A fisherman sat on the wharf, next to a boat, fixing a next and half listening to what was going on around him.
Up above him, where the seats were situated, Mary-Margaret and David sat together under a checked blanket, discussing Regina and the Magic beans.
"If we're going back to the Enchanted Forest" Mary-Margaret started "Are we really going to leave Regina behind?"
"She's too dangerous to bring with us" David told her "We have to leave her"
Mary-Margaret shook her head
"But Henry won't like it" she said after a moment "She is his mother. Despite all the horrors. And Watcher! What will she think when she finds out?!" Mary-Margaret went on sadly
"Mary-Margaret, those horrors will continue. And Watcher I think, without a doubt, already knows everything...and I was thinking of leaving her here as well"
Mary-Margaret looked at him with shocked disgust, which made him continue on quickly
"Before you bite my head off! The reason I say that, is because she doesn't belong there anymore...and we'd be leaving the remainder of her family here"
"But she's Henrys aunt now. That makes here our family too...and I would feel terrible leaving her here" Mary-Margaret said "I doubt she'd stay here even with her Watcher abilities"
David gave a nod, he'd forgotten about the young woman's Watcher abilities.
"But Regina" he said pulling Mary-Margaret close "You want to give her another chance? Because every time we do, she's-"
"She slips, I know" Mary-Margaret interrupted "What do we do?" she continued, her brow furrowing and creating harsh lines across her forehead.
David thought of something suddenly "Instead of a second chance, we give her a choice. Come back, live out her days in Rumple's cell, or stay here"
Neither noticed the fisherman disappear behind a wall and turn back into Regina
"Jail cell?" she questioned aloud, she shook her head with her trademark smirk "I don't think so"
P.O.V Change
Watcher had spent the night over at Ruby's.
Even though Granny had kept insisting that Ruby could take care of herself, Watcher didn't feel it was right to leave the other girl alone in dangerous times such as these...so to say.
After Ruby's shift they'd gone out to the bar further down the road to shoot a few rounds of pool...and have a few drinks.
When they'd been coming back, Watcher had looked to the tower and saw the glint of a spyglass. Ahead of them, Mr. Gold and Lacey were walking arm in arm and chatting happily.
It was then she remembered the next event to occur in the 'sleepy town'
But she wouldn't remember any of it now, waking up on the floor of Ruby's room, packed between multitudes of blankets and coats.
"Oh god, I didn't think I could drink that much" she looked over to Ruby sprawled under the covers on her bed and the clock on the nightstand beside it. She swore loudly when she saw the time.
She crawled her way out of her nest quickly and raced out the door letting it slam again the wall, waking Ruby in the process, who fell out of the bed comically.
Watcher raced through into the diner and behind the counter where Granny was preparing toast for Leroy's breakfast. Watcher snatched two pieces as she ran through "His breakfasts on me. I'm gonna be late!" she said hurriedly as she ran to the door and out on to the street.
Granny stared at the girls back disapprovingly where as Leroy smiled at the thought of a free breakfast. His smile vanished and he shook his head, tutting disapprovingly when Granny turned back to him.
Watcher bolted down the street, she hoped, at a Speedy Gonzalez pace.
She had three minutes now to make it Gold's shop and it was at least seven minute walk from the diner.
She remembered the jokes she used to share with The Doc about running being in the Job Description, but couldn't laugh for breathing.
'He would slap me if he knew I called him Doc, he hates that'
She saw Gold's shop and kept moving.
She finally reached the door and took hold of the handle, still coming in at speed, but she tried to open the door the wrong way and so slammed face first into the glass of the door.
She was on her back on the asphalt of the sidewalk clutching her now bleeding nose when the door was pulled open harshly by Rumplestiltskin.
He looked at his door that now had a small amount of blood on the window and then down at her disapprovingly.
He shifted the sleeve of his jacket and checked his watch.
"Here with a minute to spare. Your first lesson, cleaning my window"
He moved back into the shop, holding the door open for her as she picked herself up off the ground.
She walked into the shop still holding her bloody nose.
Lacey, who was behind the counter, was sniggering at the sight but kindly inspected Watchers nose for any breakages.
"It's alright, I've had worse and I'd know if it were broken. I have strong innards but weak skin" Watcher told her. Sure enough, there was a definite cut across her nose.
"I'll get something to clean it and a bandaid" said Lacey and with that she left the room.
Watcher looked to Gold.
"Is she gonna be here the whole time?"
"No" he answered "I told her that, my apprentice and I, have business to attend to and that we would be leaving at nine o'clock sharp"
He picked up a bag that was sitting on the counter and turned back to her
"I'll heal that for you once we've gone" he told her kindly
Watcher cocked her head with a crooked smile, blinking lazily "If I didn't know better Mr. Gold, I'd say you were warming up to me"
He didn't have a chance to reply smartly as Lacey reappeared with paper towel and a bottle of water.
She wet the towel and dabbed it carefully over Watcher's nose, then began unwrapping the small bandage that had been hidden in a pocket and gently placed it over the wound.
Watcher smiled. There was still some of Belle in there, she could see it.
"Thanks. I'm Watcher by the way"
"I'm Lacey" the other replied, taking the hand that was held out to her
"If you're all stitched up, we need to be leaving" Gold stated, pulling Watcher by the shoulder to the door.
"I'll see you later on" he said kindly to Lacey as they left.
They walked in silence, until;
"So, what're we learning today teach?"
Gold gave the girl a side glance before answering her
"Today, it's not so much a lesson as a student as it is a lesson as an apprentice" he told her
"What do you mean? I'm not learning magic? You're not going to teach me?"
They stopped by Regina and Henry at the bird feeding tree.
"What are we doing?" Watcher asked quietly, a sense of dread creeping into her heart
"Regina needs to be informed of your predicament. And I believe Henry needs to have a little chat with his aunt" he answered her.
Needless to say, Watcher was panicked now...as well as confused
'What did he mean about Henry?"
"Do you plan on standing there all day?" Regina called, not tearing her eyes from her son. Although he had looked to the pair, previous to her words and a frown had settled into his features, he remained silent.
"There's something you need to be informed of" Gold told her "That's one of the reasons we're here"
"One of the reasons? What's the other reasons?" Regina questioned
"Does there really need to be a reason?" the elder man joked
"You just live to be annoying, don't you?" Watcher asked him sarcastically
Regina gave her signature smile at her sisters attitude "So what's one of these reasons you came to talk about? Or are you here to just to be neighbourly?"
"Well one of the reasons is this" Rumplestiltskin said as, with a flourish of his hand, a bright red jacket appeared in his grasp.
Watcher stared at it wide eyed and unmoving. There was silence until Gold stared over to her.
"Come, come now dearie" he whispered "Face your fears"
Regina looked confused and bored "Are you wanting me to approve a new hood for the wolf?"
Henry, who was a little quicker on the uptake...and had all the relevant information, turned his own wide eyes to Watcher, but still said nothing.
"It's not for Ruby" Gold stated
Regina looked toward her sister confused "Do you know what he's on about?"
Watcher gave a frustrated whine "Don't freak out! Please, don't freak out! I only didn't tell you because I didn't know how you'd react. And she didn't mean to do it! It was just...everyone involved was in the wrong place at the wrong time! And I forgave her! I mean, it wasn't even her fault to begin with-"
Regina waved her hands to silence her sister, even more confused than she already was.
"What are you talking about? Wrong place, wrong time? Whose fault? Am I the only one who doesn't know what's going on around here?" Regina asked loudly
The two sisters looked at each other, the younger rather sheepishly.
"Yes" Watcher said in a pitchy, timid voice.
Regina stared at her sister, mouth agape. Watcher moved forward and closed her sisters mouth "Don't let the flies in. They don't taste particularly good"
Things stayed quiet for about a minute until Gold decided to take the reigns
"Fine then. If you're not going to tell her then I will! Maybe we'll get out of here sooner"
"Maybe it's not your place to tell!" Watcher spat at him as she continued to stare at her sister, but he just ignored her.
"Your beloved sister was bitten by the Werewolf. This is her hood" he stated as he draped the red garment over the young girls head, effectively hiding her glare from view. It was quite comical when she snapped her head back in his direction to try and stare at him.
Regina blinked and turned an angry eye to her baby sister who, even as the comic relief in the situation, continued to cower underneath the red material.
Watcher could see the disapproving look Regina was giving her through the material, but chose not to direct her attention to her sister instead she spoke to Rumplestiltskin again.
"Did you make this? It's nice. Good material, nice and soft, warm but breathable. It's great workmanship"
He answered her with a small 'yes' and a quiet 'Oh, well, thank you'
"I'm gonna kill that Werewolf" Regina hissed "And then I'm gonna kill you!" she continued pointing to her sister "How could you not tell me you're now a Werewolf?!"
"Because I knew you'd react badly!" Watcher shot back in sad tones
"Oh and I bet Snow White knows exactly what's going on!"
"Of course!" Watcher could feel her anger bubbling "She was there the whole time! She looked after me when I needed someone to!"
"I'm your big sister. I'm the one that's supposed to look after you!"
"Well where the hell have you been?!" Watcher yelled
"Enough!" Henry screamed calling all attention of those around him.
Watcher looked around them. Other people on the street had taken to staring at the screaming match that had just ended.
"Do you mind?!" Watcher said forcefully causing those watching to hurry away
Rumplestiltskin and Regina were both proud of the young girls superiority over the others around them, though Regina didn't let it show at that moment.
Henry gave Watcher a look of disparagement.
"She's protective" he told his mother, who gaped at him. He turned to Watcher "You both are!" he stated cogently and matched Watcher's obdurate expression.
"Gold tells me that we should have a talk" she said softly. She raised a brow but the rest of her look remained the same "Was he right?"
"I suppose" Henry said dismissively
"So what do we need to talk about?"
"How about we start with the files in the Mausoleum"
"You found the files?! Henry, please tell me you didn't read anything?" Watcher asked, panic becoming evident in her voice.
"A bit, not too much" he said evenly
She looked at him wide eyed and threw herself forward. If Rumplestiltskin hadn't caught her around her middle, she would've jumped the fence and throttled him.
Regina threw her arms around him and pulled him back away from her maniac sister.
"You little twerp! Do you realise what you've done?!" Watcher screamed at him
"My son is not a twerp!" Regina stated, but Watcher ignored her.
Henry stared at her, shocked by her outburst "I'm more concerned with what you're not telling us!" he yelled at her "You knew everything about us before you even got here! You knew what would happen in the Enchanted Forest with Mary-Margaret and My mom! You knew how Cora would die! You even knew about my dad!"
"You're a stupid, inquisitive, ungrateful little twerp!" She screamed again
"All you had to do was listen to me! I was protecting you Henry! I was protecting you from the duties of a Watcher! I was your age when I went to my first world! I was your age when I had my first kill! I was your age when I became a full-fledged Watcher! This is not a game Henry! This is not fun! This is dangerous information made by dangerous people and executed by people far more precarious! I suppose you saw those other files? The ones of the people? Those aren't people from stories Henry! Those are people, Watchers, who were kidnapped from their homes, from other worlds, by the people I worked for! I'm not here by accident Henry. I have to help those Watchers. I lost two friends because of those files and it was all my fault! Greggson is here because he's been ordered to kill me! Now you've read those files, they'll say they're able to take you! They'll think you know too much. They will train you to fight and die as A Watcher! And you can't get out of being A Watcher...the only escape is death" Watcher stopped and breathed "I was protecting you for turning into me"
Watcher was almost in tears and Regina had a few seep silently from her lashes and land on her sons head.
Henry stared at his Aunt, a distressed expression settling onto his face.
"I'm sorry" he whispered, wiping his eyes on his sleeve "I'm sorry" he ripped himself from his mothers hold and tore off down the street.
"Henry!" Regina called
Gold reluctantly let go of the girl in his grasp and watched her drop to her knees on the pavement.
Regina turned to the two of them, looking at her baby sister in disappointment and sympathy. No wonder her sister was the way she was. All that joking around and smiling was covering up the pain and her pain gave reason as to why she was so fierce and protective of herself and others.
Watcher sat on her knees and hid her face in her hands "I suppose I should go after him" she said through her fingers.
She picked herself up and started to walk off in the direction Henry had gone. But not before backtracking and taking her new jacket from Gold's hand as he held it out to her. He having picked it up from the ground when it fell from her head during her rant.
"I suppose there will be no lesson today" he stated off handedly
"What do you mean lesson?" Regina questioned
He looked back to the female Mayor.
"Watcher has asked me to teach her in magic" he said casually
"I was going to do that" Regina growled
"Well, from your friendly conversation just now, I'd say she sought me out. She must thought you were ignoring her. You have been busy after all, I suppose. Too busy to see her in the hospital?"
Regina gave a sour look and walked away down the road to her office.
Rumplestiltskin smirked and made his way back to his shop to spend more time with Lacey.