Warning: This chap contains a slight amount of swearing and a description of an injury. Just saying now because I know some people aren't okay with that sort of thing.

I own nothing but my character.


The main road of the Enchanted Forest went on for mils and miles, stretching across the whole land as the only main connection between the many kingdoms of the realm that both traders and royals could equally travel on. And so because of that it was generally a place where carriages, horses and all manner of road animals were wandering back and forth, most of the time pretending that the others that also occupied the road where not there as they went on with their lives.

It was because of this attitude that no one noticed, or if they did, cared about, the penniless and the homeless that would interrupt others on their journey to beg for a measly coin, only to be rejected and most likely splashed with mud. There was no real compassion in the world of men, and that was well known for certain. But no one on that road would really ever fully understand that more than one rather weak girl who was doing her best to remain hidden, yet still keeping her sights on the main road.

Nemo's life after becoming one of the Beorn had taken a sudden and horrid turn into disaster. Her clan was now gone, never to be seen again. Whether or not there were more of the Beorn out there, the she was uncertain, but already Nemo knew that there were far too many in the species of man. For not long after her clan was so suddenly and horribly taken from her, leaving her as the only survivor that she knew, she was found by the guards of a kingdom.

They had not been, and thankfully still weren't aware of what she truly was, but what they had subjected her to when she was made a King's slave for years was worse than anything she had ever endured before, the cruelty and poor treatment seemingly never ending. And if that was how they treated regular humans like them that they happened upon by circumstance, then she shuddered to think on what they would really do to someone like her if they ever uncovered the truth.

It was because of this that Nemo had tried to escape in the first place, since she wasn't all that sure exactly how long she could be able to keep up the façade that she was a normal human girl while in their constant watch. Thankfully her escape was successful, though of course the girl knew that if it weren't for the help of others, she wouldn't have stood a chance of ever making it out of there alive due to the castle's tight security and ever tighter grip on their servants' fear of them.

Which was probably why it took more years than it should have for Nemo to finally gather up enough strength to escape from that terrible place herself. And of course, due to her lack of connection with any of her clan, those years saw her grow from a small girl into a near adult. Of course the aging process had once again been halted in its place, though the girl would still admit that she mussed being a carefree child in the forest very much.

But still, that regret was in the back of her mind, as instead Nemo was more concerned with being caught by the people that took her, and being dragged back to that terrible place, all the efforts of herself and those that were kind enough to help her being wasted into nothing. For the past few months since her escape, Nemo had attempted to blend into the crowds of market places and people on the roads, yet there was always that fear that she would be spotted that caused her to go back into the shadows.

Her appearance was the first thing that Nemo blamed for her fear of being caught. Obviously they were going to notice her from the distinctive wavy brown hair and wild green eyes. She needed a way to change her appearance so that she would never be memorized to anyone as an escaped slave. But how was that going to be done? There was no way the girl could afford, if she even had any coins on her, any kind of hair color changing tonic or something of the like.

So for now, she was stuck in her current appearance, and always living in fear of being caught.

It was as she was having this thought that Nemo seemed to finally notice that she had walked to far into the forests near the road, as she had now lost sight of it. The girl looked all about her, trying to listen out for the sounds of carts and carriages rolling their way across the stones, the yells of their owners for others to get out of their path, only to hear nothing but silence. How far away had Nemo walked so that she could no longer hear such things?

Her sight was no much help either, since all the girl could see was trees in all directions, not a hint or hair of any kind of stone path anywhere. There seemed to be no other way to describe the situation other than, she had managed to get herself lost on the simplest of tasks of following a stone road, the largest road in all of the Enchanted Forest no less. But it was one thing to be lost, Nemo had been that many time over, but to feel as lost as she did in that moment, that was new to her.

Biting on her lip wasn't going to get her anywhere, of course Nemo knew that, but then again it seemed to be the only that didn't allow her to scream with sadness and frustration. Getting lost in these woods was the last thing she wanted to happen to her, since she wasn't that far away from a small town that would recognize what the cut on her hand meant. She was supposed to be getting further away from towns like that, and yet now Nemo couldn't go anywhere for fear that she would instead walk right into it.

Nemo's legs lost strength and so before she knew it, she was kneeling in the middle of nowhere, hiding her face from the world that seemed so determined to have her fall completely. The fight was never really in Nemo when she was younger, probably because for most of the time she was alive she lived with a clan that loved her and protected her from such a world. And so it was because of his lack of the need to fight back that she had now buckled in, afraid to give in yet not being able to continue the push to defy everything against her.

No tears fell behind the hands that hid her eyes from the terrible fact that she was lost, as she wouldn't allow herself to be so dramatic. It was also because of that, that Nemo pushed back the thoughts that said she was finished, that she should just lay here on the ground and waste away. Mostly because it sounded pathetic, and partly because she already knew how uncomfortable leaves and stick covered ground was.

After all, she wasn't going to 'waste away', at least not just yet. There wasn't a lot of food in the small satchel that Nemo had 'found' by chance, but at least there was enough to not perish completely within a few days. But what was going to happen when the food did run out, Nemo didn't know. She couldn't exactly go into a town and buy herself some food. Firstly she had no coins to speak of, secondly she was terrified of being recognized.

But of course there was more to it than just being recognized, otherwise Nemo would go the extra mile of a disguise or something. No, because that would be simple, there was also the factor that since she had been away from her clan, her ability as one of the Beorn had been somewhat… unstable.

Every day was different, some days she would wake in the morning exactly as she was now, then on others she would wake to being in her form, and be unable to change out of it for the rest of the day. Then of course sometimes she would sporadically change out of the blue, usually when it would he least helpful of moments. And every day it seemed to be getting worse no matter what she tried, and so Nemo was afraid and did her best to stay out of other's eyesight.

Now Nemo was lost, had some food that would eventually go away, and she was completely unsure of when she would change again. Top that all off with the almost endless feeling of loneliness that the girl had been dealing with ever since her clan had gone, and all of it added up to her feeling pretty much the most lost and alone that she had ever felt before.

The girl curled up in a ball on the forest floor, no longer caring about how uncomfortable it was since life was pretty uncomfortable as it was it seemed that it could only get worse. Her hands curled into fists in her brown hair. Her voice was soft and warbled, but for as long as she lived, the girl would never admit to whether or not on that day she was actually crying, as she whispered to herself. What she said only made her feel worse, but at the same time considering everything that was going on, she was letting her emotions get the better of her and needed some kind of an outlet.

"I wish I was never born, I wish I was never born, I wish I was never born…" This continued for some time, the mantra of begging for this large amount of pain and sorrow to just end, or have never even happened. She rocked back and forth to the beat of her wish, all the while wondering if it would ever actually be granted. And the worst part of it all, was that the thought of her wish becoming true… didn't scare her.

"I wish I was never born, I wish I was never born..."


"I wish I had a flashlight," Lydia coughed to herself as the dust of the mines managed to worm its way into her throat. Really it was her frustration that was making her say that more than anything else as she was still making her way through the darkness, calling out for Henry to come back to herm or at least close enough so that she could see him through the darkness that was currently enveloping her altogether.

Footsteps echoed around the stone caverns as Lydia went in deeper and deeper, her eyes trying their best to look through the darkness to find the boy. For a time it seemed as though she was not going to find Henry, and the teenager wondered if it really was too late to turn back and find better suited help for Henry than herself. However just as she had stopped to finally decide if she would turn back, Henry magically turned around the corner and ran straight into her.

"Henry!" There was an unexpected hug between them, unexpected in that neither of them really saw it coming and instead of fighting against it decided to just go along with it. When they both broke away, Lydia could see that Henry was still upset but was also now strangely motivated and concentrating, possibly for whatever it was that he had come down here for in the first place. Which was also possibly why Lydia was now more worried than before.

"Please tell me you're ready to come back outside and go home?" Of course it was a rhetorical question since Lydia already knew that whenever the kid had his mind on something he would stick with it, so this time was not going to be any kind of exception. Henry gave her the same look that also told her she already knew what the answer was, and turned to walk deeper into the mines. Lydia paused as she watched him walk, took one last look at the way she knew would have led her back out, and followed Henry in.

"Your mom is going to kill me, then she's going to bring me back so she can yell at me while I clean up the mess," Lydia muttered under her breath as she caught up to the boy, smirking a little despite herself at the thought of how red the Mayor's face would be at the news that Lydia was currently the only one keeping her child safe from imminent danger. Henry ignored the teenager for the most part as he walked further into the mines, probably because he was so invested in finding whatever it was he was so convinced was down here.

However that silence soon ended when Henry seemed to finally find something, running over to a large pile of rocks that looked no different from the other pies of stone in here, Henry must have found something interesting as he kneeled next to it, pulling out something that had been stuck under one of the rocks. Holding this mystery object into the light that his flashlight provided, Lydia could only just see a reflection of that light, so she guessed it was some kind of glass, but she wasn't totally sure, so of course she asked.

"What is that?" Lydia edged a little closer to Henry, who of course noticed and stepped back a little so that she would have been able to see whatever it was that he was holding in hands, better. But, just as the teenager was sure she was about to get a real good glimpse at whatever it was that Henry seemed so desperate to come down here and find, there was another unmistakable shaking underneath her feet. Henry noticed it to, though not until after Lydia had quickly grabbed at his forearm and wrenched him away from the nearby pile of rocks just as more started to fall from the cavern's ceiling.

Eventually they had to start running in order not to be possibly buried in the rubble, the trembling that went on underneath their feet as they ran was a constant reminder that they didn't seem to be running fast enough. Still, for whatever reason, though Lydia guessed that she and Henry were just incredibly lucky, they managed to make it out of the part of the mines that was starting to cave in, the feeling of small rock shrapnel hitting the back of the teenager's neck being a further sign to her that they were very fortunate to still be alive.

"Henry, are you okay?" The teenager kneeled so that she was somewhat on the boy's level, checking to make sure that there wasn't any notable injuries on his face or arms. There was a sense of fear that he was hurt, coupled with the fact that his mother would kill her for real if Henry was injured in her care. He seemed fine, though very shaken up by the experience. Her hand gently squeezed his shoulder, a comforting gesture that she would do when she was his babysitter.

"Just breath slowly okay, deep breaths to calm down," It was a little hard to breathe slowly in this part of the mines still, since there was just a partial cave in, so while Lydia was coaching he boy t calm down, she gently led him to a more cleaner aired area. Her hand had moved from his shoulder to gently guiding him on the back, ready to shove him away from danger should anything like another cave in happen.

For a time, as Lydia was looking for the way out that she wished would just magically appear, nothing happened apart from them walking carefully through the mine, looking for that exact magical way out. She could still feel Henry trembling through the hand that was carefully sitting on his back, though he was trying her advice of breathing calmer, the teenager could tell that he was still frightened. For some part Lydia knew that this fear was an asset he could use. Fear created adrenaline, and adrenaline was essential to this situation if she needed him to run, which could happen at any moment.

So for now, Lydia knew that while the fear needed to be there, she still needed him to stay somewhat calm. And the best way the teenager figured she could do that was by talking to him about something other than the fact they were possibly stuck down here for a long period of time. Her eyes looked to the backpack that Henry had with him, and the blonde couldn't help but assume that the fairytale book that he always had with him would be in there.

With a sudden spark of memory, Lydia decided to chat about it.

"Hey Henry, remember when you first showed me that book you got?"

"When my mom caught you throwing eggs at-"

Lydia quickly cut him off, trying not to smile at the memory of it since she was supposed to feel guilty about stuff like that. The blonde liked to think that she was doing better now than she was before and was in some way reforming, it had been at least nearly a week since the holding cells had seen her and Lydia wanted to make it longer than that.

"-Yeah that time. You told me that people in Storybrooke were really the characters in the book right? And I asked you who you thought I was and you said you'd think about it right?" The real question that Lydia was asking wasn't too hard to figure out, even for a ten year old boy. Henry looked to her for a moment, seeming very grateful that instead of judging him for what he believed in and calling him crazy like Dr Hopper did. Instead she was actually listening to him, and while he knew that his mother and practically everyone else in the town wouldn't appreciate her talking to him like this, but he certainly did.

There was a moment where nothing was said, mostly because Henry was remembering who he had decided Lydia had been. Sometimes it was a little hard to memorize who was who, this was a big town after all and there were so many characters in that book of his that still needed to be placed. But thankfully it didn't take long for him to remember; really all the kid had to do was look up as his old baby sitter's blonde curly hair.

"You were Goldilocks," Lydia couldn't help but smile at the answer she received from Henry when it finally came. Thinking that of course that had to be it, it was the obvious answer. The teenager knew that in the darkness Henry couldn't really see her grin of acceptance, so instead she spoke up, her voice unintentionally echoing slightly as they continued to walk on through the unknown caverns of the mines.

"Ah, all because of my blonde curly hair right?" Her hair had always been something of a contention for Lydia in her life. Apart from the usual blonde jokes that Leroy wasn't above throwing at her while they were in the holding cells, there was only one other thing that ever bothered her while she was growing up, and that was of course the fact that her father, at least who she had thought was her father, didn't have her hair.

It bothered her because Lydia had always thought it was something her mother had forced onto her through the genes, the mother that turns out never existed in fact she didn't even know who her real parents were. Her hair really bothered her now because it was a reminder only that it wasn't Mr. Gold's hair, it wasn't his hair because she wasn't his daughter. Then she would go even further that her hands were nothing like his, her fingernails and palm lines completely different from him.

The only thing they seemed to have in common was their green eyes and that could have just been luck, or the universe being cruel in giving her a line of hope when she was younger only for it to create the creel stab in her heart, like there was a fish hook that was on the end of that line. Everything she was now, had nothing to do with him and that, that hurt the most. But why that was, was a mystery.

Lydia had spent all her time in her head, saying how she was so angry at him, how she hated the mind games he played and the fact that he lied for all those years, and all that time he never really cared. Never tried to engage in her life really, never tried to be there for her emotionally when she needed him the most. He wasn't really a parent to Lydia in all that time he had, and yet for some reason she didn't want to think of him as not her father.

But he wasn't her father; he was nothing to her genetically. This wasn't his hair, and so she had no idea where it came from.

"Well, that's not the only reason," The teenager looked back down at the boy as he suddenly spoke, breaking her free from the thoughts that made her so sad. Her eyebrow couldn't help but quirk in interest at his words, wondering what else could possibly connect her to the fictional character in his rather strange story book. Her wonderings were of course soon provided with an answer, Henry was never the type of kid to leave you waiting for a reply, and he was always so polite like that.

"Because you're kind of lonely like she is," Scratch that, maybe sometimes Henry could be a little too much like his mother when he didn't mean it. Though as much as the teenager felt as though she should reprimand him for the comment, there was the fact that he wasn't wrong. What bothered her the most however was the fact that she was so bad at hiding how she felt that even a ten year old boy could see it. Still the teenager couldn't help but clear her throat in a small amount of disagreement; she had once been his baby-sitter after all, his behavior use to be something of her responsibility.

"Sorry," He sounded shamefaced, and was about to go back into being completely quiet when Lydia stopped him. She reprimanded him, but that didn't mean she wanted him to stop talking to her, after all without conversation there was only the fact that they were stuck in a deadly situation, and the talking was keeping him calm enough to not freak out so, Lydia kept him talking. After all she couldn't help but be interested in what made Goldilocks lonely in his book.

"Never mind, just… how is Goldilocks lonely? What does she have to be so miserable about?"


"That is a very miserable wish to have,"

Nemo looked up from her ball of lost loneliness to see who it was that had spoken. The voice was rather small, but somehow also sounded very close. Her head whipped back and forth for a while as she tried to see exactly where that voice was coming form, before eventually she managed to find the source of it, and as soon as she did Nemo's eyebrows couldn't help but rise in complete surprise and disbelief.

She had never seen a fairy before. Mostly that was because she had lived with her Beorn clan for a longer than humanely possible, and they of course weren't into interacting with any kind of creatures apart from themselves, so she wasn't very god at socializing with other beings that weren't like her, feeling that they wouldn't understand her, just as her clan had always said. With all of this in mind, Nemo kept her mouth shut and just stared in confusion at the fairy as she flittered just above the girl's head.

This fairy was certainly visually beautiful, her small form clothes in a large blue gown that was laced with deeper blue and bright pink flowers. Her wings were constantly flickering so it was hard to see what shape they were in, though they still moved enough that Nemo would know that they were there. Her hair was a rich, dark brown and was pulled back into a flower embedded hairstyle that stacked on her head.

Yes, this blue fairy was indeed very beautiful on the outside, but that didn't mean the girl had to trust this fairy straight off the fly. If this world was anything like the Mother Bear had described it, and Nemo knew that she would never lie, and then the girl knew that nothing was to ever be trusted, no one in this world would ever be more concerned with keeping herself safe over themselves. If she wanted to survive she had to keep to herself and stay away from everyone else.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Her suspicions are immediately on high with every sympathetic emotion that crossed the fairy's face. There was nothing that Nemo hated more in that moment than that pitying expression remained on this creature's, it felt somehow more degrading than any of the actions that her previous 'masters' had done to her. At least they were being openly cruel and therefore truthful to her in how they felt, this however to the girl, felt fake and enforced to try and have Nemo trust her more.

"I am the Blue Fairy, and I'm here because I heard your wish," Nemo bit the inside of her cheek as she realized that it was because of her own faults in keeping her voice own that she had grabbed the attention of another creature, meaning that her attempts of remaining hidden had failed. The fairy seemed to find it safe enough to flitter down to Nemo's head level, but still remaining a little bit away.

"I didn't mean it, I was just upset," The girl tried to deflect the wish that this fairy was here for, so that this creature would leave her to her own devices. However this didn't seem to be enough for the fairy to leave Nemo alone, in fact it looked as though she didn't believe her whatsoever. It only seemed to annoy Nemo more when the fairy's expression only seemed to crumple more with sympathy.

"If you didn't mean it, I wouldn't be here," Certainly that didn't sound good at all to anyone that was involved in this situation, but nevertheless Nemo didn't seem to care all that much. Even if she did mean it, it seemed to the girl that there was nothing that the fairy could really do that could make her feel better. After all, it wasn't as if there was enough magic in the whole world that could bring back Nemo's clan to her, so obviously there was nothing this creature could do for her.

Apparently it seemed that the Blue Fairy was already aware of this fact, and looked just as lost to help her as Nemo felt in this forest. Well that might have been what the fairy was feeling, since expressions could always hide what she really felt, but Nemo liked to think that this fairy felt somewhat out of her depth. Since if she was, at least Nemo wouldn't be alone in feeling completely lost in what to do next with herself at that moment.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" For a moment Nemo just started back at the fairy, trying to think of why the fairy would say that when it was so obviously a lie, only to really come up with nothing as an answer to that, so she couldn't be lying. Then, Nemo tried to think of what this creature could possibly trying to get out of this situation from helping her, and again all she managed to draw up was a blank. With her interest now unintentionally piqued, Nemo couldn't help but ask.

"Why would you want to help me?"

"Because that is what I do, I help those in need. Now is there anything that I can do to help you, so you are no longer so miserable?" This was just too good o be true, yet as much as Nemo wanted to refuse his help because of how suspicious it sounded, she also knew that at this moment she beyond up the creek without a paddle, she was more lost than she ever thought possible and that every turn without help would only lead to more trouble and possible danger.

But even if Nemo accepted this hand of help no matter how off it felt, exactly what could this fairy do that would really assist her before she could find her footing again? She mulled over the possible things that could be done to help her, and came up with only a few answers.

Of course the first was that she could ask for more food, but that new supply would soon be gone and she would have near nothing to eat once more. She could ask to be placed in a safer road where she would know where to go, but then again she would still be in fear of being recognized and her form once again going out of control…

Nemo's head snapped up when she finally realized exactly what this fairy could do to help her.


Henry spent quite a bit of their careful walk through the mine caverns talking about the Goldilocks story that was in his book, lamenting once or twice that he didn't have the book on him at that time to show Lydia since there were a few details about the story that he couldn't quite remember. Lydia herself didn't mind however, since already this story was sounding nothing like the one she was told growing up.

"So you're telling me that in your book, Goldilocks is a person that can turn into a bear, is trained to be a thief by Rumplestiltskin and is searching for revenge against the queen because she stole her pendant that she received from the mother that abandoned her in a forest when she was a baby?" That sounded like quite the background to have on one person, and Lydia couldn't help but now be a little bit pleased that Henry thought she was this character. After all, being somewhat of an anti-hero to him sounded so much better than being the evil villain that he seemed so desperate to stop in whatever action they made.

"Yeah that's basically it,"

"Cool, I'm a bear," Lydia couldn't help but grin to herself at the coincidence, since her phone already had the ringtone of the song form Brother Bear, which was her favorite movie form when she was a child. Really this character sounded so much better than what Lydia was afraid of hearing, since before she was told the whole story she was worried that Henry had just attached this character to her because of the hair that she actually was now having an issue with.

For a moment there was silence before Lydia couldn't help but ask:

"Do you know who everyone else is?" Her interest was way too piqued now, and she had to hear who everyone else was and what their stories where, since if that was the back-story for Goldilocks, she really wanted to know what the stories where for everyone else in this town. This book was sounding nothing like the story books she had as a child, and couldn't help but wonder how big it had to be to have so many stories.

"I don't know who everyone is just yet, but I have covered some people," Henry proceeded to tell her all of the people he was sure about, a few of them surprising the teenager though some of them seemed somewhat obvious, especially Ruby. However it was as they were going through the list of names that Henry was sure were certain fairy tale characters, when suddenly a mysterious figure, which was hard to see since everything was covered in darkness, suddenly appeared in front of them.

Frightened, Lydia shoved the ten year old boy behind her as the figure came closer. The fear subsided somewhat though when Henry maneuvered his torch so that it was aimed directly at this strange persons face, reveling who they really were. When the two managed to see who it was that had now arrived as well into their situation, there was a moment of relief that at least it was someone that they both knew well enough that they weren't a threat.

"Dr. Hopper," Lydia managed to say the man's name with different tones of confusion on how he managed to get in here and why he was here, coupled with the absolute relief that only a teenager could understand since there was actually an adult in the situation to help them so at least to her there was a chance that he would know how to get out of here. Henry was also happy to see his therapist, at least at first.

"Archie! You're here to help me!" Dr Hopper however, did not seem to agree to Henry's happy sentiment as to why the therapist was down here, instead his expression went from thankful to having found them, to dead serious in two seconds flat. His tone went much the same way as he spoke mostly to the ten year old, the teenager didn't really need a talking to in order to be convinced to leave here after all.

"No Henry listen, we've got to get out of here okay?" the boy's hopeful expression died into one of disappointment and accusation as he stepped away from Dr Hopper. The therapist attempted o grab Henry's hand in order to try and not lose him, however that failed when Henry shrugged away from his easily breakable hold. Before the boy could start running, Lydia attempted to talk to him as well, however that also failed when the boy also turned against her.

"Henry he's right we have to get out of here it's not safe-"

"So you're both still against me, I though you believed me. But I'll show you, you'll see!" Quickly taking off before either Lydia or Dr Hopper could get hold of him; Henry disappeared into the darkness once more.

"Henry? Henry come back!"


"Is it possible to that you could change my appearance?"

Nemo was expecting the Blue Fairy to be surprised as to why she would ask this f all the things in the world of the magical creature, however the only expression that was on this fairy's face was that of intrigue and patience for a further explanation of why Nemo would want this. He girl bit the side of her lip as she quickly thought of a story that would avoid all the rather dark details, such as the fact that she as one of the Beorn.

"I ran away from my masers not long ago, freed myself from their cruelty and I'm now trying to make a better life for myself. But I know that they will not let me leave so easily, and are looking for me as we speak. I need a way to look completely unrecognizable to them, a permanent disguise to hide me from their torture," More sympathy appeared on the fairy's face, and Nemo had to hold back everything she had to not scowl at the expression on the creature's face and instead try her best to look as pitiful as possible.

"That certainly sounds like quite the predicament, but I believe I can help you with your new wish," Form seemingly nowhere the Blue Fairy pulled out her wand. Then with the swiftest of movements that even Nemo with all her powers couldn't even see, a spell was cast. At least that was what the girl was left for a few seconds to wonder if that happened, at least until her hand subconsciously moved back to brush against her hair.

Instead of the usual slightly greasy straightness of her originally light brown hair, Nemo felt bouncy, though slightly frizzy curls. Her hand moved away form the hair at first in reaction, as if she had unintentionally touched flames and had burned her hand. But then she went back again to pull the curls into view of her eyes, the sight causing those pupils to widen in surprise. As sure enough, in place of the usual light brown that she remembered, there was instead an almost golden blonde.

With her voice lost in the surprise of what she was seeing, Nemo looked back to the Blue Fairy, who was smiling in silent reply. Before she could even control herself a grin of happiness broke out on Nemo's expression. Her wish had been granted, and she felt free for the second time. After all, the guards of the King that were looking for her weren't exactly very bright, at least not enough to understand that she could have completely changed her hair.

This was enough to hide her form them, so she was free once again.

"I'm free, I'm actually free," Nemo looked back to the Blue Fairy, words lost on how many times she could possibly thank this fairy for helping her, so she settled on only once, and tried to make it a good once.

"Thank you, thank you so much,"

"Now that you are free, you'll have to chose a new name, one that the people you are fleeing from won't recognize," Well certainly the fairy wasn't wrong, and now the girl was left to ponder for a few moments to think on a good name that she could use to replace the one that she had carried for so long. Truly there was a precedent for change, since that name, Nemo; it only seemed to have a history of pain and loneliness. This new name could mean more, more than just freedom from the slavery she had been in.

One that would incorporate her new look, and would mean so much more to her when she finally got revenge on the ones that had taken her clan, and her most prized possession that meant more to her than her own life, from her. However the girl didn't consider herself much of a creative name maker, and so turned to the only other being that she would ever feel deserved a say in such a matter.

"What do you think would be good enough for a new name?" Apparently it didn't take too long for the Blue Fairy to find a name herself to give to Nemo. And while the girl didn't want to admit that she actually didn't like what the fairy had come up with all that much, there was still a sense of the fact that she should take it after what the Blue Fairy had done for her.

"Goldilocks,"

Goldilocks nodded in agreement, abandoning Nemo behind her.


The two swiftly followed after him only seconds afterwards, calling out for him to come back to where they could at least see him. It was significantly harder to get through the caverns of the mines now that Henry had taken his flash light with him when running off, but still the two managed to at least see where the walls of the caverns were in relation to where they were standing thanks to Dr. Hopper's matches, that just meant they would trip up every so often.

It took a little while of tripping and stumbling before finally they both managed to find Henry again, though of course he had only stopped when he apparently managed to find something in one of the many holes that were in the rock walls, apparently he so invested that Henry wasn't really paying attention in the hearing department of his senses, at least enough that he hadn't heard the not so silent approach of both Lydia and Dr. Hopper.

"I think there's something shiny down there, I can just see it!" Apparently the boy wasn't taking this situation as seriously as Lydia had been really hoping. Dr Hopper seemed just about done with how little care the ten year old as taking this all, and so once again went into serious mode with him as this time the therapist managed to hold onto the boy's shoulders as he told him straight out what was going on, no longer trying to keep the boy calm since it was apparently making him unrealistic in the face of the real danger that was going on.

"Henry you need to listen to me, I am frightened, worried for you. We are trapped underground in an abandoned mine, and the only entrance everyone knows about, is now blocked," Lydia's eyes widened alongside Henry's as she was not completely aware of that fact. Indeed now the fearful thudding that had been going on in her chest this entire time increased three fold at the thought as real fear started to surge through her veins in almost never ending waves.

"What are we going to do?" Lydia whispered to the therapist, afraid to speak any louder all of a sudden in case that caused any kind of new collapse. Dr Hopper looked completely unsure for a second as he tried to think, before eventually settling on continuing to walk until they managed to find something else that could help them find a way out. Lydia followed the therapist, Henry walking behind her as they went.

There was another tremble, one that only managed to frighten the trio but soon settled with no seeable effects left over. By now Lydia was shaking rather terribly with fear at the prospect of not being able to find a way out of here, of being trapped in this place for who knows how long. So she tried to think of something else, but of course that didn't help as it turned out all the teenager could really think about apart from this was on how her attempt to escape Storybrooke by this point was a complete failure.

The bus that she was planning on catching just outside the town lines was well gone by now, and the teenager knew that she would ever be given the chance to break free and get the next one. The Mayor was no doubt outside the mines at this moment, with Sheriff Graham and possible Deputy Swann in tow, and Ms Mills knew that the teenager was down here with her son thanks to their phone call. This meant that the Sheriff knew she was here now, who would then no doubt call Mr. Gold, who in turn would inform him (because he always liked to stab her in the back when she really didn't need it) that she had had plans to leave.

Meaning that overall her escape had been foiled, and that if she did actually manage to get out of here with Dr. Hopper and Henry, there was a chance that she could be arrested for a behavioral incident, or child endangerment if the Mayor was feeling spiteful enough, which she always was. And then she would certainly be out of Storybrooke forever, just in the back of a Juvie van and on her way to imprisonment instead of on that bus that would've taken her to freedom.

Still, she would have been away from Mr. Gold, so it couldn't really be all that bad.

A sudden echoing bark broke the teenager from her thoughts as easily as it ensnared the attention of both Dr. Hopper and Henry. The trio swiftly ran to the noise's source, trying to place it as they went. That didn't take long though as Dr. Hopper seemed to find the dog's bark more familiar with every passing second.

"That's Pongo! There must be another way out!" There was not enough time for Lydia to properly associate the rush of relief that she got as they ran after the noise, following it until they all reached a sudden dead end. At least, it seemed that way at first until Dr. Hopper pulled away fallen sheets of metal and some rocks, revealing something that was on the other side of the temporary wall of fallen debris.

"It's an old Elevator shaft, miners use to use it in order to go deeper into the caverns," Dr. Hopper explained to both Lydia and Henry as he climbed carefully into the old metal elevator, looking around for a moment before he managed to find some kind of lever. Henry and Lydia watched him for a few moments, the teenager wondering how they were going to manage to force this old rusted over elevator to go all the way up to the apparent grating that was above the elevator shaft that lead to the world outside.

This single moment of Dr. Hopper being in the old elevator and Lydia and Henry standing just outside was interrupted by another set of trembling. This however, was completely different to all the others, as this felt even more sudden and was causing more rock and metal to fall from the cavern ceilings, causing cave ins all over the place. It was almost as if the ground just above them had been impacted by something big, as if something was trying to punch through the ground.

The moment this started happening felt like one of the slowest and yet most dangerous that Lydia had ever gone through in her life. Her first instinct was to turn to Henry, who was standing still, almost completely petrified beside her as he was still seemingly figuring out what was going on. Just above his head however, was a large piece of steel that was getting ready to starting falling to the ground underneath it, were of course Henry was still standing in complete shock.

Before any proper thought could process on a better way to deal with this situation, Lydia instead went into immediate action. Her hand grasped the back of Henry's jacket as she just about flung him into the elevator car with Dr. Hopper, who thankfully caught the ten year old before anything serious could hurt him when he landed, though of course that didn't stop the elevator from falling a bit down the shaft in reaction, though the two still remained relatively unharmed.

Lydia however, was not as lucky herself as there was still the case of the steel that was once above Henry's head, was now not that far away from her. And before she could run in the other direction, it seemed that the moment she had was done with being slow as instead everything went back to happening to fast as the large pillar of steel fell down before Lydia could properly get out of the way of its impact.

Certainly the teenager had had broken some limbs before, it was part of the cons when she was still in her completely rebelling period. But never before had Lydia ever had the force that had broken the limb remain on there even after the damage had been done. Though of course that was short stuff compared to the face of that because of the large pillar of steel that had fallen and was now pinning her in place, Lydia's legs were both now broken.

It didn't take very long for Lydia to scream all the bloody murder that she had in her at the sight, but the fainting from the shock of it at least took a few seconds more.


It had only taken a day to figure out what had really been done to her, and as soon as she found out, the girl was nearly screaming the forest down when she went back in there for the Blue Fairy to come and see her. Goldilocks no longer cared if she got caught by anyone on the road that was nearby, since now it wasn't as if they would identify her as anyone that any certain royal guards were looking for.

For a few moments there was nothing but silence that was cut in between the girl yelling out for the fairy to come and face her, to explain what had been done to her. A day was all it took, a day to realize that there was something wrong with her, at least in her situation. Since, first thing in the morning Goldilocks was expecting to wake up as she usually did, as a being different from one of a human body. So imagine her surprise when in that morning she woke up to find herself the same human looking shivering mess that she was when she fell asleep.

At first she tried to deny it, and sent some time trying to prove herself wrong by attempting to force the change on herself. An hour after all of that trying and tears when she figured out what had happened, immediately she made her way back to here, where the screaming of the forest for the Blue Fairy to see her started. Last night she had felt so free, freer than she had ever been for the last few years. Now, she was getting the sensation of being trapped all over again.

She was now somehow being controlled; something this fairy had done had stopped her from using the powers that were blessed to her as a part of the Beorn. And that felt like the worst thing that had ever been done to her so far, which would explain that while she was screaming down the forest, there were tears streaming down her face. This made her so upset, so angry and so miserable, worse than being lost since she knew where she was and was stuck there.

"Where are you? I want to talk to you! What have you done to me?"

Nothing.

There was not one slight catch of blue light, much less any reappearance from the Blue Fairy herself. Goldilocks stood in the centre of the clearing; heart pounding in her ears as she was left to accept for the first time what many before and after her would and had learned while living in this land.

Magic always comes with a price.

And it is always the one you are the most unwilling to pay.


Lydia was woken back up to her painful reality by the sound of her phone ringing. At first the teenager wondered if it was possible that she was just hallucinating that, but then she started to feel the familiar vibration of the phone as it was ringing in her pocket. Her legs were still in bloody agony all the while of course, though the teenager found herself more able to ignore it if she just bit her tongue hard enough.

Her hands carefully maneuvered around the steel and rocks that was covering her bottom half as she tried to fish the still ringing phone from her pocket. Thankfully she managed to get it into her palm before the inopportune caller could give up on her, and Lydia answered the call. For a moment as the line between herself and the caller was dead silent, mostly because neither of them said anything as Lydia was trying to think of the best way to describe how now was not a good time to call her.

"Lydia?" The caller was the first to talk, saving Lydia from having to say anything as a starter of the conversation. Of course the teenager knew that she would have to answer back, and so did her best to talk without biting her tongue, while also not screaming at the pain that was searing up and down her legs. She also tried to not look down, since seeing exactly what kind of shape her legs were currently in was not going to help with the whole needing to talk thing.

"Yeah, who's asking?" Her voice was brittle and weak, her attempt at sarcasm not working to hide the fear that was creeping in her stomach and making bile rise up her throat. The last time she had eaten was this morning, pancakes and cream, she could taste it on her now bloody tongue. The mix of the copper form the blood and digested food was not a good taste, and the teenager wanted desperately to just throw up and be done with it, though of course that would have to wait until she was done talking.

"Thank god… This is Emma, I found your number on the Mayor's phone and just… Look we've gotten Henry and Dr. Hopper out already, they're safe." There was a sigh of relief that followed the swallowing down of the bile from Lydia, thankful that the therapist and ten year old had managed to make it out relatively unharmed. Unlike herself of course though she tried once again not to think on that too much.

"We're going to get you out Lydia; it's just going to take a little while longer because we need to widen the hole so we can fit a stretcher down. Just before we do that, we need to know what your injuries are," That would require looking down, seeing exactly in what shape her legs were. Lydia felt her heartbeat start to race as the pain made itself more noticeable, again he tired cancelling that out by biting her tongue, but that only now helped in making it worse.

The teenager sat up to the best of her ability, And after a few shuddering breaths that only succeeded in making her ribs and other chest muscles scream in protest, another pain that she only just became aware of and was not that happy to greet. And while it was something else to tell Emma, it didn't stop her eyes from seeing the bottom half of her covered in the steel and rocks to the point where she could no longer see it.

It sometimes felt so out of body, as if she were only looking down on this experience and not really there. But then of course the pain would drag her back and tell her that this was happening and she needed to do something about it. Really it was surprising how well she was mostly taking this, since the usually normal reaction that the teenager guessed other people had was to scream unrelentingly until they lost their voices. But not on this occasion, not her. Lydia guessed that it had something to do with that out of body feeling.

Lydia eventually allowed herself to lay back down on the uncomfortable rock ground as her ribs couldn't seem to take the strain. Perhaps they were broken to, or maybe just fractured. Really the only experience that the teenager had in broken bones was those of limbs so she wasn't quite sure about this. Her legs were definitely broken though, no doubt about that since the pain was so familiar to broken arms, though o course it was worse since there was still quite an amount of force on top of it.

With all of this in mind, Lydia picked back up the cell phone she had so carefully laid on the ground beside her, and for a moment worried that maybe Emma had hung up on her after taking too long. Thankfully however that didn't seem to be the case as she hear through the phone the sounds of the other blonde talking to someone else, possibly telling orders to someone in their attempts to come save her.

It was a nice feeling, being saved. Not something she was that use to so that was probably why she was so happy all of a sudden. Then again there was the fact that she was pretty damned scared inside but wasn't showing it, so the happiness was a thankful addition to her emotions at the moment. In any case Lydia started talking through the phone, which thankfully Emma was still holding up to her ear.

"My legs are buried under a pillar of steel and some rocks, they're broken. My legs are broken," there was a moment of silence where Emma didn't say anything though the teenager knew that she was listening, so she continued, "My ribs might be broken to, though I'm thinking they're just fractured. My hands and arms are fine, but I think there might be some cuts and bruises. Other than that I don't really know,"

"Everything's going to be okay Lydia, the stretcher is coming and we'll get you to Hospital," It was starting to sound as though Emma was wounding down the conversation, getting ready to hang up on her. That was more frightening than the situation she was in for Lydia as she wanted to hang on to this hop, this happiness that eventually she was going to be safe. Being hung up on felt like that hope would go away, would fade and she would be nothing but alone down here, injured and afraid.

"Please don't hang up on me Emma, I don't want o be alone," Lydia hated how pitiful she sounded, but nevertheless she didn't care if it meant that she wouldn't be alone. This plea seemed to be enough however to keep Emma from ending the conversation, so Lydia found that it was worth it to seem as weak as she was now. For a moment there seemed to be nothing to talk about, just the sound of background noise between them for a time before finally Lydia remembered something she was always meaning to ask the other blonde since they met.

"I've been meaning to ask but, how do you Henry? I mean Mayor Mills doesn't let just anyone pick her son up from school so you have to be close to him," The teenager had once tried to pick the boy up herself to take home, and all she had received for her troubles was an earful on how she better not do it again. What did Emma have with Henry that would make the Mayor even slightly okay with that whatsoever?

The answer she received was certainly not expected.

"I'm Henry's mother, his birth mother,"

This town seemed to have something for secret adoptions, at least that was in the opinion of the blonde teenager who was currently going through a similar situation. The eyebrows that rose in surprise couldn't really be contained, but thankfully she managed to stop herself before she rambled something on the subject that she didn't mean. After all, if there was one thing that Lydia could respect about Mayor Mills, it was that she truly cared for her child. To extremes sure, but she still cared.

Lydia knew that she had no place to have judgment on the Mayor or Emma for whatever was going on there, but she couldn't help but feel a familiar sympathy with Henry, knowing at least an iota of what he was going through at least. Finding out that she was adopted at seventeen was earth shattering, though there was a part of her that always knew it. She couldn't even understand what it was like to be ten and go through that, and also know exactly who one of their parents was.

Henry seemed to be reacting to it well though, at least well enough that Lydia hadn't even really picked up on it. The teenager had no idea how she would react if she met one of her real parents, what questions she would ask, what she would say, and whether or not she would physically attack them before even bothering to chat. What Lydia did know was that she probably wouldn't take it as okay like Henry was.

"Wow, I had no idea," She was mostly saying that for conversational purposes, since anything was better than the buzz of silence that followed every single time that neither of them were talking. But of course after Lydia spoke the buzz came back, and she hated it more than anything. A hollow reminder of where she and that it was really happening to her. That this wasn't just a horrid nightmare where she could feel the pain, it was all real and it scared her.

Oh, so that was where the real reaction was waiting.

Any ideas that Lydia might have had in which she was stronger than tears, melted away just as the bitter water escaped from her tear ducts, mixing with the mine dust on her face as they fell down her cheek. The thoughts of adoption, loneliness, that stupid phone buzzing when no one was talking, and the painful steel pillar on her legs had brought her to this point, had brought her down to real weakness, to the real fear.

Lydia hoped her sobs weren't able to be heard through the phone lines, but of course she would be wrong and maybe Emma was being kind in not mentioning it at that moment. But there was still a part of the teenager that wanted Emma to mention, or at least say anything, anything at all to her. The buzzing was still happening, and if anything it was only making her feel worse about where she was.

"Do you want me to give the phone to your dad?" That was possibly the worst thing to offer Lydia at this moment, and of course Emma only realized that when the sobs got louder. Of all the people I this town, why did Mr. Gold have to be at the mines as well? Why did he have to know as well that she had messed things up once again, gotten herself in trouble and needed help getting out? She had wanted that confrontation at the house to be the last time they ever spoke; she never wanted to see him again.

"I don't want to bloody talk to that bastard," The English Language ad always been an interesting thing to Lydia, always nice to know that certain wording can elicit different responses. The one she had just said for instance apparently being enough for Emma not to hand the cell phone over to Mr. Gold like she was planning, however it did get the Deputy to become interested in what was going on between the now strained relationship of the father and daughter.

"I know it's none of my business but-"

"No it's fine, I'm stuck down here might as well kill time before it does the same to me," She was trying to sound care free, as if this didn't really bother her, though that was kind of pointless since the teenager already knew Emma had heard her crying through the phone line. Still, anything to make a joke and at least feel care free for a moment, even if the feeling was faked. Lydia took a deep, shuddering and lungs-full-of-dust breath before continuing.

"I just found out that I'm adopted," She'd started and now there was no stopping. It felt as though the pressure valve in her heart at been released and now she was just spewing her emotions everywhere, all those fake attempts of hiding it and pretending to be care free flushed away so fast it was hard to remember that they were ever there. Lydia didn't even care that it was Emma listening to it all, a complete stranger. Since Lydia rather have someone to hear it than to continue keeping it all inside for any longer.

"Seventeen years of living with Mr. Gold. All that time spent dealing with being hated by classmates because he foreclosed on their family's houses or shops, being glared at in the street and seen as nothing better than him. Being locked in holding cells because I'm was so stupid, that I wanted to get his attention by ruining my own reputation, just so he would really look at me, just once. All of that, for nothing,"

"And what's worse is that after all of that, I'm still alone. I'm going to die down here all alone and no one to love me," At what point her voice that was already strained enough, was raised to a yell she was unaware, though it was likely that it happened not long before she was finished talking. She hadn't meant to get so personal at the end, didn't mean for Emma to know how afraid the teenager was that she thought she was going to die down here. And certainly she didn't want anyone to know that she thought she would never be loved.

It got too personal too damned fast and after it was over Lydia desperately wanted to take it all back. No matter how good it felt at that moment to set it all free after bottling it all inside, she knew that later on she would feel so ashamed, so embarrassed that she had just spilt her guts to a complete stranger just because she was in a dangerous situation and incredibly injured.

Already she was starting to feel somewhat mortified, and it was only barely micro seconds after she was finished talking. Lydia wanted to just faint again and not be here, to let the blackness of unconsciousness make her forget that she had ever spoken. Emma hadn't answered back yet, and the teenager wanted to hope that she actually hadn't heard, that she had put down the cell phone not long after the whole 'kill time' joke, but still there was no way that she would ever be that lucky.

Perhaps Emma had listened the whole time, and had not said anything since she probably didn't know how to console a broken heated and broken legged teenager that was trapped at the bottom of a mine, something Lydia was sure the whole of Storybrooke could relate with. But thankfully she hadn't been coldhearted enough, like the teenager was sure a certain number of people in the town were, to hang up on her while she practically was crying her entire soul out to her.

The tears eventually dried over time, though still the stretcher hadn't arrived to take her out of this nightmare and into a better dream, maybe one where she managed to get on that bus in time and get out of Storybrooke for good and travelled the world to her heart's content. The teenager was sp busy thinking over the specifics of this dream that she didn't notice how much time flowed much faster in the meanwhile until finally she heard the sounds of a voice echoing form the elevator shaft nearby.

"Lydia? Call out if you can hear me," Hearing a different voice apart from Deputy Swann's was a bit strange to accept at first for some reason, (Lydia blamed it on the dust or fumes or something in the mind that would make her think like that) though eventually the teenager managed to grasp that it was Sheriff Graham talking, then understand what it was he was saying and actually answer back before the policeman freaked out and thought that she was unconscious down here or worse.

"I'm here!"

Her voice echoed through the elevator shaft and caverns that were all around her, only serving as a reminder to Lydia how small she actually was in the face of all this darkness. This was probably not the best thought to have when a rescue was finally coming to take her away from it. The echoes nevertheless seemed to have reached the ears of the Sheriff as she heard the echoes of him giving orders to others that were outside as well, no doubt telling them to get ready to lower him with the stretcher, or something to that effect.

What followed the echoes of the policeman's voice was the slightest hints of a flashlight that drew brighter and brighter the closer he got to her position. Really it was like a beacon of hope coming her way, a lighthouse in the bleary wilderness of fright and pain to draw her to safety at long last. For a time the flashlight was all she could see as any sign that any progress was being made, those few short minutes feeling more like excruciatingly long hours that eventually had to come to an end.

The first sight that Lydia got of another human being in quite a few hours was the legs of Sheriff Graham as he was lowering himself into the cavern. The rest of him quickly appeared as he was searching for her, the flashlight quickly landing on her trapped form. Weakley, Lydia tried to trap out the brightness of the light with her hand, feeling her eyeballs burn at the sudden break from the darkness.

Sheriff Graham managed to maneuver himself into the cavern from the elevator shaft, the stretcher coming down with him shortly after wards along with an addition that Lydia wasn't expecting but at the same time was logical to bring along, Dr. Whale. Who along with unfortunately a lot of people in this town to date, she had a somewhat strained relationship with. But, hopefully that wouldn't stop the good Doctor from doing his job.

"Everything is going to be okay now Lydia, we'll get you out of here," The Sheriff soothed her as he and Dr. Whale started trying to figure out the best way to lift the steel pillar and rocks off of her legs. Dr. Whale seemed to find it best to first inject the teenager with some kind of painkiller beforehand, jus in case something went wrong, so at least she wouldn't feel the total pain.

Lydia couldn't help but hiss at the prick of pain that the needle gave, though after that most of the pain she had been feeling eased away to numbness with only slight throbbing. Which was probably why when the steel pillar was finally lifted away from her, she didn't scream in pain. Instead Lydia just frowning slightly at the now unfamiliar feeling of the force of the steel pillar and rocks being lifted from her legs.

"Okay, we're going to lift you onto the stretcher now, all you have to do is remain calm, everything is going to be okay," Dr. Whale also did his own hand at attempting to comfort the teenager, which was sort of okay though she could hear the tone in his voice that said he didn't really want to be here. Then again Lydia didn't want to be here either, so there was a sense of understanding on that tone that he had.

On the count of three, the Sheriff and Dr. Whale lifted the teenager, moving her swiftly to the stretcher where they tied her into place, most likely so she wouldn't fall out. However, because the steel and rock had been removed, Lydia could see her legs, could see how damaged they were. And it was possibly because of the amount of blood and slight bone sticking through the skin, but it really frightened the teenager to no end so she laid back and tried not to look again.

Dr. Whale and the Sheriff lifted the stretcher form both sides and started moving it carefully to the elevator shaft. Already the teenager was getting the feeling that she was going to be suspended by a rope, on a stretcher, over an endlessly deep hole. Now, that did not make her feel good for a moment, and there really was nothing she could do about it, so Lydia just squeezed her eyes shut and waited for things to get better.

There was a long period of feeling weightlessness, which was followed by several reassurances from both the men that was saving her life, that everything was going fine and that they were almost 'there'. Lydia just nodded slightly every time they asked her if she was alright, but never dared to open her eyes, her hand stayed clutched onto her phone, which was still on call with Emma even after the amount of time since they had spoken.

It was nighttime by now, so there was no sunshine that could light on her face to tell her that she was almost there, but there was at least the glow of moonlight that she could sense. Her eyes unintentionally opened, to see the opening that wasn't that far away from them now, so that she could see the moon that was shining down on her, but even in that comfort there was a painful reminder that she would have to deal with eventually.

The moon was full, and it was too late to run.

Nevertheless, much like most of the problems that Lydia was happening recently, she was unable to really run away from it no matter how much she would like to, and instead was dragged closer and closer towards it. Lydia closed her eyes again, since that was something she was good at, denying something until the point where she no longer able to. She did it with the adoption papers, did it with school t the point that she dropped out, she even did it with Mayor Mills so she didn't stand up for herself, but that went to the point where she was fired from being Henry's babysitter and didn't fight back yet again.

Still, the moon got closer and closer, just like her problems, to the point that she was finally pulled out fo the elevator shaft, and was free from the mines.

The first thing that Lydia noticed that told her she was free was the feeling of the cold night wind causing goosebumps to rise on her skin, the next was the sound of strangely enough, crickets chirping. For some reason the teenager couldn't help but think on how long it had been since she had heard the chirping of crickets in Storybrooke. But of course overlapping the sounds of the crickets, was the applause of the people that were apparently surrounding the mine elevator shaft, congratulating the two men that had saved her life.

With her eyes open once again, Lydia looked around the crowd from her place on the stretcher, that was now being unattached from the ropes that had pulled her out and placed her on the grass nearby. She was looking for Henry or Archie, hoping that she was right in that they were mostly uninjured, at least not to the point that she was at that moment. Her voice was still somewhat weak from her experience, but the teenager didn't really care all that much about that as she called out for him.

Lydia guessed that she had to look completely delirious, laying on this stretcher that she was strapped down into, calling out for a boy that wasn't related to her. For a moment no one seemed to know what to do, freezing in place like the strange people that they were, but thankfully someone seemed to get it through their head that they should probably go get the ten year old before the teenager freaked out, which wasn't a good idea considering her current medical condition.

Henry wormed his way through the crowd, though thankfully before he reached her, Dr. Whale had the good sense to cover the teenager's broken legs with an emergency blanket so that the ten year old wouldn't see how bad the injuries were. Lydia managed to clam herself down when she finally saw the boy, relieved to know that he was as uninjured as she had hoped, though he didn't look happy at all.

"I'm sorry Lydia," He looked on the verge of tears, and was just overall upset. Lydia bit her lip as she felt miserable just seeing him upset, and so tried to make him feel better. The teenager already got the feeling that he was blaming himself for her injuries, because he went into the mines in the first place. She didn't want him to blame himself, knowing that usually wasn't the best route to go on any emotional situation, she'd done that before and knew no good ever came from it.

"Hey, this wasn't your fault. I'm just happy you're not hurt," Her hand gently held onto his as she looked him directly in the eye, knowing how important it was for him to see how serious she was being. Though of course Lydia still knew that no matter how serious she was there was a part of Henry that was going to still blame himself for what happened. Still, this seemed the best the teenager could do for the moment, since the pain of her legs was making a comeback and grabbing at her attention.

The boy was soon pulled away from her by Mayor Mills, who seemed to be ignoring the injured teenager to the best of her ability as she led Henry away. Though of course Lydia didn't really care about that woman, was she really was interested about was that the ten year old wasn't crying anymore. Though of course she didn't get the chance to see whether or not that was the case since his back was now to her and he was being led away to his mother's car.

"Okay Lydia, we're going to take you to the Hospital now, but you need to be put under, just in case," Dr. Whale said softly, the breathing mask already in his hand as she nodded in understanding. The mask was gently placed over her face, the elastic band needing to be strapped over her head as she breathed in the chemicals that was starting to make her incredibly drowsy already. The full moon was still hanging over her head, reminding her of what she would have to look forward to on this night.

While she was thinking this, her sight started going blurry, the pale disk eventually blurring into a white smudge that she couldn't quite place, the stars that surrounded the moon smudge along with it. The people that were around her as she started to slip into unconsciousness became nothing but strange forms in the night, even the Doctor that was still asking her if she was still awake, his words becoming nothing but noise.

However, just as she was about to phase out of consciousness completely, Lydia heard the sounds of another voice, one that had not been there when she was pulled out of the mine originally. Her head turned to the sound's origin, seeing another form that broke its way through the crowd of nameless figures to get to her side. There was sounds form the other nameless figures that she couldn't translate in her now half awake state, though it sounded somewhat like muttering to themselves.

A hand touched her face, and she couldn't help but shudder at how cold it felt to her, but then again Lydia was sure she wasn't that warm either. This figure said something, possibly her name or something comforting that Lydia just couldn't place. And while she wasn't that sure on who this person was, everything was only growing blurrier with every passing moment, Lydia couldn't but feel as though she could trust this person.

She was falling fast into the unconsciousness, and didn't bother trying to fight it since it felt so comfortable. The stretcher was lifted as she was most likely being carried to an ambulance that was nearby. The figure that had touched her face with their cold hands went along with her, now holding her hand to comfort her. The teenager wasn't conscious by the time they reached the ambulance, and apparently she knew this since she tried talking before letting herself finally go to sleep, her words a mumbled heap of unintelligible words that seemed to make sense to her.

The strange figure that seemed so comforting to her softly shushed her as she finally fell asleep, the stretcher then finally going into the ambulance. As the ambulance was getting ready to drive out of the mines and transport the teenager to the hospital, Dr. Whale turned to the person who had been so comforting to Lydia before she was finally put under, a bunch of legal medical documents in hand that this person would have to sign.

"You're going to have to sign off for Lydia's health care and transportation to the hospital,"

It didn't seem as though the person was really listening at first, their focus seeming to be on the teenager that lay unconscious nearby, and their hand still holding onto hers. So, Dr. Whale had to try again.

"Mr. Gold?"

The man finally looked up to see the forms that needed sign and wordlessly nodded in agreement as he gave his signature to them all before turning back to his daughter, his hand going back to holding onto her own. Already he could see the slight furrowing of her brow, the unconscious fear that came every full moon coming back into fruition as it always did.

The nightmares were starting.


Sorry this was so long guys; I just really wanted to end the episode in this chap.

Please review, constructive criticism always welcome.