A Curse Upon Thee 2-7

“F-Finn?!”

The world might as well have stopped.

Nothing slowed down. Nothing even blurred.

It just stopped, a complete freeze like the worst snowstorm in the dead of winter.

A heavy breath locked solid behind her ribs, it was all Ruby could do to stare at the tall man casually pushing his way through the heavy glass door of the sheriff’s station.

Finn.

The name pressed tight against the inside of her skull, hard enough to make both her knees instantly go weak. Thick stacks of manila folders were still scattered uselessly across her feet from where she'd just dropped them, hands useless as her jaw hung open. Finn. 

Her tongue was dry in her mouth, no more words able to form as she just stared. He's back, he actually came back, Gold didn’t—

Except.

Except the hair was completely wrong. 

It was cut short, not too short but shorter than it should be.

Aggressively blond, and styled carefully back from his face instead of hanging long and wild and bright and a messy beautiful bloody red. The shoulders were way too broad too, the build too filled-out and too solid. The clothes were too— too much. A clean and pressed bright blue blazer was layered neatly over a pristine white polo and tailored slacks; a thick silver watch on his wrist adding to an outfit that looked expensive.

On top of that, his face was just wrong.

Not wrong like a total stranger, or ugly or anything like that. More wrong like a photograph that didn’t exactly match up with what you remembered. The bright blue eyes were exactly the same, the features just as angular and handsome, and even the jawline was almost the same; if a little bit stronger. It was just the expression on it that was completely smoothed over, polished and incredibly calm.

Not like the Finn she knew, Finn with a look that was always sharp, jagged and constantly moving. 

Ruby stumbled a half-step back, her legs still shaking and leaving her clumsy and uncoordinated as the world stuttered back to moving again. Her hand caught the edge of the hard metal filing cabinet, Ruby grasping blindly for something to keep her upright.

“Hey there…” The blond man blinked at her, genuine confusion pulling his easy smile away from his face. "Are you alright?"

His voice was wrong too, clear and perfectly-controlled, with way more Boston breeding in it than the little hints in Finn’s tone. No gravelly sarcasm, and all of the rough gritty edges sanded down to nothing. No weird accent that slid all over the place depending on whether he was joking or pissed off or seconds from passing out in a puddle of his own blood. 

It sounded like Finn, though, exactly like him but only after years of growing up with money and good schools.

"I—" The word stuck itself in her throat, dry and painful like a piece of popcorn, her normal tone failing her as she tried to find a way to speak. “I…”

A chair squeaked as David stood up behind his heavy wooden desk, right hand immediately dropping to rest on the heavy leather pommel of the sheathed brand-new broadsword in place at his hip. "Can we help you with something?"

The stranger's attention shifted smoothly from Ruby and over Regina to land David, one blond eyebrow raising slightly as his gaze dropped to David’s lower body. “...is that a sword?”

“Yes…” David’s fingers twitched away from the weapon. “I swordfight. It’s a… hobby.”

“Do you?” Familiar blue eyes blinked at the new sheriff, the smile coming back. “Cool, I’ve always wanted to get into that.”

“It’s good exercise, yeah.” David cleared his throat. “But what can we do for you?”

"Yeah, hi. I'm actually looking for a Sheriff Graham. Boston PD said they received a tip from him regarding an active missing persons case, but—" He paused, his blue eyes dropping down to read the shiny tin star pinned to David's chest. "You're not Graham."

"No." Ruby glanced at the older man, David’s hands tensing again even as he kept his voice level with that Prince Charming forwardness leashed tight. "Sheriff Graham is… unfortunately, no longer with us."

"Oh." The blond man's face shifted smoothly, smile sliding off to show something that could have been actual sympathy. "I'm incredibly sorry to hear that." He cleared his throat, broad shoulders straightened as he looked at David again. "My name's Chadwick O'Donaghue. But you can just call me Chad. Don’t really know anyone who calls me Chadwick, anyway."

"You..." The word tore its way free of Ruby's throat finally, seconds of silent mouthing finally paying off as she rasped out three more. "You know Finn?"

"I mean, yeah, of course I know Finn." That head of blond hair turned smoothly over to Ruby, bright blue eyes — Finn's blue eyes, almost exactly, Jesus Christ  — met hers with a question before he even voiced it. "Why wouldn’t I know my own cousin?"

"Cousin?" David repeated, the single word sharp and entirely skeptical.

“Yeah.”

Ruby blinked. “N-not brother?”

Chad's mouth quirked up at one corner, Ruby’s chest hurting at a look so terrifyingly close to Finn's trademark, lopsided, cocky grin. "We do look a hell of a lot alike, don't we?"

"...yeah." The word fell out of her mouth, just as strangled as everything else. “You really do.”

It hurt to say that, and it somehow hurt even more to hear the smooth laugh that slipped free from Chad as she did.  "You would think the hair would trip people up, but yeah. I get that a lot. Real strong genes in our family." 

Chad’s eyes turned back to David, broad shoulders settling. "Anyway. Boston PD’s been trying to reliably reach Sheriff Graham for weeks now about a Phineas Connor McHale…”

Connor? The middle name was another small shock to Ruby, a reminder she really knew nothing about Finn when he knew nothing about himself.

“...who was officially reported missing about two years ago. Before you say anything, I know, okay.” Chad held his hands up and sighed, already shaking his head. “Finn… He… look, he’s got a pretty massive issue with being tied down to one place. I don’t understand it, but it’s Finn and he’s just… Finn.” The younger blond clicked his tongue. “Considering he kept in semi-regular, burner-phone contact with us up until about a year ago, the local police weren’t exactly launching a massive statewide manhunt even for a missing juvenile. It’s only the last twelve months that they tried to step it up, and when we finally got a solid tip that he might've ended up here, well..."

He paused, mouth tightening into a thin line. "I would’ve been here earlier, but apparently spelled the last name wrong in his initial report. Slowed the whole bureaucratic process down by months, if you can believe it."

“And you simply took it upon yourself…” Regina stepped smoothly forward from the back of the room, finally deciding to speak as her designer heels clicked sharply against the linoleum. "To come all this incredible way simply on a tip?"

Blue eyes blinked at her, slowly and calmly like he was looking at an idiot. "I don’t know if you know the word family but that’s what Finn is to me. Hell, we grew up like brothers." There was a tenseness to his words, almost as sharp as David’s sword as it cut clean through Regina’s trademark venom. "Of course I came all this way."

Ruby's hands curled into tight fists at her sides, short nails biting into her palms hard enough to sting. Not Finn. Not Finn. But that anger was so familiar, even if so much more controlled than she was used to seeing. Not Finn. Not Finn. 

"Can I speak to whoever is in charge now?" Chad’s gaze slid back and forth between David and Regina. "I really need to find Finn as soon as possible. Hopefully, before I miss another of my cousin’s birthdays."

"Well, seeing as Sheriff Graham is dead," Regina’s voice came out flat and blunt enough to force a wince from David at her side. “You’ll have to rely on our current sheriff for information on the case.”

Chad blinked. "Well, yes… that’s exactly what I was looking for." 

He took a deep breath, hands up for a second before he lowered them again. "But, also... I seem to get the general feeling everyone in this room seems to know exactly who Finn is. So, does anyone here mind helping me with where he is?"

Ruby's mouth dropped open, instinct and emotion pushing the words up her throat. Down a goddamn wishing well. Thrown by the creepy pawnshop imp. Gone a whole week. I… I watched him fall. I couldn’t cat—

David cut her off before the jagged sound could even form on her tongue. "Finn ran away."

The lie might as well have been a slap as Ruby snapped her head over to David, pure shock and fury fighting for space on her face. The look the sheriff shot her shoved both back down, sharp and pointed and screaming ‘shut the hell up right now’.

Chad grunted, the sound almost amused but in a tired kind of way. The laugh that spilled out again felt almost the same, like he’d just heard a joke that was only funny because it was so damn bad. "Yeah... honestly, that sounds exactly… exactly like Finn." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, the heavy silver watch on his wrist catching the light. "You happen to know which way he went?"

Ruby opened her mouth again, silent words trying their best to fomr. We can’t keep lying to this guy, like not for something like this, it’s not right.  

"No.” David spoke first, conviction locking the story into place. “No, we don't. He left suddenly about a week ago and… uh, didn’t exactly leave us a forwarding address."

“Uh-huh. That’s just… well, whatever.” Chad's jaw worked, a flash of genuine frustration actively bleeding through the polish. "Do you at least know how long he was here for?"

"Almost... seven months. Almost, six and a half, but… ” This time, Ruby made sure to answer before David could take the words away from her. “Y-yeah. About that long."

Blue eyes went wide, unfiltered surprise clear on the rich boy’s face as he looked at her. "Seven months?" A long breath slid out to punctuate the question, Chad just shaking his blond head slowly. "That's... Jesus, you’re sure?”

Ruby nodded back at him. “Sure as anything, yeah.”

“N-not doubting you or anything, it’s just… Christ, I mean…” Chad licked his lips. “That’s just so much longer than he's ever stayed in one place this entire time." His eyes glanced up to meet Ruby's again, something entirely raw and unguarded in his stare this time. "And you said he just… vanished? Just packed up and left?"

"...y-yeah." The single word scraped its way out of her throat, rough and breaking right down the middle as she stuck to David’s horrible lie. "He just... just vanished in the night."

Chad stared at her for a long moment, eyes suddenly heavy and serious in a way Finn’s never were; like he was holding a weight on him instead of shrugging it off. He’s… Ruby blinked as she realized something else. He’s taking me in. The same way Ruby was tracking all the things about the way he looked, he was doing the same. 

Her hands twitched as she crossed her arms over her chest, well aware of the grief in the slump of her shoulders, those dark circles under her green eyes, and the ragged rasp to her words that came from crying in her bed, working back-to-back shifts and barely sleeping for a week. 

"You know, after two years… I was really hoping I’d finally get to see my cousin again.” Chad's voice dropped quieter, a sigh leaving him again. "Bring him home, finally. You know?"

Home. Jealousy spiked in Ruby's chest because Storybrooke was Finn's home. She was his home. Not some polished, rich-kid cousin from Boston who showed up in a sports car six months too damn late.

"We would absolutely love to help you if we could," David spoke smoothly, doubling down on the lie already. "But we honestly don't know where he went or why he left."

“You know…” Regina stepped closer, dark eyes fixed on Chad. "That is a very, very nice car parked outside."

Chad glanced back, looking through the glass door at the dark blue Maserati parked at the curb before looking back at Regina. "Thanks. Birthday present."

"A very expensive birthday present.”

"I guess." Chad shrugged. “Gets good mileage.”

Chad turned away from Regina, reaching into his tailored blazer pocket. He set something neatly on the edge of David's desk, a black business card with text on it as dark blue as the car outside. "I'll try and find a decent place to stay in town for a couple of days. See if anyone else remembers anything. If anything comes up or if he calls, please let me know."

Regina nodded once, red lips curving up in something that absolutely wasn't a smile. "We will certainly be sure to."

Chad looked over at Regina, blue eyes narrowed for a second before he finally turned and walked out. “Well, thank you.” The door opened behind him and a few seconds later, the blond man disappeared out onto Main Street.

Ruby just stared blankly at the glass door, watching Chad's broad back in the silence as he crossed the sidewalk to his expensive car. 

"Well. That was... incredibly odd." Regina's voice cut sharply through the heavy quiet, the former mayor still staring out the window as the Maserati pulled smoothly off the curb.

"Yeah. Special Operations Associate, Blue Trumpet Holdings.” David seemed to be entirely focused on something else, looking down at the small piece of cardstock on his desk with a deep frown. “What kid even has a personal business card?"

Ruby didn't move an inch, not even blinking as she just stared at the empty spot where Chad had just been standing, her exhausted brain desperately trying to process — trying her very very best to understand — what the absolute hell just happened.

"Ruby?" David's voice came gentler, softer as he turned her way. "You okay?"

She finally turned her head, looking at the Sheriff with dark green eyes that were too wet and too raw.

"David, what the fuck..."