Darkness shrouded Belle and the others. Whale, Dre...Leroy, the dwarves, and Granny assembled in the bushes behind the convent. Granny kept watch on the basement window with binoculars while Belle was still on the phone with Anton.
"Belle, I'm sorry. I looked and looked, but I could only find the one bean," he said.
"One bean is all we need. We'll be able to cut through the forest to the bean field. Archie should be rounding everyone up now." She'd read the files and knew the town's population, larger than most people would assume. A daunting task, she'd read harrowing accounts of prisoners in World War Two tunneling right underneath the barbed wire fences of the enemy. No time to dig, the forest would have to be what shielded them. Moonlight streamed through the branches and illuminated the outside, so maybe the cover of darkness wouldn't be quite so effective.
An ear-splitting howl jolted her, jolted her as much as the first time she'd heard it...chained in the library.
"Hey, Belle..." Whale cleared his throat.
"What? What's wrong?"
"I just think you should know something before we do all this."
Oh no, she thought. She knew Dr. Whale's reputation, how often he leered. Now was definitely not the time to hit on anyone, and here she'd been hoping that Ruby had uncovered a few layers to him...
"Ruby and I are dating."
"Oh! Oh, that's wonderful," she whispered. Then, a beat. "How long has that been going on?"
"Not too long." He flashed her a smile. "We just wanted to tell you and I don't think she has much ability to do that right now."
"I'm happy for you," she said, regretting she had to turn her attention to something much less optimistic. The three dwarves, Sneezy, Doc, and Dopey, weaved through the group, nodding at each other, then her, then at each other again.
"Are you ready?" she asked them.
"Glad to be back—achoo!-with the boys," was the answer. Sinking lower into the bushes, she watched them pull out bottles and take a few swigs. Pulling paper bags up around them to the neck of the bottles, they began staggering to the main door, shoving each other. Belle tiptoed up to the basement window, a brick in her hand. She fought off hyperventilating, hearing the dwarves but no longer able to see them. Gripping the smooth, hard brick, she listened.
"And I say James Polk was a better president!" Sneezy bellowed. Belle shook her head and stifled a laugh.
"You're crazy! Zachary Taylor was much better!" Peeking around the corner, she saw Dopey seemed to be siding with Doc, standing behind him with his arms folded and nodding his head with his tongue dangling out.
"James Polk!" Sneezy shoved Doc.
"Zachary Taylor!" Doc shoved Sneezy.
"Gentlemen! What on earth is going on?" a nun answered in a thick housecoat over flannel pajamas.
"Sister!" Sneezy squawked, his arms wide. "Settle an argument for us. Which president was better, James K. Polk, or Zachary No-one-knows-why-I'm-famous Taylor."
"You've both been drinking. I suggest both of you go home and sleep it off. Now walk home quietly so you don't disturb anyone else," she said.
"Hey, hey." Doc pushed himself past Sneezy. "You're letting this idiot make your decisions for you. Taylor, why, Dopey, tell her all the amazing things Taylor did when he was in office. Never mind. Don't answer that. You're out of your element. I'm telling you..." With a hiccup, he propped his elbow up on the doorway and poked his head into the convent. Here it comes, she thought, returning to the window and drawing back her arm with the brick in it. "I can argue this single-handedly, any time, any place. Just you ladies give me the date you want the lecture!"
She hurled the brick into the window at the same time Doc stumbled back and, taking Sneezy and Dopey with him, somersaulting down the steps, their bottles crashing everywhere.
"Oh my goodness!" the nun gasped, her feet dodging shards of broken glass.
"Now look what you did, you clumsy jackass, pardon my French," Sneezy said, hopping up and barging into the convent. "If you'll just point me in the right direction of a broom and a dustpan I can get that all cleaned up for you in a jiffy, as long as Lushy the Dwarf here sobers up and doesn't take another wipe-out."
Belle squeezed through the window and set a reluctant foot down on a shelving unit. Afraid the whole thing would break off the wall, she jumped down from it, risking a twisted ankle. There, wide-eyed and gagged, Nova sat tied up in a flimsy chair.
"It's all right. I'll have you out of there." She sidestepped to the back to undo each knot of the white clothesline.
"Thank you. We don't have much time. The Blue Fairy comes down sometimes at night, too," Nova said, breathless.
Belle took Nova's arm and positioned it over her shoulders and hoisted her a fraction to be able to guide her to the window.
"It's all right," she said again, not at all thrilled about climbing the shelving unit and wedging the two of them through that window. "Let me go at first and I'll be able to help pull you."
"Did you get her?" Leroy asked, immediately at the window, taking her hands and helping her through the window. "Nova!"
"Dreamy!"
Shuffling out of the way, Belle let him pull her through the window, both of them looking down at their hands when they touched. It had to have been decades, she thought. They stood stone-still out in the yard between the wall and the bushes, the space between them frozen in time.
"We have to go," she said, nudging Leroy's arm. Thank goodness they snapped out of it and hurried along behind her. Now it was time to run.
Once in the woods, it grew even darker, the ground shielded from moonlight by the tree canopy. Shadow overlapped shadow. Their speed slowed in spite of themselves, hands on the back of the person in front of them. Doc, Sneezy, and Dopey caught up to them, their heaving breaths the only trace of their presence in the dark. Flipping up the lid of her phone and holding it eye-level like a lantern, she redialed Anton and put him on speaker.
"Anton," she hissed into the phone, wishing she could cover her own mouth. "We're on our way. Do you have everyone?"
"Yes, the hospital's been evacuated and everyone's ready to go. You'll be here soon, right?"
"We're coming as fast as we can. Ruby's close by?"
"She's patrolling around here somewhere," he said with an anxious laugh. "I'm a little scared."
"Of her or of portals?" she asked.
"Uh, both?"
A ray of moonlight in front of her! This is it! Her mind shouted simply "we're here, we're here" again and again, leaving no room to even entertain thoughts of what she would do in the Enchanted Forest, how she could somehow use its natural magic to alert Rumple to their move.
"Let Belle go first!" she heard Anton directing the endless faces and outlines. Storybrooke really was bigger than anyone thought. "Join hands! It has to be a continuous dive or the portal will seal up. We're not leaving anyone behind so get ready! Belle, go!"
Not even remembering whose hand she held, she held her breath and sprinted for the direction of the bean, now a swirling green vortex. There was no way the nuns were oblivious to this. They would be on their way. Her feet no longer had to carry her. The wind, the suction, picked her up and sucked her into the void, flashes of green and yellow spinning all around her until she blacked out.
A/N: Short chapter, I know, but this one and the chapter after it are happening concurrently.