Expectations: Ogres
Belle hadn't realized just how much she's missed her children until Rumple pulls the car into the pick-up area at Camp Sterling and she sees them standing there and waving. Surely they couldn't have aged that much in two weeks, she thinks. Especially Faith. Her oldest daughter has never been overweight, but the softness of her child's body has been tanned and toned and it is a beautiful and poised young woman smiling at her as Rumple parks and hurries to get out to greet them.
"Mum." Faith says simply, and hugs Belle tightly, pulling back when her mother winces. "Mum? Are you okay?"
"Minor mishap. I'll tell you all about it later." She promises, and then moves to embrace her other children as Rumple hugs Faith close. "I've missed you, my sweet girl." She hears him whisper, and her heart melts a little.
"Mom! Dad!" Belle sees Liam rush by her, almost knocking a smaller child to the ground as he flings himself into his father's arms. Killian laughs and although the boy is eleven, he tosses his son high into the air and catches him back. Liam looks confused for a moment, and then looks down at the hands holding him. "Dad! Your hand grew back!" Liam whispers loudly. "How'd you do that?"
"We'll talk about that when we get home." Killian puts his son down so that Emma can greet their boy properly. Emma isn't fond of letting her emotions get away from her, but she runs her hand through Liam's black hair and seems to be drinking in the sight of him. "We missed you, big guy. Did you have fun?"
"At first no…" Liam tries to be honest. "But then, yes. A lot. Can we get McDonalds on the way home? Please." The lack of any major fast-food establishments in Storybrooke is an ongoing disappointment to the child. "And can Haylan ride back with us?"
"How did I know you were going to ask that?" Emma sighs. "Belle, would you mind if we drop off Haylan at your house later? You know they'll both turn into ashes or something if they're apart for long."
Belle is torn and tempted to refuse the offer. She hasn't had her son back five minutes yet. But she sees the pleading in Haylan's eyes and relents. "But I want you home by five, Haylan. Got it?"
"Got it." Haylan agrees. "Oh, this is for you!" He reaches into his pocket and pulls out piece of pale pink quartz. "I found out when we were hiking. I thought you'd like it."
"I love it. Thank you, my love." She bends down and hugs him. "When you get home tonight I want to hear all about what camp was like."
As Haylan takes off after Liam, she is aware of someone sobbing hysterically and sees Vivienne wailing in her father's arms.
"Viv?" Belle asks, hurrying over to her daughter. "What's wrong, Baby?"
"I made friends here!" Vivienne manages.
"I always cry when I make friends." Andrew, who has been quietly watching everything, chimes in, and Belle shoots him a look.
"Destiny…and Sasha…and I'll won't see them again even if I come next year because they'll be elevens and in the elevens and twelves and I'll only be a ten!"
"You aren't even close to being a ten." That was Andrew again.
"Andrew, go wait in the car." Rumple orders him, and Andrew smirks at him before crawling into the backseat of the Cadillac. "Yes, Papa."
Eventually Rumple manages to calm Vivienne down with a promise of frozen yogurt and get her into the car, where she still continues to sniff dramatically." Belle is curious as she sees the looks Andrew keeps giving his sister. Usually he takes a kind of sadistic glee in winding her up, but she would swear there's true malice in his stare now. Andrew isn't just teasing the girl, he's really angry at her for something.
It isn't until that night when Andrew is getting ready for bed that Belle manages to corner him. He looks curious as she closes his bedroom door and sits down.
"What happened between you and Vivienne at camp?" She asks him directly. "Because I know something did."
Andrew chews his lip and looks down at the tan plush of his carpet. "Promise you won't get mad and say I'm tattling?"
"I promise."
Andrew takes a deep breath. "There was this girl at the camp, Vicky . She was in Viv's cabin, and…Mom, they were so mean to her! She won her camp trip and so they teased her about being poor, and having big ears, and being all quiet like Haylan is. But she was really nice, and we like the same kinds of books so we became friends and talked a lot. And I tried to make Vivienne stop being mean to her but she wouldn't. She called her Mickey Mouse because of her ears. Then Vicky was just…gone, and I found out her Mom died and she had to leave. And Mum, they didn't care, the other girls in her bunk. Not even Vivienne cared. She was just glad Vicky wasn't around anymore.
"Oh, Andrew…"
"And I hate her, Mum! I know I'm not supposed to hate anyone, but I really hate Vivienne! She's mean to so many people. I really liked Vicky. She was…sweet. And she was probably so happy when she won a chance to go to camp, and really excited, and then people like Viv and her friends had to try and ruin it for her!"
Belle hugs her son close to her. "Thank you for telling me this, Andrew. I'm so sorry for your friend's loss. Do you have her address so we can send a card?"
"No, but I have her name and what city she lives in. I was thinking Emma might be able to find her."
"You know, I bet she could." Belle smiles and smoothes his hair. Up until last year his pajamas had had cartoon characters and super-heroes on them. The ones he wore now were just smaller versions of his father's. "You're a good person, Andrew. You know that?" She asks him softly. "I am so lucky to have you as my son."
/
"She's not mentally ill, Belle!"
"I didn't say she was. There are a lot of reasons people go into therapy, and sometimes it's to change something about themselves. She's on a bad path here and it's our responsibility to try and put her back on the right one."
Rumple sighs and gives his wife an exasperated look. "Love, children fight. It's what they do. It's completely unrealistic to expect her to like everyone she meets."
"I don't care if she doesn't like them. I don't care if she bloody hates them. What I care about is our daughter making the lives of other children difficult because she doesn't like how they look or how rich they are. Rumple, we both know what that feels like, being different. Girls can be vicious to each other: they're like wolves in a pack and they'll run out the one that just doesn't fit in. And if you don't care about those other children, I know you love Vivienne. People are going to want to be her friend just to avoid being her enemy, and before you tell me how wonderful that sounds, keep in mind that it means she'll never have any true friends. Everyone will be there just because they want something from her."
Belle sits down on the edge of her dresser. It's been a habit of hers since their days in the Dark Castle. She doesn't do it on purpose, but if there 40 chairs in a room, she'll still find a way to sit on the one thing that isn't. It's one of her quirks that he always finds endearing.
"It's like the ogres." Belle finally says softly. "Destroying lives for no other reason than because they could."
"My daughter is not an ogre." His voice is low and strained.
"Then OUR daughter needs to stop bloody acting like one! I won't stand by and let her hurt people. I won't let her turn into Zelena!"
The name is almost never spoken in their home, by mutual agreement. Rumple despises any mention of the witch, or the year he spent held captive by her. The look he gives her now is so bleak she puts her arms around him and fits her head between his shoulder and his neck. "You know I'm right." She presses her point. "Vivienne isn't going to have magic, but she will have money. And money can be just as powerful in destroying someone's life if the motivation is there."
"You and I will meet with Dr. Hopper first." Rumple finally relaxes. "We'll express our concerns and see whether or not he thinks Viv will benefit from sessions with him. I don't want her to be alone, Belle. You know I don't. I love her…"
"So do I. She's my little girl. Who is quickly becoming a young woman. It has to be now, Rumple. We've indulged her long enough. Andrew told me tonight that he hates her. And I know they yell that at each other all the time, but this time…I believed him. He really does hate her. We have to fix this."
"We will." He promises. "It'll all be fine."
"One of your future visions?" She teases him.
"No. If she doesn't shape herself up I'm trading her for a beagle."
/
There are three types of people in town.
Once upon a time, Vivienne knows, everyone in Storybrooke was from the Enchanted Forest and the areas around it. Then, when the curse was broke, new people were born here, like herself and her siblings.
She thinks those two groups are the best. Those who came here first, and their kids. This is their town. Anyone else should have to follow their rules.
The third group is people who were born in the outside world and were brought back here by someone from the town, someone who had fallen in love with them. There aren't many people who fit into that category, but there are more and more all the time, and Vivienne isn't the only one to feel uneasy around them. There are those in town who are pretty outspoken in their beliefs that such people shouldn't be here at all, that if the Storybrooke resident is that in love, they should leave town and move in with the outsider. The story of Greg and Tamara and Henry's abduction is usually brought up at some point in the conversations.
The outsiders have a hard time with the idea of magic, and an even harder time understanding the rhythm of the town, about what works here and what doesn't. They want to change things, build their own businesses, bring their own relatives here for visits. They wander into the pawn shop and demand to see Rumple perform magic tricks. This usually annoys Papa enough to play "Got your tongue" with the intruder, and once they can speak again they seldom ask for a repeat performance.
Once they understand that magic is real, and have a little history under their belts, they tend to view the entire Gold family with both morbid fascination and stark terror. This suits Vivienne just fine. They should fear her Papa, and if they were going to barge in where they weren't wanted then they deserved to be uncomfortable.
She's cutting through the park today on her way to visit her father in his shop and coax him into handing over his credit card so she could order a new jacket online. Mum would tell her there was nothing wrong with her old one, but Papa was usually far more reasonable about such important matters. She's rounding the corner of the public restrooms when she hears the word "Gold" and stops. She recognizes two voices: one is Mrs. Murphy from the hardware store, the other is the woman Mrs. Murphy's son Ken just brought to town, Kate or Kite or Kitchen or something.
"I met the older girl, Faith. She was a sweetheart."
"Gina, the oldest two are fine." Huh? Gina? That was her name? "Faith has babysat my daughter years and Lily worships her. And the oldest boy is smart as a whip: wants to be a lawyer. They take after their mother, even if the girl does know how to do a little hocus pocus. And the younger boy is gorgeous: just a bit of a quiet soul, that one. Makes some folks uneasy but he's just a deep thinker as far as I can tell. Never so much as stepped on someone's lawn without permission. His twin, though…"
"The little girl? I've only seen glimpses of her. Enough to know she looks a lot like Faith."
"It's skin-deep, I promise you. You couldn't find two sisters less alike. Faith would give you the shirt off of her back. The little one would steal it from you and then make you pay through the nose to get it returned! She and Lily are the same age: Lily's first day of kindergarten, she was so excited she couldn't sit still. She came home in tears swearing she'd never go back because Vivienne Gold made fun of her freckles and kept trying to draw on her face!"
I just asked if I could play 'Connect the Dots'! Vivienne is seething as she listens unseen to the conversation. Lily's a whiny little baby who never can take a joke!
"I complained to the school, again and again, because even now she still picks on my Lily. But no one will lift a finger to do anything because they're so afraid that demon who spawned her will murder them. Or evict them or something! And he would! He dotes on that wretched little brat! The one saving grace is that the little witch is always talking about leaving Storybrooke. I suspect half the town will throw a celebration that day. May she never come back, either!"
Both women laugh, and walk away.
By the time Vivienne reaches the pawn shop, her fury has dissolved into tears. She bursts through the door and runs by a startled customer and right into her father's arms.
"We're closed." Rumple abruptly tells the customer. "Come back later and we'll talk." His tone leaves no room for argument. The customer looks somewhat annoyed but obediently leaves, and Rumple magically locks the door behind him.
Rumple picks up his daughter and sits her on the counter, and hands her a handkerchief. "What happened, love? Did someone hurt you? Are you injured?"
Vivienne shakes her head. "Mrs. Murphy…you need to kick everyone out of the hardware store right now and throw her out of her house too, and turn her stupid daughter Lily into a beetle, and…"
"That's quite a tall order. They always pay the rent on time…why would I be destroying their lives?"
In a halting tone, Vivienne relays what she overheard in the park. "We can't let them get away with that!" She urges. "They insulted us, Papa! Both of us!"
Rumple is quiet for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Vivienne my love, right now I want to do exactly as you've suggested, with a few ideas of my own."
His daughter claps her hands, but he uses his own to still them. "But I won't. If I destroyed everyone in this town who despises me or has spoken ill of me behind my back, I have a feeling our little family might be the only ones left. The truth is that I've earned their distaste. They have legitimate reasons for hating me and I won't punish them for what I've more than earned. My desire to harm them right now is because of how they feel about you, and what holds me back is knowing this: it took me a long time to alienate everyone I've ever met. You've managed to pull it off by the age of nine."
"I don't understand…" She sniffs.
Rumple sums his courage, and he will freely admit to himself that courage has never been his strong suit. It has to be said. "My beloved daughter…" She smiles at that. "you are a cruel and vicious child. When you aren't being cruel intentionally, you tolerate and encourage others to be cruel. Even to us, your own family, you parcel out warmth like food rations during a famine."
Her smile fades and he sees her eyes widen in shock. "And many of your flaws are my fault." He continues. "I've taken a certain amount of pride in that, how you don't let anyone take advantage of you or force your hand. Not because I see myself, but because in that iron spine of yours I see your mother. You have her grit and determination, but you also have my temper and vindictiveness. Those things you can't help inheriting." He puts his hands on her shoulders, and feels that she's now shaking. He plunges on. "But you can help what you bloody do with them. You're not a toddler any longer, incapable of controlling yourself. If you want the respect of this town, you need to earn it. It's far too late for me, but not for you. They're quite forgiving, and no one will remember the nastiness of a child if the woman she grows into is gracious and loving."
He thinks for a moment he's reached her, and he wishes to hell Belle was here to help him with this when he sees the child's lip curl into a sneer. "Why should I? I'm going to leave here and be rich and famous and never have to even look at them again! Why does it matter if they like me? None of them will be able to afford my clothes, anyway!"
"Oh, Vivienne." He tries to embrace her but she shoves him away violently. "I thought you loved me!" She yells in his face.
"I do! That's why I'm trying to save you from making the mistakes I did! By the time your mother came into my life there was barely anything human left in me! You may not get as lucky!" He runs his hand through his hair. "Your Mum and I…we've talked and we think you may benefit from speaking with Dr. Hopper."
Her face turns purple in rage and contorts, and he draws back because for just a moment he swears he sees the Imp instead of his child. Vivienne jumps off the counter and runs for the door before he can stop her, unlocking it and rushing outside and darting across the street. He hurries after her as fast as he can: even magically healed now his bad leg still isn't as strong as the other one. What he sees and hears next will haunt him for the rest of his life: Moe's flower truck is chugging down the street on route to a delivery. Blinded by rage and tears, Vivienne runs right in front of it. There is the squeal of tires and burning rubber and a sickening thump, and Vivienne's small body goes flying through the air as if throw by an ogre. He hears someone scream and realizes it's himself.
Magic has a price, he thinks madly as he runs toward his child. Is this the price for what he did to Faith? Did the Fates try and extract the price through attempting to kill Belle, and failing, went after their daughter instead?
I won't let you have her! I won't let you take another one from me! Claim me instead, here and now, but not her.
Not my little girl.