Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time. Only my OCs and my version of the tales.
Chapter 9: That Still Small Voice
"That's horrendous." Thea said, looking at the shirt that Emma was holding up, "You're not actually going to wear that, are you? I never did."
"Not to mention the tie." Paige, who came in with her aunt, flinched, "You know you don't have to dress a woman as a man to give her authority, right?" She looked at the sheriff, quirking her brow.
"She has a point." Emma threw the shirt down in protest.
"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." Smirking as the other two laugh, "When is Rissa coming back?" She asked, looking over at Thea, "I thought she said a few days."
"There's been a few hang ups, actually. I got off the phone with her. She's heading back now, but she will have to make another trip out there. Something to do with the idiot movers. She mentioned a broken vase."
"Feel sorry for those movers."
"I'm glad that she's on her way back. My dad has been moping all week. It's not pretty."
"Fascinating." Graham muttered, "You need to at least wear the badge. Go on. Take it." He held it out to Emma, who hesitated, "If you really want to be a part of the community, you have to make it official."
Just as she clipped the badge to her belt, a loud tremor shakes the office, making the lights flicker. Car alarms start going off outside as all the phones in the room begin to ring.
"Paige, call your father. Let him know you're all right." Thea muttered, pulling out her own phone, "And I'm going to speed up the reinforcements."
1-2-3-4-5
They arrived at the mine behind Emma and Graham, to see what was going on. They stood back with the crowd as the other two went down with Regina but stayed within listening distance.
"Sheriff, set up a police perimeter." Regina called out, directing everyone, "Marco, why don't you help with the fire department? Miss Swan," She sighed when she saw Emma standing next to Graham, "this is now official town business. You're free to go."
"Well, actually I work for the town now." She smiled as Regina gives Graham a look of disbelief.
"She's my new deputy."
"Well, they say the mayor's always last to know." Thea smirked and rolled her eyes as Regina sounded every much the Queen.
"It's in my budget." Graham defended.
"Indeed." She gave him another look before addressing Emma, "Deputy, why don't you make yourself useful and help with crowd control?"
"Come on." Thea gestured, "Your mom just texted. She's pulling into town now. We don't need to be here for her Majesty's royal address. It'll just irritate me." She sent a text to Mary Margaret, who was watching Eva, to let her know what was going on.
"I'm supposed to babysit Eva tomorrow." Paige said, putting up her phone, "Emma thought it would be a nice break from Granny's or Mary Margaret."
"Alright. We'll arrange tomorrow's cleaning schedule to work around the Little Pixie. For now, let's go say hi to your mom." She closed her eyes, "Then we'll go to Granny's for dinner. Neither of us wants to be around your parents for too long. Not when it's Home Again time." They shared a look and shuddered, "I walked in on way too many of those over the years. Not pleasant."
1-2-3-4-5
"Mom!" Paige called out as she opened the door to the shop, "Oh, come on!" She clamped her eyes shut as castle flashback flew threw her head, "What part of 'lock the door' is foreign to you two?"
"Are you trying to scar us?" Thea held up her hands to ward off the scene, waiting for them to straighten themselves up, "I mean, you do have a back room. Or, I don't know, wait until you get home."
"Hello to you too, Artie." Rissa rolled her eyes as Paige finally came over and gave her a hug, "I got what I could for now. I am going to have to go back. The realtor is causing me some problems, not to mention the money I'm getting from the damn moving company. The amount of stuff they broke is unreal. I ended getting someone else to do it. I swear, Jess is going to cry. That kylix vase is from 450 b.c. She is going to demand blood and rightfully so."
"I had forgotten about that thing. How much was it insured for?"
"$200,00."
"Damn."
"Yeah. But, in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy time with my family and start getting my shop set up."
"Speaking of your shop, you should talk to Seraphina." Paige said, grabbing her purse from under the counter, "She may want to go into business with you. The curse kind of kept her from doing so, but now I think she'd like to come a little more into the light."
"Who is Seraphina?"
"Persephone." Thea and Rissa look at Rumpel in shock, "She's been living in a cabin in the woods, keeping to herself. She hasn't been the same since Lina, as you know, but her pain and seclusion has translated over to her cursed self. I'm not sure if she remembers who she is." He pulled out a book and plucked a card from the inside, "But, with her powers, it wouldn't surprise me if she did."
"She does." Paige smiled, "I've spent a lot of time with her over the years. She's gotten better. A lot better. But, I think knowing you two are here and hearing about Emma, might help her."
"I'd like to know how she got caught in the curse. I could have sworn she was in the Underworld at the time." Thea frowned, "Wasn't she?"
"She was. I think she came up when she did because she assumed it had already passed. She said it was like a blink. Popped up in the Enchanted Forest for a second and then poof, here she was."
"Well, we'll go visit her tomorrow. In the meantime, you two go home. I'm taking Paige to Granny's."
"Wait, I was going to cook."
"Nope. Granny's. If I have to watch the two of you moon at each other over the food, I'm going to throw something. And it's going to be very sharp. Not kidding."
"I really can't wait until we find Hawk. Payback is bitch."
"Yes, well, we're not sure when that's going to happen. At least, not until Emma breaks the curse, anyways. So, until then, you can suck it." Rumpel burst out laughing as the woman he's always considered his sister of the heart grabbed his daughter and pulled her from the room.
"Point to Artie. How many is that?"
"Our log book is in the Enchanted Forest."
1-2-3-4-5
The next day, Paige had just approached the loft when Henry came up the stairs, "Henry? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Is Emma in there?"
"I think so. I'm supposed to watch Eva today." She knocked on the door, glancing at the boy, concerned.
The door opened and all Emma could see was a crying Henry, "Kid, what happened?" She looked up at Paige who just shrugged and gestured for them to enter."
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"You think she'll be happy to see us?" Thea asked as they walked through the woods.
"I don't know. It's been 28 years. I don't know how much she's changed."
"Not much."
They turned around at the voice behind them and saw their old friend and mentor leaning on a tree.
"Hello girls. Long time."
"Persephone." Rissa smiled, hesitant, not sure if they were welcome, "How are you."
"I'm okay. Better now." The woman smiled and held out her arms, "There's my girls." The friends let out cries of joy as they walked into her embrace, "I have missed you. Very much. Where's Jess?"
"On assignment. She'll get here as soon as she can, but it's going to be months. She's not even in the country right now." Thea wiped her eyes as she leaned back to look at her friend, "It's so good to see you. We didn't know that you had gotten caught up in the curse."
"Yeah, thought that you had stayed in the Underworld."
"I was going to. My mother figured out a way to expel me from there. I swear, one of these days, I'm going to rip her heart out. And I'm going to enjoy it."
They shared a laugh, enjoying the moment, "Come inside. I'll make some tea."
"Good. Then we can talk." Rissa smiled, "I have a proposition for you."
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"It's Henry." Eva stopped on the sidewalk and pointed.
"What?" Paige said, looking over, "What is he doing? That's the direction of the mines."
"Let's follow him." Eva said, eagerly, taking off after her brother.
"What, no. Eva!" Paige, threw down drink and took off after the little girl, "Damn she's fast." By the time she caught up the her, Eva was following Henry into the mines, "Oh, hell no." She sent a quick text to her mom and went in after them."
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Rissa pulled out her phone when it pinged, "What?" She jumped up, frantic, "We've gotta go back. Now." She grabbed her back and headed out the door.
"Rissa, what's wrong?" Thea and Seph ran after her, concerned, "What happened?"
"Paige was watching Eva. Eva spotted Henry. Eva ran after Henry. Paige ran after Eva. Eva followed Henry down the mines. Paige went after both of them."
"Oh, dear." Thea pulled out her phone and made a call, "Emma, we've got a problem." She paused, "Oh, so you know. Wait, what?" She grabbed Rissa arm to stop her, "Oh, God. Okay. Um, Em. You know about Henry. Paige sent us a text. Long story short. Eva ran after Henry and followed him into the mines. Paige couldn't stop them and went in after them."
"Damn it!"
"Hmm." Thea put the phone away, "She hung up. Call Rumple. It seems that the mine has collapsed."
A look of horror washed over the Dark Enchantress.
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"Henry! Eva!" Paige called as she chased them through the tunnels, Archie right behind her.
"There' something shiny down there." Henry yelled out, not paying attention.
Archie panted, "Henry, this is seriously dangerous. We gotta get out of here."
"It could be something."
"Look, I'm frightened for you, Henry."
"Because you think that I'm crazy?"
"No! No, because we are trapped underground in an abandoned mine. Henry, your sister is crying." Henry looked down, contrite, and hugged Eva, "We're trapped, Henry, and there is no way out."
"Wait!" Paige exclaimed, digging through her purse, "Bless you, Aunt Thea." She pulled out a device attached to a wrist band.
"What's that?" Henry asked, looking closer, "It looks like a toy."
"That's because it was. Aunt Thea gave it to me. This is an old Spy Gear toy watch that a friend of hers modified. It works as a walkie talkie and has a built in camera. It's just a prototype. I don't even know if Thea has hers on her. No better time than now to test it."
1-2-3-4-5
Thea, Rissa, Seraphina and Rumpel arrived just as the ground started to shake.
"Stop! Stop!" Regina ran over to Emma, "You're making it worse."
"I am trying to save them." Emma argued, "You know why he went in there 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? Who's encouraging him?"
"Do not put this on me."
"Oh please, lecture me until the oxygen has run out." Regina snarked before walking away.
"Emma." The blonde turned to see the her friends coming toward her, "How's it coming?"
"Shaky."
1-2-3-4-5
Paige was trying to get the device to work when a noise caught the attention, "Do you hear that?"
"It's Pongo!" Henry exclaimed, looking at everyone.
Archie picked up a crying Eva, "Come on, sweetie. We need to follow the noise."
1-2-3-4-5
"Thea. Aunt Thea, can you hear me? Archie, I don't know if I'm working this right?"
"What was that?" Rumpel asked looking around, "That sounded like Paige."
"Paige." Thea's eyes widened, "Clever girl." She dug into her purse and pulled out the other watch, "Thea. Come in Aunt Thea."
She smiled as she ran down to Emma, Rissa on her heals, "Emma!"
Emma turned around from talking to Regina, "What's going on?"
"Watch." She held up the device and pushed a button, "Paige, if you can hear me, we're at the mine."
"Aunt Thea! We're running... somewhere. We hear Pongo barking."
Thea looked up to see the dog and smiled, "Keep heading toward the noise. That's where we're at. Let's us know where you are, okay?"
Emma held out her hand for the device, "Please?" Thea passed it over, "Paige, how's Eva?"
"She's coughing a lot. Archie's carrying her. She's having the hardest problem breathing."
"That's because she has asthma. Does she have her little backpack?"
"Yes."
"She's supposed to have a backup inhaler in there."
"Let me look. Hold on."
"I didn't know she had asthma." Regina spoke, making the others look up, "Is it bad?"
"It can be."
"It's loud over here." They hear Archie as Paige had hit the button on the watch again.
"What's this?" Henry spoke as a rustle sounded.
"It's like, an old elevator."
"Emma, I found the inhaler. How do I use this? Archie!" Emma's eyes widened as she heard Eva start to cough, "Help me. Please. We need to give this to her."
"I've never administered an inhaler before."
"I've got Emma here. Emma?"
"Alright. Listen to me. When you take the cap off, make sure there is nothing inside it, okay?"
"Check."
"You need to shake it hard, about 15 times to get the medication moving.
"Check."
"Talk to her. Have her breathe out all the way. She needs to push out as much air as she can."
Pause. "Rub her back, Henry. Good job. Okay, check."
"Okay, now hold the inhaler with the mouthpiece down. Place her lips around the mouthpiece so that she forms a tight seal. As she starts to breath through her mouth, press down on the inhaler, once. She needs to keep breathing in as slowly and as deeply as she can. She's done this before. She knows."
They waited, "Check."
"Okay, good. Now, take the inhaler away and have her hold her breath to the count of 10. Then she needs to slowly release her breath through her lips. Once done, wait a minute and do it over."
"Okay. We'll get back to you."
Emma looked up, tears in her eyes, "Maybe I should have Paige watch her more often."
"She's a smart girl." Rissa said, her own eyes misty, "Do ya'll have a plan to break through the ground?"
"Marco suggested explosives."
"Is that safe?"
"We don't have a choice." Emma looked around, "It looks like they're ready. When need to get over the yellow tape. Come on!" She raised her voice, "Everyone back." Once everyone had moved, Emma nodded the go ahead, "Okay, we're all clear."
"Shouldn't we wait to hear from Paige?" Rissa asked, looking down at the watch.
"I wish we could. But we don't know where they're at. We need to make an opening."
"Blow it." Regina ordered, having everybody take cover. The worker pushed the button, causing a small explosion at the entrance. As soon as it was over, Emma and Thea run down to check the result.
"Did it work?" Regina asked, as the came back dejected.
"It didn't open." Emma said as Thea tried the watch.
"Then what did it do?" Graham looked around, trying to figure it out.
Regina growled in anger, "What was that? What the hell was that?" She stormed over to the foreman, "You said you could do this."
"Regina." Thea came over, "I know you're scared, but you are not helping."
"They could have killed my son."
"I realize that, but your son is not the only one down there." She point up to Mr. Gold holding a distraught Rissa, "How about you calm down and start thinking rationally."
"If we knew exactly where they were," Marco pointed out, "we could drill down to them."
"They were talking about a an elevator." Thea said as Pongo started barking. Emma ran toward the fire truck and let the dalmatian out. "He senses them." Thea slapped her head, "You have been out of the woods for far too long, Huntress." She muttered, following Emma and the dog.
"Come on buddy." She looked at the group, "It's Archie's Dog" He walks around for a moment, sniffing the ground, "He's found something. Look, this is where they must be. What is it?"
Graham and Marco remove the metal covering to reveal a hole blocked by grate bars. "What is that?"
"It's an air shaft." Thea smiled, "That's where the elevator is."
They waited as a crane lifted the grate out of the way and looked down into the whole, "Okay. Now what?" Regina asked, not seeing the elevator.
"We need to lower someone straight down, or the line would collapse with the sides of the shaft."
"We've got this." Looked over as Thea and Rissa came over with some heavy duty duffle bags, "Remember Rio?" Thea smirked at Emma, tossing her a bag.
"I remember coming away with the bounty, because I got to him first."
"Which you then split." Rissa smiled for a moment, "Graham and I will be the anchors." She looked at the sheriff, "I assume you know how?"
He rolled his eyes, "Yes, I do. Thank you." He grabbed the bag she handed him and started to harness up.
"I should go. He's my son."
"No, offense Regina, but he's her son too." Thea looked up from the ropes, "Not to mention her five year old daughter with asthma. You've been sitting behind a desk for ten years while she's traipsed all over the globe looking for bounties. She can handle this a whole lot more than you."
Regina paused and stepped close to Emma, "Just bring him to me." Her order made Rissa and Thea roll their eyes at each other.
1-2-3-4-5
"Hey, can I ask you again?" Archie looked over at Henry, who was holding a now sleeping Eva.
"Of course."
"Why do you think it's so important that your fairy tale theory is true?"
"I don't know."
"Give it a shot." Paige grabbed a chocolate bar from her bag and handed to Archie, "It's okay, Henry. You can tell us. Speak from your heart."
"Because... this can't be all there is."
"I understand." Archie nodded, taking a bit of he bar.
"I thought that, if I found proof... but I didn't find anything."
"That's not true. I was lost and you found me, right." Paige smiled as Archie shared his chocolate.
"You mean, you remember?"
"No, I don't remember. But, I do remember the person that I wanna be."
A noise erupted from above them, "What's that?" Henry asked, shaking Eva awake.
"A rescue." Paige smiled Thea appeared from top.
"Hi, Princess." Emma glided down next to her, "You guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine."
"Okay," she spoke into a walkie-talkie, "let's get a stop."
Emma removes the roof of the elevator and grabs Henry, who is held up by Archie, "Come on, I got you. Okay. I got him. Eva?"
"I've got her." Thea smiled with Eva's arms wrapped around her neck and legs around her back, "Hang on, you little spider monkey. Paige, put your arms around my waist and lock in."
"Get them to safety..." Archie said, but the elevator started to rumble, "Archie!"
"It's gonna fall!"
"Hang on, Cricket!" Thea called out, panicked.
The elevator falls with a loud noise. But, when they looked down, Archie had hooked his umbrella onto a karabiner on Emma's pants. They all laugh relief as Henry holds up a thumbs-up sign.
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Everyone cheered as they came back up. As Emma was getting unharnessed, Eva went over to hug Henry. "Go back to your mother, kid." Regina said, shoving her away so she can check on Henry.
Paige, having followed the little girl, caught her before she fall and landed hard on her arm in the process, "Paige!" Rissa ran over to check on her daughter, "Are you okay?"
"Ow." The girl sat up, not caring about herself and checked on Eva, "Are you hurt?"
"No." She started crying, "You're bleeding."
"What?" Paige looked down and noticed that there was a gash on her arm, "That explains it."
"Regina!" Rissa stood up, furious, "Listen to me, you self-righteous bitch."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and focused on the two women.
"How dare you talk to me that way." Regina straightened up, "I could have you arrested."
"Go ahead. I'll be there for assault, too." The Enchantress stepped toe to toe with the former queen, "Let me make something perfectly clear." She pointed to Eva, "That is my niece. My goddaughter. A member of my family." She pointed to Paige, being tended by a glaring Thea, "That is my daughter. I don't care about this hatred you seem to have for Emma, that's causing Henry so much pain, but when you start harming my family, then you've got a problem."
She stepped closer, scaring Regina enough to cause her to step back, "Touch Paige or Eva again, I'll hit you so hard you'll wake up in an alternate world."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Merely making a point, Madam Mayor. I suggest you pay attention. Keep your hands to yourself." She turned away and checked on Eva, "Hey, Little Pixie. Are you okay?"
"Yes." The girl sniffled, "But, Paige isn't. And it's my fault."
"Oh, no honey, it's not. You were just hugging your brother." The girl started crying again, upset.
"I've got a suggestion." Gold walked over with a smile, and hugged his daughter, "The apartment has beds now. How about a sleepover. Eva can stay with Thea and Paige tonight. Food, games and a movie."
"I don't know." Emma hesitated, hugging Eva closer. She noticed how upset her daughter was at the scar that going to be a permanent fixture on the teens arm, "Okay. How about we go back to the loft. Get you cleaned up. I'll pack your backpack. Make sure you have a new inhaler and some medicine with you. We can see if Mary Margaret has some treats she'd be okay sending over." She nuzzled the now smiling girl, "How does that sound?"
"Is that okay, Paige?" She looked at the teen with wide eyes.
"It's more than okay, Little Pixie. I can't wait."
"Yea!" The girl cheered, making everyone laugh.
"Thank you, Mr. Gold."
"No, thank you. For being you." He hugged his daughter once more and stepped back, "Let's head out. We need to get her cleaned up and make sure she doesn't need a doctor."
"As long as it's not Whale, that pervert." Paige grumbled, climbing back up the climb.
"I don't think we've been introduced." Seph stepped forward and held out a hand, "Seraphina. Gold's sister. I live out in the woods, which is why you haven't met me yet."
"Oh, hi. Um, gee, he's got a lot of sisters." Emma chuckled.
"Actually, it's only slightly complicated. He and I are blood siblings. Not biological. I don't know if that makes sense to you or not."
"Like a pact. Like blood brothers?"
"In a way. We had no family, just each other. So we sort of adopted one another. As with Thea, Rissa and Jess, they came into our lives as a trio. They became our sisters in every way except one. Only difference was, Rissa and Gold never felt that way about each other. They fell in love, fast and hard."
"I can see the love."
"Well, now that they're here, I'm going to be working with Narissa in the shop. Once it's opened. She approached me about it today, so you'll be seeing more of me."
"Okay. Well, it was nice meeting you. Um, I'll bring Eva around later, after she's checked out and all."
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"Thank you, Dr. Hopper." Regina said, approaching Archie.
"I, uh, I have something to say." He waited until Marco left, "I'm going to continue to treat Henry and I'm going to do it my way."
"My relief at his safety hasn't changed a thing, Dr. Hopper. You will do as I say, or you..."
"Or what? You'll ruin my life? You'll do your worst? Because I will always do my best."
"Don't test me." She growled, getting irritated.
"Oh, I don't need to, because you're going to leave me alone and let me do my work, in peace."
"Really? And why is that?"
"Because someday, Madame Mayor, you may find yourself in a custody battle. And do 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 allow me to do my work and let me do it the way my conscience tells me to. Otherwise, you're going to have the battle of your life on your hands."
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Emma sat on the crate with her kids, Henry on one side and Eva in her lap, "Is that Archie's father?"
"No, they're just old friends." Henry replied smiling at the duo.
"You two really scared me."
"I'm sorry." Henry said, leaning into her hug.
"Me too, mommy." Eva leaned up and kissed her mother on the cheek, "Love you."
"And I love you." She looked over and smiled, "Here's your ride." Thea stepped down and hauled the girl into her arms.
"Ready to go, Little Pixie?"
"Yes! Girl's night!" Archie and Marco walk over, "Bye Archie. Thanks for helping me breathe."
"You are most welcome, Little Pixie."
"Well, come on, your mom wants to take you home." Emma stood up and pulled Henry with her.
"Hey!" Henry stopped, "Listen!" The chirping of crickets could be heard all around them.
"Crickets." Archie smiled, looking over at his young friend.
"They're back." Henry turned to Emma, "Things are changing."
"For the better." Thea sighed as she walked away, ready to tell her family the news, "I owe him another hundred. You'd think I'd learn."