Chapter Sixty-Three: When a Stranger Comes to Town
Storybrooke – Present Day
Clara walked arm-in-arm with the Doctor down the sidewalk, listening with great interest of his time in the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke. The part that intrigued her the most from the stories of his adventures in both worlds was how he became in love and even married Red Riding Hood (or "Ruby," as she was known there in town). "Are you technically still married to her now?" Clara curiously asked him.
The Doctor was not quite sure how to answer that. He merely shrugged and said, "I don't know. I was another man at the time we married."
"John Smith, you mean." Clara recalled the name that the Doctor took on during the time that he was cursed and living as a mortal man.
"I would like to think – for the sake of Ruby's happiness – that she's still married to me…er, John Smith, I mean."
"But if you're no longer John Smith, wouldn't that technically make her a widow now?"
Seeing it from that perspective made him feel a bit miserable over the whole thing. "I suppose you're right."
Clara took notice in how his mood shifted from upbeat to sorrow with her simple-minded observation. She realized that she had to get him feeling better again. "Well, she's much happier now with Dr. Whale – or Dr. Frankenstein. Isn't it a bit weird that he…?"
She ceased talking when she and the Doctor both heard snickering behind them. She turned her head to see Gold and Lacey (the girl who was supposed to be Belle before losing her memory whilst crossing the town line by accident) walking right behind them and listening in on their conversation.
The Doctor, who had known the entire time that they were walking behind them, whispered to Clara, "Just ignore them. They're clearly not themselves right now."
"I heard that, Doctor." Gold grimly said. "You'd best watch your tongue, before I rip it from your mouth."
Lacey chuckled amusingly over the way Gold talked down to the Doctor. "Hey, what's up with the bowtie? It's like you're trying to scare away any woman that goes near you."
That was the last straw for Clara. Through the past day, all Gold and Lacey had been doing was bully anyone who crossed their paths. Gold would go as far as physical abuse, while Lacey would stand by and watch in order to be entertained. Clara had enough of it and spoke up, letting go of the Doctor's arm and stopping there on the sidewalk to face up to Gold and Lacey. "You two really need a lesson in manners!"
"And who's gonna give it to us, dearie? You?" Gold mockingly asked her.
"Leave her alone, Gold." The Doctor forcibly demanded, his back still facing the pawn shop owner and his partner in crime.
Gold grinned. "Oh, I would love to see you make me do just that, Doctor."
The Time Lord finally turned around and faced the man, his eyes locking penetratingly with Gold's. Clara and Lacey stood in between the two men, looking on in separate ways (Lacey with excitement and Clara with apprehension). After a moment of intense silence, the Doctor loosened up. "I pity you," he told Gold, who was caught off guard from his words. "I really do. You're blinded by love that isn't real. It's not even love…it's lust. And it will tear you two apart from each other before you've even realized it." With that said, he turned away from Gold and Lacey and continued on his way with Clara, who was impressed from the way he verbally fought back.
Gold, angered by the Doctor's words, began to manifest a fireball from his left hand – out of Lacey's sight. Before he could have unleashed it, however, there was a shout from nearby. "HEY!" It was Neal, entering the scene at just the moment when he saw his father conjure the fireball, which Gold had extinguished as soon as he saw him. "What the hell are you doing?"
The Doctor and Clara turned and faced them again, just as they heard Neal's angry voice addressing Gold.
"Stand aside," Gold told Neal. "This doesn't concern you."
"Like hell, it doesn't." Neal retorted. "I saw what you were about to do. Hurlin' fireballs at people your thing now? I'm surprised you weren't gonna turn him into a snail."
"Fireballs? Snail?" Lacey reacted to Neal's words with a chuckle, gawking at him questionably. "What are you talking about?"
Witnessing the family quarrel as it happened, the Doctor told Clara, "We'd better scamper on before he does considering turning us into snails."
"Right." Clara acknowledged and rushed down the sidewalk, not trying to appear as if they were running for the sake of dignity.
The two rounded a corner and suddenly bumped right into Anton, the newest resident of Storybrooke who was brought from the Enchanted Forest, once an angry giant but now a humbled man of human size. "Oh, Doctor. Hello," he greeted.
"Hello, Anton." The Doctor said, relieved to see a more friendly face. "Anton, Clara. Clara, Anton."
Clara nodded and smiled to the tall, large man with the long ponytail and beard. "Nice to meet you." She then leaned in towards the Doctor and whispered, "He's tiny."
"Doctor, I'm so glad that I found you." Anton said with a hint of urgency. "Emma needs your help. Regina found the magic beans and ravaged the spot where they were grown. Everyone's been searching for her, but we can find no trace of her."
The news obviously did not sit well with the Doctor, who had known for some time what the plan had been with the magic beans and the lengths David and Mary Margaret went through to keep it secret from Regina. "Oh, dear," he uttered. "C'mon, Clara." He thanked Anton for delivering the news before rushing away with his young companion.
Emma and David entered Regina's office in the town hall with guns drawn. They cautiously searched throughout the office for Regina until both of them saw that she was nowhere to be seen. "It's okay," Emma called to Mary Margaret and Henry, who stood and waited outside. "She's not here."
Emma and David holstered their guns while Mary Margaret and Henry slowly entered. "When you find her, you're not gonna hurt her, right?" Henry asked, feeling somewhat worried for his adopted mother.
"No." Emma assured him. "We just want the beans she stole from us."
Mary Margaret realized how simple it was for them to enter the room. "Why would Regina leave her office unlocked?"
David spotted a specialized container that Regina had been keeping a familiar plant in. "Especially when she's keeping the beans here."
A closer examination of the plant showed Mary Margaret a flaw in the evidence. "Was keeping them here. They're gone."
"Something's not right." Emma said. "Regina would never leave evidence like this behind."
"Maybe she already used them to portal out of Storybrooke." David deduced.
"Without Henry? I don't think so." Emma denied.
Henry grew more concerned over the situation. "What if something bad happened to her?"
"Nothing bad had or will happen to her, Henry," said a voice from outside as it entered. Everyone saw that it was the Doctor and Clara who walked right through the open doors. "Regina didn't leave town. She's been abducted – both her and the beans."
"How do you know for sure?" Mary Margaret inquired.
He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and scanned the security system near the door. "An override code has been used on the system. Regina wouldn't need an override code to her own office, would she?"
"Not unless she forgot it." Clara presumed.
"Unlikely excuse. Would you forget to breathe if you had to?" The Doctor pointed out, and Clara gave a slight nod, admitting that he had a point. "No, Regina has her codes memorized. No one in town has seen or heard from her in a day. Someone here has an agenda – one that has been hidden in plain sight, but we've all been too preoccupied to see it. The question is who?"
"Gold." Mary Margaret almost immediately blurted out.
"He's too busy with his new/old girlfriend." Emma disclaimed. "No, this wasn't Gold. This was Tamara."
Clara was surprised over the identity of her prime suspect. "Your ex-boyfriend's fiancée? Why her? She's been here not much longer than I have. She wouldn't know anything about magic beans."
"August was attacked the day Tamara came to town." Emma specified. "I don't think that was a coincidence."
"Nothing ever is coincidence when death is involved."
A chilling voice spoke near the group. From out of nowhere appeared Walter Simeon – a face that was all too recognizable to the Doctor, Emma, and Mary Margaret. David, seeing Simeon for the first time, took out his gun and aimed it directly at the Victorian stranger.
Seeing that he was at gunpoint, Simeon told David, "Put your toy away. It will not harm me."
"I'm willing to take a risk to prove you wrong." David threatened.
"No, David." The Doctor cautiously instructed. "He's right. Put the gun down."
David saw how unnerved the Doctor was about the oddly-dressed man standing in Regina's office, which made him even more confused as to why he instructed him to lower his weapon. He did as the Doctor said, but continued to maintain his guard near the mysterious figure.
"How's this possible?" Mary Margaret questioned.
"He's supposed to be dead." Emma said.
"Who is he?" Henry asked the question both David and Clara wondered themselves.
"His name is Dr. Walter Simeon," said the Doctor, who carefully approached the enemy. "But, just as Emma said, Simeon is dead. This is a mere shell used by an entity known as the Great Intelligence." He then moved on to address the "man" in front of him: "What are you doing in Storybrooke?"
"D-Did you steal the beans?" Henry asked with a slightly intimidated tone – never before had he seen a man as imposing as Simeon.
Simeon glared at the boy, shooting a look at Henry that sent a chill down his spine. The Doctor moved into view, leaving Simeon locking eyes with him again. "Answer my question," he demanded.
"Your presence is no longer needed in this appalling little fabrication you call a town, Doctor." Simeon said. "You are needed elsewhere."
"And where else would that be?" The Doctor inquired.
"You know where." Simeon remarked. "The last place you would ever anticipate in going to. The place where your greatest secret is buried."
The Doctor's face registered pure horror upon realizing what Simeon had been referring to. "No."
"It is inevitable, Doctor." Simeon stated. "You will go there or everyone you have ever cared about will die." His eyes switched to the others in the room as he added, "Starting with them."
The Doctor heard gasping from his friends and turned to see them surrounded by creatures dressed in Victorian garb similar to Simeon, having extremely white faces with blackened skin around their mouths, sharp teeth, angular faces with vague depressions where eyes should be, and exaggerated chins and cheeks. They all had advanced slowly on Emma, David, Mary Margaret, Henry, and Clara.
"Stop this!" The Doctor begged of Simeon. "Leave them alone!"
"Go there, Doctor." Simeon demanded.
"No!" The Doctor yelled, panicking as he saw the creatures growing closer to his friends.
David and Emma fired their guns at the pale, featureless beings, but the bullets only passed through them, striking parts of Regina's office instead. One of the beings managed to get close enough to Emma to pass its limb through her flesh and clutch at her heart. Emma felt herself fading quickly, falling weakly to her knees.
"EMMA!" Mary Margaret cried, before she found herself suffering from the same torture along with Henry, David, and Clara.
"DOCTOR!" Clara cried out in anguish.
"I'll go! I'll go to Trenzalore!" The Doctor screamed in defeat.
Simeon raised his right hand and his creatures instantly removed their grasps on the hearts of David, Henry, Mary Margaret, Emma, and Clara. The five of them fought to regain their breathing as the creatures slowly backed away.
"It is settled then, Doctor." Simeon said. "But to procure our agreement, I will make sure three others you care about are aware of the circumstances and consequences."
"Who? Who are you ta—?"
The Doctor was given no time to finish his question as Simeon and his creatures had vanished from the room in the blink of an eye. He did not bother pondering for too long on their whereabouts, being too concerned on the well-being of his friends. He checked first on Henry and then went to Clara; they, along with David, Mary Margaret, and Emma, appeared to be okay.
As soon as she got her wind back, Emma questioned to the Doctor, "Mind telling us just what the hell's in Trenzalore?"
They all looked to him, waiting for an explanation to justify the near-death experience they survived from. For that reason, the Doctor knew it was only right to tell: "Trenzalore. I've heard the name, of course. Dorium mentioned it, and a few others. I've suspected what it was, but never wanted to find out myself. River would know – River always knew. I'd suspect she'd know the way there, since I don't."
"So…Trenzalore's like your biggest secret?" Henry asked.
The Doctor sighed. "No, Henry. It's not."
"Then what is it?" Emma queried. "It has to be pretty damn important to almost lose our lives over."
"When you are a time traveler, there is one place you must never go – one place in space and time you must never, ever find yourself." The Doctor told them. "My grave. Trenzalore…is where I'm buried."
Clara was surprised from this information. "How can you have a grave?"
"Because we all do somewhere out there in the future, waiting for us. The trouble with time travel is that you always end up visiting." The Doctor said.
"But you don't how to get there." Mary Margaret said. "And even if you did, you said it yourself that it's the one place you can never go."
"I have to save Vastra, Jenny, and Strax – they're the ones the Intelligence will go after." The Doctor avowed. "They care for me during the dark times – never question me, never judge me. They're just…kind. I owe them. I have a duty."
David nodded, understanding the Doctor's purpose in all of this. "Well, we'll see that you carry out that duty, Doc. The only thing now is finding out how you'll get to Trenzalore or who knows the way there."
"There is one who knows." The Doctor said. "It's been in her head for some time now."
"Who's that?" Clara asked.
"Regina."