. "No I Wont lose you again" regina pleaded with him. "Without you I'm lost" she chocked out. Daniel tried to get his breath. Placing her hands on his face regina pleaded once again. "Daniel come back to me" but all she got in reply was a strained voice. "Cant" he managed to choke out. Regina let out a cry. "But I love you" she told him. At these words he looked her in the eyes. The love he had for regina was evident. "Then Love again" he told her before succumbing to the pain.
He backed away before straightening up. Gone was the look of love in his eyes. Instead they were filled with hatred and pain. Regina's heart broke all over again at the sight. As he charged towards her she put up her hand casting a spell to bind him in place. Their hands met, separated by a magical barrier. Regina looked deep into her ex lovers eyes, saddened that it had come to this. A heart wrenching sob escaped her and she broke down. With a last look she waved her hand and rid him of the perseverance spell and disintegrated him to dust. Once he was gone Regina broke down against the side of the stall.
A moment passed before the sounds of footsteps coming toward her broke the silence. Before she knew what was happening hands wee wrapping around her, attempting to console. She recognised them as Henrys, which meant that Emma must be close by. They both stayed with her until her sobs subsided. Henry was the first to break the silence.
"Was that Daniel? The man I'm named after?" He asked and Regina nodded. "Will you tell me about him?" Henry asked. Regina liked deep into the eyes of her ten year old son. There was the curious glint in his eyes that Regina associated with her Daniel back in the enchanted forest. She nodded. She looked up at Emma and was met with kind green orbs looking back at her. There was no judgment in them, just understanding. Emma took a seat next to the duo ready to hear the story.
Regina took a deep breathe.
"Daniel was my fathers stable boy. Back in the enchanted forest. We met and we fell in love. He was kind, sweet, caring. I loved him very much. One day I was out riding and I met up with Daniel. I met Snow White that day. Her horse had gone awol with her on it and I saved her. That led me to being introduced to the king and betrothed. Anyway thats a story for another time. I was madly in love with Daniel and I didn't want to marry the king. I had planned to run away with him but my mother found out. She killed Daniel. She never approved of our relationship. I preserved his body and brought him here. Whale found his body and brought him back. But he wasn't the same." She looked at her son. "Henry I am so sorry that happened" she told him and hugged him tight. The mother and son duo sat there, hugging each other both crying silently. Emma watched. She was overwhelmed with the story regina had shared. She knew it must have been hard for Regina to do that. Emma suggested that they all head back into town for some hot drinks and food. They both nodded. They agreed to head back to the mansion and regina would fix them something.
Upon arrival at the mansion Reina fixed them all drinks. Henry went off to play his video games leaving the two adults alone. Regina checked her phone and noticing the missed call from Emma she approached the blonde. "What did you want to talk to me about earlier?" She asked, showing Emma the missed calls on her phone.
Emma swallowed the mouthful of hot coca before starting. "Henry woke this morning with burns on his arm. He mentioned something about a room in his dreams.." Emma trailed off when she saw Reginas face drop. "You know what it is?" Emma asked Regina and Regina nodded.
"Its the netherworld" Regina told Emma but noticing the blank look on the saviours face she continued. "Its a realm in-between lands where victims of the sleeping curse find themselves. It takes years to master how to control it to get out. This is all my fault" Regina gasped out, taking a seat at the kitchen table her head in her hands. Emma approached her tentatively. "We'll figure something out" Emma assured her and Regina like dup. "We need gold" Regina told her. Emma was dubious at this.
"Are you sure? Everything with him comes at a price" Emma reminded Regina but Regina shook her off. "`then I will pay it. We need to protect Henry and he is the only one that can do something" regina stated and moved to the phone.
A phone call later and Gold was at the front door. Regina showed him into the front lounge where Henry and Emma waited. Regina had explained everything over the phone and gold had arrived with a pendant. He gave the pendant to Henry explaining that if he wore it while he was sleeping then he will be able to control the room.
"Whats the price?" Emma asked. Gold looked at her. "Nothing. As it is for young master Henry it is free of charge" he said before walking out of the mansion, not sparing the trio a second glance.
That evening Henry went to bed. Regina was skeptical leaving him alone so she set sat in the corner on an old rocking chair. She watched as he slept. She drifted into a sleep. Emma watched the two from the doorway. She vowed then that she would never allow anyone to come between the two in the room ever again. Regina was Henrys mother and Emma would make sure everyone knew that.