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.
The curse has lasted 20 years in this verse until they found Storybrooke.
Here are individual responses:
MerlockVonBaron: Yep, Tamara is up to no good. I know, Blue is the worst. Glad you're enjoying! :)
Ghostwriter: Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it!
Grace5231973: I hope Geppetto change his mind too, but it's not looking good. Tamara is definitely up to no good. Me too, I'm glad Regina is returning those hearts. It was never addressed in the show. They just swept it away. Glad you're enjoying it! :)
Jennifer Baratta: Yep, Geppetto is a fool for sure.
Number Ten: Yep, Tamara is up to no good. Yeah, at least they know Greg probably didn't kill himself and have come up with some sort of plan. But this is Storybrooke, so who knows what will happen. Yeah, unfortunately Geppetto has really gone off the rails here in desperation. It should be interesting. :)
Sexystarwarslover: Yep, Wooden Fairy got very close. I know, Snowing PDA is the best, unless you're Emma, lol. Yeah, that's one promise David won't be able to keep. Yep, Geppetto is going about things all the wrong way and it gets even worse in this chapter. Yep, Graham got his heart back! Graham is going to be night deputy, which seems suited for him. Ha, yep, August was busy, lol. Yep, Tink is pretty sure it was murder, even though it looks like suicide. Blue is shady and Geppetto is up to no good, so I doubt that will bode well. Yeah, you feel bad for Geppetto now, but you probably won't after this chapter. Can't say more than that. Cora was horrible and no one misses her. Yep, Tamara is also up to no good. Hopefully they can catch her. Glad you're enjoying it! :)
AnonSnowing: I know, 30 chapters already. Glad you like the Wooden Fairy cuteness. And of course, the Snowing cuddling at breakfast. That was my favorite part. Yep, Emma is a mix of loving it and being annoyed, which is perfect. I like the Charmings-Golds being one big family too. I need to do more back story on OQ here. I actually never factored Roland in. But if Regina went into that tavern when Tink pointed him out(after she asked for help and ran from her mother), I imagine he doesn't. If they met that night, he probably wouldn't. But like I said, I'm going to think on it a bit and keep it ambiguous for the time being. I'm leaning towards no here though. Yep, that screaming is not good. Yep, Graham got his heart back and it made sense for him to be night duty. Yep, that's the question. It looks like suicide, but was it? For a brief moment, Blue was logical, but that probably won't last. Nope, Geppetto had no right, but David might have been selfless, if he had come to them and was honest from the beginning. Yep, there's the horrible side of Blue we know. Tink is happy and she can't stand it. Yep, you should be nervous about Geppetto. Yep, Tamara fell for the trap. Hopefully nothing else gets in the way. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
A Darker Curse
Chapter 31: Betrayal
August sighed, as he waited for the old printing press to churn out copies of the morning edition.
"I just can't believe he did that...and you want me to let it go, Mom," he said in frustration into his phone.
"I know honey...but he's hurting. I think he just needs time to accept that he lost your childhood and to come to terms with the fact that you're an adult now. It's hard for him," Snow said.
"You're too forgiving, Mom and you can make excuses for him all you want, but I don't see David wallowing in self pity about losing time with Emma or the abuse he suffered," August replied.
"True...but David has us and the baby. Geppetto is alone...all I'm asking is maybe meet him halfway. I know once he gets to know you and the amazing man you are that he'll be able to accept things as they are," Snow suggested. He sighed.
"For you...I'll try. But if he says one cross word to you again...I'm done," he insisted.
"And I love you for that and how protective you are of me. I think David was very clear that he better not do that again," Snow said.
"You know it makes Emma and I really happy that you're reunited with him, Mom. You gave us everything growing up and nothing makes us happier knowing that you're reunited with your true love again," he said.
"Thank you sweetie...but you both are my babies and I'd do anything for you. I'll see in the morning for breakfast? You and Tink?" she asked and he chuckled at the hopeful note in his voice.
"Yeah...we'll be there. Love you," he said.
"Love you too, Auggie," she replied, as he hung up and looked at the machine.
"I really need to talk to Mom and Regina about getting an upgrade on this press," he muttered, for it was, like most things in this town, from the 1980's. He decided since it was going to be a while that he would go grab some coffee from Granny's, but as he headed for the door, he found Geppetto there in his path.
"Everything okay?" David asked, as she ended the call and put her phone on the bedside table.
"Yes…I just don't want him to refuse Geppetto forgiveness because of me," she said.
"Yeah...well take it from me, boys tend to be pretty protective of their moms," David replied, as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her into bed with him. She was wearing a slinky, short little negligee and it was driving him wild.
"Mmm...and this husband tends to be very protective of his wife and mother of his child," he added, as he kissed her neck. She closed her eyes and mewled at the sensations of his lips on her again. She had spent twenty-years longing for this feeling of his lips on her skin. Twenty-years yearning for the feeling of his hard body against hers again. Twenty-years craving his lovemaking. But something he said made her realize that there was one thing she had always wanted and was sure was lost for them. But now that it wasn't...she knew they needed to talk. It had honestly slipped her mind until now, but they really couldn't go further until they were on the same page.
"What is it?" he whispered in a husky tone, as his eyes met hers. He must have felt her still and as always, he could read her body language with ease. She shifted to face him and her eyes met his.
"I think there's something we need to talk about and I'm not even sure how to say it," she said.
"You know you can talk to me about anything," he prodded. She nodded.
"Three years ago...I entered Menopause and had to accept that, even when I did find you, that I'd never be able to give you another baby," she admitted.
"Snow...having you back is more than enough for me. You and Emma," he assured.
"I know...but now I'm twenty-years younger again…" she said and she saw recognition in his eyes. She swallowed.
"So...it's possible again and if you don't want a baby, then we need to use protection. I mean, there's birth control, but for tonight, we would need to use a condom," she rambled, until he caressed her face.
"Snow...do you think I wouldn't want another baby with you?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I haven't thought about it, because I thought it wasn't even a possibility, but now that it is…" she said, trailing off.
"Snow...if you don't want another baby, then I would understand. You raised Emma and August and you did it alone. If you are done...then you have to know that I would be okay with that," he promised. She swallowed.
"And if I do want...another baby with you?" she asked, as her eyes flicked to his and she witnessed the joy on his face that he couldn't hide. He cupped her face in his hands.
"Nothing would thrill me more than having another baby with you," he replied.
"Just as long as you don't think Emma might think I'm trying to replace her," he added and she shook her head.
"No…Emma knows you love her and she knew you would have been there for every moment of her life if you could have been," she said.
"So...no trip to the drugstore needed?" he asked. She smiled and slipped her arms around his neck.
"No...no need for that," she replied, as she kissed him and they became lost in their passion.
"What are you doing here?" August asked coolly.
"I want to talk," Geppetto requested, as he held a tray of coffees. August reluctantly stepped aside and invited him into the small office.
"This press...it has seen better days," he mentioned.
"Yeah, it's pretty ancient," August replied.
"Perhaps I can fix it," Geppetto offered and August regarded him.
"You can take a shot at it if you want," he replied, as he sipped at his coffee.
"But maybe you should talk first since that's what you came here to do," August said. Geppetto sighed.
"Then Snow has probably told you what happened," he said.
"No...Mom didn't, because that's not her style. But my sister Emma told me everything," August replied. He sighed.
"I am sorry...but you must understand. You're my boy...I just want you back," he pleaded.
"We can have a relationship, but you only seem interested in having one on your terms and that doesn't work for me," August replied.
"It's not just the two of us and never will be. I have other people in my life. They're my family. You can be too if you can accept that," he added.
"I'm sorry...it's just that they got all this time with you and now I want my time," Geppetto explained.
"I get that...but I'm not a little boy anymore. I have a woman in my life now and like it or not, Snow is my mother. She raised me from age seven on. You can't expect me to just throw that relationship away," August said sternly.
"I understand that…" Geppetto said, but August interrupted him.
"No...I don't think you do. Because you don't really know what it was like out there. It's not like Storybrooke," August said.
"I mean, despite everyone being scared of Cora's tyrannical rule, it's fairly isolated from most crime and danger of that nature," he added.
"Despite all the horrible things Cora did...the people here had homes, income, food, and necessities. Some obviously fared better than others, but Storybrooke is pretty sheltered," he said.
"But out there...my Mom had no identification or money. She gave birth surrounded by strangers and then we stayed in a homeless shelter for a while. She was scared they might take Emma from her," he said.
"She got a job as a waitress at a diner though and it took a year or so, but then we managed to get this tiny apartment. She worked double shifts and it wasn't like working at Granny's," he explained.
"If any of Granny's customers said half the stuff these pigs said to my Mom, she would have kicked them out. But she endured their sexual innuendos and even them groping her on a daily basis, because she knew if she didn't, that her children might not eat that night," he added.
"Slowly...things got a little better. She never asked me too, but I got a job at fourteen when I was old enough to help out. We still had next to nothing, but we managed," he said.
"She loved us both and never let us see how sad she was. We knew though. She tried to hide, but sometimes we heard her crying for David at night," he said.
"But she never blamed me. She loved me like I was her own," he continued.
"But she blamed me," he said bitterly.
"Not to me. She never blamed you or said an unkind word about you to me," he corrected.
"She told me that you did what you did to give me my best chance. And you did...you gave me a mom and I love that I have her," he said.
"So we can be family again, but you have to accept that it won't be just the two of us. We can't go back and I don't want to," August said.
"What if we could go back?" Geppetto asked suddenly.
"We can't," August refuted.
"But we can! There is magic now!" Geppetto insisted.
"You're not listening to me. I don't want to go back, even if it was possible," August replied.
"But it is possible! The Blue Fairy...she can make you small again!" Geppetto blurted out and saw the horror on the younger man's face.
"Are you insane!? Did you not just hear me? I don't want to go back! I don't want to be a kid again, just so you can have a second chance!" August shouted.
"I love the life I have now! I just found someone that I think I want to spend my life with and you want me to be a kid again!?" he asked in disbelief.
"It could be our second chance," Geppetto pleaded.
"Get out," August growled.
"Pinocchio...please…" the old man pleaded.
"You didn't listen to anything I said! You only care about what you want and until you can accept me as I am...then I don't want anything to do with you," he said, as he slammed the office door in Geppetto's face. The old man slank away, more down and depressed than ever.
The next morning
"Thanks for getting the autopsy done so fast," David said to Doc, as they entered the morgue.
"Well…this will sound morbid, but it was kind of exciting," Doc mentioned.
"You're right...that's morbid and a little creepy," Emma agreed.
"I was cursed to be a medical examiner, but never actually had a patient," Doc reminded her.
"True...but that also means no one died in twenty years, so that's kind of a good thing," Emma reminded him back. Doc conceded with a nod.
"It is strange. Cora killed like it was a favorite past time back in our land. It makes me wonder if she ever really understood what the curse really meant," David said.
"True...but she did have power and she still tormented people, especially you, Dad," Emma replied. He nodded.
"Very true...and she loved torture even more than killing," he agreed.
"Well, on that note, let's get on with my findings. I have a feeling the entire town would like to dance on her grave," Doc said. Tink snorted.
"You have no idea," she agreed.
"So...it's a homicide, right?" Tink asked.
"I'm afraid that I have to rule it a suicide," Doc replied.
"So...you think he did shoot himself?" David asked.
"He definitely did. There is gunpowder residue on his hands," Doc replied.
"No...he wasn't suicidal. This doesn't make sense," Tink refuted.
"Unless…" Emma started to say.
"Unless?" David asked.
"This Tamara you spoke up...she seems pretty coldblooded," Emma mentioned.
"She is," Tink agreed.
"What if he did shoot himself, but she was there making sure he did," Emma said.
"She's diabolical enough for sure," Tink agreed.
"This might work better anyway. We were going to report it as a suicide anyway to make her think we're not onto her. Right now, she is probably reading that his death is a suspected suicide," David reasoned.
"He's right...and with the bait Mom and Regina promised, she'll definitely be at the celebration," Emma agreed.
"I hope you two are right, but make no mistake...this woman has ice water in her veins. She won't hesitate to kill any of us and she hates magic, which means she's really going to hate your family," Tink warned. They nodded.
"Then we'll make sure we're ready for her," David said, as they left to prepare for the celebration that was taking place very soon where Regina was going to return all the hearts her mother stole.
"You have to help me…" Geppetto pleaded, as Blue came out of the convent that morning, on her way to the celebration.
"Geppetto...this has to be August's choice and from your desperation, I can tell that your talk with him did not go well," she admonished.
"When I made a wish to you, all those years ago, you granted it. You gave me my boy...he is mine and I only ask now that you give him back," he begged.
"Geppetto…" she said.
"I know you have history with the fairy he's involved with, but not everyone does. Do you really want everyone finding out what you did to her?" he asked.
"Are you blackmailing me?" she asked sharply.
"I know there are things you've done that you don't want anyone, especially the Charmings, to know," he replied. She glared at him.
"You'll have your son...and then we are done," she said, as they continued on to the park for the celebration.
"Hey you…" David purred, as they arrived at the park for the celebration and he immediately found his wife. She smiled, as he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
"Hey yourself, handsome," she purred back, as they shared a tender kiss, as they watched people emerge from the vault one by one, with an obvious smile on their faces.
"Was Doc able to tell you anything?" she whispered.
"He's ruling it a suicide. Tink still insists that even if he did shoot himself...that he was forced to though," he whispered back.
"Oh my God...what kind of person does that?" she asked.
"Like Tink said...one with ice water in her veins," he replied.
"What do you think she wants here in Storybrooke?" Snow asked with trepidation in her voice.
"I'm not sure, my darling...but we'll stop her now that we know she's here," he promised, as he kissed her hair.
"Charming...could that be her?" she asked and he followed her gaze to a woman in a hat and sunglasses beneath the shade of a tree.
"I think it might be...still hard to tell though," he said, as he took out his phone and dialed Emma.
"Do you see her?" he asked.
"Yes...Tink says it's her, but there's too many innocent people around. She's probably armed. I'm keeping an eye on her though and we can move in once she makes her move," Emma replied and he hung up.
"As soon as she makes her move, we'll get her," he whispered, as August arrived.
"Hi sweetie," Snow said, as she hugged him.
"Wow...this is quite a turn out. It'll make a great story," he said, as he got his author's pen out and it started to glow. However, his trance was interrupted when Blue and Geppetto approached.
"I have nothing left to say to you...we said it all earlier," August told the older man.
"What happened earlier?" Snow asked curiously.
"This doesn't concern you...this is between me and my boy," Geppetto replied.
"He's my son...and anything that's happening with him concerns me," she argued.
"She's right," David agreed.
"This has even less to do with you, Your Highness," Geppetto said to the Prince.
"Look, I tried to work with you, but you weren't having it. You refuse to accept that I have a family and the only way we can have a relationship is if you accept that they are part of my life," August replied in exasperation.
"I'm sorry...I cannot do that. Do it," Geppetto ordered. Blue looked at him and hesitated for a moment, but he pressed further.
"Do it or I tell them things that you don't want them to know!" Geppetto threatened.
"Do what?" David asked, but his confused question was answered, as a magical glow emanated from Blue's wand. August gasped, as he realized what was happening, but it was too late to stop it. The magic enveloped him and there was a bright glow. When it cleared, Snow cried out in disbelief, as her son was now a little boy again.
"Papa!" Pinocchio called, as Geppetto hugged him.
"My boy…" he exclaimed with happiness. But even he couldn't ignore the gut wrenching cry from Snow, as she nearly doubled over in anguish. David held her and kept her from falling to her knees, as she started to cry, almost uncontrollably.
"Papa...why is Princess Snow crying?" Pinocchio asked innocently.
"Nevermind that, my boy," he defected, as David stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and rage.
"What have you done!?" he shouted.
"I have made things right…" Geppetto said. By now, the celebration had come to a dead halt and everyone was gathering around to witness the spectacle.
"You took her son away from her! How could you!?" David roared, as he held his sobbing wife.
"I am sorry...but this is the way it should be. The Princess...you can give her another child now, but he is all I have," Geppetto argued.
"You can't replace one child with another! It doesn't work that way!" Regina interjected, as he glared at him and then at Blue.
"Though it doesn't surprise me that you're knee deep in this," she spat.
"Or me," Rumple chimed in.
"I'm sorry...I didn't want to do it, but Geppetto is right. I gave life to his child long ago and he deserves a second chance with that child," Blue argued.
"No he doesn't and even if he did, that's not the reason you did this," Rumple said and she glared at him.
"What secrets does he know about you, gnat?" the Dark One hissed.
"I have no secrets," she hissed back, making him chuckle in amusement.
"Oh dearie...we both know that's not true. You are far older than me, so I'm certain there are things about you that not even I know. But somehow, the woodworker does. How curious," he goaded.
"Let's go, Geppetto," Blue snapped, as he picked his little boy up.
"No please…" Snow pleaded, as David let her go and she walked up to them.
"Please don't do this...you can reverse this!" Snow cried, as she grabbed Blue's hands.
"Please...please give him back…" she sobbed and the fairy pulled her hand away.
"I'm sorry Princess," Blue said, but there was no sincerity behind it.
"The hell you are…" Tink growled.
"You're enjoying this! You knew I was with him...that I have feelings for him!" Tink shouted.
"This had nothing to do with you," Blue refuted.
"Of course not...you don't care about any of us! He was my brother!" Emma said, but her outrage fell on deaf ears as well, as they walked away. Pinocchio's young eyes were fixated on Princess Snow though, as if his mind was trying to tell him something and to go to her. But he was unable to, as Geppetto carried him away.
Snow continued to cry in David's arms, as Regina rubbed a soothing hand on her back, while Emma and Tink hugged each other in their own grief. It was only then that Tink noticed that Tamara was gone.
"Emma...she's gone," Tink said and the other blonde sighed, before picking up the author's pen from the grass. It was all they had left of August now.
"We'll get her," she promised, as Neal approached and she accepted a hug from him. Geppetto and Blue's stunt had not only devastated their family, but created the perfect distraction for the enemy among them.
Tamara smirked, as she looked around the vault. She couldn't believe her good luck. She was sure that getting into the vault wouldn't be easy, but the spectacle that had just been created was the perfect distraction and she had monopolized on it. She didn't know much about the things she was looking at, but it didn't matter. She took various samples of anything within reach and stuffed them in her bag. Her superiors could sort out the items later. She knew she didn't have much time, so she hurried back up the stairs, just in time to see magic before her eyes, as the man she had observed to be August Booth became a child. She gasped in disbelief and cursed herself for not getting it on camera. But she knew her orders. She had been told if she witnessed magic being used on a person that she was to bring that person back to Portland with her by any means so they could be analyzed. She smirked. She was in luck again. Had it been an adult, that might not have been so easy...but taking a child would be, well, child's play, so to speak. She smirked again and quietly followed, further emboldened when they ditched the fairy at the convent. Getting the little boy would be easy since the only person standing in her way was an old man...