unDead or alive

Storytown 1867

Emma's mind was reeling. She was in the old west. She was a sheriff. She just killed Robin Hood, evidently. And her future wife was some kind of gunslinger that wanted to kill her for killing him. Things couldn't get any more fucked up.

"Sheriff Swan! Ain't you gonna go after her?" a man was saying to her. Feeling like she was going to faint she turned around to face the speaker.

"August?!"

The man looked at her confused. "Augustus. You okay sheriff? You look a little shaken up."

August? Augustus? He looked the same except for a scruffy five o'clock shadow on his face and he was dressed like a cowboy. Although so was everybody else. Emma started to doubt her sanity. This couldn't be real, maybe she was dreaming. Maybe this was some kind of effect from Tinkerbell's locator spell.

Augustus was waiting for an answer, Emma knew she had to tell him something. "Yeah, I mean no. I need to sit down or something I guess." Augustus nodded and seemed to accept the answer.

"Well let's go to the office." He turned and she followed him toward what looked like a rustic little shack with a painted sign that said sheriff on it. She looked over at Robin's hanging corpse.

"Can we cut him down?" she said it more as an order and not a question. Augustus looked at her again like she was from another planet.

"Already? Let Locksely rot I say."

Emma grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. "Just cut him down." Augustus frowned and was quiet for a moment. He looked over her shoulder and yelled to the crowd hanging around the body.

"Cut him down boys. Sheriff's orders." The men grumbled but got to work in getting Robin's body down. Augustus gave her a look that said 'happy?' and then turned and walked back toward the sheriff's office. She followed him inside and took in the sparse looking office. There was a desk and a few chairs, a jail cell, and a bunch of wanted posters on the wall.

Augustus sat down on one of the chairs, not the one behind the desk. Emma noticed for the first time that he was walking with a limp. She slumped down in the wooden chair behind the desk, praying she would wake up soon.

"What was that back there Emma?" Augustus asked with a kind of edge in his voice. "I know you're a better shot than that. You could have hit Queenie from that distance. Why didn't you shoot her? And then you want Locksely cut down before his body is even cold? That ain't like you."

She didn't know how to tell him that there was no way she was going to shoot her lover. Or that she wasn't even sure if any of this was really happening. "It was the sun. I got dizzy." She said evenly.

"Well, whatever the reason she's gonna be gunnin' for you. Those two were attached at the hip and now he's gone." Augustus whistled. "You know she's a stone cold killer just like Locksely was and now she's got a reason to want you dead."

"Yeah." Emma said tiredly. "I guess so."

"Well she can't have gotten far. I can round up a few guys and we can go after her."

Emma shook her head violently, nobody was going to hurt Regina. "No. No. I'll take care of it." She rubbed her eyes. "I just need a minute alone." Augustus stood and looked frustrated.

"Alright sheriff." he said the last word with a little attitude. "I'll let you get some rest." He walked out and shut the door a little too hard. Emma's shoulders slumped.

"Well this is all kinds of fucked up." she muttered to herself.

Storybrooke (public library)

Van Helsing entered the building with the clock tower in the center of town. The directions he had been given from Victor had been spot on. Inside the library he found Belle behind a stack of books with a baby dozing near her in a bassinet.

"Good morning Belle." He said softly to announce his presence, she was concentrating and he didn't want to startle her. Even still she looked up quickly with a harried look on her face.

"Abraham, I'm glad you came. He came back. He's here." She said breathlessly.

"Your husband. Rumplestiltskin." He said in confirmation.

Belle nodded. "He was in the shop last night and left a letter for me." She grabbed a piece of paper off a stack of books and shoved it into his hands. He looked it over and then looked up at her.

"I see." he said gravely. "This means that what I feared has come to pass."

"He says that he has no choice but to find the remains and reanimate Dracula. My husband is a vampire. The undead." Belle said softly, not believing the words. Van Helsing looks down at the paper and furrows his brow.

"In the letter he mentions a ring. Do you know what he means?"

"It was one of the things he had in his shop. Rumple collected magical items for centuries. After he died" her voice cracked and she swallowed. "After he died I closed the store and began cataloging the items and putting them in storage. When I read the letter I immediately went to get it from storage."

Belle held her hand out and showed the ring she was wearing on her finger. Van Helsing looked at it. It looked very old and had intricate markings that he figured was a language he was unfamiliar with. Other than the markings it looked like an ordinary ring. "The ring is magical I assume?"

"I have been pouring over these books trying to find out what it could be. I finally found it in this book here." She held up a very old book with fragile looking pages. "The ring was created in another realm thousands of years ago. It was made after the first vampire was created. It protects the wearer from vampirism."

Van Helsing's eyes opened wide in surprise. "Remarkable."

"Rumple wanted me to have it." She said with sadness. "He wanted to protect Gideon and I, from him."

Storybrooke (Granny's diner)

"She just vanished and you have no idea where she went?" Violet asked as she watched Henry push around his cold scrambled eggs that hadn't been eaten since Ruby placed them in front of him. "I'm sorry Henry."

"Don't be sorry." He said looking up at her from the plate. "I know that she's with my mom now. She's going to find her." She placed a hand on his.

"Then why are you so worried Henry?"

He exhaled and patted her hand on his, taking comfort in the warmth of her touch. "I just wish they were back here. I mean, why is it taking so long? Shouldn't they be back by now? I mean where are they? It's just frustrating."

"I can't imagine what you're going through Henry." she looked at him with caring eyes. "But just know that I'm here for you."

He gave her a small smile. "I know Violet. Thanks." Then his eyebrows furrowed.

"But something else is bothering you." she asked knowingly "What is it?"

His voice lowered and he leaned closer to her. "I always tried not to use my author powers. I didn't want to end up like Isaac and just use them for my own benefit, you know?" Violet nodded understandingly. "But what if I didn't have a choice?"

Violet frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"When we found out their was a, I don't know, a 'chief author' I started thinking. What if this is all just a story? Like the other books."

She leaned back, trying to take in understand what he was saying. "What are you trying to say Henry?" She said softly.

"It hit me last night when I started thinking about how my author powers wouldn't let me bring mom back." he was starting to speak faster and get agitated. "What if the 'chief author' was manipulating my powers? That's the only explanation. He didn't want mom to come back, he wanted Emma to go. Why did he do that? Because he is writing this story, he's controlling everything. Maybe he always has."

Violet was quiet for a moment. She started to grow pale. "Henry, that's frightening. You're saying that we don't control our own lives." He nodded. "What can we do? Can we even do anything? Is he just writing this conversation and making us say these things?" she was growing agitated now.

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out. I'm going to get answers." He said with steel in his voice.

"What are you going to do Henry?" she asked.

"I'm going to find the 'chief author'."

Somewhere beyond

Interesting.

Storybrooke (Granny's diner)

The diner was relatively empty for breakfast Anna noticed as they came in. Aside from the Savior's son and his girlfriend there was no one else inside. They were sitting in the back and seemed to be having a pretty intense conversation. Anna decided to give them some privacy so she guided her sister over to the counter where Ruby was waiting.

"Good morning girls. What can I get you?" Ruby said with a smile.

"Breakfast. Some of those pancakes with the chocolate pieces in them." Elsa said with a smile. Ruby grinned.

"Chocolate chips. Sure thing." she looked at Anna. "You too I'm assuming?"

Anna nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, and two mugs of hot chocolate!"

Ruby laughed. "You two and chocolate, I swear. Do they have dentists in Arendelle?"

She didn't wait for an answer as she turned to get their order. Anna turned to her sister.

"So what are you and Mulan going to do?" She said with a big smile on her face. Elsa blushed a little.

"I don't know. I don't have any experience with this kind of thing." she admitted, looking down at her hands.

"Yeah, I guess not. You weren't heavy into the dating scene back home." the corners of Anna's lips turned down.

"I don't have any idea what one even does on a date." Elsa said as Ruby set down the two mugs of steaming brown liquid in front of them.

"Date?" Ruby perked up. "Who's going on a date? You, Elsa? With Mulan? Oh my God this is great!" Elsa went beet red. Anna broke into an ear to ear grin.

"I know right? But we don't know what to do? I mean, Storybrooke is a lot different than back home." Anna said.

"Well, what do you guys do on dates in Arendelle?" Ruby asked.

"We go ice skating, skiing, ice fishing, barrel jumping, sledding." Anna began to list. Ruby held her hands up.

"Whoa, I get it, I get it. Arendelle's cold. Too bad you got here at the beginning of spring. But don't worry, you've come to the right place." Ruby said with a smile. Anna and Elsa looked at each other in confusion and then back to Ruby. "I'll plan a date for you and Mulan that will knock your socks off!" Ruby turned away with a look of satisfaction as she went to pick up their orders.

Elsa leaned over to Anna and whispered. "Do I have to wear socks on this date?" Anna shrugged.

Storytown 1867

It was getting dark and Emma had no idea where she was supposed to sleep. Nobody had come to see her after Augustus left and she was starting to get hungry. She walked out of the sheriff's office and couldn't believe how dark it was outside with no street lights in the town. Maybe the saloon would let the sheriff run a tab for dinner, she thought. As she started walking in the waning sunlight she heard horses coming up behind her. She turned and saw a pair of men riding up towards her.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." she muttered to herself in shock as she saw who the men were. One of the men was a native american riding a brown horse, but it was the other man's appearance that drew her attention. He was riding a white horse and wore a white cowboy hat with a black mask.

"Sheriff Swan?" the man with the mask asked her. Emma could only bring herself to nod in acknowledgement. "We're here to help you round up the bandit known as Queenie Mills. This is my trusty companion Tonto, and I am called The Lone Ranger."

"Holy fuck." she whispered.