[center][i]*~*Collaboration between Ghost Shadow and Guardian Angel Haruki*~*[/i][/center]
[i]Mark's eyes fluttered open groggily, forced to squint as a bright beam of sunlight hit him straight in the face; illuminating the crisp white bedsheets that he was laying on. He felt so warm, so comfortable...surreal. He felt...whole again, as though something that was missing, a part of him, had been returned.

As his eyes adjusted to the bright light, he could see a woman lying just across from him on her side, looking him straight in the face.....Catherine. 

"Catherine?" Mark asked in a hushed voice, a mixture of both confusion and happiness apparent both in his tone and expression. His wife merely smiled back at him as she placed a smooth, warm hand on his unshaven cheek. Her skin was perfect alabaster, free of mark or blemish. Her hair was luxurious and rich, her eyes so bright and full of life...so beautiful, so resplendent. 

"You need to wake up, Nicholas." She said to him in a tone that was both calm and sad at the same time, her soft eyes looking into his as she spoke. 

"Wh-What? Wake up? Catherine, no, I---" Mark began to object, feeling his wife's touch fade away as he desperately tried to cling onto the memory, only to watch it dissipate like sand between his fingers.[/i]

With a sharp gasp, Mark shot up from where he was....in the forest? He shook his head violently, trying to recollect himself. He remembered waking up this morning, taking his medicine and realizing that Mason wasn't there....that he had left! Everything after that was a...haze, a blur. But somehow, some[i]time[/i], he had gone to the woods. 

Mark slowly rose to his feet, using a tree trunk to support himself as he stood up, looking around the vast isolation he was in. His mind was heavy with questions, questions about his dream. It seemed so familiar, like an old memory. But it was so surreal, so unreal...perhaps it was his hope, his wish for the past to return. He didn't [i]want[/i] to be Mark Dufresne. He wanted to be Nick Chopper, back in Oz, living a simple but happy life. 

Mark's thoughtful state was interrupted, however, by the subtle but audible sound of something heavy...clanking. Pistons pumping, gears whirring, the sharp hissing sound of steam, the clockwork-like cranking of movement, the noises seeming to grow louder and louder inside his head. 

[i]'No! No, He's not here...He's *just* a memory, he's not here!'[/i] Mark inwardly tried convincing himself, but he couldn't run...not from the past. Not while it constantly hounded him. 

Taking time to stop and focus, Mark could both feel and hear the sounds slowly dissipating...back into the recessions of his mind. He would face his fears some other day...but not today. 

Walking off in some random direction, Mark's only thought at the moment was heading back to town. His eyes staring in front of him, not looking side-to-side, Mark kept at a normal pace until something caught his eye...something...small, lying on the ground, something [i]definitely[/i] not natural. 

Crouching down to get a better look at the object, Mark almost instantly recognized it as Henry's Walkman, headphones and all. Though obviously battered and in need of a good cleaning, the player looked no worse for wear. 

Mark scooped the player up off the ground, looking at it contemplatively before carefully placing it in his jacket pocket and continuing his trek back towards Storybrooke. He had someone to give this to...

Faye was walking down the sidewalk, she figured that the best thing she could do now was either get some sleep so she could stay awake for tonight, or go to the hospital and just do her job. As much as she would love to continue working on the problem, but there was nothing else she could do, and she didn't want to waste the bean extract she got. She was simply in her thoughts as she kept on walking.

Finding the rest of the walk to be simple and uncomplicated, Mark could catch a glimpse of Faye walking down the sidewalk from where he was. Adjusting his pace to a jog while ignoring the practically screaming objections his shoulder was giving him, Mark called out, "Dr. Stevenson! Wait!" In a louder-than-normal, but not frantic tone, hurriedly approaching until he was nearly six feet in front of her. 

"I found something...something I think you'll want to see." He told her in a quieter voice, rubbing his shoulder absentmindedly. 

Faye snapped out of her own thoughts when she heard a familiar voice call her by her cursed name. She turned to see Mark coming towards her with a quick pace, and she blinked at his statement when he reached her, and she asked out of curiosity "What is it?". She noticed how he rubbed his shoulder, and she asked him, "Are you alright, Mr. Dufresne? Your shoulder..."

"What? Oh, shoulder's fine...just need to take some Aspirin, nothing to worry about. Anyway...Here." Mark said, switching the subject quickly as he procured the cassette player from his coat pocket, holding it out for Faye to take. "I found it in the woods...looks a bit battered, but it should still work fine." He reassured, offering a small half-smile. 

Faye raised an eyebrow at the mention that he would take aspirin, and she wanted to ask more about it, but instead it faded as she blinked at the sight of the walkman. It wasn't just any old walkman...she recognized it as Henry's walkman. After a moment of silence, she took the walkman gently (her hand shaking slightly), and she said to him with a small, appreciative, and grateful smile on her face, "Thank you, Mr. Dufresne..." She didn't say anymore and she kept her eyes on the cassette player, in fear that her voice would quiver in front of him and that he would see her blue eyes start to water. 

She knew that when Henry would get back, she would give this back to him... 

"Don't mention it." Mark replied with a small smile. His expression quickly turned to one of confusion however as he thought more on finding the player. "Henry's almost never seen without that thing. What was it doing in the woods, do you know? Come to think of it...where [i]is[/i] Henry? I haven't seen him in awhile, at least not where he normally would be." Mark finished, sounding quite perplexed as the thought just hit him that the young man was nowhere to be seen. 

Faye noticed the confused tone in his voice while he asked his questions, and she became conflicted. Should she tell him? Nolan had asked her to keep silent about this. But for what purpose? People who were friends with any of the three that disappeared, like Red, needed to know...

She answered Dufresne, "I don't know where he is. He, Mary Margaret, and Knox just...disappeared,"

"Disappeared? I don't understand--what do you mean, disappeared?" Mark asked, scratching the top of his head in slight confusion. Truth be told even back in Oz, magic was as mysterious and puzzling to him as it is now. Unnatural, and abnormal. 

Faye sighed and she answered "They...fell into some kind of portal..." She certainly didn't know how else to describe what she had seen other than the light coming from the hole and how it seemed to act like a black hole. 

"It's magic, I'd wager..." Mark said in a tone that was somewhat disgusted. "The last time magic was involved with my life, I lost everything...and now it's here in Storybrooke. We need to gather the town together, work out a solution to what's going on." Mark suggested, his tone becoming more firm. 

Faye couldn't help but subtly and slowly wince at his suggestion. She shook her head and she said to him, "I'm already working on this, Mr. Dufresne, and I've informed Mr. Nolan. He wants to keep this quiet,"

"Why on earth would he want to keep this quiet? Over three townspeople are missing!" Mark objected vehemently, sincerely flabbergasted that everyone wanted to keep quiet. 

Faye answered, thinking over the possibilities, "I think he may have wanted to keep this quiet so as to not cause a panic...or not let Regina know that Mary Margaret's not here..."

"Why would Mayor Mills not want to know about Mary Margaret...?" Mark asked curiously, unaware of the two's conflict back in The Enchanted Forest. 

Faye shrugged and answered "I'm not sure. All I know is that Regina seems to hold some kind of grudge against Mary Margaret...judging from her previous behavior towards her,"

"And she has my son...again." Mark added, letting out a heavy sigh. He didn't [i]ask[/i] to come to Storybrooke, he didn't [i]ask[/i] to be a part of these complicated events that seemed to occur around him. He just wanted to be back home...back with his family - a lost dream. 

Faye blinked at his statement and she asked confusedly, "Wait...What? Mason's your son?" 

"Yes...yes, he's my son. Except he doesn't remember it. He was very young when he was kidnapped. Wasn't long after that when I was....changed." Mark explained, albeit vaguely, not wanting to go into the details about his personal life. 

Faye listened as he explained vaguely. It seemed as though Mark was going through something similar to her situation with Hyde. She said to him with an understanding look, "I see..." She knew better than to question further. She knew that bad memories can come back to haunt him just from a question.

"Now...I best head home...I'll, uh...give Mason a bit of space. Take care, Doctor." He bid before heading off in the direction of his house, looking back once behind him. 

Faye nodded and she bid Mark, "You too, Mr. Dufresne. Take it easy," She watched him leave for a bit, before she too turned around and headed back to her house, holding the cassette player close to her.