Merry Christmas! :) still reading?

Regina came back to consciousness with a gasp, suddenly feeling the pain and soreness radiating throughout her body. She blinked away her blurry vision when she opened her eyes, grimacing as she tried to determine which part of her body was the source of the pain. Bits and pieces of the night came back to her, filling her stomach with dread as she remembered how she had ended up on her kitchen floor the night before.

She'd come back from David's apartment later than anticipated, so preoccupied with her inner turmoil over their conversation that she'd forgotten just how long she'd been gone. Daniel's rage filled expression greeted her in the dark foyer, with eyes devoid of any recognition of her or his surroundings. It was instantly clear that the potion she used to sedate him had long worn off and the dark heart inside of him had taken control.

Her heart ached along with the rest of her body as she began to push herself into a sitting position and take inventory of her injuries. She was able to move without any searing pain, ruling out broken bones and internal injuries, but certainly feeling the soreness and bruising her body sustained from hitting the floor. The emotional agony she felt after experiencing yet another one of Daniel's violent episodes was considerably more painful than anything she felt physically.

Unlike the times before, nothing she had said or done brought him back to consciousness. The darkness of the borrowed heart inside of him had a strong hold and she suppressed the urge to throw up at the thought of what it meant. Too much time had passed while she was searching for a cure and the evil in the heart had infiltrated his mind, likely to the point of no return, effectively erasing the Daniel she loved.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she scooted herself back and gingerly leaned against the counter behind her, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. She glanced around the kitchen, seeing the contents of her counters strewn across the floor, recalling how she'd ran from him in an attempt to escape his rage without using magic. He was much taller and faster than she was, quickly closing the distance between them. The last thing she remembered was him rounding the kitchen island in their chase and grabbing her by the arm. She'd seen his other hand drawing into a fist, realizing he intended serious harm, prompting her to release a bolt of magic at him out of sheer desperation. It hadn't been strong enough to truly harm him, but enough to make him lose his grip of her arm and send her falling backwards until her head met the hard floor and everything went dark.

The house was quiet now as she listened for any signs of him and her mind began to race when she pulled herself up from the floor, seeing her front door wide open and swinging on it's hinges from the morning breeze. Panic tightened her chest at the possibilities of where he could be or who he might've harmed as she did a quick lap around the downstairs to check for him. Her body screamed at her as she made her way up the steps, hoping desperately that she'd find him somewhere in the mansion and be able to sedate him with magic so that she might be able to regain control of the situation.

Her heartbeat pounded loudly in her head and her anxiety skyrocketed as she found every room upstairs vacant. She had failed to keep Daniel from harm yet again. He was out there somewhere, not in control of himself, either scared or in a fit of rage that would put himself and everyone else in danger.

Adrenaline rushed through David as his truck slid to a stop in front of the stables and he jumped out of the driver's seat. He spotted Regina's BMW speeding down the road just seconds behind him as he ran inside of the building. She had called him, almost too upset to understand, and explained that Daniel escaped the mansion. He'd been immediately concerned, but his concern grew into panic when she told him that Daniel might be at the stables looking for her. The exact place he'd left Henry earlier to care for his new horse.

He heard the horses neighing in distress, running as fast as his legs would allow down the aisle to the stall where Henry was. Terror gripped him when he saw his son dangling in the air by Daniel's grip around his neck.

"Let him go!" David commanded firmly despite the fear that gripped him, reaching to pull his gun from his holster. David's presence seemed to jolt Daniel out of his trance for a moment and he dropped Henry, staring blankly back at David.

He used the moment to pull Henry up from the floor while Daniel remained stunned, "Are you okay?" he let out the breath he'd been holding, glancing his son over as Henry nodded yes, "Go!" he said urgently, nudging the boy to take off running out of the stall.

Daniel was staggering towards him with a wild expression when he turned back to the stall, already too close for David to have time to pull his gun. He lunged forward with hands outstretched towards his neck, prompting him to grab the other man's forearms in defense. They struggled against one another's grip until his unsteady gait allowed David to slam him back against the stable wall.

Daniel's head hit the wooden wall with a thud and he blinked back at David, ceasing his struggle against him as the rage in his eyes turned to confusion, "She-" the man stuttered, eyes screwing shut for a moment in what appeared to be pain before opening again, "she-"

"What?" David frowned, keeping him pinned against the wall even though Daniel's struggling had lessened considerably. Instead of being enraged and fighting, he seemed to be trying to say something through a streak of crippling pain.

"She...lo-" Daniel choked out before groaning in agony with another wave of whatever pain he experienced, "-ves...y-you."

David didn't have time to process what the man was saying, losing grip of his arms when he violently jerked in pain against the stable wall and his eyes opened again. The darkness in Daniel's gaze had returned and his face contorted in rage as he snarled and stumbled to stand straight once more.

David used the moment to step out of the stables, grabbing the metal door and pushing it shut as he felt Daniel start to slam his body against it from the other side. He glanced up then to see Regina running towards him with a terror filled expression as he struggled to keep the man contained.

"Henry?" She breathed out the question of their son's safety and David nodded quickly.

"He's outside-" David panted, keeping his hands pressed against the door and pushed the latch shut, "-but you need to cast a spell to subdue him. This door won't hold for long."

"No, I won't use magic on him-" Regina's brows furrowed quickly as her chest heaved, looking between David and the sounds coming from the other side of the stable door.

He felt himself begin to snap, anger bubbling within him that she'd refuse after the man had put their son's life in danger. He glared at her, reaching for his gun and pulling it out of the holster, using his free hand to reach for the latch.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Regina screamed, clawing at his arms to keep him from opening the door.

"He's a monster, Regina! If you won't put him down, I will!" He yelled at her, anger and betrayal clouding his temperament that she would choose this man over he and Henry.

"Please!" Regina cried out then, tears filling her eyes as she looked at him, panicked and pleading. "Please just let me talk to him, David!"

"It's too big of a risk, Regina. He could kill you!" He yelled, begging her to see sense. She was completely out of sorts over this man and seeing it was shaking David to the core. He'd never seen her act so desperate or unhinged, appearing to be reliving whatever trauma had taken Daniel from her in the first place. She wasn't thinking clearly and he pushed her back from the door for her own safety but she clung to him, not allowing herself to be pushed away.

"No! I won't let you hurt him! He'll listen to me!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face as she shoved on his shoulder, refusing to back down, "Please. Let me talk to my fiancé-" She begged with vulnerable brown eyes so desperate that they brought David from his rage.

Regina loved this man so deeply that she spent her entire life avenging his death and David could see in her expression that she knew this was her last chance. He swallowed the knot of anxiety in his throat at the thought of letting her face Daniel's violence before he nodded once, realizing that he couldn't bring himself to take this moment from her.

"I'll be right over here," He said firmly, letting go of his hold on the door as he backed up out of sight, standing in front of the stall next to the one that held Daniel. He wasn't going to take her last chance away, but he wasn't going to let anything happen to her either.

David watched as she opened the stall door, seeing the heartbreaking smile she attempted to give the man she loved and feared. She suddenly looked so young, like she'd been transported back in time, and it made David wonder just how young she was when everything happened. Daniel stepped out of the stall towards Regina then, seemingly entranced by her presence.

"Daniel..it's me-" Regina said in a voice that sounded so small and innocent that David could barely tell it was hers. The other man seemed to recognize her momentarily, slowly reaching a hand up to her face as if he were going to stroke her hair before it stopped near her neck.

"Daniel, stop-" She pleaded with a strangled breath when Daniel grabbed her throat, prompting David to pull his gun once more. "It's me, it's Regina-" she choked out and he released his grip of her neck with a gasp just as David raised to aim.

"Regina...I'm sorry-" Daniel said breathlessly as he came back to himself, prompting Regina to step up closer to him. David watched anxiously as they embraced, waiting for the man to switch back at any moment.

"It's all right, you're all right-" Regina murmured before Daniel's shoulder hunched in pain and he let out a groan of agony, stumbling back from her as his face contorted.

"Stop it, stop the pain-" he pleaded when his eyes opened once more and he cupped her face, "-let me go."

"No," Regina's voice wavered, "No, I won't lose you again," she cried, gripping his face as he began to twitch in pain once more. "Daniel come back to me-"

"I can't-"

"But I love you-" David heard her whisper, hating the turmoil it caused within him.

At that Daniel glanced past Regina, making eye contact with David briefly before looking back to her as he cupped her face, "Y-you...can love...again."

David's finger returned to the trigger of his gun once more when Daniel stumbled back, the darkness visibly taking over him again. He moved to the side so that he had clear aim as lifted his gun, watching Daniel take a step towards Regina. His heart raced, knowing that he would do what he had to protect her and that she'd hate him for it. He squinted to take aim as Daniel's hand came up towards Regina, prepared to take him out for her so that she didn't have to do it herself.

Purple magic flowed from the trembling hand Regina lifted in front of Daniel's, causing him to freeze in place before David could intervene. He heard a sob escape her as she waved her free hand over him and her first love dissolved into thin air. She muttered something he couldn't quite hear, leaving David unsure of how to approach her. He was sure that she'd forgotten his presence and would likely want to make him disappear as well when she realized what he'd witnessed.

"Mom?" Henry's strangled tone caught his attention, seeing Henry slipping back into the stables from the opposite end where he'd been hiding. David could see the boy was barely holding it together after the trauma he'd experienced himself and just witnessed his mother go through.

Regina lifted her head quickly when she saw him and let out another visible sob that made her shoulder shake, "Henry-" She breathed out tearfully and the boy began to run to her at the acknowledgement that he was still welcome to.

She fell down onto her knees and caught him in an embrace when he threw himself at her and buried his face in her neck. David heard them murmuring to each other, asking if the other was okay, forcing him to swallow the lump of emotion fighting to close off his throat. It had been so long since he'd seen Regina and Henry on good terms and he knew how they both suffered since the unraveling of the curse pulled them apart.

Despite how Henry rejected and distanced himself from Regina, David knew that he still loved her as his mother. He'd watched the boy deny his feelings over it since this whole thing began, believing that it was what he had to do. David understood the tug of war between Henry's moral convictions and emotions all too well. Nothing was ever as black or white as it seemed, despite what he or his son or any other hero tried to tell themselves. The truth was that life happened in the gray area in between, where feelings and flaws and humanness came into play. Where his own inner turmoil between his cursed life and reality existed, thundering within him during moments like this when he felt so desperately torn between the two lives.

"We should go," David said tiredly as he took a step towards Regina and Henry to make his presence known, seeing them both look up at him with teary eyes. Neither one of them spoke, seeming to still be processing everything that had just happened, allowing him to continue, "I'll drive us back to the mansion and we can get your car tomorrow after you've had some rest," he took the lead, allowing himself to slip back into the role of husband and father momentarily. Despite the current circumstances, he'd been Henry's father and Regina's husband for years and today they'd been through something traumatic and needed him. So he pushed reality to the back of his mind, pretending that it had everything to do with his duty rather than his own troubling desire to be a family with them once more.

"We're going home? All of us?" Henry asked as he swiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand. David caught the relief in his son's eyes when he nodded, knowing the boy hadn't wanted to separate from his mother but didn't want to voice as much.

"If that's okay with your Mom-" David nodded once, biting down on his bottom lip as he watched Regina stand.

She looked up at him with an expression that he couldn't quite decipher. It was soft, like the look she used to give him before crawling into his arms and accepting his comfort, but mixed with hesitancy and a hint of fear. He gazed back at her and nodded once, as if to say he understood if she chose not to cross this line.

They'd been at each other for weeks and he had been cruel to her out of hurt and anger in an attempt to stop wanting her. She looked at him now like she was mirroring his thoughts, like she had been just as hurt by the dissolution of their marriage. He hated himself for feeding the idea that she had any real feelings for him, but then she nodded her head and pulled Henry into her side to begin walking out to his truck, leaving him confused once more.

David stood still for a moment as they walked ahead, his chest tight with emotion and his head feeling like it might explode. How had he so easily slipped back into this role for her, the woman who manipulated and used him and separated him from his family? When would his heart finally agree with his mind and stop feeling so drawn to her? Drawn to take care of her, to protect her, to be near her.

"She loves you..." Daniel's broken sentence echoed in his mind, his brain finally having a moment to piece it together. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. The man wasn't himself and couldn't have known what he was talking about, could he? Then again, Daniel had seemed rather lucid when he had made eye contact with him before telling Regina that she could love again. He shook the thought away quickly, forcing himself to remember that it was all a part of the curse. He had to stop reading too much into things and letting himself get derailed from what he needed to do. He had a wife and daughter to get back.

"Will you lay with me until I go to sleep? Like you used to?" Henry asked after Regina had tucked him in and began to turn for the door. She paused in her tracks, the simple request threatening to make her burst into tears once more. The day had emotionally drained her and the unexpected kindness from her son made her fragile heart ache at the knowledge that he may be starting to forgive her.

"You want me to?" she swallowed at the lump in her throat, blinking back the tears that threatened to come when she turned to his bedside once more.

"Can we just pretend for tonight that things are like they were? Before the storybook," he replied quietly, ducking his head as he reached to turn the side of the covers down for her to get in.

"Of course," Regina said with a shaky tone, loathing herself for what she had put her son through. She crawled into bed beside of him, bringing the covers up over them both.

"Are you sure you're okay after today, sweetheart?" she asked and blinked back tears when he leaned into her side. He snuggled against her as she wrapped her arm around him, resting her chin on his head and reveling in the feeling of being close to him again.

"Yeah, it was just scary-" he said quietly.

"I'm so sorry that it happened," her voice wavered as she brought a hand up to run over his hair soothingly, "I would never want you to be in harms way. You believe that, don't you?"

"Yeah," he murmured, face pressed against her shoulder, "-but I was more scared that something would happen to you and...that...that I wouldn't get to tell you that I didn't really mean all of the mean things I've said..."

Regina felt her throat constrict tighter with emotion, forcing her to swallow hard before she was able to speak. "You had every right to be upset with me, Henry. But I meant what I said...I'm going to make things right. I want to redeem myself."

"Dad said Daniel was your first love-" Henry implored quietly and his head tilted back to look up at her, "And that he was brought back by Dr. Whale..."

"That's true," Regina nodded, giving him a sad smile. "But he wasn't the same person when Whale brought him back. He would never have dreamed of harming you had he been in his right might. He was kind and gentle, nothing like the man you met. You would've liked him."

"But if you loved him how did you end up marrying the King like in the book? Why didn't you marry Daniel?" Henry looked up at her curiously and Regina could see that he was trying to make sense of it all. He was perceptive for his age and even though he had believed in the book, she could see he was starting to sense there was much more to it.

"I wanted to marry Daniel more than anything," Regina nodded and smiled weakly, running a hand over Henry's hair, "...but he was our stable boy, and my mother wouldn't allow it and arranged for me to marry the King."

"So you didn't want to be the Queen?" Henry implored, wheels turning behind big curious eyes.

"No, I didn't," she averted her gaze from him briefly, gathering herself for whatever he asked next. She had never anticipated her son knowing the ugly truths of her past, but he deserved her side of the story. At least then he could draw his own conclusions. "I saved Snow from a runaway horse one day. The King heard about it and came to offer marriage and my mother accepted on my behalf."

"Is that why you hated Snow? Because you didn't want to be with the King?"

Regina hesitated as she thought through how to respond. She wanted to be as honest as possible with him, but also shield him from being burdened with too much for his age. She bit back her distaste for Snow, forcing herself to remember that she was Henry's family. It wouldn't be fair to her son to fill his head with her own resentments against his grandmother.

She nodded once, smiling weakly down at Henry, "I blamed Snow for ruining my life. For not being able to marry Daniel and being forced to be Queen. I was angry and the darkness ate away at me until I felt like revenge was the only thing I had left."

"And what about Daniel? Couldn't he do anything about it?"

"Daniel passed shortly before I married the King," Regina reached up with her free hand to swipe at the tear that slid down her face, "My grieving was what sent me to such a dark place."

She was relieved when Henry didn't ask how Daniel died, not wanting to have to tell him what a monster her own mother was.

"The book leaves out a lot of stuff, doesn't it?" Henry muttered, sounding as if he were speaking more to himself than to her.

"It does..." Regina smiled weakly, "-but the path I chose and the things I did were still wrong. I am sorry that I've put you through this, Henry. That I wasn't better for you."

"I know you can be good. You always taught me right from wrong-" Henry toyed with the necklace Rumple gave him as he spoke, "You just need someone to believe in you."

She had to stifle the emotion that tightened her throat once more, resting her chin on his head gently, "I won't let you down again. I promise," she murmured before seeing him tuck his necklace back under his shirt, "Have you had any more dreams since you've started wearing that?"

"No, not yet," Henry replied, yawning tiredly as he started to slump against her more when his body began relaxing with sleep.

"I'll keep my door open tonight so I can hear you in case anything happens, alright?"

"Mmm'kay," he mumbled, words slurring as his eyes closed.

"Goodnight, Henry."

"G'night, Mom."