Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, between episodes 7 and 8

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Henry Mills sat at in class Monday watching the funeral Mass for Sheriff Graham. His teacher, Ms. Blanchard had plugged in the television to the school's closed circuit TV system and got access to the local broadcast. He knew how Graham had died. She did it. His adopted mother, the evil queen. The boy couldn't prove it, but he just knew. Sheriff Graham was breaking the curse. If not the curse surrounding all of Storybrooke, then at least the part of the curse that held him in its clutches. The medical reports all said it was a heart attack, but he knew better. Henry wanted to convince Emma, but at the same time he needed to stay away from her. If his mother could kill Graham, then even an outsider like Emma wasn't safe.

~O~

"It's done," Emma said into her cell phone. She was speaking with Mayor Mills. "Valerie Kensington is under arrest."

"Excellent work, Deputy Swan. I'm glad you finally saw things my way," Regina told her. "I want formal charges brought against her and a trial date to be set as early as possible."

"I'll press the charges, but I want her to see a psychologist first."

"I'm sorry, Deputy, but at what point did I ask you to bring in a mental health professional?"

"It's my call. I don't think she's lying."

"Oh really? How would you know?" Regina asked her.

"I just know," Emma replied.

"Deputy Swan, watching a few seasons of House, MD does not confer upon you a medical degree. I suggest you follow my directions exactly."

"I'm not doing anything else until Archie Hopper has spoken with her first," Emma stated defiantly.

"Ms. Swan, may I remind you that you work for this town not the other way around."

"Exactly, I work for this town, not you. Which is why I'm calling for a psychological exam to determine her competency to stand trial."

"On whose authority?!"

"Dr. Whale's. I spoke with him before leaving the hospital. He thinks that Valerie's identity crisis stems from a combination of medical and mental trauma," Emma replied. "He's already contacted Dr. Hopper. Archie is going to drop by and perform a preliminary exam this afternoon."

"Well, good luck with that, Deputy. I'm going to enjoy seeing you proven wrong. Valerie Kensington is a criminal. She deserves her day in court and plenty of time behind bars."

"Are you going to be the judge at her trial, too, Madam Mayor?"

"No, but I'll be there to watch the judge hand down his decision at this 'hearing' of yours. Good afternoon, Deputy."

Regina shut down her end of the line. Emma could not understand the mayor's determination to see the young woman in jail. Ms. Swan almost felt a kinship with the poor girl. She saw a bit of herself in Valerie. Even though Val had an adopted mother, she clearly had feelings of abandonment. Ms. Swan had suffered through that when her first foster parents had a child of their own. Emma was given back. Returned to the Foster Care system where she bounced from home to home. Never putting down roots or a making any personal connections.

Claire didn't return Valerie, but it seemed obvious that she had a closer attachment to Tina than to her adopted daughter. With no sense of belonging, Valerie acted out seeking love and attention from the one person she needed it from most. Her mother.

~O~

Sitting in her home office, Regina fumed at Swan. That kind of defiance had to be dealt with. On the desk next to her was a copy of the town charter. She had begun to flip through it looking for ways to be rid of Ms. Swan as the town's sole law enforcement officer. In the pages of the charter she found what she was looking for. If the office of sheriff became vacant, the mayor had the power to appoint a candidate for election.

That could be a problem. Elections were not a queen's best friend. She decided to stack the deck in her favor and simply declare someone the next sheriff. Regina counted on the fact that no one in town had the foresight to read the town's founding document and recognize her abuse of power.

Abuse. What a dirty, little word. Regina preferred to call it: mayor's prerogative.

Removing Emma Swan as deputy of Storybrooke would be easy enough, but she had made friends. Regina decided it would be fun to make that Swan woman look the fool before the entire town. It would make dispatching her from office that much sweeter. And could possibly even drive her out of Storybrooke for good.

This Valerie Kensington case would be an excellent situation to do just that. The mayor picked up her phone and placed a call. Regina began moving pieces together to railroad the Kensington girl. First, she recruited a judge that would most likely rule in Regina's favor. Second, Claire in all likelihood wouldn't be able to afford a high priced lawyer to defend Valerie. She would need a public defender. Arrangements were made for the most incompetent defense attorney's in Storybrooke be assigned to the Kensington hearing.

Two birds with one stone, she thought to herself. Be rid of that Swan woman forever, leaving Henry heartbroken and all to herself. Plus, she could finally force Clarion out of Storybrooke so the curse would do something particularly awful to her at the city limits. Not a bad day's work.

~O~

Claire went home and showered after the last lawn she had to mow today. She would have preferred working in the Town Hall doing the work she was hired to do, but it was closed because of the funeral. With the mayor and the city council in attendance along with most of the town's small government at the function, the building was closed. Tonight, though would be different. Claire could gather her youngest and do some work in the evening.

"Valerie," she said, smacking her forehead. She had to visit her girl in the hospital tonight. She promised.

After the shower, the mother of two drove to the center of town. She parked in front of a building across the street from Granny's Diner. In that building was Archie Hopper's office. He wanted to talk to her first before proceeding.

Claire was nervous. More nervous than her first date with Hartley. More nervous than her first few weeks being a mother to that precious baby girl she had named... Valerie.

Being a mother the first time is always nerve wracking. Losing that child was more stressful. Losing her this way was impossible. Before she knew it, Claire was at the door of Dr. Archie Hopper, Psychologist.

A faint knock on the door was her meek signal that she was at his office. Claire really didn't want to be here and she hoped that the tiny knocks would go unnoticed. The sound of a barking dog evaporated that small hope. Pongo, the good doctor's Dalmatian, had heard her weak tapping and alerted Archie.

The door slowly opened. The kindly form of Dr. Archie Hopper stood in the doorway. He was smiling as always when he greeted her. "Hello, Mrs. Kensington. Please, please come in."

~O~

Claire stared at the glass of water Dr. Hopper had offered her. It was filled with ice and beads of condensation dripped down its cold sides. A wrapping of napkins captured the drops near the base where she gripped it.

"I understand this can be hard," Archie told her. "Take your time."

"I'm sorry, what did you ask me again?"

"What was it that you think made Valerie run out of the house that night?"

She stared at the ice water again. "I…, we were… We had an argument. Valerie was being…, very…, very disrespectful of Sheriff Graham. He had died the night before and all she could think about was how much she disliked him."

"Is that all?"

"I couldn't understand why she was acting this way," Claire said. "I raised her better than that. I know she was not fond of the sheriff for arresting her every time she went to The Rabbit Hole, but what she said was uncalled for."

There was a long pause. Something hung in the air and both persons felt it. "What is it you're not telling me?" Archie said prodding.

Mrs. Kensington didn't say anything. She took a sip of her ice water and then stared into the fireplace, watching the flames lick up into the air. Archie glanced over at where she was looking.

"Claire, I'm not here to judge," Archie said in a caring and kindly voice. "You can tell me what happened."

The anxious mother took several deep breaths. Her eyes darted about as she recalled that night. Tears welled up inside them and then began to steak down her cheeks. Almost a perfect reflection of the water that slipped down her glass of ice water. She could admit it to herself, but could she admit it to another person? Even someone as nice as Dr. Hopper?

"Claire? What is it?"

She opened her mouth to speak before hesitating. "I… I can't. She…"

"It's okay," Hopper said. "If you get it off your chest you'll feel better. Lighter, as if a burden has been lifted from your shoulders."

His patient furrowed her brow and stared at the psychologist. "Does it really work that way?"

"Yes. When I was in school learning my profession I had to undergo therapy as part of my training," he told her. "We learned what it was like to be a patient. I can tell you for a fact that what you will feel is relief."

Claire gulped hard. After a moment she spoke. "Valerie has always maintained that I prefer Tina over her."

"Do you?"

"No. No of course not…., I don't think."

"Interesting. Why would you say that?"

"That… that night during our argument she accused me of not wanting her. She's always accused me of not wanting her. But Thursday Valerie made me so mad that I actually said 'yes,' I never wanted her in the first place." Claire broke into bouts of weeping as soon as those words left her lips.

"You were angry. She was hurting you."

"No. I meant it," she said through her crying. "I didn't intend to say it, but I could feel it in my heart. I meant every word of it. How can a mother not want her own child?"

Archie processed this for a moment. "Is this why Valerie ran away?"

Claire nodded, unable to speak. Dr. Hopper moved from his chair to the sofa where Claire was seated. "Do you know why you said this?"

Claire nodded again.

"Have you tried telling her?"

"She'll think that I hate her," Claire said, barely able to get out those words. "I don't hate her. I couldn't, but I know she will think it."

"You don't know that. But if you say nothing she will go on thinking the worst."

Claire's cell phone rang.

"I thought I asked you to turn that off," Archie said.

"I'm sorry. I forgot." Claire took the phone from her purse. She was about to decline the call when she read the name on the screen. She answered. "Tina. Now is not a good time for me." There was a pause as Claire listened. Her expression changed. "Valerie has been placed under arrest," she told Archie. "Now what am I going to do?"

~O~

Vidia kept pulling on the lengthy chain that bound her to the bedrail.

"Why aren't you helping me?" Vidia asked Tinker Bell.

"Because it is illegal to tamper with one of those," she answered. "I'll go to jail."

"Is that what will happen to me? Will I go to this jail?"

Tink said nothing. It spoke volumes. "I don't want to go to jail, Tinker Bell."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" she asked. "My name is Tina. I'm your sister. I always beat you to the bathroom door every morning and you call me bad names through the door."

Vidia answered, "Because your name IS Tinker Bell. And I'm not your sister. I'm your friend. Periwinkle, a frost fairy, is your sister."

"A frost fairy?"

"Yes! You were both born from the same laugh."

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Tinker Bell looked over at the visitor and turned ashen. Vidia had never seen her so frightened.

"Mayor Mills," Tink said, her voice quaking with fear.

"Could you give your sister and me a moment alone?" this human woman asked. Vidia didn't recognize her, so she wasn't a fairy from home.

"Yes, Mayor Mills." Tink got up to leave. "I'll be right outside the door, Val."

"Don't leave me," Vidia cried. It was too late. Tinker Bell had slipped out into the hallway. Her gaze turned to the woman dressed in a black dress and short coat. Her hair was dark and cut just over her shoulders.

"So, Valerie," the woman said. "I hear you received a nasty blow to the head and now you think you're someone different."

"My name is Vidia," she answered.

"Vidia? I see. And where do you come from, Vidia?"

"Pixie Hollow. In Never Land."

The woman's face turned into a smile. "You do know that Never Land doesn't exist? It's just a fairy tale."

"It's real. I live there. Lived there."

"I see. And where in this Pixie Hollow do you live?"

Vidia looked into the woman's eyes. She saw something scary. Evil. It made Vidia stiffen. "I live in the sour plum tree," she stated bluntly, all the fear in her voice gone.

This woman, this Mayor Mills apparently didn't like her response. The woman's face twisted. "What is your address?"

"Address?"

"The house where you live," Mayor Mills restated disdainfully.

"I told you, I live in a sour plum tree."

"Now how could you live inside of a tree?" Mayor Mills asked. "You're a human. You would be too big."

"I'm a fairy," Vidia replied. "I'm six inches tall. Usually."

Mayor Mills laughed. She pushed her face into Vidia's. "You're lying. Your name is Valerie Kensington. You might have fooled your doctors, and you might have fooled your mother and even Deputy Swan, but you can't fool me. I'm going to prove you're a liar. And when I do, I'm going to run you and your family out of town. Do you understand me? Now tell me who you really are!"

Vidia responded by pushing her face back into Mayor Mills' face. Her brow furrowed, eyes narrowed and with a deep conviction in her voice said, "My name is Vidia. I'm a fast flying fairy. And if you ever threaten me or my friends again I will personally feed you to the crocodile. Do you understand me?"

Mayor Mills smiled. "You have spirit. I like spirit. Let's see how long it lasts. Goodbye…., Valerie."

Looks like Vidia isn't going to roll over for Regina. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.