Five years later, and Storybrooke had moved on to a happier time, without constant threats to everyone's lives. One of the fallen heroes has also returned, and the outlook for some in the magical little town looked brighter than ever. Nothing could change that, could it?

Five Years Later…

The last years had been kind to the residents of the little magical town in Maine.

After decades spent fighting everything from monsters to witches, ghouls, invaders and all manner of creature destined to bring harm or gain power over them, the last four years had been unbelievably settled. And most residents hoped they were finally on a path to gaining their Happy Ever After.

Four years ago, Regina Mills, the reformed former Evil Queen of Misthaven, had been elected Queen of the United Realms, a title in name only, although she was also now known as The Good Queen. Six months later, her true love and soulmate, Robin Hood, far from having his soul obliterated by Hades, was restored to life by powerful magic from Merlin himself. The Sorcerer, who it was revealed had multiple 'doppelgängers ' to protect himself from ultimate harm, had somehow worked with Zeus himself to help undo the damage caused by the god's malicious brother, Hades, now destroyed by the same crystal used to end Robin. The soul of the hero was traced, and the legendary outlaw had been returned to a stunned Regina, before he set about recovering his missing son Roland. Regina had immediately asked him to move into her home. And within three months he'd proposed to her and they were now happily married. One of the most romantic partnerships the town had ever seen.

After overcoming all manner of adversary in their long courtship, Emma Swan, the Saviour, had married Killian Jones, the former villain and feared pirate Captain Hook. Within the year she'd given birth to a daughter, Hope, now three years old. And like Regina, Emma too was getting her long-deserved happiness after a lifetime of trauma, with the love of her life.

The marriage of Emma's legendary parents, Snow White and Prince Charming, continued to be an example to all. Their son Neal, named after their daughter's departed former love and father of Henry their grandson, was now almost eight years old, and it was only a few months ago that the Blue Fairy discovered that the boy, like his older sister, almost certainly held powerful magic within him, which would appear in the fullness of time.

Three years ago, Ruby Lucas returned home from Oz, where she'd met, fallen in love with, and married, Dorothy Gale, another legendary hero. They married shortly after she returned, in a wedding attended by most of the town.

Henry Mills, Regina's adopted, and Emma's biological son, was now twenty years old. Having done well in his exams, the bright young man had won a place at Harvard, and was due to head there for his first term after the summer.

The four Storybrooke families thrived, and their future appeared bright.

How wrong they were!

Storybrooke

It was the most astonishing change the residents had ever witnessed in some of their heroes. And It all started the day the Sheriff's Office received an alarm from one of the dwarves, that Fiona, the Black Fairy, had been spotted in the middle of the forest, about two miles out of Storybrooke.

It proved to be a false alarm. Just some teenage girls playing pranks using Halloween costumes, which somehow got out of hand. But the mere twitchiness of some the Heroes, having thought there was even the possibility that the evil fairy, long believed dead, had somehow returned to wreak havoc, had been enough for them to insist a major search be undertaken throughout the entire town and surrounding areas. At the time, Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One himself, had dismissed the rumour as stuff and nonsense.

He should know, he killed Fiona himself!

But some refused to believe him, given his history. So an extensive search was instigated, most of the heroes working in pairs to find the evil fairy, taking up almost an entire day. However, within hours, a sixteen-year-old girl, who did bear a striking resemblance to the dreaded malevolent being, had come forward, admitting she had been playing an elaborate hoax on her friends. The now embarrassed girl, in front of her furious parents, had even shown David and Mulan the costume she'd used. So the search was called off.

However, what followed next was a chain of unconnected events, that would change everything.

The Nolan Farm

The following afternoon, now part-time farmer and part-time Sheriff David Nolan had returned to his farm from the called-off search, earlier than expected. It had been a quiet afternoon at the Sheriff's Office, like so many recently.

Walking into the, he assumed, empty farmhouse, he went straight into the kitchen, dropping his keys on the worktop.

That's when he heard noises. Noises from upstairs. Some sort of loud groaning?

That didn't sound like Snow!

Immediately on alert, and quietly drawing his gun from its holster, he took off his shoes, before tiptoeing up the stairs, onto the landing.

The noises appeared to be coming from their own bedroom? Preparing for the unexpected, he released the safety catch on his gun, bracing himself, before violently kicking the door open with his foot, then launching himself inside the doorway, crouching down and raising the weapon, ready to fire.

"FREEZE!" He bellowed.

His jaw dropped at the sight that greeted him.

For on the marital bed lay two naked figures, coiled together, facing one another in opposite directions, each with their head down between the other's legs, clearly pleasuring each other, orally. One head popped up as he yelled, and he instantly recognised Ruby Lucas, one of their closest friends, her wet chin now glistening as she looked genuinely shocked to see the crouched figure pointing a gun directly at her.

"STOP!" The astonished she-wolf yelled, as the second head now lifted up from between her thighs, turning around to face him. "DON'T SHOOT!"

The equally shocked, equally wet face of a second woman, also morphed from surprised to horrified, as his jaw dropped even further.

"SNOW?"

"DAVID?" Snow wiped her glistening mouth with her hand, shocked at being caught.

~oOo~

Too devastated by her betrayal to react at first, he'd stormed out, heading down the stairs, his mind a blur, not having believed his own eyes. Somehow, he found himself in the lounge, staring out of the large bay window overlooking the farm, as he heard more noises from upstairs. Presumably the women getting changed? Worse still, when Snow reappeared minutes later, Ruby now standing alongside her, she held onto the other guilty woman's hand.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, David!" Snow's cheeks were rosier than normal, but she didn't seem embarrassed. More…irritated? "You shouldn't have found out this way."

"Found out? So that wasn't the first time?"

"No. Well, not exactly." She pulled Ruby closer into her side. "But we finally decided to act on feelings that've been there a very long time."

Her manner also seemed a hell of a lot cooler than he expected.

"Your feelings? Since when? You're a married woman, for god's sake! Married to me!" He looked at the taller woman who also seemed calm, given what had just happened. "Married, with a child! We're supposed to be true loves? We even share a split heart!" There was a part of David that wanted to get angry. To bellow. To lash out, and even punch one of them. But he was still too stunned to comprehend what had happened. His gaze turned to Ruby. And the first thing he noticed was how she didn't seem unduly concerned either. Maybe even blasé? That's when his anger finally came out.

"And as for you!" He spoke slowly, disgust in his voice, stepping closer, about to get into her face. "I thought you were my friend? How could you do this? To me? To your wife! Do you have no shame?" He raised an arm to grab her by her shirt.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Snow suddenly bellowed out, leaping between them, her eyes now showing instant anger, as she tried to push him back. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"

"TOUCH HER? I'LL BLOODY KILL HER! YOU CHEATED ON ME!" His anger was now directed straight back down at his wife, spittle flecking from his lips. "You even fucked her in our bed!"

"What can I say?" Ruby, unbelievably, grinned back at him? "She traded up." She spotted his clenched fist, and that he was now starting to shake with rage. "I wouldn't. You can try taking me on, Charming, but we both know how that'll go, don't we?" She sneered. Ruby knew that, even in human form, her wolf strength and speed would be more than capable of handling any human. Even him.

That was enough to trigger it! Even though David had never willingly hurt a woman in his life, this was too much!

Furious, his left palm suddenly flew against Snow's cheek, not striking her, but roughly pushing her aside, hard, so he could get his hands on his real target! And as he did so, and in the violent rush, Ruby looked to her left as Snow fell to one side. And in that moment's distraction, even her wolf reactions hadn't noticed David had already un-holstered his gun with his right hand again, clicking the safety catch off again, before jamming the barrel hard, right under the middle of her chin, burying it into the soft flesh, his free left hand now yanking her tightly against him.

"You quite sure about that?" He drew his face right into hers, snarling. "Because I'm willing to bet that though you're quick, my bullet's an awful lot quicker! What do you think, bitch?"

Snow, having been thrown aside, almost falling to the floor, staggered back up, looking up to the sight of Charming now holding her lover tightly against himself, his gun wedged hard under her chin, bristling in fury. Her lover's sneer had disappeared in a heartbeat, and she realised that, with any sudden, wrong move, Ruby would be dead!

"David…" She tried to sound calm, but the tremble in her voice betrayed her. "Don't do anything rash. Please, just…lower the gun."

"Not a chance!" His eyes never left Ruby's. "The moment I do that, this bitch'll attack."

"Oh, you can count on it, Nolan!" Ruby countered, trying to appear brave, but inside she was terrified. Unfortunately, her false bravado had the opposite effect, the barrel of his gun now ramming in even harder, forcing her head right back, as she heard the first click of the trigger against his finger.

Ruby wasn't stupid. There was nothing she could do like this!

"David…please?" Snow tried again. "She won't do anything, I swear! Just lower it, before someone gets hurt? Please?"

Despite being incandescent with rage, there was a small part of him that was delighted he could now see real fear in the she-wolf's eyes. He leant in, whispering against her ear.

"Not nice is it, being threatened? Now you know what it's like."

"David?" Snow persisted. "What do I have to say to make you let her go?"

"Nothing. You've said more than enough." There was a long pause. David knew his sole advantage would be gone the moment he lowered the gun. "But this one, on the other hand…" He had difficulty controlling his voice now, his finger still taught on the trigger. "I never want to see her anywhere near this house, or my son, or me, ever again! You can take her away, but I need her to stay away from the rest of my family."

"We agree!" Snow immediately answered for her, thinking it best. "David, please put the gun down?"

"I need to hear her say it out loud!" He pressed in the barrel even harder, knowing full well that if he did release her, he could easily be slaughtered in a heartbeat if he wasn't quick enough. "I need to her to make a wolf vow under Lycaon!"

Unknown to Snow, years ago David had researched werewolves when trying to stop the town mob finding and killing the waitress. He'd found out about their beliefs, their gods, and some of the sacred vows the creatures held. How breaking a sworn vow to one god in particular, was, to other wolves and werewolves alike, punishable by death.

And now the eyes of the she-wolf before him bulged, when she heard the name of their most precious god.

"You heard me! Lycaon! Swear it!"

"Okay, okay!" Ruby had difficulty speaking with the barrel so tight under her chin. "I swear! I swear on Lycaon! I won't ever come back here again."

"And apart from my cheating shit of my wife," Charming's voice was just an angry snarl, and Ruby felt the trigger finger tighten. "You'll never come anywhere near me, or my family, especially my son, ever again! Swear it now, in full, in the name of your Wolf God? Or I swear to you I'll will blow your fucking brains out! Right here! Right now! "SWEAR ON IT!"

"I swear under Lycaon!" She gulped, hardly able to get the words out. "I'll stay away! I swear I'll never harm you, or go anywhere near you or your family, apart from Snow, ever again!"

Ruby now sounded genuinely frightened, all trace of her earlier cockiness gone. With a look of total contempt, David slowly lowered his gun, holding it against himself, but with his finger still on the trigger, pointing it at her.

"Get out of my house, and NEVER come back! GO!"

Visibly shaken, Ruby immediately obeyed and fled, calling back to her lover.

"Snow, grab my things from upstairs please? I'll go wait in the car."

As she fled, Snow was straight back in front of him, her eyes now blazing.

"HOW DARE YOU?" I don't know what you did to her just then, but I swear that I'm never coming back here either! I'm moving back to the loft, and she's coming with me!"

He looked down on her contemptuously. "And what about Neal? Our son, remember? Did you think of him when you cheated on me?"

"Don't bring my son into this! He'll understand, given time. Marriages break down all the time. He'll know his mother would-"

"What the hell happened to you, Snow White?" He interrupted her, shaking his head. "This isn't you! I don't recognise you! What made you throw away a wonderful marriage? What was it for? Sex?"

"Sex?" She sneered back. "Do you seriously think that's what this is all about? Sex? I've wanted to be with Ruby again for years! We were together before I even met you! She was my first lover, in every way! And now she'll be my last. As it should be."

"So you lied to me?" He shook his head in sheer disbelief. "You told me I was your first."

Unbelievably, she actually laughed? "Yes, the first man! But I never said anything about another woman, did I?" She saw the disbelieving hurt in his eyes, which only encouraged her to twist the knife in further. To her, after the way he'd treated her lover, he deserved everything she could throw at him. "Oh, did I just hurt your feelings? Has my big brave prince finally discovered his little princess wasn't quite the virgin bride he thought she was on his wedding night?"

"So you lied about that, too?" Somehow the revelation seemed to make it even worse.

"Of course I lied! How do you think Misthaven would've taken to the heir to the throne being with another woman? A potential lesbian queen? My own father would've thrown me out of the kingdom himself, even without Regina's help! Can you imagine how she would've used that against me?"

"So our entire marriage was also built on a lie? A sham? You pretended to love me, just so you could keep the throne?"

"Stupidly enough, no. Being the young idiot I was back then, I told myself I was in love with you. My true love, just because you woke me from that stupid curse? Ruby and I held back from each other after that, just remaining friends until yesterday, when I realised her feelings for me were still just as strong as mine have always been for her. I should've been with her years ago!"

He felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Everything he'd built his life on with the woman he'd woken with a kiss, even physically losing his own heart for, had been founded on falsehood and deceit.

"I thought you loved me, as much as I loved you. I never imagined for one moment you could give it all up. For another woman."

"So that's why you treated her so abominably? Because she's another woman?" His obvious hurt seemed to please her, spurring her on even further, smiling cruelly as she taunted him. "Did it hurt your pathetic little male pride, Charming? I'm in love with her, you fool! And as for the sex, well let me tell you, that woman can bring out feelings in me you couldn't even imagine! She's a tigress in bed who can bring out more orgasms in me than you can possibly imagine! Why would I want to stay with you, when I can be with her?"

He shook his head. "So this is what you want?"

"Of course it is! Since Regina's curse broke I've been living a lie. But I refuse to live it any longer. I love her and I always have. You may not like it, but this is who I am and who I've always been. People grow apart and split up all the time. So get over it."

The woman standing in front of him seemed nothing like the one he'd fallen in love with, courted, romanced, and married all those years ago. The woman with whom he'd produced two children with true-love magic. The woman who'd held his heart in the palm of her hand, as he told her to crush it to get back to Emma. This Snow White was somebody totally different. Cold. Hard. What's really happened to make her do this? To destroy everything they had? But he was too shocked to keep arguing.

"Go! Go before I lose my temper, and kill you!"

And that was it. One of the most successful, romantic partnerships that had ever been written, was over. The story of Snow White and Prince Charming had come to a close, in a matter of minutes.

Later that day, David collected his son from school. Over dinner, when Neal had asked him where his mother was, he avoided the question completely, only telling him she was busy and tonight she'd be staying in town. He knew he should tell him, but decided it was best to do it tomorrow, after he'd had time to think how best to explain it. And how to live the rest of his life. Alone.

And later, after Neal had gone to bed, as he sat by the bay window overlooking the farm, the sadness replaced the shock, finally overwhelming him.

Then the tears finally came. He felt empty. Broken

Later…

He was into his fifth, or maybe it was his sixth large scotch, when the knocker sounded on the farmhouse door.

Eleven at night? Who the hell visits an isolated farmhouse, in the pouring rain, at eleven at night?

He definitely didn't want to face anyone, but he answered it, only to find himself confronted by the pitiful image of someone he hadn't expected.

Outside, standing in drizzling rain, the moonlight poking through a small gap in the dark clouds, stood a sodden woman who had clearly just walked there, rather than driven. She looked miserable, downcast, and as bad as he felt.

"Dorothy? What on earth are you doing here this time of night?"

"I'm sorry. I figured this was the one place where they wouldn't be?"

"You'd better come in."

~oOo~

Dorothy Gale, the former Hero of Oz, was in just as bad a state. Although he'd already had far too much to drink, he offered her a large scotch which she readily accepted, and wound up sitting with him on the covered porch out the back, overlooking the farm in the moonlight, now that the rain had passed.

He opened up, telling her all about what happened that afternoon, and Dorothy had been shocked at just how blatant they'd been with him, too. She'd been emotional at first, not surprisingly. But when she'd finally calmed, having cried her last tears (for now), she told him about what'd happened in her mother-in-law's diner, when Ruby broke the news to her that their marriage was over. It had been brutal.

"I didn't recognise her! It's like she's a completely different woman from the one I married? Does that sound crazy? She stood there, brazen as day, telling me she was leaving me to go live with her, as though it was nothing? She was just so…so, cold! I had no idea they even cared for each other that way. Did you?"

"Not a clue, but I felt the same. That wasn't Snow either. I can't explain it. What did you do when she told you?"

"I lost it completely! I screamed at her. I even slapped her! As for Snow, I just wanted to beat the living crap out of her! They were just so blasé about it, like they hadn't done anything wrong? Granny was livid!"

"She knows?"

"Most of the town does by now, I reckon. She heard me screaming at her and came in, wondering what all the fuss was about. Once she heard what they'd done, she kicked her out."

"Kicked her out?"

"Sacked her on the spot! Said she'd brought shame to their family and her forebears, and told her to collect her things and get out. Of course, Snow then got into an argument with her, telling her she was overreacting and not to be so horrible to her only granddaughter. But that just made Granny go even more ballistic! She told her the pair of them were a disgrace to their marriage vows, and banned them both for life. I thought she was going to have a heart attack!"

"Poor Eugenia. So what are you going to do now?"

"No idea. I've still got the shoes so I may go back to Oz, or home, towards Kansas, or whatever. I haven't decided yet."

"Then stay here till you do? I can pretty much guarantee they won't be coming back here. And I've got spare rooms and everything. If you don't mind waking up to birdsong and lambs bleating?"

"Sounds like where I grew up. Thanks for the offer. Maybe if I stay here for tonight, then see in the morning, if that's okay? I don't want to go anywhere near town. I might even pack up and leave over the next day or so. What about you?"

"Like you, it's all come as a shock. But unlike you, I've got a son who still needs me here. I'm just going to come out with it tomorrow and tell him what's happened. Then there's Emma? I'm not even sure she knows. I haven't really given it much thought since I found them upstairs."

"I'd be surprised if she doesn't! Leroy was listening when we were arguing. So I guess most of the town knows by now."

Within hours, news of the scandalous affair between Snow White and Ruby Lucas spread around, along with Dorothy and Granny's reactions in the diner. It'd become the biggest talking point in that normally staid little town.

But theirs weren't going to be the only marriages to be broken that day.

~oOo~