. . . . . ╰──╮✰ ✰ ✰ ╭──╯ . . . . .

‎‧₊˚✧ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰɪᴠᴇ✧˚₊‧

‎‧₊˚✧ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ✧˚₊‧

______

"Our Greatest Glory Is

Not In Never Falling

But In Rising

Every Time We Fall."

______

Mary Margaret dropped a large stack of papers in front of Angie, nearly knocking over her coffee. Angie placed City of Bones, which she still hadn't gotten a chance to start, down on the table and held up her hands in a defensive motion. "Good morning to you too."

Mary Margaret briefly smiled. "Good morning! Do you know what these are?"

"Your charity records?" Angie guessed.

"No."

"David's name typed 2,000 times?"

That answer gained Angie a slap on the shoulder. Angie sank further into her chair, sheepishly. "Just guessing."

"Well, stop guessing," Mary Margaret snapped. Angie pulled a flannel blanket over her head to escape the wrath of Mary Margaret. "I'm tired of you sitting around the house all day. This is a record of every business in Storybrooke that needs an employee. I want you to go through this and pick something."

"But-"

"No buts. You will get a job and you will like it. I'm tired of you moping around the house like a lump. You never know: maybe this will help with your painting problem."

Angie unraveled herself from her makeshift cave. "You just don't want to pay the bills alone anymore."

"That is a definite bonus."

Angie was suddenly saved from becoming an employee by a tremor that shook the whole house. Mary Margaret gripped onto the counter and ducked underneath. Angie rescued her coffee from falling before doing the same. The tremor only lasted for a few seconds. Car alarms started to go off, adding to Angie's growing headache. Mary Margaret and Angie nervously peered out from the counter. The tremor officially had stopped.

They were silent for a few seconds before Mary Margaret spoke. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Angie replied. "But I'm gonna find out."

—

"Everyone step back, please," Regina called out. It seemed like the whole town had showed up to examine the source of their tremor problem, which was at the entrance to a mine that almost everyone had forgotten existed.

"Is that a crater?" Ruby asked.

"No," one of the workers told her. "There were tunnels, old mines, and something collapsed."

"Be careful, step back," Regina called out again. Angie and Mary Margaret watched as Graham and Emma approached Regina. She started to give some orders. "Sheriff, set up a police perimeter. Marco, why don't you help with the fire department? Miss Swan, this is now official town business. You're free to go."

"Well, actually I work for the town now," Emma replied with a smug smile.

"She's my new deputy," Graham clarified when Regina turned to him.

Regina seemed displeased with the news. "They say the mayor's always last to know." It seemed as if Regina was ready to throw Emma into the mine, but composed herself due to the situation. "Deputy, why don't you make yourself useful and help with crowd control?" She then turned to the crowd. "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 for city use. We will bulldoze it, collapse it, pave it."

Suddenly, Henry, who had a habit of showing up at the worst times, spoke up. "Pave it? What if there's something down there?"

"Henry, what are you doing here?" Regina whispered.

They had a brief conversation before Regina spotted Angie. She led Henry over to her. "Can you make sure he waits in the car?" Angie nodded and gently steered Henry towards the car. Regina picked up a small piece of glass she found on the ground, looking worried.

"What was that?" Henry asked Angie.

"Henry, enough," Regina replied. "Listen, this is a safety issue now. Wait in the car. Deputy Swan, Sheriff, cordon off the area."

Instead of going in the car, Henry dragged Angie behind it, as if he wanted to hide. He gestured towards his therapist, Archie. "Hey, Archie. Over here." Archie pointed to himself, confused. Angie just shrugged and beckoned him over. Emma noticed the secret meeting taking place and jogged over as well. Henry finally spoke once they were all hiding behind the car. "This requires all of Operation Cobra...all of you."

"I didn't realize I was in Operation Cobra," Archie admitted.

"Of course you are, you know everything. We can't let her do this. What if there's something down there?"

"They're just some old tunnels, Henry," Angie said gently. "They were for the mines. We used to be a big mining town."

"And they just happened to collapse right after Emma got here?" He turned to his birth mother. "You're changing things. You're weakening the curse."

"That's not what's happening," Emma argued.

Henry was in no position to argue with her, yet he still tried. "Yes it is. Did you do anything different today? 'Cause something made this happen."

Emma was silent. Angie could have sworn that she touched her deputy badge with worry. Before Angie could ask her what was wrong, Regina stormed over and broke up the secret meeting.

"Henry, I told you to wait in the car. Deputy, do your job."

—

Emma and Angie had decided to have some bonding time in the apartment. They were in the middle of making some s'mores when Mary Margaret came inside, looking dejected. "I am the worst person in the world."

"Really?" Emma asked. "In the whole world?"

Mary Margaret nodded. Angie patted the seat next to her. "Make some s'mores. Then tell us all about it."

Mary Margaret sat down with a sigh and started to make a s'more. "I was just visiting David at the hospital. It's getting harder and harder. If Katheryn was horrible, it would be easier, but she's so nice."

"And what would be easier exactly?" Angie questioned, taking a bite of her s'more.

Mary Margaret sighed. "Nothing."

"Nothing's a good idea," Emma told her. "You're smart. You know not to get involved with a married guy. It's not worth the heartache. Trust me." The doorbell rang, causing Emma to get up and open the door. Angie took a bite of her s'more as Emma gasped.

"Henry!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"

Henry said nothing, simply walking into the apartment.  Angie quickly got out of the chair and held her arms out. Henry ran over to her and Angie wrapped him in a hug. Emma locked the door and joined the hug. Angie gently lifted Henry's chin so he looked at her. "What happened, kiddo?"

"Archie," Henry managed between sobs. "He told me that Operation Cobra wasn't real." Henry wasn't able to say anything else, waterworks streaming down his cheeks.

Angie and Emma shared a look, realizing that this was Regina's doing. Emma spoke up. "Does your mom know that you're here?"

Henry shook his head. Emma grabbed her bag. "I'll bring you back home. Then, I'm going to talk to Archie, okay?"

Henry nodded and reluctantly let go of Angie. Emma took Henry by the hand and led him out the door.

A little over an hour had passed, giving Angie some time to finally start City of Bones, when she got a call from Emma. "Hey," Angie greeted. "How'd it go with Archie?"

"Terrible," Emma said frantically. "I need you to come down to the mines right now. It collapsed again and Henry's stuck. With Archie."

—

When Angie arrived on site, the construction crew was trying to dig their way to Archie and Henry. They were forced to stop, as the rocks started to fall in the wrong way. Angie spotted Emma and ran towards her. What she didn't realize was that Emma was in a heated discussion with Regina.

"Stop! Stop! You're making it worse," Regina ordered.

"I am trying to save him," Emma fired back. "You know what, he wouldn't have gone in the first place if it wasn't for you! Because you made him feel like he had something to prove!"

"And why does he think he has anything to prove? Who's encouraging him?"

"Do not put this on me!"

"Oh please, lecture me until the oxygen has run out!"

"ENOUGH!" Angie yelled out, shutting Emma and Regina up. "You both have to stop this arguing. We won't accomplish anything if you two are at each other's throats."

"No, we won't," Regina admitted, lowering her gaze to the floor.

"What do you want me to do?" Emma asked.

"Help me," Regina pleaded. "We need to find some way to punch through the ground. We need something big."

"Like what?" Emma wondered.

"Explosives," one of the men suggested.

—

"Clear!" Emma yelled as everyone hid behind the construction trucks.

"Blow it," Regina ordered from her spot next to Angie. A worker pressed the button and an explosion went off. As the smoke cleared a little bit, Emma headed inside to investigate. However, she returned moments later looking dejected.

"Did it work?" Regina asked.

Emma shook her head. "It didn't open."

"Then what did it do?" Graham asked. Regina decided to take her anger out on the workers, storming over to them.

"What was that? What the hell was that? You said you could do this."

Angie sensed trouble, so she headed over to attempt to cool Regina down. "Madam Mayor."

"They could have killed my son," Regina cried out.

"I know. But this isn't helping."

"If we knew exactly where they were, we could drill down to them," one of the worker's admitted. "Maybe, maybe make something to bring them back up."

"A driller," Graham realized.

"What do you think we..." Regina started but was cut off by a dog barking. Emma opened the door to a fire truck and let a dalmatian out.

"Come on buddy." She said to the dog. She then turned to the group. "It's Archie's dog."

The dog sniffed the ground nearby and sat down, looking expectantly at the group. "He's found something," Emma realized. "Look, this is where they must be. What is it?"

Graham and another worker removed a metal covering in the ground to reveal a grate that had been covered for possibly years.

"What is that?" Angie wondered.

"It's an air shaft," Graham responded.

Together, the group was able to get the grate off the ground, revealing a deep hole. Angie couldn't see the bottom. The hole could go for miles for all they knew.

"What now?" Regina wondered.

"We need to lower someone straight down, or the line would collapse with the sides of the shaft," one of the workers told her.

Graham spoke up. "I've got the harness."

"Lower me down," Regina said instantly.

"Oh, no way. I'm going," Emma fired back.

"He's my son."

"He's my son too."

"Guys, stop," Angie said, holding her hands up. "I'll go. Before either of you argue, Henry can't afford to lose either of his moms today." She sighed before saying, "It won't be as much of a loss if he loses me."

Regina grabbed Angie's hand. "Bring him to me."

Angie nodded. "I will."

Within the next few minutes, Graham had her attached to the line. The company started to slowly lower her down into the shaft. She hoped that Henry or Archie had a flashlight, as it was difficult to see. She also hoped that neither of them were in danger. After a few minutes of nothing, Angie was starting to get worried. However, she didn't have to worry for much longer. She was lowered a few more feet, where she had a clear view of Henry and Archie.

"You guys okay?" Angie called.

"Yeah, we're both okay," Archie responded.

"Hang on, Henry," Angie said, removing a walkie talkie from her belt. Turning it on, she spoke to Graham. "Okay, let's stop." Archie lifted Henry up and Angie took him into her arms.

"Come on, I got you," she said softly as Henry clung to her like a barnacle. "Okay. I got him," she said to Archie.

"You get him to safety," Archie told her as the shaft started to shake.

Angie called out his name. "Archie!"

"It's gonna fall!"

Angie couldn't see anything that she could do to help him. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Angie and Henry both yelled out "Archie!" as the elevator shaft started to fall. Luckily, Archie had hooked his umbrella around Angie's belt loop, bringing him to safety. Angie breathed out a sigh of relief. Graham and the others started to hoist them up. Angie and Henry emerged first. The crowd that had gathered cheered. Angie gently handed Henry to Regina, who was the closest. Regina hugged Henry and pulled him away from the hole. Graham and another worker helped Archie get out before unclipping Angie's cord. Emma pulled her into a hug before going to Henry.

Graham smiled at Angie. "Quite the daredevil you were down there."

Angie blushed. "It was the least I could do."

"You know," Graham said, scratching his neck. "I could use another deputy. Emma's amazing, don't get me wrong. But I'd love to take on multiple cases at the same time. It's pretty good pay. What do you think?"

Angie was about to say no when she turned to look at Henry. He and Archie might not be alive and safe if she hadn't gone down there. If she took this job, she could help so many more people. Angie had her answer.

She turned to Graham. "I would be honored."

Graham smiled and pulled a deputy badge out of his bag. "Welcome to the team, Deputy Frost."

Angie took the badge and clipped it to her belt. She saluted to her new boss before heading over to Henry and Emma. Emma's eyes instantly dropped to the badge. She smiled.

"Nice to have a partner."

"Well, since you got here, I've been your partner in crime. Might as well be your partner in justice, too."

Emma laughed before turning to Henry. "C'mon buddy. Let's get you home."

"Hey!" Henry paused. "Listen."

Angie listened closely as the chirping of crickets, which had been unknown in their small town before that point, graced her ears with their beautiful sound.

"Crickets," Archie observed.

"They're back," Henry said with a smile. He looked at Emma and Angie. "Things are changing."

Angie shook her head in wonder. "They sure are."