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: Yep, Owen/Greg Mendell is in town already. Not good.
Grace5231973: Yikes is right. Cora has really done it this time.
Jennifer Baratta: Yep, a lot of trouble to come. Cora isn't done yet.
Number Ten: Yes, his death was accidental and actually caused by the dark magic cloud itself. Not that Greg is going to care. In fact, instead of going after one person, he may just want the whole town to burn for what happened to his dad. Yep, Rumple is going to lose it. I feel bad for Kathryn too and you will really see her struggling in this chapter.
Sexystarwarslover: Yep, go with that bad feeling. Trouble has come to Storybrooke and Cora brought it. Glad you like the Daddy Charming and Daddy Neal scenes too. Yes, unfortunately, Cora is manipulating Abigail. I love that Snowing is together now too. But lots of trouble coming. Glad you're enjoying. :)
AnonSnowing: Yeah, they didn't do enough with the Home Office for it to make sense. I agree, I just ignore 4B most of the time or rewrite it. Lol, yeah, Snow finding Emma's secret junk food stash would be funny. Yeah, I'm sure most writers try to speak through their characters. I like the banter between the Charmings and Rumple too. Well, Josh is like 6'1 I think so she is quite a bit shorter. I think she's around 5'6? Ha, with Rumple, you never know about what he may or may not be up to. Well, we know who Greg is. Time will tell with the other two. Yeah, finding his Dad like that may have made Owen/Greg even more unhinged here. We shall see. Glad you're enjoying the story!
A Darker Curse
Chapter 21: Fallout
The stares and whispers this morning in the bank, his bank, had been bad enough. So bad that he had sequestered himself in his office, but nothing could get him to concentrate on work. He had been all prepared for the mid-morning board meeting, but had received an e-mail from one of the leading board members that they were postponing the meeting until further notice. It was unsettling, to say the least and all because of a scathing article in the Storybrooke Mirror this morning.
Lewis Dior was not at all accustomed to being the subject of such scandal. He was a very rich man and had always had the means to buy discretion when it came to his business deals. But the tides, in a town where he owned all the leases that Mr. Gold didn't, had just turned. His money had failed to protect him this time and his daughter.
Kathryn hadn't even bothered to come to work yet, but he wasn't surprised. The article shredded her as well. So badly that he would be surprised if she dared to show her face anywhere. If he wasn't the only bank in town, he might have been worried about losing business, but fortunately, there were no other choices in this small town, with the exception of Mr. Gold and no one usually made a deal with him unless they were desperate. Still...the damage to his reputation was already considerable and he had no idea what consequences might be coming at him. And strangely, he had no idea how to handle any of it.
Under the Mayor-ship of Cora Mills, he had never even had to entertain the possibility that something like this could happen. He never thought the possibility that she could lose her office was even on the table. He had never worried about anything at all and had always enjoyed a life that only a pure elitist knew. But one article and Cora's ousting had brought it all crashing down. Needless to say, he was at a loss. He crumbled his copy of the Storybrooke Mirror up and threw it in the trash, as he stalked out of his cushy corner office that he enjoyed as CEO.
The stares from customers were unnerving to say the least and even his employees couldn't help themselves. The words in the article had effectively torn him to smithereens and he stormed out, as he made the short walk to the Court House.
The looks were worse there. These had even more disgust in them and some were even smug, like they were enjoying his fall from grace. He couldn't believe people were actually rooting for his low class, disgraceful soon to be ex-son-in-law.
"Have you seen this trash?" he hissed, as he walked into Albert Spencer's office.
"Of course I've seen it," Spencer spat irritably. Obviously he had been experiencing a morning much like his own.
"Cora would have never allowed this to see the light of day," he complained.
"You're right...which is why it's a very good thing that my Mother is no longer the Mayor," Regina said, as she now stood in the doorway with a smug smirk.
"I see you've come to gloat too, Ms. Mills," Albert spat.
"Mayor Mills...you better get used to it," she warned.
"Or what? Not even the Mayor has the authority to fire a district attorney," Spencer challenged. Regina smirked.
"You're right, but if you go to jail on human trafficking charges...I won't really need to fire you, now will I?" she cooed in response. The color drained from his face.
"You...you can't seriously be thinking of pursuing charges against us. David is an adult...he could have refused the marriage," Albert claimed.
"You could make that argument, but money exchanged hands when he married Kathryn. Trust me, a jury isn't going to see it your way. But there may be a way you can avoid prison," she replied.
"And that is?" Lewis asked with interest.
"Flip on my mother. I know you must have incriminating evidence on her dealings during her time in office. She's the one I really want to see behind bars, so if you give up the goods on her, I'm sure I can convince the Sheriff to cut a deal with you if it means he gets a bigger fish to lock away," Regina replied.
"Betraying your own mother?" Lewis asked in horror.
"She was never much of a mother," Regina retorted.
"No deal...Cora still has more power than you know. Betraying her would be suicide," Albert refuted. But Lewis looked uncertain.
"Lewis...don't do this," he warned. Regina smirked.
"Think about it. I'm a reasonable person and I'll give you a day. If you don't, I'll be sending the Sheriff your way with arrest warrants," she replied, as she walked out with a smile. That was fun. Her only regret was not bringing Snow and David with her so they could enjoy it. She decided she'd head to the diner though to tell them all about it.
Graham flipped through some of the paperwork and finished a few reports. Patrol had been quiet this morning and was allowing him to get a bit caught up. Emma would be in soon and he would let her take the afternoon patrol. As he started on the backlog of filing, three people walked into the station and he didn't recognize any of them.
"Can I help you?" Graham asked.
"Are you the Sheriff in this town?" the man asked.
"I am," Graham answered, watching as the man flashed his badge.
"I'm Detective Michael Bishop from the Portland, Oregon police department," he said introducing himself. Graham looked surprised.
"Oregon...that's a long way to come. It must be for a good reason," he said.
"It is...I'm not sure if you're aware, but you have at least one fugitive in your midst, possibly two," he replied. Graham approached him and opened the first file, as the detective handed it to him.
"Oh...Neal Cassidy, he's new in town and the son of the local pawn shop owner," Graham said, as he opened the second file and his eyes widened.
"No…" he uttered.
"No...you must be mistaken about Emma. There is no way she is involved in anything nefarious," Graham refuted.
"So sure?" the woman asked.
"And you are?" Graham asked in return.
"Detective Tia Bellum. It's well known that Emma Swan and Neal Cassidy were involved. Word has it that they even have a kid together," she replied.
"That doesn't mean that Emma helped Neal in any larceny," Graham argued.
"You seem close to this Emma Swan," she observed.
"She's my deputy, so I know she's not involved in this," he admitted.
"Be that as it may, we can't take your word for it. We need to arrest Neal Cassidy for sure and at least bring Emma in for questioning," Michael said.
"Did they really send three detectives here for two possible fugitives?" Graham questioned.
"Oh, I'm not a detective. I'm Greg Mendell and I work for the District Attorney's office in Portland. I'm here to handle the legalities of extraditing Neal Cassidy and possibly Emma Swan back to Portland," Greg clarified.
"It's in your best interest if you just take us to them if you know where they are," Michael added. Graham sighed.
"Yeah...I know where they are, but this is my town, so you'll follow my lead," he said sternly.
"Lead the way," Michael agreed.
As they entered the diner, hand in hand, all eyes were on them. It wasn't terribly unusual, as they had been attracting a lot of attention. To David, without his memories, it had been a bit unnerving. These were the same people that had always been too afraid to lift a hand to help him when he was being abused by Kathryn, but now they were taking an interest in his life? He had scoffed at that. Now with his memories returned, he knew that it wasn't truly at their fault. He knew if Granny hadn't been cursed, then she would have been in his corner. Same with Ruby and many others.
Now seeing the looks and interest in them with his memories was just funny and he felt like riling a few people up.
"Wanna make a bet?" he whispered to her.
"Depends on the stakes," she retorted.
"If I kiss you right now, I bet we get no less than three gasps, some hushed whispers and maybe even some furious texting," he joked.
"Behave…" she teased.
"Oh come on, you know how much fun it is when we wager and how much fun it is for the winner and loser for that matter," he replied. She eyed him with a sultry look, which she was sure was getting plenty of buzz from the nosy patrons in the diner.
"Baby...if you want to tie me up in bed, all you have to do is say so. I have some scarves we can use or we could always swipe a pair of handcuffs," she whispered to him, before winking and going to join their family. He grinned at her and then slid into the booth beside her, kissing her soundly. There was hushed chattering at that.
"I'm going to take you up on that," he whispered. She gave him a naughty smirk.
"You better," she agreed, as Ruby took their orders, before they turned their attention to Emma, August, Neal, and little David, who was eating tiny pieces of pancake that Emma had torn up for him and placed on his tray.
Emma had finished her pancakes and bacon, as well as fries they were all sharing and Ruby deposited another basket on the table.
"Fries for breakfast?" Snow chided them.
"I prefer to call them breakfast potatoes. They aren't fries until eleven," Emma reasoned. Snow rolled her eyes.
"No question where she got her sense of humor," she said, as she looked at her husband, who was eating fries too.
"She has a point...they are potatoes and it is still breakfast," he agreed. She pretended to roll her eyes, but her insides were melting, for they grinned at each other, same smile and thick as thieves. It was everything she had always wanted and she was screaming for joy on the inside that they finally had each other.
"Well, I don't know if I'm enjoying all the looks or scrutiny, but your article certainly made waves, honey," Snow mentioned.
"Enjoy it, Mom...some people deserve to be knocked down," August replied. David nodded in agreement.
"I agree and maybe we poked the bear, so to speak, but we know Cora. She is going to retaliate, even if we did nothing," David said.
"Dad's right...she's been trying to destroy us the moment we walked into town and the situations she forced the two of you into...all of us really...we can't let her get away with any of it," Emma said.
"Emma's right...I know revenge has never been your way, but if anyone deserves it, it's you and Mom," August added.
"Plus...everyone else deserves to be freed. I mean...I don't know Abigail, but she doesn't seem to be herself exactly," Emma mentioned. David shook his head.
"She wasn't like this...not even close. She even helped me escape George when I called off our wedding and encouraged me to find your mother, even when I thought she didn't feel the same," David said, as he looked at his wife and Snow squeezed his hand.
"She'll be horrified by what Cora has cursed her to be," he added. Snow put her head on his shoulder.
"Maybe now that the curse is unraveling, she'll start to come to her senses. I mean...you did say that she seemed more confused than angry the last time you talked to her," Snow said, as the diner door opened and Kathryn walked in, before slamming the door closed.
"Yeah...something tells me that dying fire in her just got stoked again," David replied, as the blonde stormed glared over at their table. The look on her face was one that would have made his cursed self cringe and he could still feel the fear that she used to cause in him. He hated it, but she had done some terrible things to him, even if it wasn't really her fault. She was just a vessel that Cora had been driving. She was the true abuser, but it was still hard for him to look at her, especially when she was in a full blown rage like this. She stormed towards their table and Emma plucked her son out of the highchair.
Kathryn slapped the papers down on the table.
"Did you sign them?" David asked and she gave him a furious glare.
"No, I didn't sign them and I'm not going to!" she screamed and all eyes were on them. He sighed.
"Kathryn...this is getting pathetic. Just sign the damn papers so we can both move on," he said.
"Oh, but you already have!" she shouted, as she gestured to Mary Margaret.
"You've walked out on your marriage and you're sleeping with a woman that has a son your age, but you want to talk to me about pathetic!" she snarled.
"This is between you and me. Leave Mary Margaret and her kids out of it," he said sternly.
"She's the reason for all of this!" Kathryn said, as her rage turned to the raven haired beauty that had stolen what was hers.
"Everything was fine, until you came into this town and wrecked our lives, you evil tramp!" the blonde ranted. Emma and August were ready to jump in to defend their mother, but they wouldn't have to, as David practically flew out of his seat.
"Fine?" he growled.
"FINE?" he roared.
"Nothing about our marriage was ever fine or good for that matter!" he shouted, as the entire diner was eating up the scene.
"Oh yes, poor abused David! I've heard it before. You told your entire sob story to Dr. Hopper and anyone that would listen lately," she hissed.
"Well, sign the papers and you'll never have to hear my story or from me for that matter ever again," David said in exasperation. She yelled in rage and it was truly scary, as little David started to whimper and they all stared in shock, as she kicked the highchair away. It tumbled to the floor and broke to pieces.
"Dammit David...you need to listen very carefully. I'll speak slowly so you can comprehend what I'm saying in your tiny brain," she said.
"David is not stupid and you need to leave him alone...now," Mary Margaret growled, as she stood up. She knew that Kathryn was cursed, but there was only so much she'd allow her husband to take from this woman without stepping in to defend him.
"You...you're the reason for all of this!" she cried, as she held her head like she was in agony.
"You and your bastard son! Do you know how humiliated my poor father is?!" she raved.
"Your poor father?" August asked, looking at her like she had grown four heads.
"You mean the guy that could probably fill a swimming pool five times over with money and swim in it?" he asked incredulously.
"Your father is an entitled, disgusting person that thinks he can just buy whatever he wants. Even people. Whatever humiliation he's getting is well deserved," August said coldly. Kathryn glowered at him and ripped the divorce papers to shreds.
"The only way you're getting a divorce is over my dead body," she spat, before storming out and nearly running over their newly minted Mayor. Regina watched her go and then looked at the floor.
"That's a lot of rage…" Regina said, as she saw the shredded paper.
"We're trying to remember that it's not all her, but she's making it difficult," Snow said, as her step-sister sat down.
"I hope you have another copy of those," Regina said to David. He shrugged.
"Gold says he has as many as we need, but at this rate, I'm thinking we really will have to have a Judge force her to sign," he replied.
"Or we could just break the curse already," she muttered.
"And I'd love to...but no one seems to know how, except that I'm supposed to do it," Emma said.
"And you will, honey...we don't mean to pressure you," Snow soothed. She nodded.
"I know...I'm just anxious to do it too," Emma replied.
"You will...you're strong and amazing, just like your mother," David told her, bringing a smile to her face.
The diner bell rang and Graham entered with three people trailing behind him.
"Hey...you're white as a sheet. Is everything okay?" Emma asked.
"I'm afraid not," he replied, as his eyes went to the people with him.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"I'm afraid I have to arrest Neal...and ask you some questions," Graham replied. Neal sighed.
"Where are they from? Portland or Phoenix?" Neal asked.
"Portland P.D., Mr. Cassidy and you're under arrest," Detective Bishop announced. Graham turned to him.
"This is still my jurisdiction, so this is mine to do," he argued.
"And if you don't cooperate with the extradition, your department is going to be in a lot of trouble," Greg chimed in.
"Who are you people?" Snow snapped, as she stood up and David held her trembling hands.
"And you are?" Tia asked.
"I am Emma's mother," Snow answered.
"Mr. Cassidy is a wanted man and we got a tip that he was here in this town," Michael said.
"A tip? I just bet you did," David muttered in disgust.
"And your daughter is going to have to answer some questions. We have reason to believe that she was privy to some of Neal Cassidy's crimes," Tia said.
"She wasn't…" Snow hissed.
"Then you should have nothing to fear in our questioning," he replied, as Graham cuffed Neal and Emma looked at her mother.
"I've got him," Snow said, as she took her grandson from her.
"My papa...he's going to flip out," Neal said, but David put his hand up.
"We'll get him and be right there," he assured.
"Don't say anything until we get there," Snow called, as they were led out of the diner. The whole place was abuzz now, earlier with the confrontation between David and Kathryn, and now this.
"I thought Storybrooke was hard to find?" David questioned.
"It is...there's no way they got here without help," August replied.
"This has my mother written all over it," Regina growled.
"And I'm going to kill her," Snow said, as she stormed out and they hurried after her.
Cora smirked deviously, as she hung up her phone. Sidney confirmed that Neal Cassidy was just arrested.
"It seems my plan is in motion," she said, as she got up with the intention of leaving to go to the station. These were fireworks that she didn't want to miss, just as Kathryn stormed in.
"Let me guess...David continued to refuse you?" she questioned.
"He did and he has the audacity to sit there and kiss that woman in front of the whole town! He has humiliated me for the last time!" she growled. Cora smirked.
"I may have something that will lift your spirits," she said.
"I doubt anything could do that right now," Kathryn lamented.
"Even seeing Mary Margaret Swan lose her precious daughter?" Cora questioned. The blonde looked at her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"It would appear that Emma's baby daddy has had some trouble in the past. He's a wanted man and I called in a little tip. Now there are some people here to take him back to Oregon to prosecute him for his crimes," Cora explained.
"What does that have to do with Emma?" Kathryn asked.
"Oh I'm quite certain that Emma Swan was privy to her ex-boyfriend's misdeeds, which means there is a very high chance that she is going to be extradited to Oregon as well, even if they end up not charging her. She'll have to leave Storybrooke to clear her name before the court and if I haven't lost my touch, I'm going to do my best to convince the detectives that she deserves to face the same charges as Neal Cassidy," Cora replied. Kathryn smirked.
"This is happening now?" she asked. The former Mayor nodded.
"Yes and if we don't hurry, we might miss the moment when Mary Margaret Swan has her precious baby girl ripped away from her," Cora replied. Kathryn smirked.
"I'll drive...because I'm not missing this or the opportunity to rub salt in her wounds, while I figure out how to make David pay," Kathryn said.
"Don't worry dear...I can assure you that hurting his precious Mary Margaret and her daughter will hurt him far more than you can imagine...perhaps even more than anything we can do to him directly," Cora asserted.
"Then I can't wait to witness you twist the knife in that little tramp and revel in her misery," Kathryn said, as she followed the other woman out. Revenge would still be hers and they would rue the day they decided to cross her...