Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot and any unrecognizable characters and dialogue.
Hope you like this chappie!
And, yes, Lily's red eyes mean that she still has some magic. That will come in handy down the road!
Enjoy!
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Lily looked up at Mr. Clark's tone. Frowning, she put down the magazine she'd been skimming and stepped towards the counter. "Open up your bag."
Henry and two children Lily didn't recognize, though they wore school uniforms, were cowering from the pharmacy owner.
"What?" Henry asked, looking positively bewildered.
"Don't think I didn't see you rob me." Clark snapped. "Open your bag."
"I didn't take anything." Was all Henry got out before Clark snatched his book bag from him.
Lily had had enough. "Hey!" She snapped out, stalking forward and planting her hands on the counter. "Watch it, Clark!"
The man flinched at her warning, earning her looks of awe from the children behind her. Shaking away his slight terror at the sight of Lillian Gold, Clark reached into Henry's book bag and pulled out a handful of candy.
Pinning said boy with a stare, he sneered, "And a liar, too."
Frowning angrily now, Lily whirled around in time to see Henry glaring at the children next to him.
"That's why you were talking to me." He accused softly. "So your brother could put that stuff in there."
"Henry… I'm shocked." Clark chastised, turning his attention to the two siblings. "And you two – just who do you think you are?"
I think I know, Lily thought as she watched the two sheepish children. Hansel and Gretel?
Releasing a shaking sigh, Lilith sank down on the steps before the beautifully etched mausoleum. She raised her head and stared at the sight of her family's crest craved into the head of the stone. Strange, she thought in detached blankness. I thought I would feel... Something. The lack of reaction assured her the spell stayed in place.
Granted, she wasn't sure how reassuring it should be that she couldn't even feel sorrow at her parents' graves. Looking down with a soft sigh, she stiffened when the back of her neck prickled unpleasantly. Her head raised and she glanced around the cemetery.
'Lily.'
The whisper brushed against her ear and sent her to her feet. Ignoring the shiver that went down her spine, she spun around slowly. The only sound was the whistling of the wind through the trees. Eyes narrowed, she turned back to the mausoleum and blinked when the doors began to creak open.
'Lily.'
Her foot climbed to the next step, its partner following suit until she stood in front of the now open doors. Raising her hand, she stiffened when a shout came from behind her.
"My Lady!"
She spun on her heel to see a middle-aged man rushing towards her. Ignoring the voice telling her he seemed familiar, she raised her hand. Responding to her silent command, roots erupted from the ground and pinned the approaching man down. Stepping down the stairs leading from the mausoleum, she stalked towards the intruder.
"What are you doing here?!" She demanded flatly, dimly wondering where Peter was and why he hadn't noticed this man. "These are my lands and you are trespassing-"
"Lady Lily, please- " the man gasped out as the roots continued to wrap around his throat.
Stilling at the title she hadn't heard in years, she stopped the roots and allowed them to unravel. Keeping him bound, she crouched down and stared at the man before her.
"Who are you?" She asked warily. "And how do you know my name?"
Panting for breath, the man took in several large gulps of air before he was able to speak. "I-I am Jacquimo, my lady. I w-was a friend of Lady Katerina's."
"You knew... My mother... " She trailed off, her eyes widening as she stared down at him. Flashes of a kind, gentle face smiling down at her as he handed her a flower hit her. With a gasp, she refocused om the man and realization filled her. "You."
"Yes, my lady." He nodded as best he could. "I was there the day your mother's condition took a turn for the worse."
"Henry didn't do this, Clark." Indignant anger poured off the girl in front of him, making the much older man nearly cower in fear.
"Listen, Miss Gold-"
"It's Ms." Lily snapped back, her eyes narrowed dangerously. She reached out, gripping Henry's shoulder and pinned Clark with yet another glare. "And for all that is good and holy, it's Henry! Little," she ignored Henry's annoyed scoff, "Henry Mills! He wouldn't even jaywalk, much less steal from anyone!"
At the sound of snickers, she whirled around to face the two children. Plastering a sickeningly sweet smile on her lips, she leaned towards them.
"If you didn't know, dears, my guardian owns the town." She hissed out, watching as they began to pale rapidly. "So, I have a way of finding things out. Certain. Things."
That said, she drew away from them as they turned to each other in disbelief. The idea that this girl knew their secret was a terrifying reality that kept their mouths firmly shut.
The bell sounded and Lily turned and was never more relieved to see Regina in her life.
"Regina," she started, smirking when the Mayor waltzed up to the counter and stood by her side. Turning back to Clark, who was now looking rather nervous, she spoke to the woman beside her. "I'm sorry I had to call you away from the office, but Mr. Clark was insistent."
"Yes, about something rather disturbing." Regina fixed Clark with a dark look. "Something I don't believe."
"Well, I'm sorry, Madam Mayor, but your son was shoplifting." Clark blustered, looking like he'd like to sink into the tiles beneath him.
Turning from the man, Regina looked down at Henry, who was plastered to Lily's side. "Were you?" She asked simply.
Just as shortly, Henry shook his head as Lily gripped his hand.
"Look for yourself." Clark offered. He gestured towards the candy spilling out of Henry's book bag on the counter.
"My son doesn't eat candy." Regina said coolly. "Right Lillian?" At the babysitter's nod, she turned back to Clark. "And he knows better than to steal. It was obviously those two." Her lips curled derisively at the two sullen children. "We're going."
Turning on her heel, she stalked for the door as Lily and Henry followed. Emma entered moments before they reached it and the blonde focused immediately on Henry.
"Henry. What happened?"
"Miss Swan, must I remind you that genetics mean nothing." Regina hissed as Emma's head snapped from Henry to her. "You're not his mother and it's all taken care of."
Emma barely held back her exasperation. "I'm here because I'm the Sheriff."
"Oh, that's right. Go on – do your job." Regina gestured back to Ava and Nicholas. "Take care of those miscreants."
Without another word, she swept from the store. Sending Emma a shrug, Lily followed after Henry waved to the blonde. As they caught up with Regina, she turned and raised an eyebrow at Lily, who returned the gesture.
"Yes...?"
"Oh, just thinking how nice it is to have Gold in my corner, now and again."
Blinking in shock that Regina had actually admitted she enjoyed having Lily around, she was unable to respond verbally when Regina herded them to her car.
After having dinner with the mother/son pair, Lily ended up heading to Mary Margaret's. When she entered the apartment, she froze at the sight of Ava and Nicholas Zimmer sitting at the dinner table.
Emma and Mary Margaret turned in time for Lily to sigh.
"Bloody, buggering hell."
At his words, her hand unclenched. The roots unraveled, trailing back into the ground as Jacquimo gasped for breath. Lilith watched dispassionately as the man wheezed, rubbing at his sore throat in an attempt to sooth the damage.
He raised his eyes, taking in the daughter of his oldest friend. Eyes the color of aquamarine stared back at him, eyes eerily similar to Katerina's. Set against pale skin and framed by dark, curling hair, the young woman before him was an almost perfect copy of her mother. Shaking off his melancholy thoughts, he raised to a sitting position.
"My Lady-"
"Don't call me that." The toneless reply made him pause.
Jacquimo raised his eyes, examining the girl before him. She continued to stare back, her expression guarded and cautious. But beneath that, he could see nothing. Nothing that gave away any essence of emotion or thought.
The words escaped in a trembling whisper. "What have you done to yourself?"
Her expression didn't change, though her head moved in a miniscule tilt to the side. Her lack of reaction reinforced his belief that something had been done to her. Something magical in nature, if her command over the flora around them was any indication.
"You still have not explained yourself." She eyed the man before her quietly, her voice low and controlled. The stunned manner in which he gazed at her unnerved her in spite of the spell. "What are you doing here. On this night."
He tentatively raised himself to his feet. "The same as you, I would think. I was visiting your mother's grave, as I always do." He took a step towards her. "Forgive me, but I haven't seen you here before tonight."
"That's because this is the first night I've come."
Lily groaned when Henry nudged her with his storybook. Her sleep schedule, after several blissful, dreamless nights, had been rudely interrupted by memories that she would rather forget. With a sigh, she finally allowed her mind to wonder what Peter was doing... And why he'd never come for her.
He could travel between the two realms easily with his Shadow, that much she knew. He'd never fully explained that ability, too wary of her repeated attempts to escape. It physically pained her to think that he'd left her here, alone and unwanted. Raising her fist, Lily bit down on her knuckles to muffle the aching agony trying to well inside her.
So lost in her thoughts, she didn't see Henry staring at her. When he left the table and sent Lily a worried look, she got up to follow. While dead on her feet, she knew Henry and Emma needed her help to find Ava and Nicholas' father.
"Any luck?" Henry asked as they entered Emma's office.
"No."
Henry placed his book on the desk, flipping until he landed on a page with Hansel and Gretel on it. "I know who they are. They're brother and sister, lost, no parents – Hansel and Gretel."
Emma peered at it. "Anything in there about the dad?"
"Just that he abandoned them."
"Great." Emma sighed deeply. "Sounds like a familiar story. Whoever this guy is, he could be in Laos by now."
"No, he's here." Lily offered calmly.
"Just how do you know that?"
"'Cause no one leaves Storybrooke." Henry explained for probably the fifth time. "No one comes here, no one goes. It's just the way it is."
Emma's eyebrow rose. "I came here."
"Because you're special. You're the first stranger here – ever."
"He's right." Lily agreed at the sight of Emma's disbelief.
Sighing, the blonde Sheriff shook her head. "Right – I forgot. Well, if he's around here anywhere, I'm going to find him."
Lily felt Henry fidget and turned to look at him, unprepared as Emma was for what came out of his mouth.
"Can you tell me about him?"
"I don't know anything yet."
Henry shook his head. "Not their father – mine." Emma went stiff. "I told you about your parents and now, you're even living with your mom."
"Mary Margaret isn't… She's… Never mind."
Lily looked between them, torn between wanting Henry to know the truth and sheltering him from it. She'd learned very early on that truth, while nice in the long run, did nothing but hurt.
"Please?"
Henry's earnest plea broke down what little was left of Emma's defenses and she nodded hesitantly.
"I was pretty young." She began. "I'd just gotten out of the foster system and the only job I could get was at this twenty-four hour diner just off the interstate. And, um… Your dad was training to be a fireman." Lily frowned at the tone of Emma's voice but held her tongue. Especially when she saw Henry hanging off the blonde's every word. "He always got the worst shifts, so he'd come in and order coffee and pie and sit at the counter and always complain that we didn't sell pumpkin pie. But he always came back the next night anyway."
"Did you get married?" Henry asked, sounding rather excited by the prospect.
Emma rapidly shook her head. "Oh, no. Nothing like that. We just… We hung out a few times outside of work and…life happened." She muttered, looking down. "His got better and mine got worse and… I got into some trouble."
"And you went to jail."
Emma nodded stiffly. "Yeah. Before I went, I… I found out I was pregnant with you." She explained quickly. "And I tried to contact him, and I found out that he died saving a family from a burning apartment building. So, you think I'm a Savior, Henry – he was. Your father was a real hero."
"Do you have anything of his?" Henry asked, awe and pride shining from his gaze. "Something you can remember him by. Something I could see."
"I… I don't." Emma answered far too quickly for Lily's liking. "Henry, I'm sorry. I got to go. I may know how to find this guy."
As she left, Lily turned to followed her with her eyes. Frowning, she turned back to Henry and winced at the look on his face.
"My dad... Was a hero." He whispered softly, looking up to smile at Lily. "Did you hear that?"
Lily nodded, reaching out to hug him to her as he began to mutter excitedly. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she prayed that she'd read Emma wrong and that the blonde had been telling the truth.
If not for herself, for Henry's sake.
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Lily asked again, watching Mary Margaret's face.
The dark-haired teacher shook her head with a smile. "Oh, no of course not." She turned to watch the three children over her shoulder. "It'll be nice for Henry to get some socialization." Turning back, she winced at the raised eyebrow Lily sent her. "Not that he doesn't get socialization with you but... I meant with kids his own age... Am I just digging myself a deeper hole?"
Smiling now, Lily shook her head quickly. "Nah, just getting rather flustered."
Quickly saying goodbye to the teacher, and throwing one to the three giggling children, Lily turned and left the apartment. Leaning back against the painted door, she held in the urge to slide down it and curl into a ball. The feel of her vibrating phone shook her out of her depressing thoughts and she frowned at the number displayed on the phone.
"Emma?"
"Hey, Lillian? D'you think you could meet me outside Gold's?"
The odd request had the teen stuttering out a 'yes' before she could really think it over. As the call ended, Lily frowned again at the phone before she headed out into the street and towards the pawn shop.
Emma met her halfway, looking more frazzled than she had at the station.
"So, what did you need?"
"Listen," the blonde began with an awkward sigh. "I know we haven't exactly gotten along since I've been here... But I need your help."
"My help?" Lily couldn't help repeating incredulously. "What could you possibly want from me?"
"Gold adopted you from out of state, right?" She waited for Lily to reluctantly nod. "So, you know how the system works."
"Emma, I was three when Gold adopted me-"
"Humor me." The blonde snapped over her. "Do you know why you were in foster care?" When Lily's face tightened, Emma sensed she was treading a very fine line.
Raising her eyes, Lily's stare burned into Emma's. "Long story short: Mum died, my brother blamed me, while dad drank himself to death."
The blonde nodded, not saying a word about the sad, yet typical story. "So, you know how much it sucks. Which is why we can't let it happen to Ava and Nicholas."
The emotion lurking behind the dark-haired teen's eyes made Emma wonder, and not for the first time, if there was any truth to Henry's stories. Lily certainly looked capable of ripping out a heart at the moment.
"Fine." The whisper came before Emma had a chance to say 'forget it'. Stunned, she looked to meet Lily's now blank gaze. "I'll help. Not sure what I can do, but I'll help."
With a small smirk, Emma held up the compass Ava had given her. "Know a Michael Tillman?"
"As a matter of fact, yes."
"My Lad-" He bit his tongue when the girl went stiff again. "I mean, Lily-"
"It's Lilith." She reminded him, her words terse yet still empty.
"Yes, of course." He coughed, gathering his thoughts so he didn't offend the sorceress in front of him further. "I must ask... Was someone here with you before my arrival?"
That made her pause and she turned her head slowly to meet his gaze. "What do you mean?"
"I could have sworn I saw someone in the mausoleum... And I noticed the doors seemed to open by themselves." He paused. "Unless you opened them... "
She shook her head. "No." Sparing a glance at said doors, her eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "I did nothing." She didn't add that she had felt... something. Or someone. She couldn't say for sure if it was a presence, though it had felt frighteningly familiar to her. Turning back to the fretting man, she finally asked, "What did my mother die from?"
As expected, her question made him go completely stiff. She fought the urge to torture the answer out of him, aware that it probably wouldn't work. From what she remembered, this man had been unwavering in his loyalty to her mother.
"Y-your mother... Lady Katerina, had been sickly as a child-"
"Yet she still managed to live to the age of forty and had two once healthy children."
At that, a cold sweat broke out on his neck. Her slight jab at her sibling made him wonder if the rumors surrounding Darren's death were true. Many servants claimed that a young girl, the spitting image of Lady Katerina, had left the manor covered in blood the night of their Lord's death. Sensing asking such a question would be an immediate death sentence, he avoided speaking of it.
"Why do assume I would know the answer?"
He watched in horror as the hue of her eyes changed. Where there was once bright, aquamarine, a deep red the color of blood replaced it.
"Because I would like to know if I was the cause of it."
Lily watched in silence as Emma showed the mechanic the picture fo Ava and Nicholas. Having gone with Ruby several times to get her car fixed, the teen had thankfully remembered this particular man.
Said man was currently shaking his head in disbelief. "Not possible."
"Actually, it is." Emma replied calmly, taking back the picture when he held it out.
"Well, I'm sorry, but Dory – she wasn't my, um… It was just once." He stumbled out, casting awkward glances at the teen behind the Sheriff.
Lily smirked at him. "Sometimes, that's all it takes."
"I met her when I was camping and we, um… No. It's not possible." He refused sternly. "I don't have twins."
Emma was now frowning at the man. To deny it from shock was one thing, but now he was just being stubborn. "Yes, you do. You have twins that have been homeless ever since their mother passed away. You have twins who have been living in an abandoned house because they don't want to be separated from each other."
"You have twins who are about to be shipped off to Boston and separated. Unless you step up and take responsibility for them." Lily added flatly. The pain coating her voice had Emma looking at her with new eyes.
Michael was shaking his head again. "Look – I can barely manage this garage. I can't manage two kids. And why are you so sure they're mine?"
"Besides the timing… " Emma pulled the compass out from her back pocket and raised it to the light. "Have you ever seen this?"
His eyes widened before he reached towards the compass. "I lost this."
"Let me guess – twelve years and nine months ago?"
Lily earned a stern look from Emma for that comment. Ignoring her, Lily focused on the flustered looking man, forcing Emma to follow suit.
"I know it's a lot – believe me, I know. A month ago, a kid showed up on my doorstep – I gave up for adoption – asking for help with…something. And I ended up moving here for him."
Michael nodded. "I heard about that – it's the Mayor's son. But staying in town is… It's a lot different than taking him in."
"I don't have my kid because I don't have a choice. You do Those kids-"
"Those kids didn't ask to be brought into this world - Didn't ask for you and their mother to bring them into this world." Lily began, eyes shining in the dim light. "But they need you. They need their dad the same way they needed their mother. If you choose not to take them, then you're going to have to answer for that every day of your life." With that, she slipped off the hood of the car and stomped from the garage, ignoring Emma's pleading calls.
Frowning, the blonde turned back to the shell-shocked man before her and lowered her voice. "And sooner or later, when they find you – because believe me, they will find you – you're going to have to answer to them."
"I'm really sorry. I am." He repeated when Emma leveled him with a flat stare. "I don't know anything about being a dad. If it's a good home you're looking for, it's not with me."
"Here, love." Peter dropped the blanket over Lilith's shoulders, watching as she stiffened. "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" She shot back flatly, her voice no higher than a hiss.
"Cringe away whenever I try to help?"
The genuine curiosity in his voice made the scathing retort on her tongue pause. Turning to look at him over her shoulder, she froze when his green eyes seared into her own. With a sigh, she shifted on the ledge, giving him room to sit next to her.
"I haven't had a family in eight years." She whispered softly, keeping a tight grip on the emotions threatening to spill forth. "Even without the spell... It's hard to get past that kind of behavior for that many years."
"Well," his whisper stirred the hair resting against her cheek. He raised a hand, brushing the dark tresses away from her cheek before he ran his hand down the softness of her skin. "Maybe... We can be your new family."
Despite the cheery nature surrounding here, Lily continued to look down at the wood under her arms. Mary Margaret, brushed a hand over her shoulder, frowning when the normally snarky teen didn't react. Sharing a worried look with Henry, the teacher focused on Ava and Nicholas as Henry tried to reach out to his babysitter.
"Lillian?" His whisper barely triggered a reaction.
Ava and Nicholas watched the older girl silently, recognizing the look in her eye. Without a word, the eldest of the duo reached out and placed a hand on Lily's arm.
"Hey," the blonde-haired girl whispered softly with a small smile. "It's gonna be okay."
Lily blinked at her for several seconds before she nodded once and covered Ava's hand with one of her own. "Thank you."
With another smile, Ava pulled her hand away as the three children went back to baking. Lily observed, halfheartedly helping as she tried to push away the gnawing darkness inside her.
Depression. Such a pretty word. Archie's diagnosis of her... Problem, was just that. He attributed it to her previous home life, even though she'd been three at the time of her 'adoption'. Granted, he didn't know the whole story, as Jiminy or Archie, and she planned to keep it that way.
Henry, bless the little boy, was able to involve Lily in the next few minutes of baking until the phone shattered the serene moment. Lily looked up and watched as Mary Margaret's face paled. As she hung up and stuttered out for Lily to watch the still giggling children, the teen frowned inwardly.
When Mary Margaret came back to the apartment, this time with Emma and Regina in tow, Lily shook her head morosely. As predicted, Regina was all too smug to enforce Emma's less than enjoyable 'duties'. As the blonde sheriff lead the children to the car, Lily held Henry as they stood near Regina to watch.
"Let's go, Henry." The Mayor ordered once she was satisfied that Ava and Nicholas were in the car.
Shaking free of Lily's grip, Henry raced towards Emma.
"No, you can't take them!" He cried at Emma, who frowned at him from her window. "They can't leave Storybrooke, Emma! They can't."
"Lillian, go fetch him, will you?" Regina requested quietly, something Lily couldn't deny.
"Something bad will happen." Henry finished as Lily reached his side. The teen nodded when Emma glanced at her, making her frown deepen.
"Something bad has already happened." Emma remarked flatly before she pulled away from the curb, leaving Lily and Henry to watch after her.
"Hey, there she is." Lily nudged Henry, pointing towards Emma's car.
Henry sped up, clutching the box of pumpkin pie from Granny's. Lily followed at a more sedate pace, silently thanking whatever deity there was that Emma had managed to keep Ava and Nicholas in Storybrooke. From what Gold had shared with her, the more happy endings Emma fixed, the weaker the Curse became. With a sardonic laugh, Lily had commented that she wasn't going to hold out on her own happy ending.
"And why is that?" He'd asked curiously.
"Villains don't get happy endings, remember?"
The sound of an engine made Lily's attention snap to the road. Stepping forward, she wrapped an arm around Henry as a motorcycle rounded the corner and headed towards them. Emma stood, lacing herself in front of the two as the vehicle parked across the street from them.
Lily eyed the large, wooden box on the back of the motorcycle before the man took off his helmet and walked to them.
"Hi." He greeted cheerily, seemingly oblivious to their wary stares.
"Hey." Emma greeted after their other two made no indication of responding.
"Is this Storybrooke?"
It was Lily's turn to answer. "Yeah."
He smiled. "Any place to get a room around here?"
"Uh, you're staying?" Henry asked, looking up to share a look with Lily.
"That's the plan. Just looking for a bed."
Emma pointed down the street. "Granny's Bed and Breakfast is just up the road – another two blocks."
"Thank you." He nodded and sent them another smile. Turning around, he walked back to his motorcycle and got on.
"Hey," Emma called, making him pause. "I didn't catch your name."
He smiled back. "Well, that's because I didn't give it." With that, he drove off as Lily, Henry and Emma stared after him in shock.
"I thought you said strangers don't come to Storybrooke?" Emma asked slowly, still staring after the man.
Henry and Lily shared another look.
"They don't."
Thoughts? Comments? Questions?