*~*~*Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and GuardianAngelHaruki*~*~*

Not too long after they left Mr. Gold's house, Belle and Faye entered Granny's Diner and sat at the bar. On the way there, Faye had pointed out the different locations and gave her basic information about Storybrooke. After the both of them placed an order through Granny, Belle said to Faye, "Thank you for showing me around Storybrooke,"

"Don't worry about it. I'm happy to help out," The good doctor answered Belle. She didn't bring up the fact that Gold had asked her to, because she had a feeling that Belle already knew.

It was a good few minutes of light conversation between the two women before Ruby was able to bring them their orders. Dressed as she had been before spending time with Knox, the waitress in red had absolutely no idea who the new girl sitting at the bar with Dr. Stevenson was, and decided to do something about it.

"Hi." She greeted cheerily sliding Belle her order of pancakes, eggs and bacon (ordered by Faye, as Belle had no idea what a majority of the items on the menu like pancakes even were). "I'm Ruby, you must be a friend of Dr. Stevenson's." She observed, keeping her white smile despite the odd fact that there was a stranger in Storybrooke.

Faye looked at Red, clearly confused as to why the waitress seemed like...herself before she actually spent time with Knox. It somewhat concerned Faye, and Belle had a look of recognition cross her face. She realized that the waitress was Red! They both met briefly in The Enchanted Forest...Belle had her cloak as well, left behind in Rumpel's shop when he had her change into something more comfortable. She snapped out of her stupor and said "Oh, I'm Belle. It's nice to meet you Ruby," Why didn't Red recognize her?

Ruby then turned to Faye and gave the doctor a quick nod, handing over the orange juice she had ordered along with the second plate of pancakes, eggs and bacon that the waitress had somehow been able to balance with everything else with just the two hands.

"What brings you to Granny's today Doctor? We don't see you in here very often." Ruby asked, keeping the conversation going.

Faye nodded to Ruby in turn, and she blinked at Ruby's comment in confusion before answering her, "I'm showing Belle around Storybrooke, considering she's not familiar with the town yet" She then asked "Are you alright, Ruby?" She did find it curious and even more concerning that Ruby didn't seem to remember Faye coming into Granny's Diner before today.

"Oh!" Ruby's attention went back to Belle, as if suddenly realizing something. "Did you just move here? Or are you staying? We have a Bed and Breakfast joined with the Diner if you need a place to stay. As far as I know, all the rooms are available...we don't get very many visitors here in Storybrooke."

A deep throat-clearing sounded from the other side of the bar as Leroy sipped at his coffee, having taken notice of the conversation that had transpired with his favorite, not-so-favorite waitress.

"Hey sister, less yappin and more coffee refillin." He barked, getting Ruby's attention before Belle or Faye could answer her. Rolling her eyes noticably, Ruby just shook her head and held up a finger to signal 'just one moment' before tending to Grumpy's cup. While Ruby was busy, Leroy hopped down from his stool and quickly made his way over to the two girls, giving Belle a double-take as he recognized almost immediately as the girl who had insisted that he follow his heart, despite being a dwarf.

"Belle?" He asked in both question and amazement.

Belle looked at the man and she recognized him as the dwarf who was in love, long ago. She remembered how she told him about what love was like. She said to him smiling kindly, greeting him as though he was an old friend, "Hello, Dreamy. It's good to see you again," 

"It's Grumpy now...or Leroy, whichever I suppose."

The Dwarf didn't hesitate to wrap his short arms around Belle in a quick, dwarf-worthy hug before pulling away from her again, an uncharacteristically wide grin splitting his rugged beard.

"I never got a chance to thank you...for that advice you gave me at the tavern." He said, completely forgetting why he had gone over there in the first place.

Belle hugged Leroy back, letting him pull away after a moment. She said to Leroy in return, "There's no need to thank me,"

"You're smiling..." Faye mumbled in slight disbelief, since she only had ever seen Leroy with a scowl or frown. She chuckled good naturedly and she joked lightly "Never thought I'd live to see the day!" 

Leroy's smile vanished almost as quickly as it came as his beady eyes happened on Faye. Had his bead not been there, a slight rosy blush would have crept onto his cheeks at being caught in a vulnerable moment.

"Yeah well, world's full of surprises isn't it?" He asked, his demeanor changing back to the grumpy janitor of Storybrooke Hospital.

Faye then asked "So, Leroy, is something bothering you?" 

Knowing the janitor, Faye knew that Leroy wouldn't just come up to her, unless something was bothering him.

Leroy fidgeted a bit, his eyes glancing back over to Belle for a moment as if torn between answering Faye and just wanting to talk with Belle more about that night in the Dwarf Tavern. He squared up his broad shoulders and turned to Faye again, his expression annoyed.

"You're damn right something's bothering me!" He grunted. "I'm gonna have the outfits of one particular waitress engrained into my brain for the rest of my life!" He casually jerked his head over towards Ruby who was now busy with a couple who had just sat down for their breakfast.

"I was just starting to like the new Ruby too. Less bitchy." He added on, shaking his head in disappointment.

Faye looked at Ruby after the janitor jerked his head towards her, and Belle asked Leroy, "What happened to Red, Dreamy?"

Leroy raised an eyebrow, clearly vexed as to how Faye and Belle didn't know what was buzzing all over Storybrooke.

"She crossed the town line." He said simply, as if that might jog the doctor's memory. When Faye looked just as lost as ever, he went on to explain, "The gang and I went to the town line as soon as we all got our memories back. There's always been this...force keeping us here in Storybrooke and keeping others out, but we were too cursed to give a real damn about it, so we went to investigate. We wanted to know what happened if we tried to leave. Sneezy was about to cross over the line when Red thought she owed something to Snow and went over herself...it was like a reset button was pressed or something, she doesn't remember anything. Nothing from The Enchanted Forest, nothing about the curse...hell I even tried bringing up Knox a few times just to see if she'd start crying or start hitting me or something and she looked at me as if I sprouted another head. She wanted to know what the Security Guard from Storybrooke Hospital had to do with anything..."

Belle and Faye listened carefully as Leroy explained what had happened. Belle could only answer with a sad "I see..." first. She remembered the cloak, and she asked "I still have her cloak...maybe if she had it, it would help?" Faye remained silent while listening to Belle talk to Leroy.

Leroy looked between the girls as they talked, feeling as though he were watching a tennis match, and just about as interesting before Belle finally addressed him directly.

"Don't worry about it sister, we've already got Mother Superior working on something that might help. It will take a while, but as long as we're still trapped here in Storybrooke then we've got all the time in the world."

Leroy shrugged his broad shoulders and made his way back over to the other side of the bar to quickly drink down his coffee refill before gathering up his coat and passing by Faye and Belle once again.

"Don't be a stranger. You ever need anything, come find me. I owe you one sister." Leroy said compassionately to Belle, another uncharacteristic layer of the grumpy dwarf showing through that only Belle seemed to be able to bring in of him.

Before Belle or Faye could respond, Leroy had left the diner. Faye asked her "I've never seen that side of Leroy before. Impressive. How did you two know each other?" Belle answered "I was in a dwarf tavern, and I told him about love. He was in love with someone and I told him to follow his heart,"

Faye nodded "Interesting..." She then looked to the side and saw that Belle had finished eating. The doctor asked Belle "Are you ready to go?" Belle nodded, and Faye proceeded to pay for the meal (using Gold's credit card), and after that was done, she and Belle left the diner.

XXX

As Faye and Belle walked down the sidewalk, Faye explained to Belle about other important things to keep in mind about Storybrooke, such as where certain locations are, and about certain well-known people (excluding Mr. Gold). 

Belle then stopped and as Faye turned to face her in concern, she asked the doctor "Faye? Be honest. Did...Did Mr. Gold ask you to help me?" Faye blinked and she sighed "How perceptive of you. Yes, he did," 

Belle answered, seeming to dread what Faye's answer may be,"I see...what did he offer you in return?" She couldn't help but suspect that Faye may be helping Belle for a selfish and uncaring reason. 

"In return, Mr. Gold will help me find Henry, Snow, and Knox, and get them back home," 

Belle was surprised to hear the answer, and she asked "Wh-What?" Belle immediately recalled that Henry was the man who wanted to save his true love. Belle then judged the look in Faye's eyes as an emotion she was familiar with, and she came to the conclusion that Faye was the woman that Henry wanted to save, and therefore, his true love. Before Faye could answer, Belle said "OH!" in complete realization. 

She then asked "How...How did they go missing?"

Faye shook her head, knowing that if she talked about it, she would probably go emotional, and she didn't want to cry in public. She answered "I'd really rather not talk about it, Belle. It's...kind of hard for me to do so right now," 

Belle sighed and said "I see..." She then seemed to cheer up a bit and she said to Faye "Don't worry Faye! I'm sure you will find Henry. After all, true love [i]will[/i] prevail," 

Faye was thankful for the support, but she was a bit skeptical about true love. Before she could say any of her skeptic thoughts, she noticed movement from the corner of her eye and she looked to see who was approaching them. 

Dr. Hopper was being led across the street by a very eager Pongo who seemed very intent on meeting the new stranger in Storybrooke. All Archie could offer was a polite smile as he removed his hat as Pongo took it upon himself to infiltrate his senses with Belle's skirt and legs.

"I-I-I'm so sorry miss. He's as g-gentle as a g-goldfish, but with just about as much c-common c-courtesy." He apologized to Belle, putting his hat back on his mess of curly red hair and attempted to pull on the dog's leash to keep Pongo at bay. It was then that the doctor realized that Faye was with the new stranger, and his smile brightened even more. "G-good morning Doctor Stevenson. A beautiful day today!"

Belle was at first a little startled by Pongo, but she calmed down a bit, and she said to Dr. Hopper "Oh, it's alright," She then knelt down and pet Pongo on the head.

Faye looked to Hopper when he greeted her, and she greeted back in kind, "Good morning, Dr. Hopper. And yes, it is," 

Archie seemed to relax somewhat as the stranger didn't seem too upset with Pongo's actions and instead knelt down to pat him on the head.

"I uh, I don't think we've met before miss." He said extending a somewhat shaky hand to the girl. "Doctor Archibald Hopper." He introduced himself, witholding his name from The Enchanted Forest in case she wasn't aware what their little town of Storybrooke had been through the last five years.

Belle stood back up, and she accepted his hand and shook it as she answered, "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Hopper. My name is Belle," 

"Belle, such a l-lovely name." Archie commented with a smile before turning his attention back to Faye. "I-I've been meaning to ask you, D-doctor, if we were s-still on for our regularly scheduled session the day after tomorrow? I-In light of what, uh, what has, uh, happened, I, uh, I wasn't too sure..."

At the mention of the sessions, Faye muttered "Oh that's right..." before she answered Archie, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel our sessions, Dr. Hopper," She then said with a raised hand, knowing where he may get confused as to why, "And no, it's not because of the...incident last session. It's just simply that my case...is a hopeless one,"

Archie shook his head no right away.

"N-naw, I-I w-wouldn't say hopeless." He tried reassuring her, though more as a friend than a man trying to keep an appointment so he could get paid. "We uh, we were so close to s-something very important last time..." His eyes shifted over to Belle, unsure of how much more he should say in present company. "W-why don't you j-just give me a call when you get h-home tonight? W-we can talk it over t-then." He suggested, looking back to Faye.

Belle looked a little confused, but she was ignored as Faye nodded in agreement to his question, and she said "Sounds reasonable. I shall do so, Dr. Hopper," She and Hyde easily noticed his intention was that of a good friend, and Faye couldn't help but smile a bit at how Dr. Hopper seemed to have learned from last time about Doctor-Patient Confidentiality.

Faye then said politely "Well, Belle and I should carry on. It was good talking to you, Dr. Hopper. I'll call you later," 

Archie nodded once, looking more content with Faye's answer as he tipped his cap to the two ladies.

"Have a splended m-morning!" He called as he eased Pongo away from Belle and back on track of their usual morning walk.

Belle waved Archie goodbye before she continued walking with Faye. She asked Faye, "So how do you know him?" 

Faye chuckled and said "He is the town psychologist. I've been going to him for...well, you know," Belle caught onto what Faye was talking about and she answered "O-Oh. Well...he certainly seemed nice,"

Faye nodded in agreement as they kept on walking.