I love you guys a lot. You wanna know how much? I just finished watching the fall finale of Doctor Who. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't seen it, but let me just say I am suffering through MAJOR feels right now. I didn't want to write this chapter tonight (I was actually gonna wait til Tuesday). But as I've mentioned in other places, writing is my therapy. I can at least admit that I feel a tiny bit better. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I've said it once and I'll say it again, I OWN NOTHING!

Chapter Nine: Dungeons & Dragons

((-Storybrooke-))

The elevator stopped with a loud clang. Emma pushed the door open as she and Rory stepped out. They weren't sure how far underground they were, but there was a bit of a draft nonetheless.

The space before them was more like a cavern. There were hues of blue and grey spouting off of random sections of rock. It had the feel of a fairytale land that the city above didn't have. Rory held his sword up ready if any threat were to come at him any moment. Emma's sword hung limply at her side. Maybe whatever was down here could be reasoned with.

"Hello?" he called out, the only response was his echo.

"I don't think she's going to respond to us," Emma whispered at her side.

"You kidding?" Rory bit back. "Twenty-eight years living under the city, I'd be dying for someone to talk to." Of course, I was begging for someone to talk to four days into my two thousand years guarding Amy, he thought to himself.

Something caught Emma's eye. She took slow steps towards a glass tube that stood just a few feet away. She scrutinized the see-through glass with black vines stretched across the surface. She ran a hand over the vines and a sudden image flashed before her eyes...

...The dwarves lifted the lid of the coffin to reveal Snow White. Even in death, Charming thought, she was still the fairest of them all. He knelt down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. In a flash, he could feel her could lips turn warm. Surprised, he pulled away from her just as her eyes snapped open; filling her lungs with air as if just emerging from a lake...

... Emma pulled herself away from the comment, backing up into a wall. She looked over at Rory, who watched her with concern. He stood by the coffin, mimicking her touch across the vines, but not eliciting the same reaction.

"So this was where she was laid to rest," Rory commented, his back on her, "just before your dad kissed her-"

"He's not my dad!" Emma shouted at him, her emotions she had been holding back over the past hour beginning to bubble to the surface.

Rory turned to face her. He was about to respond until something caught his eye. A couple of feet above Emma's head, a giant, green eyeball swerved around in a circle. He stood still, hoping that it wouldn't see him or Emma if they didn't move.

Sadly, they weren't granted with that bit of luck.

Emma let her hand rub against what she thought was a rock wall. She was shocked to feel warm leather under her fingertips. Just as she ran forward, the ground underneath began to shake.

Emma backed into Rory and they both stood in shock as they watched a giant dragon raise its head to the sky and spit out a string of fire.

...

Meanwhile...

I can't believe I am agreeing to this, Amy bit her lip, staring at herself in the bathroom mirror.

She admitted that it wasn't the first time she had dressed up as a nurse. She had a variety of costumes from her days working as a kissing gram. Rory had a fondness for her police uniform.

She examined her appearance. The nurses' outfits were very old fashion. She was currently wearing a tight white dress with short sleeves. A Red Cross patch adorned the left breast pocket, and the length on the skirt was raised two inches above the knee. Sadly, she had to replace her black boots in favor of plain, white flats.

"Only for you, Raggedy Man," she told her reflection, and then added with a shrug, "And Rory if it's our Anniversary."

There was a knock at the door. "Are you ready yet?" came Jefferson's question, muffled by the closed door between them.

Taking a deep breath, Amy strapped on her nurses' cap and walked out the door.

...

If I make it out of this alive, Regina and Gold are so dead, were the only thoughts of an irate Emma Sawn as she stared at the humongous dragon before her.

Rory stood only a few feet away from her, his sword extended. He was visibly nervous, she noticed, but he didn't seem as surprised as she was. It was as if he was use to running into giant dragons' every day. Then again, Amy did say they were friends with an alien.

She glanced at her own sword. There was no way they could defeat this thing with just their two weapons. She got an idea.

"Screw this!" she threw her sword aside, catching Rory off guard. She grabbed her gun from her holster and began shooting at the dragon.

To her chagrin, the bullets didn't hit any vital points. Actually, they made the dragon angry.

"Run!" Rory shouted, running towards Emma as the beast's tail slammed the spot the Centurion once stood.

He grabbed Emma's hand and both of them ran, dodging shots of flame. They did this for a while. Hiding behind pillars of rock and running when the dragon would find them. Rory was about to collapse when he noticed a ledge that was taller than the dragon and piles of stone that led to it like a staircase.

"Emma," he whispered. "Do you see that ledge?" he jerked his head in its direction. When Emma nodded, he continued, "I'm going to jump on her back and try to hold her down-"

"Are you crazy?!" she whispered back. "That thing is ten times your size!"

"Well nothing else is working, and you threw your sword away," he argued back. "When I give the signal, attack her with my sword."

"Can't you just plunge it threw its neck if you plan on jumping on it and all?"

"If I try that, she'll start moving around. I won't be able to land a straight blow and I could possibly hurt myself. Besides, Rumpelstiltskin said you had to be the one to get the potion from her." He held his sword out to her.

She looked back and forth from the sword to him, still reeling from everything that was happening. Wordlessly, she took his sword from him.

"On my signal," he reminded her before darting for the stairs.

He was surprised that he made it to the top as quickly as he did. He stood at the edge, waiting for his opening. Finally, the dragon kneeled under him, sniffing around for a sign of her intruders. He noticed how dangerously close she was to finding Emma. Without much thought, he leaped off the ledge, landing on the dragon's neck in a way that would've been very painful if he wasn't wearing the proper padding.

He wrapped his arms around her neck just as she jerked her head up. She roared trying to reach around to snap at him. Unfortunately for her, he was far too close to her head for her to reach.

"Emma, now!" he shouted.

Emma ran from her hiding spot to see Rory latched onto the dragon's neck. She tightened her grip around the sword and ran forward. The dragon caught on to what they were up to. Before the Savior could get close enough, the dragon leapt into the air, carrying her new passenger along.

Rory's grip around Maleficent tightened. She did a series of leaps trying to get him off. He raised his fist and punched her in the neck, causing her to land to a stop.

Emma watched in horror as the dragon unknowingly landed on the edge of a chasm. Her foot slipped from underneath her and she and Rory plummeted into the giant hole.

Emma ran to the edge to see down the hole. "Rory!" she shouted helplessly. Only her echo called back. She started to tense up. Rory was gone, and without that potion, Henry was soon to follow.

Before she could run back to the elevator and admit to Regina and Amy that she failed, the ground under her began to rumble. A rush of wind knocked her to the ground, losing Rory's sword, as the dragon flew out of the hole. She looked up horrified. Instinctively, she grabbed her gun and wasted more bullets trying to kill the dragon.

"Stop shooting at it!" Rory shouted, still clutching to the dragon for dear life.

Emma bitterly threw her gun aside. It was out of bullets anyway.

The dragon landed on the ground. She slammed the side of her body against a rock wall. This caused Rory to lose his grip and fall to the ground below. A small rock landed on his head from Maleficent slamming against the wall. He went unconscious.

"No!" Emma shouted, running to his aid.

Maleficent wasn't having any of that. She shot a jet of flame in her direction. The sheriff dodge rolled to the side near Snow White's coffin. She knelt by her mother's resting place, staring frighteningly at where Rory lay unknown to the current danger. She fell on her bum when the dragon made the ground rumble again.

Her hand brushed cool metal. She looked down to see Charming's sword lying next to her. She unconsciously gripped the hilt, a surge of bravery pumped through her veins. She had no time to play around. Her son was fighting for his life above ground. If she failed him now, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

She got to her feet. The dragon was about to snap its jaws around Rory's body.

"HEY!" Emma shouted, grabbing the dragon's attention.

With all of her might, Emma threw her sword at the giant creature. It landed square in the dragon's chest straight from a scene in a Disney movie. The dragon screeched in pain just as its dark purple form turned orange and exploded.

Emma ducked her head down, ashes raining from the sky. The world around her was quiet. She looked up to see whatever was left of the dragon lying around her in ash form.

The sound of coughing brought her out of her revere. Rory was conscious again. He slowly got up clutching the side of his head and coughing up dust.

Emma ran to his side. "Are you okay?"

"For the most part," he choked out, using the stone wall as a crutch. He looked around and saw no sight of the dragon. He looked back at Emma and smiled. "You did it!" he congratulated.

Emma smiled back unwarily, very tired all of a sudden.

Something shiny grabbed their attention. Emma took slow steps and knelt down to find a gold egg lying under a heap of ashes. She picked it up, brushing off the dragon remains. Gold said the potion was in an encasing. This had to be it.

Emma hugged it to her chest, staring off ahead of her.

"I just fought a dragon," she said aloud, almost hoping someone would tell her she was crazy.

((-Fairy Tale World-))

Despite his indifference, the Doctor was dragged to the dungeon kicking and screaming. The creepy guard had left shortly after the time lord was securely locked in his dungeon. The nicer guard, whom he found out was referred to as the Huntsman, stayed behind to guard the dungeon.

The Doctor sat at the corner of his cell, staring at the window he had escaped through the previous night. He wished he could go back in time and kept himself from ever meeting Rumpelstiltskin in the first place. Of course, being a time traveling expert, he couldn't go back in his own time stream and change anything. He could at least hide behind a tree and throw acorns at the imp's head.

It wouldn't change things, but at least it'd give him a laugh.

He let his head lull back against the wall and closed his eyes. Maybe he could get some shut eye in this wretched place if he thought hard enough. He couldn't remember the last time he had a good night's rest.

The sound of creaking metal dashed his hopes. The Doctor's eyes snapped open to see one of the guards entering the dungeon dragging a frail figure with long matted hair behind him. As they got closer, the Doctor could see the shape of a woman. She didn't protest of try to pull herself out of the guard's grasp. She simply followed him quietly with her head hung low, her hair covering her face.

The guard opened the cell next to the Doctor's and pushed the girl inside with so much force that she fell to the ground once she passed the bars. The guard closed the door behind her, locking it with a matching metal key. "Maybe next time you'll know better than to defy the Queen," he taunted, his voice low, and left the dungeon slamming the door behind him.

Once the guard's footsteps faded away, the Huntsman walked towards the girl's cell. He grabbed the bars of the cell and stuck his head through the wide gait. "How badly were you hurt?" he asked, concerned.

The girl shook her head. "It's nothing to worry about," she assured him. "I'll survive."

The Doctor recognized her accent immediately. This was the girl who helped him escape the night before.

"Let me see," the Doctor said, surprised by the forcefulness his voice held.

The girl's head turned towards him. Thanks to the light from the window, he could finally see her face. She was a beauty, he admitted to himself. Her brown hair fell around her face in soft, matted curls. She wore a simple blue dress that was tattered and covered in dirt. Her bright blue eyes looked at him in shock and confusion.

"You?" she asked, recognizing him. "She captured you?"

"Please," he ignored her; desperate to see what exactly was wrong. He crawled to the set of bars that separated their cells.

Hesitantly, she crawled to her side of the cell and stuck two shaking arms through the bars. The time lord's eyes widened at the sight. The delicate, pale arms that smashed a rock against the guard's head were now scarred with various slashes as if someone took a whip to her. Wordlessly, he gently pressed his hand over one of the slashes. He pulled back quickly when she felt her wince. He could feel fresh blood sticky against his palm.

"You should let me wrap those," the Huntsman finally spoke up causing both of the prisoners to look at him. "You don't want those to get infected."

She pulled her arms back towards her as the Huntsman unlocked her cell with his own key. He knelt down next to her, pulling out a set of bandages he kept in a pouch.

"Hold on," the Doctor stopped him before he could start wrapping her up. He reached into his inside pocket (The one that was bigger on the inside) and pulled out a small bottle of peroxide. "Just pour it over her cuts and then wrap it," he instructed, handing the bottle to the Huntsman. "It'll sting for a minute," he told the girl soothingly.

He watched as the Huntsman cleaned her wounds. She didn't wince when the peroxide made contact with her cuts. The Doctor admired that bit of bravery. Then again, the medicine was probably nothing compared to the actual pain she suffered receiving those injuries.

The Doctor mentally cursed himself. Before he left, he had promised the girl that he'd come back for her once he got his TARDIS. That should've been the first thing he'd done when he found his spaceship, even if Rumpelstiltskin ended up following him. Instead, the poor girl was whipped and possibly beaten for letting him escape. His hearts ached for her. Many times people he cared for, whether they knew him or not, risked their lives in his name. Some ended up with scars deeper than the girl's slashes... Others died.

"I'm sorry," the words left him before he realized he said them aloud.

Both of them turned to face them. The girl studied him with sad eyes. "This isn't your fault," she told him, holding up her newly bandaged arms. "I'm sorry that you ended up here despite trying to help you."

The Doctor shook his head. "Trust me; you're not the one who should hold all of the blame." Of course, the two people that came to mind as far as faults were concerned were the Evil Queen and Rumpelstiltskin.

"Thank you for your help," the Huntsman nodded, handing the peroxide back to the Doctor. "Despite the circumstances, it'll be nice having another friend down here."

"Friend?"

"Of course," the girl smiled, lighting up the dark dungeon. "I've been the only prisoner down here for a while now. Thankfully, the Huntsman has kept me from going insane." She extended her hand through the cell towards the time lord. "My name is Belle."

He smiled, extending his own hand to shake hers. "I'm the Doctor."

...And that was how the lonely Time Lord made friends with the Huntsman and Belle, the only trustworthy people he met in the Enchanted Forest...

((-Storybrooke-))

...

Amy and Jefferson walked through the hospital hallways acting as if they owned the place (Just as he told her to do). Amy carried a first aid kit to go along with her nurse's outfit. Her accomplice was dressed as a male nurse, but he carried a Starbucks to-go cup filled with tea. He had told her he drugged it. This led her to believe he was the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, but she didn't say it aloud.

Seeing him in the nurse's outfit reminded her of Rory. She hoped that he and Emma were okay wherever it was that Rumpelstiltskin sent them to.

They stopped at a metal door with an electronic padlock next to it. As Jefferson punched in numbers, Amy looked over at where Henry slept. Everything seemed to be okay. Mary Margaret sat at his bedside reading him a story from his storybook. She wondered how long it would be for his teacher to remember that she was the princess she might've been reading about.

The door beeped in approval as Jefferson turned the knob and walked through; Amy followed.

They walked down a set of stairs into a dark basement. The air was cold around them. Amy's spine shivered from the eerie feeling she sensed. Was this how the Doctor felt when he lived in the Evil Queen's dungeon?

They stopped at the receptionist's desk where a nurse with the same uniform as her sat. She had brown hair done up in a 50's style up-do. Her eyes were stone and as cold as the room around them.

"Your tea," Jefferson flashed a charming smile, placing the cup in front of her.

"Thank you," she replied. "What was all the commotion upstairs earlier?" she asked before sipping her drink. If she noticed Amy at all, she was ignoring her.

He replied sympathetically, "There's a sick boy up there."

The nurse frowned, setting her tea down. "How tragic! Do you think he'll make a..."

She stopped, the drug taking effect. Her eyes rolled to the back, her head hitting the desk as she fell asleep.

"Recovery?" he finished for her, biting back an amused laugh.

He reached over the counter and grabbed the keys. Amy sat her first aid kit on the desk as she followed him down the hallway. They turned the corner and came to a long row of metal doors. Amy saw the first door on her left and read the nameplate: S. Glass. She bit back a gasp, realizing this was where the editor of The Mirror was sent to for kidnapping Kathryn Nolan.

Jefferson stopped at the door next to it. He unlocked the door and swung it open. They both looked in to see a woman with messy brunette hair seemingly waking up from a nap. Amy knew this was Belle. Jefferson turned his head toward her, pressing the metal key into her hand.

"Two doors down," he whispered.

Amy nodded and walked away from the other two. She stopped at the door he told her to stop at. The nameplate next to it read J. Smith. Amy smiled, excitement bubbling in her chest. She unlocked the door and pushed it open.

She gasped at the sight before her.

Sitting on a bed was the Doctor. He sat in a hospital gown with his knees hugged to his chest. His hair was slightly longer, and he grew a beard. Again, not the first time Amy had seen him like this.

As happy as she was, she stood still in her spot by the door as the Doctor looked up at her, looking lost. For all she knew, he was probably under the curse. If Mr. Gold was right about people having personalities opposite their true identities, then she was staring at a true mad man.

Or someone completely normal, depending on your point of view.

"Doctor?" she asked softly.

He cocked his head to the side. "Are you the nurse?"

She hid her sorrow. He didn't recognize her. She imagined he wouldn't, but a small part of herself told her that maybe he would remember because he wasn't from there.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Good," he said, standing up from his bed. "Would you be willing to fetch me some fish custard? The other nurses look at me like I'm crazy!"

And so, we've come full circle. The Doctor is back, sans memory. Hope you enjoyed that last little bit with the fish custard. Honestly, memory loss or not, I could totally see Matt Smith saying this in an episode!

As always, thank you for reviews and what not. Next chapter will be the last chapter. I'll also have info on the sequel too. Hoep you all have a great day!