See previous chapters for summaries and warnings.
Thanks for the incredible response to this fic! Keep the reviews coming.
Once more, it is important to remember that Cora has cursed Kathryn to be this way and she is the Evil Queen here. She married Leopold. Regina and Snow are step-sisters and love each other. Thanks for all the reviews. Except the negative troll reviews. I delete those and respond to them accordingly. This story is for true Snowing fans that know something like an age gap would never hinder their love.
There is also a love scene in this chapter and it is marked if that's not your thing and you'd rather skip it.
The curse has lasted 20 years in this verse until they found Storybrooke.
Here are individual responses:
MerlockVonBaron: Yes, she is going to try and use the Land Without Magic against them to get rid of Emma and Neal. Graham planted the listening bug at the station so she could overhear their conversation. It's in chapter 18.
Grace5231973: I agree, as long as there is real love, age doesn't matter. :) Trolls will always find something to hate though. I'm glad Snowing is reunited too and I answer that question about the sapling in this chapter. Yep, Cora is a coward and will never understand love. She's playing dirty.
AnonSnowing: You're welcome! I do love exploring the outsider thing. I think it's because they went no where with it and left a lot of unanswered questions when they dropped the story line. It would have been more interesting in anything they did in 4B, lol. Ha, yeah Snow finding Emma's secret sugar stash would be hilarious. Oh yes, I know what you mean and I'm sure she did have moments to herself with thoughts of Charming. I often use the inner monologue of characters to speak through my writing and yes, this inner monologue was directed specifically at the Troll. I know, Lady of the Lake is in my top five episodes. It's very bittersweet. Glad you enjoyed it so much!
Number Ten: Yep, Cora is down and dirty, but even she might not realize what she is doing by letting outsiders in and you'll understand why in this chapter. She may come to regret this big time. She is cold blooded for sure though.
Jennifer Baratta: Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it!
Sexystarwarslover: Yeah, Cora is playing double dirty. I know, we can't really blame Graham. He doesn't get a choice. Cora is really taking a risk by bringing in outsiders, but is desperate to get rid of Emma and make Rumple pay for helping the heroes through Neal. Yep, they got the sapling first and hopefully can keep it safe. Yep, leave it to Regina to give Emma all kinds of mental images she doesn't want. Yep, Snowing time and it was on fire. I know, Lady of the Lake is in my top five favorite episodes too. Glad you're enjoying it. :)
Sweefwaterbutter: Welcome back! I know, poor Graham. They won't blame him though, because he didn't have a choice. Glad you like the Snowing. I love writing them. Yep, Cora is playing dirty and out for blood for sure. Glad you think it was tastefully done. I try to make sure they are when I write them. I do like those quiet, intense moments too. :)
A Darker Curse
Chapter 20: Morning Musings
As Snow started to rouse that morning, she became almost fearful of opening her eyes. The pair of arms around her, the warm body pressed against her back, and the scent of the man she loved was finally a dream once again realized. That's what made her fearful. She almost felt like if she opened her eyes that he would disappear and be lost to her again as he was for twenty long years. Always the risk taker, though, she finally did open her eyes and turned her head to gaze into her husband's beautiful blue eyes.
"It wasn't just a dream," she said with a smile. He smiled back.
"It wasn't...I was afraid that it was going to be too good to be true," he agreed, as their lips met tenderly. He gently caressed her cheek, as their lips parted and gazed deeply into her eyes.
"I love you…" he said.
"I love you too," she said.
"Are you ready for your first day as Deputy Mayor?" he asked. She smiled.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she mentioned.
"You're going to be amazing," he said. There was no doubt in his mind at all.
"Thank you, my love...I suppose I should get ready for the day," she mentioned.
"Want help?" he asked in a sultry tone and she grinned.
"I thought you'd never ask," she purred, as they got up and she giggled, as he chased her into the bathroom.
Sometime later, they came out from behind the curtain, dressed and ready for the day. Their arms and hands weren't far from each other, as they just couldn't seem to keep their hands to themselves, but this was really nothing new for them. They had never been discrete and passion had always been so very prevalent between them. She had wondered if it would fade between them, as it often did for other couples, but no such detractor seemed to have befallen them. They were still like newlyweds and she had a feeling they always would be.
The sight on the couch though was a bit surprising for them and heartwarming. Neal was sleeping there with baby David asleep on his chest.
"Guess he's really serious about being a part of his life," David whispered quietly. She hummed.
"I...I just hope he doesn't hurt Emma again," he mentioned and she looked up fondly at him.
"He made mistakes...but I don't think he'll let either of them go again. He's stopped running away from his father and that's a good sign," she said. He nodded.
"But we'll both be there for her, no matter what. I don't think anyone would dare hurt her again, especially with her daddy ready to skewer them alive if they did," she said, as she caressed his face fondly. He smirked.
"Damn right I will," he agreed, as he kissed her cheek, just as Neal began to rouse. He instantly looked half embarrassed and half scared to death, as he saw them standing there.
"Oh...it was late when we got home and Emma said I could crash on the couch," he said quickly and Snow put her hands up.
"It's okay Neal...you're baby David's father and you're welcome here always," she assured, as their grandson began to wake up.
"I heard him whimpering during the night and got up with him so Emma could sleep," he said.
"That was very nice of you," she said. She was a bit worried though and put her hand to the little boy's forehead.
"He's been sleeping through the night mostly, except the last few nights. He's seemed restless...I hope he's not coming down with anything," she fretted.
"I thought about that...but he doesn't seem sick. He kind of seems pretty perceptive though. Maybe it's all the stuff going on. Cora is pretty pissed," he said worriedly. She nodded.
"That's what I'm afraid of, but we're not going to let her hurt this family," Snow assured and he felt humbled in being included in that.
"Nana…" he whined, as she picked him up.
"Oh...it's okay sweetie…" she said, as both she and David kissed his head.
"Why don't we change him and then all go to Granny's for breakfast?" he suggested.
"I won't say no to that," Emma said, as she and August trudged down the stairs.
"Me either," Neal agreed.
"Yeah...I mean we don't want to miss all the commotion my article is about to cause," August reminded.
"That's right...a lot of heads are going to explode," Emma said. David smirked.
"Well...we can't miss that," he agreed, as they got ready to go.
"We better make a stop at your father's shop on the way though," Snow told Neal, as they looked at the sapling.
"Are you sure giving it to my Dad is the best idea?" Neal asked.
"I mean, I love him...but if that thing has magic, there's no telling what he'll do with it," he added.
"We can't risk keeping it here though. Cora probably has keys to every place in this town if I know her and she absolutely cannot get her hands on it. At least we know your father has ways to keep her out of things he doesn't want her in," Snow reasoned. David nodded.
"She's right and so far...we're on the same side as him. We all have a vested interest in seeing Cora go down," he said.
"He's right...besides, according to the book, your father's only done all that he's done to find you," August reminded. Neal sighed.
"That doesn't make it okay," he refuted.
"No...it just makes him a parent. Trust me...we get it now," Snow said, as she looked at her husband. Neal shook his head.
"You two are way too forgiving...but I appreciate it. For both of us, because I know I screwed up too. I just hope he appreciates it as much as me," he replied.
"Time will tell, I suppose," Snow said, as they headed out for the day.
Kathryn stared at the official document with disbelief and defeat. It was done once she signed the line underneath where David had signed. Of course, she could refuse to sign and drag the divorce out for a while. But she knew that David's lawyer would just petition a Judge to order her to sign the papers and he would win. His lawyer was the illustrious Mr. Gold and even if she was foolish enough to hire the best lawyer she could find with her father's well of endless funds, she knew Mr. Gold would rip her apart in any kind of court battle.
He would dredge up everything in her and her father's past, including another contract that would spell a lot of trouble if it came to light for her father. Then he would also bring up her verbal and even physical abuse of her own husband. Even with the stigma that existed when it came to the possibility of a woman abusing a man that was physically bigger and stronger, she would lose. Too many people knew about the years of her abusing her husband. Half of them had condoned it, the ones in her father's circle. To them, David was a second class citizen and belonged to her, making him hers to do with what she pleased. That was how the upper class in her father's circle thought and she was the same as them. Then there was the other half that had silently stood in the background and allowed the abuse, too afraid to step in to help him. She had seen it plenty at the diner. The looks of pity in their eyes had humiliated David on a regular basis and only made him more ripe for her picking.
But everything had changed now. It seemed like it happened with a blink of an eye. Mary Margaret Swan and her two spawn had waltzed into town just mere months ago and had utterly destroyed her life in a sequence of events that none of them had seen coming.
Somehow, David had gone from a man she could order around with a mere look to a man with a backbone that refused her every whim. She had once commanded his every move and held him in her iron fist. He was hers, bought and paid for. He performed his husbandly duties to her, including the warming of her bed, and stood on her arm dutifully at every social event like the perfect, pretty little trophy husband he was. Until her.
Having another woman steal away what was hers and him practically sprinting into her arms was humiliating enough. But the woman he had divorced her for was twenty-years his senior, though an argument could be made that Mary Margaret Swan had seemed to age like fine wine. Most women could only hope to look as good as she did at forty-eight, as she easily looked ten years younger than that.
The utter humiliation that woman had put her through made her blood boil. Sometimes. That was another odd thing that she had been experiencing lately. At first, David's defiance had enraged her, but lately, she felt much of her anger giving away to indifference. She even had notions of regret lately, which was horrifying at first. But there was a nagging voice inside her now, telling her that she was the abuser and her misery was well deserved. She had no idea where such notions had come from though. It wasn't at all like her to think such things. She was one of the town's most powerful women, after all. Or at least she was. With Regina in power now...she had a feeling that her days in any kind of powerful position were as numbered as Cora's.
"So he did it…" Cora said coolly, as Kathryn looked up at her. The older woman wanted to sneer, as the look on the blonde's face was infuriating. She had gone from the cold, unfeeling tyrant that Cora had molded in her image to this simpering mess of a woman. That wouldn't do for her at all for what was to come and what had to be done.
"Even if I fight it now...there's no use. A Judge will just order me to sign," she said pathetically.
"Or maybe not," Cora replied.
"What do you mean?" Kathryn asked.
"I mean that your family's secrets are already out, thanks to Mary Margaret Swan's bastard son," Cora spat, as she showed her a copy of that day's edition of the Storybrooke Mirror. Kathryn looked at the headline and felt the indifference in her ebb away, only to be replaced with that familiar and powerful anger that had made her the feared woman she was.
"How dare they…" she growled.
"Yes...he painted quite a picture. Your poor father is probably beside himself right about now. Everyone knows for sure now that Albert Spencer sold his step-son for a hefty sum and that your marriage is nothing more than a master/slave business transaction. You're the town pariah now," Cora goaded, trying to stoke the seeds of anger and cruelty that she had planted inside the kind Princess Abigail with her perfect curse. Kathryn clenched her perfect teeth in anger and read the words that wrote her as an abusive, controlling wife and her husband as some kind of strong, championed hero that had survived insurmountable adversity.
"Damn him...damn her…" Kathryn growled.
"Yes...she did this. Trust me when I say that Mary Margaret Swan is the reason for all of this," Cora prodded. Kathryn gave into the rage inside her, like a light was flipped, and shredded the newspaper to pieces in her hands with a scream of fury. Cora smirked.
"Good...then you're ready to stop crying and licking your wounds?" she said.
"I'm...ready…" Kathryn hissed and Cora gave her a pleased smirk.
"Good...because for what we have to do...I cannot afford anyone to get a weak stomach now," she warned.
"I want...blood. Their blood," Kathryn said, Cora was thrilled at that, as it seemed August Swan had unknowingly put Kathryn perfectly back under the evils of her spell. And she knew that's what it was. Abigail would be horrified by the things she had done and was probably about to do if the curse was ever broken. But if Cora succeeded, then the curse would never break and Kathryn would remain as her right hand. She needed one too, since she could never count on Regina to be what she wanted. So molding the noble blooded Kathryn into her image would have to do as a surrogate for her own daughter.
"Good...and you'll have it if you stick with me. You may be the pariah, but that can still work to our advantage," she said.
"How?" Kathryn asked.
"They'll be at the diner soon. Why don't you take those papers and cause a scene. It will bode well for the storm that's coming," Cora replied cryptically. Kathryn smirked. Oh yes...she'd go tell her husband exactly what she thought of these papers and the little trollop he was sleeping with.
The shop bell rang, as Snow and David entered the shop that morning, while the rest of their family had gone onto the diner.
"When I told you both to bring the sapling here right away, I wasn't kidding," he said.
"Sorry...we got a bit distracted last night," David said, with a smirk that told the whole story.
"Clearly…" he deadpanned, as Snow sat the sapling on the counter.
"Have...have you seen Bae...Neal? I went by the Inn last night, but he wasn't in his room," Rumple inquired.
"He crashed on our couch last night. I think he wanted to be close to little David," Snow answered.
"Understandable," he said, as he looked at the sapling.
"Remarkable…" he muttered.
"Yeah...so how do you propose we keep this safe from Cora. I mean, if we know her like I think...she probably has keys to every place in this town," David mentioned.
"You're right to assume the worst of her. Fortunately, I have a place where she will not find it," Rumple responded.
"And you're not going to tell us where," Snow deduced.
"If she goes for broke and threatens someone either of you love to get to it...I think we all know that you would cave too easily," Rumple said.
"Even if she could destroy the sapling, she can't destroy our love. We wouldn't risk the life of someone we love for it," David replied. Rumple nodded.
"You do have a point, considering you both are the source. However, it's still too risky since it's magic and thus unpredictable in a world without," he said.
"Then why did you have me hide a potion that you made from us in Maleficent?" David questioned.
"That's my business," Rumple answered.
"And ours too. In case you've forgotten, we now share a grandson with you. And your son clearly still has feelings for our daughter and Emma may act like she's over Neal, but I assure you it's just that. An act," Snow said.
"She's right. We're the leaders of this family and in this family, we do things together," Charming added.
"I usually work alone," Rumple said.
"And working with us will get you into Neal's good graces," Snow reminded.
"Oh hell…" he cursed inwardly.
"All right...if you must know, originally I hid it away so it would come over with the curse and I could use it to bring magic to Storybrooke. I was going to need it to find Bae...but obviously things have changed on that front," Rumple stated.
"If Cora had magic, we'd all be in serious danger," David said.
"Which is why she can't get the potion or the sapling," Rumple agreed.
"That's what I don't get. Why did she bring your son here? That actually helped you," David said.
"He got free that night and he wasn't supposed to," Snow reminded.
"You weren't awake yet for that part," she added.
"She's right. Cora planned to keep him captive to use against me and if she thinks she can use our children against us in the future...she'll do it," he said.
"Then we can't let her. We have to present a united front," Snow said.
"Which means no more working alone," David added.
"Fine...but you two better be ready for the fight and that means no mercy. You two have a track record of being too forgiving," Rumple warned. Snow sighed.
"Though I will never think mercy is wrong...that was us in the past," she said, as she looked at her husband.
"After what Cora has done to us...we won't stop until she's gone and can never hurt anyone again," David agreed.
"Good...I hope that's true," he said. They nodded and joined hands, as they left for the diner. Rumple remained behind and walked into the back room of his shop. He looked at the magical looking glass and smirked.
"That should do," he said, as he proceeded to come up with the perfect hiding spot.
Finally. It was finally happening. When he received the call, he could hardly believe it was true. It had happened very fast yesterday when Captain Selvig of one of Portland's precincts had spoken with a Cora Mills, Mayor of a very small town by the name of Storybrooke, Maine. He had found it a bit strange that she had placed a call about an old larceny case involving a man named Neal Cassidy. He was wanted in Phoenix as well, but she had chosen to call them, which would allow them to prosecute the case if they were first to bring him in. It got even stranger though after that. The woman claimed that they were so small that she had taken the liberty of mailing a special map to their precinct to show them how to find the town. And sure enough, just an hour after the call, the map had shown up in the mail. Like magic or something.
If all of that wasn't peculiar enough, his precinct's boss received a special assignment from his superior and sent off on the new assignment. A temporary Captain was brought in at this point, which was why he was now in Maine.
Greg Mendel wasn't new to Maine and he had tragedy in his past. A tragedy that had set him on his life's path to find those responsible and make them pay. He still didn't know exactly what had truly happened that night. Only that some dark force had ripped through the forest that night and killed his father. He could still hear his father's screams that night, as they slept in the woods and some mystical happening had ripped him away.
He had watched in complete disbelief as a town sprawled up from the forest out of no where and as quickly as it appeared before him, it had disappeared. But the damage was done and he found his father's body a couple miles away from their campsite, his eyes frozen open in death.
He had run through the woods, his tears blinding him, as he cried for help. He wasn't even sure how long he had wandered along the side of the road until a passerby had stopped and taken him to the police. He had ended up in Augusta and told his wild story about a dark purple cloud carrying his father away and a town that appeared and disappeared before him.
He could tell immediately that the cops chalked his story up to a boy's wild imagination and that his father's death had obviously been caused by some realistic, but possibly nefarious occurrence.
It was two days later when a patrol car took him back to the vicinity and he was able to lead them to his father's body. By then, animals had found the body and there was not much left, to his sorrow and horror.
Despite all that, the detectives had assured him that there was not, nor had ever been, any town sprouting up in that vicinity. But Greg had never been convinced of that. He may have been young, but he knew what he had seen.
The medical examiner was limited in his findings after the autopsy due to the exposure the body of his father had suffered and the wildlife that had eaten parts of the deceased.
While inconclusive, the medical examiner ruled his father's death as accidental. He had found a broken bones, likely from impact with the ground, and a few burns on the skin still in tact. Apparently, the national weather service had picked up signs of an electrical type storm that night in the vicinity that included high winds. Therefore, the death was ruled accidental due to this "storm". But Greg had never and would never be convinced that what had happened that night was an electrical storm. He had been searching for answers his whole life and found people that believed his story. They had told him about the strange things that happened in this world and found that they had connections throughout the country that could get them into various fields, including, but not limited to, law enforcement. They were called the Home Office, a rather benign sounding name for what they did. They sought out the unexplained things that occurred in this world. The things that mainstream wrote off as impossible and usually buried or gave a plausible explanation, like his father's death. Greg was certain that the electrical storm that night was no electrical storm. And now he was finally going to prove it.
He was no cop, but the Home Office had put him through law school. It allowed him to plausibly involved with law enforcement and cases like these. The district attorney had mandated the precinct to take an assistant district attorney with them to deal with the legalities in this case. In reality, he was a lawyer, but not an assistant district attorney for the state. But the two detectives with him did not know anything was amiss. Nor would they, for they were only interested in making a collar and closing an old case.
Once he had more information, the Home Office would give him further instructions. He would have his answer and they would wipe away whatever unholy impurity had infected the world to quote the words of his handler.
"Damn...where is this place? We're in the middle of no where," the detective that was driving said. Greg didn't know him, but he had a few years of experience on the job and his name was Michael Bishop. The other was a woman. She was petite and beautiful, with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. He was sure she was every bit as capable as her male counterpart, but there was something about her that made him think she was more than she seemed. It was possible the Home Office had inserted another operative into this like they had with him, but he couldn't be sure and he knew better than to question her about it. One of many rules to working for the Home Office was that you didn't ask questions. That was fine with him. So far, they had gotten him to where he was in his life and at long last, this path would give him the answers he needed.
"It should be just around this bend," the female detective answered. Her name was Tia Bellum.
"How? There is literally nothing but woods," the male detective complained. But like out of no where, there was suddenly a sign.
"Huh...there it is. Welcome to Storybrooke," Tia said, as they sailed past the sign and slowed down. Michael looked surprised, as they drove into town proper. There had been nothing but woods for almost fifty miles and suddenly the town was just there. Greg was more certain than ever. This town was the reason his father died almost twenty years ago. Now he was going to find out how and why. Then he was going to make those responsible pay...