Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 4

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

The phone rang at the Kensington residence. Claire was calling to alert her youngest what was going on at the old mine.

"The mayor's son is trapped," she told Tina rather frantically. "It collapsed and they are trying to get him and Dr. Hopper out. I'm staying here in case they need a hand."

"Okay, Mom," Tina said. "I hope Henry and Doctor Hopper are okay."

"Yes. Me, too, sweetie," Claire answered. "Is your sister there?"

"She hasn't come home yet," Tina answered.

"Okay, call me when she does. I wuv you," Claire said.

"Awe, Mom, you're not going to make me say that, are you?"

"Please?"

Tina just sighed. "I wuv you, Mommy."

She could practically hear the big smile through the receiver. "I'll be home as soon as this is over. Bye."

"Bye, Mom." Tina hung up the phone.

Tina informed Clarence what was transpiring at the mine. He seemed genuinely frightened. Unable to study, they turned on the big screen television in the family room and watched the local news as events transpired.

~O~

Desiree was reporting from the old mine. Her co-host, Cleo moved throughout the crowd getting brief interviews with the onlookers gathering emotions, feedback and general impressions. Though not true reporters, Desiree thought it would be good way to bolster ratings for their morning show.

"And there she goes now," Desiree said. The camera focused on a blonde woman in a harness as she was being lowered into an old elevator mine shaft tunnel. The winch on the back of Billy's tow truck was the means by which she was carefully descending into the opening.

"Henry Mills and his therapist, Doctor Archie Hopper have been entombed inside this old mine for hours," Dee summarized. "Previous attempts to open up the collapsed entryway failed. Now this tow truck winch is their last desperate hope to recover the two missing persons from a terrible fate."

The camera never deviated from the scene as the blonde woman disappeared into the ground. "Newcomer Emma Swan, recently deputized, is risking life and limb by going down this treacherous elevator shaft to rescue those poor souls. We don't yet know why Henry and Dr. Hopper went into the mine, but right now we can only hope they come out alive."

~O~

While Emma was being lowered into the mine shaft, Archie and Henry sat in the rickety elevator. A single flashlight sitting upright was their only light source. Henry shared one of his chocolate bars with Archie as they talked. Henry apologized for getting them trapped. He only wanted to find proof of his theory so that Archie wouldn't think he was crazy.

"I don't think you're crazy," Archie said. Dr. Hopper explained that his mother had a very clear idea of what she wanted from him and she reacted badly when he deviated from that. But it was also natural for Henry to be creative and choose his own path. Archie then apologized for things he had said, about delusions and psychosis. Unlike Henry, who seemed to know who he was and what he had to do, Archie wasn't the person he thought he could be. At times he lacked conviction and had trouble standing up to authority figures.

"I'm not a very good person." This admission left him feeling dejected and depressed.

While the two spoke and shared, the elevator would occasionally shift and groan reminding the occupants of its precariousness.

"I think you can be him," Henry said. "I think you can be a good person."

Dr. Hopper couldn't see the connection. Jiminy Cricket was a conscience. Archie wasn't.

Like Archie, Jiminy took a while to figure out the right thing to do. It was just harder for Archie with the curse, Henry told him. Maybe that voice inside was who he really wanted to be. Somehow this resonated with Dr. Hopper. It made him believe that he could be that person after all. He listened deep inside himself, clearing his mind to find that voice. That conscience that everyone was supposed to have.

A sudden jolt brought both of them out of the moment. The elevator was shifting more, slowly losing its footing. They both knew what it meant. Soon the elevator would fall back to the bottom floor and they would both lose their lives.

~O~

Claire and the others watched intently as the winch kept putting more and more of the metal line down into the elevator shaft. "How far down can they be?" she asked herself from time to time.

Hartley was also there watching, waiting and hoping. Both were so concerned with the safety of Henry and Doctor Hopper that neither noticed the other.

~O~

Desiree continued to broadcast, usually with quick reports from Cleo as she made her way through the crowd with a cameraman. Cleo walked up to a middle aged woman with honey brown hair dressed in work clothes and stuck the microphone in her face. She identified herself to the woman before asking questions.

"What's your name?" Cleo asked.

"Claire Kensington," she replied.

"And what's going through your mind right now, Mrs. Kensington?"

"Oh I just hope they are okay," Claire answered. "I have two girls of my own and if one of them were trapped like this I would be a total wreck. I don't know how Mayor Mills can stay so calm."

"Thank you, Mrs. Kensington," Cleo replied before moving on to the next person.

~O~

"Hey, that's Mom!" Tina shouted from her sofa. "I can't wait to tell her she was on TV."

"I think she already knows," Clarence replied with a chuckle.

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah because she was just interviewed by a TV reporter. Never mind."

Clarence leaned over and kissed her lovingly on her temples. She responded by putting her head on his shoulders. He put his arm around her and she moved in closer while they watched.

~O~

Archie had to know why Henry still believed in the curse. At first Henry couldn't provide an answer, but after some prodding the boy was able to convey that he believed there had to be more than just this. He wanted proof, but found nothing.

"That's not true," Dr. Hopper replied. "You found me." Archie finally remembered what kind of person he had always wanted to be. "I just have to listen harder."

A few moments later dirt began to fall on them. When Henry and Archie looked up, a flashlight beam shined on them. It was Emma. When she reached the unsteady lift, she called up to Billy through a shoulder mounted walkie-talkie. "Okay, that's enough."

An escape door on the top of the elevator opened and Archie lifted the boy up to Emma. She took him in her arms and he wrapped himself around her. But the movements of Archie and Henry caused the elevator to shift and lose its hold. It shuddered and bounced around.

"I'm sorry!" Emma cried.

"It's okay," Dr. Hopper replied. He had found himself and was at peace. A second later the elevator broke free and crashed down into the floor of the mine shaft.

Neither Emma nor Henry could watch the horror. But Emma did look, she felt something tugging at her. There was Archie Hopper clinging to his umbrella. He had managed to slip its hook shaped handle through a carabiner on her harness just before the elevator collapsed.

~O~

"I see something. Yes, I see something," Desiree yelled into her microphone. "Yes, it's Emma Swan. AND THERE'S HENRY MILLS. The mayor's little boy who was trapped. And here comes the ecstatic mother."

Regina embraced her son so tightly. The people who had gathered applauded and cheered the wonderful end of this terrible day.

"Ooh, isn't that sweet," Desiree continued. "Oh wait. Yes, Doctor Hopper made it out just fine. Oh this is a happy day for the townsfolk of Storybrooke. What could have been a disaster has turned into triumph. Hopelessness gave way to ingenuity and determination. Sadness replaced by happiness. No one will ever forget where they were when that little boy emerged unharmed from the mine."

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

It was late at night, Jiminy's parents were asleep. With no conscience to bother them they always slept well. Not Jiminy. His conscience couldn't let him sleep knowing what horrors he had committed today. But he felt that he could make things right again. He made a wish on a star, calling out to The Blue Fairy.

"You don't have to wish so loud," The Blue Fairy replied. Alas, she could not undo the spell. The boy's parents were gone and no magic could undo death. Jiminy still felt responsible and wanted to help, but he didn't know how to get away from his parents. He thought this was all he could be.

"What if you could be the person you always wanted?" she asked him. Jiminy listened and heard crickets. That was what he wanted. To be free like them. With a wave of her wand Jiminy became a cricket. He was well dressed and sported an umbrella. That orphaned boy was going to face many daunting challenges and would need a conscience and a guide. Jiminy would be that guide, The Blue Fairy told him.

"How will I find him?" Jiminy chirped. "What's his name?"

The Blue Fairy replied, "The boy's name is Geppetto."

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

The instant Henry was safe Regina reverted back to her old ways. "Deputy," she told Emma, "You can clear the crowd away." This was how Regina intended to keep Emma away from her son.

A moment later Dr. Hopper confronted Mayor Mills. He was going to treat Henry as he saw fit according to his professional ethics and his conscience. Regina, however, wouldn't stand for it. She was determined to get her way. Archie reminded her that if she were to ever get into a custody battle with Emma, and that was a good possibility, the court would bring in expert testimony to determine who is a fit parent. Often that expert testimony was the person who treated the child.

This sent a chill down Regina's spine.

"You can try and do your worst," he told her. "But I will always do my best."

~O~

The celebration at the old mine lasted well into the night. Friends talked and shared their feelings. Marco and Archie talked extensively. So much in fact that Emma thought Marco was Archie's father.

"No, they're just friends," Henry informed her. Seconds later Henry began to hear crickets. A sound he had never heard in Storybrooke. "See, things are changing."

Elsewhere in Storybrooke, Mary Margaret resigned as a volunteer at the hospital, unable to bear the pain of being so close to David, the man she loved so dearly, but could not have.

Mr. Gold closed up shop. Inside his store were two marionette puppets. The very same ones that had once been Geppetto's mother and father before they accidentally drank the potion intended for Jiminy's parents.

Back at the mine, someone had bought a few cases of beer to celebrate Henry and Archie's rescue. Jo, the exterminator, was handing out bottles and cans to whomever wanted one.

Ruby, the waitress at Granny's Diner, noticed Claire staring wistfully at someone. A man in coveralls. He was tall, spoke with a refined British accent and had salt and pepper hair.

"He looks nice, doesn't he?" Ruby asked Claire.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Hartley is quite a special man," she answered. "He pulled me out of a bind; twice already."

"But he hasn't noticed you, huh?"

Claire sighed. "Not really. I think he tried to ask me out once, but that was years ago. He's moved on since then."

"Well, what's to stop you from asking him out?" Ruby suggested.

"Oh, I couldn't do that."

"You can do it, Claire."

"No, no I can't. I mean just look at me. I'm almost fifty, I dress in work clothes. I look old and I feel old."

"Well the right set of clothes will make you feel young and sexy all over again," Ruby told her. "Come by my place tomorrow and I'll MILF you up. It'll blow his mind."

"What? Ruby, no!"

"Trust me, I'll have you in clothes so seductive he'll be trying get you out of them faster than you could get into them."

"I don't want a one night stand," Claire said. "I want a deep, loving and committed relationship like what I had with Charlie."

"Live a little," Ruby said emphatically. "Nothing is wrong with having some random guy you just met tear your clothes off and leave you begging for more. Oh hey, watch this. I sent a friend of mine over there."

"You did what?!"

"If this doesn't get you to talk to him then you are not human."

A woman happened by and "accidentally" dropped something at Hartley's feet. Hartley, ever the chivalrous man bent over to pick it up.

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad," Claire said.

"Look, look, look," Ruby pleaded.

"No, I'm not going to look." She looked. "Oh my gosh. That man has a butt that just won't quit."

"See. Told ya."

"Do you really think I can pull off being a… a…?"

"… A hot mom he can't resist? Absolutely. I can make you into his perfect fantasy woman," Ruby boasted.

Claire sighed. "No, I can't do that. Sorry, Ruby. What I had with Charlie was so wonderful. Trust me, once you've been in a perfect marriage like that, nothing else will ever come close."

"Okay, suit yourself. I'm going to go over there and talk to Billy. Something about him just drives me wild."

Claire just lowered her head. She couldn't even get up the strength of will to ask a man out on a date. Her heart ached with the loss of Charlie. It also ached from the emptiness. She sat in the bed of her truck, surrounded by the tools of her trade and was wondering if she could ever find love again.

"Hello, would you like a drink?" a suave and refined British voice asked.

She looked over. It was Hartley. He was holding two bottles of beer in his hand. She was startled by his presence. Claire wanted to say something like "Hi" or "Yes, I would love one." But she felt just like a frumpy, teenaged wallflower who had just been asked out to the prom by the hunky star quarterback. So instead she blurted out a big, goofy laugh that sound liked "Bwuh huh huh huh!"

It was the worst sound she could have made. Claire slapped he hands over her mouth. She was totally mortified. Yet, he just smiled as if he thought it was the cutest thing in the world.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "Uh, yes. I would love some. Beer that is."

Hartley handed her one of the bottles and then very spritely leapt into her truck bed. "Shall we? To Henry's successful rescue?"

"Yes, to Henry and Dr. Hopper," she replied. They clinked their bottles together and then took a couple of swigs.

"May I?" he asked, motioning to the truck bed. He was politely asking her if he could sit with her.

"Oh, of course," she said with a smile. Claire looked over at Ruby, who was stretched out across the hood of the tow truck while she conversed with Billy. Her tight fitting pants and high heels making her look seductive and tempting. "Thanks, Ruby," Claire murmured, a smile on her face. She sat down next to her handsome visitor and they began to talk and enjoy themselves, sipping the beer from the brown bottles they kept in hand at all times.

~O~

Behind the tow truck, Regina hid from the onlookers and celebrators. She hovered over the mine shaft from which Henry had emerged earlier that day, safe and unharmed. The grate had been returned to its place immediately after the rescue. Regina removed the piece of glass debris from her coat pocket. She observed it carefully, remembering what it was. She tossed the piece to the ground where it fell through the grating and tumbled down the long shaft until it hit the bottom of the mine. It landed right next to what Henry had seen reflecting in his flashlight beam. The piece of glass debris was Henry's proof. A shard of Snow White's glass coffin, which now lay hidden forever in bowels of the mine.

~O~

"Oh would you excuse me for just a moment, Hartley?" Claire asked.

"Yes, of course," he answered pleasantly.

Regina was walking by. "Madam Mayor," she called out to her.

"Yes, Mrs. Kensington, what is it?" Regina sounded somewhat annoyed.

"My apologies, but you said yesterday the city intended to develop this area," Claire prefaced. "Is that something you'll be taking bids on?"

"I'm sorry, Claire, that work will be done entirely by city crews," Regina answered with a smile.

"Oh, okay, thank you," Claire replied, embarrassed from being rebuffed that way. Especially in front of Hartley.

"What about going to Town Hall?" Hartley suggested. "The city has always listed postings for work for which they want to receive bids. I'm sure there is something there you could do."

"Yes, why don't you try that," Regina answered. "In fact, the hall itself needs a little work done. I'm sure if you were to submit your bid tomorrow I could get the town council to accept your submission without question."

"You couldn't find a finer person to do that work, Madam Mayor," Hartley enthused.

"Good, well then I'll be looking for your submission," Regina said with an angry smile. "The cutoff date is the end of the week. Good evening."

Regina walked off, practically stormed off was more like it. Claire didn't seem to notice. "Why is it every time I need a knight in shining armor you show up?"

"Just lucky I guess," he answered with a smile.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you for taking me to the hospital. Thank you for clearing my name with the people of this city. And thank you for suggesting the Town Hall."

"It's my pleasure," he said. "Not to seem forward, but would you like to go on a date with me?"

The smile on her face melted away. Now she seemed sad, confused and in pain.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I just…"

"No, it's me," Claire admitted. "It has been eight years since Charlie died. He was such a great and loving husband, always putting us before his own needs. Now whenever I even think about dating another man I feel like…, well like I'm cheating on him. It makes me sick to my stomach. I honestly don't think I could ever replace him."

Claire sunk back down into the truck bed. Hartley again sat next to her. "Believe it or not, I can sympathize. Charlie was a rare breed. He was a great friend to me. Always willing to offer useful advice, to teach or to listen or just to have a beer with and enjoy the game. When he passed I felt like I had lost a brother."

"Yeah, that was Charlie. He always had the biggest heart," she said.

"I understand your apprehension," he told her. "But if you ever change your mind…," he said handing her a business card with his home address written on the back.

She smiled at him. "Thank you." Hartley leapt out of the truck bed as easily as he had jumped in. He took his beer from Claire, bid is goodbyes and strolled back to his friends.

Claire took a deep swig of the beer and then put the bottle to her head. The alcohol acted like a tonic for her pain. She had been enjoying Hartley's company immensely. At least until he asked her out. Then that twisting sensation returned to her stomach. Why did Charlie have to be such a good husband? she asked herself. Why did she have to be so lonely?

Thanks to everyone for making this story such a success. After recently hitting 3000 views, the story is now at 3400 views. You are all amazing.