Number Ten - The Doctor Will See You Now

Hey guys! Sorry for being gone for so long - I know, it hasn't been all that long compared to some of my disappearances off this site, but still - without giving any sort of stories to you guys. I explain some of that at the end of the chapter, however to make it up to you guys, I'm going to give you some one-shots that you'll hopefully appreciate. xD I hope that they can make up for some of my cruel moves in these one-shots (I know, my last one was cruel) and in some of my other stories.

KennaChanMaiden : I'm glad that the somewhat subtle clues were able to be caught, as while I wanted it to be a surprise, I also wanted to make sure there were a few clues that gave a hint to it. And ah, I'm sorry I disappointed you. I'd like to try and do a wedding one-shot some time, but I'm not sure exactly how to do one after already writing a wedding between Mina and Teague in "Just Follow Me." I don't want it to be a repeat of that one. As I said, I would like to do a wedding one-shot at some point, it's just the fact that I need to make it different. Maybe I'll be able to do one at some point?

Evx : I'm sowwy. ;-; Although hearing that I tricked you is a good thing for me. It was the whole point of my personal challenge. Maybe it was slightly cruel - I was talking to some of my family about my idea and they were saying that I was super mean - but I think it was worth it. If you forget the fact that I ruined Meague and tricked you, do you agree that it was a good one-shot though?

so in her own head : I'm glad I had you going! I'm also glad you suspected there might be a twist (that's a very good thing to suspect when I'm the one writing X3). I'm also glad that his remorse and longing was conveyed well. I have to admit, I was a little concerned that that might not come across right! Thank goodness it did for at least one person. cx And thank you! I will! You should be keep being awesome as well.

Guest 1 : ^-^ Hehe. Of course you love me sometimes! You're only supposed to love me sometimes, seeing as I'm an author. xD I'm glad the one-shot was able to invoke feelings like that though. I'm glad I did a good job though, and that you loved the chapter despite the cruelty I had in it.

Guest 2 : Well that's what I was aiming for, so that's good! :D

Now, let's get to the actual one-shot, shall we? I'm super excited! Are you?

Mina's Point of View

I open one bleary eye to find my mom standing over me, shaking me awake. When she sees that I've started to awaken, she backs up a few paces, and I catch a very cautious sense to her actions. Is something wrong? As I sit up, she gives me a rather false smile.

"Wilhelmina, it's time to get up." Her voice sounds cheerful.

Too cheerful. A cheerful that oozes with the fact that it's forced. Why is my mom trying to act so happy? Has she forgotten that just yesterday, the Godmother guild was burned down? That nearly brings a fresh wave of tears to my eyes. Maybe that's why she's trying to seem so happy. It's for my sake. Yet even as I try to convince myself of that, I can tell that that can't be it. If it was, why would she call me Wilhelmina? It makes no sense. No, something is most definitely wrong here.

"It's Mina, Mom." I say, sitting up.

She sighs in response. "I don't understand why you've started wanting to be called by that silly nickname recently, Wilhelmina." i cringe as she once again uses my full name, confused. "You never used to want to."

"What are you talking about?" I stare at her in confusion.

"It's nothing, sweetheart. Just get on up and dressed, alright?" She gives me another forced smile.

I glance at the clock, and alarm lights up in me. It's 10:30 am. As much as I don't want to go to school today, I can't just miss it. "Mom, why are you waking me up so late? I should be at school already. I mean, it's nice of you to be considerate after what happened, but he'll just see it as me being weak. I can't let him see it like that. You took Charlie to school already, right? Please tell me you didn't keep him here because of me."

"Mina, stop. Calm down. You're not going to school today." She hesitates. "And I didn't take Charlie to school today, Mina. I haven't been taking him for awhile."

Her eyes seem to well up with tears, but I'm just confused. "What do you mean?"

She shakes her head, obviously frustrated with me. "Just get dressed, Mina."

I can't though. "Where's Charlie?"

"Get dressed." She almost snaps the words at me in response, exiting the room and shutting the door.

I'm so confused. What is going on with my mom? Where could she possibly be taking me that's more important than school? And why is she acting like she is? This all seems so out of character. And most importantly, where's Charlie? What did her comments about him mean? Shaking my head and hoping to get answers soon, I glance at the bed to see she's laid an outfit out for me. The sight of it makes me sick.

A golden t-shirt. After that whole incident with Templestiltskin, I've hated that color. I can't see it without thinking of that quest and all that it entailed. I made too many mistakes. Why would my mom give me a shirt in this color? A red hoodie. I haven't worn red or hoodies since the Little Red Riding Hood quest. In fact, I disposed of them all. Where did my mom get this? She helped me get rid of them all. She was just as upset by them! So why would she have me wear it? There's jeans and black shoes as well, but those I don't mind.

My mind is trying to work out what I could do. I could get my own outfit without saying anything. But would that upset my mom? With the way she's acting, I honestly don't know. And I think it's in my best interests not to upset her right now. If I ask her about switching the outfits or why she chose this one, that might upset her as well. Which really just leaves me with one remaining option. I have to wear it. It's not like it'll hurt me or anything. It'll just bring up a lot of unpleasant memories for me.

After I'm dressed and downstairs, my mom doesn't speak a word to me. She just hands me a poptart, which I eat quickly. Then, she takes me to the car. I try to ask a few questions, but she gives me no response. She won't even let me see where she's taking us with her GPS on her phone that I didn't even know she had. This has got to be the strangest experience for me yet, and leaves no room for me to even think about the events of last night. All I can wonder is what is going on with my mom. That's when she pulls into a parking lot, and I get to find out where she's decided for us to go today. Not because she tells me, or because I see where she's looked on her GPS. It's because I can see the sign for the place. It doesn't make me feel good at all. From what I read on the sign, I think this is a doctor's office to help people with psychological problems. Does my mom think I have a psychological problem? What are we here for? I don't need any professional help dealing with my grief. I didn't when I thought Charlie was dead. Why would I need it now?

"Come on now, Wilhelmina." I blink and see my mom has opened the passenger door for me and is waiting for me to get out rather impatiently.

I unbuckle, stepping out of the car, and respond, "Mina, Mom. It's Mina."

She shakes her head, saying nothing else as she leads me up to the front door and then inside. I'm dying to ask her what's going on - along with a multitude of other questions - but after her reaction to the few questions I actually voiced in the car, I doubt I'd get any answer. So, instead, I follow her silently in confusion. I sure hope someone explains what's going on right now.

When we get inside, my mom talks to someone behind the desk. She says we're here for an appointment with the regular doctor, but it leaves me feeling confused. What is that even supposed to mean? A regular doctor? I try to reason that maybe it's her regular doctor, and she just didn't feel that it was safe to leave me alone at home. I doubt it, due to how she's been treating me though. I've never even see a doctor here though, so how can one be regular?

"He's in his normal room, waiting for you." The receptionist says, smiling politely as my mom takes my hand as if I'm a young child and leads me back with her.

We walk down sterile white hallways that my mom seems to navigate with ease, as if she's been here before. She has to have been. But when? I don't remember her ever mentioning something like this. Finally, we reach a room, and she tries to lead me inside. I stop at the door way, however.

"Mrs. Grime and Wilhelmina! It's nice to see you." He says it in the nice, polite ways all doctors do, although in reality it's definitely not nice to see a patient come in. He's even dressed like a proper doctor in this position would be, or so I assume. But he's not one. I know that all too well.

I balk and refuse, and my mom practically has to drag me in as she apologizes repeatedly, saying, "I'm sorry, Doctor Teague, but it's bad enough now that I need to explain everything and have you work with her specifically. Surely you must know something!"

And she's right. Standing before us is black-haired, blue-eyed, Fae, Prince Teague. The Story himself. What is he doing here? And posing as a doctor no less! I scowl at him, trying to stay as far away as I can. What is wrong with my mom? What has he done to her?

"Slow down, please, and sit." He gestures towards three seats across from him as he too sits. My mom sits, but I refuse, crossing m arms and standing. I won't be lulled into a false sense of security by this monster. I've seen what he does too many times. What has he done this time? My heart aches when I look at him and I think about what happened when I traveled back in time, but I shove it aside and try to focus on the situation. "I know my advice hasn't been the most helpful because you were afraid to admit pretty much anything about what was going on these past few days since the first time you called me. However, I'm assuming now you will?"

"Now I will." My mom nods, but I'm just confused. What on earth does she mean? "But perhaps Wilhelmina should explain what she thinks first?"

"Of course." Teague smiles the typical doctor 'everything is going to be fine' smile at my mom before looking at me. "Now, Wilhelmina Grime, would you care to tell me about what's been going on in your life recently?"

"It's Mina Grimm." I respond angrily. "And no, I won't. You already know. I don't need to tell you."

My mom looks frustrated, throwing her arms out in front of her. "See?"

Teague glances at her holds a hand up to stop her before turning back to look at me. "But I don't, Mina." He says it very carefully, as if approaching a wounded animal. It just makes me even angrier, where as he seems completely calm, as if he sees this all the time. "You won't tell me anything?"

"No." I spit the word back at him.

"Mina!" My mom cries, obviously angry. "Please, behave yourself!"

Teague shakes his head. "Calm down, Sarah, this isn't anything new. I've seen this before, and the other people suffering from this peculiar psychological condition didn't want to discuss what they felt was going on with me either for a multitude of reasons. Why don't you tell me instead?"

She takes a deep breathe. "It started a while ago. Her class took a field trip to Babushka bakery, and my poor girl unintentionally caused a boy to go tumbling off the cat walk. The tour guide and a few of her classmates managed to get the boy back up, however she convinced herself that she did it with the help of her best friend, Nan, who was sick that day. She insisted that this boy - who happened to be her crush - started trying to get her to hang out with him for saving his life after that, and she refused for awhile till she fell for it. While this was happening, she kept insisting that I had told her about this 'curse' that was supposedly following our line. She claimed that it was the reason her father died, when he actually died due to his getting involved with a gang around here." She looks upset even as she says it. "She claimed I told her that we were descended from the Grimm brothers and that our last name is really Grimm, not Grime. All sorts of details about this curse were created by her, and she insisted that she solved this whole puzzle and found a book I said would help her at a shop that never existed."

"That's not what happened at a-" I begin to protest, but she cuts me off as she plows ahead.

"This whole curse talk continued, and she insisted that the boy she 'saved' had asked her to a dance. I let her get a dress because I couldn't bare to not let her go, even if she was crazy. Besides, her best friend Nan was going. However, then she started talking about this boy that never existed and how he was Nan's date and he'd come from the book she'd found." Teague raises an eyebrow as my mom continues. "Then she ended up going to the bakery again and said she and Nan had been kidnapped there by evil 'Fae' and the boy had come to try and save them, but just a day after the field trip the place had gone up in flames. Nan said it was just a prank that they'd all been dropped off there."

"I see." Teague says, nodding.

Sarah shakes her head. "No, there's more. Then, she went to a concert with Nan, and ended up having the poor girl take her back home super early and ruined the night for her, insisting that she was going to have to deal with something with that Grimm curse she created in her head. Nan and her fell out of a friendship, and when the girl had a party for the whole class that I suppose she had to invite Wilhelmina," I scowl harder as she uses my full name once again, "only for her to have to go out in the rain to say goodbye to a boyfriend. Wilhelmina's crush - the boy she claims to have saved - drove her, and they crashed. Nan died in the crash, but Mina insists she still alive and had this whole story with the curse to justify it. I know the girl's dead though; we attended her funeral. The rest is even worse. Her brother died in a fire and we had to move houses." Tears well up in hr eyes as she says it, and I'm horrified. What? Charlie can't be dead! None of this is true. None of it! "It just all goes down hill. She claims you were the reason for the curse, and that her imaginary friend who she said was her guardian was actually a part of you. I don't understand how it works, it's all very complicated. She really believes it though."

Teague nods. "I understand. I've seen this sort of thing before. What I would suggest is a special surgery procedure we've done before. It'll get rid of this dreadful fantasy and she'll recognize what actually happened."

My mind works to process this all as fast as I can. He wants to 'fix' my memory. No one seems to realize that this is all wrong. I'm right! But I can't say that. That's exactly what a person in my shoes would say. But perhaps, if I deny it and say I'd been saying everything and acting like that in a desperate attempt to get attention, I might get out of this? That would allow me to figure out how to fix this all.

"How soon can we do the surgery?" My mom sounds eager, and I cringe. She really thinks I'm crazy. How did this happen?

"Today, if you'd like." Teague suggest in response. I shake my head as fast and hard as I can, but I am ignored. "If you agree, I'll just need a few minutes to talk to Wilhelmina about all of this," He sure seems confident he can talk to me. Is that why he's caused all this mess to occur? Because there's no doubt in my mind that this is his fault, "and then I can go on to performing the surgery. It would be done in a few hours tops."

My mom looks nervous, and I start to hope that maybe I won't have to pretend I made this all up and know that I made it up, because it's real. Is she going to change her mind and back out of having me go into this surgery? "And you're sure it will work? She'll be perfectly safe?"

Teague looks away. "No surgery is one hundred percent safe or one hundred percent perfect. But it's always worked in the past, and no one has ever been injured in the process or died."

Here comes the fateful moment, and when I look at my mom's eyes, my heart sinks. She's going through with it. "Then go ahead. Do what needs to be done, but please, don't hurt her. I just want my daughter back." I stare at the ground, and my mom stands. "I'll wait outside. Would the surgery be in here...?"

"Oh yes." Teague nods. "You'd be surprised how simple the procedure is. Go on ahead. Like I said, I'm just going to talk to Wilhelmina here for a few minutes, okay?"

My mom nods her head to confirm she understands, standing up and passing me as she exits the room. She doesn't look at me eyes, doesn't seem to realize the betrayal radiating off of me. Why would she do this to me? How can she not believe me? What has happened to the world I know? It makes me want to cry, and I take a deep breathe. I refuse to cry in front of Teague. This has to be his fault. Cautiously, I look at him.

"I'm not going to talk to you." I mutter.

He just smiles back at me. "You just did, Mina." When I don't respond, just scowling at him, he says, "Will you please sit down across from me?"

When I make no move to do as he asks, he sighs, and reaches over to a table and grabs a few pictures. I watch him, confused. What is he going to show me? Is this some psychological test to find out how crazy I am, to see if this surgery works? None of this makes sense. This doesn't even seem like the correct procedures for something like this to happen. And then I get a look at the picture on top, and Brody's charming face smiles back. Why does he have a picture of Brody?

"Who is he in your story, Mina?" He asks, meeting my eyes and holding up the picture.

I mumble back, "My mom already told you."

He shakes his head. "I know what your mother told me. I want to know who he is to you."

I hesitate. Do I really want to talk? Then again, this seems to be my only chance. Perhaps, if I tell him who everyone is in a few of these pictures and then 'admit' that I made the story up to get more attention, then I can buy myself time. But if that doesn't work, it's possible I'm doomed.

Then, I talk. "That's Brody Carmichael. He's a good friend of mine and was my crush. I accidentally caused a chain reaction that had him falling off of a catwalk during a field trip, but I saved his life. He wouldn't leave me along after that, and we ended up dating for a while before someone," I say the words with venom, trying to see if he reacts in any way. He doesn't, "messed with his memory. He then dated my best friend and was in the crash where she died, but after I made a deal with a Fate to save her life he kissed her and awoke her from her 'coma,' fulfilling the Sleeping Beauty and Snow White curse. He dated her for awhile, before the same person messed with their memories after I did a quest to rescue my brother and caused one of the most amazing people I've ever met to sacrifice himself." I try to give as little names as possible, still looking at Teague to try and see if he's reacting at all. He's not, of course. "After that, we ended up dating again after the same person attacked them and I explained the curse that I'd never told him about. He invited me to a dance, but I kept disappearing because I was going back in time. Right when he was going to ask me something, something important I think, the same person who kept doing horrible things blew up the Godmother guild, but the humans don't know the Godmothers were there. They think it's just an old recycling plant. Brody kept his memory due to a charm my friend stole for him, and then I went home. I don't know what's happened to him, as that was yesterday."

"And what about this girl?" Teague raises another picture.

And so I tell him about all the pictures. I tell him about Nan, and how she's been my best friend throughout this even though she was dating the guy she knew I had a crush on for awhile, and how she doesn't know that I'm the reason she originally died in a car crash only to be in a coma instead. I tell him about Nix, and how he helped me break into the Fae castle and rescue my brother. I also tell him how he helped me save my brother. I tell him about Ever, how she loathed me originally, especially when I made the mistake that cost us the most amazing guy in the world. I tell him about how she warmed up to Nix and me, and how she decided she'd be my new Fae Godmother as my old one died in the fire. That nearly has me sobbing all over again. Yet as it all occurs, one thing starts to dawn on me. How does he know exactly who to ask about?

"I see." It makes me want to laugh. Either he knew this all already, or he doesn't believe a word. There's no way he 'sees.' But I don't laugh, because that would probably just confirm that I'm crazy. "And who's this?"

He holds up a picture of my brother, and I break, bursting into tears. "That's my brother, who was stolen from me because of a horrible person who didn't understand something that occurred a long time ago. He was born mute in order to keep him safe from that person. I had to save him after everyone though he was dead. But that doesn't matter, because he is dead." I don't add that I believe he's only dead here, and not in the actual reality, because this can't be a real reality. "I made the entire story up, okay? I wanted to feel special and important, because my mom only seemed to pay attention to my brother. I wanted to believe my dad died for an important reason. I wanted to be able to explain the awful things that happened, even if I didn't like my explanation. I never thought they'd get me taken to a psychological doctor! I don't want surgery for something I know isn't real."

He pauses at this, staring at me wide eyed. "What?"

"I made the entire thing up!" I sob, flinching inwardly every time I tell the lie. I have to do it, to save myself. "None of it's true. None of it! I knew that all along. I just wanted to be able to explain things that made no sense to me and feel like I was important."

"Mina, you aren't telling the truth." He tries to say it like it's a fact, but he doesn't sound too confident. "You believe your story."

I shake my head. "No, I know it's not true."

"Mina, who am I in your story?" He asks, a desperate edge starting to slip into his voice.

"What does it matter? I just told you, I know it's wrong and I made it up for attention. I'm just a brat." I'm miserable saying it and that's reflected in the tone.

"Who am I?" He sounds a bit angry now, and I flinch.

I manage to stutter out, "You were the horrible Fae who did all of those horrible things. You were a monster who cursed my family and believed lies about me. You ruined my perfectly normal life in my story. You were literally called the Story in it."

"And you're saying that you made all that up and you know that?" He's really looking panicked. Shouldn't this please him? Shouldn't he be glad I'm not saying I still believe the story, that it's the truth? When I nod my head, he shakes his head. "This isn't good. This isn't good at all."

He looks over at his desk, and my eyes catch on something there. It takes me by surprise, because I can't believe it. I knew he had it, but seeing it here makes that all the more real. Not to mention I don't expect it to be here. In fact, the shock of seeing it makes me comment on it before I can stop myself. I give myself away, even though I try not to.

"My mirror!" I exclaim, reaching to grab it.

He grabs my wrist, stopping me, and looks me in the eye. "You were lying. You do believe the story."

"Let me go!" I snap. "Give me my mirror, fix whatever you've done to create this whole mess, and let me go! Send me back to the true world!"

"Calm down." He says, but I try to jerk away.

I probably look like a rabid animal. "Oh my gosh, let me go!"

Muttering under his breathe so I can't hear him, he waves his hand, and it's lights out for me. When I wake up, I can feel that my hands are tied behind my back with a chain that honestly really hurts. My ankles are chained as well, and from what I can tell, I'm on my knees. I'm not gagged, thankfully, but I have a feeling that screaming won't help me in this dark room. It just doesn't feel right. The air feels familiar, but not normal. The one thought I have about where I could be panics me, and I try to jerk away.

"Calm down, Mina." Teague's voice orders from outside the room. A door opens, shedding light into the room and nearly blinding me, and in the prince steps. I can now see why the floor felt weird; I'm kneeling on a bunch of straw. He has me in a prison cell. Fantastic. "All that jerking around is not going to help you."

"Let me go, you jerk!" I hiss back.

He leans against the doorway. "Did you not like being thought of as crazy? I'm sorry." If he's sincere, I'm Annalora Goldmine. I sure hope he's not sincere. "It seemed like the best way to kidnap you."

"Kidnap me?" I want to punch his face and make it stop looking perfect, like all Fae faces seem to look these days. "You did all that in order to kidnap me?"

"Well duh. I didn't do it for fun." He pauses. "Well, I did. It was actually rather entertaining. How soon did you figure out it was all a little off? I know it wasn't the way a normal doctor would handle things, but it got the job done still. Although I'll admit, your attempt to lie and act as if you made the whole story up and that it wasn't really true almost worked. You almost had me convinced that I'd messed up, although I suppose kidnapping you would've still worked. I could've fixed your memory. I'm glad showing you your mirror got a reaction that I needed from you, to prove you did actually know it was true."

He showed me my mirror on purpose? Of course he did. It was just a ploy. He wanted to test me with it, and I fell for it. "What would you have done if I hadn't responded like that?"

He huffs. "I just told you. I would've kidnapped you anyways and restored your memory - or found out you were lying - like I did with everyone else. They're probably looking for you right now, not that it matters. I highly doubt they can get to the Fae plane, after all."

"What's the point of all this? Why drag me off to the Fae plane? Why create that whole set up?" It just seems really strange.

He winks. "That's for me to know and you to find out. I'll be back later."

Well, what did you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Was it interesting? I really enjoyed writing yet another kidnapping done by Teague. Did you guys realize Mina's mom thought she was crazy from the beginning? Did you realize she thought Mina made the entire curse and everything up? What did you think of Teague being the doctor? Did you realize everything was really weird with how he was being the doctor? What did you think of the story Sarah told that was the 'truth?' How about Mina's whole plan to try and get out of the surgery? Did you think Sarah was going to let them do the surgery? Did you expect Teague to actually know what was going on? If so, when did you figure it out? Were you expecting Mina to mess up when she saw her mirror? Were you even expecting her to get to see her mirror? And were you expecting Teague to kidnap her? Let me know in a review, please!

Fun fact time (I forgot last time, but I think my self-given challenge probably works as the fun fact)! This one wasn't exactly drawn from a specific request, however throughout the reviews I've gotten some requests for more Meague, and so I decided to go with this. This story has been one of my ideas for awhile and I originally contemplated making it its own story. However, I like it as a one-shot (possibly one that will get a follow up "chapter" here later), especially since it allows you guys to imagine where the story might go.

Also, as I said previously, please suggesting one-shot ideas to me! That's the whole point of this experiment! If you suggest some happy ones, I might actually make them happy versus messing with them like I did last time. xD I have gone through the old suggestions, so don't be surprised if a few more of those pop up soon! ^-^ I'll probably throw in some ideas for one-shots I'd come up with that I found earlier, as I still liked a lot of them. c:

As of right now, I am probably going to be writing a few one-shots for awhile. I've been reading a lot - which has drained my emotions quite a bit and is just exhausting to me - and so I need some time to recuperate even though I'll still be reading before I can jump back into fanfiction. There will possibly be some longer one-shots in here that'll tell a full out story following a quest (depending on the lengths) so you guys will have to keep an eye out for that. I'm considering quests following stories such as Frozen, the Princess Bride (movie, sorry!), and Labyrinth. If you have any suggestions for other quests I could follow, let me know! Let me know if those options interest you as well.

Anyways, until next time!

~ Dagger