A/N: Hey lovelies! Massive thank yous as always! You really are awesome! :)

The apartment was empty and silent when Liv returned after her first day of working for the Mayor. She changed out of her smart clothes quickly, feeling much more relaxed as soon as she was in jeans and a t-shirt. Pulling her hair into a messy bun, she almost physically jumped as a loud beep from the dresser where she'd left her cell phone broke the silence.

Wondering whether it was Regina, demanding she do something else, the teenager checked the display quickly, frowning as she realised it was from Ruby. For a moment she considered what the waitress could be texting her about, before she opened the message and read through it quickly, rolling her eyes.

'Are you still alive? Or has the Evil Queen cursed you? Ruby.'

The teenager smirked, before typing her reply. 'I'm fine. The worst thing that happened to me today was ending up wearing my coffee.'

'If you need a pick-me-up a couple of us are going out tonight. They almost never ID at the Rabbit Hole, so you're welcome to join us.'

'Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. If I'm gonna survive tomorrow I think I need an early night.'

It was incredibly kind of Ruby to invite her out with her and her friends, but Liv had never really been one for girly nights out. Maybe that would change over time, considering she'd never been one for family dinners or wearing skirt suits and heels before she came to Storybrooke either. But that evening she wasn't in the mood for the inevitable questions that would be sent her way about Regina.

Feeling the need to escape for a while, she headed downstairs and scribbled a note to whoever got back first letting them know she'd gone out. She added her new cell phone number underneath with a small smirk, before grabbing her jacket off the hooks beside the door and leaving the building.

She pulled her hood up as she walked, pushing her hands into her pockets as she headed along the street and kicked a stone in front of her. It was starting to drizzle with rain and she raised her face to look at the sky, staring at the grey clouds growing steadily darker as the rain got heavier. In seconds she was completely soaked.

"Miss Reilly?" The familiar voice of her boss greeted her ears, accompanied by the sound of a car slowing to a halt beside her. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Liv answered quickly, her tone defensive as though she thought she was being accused of something. "Going for a walk."

"In this weather?" Regina asked incredulously.

Liv shook her head, spraying water everywhere. "Well, obviously it wasn't raining when I left the apartment."

The Mayor sighed. "Get in the car."

"What? Why?"

"Because, Miss Reilly, you're going to catch a cold if you stay out in that weather for much longer and, as irritatingly unpunctual as you are, you have proved surprisingly adept at your job, so I would prefer not to have to find a replacement so soon after hiring you." Regina told her, almost reluctantly. "So get in the car and I'll drive you wherever you need to be."

After pausing for a moment, the teenager decided to take the woman up on her offer. She was incredibly nervous about soaking the interior of easily the most expensive car she'd ever sat in, but Regina barely seemed to notice the girl dripping rainwater all over her seats. Catching sight of Liv shivering slightly, the brunette reached down and turned up the heating a little, before looking at her properly.

"So? Where were you going?"

"Err… I don't actually know." Liv admitted. Seeing Regina's arched eyebrow she sighed. "There was no one at the apartment and I just wanted to get out for a while. I was thinking about maybe going to the playground, but obviously that's not a sensible idea right now."

"Why would you be going to the playground? You're not a child even though you act like one."

"Yeah… I thought Henry might be there."

"He's with his father." Regina informed her bluntly, her grip on the steering wheel tightening. "I saw them going into Granny's."

Liv frowned. "His… what?"

"His father; Neal." The Mayor's eyes narrowed at the suddenly furious expression that had appeared on the girl's face. She was almost rigid with anger. Intrigued, Regina pulled the car over and turned off the engine. "What?"

"Neal's here? How? Why?"

"I don't know the ins and outs, dear, but it seems that on a recent trip to New York things came out in the open and Neal returned to Storybrooke with Emma and Henry. It also appears that Neal, otherwise known as Baelfire, is the son of none other than Mr Gold, otherwise known as–"

"Rumplestiltskin…"

"Quite." Regina agreed with a sharp nod. "I'm assuming from your reaction that you know the man in question?"

"Not exactly." Liv replied, still scowling. "But I know what he did to Emma and… I'm gonna break his friggin' legs."

The Mayor was surprised by such a violent outburst from the normal mild-tempered girl who seemed incapable of taking anything seriously most of the time. She looked at her curiously, turning the words over in her mind. Evidently Neal had done something terrible to the Sheriff to elicit such a reaction from the teenager. This knowledge caused a tightening in Regina's chest which, in turn, caused a frown to appear on her own face. She wasn't entirely sure why, although she told herself she was thinking about her son and his welfare.

"Why?" She asked softly.

"I… It's not my story to tell." Liv said quietly. "I'm sorry, Regina, I… it's up to Emma to tell you."

Regina couldn't help a snort of disbelief escaping at the teenager's words. "As if Miss Swan would tell me anything I asked her."

Liv watched her for a moment and then shrugged. "Maybe you should try it?"

She almost held her breath as a myriad of emotions flashed through the brunette's eyes at her suggestion. Finally Regina seemed to settle on irritation and she looked away, starting the engine and pulling away from the curb. "You never said where you wanted dropping, Miss Reilly. I don't have all night."

"The apartment's fine…" Liv told her with a shrug. "Anywhere else and I'll probably end up going to Granny's and getting arrested."

"Why do you hate him so much if Emma doesn't?"

"She doesn't?" The teenager raised an eyebrow. "She used to. If she doesn't anymore then… she's stupider than she looks."

Regina smirked. "Really though, what's it to you?"

"He messed with someone I… like. Not a lot of people have been there for me in my life and that's fine because I get that it's harder to feel anything for a kid that's not yours…" She glanced sideways, remembering that Regina had adopted Henry. "I mean, a kid that you have for a couple of months at the most and then don't see again. I don't need anyone to be there for me, but Emma was and… he hurt her and I can't forgive that."

"Love is weakness." Regina almost laughed bitterly, remembering words her mother had spoken so long ago.

Not understanding the relevance behind her words, Liv just shrugged. "Too right. Who needs it?"

She didn't see the intense sadness that crept over the Mayor's face as they pulled up outside the Charmings' apartment. Climbing quickly from the car, Liv bent down to thank the woman. She was surprised by the hard, closed look that had appeared on Regina's face.

"Get inside, Miss Reilly. I won't take you having a cold as an excuse for you not to be at work tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Madam Mayor." The teenager nodded, slightly confused by her hostility.

Regina didn't wait for her to enter the building, before she drove away quickly. Liv watched the tail-lights disappearing into the sheets of rain that were still lashing against the road. Shivering, the girl made her way to the apartment, letting herself in and peeling off her sopping wet jacket quickly, hanging it on a peg by the door.

"Liv!" Mary Margaret exclaimed, appearing at the sound of the door. "You're soaked!"

"Yeah, it's raining." She agreed with a smirk.

"Go and get changed and I'll make you a hot drink. Cocoa?"

"No, thanks…" Liv shook her head quickly. "I can't stand hot chocolate. A coffee would be good, though."

The raven-haired woman smiled and nodded, moving into the kitchen as Liv jogged up the stairs to get changed for the second time in as many hours. She briefly wondered why no one had told her that Neal was here; that he was spending time with Henry. Even if she wasn't part of the family she didn't understand why no one had mentioned it. Surely it wasn't the sort of thing that would just slip your mind. Then again, if they didn't want to tell her, she wasn't going to ask about it. She'd made the mistake of asking too many questions before.

The weather the next day was a stark contrast to the freezing rain storm of the day before. When Liv finished work at five, she went home and changed, before Henry persuaded her to take a walk with him down to the harbour. She was slightly reluctant, still a bit annoyed that no one had mentioned his father to her. In the end, though, she agreed and the pair set off together, assuring Mary Margaret that they'd be back for dinner a little over an hour later.

"So, Henry, how's things at school?" Liv asked, settling herself cross-legged on the same bench that they had been sitting on when the boy had reluctantly admitted about his bullies.

"Alright." He nodded slowly.

"They leaving you alone now?"

"Uh-huh…" Henry agreed. Liv couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth or not. She was about to press him for a better answer, when he spoke again. "I've been thinking."

"Ouch!" She smirked. "You wanna watch yourself."

"No but… you know I said you weren't in the book? I think I was wrong."

She shook her head. "You weren't. I'm not in the book. I'm not a fairy tale character. I'm not even…"

As the teenager trailed off uncertainly, Henry tilted his head towards her, his eyes questioning. "You're not even what?"

There was a pause. When Liv spoke, she was obviously trying to avoid answering his question. "I really like this bench, you know? It's… it's a good bench."

Henry rolled his eyes. "What aren't you?"

"Important." She snapped, the word escaping from her mouth as though she hadn't actually intended to say it. "I know you aren't in the book either… but you still so, so important… you and Emma. I mean, she's the friggin' Saviour and you're her kid… hers and Regina's. I'm just… I'm no one. I'm just gonna stick around here until your family decide it's time for me to leave like everyone else does. And that'll be OK, because that's just how my life goes."

"You are… you're important." He assured her quickly. "You must be. I'm sure that there's something… Apart from me, you're the one person round here that my Moms actually both like. And… This is going to sound crazy–"

"Really? Because nothing you've told me since I got here has been remotely crazy." She reminded him sarcastically.

"Yeah… but this is even crazier."

The girl raised her eyebrows, unable to imagine anything crazier than what she'd already heard since coming to Storybrooke. "Come on then; what's this crazy thing?"

"I think… I think… my Moms… Liv, do you think they like each other?"

She eyed him warily, wondering exactly what he meant by his question. After all, he was an eleven-year-old boy; he could mean one thing, while she was thinking something completely different. "What?"

"My Moms… I think they like each other."

"Surely that's a good thing if they're getting along?" She pointed out, deciding to take his comment at face value. "I mean, you'll get to see more of Regina if her and Emma call a truce."

"That's not what I meant."

Although Liv had been wondering why no one else could see the obvious attraction between Emma and Regina, she hadn't been expecting their eleven-year-old son to be the one to point it out. "What did you mean?"

"I think they like each other… like Mary Margaret and David like each other."

"I can't imagine either of your Moms getting that soppy."

"Well no… but d'you think…"

"Yeah, Henry, I do." She agreed slowly, nodding. "But…"

"I knew it! I thought I was the only one who could see it! But it makes so much sense!" He exclaimed happily. "I mean, they're always saving each other's lives and Emma sticks up for Mom and they stare at each other when they don't think anyone's watching…"

"And you're OK with that?"

"Of course! They're my Moms. I want them to be happy; both of them. I think that they'll be happy together. Emma's the Saviour and Mom's the Evil Queen. It just… makes sense."

"Henry… we had this conversation, remember. Your Mom isn't evil. She just… made some bad choices. Good people do sometimes."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah… but you do believe me, right? They have to be each other's true loves. They just have to be."

Liv nodded again, before nudging him in the ribs. "True love might be a bit strong, kid. I know this is all like one big fairy tale to you, but… I mean, I do agree with you, but they're not going to admit how they feel unless we do something. You know what they're like better than I do."

"So we'll do something, Liv; me and you."

"You don't understand how much I'm hoping I don't regret trying to play cupid with an eleven-year-old boy as an accomplice."

"It'll be great! It'll be like a mission… we can give it a code name!" Henry enthused, almost bouncing up and down on the bench in excitement.

"Yeah, right, whatever…" Liv agreed, shaking her head slightly and wondering whether she'd ever understand the boy.

"What about… Operation Butterfly?"

"No way!" The girl vetoed the suggestion immediately. "I hate butterflies… they're creepy."

Henry stared at her incredulously. "What?"

"They are!" She retorted defensively. "What's with the weird furry bodies and that slow flapping… it's just… creepy."

"Ok, so not Operation Butterfly." He agreed, rolling his eyes. "What about… what animals mate for life?"

Liv raised an eyebrow, briefly wondering which of his Moms, if either, had given him the sex talk. "I dunno… I think swans, but that's a bit obvious considering it's Emma's last name."

"Yeah… let's go and look it up."

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her off the bench, running excitedly in the direction of the library. Liv rolled her eyes as she allowed herself to be pulled through the town, still thinking about how adamant he'd been that she was important. When they reached the library, she waited as patiently as possible while Henry flipped through a huge book, looking for the information he wanted. As time ticked past, she began to drum her fingers in irritation against the top of the table they were sitting at.

"Here it is!" He crowed triumphantly, setting the book flat on the table and pointing to where he was reading. "Albatrosses, Anglerfish, Bald Eagles, Barn Owls, Beavers, Black Vultures, Brolga Cranes, Condors, Coyotes, French Angelfish, Gibbons, Ospreys, Penguins, Prairie Voles, Termites and Swans." He listed as his finger ran down the list in the book.

"We cannot call it Operation Beaver." Liv told him, trying not to laugh at how dodgy that would be.

"Why?"

"We just can't, OK?"

Henry shrugged. "OK."

"What about Operation Termite?"

"No."

"Alright, Operation Bald Eagle… we can call it Operation Baldie for short and tell people you're planning to shave your head." Liv suggested, sniggering at the thought.

He sighed. "You have to take this seriously, Liv."

"I am, I am!" She assured him, holding her hands up in surrender. "Why does it have to be an animal anyway?"

"Because all the best code names are animals; it's just a fact." Henry informed her as though it was common knowledge. "What about… Operation Angelfish?"

"Yeah, sure." The teenager agreed easily, less interested in the name than the plan that went with it. "So, what's phase one?"

"You tell me. This was your idea. And you do realise that if they work out what we're doing they're gonna kill us?"

Liv laughed and hoisted the heavy book back into its place on the shelf. "I know… we just have to make sure they don't figure it out before it's too late for them to get mad."