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

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Claire stared down the two defense attorneys. "What good are you? Valerie has been a model daughter ever since waking up after the accident and you made no mention of it to the judge. She worked hard last night without a single note of discontent and you said nothing. Valerie even thinks others in Storybrooke are fairies, but all I heard was silence. In fact, the only thing you accomplished today was to antagonize the judge. Why are you even in the law practice?"

Before the two men could say a word, D.A. Spencer answered for them. "Because they know like I do that your daughter is a criminal and a menace. Nothing she has done in the past few days is going to change a lifetime of defying the law."

"She is not a menace or a criminal!" Claire yelled. "Valerie was upset that night."

"That doesn't excuse her bad judgment," Spencer replied. "Driving at those speeds on slick streets at night through residential areas constitutes reckless endangerment of innocent civilians."

"Well actually, she was the only rider on the motorcycle," Jeff replied. "The only person she was putting directly in harm's way was herself."

Claire was stunned by this revelation. "Where was that bit of information during the arraignment?!"

"Don't let these two confuse the issue, Mrs. Kensington," Spencer said. "At those speeds her motorcycle had the potential to crash through a home and seriously injure or kill a person in their home."

"Well, so does a car driving at thirty miles an hour," Jeff replied. "Dirt offers less traction than asphalt and mud even less."

"Now you're reaching," Spencer told them. "What you are discussing is a highly improbably scenario."

"We've seen you prosecute individuals using that same highly improbably standard," Rob answered back.

Mrs. Kensington was livid with her defense team. This information should have been aired out in the arraignment, not afterwards. "How dare you call yourselves lawyers," she fumed. "You two were scared out of your minds not ten minutes ago, now you suddenly have a spine?"

"It's not their fault, Mrs. Kensington," Spencer said. "Like most attorneys in this town, they are intimidated by me. It causes…, performance issues. Now if you will excuse me, I have a hearing to prepare for." Spencer grabbed his briefcase and walked out of the courtroom, his legal team right behind him.

When Claire looked into the faces of the two men who were supposed to be defending her she indeed saw that very fear. She also saw the remorse they felt for being so inadequate to the task.

"We're sorry," one of them said. "He just rattles us every time."

"I don't what to hear it," she told them. "You are supposed to be hardened professionals, not frightened amateurs." Claire stared straight out into space. Her mind trying desperately to comprehend how she might be able to get Valerie out of this. Finally, she came up with a first step. "You're fired. Now please go away."

"But who is going to defend Valerie at the hearing on Monday?"

"Well it is the start of the Christmas season, maybe Santa Clause will show up and leave a competent lawyer under my tree," she answered curtly.

The two men left her alone to file the last of their paperwork for the arraignment, which included a plea of unable to stand trial by reason of mental incapacity.

~O~

Claire exited the courtroom. She noticed that Hartley never arrived for the arraignment. Maybe he was busy, she told herself. As soon as she opened the door to the outside, though, Claire was immediately beset by Sydney Glass.

"How does this reflect on your abilities as a mother?" he asked her in a loud and shrill voice. Clearly he was trying to indict her in the court of public opinion. "Were you at all responsible for Valerie's accident? Should Tina consider herself safe in your care?"

"Go away, Sydney," Emma told him, brushing reporter away from Claire.

"You're interfering with freedom of the press Ms. Swan," he replied pompously.

"The press is supposed to report the news, not invent it," Emma responded sharply. "Why don't you get a job with The National Enquirer?"

"Well that's not very nice," he muttered to himself.

Emma ignored him and escorted Claire to her truck. "Meet me at the sheriff's station. I'm taking Valerie there right now."

~O~

Vidia was beside herself in disbelief. This was the second time someone tried to set her up. The second time someone tried to drive her out of her home. And the second time it seemed as if they would succeed. Her first instinct was to withdraw into herself, just as she had done before.

Her only glimmer of hope was that Never Fairies stuck together. Particularly Tinker Bell and her friends, a group which Vidia was lucky enough to be a part of. But this was not their world and no one from Pixie Hollow she had met remembered her or themselves. She wondered if under those circumstances their little group would come to each others aid.

Lord Milori most certainly had done so, coming to the aide of and falling in love with Queen Clarion all over again. With no further proof, however, Vidia didn't know if that was an isolated event or if the others from her little clique would render aid to one of their own even without their memories intact.

That one sliver of hope was so faint, but it was all she had. Unfortunately, Regina's power over this city was far reaching and the flyer was left wondering if anyone she knew could overcome that influence. This knowledge left her feeling battered and almost defeated. She would have to wait and see how events unfolded, but until then the future of the Never Fairies in this human world seemed bleak.

For now, Vidia was powerless do anything more about it.

~O~

Regina pulled up along with the police cruiser. She had come to gloat, measuring her words in front of Deputy Swan. She began by saying she felt sorry for the poor girl before claiming that it was ultimately all her fault and that she got what she deserved. Emma, though, saw through that thin veil and remarked how unethical the judge had been. "Is he indebted to you for his job? Is that how you got him to be so biased?"

"You watch yourself, Ms. Swan," the mayor answered. "Play with fire and you'll get burned."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise," Regina growled in reply.

"Excuse me, Deputy?" Claire arrived and received an earful from the mayor as Regina was about to leave the stationhouse. "I told you I would throw her ass in jail the next time she violated the law. This is all your fault for not being a better parent."

She was about to say something more when Emma cut in with her response. "Really, Madame Mayor? Is that why you keep trying to convince your own son he's crazy?"

"Don't you dare bring Henry into this," Regina shot back angrily. "He is my son and I know best what is good for him."

"Does that make you an authority on what is best for Claire and Valerie?"

Regina's eyes narrowed. Answer yes and she would look like a vicious tyrant blatantly imposing her will on the populace of Storybrooke. Answer no and she could make no claim whatsoever that Claire was a bad parent and possibly take away any chance of filing for state custody of Tina.

Once again, Regina was careful when choosing her words. "Valerie has a history as a troublemaker. That kind of behavior tends to start at home."

The qualifier "tends to start at home" allowed Regina to indirectly insult Claire's abilities as a parent without incriminating herself.

Claire said nothing in response. She just stared helplessly at Emma.

"Good day, Deputy Swan," Regina said as she stormed out of the station, snubbing Claire by not acknowledging her on the way out.

~O~

When Regina was gone Emma told Claire, "Go ahead and talk to her. She looks like she could use a few comforting words."

The widowed mother stepped up to the jail cell holding her daughter. Emma pulled up a chair for her.

"I'm so sorry," Claire told her eldest. "If I were a better mother we…, you wouldn't be in this predicament. There wouldn't be any money problems and I could afford a good lawyer."

"It's not your fault," Valerie answered dejectedly. "Someone took us from our home in Pixie Hollow and put us here. If that had not happened, none of this would matter. Whoever did this to us is the only one at fault."

Claire sighed. Valerie was still clinging to that delusion. She put her arm through the bars, taking Valerie's hand into her own and holding it tight. A show of mother / daughter solidarity. "I'm sorry, your highness," Valerie answered. "I won't be able to find out who did this to us. To bring back our memories."

Claire tried to smile, "Call me, Mom."

After a short pause, Valerie called her "Mom." Claire pulled her girl to the bars and tried to give her a reassuring hug. No matter how desperate she felt, Claire wasn't going to leave letting Valerie feeling that way.

Then Claire heard a familiar voice. One that made her stomach clench every time.

"I would like to speak with the prisoner," Mr. Gold requested of Deputy Swan.

"What for?" she asked in return.

"It relates to my investigation into the hospital cyber-attack," he answered.

Emma paused, but reluctantly acquiesced. "Okay, but I'll be right here listening."

"As you wish, Ms. Swan," Gold answered proceeding to Valerie's cell.

"What do you want with my little girl?" Claire asked. Her heart racing with fear as he approached, yet she refused to stand aside for this man. Gold may control many things in this town, but love for her daughter was not one of them.

"Nothing to your detriment, I assure you," Gold replied. "And best of all, it won't cost you a cent."

"I find that hard to believe. Everything with you comes at a price," Claire said adamantly.

"Indeed it does. Lucky for you, you're not the one who will be paying it."

"It's okay. I'll talk to him," Valerie said from her jail cell. Claire turned, her eyes full of confusion at her daughter's willingness to speak him.

"You don't know this man the way I do, Valerie," the mother counseled. "He twists words and turns them against you. He'll apply vague or sharp definitions when it is to his advantage or your disadvantage."

Valerie looked over Mr. Gold, sizing him up. She looked back at her mother and said, "I don't really care anymore."

Claire turned to face Mr. Gold. "She is my baby, don't you dare-."

"As odd as it sounds, Mrs. Kensington, I empathize with you."

~O~

Mr. Gold stepped right up to the bars and looked over the twenty four year old girl, sizing her up just as she had done to him moments earlier. The young woman was nicely dressed. He remembered Valerie always having a fierce will. Today it seemed almost broken. Almost, but not quite, her sharp tongue was still intact.

"So you're the infamous Mr. Gold," Valerie began almost flippantly. "Now why would anyone be afraid of the likes of you?"

"People like to borrow money, but they dislike paying it back. They forget that everything has a price. Speaking of which, your defense team was most inadequate. That's what you get for putting yourself in the hands of court appointed representation. As they say, you get what you pay for."

Valerie replied with, "They should have paid us for that travesty."

Gold smiled before continuing his interrogation. "You recognized the judge, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't."

"You're a bad liar," he told her. "I heard you call him Fairy Kelly. Now who is that?"

"Someone I don't like."

"I see. Someone from your past?"

"You could say that."

"What did he do to you to engender such anger?" Gold asked her.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," Valerie answered. "No one here seems to believe anything I tell them."

"Very well, then. Let's start with who you are. Or rather, who you think you are," Mr. Gold said. "I heard what the defense lawyers told the judge. You believe yourself to be a fairy tale character."

"I'm no fairy tale."

"Well then who are you?"

Valerie was silent, hesitant to answer this question.

"Oh you can tell me," Mr. Gold prodded. "I think you'll find that I have a surprisingly open mind about such things."

Her facial expressions and body language revealed her lack of trust. "We owe you money," she said. "Why should I tell you anything?"

Mr. Gold drew in close to the bars, close enough so he could whisper to her, "Let's just say, dearie, that I have an interest in your future."

"Alright, sweetie, here goes," she answered. "My name is Vidia. I am a fast flying fairy. A true rare talent. I live in Pixie Hollow on the island of Never Land. That woman who claims to be my mother is in fact Queen Clarion, ruler of the Never Fairies. My 'sister' is Tinker Bell. Satisfied."

"Not quite. Tell me more about this Never Land of yours."

Mr. Gold and Valerie, or Vidia as she preferred, spoke for several minutes. Their conversation touched on many details of Never Land, Pixie Hollow and its history, fairies, their talents and guilds. She even revealed the names of the other fairies she had already met here in Storybrooke.

"Are there any others?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she answered. "I haven't had much time to look for them."

Understandable. Then their conversation turned to Peter Pan.

"How do you know about Peter?" she asked him curiously.

"He is a popular figure among the children here," Mr. Gold replied. "A book and play were written about him. Did you know that in early drafts, Peter kidnapped children from their families and brought them to Never Land? Children who felt lost or abandoned even in their own homes? That must be a terrible fear for a parent, to lose a child." He turned to Claire and asked, "Wouldn't you agree, Mrs. Kensington?"

Claire and Valerie's eyes met. There was a distinct look of pain in the mother's pupils. "My apologies," Gold told her, acknowledging the difficult the situation the family was in while simultaneously adding to their desperation.

Valerie then returned to the conversation at hand. "I've never heard of this Barrie fellow, but that's not the Peter Pan I've heard of" the flyer answered. "He is no more than an irresponsible and self-serving child who only lives for his next great adventure."

"And what of his Lost Boys?" Mr. Gold continued. "Do they follow him? Does he thin out their ranks when they get too numerous or too old?"

"You'll have to ask Tinker Bell or Rosetta. They were the ones who accompanied Peter on his crazy adventures. From what Rosetta tells me The Lost Boys were always the same small band of kids and they were loyal to Peter. Always fighting pirates, especially Captain Hook."

Mr. Gold very nearly bristled at that name, but kept his emotions and body language in check. Or so he thought.

"Have you heard of him?" Valerie asked, turning the tables a bit on her interrogator.

"He is mentioned in the stories," Gold answered. "Tell me, how did he get his hook?"

"Everyone knows that story," she answered. "It was a childish prank. Peter cut off his hand and fed it to Crocky."

"I beg your pardon?"

"That's the name Rosetta gave to the baby crocodile when it hatched." Valerie relayed the adventures she, Tinker Bell and their friends had in recovering the blue pixie dust from Zarina and James, who later became Captain Hook. "The crocodile swallowed a ticking clock during our siege of his ship."

"I'm sure he was quite angry with you for stealing his precious dust," Mr. Gold correctly surmised. "Did he ever seek revenge? Find your home in Pixie Hollow?"

"He tried, but never did. No human has ever found our world without the aid of a fairy."

There was a clue in her answer that Gold pounced upon. "So, someone did find your hidden world."

"The Griffiths," Valerie answered expanding on it to Mr. Gold's satisfaction.

"Anyone else," he asked her point blank. "British officers? Or maybe pirates."

Valerie took a deep breath. "Only once a very long time ago. Centuries before I arrived pirates captured a fairy and forced her to reveal our world. They killed hundreds of a fairies, cut down The Home Tree and took Pixie Hollow's entire treasury."

"Before you arrived? Where did you live before?"

Vidia told him how fairies came into the world, going all the way back to the very first laugh of the very first baby.

"Can I assume the queen is born in a more traditional way?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"This fairy society you describe sounds quite familiar," Gold asked her. "Not unlike an insect hive where only the queen can bear young while the drones are sterile."

"Queens can choose a mate and have children," she answered him. "They are the only ones among us who can."

"I see. So are they still alive? Your queen's parents?"

"They perished a long time ago."

"What were their names?"

"What does this have anything to do with your investigation?" Claire asked Mr. Gold. "How are fairy tales going to help you find who erased those hospital files?"

"That is of no concern of yours," Gold answered sharply. "However, I can tell you that a good liar speaks in vague terms making it harder to catch them in their lie. Your daughter has been most specific. As they say, the devil is in the details." The pawn broker returned his attention to the girl behind bars. "Now, then, what were their names."

"Queen Clarus and Prince Devon," Valerie answered.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation," he said. Then he left the stationhouse.

~O~

Mr. Gold did not immediately return to his pawn shop. Instead he paid a visit to the local video store. He approached the young blonde woman who was tending the store. She was not pleased to see him.

"I made my payment this month," she greeted him defensively.

"I'm here to ask you for a favor," Gold told her. The woman's name was Lydia, the owner of the video store and a former lawyer who left the law practice to pursue her dream in the theater. Small roles were all that she could find right now. Until she could realize her vision as a star of the stage, Lydia borrowed money from Mr. Gold to buy and run the local video store. It allowed her the opportunity to make a living while studying the great performances.

"Wait, let me get this straight," she asked, utterly incredulous. "You want to ask me for a favor? What's in it for you?"

"That doesn't concern you," Mr. Gold replied. "What should is that I'm willing to forgive one fourth of your debt to me for this favor."

"Tell me what you want first before I agree to anything," she countered.

"I want you represent a girl in court," Mr. Gold explained. He gave her the gory details of the charges and the arraignment proceedings.

"Law is no longer who I am," she said.

"Law is always who you will be," he replied. "You were the very best until you chose to leave."

"Exactly. I chose to leave, not forced out."

"Very well, I'm sure I won't mind owning this video store," he rambled as he turned to leave.

"I own this store, not you," she replied.

"Not for long, dearie. I've seen your books, income is in decline as online services steal your customers," Mr. Gold expounded. "You'll be out of business before your debt to me is paid."

Lydia was obviously incensed. "You'll forgive all of it," was her counter offer.

"Oh, I can't do that, dearie. I can forgive…, one third."

She considered his offer. "Three fourths."

"Half, and no more," Gold countered.

"Deal. Who am I representing?"

"A young woman named Valerie Kensington."

Lydia is Lyria, the performing talent from Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. Looks like Santa Clause did indeed pay an early visit.