Chapter Three - The Price of Gold
Season 1 - Episode 4
There was an Enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.
Or think we know.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our World.
This is how it happened…
Octavia, Emma and Henry walk down the main street, the two women leading the boy to the yellow school bus. "You sure we can be out in the open?" Henry asks, looking at his birth mother.
"Enough sneaking around. If your mum has a problem with me walking you to a school bus with your aunt, I am more than happy to have that chat," Emma retorts, rolling her eyes, and Octavia laughs, swinging Henry's arm animatedly, making him giggle.
"You're brave," Octavia jokes.
"We'll need that for Operation Cobra," Henry adds. "Speaking of - do you think we need code names?"
"Isn't 'cobra' your code name?" She asks, looking at them.
"That's the mission. I mean us. I need something to call you," The boy replies, looking at Emma, who looks back at him and then at Octavia, who shrugs.
"Oh. Um, well, why don't you just call me Emma for now?" Emma tells him awkwardly and is saved by the school bus.
"Okay. Well then, I'll see you later, Emma," Henry replies before getting on and leaving the two women alone.
"Saved by the bus," Octavia mutters, watching the bus pull away, driving down the street.
"Definitely," Emma mutters, and Graham's cop car pulls up before them, making the girls stop. "What's with the siren?"
"It's so hard to get your attention," Graham replies, getting out of his car.
"Well, you got it. Are you arresting me again?" She asks him, looking at Octavia.
"I'm thanking you. For your help finding that coma patient. We all owe you a depth of gratitude." He replies, smiling.
"Well, what does she get? Accommodation? Key to the city?" Octavia jokes, making the blond woman laugh.
"How about a job? I could use a deputy," Graham replies, looking at Emma, who seems surprised.
"Thank you, but I have a job," Emma argues.
"As a bail bondsperson? There's not much of that going on here." He retorts, looking at Octavia for help.
"True. You could be a lot of help. Make him do some real work too." Octavia adds, and he sighs, shaking his head.
"I see what you mean. I don't see a lot of sheriffing going on around here, either." Emma agrees jokingly.
"Well, here's your chance to see it up close. There's dental? Why don't you think about it? And stay a while." Graham grins, looking at the two women and shaking his head. "You're not helping."
"I didn't think I was doing a bad job. Give me a ride to work? My car is in the shop," Octavia asks, batting her big brown eyes at him.
"Sure," He sighs and jumps back into his car with her following, leaving a grinning Emma.
The next day, Regina looks in the mirror in the hallway at home and puts on her lipstick while Henry sits at the dining room table reading a comic book, as Octavia sits opposite her nephew, writing up patient notes from home. "I know you think otherwise, but I don't enjoy these Saturday city council meetings," Regina says, making her younger sister scoff. "Sometimes, they're just unavoidable. Now, you know the rules."
"Yes, on homework, no on TV, and stay inside," Henry replies.
"Make sure Henry does his homework, no TV, and stay inside," Octavia says at the same time as her nephew.
"Good children," Regina smiles, making her sister roll her eyes. "Under no circumstance do you leave this house. Even if Octavia leave for an emergency."
"You mean, don't see my Mum," Henry retorts, looking up from his comic book.
"She's not your mother. She's just a woman passing through. Now, do as I say, or there will be consequences. I'll be back at five sharp." She replies and walks away, leaving the house. The two wait, hearing the car start outside before pulling out of the driveway, and they grab their bags and then head out the door.
At Mary Margaret's apartment, Emma unpacks her things shipped to Storybrooke while the apartment owner makes them food. "I'm so glad my stuff is here. Oh, thanks," Emma says, sitting on the floor around a few boxes, unpacking a few things and seeing her roommate place a plate of food on the dining table.
"So, that's all your stuff?" Mary Margaret questions, looking at the few things surrounding the blond.
"What do you mean?" She asks, looking around her.
"Is the rest in storage?" The raven-haired woman questions.
"No, this is all of it. I'm not sentimental," The blond woman argues lightly.
"Well, it must make things easier when you have to move," Mary Margaret reasons when there's a knock at the door, and she quickly places her plate on the table and rushes to the door opening it to see Mr Gold on the other side.
"Miss Blanchard. Is Miss Swan here?" Mr Gold questions, and Emma gets up, hearing him, comes to the door as well, and he shakes her hand. "Hi, my name's Mr Gold. We met briefly on your arrival."
"I remember," Emma replies awkwardly.
"Good. I have a proposition for you, Miss Swan. I, uh… I need your help. I'm looking for someone." He informs her.
"Really? Um…." She questions, looking at him.
"You know what? I'm going to go jump in the bath," Mary Margaret mutters, leaving them standing by the door.
"I have a photo. Her name is Ashley Boyd. And she's taken something quite valuable of mine." Mr Gold informs the blond woman.
"So, why don't you just go to the police?" Emma asks him, frowning.
"Because, uh… She's a confused young woman. She's pregnant. Alone and scared. I don't want to ruin this young girl's life. But I just want my property returned," He explains, leaving a few things and twisting his words.
"What is it?" She asks him.
"Well, one of the advantages of you not being the police is discretion. Let's just say it's a precious object and leave it at that." The shady man replies.
"When'd you see her last?" The blond bondsperson questions.
"Last night. That's how I got this," Mr Gold tells her, showing her the cut on the side of his head. "It's so unlike her. She was quite wound up. Rambling on and on about changing her life. I have no idea what got into her. Miss Swan, please help me find her. My only other choice is the police, and I don't think anyone wants to see that baby born in jail now, do they?"
"No, of course not," Emma agrees, thinking of her own experience in the past.
"So, you'll help me, then?" He asks her, holding his grin.
"I will help her," She corrects him.
"Grand," The older man smiles, and Henry walks into the apartment without knocking.
"Henry! We talked about this!" Octavia yelps, following him. "I am so sorry."
"Hey, Emma. I was thinking we-." Henry says but stops, seeing Mr Gold.
"Hey, Henry and Dr Mills. How are you both?" Mr Gold asks them, making them a little uncomfortable.
"Okay?" He answers awkwardly.
"Good, thank you, Mr Gold." Octavia replies, avoiding his stare.
"Good. Give my regards to your sister. And, um, good luck, Miss Swan." Mr Gold says before leaving.
"Do you know who that is?" Henry exclaims, walking further into the apartment.
"Yeah, course I do," Emma replies, walking over to her son, and Octavia sighs.
"Who Cause I'm still trying to figure it out." He replies.
"Aren't we all," Octavia jokes, placing her bag on the kitchen island.
"Oh, I meant in reality," Emma replies, hiding her smile from Octavia's little joke.
"Is that all you brought?" Henry questions, looking at Emma's boxes lying on the floor.
"Henry, what are you doing here?" She asks him, avoiding the questions.
"My Mum's gone til five, and I'm not allowed outside without Octavia. I thought we could hang out." He replies, looking at his aunt, who shrugs.
"I needed away from the mountain of paperwork," Octavia groans, sitting on the stool at the kitchen island.
"Ah, kid, Tava. I wish I could. But there's something I got to do." Emma argues but goes quiet when Octavia's phone rings, and the Surgeon quickly answers, as it's the hospital.
"Gotta take this," She mutters, stepping away, listening to the other person before hanging up. "Well, I can't leave Henry alone. I've got an emergency surgery coming in, and he can't be there. Do you mind looking after him? I should be finished before Regina comes home." The dark-haired woman announces, grabbing her bag and heading for the door, leaving before anyone can say anything.
"Well, guess you're stuck with me." Henry grins at his biological mother.
Sometime later, Emma and Henry find themselves driving quickly in her yellow bug back into Storybrooke with Ashley in the passenger seat having contractions. "Is the baby really coming?" Henry asks from the back seat.
"Ohh, yeah. Don't worry - the hospital isn't that far," Emma replies, and takes out her phone, handing it to Henry, who punches in his aunt's pager number, remembering it off heart because of all the times he's called her when in trouble or just wanting to talk.
"No! No, no, no. Take me to Boston. I can't go back there," Ashey groans through the pain.
"Oh no, we don't have four hours. Trust me - I know." She replies, looking at the rear mirror, glancing at Henry to see if he's gotten through to Octavia.
"I can't go back there. Please. He's going to take my baby." The poor pregnant girl cries.
"I won't let that happen. Do you know what you're asking for? If you keep this child, are you really ready?" The blond woman retorts, glancing at her as she drives.
"Yeah." Ashley replies quickly, nodding.
"Are you sure?" Emma presses her, needing to make sure. "Because I wasn't."
"You weren't?" She asks her, looking surprised at the confident blond.
"Nope." The blond bails bondperson replies. "If you want to give this kid its best chance, it's going to be with someone who's ready, so know what that means. Your whole life is going to change, and once you decide that it's yours, this 'running away' can't happen. You have to grow up, and you can't ever leave. Understand?"
"Yes. I want my baby," Ashley exclaims, and just in time, Emma's phone rings, and Henry answers.
At Storybrooke General Hospital, Octavia walks out of the operating room, and one of the nurses comes running toward her with her pager. "Dr Mills!" The nurse calls as she runs to the dark-haired woman's side and throws paper towels into the trash.
"What is it?" Octavia asks her, and she holds out the pager.
"It's your pager." She informs her, handing it over.
"Thanks." The Surgeon replies, taking it and seeing an unfamiliar number before going to the phone and calling it back. "Hello? Who is this?"
"Aunt Octavia?" She hears her dear nephew on the other line.
"Henry? What's going on? Why'd you call?" Octavia asks him, panic running through her voice.
"I'm fine! But it's Ashley!" Henry tells her.
"Who's Ashley?" She asks him, frowning as she walks through the hospital corridor.
"She's in trouble." He tells her.
"Hey, Tava!" Octavia hears Emma shout into the phone. "We've got a young girl. She's about to give birth."
"On it. Come round the emergency entrance on the north side. I'll prep everything. Get here quick." Octavia informs her and runs down the corridor to the emergency ward. "We've got a pregnant girl coming any minute. Prep the maternity ward; we've got a woman about to give birth."
"Yes, Doctor!" Multiple voices shout back.
A little while later, Emma and Henry sit in the waiting room at the hospital, happy they got Ashley there in time. "You know, Emma. you're different," Henry suddenly says out of the blue.
"What's that?" Emma asks, looking at him.
"You're the only one who could do it." He tells her.
"Break the curse?" She replies. "Yes, I know. You keep telling me that."
"No. Leave. You're the only one who can leave Storybrooke," The kid corrects her.
"You left and came and found me in Boston," The blond woman argues.
"But I came back. I'm ten - I had no choice. But if anyone else tried to go, bad things would happen." Henry reminds her.
"Anyone, except me?" Emma questions, looking at him, not fully believing him yet.
"You're the Saviour. You can do whatever you want. You can go," He tells her, and Octavia approaches them.
"Emma. Henry. The baby is a healthy six-pound girl, and the mother is going fine." Octavia informs them, smiling, but it goes sour when Mr Gold enters the hospital.
"What lovely news. Excellent work, Miss Swan. Thank you for bringing me my merchandise." Mr Gold smirks.
"Mr Gold." She gives him a fake smile. "Coffee?"
"Doctor Mills. Doctor Mills needed in operating room 3, please." A voice announces from the speaker.
"I'll see you at home before your mother." The Surgeon warns her nephew before leaving, and Mr Gold gets himself a cup of coffee from the machine, and Emma walks up next to him.
"Well, well. Must be my lucky day. Care for a cup, Miss Swan?" Mr Gold muses, looking at her.
"A baby? That's your merchandise?" Emma asks him. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Later, once Emma bargains with Mr Gold, her and Henry enter Ashley's room as she holds her baby girl. "Hey." The blond woman smiles, alerting the girl to their presence. "What's her name?"
"Alexandra," Ashley answers, looking lovingly at her baby.
"It's pretty," Emma replies, admiring the baby.
"Thank you for getting me here," She smiles.
"Mr Gold was outside. I took care of it - she's yours." The blond woman informs her, making the teen mum break into a smile.
"She is? What did you do?" The blond teen asks her.
"Made a deal with him." Emma answers.
"Thank you. Thank you." Ashley smiles gratefully, and Emma sees a clock.
"Oh, hey, kid. It's almost five. We got to get you home." She rushes them out of the room, heading for her car.
Emma and Henry drive in her car, heading for his house, trying to beat Regina back home. "Pumpkin," Emma announces suddenly. "My code name. I was thinking in honour of Cinderella. Pumpkin." But Henry shakes his head. "You got a better one in mind?"
"Yep," Henry answers.
"Well?" She asks him.
"I'm not sure you're ready yet," He tells her, and she pulls up to the Mills Manor, letting him out.
"Henry!" The blond woman calls after him. "About what you said at the hospital. About me being able to leave?"
"Yeah?" The boy asks her, turning to look at her.
"See you tomorrow," Emma replies and drives away as Henry runs inside just as Regina's car pulls into the driveway.
Henry runs upstairs, but one of his shoes falls off as he runs up the steps, and Regina enters the front door. "Henry! Tavia?" Regina calls for them, and he rushes into his room, throws his backpack before grabbing a book and lays on his bed, throwing off his one shoe. "Henry? What did I tell you?" Regina yells, walking upstairs and enters his room. "Do not leave your shoes lying around on the stairs." She holds up the missing shoe. "Someone could get hurt." She throws it onto his bed before leaving, and he breathes a sigh of relief. "And where is your aunt?" Before he can answer, the front door opens again.
"Henry? Sorry I left you alone, but I got us some food for tonight." Octavia yells, walking inside. "Oh! Hey, Gina. I had an emergency surgery. But I got us some food for dinner. I'll start making dinner." Regina looks at her sister, frowning, not really believing Octavia as she rushes into the kitchen.
Chapter Three - That Still Small Voice
Season 1 - Episode 5
There was an Enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.
Or think we know.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our World.
This is how it happened…
Regina still doesn't believe Henry and Octavia a few days later but lets it slide for now while Henry has his therapy session with Archie at his office. "You weren't always a cricket." Henry informs him.
"I weren't alway - Oh, right. Because, um… Because you think I'm Jiminy Crickey. Why… Why do you… Why do you think that, Henry?" Archie asks him.
"It's just because of who you are," He answers.
"And what am I?" The therapist questions.
"You're a Conscious. You help people see right from wrong," The boy answers again, knowing from the storybook.
"So, all the crickets in Storybrooke - they were once people, too?" Archie wonders.
"There aren't any crickets ." Henry tells him and opens the window of Archie's office to hear nothing but an owl.
"Maybe it isn't light enough." He argues and closes the window.
"There's never been crickets here. You've just never noticed." The kid points out.
"So, you think that's proof that there's a curse?" The ginger man questions, looking at the dark-haired boy.
"Yes, but I know it's not enough. I'm looking for more." Henry tells him.
"So, Henry, look. I asked you this once before, and you said you'd think about it. Why do you think it's so important that this is real?" Archie questions the kid.
"It… It just is." The young boy answers, struggling for an answer.
"Alright. Well, keep thinking about that answer, Henry. Cause I think there's something buried there." He says, looking pointedly at his young patient.
"I'm getting you to do what I want right now," Emma says to Graham at the Sheriff's Station after not wanting to wear the ugly uniform.
"Well, at least wear the badge. Go on - take it." Graham tells her, holding out the Deputy badge. "If you really want to be a part of this community, we have to make it official." She takes it from him and clips it onto her belt when there's a sudden violent shake throughout the town, and the phones start ringing in a panic.
The entire town arrives at the old Storybrooke mines' entrance, gathering around to get a look when Regina arrives in her car. "Everyone! Step back, please!" Regina orders and spots her sister, who steps toward her, joining her side.
"Is that a crater?" Ruby asks, pointing at the new entrance to the mines.
"No, there were tunnels - old mines. Something collapsed." Marco informs her.
"Sheriff set up a police perimeter." Regina orders Graham. "Marco, why don't you help with the fire department?" She asks him and spots the blond newcomer. "Miss Swan, this is now official town business. You're free to go."
"Well, actually, I work for the two now," Emma announces, to the shock of the Mayor.
"She's my new deputy," Graham adds.
"That's great. Well done, Emma." Octavia beams, hugging the blond, who is surprised, but accepts the hug.
"They say the Mayor's always last to know." Regina snaps, looking at the others with betrayal.
"It's in my budget," Graham replies.
"Indeed. Deputy, why don't you make yourself useful and help with crowd control?" She demands, stomping away to face the rest of the townspeople. "People of Storybrooke, don't be alarmed. We've always known this area was honeycombed with old mining tunnels. But fear not. I'm going to undertake a project to make this area safe - to rehabilitate it into city use. We will bulldoze it, collapse it, pave it." Henry emerges from the crowd in shock, storming over to his mother with his aunt behind him.
"Pave it? What if there's something down there?" Henry asks.
"Henry. What are you doing here?" The Mayor asks her son.
"What's down there?" He demands.
"Nothing." Regina answers. "Now step back. In fact, everyone! Please, please step back. Thank you." She orders everyone, then sees something on the ground and picks it up to see a piece of glass before putting it into her pocket.
"What was that?" Her son questions, looking at Emma, seeing what Regina did.
"Henry, enough. Listen. This is a safety issue. Wait in the car," His mother orders him, and he walks away, heading for the car. "Deputy Swan, Sheriff -." She turns to them. "- cord off the area." Henry sits in Regina's car when he sees his chance and gets out, spotting Archie.
"Hey, Archie! Over here." Henry whispers loudly and gets his biological mother, gathering them by a police car. "This requires all of Operation Cobra. Both of you."
"I didn't realise I was in Operation Cobra," Archie mutters, and Octavai sees them trying to occupy her sister.
"Of course you are. You know everything. We can't let her do this. What if there's something down there?" He argues, looking at the two adults.
"They're just some old tunnels," Emma tells him, shaking her head.
"That just happens to collapse right after you get here? You're changing things. You're weakening the curse." The kid tells her.
"That's not what's happening," She argues.
"Yes, it is! Did you do anything different today? Cause something made this happen." Henry argues, and she glances down at the new Deputy badge when Regina storms up to them, catching them as Octavia cringes.
"Henry, I told you to wait in the car. Deputy, do your job. Octavia, watch him." Regina orders them, and they walk away, leaving the Mayor alone. "Dr Hopper. A word, please?" She summons him back. "Okay. We're done with this."
"Uh, excuse me." Archia questions, looking at her.
"My son. We need a new treatment plan. Everything I do, he thinks, is part of some horrible plot. I can't cover up a safety hazard without him thinking I'm hiding something. How am I hiding something terrible in an old mine? How is any of this logical to him?" The Mayor demands, looking at him.
"He's got an amazing imagination." He argues.
"Yes, that you let run rampant. I allow my sister because she knows better. But I don't think you do." Regan sneers.
"Well, I think it would be wrong to rip away the world he's constructed. I'd rather use it to try and gain -." The trained therapist argues, but she cuts him off in her anger.
"Sometimes, I think you've forgotten. You work for me. You're an employee. And I can fire you. This is my town. You will lose your office, lose your house, I can cut you down to size until you're a tiny, shrunken, little creature, and this," She growls, grabbing his umbrella, showing it to him, "will be the only roof over your damn head."
"What would you have me do?" Archie asks her, submitting to her demands.
"You take that delusion out of my son's head, and you crush it." The Evil Queen snaps, rearing her head and storming off, joining her sister at her car. "Take him home."
"I will. But you need to leave Archie alone. He knows what he's doing." Octavia advises her.
"I don't need parenting advise from someone who's never had children." Regina argues.
"Well, neither have you. We raised Henry together. Remember that." She snaps and opens the car's back door, leading Henry to her car. "Come on. Let's get some pizza."
The following day after the old mine's collapse, Octavia sits in her office at Storybrooke General Hospital, filling out paperwork when she begins to grow bored. She decides to walk around the hospital to ease her boredom and spots Mary Margaret and David playing a game in his room. "I don't know. M?" Mary Margaret wonders, looking at the notebook as they play hangman.
"Mmhmm. Two of them. Get it yet?" David asks her, taking the notepad, adding the letters, and returning it.
"Yes." She holds her head in shame. "And I'm completely mortified. I almost hanged on my own name."
"Don't worry - I would never have let you hang. I would've added toes, a hat, maybe a horse." He jokes, making her giggle.
"Is this a game you played a lot? Uh, before?" The kind teacher asks him, but he cringes, knowing she got her answer.
"I don't know." The patient answers.
"It'll come back. They're sending you home in a week. They have to think you're progressing, don't they?" Mary Margaret reasons, trying to cheer him up.
"Physically." David argues.
"Well, you're making new memories just fine." She teases him.
"Maybe I'll like these better." He jokes back at her, smiling warmly at her, and Octavia sees his wife walking down the corridor.
"Okay, play again?" The sweet woman asks, smiling back at him when Kathryn enters the room, ruining the warm moment.
"Can I guess, too?" Kathryn asks, stepping into the room.
"Mary, I need a word," Octavia saves her from the awkwardness.
"Of course. I didn't realise it was so late. I should go." Mary Margaret stutters, quickly leaving.
"Good day, Miss Blanchard. Doctor Mills." Kathryn smiles warmly at them, and Octavia drags Mary Margaret away, knowing it will crush the kind and sweet woman.
"Don't torture yourself, Mary." Octavia warns her, and they see the married couple talking; Kathryn shows David a dog picture.
"Honey, I brought more pictures. Maybe it'll jog something. It's our old dog - Ajax. Remember?" She questions, and he smiles, looking at the photo.
"Yeah… Yeah, Ajax." David smiles happily.
Emma angrily stares at Archie as he drinks, hating himself for what he did to Henry, crushing his dreams. "Is it her? Did she threaten you? What could be strong enough to drown out your own conscious?" Emma demands, standing in Archie's office after Henry comes crying to her.
"I do not need to defend my professional decisions to you, okay?" Archie argues, and the blond woman's phone rings, and she answers it, seeing that it's Regina.
"Hello, Madam Mayor. Nice work." She snaps into the phone.
"You with him?" Regina asks in a panic.
"Yes, I'm with Dr Hopper and guess what? You left your fingerprint all over him when you tried -." The blond Deputy replies.
"Not him - Henry. Is he with you?" She interrupts her.
"I dropped Henry at your office an hour ago." Emma tells her as her heart sinks into her stomach.
"Well, he's not here," The Mayor informs her, feeling the same, and hangs up the phone to call her sister.
"I don't know where he is." She replies and looks at Archie.
"Oh… I do." Archie announces, thinking of poor Henry entering the mine entrance alone, and they race out of his office.
Emma and Archie arrive at the entrance to the mine tunnel, calling out Henry's name with Pongo tracking the boy. "Henry!" Emma calls, running down to the entrance of the new tunnel.
"Henry!" Archie shouts, running after his dog as he sniffs around the area.
"Henry!" She shouts, growing desperate, and Pongo barks, sniffing around the entrance to the mine.
"What do you got there, Pongo?" He asks, seeing his dog sniffing around the tunnel's entrance, and tries looking inside, but it's too dark, and there are too many wooden boards in the way.
"I don't think he's here." The blond woman announces, looking around frantically for her son.
"I think he is." The therapist argues, finding one of the candy bars he found in Henry's backpack from earlier at the tunnel's entrance and holding it up to show Emma. "Candy bar. He had these with him." Archie peeks inside to see if he can spot the boy, but there's nothing, as there are too many obstacles.
Meanwhile, inside the tunnel, Henry uses his flashlight as he searches deep into the mine and comes across a different shade of rocks, finding a similar piece of glass to the one Regina found earlier. As he inspects the piece of glass, suddenly, the tunnel starts shaking, beginning to collapse, and he looks around in fear as rocks begin falling from the ceiling, and he tries running for cover.
The ground outside the tunnel begins shaking, and Emma and Archie run toward the entrance in fear for Henry, who is inside. "Henry!" Archie shouts, rushing toward the entrance with Emma not far behind.
"Archie!" Emma cries, sliding down the side of the crater towards the ginger man.
"Henry, it's not safe!" He yells, growing closer to the crumbling entrance.
"Henry!" She shouts, running toward the tunnel's entrance.
"Henry!" The therapist bellows and rushes inside the mine as the entrance collapses.
"Archie! Archie! Henry!" The blond woman screams over the noise.
The town gathers once again around the tunnel entrance; Pongo barks as Ruby looks after him, and Octavia stands with her sister, trying to find a way to get Henty and Archie out of the mine. "Archie's smart. He will keep the boy safe until we get to them." Marco assures the Sheriff's Department as they stand away from the entrance, and the workers try clearing a path, but the ground begins to shake again. "Watch out!"
"Stop! Stop! You're making it worse!" Regina screams, running toward them, and Octavia keeps her from getting hurt.
"I am trying to save him! You know why he went down there in the first place, don't you? Because you made him feel like he had something to prove." Emma snaps, turning toward her angrily.
"And why does he think he has anything to prove? Who's encouraging him?" She sneers at the blond.
"Do not put this on me." The blond Deputy argues, and Octavia gets in between them.
"Stop it! Both of you! We don't have time to argue. We need to get them out. Soon or their oxygen will run out. We need to work together!" Octavia shouts at them and pulls her sister away. A little while later, Emma approaches Regina once both mothers have calmed down.
"We have to stop this. Arguing won't accomplish anything." Emma slightly apologises.
"No, it won't." Regina agrees, keeping her sister close to her for support.
"What do you want me to do?" She asks, looking at the Mills sisters.
"Help us." Octavia tells her pleadingly.
"We need to find some way to punch through the ground. We need something big." Regina suggests, keeping her sister cradled in her arms.
"Like what?" Emma asks.
"Explosives," Marco suggests,s making the three women look at him and Graham, and the workers begin setting up explosives around the tunnel's entrance before everyone clears out of the area and locks Pongo in the fire truck.
"Okay. We're all clear." The blond Deputy announces, unaware of what is happening inside the mines, as Archie and Henry find an old elevator and try moving it.
"Blow it." Regina orders as everyone positions themselves, and one of the workers hits the button, setting off the explosives, causing the elevator to fall farther down the shaft. Once the cloud of fust disappears, Emma runs to the tunnel entrance to check the results.
"Did it work?" Octavia asks, looking at her blond friend.
"It didn't open." Emma informs them.
"Then what did it do?" Graham asks, looking at the others, and they soon gather around the mine again, trying to come up with ideas.
"What was that? What the hell was that? You said you could do this!" Regina shouts in fear and anger, running over to the workers' truck,
"Madam Mayor!" Emma snaps at her to try to calm down, racing after her.
"They could have killed my son!" She yells, looking close to tears, and Octavia hugs her older sister.
"I know, but this isn't helping." Octavia reminds her.
"If we knew exactly where they were, we could drill down to them. Maybe… Maybe rig something to bring them back up." Marco suggests another idea.
"But drill where?" Graham argues, and Emma looks around, spotting Pongo in the fire truck before racing over, letting him out.
"Come on, buddy!" Emma says, letting the dog run wild, sniffing around.
"What are you thinking we -." Regina questions, looking at the woman like she's crazy.
"It's Archie's dog. He's found something." She argues, following after Pongo, who seems to have found something. "Look! This is where they must be. What is it?" Graham and Marco move around the dirt and find a piece of metal covering a grate that seems to lead down into the mine.
"What is that?" Octavia asks, looking at it.
"It's an air shaft." Graham answers, and hope swells in their hearts as they devise an idea to rescue Henry and Archie. Marco attaches a hook from the fire truck around the grate.
"Okay. Alright – gun it." Emma instructs, and Ruby hits on the gas, lifting the grate into the air. "That's good! Alright, we got it. Alright."
"So, what's next?" Regina wonders, looking around.
"You need to lower someone straight down, or the line will collapse the side of the shaft." Marco explains as he pulls the line down.
"I've got a harness." Graham announces.
"Lower me down." Regina suggests.
"Oh, no way. I'm going." Emma argues.
"He's my son." She snaps back.
"He's my son, too. You've been sitting behind a desk for ten years. I can do this." The blond Deputy assures her, looking at her, and Octavia pulls her sister to the side.
"Just bring him to us." Octavia pleads with Emma.
Below, in the mine, Archie and Henry sit in the elevator in the same air shaft that Emma is currently shimmying down. "Hey, can I ask you again?" Archie questions, looking at the boy.
"Ask what?" Henry asks him, looking at him.
"Why do you think it's so important that your… your fairy tale theory is true?" He wonders.
"I don't know." The kid answers.
"Give it a shot." The therapist tells him, wanting any kind of answer.
"Cause this can't be all there is." Henry answers truthfully.
"I understand." Archie agrees, nodding.
"I thought if I found proof… But I didn't find anything." He sulks in disappointment.
"Well, that's not true. I was lost, and you found me, right?" The ginger man argues, trying to lift his spirits.
"You mean, you remember?" The boy takes it the wrong way.
"No, Henry. I… I don't remember, but I-I do remember the kind of person I want to be. I just got to listen harder." Archie corrects him, and pieces of rock above them begin falling through the grate at the top of the elevator, and they look up to see the light growing closer.
"Wh-What's that?" Henry wonders, looking up and getting to his feet.
"I think that's the rescue." He answers.
"You guys okay?" Emma asks them, getting to the top of the elevator.
"Yeah, we're… We're okay." The ginger man answers in relief.
"Hang on, Henry. Okay, that's good. Stop." She tells them, standing on the top and taking off the grate at the top of the elevator.
"Here you go. Up." Archie says, passing Henry up to Emma, who holds him tightly.
"Come on. I got ya. Okay. Okay, I got him." Emma announces.
"You got him? Is he safe?" He asks as the elevator begins to shake.
"Archie?" She shouts.
"It's going to fall!" The therapist shouts in worry, feeling the elevator begin to lose its grip.
"I'm sorry!" The blond woman yells.
"It's okay!" Archie assures her.
"Archie!" Emma shouts, and the elevator falls to the bottom of the shaft, but Archie is okay as he luckily had time to hook his umbrella handle on the hook of Emma's safety harness, and the others look at him with relief, glad he's okay.
Emma, Henry and Archie make it to the top of the elevator shaft, and Regina takes Henry aside, both Mills sisters smothering him in hugs. Marco happily hugs his friend as Emma unhooks herself and runs over to Regina, Octavia and Henry. "You okay?" Emma asks her son.
"Deputy, you can clear the crowd away." Regina rushes her away, pushing the blond woman away from her son and sends Henry off with her sister, needing to talk with Archie. "Thank you, Dr Hopper."
"I, uh… I have something to say. I'm going to continue to treat Henry, and I'm going to do it my own way." Archie informs her.
"My relief at his safety hasn't changed a thing, Dr Hopper. You will do as I say, or you will -." She argues seriously.
"Or will what? You'll ruin my life? You'll do your worst? Because I will always do my best." He snaps, surprising the woman.
"Don't test me." The Mayor warns him.
"Oh, I don't need to. Because you're going to leave me alone and let me do my work. In peace." The therapist retorts seriously.
"Really? Why's that?" Regina questions.
"Because someday, Madam Mayor, you may find yourself in a custody battle. And you know how the court determines who is a fit parent? They consult an expert. Particularly one who has treated the child. So, I suggest that you think about that. And you allow me to do my work. And let me do it the way my conscious tells me to." Archie reminds her and sees the fear flickering in her eyes, and walks away, leaving her to think as it comes to nighttime, most of the town is still at the mine site, and Henry and Emma sit watching Archie and Marco talk. At the same time, Octavia checks over the therapist for injuries, having already checked on her nephew.
"Is that Archie's father?" Emma questions, looking at how happy the pair of men are just talking to each other.
"No, they're just old friends." Henry informs her, glad to see his therapist happy.
"You really scared me." She comments, looking at him.
"I'm sorry." He replies, and Archie and Marco walk over to them.
"Gentlemen. Tava. Well, come on. Your mom wants to take you home." The blond Deputy announces.
"Hey! Listen." The kid announces, and they go quiet, listening to crickets happily chirping in the background.
"Crickets." Archie grins, looking around.
"They're back. Things are changing." Henry smiles, looking at his aunt and biological mother; at the same time, Regina looks briefly at the glass she found earlier out of her pocket before dropping it through the grate, where it falls to the bottom of the shaft until it lands on top of what appears to be Snow White's glass coffin.
Chapter Three - The Shepard
Season 1 - Episode 6
There was an Enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.
Or think we know.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our World.
This is how it happened…
David and Kathryn stand outside their house a week after the Storybrooke mine incident and see a little sign with 'The Nolans' on the lawn and a 'Welcome Home David' sign over the doorway. "You know, you had the same look on your face before we bought it, too. You couldn't see past the ugly windmill on the lawn and said you'd never buy an old lady's house. Do you remember what made you change your mind?" Kathryn comments, looking at her husband.
"Well, I see the windmill's gone," David replies, looking at the empty space on the front lawn.
"Come on. Everyone's waiting." She smiles, leading him up the pathway.
"Who's 'everyone'?" He questions, and they walk up to the house, though he's nervous about who he will meet.
David looks around his house to see most of the townspeople of Storybrooke inside, and Kathryn tries introducing him to various people. "This is Gene." Kathryn introduces him to the man.
"Good to see you, Dave." Gene greets him, shaking hands.
"How you doing?" David questions, trying to be polite.
"And this is Ellen, his wife," Kathryn tells him, pointing to the woman beside the man.
"Ellen. Hi." He greets her.
"Good to see you, too," Ellen replies.
"And Frank," Kathyrn adds.
"Hey." David says.
"Hey." Dr Whale greets them, walking over with Octavia.
"Dr Mills. Dr Whale." Kathryn greets them.
"Hello, Kathryn, David," Octavia greets.
"Hi, David. Look, I know this is a lot, but it's good for you. The smallest thing can trigger your memories. Just try and have fun." Dr Whale reminds the man.
"Thank you, Dr. Whale, Dr Mills. I'll do my best." David replies.
"Call me, Octavia." She smiles to ease the man while Emma and Henry sit outside by the stairs, away from the main party area, talking.
"You know why he doesn't remember? The curse isn't working on him yet." Henry reasons with his biological mother.
"Henry, David has amnesia," Emma argues.
"Well, it's preventing the curse from replacing his fairy tale story with fake memories." He suggests.
"Right. Because everyone here has fake stories that prevent them from remembering who they really are." She nods.
"Right. And now's our chance to help him. We just have to get him to remember that he's -." The boy tells her.
"He's Prince Charming." The blond woman finishes.
"We just have to jog his memory by getting him and Miss Blanchard together," Henry replies, thinking of an idea.
"Didn't we just try that?" Emma questions.
"And it woke him up." He retorts, grinning, and David joins them in the hallway.
"Hey. You're the ones who saved me, right?" David asks, pointing at Emma, who looks at him in surprise.
"Oh, yeah. I guess." Emma replies, standing up awkwardly.
"And, uh, you're also the only ones I know here besides Dr Mills, I mean Octavia." He comments, smiling.
"You can hide with us." She jokes and sees Octavia moving through the crowd toward them.
"Fantastic." The man smiles when a waiter serving appetisers approaches them, and David stabs a cocktail sausage with a toothpick. "Oh, thank you."
"So, you ever use a sword?" Henry suddenly asks him, and Octavia walks over to them, sitting beside her nephew.
"I'm sorry?" David frowns, looking at the kid.
"Can we go home now?" Octavia groans, jokingly leaning on Henry's shoulders, making him giggle.
"Emma, you live with Mary Margaret, right?" He asks her, and the blond woman nods. "You know if she's coming tonight?"
"No, she couldn't make it." Emma lies.
"Oh." David frowns in disappointment while in the kitchen; his wife Kathryn helps plate up the food with Regina, also in disappointment.
"You should go out there. There's plenty of food. Go. Be with your husband." Regina tells her, trying to ease the woman and put a bigger wedge between Mary Margaret and David.
"I lost him once; now I have him back. But it's like I still don't have him back. You have no idea how that feels." Kathyrn mutters and stops moving, looking down at the table.
"Actually, I do. I lost someone once, too." She replies, surprising the woman, who looks at her.
"Really?" The sad wife questions, looking at the dark-haired woman.
"Yes. But the love I lost – there's no bringing him back. You have a chance here. Go to him." The Mayor advises her.
"You're right. And Regina – thank you. Thank you for being such a good friend. It's been so lonely. I'm not used to having one." Kathyrn replies, smiling warmly at the other woman.
"Neither am I." Regina retorts.
"Well, like it or not, you have one now." She tells her, both women sharing a smile, and she goes to find her husband, approaching Emma, Henry, Octavia and Dr Whale. "Have you seen David?"
"Um, he…" Emma replies, looking awkwardly at her, not wanting to lie.
"No." Dr Whale answers, but Kathyrn has some idea as to where her dear husband has gone.
"Can we go home now?" Octavia whispers, seeing Henry try to stifle his yawn.