[b]Collaboration between Yoshiskittlez and Tanderbolt[/b]

Two firemen were stationed just outside the mouth of the cave, helping out first Mason (who was immediately rushed to a stretcher where he could be given some oxygen for good measure), the dog, Ruby, Mark and then finally Knox. As soon as the boy made it from the mines though, Regina quickly followed and observed him getting checked over by the paramedics.

She could tell from her own standpoint that the boy was going to be okay, just a little shaken up and scared. She approached the boy and got down onto her knees on his level, giving him a warm white smile.

"Mason, is it?" Regina asked quietly. The boy nodded once, using the palm of his hand to wipe away the dirt-streaking tears from his cheeks.
"It's alright Mason, you're safe now." Regina picked up her head to look around at the crowd that had gathered to watch, wondering when the boy's parents would finally step up to claim their child. She knew that if she were a mother, she would be tearing through that yellow caution tape if her child had just been pulled from the mines...and yet, no one came.

"Who are your parents Mason? I can give you a ride home." Regina offered, looking back to the boy but he made no sound, no utterance of a name or even a slight gesture towards any direction of where he might have lived. Regina sighed, she didn't know if this boy was just naturally stubborn, or if he was still trying to get over whatever it was that he was going through.

"I'll tell you what, why don't we get out of here, and get you some ice cream?" Regina asked the boy, finally earning a wide ear-to-ear grin. Regina smiled and stood up tall once again, extending her arm out for him to grab and waved off the paramedics with her other arm, allowing the boy to come to her. She wrapped her arm around his thin shoulders and hugged him to her in a protective manner as she walked past the group of people she didn't even bother to look at, only stopping when she got to Robert.
"Henry said his name is Mason, I need you to find out who his parents are and then what kind of parents they are. If my kid were missing I'd be going nuts by now." Regina said to Robert, almost like it was his fault that the boy's parents weren't there.

If it hadn't been for the earthquake, school would be in session, and Mason would presumably have been sitting in class. Robert figured that his parents were at work, and didn't know that their son had been in the mine. He nodded, and looked at Mason. He said "Hi, I'm glad your safe. Would you mind telling me your last name, son?" trying to keep his tone of voice friendly and engaging, but interacting with people wasn't exactly his strong suit. 
Mason only seemed to cling to Regina even more and buried his shy face into her hip. Regina let out a tired sigh and gave the boy a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder, albeit glaring daggers at Robert for not making any progress.

"We're not getting anywhere sheriff, perhaps if you put your training skills to the test and do what I [i]pay[/i] you for-" She cut herself off, closing her eyes in an attempt to not lose her temper, only caring now since the boy seemed to be taking a small shine to her. "Do a bit of detective work, find his parents and-"
"He doesn't have any." A voice from the slowly dissipating crowd came. David Nolan pushed his way through the crowd and crossed the yellow lines, again causing Regina to hold the same shocked face she held when Ruby had crossed the boundaries, but it was clear that David didn't care and didn't stop until he was with Robert, Mason and Regina. "He doesn't have any." David repeated, looking mainly at Regina before looking down at the boy.

"I've been watching him for a while now. Everyday after school he comes to the pet shelter, where I work and plays with the dogs. At first I didn't mind but he started staying later and later. One day I followed him home, it was dark and started to rain. Took me right to a small barn just inside the forest. I've been donating a fraction of my income to the school to make sure he got something to eat and nice clean clothes, but I've never seen any parents." David went on to explain. Regina's eyes narrowed at David, the vein in her forehead becoming prominent in her anger.
"And you didn't think to report this?" She asked him coldly, seeming to hug the boy to her even closer. David shook his head no, looking down at the dirt beneath his feet in shame.

"I didn't know what else to do, I thought that if I did, you might...you might-"
Regina shook her head and held up her hand, dismissing David altogether.
"Robert, escort David back to the animal shelter...where he belongs." Regina said to Robert without even so much as looking at him and shooting an icy gaze towards David. "We're done here, and see to it that this place is completely cemented over [i]immediately[/i]!"

Regina then moved with Mason to head away from the mines, stopping at what looked like an actual split in the earth created from the earthquake. Regina looked to her hand that wasn't around Mason and opened up her palm, looking at the crystalized glass shard that she had picked up earlier and dropped it into the narrow chasm where it fell down deep into the mines, landing deep below at last on the remains of a shattered, glass coffin.

Robert motioned for David to come with him, and they walked back to his patrol car. On the way he said "I'll give the school principal a call and have him check out Mason's paperwork, I want to get to the bottom of this." David put a strong hand on Robert's shoulder and looked upon him with sincerity.
"Thank you." He said and walked away from the scene, sparing Robert the trouble of having to give him a ride. With that finished, he got out his phone to make some calls, mostly to the school and to the local cement company.