Got some good feedback from the first chapter! Got a ways to go though. The timeline for this story is going to move fast so just be ready. Time to learn a bit about Regina!

Enjoy!

Daniel

Regina's temples flared as she half listened to the obnoxious man reading from the PowerPoint presentation lighting up the small, dark room. She sighed, tapping her pen on the table in front of her hoping to keep her nerves under control. She hated these meetings. Primarily because they were all but useful. They had received all the information for this project nearly two weeks ago and if people didn't understand by now they never would.

"Does anyone have any questions?" The older man leaned on his cane at the head of the table, finally done with his monotonous presentation.

"So, what kind of teachers are you looking for to choose for this test period?" A woman sitting across from Regina asked. Regina raised an eyebrow at her, seeing as the man answered that question about half way through his presentation.

"Well, like I said Ms. Nolan, I will be pairing the principals of each of your schools with a teacher at random. I will email you all in a few days and let you know who has been chosen. We are hoping this program will really boost the grades of our students in our district."

"Mr. Gold, I think we've all got a handle on things." Regina stood up annoyed at the length of time this meeting was taking away from her evening, and to be frank, she didn't want to spend any more time than she had to in the same room with that man.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Mills, are we keeping you from something?" Mr. Gold twitched his hair out of his face and clenched his cane as he stepped over toward Regina.

"As a matter of fact, yes, you are. We all got the paperwork for this program weeks ago. If anyone in this room doesn't know what's going on, I highly doubt this meeting is going to clear anything up." Regina cocked her eye brow and stuck her paperwork in her purse, avoiding eye contact with the advancing man.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you are as excited as everyone else to get started. As a matter of fact, I think I will promote you to senior advisor over the project. You're Welcome, Mrs. Mills." Mr. Gold smirked at the brunette standing in front of him. She pursed her lips as she stared at him, trying to figure out what was going on in his wormy little head.

"Have a good evening, Mr. Gold." She forced a thin smile across her face then turned out of the room. Leaving that room was probably the smartest thing she had done all day, seeing as if she had stayed a minute longer she may have said something she regretted. Mr. Gold was a nasty man who somehow got promoted to District Supervisor ironically the same year Regina applied, and lucky for him, his generous donations to the district helped him get the position. She was surprised he even took his job even remotely seriously. Giving her the senior advisor position on this project was just a slap in the face.

She tossed her bags in the back seat of her Mercedes and huffed into the front seat. These were the days when she wondered what compelled her to be a principal. She used to enjoy her job, but recently she had become bitter to it all. The children running through the halls was just a reminder of her own secrets. Something was missing in her life, that much she knew. She had gained so much in the last few months, but it was paid by a terrible loss as well.

"Daniel?" Regina called out as she stepped through her front door, tossing her keys in the bowl on the table near her. The house was silent, which was not normal seeing as ever since Daniel had returned from the war he had been doing all kinds of interesting construction projects all over the house to keep him busy. It had seemed since he had been gone, Regina didn't have the means or the knowledge to fix certain things around the house, and drastic measures call for drastic fixes in a way. Let's just say she was not the handiest of house keepers. Besides all of that though, the house was usually spotless.

"Daniel?" She called out again, poking her head into the kitchen to check for him.

"Up here." She heard a muffled shout from one of the bedrooms upstairs, and headed up toward the sound. When she reached the doorway she couldn't help but smile, seeing him awkwardly balancing on a ladder under the ceiling fan of one of their guest rooms. He was twisted at an awkward position trying to tighten the last screw on the blades. His dark hair had grown out since his return and she could almost remember what he looked like before he left.

"Hey. What are you up to now?" Regina circled him on the ladder, examining his manly features. His jeans were spattered with paint along with his shoes, his white shirt half tucked in, half untucked from his waist. His muscles flexed as he worked away at the fan.

"Well…" His voice strained on the last turn of his screwdriver. "I figured, what's the point of having a fan in the room if it doesn't work, right?" He dropped his screwdriver in his toolbox and then let himself down the ladder. He gave her a quick smile then flipped the switch on the wall. "Voila!"

"You are truly the handiest of handymen." Regina smiled, approaching Daniel and wrapping her arms around his waist.

Daniel smiled down into her deep brown eyes, captivated by her beauty. He pulled his hand up to her face, his thumb caressed her cheek. She closed her eyes and pushed her cheek into his hand, his warmth pulsing through her skin.

"Have I told you how much I missed you?" Daniel whispered. He pulled her to his lips. It was gentle at first but progressed quickly, their lips pushing harder together. Regina felt her body being pushed back, unable to equal his advance on her. She allowed her body to be led by him until her back felt the hardness of the wall behind her. He pushed himself into her, his hands intertwined in her hair. She moaned into him, taking in the pressure of his body.

His lips moved downward, nipping at her neck and chin. She kept her eyes closed, allowing him to take control of her. He kissed his way back to her lips, his hands traveling down to her shoulders, and slipping underneath her jacket. She felt his fingers move down her bare arms, her jacket slumping to the ground at her feet.

She took in his feeling, but something was wrong. Something was different about this. She suddenly felt uncomfortable in his embrace, like she was doing something wrong.

"Wait." She whispered as his hands moved up into her blouse. "I… I can't." She pushed him away gently, his fingers lingering on the smoothness of her stomach before dropping to his sides. She could hardly look into his eyes as the sadness of rejection and confusion came pouring out of them at her. Her breath was heavy, and her eyes darted sporadically around the room, and she could feel her hands shaking.

"Regina, what is it? What's wrong? We haven't been together since I came home. What can I do?" Daniel pleaded pulling his hand through his short hair. The light from the window dimming his normally bright blue eyes. "Why can't we do this, Regina?" He pleaded, pacing in front of her. She could see the anger that he was trying to suppress leaking through in his voice.

"I'm sorry. I'm… I'm just not ready. I don't know." Regina's voice cracked from the weakness.

"Is it me?" He stopped. He looked so hurt, like someone had just ripped his heart out.

"Daniel, no!" Regina stepped toward him taking his head in her hands, her eyes locked on his. "It's not you. I promise."

"I love you, Regina. Is that not enough?" He couldn't hold back the single tear that fell from his eye. Regina watched it roll down his cheek before ending at the swipe of her thumb.

"I just need some time to get my head straight." She let go of him and took a few steps away to the window outside. She designed this room to be a nursery if she had ever had a child. This was actually the first time she had been in the room since he left. It felt so unfamiliar to her. Like she really wasn't there.

"I've been home for months. How much more time do you need?" The anger in his voice had subsided and was now more concerned than anything.

"It's not that simple. I thought you were dead. They told me you were dead." She turned to face him, no longer able to hide her own tears. "I thought I was never going to see you again. And then you just show up. Like a ghost. I still don't know if it's all real." She wiped the tears from her cheek and looked down at her shaking hands.

"Regina." He closed the distance between them, lifting her head up from her chin. "This is real. I'm real, I'm right here." he sighed and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "If you need space, then I will respect your wishes."

Her body shivered as the words went in. They were like ice to her bones, making them feel rigid and hard. Deep down she wanted things to go back to the way they were, but they were different people and seemed to have grown apart. She had learned to live her life without him, and now she was having to revert back to her old ways. She was happy with him once, but something inside her had changed.

Regina was restless that night, which had become a familiar thing for her. When Daniel first arrived home, she slept better than she had before. But as the months drug on, the less sleep she was able to get. Mostly because her dreams would take her back to places she needed to forget. Being with Daniel meant forgetting what happened, it meant forgetting…her. She hadn't told Daniel about her, and she hoped she never would have. She knew it would be upsetting and he had already been through so much, she just wanted him to be happy again. She remembered how great things where before he left, and with all her heart she wanted that again. However, the space growing between them in their bed was getting bigger every night.

The sooner she settled her feelings with the past, the sooner she felt things would get better between her and Daniel. Tomorrow, she would fix this. Tomorrow, things were going to change.

Morning came all too swiftly for Regina. She hardly felt like she even closed her eyes before the alarm on her cell phone buzzed in her ears. She swiped the screen to turn it off and then twisted over in the covers. Daniel side of the bed was empty and cold, which she was not surprised with at all. Because of his time spent in the army, they trained him to be up before the sun. The only difference was she couldn't smell the usual scent of fresh coffee that wafted from the kitchen.

She checked her phone again to make sure she set her alarm right and didn't sleep in too much. The house was quiet as she made her way down the stairs, expecting to see Daniel with his newspaper sitting in his recliner in the living room. But there was no one. No coffee, no sounds, no Daniel.

She opened her phone and found his number and called him. Maybe he decided to go for a run or something. But he was usually good about telling her the night before or leaving a note for her to find. Neither of which she found.

"Hello, you've reached Daniel, please leave a message…"

She hit the end button before the automated voice finished. Something seemed odd about all of this but she couldn't put a finger on it. Maybe if she took her shower he would be back by the time she was out.

The water that ran down her body was like a warm blanket over her chilled skin. The soap lathered around her curves as she let the warmth cover her from head to toe. Unlike some people Regina never found the shower to be a good place to wash away her stresses or a place for deep thinking. But this morning she took her time finishing up. Anything to keep her out of reality was good enough for her at the moment.

As she wrapped her towel around her body, she heard the front door squeak open and shut.

"Daniel?" She hollered, pinning up her wet hair and heading out of her room. She could hear his heavy boots on the kitchen floor and when she popped her head in, he had taken a seat at the kitchen table, a brown sack sitting in front of him.

"Hey, you okay? I tried to call." She approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He seemed to resent the touch and so she let her hand slowly slide away. His face looked flustered and his eyes were red like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

"Daniel, what's going on?" She asked him.

He turned to her and his placid face turned up into a strange smile. He rose up from his spot at the table and took a step closer to her. She backed away a little, finding his behavior very strange.

"Everything is going to be just fine." He whispered, taking her head in her hands and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. She barely responded to the pressure and instead kept her eyes plastered on him, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

Before she could say anything else he walked away and up to their bedroom. She heard the water begin running through the walls and guessed he had gotten in the shower. She realized he had left the brown sack on the kitchen table and decided to see what was inside.

Her feet hit the cold linoleum of the kitchen as she made her way to the table. The bag was folded at the top and her fingers shook a little as she unfolded the paper, not knowing at all what could be inside. She leaned over to see what was inside and her eyes widened at the black mass that lay in her vision. She stuck her hand in and wrapped her fingers around the cold metal handle and pulled it out of the bag.

The gun was heavier than she would have expected, and her skin tingled around the handle. What would Daniel be doing with a gun? As she examined it, she hardly even noticed him walk back into the room.

"It's not what you think." His voice was low and seductive.

Regina flipped around, the gun nearly flipping out of her hand. Her heart pounded in her chest at the sight of him. His hair wet, his white shirt littered with grey spots where he didn't get himself totally dry and his jeans hanging from his waist.

"Why do you have a gun?" Regina questioned placing the gun on the table next to her.

"Asks the wife to her soldier husband." He smirked. "I'm a soldier Regina. I have guns. It made me uneasy that we didn't have one in the house. It's for protection." He grabbed the gun and without hesitation he slipped the magazine out, checked the bullets and slid it back in, cocked it, and laid it back on the counter gently. Regina stared wide eyed at the man she no longer knew.

"Are we in danger or something?" She asked. She didn't see a need to have a weapon in the house. Storybrooke was a small town and had a very low crime rate. For Daniel to be worried about not being protected, something seemed definitely wrong.

"We are always in danger Regina." He walked up to her, and she felt the table behind her. He leaned in close causing her to lean back over the table. His eyes looked black compared to their usual pristine blue. He leaned over her and placed both hands on the table behind her, pinning her between the two. She heard his keys scratch across the table as he pulled them over to him.

Her skin rose at the rush of cold air over her still wet body when he turned quickly, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door.

"Wh… Where are you going?" She asked him from the kitchen.

"I got a meeting. I'll be back tonight." He shut the door before she could protest. She stood in shock in the kitchen staring at the gun Daniel had left lying on the wooden table. Looking up at the clock she realized she had spent too much time figuring and not enough time getting ready for work.

She had no idea what to think of Daniel. Last night he seemed fine with giving her some space, but this… this was way out of line. Maybe it was his way of coping with the distance between them. Regina was so unsure, but she knew that the thought of that gun lying on her dining room table added much more distance between her and Daniel. The Daniel she knew before would never have something like that in the house. He was always so good at leaving work at the base. Something was wrong. Something was always wrong.