Chapter 22: The Deal

asking right? Sure to start, you know, now that the shock has worn off, you seem remarkably calm for someone talking to an ageless, magical being. Well, let's just say I've learned to accept a lot in the past few weeks, and this is just another thing to add to the pilot. Well that's a little insulting. Oh, I'm sorry to hurt your feelings, but I do have more important things to focus on right now. Of course, of course your father, right, what about him? Well, I know what he's thinking of doing,

I mean, so noble. How do you know that he talked about it in my forest with that awful woman, the one who gave you those ridiculous rooms. You mean, the rooms that were meant to protect us, that you sabotage, no sense of adventure. I'm almost disappointed. Jeremy must be a real kick in the teeth. Huh, dear old dad wanting to throw himself back into nowhere rather than stay

here with you. Oh, come on, if you've just come here to mock no, no, no. Well, to be fair, you came to me stomping through the woods shouting for the faye. What exactly were you hoping to say to us? I want to talk about the deal. Well, what a lovely coincidence. I do too. I was about to come looking for you myself before you very kindly brought yourself to me. All right, then, I guess I will ask another question. Why are you saying that I'm special? Well,

you see, I don't particularly like losing. From where I'm standing, it seems like you've gotten exactly what you want for the past several centuries. Sure, fine, the deal is, it's whatever. But I get bored and you've got a very interesting energy. Jeremy. When you were a kid, you believed, and you were always wandering off where you weren't supposed to. You remember that, don't you? Or have you forgotten that this isn't your first time meeting the fair Realm up close. It was

you when I was a kid. You try to lure me away. No, here's the thing about that. Nothing lured you over. You didn't have to be lured. What are you talking about. I don't know if you were just a naturally curious kid or just fucking lucky. But you ran into a puckwagie just happened upon it. That doesn't make any sense, I know, right, And then what's weird? The thing tries to do its whole spiel, come play with us whatever. That seemed good to you, so you followed.

And here's where it gets really weird. You came to the other side just right on in. What what do you mean? Yeah, you're not supposed to be able to do that, but I don't know. I guess with the timing of the veil being thinner and whatever magical activity those weirdos were doing, something hinky was going on in the Bridgewater Triangle and you just tripped right on into our kingdom. You're telling me that I've been to the Faye Realm. You spent a lovely afternoon there. I'm actually

kind of insalted. You don't remember anything about it. I don't. This doesn't make any sense. Why why would you let me go? I didn't. I wouldn't have been able to take you back even if I wanted to. Okay, no, that's a lie. I could have, but I didn't want to. So I don't get to observe humans all that much, not for longer than it takes to, you know, take their lives. And I had just taken a girl, so

I wasn't really looking for another. But wait, wait, wait, wait, there was that that kid that went missing from her girl Scout Truth, the one that my dad and Anne found. Well, they didn't find her exactly. Francine Markham Jesus, that was her name, and now it's one of mine, And that's this body. The story I told you about getting lost and moving away when I was a kid was totally true. So you've been living among humans for the past forty years. Well,

it's a little more complicated than that. That's the wonderful thing about changelings. The terms of our agreement with you lot means we're not supposed to come over here and kill a bunch of you, and we're not technically allowed to take people outside of the willing volunteers but as long as we don't do it too often, kids are a little more flexible. Changelings are different because you're not taking them, you're replacing it exactly. And sometimes the kids

get stuck and poor Alden, but mostly it works. It allows us to circumvent the finer points of the deal. Lets us be in our realm and this one and not pass out from your little tricks, the inside out clothes, the bells and so on. You mean it, lets you break the rules that you made, rules that you broke two without even trying. Imagine my surprise. I'm in a new form, this twelve year old girl, and this kid

comes on through who I don't recognize here. I'm thinking someone else decided to pull the old changeling act without my explicit say so, wait, you mean I'm a no, no, you're just you. That's what was so strange. And given that you didn't come over to do anything malicious, I thought it might be interesting to watch what the Faye realm does to a living, full blown human Over the years. That's never happened. But then Daddy called and you ran on home, so he got me out. You just walked

right back over. You heard his voice, and it was like the veil just lifted right up for you. Do you know how frustrating that is? I've spent so much of my existence waiting for tedious human years to get back here. In between cycle resets, you don't get to go anywhere unless you've recently taken a changeling, which we can't do all that often. Besides, they don't last very long, just a human lifespan. And here you were just waltzing in and out, no problem at all? Why me? How?

I have no fucking clue. I've spent the past few decades trying to figure it out, and the best I can come up with is random chance mixed with a strong connection between you and your father that kept you tethered enough to your side to bring you back. Love really was the solution all along? Then why wasn't I able to bring my dad back from the limit all? I don't know. We don't control that bit, so it's hard to say. This is all wild magic, very unpredictable,

very capricious. And I are you telling me that I can do magic? Is that because I went over to the other side as a kid, or can anyone? No? No, no, you can't do magic, but you just no human can. It was me, obviously. I told half my little birdies to go away and then sent over some warm tinglis, basically mimicking the sensation of real magic as much as your puny brain could take anyway. So then is there a point to any of this? Why have you gone

through all this trouble? You know you are being quite prickly for someone who wants something for me. If I remember human stories about the fake correctly, being polite is one of those big rules. What are you gonna do. You're gonna set another thunderbird on me, trapped me in a house. If you wanted me dead, you would have done it by now. And you know what, I am not the one who wants something here. Well, you might not be magical, but I think you might want to be.

I think you do want to see what's on the other side, and that interests me. That was your idea. Remember, I was just giving a name to the feeling that you were already having. I am a folklore professor, of course, I'm interested in magical beings. I'm not sure that's all it is. Here. You are talking to one such being, and you're not asking a thing about me besides being pretty rude. That's not very academic behavior. Like I said, I have bigger things to focus on, which is why

I'd like to help. You'll understand I'm a little bit skeptical. Sure, sure of course, but don't you want to at least hear me out. I don't know. Are you willing to renegotiate the deal to close the gate for good and to let us live peacefully at our own separate world. What do you think then? I don't really want to know what you have to offer me. Would you even really want that, Jeremy, for the gate to be closed for good? Of course I would. You took my father

from you, kidnapped children, you killed them. But we've also given you your whole life's purpose, haven't we. You couldn't be a folklore professor if there was no folklore to teach. I have operated my entire life until now under the assumption that nothing I taught was real. There's millennia of lore that I can lecture on without new monsters coming through. But now you know it is real, you could find out exactly which bits were true, how it all connects.

I've told you. I'm Faye and that Puckwudgies and the Dover Demon are all real. That creature in Anne's house that was a yokai all right here in the Bridgewater Triangle. How is that possible? I don't know, and I'm assuming that you're not going to just tell me. I think you owe it to yourself to find out. Oh, don't pretend to know me, don't I We've had a handful of conversations and one of us was lying about who they were the whole time. So no, I don't think

you know me. Come on, that's not fair. I think we were clicking, I mean, becoming friends, weren't we. I didn't know anything real about you, Sure you did. You said you were a legend tripper, which you are not, aren't I I spend a good deal of my time chasing monsters around. You said you'd never seen anything paranormal. I haven't where I'm from. All those creepy crawleys are perfect on you. Stop stop stop twisting this around. You

tricked me. I don't know why. I don't know if it was just for fun for you, I don't know. And I don't know why you think I would be interested in seeing your world? But you are not going to trick me again. I thought maybe you needed a friend, that's why it was fun. But well, I think you're being pulled in all sorts of directions and it's become impossible to know which way is up, and you want to help orient me out of the goodness of your heart.

Maybe I need a friend too. I don't think that we have the strongest foundation for a friendship, or maybe not. But tell me when was the last time you met someone you felt like you could actually talk to, who understood you. Is this my choice then, to be your friend or not? Not exactly. I want to give you the chance to save your father. How I'm going to tell you a secret now, Jeremy, a secret that's been

very well kept for centuries. I'm going to tell you what happens when someone passes all the way through the liminal, as you call it. They don't die, not exactly. It becomes nearly impossible for them to cross back out. Their body wouldn't survive in this mortal world. That sounds an awful lot like dying. I like to think of it as eternal life. So you're saying that when the souls have served their time, they go to heaven. No, I don't know anything about all that stuff. God and the

Devil and all the rest. Could be real, could be just humans confusing us for something else. I don't know, and I don't particularly care to find out. But the Kingdom, our kingdom is a kind of heaven, full of beauty and magic and creatures you've never even heard of. You loved it when you were there as a kid, and I think you'd love it again. That's what happens when humans pass through. They come to live with us in the Kingdom forever. I thought you said humans didn't just

come over to the other side. By the time they get there, they're not human anymore, just like the body standing in front of you, all the changelings, your dad, anyone who passes through becomes something else. And what if they don't want to pass through, What if they just want to die? Well, I'm sure we could arrange that, but no one has ever wanted to die, not once they've reached the other side. Problem is, this secret wasn't

really ever meant to be a secret. The knowledge got lost on the way somehow, and it seems that that caused lots of problems. Well, I don't know what you're getting at. Well, no one ever said you had to stay in the liminal. The deal was for two souls every forty years to pass through the veil and join us. Every forty years, we open the gate a little bit

more and we take a sacrifice and invite guests. Remember, they have to be willing, which means we can't just pull them through to the other side, and so people get stuck. People get stuck. They could just continue to walk through, go through the other side of the veil. We don't need them to stay in the liminal until the gate opens again. But no one can ever find the other gate when they're inside. It's like they're in a waiting room with two doors, and they're blind to

the second door. So you're telling me that this whole time, my dad and Alden could have just gone through the other door and lived in the Kingdom, and the Liminal would have been empty for forty years, and that would have been fine, according to the terms of the deal. We're not cruel, Jeremy, we're not. We're particular. It's not our fault. You're kind or terrible communication. Why can't you just show people the door that's what I'm offering to you.

You go through willingly, and I tell you how to get right into the kingdom. I can't trust you to get lucky again. You can find that boy who's in there already and taken through with you. I'll let that count as two for this cycle. Give you a little bit of a freebee. Why would you be giving me this preferential treatment. I like you, Why on earth would I trust you? You did before? Nothing's changed, of course it has changed. I trusted the human I met, not

whatever you are, and you're right you were. You were easy to talk to. I did feel a connection, but that was all. It was all fabricated. You're angry with me, Yeah, I'm angry with a lot of people right now. Why why are you mad? Because I feel stupid, I feel duped. I found you interesting. Now I'm being told it was all a trick. Wait, you find me interesting? Yeah? I did, And now that you find out I'm a being of magic and myth, I'm less interesting. I found you interesting

in a way that I don't usually find people interesting. Okay, Oh you know I have people in my life. I'm not some sort of hermit. I didn't say you were you kind of did. I said you needed a friend. We can always use more friends. Well, there are people who care about me and people that I care about, But I don't know. I guess I don't normally meet

people who intrigue me. Never, No, not never. It's just there have been people through the years, people who are sweet and not a lot else, and they always wanted more more than you wanted to give. I guess I'm just picking. I'm not asking anything of you that you don't want to give. Jeremy, now you're just asking for my life. What's one human life? When you can live forever? Is something so much more? Well? What would happen when I'm over there? The learning never ends. You would be

treated as one of us. What are you doing? You would be able to do magic over there, Jeremy magic you can't even dream of. Ah, Magic like this. A broken wrist heal in an instant. This is the choice I'm presenting you with, Jeremy. Come with me through the veil and into the other side. All the questions you've had your entire life will be answered, and you get to save your dad in the process. I'd never see them again, or Anne or Vibbin or Olivia or anyone true.

But come on, your connections to people are tenuous at best. You know that which you could give all those relationships meaning by saving the people you love. Isn't that the best thing you could do for them? Give them a chance to live, Give them a chance to live without me, with the knowledge that you are alive and well somewhere else, and that you gave them their lives. They'll love you for that more than they could ever you stayed. How do I know that you're telling me the truth? You

have done nothing but tricked me. I'm telling you the truth. I've been telling you the truth this whole time. You just have to open your eyes and see it. Isn't that what this has all been about, the evidence of the truth in front of you this whole time? But you never believed it, not until you saw your father. I didn't have any proof until then. But did you really need it? What do you think would have happened if you'd believed it all earlier? Do you think you

could have saved him sooner? Don't let skepticism keep you from doing the right thing again, Jeremy, you can trust me. I just think he should be back by an He just needs a little space, Thomas. We don't hear from him in the next half hour, we'll give him a call. Are we making completely the wrong decision? Anne? I don't know. I really don't. If you tell me you don't want to do this, I will support you one hundred percent. We'll find another way. You know, we don't have that time.

We don't know that. No, we don't know for certain that you couldn't survive here. No, I know it. I can feel it in my bones. Are you really okay with this? Do you truly understand what you're giving up? I've I've made so many mistakes, Thomas. I've had a lifetime fault with mistakes. Are you saying no? Oh no, no, not you never hear you? You, Jeremy Shelley, Those were the best choices I've ever made. But I think I

was given these gifts. You know, I squandered him and no I did yes, And I can never get that time back. But you could what I want to do this, Thomas. I owe this to my family, to this place, to you, to myself to do this. I want to make things right, Okay. I want to protect the people that I love, but you maybe you've done enough and I could go without you. You know, think about it. You're still You're still so young, Thomas, and even if you're sick, you could at least spend

the rest of your life here. I mean, have a little joy before you go. My best years there behind me. And I could die tomorrow. We have no idea. Yeah, but you're not dead yet. I mean, even if you are, if this world really is rejecting you, then at least it'll all be over right. But in the meantime, you could you could live another month or a year. I mean, we just don't know, no, and I won't let you. Oh okay, well, since when have you been able to tell me what to do? Please let me do this

for you. Let me give you the family that I spent my life keeping at a distance. I mean, I ruined my chance, but you you haven't ruined yours. I don't want to do this without you, okay. I mean I've been without you for so long. I know, I know, but maybe maybe we don't get to be together. No, maybe we have been given this beautiful family, but we have to you know, we have to take care of them at different times in different ways you've been thinking about this. I was just trying to find the right

way to bring it up. I knew that when we told Jeremy that I'd have doubt. You deserve to be with your son, Thomas. So to you, he's not mine. He was once and then I abandoned him. Okay, I lost you and I abandoned him. You know you can't do the same. I know. No, we're not doing it, Thomas. I appreciate what you're trying to do for me. Anne. I love you so much for it. But it's all a mood point. It needs two souls. Maybe not it did when you went in because Alden was already in there. No,

I would take good care of him, Thomas. I swear to you, No, you can't do that. I can't do that to him. I made a promise, I know, and you will keep that promise. But remember what you said to Jeremy that you wanted to buy him time, And that's what I am doing. I am buying you time. I'll look after Alton while you figure out how to help us cross over, and then close the gates for good and you can really get to live while you still can. Please Thomas, Jeremy, Jeremy. Guys, Peyton, what are

you doing here? Where's Jeremy? He's out for some air? Why they told him they're going into the liminal good? That's one problem solved. Well do you know where he went? He's not picking up his phone. He just went for a walk around the block. His car isn't here. What what's going on? What's wrong that friend of his? I don't know what her deal is, but she is bad news. What do you mean she's the one who's summoned the birds. I don't know how she knew the right room or

why she did it. But if Jeremy is with her right now, then we have a big problem. You think she'd hurt Jeremy, no offense, but it is not Jeremy. I'm worried about. What are you worried about? I think whoever that legend tripper is, she's trying to open the gate for good. Are we even sure this is where he would come? If he's not here yet, he will be soon. How do you know? Can't you feel that something is unsettled? Yeah? This is all feeling really eerily familiar.

Jeremy would he wouldn't try to go in himself. Would he No, no way, Are you sure? Because I think he would do a lot to save Thomas. If he goes in, he goes in as long as he's willing. Problem solved. No, no, not problem solved. But if he's trying to help that woman do something extremely stupid, I don't. I don't think Jeremy would open up our world to chaos. Do you agree with your girlfriend that he'd do anything to save his dad? Yeah, well then we better hurry live. Yeah,

I need you to do something for me, Honey. What is it? I think, I think whatever is about to happen. I have a feeling that this is this is gonna be app Okay, this is going to end today. Yeah, and so I need you to tell your mom what happened and that I love her, Nanna. I thought we were gonna have my time that I could say goodbye. You don't have to do this, I do, you know, I do. I never should have told my mom about Thomas. I thought you were sure that she deserved to know.

She did it, But she shouldn't have ever met him live, because now she's met her dad live. I'm going to go in alone. What I've told Thomas to stay. Nana, it's okay, it's okay, okay. Just give Ethan a huge hug from No Nana. You can't do this. I won't let you, all right, Joel. The lake is just ahead. We're sure that's where they'll be. I'm not sure about anything, but we have to start somewhere. There he is, Jeremy, Jeremy, Dad, Get away from him. Dad, what are you doing here?

I mean it, you step away. She's Louise. Everyone is so touchy today. Dad. You shouldn't be here, Jeremy. This woman she can't be trusted. She knew that the ruin would open the veil. She's been lying to you. I know, you know. She's a change link. She's Faye. Wait what she's actually called me? Francine. Good to meet you, Jeremy. What the hell is going on? Francine and I have made a deal, h you just what? Not binding just yet? So you know, if you could give us a sesse

stay back, Jeremy, what did you do? We've had it wrong. Okay, people don't have to stay in the liminal. They can pass through to the other side. Oh no, what are you talking about? She explained everything. The deal was made for two souls to pass through, and people have been getting lost. They've not been going to the second door. Second, there is no second door. Excuse me, there is. Actually you don't talk. I know, Dad, I know how to find it, and I am going through and I will

find Alden and we will both go into the Kingdom. Kingdom. This is not happening, Dad. You have to let me do this. You think this this thing is telling you the truth. She's nothing to gain from this. She is not lying. Yemmy, come on, you're smarter than this. You know the fake can't be trusted. Rude. They have motivations that we know nothing about. They're playing this game on a different scale. This is not a game, Jeremy. I'm going your what me and your dad agreed. He's going

to stay and I am going to go. I'll take care of Alden and if what this woman is saying is true, I'll take him through and you stay here with your dad and you find a way to make him healthy or just enjoy whatever time you have. We didn't agree. Oh yeah, that's not going to work for me anymore. What well, you've agreed to go, so I think we should just stick to that. What do you want with my son? You know, if you would just let him stay lost the first time, we wouldn't even

be in this situation. What the hell does that mean? Jeremy is of interest to us? Hey, cover me. I'm about to do something very stupid. Why is he of interest to you? Well, we're flattered that he finds us so interesting. Hey, I could find you interesting. Come on, Jeremy, you know it should be me. Don't be a martyr. Can everyone just stop for a second. If none of us are willing, then it won't work and you will have to renegotiate the deal. That's not really how it works.

I wouldn't do that if I were you. You really shouldn't be messing around with magic. You don't understand what are you doing to him? He was being very sneaky carving rooms. Oh fippen, Yeah, you knew that wouldn't work. Very valiant, try though, you broke my arm bones heel. I thought you said you weren't going to hurt anyone. It was self defense. He was trying to banish me. Fair enough, Jeremy, Well this has been interesting. Sorry, that was a lie. This kind of human drama is so exhausting.

I don't know how you do it so much, but we should get going, Jeremy. You have to let me do this. Dad. Did you just watch what she did to your best friend and you still want to go with her? Bibbin is fine? This is our best option. No, it isn't. I'm going alone. No. I promised Alden I would get him out. Yeah, and you will. Oh, screw Alden. Alden is not your son. I am Jeremy, Jeremy, and I know that doesn't mean very much anymore, which is why I am doing this. You all clearly don't need me, Jeremy.

That's not true. This is the best thing I can do. This is how I can be most useful. This is what I'm good for. No can get off of me. No, you're not going, Jeremy. Do you not let me go? I will. You'll let me go and keep him down, Okay, Dad? No, I love you, Jeremy. No, I love you so much. Being your dad is the most important thing in the world to me. No, Dad, I will always love you. Don is so quaint now, Jeremy. The doorst openness, and your dad would never want you to walk through it.

You know that. But it's not finished. Live, Nana, tell the mom and Ethan that I love them. Nana. No, it's okay, Live, it's okay. Ethan hug for me. Jeremy, I'm so sorry. God, damn it, this isn't over. It's done. It's done, Jeremy, it can't be. No, I'm sorry. I've got you, I've got you. Is that thing gone? I think so? She said? Do you think she'll be back? The deal is for two souls. She might still be able to come over here in that form, but she

can't do anything more, not now, but eventually. We'll worry about that another day. Okay, right, Ben, all the monsters might still be out there. We're not done yet. And what she do to me? Do you mean she healed my wrist? I think it? God, I felt like she did something to me. It wasn't myself, wasn't I No, No, you weren't. I think I think maybe she was messing with your head somehow. You know, I want I really wanted to go. I know I didn't mean that that stuff what I said. I know, I know that I

know what it too. You think my dad knew? Yeah, yeah, I think he knew. I should I have I wish I told him he's God's God. Listen, we should get out of the forest. Hello, h Uncle Tommy? Is that? Where does uncle Tommy? Where am I holden? Holden? Hey? Lee? Profession? Oh yeah, I wasn't expected to show you again. I know this is unexpected, but there's something I need to tell you. How did that radio work out for you?

It worked out well? Really? U really well? Actually, if it's hard, I'd like to hang onto it for a little while. Of course I've got no use for it anymore. Are you hoping to talk to more ghosts? Kind of want to lend it to a friend. Actually, she's got some stuff happening down in Virginia that she could use little little help with. All. The radio is yours? Thanks, y. That's not why you're here, though, is it? Now? I I brought someone to see you. Oh yeah, it's Thomas

with you now now. Um Thomas had to uh he left Bridgewater. Oh I'm sure to hear that. Yeah, me too, but he really wanted to bring someone back to see you. Ah, is this your son? No? This is um? Hey? Can you can you come a little closer? Lee? Lee? You got so Oh what? Really, it's really him Oh. This episode of Bridgewater was written by Lauren Shippin and directed by Brendan Patrick Hughes Assistant director Sarah Klein. Sound designed by Vincent de Johnny Rima Ilkali, Josh Thane, and Trevor Young,

with music by Chad Lawson. Starring Misha Collins as Jeremy Bradshaw, Melissa Ponzio as Anne Becker, Alan Tudik as Thomas Bradshaw, Karen Sony as Vipen Krana, Sabra May as Olivia Hoskins, Cheryl Umania as Officer Bautista, Will Wheaton as Captain Haddock, Risha Helper as the Legend Tripper, Stephen Guarino as Doctor Edwards Nandamisu Dembe as Peyton Blake, Hilary Burton Morgan as Shelley Hoskins, Nicki McCauley as Celeste Than, Victoria Grace as

Katie Franks, with additional voice acting by Greta Gould, Shelby Young, Adam O'Byrne, Monte, Markham, Charlie Bergman, and Teren Westbrook. Executive producers Aaron Manky, Misha Collins, Lauren Shippin, Matt Frederick and Alexander Williams, supervising producers Josh Thane and Trevor Young. Bridgewater was created by me Aaron Mankey and is a production

of Grim and Mild and iHeart three D Audio. Learn more about the show over at Grimm Andmild dot com, slash Bridgewater and find more podcasts from iHeartRadio on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows, and as always, thanks for listening.