Sorry this took so long, I'm back to school and I am going to have a lot more work this semester than last. On the plus side, we've reached Season 4! Won't be long until we see the League in action after the Underworld.
In response to one of my reader's review, Ali, here's my answer: Yes, I am using the same actors as the movie in 03. I know it's been a long time but it's almost hard to imagine anyone else playing those guys. In light of that, there's something else I want to add. When we get to more members being introduced, some of them will be based off of older personifications from older movies (like the end of the 90s on up) and will be played by those same actors unless I choose otherwise. But when it comes to new characters who haven't been played by anyone before, I'll list off whom is playing whom.
Which reminds me, as of this moment, I am no longer in need of new characters for the League. I am grateful for all the suggestions I received and I look forward to including them in this story. You won't believe who I have in store for you guys; I am so excited!
But without further delay, I present Season 4 of OUaT's The Evil Queen's Brother!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own OUaT or LXG or their characters.
After Regina's outburst, she stormed out of the diner to try and compose herself; though it was obvious she was failing. Naturally, both Nicholas and Emma went outside to try and give her their support.
"Regina," Emma said.
"Not now, Swan." she dismissed feeling broken.
"I'm sorry. When I brought Marian back, I didn't know who she was. I didn't intend to cause you pain." she defended.
"Well, your intentions really don't matter." Regina retorted, "Because once again, I've felt the brunt of heroism. Always the villain even when I'm not."
"What was I supposed to do?" Emma asked.
"You should've let that mole die!" Nicholas thought in panic.
"Well, you were dumb enough to travel through time. Maybe you should have left things well enough alone." Regina snapped.
"I am not gonna apologize for saving someone's life."
"She was supposed to die anyway. What did it matter?" she asked.
"What mattered was she was a person. And whatever she did, she didn't deserve to die." Emma argued.
"Well, maybe she did." she snapped.
"Well, you would know. I saved her from you."
"The woman who did that, that was the person I was, not the person I am." she said in anger, "I worked very hard to build a future; a future that's now gone."
"Sis, you don't know that." Nicholas argued feeling sorry for her.
"Well, I know it's complicated enough that his dead wife is back." she snapped.
"Regina, for that I am sorry." Emma apologized, "If there's anything I can do to help-"
"Swan, the more you try to help the worse my life becomes." Regina cut off.
"Marian," Robin said coming out with his wife, "Please, meet her. She's not at all what you think."
"What the hell is he doing?" Nicholas thought being weary around Marian.
"Regina, I-I want you to meet Marian." he awkwardly introduced, "I-I want us to talk about this."
"Wait, were you two…are you two together?" Marian asked.
"Marian, please." Robin sighed.
"You and the Evil Queen?" she asked in spite, "Did you let her near my son? Do you know what she's done? The terror that she's inflicted?"
"Is everything okay?" Snow asked as she, David and the baby came out to see what was going on.
"Well, no one's been incinerated yet, so that's a good sign." David commented.
"Regina, you alright?" Snow asked.
"What?" Marian asked in confusion as Henry, Hook and Ariel joined them, "What is wrong with you people? W-why are you talking to her? Don't you know who she is?"
"Mom, what's going on?" Henry asked.
"She's a monster." Marian spat pointing.
"Watch it, maid." Nicholas growled with his hands sparking in electricity. As he did, Regina had enough and decided to leave, "Regina, wait."
"Mate, don't." Hook warned, "You of all people know no good has ever come of pushing that woman. Give her space."
"Yeah, but it's what she does in that space I'm worried about." David remarked.
"You don't think she'll become evil again." Henry said seeing their expressions, "She can't. She's come too far."
"No one is turning evil. I'll handle this. Okay?" Nicholas asked, "Whatever happens, she's my sister and I'll take care of it."
The next day, Nicholas decided to join Emma and the others as they took baby Neal out for a morning stroll. Unfortunately, he was distracted by trying to get ahold of his sister.
"She's still not answering?" Henry asked.
"Nope." he sighed, "When your mother doesn't want to talk, kiddo, it means she really doesn't want to talk. Even with me."
As he said this, he received a video text from Skinner. Letting the others go on ahead, he pressed play and became paler than a ghost when he saw the footage with widened eyes. The video was showing Belle and Gold dancing in the ball room inside the League's mansion.
"…What. The. Hell?!" he screamed in his head before texting The Invisible Man back, "WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING THERE?!"
"I have no idea!" Skinner cried, "I was just minding me business enjoying some private time in the mansion when suddenly the happy newlyweds barged in and began dancing!"
"Do the others know?!" Nicholas asked.
"No! No, no, no! Do not tell anyone that I allowed the bloody dark one into our base under my watch! Quartermain will kill me!"
"Oh, this is terrible!" Nicholas exclaimed still texting, "And I thought what happened last night was bad for us!"
"What happened last night?!" Skinner asked.
"Well, Zelena killed herself for starters and her dormant magic activated the portal. Then Emma and Hook somehow got sucked in and went back in time and brought back the worst person imaginable with them!"
"I know I'm going to regret asking, but who?"
"Robin's dead wife, Marian!" Nicholas texted in panic, "They brought back the mole!"
"WHAT?!" Skinner texted.
"Yeah, the woman who nearly ruined us by exposing the League to the public is back. And she's already seen me!"
"It gets worse." Skinner replied.
"How could it be worse?" Nicholas asked.
"I think-I think…Rumple may have spotted the hat box." he answered causing Nicholas to become even more pale.
"…Yep," he sighed, "The director is, without a doubt, going to kill us all if he finds out about this. Is there anything else anyone wants to add to the crap pile that is today?!"
"We're under attack!" Leroy cried as he and Sleepy ran through the streets, "We're under attack!"
"Oh, I can't win today!" Nicholas thought before running up to the others.
"Okay, Leroy, what is it?" Emma asked.
"We were just driving home, and something blasted us with magic. The whole van's iced over. We woke up in a meat locker." Leroy explained in panic, "Who's got that kind of magic?"
"Hmm," Nicholas thought, "I haven't heard of anyone with that kind of magic since I was a kid."
"Maybe the person who made that." Emma said pointing at a trail of ice. Following the trail, Emma and Nicholas entered a garbage lot only to find no one behind the gate. Suddenly, snow began to swirl and quickly formed a giant living snowman.
"Alright, that's a new one." Emma remarked.
"I think I've seen something like this before." Nicholas informed looking at the monster.
"We don't want to pick a fight." Emma said to it. Unfortunately, all it did was roar causing the sheriff to fall and drop her gun which made it go off.
"I remember you now." Nicholas said with a confident smile, "You're Marshmell-"
But the monster cut him off by swatting him away into the nearest wall. "Ow." Nicholas groaned as his wounds healed.
"Evil snowman!" Leroy shouted causing mass panic, "Run!"
"Nicholas," Emma said as David and Hook joined them, "I think now would be a good time to use your gloves."
"You know, I would, but I left them at home in my other jacket." he replied, "Although, I think all this noise might be scaring it."
"I think you're right." she realized, "It's headed for the forest."
As they ran after the giant snow mound, they came up to Robin's camp to warn him and his men of what was coming their way. "What is it?" Robin asked.
"Some kind of snow monster." David answered.
"No monster shall cross our path." Robin argued, "We'll give you our assist-"
The archer was interrupted by the sound of growling faintly coming from the woods. "It's getting closer." Hook said, "It's coming from the north."
Within seconds, the monster came into view through the trees. Without any warning, or thought, Little John fired an arrow at the monster. Unfortunately, this only made it even more angry and gave it a reason to approach the camp.
"Yeah, I really picked a bad day to leave my gloves at home." Nicholas sighed as he made a sword from the ground, "Emma, you may have to back me up on this."
"What?" she asked.
"Your magic, love." Hook reminded.
"Right." she nodded. As the monster came closer, she held up her hands and sent a blast of magic at its head dazing it for a moment. "Take that, Frosty."
"Wait for it." Nicholas warned expecting more. Sure enough, the monster was unharmed and roared at them all while sprouting spikes on its arms and back just before swatting them to the ground and blasting them with its icy breath. "Yep. There it is."
Marian took the chance to try and fight back with an arrow only to be pushed back by the monster. Nicholas was the only one conscious but he chose not to do anything as the beast roared at her. On one hand, if he did nothing, he'd be a threat to the League short and could focus on helping the others make sure Gold didn't take anything from the Mansion while keeping the League still a secret. On the other hand, he'd have to deal with the guilt of leaving one of his closest friend's and comrades' wife to die a second time. Tough choice.
Next thing anyone knew, Regina emerged from the trees next to Marian while staring up at the monster. Her expression seemed blank but Nicholas could easily tell it was colder than the monster before them as she looked down at Marian.
"Please." Marian begged in fear, "Help me."
"Regina, just leave her." Nicholas whispered as his sister vanished in a cloud of smoke. Once she was gone, the monster lifted its foot ready to crush her. "I'm sorry, Robin."
But before it could do the deed, Regina destroyed it from behind with her magic. Everyone began to groan as they regained consciousness while Nicholas bowed his head.
"You saved me." Marian said in shock.
"Dammit." Nicholas whispered as he got to his feet.
"Marian, are you alright?" Robin asked before realizing his former love was there too, "Regina."
"Maybe you're not a monster." Marian admitted.
"Maybe I'm not." Regina replied showing no emotion, "Welcome to Storybrooke, Marian."
As she walked away, Emma tried to talk to her. "Regina, we've been trying to find you."
"Sister, wait." Nicholas pleaded as she poofed away causing him to drop his head and sigh.
"Your sister really doesn't want to talk, huh, mate?" Hook asked.
"What made you think that?" he asked sarcastically, "Was it her ignoring me and poofing away or that she hasn't said two words to me since last night?"
"There's no need to be sarcastic." huffed the pirate.
"You think she's gonna be okay?" Emma asked.
"My sister is a very emotional person, Emma." Nicholas sighed, "It was bad when her last love died but now, when he's still alive and reunited with his dead wife/the mother of his child…things are bound to be worse."
"I should talk to her." she said ready to walk back to town only to be stopped by her boyfriend.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." he halted, "Em, honey, no offense, but that's a terrible idea and borderline stupid."
"Excuse me?" she asked baffled.
"I know you feel guilty, but I've seen what Regina does to people when she's pissed. Quite frankly, I don't want to see my big sis kill my girlfriend or vice-versa."
"Alright," the blonde relented, "I see your point. See you back at the loft."
"Okay. Just hold on a minute." he said before surprising her by pulling her in for a kiss, "Love ya."
"Hmm. I love you, too." she smiled. Off to the side, David sighed in distaste while Hook mischievously smirked.
"Just think, mate, if Flamel weren't around and I didn't have Ariel, that could've been me with your daughter."
"…Oh, shut up, Hook. Just shut up." David said flatly.
Back in town that evening, Regina sat against her office door with her knees up against her chest in silence. On the other side, Nicholas approached the door and knocked on it hoping to get through to her.
"Regina, I know you're in there. I can see the light's on." he said before leaning his arm on the door and sighing, "I know this is all…complicated, but you can have happiness. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you just have to fight. If you won't, I will. I wasn't able to stop you from falling into despair before but there's no way in hell I'm gonna let that happen again."
After hearing the sound of his boots hitting the floor fade away, Regina raised her head out of her arms and looked over at Henry's book across the room with an idea in her head.
Elsewhere, in the League's mansion, while his new wife slept soundly in bed, Rumple stared down at a round, golden box with a strange blue, swirly design with stars in the center. With a wave of his dagger, and a small cloud of blue smoke, the box morphed into a bent, pointy, blue hat that looked as though it had an entire universe in the center.
As this happened, all around town, a massive ice wall erupted along the border trapping everyone inside without anybody realizing it. Over at the loft, however, the Charmings hung out while Snow put Neal in his crib.
"Here you go, sweetheart. I'll see you in three hours for your midnight shrieking. Yes, I will." Snow said lovingly with a little humor/dread for the inevitable, "Sweet dreams."
"What do you think babies dream about?" Henry asked.
"Bullfighting." David replied joking.
"Laser tag." Emma added.
"That's not true." Snow argued.
"I think they're joking." Henry eased.
"Right." Snow sighed, "I'll recognize funny again when he's three and I've had some sleep."
"Three?" David asked his wife, "I see the optimism returning. At least he probably doesn't dream stuff like Flamel."
"Like what?" Emma asked.
"You know, sciencey, nerdy stuff." he shrugged smirking, "Like, the sum of the square root of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side."
"That's a right triangle, ya idiot!" Nicholas said from the bathroom before flushing.
"Is it?" Henry asked his mother.
"How should I know?" she asked as Nicholas came out drying his hands.
"Remind me again, why are you here?" David asked trying to get over the idiot remark.
"I'm bored, I wanna spend time with my girlfriend and nephew, I like babies, my house is eerily empty and quiet and I don't plan on sleeping for another four days." Nicholas listed with his fingers.
"You seriously don't sleep for days regularly?" Snow asked in surprise.
"Pretty much. Why else would I drink almost ten cups of coffee every day? I have more of a caffeine addiction than I do smoking." he shrugged as he pointed at Henry, "It certainly came in handy when I had to deal with this guy as a baby."
"So what do you do at night while everyone else is asleep?" she asked.
"Eh, usually I just work on my research or train. Sometimes I just read a book or watch a movie." he replied while noticing a little basket filled with treats being made by Henry, "Chocolate, DVDs, ice cream, red wine? What is this, a care package or a prep kit for a Gilmore Girls marathon?"
"It's for my mom." he replied.
"I don't drink and sheriff." Emma joked.
"My other mom." he clarified, "I googled 'How to Get Over a Breakup.' Though, it didn't talk about your boyfriend's wife time-traveling back from the past."
"That's page six, Henry." Nicholas joked, "Wait a minute. How come I didn't get anything like this after Ruby broke up with me?"
"Because you were busy trying to kill me while working with Cora to help her take out Gold and become the new dark one." Snow dryly reminded.
"Touché." he admitted pointing at her while still looking at Henry.
"I thought about that. That's why I asked Leroy to help get you these." Henry admitted while pulling out about five wrapped cigars from his pocket.
"Henry?!" Emma exclaimed while she and her parents looked at him in shock.
As for Nicholas, he merely asked, "Are those Cuban?"
"Nicholas!" Emma admonished smacking his chest.
"What? I'm just asking!" he cringed trying not to smirk, "Seriously, are they Cuban?"
"Yep." Henry nodded handing them over as his uncle sniffed them deeply.
"Oh, yeah, these are the good ones." he exhaled with a very happy expression.
"Wait, I thought you only smoked those when angry." David pointed out.
"No, no, no. This is how it goes: I smoke my pipe to help me think. I smoke regular cigars when I'm pissed because there's more potent tobacco in them and that calms my nerves. But when it comes to Cuban cigars, that's more for personal enjoyment." Nicholas explained earning looks from the adults, "Oh, come on. It's not like I'm doing weed. That's something I'll never do; trust me."
"Great. My grandson is walking around with stogies in his pockets." Snow huffed, "Next thing we know, he'll have tattoos, as well."
"If that does ever happen, I won't be the only one to blame." Nicholas defended still smirking, "Emma's got one, too."
"Huh?" David asked.
"Thanks, babe." she muttered sarcastically, "Yes, I admit it. I have a tattoo. But nothing like his!"
"Where? What is it?" Snow asked surprisingly looking excited.
"Should I leave the room?" David asked looking sick.
"No!" Emma replied with a disgusted expression, "It's on my wrist. Geez, Dad."
Pulling up her sleeve and unraveling her shoelace bracelet, she unveiled her little tattoo of a flower on her left wrist. To clarify on the bracelet, when Emma became sheriff during the curse, Nicholas decided to give her the rest of Graham's belongings seeing as he felt only a pair of walkie-talkies wasn't enough. However, seeing as he already took the jacket, Emma was left with a few loose items including the Huntsman's boots which were much too big for her. So with no other ideas, Emma decided to take one of the shoelaces and wrap it around her wrist as a bracelet to remember her friend.
"See? It's just a flower. Not a crown, pair of wings and a giant cross with a snake draped over it like someone else's we know." she said indicating to her lover.
"You can mock me all you want, babe, but I have never once regretted getting my tattoo." Nicholas coolly defended before taking a drink of his whiskey. Suddenly, a raven pecked at the window from outside with a message on its leg.
"It's for Henry and Nicholas." Snow said after taking the message, "It's from Regina."
Henry took the roll of paper and read it. Once he was finished, he looked downcast. "She doesn't want to see me." he said as he left the loft. Emma and Nicholas went after him and followed him inside to Granny's.
"You know, that is not exactly what she said. I read the note. She said for right now, while she's dealing with things." Emma pointed out as they sat next to him.
"She doesn't want to see me." Henry repeated staring at the counter.
"She's in a lot of pain over Robin Hood and everything that's happened over the last…well, forever." Nicholas reminded, "Things have been tough on her and you. She's trying to fix them so that you two can be together because she cares about you."
"So why'd she tell me to stay away?" he asked.
"Because she things she's making things better." Emma replied gently.
"She's not." Henry argued before the power randomly shut down.
"Now what?" Nicholas sighed.
"Emma," David said over the radio, "I'm getting calls from all over. It's a town-wide blackout."
"Yeah, copy that. I'm looking at it." she replied.
"I'll swing by to get you. We can check this out."
"Hey, kid. You wanna come along on this one?" Emma asked, "We can call it Operation…Nightshade or, uh, Blackthorn or-"
"That's okay." Henry interrupted. Once David arrived with the patrol car, Emma told her father what happened and expressed how it made her feel.
"He wouldn't even let us hug him. It killed me." she said.
"Sounds familiar." David said.
"Cause I do that. Great. I've passed it along." she huffed.
"Not just you. Henry has two moms who both put up walls." David reminded, "Sounds like he's taking after the both of you."
"He has a point." Nicholas agreed from the back seat.
"It's not like him to pass up on operation anything. I'm worried."
"Well, kids have extreme reactions. They get over it fast. Just stay strong and roll with it. There's always people in this world who want you to give up. Don't make their jobs any easier."
"What the hell is that?" Nicholas asked as they spotted the ice wall and a powerline on the ground.
"Well, there you go." Emma remarked, "Whatever happened to these powerlines happened after the snow monster. Let's go find whoever did this."
"This takes me back." Nicholas thought, "I haven't seen anything like this since I was in Arendelle."
"In case any of you were wondering, it goes the whole way 'round." Hook informed as he and Ariel came out of the woods with lanterns.
"Hook, I didn't know you and Ariel were joining us." David remarked.
"I get a distress call from a fair maiden, and I'm on the spot." he joked, "And this bloody ice wall has sprung up not far from the docks keeping my ship here. That and Ariel wanted to come."
"I keep missing out on all the excitement." she shrugged.
"So any way you slice it, we can't leave Storybrooke." Nicholas observed, "Question is, who did this and why?"
"Kill us all one by one." Hook replied with a dry smile, "It's what I'd do."
"Same." Nicholas nodded while David went over to check his car radio. As he did, both he and Emma saw something move behind some of the ice spikes.
"Did you see that?" Emma asked.
"No." Hook said.
"Me neither." Ariel added.
"I saw it, too." Nicholas replied focusing his attention at the wall.
"I'm gonna check it out." Emma said heading over while David approached the alchemist.
"I think it's time you and I had a little talk about your intentions with my daughter." he said going into "protective father mode."
"Really?" he asked, "Even after spending almost an entire year giving her nothing but unconditional love?"
"Well, I know your reputation." David coolly countered, "Emma is not some kind of experiment for you test out."
"…I may have a stone in my chest, Charming. But I've never considered Emma an experiment. Your daughter means all of the worlds to me." Nicholas defended. His phone began to buzz with Skinner on the other line again. As he answered, Hook, Ariel, and David went over to join Emma.
"What now, Skinner?" he asked.
"Gold's done it. He's opened the box." The Invisible Man informed.
"What?" Nicholas asked, "Sigh…we'll deal with this later. Has he done anything with it yet?"
"No. He's just stared at it."
"That's it?" he asked, "No hocus pocus, hand waving, dark one magic stuff?
"Nope." Skinner replied, "I've already contacted the others. We plan on meeting at Robin's camp to discuss what to do next."
"Understood. I'll be awhile, though. I'm with Emma, Charming and Hook checking out this ice wall at the town line. It's what's caused the power outage."
As he said this, the wall shook and sprouted more spikes trapping Emma inside while leaving the others outside. "I'll call you back." Nicholas said before hanging up.
"The device-call her." Hook said panicking.
"What happened?" Nicholas asked.
"This woman on the other side made the wall and trapped herself with Emma on the other side." Ariel replied.
"Emma, are you in there?" David asked trying to remain calm.
"I'm getting her out." Nicholas said flexing his hand ready to destroy the ice. As soon as his sparking hand made contact, his arm suffered the effects of a rebound which nearly destroyed it.
"Gah!" he cried in pain as his arm tried to regenerate, "You could have told me this ice was made by magic, you know!"
"We figured you knew!" Ariel defended.
"She's not answering." David said, "Try your gloves."
"Won't work." Nicholas grunted, "This is magical ice. Only magic can take it down."
"We aren't giving up." Hook argued.
"We're not, but we need another way." Nicholas retorted, "Try again."
"Emma!" David shouted into the radio, "Can you hear me?! Emma, are you okay?! Say something!"
"Dad, can you hear me?" Emma asked calmly, "I'm in here with this woman. She's looking for her sister, Anna."
"Anna?" Nicholas muttered.
"She thinks that Anna is in town because she found a necklace of hers in Gold's shop. She wants us to try to find her before-"
"Before I freeze this town and everyone in it." she cut off.
"Nicholas, where are you going?" David asked as the alchemist stormed off and deconstructed himself. About ten minutes later, he came driving down the road well over the speed limit in his car and slid to a halt. When he got out, he marched to his trunk without saying a word.
"What's he doing?" Ariel asked as Nicholas pulled out a massive weapon and loaded it.
"What is that?" Hook asked as Nicholas got in front of his car and kneeled with the weapon over his shoulder.
"What-is that a bazooka?!" David exclaimed.
"Everybody down!" Nicholas shouted as he squeezed the trigger. As the projectile fired at the wall, the others jumped out of the way just in time. Unfortunately, there wasn't so much as a dent in the wall.
"Where the hell did you get a bazooka?!" David yelled as Nicholas came over after putting the weapon in his trunk.
"What?!" he asked loudly, "I can't hear you! My ears are ringing from the bazooka!"
"Mate, if your alchemy couldn't break through the ice, what made you think that bloody bazooka thing could?" Hook asked.
"It seemed like a better option than relying on that ice pick of yours." Nicholas retorted.
"We're getting nowhere fast. Gold might be able to help us. Maybe find this woman's sister." David suggested.
"We don't need him." Nicholas argued, "Anna's not in Storybrooke."
"And you know this how?" David asked.
"Trust me, Anna's not the kind of person that goes unnoticed."
"Wait, you know her?" he asked.
"Yeah." Nicholas nodded pointing at the wall, "That woman's name is Queen Elsa of Arendelle. I met her and her sister after I befriended some traders from her kingdom when I got out of Xerxes."
"Do you know how we can get her to lower the wall without her sister, then?" Ariel asked.
"Maybe, maybe not." he replied, "Elsa's magic is connected with her emotions and unfortunately, thanks to her parents, she doesn't have control over either. I may be able to calm her down myself; we were pretty close when we were kids. Hand me the walkie."
"Just get her back." David pleaded as he gave the radio.
"Elsa?" Nicholas asked, "Elsa, can you hear me?"
"Who is this?" she asked feeling scared, "Where's David?"
"Elsa, it's me, Nicholas. Nicholas Flamel. Remember? We were friends back when we were kids." he tried to remind.
"Nicholas?" she asked, "Is that really you?"
"Yeah, Elsa. It's me." he laughed happy hearing the sound of his old friend's voice.
"Wh-how are you here? Do you know where Anna is?" Elsa asked.
"No. I don't. But I need you to listen to me, Elsa." he coached, "How's Emma doing?"
"She's freezing…turning blue." she said in a panic.
"Elsa, calm down. I need you to find a way out." Nicholas said gently.
"I need Anna." she stressed.
"I know, but we don't know where she is right now. You're gonna have to do this by yourself."
"I can't." she denied, "I can't control this. Not on my own."
"Yes, you can." he argued, "I know you can. You're stronger than you think; you've always been strong enough to do it on your own. You can't let fear continue to control your life like this. If you do, neither you or Emma will survive."
"She won't, I will." Elsa corrected.
"No, you won't. Not if you allow yourself to be trapped like this. Anna never wanted this for you, neither have I. I told you a long time ago that the only thing stopping you is yourself. Take all your fear, Elsa, and let it go."
Elsa didn't reply afterwards. Instead, she took her friend's advice and let go of her fear allowing her to make a hole in the wall large enough for both her and Emma to crawl through. David wasted no time in pulling his beloved daughter into his arms while Nicholas helped his childhood friend out.
"Your Majesty." he nodded with a smirk before the platinum blonde flung her arms around him.
"Let's get her home, warm her up." David said picking her up bridal style.
"Are you okay?" Nicholas asked stroking her face. She didn't say anything, but she rapidly nodded her head, "Thank you. You saved her."
"Yes, I did." Elsa nodded looking guilty, "But I also endangered her. You owe me nothing."
"Your right, I don't." he nodded, "But that's because you're my friend. And no matter what they do, I will always be there to help my friends. I promise, we are going to find Anna."
Back at the loft, Nicholas held Emma close to his chest after she was wrapped in probably seven blankets. Fortunately, the power quickly came back on and Henry readied one of the space heaters for her.
"I'll go make some hot cocoa." he offered.
"Wait." she said stopping him.
"I know, with cinnamon." he replied before being pulled in by his shivering mother.
"I'm sorry if I wasn't much help earlier, kid." she apologized.
"I'm just glad you're okay. I was already down to one mother, and I won't go lower than that." he said causing Emma to chuckle while Elsa looked upset.
"Elsa?" she asked, "You okay?"
"Not only have I lost my sister, I've lost her necklace, too. Now I have nothing of hers." Elsa informed as David came back with a long Sheppard's Crook in his hand.
"Then let's find her." he said.
"David, I know you used to be a Sheppard, but is this really the time to gather the flock?" Nicholas asked.
"Flamel, just shut up." he snapped, "As it happens, you aren't the only who knew Anna."
"You knew my sister?" Elsa asked.
"I did. She helped me once when I most needed it." David nodded, "When she did, she had a run in with someone I knew who liked to 'brand' people she wanted to control with this crook. Fortunately, one of its perks is allowing us to located where ever someone who's been branded is."
"Well, isn't that randomly convenient?" Nicholas dryly thought while Elsa looked through the hook.
"I don't see anything." she said.
"It should work." David sighed.
"Is it broken?" Hook asked.
"Or does it mean something happened to her?" Elsa asked fearing the worst.
"Wait." Nicholas said as his ears picked up a faint noise, "What's that sound?"
"…Is that a heartbeat?" Elsa asked.
"It is." David nodded.
"We might know where your sister is but we know the most important thing." Emma assured.
"She's alive." Elsa nodded as Mary Margaret entered with baby Neal.
"Who's alive? Oh. Who are you?" she asked.
"Uh, this is Elsa." David answered as he took his son, "We're gonna find her sister. That's what this family does. We find people. We always do because we really, really don't like to give up."
Later that night, around 3:00 AM when everyone was asleep, Nicholas ventured into the woods to meet up with his fellow League members around a fire. Much to his relief, Robin decided to leave Marian behind with the rest of the Merry Men.
"It's certainly been awhile since we've had a briefing like this." Nicholas remarked as he took a seat on a log, "Now what exactly are we going to do about Gold?"
"I'm afraid that we're backed into a corner for now." Mina commented, "We were lucky after the first curse broke that no one was able to find the mansion. I don't think any of us expected Belle of all people to find it."
"Or to use it for her honeymoon with the bloody dark one." Skinner added as he warmed his hands.
"Fortunately, we never left anything above ground to show any indication of our residence there." Nemo reminded.
"Yeah, just that damn hat the director asked us to keep an eye on." Sawyer countered, "Now that Gold's found it he won't let it out of his sight."
"I'm a little lost," Robin interjected, "What exactly does the hat do?"
"We don't know everything about it." Quartermain began, "All we do know is that it was created by Merlin and was protected by his apprentice for over a thousand years until shortly before the third ogres war. The apprentice entrusted it with us because he no longer believed he was befit to guard it after Rumplestiltskin managed to get his hands on it briefly."
"He said that it is commonly used as a means to seal magical entities that posed threats to the realms in times of great need." Nemo added, "And apparently, since its creation, every dark one has tried to get their hands on it."
"And now Rumple has it." Nicholas nodded, "Fan-freaking-tastic!"
"He hasn't used it yet, though, Nicholas." Mina reminded, "That's a good sign."
"Emphasis on yet." he countered, "When has that midget ever passed up the chance to acquire more power? The answer: never."
"What do we do?" Robin asked.
"As of now, the entire town, and most importantly the Charmings, is focused on Elsa and her ice wall." Quartermain explained.
"Which for some reason she can't take down according to Emma." Nicholas added.
"Right, so we can focus our attention on retrieving the hat." he finished.
"How?" Sawyer asked, "Out the seven of us, the only ones that actually show themselves in public are Nicholas and Robin. I can't go into town because I screwed up and stuck around too long when Zelena went after Henry. Nemo can't because he sticks out like a sore thumb. Skinner can but there's no way of him grabbing the box without people noticing it bouncing around in midair. Mina can't because she refuses to wear anything other than funeral clothes. And we all know why you can't go out and 'bout, boss."
"He's got a point, Quartermain." Nicholas agreed before looking at Nemo and Robin, "And no offense, you guys, but your men aren't skilled or experienced enough for a job like this."
"We'll worry about the hat latter. There's something else we need to discuss." Quartermain informed, "The mansion's been compromised. We can't keep using it like we've been doing. Not after what's happened because you know Belle will tell her friends about it. Our base is on the verge of becoming a romantic getaway for the people of Storybrooke."
"We need to take every chance we can get to get what we can out and what we can't locked up tight." Nicholas agreed.
"But what about us?" Skinner asked, "Not to sound whiny, but we've been living in the mansion this entire time, Nicholas."
"Don't worry, I thought ahead of this, Skinner." he reassured, "I still have plenty of space in my underground laboratories which are all connected through a tunnel system."
"But doesn't your sister know about them?" Mina asked.
"No, she only knows about the one north of the park. All the others are safe with beds, weapons and plenty of provisions. You'd basically be staying in bomb shelters."
"I for one would rather not sleep on a bench like a hobo." Sawyer commented, "I'm in."
"Seconded." Mina nodded.
"It's unanimous." Skinner joked holding up his invisible hand.
"Fine." Quartermain muttered before giving his orders, "Skinner, I want you and Sawyer to keep track of Gold and Belle for the next week. If there is any repeating sign of him leaving that box out of his sight, report back to me and we'll discuss our next approach. Nemo, have your divers see if they can break past the section of the ice wall that's sprung up in the ocean. Harker, I want you looking into anything that may be able to work against ice magic. Locksley, have your Merry Men sneak into the mansion at every given chance while keeping look out for any new comers and retrieve what you can. Flamel, keep an eye on your friend the queen. I wanna know if her arrival will lead to anything unpleasant like what our previous visitors have brought."
"Got it, boss." Nicholas nodded, "What about you?"
"Despite my disliking towards it, I need to inform the director of what has happened to the hat." he replied, "I'll take the blame. I just hope that smiling bastard doesn't find an excuse to drag the rest of you down along with me."
"I'm not a member of your branch. You think he'll be merciful with me?" Robin asked.
"You do know who we work for, right?" Nicholas asked.
"Hmph, just thought I'd ask." he defended.
"Well, it just goes to show, it's never a dull moment in Storybrooke." Nicholas said as his friends and comrades nodded in agreement.