To the guest who left the review, "You better not kill Liam" – thank you, ABSOLUTELY made my day to get that review because as a writer it means you, a reader, are invested in a character and it just tickled me pink! And since I couldn't respond personally because it was a guest review, you'll find out Liam's fate in the next chapter. Promise!

I also made a mistake some chapters back. I referred to Rumple as the Dark One but he in fact is no longer the Dark One (even though some people may still refer to him as such, such as Killian and Erin). I've went back and corrected that mistake. And even though he's no longer the Dark One he still has magic, which will be explained in future chapters. Spoilers and all that.

As always, enjoy! Reviews/favorites/follows feed the muse – though reviews feed it the fastest!

Chapter 13: Whatever It Takes

"Lay him on the bed," Regina ordered as she threw open the door to one of the many guest rooms in her castle.

David and Killian followed her in, carrying an unconscious Liam between them. They quickly placed him on the bed as everyone else filed into the spacious bedchamber, Erin leading the way. After Liam had collapsed in Erin's arms Regina had poofed everyone to the main room of her castle despite the toll using that much magic took on her. She now moved to sit on the side of the bed, quickly yanking Liam's black shirt from his leather pants.

"Regina," Erin chocked out, grasping onto the bedframe's post like a lifeline.

"Patience, Miss Jones," Regina said as she pushed Liam's shirt up. The wound was large and gaping, blood pouring from it but that wasn't what caused her to still, for her eyes to widen. What did was the light purple surrounding the wound, seeming to spread out from it like a spider's web. Will cursed behind her, running a hand down his face as he stared at Liam's wound.

"What is that?" Emma asked, reaching for Killian's hand, trying to take some comfort from the familiar coolness of his rings as he grasped her hand just as hard. Neither of them had raised Liam but in that moment they felt what they would one day be – his parents. They were parents whose son was lying on a bed, unconscious, with a strange wound inflicted by a mad man.

"It's from a Wonderland blade," Regina whispered.

"What does that mean?" Mary Margaret asked, her grip on David's shirt tightening.

"Wonderland blades are magical. They— they're forged and imbued with the raw magic of Wonderland."

"But you can heal it, right?" When Regina remained silent Emma felt her stomach drop. "Regina? You can heal him, right?"

Regina slowly raised her gaze to meet Emma's terrified eyes. "My magic can heal the physical wound but not the magical one. I'm so sorry."

"NO!"

Erin surged forward, roughly pushing past Regina to get to her brother. Her magic flared instantly as her hand came over Liam's wound. The physical cut began to heal instantly, closing until his skin showed no signs of the damage the blade had inflicted. But the purple spider webbing remained, its vivid color mocking her. Gritting her teeth she pushed her magic more, fear and frustration marking her features as the magical wound refused to heal until David gently took her in his arms, pulling her away from the bed. Hot tears ran down her face, her body shaking against her grandfather as the silent sobs threatened to overtake her.

Emma stopped breathing at Regina's words, her hand tightening in Killian's until she was sure she was cutting off the circulation to it. No, it couldn't be… she was slammed with memories of when Henry had fallen under a sleeping curse, the feeling of absolute loss and hopelessness to help her son. Liam hadn't been born yet, wasn't even a twinkle in Killian's eye or a whispered hope on her breath, and she felt his impending loss as if she had watched him grow into the vibrant, head strong man that lay before her.

Killian felt his entire world spin out of control. This couldn't be happening, not again. He'd lost his brother to a magical wound, the Dreamshade of Neverland taking Liam from him in the matter of a few heart beats. And now he was watching his son who bore the name of his beloved brother, die from a magical poison. Sadness and anger flared deep within him, anger quickly winning the battle as his blue eyes bore into Regina. "Why the bloody hell can't your magic heal it?"

"Wonderland magic, like any magic, derives its power from the realm itself. A type of magic not from that realm can't heal the wound made by that magic, same reason why someone poisoned with Dreamshade couldn't be cured by someone simply healing them. It can only be cured by the waters of Neverland because they come from the same magic source."

"But David was poisoned with Dreamshade and he was able to survive outside Neverland because of the potion Gold made."

"Gold was able to make that potion because he had something magical from Neverland to put in it," Regina explained to Mary Margaret. "Possibly a plant or dirt, who knows with that imp. Because that magic originated from that realm, it was able to heal his magic wound."

Will jerked his head up. "Could you make a potion to heal Liam's wound if you had somethin' from Wonderland?"

"Yes," Regina replied, irritated. "But I don't exactly have Wonderland mushrooms growing in my garden."

"No, but I do."

All heads turned to Will as he frantically started digging through the pockets of his leather jacket. Reaching into an inside pocket he pulled out a small vial filled with bright red, miniature mushrooms. "Will this work?"

Erin's eyes widened and a watery laugh escaped her. She moved from David's protective embrace and threw her arms around her uncle, kissing him soundly on the cheek.

"I have never been so thankful for your bloody Wonderland travels than in this moment Uncle Will!"

Regina took the vial, eyeing it critically before nodding her head. "Yes, it should. I must warn you though." She looked between Erin, Killian, and Emma. "Because it will be a diluted form of Wonderland magic it'll take time to work and until it does, he's still at risk from the magical injury."

Emma looked down at the too-still form of her future son, his skin still so pale. She gently pushed the locks of hair that had fallen over his forehead back, tears burning her eyes. "How long will it take to make the potion?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"No more than an hour," Regina replied, moving to leave the room.

"I'll help you," Elsa offered, throwing Emma a comforting smile before following the former Evil Queen out of the room. A pregnant silence filled their departure, all eyes in the room focused on Liam. Mary Margaret broke the silence.

"He's going to be okay, right Will?"

Will looked at the light purple still marring Liam's side thoughtfully before replying. "If we get the potion in him soon and he makes it through the night yeah, the lad will be fine. A Wonderland blade's magic works slowly so that's in our favor. It's going to be physically painful for him though until the potion kicks in."

"He can handle it," Erin whispered, reaching down to take his hand. "He's a survivor."

"Erin," David asked quietly, "Why would Maleficent attack us?" Erin chuckled humorlessly.

It had been hours since they had given Liam the antidote potion. His skin color had immediately improved, the paleness fading away to the normal tan he had acquired from his years at sea. His eyes had remained closed though with the purple spider webbing of the magical wound increasing in size until it covered almost his entire right side. Will and Regina had both assured them there wasn't any cause for concern – yet. Erin and her parents had allowed themselves to reluctantly be pulled away from Liam's unconscious form, Elsa promising to stay with him while they ate a later dinner and talked. Which is where they currently found themselves in one of Regina's many studies, all seated around the crackling fireplace.

"That, grandpa, is a long story." She paused, watching the flames from the fire lick at the ancient hearth. "It's actually something I can't go into much detail about because Maleficent is central to mom and dad's big moment."

"I killed her though," Emma mused, almost to herself. "I had to slay her when she was in dragon form to get to the True Love potion Gold had hidden inside her."

"Maleficent can never really be 'dead,'" Erin explained. "She's a fairy – more importantly, she's the dark fair. Whereas Blue personifies light, Maleficent is the embodiment of darkness. There's a reason she's known as the Mistress of All Evil." She sighed, running a hand through her blonde locks. "In the original timeline she's resurrected. Why I can't say." Emma narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw Erin's eyes flicker to her father and grandparents briefly. "And… something happens. Maleficent blames mom and dad for what happened, even though it was no one's fault but her own what happened."

"And what happens is directly related to my and your mother's moment, correct?"

Erin nodded. "Ever since then she's been hell bent on revenge. When the Prophecy concerning Liam and me materialized it only fueled that hatred more. Remember that 'great evil' that was going to come for us? The reason the Prophecy listed all our guardians? That's Maleficent."

"How did she even know you were here, in this time?" Mary Margaret asked, leaning forward in her chair.

"That I don't know," Erin mumbled. "From what I know the only people with the knowledge of how to time travel is Merlin, Morgana, Rumple, and Regina. We still haven't even figured out how Ingrid managed to do it."

Killian twirled the smaller ruby ring on his hand. "Who was that Diablo character?"

"He's Maleficent's right hand man. He's actually a raven she enchanted to be able to shift into human form."

Emma's eyes widened. "She can do that?"

"They don't call her the Mistress of All Evil for nothing, mom."

"Things between him and Liam seemed…. tense, before they attacked us."

"That's putting it mildly, grandpa." Erin sighed. "I'm not even sure what started the feud between them. Diablo has been Maleficent's henchmen for centuries, long before either Liam or I were born. After one particular encounter with him Liam just… it became like a personal vendetta with them."

Regina entered the room then, her high heeled boots clicking on the stone floor. "The last ingredient for the time traveling potion will be ready in the morning. Once it's completed we'll be ready to play Marty McFly and head to the future."

"How's Liam?" Erin asked, setting her flask down on the end table next to her.

"He's holding on," Regina answered truthfully. "The wound has spread a bit more but that's to be expected. He has started running a fever and that's the real danger with a Wonderland blade. Elsa is currently using her special talent to keep the fever manageable."

Erin nodded. Her knowledge on how Wonderland blades worked was limited, having only ever heard of the mythical blades from her Uncle Will and in select books from Aunt Belle's library. She knew enough though to know how deadly they were and how precarious her brother's condition was until the antidote potion fully took. A memory of another time when Liam's life hung in the balance from a poison flashed through her mind but she quickly shook it away. He had survived that, he had survived fate trying to take him for the second time and he was going to survive this.

"So how does time traveling work?" David asked, gently turning the conversation as he saw the faraway look filter across his granddaughter's face. "Is it like any other portal? Jump in and concentrate on where you want to go?"

"Yes and no," Erin replied. She was once again reminded that no matter the time period her grandfather always seemed to know exactly what she needed. "When you're traveling backwards in time yes, it works the same as any other portal. But going forward in time is a bit more complex. You're traveling through time that hasn't been written yet, were changes in any major moment could alter were you're headed. The potion Regina is creating is the base of the portal; it'll open up the time vortex to give us access to my current time. I assume your future self thought ahead enough to tell you in your letter what would be required for us to zone in on the correct timeline?"

Regina nodded. "We'll need a drop of blood, from either you or Liam, to help guide us."

"Why your blood?" Emma asked, suddenly alarmed at the idea of one of her kids having to spill blood for any reason.

"We have to connect to our time and with the fluidity of the vortex, we need something originally from that time to wade through all the other timelines. Without that anchor we could end up following Arthur's timeline and end up in Camelot versus the Enchanted Forest of our time."

Killian frowned. "What do you mean by 'following,' lass?"

"This is where traveling forward and backwards in time differs. When Liam and I came here it was simply jumping through the portal and thinking of the Storybrooke of this time and we landed here. When we go forward we will view snatches of the timeline as it moves forward until we reach our time."

"What kind of snatches?" Will asked, grabbing Erin's flask and taking a large gulp.

Erin shrugged. "Important moments in the timeline that would somehow be connected to me and Liam since our blood will be used. The only thing we wouldn't see would be important moments. We might see the moments leading up to a huge moment but never the actual moment."

Regina crossed her arms. "How long will it take us?"

"For us it could feel like hours, even days while we're in the vortex. Actual time? Probably just a few seconds."

"I think we should call it a night then," Mary Margaret said, standing up. "It has to be close to midnight and with the day we've all had a good night rest in beds will be good for us."

"I agree," Erin said, playfully snatching her flask from Will as she stood. "I'm going to stay with Liam, keep an eye on his fever." She didn't wait for a response from her parents or the rest of their group, striding out of the study. All this would be over soon. This time tomorrow they would be back in their time, one step closer to freeing their mother and finding a way to beat the Snow Queen. And in the morning Liam would be okay, those baby blue eyes twinkling and annoying the ever loving daylight out of her.

Because he just had to be okay.

The Enchanted Forest

The Future

Charming shoved the door leading to the courtyard open, the sound of it smacking against the outer stone wall sending a brief flash of happiness through him. He was barely keeping his anger in check at this point. He had been asleep only a few hours after his exhausting trip to the Northern part of the kingdom when the searing pain running through his head had woken him. His heart had started beating rapidly as the memory of watching Liam fall into Erin's arms, wounded, assaulted him. His feet hadn't even hit the floor before he was barking orders to the guards outside his and Snow's bedchamber to gather the War Council.

As he made his way toward the fountain at the center of the courtyard the image of his youngest grandson bleeding flashed through his mind and he felt the anger and fear rise sharply. The time for being a hero was over – he needed to be a husband, father, and grandfather and protect his family.

No matter what it took.

Almost everyone was already stood around the fountain, faces drawn in worry as a thick silence enveloped them, broken only by the gentle gurgle of the water as it fell through the fountain. Rumple stood off to the side as he always did during these meetings, a reluctant member of the War Council. Henry and Regina were near the fountain, her arm over his shoulders as he stared up at the night sky, brow drawn in deep thought. Killian was pacing, the clench of his jaw and flash of his blue eyes speaking to the volume of anger bubbling within the pirate.

Charming came to a stop beside Snow, noting the red of his wife's eyes that spoke of the tears she had shed since the memories had woken her up. Noticing the absence of Will, Elsa, Belle, and Eric he was about to ask where they were when he saw the four of them emerge from the shadows.

"Where the hell have you been?" he snapped at them, his anger instantly fading when he noticed the small body in Eric's arms. Hope was asleep in the young pirate captain's arms, her raven locks a tangled mass against her white nightgown.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Killian demanded. His pacing had ceased the moment he had seen Hope, confusion and worry filling his blue eyes.

"I was close enough to Diablo and Liam to hear what the ponce whispered to him," Will explained as Eric handed the little girl to Killian. Hope opened her eyes briefly, sleepily finding her grandfather before she closed them again, burrowing her face into his neck as her breathing evened out again. "He threatened Hope."

"We thought it best to pick her up on our way here so we could keep an eye on her," Belle said as her and Elsa sat on the edge of the fountain.

"What do you mean he threatened her?" Henry growled, his usually calm personality giving way under the onslaught of fear and worry for his little brother and an impending threat to his niece.

Will ran a hand down his face, clearly battling his own emotions over the situation. "Diablo made it a point to gloat to Liam that after he killed him Maleficent would drag Erin's pain out. And once she did, she'd go after Hope. That she would take Hope and turn her against all of us, the final act of revenge against Emma and Killian."

All eyes looked to the sleeping girl nestled in her grandfather's arms. Killian tightened his hold on Hope, pressing a kiss into her hair as his eyes closed. He couldn't lose her too. Emma was still lost to him, alive but trapped, and until the new set of memories came he could only pray to every deity he knew that Liam was okay. Erin was still in the past, open to any attack Maleficent sent for her and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to protect her.

"She can't," Snow whispered, walking to where Killian stood, running a shaking hand over Hope's sleeping head. "She can't take Hope."

"We're not going to let her," Charming said, the deathly calm of his voice causing his wife to shoot him a look of confusion.

Eric frowned. "Why would Maleficent go after Hope though? She's always focused her rage on Erin."

"Maleficent's end game has always been revenge against Emma and Killian for what she views they did to her," Belle explained, "Which means causing them the maximum amount of hurt. Taking Erin and Liam from them would only be the tip of the iceberg. By taking Hope, it would completely crush them and in her mind, bring everything full circle."

Rumple cleared his throat. "The question we should be asking ourselves, dearies, is how she knew the pirate's children were in the past."

"There's no way she could have known," Elsa said. "No one outside the family knew we sent them back in time. We made sure to keep it as secret as possible."

Will nodded. "She's right. Even Snow hasn't blabbed to the entire castle staff—"

Snow threw Will a deadly look. "Remember I can still shoot a moving object at fifty paces, Will. And I'm angry right now so I could really use an outlet for my frustration, even if that object happens to be my grandchildren's godfather."

"Point taken," Will mumbled as Eric snickered.

"Well she obviously learned of the plan somehow," Regina sighed, tightening her hold on Henry's shoulders. "She's not used any magic to do it, I would have felt her trying to infiltrate the magical barrier Emma and I put up months ago."

Henry turned to her. "Would the barrier still hold with mom trapped in the ice?"

Regina nodded. "She's still alive so any spell she cast prior to her entrapment would still hold."

"Obviously none of us told," Eric interjected, "And if she didn't use some form of magic to spy on us, how else could she have learned about the plan?"

"The old fashioned way."

Rumple shrugged as everyone looked at him. "The simple answer is we have a mole in the castle. Maleficent wouldn't need magic to plant someone to overhear sensitive information – it's what I would do if I were in her shoes."

"But none of us have talked—"Snow began.

"We wouldn't need to talk to the mole directly though," Killian muttered, his blue eyes flashing up to meet Rumple. For once in their very long lives he and the former Crocodile were on the same page. "Think about it. Every time we've discussed Liam and Erin going back it's been behind closed doors –Doors that are always guarded. No one had to be in the room to hear us if they were already eavesdropping from the other bloody side."

"And they would have known something important was being discussed," Belle finished with a shake of her head.

"So how do we go about finding the mole?" Henry asked.

"Regina, Rumple – I want you to find the mole," Charming issued, his tone demanding. "I don't care what you have to do – torture, interrogation, ripping someone's heart out – find them."

"Charming!" admonished Snow. "You can't be serious!"

He looked at his wife, his blue eyes hard. "I'm deadly serious, Snow. I am over playing nice when it comes to Maleficent. She has plagued Erin her entire life or have you forgotten what she did to her?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten what she did to Erin!" Snow hissed quietly, mindful of a sleeping Hope next to her. "I was there that day, we all were. But we are heroes, Charming. We don't resort to methods that villains use to find information!"

"We do now," he said, nodding to Rumple and Regina. The former Evil Queen and Dark One cast worried glances at Snow as they left the courtyard.

"Charming…"

"She injured Liam!" he shouted. Hope started at the loud noise, Killian instantly rubbing her back and whispering calming words until she fell back asleep. "She injured Liam, Snow," Charming began again, quieter. "We have no idea how badly. We don't even— we don't even know if he made it. And now we learn she's also planning on going after Hope…" He shook his head. "I can't sit around and do nothing, Snow."

Snow stared at her husband before abruptly turning and walking toward the door that led into the castle.

"Snow—"

"Do whatever you have to do Charming," she threw over her shoulder, "But know it makes you no better than Maleficent." He watched her storm into the castle, her long white robe billowing in the slight wind as she disappeared from view. Turning back to the rest of the group he noted the shocked expressions from Eric, Belle and Elsa, the worry that creased Henry's brow, and the more than understanding looks from Will and Killian before turning his attention fully to his grandson.

"Henry, I need you to go to Camelot and confer with Merlin. We need to find out exactly how Maleficent learned to time travel. Belle, find a way for us to get rid of Maleficent – permanently. Be it physically or magically."

"What do we do about protecting Hope?" Elsa asked as she stood up.

Charming's gaze flickered to his sleeping great-granddaughter, watching as her small hand tightened around the lapel of Killian's jacket. "Until Maleficent is dealt with she doesn't leave our sight. One of us is to be with her at all times. We can't risk—"He was cut off by the sound of approaching feet. Turning he saw the Captain of his guard walking toward them.

"Yes, Andrew?"

"So sorry to interrupt, Highness, but we've received word from Prince Neal that areas in the Southern part of the kingdom have come under attack."

Charming cursed under his breath. "Will, Eric, you're with me," he muttered, walking toward the courtyard door. He knew Snow was upset with him but this vicious cycle had to end. They couldn't play defensive forever when it came to the Dark Fairy, not when her hatred for them ran as deep as Killian's once had for Rumple.

He needed to protect his family, no matter what the cost.

The Enchanted Forest

The Past

Erin bolted awake, heart beating frantically against her ribcage. Wide eyes scanned the room, her harsh breathing the only sound in the too-still room. She was sat in one of Regina's plush purple chairs that she had pulled to the side of Liam's bed. The room was lit in a soft glow from the various candles around the room. She realized a few seconds later the candles hadn't been lit when she had fallen asleep, her magic more than likely having ignited them as she woke up. Taking a large gulp of air she stood to check on Liam.

He was still unconscious, his features drawn tight as if in pain. A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead, drenching the locks of hair that fell there. A quick look at his side had her sighing in relief – the purple webbing of the poison had diminished in size a little, and in the low candle light looked to have lost some of its bright color. Small victories as her mother would say. She grabbed the wash cloth sat on the bedside table and dipping it into the wash basin, gently dabbed at his face.

He had always been her voice reason, the more level headed of the two of them. She was the one who had inherited their father's temper and their mother's penance to drive head long into danger. Liam was the quiet one, always thoughtful, able to make a decision in the heat of the moment without emotions becoming involved. He was also her partner in crime, more than willing to go along with any of her hair brain ideas out of loyalty to her.

She chuckled softly at the memory of her and Neal needing information from a gang of pirates on the location of a medallion. Being the daughter of Captain Hook got her in many unsavory tavern doors but there were times when the memory of her father's reputation wasn't as effective as the man himself. He was in another realm at the time with her mother though and the location of the medallion was time sensitive. They didn't' have the real Captain Hook but they did have his doppelganger. Liam had rolled his eyes, muttering how he always knew his devilishly handsome good looks would get him into trouble one day but he had donned their father's clothes and played the part – to the point Neal had told him it was freaking him out and he couldn't tell the different between father and son.

That was her brother though, fearless and loyal as they come. He had been her silent rock through everything, one of the prominent figures in those early days after Hope's birth who had kept her sane and grounded. She sucked in a breath as she remembered the reason for her abrupt awakening, the images flashing before her eyes unbidden. The hand that held the wash cloth to his cheek began to shake and suddenly the room felt too hot, the stone walls pushing in and causing her heart to beat faster all over again. She needed air. She needed to get out of there—

At the sound of the bedchamber door opening she turned, seeing her grandmother's delicate features highlighted by the candle she held. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Mary Margaret whispered, coming to stand at the foot of the bed. Erin shook her head, not trusting her voice with the way her pulse was still racing.

"I just wanted to check on him," Mary Margaret explained. "Will told us the late hours would be the worst for him."

"Aye," Erin mumbled, placing the wash cloth back on the bedside table. She swallowed, feeling her magic pulse beneath her skin. She needed to get out of here. "Do you mind staying with him?" she asked as she turned around. "I just need some fresh air and I don't want to leave him alone."

Mary Margaret gave her a small smile. "Of course."

Erin nodded at her grandmother before practically running out of the room. She had been to Regina's castle enough in her life to know the layout by heart, the current one unchanged from the future version. She quickly made her way through the winding halls, the only sound above the blood rushing in her ears was her boots striking the floor. In a matter of minutes she found herself in the courtyard that overlooked the vast forest. Sitting on one of the stone benches, she let her head rest in her hands.

Another bloody nightmare, another sleepless night because the images wouldn't disappear. Six years she had lived with them and they still took her by surprise, taking her breath away. They didn't come as often as they had in the beginning when she would wake up screaming every single night. Months could go by without them plaguing her, lulling her into a false sense of security that perhaps they had gone once and for all. But they always came back, barreling through her carefully closed door of emotions to bring them to the forefront. She felt her magic pulse beneath her skin again, familiar but not as comforting as it usually was. Hot tears burned at her eyes as she battled to get her emotions under control before she ended up putting a whole in Regina's castle.

"Lass?"

Erin held her breath as she heard the approaching footsteps of her father. She shouldn't have been surprised that of everyone he would be the one to find her. How many times over the last six years had this very scenario happened – him finding her after a nightmare, comforting her? Willing the tears to disappear she straightened as Killian came to a stop beside the stone bench. He had found sleep at some point in the last few hours, his vest gone and shirt untucked, hair sticking up in every conceivable direction. His blue eyes were bright against the night sky, filled with an understanding that was familiar and comforting to her.

"Dad, what are you doing up?"

"I woke up to check on your brother," Killian replied, motioning with his hand to the place next to her on the bench. Erin wordlessly answered by sliding over, making room for him to sit down. "Mary Margaret said you practically ran out of the room after asking her to sit with him."

"Just needed some air," she mumbled, lacing her fingers together. She knew it was a weak line, knew he would see right through it but something inside caused her to not give a damn in that moment.

"Aye," Killian said with a nod of his head. She could feel her father's eyes on her, peeling back the pages until she was an open book to him. "You had another nightmare."

Erin closed her eyes, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. "I take it mom told you about last night?"

"She was worried about you, lass."

"I told her I was fine," Erin ground out.

"But you're not." She turned to look at her father then. Blue eyes were locked on her, a depthless understanding radiating from them. She felt the lump in her throat grow larger because the look on his face was the same one she had seen for the past six years on his future self, the look that could crumble all her emotional walls and halt her emotional running instantly. "You haven't been fine for a long time, have you?"

"How did—"

Killian smiled sadly at her. "Your eyes betray you, love. There's a sadness there that flickers to life whenever you're reminded of something. It's of complete loss, when there's no hope left, a pain that has no ending. A loss that in the waking hours you can dull but in the dark of night it haunts you, the memory of it so vivid that it feels like you're reliving it over and over again. I lived with that sadness for centuries my ychydig môr-leidr, it's an old companion I recognize."

Erin looked away from him, silent tears rolling down her cheeks, her lower lip trembling. She wasn't surprised that he had seen what she carefully hid from everyone else, nor that he recognized it as the same pain he had lived with for centuries after Milah's death. But hearing those two words, the endearment he had called her for as long as she could remember, shattered what little of her walls remained.

Killian reached for her hand. He may not have had a heart to break but his very soul ached at seeing her like this, so vulnerable and hurt. He knew he couldn't take the pain away from whatever she had been through but he could try to lessen that burden a little. "Tell me what happened, love."

Erin sniffled as she wiped away her tears, letting the familiar scent of leather and sea from the man sat next to her wash over her. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she did what she had done her entire life – trust her father to catch her. Because no matter what time period he was still her father, the man who had carried her literally and figuratively through her darkest hours, the solid ground beneath her feet when the stormy seas threatened to drown her.

"Matthew," she whispered. "His name was Matthew."

So I know I promised you would find out what happened to Erin in this chapter but I'm gonna have to exercise a little bad form and put it off until next chapter. Work is about to get crazy for me the next few days (and tomorrow is my birthday) and I wanted to get something updated and there's no way I'd be able to finish Erin's story before things get hectic.

Just to clarify, at this point in the story our future Charmings haven't realized that the Snow Queen and Maleficent are working together (or to be more exact, that Ingrid is working for Maleficent). In the previous chapter when Liam finally put the pieces together he whispered that revelation and no one else in the group heard him. So all the future Charmings know is that Maleficent sent her henchmen into the past to attack Liam and Erin after somehow learning they were back there (where Rumple rightly guessed there had to be a mole in the castle, even though that mole actually belongs to Ingrid).