"Once Upon a Time" and any characters featured in the show belong to their proper owners, in other words, not me.

Thank you to those who have already clicked the favorite, follow, and/or review buttons.

A very special Thank You to Kedi who has been a huge help in my writing process since the idea stage.

Freedom.

For the first time in his life, Jiminy was truly free. Never again would he steal. Never again would he have to crumple under his parents' will. Never again would they tell him what he was or who he was. The Blue Fairy changed all of that. Now Jiminy was a cricket – the freest of creatures; he'd thought so since childhood – with nothing but the shirt on his back and the umbrella a boy gave him; the boy he was meant to find. Geppetto.

Jiminy stood on the fence where he had been transformed, taking in the scenery and the sound of the crickets around him. The trees swayed in the wind, leaves rustled lightly. The two wagon horses snorted and pawed the ground, still startled by the bright light of magic. The Blue Fairy had already returned to the skies, wishing him luck and farewell. The cricket rubbed his three-fingered hands together happily. It was high time for him to leave his old life behind and begin again.

"Jiminy!" he heard his mother's voice come from their wagon, "Jiminy! Go fetch the horses' water. We have a long journey to the Harvest Festival."

"Yes," his father's voice followed, "our rot-be-gone always does well this time of year." The two laughed together, no doubt reveling in their latest scheme.

Jiminy did not feel the need to hide. He just shook his head with a cricket smile and slung his umbrella over his shoulder. He was sure his parents would make do just fine without him. Even in hard times, they had always found a way to steal from those with nothing. No, his disappearance would only be a temporary inconvenience. They would certainly find another kind-hearted fool to care for them.

Fluttering to the ground with ease and a giddy feeling, he turned back to the road leading to the boy's home. He and his parents had only travelled a day's distance from the town in which the boy lived. Jiminy had threatened to leave only to be blackmailed into staying with them the entire trip. Jiminy tucked his umbrella across his back and looked far down the forest road. He was sure for a cricket it would be quite a long journey. For a cricket…

"Ha ha!" Jiminy laughed aloud. He was a cricket. Imagine! The son of puppeteers and thieves had met the Blue Fairy herself and was granted his wish. While it was not the wish he had intended – the life of the boy's parents – it was close wasn't it? He would right the wrong he had done in this new form. Giving himself another onceover, he flexed his legs and jumped. With a shout of delight, he rushed through the air. Just before hitting the ground, he stretched his wings and slowed his descent. "Amazing," he whispered to himself. He could go anywhere like this, do anything…

No, he shook his head, he had a responsibility to the boy he had unintentionally orphaned, the kind boy who taught him how to listen to crickets again. Guilt rose in his chest but he could do something about it now. With that thought as fuel, he raced away from his parents' carriage and onward into the night.

Dr. Hopper awoke as the sun's bright rays filtered through the blinds in his office and passed over his eyes. Chuckling to himself, he realized he must have been so worn out that he'd fallen asleep on his office couch. He should have known to not strain himself so soon after a life-threatening experience. Looking to the window, he thanked his lucky stars it didn't look so late in the morning. Perhaps, if he hurried home, he could change into fresh clothes before Henry's ten o'clock session.

"Pongo?" Archie called, sitting up. Sleep still making his voice a hoarse whisper, "Pongo, I have to take you home. Where are –" A flash of green above him caught his eye. The slim object twitched lower joined by another. "What on earth?" The green things twitched again in and out of sight in front of his face. He raised a hand to grab the offending objects but stopped dead as he caught sight of it.

Green. Three green fingers covered in a carapace. Shutters began building in his frame as he raised the other to find it was the same. A nervous yelp escaped him and he jumped up. The action only made matters worse as he immediately discovered his legs no longer functioned as he was accustomed and he flopped unceremoniously back onto the couch. Rolling onto his stomach, he struggled to stand again, fumbling until his also-green feet were properly under him.

"Wh-what? What is –?" was all he could muster as he looked down at himself. He still wore his cream, pinstripe button-up, tie, and maroon sweater vest but those were the only familiar features. The rest of him was all green, shell, and twig-like limbs. He patted his face and, to his increasing horror, found it had changed as well. He was not only missing his glasses but also his nose and ears. In place of his hair, were the two long, twitching things that made him nearly jump out of his skin when he brushed over them.

Looking around in panic, he caught his faint reflection in a glass of water on the nearby table. "What?" He whispered, not believing – not wanting to believe what he saw there. Walking towards the cup, he tried to find something that could contradict the image that stared back at him. Instead, the image became more defined and with it a clarity that confirmed his fears. Though certainly anthropomorphized, there was no denying what he looked like. He was … He waved and the image waved back.

"I-I must be dreaming!" Dr. Hopper reasoned, turning from his reflection and clasping his shaking hands together. "I'm still asleep and my subconscious is basing it on Henry's beliefs. The strain of the experience in the mine and dealing with Regina are creating this. There can be no other explanation for being – for turning into a cricket." He turned back to the glass and the reflection there. There could be no denying dream or not that what he saw seemed real. Frighteningly real.

Archie quickly found another reason to be terrified. The glass, normally only an arm's length from the couch seemed a half-dozen yards away and the couch abnormally gigantic. The shrink has shrunk. He would have laughed at the absurdity if he weren't so scared.

A sudden, muffled thump from behind Archie shook him and the couch cushion sunk from underneath Dr. Hopper's still unstable legs. He tumbled ungracefully backwards and hit something large and furry. Placing a hand on his – he realized with some dread – sore head, he looked up and froze.

"Pongo!" Archie unconsciously released a frightened chirp and jumped away from the enormous dog.

The dog's ears perked up and he bent to sniff the now-cricket.

"Now, Pongo," Dr. Hopper tried to remain calm as he pushed the giant wet nose away, "Sit. Be a good boy. You wouldn't want to accidentally hurt me or," he swallowed nervously, "eat me, would you?"

Instead of sitting, the dog sneezed and lowered into a play bow, waging his tail excitedly. If Dr. Hopper's newly acquired antennae could fall off in fright, they would have.

"Oh dear…" Archie chirped weakly.

Saturday morning. For Henry, it meant no school, secretly meeting Emma at Granny's Diner to discuss Operation Cobra (and drink hot chocolate), and a 10AM session with Archie, a.k.a. Jiminy Cricket – whether he knew it or not. It would have been a perfect, sunny Saturday, but –

"Henry, pick up the pace. You're going to be late for your session." Regina walked briskly in front of him, leading the way to the stairway entrance.

– the Evil Queen decided to come along.

"Mom, you really don't have to walk me inside." Henry argued.

"Nonsense," she opened the door with a forced smile and ushered Henry inside, "Besides, I want to have another little chat with Dr. Hopper." She said the psychiatrist's name with barely contained venom.

Henry ran up the stairs in front of her, shouting behind him. "Archie's my friend. Why can't you just leave him alone and not say anything… unpleasant to him?" He gave her a knowing look.

"Oh, I don't intend to say anything of the sort." She growled, following him up the stairs at a slower pace.

"I had a feeling you'd say that." Henry mumbled as he opened the door to his psychiatrist's office. The sight that greeted him left him with his jaw on the floor.

"Pongo, sit." A cricket in a rather ruffled maroon sweater-vest scolded the dog from atop a tall bookcase. "No more games now. Behave." The Dalmatian barked and sat but turned to look at the boy in the doorway.

"Archie?"

The cricket jumped and twisted to look at the door. "Henry! Oh, um, oh boy…" He hastily ducked behind a large model ship as he tried to straighten the vest.

"Henry? What's going on?" Regina Mills asked, nearly to the door.

"Nothing!" Henry jumped inside the room and half-shut the door, "I just want to start the session already. You'll have to wait on that talk." He pushed the door shut and locked it.

"Henry… Open the door." Regina ordered calmly.

"Why? Don't you have mayor things to get to?" Henry asked, suddenly sounding a lot like his birth mother.

There was a dangerous pause, and then, "We're going to have a talk about this at home."

"I'll talk about it with Archie." Henry rolled his eyes, "That's what you send me here for anyway."

After a moment of tense silence, "I'll see you at home, Henry," and sharp, clicking footsteps led away from the door and out of earshot.

Henry breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "That was a close one, Archie – er, I guess you're Jiminy now." He turned and walked up to the bookcase. Gesturing to the door, he continued, "If my mom saw you like this, she probably would have tried squashing you."

"Henry," the cricket hesitated and, rapping his knuckles together, "I'm not… Jiminy Cricket."

Henry looked taken aback, "You mean you still don't remember?"

Dr. Hopper shook his head.

"Then why would you be a cricket?" Henry wondered aloud. "I know Emma's weakening the curse, but I didn't think anything like this would happen." Then Henry looked up. "Wait… Why are you on a bookcase?"

"Uh, Pongo," Archie nodded to the dog laying innocently on the ground, "Got a bit wound up." He chuckled nervously, "He didn't mean any harm but I, um, climbed up the books to avoid being his chew toy." He fingered a large wet stain on the sleeve of his pinstriped shirt.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked.

"Oh yes, I'm fine. Thank you." Dr. Hopper nodded, antennae twitching lower in front of his eyes. He knew the boy wasn't really asking about his arm.

Giving up on the wet sleeve, Archie walked towards the edge of the bookcase, "Hmm… How am I supposed to get down?" he asked looking over the edge like it was an enormous cliff-face, which to him it was. "I didn't really think of that when I climbed up here." He chuckled.

"Well, you have wings, don't you?" Henry shrugged, looking up at him.

"Do I?" Archie turned in a circle and nearly fell off the edge when he accidentally flapped them. "Well, would you look at that! I – I do!"

"So, use them." Henry grinned.

"I…" Dr. Hopper, wringing his hands together, looked over the edge again and shook his head, "Henry, I'm not – not too sure I can."

"You can." Henry insisted, "You're Jiminy Cricket. Just believe you can and you will."

"Well, I'm a cricket, certainly. I can't deny that…" Archie reminded himself. Taking one last look over the ledge, he took a deep breath and jumped. He fell.

"Watch out!" Henry leapt forward and caught him mid-fall. Perplexed, he frowned at the recovering therapist on his palms. "You have to flap them to get them to work. Here," he placed Dr. Hopper on the headrest of the couch, "maybe you need to start out smaller. Fly over to the table there."

Dr. Hopper's wings fluttered with anxiety and produced a quiet hum he tried to ignore. "Henry, I don't think –"

"Exactly! Don't think." Henry nudged him off the edge of the couch.

Archie shouted in surprise and his wings snapped open and beat. He wasn't falling. He was – well, he was hovering, which was a start.

"See? Archie! You just have to believe you can." Henry jumped for joy, giving Archie his biggest, brightest smile.

"Ha ha!" Archie laughed, clumsily landing on and stumbling across the coffee table, silver wings still fluttering in excitement, "Henry! Henry, that was incredible! I mean, apart from it being, well – terrifying, I'll admit. But it's so… so –"

"Magical?" Henry finished with a happy I-told-you-so smirk.

"Yes." Archie suddenly found himself seeing Henry in a new light, a frighteningly truthful light. "Yes, I suppose it is."

Henry, after giving Pongo a pat on the head, walked over to his usual spot on the couch and plopped down.

Flexing his wings again, Dr. Hopper pushed himself into the air and unsteadily flew to the armrest next the boy.

"Henry," he started, shuffling his feet after landing, "I – I have to be honest. I'm a bit out of my depth here. I mean, this…" he gestured to his changed body, "this is like something out of a fairytale! Your fairytale." He emphasized, placing a hand on the cuff of Henry's sleeve.

"So," Henry's eyes widened in understanding, "you believe me?"

"Honestly, I want this to be some sort of dream, but seeing as it probably isn't… How could I not?" Archie shrugged, "You said you were looking for proof. What more proof could I ask of you?" Archie chuckled somewhat resigned, "What I mean to say – I-I don't really understand what this means for me, or the whole town for that matter, if what you've been telling me about the curse is all true. If- If I'm really…"

"Jiminy Cricket." Henry offered.

Dr. Hopper nodded and swallowed. "If I really am Jiminy Cricket… from a story book… a story book character," he put a hand to his head in disbelief as his heart dropped to his stomach.

Seeing his therapist' s hesitation, Henry crossed his arms and leaned back, disregarding the crunch of a breaking Apollo bar in his backpack.

"Yeah, this has to be really confusing for you." Henry frowned, thinking aloud, "You still don't remember who you are, but now you are what you used to be: a cricket." Looking back at Dr. Hopper, he asked, "Do you know how this happened?" – Archie shook his head – "Maybe you did something you don't usually do?"

"There was something, but would it –?"

"What?" Henry asked, excitedly leaning towards the cricket.

"I just wished is all," Archie nearly whispered, "I wished on a star."

"That's got to be it!" Henry exclaimed, scooping up the cricket therapist and placing him on his shoulder. "You have to show me where it happened!" he said, running to the office door.

"H-hold on a moment!" Dr. Hopper grabbed Henry's ear for support, "Henry, how am I supposed to go around town like this? And what about Pongo?"

Henry stopped at the door, thinking. Then, grabbing Pongo's leash, "Well, take Pongo to the Sheriff's office. I'll just let Emma know Pongo needs to be watched for a little while." He hooked the leash to Pongo's collar and went for the door again.

"Henry!" Archie took to the air, hovering back.

"What's wrong, Archie? We gotta go see where you made the wish. There could be more clues there. Clues that can help Emma break the curse!" Henry urged Dr. Hopper forward.

"I'm sorry, Henry, but how am I supposed to go outside like this?" Archie landed on the desk beside the door, already winded from his impromptu flight. He stepped behind a magnifying glass and tugged on his vest nervously. "Henry, I'm a cricket and – and that honestly scares me. Nothing is the same for me now. Everything is a whole lot bigger," he finished in a small voice.

Henry offered his hand to the cricket on the desk and Archie stepped onto it. The boy raised his troubled therapist up and looked him in the eye.

"You can trust me, Archie. I won't let anything bad happen to you." Henry grinned and laughed to himself. "Besides, my mom is the savior of Storybrooke and my grandparents are Snow White and Prince Charming. I think I have protecting in my genes."

Dr. Hopper hesitated, antennae twitching in thought. Henry sighed and, offering his shoulder to Archie again, opened the door.

"One step at a time." The boy promised.

"Okay." Archie nodded, grabbing hold of Henry's ear again. What had he gotten himself into?

So, how do you like it? Just a thought that has been trying to get out for a while.

The next update will not be as quick as this one but I promise to work steadily on this. (New Year's Resolution and all that jazz.) You are allowed to nag at me if I don't .

Read and Review, please.