A/N: I'm so sorry this is late! Things have been a little crazy lately!
Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone – even if you don't celebrate it I hope you have a wonderful time!
I'm gonna put a trigger warning for domestic violence on this chapter, just in case. It's nothing major, but I'd rather be safe than sorry!
x
Liv stretched leisurely, yawning and putting a hand to her head. A throbbing suddenly started and she hissed, screwing her eyes tightly shut against the light that was trying to make the pain even worse. It was a couple of moments, due to the distraction of her headache, before she remembered the last thing that had happened before she woke up.
Ignoring the pain as best she could, she sat up and looked around the room. It was moderately sized and tastefully decorated, but nothing like the chamber she had grown accustomed to. Unlike her bedroom in the Palace there wasn't a stone floor or wall in sight. Instead there was a soft-looking cream carpet and pale green wallpaper, patterned with flowers. The bed was smaller and the mattress was firmer, although Liv had to admit she approved.
Before she had time to investigate further, the sound of footsteps approaching made her smile in anticipation of seeing her wife healthy once more. She sat up against the headboard, grinning broadly as the bedroom door was pushed open.
Then she screamed and rolled off the bed, backing against the far wall and staring wide-eyed at the man who was approaching her, looking genuinely concerned by her reaction.
"Hon? What's wrong?" He asked, looking at her in bewilderment.
"Who– What the fuck are you doing?"
The man raised his eyebrows, setting a glass of water and a packet of painkillers on the bedside table and looked at her strangely. "I thought you might be needing those after your girls' night. What time did you get in, anyway?"
"Err…" Liv stared at him wide-eyed, having absolutely no idea what was going on.
"I hope Emma and the others are just as hungover as you are this morning. Did she have a good time?"
"Em– what?"
"It's not every year you turn forty-five!" The man said with another grin. "I hope you girls showed our Sheriff how to party in style."
Liv couldn't help laughing. "Ma's not forty-five! She'll be fifty-one in a couple of months!"
"Ma? What were you guys drinking last night?" He asked, shaking his head in amused disbelief. "I think you might still be drunk, babe."
"Where's Ruby?"
"She managed to find her way home this time, then, I assume." The man said, sounding less than cheery for the first time in their entire conversation. "I know she's your friend, babe, but she's a terrible influence. I thought when she had Aiden she'd calm down a bit, but apparently even her son isn't enough of an incentive for her to grow up."
It took Liv a moment to process his words. "Wait... what? Her son? Aiden?"
With a scowl, the man moved back towards the door. "You know what, next time you go out and get so drunk you barely even remember your own name the next morning, try and do it on a Saturday night when we haven't got one daughter to take to a soccer game, one who wants dropping at the mall so she can spend money we don't fucking have with her friends and a third who apparently needs to spend the afternoon in the library working on some stupid history project." He snapped, ignoring the dumbstruck expression on the woman's face. "Oh, and your son has borrowed your car to go and see his girlfriend."
Before she could even open her mouth to speak, he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Sinking down on the bed, she continued to stare blankly at the closed door. Something had obviously gone very wrong with the curse and she needed to speak to someone who would know how to fix it.
Just as she was making her mind to go in search of Henry, hoping that he would have something useful or reassuring to say, the bedroom door opened again and Liv looked up, almost fearfully. Her heart clenched in her chest as the eldest of her daughters walked in and she was on her feet at once, dragging Frankie into her arms and hugging her as though she would never let her go.
It was only when the girl struggled and whined at her to get off her that Liv stepped back and looked at her properly. She looked full of life once more but, the thing that caught the woman's attention was that Frankie looked younger; much younger.
"Mom… are you OK?" Frankie asked, looking confused at the expression she was being regarded with.
Reaching out and cupping her cheek, Liv nodded weakly. "Of course, darling. Are you?"
"Yeah… what did you say to dad?"
"D-Dad?" Liv clenched a hand into a fist at her side. "Nothing, sweetheart."
"So why is he in a terrible mood? He just made Phoebe cry."
At once the fire that had been extinguished in her eyes blazed as her protective maternal feelings were released with full force. "He did what?"
Sensing that her mother was about to storm downstairs to confront him, Frankie grabbed her arm tightly. "Mom, don't! She'll be OK. Don't make him angry. Please?"
For a moment, the woman's eyes flickered over the girl's beseeching face. There was something more to the plea than simply not wanting her to rock the boat, so Liv nodded slowly and hugged the girl to her tightly. Frankie let out a relieved sigh and snuggled into her; something she hadn't done since she had been much younger than Liv remembered her.
"How old are you, eh?" Liv asked, trying to make her question sound almost rhetorical. "Twenty, thirty?"
Frankie giggled. "Eleven, mom."
"I knew that! You're just so grown up." Her mother sighed, squeezing her eyes closed and stroking a hand through her daughter's hair.
So if Emma was forty-five and the triplets were eleven, then it seemed as though the curse had sent them back five years. She had guessed that time between the two realms would be slightly different, but she hadn't expected to lose quite so much time. Or had she gained it? Liv wasn't sure whether having memories of five years that hadn't happened yet was a good thing or a bad thing. A bit of both, she supposed.
"You are gonna come and watch my game, right?"
"I wouldn't miss it." Liv promised, pressing a kiss to the top of Frankie's head. She couldn't seem to bear not being in constant contact with the girl; the memory of seeing her lying in the coffin still vivid in her mind. "But I need to go and talk to Uncle Henry first."
Frankie shot her a look and Liv wondered whether more of her family ties had been severed by the curse. "But… you don't talk to them since the big fight?"
"Big fight?"
"Yeah…" The girl cocked her head. "When Grandma and Emma told you that you should leave Dad and you refused. I think the only reason Grandma didn't fire you was because she wants to keep an eye on you. Wait, why am I telling you this… you were there."
"Right…" Liv nodded slowly, biting her lip. She was starting to wonder what the hell kind of person the curse had decided to make her. Then Frankie's odd wording made her frown. "Grandma and Emma?"
With a look that was becoming almost constant, the girl raised her eyebrows. "Yes, Mom. Grandma, your Mom, and Emma, your step-mom… remember them?"
"Sorry… my head's still a little…" She apologised quickly, shaking her head and smiling weakly.
"Right… well my soccer match is in an hour, so if you wanna go see Uncle Henry you should go now."
With a nod the woman decided to take her daughter's advice. She smiled and pressed another kiss to the side of her head, waiting until she left the room before riffling through her closet. She pulled out several items of clothing, wrinkling up her nose in disgust before pushing them back in out of sight. Finally, settling on a pair of jeans and a tank top, she pushed her feet into a pair of battered looking Chuck Taylor's and headed down the stairs, feeling much more confident in the type of clothes she had missed so much it was almost painful in the Enchanted Forest.
Izzy was sitting in an armchair in the den as Liv made her way through the house, chatting animatedly into her cell phone and completely ignoring her mother. Liv rolled her eyes and bent to press a kiss to her head. Shooting her a warm smile, the girl instantly raised her hand to smooth her hair back into its previous, perfectly styled position. Further towards the back of the house Liv located the kitchen and was unsurprised to see Phoebe seated at the island counters in the centre of the room with her nose buried in a book. She was even more unresponsive to the kiss pressed to the back of her head, completely absorbed in what she was reading.
"I'm just popping out." Liv told her husband slightly uncomfortably.
"Where are you going? You look a mess."
"I'm going to see Henry." She replied, ignoring his comment on her appearance.
He arched an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because he's my brother and I need to talk to him." She snapped. "It's nothing to do with you."
Quicker than she could react, he moved forward and gripped her arm so tightly that she let out a squeak of pain and surprise. In response, his grip tightened even more and she whimpered, trying to pull her arms away.
"Get off me!"
The sound of the front door slamming and heavy footsteps heading through the house caused him to drop her arm instantly. Liv could almost have gasped in relief as her older son entered the kitchen, smiling at her. At the expression on her face, his smile vanished and his eyebrows furrowed.
"Mom? You OK?"
"Course she is." The man beside her said, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
"I wasn't talking to you, Jack." Charlie snapped, turning to his mother. "Mom?"
"Fine… I'm just going to see Uncle Henry…"
Charlie grinned broadly. "Really? That's great."
Liv could almost feel the irritation rolling off the man beside her in waves. As soon as Charlie had called him Jack, she recognised him. How she had ended up married to the leader of the Lost Boys, when she hadn't seen him since they left Storybrooke, was a complete mystery to her. But it wasn't one she was intending to dwell on now.
"I'll meet you at Frankie's soccer match, OK?" She said softly, kissing his cheek as she passed, squeezing his upper arm reassuringly.
"Sure." He nodded. "I think Uncle Henry's on shift at the Station this afternoon, so you should try there first."
With a nod, Liv left the house, closing the door firmly behind her. It was only when she was sitting in what was, apparently, her car that the full extent of the situation hit her. She gripped the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles went white and banged her forehead against the top of it. Letting out a long sigh, she ran a hand through her hair, before starting the engine and heading off the drive and down the street in the direction of the Sheriff's Station.
Pulling up outside, she hesitated before getting out, suddenly terrified that Henry wouldn't remember anything either. She wasn't sure her mental stability would remain intact if that was the case. Biting her lip, she steeled herself and exited the vehicle, slamming the door and striding towards the main entrance before she lost her nerve.
"Liv?" Almost before she entered the room a familiar voice met her ears and, without any warning, she found herself swept up into a tight bear hug. "Shit! I'm so glad to see you!"
"Henry…" She fisted her hands in the back of his shirt and sighed deeply. Then she pulled back and regarded him seriously. "Please tell me you remember–"
"The Enchanted Forest and the illness and the curse?" He said quickly. Then he nodded. "I do…"
"Thank fuck." Liv muttered, hugging him again. "We have to do something… I'm married to Jack Young and, from what I can gather, he's abusive."
Henry looked furious. "He what?"
"Frankie warned me not to make him angry and he grabbed me… Charlie looked ready to punch him." Liv tried to swat him away as he dragged her jacket off so that he could check her arms for visible signs. They both flinched at the sight of bruises, old and new, littering her arms. "It's fine, Henry."
"How is this fine?" He demanded. Liv thought for a minute he was reaching for the gun on his desk, but his hand grabbed the phone from its cradle instead. "We need to speak to the Blue Fairy."
Liv perched on the desk opposite his as she listened to the one-sided conversation, her hope that the Fairy would be able to help them disappearing the more she heard. It seemed that Mother Superior had absolutely no idea what the Deputy Sheriff was talking about and, as her concern grew, Henry apologised quickly and ended the call.
"It looks like it's down to us, then." He said with a sigh, turning to his sister. "We need to put together everything we know about this new Storybrooke."
"OK… so, Frankie said that Regina is my mom and Emma is my step-mom. Apparently there was some kind of fight over Jack and we none of us really speak anymore. She also said that I work for Mom… is she still the Mayor? Maybe I'm still her PA? I'm not really sure." Liv shrugged, chewing the inside of her cheek. "Then… Jack called Ma the Sheriff, so I'm guessing she's your boss. He also said that Aiden was Ruby's son…"
Henry squeezed her hand tightly. "Grace is Paige again and… well, she hates me, Liv."
"What?"
"She's dating Liam Moore and everyone's under the impression that she's pregnant with his baby."
"Who's Liam Moore?"
"That kid that bullied me in school… the one you made apologise at the Ball when we first went over there."
Liv's jaw clenched and she shuffled closer to her brother, pulling his head onto her shoulder. "I'm so sorry. This is all completely fucked up. We need to sort it."
"You're suffering too." Henry reminded her softly.
"So what's the plan?" The woman asked, surreptitiously wiping a finger under her eyes and adopting a business-like tone.
"What plan are we talking about?" Emma asked, entering the Station and setting down a takeaway cup of coffee on the desk.
"Hey, Ma." Henry said, almost cautiously.
She ruffled his hair and smiled between them. Almost in slow motion her eyes travelled to Liv's arms and settled on the marks there. Instantly her eyes blazed and she reached for the arm closest to her, examining it closely.
"I'm gonna kill him." She threatened furiously.
"Ma, don't!" Liv begged, trying to pull her arm free.
"Why shouldn't I? He can't– wait? Did you just call me Ma?"
"Umm… sorry?"
"No… it's fine." Emma smiled at her. "You just haven't called me that since before the divorce." A slight pink tinge covered her cheeks as she looked back at Liv's arm, avoiding her eyes. "I didn't expect anything else… I mean, I know you and your Mom are really close…"
Liv and Henry exchanged a panicked look. After all the bits of information they'd put together, they had been banking on their mothers being as solid as ever. Emma's words instantly dashed their hopes and made them even more desperate to end the curse.
"She's gonna freak when she finds out about this…" Emma said softly, still examining the bruises.
"She's not going to find out." Liv said firmly.
The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? Your Mom is like a fucking bloodhound when there are secrets about."
Knowing that she was completely right, the younger woman sighed. "Look... just… please don't tell her, Ma." She disentangled herself from Henry, who still had an arm around her, before moving to the door. "I better get going… I want to drop by the diner before I go and watch Frankie's match."
Emma nodded. "Watch out, Ruby's got one hell of a hangover and she's in a terrible mood."
"Noted." Liv smiled, waving and leaving the building quickly.
She left her car in the parking lot and headed along the street and into Granny's, glad to be out of the wind that seemed to have blown up while she was in the Station. Liv smiled and waved at Granny, who was sitting in a chair beside the counter, flicking through a newspaper lazily. Evidently most of the work in the diner was left to her granddaughter these days. Then Liv headed for the counter itself, leaning on the surface and waiting for Ruby to notice her.
It took a couple of moments, because the woman was distracted by a customer complaining that she had got their order wrong. The scowl that twisted her features was reminiscent of the wolf that she became and was apparently enough for the man to decide that the mistake had been his and sit back down at his table hurriedly. When Ruby's eyes fell on Liv, she beamed and motioned towards the door to the kitchen.
Following her at once, Liv was surprised when, as soon as they were out of sight of the diners, Ruby pushed her against the wall and kissed her heatedly. With a sigh, Liv returned the kiss with just as much enthusiasm, tangling her hands in the taller woman's hair and pulling her as close as possible.
When they broke apart and rested their foreheads together, both let out a quiet sigh. Ruby's arms slid away from Liv's neck, travelling down her arms and tangling their fingers together.
"He didn't kick off, did he?" She asked softly.
Liv didn't need to hear a name to know who she meant. "Not much… nothing I couldn't handle."
"And he didn't realise we left The Rabbit Hole early?"
"Not that I know of."
Ruby laughed mirthlessly. "I'm sure you'd know if he did…" Then she shook her head. "When are you going to leave him?"
"I…"
"Don't give me the 'I can't do that to the kids' crap, Liv. Charlie is ready to kick the shit out of him most days and the girls would be happier if you were."
"OK."
There was a pause and then a slow smile spread over Ruby's face. "OK? You mean… you'll leave him?"
Liv nodded. "For you."
Ruby kissed her again, holding the younger woman's face firmly in her hands. "You won't regret it, I promise."
"There's just… something I have to do before I do."
"You're not going to murder him, are you?" Her girlfriend asked with a sly smile. "Although, if you are, at least your family makes up the town's entire law enforcement department. I'll help you bury the body if you want?"
Liv laughed and kissed her softly. "No. I'm not going to murder him."
"Really?"
Ruby sounded so disappointed that Liv chuckled and leant in to kiss her again. Before their lips could meet, however, the swing door opened and they sprang apart guiltily. Granny looked between them suspiciously and both women sent her weak smiles. Liv instinctively knew that no one knew about her and Ruby.
"I'd better get going." She said with a smile, squeezing Ruby's arm and smiling at the older woman as she passed her to leave the kitchen. The door had barely swung shut behind her before she heard Granny start berating her granddaughter for getting involved in the 'train wreck' that was Liv's 'marriage'.
