Well, this massive chapter was a massive pain for me to write. I don't even want to know the amount of time I spent thinking (obsessing) about the direction, but it is DONE and I feel accomplished.
As always, it ended up longer than I anticipated, but it is heavy, so I saved what I didn't cover for the next chapter. I think it works better that way, anyhow.
Things are going to veer further away from canon from this point on. The show's storylines will still weave in and out loosely, but character relationships will change.
Also some canon-divergent side notes for this story:
Graham doesn't really play a part in this story, but instead of erasing him, he made it to Storybrooke and lives as a recluse on the outskirts of town, working as a forest ranger. Regina's romantic history with him from the show doesn't exist here and she doesn't have his heart. Instead, when he failed in killing Snow for her in the EF, Regina only made him her henchman as repayment.
So, none of the canon drama between Graham/Emma/Regina in season one happened and he's still alive. Emma stayed in Storybrooke for Henry and sleuthed around when she felt something wasn't right, fighting with Regina to see Henry and eventually breaking the curse.
Emma was made deputy by David when the curse ended, because he needed help controlling the town riots.
And, because Regina was happy with David during the curse, the whole Greg Mendell/Kurt Mendell thing obviously didn't happen.
If there are any other glaring loopholes...well, I tried. Hahaha.
Feedback is appreciated, I'd love to know what you think!
(tw for mentions of physical/sexual abuse)
David frowned at the angry red of his hand when he lifted the bag of peas from it just long enough to observe. Making a fist wasn't entirely uncomfortable, but he had a feeling his knuckles would be painted a gnarly combination of navy and purple by the end of the day. He was grateful it looked worse than it felt and dropped the partially melted peas on the kitchen counter with a sigh. Standing from the stool, he hoped the bruising wouldn't show until later and made a mental note to blame it on a mishap with a yard tool or mechanic's wrench.
How easily he'd snapped earlier had startled him and he still struggled to work the incident out in his mind. It hadn't been until the crunching sound of Whale's nose that David even realized he'd punched him, and his own shock had matched everyone else's in the busy diner.
What's worse is that he had actively wished the smarmy doctor would be at Granny's diner during his drive there. In fact, he'd even let Henry sleep in while he went to pick up breakfast, telling himself the boy needed it after his emotional confession the night before. He chose to ignore that his subconscious had reasoned it would be easier to confront Whale without his son in tow.
David also planned to ignore the timing of when he'd finally decided to punch the lights out of the man. It wasn't the first time he'd wanted to, especially when the curse ended and he found out Whale had slept with Snow. But he hadn't acted on it then, and not even when the asshole had bombarded him about going back to the Enchanted Forest.
It hadn't been a great feeling to find out Snow had slept with the sleaze, but it certainly wasn't the white-hot rage that resulted in David cold-clocking the doctor earlier. His only intention had been warning Whale to leave Regina alone and he hadn't planned on the prick being brave enough to repeat anything he'd said about her. But when he heard Whale make the comment, the comment he felt sure was the one Henry had not wanted to repeat, David lost all control.
"Boy, the Evil Queen must have some real magic between those legs to have you defending her like this."
David's jaw clenched in anger as the moment replayed in his head and he forced himself to shake it away when he heard footsteps on the stairs. They were too light and precise to be Henry's clumsy trot and he knew it was Regina making her way down. He hurriedly threw the frozen peas back into the freezer to avoid questions and busied himself with opening the takeout bags.
"Oh-" he heard her startled acknowledgement when she came into the kitchen and watched her features twist in confusion. "You're here…" she mumbled, cautiously eyeing him.
"I thought I'd take a break from the town chaos for the weekend," David nodded in explanation and watched her walk in slowly.
It was clear by her silk robe and bare feet that she hadn't expected him to be around. She didn't usually let him see her this way now; not like she had before the curse ended, all natural and sleep mussed, when he'd lift her onto the countertop and shuck that very robe from her shoulders. She looked soft and warm this way, so very much like the woman he'd spent countless mornings kissing awake.
David felt a rush of self-assurance replace his distress from before. This is the woman he'd broken Whale's nose over. Not the Evil Queen, not the fearsome Mayor, but Regina. He hadn't regretted it and he wasn't going to worry if his violent behavior set a bad example as a leader. Everyone in the town had acted like wild idiots since the curse ended and for much lesser reasons.
"Is that...Granny's?" Regina questioned, eyes drifting to the takeout on the counter as she made her way over to the coffee maker.
"Yeah. Henry had some trouble sleeping last night, so I told him we'd get breakfast from Granny's this morning. But he was sleeping so hard earlier that I just let him be and got it to-go instead," he answered and met her concerned gaze.
"Did he have another nightmare?" she frowned.
"No, just couldn't sleep, so he crawled into bed with me."
David noted the beginnings of dark circles under her eyes as she nodded in relief and he wondered if she still hadn't been sleeping well. They hadn't discussed the night he found out she'd been having nightmares again, or even tried approaching the subject for that matter. Their connection that night had felt so strong and sure and gave no room for doubt in the moment.
But the emotional intimacy of comforting Regina, of holding her and feeling her fall asleep in his arms, had left him considerably rattled. And judging from the way she'd barely met his gaze the day after putting her to bed, he suspected she felt awkward to have been on the receiving end of his affection. So he'd kept his distance, feeling too startled by the experience to push the subject, and they both sought refuge in returning to their comfortable distance.
"I got you the veggie omelette…" he said as he opened the container, hearing the clinking of her spoon behind him as she stirred creamer into her coffee. It was amazing how such a random sound could feel familiar and make him nostalgic for before. "I assumed you still like omelettes...curses don't change taste buds, do they?"
David glanced back at her with a half-smile at his lame joke, but she remained silent. She stood against the corner counter and eyed him from behind her coffee mug. Her furrowed brows relaxed when she caught his expression and he realized she'd thought his joke was a jab at first.
"No, but Granny's awful cooking might," she replied dryly and lowered her mug as she glanced between him and the food. Her lips didn't curl but her eyes smiled in the manner they used to during their banter.
He'd missed that.
David chuckled under his breath, "So I guess you still like her banana nut muffins then, too?" he arched a brow as he pulled one from the bag and placed it beside her omelette, "Better eat it while it's still warm."
"Thank you…" she looked a little surprised and averted her gaze, seeming wary of his kindness as she rounded the kitchen island to take her seat.
"It's no problem," David finished getting his and Henry's boxes out before tossing the bags into the recycling bin under the cabinets, "You do enough cooking for our bottomless pit of a son."
"You noticed that, too?" her wide eyes shot to his with a trace of amusement, some of her tension dissolving at the mention of Henry, "He went for thirds the other day and asked me what was for lunch while eating his breakfast," she chuckled softly and returned her attention to slicing a piece of her omelette.
"Oh yeah, he's definitely going through a growth spurt. He can eat as much as I do now," David laughed himself, sneaking a glance to watch her reaction when he took a seat on the stool beside her.
Regina turned to eye him briefly before realizing he looked her way and snapped her gaze back to her food, "The appetite is genetic, it seems," she joked, yet her tone sounded a hint unsteady.
Despite her turning away, he'd caught the surprise and confusion in her eyes at his amiable behavior. It would be rather odd, from her perspective, and he didn't blame her. They'd hardly done more than tolerate each other since the curse ended.
But David was tired of that. He was tired of avoiding her, of speaking like acquaintances instead of people who'd spent nearly thirty years together. He was tired of pretending his feelings were merely side effects of a curse. He was tired of pretending his cursed life hadn't felt as real as anything ever had.
He hated feeling disloyal to Emma and Snow for being there with Henry and Regina. He hated pretending not to see how Regina had changed during the curse and how wrong it had been to say she had no rights to her own son. He hated being constantly unsure and torn between these two versions of himself.
David wanted...answers.
It was clear there was more to Regina's story than what he knew. He'd realized after her recent nightmares that she'd woven some truth into the version of her past she'd shared with him during the curse. As the aftermath of the curse's end continued to play out, he found more bits of honesty and he wanted to piece them together into something that made sense. His memories were full of intimate moments with her and unexplained details that ate away at him. David wanted to hear all of her reasons why and he knew that the only way to find out was to stop fighting her and pay attention.
Despite his warped concept of time during the curse, he had remembered the day to day. He could recall birthdays and anniversaries and holidays with Regina and Henry. At the same time, it was as if he'd been unaware of time passing and that the rest of the town essentially lived the same day over and over. It didn't make sense, but he supposed dark curses weren't exactly meant to.
In speaking with others since the curse ended, he realized Regina had given him a backstory of fabricated memories that she hadn't anyone else. His memory retention seemed to have worked more like hers than the others. Had she designed that intentionally? He supposed it was extra security for the curse since he'd been closest to her and might've been more apt to question things. But if she hadn't done it on purpose, what caused him to be the exception?
"David, your hand," her quiet but sudden exclamation broke the silence they'd fallen into and ripped him from his thoughts. "What happened to it?"
"What?" he looked at her before glancing down at his hand, seeing it looked even redder now that he wasn't icing it, "Oh, that," he stalled and then shrugged, "Just a run in with a...disgruntled citizen this morning."
It wasn't a lie.
"Who? Was it George?" Regina asked immediately, her brow creasing and dark eyes growing concerned.
It took him a moment to process the almost...protective nature of her reaction. He wasn't sure what reaction he'd expected, but it certainly hadn't been for her to demand to know who it was while looking as if she wanted to hunt them down.
"Doesn't matter, I took care of it," he reassured and watched her stare back firmly, as if debating whether or not to let it go.
She continued to study him as her scowl relaxed into something of faint skepticism before she arched an eyebrow, "Beating up your subjects. Really, David?"
His eyes snapped to her, lips parting to defend himself before he saw a faint smile on her lips. God, it had been so long since she'd directed a genuinely good-humored smile at him that just this hint of one made his stomach flip.
"This person deserved it," David answered, matching her dry humor with a wag of his brow.
"And yet I'm the unfit ruler," she mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for him to hear the humor in it and know she'd meant it to be heard.
A bark of a laugh escaped him then and she startled, jumping and glancing at the unexpected noise. Her lips curved despite trying to stop them and she flashed a bright smile at his laughter before looking back at her plate. He didn't miss the way her neck flushed and she ducked her head, as if unsure how to respond. The last time they'd truly bantered back and forth had been before the curse ended, when they'd follow it up with a playful kiss instead of the uncertain silence lingering now.
"Daaa-ad," Henry's voice caught their attention, followed by the ungraceful thump of him jumping the last two steps and running into the kitchen. "Why didn't you wake me up? We were supposed to go get-" he began accusingly before he clocked his mother sitting next to David and the takeout covering the kitchen island.
"You were sleeping hard, so I went and got Granny's breakfast to-go," David smirked at the way Henry's scowl, looking so much like Regina's earlier, froze in place and then slid into a satisfied grin. "I figured you'd need the rest."
"True, we do have a lot of stuff to do today," Henry nodded and bopped around the island opposite them to happily survey the food.
David didn't miss Regina's curious glance at the both of them. "That gonna be enough for you?" He teased his son.
"I'll make do," Henry smirked before glancing between David and Regina contemplatively.
"So...What is this big agenda you have for the day?"
Regina asked Henry the question with a casual tone, but David could see the strain of her smile and posture that their son didn't seem to catch. She appeared as if she were bracing herself to hear what new operation she'd lose Henry to next. The last time their son schemed, he'd ended up denouncing her as his mother and abandoning her.
Still she never appeared to hold it against Henry and even attempted to hide from him just how much he'd hurt her. Although their son had recently started to pay closer regard to his mother's feelings, he was still young and missed the more subtle signs. But David saw the fear and insecurity that stiffened her frame now, ingrained in her psyche by the...trauma of losing Henry.
Trauma. David mulled the word over in his mind and swallowed thickly. Losing Henry had traumatized her and David had played a large hand in it. His stomach turned.
"Dad and I are gonna do the yardwork and some other stuff," Henry nodded proudly as he loaded enough syrup on his pancakes to make her grimace, "Guy stuff," he added with a too-cool shrug of his shoulders and conspiratory smile at David.
At that, Regina appeared thrown by their behavior once more and eyed them blankly. David hated that he'd let it go so far that she'd be suspicious of anything approaching kindness or respect from them. She found it more believable that they were conspiring against her than to believe they cared enough to contribute to the home she'd worked so hard creating for them.
Guilt flooded David as he stood with a nod at Henry, "When you finish up here, get changed into old clothes and meet me out back. I'll get a head start on the gutters."
Regina couldn't help but linger near the open kitchen window, watching and listening to the two of them chattering away in the backyard. They'd remained outside all day, only coming in to stack obscenely overstuffed sandwiches for themselves before trotting back out. Judging from their current attention to Henry's treehouse, she assumed they'd made their way through their chores and had decided it was playtime.
She'd spent the day contemplating their sudden change in attitude. David had acted more like himself towards her than he had since the curse was intact. It took her off guard that he'd chosen to spend his Saturday at home instead of actively avoiding her or trying to find Emma and Snow.
But as unexpected as it was from David, she'd been more surprised at Henry's eagerness to complete chores he used to complain about. After summoning her magic in front of him during the incident with Whale, she'd expected him to be upset and distant with her this morning. When she'd heard Henry mention big plans, her mind had gone to the worst possible place. She suspected he'd told David about her breaking her promise and using magic and that her world was about to cave in once more.
Yet here they were, dutifully completing their chores and goofing around in the backyard, like the curse never ended and it was just another weekend at home. She was afraid of the hope that bloomed in her chest at their change in behavior. Her whole life had been an exercise in understanding that this sort of happiness was not meant for her. Not really. Not unless fabricated by a curse.
But the curse was no more and her boys were still here. Even if only temporarily, Henry and David had made their way back to her and she couldn't fight the urge to soak it up while she could. Everything would be different when Emma and Snow returned and Regina would be left again with nothing but memories. So she watched them closely now, the two people she loved most, and took special care to store away every detail of their last days as a family.
The timer on the oven startled her back to reality and she turned to remove the roast and shut off the oven. She supposed she had gone a little overboard with dinner, but who knew how many family dinners they had left? Things were going too well and, if her past was any indication, that meant everything would all apart soon.
Satisfied with how the roast looked, she sat it on the stove to cool and removed her apron. Everything else was ready and it would take her guys longer to wash up for dinner than it would for her to set the table. So she made her way down the back hall and stepped onto the patio to tell them to come in.
David stood under the treehouse with his hands on his hips when she saw him, looking as if he'd just had a bucket of water dumped over his head, and stared up into the fort where she assumed Henry was, "Regina," he gritted out with a clenched jaw, but his expression indicated he feigned his annoyance when his gaze snapped to hers, "Come get your son."
"Uh oh," she smiled, letting herself play along for now as she took a few steps further out and stopped at the edge of the patio for closer inspection, "He's usually only mine when he's acting up."
Regina stifled a wince when she realized what she'd said. The comment was so domestic and reminiscent of how they used to tease one another about who Henry took after. It felt somehow off limits now, but luckily David did not seem to notice.
"Oh, he's acting up alright," David growled with a playful scowl upwards and Regina laughed quietly when Henry popped his head out of the treehouse with a smug smile.
"Hey Mom, we were just fixing and cleaning the treehouse. It's so spotless, we could practically eat dinner up here!" her son exclaimed, the picture of excited innocence.
"Cleaning?" she questioned skeptically and stepped into the yard, walking closer.
"Don't fall for it," David laughed under his breath with a half-hearted sigh of frustration before attempting a firm look up at his son.
"Yeah, we got everything done so we fixed the leak in the roof up here and cleaned it all out!" Henry explained before his head ducked back into the fort, "Come look!"
"Henry," his father said his name in warning, "Don't. Get down here."
Regina's curiosity peaked and she walked further, stepping beside David to see what was going on, "What's he-oh!" she yelped when a jet of water pelted her from above, followed by the sound of Henry's maniacal giggling.
"Henry!" she gasped, drenched to the bone and eyes blinking in shock at him.
"I got Dad, too," her son grinned, proudly showing off the garden hose in his hand.
"Yeah, the little criminal mastermind worked the hose up the slide when I wasn't looking," David raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Henry's handiwork. "Alright, you've had your fun now ge-" he choked when he got hit with another spray mid-reprimand.
Regina couldn't contain the laugh that escaped her at David's sputtering and Henry practically howled. It wasn't Henry's first display of mischief around here and, unfortunately for David, he was usually on the receiving end of said mischief. He was the hopeless optimist of their family and never suspected a thing, which made him the perfect target for her son's antics. At times, Henry had come up with a practical joke so clever that she couldn't resist helping. Those had usually ended with them being chased around the house by their giant, frustrated target who threatened relentless tickling as punishment.
Oh, she missed that.
"What are you laughing at? He got you just as good!" David looked at her pointedly, his mouth threatening to curve.
"Yes, but at least I didn't wait for him to-" she squawked again when pelted with another stream of water, "Henry Mills!" she snapped before looking at David with a mixture of disbelief and amusement at what a little shit they'd raised.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" David asked as his eyes darted to the slide and ladder then back at her with a wicked smirk.
"It's only fair," she shrugged, pressing her lips together to stop the grin that threatened her.
"You grab the hose, I grab the kid!" David commanded and jumped for the ladder.
Henry shrieked in delight, trying to close the treehouse door but failing to latch it before David topped the ladder and pushed it back open. Regina laughed as she dashed over to the end of the slide and started jerking the garden hose down.
"I surrender, I surrender!" she heard her son yell through giggles as they thumped around above her, "Mom, help!"
"You lost me as an ally two gallons of water ago," she called up the slide.
"Oh, you're on your own now, kid!" David shouted before the thumping moved from the treehouse to the slide as they clamored down.
Regina jumped back with a shout when they came shooting out, barely missing being tackled. David landed on his feet and stumbled a few steps but kept his arms locked around Henry despite his wild thrashing.
"Now, Regina!" David exclaimed and lifted Henry in his hold to shield his own face from the revenge dousing.
She hit the trigger on the sprayer and soaked him good, earning a betrayed sounding, "Moo-OM!"
"Now you'll think twice, won't you?" David tickled his sides before letting Henry down onto his feet, leaving them all equally soaked, breathless and laughing.
Regina relished in the moment. This felt so much like before, when she was free to have fun alongside them. She hadn't needed to be anyone but herself with David and Henry. They'd been her safe place where she could let go and enjoy the moment for the first time in her life. It had been...perfect.
"Now, if you two are quite finished," she eyed them both with a playful glare, "Let's go get changed. Dinner is ready."
"Last one inside does the dishes?" Henry grinned at his dad but took off in a sprint before a countdown. David growled something that sounded like "cheating little shit" under his breath before chasing after him.
Regina laughed softly to herself as they disappeared through the back door and into an immediate argument over who won. If history was any indication, they'd bicker throughout dinner about whose turn it was to do the dishes as Regina rolled her eyes in amusement, safe from being chosen since she'd cooked.
Despite the sense of foreboding that always came with her happiness, Regina felt lighter. She would let herself pretend for now.
David meandered his way downstairs to the foyer, shuffling his way through the darkness by memory. It was after midnight yet he was wide awake, prompting his mission for the good bourbon they kept in the study. He'd barely registered the soft life of the fireplace when he walked in and found Regina curled up on loveseat in her pajamas, legs tucked underneath her.
"Hey," he managed after a moment's surprise and spotted the glass in her hand, "Looks like we had the same idea," he nodded towards the decanter of bourbon on the end table and tried to read her mood, "Do you mind if I..?"
"No, of course not," Regina shook her head and managed a small smile. She was a few drinks deep already and it numbed her to the awkward tension she usually felt when finding herself alone with him. In fact, he hadn't even startled her. It was good bourbon.
"Can't sleep either?" David watched her, noticing the light flush to her cheeks from the alcohol and the tiredness in her eyes.
"Hmm, afraid not," she hummed and mindlessly swiveled the glass in her hand.
David poured his own and held up the decanter in offering, topping hers off when she nodded. In the time he'd known her, she'd never indulged alone unless very distressed, and his concern grew at the thought of the nightmares she'd admitted had resurfaced. Testing the waters, he grabbed his drink and sat down on the loveseat beside her.
"The nightmares again?" he prodded and glanced at her, watching the way she kept her gaze down and nodded her silent reply.
Regina was too mentally exhausted to meet his gaze, feeling rather defenseless in the moment. She was too raw with emotion and her desire for comfort. The sight of him made her want to crawl into his lap and demand he hold her, so she kept her eyes fixed on the etching of her glass instead.
"Have they gotten worse?" David frowned at how rattled she looked now that he was closer. It unnerved him to see her so shaken and haunted, like she was losing a battle against her own mind. He knew the feeling well, but one look at her tonight told him that she knew it better.
"You could say that," she gave a weak smile and took a sip, taking comfort in the way the liquor burned down her chest.
Every time she had drifted to sleep it felt like mere minutes before she found herself jolting awake from a nightmare, coursing with terror and adrenaline. She'd given up on trying to sleep after the third time she startled awake and decided to come downstairs before she woke with a scream that would scare Henry.
"I'm hoping enough of this will do the trick," she said dryly with a tilt of her glass.
David hummed at that and studied her for a moment. She looked small and fragile, her lithe body tucked into itself and a weary expression on her face. Her robe had fallen off her shoulder, revealing the dainty string of the sleeveless silk pajama top and her upper arm. He frowned suddenly when his eyes spotted her skin there and he leaned in, reaching to cup her elbow with his hand for a closer look.
"That son of a bitch," he muttered through gritted teeth before looking up to see her shock at the fact he was touching her. He let go and leaned back to his side of the loveseat, taking a deep breath to calm his anger over the fingerprint bruises from Whale. "It's no wonder the nightmares are worse after that."
"Please, I've survived much worse than the pathetic likes of Frankenstein," she scoffed before looking at him warily, feeling her stomach sink, "Henry told you, then."
"Yeah, he was pretty shaken up," David answered and watched her visibly switch into defensive mode, eyes hardening at what she thought was judgement, "I mean, he felt guilty for making you go. Not that you did anything wrong."
"So that's what today was about," Regina felt her stomach sink but kept her expression harder than stone. "Being nice to me because Whale roughed me up?" she let out a low, bitter chuckle and pointed her gaze to the fireplace to hide her disappointment. "Trust me when I say that I am used to being disliked. I don't need your pity."
"It wasn't pity, Regina," David disagreed firmly, "Henry was really upset when he told me. I think he noticed that he hadn't been considering your...feelings," he admitted and felt a surge of his own guilt, "I think it made us realize that neither of us have."
She eyed him and swallowed hard before the thought occurred to her, "He told you everything Whale said?" Regina felt her neck flush with embarrassment, "I was hoping Henry hadn't understood that part."
"He didn't," David reassured quickly and his blood boiled as he recalled earlier, "But he knew it was bad and wouldn't repeat it. I didn't know until-" he stopped mid sentence, realizing what he'd almost owned up to while being distracted by his anger.
"Until when?" Regina's head snapped to watch him intently. David hesitated and his jaw twitched before he lifted his glass up to drain it in response.
Despite the fact he was just as hot headed as her, he controlled his anger better. He'd usually been the one to calm her and keep a level head enough for the both of them. Regina had only seen him truly lose control on a few occasions. Once on Leroy after he sped through a stop sign and nearly t-boned her car. Another time when Graham got a little too drunk and handsy with her during a New Year's Eve party.
But that was before, when he thought he was her husband. It confused her that he seemed so...upset by her incident with Whale now.
"Well, uh…" he exhaled slowly after swallowing his drink and further stalled, bringing the glass down from his lips.
It was then Regina noticed his red and swollen knuckles from this morning had turned an angry purple and her heart stopped as she stared at them. That couldn't be. He wouldn't, right? Not for her. Why would he?
"David?" she questioned, her eyes moving from his hand to meet his slowly.
"I, uh—might've had a word with Whale this morning," he admitted sheepishly, knowing by the way her eyes had lingered on his hand that she had begun to piece it together.
"He was the disgruntled citizen you had a run in with?" Her eyes grew wide.
"Well, I—I'd say most would've called me the disgruntled one," David attempted to joke to lighten the mood and avoided the heat of her gaze. "Judging from the nasty sound his nose made, at least."
"Why would you…" she trailed off as she struggled to make sense of it before it clicked, "Oh."
"Oh?" David looked over and noted her resignation.
"It's understandable you'd be upset that Whale behaved that way in front of Henry," Regina nodded and tried not to seem too crestfallen. At least she'd landed on a reason that made sense. "It's only natural you defend your son."
"Regina, that's not…" David shook his head and swallowed thickly at what he was about to say, "I mean, the fact Henry was there certainly was a factor, but I didn't confront Whale for that alone. I did it for you."
"But why?" she squinted, rejecting the idea that anyone would stand up for her. It wasn't something she'd ever truly experienced, after all.
"Why?" he repeated incredulously.
David watched her searching his gaze for meaning, making it evident that she truly didn't understand. His chest grew tight as he considered the experiences she'd had that would make her unable to believe she was worthy of being defended without an ulterior motive.
"Because no one has the right to harass or humiliate you like that," David looked her in the eye and spoke firmly, "Let alone leave bruises on you. There is never a situation where you deserve physical harm and I won't hesitate to break other noses if need be."
Regina cleared her throat of the bittersweet emotion that choked it's way up and made her eyes glossy with tears. It felt like too much to process on top of being exhausted and half drunk. She shook her head once and finally spoke, "After everything I've done, I don't think that really applies to me."
"You think he had a right to treat you like that? Because of your past?" David frowned at the shame coloring her features when she looked back at him and said nothing. She didn't need to.
"Just because you've done bad things in the past doesn't mean you deserve to be degraded or hurt, Regina."
"Isn't that the point of punishment and consequences? Of karma?" her head tilted to the side sadly, "Cause and effect? The concept is all the same; everything you do comes back to you...and I've got a lot coming my way," she gave a hollow chuckle and turned her head towards the glow of the fireplace.
"Not when you've been working so hard to redeem yourself. You deserve a second chance, without people knocking you back down," David said earnestly and saw the surprise she tried to mask, "I know I haven't been a good example of that, but I want to...try. I mean, with Henry and everything else, I think we should try to get along..."
Regina kept her gaze on the dancing flames as she troubled her bottom lip and remained silent.
"And what does that look like? Us getting along?" she murmured.
"Well, we're pretty good at parenting together when we're not fighting. So more of that, for Henry's sake. And I could, maybe listen if you...if you ever need to talk," he suggested and watched her carefully, expecting to be shut down at any moment. "I've been really angry and confused and I...I think that maybe if we stopped fighting and started talking more, that it might make this easier."
"You want to talk to me?" Regina asked incredulously, head spinning again. She'd lied to him for decades, had used him and destroyed his family, and he wanted to offer her a listening ear?
Then again, he'd always been the one to cool down first and want to talk things out after a fight. But that was then, before he knew she was the person who ruined his life.
"I want to understand you," he nodded and exhaled slowly, "I've got this urge to defend you, but it feels like I don't fully understand what I'm fighting for. I know what you've done in the past and how I should feel, but I...I sense there's more to your history and I've seen how you've changed for Henry. If I'm going to protect you from a whole town of people that want to tear you apart, then I at least want the full story…"
"I never asked you to protect me," she bit back.
"I didn't say you did," David sighed and ran his hand over her face, "Will you just fucking...work with me, here? You aren't the only one that's...upset and confused by whatever this is between us."
"Who said I was upset or confused by us? There is no us," Regina denied and shot him a frown.
"Damn it, will you stop that?" he snapped back, watching anger darken her eyes at his tone, "I've asked you if any of it was real and you've refused to answer, but just know that I have spent 28 years learning to read you. I didn't want to believe I still could at first. I wanted to believe it was all part of your act, because that made it easier to swallow reality and keep my distance. But the mask you put on when the curse ended has slipped on more than one occasion and allowed me to see the difference. Your eyes don't lie, and they are anything but indifferent, so don't insult my intelligence by claiming that you are. I just want you to help me understand."
Regina swiped angrily at a tear trailing down her cheek and refused to meet his gaze. This was so unexpected and yet it was the very thing she'd wanted for so long. For him to acknowledge that she'd changed, to ask her for the truth and actually want to hear it, to want to understand her and refuse to let her shut him down. Her heart and mind clashed violently, making her desperate to take the olive branch he extended but too terrified to reach for it.
"But why do you care?" she shook her head again, refusing to let herself believe him caring was possible and scrambling to remind him why he shouldn't, "I used you for revenge, David. I split your family apart. I lied to you for years."
"Exactly—years. We spent years together. And despite how fucking...confusing it is for me and how angry I am, I can't make myself accept that all of it was a lie. The things you shared with me, the moments we had...I have a hard time believing that you were just acting the whole time."
"And if I wasn't, what does that matter? You know the truth now. You know who I am."
"That's just it. Now that the curse has ended, I know who you were before, and she doesn't line up with the you that I know now. So it makes me think that...that if we filled in the parts in between, your past and your reasons why, then I'd probably know you better than anyone here. I think, in a lot of ways, I already do."
Regina glared at him in a vain attempt not to give away the terror his words inflicted. She didn't want it to be true. If he knew how right he was, how truly he did know her, then he held power over her. Power he could use against her once his wife and daughter were back and the people demanded justice for her crimes.
But he seemed so genuine, like the David she knew. Her David. The man she'd let herself love and trust harder than anyone before him. And now he claimed to see her as more than just the Evil Queen and suggested she deserved a second chance. It sounded too good to be true and chipped away at her resolve. She wanted to pretend he was still her husband, that they were still within the safe confines of their marriage, and she could give him the answers he wanted without consequence.
But she was afraid. Afraid of believing it would make a difference. Afraid of giving too much of herself away. Afraid of feeling his rejection once more. Afraid of it being used against her. The truth was her weakness and giving it to him left her completely vulnerable.
"I know we won't figure this out overnight. It'll take time to...trust each other again. Until then I'll just knock people out for you, I guess," he murmured with a faint smile at her silence, watching her inner struggle to play out, "But I want you to tell me when stuff like that happens. Despite what you might think, you didn't deserve that. Not Whale grabbing you, not being attacked by Daniel, not me putting my hands on you," David swallowed the lump in his throat, voice strangled by guilt and his own hypocrisy. "I am sorry for that."
"Daniel didn't mean to," Regina fixed him with a dangerous stare. "Don't lump him in with you."
"I know. I didn't mean any disrespect towards him," he smiled weakly in apology, "I'm just saying, no matter how much punishment you think your deeds have earned you, it isn't that. There's a reason your nightmares are suddenly coming back after how many years? All of this has triggered you, and I was too blinded by my own shit to...to even ask how you were after what happened with Daniel...that must've been," he exhaled, finding himself at a loss for words.
"I…" she paused and looked down at her lap as she thumbed the rim of her glass and caved, "I thought I could fix him, or at least save him. I thought, even if the heart made him dark, then at least I...I could help teach him how to control it, like I did in the curse," she smiled ruefully, "Losing him the first time broke me, but...turning him into a monster, making him like me, almost felt worse. Looking him in the eyes when the dark heart was in control and seeing his desire to harm me...it hurt worse than his attack."
"You didn't turn him into that, Whale did."
"He wouldn't have had the chance if I hadn't brought Daniel here. If I could've let go of him. If I hadn't been so...crazed."
"There's nothing crazy about grieving," David frowned.
"There was in the way I did it," Regina gave another mirthless chuckle, "Losing him and everything that followed slowly drove me insane."
"Snow said there was an accident," He questioned gently, "That it was her fault that he died, but she didn't say why. It was always a sore subject that she didn't want to talk about. I never got the full story."
"It was," Regina gritted out, angry resentment turning her face to stone once more, "her fault."
"How so?" He asked and held his breath, expecting her to snarl at the further questioning.
"Hm, well—it all started with me being good. Imagine that," she hummed bitterly and shook her head, "Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't born evil. I saved her from a runaway horse and when Leopold caught wind of it, he asked for my hand in marriage. I had just turned seventeen, practically an old maid by Enchanted Forest standards, so my mother immediately accepted on my behalf."
"And you didn't want the marriage?" he nodded.
"To a man older than my father? Of course not," she snapped at him and visibly bristled.
"Sorry, I just...didn't know," David frowned and shifted uncomfortably at the unsettling notion.
He'd never given much thought about the age difference between Regina and Leopold before. It wasn't uncommon in that land, especially with royals, and he'd never been aware that she hadn't wanted to be Queen.
"You wouldn't have," Regina muttered under her breath, reminding herself that David hadn't meant it to sound as callous as it felt. "I only wanted to marry Daniel, but we were a secret because my mother would never approve and she had...greater ambitions for my life. So when the King proposed, Daniel and I planned to run away and get married...but Snow saw us and became upset, because she'd wanted me as her mother."
David watched Regina's fist curl into itself and nearly winced at how white her knuckles became, "But you'd have only been...what...about six years older than her?" He frowned as he calculated.
"Barely that," Regina nodded and felt herself begin to dissociate from the context of what she was about to explain. It was the only way she could get through it without breaking down or spiraling into rage, and even then there was no guarantee. "She was young, but she seemed to understand when I explained my love for Daniel and that I didn't want to marry her father. She agreed to keep the secret, and I'll give her some credit, she did for a short while."
"Then how…?"
"My mother's manipulations, as always," Regina smiled bitterly to herself, "She coaxed Snow into telling her about Daniel and our plans. Then the night we'd planned to run away, mother followed me to the stables. I tried to explain to her that we were in love like a fool, thinking she might care more about my happiness than her own thirst for power, and she pretended to accept it. But it was only so that she could get close enough to Daniel to take his heart and...and crush it."
David watched her with wide eyes, his own throat working but his mind unable to find any words. Her mother had murdered her first love in front of her. Her own mother. His chest ached with sorrow for her. Regina wiped furiously at the tears that fell freely now, despite her rigid posture and dormant expression. He wanted to reach out and pull her to him, but he thought better of it, afraid she'd clam up and shut down.
"I am so sorry that happened to you," he said hoarsely after a few moments, "I had no idea your mother was so…"
"Heartless? Conniving? Murderous?" Regina's voice was raspy, "You can't be that surprised. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"Oh no, hell no. You would never hurt Henry like that," David disagreed with a firm shake of his head.
"But I manipulated him, like she did me," Regina's voice wavered and she paused to regain control, "I let him think he was crazy to keep the curse intact. And I practically held him hostage once it ended."
"You were afraid. You reverted out of fear of losing him," he frowned, "And once you realized you had, you changed for him. Despite how much you were hurting over his rejection, you did the right thing. You've come nowhere near your mothers actions."
Regina looked at David weakly and held in a sob. Hearing those words from him felt so good, even if she wasn't worthy of them, "Thank you," she mumbled quietly.
"It's the truth," David nodded in response and proceeded carefully, "How long was it...after Daniel, that you were forced to marry Leopold?"
"Two weeks, just long enough for them to plan the royal wedding," she answered and reached for the decanter to pour herself another bourbon.
"Please," he nodded when she glanced at him in offering and held out his glass for another round, "Snow said that...that you were kind to her and treated her well, despite all of it. She seemed to think that the three of you were happy."
"Happy?" She set the decanter back down on the table beside her with a thud and looked at him blankly, like she couldn't decide whether to cry or rage.
"I guess I'm—what I'm trying to ask is how Leopold treated you? She describes that time as rather idyllic, but now I know you must've been miserable and I just," he fumbled for the right words, "I know he was regarded as a noble man, but what was it like for you?"
"He was, I guess, what they would consider a good man by Enchanted Forest standards," Regina gripped her glass tighter and fisted her free hand to hide the trembling that began, "To the people and his daughter, at least. But his heart was still with Ava and I was merely a replacement. I think he thought that, if he could pretend I was her, he might find happiness again. Though, I never quite met his standards and he grew resentful."
"Snow always regards him so warmly, I don't think she remembers ever witnessing him treating you poorly," David frowned.
"She doesn't remember that I had no scar on my lip before the marriage, either," she shrugged, tone dripping with resentment.
David's heart sank and his stomach turned, "He did that?"
"He had a penchant for gaudy rings," she chuckled coldly, "And I became well acquainted with a few of them after disobeying him."
Regina looked at David then, watching his expression of shock shift into anger. She exhaled the breath she'd been holding, realizing that he believed her. He wasn't calling her a liar or siding with Snow, as she'd always feared he would if she ever told him her darkest secrets. Her stomach turned as she waited for his response, nervous all the same.
"You told me about him, didn't you? During the curse," David looked at her as he pieced the information together and he felt like he was going to be sick, "That night when I...when I pinned your arms down during...and you reacted. Then you explained that you'd had a...bad experience with one of your mother's boyfriends when you were younger, but didn't want to discuss the details," he swallowed down his churning stomach.
Regina nodded as fresh tears spilled from her eyes at the fact he'd connected those dots, "You were so upset at the idea you'd hurt me or done something wrong and I...I wanted to explain in a way that would make sense," she dipped her head in shame at the lie, "You see, I found out there was more to Leopold's resentment of me, more than the just fact I wasn't Ava. He and my mother had been engaged, before my father, but it ended badly...So I told you what I did, because it was the closest thing to the truth that I could admit to you."
He exhaled slowly and tried to sort the multitude of feelings all hitting him at once. His heart ached for what she'd suffered. His chest tightened with anger at the man responsible. His stomach soured over the disgusting way her mother and Leopold had forced a child bride into the middle of their twisted history. Dear god, was there anything Regina hadn't been through?
"Is Leopold who you meant when you said you'd dealt with worse monsters?" David asked and held his breath, watching her nod in response. "And the nightmares...are they...is he?"
"Sometimes they're him, other times they're about Daniel, or my mother."
David noticed her shaking then, despite the tense way she held her posture in an attempt to remain in control. She was crumbling, falling apart like she had in front of him during their marriage when she sought his comfort. But this time was deeper, she'd admitted more to him than she ever had, and he saw the toll it had taken on her.
"Here," he murmured, acting on impulse when his need to comfort her became too much to hold back and reached to take the glass from her trembling fingers.
Regina didn't look at him. She couldn't. The stress of the curse ending and decades worth of pain she'd carried worked together to take her down, forcing her to crumble before him. She barely registered him setting her glass to the side until he'd pulled her into his arms and she broke completely. Trauma and heartache poured out of her in quiet sobs against his chest, drowning the logical part of her that screamed to stop the display of weakness.
David forgot all else and held her tight to him, pressing his lips to her hair. He murmured soft, soothing words that let her know she was not alone, just as he had many times before. She'd never shared this much of herself with him and he considered for a moment how painful it must've been to carry her burden alone. So he held her tighter, shifting her against him and leaning back on the length of the small sofa until she was all but on top of him.
He let her cry it out until she'd become so exhausted that she couldn't make sound and he kept her wrapped in his arms as her breathing slowly calmed. Even after he'd realized she was asleep, he couldn't bring himself to move. He couldn't stand the thought of putting her to bed, only for her to wake up from another nightmare alone. So remained where he was and let her sleep on him, accepting that the small sofa would be his bed for the night.
The bourbon and his own exhaustion caught up with him as he contemplated the woman who felt so natural sleeping on his chest.
There had always been an inner sadness to Regina he'd been gentle with and did his best to love away, but he hadn't known the magnitude of it until now.
This was the pain she'd held behind that haunted look in her eyes.