{ enchanted forest }

11. { the outsider }

Archie's funeral was held in a small service with his closest friends present. Mary Margaret did the eulogy for him. Pongo sits by the mourners, whimpering softly at the loss of his owner. Belle was holding onto his leash as his temporary caregiver, her facial expression solemn as she mourns the man who gave so much to this town, including for her own Snowflake.

But what no one knew was that, in his casket, lays an imposter. The real Archie Hopper was tucked below deck of the Jolly Roger, feeling the metal of the captain's hook pricking on his exposed throat.

"Wait, no. Please don't. Wait. Please! Please!"

The captain's hand grabs his jaw while shutting off his mouth, shushing him effectively. "As your patient, the Dark One must have told you all manner of secrets.." Hook takes his hand off the therapist's mouth, but keeps his hook against his throat. "Where is his dagger?"

Archie whimpers that he knows nothing about a dagger. The wood of his ship creaks in the background as he leans back. "No, you don't, do you?"

He squats down, continuing to think. "It's his weakness. Now, tell me, does he have any others?"

The conscience stares at him and momentarily lowers his head. That gesture told Hook everything that he needed to know. 

"Very well. I've always wanted to dissect a cricket." He whispers, raising his hook and pressing the sharp point to the man's temple. Archie's breath hitches. He begins pleading while fighting a mental battle between his morals and his desire to live. 

Hook slowly exhales, a smirk rising on his features. "Ah. That's more like it. Now, tell me, Cricket, what is his weakness?"

The conscience swallows. A wave of shame and guilt washes over him as he whispers. "Two women," he mumbles, feeling absolutely defeated. The captain chuckles. "Well, you can barely call that information, now can you?"

He leans in to the man, his hook digging into the skin of his cheek, while grinning menacingly. "Tell me who they are and where I can find them. Or else, I will go ahead see what colour a cricket's blood is."

"A woman. Her name is Belle. She's the daughter of a king back in our land and Rumplestiltskin's love. She recently became the librarian here, so she's either at the library or at the Rumplestiltskin's side."

Archie lowers his head. All will to fight was lost. After what he had done, did he even deserve to survive this? He would have to face the kind-hearted Belle, look her in the eyes while having betrayed her.

He was sunk so deep in his self-loathing that he almost forgot about the second person Rumplestiltskin loves. For a flicker of a moment he hoped that the captain would be satisfied with his first answer, but unfortunately the odds were not in his favor.

"Hurry up, Cricket, I haven't got all day. Who is the second one?"

Archie presses his lips together in a tight line. He damns himself for not simply lying for once. He was thinking of telling him a fake name, but the intense gaze of the captain and the hook almost breaking the skin of his cheek make him hesitant to try his luck.

"A girl he had adopted as his own. She was a princess in the Enchanted Forest, forced into servitude by the Dark One. Her name is.. Winter."

Hook's eyebrow lifts up. His eyes already looked expressive due to his eyeliner, yet now even more so as he widens them. He knew she was his captive, but he had not yet imagined that the Dark One cared for her so much.

A smirk tugs at his lips, his teeth bared.

"Winter? Ah yes, Winter. Charming lass, isn't she? When she's not taking a nap, that is."