Hi, so here is another chapter and my last of Season 3. There are eight chapters left of this story and that will be for the first part of Season 4 where this story will conclude. There is a very good chance that a lot of the plot will be changed (Marian, Zelena, Elsa coming to town etc) but then again most of this story is AU so there you go.

Also the conversation between Emma and Liam is based on the one they have in Season 5 where he tells her Killian could do better. Liam here is going through the ringer emotion wise and he snaps.

Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.

Please Read and Review.

The Summit Of My Desires.

Chapter 22-How Much Pain Can You Take?

Elsa struggles to escape, Liam and Emma come to blows as the curse is broken, a baby is born and the Wicked Witch stakes her last fight as things come to a final head. Part two of a two part arc.

Storybrooke. After the Missing Year.

It was snowing. Suddenly without warning it was snowing. Killian had found Liam laughing wildly outside of his apartment at three in the morning after being woken up by Liam dashing out with a shout. His shirt was half on and his trousers unbuttoned when he finally caught up with his brother who was howling wide eyed at the snow practically dancing in it.

"Liam!" he hissed. The last thing either one of them needed was someone calling Emma on those talky-thingys to tell her that he were stood in the snow with his trousers unbuttoned while his brother was clearly having a nervous breakdown in the street.

"It's snowing brother" Liam said grinning. "Do you know what that means?"

"That you've gone mad?"

"No. Elsa"

Killian blinked.

"Liam" he said carefully. "Elsa's a strong lass but if you start seeing signs in the snow…"

"She's alive" Liam said simply looking at the snow falling down around them. "And once we get our memories back I'm going to find her."

Killian watched with a sinking feeling that came with the knowledge that nothing was ever that simple.

The next day he took Henry to the docks. The snow was coming thick and fast without warning and looking up at it Killian wondered if it really was Elsa sending his brother some kind of message through her magic. After all stranger things had happened.

Of course naturally it all went to shit.

It wasn't Smee's fault.

That being said he was going to blame Smee.

That was just par for the course.

Liam did not like Emma Swan.

He was not sure when he had started to dislike her so much. It might have been when she came back this time around. Something in the year that had gone by had made the relationship between the two of them fractious, at least on his side. He wanted to like her, for Killian's sake if nothing else it just seemed at the moment that every time she opened her mouth he was resisting the urge so snap and make cheep shots.

So what was it?

What was it about her that right now made his teeth stand on edge? What was it that made his stomach twist? He'd never had a problem with Emma before…then again he had never seen Killian like this before. He supposed he might have been like this if he had seen his brother around his first love, Milah, but now he was seeing Killian around his second and he had to admit he was not enjoying the way his little brother seemed to be used as the Charming's whipping boy.

And then one day it came to a head.

Killian had took the boy to the docks and Liam had been enjoying his morning coffee when David had come running down the street shouting about the docks and the monkey's that it was clear that the witch was attacking. Liam passed his coffee to a surprised but gratified (hung over no doubt) teenager that was trudging their way to school and then ran towards the docks his gun fully loaded and the sense of glee in his veins that came when you hated the person you were running to.

When he got their the scene had developed into utter chaos. Not the least of it was Killian shooting at the damn monkey's while the boy was doing his best to hide.

It was only when it was over that Regina bent her head to kiss her son's head and then Liam felt it.

It was much the same as the time before. The warm air breathing over him and the memories slamming back though he made no attempt to try and understand them. Not when they had to put a plan in place…

Not when Emma Swan was attacking his brother over his message.

And that was the exact moment his temper (which was already on a thin thread since the second curse) completely snapped clean in two.

"Shut up"

Had the situation not been so very serious, had he not been vibrating with anger then Liam might have found her reaction very funny. Emma turned to look at him her mouth dropping open as she took in the expression on his face. Snow White was mirroring the expression one hand on her belly and Liam found that he hated the two of them more than he had hated anyone in his life.

They always did have to get the Happy Ending and fuck the rest of them.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard. You don't get to speak to him like that. You don't get to use him as cannon fodder because your pissed at the world. Neal's dead. Yeah you got another man whose only crime was to love you killed, doesn't mean you have to take your shit out on the rest of us. Personally I think all of them could have done better"

It was harsh and deep down he knew it was cruel but he didn't care. So much of his life had been wasted on the politics between these people in this room. They had suffered during civil wars and curses and endless suffering and still they were expected to continually sacrifice as if their happiness and their dreams and their children mattered less as long as someone could say they were good and point the finger at the person they thought was evil.

There was a long pause as Emma stared at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. Liam wondered if anyone had ever put the words so blunt to her before but he was tired and he was angry.

"Elsa is missing, The Dark One is missing. The dagger is missing and here you stand bitching about how Killian betrayed you because he didn't know who sent him a message? Jesus Christ Emma it was a bird not a text? Everyone knew your mother's messages were sent through birds what was he supposed to think? Your pissed off you've got blood on your hands and your perfect little life has been ruined by the big bad scary magical monster? Suck it up, god knows we had to when Henry and you smashed through all our lives like a wreaking ball. Seriously. Pity only gets you so far. Right now Elsa is still missing and believe me you are lucky to have the support that you do. So if you don't mind, I am going to go and find her. When you've done whatever this is—" he pointed between her and the rest of them. "Let me know if you want to help" and with that he turned and walked away feeling instead of the anger that had been burning through him moments ago—like he was dangerously close to tears.

Killian didn't follow him.

Looking back Liam didn't even know why he was surprised.

The Dark One's Castle, Within the Missing Year.

It had happened so suddenly. One moment she had been there clutching Liam's hands and the second she had been yanked backwards as if the magic that had connected them through two curses now had suddenly failed.

She had never gotten to the pavilion where Aurora and Philip would set in motion the first steps of their lie that would lead them all on the merry goose chase that would involve curses and separating hearts and Liam…oh God Liam who would never get the chance to see that she had come through alright.

For a moment, for a moment that was endlessly blinding and as pure as the snow she used to produce she thought she was back in Arendelle. The sun was so warm and the grass so green under her fingers that it moulded together with her blue dress and made her think of the endless summers that she had wished away days wanting to be Queen, wanting it to be winter, wanting to be normal.

And then she opened her eyes and realised she was not in Arendelle.

And that was when the nightmare had begun.

Storybrooke. After the Missing Year.

Liam came back at two in the morning a little worse for wear and hazy with drink. Killian knew the signs but his brother gave no sign he wanted to talk about the tongue lashing he had given Swan and stomped up to bed slamming his door shut with such a force Killian was amazed it had stayed on his hinges.

What had transpired after Liam had stalked off was Swan storming off her parents in tow. Killian was not sure what to say beyond that but Regina her arm around her son had rolled her eyes and then muttered something about it all working out in the end. Killian just wondered when she had become the optimist because as far as he was concerned the world had gone to shit since they'd been back, Bae was dead, Emma thought he'd betrayed her, Liam was a hairs breath away from completely falling apart, Elsa was missing and the Witch was winning. Oh and on top of that if he and Emma kissed she would lose all her magic.

A perfect end to a perfect week.

He trudged up off that couch thing that really was very comfortable and paused outside Liam's door. He understood his brother better than most and he knew that he was relying on the Jones pride that they both had in spades that told him that he needed to be left alone and that he needed to grieve for whatever and whomever in peace and yet he also knew Liam the man and he knew bitterly, intimately from his own experiences that grief was never something that should be done by oneself.

He found the door unlocked Liam on his side and not looking at anything. He slid over the covers next to him and touched their shoulders together as they both pretended throughout the night that Liam wasn't shaking from cold.

The phone thingy told them that the baby was on the way that morning. By lunch Emma had lost her magic, by two in the afternoon the baby, a boy, was gone.

They had crashed the farmhouse in usual style. Killian had his sword, David, Emma and Liam with firearms, Regina with her magic and the new man with a crossbow. Elsa had been half awake when they had arrived. She had been moved behind some hay and the cage was mostly half hidden but the enchantments that had steadily been sucking her dry had only increased since she had brought the baby back. Gold was shooting her looks that told her all she needed to know and then the cage was open and she was being moved into the centre.

She found him. Elsa did not believe even for a second that she would not find him. Nor did she believe that he would not find her. She knew Liam, she knew the man she had fallen in love with and she found that she wanted to tell him all the things that he knew already.

She wanted…

Well it didn't matter now did it?

Her eyes found his though she could barely keep her own open, could barely think or feel over the exhaustion and the pain. She was clamping down on everything to keep from screaming and the warmth was terrible—ice was her magical element she had always been more comfortable in the cold than the warmth and her she was dying by having her magic burnt out of her by green fire but she didn't care. All she cared about was keeping her eyes on Liam even though his own were filled with such an agony that she wasn't sure if she wanted to. She loved Liam but she knew that he was telling her, screaming at her (though she could not hear) to fight and she wanted to scream back that she had been doing that for so long, too long and that she was done.

I'm sorry she wanted to say, I'm sorry and I love you and I will never stop loving you. Please live for me even after I am dead.

And then something was happening. People were flying, monkey's were flying and she was drifting and then the burning pressure was gone and she was breathing in air again aware of someone holding her up.

"Elsa. Come on…no Elsa come on please!"

It was Liam, she could hear his desperation in every syllable. She could hear his pleas for her to stay with him and she hated herself for not holding out to that promise but she was tired. She was so utterly, tired that she couldn't keep her eyes open and she wanted to tell that to Liam, to explain that it wasn't because she didn't love him or want to stay with him it was just simply she was so tired.

She felt her eyes drift shut just as she heard Liam's shouts turn to screams.

I'm sorry my love. I'm sorry.

Elsa woke up three days later.

She did not wake up gracefully as a Queen she woke up gasping and panting as if she had ran a long race, there was something stuck in her throat and she gagged it back feeling the pressure, that terrible pressure take her under again.

But suddenly there was a hand in hers and a voice in her ears and something was being taken out of her throat and she could breath again. Water was held to her lips and she drank greedily desperate for the cool touch and only when she had drank until the pounding in her head had receded somewhat did she open her eyes and blink.

She was not in whatever came after this world as she had thought she would have been when she had closed her eyes. She was not with her mother or father—which was exactly how she wanted it right now. Instead she was in a clean hospital room with clean sheets and tubes in her arm and as she turned a little she saw the one thing she had wanted to see more than anything in this world looking back at her.

Liam.

Only he did not look like the Liam that she remembered. Instead he looked old. Battered and a little bit broken. He reminded her so strongly in that moment of the man that she had seen in the Enchanted Forest who had come across her when she had been freely out of the urn and she wanted nothing more to do than to find her place in the world. She had found it by Liam's side and she thought that she had been through much since then and become so much stronger.

Liam looked wrecked. He looked decades older than he was, his eyes were rimmed with red and there was a good stubble on him that Elsa privately wondered weather or not he'd keep it after this. Whatever this was…he looked like he had not slept in a long time and there was a haunted, ragged, raw edge to him that told her he had been on fortune's wheel of emotion for a very long time.

"Hi" she said finally.

Liam looked at her and then he seemed to realise that the room was empty. Elsa stared at him and he stared back and then slowly his face seemed to crumple.

"Oh no…Liam no come here"

He did and she wrapped her arms around him and let him sob on her shoulder as if he was a little boy and he sobbed uncontrollably into her hair. She shushed him feeling utterly useless but Liam kept going until it seemed he had let out his emotions. He pulled back and kissed her so hard it was like her brain had stopped working and then continued to press kisses all over her until she was giggling rather than crying and was rewarded with a small smile.

"Sorry" Liam muttered wiping his face on the back of his sleeve.

"It's alright, you want to tell me what happened?"

"Wh—Elsa you nearly died? Zelena was draining you of your magic, had been doing so for months even during the curse and you were nearly dead and I kept calling for you and you wouldn't wake and then Whale said you were exhausted and Regina didn't know—and—I—"

He broke of then and swallowed and Elsa thought her heart might break for him. She couldn't even imagine what it had been like for him to wake up from the curse to find her gone, to get his memories back and still have no idea where she was and then to see her nearly dead on the floor pulled out from a cage as if she was a rat that needed to be eradicated.

She reached out and ran a hand down his face. Liam followed it his mouth brushing against her fingers as he linked their hands together.

"Where is Zelena?"

"Dead apparently. I was here, they had Killian watching me though he gave me the credit to tell me the truth, she had enough magic even though her pendant was gone to off herself apparently"

There was a twist in his tone that told Elsa something else. She raised an eyebrow and Liam shrugged looking supremely unconcerned.

"She killed Neal. She killed the Dark One's son. Even though he's given the dagger to Belle and has gone off to get engaged to her I doubt he left that loose end loose. If he killed her…well…he knows he saved me a job"

Elsa snuggled backwards into her pillow and concluded that Liam was properly right. She could deal with Zelena some other time. Right now that bitch had taken enough from her.

She raised her fingers and tried to conjure snow. None appeared.

"Do I still have magic?" she asked dully.

"Regina thinks you do. All of that magic that escaped when Zelena was…gone…had to go somewhere. Zelena's created a time portal, ironically she got her wish though she wasn't around to see it. And Regina and Gold both think yours went back into you. It might take some time and it might be hard to control but your magic is all yours again and free of any dark taint"

"Some time and some control" Elsa murmured feeling the tears slip down her face. "I'm back at square one again. A lifetime of loss getting it right and she's put me right back at square one again"

And then it was her turn to sob as Liam held her and rocked her back and forth as gently as if she was a baby.

And that reminded her…

"Did the baby live? Snow's baby?"

"Yes, a boy, they've called him Neal. Emma and Killian fell through the time portal thing and came back in love and deciding to stay"

There was something in his tone and he shrugged at her quizzical look.

"We had words Emma and I" he said shortly. "Stuff she needed to hear and I needed to say but then again maybe not. Doesn't matter now."

It did and Elsa knew it but she didn't comment on it.

"I should have—"

"Liam if you say you should have known what Zelena was planning then I will hit you" she said leaning back on her pillows. Liam grinned at her tone though his face was still in lines of guilt and misery. She opened her eyes and stared at him.

"Liam nobody knew what she was planning. Nobody knew she existed. Let it go. For now, for me. Please just let it go"

Liam said nothing but he nodded nonetheless.

"How long do I have to stay here?"

In truth all she wanted was a pizza, her own bed and a shower—oh how she wanted a hot bath or shower!

"Another day or so. You were out for three days and then you've got to take it easy. I got Leroy to watch the shop for you—but he's got someone else in the works to take over. A woman that he says shows some interest who I think you'll like but—"

Elsa snorted with laughter. Leroy she knew would be working his way through her Cherry-Choco-Fudge right about now and she was willing to bet the Cookie Crunch would be gone as well considering that was Nova's favourite flavour. And she did need some time recovering, perhaps someone else in charge of the shop would be a good idea. But it didn't matter now.

None of it mattered now.

She was aware that Liam was watching her his face so full of love that it was both sweet and slightly foreboding all at the same time.

"What?"

"Marry me"

Very carefully she said nothing as Liam reached into his pocket.

"I had it…I think I got it in the Enchanted Forest in that missing year. And if you don't like it then I will go and get you one you do and I know we never really discussed it but—"

Elsa already had the ring in her hand.

It was a gold band with a square diamond. Two other smaller square diamonds were on either side of it. It was simple, it was royal.

It was perfect.

"Yes" she said cutting through Liam's nervous chatter. He blinked.

"Yes?"

"Yes" she said smiling through the tears though this time they were happy ones.

"Yes Liam I will marry you"

Liam blinked and then let out a laugh of utter disbelieve mixed with a happiness she had not seen from him in a while but when he reached forwards to kiss her, his kiss was as light and soft as a feather.

The ring was on her finger and Elsa knew that it would stay there for the rest of her life.

Liam kissed her again and she took one more step forwards with him into the small but utterly perfect part of this, this golden day of peace and happiness.

And there you go, I hope you like and the next chapter will be up soon.

Next Chapter-The first of Season 4 Part 1 and the final arc of this story. Liam and Elsa attempt to enjoy their happiness as Elsa's magic gets increasingly out of control. Killian wants Liam and Emma to reconcile and Elsa meets Ingrid the woman who is helping out at her shop.