Disclaimer: I do not own ROTG or Once Upon a Time.
Thank you to milli.a205 for following this story!
(Today in Storybrooke)
Jaimie was running for his life, knowing that this would be his only chance to escape. Pitch had left for a moment, claiming to be investigating something nearby. Jaimie didn't think he would get a chance to run, but for some reason the nightmares had seemed distracted as well. Their master had been growing irritated so they had wanted to join him. Jaimie decided to use this however he could, trying to run to escape his prison and find help somewhere nearby. He couldn't be completely isolated, not with what Pitch planned on doing. In order to destroy belief, he needed people to influence. As Jaimie ran, the nightmares began to grow interested in him, beginning the chase through the forest.
Jaimie was breathing hard, trying to ignore his fear since it was what attracted the nightmares in the first place. If only Jack were here, maybe Jaimie could try and think of something fun instead. As it was, all he was able to do was focus on dodging tree branches and roots as he ran. If he fell down, the nightmares would catch him and he would be back where he started. It might even be worse, if Pitch decides to try and punish him. He shuddered at the thought, giving him more strength to push forward again.
As he ran, he began to feel the breath of one of the horses on his back. It tried to bite his shirt to drag him back, but Jaimie jumped to the left to dodge it. He had learned a few tricks before the curse, but it still wasn't enough to beat Pitch. Even now, Jaimie could feel his energy draining as he ran. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for long and Jaimie still couldn't see the end of this forest. He didn't know if he was running deeper inside or towards a town, but he knew he couldn't stop now. He was breathing hard, and his pace was slowing down while the nightmares were relentless, able to keep their pace without effort.
Eventually, Jaimie found himself colliding with someone in the forest, stopping him completely during his run. "Let me go!" he yelled as he felt the man grab him. Jaimie needed to run, but this adult didn't seem to realize that. He was tall, with black hair and a short beard. The strangest thing about him was his his missing hand. Where it should have been, there was only a shiny silver hook. "Calm down, lad. What's gotten you so excited?" Hook asked, trying to figure out who this strange kid was. Jaimie turned around and saw that they were surrounded now. After a moment of hesitation, Jaimie grabbed the sword he saw sheathed on the man's waist, waving it at the horses in front of him. "Stay back! I'm not afraid of you!" he yelled, trying to make his words true. As he stared at them and began to regain his energy, Jaimie slowly found himself believing in those words. He could get away and stop these things, all he had to do was believe.
As his fear quieted down, the horses also began to relax. Without fear nearby to keep them strengthened, they began to fall apart into piles of sand on the ground. Jaimie stood ready, in case one of them was still strong enough to fight. As soon as they all fell apart, Jaimie took a huge breath of relief and let the sword drop. "Care to explain what that was about?" Hook asked, trying to see what the kid had seen. Emma had called him, warning him of a new danger in town that he needed to investigate. Hook had come out here to try and locate this enemy, but he was having no luck. Perhaps this kid knew something, but he didn't seem very talkative yet.
Jaimie glanced at Hook, not willing to give Pitch any more believers that could fuel his power. "Nothing. Sorry, I guess I overreacted." Jaimie said, shrugging and handing the man back his sword. "I'm Jaimie, by the way." he said, smiling now that he was free. He had someone here to help him get away. With this man here, Pitch wouldn't dare attack. After all, if someone believed in him it was still more belief that needed to be destroyed. Hook shook the boy's hand, still trying to figure out how he had gotten here in the first place. He hadn't seen this child in town before, but he must be from the Enchanted Forest if he was here. No one could enter the town, not with the protection spell over it.
"Killian Jones, though most people prefer to call me Hook." he said, making the boy's grin widen. Captain Hook was standing in front of him, in real life. He had met others in the Enchanted Forest, learned that all fairy tales were real, but this was one he hadn't met. If Hook was real, was Peter Pan real too? Could he go to Neverland where he would be able to play all day long and never have to worry about any rules? It sounded like a great life, like the life he could pretend he had when Jack was around.
"Really? You're Captain Hook?" Jaimie asked, not quite able to relate this man's appearance to what he was used to seeing in movies. Then again, most of the fairy tales got the stories all wrong. He had met Snow White and learned some survival tips from her, after all. She might have been a princess, but she sure knew how to fight when she needed to. "Look, I don't have time to answer your questions, mate. We are looking for an incredibly dangerous foe right now, one with powerful magic. If you can help me, great. If not, then I must be on my way." Hook said, getting annoyed with this kid. He needed to focus on his mission after all.
"Wait! You're looking for Pitch?" Jaimie asked, unable to believe that anyone other than the Guardians was trying to fight back against the man. Hook frowned as he stared at the boy, wondering just what he knew. "Aye, and we plan on taking him down. No one messes with our town and gets away with it." Hook commented, waiting to hear what else the boy would say. Jaimie hesitated, glancing down at his feet before deciding to tell them about Pitch. If they were going to fight, they needed to know exactly what they were up against. "He's the one who moved me out here. I've been held in the hospital since the first curse, since I accidentally got in the queen's way to see Snow's downfall. I don't know much of what has been going on around here, but I do know quite a bit about Pitch." Jaimie began, waiting to see if Hook wanted to hear more.
Killian was thrilled to have found such a great lead, but he needed to wait so the others could hear about Pitch. "Hold on a sec, lad. Let me take you to Granny's and we can talk more about this there, alright?" Hook asked, watching the kid nod in response. Together, they walked out of the forest and back into town. Hook had called Emma on the way, telling her to bring her family to the diner in town to discuss their next move. They all gathered near one of the booths, with Emma, Henry, Hook, and Jaimie sitting inside while Snow and Charming stood beside them.
"Jaimie?" Snow asked, recognizing the boy from her time in the Enchanted Forest. "Wait, you know the lad?" Hook asked, confused at her reaction. Snow nodded, trying to figure out what he was doing here. "Yes, we met in our land, before the curse. How did you get here?" she asked, knowing that she hadn't seen him here after any of the curses that had been placed on the town. "Same as you, the curse." Jaimie said, shrugging and taking a sip of his hot chocolate. The people had brought it to him and it was good. Surprisingly, they had decided to put cinnamon on top of it, which had seemed strange at first but actually made it even better.
"Why haven't any of us met you before, then?" David asked, uncertain about where the boy had been. "Well, I kind of got on the queen's bad side back in the Enchanted Forest." Jaimie said, sighing again and leaning back. "So, you guys wanted to learn about Pitch, right?" he asked, thinking about what Hook had been trying to ask him about. They nodded, looking serious now that the topic of Pitch was brought up. "Wait a second, there's something I still don't understand. Your story says you died, that you were thrown out of a window by Pitch Black." Henry commented, thinking back to the story he had just written down.
Emma remembered that as well, but she hadn't realized that it was about this kid. Jaimie frowned, not liking to think about that day. It had been so confusing, not only by being taken away from what he always knew but also finding himself in a world that was so strange and different from his own. "I was…but Pitch created a portal at the last second. It brought me to their world, the Enchanted Forest." Jaimie said, leaving all of them stunned. Portals were almost impossible to make, but Jaimie made it sound like it was no big deal for Pitch. Could he really be that powerful?
"Listen, I get that you guys want to fight him, but you need to leave that to the Guardians. Pitch can't be stopped by normal people like us." Jaimie said, thinking back to the day he had lost. He had been so useless, unable to help Jack or himself as he was thrown away like trash. "It doesn't matter how bad things look, Jaimie, good will always rise up and fight back against evil. Trust me, it happens in every story out there." Henry said, trying to cheer up the boy. Jaimie shrugged, knowing he should tell them more about Pitch's power but no longer feeling in the mood to do so. He wanted to find Jack again, after so long of being trapped in this town. He wanted to see the snow, go sledding or have a snowball fight.
"I think we all should take a little break. Do you think you could meet us back here tomorrow, Jaimie?" Snow offered, seeing the look on his face. Jaimie shrugged, uncertain of Pitch's plans at this point. The guy definitely would want Jaimie back, but Jaimie did not know when he would strike again. "Guys, we need to get out to the forest! Pitch is-" a voice yelled out, bursting into the room through the door with a gust of wind.
Most of the diners ignored this newcomer, not believing in him at all so they were unable to see. Jaimie's eyes were wide, staring at his old friend for the first time in over twenty three years. Jack Frost was here, in Storybrooke, still fighting back against Pitch. Jaimie began to feel happy, knowing that Jack would always be there to help him no matter what happened. He began to grin wildly at the winter spirit, watching his stunned expression as Jaimie got up and ran towards him. "Jack!" he screamed, not caring if the others thought he was crazy.
Jack was frozen, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Jaimie had died, years ago, that was something Jack was certain of. He had watched the boy fall, from a height that would have killed him. His apartment had been so high up, making that fall deadly to any human. Yet, Jack could not deny that he was here, alive and well. As he felt Jaimie wrap his arms around Jack, he began to realize exactly what had happened. Pitch had tricked him, playing games to try and use his fear against him. Jack felt his anger grow, knowing that he would not let Pitch get away with this trick. He had spent years trying to cope with his failure, with the fact that he had failed Jaimie when he needed him the most. As he hugged Jaimie, Jack knew that Pitch would fall soon. He would make sure of it.
(Many years ago, in the Enchanted Forest)
Jaimie groaned, feeling lost and disoriented. He was lying down on the ground, but he was not looking up at his apartment building. Instead, he saw the open sky, with a few tree branches within his vision. Sitting up, Jaimie frowned as he studied where he was. This place was nothing like his home and it was clearly far from Burgess. "Hey, need a hand?" a voice asked from beside him, making him jump back. It wasn't Pitch's voice, but it had come from no where just like him. He saw a girl near him, with dark black hair and pale skin, smiling at his reaction. "Wh-who are you?" Jaimie asked, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to recover from his ordeal.
"I'm Snow White. Who are you?" she asked, smiling at him and holding out her hand to help him up. Jaimie grabbed it, still trying to figure out where he was. "Jaimie. Hey, where are we?" he asked, confused about where they were. "We are a few days journey away from the southern palace." she told him, only confusing him further. "Where are you trying to go? Maybe I could help you?" Snow offered, seeing the confused look on his face. "Burgess. I'm from Burgess." he told her, this time making her confused. "Well, I've never heard of this kingdom before. Perhaps we can look for it together?" she offered, making him smile as he followed her.
Snow taught him many things about the forest, such as navigation and tracking. He learned how to survive in this world, even if it hadn't been what he had planned for himself. He loved this place, even if it wasn't his home. Eventually, Snow began to come and see him less frequently, after telling him that she lived a ways away from the forest. He had nodded, still enjoying the quiet of his shelter in the woods.
Today, he was wandering on his own after living here for a few months. Snow had warned him that now was the time to leave, that a great danger would be coming soon to this land. Jaimie was searching for a way home when he saw it coming. In the sky, Jaimie could see a giant purple cloud filled with lightning slowly approaching the woods he was in. As soon as he saw it, Jaimie was reminded of Pitch and his dark magic. Jaimie felt fear in his heart and he began to run, trying to get away from it before it consumed him.
As Jaimie ran, he found himself on a road, directly in front of a carriage that had been moving at an incredibly fast speed. Jaimie thought he was going to get hit by the carriage, but instead it stopped and a women stepped outside of it. She was dressed in a long black gown, with her hair pulled up and scowl on her face. "Who dares interrupt me on my path to watch Snow's defeat?" she asked, glaring at the boy in front of her and waiting for an answer. Jaimie hesitated, but he realized he didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to get out of here. "J-Jaimie. Jaimie Bennet." he replied, backing away slightly as she came closer.
She laughed at him, reaching forward while he stumbled and tripped on some rocks behind him, falling down. "No one is going to ruin this day for me, Jaimie Bennet. I will not allow it." she declared, leaning down and shoving her hand into his chest. Jaimie felt like something was yanking inside of him, before he felt himself being short of breath once his heart was gone. He stared in shock at the glowing object in her hand, knowing that this was magic even darker than Pitch's. This women had torn out his heart and he had no idea what she was going to do now.
"Please, just let me go. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get in your way." he begged, watching her prepare to crush his heart. The queen hesitated for a moment, getting a brilliant idea. The curse was already coming, so why not make this boy a part of it? Laughing, she gave the boy back his heart before turning around towards her carriage. "Very well, I shall let you live. Know that this is your only gift from your merciful queen, but it comes with a price. Enjoy the curse, Jaimie Bennet, for it will take away all your happiness." she promised, riding away towards the castle once more. Jaimie was left sitting in the dirt, watching as the cloud consumed him and the entire town, erasing his memory and providing him with a new life. Jaimie hadn't remembered anything after that, only knowing that he was trapped and unable to escape from his prison in the hospital.
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