A/N: You guys are amazing. Seriously. Getting the emails about reviews/follows/favourites make me smile so much! Thank you all for reading!


Henry was already in bed when Liv returned to the apartment. For some reason she felt like he should be the first to know about Regina's job offer, so she didn't tell Emma or her parents. Instead she just shrugged and said that Ruby had finished her shift and gone before she had the chance to ask about a job and that she'd try again the next day.

She sat on the couch with the Charmings and Emma for a couple of hours, watching television and wondering how they would take the news of her new employer. If her suspicions about Emma were correct then she guessed that the blonde would be pleasantly surprised by the news. Mary Margaret and David, on the other hand, would almost definitely be far from happy with the idea.

Finally Liv decided it was late enough to excuse herself and go up to bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

The next morning she was woken at what seemed like the crack of dawn by Emma, who rolled over and kicked her awake. The teenager glared at her for a moment, before pulling the blanket up over her head to block the early morning sunlight from her eyes.

"Get up, kid." The Sheriff ordered, already sifting through the pile of her clothes on the chair on the other side of the room for something to wear. "Mary Margaret's got to get to school and I need to get to the station. You'll have to walk Henry to the bus in a bit."

"Hang on… If Mary Margaret works at the school her grandson attends, why can't she just take him?" Liv moaned, burying deeper under the covers.

"Because she gets there way before Henry needs to and besides, he's an eleven-year-old boy… he doesn't want to go to school with his Grandma."

Groaning loudly and making her displeasure at being dragged out of bed very obvious, she climbed to her feet and folded her arms over her chest, scowling at the woman who was hopping on one leg while pulling on her jeans. Emma flashed Liv a grin, almost overbalancing and causing the girl to smirk, feeling a slight sense of vindication.

"We really need to talk about this hoody thing." The blonde muttered, her eyes raking over the teenager whose hair was already obscured by the familiar cotton covering.

Liv remembered Regina's words about dressing appropriately and frowned again, realising that there was no way she'd be able to get away with wearing a hoody as the Mayor's secretary. This led onto the conundrum of what exactly 'appropriately' meant. She thought carefully, conjuring an image of Regina in her mind; the tailored skirt suit, fitted shirt and heels. She groaned.

"It's really not that big a deal, kid." Emma told her, frowning and misinterpreting her groan. "You know what, if you wanna wear your hood up, wear your hood up."

"I will, thanks."

The blonde sighed, heading for the door. "I'm late; David's gone already. Henry needs to be at the bus at quarter to nine, OK?"

"Got it." Liv muttered, climbing back into bed. "Quarter to nine."

"Liv!" Emma shouted in the teenager's face moments later, making her scream and shoot out of bed again. The Sheriff laughed, striding from the room as Liv muttered insults under her breath.

Henry was sitting on the couch waiting for her when she eventually made her way down the stairs. He looked pointedly at the clock as she waved a hand at him and hurriedly made herself a coffee. She gulped it down, wincing as the liquid burnt her tongue and throat, before grabbing her jacket, nodding her head towards the apartment door and waiting for him to join her.

She looked sideways as they walked towards the waiting bus. "Guess who just got offered the job as your Mom's secretary?"

Henry's mouth dropped open. He stopped walking abruptly and looked at her. "No way? My Mom gave you a job? Why?"

"Because I'm freakin' awesome, of course." The girl replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"No, but really?"

"Oh, thanks…" Liv muttered. Then she shrugged again. "I dunno… we were just talking and I mentioned that I was going to ask Ruby for a job at the diner and… she kinda offered me a job as her secretary."

"You were talking? To my Mom? Seriously?"

Liv frowned at him. "You know, considering that you're her son you seem to find it really hard to believe that she could do something as normal as hold a conversation."

"Because… what did you talk about?"

"Stuff… Evil Queens, cursed apples, foster parents."

Henry's mouth was still open. "Really?"

"Yeah… she's not that bad. She's actually got a pretty good sense of humour when she stops being a bit- an idiot. She even laughed when I asked if she was intending to poison me with an apple or stab me with a poisoned needle."

"Are you sure you were talking to my Mom?" The boy tried to clarify.

"Of course I was." She replied, rolling her eyes.

Henry looked at her curiously, as though trying to work something out. "And are you sure you're not… magic or something?"

Liv snorted in amusement. "Me? Magic? I don't think so. Besides, you're the one who was adamant I wasn't in your book."

"Yeah, but… my Mom doesn't like anyone except me. And now you. You've only met her twice."

"I think like is a bit strong, Henry." The girl told him quickly. "Tolerate is probably a better way to describe how your Mom feels about me. Besides, I reckon the thought of pissi- annoying your grandparents probably played a large part in the job offer." She knew Henry had caught on to her hastily covered up swearing and shrugged at the smirk on his face. "How do you reckon Mary Margaret and David will take the news about my new job? Or Emma?"

"They'll probably think Mom's trying to use you to spy on them or something."

"Well that's just stupid." Liv told him matter-of-factly as they reached the school bus and the children queuing up to get on. "Now get on the damn bus and leave me alone."

He grinned and waved at her as he boarded the bus. Liv watched as more children got on, noticing the expression on Henry's face changing immediately as a group of boys started talking to him. She frowned, trying to attract his attention through the window, but he resolutely looked away from her and then the engine roared into life and the bus drove away.

Before heading back to the empty apartment, Liv decided to go for a walk around the town. It was mainly an exercise to see whether she could find her way around without help, but she also wanted a chance to think about all of the information that had been forced into her head over the past few days.

It took a couple of moments for her to realise that it had been two days since she'd come to Storybrooke; two days since she'd tracked Emma down. It felt like much longer. Liv always made a point of not getting attached to people or places; she could spend six months in a house with the same people without feeling anything at all when, inevitably, she was moved on again. But here, after just two days, she knew it would hurt like hell if she left, which she inevitably would.

Rather than concentrating on that realisation, which scared her, she turned her thoughts to the situation at hand. Firstly, how was she going to trick Emma into admitting that she had a crush on Regina? Secondly, did Regina feel the same? And thirdly, the most difficult question facing her, how was she going to play cupid without getting her ass kicked by the Saviour and the Evil Queen. She doubted either of them would be happy if they caught her meddling in their lives.

These questions were rapidly dispelled from her mind, however, as she rounded a corner around which she was sure Henry had told her there was a pirate ship – Captain Hook's, no less – and her eyes fell on a dark-haired boy sitting on a bench. He was kicking his feet dejectedly, his head bowed. With a sigh, Liv knew immediately that it was Henry and made her way towards him.

"So, little bro, what's the deal?" Liv asked, dropping onto the bench to sit beside him and sending the boy a sideways glance.

"What d'you mean?" He asked, frowning at her once he'd recovered from the shock of her sudden appearance.

The girl shrugged, leaning back and tilting her face upwards towards the weak sun in the small hope of catching it. "Don't you have someplace to be at… ten o'clock… on a Monday morning?"

"I'm eleven. I should be in school. You know that because you walked me to the bus." Henry replied with the air of someone explaining the simplest thing to someone particularly stupid.

"I was eleven once… I didn't go to school much either."

"Why?"

Liv shrugged again, keeping her eyes averted so she didn't have to meet his. "It was boring." When the boy just made a muffled sound and didn't look at her, she tilted her head to one side and scrutinised him closely. "Why aren't you at school?"

Henry just shrugged. He swept his foot backwards and forwards over the ground below his feet, keeping his gaze fixed on the pattern the movement was making in the dust.

"You being bullied or something, Henry?" She asked in a gentler voice. The protective surge she felt at the realisation that this could be the case surprised her. He shrugged again. "What are… why?"

There was a long pause, but Liv didn't interrupt it. She waited for Henry to speak, letting him take his time. "They tease me about my Moms."

"Your Moms?"

"Yeah… they think it's funny that I've got two and that they're the Evil Queen and the Saviour."

"Screw 'em." She replied with a shrug. He looked at her and she smiled. "You've got two pretty cool Moms there, Henry. They're just jealous."

"You think?"

She nodded, twisting on the bench to face him. "Yeah, I do. I mean Emma and Regina are… what are the Moms of the kids that are teasing you, anyway? The woman who lived in a shoe? That teapot from Beauty and the Beast? The other one with the hair? Oh actually, scratch that last one; I'm thinking about the Simpsons." She wafted her hands around as she spoke, knowing that she was taking absolute rubbish, but hoping it would cheer him up anyway. "Your Moms are the Saviour and the Evil Queen. Trust me; those other kids are jealous."

Her words seemed to be having their intended effect, because Henry's scowled faded slightly. "But they hate each other. And Grandma and Grampa hate my Mom and she hates them."

"Well… maybe we can find a way to fix that?" Liv suggested hesitantly, not entirely sure whether that was possible.

When Henry looked up at her with his eyes filled with hope, her determination to help him rose. "Really?"

"Yeah, I reckon so." She agreed. "But first we need to sort out these bullies. Come on."

He hurried after her as she rose from the bench and started striding purposefully back the way she'd walked. "You're going the wrong way. My school is that way."

"Thanks." She muttered, turning on her heel and walking back the way they'd just come.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna show those boys that no one picks on my brother and gets away with it."

"Your brother?" He asked, grinning.

Liv rolled her eyes. "Hey, you started it."

"But… you can't just walk into school and start beating up kids." Henry pointed out, almost jogging to keep up with her.

"Yeah? Watch me."

He grabbed her arm and forced her to stop. "No, really, you can't, Liv."

"I'm not gonna stand back and watch them bully you, Henry." She told him firmly, frowning. "Emma stepped in for me when I was a kid and now I'm doing the same for you."

"I appreciate it. But you're gonna get into trouble."

"So?"

"So, you're my Mom's new secretary. She'll have to sack you before you even start if you do this. Please don't!"

The teenager sighed deeply. Then she gave him a reluctant nod. "I'll walk you back to school though and make sure they know I'm onto them. Don't worry, I won't actually do anything."

He nodded and they walked in the direction of the school slowly. When they reached the gates, Liv paused, leaning against the metal post and looking over the boy's head at the students milling around outside the building. It was easy to spot Henry's tormentors because they were watching the pair of them carefully. A couple of the group of boys were looking a little wary as the girl glared at them, but the tallest of the trio just watched with interest.

Shooting Liv a weak smile, Henry shrugged his backpack more firmly onto his shoulder and wandered towards the school. She waited for a while, watching to make sure the boys didn't start on him as he made his way inside. Liv made it very clear that she was watching them, hoping they'd get the message that she knew what they were doing to Henry.

"Liv?" The teenager jumped as Mary Margaret's soft voice sounded beside her. She'd been so focused on the boys that she hadn't noticed the woman approaching. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh… I… Henry left his lunch at home, so I brought it over for him."

"Right." The woman smiled. "What are you up to?"

Liv shrugged. "Nothing much… I was planning on going to see Emma in a bit."

"If you take her a coffee from Granny's she'll love you forever; she's always complaining about the stuff at the station." Mary Margaret said with a smile. They both glanced over to the building as they heard a bell ringing to signal the end of recess. "I'd better go. See you later."

Watching her walking away, Liv decided to take her advice and headed towards the Sheriff's station, via Granny's diner. Ruby grinned at her as she placed the order, making conversation in her easy, interested way. The teenager smiled, deciding that she quite liked the tall brunette.

Ruby gave her directions to the station, not that Liv really needed them, and the girl headed over quickly with a takeaway cup of coffee in each hand. Emma beamed at her as she handed over the drink, leaning back in her chair and resting her feet on the desk. Liv dropped into the chair opposite and took a large gulp of her own coffee.

"What's this in aid of?" The blonde asked, shaking the cup at the teenager.

"Can I borrow some money? I need to get some new clothes."

Emma arched an eyebrow at her. "Really? I seem to recall we spent like three hours at the mall yesterday buying you new outfits."

"Yeah, but I need clothes that I can wear to my new job."

"You got a job? That's great, kid!" The Sheriff told her with a broad grin. "But I don't think you need new clothes to work at Granny's; you've seen what Ruby wears, right? Or… what Ruby doesn't wear."

Liv laughed, shaking her head. "I'm not working at the diner."

"So, where?"

"Regina offered me a job at the Mayor's office. I'm her new secretary."

"You're what now?" Emma's eyebrows furrowed suspiciously at the teenager's words. "You're actually kidding, right?" When Liv shook her head, the Sheriff removed her feet from the desk and leant forwards. "Let me get this straight… Regina, as in the Mayor, offered you a job working for her? Why?"

"Oh, charming." Liv muttered. "I mentioned you'd told me to look for a job, she needed a secretary and so she asked if I wanted to do it."

"But… Regina and… you?"

Rolling her eyes, the teenager smirked. "It's not like she offered to adopt me or asked me on a date or something. It's just a job, Em."

Something appeared briefly in the blonde's eyes, but before Liv could analyse the expression, it had vanished. "But this is Regina we're talking about. She never does anything just because… usually she only employs people who are so far under her influence they'd do whatever she said."

"Maybe she's changed." Liv said casually. "So can I borrow some money or not? Only she said that I have to dress 'appropriately' and I don't think I've got anything she'd approve of."