paulaa90: thanks!
barrata. jennifer: thanks!
1994. 2012. clm: thanks for the alert.
Lynzelle: thanks for the alert.
For some reason I couldn't get my homework started or this chapter finished. I kept planning to and next thing I know it's the next day.
I may redo this chapter again one day but for now I have to leave it as is.
A crowd had gathered to watch Martin's and Myrna's Marvelous Marionettes. A young boy weaved through the crowd, pick-pocketing.
"I wish," Princess Puppet said, "I wish, but nothing changes. I wish I was better at wishing!" Several of the crowd laughed. The boy bent down and stole coins from a purse. "Alas, will no one slay this fearsome dragon and win my hand in marriage?" She moved to the side, making room for another puppet to appear.
A new puppet came on stage. "Aha!" the new puppet exclaimed. He wore armour and had a large moustache. "I will slay the fearsome dragon, milady, or die trying!"
"Goodbye, dear prince. It was nice knowing you!" Princess puppet kept saying the last syllable of you as she was moved up the stage until she was gone.
While the play went on the boy cut at a bag with a knife until he finally managed to get a coin bag out.
A dragon puppet entered the stage. "Who dares disturb my sleep?"
"Uh, he went that way!" Prince Puppet gestured past himself. The boy made his way up to the caravan behind the puppet stage, he knew that the show was going to end soon.
"Then I will go that way!"
"Very good idea. You go that way and I'll..."
The boy slipped into the caravan.
In the woods after the puppet show, the puppeteers Myrna and Martin and their son Jiminy who had pickpocketed the crowd were examining their earnings. Jiminy spilled out a bag of gold coins.
"Whoa," Martin said, "whoa, whoa, whoa! Careful, careful."
"Don't let those coins roll away," Myrna said.
"No, they might disappear," Martin agreed. He picked a coin up and closed his hand over it and then picked a coin out of Myrna's ear. He held the coin up for Jiminy to see. "Whoop, whoop, ha!" He waved the coin. "Look at that." He set the coin down.
Jiminy pulled a cricket in a cage out of a bag. "Oh, a cricket! I love crickets." He held the cage up and gleefully watched the cricket chirp.
Myrna examined a small package. "Crickets are trouble. Noisy bugs."
"But they get to do whatever they want," Jiminy said, having set down the cage, "hopping from place to place. They're free."
"You're free," Myrna said as she continued looking through things.
Martin picked up the cage and shook it. "To do what we want."
"To be who you are."
"And you are who you are." He took the lid off of the cricket's cage and picked up the cricket.
"Well maybe I want to be something else," Jiminy said. "Maybe I don't wanna steal. Maybe I wanna be good."
"All that from a cricket," Martin said as he held the cricket up.
"Told ya. Trouble," Myrna declared. She looked up at Martin.
"'Good' is another word for 'weak'."
"Let us do the thinking for you." She put an old pair of shaded glasses.
"That's what parents are for."
She took her glasses off. "To help you."
"You are who you are, and there's no changing it Jiminy. Right?"
"Right," Jiminy acquiesced.
"Right," Martin said. He put the cricket in his hand and opened it, showing Jiminy an empty hand. "Problem solved."
Archie was writing during a session with Henry. Henry watched him in silence for a bit.
"You weren't always a cricket," Henry said out of the blue.
Archie looked up. "I wasn't al... Oh right," he set his pen down on the table, "because um..." he set his book down on the table, "because you think I'm Jiminy Cricket. Why... Why do you... Why do you think that Henry?" He held his mug up even though his drink had probably long gone cold.
Henry frowned in concentration. "It's just because of who you are."
"And who am I?"
"You're a conscience. You help people see right from wrong."
"So all of the crickets in Storybrooke, they were once people too?"
"There aren't any crickets here. Listen." He went to the window and looked outside. An owl hooted, but no crickets were heard. Archie studied Henry.
"Maybe it isn't late enough." He put his mug down as Henry walked back to his seat.
"There's never been crickets here. You've just never noticed." Henry sat back down.
"So you think that's proof that there's a curse?"
"Yes, but I know it's not enough. I'm looking for more."
Archie gave a small nod. "So Henry, look, I asked you this once before and you said you'd think about it. Why do you think it is so important that this is real?"
His face scrunched up in thought. "It... It just is."
"Alright, well... Keep thinking about that answer Henry, 'cause I think there's something buried there."
Emma was at Storybrooke General Hospital sitting on David's bed as he sat on the chair next to it. They were playing hangman and Emma was focusing on the note pad which currently read E_ _ A . She was glad that Graham had been understanding about her not starting work right away. She felt that she needed to be there for David, she reasoned that it was because she was the one who saved him.
"I don't know. 'M'?"
He hummed in confirmation and leaned over to take the notepad from her. "Two of them." David wrote a letter "m" on the first and second spaces. He chuckled. "Get it yet?"
"Yes and I feel like an idiot. You almost beat me with my name."
"Don't worry, I would never have let you hang. I would've added toes and a hat. Maybe a horse."
"Was this a game you played a lot before?"
His brows knitted in concentration. "I don't know."
"It'll come back. They're sending you home in a week. They wouldn't do that if they didn't think you were progressing."
"Physically."
"Well, you're making new memories just fine."
"Somehow that's easier."
"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it..." She sounded a lot more sure than she felt. She had heard of people waking from comas after years but she had never thought she would meet someone who did it. "Do you want to play again?"
"Can I guess, too?" Emma looked behind her and saw Kathryn Nolan carrying a box in her hands. Her and David both stood up.
She checked the clock on the wall. "I didn't realise it what time it was. Maybe some other time, I have to get going." Truthfully she didn't have anywhere to be but it felt like she would be intruding.
"Good day, Miss Swan." She smiled brightly.
"Please, it's Emma."
Kathryn sat on the bed and set the box down on the table. She opened the box. "Honey, I brought more pictures," she said. David looked over at Emma who was just outside the room signing out. Feeling eyes on her Emma looked back at him. Kathryn held up a photo of a dog. "Maybe they'll jog something. It's our old dog, Ajax. Remember?"
He took the photo from her and stared at it. "Yeah," David said, "yeah. Ajax."
Emma smiled fondly at him.
Emma walked into the police station. She found a uniform neatly folded out on one of the desks and looked it over.
He smiled when he saw her causing cute dimples to form on both sides of his mouth.
"How is David doing?"
She smiled. "Better actually." She considered telling him about Ajax but then she didn't know how David would feel about that. Instead she held up the uniform shirt. "A tie? You know you don't have to dress a woman as a man to give her authority."
"So you think you can get people to do what you want in that red coat?"
"I'm getting you to do what I want right now." She threw the shirt down on his desk.
"Well, at least wear the badge. Go on. Take it. If you really want to be a part of this community, you have to make it official."
She clipped the badge to her belt, and a loud tremor shook the office. Car alarms were going off outside and all of the telephones began to ring.
Smoke billowed out of a collapsed mine as workers in yellow hazmat suits moved around the site and yelled back and forth words that were incomprehensible to the crowd gathered at the edge of the crater. On the side of the crater without the crowd a yellow digger was parked. A police cruiser and a yellow bug drove around the crater and behind the crowd. Regina drove in stopping in front of the police cruiser.
Regina rushed out of her car towards the crowd and commanded, "Everyone step back please."
"Is that a crater?" Ruby asked.
"No," Marco said, he held his arm out towards the crater. "There were tunnels, old mines, something collapsed."
"Be careful," Regina called out, "step back." Graham and Emma approached the crater and Regina was still walking towards Graham as she said, "Sheriff, set up a police perimeter." She stopped in front of them. "Marco, why don't you help with the fire department?" She pointed to the crater. Macro touched Graham's back briefly as he left. "Miss Swan," Emma turned her head, feeling slightly surprised to finally have been acknowledged. Letting her annoyance seep into her voice Regina continued, "this is now official town business. You're free to go."
"Well, actually I work for the town now," Emma said.
Seeming to be stunned into silence Regina stared at her for a moment and then looked at Graham.
"She's my new deputy," he replied. Emma gave a small smile.
"They say the mayor's always last to know."
"It's in my budget," he reminded her.
"Indeed." She gave him a stern look, before addressing Emma, "Deputy, why don't you make yourself useful and help with crowd control?" Emma looked at Graham and he nodded at her so she walked off past Regina. Regina glowered at him before turning around and addressing the crowd that was now largely before her, "People of Storybrooke, don't be alarmed. We've always known this area was honeycombed with old mining tunnels," Regina gestured to the side of the crater, "but fear not." Archie and Henry joined the crowd. "I'm going to undertake a project to make this area safe, to rehabilitate it to city use." Henry found a place to stand beside a man and Archie stayed behind him. "We will bulldoze it, collapse it, pave it."
Henry came out from the crowd. "Pave it? What if there's something down there?"
Regina leaned forward towards him. "Henry," she whispered, grabbing his arm briefly, "what are you doing here?"
"What's down there?" Henry whispered.
"Nothing," Regina replied. "Now step back." Henry walked backwards. She straightened up and gesturing for everyone to get back. "In fact everyone please, please step back. Thank you."
"Let's go boys," a man in the crowd said as everyone walked away.
Regina picked up a piece of glass. She turned it over in her hands and Henry noticed the worried look she had on face before pocketing it.
"What was that?" Henry asked Emma who was carrying police safety tape.
"Henry, enough," Regina said as she walked towards him. She pushed him along. "Listen," she let go of him and bent down to his eye level, "this is a safety issue. Wait in the car." When Henry walked off towards the car, Regina straightened with a sigh. "Deputy Swan, Sheriff, cordon off the area." She walked past both of them towards some of the construction workers. Emma rolled her eyes as her and Graham walked off.
Henry looked around and saw that Regina was busy talking to some worker. He got of the car and crouched down as he walked towards the police cruiser and then he hid behind the roof of the car. He poked his head out. "Hey, Archie," he said softly but still loudly enough that Emma heard him as well. She was cordoning off the crater using the police tape. He gestured with his head. "Over here." Both Archie and Emma met Henry behind the police cruise. "This requires all of Operation Cobra... both of you."
"I didn't realize I was in Operation Cobra," Archie said.
"Of course you are," Henry said as if it was obvious, "you know everything." He turned to Emma and said "We can't let her do this." Then he turned back to Archie and asked "What if there's something down there?"
"They're just some old tunnels." She gave a small shake of her head.
"That just happen to collapse right after you get here?" Henry asked. She looked up and made eye contact with Archie. "You're changing things. You're weakening the Curse."
"That's not what's happening."
"Yes it is," Henry insisted. "Did you do anything different today? 'Cause something made this happen."
Emma touched the badge she had pinned to her jeans. She had the oddest feeling for a moment but then Regina walked up to them before she could sort out her thoughts.
"Henry," Regina said, distracting Emma from her thoughts, "I told you to wait in the car." Henry walked back to the car and Regina glared at her. "Deputy, do your job." At a lose for words Emma walked away. Archie started to leave. "Dr. Hopper a word please?" He stopped, turned around and took steps towards Regina. "Okay, we're done with this."
"Uh, excuse me?" Archie asked.
"My son." Her words dripped with anger. "We need a new treatment plan. Everything I do he thinks is part of some horrible plot. I can't cover up a safety hazard," she gestured at the crater, "without him thinking I'm hiding something. How am I hiding something terrible in an old mine? How is any of this logical to him?"
"He's got an amazing imagination."
"Yes, that you let run rampant."
"Well I think it would be wrong to rip away the world he's constructed. I'd rather use it to try and get-" he nervously moved his hands around.
"Sometimes I think you've forgotten. You work for me. You're an employee, and I can fire you." She moved closer. "This is my town. You will lose your office, lose your house. I can cut you down to size until you're a tiny," she took several steps forward, "shrunken little creature, and this," she held up his umbrella and gestured at him with it, "will be the only roof over your damn head."
"What would you have me do?"
"You take that delusion out of my son's head, and you crush it." She pushed his umbrella back into his hands. She walked away leaving him cradling his umbrella.
An adult Jiminy and his parents were parked at a small market near a river. Martin got down from one the front of the caravan and walked towards the market. The sounds of goats could be heard, people walked around carrying hay or other items with their tents pitched up nearby. Myrna walked out from the back of the caravan into the brightness of the day.
"Come on, Jiminy," Myrna said.
Jiminy hopped out of the caravan and looked around in amazement. The market was bustling with energy without being too noisy. He could smell the soup someone was cooking. He longed to walk around the market and admire the wares without having to think about pick pocketing.
As she walked forward she looked around. "Oh, I remember this place. Looks like it's been a good year."
"Yeah," Martin agreed, "you can tell by all the fat people."
Myrna chuckled and then leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Maybe we can run the elf tonic scam here."
"Oh can't we just... Can't we just put on a show?" Jiminy asked. "We make enough on ticket sales do we have to steal too?" His parents made sounds of disgust.
"We don't need to, but it's nice," Martin said. "We steal from them and they steal from someone else." He pulled a coin out of thin air and moved it side to side in front of Jiminy.
"It's called an economy," Myrna added.
"We're a vital part of it," Martin said.
"I want to change," Jiminy declared, he put his hands in his pocket. "I-I want to quit!"
"Oh, this again," Myrna said.
"No, you can't leave now," Martin said.
"We're getting old," Myrna said, gesturing between the two of them.
"It's my hip." He leaned on his other side.
"My liver," she whined.
"I got lumps in strange places." He touched his chest.
"I've got burning sensations."
"You'd better stay with us." He moved in closer to Myrna.
"Just until we die."
"Now be a good boy and set up." Martin patted Myrna's back and they walked off in separate directions as thunder sounded in the distance. Jiminy looked around but ultimately thudded his hands on his sides in frustration and went to the back of the caravan.
Later that day, rain was falling heavily. Figures in cloaks were moving out of the rain but Jiminy was getting soaked. He didn't have a cloak to cover him and his jacket and hat didn't offer any help against the rain. A young boy carrying an umbrella went up to him.
"Puppets!" the boy exclaimed. "Wow! What a great job you have!" Jiminy looked at the boy and then went to pick up a piece of the puppet set. "You don't like it?"
"No, no I don't." The piece of set made a wet thud as Jiminy set it down in front of the caravan. "Same show, same fairs, every year."
"Well, then why don't you do something else?"
He sighed and shook his head. "This is just who I am. Well, did you just come out here to watch us set up?"
"No, I came out here to listen to the crickets."
"Oh, crickets." He looked up to the side as if he'd see one there. "Oh, I haven't listened to the crickets in a while." He looked around. Even over the rain he could faintly hear the crickets in the distance. He sighed. "Hey, you'd better get home or you're gonna catch a cold."
"So will you. Here, have my umbrella. I don't live far." He held his umbrella out and Jiminy took it. The boy hurried away. "I can't wait to see the show!"
Jiminy stayed where he was with the umbrella now covering him. He looked around despite his rain stained glasses and gave a pleased sigh. He smiled.
Archie was sitting in his office deep in thought when he heard someone open the door. He quickly put his glasses on and stood up.
"Hey, Archie," Marco said.
"Marco, what are you doing here?" Marco motioned to his mouth. "Oh lunch. I'm sorry, I forgot. I've got another patient. Another time?"
"Sure, of course." Henry entered and went around Marco. "Hey. Have a good session, Henry." He ruffled Henry's hair and Henry went over the couch. Macro gave a small bye gesture and closed the door behind him when he left.
"Hey," Archie said.
"Are you recruiting Geppetto for Operation Cobra?" Henry asked before sitting down on the couch.
"You think Marco is Geppetto?"
"Sure, he's Jiminy Cricket's best friend, and Marco's yours."
Archie flinched away, jerking his head back. He certainly didn't feel like he deserved to be called a conscious right now. Archie turned his back on him, held his arms to his chest and walked closer to the windows. He had had plenty of time to consider this before the session and still didn't really know what he was going to say. "Henry, Henry look. We... we really need to talk about this, okay?" Archie turned around.
"I know you're not convinced but I know where I can get proof." Henry unzipped his bag and walked towards him. Henry held his backpack towards Archie so he could look inside.
"What is this?" Archie walked over and took a look. "A flashlight?" Archie took a candy bar out of the backpack and flipped it around in his hands. "And candy bars? Oh, wait. Henry." He bent down to look him in the eyes. "Henry you do not want to go down there."
"Emma's here, and stuff's happening. I have to look at it."
"Henry. Stop." He grabbed his arms and steered him back onto the couch. "Stop, there is no proof." He sat down on the arm of an armchair. "Look all of this, all of this," he gestured outward with his hands, "is a delusion. Do you know what a delusion is?"
"I... I think so."
"It's something that's not real." He shook his head. "And... and not healthy. And I thought you'd outgrow this but Henry, you know now it's turned into a psychosis. Do you know what a psychosis is? That's... that's when you can no longer tell what's real and if that continues, then... then I have to lock you away. Henry, look this has to stop for your own good. You gotta wake up. This nonsense must end."
Henry glared at him. Quickly he had up with his backpack in hands, made his way around the couch, and slammed the door when he left. Archie looked at the door with tears threatening to spill from his eyes, he opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out.
At their loft Lacey and Emma were around the stove making s'mores. Emma a stuck a marshmallow into hers.
"I think David is making improvement," Emma asked.
"That's great!" Lacey said brightly. Then she looked thoughtful. "I can't imagine what he must be going through. His whole life a mystery to him."
Emma nodded. "Does...his situation seem a little strange to you though?"
"What do you mean?"
"How did no one know he was missing? It's a pretty small town, you see the same people doing the same things all the time. Surely someone must have wondered where he went."
Lacey hummed in consideration. "Maybe Kathryn told them he left her?"
"Maybe. But were there no posters put up for him? No DNA test done or dental records checked?"
Lacey opened her mouth but then realised that she had no retort to give and promptly closed it.
There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Emma said. Henry stood in the doorway, sobbing. His cheeks were red like he had already been crying for a while. "Kid, what happened?" She put a hand on his shoulder. "Come in."
Archie was in his office sitting on the couch with Pongo when he heard pounding at the door.
Emma's voice sounded from the other side of the door, boiling with anger. "Archie! Archie!" She opened the door, then slammed it after herself as she walked over to Archie. "What did you do? You told me not to take the fantasy away. You told me it would devastate him."
"When a course of therapy stops working, you adjust it."
"Is it her? Did she threaten you? What could be strong enough to drown out your own conscience?"
Archie stood up. "I do not need to defend my professional decisions to you, okay?"
Emma's cell phone began to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket. The screen read Regina. Hell of a sense of timing. She answered her phone."Hello, Madame Mayor. Nice work."
"You with him?" Regina asked.
"Yes, I'm with Dr. Hopper, and guess what? You left your fingerprints all over him when you-"
"Not him," Regina interrupted. "Henry. Is he with you?"
"I dropped Henry off at your office an hour ago."
"Well, he's not here."
"I don't know where he is."
"Oh. I do," Archie said.
Henry stood in front of the collapsed mine tunnel. He scrunched his face up in determination and walked towards it, ignoring the police tape hanging on the entrance. He held onto a wooden board for support before ducking into the mine. He turned his torch light on and looked all around.
Nothing yet, he thought but the mine probably went on for miles and he was just getting started.
Rumplestiltskin was at his spinning wheel, slowly spinning straw into gold. The squeak of the wheel echoed throughout the room. Jiminy entered Rumplestiltskin's dining room, carrying a bag. Jiminy walked in front of him, keeping his distance but making sure that he saw him.
Rumplestiltskin chuckled. "Thank you very much." Jiminy put the bag down on a nearby table. "And the names? Jiminy took out a small piece of parchment. Rumplestilskin stood up and made a flourishing movement with his hands. "To whom did these treasures belong?" Jiminy held the parchment up and placed it on top of the bag. Rumplestiltskin bent down and got a newly spun thread of gold, he threw it at Jiminy who caught it. "Gold thread, for your thievery. Thank you, you can go." He got a gold thread from the table and pooled it onto a small bowl as Jiminy began to walk away. "But you want something else, don't you?" As he continued speaking, he poured a potion onto a gold thread, melting it and putting it into a little bottle. "Something with... magic?"
Jiminy got back to the table in time to hear the bowl make a hissing sound. The bowl now contained a liquid gold.
"Every year, I'm stuck in that damn wagon." He struggled getting the words out. "I wanna be free. I wanna be someone else. But something keeps holding me back."
"Something or someone?" He moved his hands around the liquid.
"It's my parents."
Where the liquid gold had been there was now a small bottle. "Then I have exactly what you need." He held the bottle up. "This will set you free. Pour it, sprinkle it," he moved the bottle around, louder for a moment he continued, "put it in their curds and whey." Through gritted teeth he said "Anything will work." Jiminy reached for the bottle, only for Rumplestiltskin to move it back. "Ah! But you have nothing more to give to me." He pointed to Jiminy and then himself. He chuckled and moved back towards the spinning wheel. "Tell you what—" he went back to the table and leaned towards Jiminy, "after the potion has... done its work, leave them where they are and I'll come collect them. It'll be my fee!"
"What will become of them?"
"Worry you not, they'll be in safe hands. And you'll be free." He held the bottle out. Jiminy took the bottle and Rumplestiltskin let go.
Jiminy held the bottle carefully in his hands. He watch ed Rumplestiltskin for a moment as if he left, hardly believing his luck but then Jiminy turned away and walked out of the room.
Emma was at the perimeter inside the mine, shouting out "Henry! Henry!" while Archie walked towards the mine entrance with Pongo on his heels.
"Henry!" Archie called out. Pongo ran to the entrance and then stopped to dig at and sniff the sand there. "What you got there, Pongo?"
Emma walked towards Archie. "I don't think he's here."
"I think he is." He picked up an Apollo Bar. "Candy bar. He had these with him."
Inside the mines Henry shined his torch light at a wall and moved it to the other side where he found a mining cart track. He followed the track further into the mine. When he made a turn he saw a mysterious shard of glass among the stones on the wall of the mine. He picked up the stone and examined it under the torch light. He turned the glass carefully, examining it from all sides. There was some sort of stone or something across the glass, it was a dark colour and split up into three sections, it looked like it might have been made of some sort of metal.
Then he heard the gravel rustling and looked up at the ceiling, dust was being to pool down from the rocks. Then bigger pieces of debris started to fall and he walked backwards away from it. When the large rocks started to fall he turned and run away, dropping the strange glass piece behind him.
Outside the mine the ground shook.
"Henry!" Archie called out. He crawled into the mine.
"Archie!" Emma called out from the perimeter. The ground was still shaking and she was struggling not to slip down the sand and rocks.
"Henry! It's not safe!" Archie climbed into the mine and it collapsed behind him.
"Archie?!" She managed to stable herself enough to run over. She called his name again a then called out "Henry!"
Inside the mine Archie had found shelter behind an old mining cart. When the shaking stopped he poked his head out and lit a match. He bent down to pick up his umbrella. While holding the match out in front of him he walked further into the mine, hoping that if he followed the tracks he would find him.
"Henry?" Carefully he walked further, nearing a turn in the tracks. "Henry?"
Henry jumped out from the side and shined a torch light on Archie. "Archie!"
"Henry!" He covered his eyes from the light and let the match drop. Thankfully the match went out when he dropped it.
"You're here to help me!"
He bent down. "No, I... Listen, we gotta get out of here."
"So you're still against me."
"Henry, there's no time for that. Come on, Henry, come on!" He grabbed Henry's shoulders.
Henry backed out of his reach. "You don't believe me? You'll see. You'll see." He ran back down the tracks.
"Henry! Henry, come back!" He looked back at the entrance. In what little light there was filtering in through the roof he could see that the entrance behind him was gone. He ran after Henry. "Henry!"
Jiminy, Martin and Myrna got out of the caravan and walked towards a house. Jiminy stopped at the door and turned to his parents.
"Look, can't we skip this tonight?" Jiminy asked. "We don't need the money!"
"Everything isn't about money, Jiminy," Myrna said. "It's about the principle."
Martin made small bottle of liquid appear in his hand out of thin air. "A commitment to excellence."
"Excellence... at stealing money," Myrna said.
"Now and take the 'elf tonic', Jiminy." Martin held it out to Jiminy.
Jiminy took the bottle. Martin and Myrna laughed together. Myrna knocked and a young couple answered the door.
"Oh!" Myrna exclaimed. "Such beautiful young people."
"Pardon me," Jiminy said. "Do you have a place at your hearth for an honest man and his," he paused and looked to his parents then turned back to the couple, "elderly parents?"
"Of course," Stephen said.
"Oh!" Myrna exclaimed.
"Come in," Stephen said.
"I'll heat up some broth," Donna said.
Myrna entered the house. "Oh, we love broth." Martin and a reluctant Jiminy followed in after her.
"Oh, what a beautiful home!" Martin exclaimed.
"Your cobbles are so even!" Myrna declared. They continued to chat as all them went further into the house.
The couple had introduced themselves as Donna and Stephen. Inside the house, the young woman handed Jiminy a bowl of broth. He sat on a stool away from the table.
"Thank you for your kindness," he said. Myrna frowned at him but the young couple didn't seem to have noticed.
"I just can't get it out of my mind, that family," Myrna said to Martin.
"Terrible way to go," Martin agreed.
"Oh," Myrna whinged.
Donna sat down at the table. "What? What happened?"
Martin and Myrna looked at each other and then the couple before declaring "Plague."
Donna gasped and looked to Stephen.
"The next town over," Myrna said. "We just passed through."
"The plague?!" Donna asked.
"Well," Myrna said, "a plague, certainly."
"Is it coming here?" Stephen asked. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, us," Martin gestured between him and Myrna, "no, we're immune."
"We have the elf tonic," Myrna explained.
"Made by elves, from elves," Martin said.
"Four out of five court physicians recommend it," Myrna added.
"Fifth one died before he could try it." He laughed, a shrill gasping sound.
"Well, you have it, right?" Myrna asked. "Smart folks like you."
Stephen and Donna exchanged worried looks. "We've never heard of it," Donna said.
"Oh no," Myrna said.
"Oh dear god," Martin said.
"Oh no," Jiminy said, sounding tired, "you're going to die. You're going to die."
"Oh, I wish we had extra," Myrna said.
"We don't have extra," Martin repeated.
"There is no extra," Jiminy said in a defeated voice. His tone was low, if Donna and Stephen hadn't been listening they might have missed it.
"We could pay you," Donna offered.
"We have a tiny bottle," Martin said.
"But we need that for ourselves," Myrna explained.
"What can we give you?" Stephen asked.
"Surely there must be something here you would want," Donna said. Jiminy looked away.
Myrna smiled. "I'm sure we can come up with something." She and Martin looked around.
Martin put three coins along with a few other items into a bag and flung it onto his shoulders.
"Well, I guess we should start loading up," Myrna said cheerfully. She gestured to Jiminy with her head and he held the door open for her. Martin chuckled as he left.
Jiminy walked over to the couple and held up the bottle. "Here you go."
They breathed sighs of relief. Stephen took the bottle. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Donna repeated. Jiminy left the house, closing the door behind him.
Myrna put her bag into the back of the wagon and then Martin put the bag of goods in.
Jiminy came up to them. "Hey, those are good people. They would never hurt us like that."
"That's where they went wrong," Myrna said. He took a drink from his flask.
"It's better to be the kind of people that take," Martin said.
"Instead of those that get taken from." She glanced over at Jiminy before turning her attention back to making things were secure in the back.
Jiminy took out the bottle of potion. He looked to the side and saw that there was no one around. "I'm sorry." They stared at him with wide eyes. "You've given me no other choice." Jiminy threw the potion onto his parents but nothing happened.
"How frail do you think we are, son?" Myrna asked.
"Rainwater won't hurt us."
Jiminy looked at the bottle.
"I'm pretty good at a sleight of hand, Jiminy," Martin said.
"You switched them?" Jiminy looked back to the house. "If this was the elf tonic..."
"Oh my!" Martin said. "We must have given whatever you had to that family."
"Oh, hope it wasn't dangerous."
They chuckled as Jiminy ran back into the house.
Inside the house, Jiminy found the bottle of potion on the ground at the door. It was already open, a small bit of potion had spilled out. Jiminy picked up the bottle and looked behind the door at the door. On the bed sat two puppet dolls that looked like Stephen and Donna expect their skin was dark and shrunken like old wood.
Jiminy struggled to breath and fell onto the chair. Martin and Myrna entered and saw the puppets.
"Ohh," Martin said, "look at that."
"New puppets for the act." Martin and Myrna laughed.
"Mama! Papa!" A boy appeared at the door holding a bucket. The boy entered the house and looked at Martin and Maryna. "Who are you?"
It was the same boy that given Jiminy the umbrella. He shook his head with regret, tears swelling up in his eyes. He stumbled backwards.
The boy saw the puppets. "Papa? Mama? Papa!" He walked over to Jiminy. "What did you do to them? What did you do to them?"
Inside the mines Archie continued down the tracks. "Henry?" He breathed shallowly. "Henry? Henry! Henry!" He saw a light up ahead and rushed towards it, nearly stumbling over the rocks littering the ground. He found Henry shining the torch light at a gap on the ground. "Henry! You gotta slow down." He leaned on his knees, exhausted.
"There's something shiny down there."
"Henry, this is seriously dangerous. We gotta get out of here."
"It could be something."
"Henry, look at me!" Archie shouted. "Look at me!" Henry looked at him. "I'm frightened for you and me."
Henry set the torch light down. "Because you think that I'm crazy?"
"No!" Archie continued on, trying to sound calmer, "No. Because we are trapped underground in an abandoned mine, Henry," he took deep laboured breaths, "and there is no way out."
Ruby held onto Pongo as he barked. Regina, Emma, Graham, Marco, and Ruby gathered around as workers pulled rocks off of the entrance of the mine.
"Archie is smart," Marco said. "He'll keep the boy safe until we get to that." The ground shook and the workers ran as rock and debris fell. "Watch out!" Everyone struggled to stay standing.
Regina ran towards Emma. "Stop! Stop! You're making it worse."
"I am trying to save him," Emma snapped as she walked over to Regina. "You know why he went in the first place, don't you? Because you made him feel like he had something to prove!"
"And why does he think he has anything to prove?" Regina asked. "Who's encouraging him?"
"Do not put this on me."
"Oh please, lecture me until the oxygen has run out." She turned and walked away.
Pongo continued to bark.
"Henry, do you hear that?" Archie asked.
"It's Pongo!"
"Follow the noise." They ran towards the noise.
Reluctantly Emma walked towards Regina. She sighed. "We have to stop this. Arguing won't accomplish anything."
Slowly Regina turned to look at her. She sniffed. "No, it won't."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Help me."
Emma nodded. She looked back at Graham and Marco who were talking with the workers.
"It's loudest over here," Archie said as Pongo continued to bark. He removed a sheet of metal from an open doorway.
"What's this?" Henry asked.
Archie put the sheet of metal aside and shun the torch light into a narrow space. "It's like, an old elevator."
"We need to find someway to punch through the ground," Regina said, her voice shaky. She made a fist with her hand. "We need something big."
"Like what?" Emma asked.
"Explosives," Marco stated.
Archie stepped inside the elevator. There was a steering wheel in the elevator. "It's to get the mine workers in and out. It goes all the way to the top. That's why we could hear Pongo."
"Can we make it work?"
He touched Henry's shoulders briefly. "Let's give it a shot."
The workers laid down the lines for the explosives. Everyone cleared out of the area.
"Okay, we're all clear," Emma said.
Archie's umbrella was impended into the wall and floor of the elevator to make up for the rusted pulling system. Archie turned the wheel of the elevator and it moved slightly. "Pull up!"
Henry pulled on the umbrella.
Everyone stood behind the cordoned off area.
"Blow it," Regina ordered.
Everyone ducked down. Pongo whimpered. Inside the mine the elevator started to move. Archie kept turning the wheel and it continued to pull up slightly, making a creaking noise as it did so.
A worker pressed a button for the explosions. A large explosion sounded from the mine and a huge cloud of debris out. The explosion shook the elevator and Archie held Henry tight as the elevator dropped down the shaft.
After only a moment Emma got up and went to the mine, despite the large white smoke billowing out obstructing her vision. She came back as quickly as she had gone.
"Did it work?" Regina asked.
"It didn't open," Emma replied. She took a laboured breath. She wanted to sink into the ground.
"Then what did it do?" Graham asked.
Everyone was gathered around Emma. David put a hand on her shoulder, startling her.
"Are you okay?"
"You should be at the hospital," Emma said.
"Actually Dr Whale said I should start physical therapy."
"At the mine?!"
"I did walk here."
Emma gave him a look and was about to retort when she heard Kathryn calling out David's name. They both looked into the crowd where Kathryn waving at him. "You should go back home. There's nothing you can do here."
"But-"
"Don't make me have to take you there myself." She fixed him with a stern expression. She pushed through the crowd around her to see Kathryn making her way over, weaving her way through the people milling about. She turned back to David. "When we get them out I'll let you know. But I can't be worried about you too, not right now."
David looked down. "Alright. But stay safe okay?"
Emma gave a small smile. "Of course."
Regina looked out at smoke still billowing out of the mine. "What was that?" She ran over to the workers. "What the hell was that?" She slammed her hands down on the back of the workers' truck. "You said you could do this."
"Madame Mayor," Emma grabbed her arm.
"They could have killed my son."
"I know," Emma said. "But this isn't helping."
Marco and Graham walked over to them.
"If we knew exactly where they were," Marco said, "we could drill down to them. Pongo's barking caught Emma's attention. He sat in the front of the fire truck with the window rolled down. "Maybe... maybe rig," She ran over to Pongo, "something to bring them back up."
"Come on buddy," Emma said as she opened the door of the fire truck. Pongo jumped out and ran, Emma ran after him.
"A driller," Graham said. "But drill where?"
"What do you think we-" Regina started. Her attention was drawn away by Emma.
"It's Archie's dog," she explained as she ran past them. Pongo sniffed the ground. "He's found something." Pongo whined. "Look, this is where they must be. What is it?" To Pongo she added "Good boy."
Graham and Marco used their hands to sweep away dirt and grass. They uncovered a metal plate and pulled it off revealing a metal grate.
"What is that?" Emma asked.
"It's an air shaft," Graham answered.
Henry shined the torch light at the top of the elevator. Dust fell into his eyes causing him to look away. He put his arms down.
"I'm really, really, really sorry," Henry said as he sat down.
There was a cut on the top of Archie's head. He nodded. "It's alright."
"I just wanted to find proof."
"No, it's really alright, Henry. You know, I'm sorry too." He sighed. "Look I don't think you're crazy." Henry wiped his eye. "I just, I just think that you've got a very strong mother, who's got a clear idea of a path that she wants you to be on and when you step off that," he let out a deep breath, "she gets scared. You know and it's natural. But, it's also natural for you to be able to be free, to think the things that you want to think. So, anyway, I didn't mean those things I just said to you. I never should have said them."
"Then why did you?"
"I guess I'm just not a good person. I'm not the man I wanna be."
A loud thud shook the elevator.
Outside the air shaft Marco put the hook from the back of a tow truck onto the air shaft.
"All right," Emma said. "Gun it!" Ruby started to drive the truck. The metal grate lifted off of the air shaft. Emma put a hand up. "Stop. We got it." Graham and Marco moved the metal grate away. Emma, Graham and Regina looked down the air shaft. It looked like it went down for miles and the elevator couldn't be seen.
"So, what's next?" Regina asked.
"I think you can be him," Henry said. "I think you can be a good person. I mean, you're Jiminy Cricket."
"Henry, Henry, Jiminy Cricket was a, was a cricket, okay? It was a conscience, and, and I hardly think that's me."
"But before he was that, he was a guy, who took a long time to figure out the right thing to do."
Archie nodded. "He kinda sounds like me."
"Now it's harder for you, because of the curse, to hear the voice inside of you, to be who you wanna be."
THUD! The elevator shook suddenly.
"We need to lower someone straight down," Marco said as he held the hook of the tow truck, "or the line would collapse with the sides of the shaft."
"I've got the harness," Graham said.
"Lower me down," Regina said.
"Oh, no way," Emma said. "I'm going."
"I have to be the one to go," Graham said. "I'm the only one with training for this."
Emma shook her head. "You're too wide to fit down the hole. I'll go."
Graham looked down at the hole. It was rather narrow and she did have a slenderer frame than him. He had never thought about it before but right now he cursed not being smaller. With great reluctance he told her, "Be careful. I'll help you into the harness." Emma gave a firm nod.
"He's my son," Regina said.
"He's my son too," Emma said. "You've been sitting behind a desk for ten years. I can do this."
Regina stepped closer to her. "Just bring him back to me."
Stones dropped through the grid of the top of the elevator. Henry covered his head with his hands. The clattering of the stones hitting the bottom echoed throughout the quiet. Henry took out a stone that had gotten into his partly open jacket.
"Hey," Archie said as Henry dug through his backpack, "can I ask you again?"
"Ask what?"
"Why do you think it's so important that your, your fairytale theory is true?"
Henry shrugged and tapped his fingers against his backpack. "I don't know,"
"Give it a shot."
Henry took out a chocolate bar and held it out to Archie. "'Cause... this can't be all there is." Archie took the candy bar.
Archie smiled. "I understand."
"I thought if I've found proof... But I didn't find anything."
" That's not true. I was lost when you found me, right?" He broke off a piece of chocolate and handed it to Henry.
"You mean, you remember?"
"No, I don't remember. But I do remember that I'm a person I wanna be." Henry gave a small smile. "I just got to listen harder."
Gravel clattered down into the elevator. They looked up and saw a moving light coming from above.
"What's that?"
"It's a rescue." They both stood up.
Emma appeared, strapped to harness and holding a lantern. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're both okay," Archie said.
"Hang on, Henry." Her feet hit the roof of the elevator. She pressed a button on the walkie-talkie on the harness and spoke into it. "Okay, let's get a stop." She removed a panel from the roof of the elevator. Archie coughed. She set the panel aside.
"Here you go, up." Archie lifted Henry up to Emma.
"Come on, I got you. Okay." To Archie she said, "I got him."
"You got him? Is he safe?" The elevator rumbled and shook violently from side to side.
"Archie!" she called out.
"It's gonna fall!" Archie exclaimed.
"I'm sorry!"
"It's okay."
"Archie!" Emma and Henry called out at the same time.
The elevator slid down the long shaft and hit the ground with a loud clank. But Archie had hooked his umbrella onto a carabiner on Emma's harness. Relief washed over Emma and she gave out a small laugh. Henry gave him a thumbs-up.
Slowly Marcus, Graham and a construction worker pulled Emma, Henry and Archie out of the air shaft. When the three of them parted Archie and Marcus joyously hugged each other. Regina hugged Henry and then pulled him to the side away from everyone. Emma walked over to Regina and Henry.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked Henry.
Regina shoved Emma away. "Deputy, you can clear the crowd away."
Emma sighed and watched Henry as Regina took him away. Graham watched the three of them, glaring at Regina. Reluctantly Emma store her eyes away to walk over to Graham.
"I'm sorry about her," Graham said. "Henry wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you and she knows it."
She huffed. "Well there's not a lot that I can do about it."
Regina walked up to Archie who was still with Marco. "Thank you, Dr. Hopper."
"I, uh," Archie replied, struggling to look at her, "I have something to say." He walked a little bit away and Regina followed after him. Marco got the message and walked off elsewhere. Archie took a deep breath before speaking again, "I'm gonna continue to treat Henry." He took another deep breath. "And I'm gonna do it my own way."
"My relieve at his safety hasn't change a thing, Dr. Hopper. You will do as I say, or you..."
"Or what?" She stared at him in silence. "You'll ruin my life? You'll do your worse?" He shook his head. "Because I will always do my best."
"Don't test me."
"Oh, I don't need to, because you're gonna leave me along and let me do my work, in peace."
"Really? Why is that?"
"Because someday, Madame Mayor, you may find yourself in a custody battle. And you know how a court determines who's a fit parent? They consult an expert, particularly one who has treated the child. So, I suggest that you think about that and you'll allow me to do my work." He looked away. "And let me do it the way my conscience tell me to." Archie walked off.
Jiminy was listening to crickets chirping. He walked away from the caravan to a nearby fence and saw a blue star in the sky. "I wish..." he whispered. He closed his eyes and turned around. "I wish..." He sat down on the fence. He lowered his head and when he opened his eyes he saw a blue light from the corner of his eye. He looked to his side where a blue light was getting closer to towards him.
The light turned into the Blue Fairy. "I hear your wish. You don't need to wish it so loudly."
He grinned widely.
"But it is not possible. I cannot bring back the boy's parents."
"It's my fault. I have to make it right. I... I will trade my life to make it happen."
"What's done is done. But there may be another way."
"Tell me, please."
"The little boy, he will grow up to face many challenges. Do you want to help him?"
"Um, I can't get away from these people, my parents, they're who I am."
"But if you didn't want to be that, what would you like to be?"
Jiminy stood quietly and listened to the chirping of the crickets. When he looked back at the Blue Fairy he knew somehow that she knew his wish.
The Blue Fairy smiled. "I hear your wish."
She pointed at him when her wand. His entire body glowed a bright blue and then the glow got smaller before it disappeared and he was a cricket. He flew above the fence before landing of it and looking over his new body. He spun in a circle.
"How do you feel?"
With his body titled back he said "Free" but it came out as a chirp.
"Find the boy, Jiminy. You will live as many years as you need to help him. Just find him."
"How will I?" Jiminy Cricket chirped. "I don't even know his name."
"His name, is Geppetto."
Emma and Henry watched Archie and Marco chatting and laughing together.
"Is that Archie's father?" Emma asked.
"No, they are just old friends," Henry said.
Emma looked down at him and took his hand. "You really scared me."
"I'm sorry."
They could hear the footsteps coming up to them. Emma looked up and saw Archie and Marco standing before them.
"Gentleman," Emma said, and then to Henry she put her hand on his back and said, "Well, come on, your mom wants to take you home."
Crickets chirped in the distance. "Hey!" Henry turned to Archie."Listen!"
"Crickets," Archie said.
"They're back." Henry turned to Emma, a bright smile adorning his face. "Things are changing."
In Mr. Gold's pawnshop Geppetto's parents still in puppet sat up on a table, shrunken puppet eyes staring out at nothing.
Outside the mine, the workers and the crowd chatted and drank to celebrate. Emma, Graham, Marco and Archie crowded around the fire truck, laughing and talking.
Regina was alone by the air shaft, she looked over at then before taking out the piece of glass she had picked up earlier that day. She studied the piece of glass in her hand. She hadn't expected to see it again. She threw the piece of glass down the air shaft and it kept falling until it hit the ground near a broken glass coffin.