Chapter 34: Smoke and Mirrors

Jason POV

The wall was still there. That was what Elsa told us when she returned to Cormac's later that morning. Asgeir was wordless when he heard the news, and he had barely spoken since. Not one word out of him. And it was the lack thereof that was scaring me; he almost always had a comment on every evil twat that crossed us.

After breakfast, Zar, Rory and I were down in the Bunker going over the Project Boden plans. Ruby and Ashley said they would go out for more recon that afternoon, while we discussed the plans of sabotaging the first lab, hopefully stopping the flow of drugs into the town. Despite all that we had heard, of the barrier around the town, it hadn't stopped George from bringing in the shipments of drugs in and out of Storybrooke. There was a boat that came in last night, and it likely had used a bean to get through the barrier. But in less than a day it seemed like the only ones who really remembered that this was still going on was the five of us involved. And Asgeir? He really was obsessed with killing Ingrid since he had made no effort to join us down here.

While Zar and Rory talked over their notes over how he was going to sneak to one of the labs that night, I looked over a map of every one that had appeared so far. I was supposed to decide which one would be the best to set the charges at that night, but I was more focused on how many there were. The whole town didn't see it, yet George had slunk off from his defeat against David and had managed to gather up enough thugs to run over a dozen labs. The Templars shipped him the materials the labs needed, he shipped them the product, and in return, they gave him the money to gather more supporters, the cycle beginning anew. How could we let them get this powerful in the shadows? But then I remembered why we were doing this: George was working towards taking his revenge on David, but he was more cautious than ever before with us and our massive arsenal of weapons underneath Cormac's. One sign that we were even aware of his activities, and he would disappear into the world outside Storybrooke for good. He had his way out through the Templars. He just needed an excuse to leave.

Matthew came stomping down the stairs along with a blonde right behind him, both of them holding coffee cups. She looked a little like Elsa, but she wore a black t-shirt with the Assassin insignia emblazoned on it over a long sleeved red shirt, and her golden hair hung loose over one shoulder.

"How goes the project, boys?" He said as the two of them walked up to the table.

"Nothing more than a pet project as you said, Matthew." Zar replied. "George still operated while Ingrid is starting her attacks on the town, and you look at this as though we're doing nothing more than running around like-"

"Eagles with their heads cut off?" The blonde said smugly.

Rory looked up from their notes. "Who's the lass, Matthew?"

"Boys, I'd like you to meet Sue, Marc's cousin. She's the only family he has and has been an outside friend of the Assassins for a while. Keaton knows her well. And based on the circumstances, Marc wanted her to come. He's now seeing how dire the situation is becoming."

"Marc never will let me join you guys, yet he pulls me in when some ice bitch is trapping the whole town behind a wall?" She shrugged. "I guess I need protecting."

Matthew grinned, slapping her on the back. Then he held up a folded piece of paper, and handed it to me.

"I'm sending you to this on behalf of us, Jason. This was shoved in our mail slot"

I unfolded the paper. Whoever made it clearly wanted to show as much as they humanly could that the meeting it was discussing was important. But while it mentioned this "fireside chat" Mary Margaret Blanchard was hosting, I was more focused on what was written across it in a permanent marker.

"P.S: 2 Assassins are asked to attend; one be Asgeir Swortssen. -DN"

"So David Nolan wants Asgeir there? Why?"

Matthew gave a curt shrug as he sat down, sipping on his coffee. "I have no idea, Jason. I mean, after nearly shooting our own Queen's head off, and everything that's happened since he's got here, I have no idea what would provoke the citizens around here to want someone outside us to be keeping a better eye on him."

"What's the guy's deal anyways?" Sue said. "He only stared at me when I said hello to him before we came down here. He seems off his rocker, if you ask me."

"This Ingrid that we're looking for, Asgeir has a history with. A long one. And as far as we know, standing in his way could be a death sentence."

"Then why are we even letting him walk loose, knowing full well how unstable he could be?"

"He wouldn't dare go that far." Matthew replied. "At least not as far as I know. His sister has come back from the dead, and Princess Anna could very well be in Ingrid's hands as well, so if he does something completely stupid, then the two people he really cares for will see him as what he denies himself to have turned into."

I could see that Matthew was confident in what was to come, but I felt the dread sinking in. It would be his biggest mistake ever to think he would know what Asgeir would do next. And whatever skeletons in the closet they both were hiding from the Order were going to cause fractures among us. Or fatalities.

Matthew turned to me. "I want you to take Asgeir with you to the meeting later today. Just go there, and show the citizens that we are trying to mend the wounds between them and us. Then maybe we might stand a chance against Ingrid if all hell breaks loose."

"Aye, Mentor." I replied, heading for the door. The rest of us got back to work as I started up the stairs. Rory and Zar continued with their plans for the lab, and Sue and Matthew headed into his office to the side, closing the door behind them.

Asgeir sat back in his chair uncomfortably beside me as I looked around. We were clearly out of place here, with all the typical citizens of Storybrooke gathered for this "fireside chat", and us here. Rarely did we ever leave Cormac's to attend these meetings, because we had been considered a criminal front back then, but as I had said to Asgeir, we were sent here to mend the bridges, not burn them even further. And it was no wonder that David had included a small note asking Asgeir to attend as I saw the Shepherd eye us. His behavior in the past two days had gone unbelievably out of control. He had barely spoken this morning, except with his sister, and then he pretended like I hadn't notice when I came up to them, still trying to keep up the charade of the brother that she should have known was long dead. But Elsa wasn't stupid: She would find out soon enough, when Ingrid would begin tightening her grip even harder on the town. She would see that the insane snarling Assassin that had once been her brother really had been inches away from shooting her, and that he was a shell of what he had been. But when it happened, she would start asking the questions that close to none of us had, and the two that did have them keeping their mouths shut. I had no idea what had happened to Asgeir to make him so erratic and hellbent on killing the Snow Queen. Was it the curse that he was inflicted by that influenced him? Or maybe something had happened to him that broke him even more than Ingrid did. He had been imprisoned in the Gates with his hood stripped. But why?

The Mayor's office was getting quite full, and soon Mary Margaret came out with her baby. I felt almost bad for her. I heard she barely got any sleep from the blackout, and it was because of the citizens with their first world problems and complaints to her, and not the baby.

"Hi everyone." She said out loud, getting the room's attention. "And welcome to the very first Mayor's Fireside Chat. For too long, this office was a place to be feared. Well, I want every citizen to feel welcome and included here. So if you could just refer to the meeting agenda I've printed…" She held one up. "There are-"

"Uh, what's this about an ice wall?"

I looked up. Archie looked at Snow in concern as the rest of the room nodded, murmuring in agreement. Not even a minute in and I could feel things were heading off the deep end. Asgeir could feel it too; he tensed up at the mention of it.

"Oh that's uh, Item Four. We'll get to that in a minute." Mary Margaret said, trying to get back on track.

It didn't work. "I vote we skip Items One, Two, and Three!" Leroy snapped. "Show of hands."

The whole room except Asgeir and me did so. The ice wall was our problem, not the town's. Ingrid was our problem, and not theirs. I could at least trust in what Mary Margaret was trying to do, but it was clear no one else agreed. We were here to play peacemakers.

Mary Margaret stuttered, trying to catch the curveball she was just thrown. "Yeah that's- uh. Oh, fine. No, I can- I can be flexible. The ice wall… is nothing to worry about." She paused for the reveal of bad news on top of that other bad news. "For the time being it does surround the entire town."

They took it as well as I expected it to. They even woke the baby, but no one even noticed or cared. Asgeir only sat there, his chin in his hand, almost as if he was forcing it to stay shut. He wanted to say something, but he was doing all he could to stop himself. Not a damn peep out of him.

"Oh, everyone calm down." Mary Margaret said. "The wall isn't hurting anyone."

"We've been through all this before." Leroy growled. "I ain't worried about the wall. I'm worried about who made it."

On cue, Mary Margaret held up her agenda. "Item Five: Her name is Elsa, she's a friend."

"She the one that froze my truck?"

"And made that snow monster that almost killed Marian?" Granny put in.

It was their tone that got Asgeir. He jumped up as Marian tried to disregard it all.

"Yes she is. And can you all blame her?" He sneered out. "None of you get it. No one! Even if you should. She's not from here. She didn't know about the modern conveniences like 'trucks' and other things. And if I'm not mistaken, I heard that the other dwarf Sleepy was at the wheel. Hah. Nice job making him your designated driver."

"Asgeir…" I got up and grabbed his hand but he ripped it out.

"She still froze my truck. And you defend her, Reaper?" Leroy said. "Are you Assassins hiding her in your pub along with your guns and all the other weapons we know you keep there? What about you, Milburn? Anything else to add?" He turned on me.

"We're not here to cause anymore bad blood, people." I said, trying to defuse the situation. "We are here because we were invited in the hopes that we can ease the tension."

Leroy bit his lip. "So does that mean you'll be letting this… 'Elsa' answer for what she did? Or are you going to keep defending her?"

Asgeir glared hard at Leroy. "Watch your tone, dwarf." He said. "Elsa is under my protection for good reason. Wouldn't you defend your own siblings too?"

David jumped up as the room went into an uproar, trying to calm everyone down as they yelled out at the both of us. Now they knew that their newest "problem" shared blood with the very Assassin that had caused the most problems for everyone ever since Arendelle fell. I grabbed Asgeir by the hand again and tried to get him to sit down, but he only shook it off as he yelled out rude comments to Leroy about 'stubborn dwarves' and the sort. It wasn't helping in the slightest. Not even my attempts to yell over Asgeir and get him to shut up weren't helping. But what did finally stop the ruckus was Robin and his wife.

"Marian? Marian! MARIAN!"

The whole room looked over at them as he caught her, falling to the ground. And in her ebony black hair, a streak of pure white was inlaid.

"Shit…" Asgeir murmured, forgetting that he had been yelling moments ago.

City Hall was cleared out within minutes as Assassins were called in and we had carried Marian out of there. This was getting out of hand faster than we even thought possible, and Asgeir didn't help with his yelling earlier. Leroy eyed him suspiciously as Marc and Willis put Marian into one of the vans and sent it off to Cormac's, but Asgeir gave him no notice. I remember how biased he had been against dwarves for a long time ever since he and Grumpy met in the Enchanted Forest. But I never found out why they hated each other.

David approached me as the van was loaded up with Marian and the Assassins and it drove off for the pub.

"I just don't see any benefit to taking Marian to the Assassins, Jason." He said. "When Zelena was in town, things were straightforward enough that we could find some ways to work together. Now with Asgeir's sister in town, and all of this happening with him and his antics. It doesn't seem to be helping anymore with you guys trying to keep it quiet."

I shook my head, gently moving my sprained wrist. Keaton had reminded me to keep moving it where I could to help it heal. "I know, David." I said. "And you're right: Asgeir was only making the situation worse with his yelling at the townsfolk. But the Assassins as a whole need to be the ones who take care of this situation. We ourselves know what we're doing. You need to trust me."

"Fine." He said. "But does Asgeir know what he's doing? More importantly, what's to happen if he takes things too far with what he thinks is protecting his family?"

"When that-" I stopped myself. Matthew was so sure that everything would be fine as long as he let Asgeir run free, but there was something that was coming soon with how badly he was taking this fight with Ingrid, and it was only 3 days in. And when things would truly boil over, it would reflect the worst on the Assassins as a whole, not just him. I at least hoped that Matthew had a plan for what could happen, because all that came to mind we couldn't do. If Asgeir got out of control, with him blowing up Zelena's house, and after everything he was charged with doing that landed him in the gates, the noose would be all that would be left for him. But even that wasn't possible.

David could see my conflict. "I'd like to at least speak with Matthew on this. The Assassins owe some explanation to the citizens for what's going on." He said, understanding.

"Aye." I waved to the other van that hadn't left yet. "We'll be seeing you at Cormac's!" I called.

Marian's unconscious body was brought into the pub and laid down on several tables close together. Elsa stood by in the corner, looking more worried than I had seen any one person as Snow and David came in with me. Matthew came up to greet them.

"Listen, thank you both for letting us take Marian. She'll be safer here than out there in town."

"Yeah, we saw the defenses." David said. "What is going on here?"

"This has to do with what's keeping up that damn ice wall, David." I said, deciding that there was enough secrets being kept under wraps.

Matthew gave me a hard look, then glanced back at Elsa. Then he beckoned towards the meeting room.

David looked at Snow, who held Neil closer to her. "Oh, um. Sure." She said, understanding what her husband was asking. "If there's anything they need me to help with Marian."

"Just keep your ear open. See what develops with her." He said.

David and I followed Matthew into the meeting room, where he closed and locked the door behind us.

"What is going on here?" He then demanded. "Sentry guns rigged outside the bar, and the whole door reinforced with a lock that could rival the one that kept our treasury shut? Start talking now."

"David, this is not a fight that anyone in Storybrooke is ready for. The one who's keeping up the wall that Elsa put up has a vendetta against the Assassins, so it is our fish to fry." Matthew said.

"What, and not ours? Come on. This affects everyone in town. Are we collateral damage now? You don't seem to be handling this situation any better than my daughter and I could. And you have a small army at your back."

"56 living under our roof last time I checked." He replied. "But numbers don't mean shit when it comes to this monster."

"And Asgeir? He have some kind of personal relationship with this individual?"

"More than that. He wants to make her suffer before killing her." I said. "She's the reason that Asgeir can't die, and he blames her for everything that has happened to him."

"What? What exactly happened?"

Matthew shook his head. "Things that would break most people. He wasn't supposed to make it out alive from the Gates from what Bill Miles told me. He was serving a death sentence for what he did, but the curse that afflicted him kept him alive and well enough to survive it. The thing about the Gates is that people that go in don't normally come out. It's too wild and untamed for anyone to find the resources. Food and water alike. And even if that is something one can find there, they have to deal with blazing heat in summer, and uninhabitable storms in the winter."

Marc suddenly burst into the meeting room. "Matthew. You better get outside. It's Asgeir! The villagers are outside!"

We headed out into the pub to the front door. Regina and Robin were close by with Marian, looking out the window. I could hear Asgeir's voice outside faintly on the front steps of Cormac's. Zar and Ruby were walking into the pub from the Bunker.

"Where's Elsa?" I said to Marc as he led us to the door.

"Emma was here with Hook. She told him to take her to the Sheriff's station and they left just before they got here. Didn't even ask for our permission or anything. Just had her taken out."

"Damn that woman!" Matthew said. "Her Majesty would be safer here! Don't let David or Snow out of here! We got this!"

"Matthew, there's going to be a mob outside and you think this place will stop them?" Zar said. "We need to talk to them. Get them to clear out of here before a riot starts."

"Have you not been listening?" Marc said. "Asgeir is outside, and he's doing a shit job of trying to do that. If what you would call the chaos outside 'trying'."

*BANG!* "I SAID BACK OFF!"

I ran for the door with Matthew behind me and ducked through the door. Asgeir stood on the steps of the pub with his shotgun pointed upwards, smoke faintly rising from the barrel. A large group of the villagers eyed him like frightened deer.

"You are digging your own grave here, Reaper." Leroy said, standing at the front of the pack. "All we want is your sister. She can't be allowed to walk free in this town. As long as she does we are all at risk!" He turned to the mob. "Elsa is the problem. Today it's Marian. Tomorrow she could freeze the whole town."

"Shut up, dwarf!" Asgeir snarled, starting to lower his shotgun. Almost starting to point it right at…

"Asgeir, stop!" I cried in disbelief. What was he doing?! He wasn't just playing with fire here. He was playing with it while in a powder room covered in gasoline.

Granny walked from the pack. "As much as I like to move the hot cocoa, someone has to stop her. Just give her to us, Asgeir."

"You all think it's her that froze Marian?!" He snapped. "Then you are all as delusional as the real culprit of this is. And I know just what needs to happen to those of delusional minds."

Then Asgeir did what I never would have believed him to be capable of doing: He dared to point his gun at the whole mob. And everyone knew he wasn't bluffing. Granny looked damn near close to another heart attack, and even Leroy couldn't hide the fear with his usual scowl. I heard screams and gasps rise from the crowd, but no one moved a muscle towards us.

"Now I will only say this one more time." He said, quietly. "Get. The. Fuck. Out."

"Asgeir, stop." I said, starting to come up behind him. "This isn't you."

"Be quiet, Jason." He said, still looking at the mob. "They all believe us to be the monsters here, don't they? They don't realize I spent my whole life trying to save them all, and all I got for it was to watch everyone I ever cared for die in front of me. They don't deserve our protection anymore if they don't believe in us!"

"Elsa and Anna are alive, you stupid prick!" I growled.

"I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT ELSA AND ANNA!" He roared. "I WATCHED MORE THAN JUST THEM DIE IN FRONT OF ME. AND I WILL NOT LET ANYONE TAKE AWAY MY CHANCE TO GET EVEN WITH THE ONE THAT DID THIS TO ME, THE ONE THAT STARTED EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TO ME, THAT CU-"

I had heard enough. Before Asgeir could finish, I smashed my handgun into the side of his face as hard as I could. He fell to the ground, unconscious. The massive gash on the side of his face healed up almost as soon as I saw it form, but it still left behind some blood smeared across his left cheek and temple.

I looked up from him as the door behind me opened all the way. "Ladies and gentlemen of Storybrooke." I started. "Please allow me to formally apologize for this disturbance. Unlike Asgeir, we are not shooting first and never asking questions."

"What do you have to say for what he just did? He pointed a gun at us!" Leroy snapped.

"Asgeir is not acting on our behalf. Not anymore, that is." Matthew strode out of the pub with Ruby behind him. "He is working on his own terms now, it would seem." He looked down on him in disappointment. "We are here to tell you that Elsa is not the one responsible for Marian's condition. Someone else is trying to frame her for it."

"Who is it?" Leroy demanded.

"The same person that is keeping up the ice wall, and the same person that we are here to take down. I promise you that this evil is our duty, and we will be the ones to stop it. We are Assassins. We do not wish harm to those of Storybrooke. We only wish to protect them."

Ruby walked forwards. "Matthew is right." She called out to the crowd. "I have known Asgeir to once be a thief and a killer, but with a code. And a good friend to me. He's beyond lost in his ways, but it doesn't mean the same for everyone that lives in Cormac's. I have seen women and men that fight for what they believe in, and protect those they know to be innocent. Elsa is not the one that we should be trying to take."

Leroy glared at Ruby, but differently than to us. "You believe in them, Ruby?"

"Yes." She replied. "Everyone here in this town believed that I was guilty of a murder that was on someone else's hands, yet they were scared enough to believe that it was me. No one under this roof believes it was Elsa, and neither do I. Please listen to me if you won't to them."

Granny put her hand on Leroy's shoulder. "I'll listen to my granddaughter any day, Leroy."

He glared hard at all of us. "Find who did this to Marian, and do it by sundown." He ordered. "Let's go!" He and the mob walked back down the hill except Granny, who came up to Ruby.

"Ruby, you don't have to stay here with these people." She said. "You'd be safer back home than here."

"What, you don't trust them?"

"After what I saw Asgeir just do? I don't think I'll ever see him the same way again. Regardless if my late brothers were Assassins or not."

Ruby looked down at Asgeir as Marc and Zar picked him up, by his arms and legs.

"Take him to his place in the inn." Matthew said. "He's not to leave Cormac's until I see fit. And that's going to be a long while from now."

"He's acting for his own interests, Granny." She said as they hauled him back in. "But he invited me and Ashley to stay here until this problem with whoever froze Marian is solved."

"Granny." Matthew said. "I respect you enough that I have to say this, curt as it may sound: your granddaughter is old enough to make her own choices. And while she isn't here on my invitation, I would allow her and Ashley to remain here considering the kind of threat that we are facing. I'd only ask that you agree with her choice either way."

"I'm staying here, Granny. It's where it's safest for the time being." Ruby assured her. "I'll be okay."

She placed her hands on her granddaughter's shoulders. "I know you will. Still doesn't stop me from worrying."

Asgeir was taken to his room in the inn, a guard was placed on his door, and the window monitored with one of our outside cameras. Elsa was still gone as we got order restored and everyone regrouped in the pub.

"Ingrid is running free through the town and she's struck one of the family now." Matthew said. "We need to find her, and we need to do it fast."

Zar held up his tablet. "The thermometers we had set up the other night have finally been transmitting the data back to us. So far the temperature drops throughout the town look to be coming from the wall, and not wherever Ingrid is hiding."

"Regardless of this, it's a start. There are very little ways that Ingrid will be able to hide from us, so we need to seize this chance to get her. Just as it was the other day, teams will be given their assignments and sent where to go through the woods. Find the Primary Target and neutralize her. Dead or Alive. Dismissed."

Zar started handing out pamphlets to the team leaders, and they headed out. Mark and Willis gave me a look as they headed out. Then I realized what it meant when everyone left in the pub were me, Rory, Torren our novice, and Zar. Matthew came up to us.

"What's going to happen to us with Asgeir out of the fight?" Torren said.

"Aye, Matthew." Rory added. "Th' boy was still our leader for the brief time he had. What happens now?"

"I'm leaving leadership of Lima Team to Zar while my two best men in this team are out of action. Jason, you are still on the drone for now, but I expect you to be back in the field before long."

"Aye, Mentor." I replied. "Though I'm not nearly as fast a healer as Asgeir."

It was meant as a small joke, but no one laughed. Zar and the others grabbed their rifles and headed out the door while I headed for the Bunker.

My drone was a small camera drone that had a few functions to give tactical aid to the Lima Team. Some drones in the arms dealings we had were prototypes with machine guns mounted on them, but they had been shipped away to their buyers before we had started using our goods ourselves. So anyone using drones had to be stuck with ones that couldn't fire a single shot. I swear, even with my trigger wrist sprained to shit, I could still get one good shot into Ingrid's skull if the drone had one mounted on it.

I wasn't kidding myself. I knew that Asgeir wasn't still the same good warrior that I had spent my whole life fighting alongside anymore. I had seen enough to know that for him, there would be no coming back from this. Matthew had wanted to believe it himself, but now that he had threatened to kill a whole group of innocent people right on the steps in front of the Mentor, I knew that there was no redemption for him. That was it for him. So now it might fall onto me to take Ingrid down. That was if my wrist could heal fast enough. If anything I had learned from what Asgeir had said, it was that I couldn't afford to miss one shot with her, with a lot more than just my 'never miss a shot' reputation at stake.

The drone had been hooked up to one of the stations in the Bunker to charge. Several other drone operators were already at their computers, sweeping the woods for Ingrid. I pulled the plug out of my drone and set it over at the dumbwaiter, which had been set up as an underground launcher for the drones in the Bunker. Sitting down at my station, a few of the other operators gave me either a quick glance or a nod in acknowledgment as I booted the drone up. When it was warmed up, I sent it flying up the dumbwaiter's shaft, where it stopped at another security door at the roof of Cormac's. The door opened and I sent my drone out, hovering over the air units on the roof and over towards Main Street. I could see Zar, Torren and Rory running out on the road as I swooped down and tailed behind them.

"Lima Team is en route to the forest, Mentor." I said through the radio.

"Excellent. All hands on deck, Assassins. We have another witch to find."

"Wait, hang on." One of the techs stood up beside me. "Something's tripped the sensors set up at the ice cream store, Mentor."

The drone's feed was sending data clearly, and we could see something. Three people walking right into the store as the team was running down the street right in it's direction.

"Mentor, how should we proceed?"

"Your call, Kingshark." Matthew replied, coming up behind me in the room. He leaned down to look at my feed. "But I would at least take a quick look."

"Roger." Zar beckoned the other two, and they cautiously walked through the door. The drone inched forwards, but then I heard shouting.

"Hey!" Emma was there and her gun was raised. David was also there, but the third one held back.

Zar and the others raised their arms. "Easy!" He said. "What are you doing, Emma?"

"Trying to find out who froze Marian. At least getting some help from this guy." She pointed her thumb at the third man, who stepped forwards.

Zar scowled. "Will fucking Scarlet." He said. "Mentor, you seeing him?"

I pushed the drone forwards to get a better look. Yeah, there was no mistaking him. The Will Scarlet that blew his chance with the Merry Men Assassins just so he could make his own big score. He may have once been one of us, but he proved to Robin that he played by no one's rules except his own when he tried stealing more than was necessary from Maleficent.

"'eah? And 'oos 'ere?" He said back. Then he got a closer look and noticed the hoods. "Oh yeah. I 'eard this whole village had turned into Assassin occupation. You doing a fantastic job keeping the peace."

"Stop. Everyone." Emma ordered. "Listen."

Everyone stopped talking, and even I landed the drone on the display freezer and put the drone's flight off for a minute.

"What, I don't hear anythin' Swan." Rory said.

"Exactly." Emma said, walking behind the drone and the freezer. "No compressor humming. No cooling system."

Zar looked down at the ice creams on display. "But they look frozen to me."

"Smart guy's telling the truth. Something's not right here."

Matthew leaned in closer. "They might know the woman that runs this place, but we maintain the cover. They can't know we bugged the whole place. As far as they know, this is not personal with us and Ingrid."

Torren piped up. "Might we check the back?"

"Right." Emma said, heading for the freezer door. David followed in along with Zar. Rory and Torren stood by while the drone hovered in.

It was a nightmare inside. The whole place wasn't just covered with ice. It looked like it could rival even Elsa's ice castle in the mountains.

"Gods be damned." Matthew murmured as the drone showed us the whole thing.

"Look at that." Emma muttered.

"Guess we owe Will an apology."

The rest of us just stood there in more shock than awe, until the team heard the doorbell ring. Rory lunged for the door, realizing what had happened. Will had booked.

Emma went for the cash register. "He's gone!" She snapped. "And he didn't leave empty handed." She started for the door, but David stopped her.

"Emma, stop. He's not the most important thing right now."

"So I just let him go?"

"And then you'll find him." Zar said. "But we need to do it later. Right now we need to track down the one that runs this place."

"Aye." Rory said. "Let's get to it, then."

Lima Team ran out of the parlor leaving Emma and David behind. I followed behind with the drone as Zar pulled out his radio.

"We got side tracked, Mentor. But we're back on the trail."

One of the drone operators suddenly stood up, at the row of stations in front of me. "I think I got something!"

Matthew leaned over to his station. "What is it?"

"The drone's in Sector Three. I think I'm seeing the Primary Target."

Matthew eyed the screen while I had to keep piloting my own drone. Lima Team ran past the Rabbit Hole and kept going, hoods raising.

"Yeah, that's her." Matthew grumbled. He pulled out his radio. "All Assassins converge on Sector Three. We've got a 20 on-"

Suddenly I saw the screen for the drone go white, then crack. Next it went black with red letters across the screen.

"DRONE FEED OFFLINE."

"She saw the drone. Move now and do it quick!" Matthew yelled.

Even though Storybrooke was a fairly small town, it was too big and wide for us to get there fast enough for Matthew, as he urged us to move faster and faster. All the vans had been taken out by teams covering further distances, so Lima had no means to get there fast enough. I was seeing desperation in Matthew's eyes and voice as Lima Team tried to catch up to the other teams. But soon enough we heard the feed from Willis.

"Mentor, we are heading in from the West. Primary Target is in visual with Elsa and Hook."

"Fuck…" I muttered. "We need to hurry up, Zar!"

"Our team is running as fast as we can!" He replied, looking to the drone as he ran. "Go on ahead of us."

I sent the drone high into the tops of the pine trees and weaved in and out of the branches above the floor. I honestly couldn't tell at this moment if this was good or bad that Asgeir was out of the fight until further notice. No one could deny how unhinged he had gotten with the threats he had made less than an hour ago, but he would have probably been at Ingrid already with a knife ready to cut her throat open. And it was as though we needed the monster he had turned into now; we were running out of time. What was Ingrid going to do with Elsa? Last time this happened she tried to turn her against Anna and Asgeir, and failed. Now she had stolen her memories of her and hoped to try again, but for what means?

Then I heard yelling from the feed.

"HEY! DAIRY QUEEN!"

Down below I saw Emma and the others heading in. And there was Ingrid, Hook and Elsa. Hook was iced to the ground by his feet with icicles forming just above his head. It was clear what Ingrid was going to do: framing Elsa to show her how 'savage' we all were.

"Emma?" Ingrid breathed.

Something about her tone got me as I was able to get the drone in behind a tree, yet able to see what was transpiring.

Emma looked at our target strangely. "Do we know each other?!" She demanded.

"…Of course not." Ingrid lowered her hand from the icicles she was forming. "Your reputation precedes you."

That can't have been true. Ingrid was a liar by her nature. But if Emma didn't seem to know her, then it was the same case with what she had done to Elsa: her memories had been removed.

"You really think that your magic is a match for mine?"

"There's only one way to find out." Emma replied.

She threw her hands forwards, blasting Ingrid backwards. David took the chance and charged for Hook, whipping out his knife and chipping away at the ice on his foot. Ingrid looked up and angrily forced the icicles to fall, but Emma reacted quick enough to pull them out of the way with a flick of her hand.

"You guys okay?" Emma said to them.

"Yeah, we're fine." David said as I saw several groups of Assassins running in. He got up. "Where is she?"

I turned the drone around, but it was no good. Ingrid had vanished.

Matthew slammed his fist against the table beside my console as more Assassins came rushing into the area. Zar came up to Elsa.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" He said.

"I-I think so." Elsa said. Then her expression hardened. "I want to speak to Matthew. And Asgeir. And I want it as soon as we return to the inn."

A quick debriefing in the pub, and soon everyone was back in their stations for the night at Cormac's. Elsa was quiet the whole time as Matthew and Keaton went over what had transpired over the day and what this meant. He mentioned how Ingrid had seen Emma and what this could mean, understanding what I had heard. Ingrid knew Emma somehow. Why or how had yet to be seen, but we had yet to talk to our expert on our target. Asgeir might have had an idea on it all in his years of exile, but his interrogation would be coming next.

Rory was the only one not taking a load off as the day's operations were shutting down. While everyone was hanging up their packs, he was grabbing the rest of his gear while Zar was also making preparations.

"George'll be taking advantage of the current situation to ensure his operations go unnoticed. This is as good a time as any that we'll be able to destroy one of his labs, so Rory will be heading in on his own. A simple sneak in and sneak out mission to sabotage their systems and blow the lab sky high."

"Good luck, buddy." I said, patting the Irishman on the back.

"I'd feel better with Asgeir still in action." He sighed. "As for the luck, I'm Irish. I'm lucky by heritage."

"You didn't see Asgeir today, Rory." I said. "He's not himself anymore. It could be Ingrid causing this erratic behavior from him, but clearly he's emotionally compromised from all this. He'll be out of action until further notice."

Rory gave me a look, before grabbing his rifle and walking to the door.

"Lucky stepping out." He said through his radio.

"Granted." Matthew's voice said through the radio. "Let him through, lads."

He and Keaton walked out from the hallway to the inn and came over to me, Zar and Elsa. The lock on the front door deactivated and Rory stepped out into the cool night air, closing the door behind him.

Our queen stood firm. "I need to speak with you, Matthew."

"You will get everything you want from us, Your Majesty." He said. "But we will be doing this with your brother in the picture. Follow us."

The two Mentors led us through to the inn, while Zar headed for the Bunker. Elsa's train dragged across the floor almost leaving behind a thin layer of frost on the hardwood flooring as I walked behind her.

Asgeir's room was up on the second floor of the inn, near the center of the rectangular room. A guard was posted in front, relaxing limp against the door, but when he saw the two Mentors and our Queen, he stood up straight.

"Anything to mention?" Keaton asked.

"Nothing, really." The guard replied. "He's tried breaking the lock on his chains a couple of times, but nothing seemed to work. For the past hour he's just muttered to himself a few times and hit his head against the wall."

"That can't be right." Elsa said in confusion. "I saw Asgeir break out of chains that bound him as though he was only scratching an itch."

"Clearly he's been broken more than we've noticed before by this Snow Queen." Keaton replied. "We'll be inside."

"Should I call for backup?" The guard said as he unlocked Asgeir's door.

"3 Master Assassins and our Ice Queen against the White Reaper?" Matthew said. "…I'd keep it an option."

Asgeir was sitting in the corner next to the radiator of his room, almost shivering. His hands were bound behind his back and his legs were chained at the shins. He remained just as quiet as he had been this morning as the four of us walked in.

When the room was locked, and everyone had settled in, Matthew started.

"Under the circumstances, Asgeir, you have done enough for expulsion from the Order. But right now, that may be the last thing we need from what the Snow Queen tried to do today."

Elsa looked at Matthew. "Wait, you know her? How? Why? What aren't you telling me?"

Asgeir eyed his sister with silent fury. What was going on in his mind? I wanted to speak, but unlike him, I was a committed soldier. I knew my place, and right now, that didn't involve speaking out of hand.

"You really don't remember anything, do you Elsa?" Asgeir whispered.

"No, Asgeir. I don't!" Elsa almost cried out. "How could you not tell me that there is another like me out there? Why didn't you?"

Asgeir only looked at her even harder. And that was all Elsa needed.

"You're going to kill her, aren't you?" She realized.

"Your Majesty, we aren't in Arendelle anymore, and do you know why?" Keaton said. "It's because that woman froze the whole place, along with your sister, her fiancé, and two of our brothers."

"Anna! Kristoff! But what happened?"

"Prince Hans. While Asgeir and Anna were gone, he tried taking over with his brothers, finding an urn that was rumored of being able to imprison people who knew magic. But the Snow Queen was already in there. She froze Hans and installed herself within your castle."

"And you let that…thing in." Asgeir snarled at his blood, pulling at his chains.

"Enough, Asgeir." Matthew said.

"Why did I do that?" Elsa said.

"We still don't entirely know, even though some of us were there." Matthew said. "I guess you desperately wanted someone like you within the fold, and didn't see the Snow Queen for what she really was. You would never harm a fly. But her? She easily saw that everyone who wasn't her or you deserved to die because of what happened to leave her in that urn."

"What-"

"Don't tell her." Asgeir said. "She wouldn't believe us anyways."

"And why should I, Asgeir?" Elsa snapped, turning on him. "You lied to me. You said that it was a woman named Cora trying to destroy this town, and instead I find out from her that you've turned insane. She told me things. Things I refused to believe until I find you locked up in here. You killed innocents!"

"Everything I did has led me on the path that will end with it bleeding in front of me, my hands around it's neck, and then my blade cutting it's throat open."

"What has gotten into you?!" She cried. "Why do you hate her so much? You were the one that killed that Assassin that tried to kill me. Ryan? How can you think like he did, now?"

"What it did to me was only the start of everything else that has made me suffer more than any one person should. Daniel Cross and the other Templars I faced through the years, they all deserved what they got. But now they all are gone, and the only one left, the only one I truly hate, the one pathetic excuse of a human that started all my suffering is it. And I will show it that it doesn't know suffering until now."

He really had gone off. He didn't even think Ingrid was a person anymore. An "it".

Elsa shook her head. The room started to drop in temperature. Then she turned to Matthew.

"What did the Snow Queen do to him? This isn't my brother. What has happened to him?"

Matthew began to shrug, brushing her off, but Asgeir held up his foot to substitute his chained hands.

"Show her, Matthew. No doubt the freak was going to tell her what it did to me soon enough. Just do it."

Matthew pulled out his gun and shot Asgeir right in the face. Elsa screamed and a few icicles formed on the ceiling as the shell fell right to the ground at Asgeir's feet. But instead of falling limp, dead against the wall, Asgeir got right back up, no bullet hole on his face. Elsa put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"How-?"

"I don't know." Asgeir said, sounding more calm and just as confused as we all were. "I tried to stop the Snow Queen, but it hit me with every curse it had. Including freezing my heart." Elsa was about to say something, but Asgeir cut in and kept talking. "Yeah, I know. How am I still standing here? I don't know. But I can tell you that no matter how much I've been able to resist it all, I'm nearly at my end."

Asgeir fumbled, trying to stand up. He fumbled with something in his back pocket, but dropped both of them before they went clattering to the floor. His lighter and cigarettes. I knelt over and picked both of them up behind him, then put one in his mouth and lit it for him. His eyes shined thankfully as he took a long drag on it, a large cloud of smoke coming from between his teeth.

"You want there to be no more secrets? Alright. I'll tell you everything before the Snow Queen kills us all. Later. But for now, you need to know my current situation. I'm dying. The ice in my heart has found it's way towards my life, and I'm on borrowed time now. I don't know how I know. I just know. And if you keep me here instead of letting me out there, then I'll be dead before long, and it'll have won."

He was dying? That must have explained part of his anger and desperation towards killing Ingrid. Although I wondered if maybe all this anger he had towards her was caused by the Spell of Shattered Sight being cast on him in it's worst form when Ingrid slashed him in the eyes with that knife made of the mirror. That made more sense than whatever else could have been an explanation for everything.

"We'll find a way to save you, Asgeir. But there's more vital matters now. When she saw Emma, the Snow Queen seemed to know her. There was something about how she spoke to her that doesn't sound right. Now do you know anything that might be of help?"

I may have seen a smallest flash of horror go across Asgeir's face, but it was gone faster than it appeared.

"Think it through, Matthew. I spent thirty years looking for her to no avail. I never even met Emma except during all that time travel bullshit. I don't have any idea what she would want with Emma. So don't ask me any more stupid questions and let me die in peace."

Matthew looked down on his failed pupil. "I hope this was all worth it, Asgeir. The Snow Queen will die, but not by your hands. So you better get comfortable while we find a way to stop her without you."

Asgeir only spat at the Mentors' feet and sat back into the corner, shivering. Now I knew why he was, with the ice already starting to reach his heart, just as it was with Marian downstairs. As he said, he was on borrowed time. And now, even with all that he had done, I doubted that we could take down Ingrid without his help.

Zar kept radio contact with Rory as best as he could. He was just entering the area of the lab by the time I had gone down to the Bunker to check on them.

"Lad, I appreciate the support, but I'm gonna have ta get out of radio contact for a while. I'll call yah when the lab is set to blow."

Zar hung up his radio and sat back in his chair, looking up at me. "What's the verdict?"

"Asgeir stays here in his room locked up until Matthew decides that it's time."

"That could be weeks! Matthew hasn't shown as much action as some of us would like to. Meanwhile we're the ones actually trying to take down George and the drug shipments going in and out of town."

"You still respect Asgeir after what he did today?"

"I knew Asgeir as he really was, Jason. We both did. He's not right in the head, and he doesn't need to be imprisoned. He needs help, whether he cares to admit it or not."

"I would agree, but who can help him? Us? He doesn't trust us because of whatever secrets he unearthed in his exile, and Matthew's trust in him has been more than shaken from the day he came here."

"You think it all has to do with whatever Asgeir learned in exile?"
"More than just that. Matthew and his father must have been the ones to hide it from him based on how he talks to our Mentor now."

"Well, I don't want to know what it is, Jase." Zar said. "If it's as bad as Asgeir seems to think, then this could fracture our branch completely. And we can't be turning on each other with Ingrid out there."

And then it came back to me; 'Turning on each other'. This was exactly what had happened to Asgeir and his sisters back in Arendelle. Ingrid was planning to unleash the Curse of Shattered Sight on everyone in the kingdom. And if she was attacking now, after so many years, then it must mean that she had everything she needed to use it on this town.

A low rumble suddenly erupted, coming from outside. The Bunker shook lightly, but Zar and I knew what had happened, even before Rory came back on the two-way.

"Mission accomplished, lads. Those tweakers couldn't help but make another batch. I'm running back to base."

"Stay safe, Rory." Zar said, looking at me worriedly. "We all will need to."

Cue "Sucker For Pain" by Imagine Dragons

A/N: Things will get worse for the Assassins before they get better. I hope to get the next chapter to you guys soon enough as we see the first part in Asgeir's story of what he did that sent him to the Gates.