Chapter 3
Castiel sits at Emma's dining room table, eating yet another peanut butter and jelly sandwich, when suddenly the laptop that has not left his side since Emma leant it to him suddenly dings. He jumps, startled at the noise. Emma laughs from the kitchen. "You've got an email alert," she informs him.
"Oh," he replies sheepishly. He should have known that. Email and technology are not foreign concepts to him. He opens the device, eagerly reading Sam's email. "What are the town's coordinates?" he asks suddenly.
Emma expertly rattles off a series of numbers. Her time as a bail bondsperson had given her lots of experience with such things. "Why do you ask?"
"Sam emailed me back. Apparently Dean is on his way here, but he needs to know where 'here' is. Did you know Storybrooke isn't on any map of Maine?" Castiel replies.
"That's part of the magic," Emma explains. "So, Sam and Dean…those are your friends? What are they, in a boy band or something?"
Castiel's eyebrows knit together momentarily as he's confused by the reference. Ignoring it, he simply says, "They're hunters."
It was Emma's turn to be confused. "Hunters? Then why do they have access to a huge stockpile of magic?"
"They're legacies," Cas begins, then realizes he's not being clear. Obviously, no one in Storybrooke knows who the Winchesters are. "They hunt…things. Like demons and vampires. Their grandfather was a Man of Letters until a demon wiped out the order in 1959. Sam and Dean only found out about it a couple of years ago, even though they've been hunting their whole lives."
"Uh oh," Emma says as she sits down at the table across from Cas. "If they were wiped out in 1959, then they won't have any records of Storybrooke. It didn't exist until 1982."
"That could be a problem." Castiel states obviously.
Henry comes home, surprised to see that the stranger from the diner is at the table with his mom. "What's going on?"
"I guess I should have introduced you earlier. Henry, this is Castiel. He is…or was…an Angel of the Lord. Somehow, he ended up here without his 'angel mojo'," Emma explained, still trying to wrap her head around the situation. It was unusual, even for Storybrooke. "Assuming someone actually attacked him and took it, and there's only one person in town that could or would do such a thing…"
"My grandfather," Henry interrupted.
"Exactly. I couldn't just leave him at Granny's defenseless with no magic in case Gold decided to come back and finish the job, so he's staying here until we figure this out," Emma finished.
"Mom, does Killian know about this?" Henry asks apprehensively.
"No, not yet. But I'm sure he'll understand," Emma answers.
"Yeah, right. I'm sure Killian will totally understand his live in girlfriend letting a handsome stranger stay indefinitely," Henry replies, a tad sassily.
"He will understand the Sheriff of Storybrooke protecting an innocent person from the Dark One." Emma insisted.
"The Dark One?" Castiel interrupts. "Is that like, a demon or something? Because if so, when Dean gets here, he can take care of it." He realized he was starting to babble, but he was starting to get freaked out. An emotion he definitely was not comfortable with.
"Um, it's kind of hard to explain," Emma answers. "But no, he's not a demon. More like a very powerful, very dark wizard."
"And my grandfather," Henry adds. Emma shoots him a look.
Taking control of the situation, Emma speaks up, maybe a little too loudly for the room. "Ok, so the first thing we need to do is figure out what Rumpstiltskin is up to. And where he is. No one has seen him since we returned to Storybrooke. Hey, kid," she turns to look at Henry, "Can you use that magical quill and ink of yours to figure out what the Dark One has been doing?"
"I can try. But it might be easier if I just wrote it so that Castiel got his mojo back and got to go home," Henry replies.
"You know you can't change the story. Only observe." Emma chides him.
"I know, I know." Henry grabs a snack and heads up to his room.
Sam calls Dean and gives him the coordinates that Castiel was able to email too him. "And, according to Cas, Storybrooke didn't even exist until 1982, so there's no way the Men of Letters will have any information on it."
"Son of bitch!" Dean practically yells into the phone. "How the hell are we supposed to find a magical town with a magical barrier when our magical forefathers have no information on it?"
"I don't know Dean. I'll keep digging, and see if Cas can get us any more information."
The next day, Emma brings Castiel to Regina's office. "I'm pretty sure I have a good idea who is behind this," Emma states as she walks in.
"Rumpstiltskin," Regina replies. Emma nods. "He's the only one who could pull this off," Regina continues. "The question is, why?"
"I'm hoping Henry's magic quill will be able to answer that question for us." Emma says.
"Who is Rumplestiltskin?" Castiel asks. "You keep saying that name. I thought it was the Dark One who stole my grace."
"Rumplestiltskin IS the Dark One," Regina explains. "In this realm he uses the name Mr. Gold, but back in the Enchanted Forrest, everyone knew him as Rumplestiltskin."
"The Enchanted Forrest? Is that where you're from? Where your magic comes from?" Castiel asks as he sets the laptop down on Regina's desk and starts to hurriedly type an email to Sam. "Surely that's been around longer than 1982. Maybe the Men of Letters have something about that…and the Dark One."
Regina gives Emma a quizzical look. "Men of Letters?"
"Um, yeah. His friends. Apparently, their grandfather was part of this group that collected all things magical. Yeah, I don't get it either," Emma adds that last sentence in response to Regina's raised eyebrow.
Henry suddenly bursts through the door of the Mayor's office. "Mom! Mom!" he shouts, addressing both Emma and Regina. "I found out what Grandpa is up too." He excitedly waves story book pages in the air. Henry lays the pages out over Regina's desk and the women look over them intently. Written on the pages was Rumple's plan.
Emma looks up at Regina. "He needs my blood. And Henry's."
"He's not going to get it," Regina replies with determination.
"Too bad Belle is still asleep," Henry points out, "She's the only one who could talk to him. Make sure he didn't hurt anyone."
"Yeah, and that only worked about half the time," Regina said sarcastically.
"Well, we don't even know where Gold is keeping Belle," Emma states. "And even if we did, her father isn't exactly keen on the idea of waking her up."
"Who is Belle and why can she help us? And why is she asleep?" Castiel asks. He really doesn't understand this town he was dropped into.
Regina and Emma exchange a look. "Do you want to take this, or should I?" Regina asks.
Emma sits down next to Castiel and tries to explain. "Belle is Mr. Gold's wife. She put herself under a sleeping curse…I won't get into why…that can only be broken by true love's kiss."
"True love is the most powerful magic there is," Henry explains.
"And unfortunately," Regina adds, "Gold loves power more than he loves his wife."
"And Mo French hates Gold more than he loves his daughter," Emma finished.
"No wonder she put herself under a sleeping curse," Castiel practically muttered. A light bulb then went off in his head, and he raised his voice, practically going into a rant. "And I suppose her husband and her father are the only ones expected to truly love her? I will never understand the human's need to categorize and set rules for love. Humans have a capacity to love greater than any angel can ever understand, yet how poorly they understand it. Love is love, whether it comes from lovers, family, or friends. Doesn't this Belle have a best friend who truly loves her? Surely they can break this curse!" Castiel stopped, his rant had taken more breath than he was expecting. He kept forgetting humans need oxygen. As he sat there panting, trying to catch his breath, he thought about his friends, the Winchesters. They had a word for love. Family. "Family don't end with blood," is what Dean would always say. Castiel knew he was part of that love. And he was more sure than ever. If true love was the most powerful magic in Storybrooke, then he knew his family could save him.
"Ok, calm down Cas," Emma says, "Can I call you Cas?" The former angel nods slightly. Emma continues. "So, we need to figure out who Belle's best friend is, then figure out where Belle is, and hope her friend loves her enough to wake her….So who IS Belle's best friend?" Emma stopped, dismayed as she realized she didn't know the sweet librarian very well at all.
"It's Leroy," Henry answers with confidence.
"You mean Grumpy?" Regina asks incredulously. "Belle is best friends with a dwarf?"
"Yeah. Ever since they met in the Enchanted Forrest. No matter what they were going through, they always encouraged each other to find themselves. And Leroy was the one who gave Gold the potion to turn Belle back into Belle after you gave her new memories," Henry looks pointedly at Regina.
"What? I was evil then. I'm not anymore. Belle and I have made up…mostly." Regina continues, starting to formulate a plan. "Well, clearly you and Henry can't go traipsing around looking for the Dark One and Sleeping Belle. If he were to get your blood, he'd be able to cast his spell and we'd never get the angel's grace back. So you guys go talk to Grumpy and see if he's willing to help. I'll see what I can do from here, magically, to try to find her." Regina then turns her gaze to Castiel. "You should always stay with either Emma or me. There's no telling what the Dark One might do if he realizes he left a loose end in Storybrooke. And with no magic of your own at the moment, you need protection."
Emma nods in agreement. "You can come with us for now and try to find Belle's best friend." She turns to Regina. "If you do find him, do not go after him alone. He might be expecting you and be waiting with who knows what kind of magic. He's crazy right now…well, crazier anyway."
"No, I'm not leading you into the lion's den. You absolutely cannot go with me Emma," Regina states.
Henry speaks up. "But Mom, Mom won't have to face Mr. Gold alone." He shows them more pages from the story book, a looks over at Castiel, who is staring at a picture of something that looks remarkably like a man leaning on a 1967 Impala. "Is that your friend?" Henry asks.
"That's Dean," Castiel confirms. "But how?" He can't even finish that sentence.
"Magic," the three Storybrooke residents reply in unison.
Just outside of Storybrooke's town line, Dean leans against his car, staring at the GPS coordinates on his phone. Confirming that they are the same coordinates Sam gave him, he sighs heavily and makes a phone call. "Sam, I'm here, but there's nothing here. No town, no nothing. Just woods and more woods."
