Disclaimer: I don't own any of TNBC

Someplace Safe

Line opened her eyes and looked out into the Mortal Realm. She glanced around and saw that she was standing in a graveyard, a large statue of an angel loomed above her holding a book, and she gazed down at Line with sad eyes. Line turned away from the angel and began to walk, where, she didn't know. And as she walked, she looked around, in-between houses of light colors, like yellow, which made her shudder at the lightness, even in the night. The remnants of Halloween were everywhere, hallowed pumpkin shells, extra toilet paper from mischief night blowing from the trees like little ghosts, and it was then Line missed the graveyard ghosts chasing after her.

Line walked down the deserted street and her stomach rumbled and she took a butterscotch out of her pocket and unwrapped it, she popped it in her mouth then put on her mask, keeping her eyes low. Then she stepped down, a sound like rolling plastic caught her ears and she looked around, and saw some child's plastic trick-or-treat pumpkin. She snatched it from the ground and turned it upside down but the only thing that fell out was a spider, which scurried off. Line sighed. She had filled her pockets with candy when she came here, as did Hook and Sinker, for fear that they wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. Not wishing to deplete her candy supply on the first night, she emptied the spider's web from the bottom of the plastic pumpkin and walked up to the nearest house and fixed her mask and rang the doorbell.

The door opened and Line felt a rush of warm air, which her cold skin welcomed. In the doorway was a pleasantly plump woman, and Line said softly, "Trick or Treat."

The woman squealed delightedly. "Oh, you're so cute! But I'm sorry, you're a little late for Halloween. We don't have any candy…"

Line pushed up her mask and looked at the lady sadly, tears coming to her eyes. "Th-this is the only food I'm going to have for a couple of days. My dad lets me go out only on Halloween to collect the candy, b-but I couldn't go because my dad passed out after he came home drunk and I needed to watch my two little brother so he wouldn't hurt them… a-and I saved all year for my costume too!" Line began to cry, big fake tears that rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto her dress.

The woman was taken aback. Never had something like this happened to her before, and she quickly ushered Line inside. "You can have dinner with us dearie, and take some leftovers for your brothers, it'll be okay."

Line sniffed and wiped her nose on her arm. "Really? Oh, thank you!" As the woman went into the dining room to tell her husband about their unexpected guest, Line smirked, and snickered under her breath, "Suckers…"


Hook stepped out of the mausoleum with his mask already on, and looked around before slipping it off and taking in the entirety of his surroundings. Behind him was a statue of the grim reaper, standing silent, holding his scythe beside him, waiting. Hook looked at the empty hood of the statue, and with a shudder, Hook turned away and began to walk. Out of the graveyard, down the street, into a small section of town with shops, a bit downtown. Hook looked into windows; gazing at anything he could find that was interesting, trying to distract himself from the fact that he was alone in a strange place for the first time in his known life.

He came across a Halloween costume store and looked inside longingly, taking in the fake cobwebs and Halloween costumes, the fake fangs and paste-on window shadows, and, oh, how he longed for those shadows to be real. He fell to his knees on the concrete outside the window, looking at all the reminders of home. "This was a stupid idea, Line…" He said aloud, as if talking to her, as if he wasn't alone. He stood up and turned away from the window, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, before opening them and walking away.

He came to a twenty four hour Diner, an old one, a light flickering on the neon Open sign, and Hook walked in, finding it just as cool in here as it was outdoors. Hook sat down in a booth, faded red with age and a spring sticking out of the seat across from him, and edges or his seat were ripped, the stuffing coming out. He rested his arms on the table, taking off his mask and putting it down.

A tired, sad looking woman came over to his booth and looked at him. "Hey, are you waiting for someone?" She asked quietly, and he looked up.

"No, I'm all alone…" Then, Hook sighed, "I really am all alone." The woman sat down at the booth across from him.

"That makes two of us…" She said and sighed. "But if there is someone you care about, then you are never alone." She fit him with a look that asked: did he have someone he cared about?

Hook looked at the table, "I have this friend, her name is Line… She is the closest thing to carin I can remember…"

The woman smiled, "And if you think about her, are you lonely?"

Hook looked up at the woman. "No."

"Good. Now, if you have nowhere to go, I'm going to make you some dinner, how does that sound?" The woman asked him, tapping her long fingernails on the table. Hook nodded vigorously, and the woman laughed, before leaving to the kitchen. After a few minutes she came back with a plate full of mashed potatoes and gravy and peas. Hook looked at it before hunching down and taking his fork and poking it. Deciding it was safe, well, safer than the food in Halloween Town, which had a tendency to bite back.

"What is it?" He asked quietly, and the woman laughed.

"Mashed potatoes and gravy with peas. You act like you've never seen it before." Hook nodded and carefully took a forkful and ate it, and deciding it was good enough, continued with much gusto. The woman watched as he finished up, and then smiled at him as she took the plate away to the kitchen. When she came back, he was gone, and the only thing left by the young trick-or-treater was a couple pieces of candy and a little thank you note.

The woman would be sure to tell her husband about the little blue haired boy who knew nothing of vegetables and was alone in the world.

After walking a couple of blocks he came across a school, Upturn High, thought that it would be best if he found a way in, to stay out of the cold, night air. Quickly taking up the skills he'd learned with his friends, he scaled a tall tree and pried open one of the windows carefully, squeezing inside the brick building and shutting the window behind him. Hook brushed himself off and looked around, finding himself in a library, filled with books. He rubbed his hands together. "What a better place to start my search, than here?"

He walked up to a computer and turned it on, the whir and buzz of the monitor making him anxious as he began his search to find out who he really was…


Sinker sighed before opening the door of the mausoleum, stepping out into the dark night, feeling a bit daunted by the task ahead of him. He took in his surroundings, as his friends had and saw above him a statue, one of a headless man, weathered by time, pointing his sword down at Sinker, whether about to Knight him, or in threat, he couldn't tell.

Sinker put his mask on so as not to scare off anyone who might help him, turned and walked out of the graveyard, down the street past a school with a tall hill in the back and a tree on top. He got a chill, the someone-walked-over-my-grave kind, but he ignored it. He'd had a permanent chill set in his bones for two years now. He walked around the corner and disappeared.

Had Sinker paid attention to the chill and stopped, he would have seen someone stand up from the tree and walk away, head in their hands.

Sinker trudged along in the darkness, keeping his head down and eyes to the ground, following an imaginary path. As he walked, he began to think of places he could stay, when he stopped walking, and sat on a bench that was bolted to the sidewalk. Putting his head in his hands, he gazed absently, not really seeing what was in front of him. Then his eyes focused in more and he saw a house across from him, looking warm, and happy.

Standing up, Sinker walked across the street, looking about the house, before finding a window and opening it, scuttling inside like a cockroach climbing a wall. He find out he's inside a young boy's room. There is baseball wallpaper and blue paint everywhere, and he goes over to the bed, peering down at the young six year old sleeping happily, and Sinker turned, seeing a picture on the boy's nightstand. He picked it up and looked at the photo, the young boy was in it, with his older sister, who looked to be Sinker's age. They were laughing, and the sun was shining, highlighting their happy faces. Sinker ran his finger over the picture.

Sinker sighed and looked over at the other picture on the nightstand, and, putting down the first, picked up the other one, looking at the happy family photo, the boy and his parents, his sister standing beside him as they all smiled happy smiles at the camera. Sinker frowned behind his mask, and then the boy sleeping in the bed next to him began to stir and Sinker held his breath. The boy's eyes flashed open and Sinker was gone, under the bed in a second. Sinker huddled there and watched as the boy's feet touched the ground and he walked to the window shutting it and going back to bed, Sinker froze as the mattress sunk above him, and then, the boy turned over and peeked under the bed, and, seeing Sinker, screamed.

Sinker gave a yelp and his eyes widened as the boy huddled up on top of the bed, his parents running into the room. Sinker pulled his knees to his chest, backing up against the wall, burying his masked face in his arms. He heard the boy tell his parents that there was a monster under his bed, and they scoffed, but the boy's mother kneeled down and looked under the bed. "It's only a little boy!" She told her husband and said to Sinker soothingly, "It's okay, you can come out…" Sinker looked up, and the woman put her hand over her heart, surprised for a moment, before smiling, "He's wearing a Halloween mask." Sinker crawled out from under the bed, the woman helping him up. "How about you take that mask off?" She requested and Sinker shook his head, holding his mask on with both hands.

The woman sighed, "Well, alright. Would you like a place to stay tonight?" Sinker nodded and smiled behind his mask, and the woman led him away as her husband put their son back to bed. "You can stay in our daughter's room. She is off at a sleepover at her friend's house tonight, so it should be okay." She opened the door to a dark room, and led Sinker inside, helping him get into the warm bed.

As the woman left, Sinker called after her, "Good night!" and the woman paused, turning back around, surprised.

"Good night…" The woman replied, before turning around and shutting the door. At this point, Sinker thought about staying awake, in case one of them thought of sneaking in to take off his mask, but then again, he was in the most comfortable bed he had ever felt before, and he felt warm and snug… and before long, he fell asleep.