I do not own Once Upon a Time.

Sorry, another sad flashback. Ok, super sad. Like get the tissues.

Tara was running late for the afternoon's board meeting, the parent teacher conference had run long. Sophia was doing well in school, so well in fact that she could skip a grade. But first Neal and Tara had to weigh all their options.

"So sorry I'm late." She told everyone in the board room when she entered. Liam sat at one end of the large table looking over an open folder with the numbers for the quarter.

As soon as Tara took her seat, Ursula slid a folder over to her. The numbers were not good; they weren't terrible either. But the Jewel of the World had seen better days.

"As you can see, numbers are down but so is the economy. We aren't the only ones suffering. But we just have to roll with the punches and we will get through this slow time." Liam was saying, he sounded so confident.

But of course someone had to argue with him. Felix actually stood up. "Yes the numbers are down, but you are acting like this is the first time. The profit of the company has been dropping for the past two years…"

"Numbers drop and they always come back up." Tara replied, not looking up from the folder. She had to put him back in his place.

"Maybe if the head board members paid more attention to the company and less time on their personal lives, the Jewel wouldn't be in this situation…" Cora said delicately.

"At least we have personal lives, unlike some people." Tara cut in. She never liked any of the board members, but they had done so much for her in the past. So it was a hate/ tolerate relationship. And Tara knew Liam felt the same way.

Liam held up a hand, hoping to stop Tara from saying anything stupid. "And what situation would that be exactly?" He knew where this conversation was going but he wanted to straight out hear it.

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but Jewel of the World has dropped to number three." Cora said.

And it was Peter who took the cake. "To make everything easier for all parties involved, maybe you should hand over the company to the board. We have been running it longer than you and Tara…"

Liam finally got to his feet to stare down the man. "That's Mrs. Cassidy to you." He growled. "And I would never dream of handing over control to any of you. This company has been in my, in our family for five generations and I would be dead before I let you get your greedy hands on it…"

A sick smile crossed Peter's face. "Interesting choice of words, Mr. Jones…" He remarked and pulled out a gun from his jacket pocket.

Tara was the first to react, or would have been if Sidney hadn't grabbed her and pulled her under the table. Maybe it was to protect her. There were the other members under there.

But Tara had to get to Liam, he was the one who needed protection. She twisted out of Sidney's grip and crawled to the other end of the table but stopped and suddenly everything was in slow motion and she heard nothing.

Liam's face had shock, horror and utter betrayal written all over it. He took a step back then fell to the floor. His shirt was quickly turning red, right over his heart.

Now she found her voice, which ended up being a scream. This was not happening; this could not be happening. Her eyes were trained on Liam's form, she focused on his chest. He was still breathing so she prayed she could take down Peter.

Suddenly her ankle was grabbed and she was dragged out from under the table. Peter stood over her, gun aimed at her head. "One down, two to go…"

He meant to kill her and then kill Killian, was he planning on wiping out the whole family?

But she was never powerless. She kicked him in the knee, he lost grip on the gun, but not before firing it. The bullet hit the floor a few inches from Tara's head. The gun fell to the floor and Tara dove for it. Peter thought he was quicker but ended up getting a heel to the face.

Tara finally held the gun and pulled herself to her feet. She stood over Peter, gun aimed at him.

"You have fire, Tara. I like fire." There was something cruel and unsettling behind his voice.

She was going to kill him, there was no way around it. And good form dictated that she should not shoot a man on the ground. But at this point who cared about good form. Now where to shoot? Head or the chest. Well, Liam had been shot in the chest so…

"Interesting choice of words." Then Tara Cassidy fired the fatal shot. Peter was dead.

Now Tara dropped the gun and flew to Liam's side. "Liam, I'm right here, just hold on…"

Liam grabbed her hand with what little strength he had left. "I know… there's so much pain…"

Tara placed her hands over his heart in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "Help is on its way… Someone call 911!" She screamed to the room. "You are going to be fine."

"Tara, you that's not true… Do me a favor… Tell Roxanne I'm sorry. Tara, tell her I love her and I made her wait…"

"You can tell her yourself and then the two of you can make it official…"

"I'll send Mom and Dad your love, little sister…"

"Liam, shut up! Stop talking like that right now!" She wanted to hit him, knock some sense into him. Make him believe that everything was going to be alright, but nothing would ever be alright.

Liam began to whisper things and Tara bent close to hear him. Then Liam Patrick Jones breathed his last.

Tara finally let the tears flow freely and she loudly sobbed, not caring if she made a scene. A set of hands were suddenly on her shoulders, attempting to pull her away from Liam.

"No, I can't leave him! No, I won't. Liam, wake up!" Tara cried.

"Tara, he's gone." Said an emotionless voice near her ear.

"No, he can't be! Liam, this isn't funny, wake up now!" She screamed. She planned on screaming until her voice was horse or until Liam woke up, which ever came first.

"Tara, I'm sorry."

Tara froze and her eyes met Robin's. He was calm but she could tell he was holding his feelings back. He was as broken as she was.

Now her eyes traveled the room. All of the members were gone, moved into another room. Medical personnel were near Peter's body. There was crime scene tape across the door. Beyond that, Tara could see Regina talking to a police officer.

"Ma'am, we need to take him." Someone addressed her.

Tara attempted to cover Liam's body with her own, to shield and protect it, but Robin was faster. His strong arms wrapped around her and he just held her as Liam's lifeless body was put on a gurney, a white sheet placed over it and wheeled out of the room. She fought and screamed the whole time, but she was too weak to break his grip.

"He can't be gone; he can't be gone! Liam, come back to me… Liam!"

From some faraway place, she heard her name and recognized the voice.

Sorry, but you had to know what happened.

FYI- I just finished writing this story. So very proud. You will still being reading into next year.

Reviews?