Chapter Text
Victor Frankenstein carefully walked further into the forest. Just a few miles from his home was the landing site of the...dirigible, was it? He shook his head, not needing to pay mind on the name. Luckily it was the opposite direction of his cabin and the clearing Ruby loved to run as a wolf.
There were rags of clothes, metal scraps, a brass jug, and many other things littering the ground. He really hoped the dwarves would organize a cleanup crew for the stuff shouldn’t be cluttering the forest. He ran a gloved finger over a propeller sticking up from the ground. He wasn’t eyeing some of the golden pieces.
Looking upwards he marveled at the large mast of the thing. The intricate designs were really incredible. But drawing wasn’t what he was here for. He gently picked through turned over objects to find science materials. Jekyll had several test tubes, beakers, and things when he arrived at his garage.
Before he was revealed as the villain that is. Couldn’t find a good fellow scientist these days.
There had to be some ingredients or equipment he could use. Stuff from a world this one knew little about. For a small closed-off town it was hard to get equipment from an olden time he was used to. He wasn’t too fond of some new-age stuff on the computer.
Using the ropes he climbed the wobbly ramp. Some parts were sturdy, some not. Inside the red and brown contraption was a bit bigger than expected but still surprising so many people fit in there. Avoiding a broken porcelain doll and ignoring the pull of a spilled wine goblet, Victor dug through the wreckage.
He found a few vials, some promising-looking panels he could fashion together and some lab notes. He’d have to read through those to make sure they weren’t that separating potion but these looked like general findings.
After quite an armful of things he slung the bag over his head with a smile. It wasn’t much but it would be a start. However villainous Jekyll turned out his knowledge was amazing and Victor missed someone who understood that.
But halfway down the ramp he heard something. A barely perceptible thin cry and gasping. If it wasn’t for his concentration to things and a bit of surrounding-awareness from Ruby, he wouldn’t have noticed.
“Hello? Who’s there?” he called.
No answer but another crying gasp.
Victor jumped to the ground and spun. Just under the sunken part of the airship were dirty shreds of rags and...tiny fingers? His medical training took over the science and he rushed to the spot. Lifting some heavier scorched and bent metal pieces he gasped at what he found. An infant!
The doctor quickly picked up the baby who was impossibly small and held it close. The baby was just shy of newborn and wheezing in between cries from the smoke. Gathering the child up he moved fast to his car. Those lungs didn’t sound good.
“Hangon, little one, you’re going to be just fine.”
He likely broke several laws holding the baby in one arm and speeding to the hospital with the other. Nolan was a dad, he’d have to cut him a break.
Ruby and Victor were supposed to meet at the diner, grab dinner, and head home. But he never showed. He texted he’d be late which was misspelled but nothing else.
She would normally brush it off, bring him food, and wait around to make sure he didn’t drown in lab work; all the while smiling at how absorbed he was. But something felt off. It wasn’t unusual but enough it nagged at her.
They had only been married a year. Her friends had mixed emotions. Snow was thrilled at any couple together, Charming on the fence because of his general dislike for Whale, and the rest varied. Granny had of course threatened Victor with her crossbow but there was a glint in her eye at the obvious scared look on his face as he stood his ground. He loved Ruby and that was it. Granny approved after that.
Their dating had been quiet, the wedding even quieter (even though the Princess tried to make it extravagant), but Snow would say she saw something in them even during the cursed years. It was clear the doctor was no longer a playboy (hadn’t been much one, just talk really), and the looks between him and the waitress went back far.
They always wondered why she had the nametag Liza but now it made sense. They had talked through the years but it wasn’t until the docks that things seemed to click. The almost comical inquisitive look he had at her “I ate my boyfriend” and the way she’d hugged him after the successful surgery at the hospital away from prying eyes. They were searching for meaning in this modern world and both struggled in some areas, but this felt right between them.
So Ruby waited at home, glass of wine in hand, lightly dozing but wolf hearing alert for Victor to arrive home. When he did it was nearly 2am. Victor’s tie was undone and wrinkled like he’d been wringing it, his dress shirt equally crumpled. And was that....dirt streaks? When she’d last saw him before lunch he’d been wearing his classic high-buttoned leather jacket and tinted glasses.
She sniffed slightly. Dirt, char probably from the dirigible and strong antiseptic. Her wolf didn’t particularly like that one but they were used to it. But there was something else...under the stress, exhaustion and worry he carried. Something new....
“Searching take longer? You smell like you were at work.” Normally he’d make a quip about her smelling him but when he just ran his hand over his face with a frustrated grunt she became worried. “What is it?”
He sighed. “I found some useful things,” gesturing to his bag, “but then...as I was leaving...I-I found...a baby,” Victor finally answered.
“Found?” Did they have another Emma situation?
“Right under the heap of the airship. Ruby, they-they just left him there.” He wanted something stronger than wine but didn’t have the energy.
“Is the baby ok? How did Snow and Charming not notice yesterday?” she asked. She moved to make him a sandwich knowing he needed food then sleep.
“I don’t know honestly. He’s just so small and was struggling to b-breathe, maybe they didn't hear him? We worked on him for so long. The Sheriff asked questions but I couldn’t answer, I just-” the doctor practically collapsed against the counter.
Setting things down and turning she caught his arm. “Hey, sit down before you fall.” She forced him into a chair, knelt down and gently rubbed at a streak of dirt and tears on his cheek. “Victor, look at me. You saved him. I know you will do everything for that baby.”
Ruby could practically feel the fear and even a bit of love for this new life roll off of him.
“I’m not giving up on him,” he told his wife firmly before pulling her to him. “He was cold and in rags out there. T-they just...abandoned him.” He truly didn’t understand how someone could just leave their child, especially in a place like that.
“I don’t know,” she whispered hugging him hard. “But I do know he’s got the best man and best doctor who will make sure he gets a good life.”
She hadn’t even seen the child yet but felt fierce determination already. Maybe it was wolf instinct. But she’d seen the same in Victor’s tired eyes. Neither had the greatest childhood, much less role model outside of Granny. And Ruby knew he wouldn’t stop until he made sure that little boy was ok.
After forcing her husband to eat she had to drag him to bed before he fell over and cuddled up. Soothing each other when old demons resurfaced.