The tune that Grumpy whistled had once been like nails on a chalkboard to him and his brothers. It had grated on their last nerves, especially when they heard others whistling it whenever they happened to walk too close by someone who had recently seen a not so accurate film version of their story. But at some point, though none of them could discern when, the tune had snuck up on them and they had begun whistling it to themselves almost every morning when they made their way towards the mines. In particular, it had snuck up on Grumpy most of all, who often had to give the others a nudge now and then to get the song back in their hearts and join him for their little morning musical number.
"I tell ya, there's nothing like morning in Storybrooke!" Grumpy said cheerfully, strolling down the street and enjoying the sweet smell of the morning air. It had been raining earlier, but not even a harsh downpour could ruin his good mood. "Now get whistling you two! Dwarves got standards to maintain!"
The two dwarves shared amused smiles behind his back before they quickly joined in, strolling down towards where Granny was already coming out of her diner, arms full of small brown bags resting on top of a smooth wooden tray. She smiled when she saw the familiar faces walking towards her. Their timing was spot on, as always. So much so, that the small men reached the older woman at the perfect moment as she stepped through the white picket fence surrounding her establishment and met them on the street just outside.
"Here ya go, Leroy." Granny said. "The usual. Times seven."
Grumpy's face, if possible, stretched into an even wider grin as he accepted the tray of carefully prepared lunches. "The greatest sandwich in all the realms!" He said proudly before turning and starting across the road…
Only to stop short at the sound of a loud horn, turning to see a large yellow truck skidding to a stop just inches in front of him. He saw his two lives flash before his eyes and the tray of sandwiches dropped out of his hand, landing upside down at his feet just as the truck came to a complete stop. For a moment none of the dwarves or Granny moved, even as Dr Hopper, who had been wandering past, froze midstep. And then two young women were jumping out of the vehicle either side, rushing around to the front of the truck frantically.
"Oh no, I am so sorry!" Robin gasped, holding her hands out helplessly and looking the familiar man up and down quickly, searching for injury. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine," Grumpy growled, living up to his real name. "My lunch ain't so lucky!" He snapped, waving at the soggy bags, soaking up the dirty puddles of rain at the girl's feet.
"Who are you?" Granny demanded, frowning at the two of them. Storybrooke was a close community and while some people did tend to forget the faces of all it's residence every now and then – especially the younger ones – Granny prided herself on being able to name almost everyone at first sight, if only because she regularly took all their orders every few weeks. And these two girls, though they may not look menacing, were certainly not from around here.
"It's a bit complicated but um… There was another curse." Alice babbled quickly, looking at the new face around her. "We were trapped in Seattle, great coffee, too much rain, and then we broke the curse and Henry's wife and daughter, well they were kidnapped and now he's in trouble and the point is! Henry Mills needs our help!" She finished in a rush.
There was a short pause as confusion flashed over the faces of the Storybrooke citizens. Finally, the tall man with the dalmatian spoke up. "I saw Henry at his graduation… He's fine. And he certainly doesn't have a daughter!" Dr Hopper said, frowning at them while Pongo whined uncomfortably at his side.
"Uhhh!" Alice growled impatiently. "We don't have time for this. Henry needs us! And so does Regina and everyone else back in the Enchanted Forest!"
"They're all in need of a serious rescue operation," Robin continued, nodding her head encouragingly. "So go tell Snow White and Prince Charming!" She finished with a small smile, knowing the two of them wouldn't question anything she and Alice had to say once they heard their grandson was in trouble.
There was a short pause. Alice glanced around at them expectantly. "Well? What are you waiting for? Don't you understand?" She asked sharply.
"Yeah, we understand you. We've been through this before." Grumpy said, nodding his head and giving her a half smile as Granny turned and walked back towards the diner.
"Oh! Finally!" Alice said happily, reaching over and slightly tapping the back of her hand against Robin's arm, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. Things were finally going their way for once.
Robin however, felt her own smile dim. Something wasn't right. Grumpy had an odd look in his eye and where was Granny even going…?
Just then, Grumpy's smile dropped and was replaced again with an angry scowl. "Intruders." He growled.
Alice glanced up, just in time to see Granny lift a crossbow from one of the nearby tables and take aim. The girls let out a shriek of fear as the older woman pulled the trigger and they both turned to run, barely avoiding the arrow that skimmed inches from Robin's face after it had been fired. They heard Grumpy still screaming behind them but didn't pause to try and explain anything. Instead they ran around the Rollin' Bayou and dashed down the street away from the small angry mob now following them.
Even Dr Hopper, usually so peaceful, chased along with his dog lead in one hand and an umbrella pointed in the other. Robin guessed the times of peace hadn't been as relaxing as everyone thought. In fact, it probably left everyone on edge, just waiting for the next villain to come strolling into town. And then, what would you know, Alice and Robin did just that with a crazy story about people they had already seen that day. No wonder they had freaked out on them.
Still, Robin was going to remember this when they all got back home again.
If it weren't for Robin growing up in this town, they might have been caught straight away and then God know what would have happened to them – not to mention Henry and the others still awaiting rescue. Luckily, however, Robin knew the area well and after just a few long steps, she reached out, grabbing Alice's hand and pulling her down an empty alleyway. It looked like a dead end at first but Robin knew better. Keeping hold of Alice's hand, she pulled her towards the end and then began to squeeze her way in between the back fence and the building in front of it on their right. The space really was tight – it had been a few years since she had to use an escape route in Storybrooke – and the fence and brick pressed against them on either side with broken bits of rubbish and wood littering the way at their feet. However they still managed to suck in their stomachs and force their way along, gasping slightly but otherwise managing to keep quiet.
They were halfway down the tight fit when they heard the others come barrelling into the alley after them, only to stop short at sight of the dead end. It was too dark and the space was too small for them to notice the girls escape route and instead they hovered in the area, shouting at one another, wondering out loud how they had gotten away.
"They must have magic!" Dr Hopper gasped, finally.
"I knew it. I knew they weren't to be trusted." Grumpy growled.
"So what now?" Sleepy groaned.
"Now… We go warn the rest of the town." Grumpy commanded. "We need to let them know there are intruders running about. Probably after Henry, considering the way they kept talking about him."
"I'll try and call Emma," Dr Hopper offered.
"I'll go find Snow and David." Grumpy agreed. "Sleepy, Doc, you two go to the station and see if Hook's still hanging around."
"I think he's down on his ship today…" Sleepy said cautiously.
"Then split up and find him already!" Grumpy snapped. "We have intruders in Storybrooke." He said with a menacing tone. "And we need to flush 'em out."
Alice looked at Robin fearfully but Robin just continued to pull her along, the space getting even tighter until it was bruising and scratching their skin through their clothes before they finally made it out the other side. They found themselves in another similiar alleyway but, luckily, this one had a second fence that blocked it off from the main streets and the girls quickly rushed to duck down behind it, waiting in silence until they heard Grumpy and the others go off in separate directions, voices fading into the distance.
Finally the girls stood up. The fence was only short and they were able to look over the top with little trouble, glancing around at the almost empty streets. There were a few people still wandering around but certainly no one they could seek help from. There was no saying their reaction wouldn't be the same as Grumpy and the others.
"When you told me about Storybrooke, you told me warm hugs and apple pies, not crossbolts to my head!" Alice hissed, glancing towards the Rollin Bayou still sitting in the middle of the streets, wondering if they would be able to make a break for it if need be.
"Well I guess when strangers show up here, it's safe to assume they come with a villain, I mean…" Robin replied, trailing off mid sentence when she saw a familiar car pull around the corner. "Hey, look! That's aunt Regina's car!" She glanced from the car to Alice. "If we tell her Henry's in trouble, she'll believe us no matter what our story is."
"Okay." Alice nodded.
"Okay," Robin whispered. "Go, go, go, go."
They pushed open the gate and slipped out, looking around nervously as they dashed across the road towards where the car had now pulled to a stop not far from the truck. They had just reached the vehicle, safe and sound, when a woman climbed from the driver's seat.
And it wasn't Regina.
It was Zelena.
"You can stop staring." Zelena said when she saw the two young women hovering in front of her, wide eyed in awe.
"Mum…" Robin mouthed, feeling a strong desire to rush straight into her arms. It was her first time seeing her now that she was awake, but she had to remind herself it wasn't really her mother. Her mother was back in Chicago with Chad.
This Zelena went on, not noticing the shock on Robin's expression, more focused with pulling her gloves on than anything else. "Yes, it's me The Wicked Witch. I'm fabulous!" She paused. "Did you want a selfie or are you just going to stand there all bloody day?"
"Uh, we were looking for Regina…" Alice said nervously.
"She's not here. She and Emma took Henry on a graduation trip." Zelena explained.
Robin glanced towards the car and felt a chill when she caught sight of a familiar looking face. It was her. Five year old Robin sat in the front seat, sticking her tongue out at her twenty seven year old self. Even knowing they were in the past, it was still a shock to actually see herself like this.
Robin forced herself to break out of the shock, looking back at her mother as she continued talking flippantly to them. "Just, move along before I turn you both into flying monkeys." She said with a bored tone in her voice.
"No. You won't." Robin said firmly. "I happen to know that you don't have magic right now."
"Excuse me?" Zelena said, turning to look at them again. Only now realising that she didn't actually recognise the girls faces. Which wasn't that unheard of but something was telling her it wasn't just a case of never running into each other over the years. But even more than that. They knew she didn't have magic. And that was not such casual knowledge. After all, she, Regina and the others purposely kept that piece of information quiet in order to ward off anyone who might try and pick a fight with her or the town.
"That's why you're driving Robin to Ashley's daycare. If you had magic you'd just poof there. You always hated driving. Especially that car because the breaks always jerk, but really you it's just because you have a led foot." Robin said lightly.
"Who are you?" Zelena said coldly. "And how the hell do you know so much about me and my daughter?!"
"Okay." Robin said, taking a deep breath. "This may be a little hard to process… But that five year old girl in that car seat there… That's me!" Before her mother could interject, she hurried on without pause. "So you better get your game face on and go get that magic bean hiding in the cupboard, because our family needs your help."
Zelena paused, glancing between the two girls in shock for a moment. Then finally she smirked, shaking her head. "You nearly had me there."
"Mum, it's the truth." Robin began desperately.
"Oh shut up. Time travel is impossible," Zelena said. "I should know, I tried for a long time. Unless you're telling me you somehow found all the ingrediants and willingly sacrified an innocent life?"
"Well, no…" Robin said slowly.
"It kind of involves Mother Nature. I mean, we already defeated her now but she's kind of been building her power and preparing this plan of hers for thousands of years." Alice explained, shrugging weakly as she thought of her despicable mother, left back in the Heights as a part of the nature she loved so much.
"I've had enough. Stay the hell away from me and my daughter." Zelena snarled, walking around the car to get five year old Robin out.
"Wait! Just hear me out. I can prove it!" Robin gasped, rushing towards her and pulling something out of her pocket. "With this." She held up a familiar looking necklace between them.
Zelena had prepared to lash out – she wasn't a fighter but she knew she could be if it came to defending her child – when she caught sight of the necklace and froze. Her eyes widened and she was temporarily speechless because she did recognise it. In fact, she was still wearing it. "How did you…" Zelena gasped, pausing mid step to reach up and feel the emerald gem still currently resting around her throat. It was there, but this girl had an exact look a like. In fact it was more than a look alike. It was genuine. She could sense it. That necklace had been an extra limb for her for many years, it was impossible for Zelena not to recognise the real thing when she saw it.
"You gave it to me." Robin said tearfully. "To wear as your maid of honour."
"My maid…" Zelena paused, looking from the necklace to the girl in front of her. Slowly, she took a breath, trying to clear her thoughts and think of some kind of explanation, but there was nothing… Beside the story they were telling her. "Oh my God… Robin…" She paused again and shook her head. "But how? Why? I mean…"
"I'll give you the full story later," Robin nodded, smiling at her. "But right now we need to get little me to Ashley's so we can find Snow and David, then we need to use that magic bean to get to the Wish Realm. Henry and the others are in danger and every second we wait could mean being too late."
Zelena only paused once more before snapping out of her shock. "Right, well, you go home and get the bean then. I'll get the Charming's and meet you there."
"Okay." Robin beamed, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't realise she'd been holding, turning and waving Alice to follow her. "This way!"
As they started to dash down the street, only pausing to duck down back alleyways in order to avoid being seen by someone who might cause them delay, Alice turned to her love. "So… You were a real cute kid, huh." She grinned.
"Oh shut up," Robin laughed.
At this point, she wasn't sure if her laughing was from the joy of finally getting help or the nerves of knowing they could already be too late.
To Be Continued…
So. Apart from adding a little detail as to how Alice and Robin were able to escape the angry mob that had been following them (and a tiny bit of cute Curious Archer at the very end), I changed two things in this chapter.
1. I fail to see why the citizens of Storybrooke would find their story so hard to believe. It made no sense why they would think time travel so crazy, considering they know it is possible and they have dealt with it before - unless you expect me to believe that they were in the dark about Emma and Killian's adventures back in Season 4.
Therefore I cut out the part where Alice told them they had travelled back in time. Instead, Alice was so frazzled over getting help, she accidentally left that bit out and therefore making it more believable that they would assume they were lying because they've already seen Henry and know he's safe.
2. Zelena believing Robin wasn't too awful because she did know things she shouldn't and such.
However I felt the necklace should have come back into play. It was a sweet moment when Zelena gave it to her, but I feel like they opened the perfect set up for that to be what convinces Zelena of the truth, only for them to completely miss what would have been a clever opportunity.
