At the Diner, the Dwarfs were welcoming back Sneezy to their fold by having a celebratory last drink.
In fact a few others of the Towns residence were also having a last meal or drink, including the Nuns and Archie.
Well, all except Grumpy who was having a fast paced conversation with Granny and The Mother Superior.
"And you're sure he said Watcher was leaving?" Granny questioned
Grumpy nodded, confirming his story for a fifth time.
"The question is, why would she be leaving?" he stated "Gold had a theory, but it didn't sound valid to me"
"She seemed strange when I saw her last" Stated Blue "Distracted and distressed"
"She said she was broken, I don't think she was in her right mind" Mary-Margaret spoke up from behind Granny "Something about a fibre being torn in her spine"
Blue and Grumpy looked at one another with guilty wide eyes.
"You know something, don't you" said Mary-Margaret with narrowed eyes.
"We'll explain later. Right now we need to find our little know-it-all" said Grumpy
"You mean Watcher? She's not here? I thought she'd be here if anywhere!"
Granny looped an arm around Mary-Margaret's shoulders "Don't worry. We'll find her"
"That's right" Grumpy confirmed "You just look after Henry. We'll look after this"
Blue nodded and moved back over to her congregation, explaining the situation and within a minute the bell dinged over the door as all the nuns filed out onto the street to locate the girl.
The bell jingled again as Emma entered.
Henry and Mary-Margaret ran to her to hug her tightly and then all three of them moved to a table so Mary-Margaret could explain everything.
Grumpy turned back to Granny "So what do we do now?"
"I'll tell Ruby to go and help the Nuns" Granny told him "She knows that girl as if she were her own sister. She'll be able to sniff her out. Meanwhile you and the other Dwarfs get out there too and find her. Mary-Margaret's already worried and no doubt Emma and Henry will be as well. But just imagine Regina's reaction when she finds out"
"She'll burn the place down before the curse does" said Grumpy
The bell jingled over the door for a third time and David and Hook entered. David holding up a leather pouch.
"We have the bean"
Emma closed the door behind them "You did it?"
"Yeah"
"You okay?" she asked her father in concern
"Oh, it's just a graze. It's fine"
"Okay, let's get going. Henry?" Emma called
"Where's my mom?" Henry questioned, referring to Regina.
"Regina can hold off the self-destruct device long enough for us to escape. But-" Emma paused, not entirely sure with her words.
"But, what?"
Emma looked to her mother as if sharing a thought.
"She won't survive" she finally answered Henry
Realisation dawned over all in the cafe. After a few more minutes of conversation there was a plan in place.
Now realising that both had wandered away from each other, Granny moved back towards Grumpy.
"Now! Go now! Out through the back" Granny whispered to him.
Grumpy nodded and indicated to the other Dwarfs to follow him and exited out through the back door while Granny went to talk to Ruby.
Watcher sat in the middle of the road staring at the Town Line.
She didn't hear the sound of the Dwarfs approaching truck being too caught up in her mental debate of what to do.
It stopped a little ways away and the Dwarfs got out with Grumpy shouting instructions to the others, three of who ran off.
Happy got Grumpys attention and pointed her out to him.
"Watcher" Grumpy called, but she didn't react. She didn't even acknowledge their existence.
The remaining Dwarfs ran to her.
"Watcher?" one of them questioned
"Hey, know-it-all, you okay?" Grumpy asked her
She turned to him slightly.
"Know-it-all? I suppose I am. Comes with the job" She said quietly.
The Dwarfs shared a look and Grumpy moved forward to sit next to the girl. The other dwarfs eventually followed his lead so all of them lined up along the Town side of the line.
After a pregnant pause, Grumpy spoke up...as he always did.
"So, know-it-all, what's up? Blue and Mary-Margaret both say you're losing it, care to verify"
Watcher sighed lightly "I just...don't know what to do"
"Is the town gonna be okay?" one of the others blurted out
Watcher made a sound and waved the question off "The town's gonna be fine, everyone's gonna live"
There was a collective sigh from the Dwarfs.
"But I'm not gonna be able to help or protect anyone anymore" she finished quietly.
"What're you talking about? Are you talking about the fibre in your spine?"
Watcher gave Grumpy a blank stare "Did Mary-Margaret tell you?"
"We helped you when you were injured. We saw the fibre in your wound. The Blue Fairy knows too, she healed you"
"But she couldn't fix the NanoCable" Watcher said glumly
Grumpy slowly looked to her "That doesn't sound good"
"It's not. It means I can't use my Nanos"
"But you're a Mills. You have magic"
"That I don't know how to use"
There was another silence before another Dwarf spoke.
"I hate to say it, but you are a Mills"
"You're the best Mills we know" said one
"Magic is in your blood" spoke another
"And from what I've heard, you're not A Watcher anymore" Grumpy stated
"I know" Watcher muttered "I just don't feel whole anymore"
The Dwarfs all shared a look.
"We know what that's like"
"A Dwarfs Axe is like an extension of himself"
"He spends his whole life in the Mines with that Axe"
"He polishes it-"
"-And takes care of it and even though he doesn't sleep with it"
"And he doesn't feel like himself until he's holding it again" Grumpy said, finishing the alternating points of view.
"We get it know-it-all" Grumpy stated with a smile
Watcher looked to him and mimicked his smile as a small 'Thanks'
Something black shot out of the foliage nearby to the road and into the air, disappearing into the sky.
"What was that?" Sneezy asked loudly emerging from the other side of the road. Ruby, Blue and a few other nuns appearing with him.
There were resounding echo's of Dunno' and 'Beats me'
"Watcher!" Ruby called as she ran to the girl, throwing her arms around her "Don't you ever do that again"
Grumpy moved over to Blue and proceeded to have a quiet conversation with her and a few moments later The Blue Fairy was over at Watchers side with a hand on her shoulder.
"Grumpy has just informed me of your situation" she stated quietly "Is there anything that I can do?"
Watcher shook her head "The Fibres need to be reconnected. You'd have to get the Fibre from Mendell and cut me open again to sew it together"
Grumpy stared at her disbelievingly "Boy, you Watchers sure take a beating, after you beat yourselves down first"
"It's all part of the 'training'" Watcher hissed sourly.
"Well, I think you need to be re-trained" Grumpy stated.
'I think you might be right' Watcher told herself.
It was then she remembered something.
"Get me to the docks, quick!"