A better future
A guest asked for a oneshot of Neal having an abused friend and Snowing helping them out.
People always forgot about the villains' children. People hated the villains, so assumed that their children were to be hated too. Very few stopped to think that not all villains would even love their children. It's why Henry and his father had issues in their childhood. People assume that the child of a villain will also be a villain. Fortunately for Stromboli's son Antonio, Neal wasn't so judging. Antonio was in his school, a few grades above. He was a quiet boy who didn't have any friends. Neal noticed that the boy was often alone and over time befriended him. He learned that Antonio's father was cruel to him for having his head in the clouds. When Stromboli learned that Pinocchio was a child again, he wished to use Antonio to extract his revenge. Antonio was reluctant and always "accidentally" sabotaged his father's plans. His father was now constantly cruel to him. Not feeding him for days at a time and telling him how useless he was. As soon as Neal told his parents, they got him out. The only issue was, where should he go now?
"We can't put him into foster care." Emma said firmly. "Trust me, it doesn't do anyone any good going into the system." Snow and Charming could see the fire in her eyes. The want to protect Antonio from what she went through. They nodded in agreement.
"No, we're all agreed that Antonio going into foster care wouldn't be good. If nothing else it would mean leaving town and trying to live in a world that thinks everyone he knows is fictional. He needs somewhere safe. His father may be locked up now but we don't know if he has other people trying to hurt his son." The very sentence put a bitter taste in Charming's mouth. How could anyone want to hurt their own child? Snow smiled.
"I think I know just the person. Antonio…he's a bit of a lonely dreamer, isn't he?" Charming and Emma nodded. "Well then, I think I know of another lonely dreamer who might like the company…"
A couple of weeks later and Snow, Charming and Neal were able to officially drop Antonio off at his new home. The boy was nervous. What if this person hated him too? Neal squeezed his friend's shoulder.
"It's ok." He whispered in assurance as they walked up to the door. "Belle's lovely. She wants you to be happy too. You'll make a great family." Antonio smiled weakly. He was still terrified. Snow wrapped an arm around his shoulders as she rang the bell. Of course Belle and Antonio had now been introduced and spent some time together. But it finally hit Antonio that this was his new home. His sleepovers with Neal had come to an end. This was his new life. Belle answered the door with a smile on her face.
"Hey Tony." She said softly. Antonio felt his cheeks warm slightly. She had started using the nickname for him a couple of days ago. He wasn't used to having a nickname- his father barely addressed him at all and it was normally with an insult. Belle reached out and took his suitcase. "Come on in. We'll go up to your new room. You remember it, yes?" Antonio nodded. He'd visited the house a few times now. As well as the library where Belle worked. Snow let go of Antonio and let him wander into the house after saying goodbye to Neal and that he'd see him at school. Snow and Charming smiled at Belle.
"Good luck." Snow whispered encouragingly.
"Thank you. But I'm sure we won't need it. I think Tony and I will be quite happy together…our own little family." With a final smile Belle shut the door and went to help Tony unpack and settled in. Snow and Charming turned their attention to their own son. Charming ruffled his hair.
"You've done a great thing here, buddy. Without you speaking up for him, Antonio wouldn't be here now. He'd still be with his dad." Neal smiled proudly as he walked back to the car with his parents. Maybe he was a hero- just like them.