A/N: I'm always so surprised when anyone reads my stories, let alone pushes that heart or ribbon, or leaves a comment. There are so many other amazing fanfics, and you chose mine for the time being. That is an amazing feeling. Thank you!

Storybrooke, Maine

Of all the people who had woken up before her, Mary Margaret came out the easiest. She hadn't experienced anything violent, or painful, just asleep in her bed one minute, and awake and trying to comprehend what just happened the next on a cot. She must have just.. died in her sleep.

Gold, Zelena, Belle, Tink, and Regina took turns explaining things to her, that it was a dream run by a computer, that Lily was to blame, which explained the handfuls of armed men locked into position on the floor and wall, respectively, by Regina's vines. But Mary Margaret was insistent to finding out exactly what happened.

Belle blushed, explaining that she had been in the woods, researching plants and their medicinal applications along with the book she had brought. Time flew away from her, but she had come prepared enough to stay out, until she noticed strangers picking townies up off the ground from a position overlooking the town. She later found out they had drugged the water supply to catch the majority of the people, rounding up the few stragglers later.

As soon as Belle witnessed what was going on, she tried calling everyone on her mobile, but it quickly ran out of battery considering she rarely charges it. She then tried to get into town undetected, stumbled across Leroy, who was blessfully quiet. He'd been drowning his sorrows in ale the majority of the day (and by day, she meant week) not touching a lick of the water.

They saw Regina being picked up, and tried to free her, but the two men brandished guns, and Leroy managed to hit one man who stumbled into the other, yelling at Belle to run. Once safe, she'd then followed the men until she found their base of operations, and waited for a chance to go in, alone, and try to figure out what the hell was going on enough to free someone.

That someone ended up being Tinkerbell, and the pieces fell into place. Mary Margaret (as did everyone else) remembered the news of the apartment fire, and the fatality.

After hearing this, Zelena wanted to turn all their captures into pigs and have a feast of ham and bacon in the morning, but Belle and Mary Margaret were appalled by that notion. Zelena, determined to do something wicked, just sent an air kiss to each soldier, and they all began to age until they were old and gray. She might have also spelled the men's genitalia into turning various vibrant colors of the rainbow.. No one would know either way.

Lily began to cackle hysterically, her gaze pinned on a specific cot, drawing the attention of all six freed townies.

They began to truly stare when the tall, dark haired man began to sit up, holding his head in pain. Belle made the move toward him, stepping cautiously, unaware of his motives.

"Who are you?" She asked him from two yards away.

He looked up with wide eyes, taking in the scene, blinking at the obvious use of magick, not to mention Lily vine'd to the wall. He held his hands up in surrender.

"I'm a good guy."

"'Kay, good guy, why are you here?" She asked him slowly.

It didn't escape him that all eyes were on him, including Lily's.

"I tried to stop that crazy -" He stopped himself, gesturing towards Lily, his hands still up. "I didn't expect to be attacked with-" he glanced down at his arm, and moved to - slowly - remove the needle still stuck there.

"How were you even anywhere near that crazy witch?"

He was rubbing the spot the needle had vacated now, looking around again, his eyes avoiding the magick plainly on display.

He shrugged. "She hired my security team. But I didn't sign up for kidnapping and scientific experiments. We're not mercenaries." His eyes drifted to his team. "Rather. I'm not. They're all fired, obviously."

"Did you see Emma?" Mary Margaret asked, hopefully.

He leaned to the side to look around Belle, looking for the speaker, locking eyes on Mary Margaret. "Emma?" He nodded toward Lily. "That one wouldn't shut up about her."

Belle turned around, silently asking for help.

Regina stepped forward. "Did you, or did you not, spot Emma Swan in the dream while you were asleep?"

"I didn't have any dreams.." He told them, slowly. "Not that I remember. Why would I see Emma in them?"

12ish pm

After she had lost consciousness like a freaking damsel in distress, Emma woke, only to - practically - run out of his apartment, leaving a confused and concerned pirate author in her wake. She got into her bug, and started driving. She didn't know what the hell to do with herself. She thought about going and getting her head scanned, or her ribs checked out, but decided against the possibility of being thrown into a mental institution. Been there, done that, during the dark fairy's -

She was already accepting this.

Which led her down the rabbit hole she was trying to avoid. She was married, and she'd gotten feelings - slight feelings, but still - for a man who wasn't her husband.

Killian didn't deserve that.

But he wasn't Killian right now, was he?

Did it even matter if this whole world was fake?

Did Gilbert even exist?

She found herself driving in traffic, groaning when she realized it was the lunch hour on a work day. It wasn't like she had anywhere to be. Or anyone to see.

Holly. Hadn't her favorite bartender asked her to visit once she tested - him?

Emma decided to do it. She'd already let this person past her walls, this new friend, and damn it if she would push her away now. She already knew everything Emma did, and proved she could be trusted with the knowledge. Mostly.

Emma sighed in relief when she saw the blond bartender, serving a table their round of drafts. It only took Holly a moment to shoot a wink her way while she continued flirting with the older gentlemen.

Emma smiled at that, moving towards her favorite barstool, thankful they were lower to the ground than the ones at the apartment she was currently keeping her things at.

"Did you test him?" she asked, bouncing while walking, not even bothering with a greeting - which was customary for her to forget.

"Hi Holly."

"Hey girl. Did you test him?"

Emma couldn't hold back a chuckle. She was perfectly predictable. "Yeah."

"And?"

"I'm only 70% sure I'm crazy now."

Holly asked what had happened, and Emma recapped the call and her honesty with Not-A-Pirate, and what she did to test him.

Holly rolled her eyes. "That's what you're basing your sanity on? He finished your sentence?"

Emma shook her head. "It goes beyond knowing what I'll likely say next. It's almost like mind reading."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"I don't know." Emma swirled around her water, absentmindedly. "I think I need help."

Emma was a little surprised at the grin Holly gave her.

"It's about time, Emma." Holly reached over, touching Emma's hand. The warmth was comforting, friendly.

Then, Emma noticed the room around her was slowly vanishing. The whole room was.. Almost being.. Deleted.

By the time the people and objects had been removed, so were her sore ribs, and what remained of her bruises and cuts - all gone, only leaving a white space for her and Holly to exist in.

"Whoever changed the codes tried desperately to keep this from happening." Holly told her quietly.

"What, exactly, is happening?" Emma murmured, unsure, moving her eyes from the blinding white to look into Holly's.

"You found the backdoor." Holly said with a small smile. "I'm very glad you did."

Storybrooke, Maine

"I didn't have any dreams.." He told them, slowly. "Not that I remember. Why would I see Emma in them?"

Mary Margaret looked a little defeated at that. Tink looked a little aggravated. Belle looked curious.

"What has Lily said? Anything about getting these people out of the dream?"

He looked a little confused about the question, but thought about it nonetheless. "I only remember her griping about a backdoor in the code. She was spending a lot of time working on it, making it difficult for Emma to access."

Regina took a few more steps. "Back door?"

"Yeah. Something in the original code that she couldn't get rid of. She could change certain things about it, but it was still there. Emma has.. Some key to it. But Lily did all she could to make it a bitch for her to-"

More people were waking. There were groans, smacking lips, and shuffling all over the large cot-filled room.

Emma was the only one not stirring.

Regina began conjuring glasses of water, floating them over to each town member, as Zelena magickally checked each one for further damage she could heal, Gold began interrogating, while Mary Margaret, Belle, and Tink tried to comfort everyone as best they could before explaining to the group as a whole what happened.

Belle caught the stranger looking at Emma, who was still laying motionless. She moved over to him.

"You do remember the dreams, don't you?"

He smiled a sad little smile. "What day is it?" he deflected.

She looked a smudge surprised, but understood him nonetheless. "The seventh of June." She replied. "You've only been in about a day, maybe two."

He shook his head in disbelief. "That's all?"

She stepped close enough to pat him on the shoulder reassuringly. "That's all."

Emma

Emma woke feeling groggy, her mouth filled with cotton, and her mind a jumbled mess of events.

"About bloody time."

She grinned despite the growing headache, her chest filled with joy at the sound of him, her heart full of life and love, her face moving closer to his hand that brushed against her cheek lovingly. Her memories of her life were sharp now, vivid, not just fragments like they had been. Her mind slowly collected the events that had just taken place.

"Holly…"

She opened her eyes, her smile genuine as she saw him, charcoal eyes and all. This definitely wasn't Colin, even though he was dressed in modern clothes.

"I'm glad you're not Colin."

He chuckled. "Can you truely imagine me without a ship, writing books?"

"I can't even imagine you reading one."

"You saw me, your own memories are proof."

She shook her head. "I saw Colin reading."

He responded by leaning down, placing a slow, steady kiss on her lips. Married two years, and the feeling still gives her butterflies, sparks of electricity shooting through her body.

"Where's Hope?" She sat up straight as a board, looking around frantically, as her pirate chuckled lightly.

"Henry, and some of the older kids, have been watching the younger ones through all this. Hope is safe, just in the next room."

"Oh, Emma!" Mary Margaret came rushing as soon as she looked over to see her daughter sitting up, David a few steps behind her. Emma's mother nearly smothered her in hugs. "It took you long enough! Everyone else woke up nearly thirty minutes before you did!"

Emma shook her head. "I guess.. I was talking to the computer. Or.. The A.I. who controlled everything."

"What?"

"Turns out all I had to do was make a friend, let said friend in, and ask for help from them."

"That's the backdoor?"

They turned in time to see Regina rolling her eyes. "Amatuer. You're lucky she wasn't in cahoots with Mal. After the whole apple fiasco, Maleficent got creative."

David shook his head, moving to give his daughter a hug, and a kiss to her temple. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad we all are. That was.." he shrugged, moving to wrap his arm around his wife, looking across the room at all the people mingling. "Gilbert?"

Emma's head shot up, following her fathers gaze.

The stranger moved toward the group, his eyes taking in the scene, Killian's arm wrapped around Emma, Mary Margaret and David wrapped around each other.

"You know me?" He asked when he got close enough.

Emma couldn't believe it. He was real? He was real. He was here, in her town, breathing, and he was real.

She couldn't squash the guilty feeling in her gut as she looked at him, remembering the almost whatever they had, but reminding herself nothing had happened and -

Wait. He didn't - did he - huh?

"You don't remember?" She asked, unable to keep herself from the question.

Her father her actual father gave her a knowing, sad, smile.

"Darling, is this the friend who died?"

She nodded, biting her lip.

"Died?" He asked, looking confused, patting himself down. "No. I'm all here."

David chuckled. "In the dream - or - the computer program, I guess, you had a brain aneurysm and died, rather suddenly."

His eyebrows raised in surprise at that. "Did anyone mourn me?"

"Well, I did." David said, chuckling, "And your parents."

"I was adopted, but they've long passed." He admits. He takes another look around, avoiding the employees he had hired (who now look very old, and are still plastered up on the wall and down on the floor). Emma couldn't help but laugh a little at him, causing him to turn toward her. "I'm glad Lily didn't succeed." He told her. "She was certainly dead set on whatever she had planned."

"Lily?" Emma looked to her mother, who nodded up to the wall, close to the ceiling, where Lily hung from vines while seething. Her plans, while troublesome, hadn't done any real, lasting damage.

"Don't fret, Swan, we'll take proper care of the rubbish later." She looked into her pirate's eyes, grateful for the contact of his hand on her side, his arm on her back.

He read her, and she silently cursed herself. He looked at Gilbert, before looking back at her, but his gaze wasn't heated in the slightest. She wasn't sure what she expected, but him turning to the small gathering surrounding them, asking for a moment alone with his wife (stressing the term wife with a subtle glance at Gilbert) wasn't it.

"Emma, love, we were not ourselves in there. You can talk to me."

She knew she could, expanding on what she hadn't told the Colin version of him, explaining all the times Gilbert had come to her rescue during the computer simulation. When she was finished, she looked over, noticing the retreating back of Gilbert, who was almost to the door.

She looked back to her husband, Hunky Hunkerson, pirate edition, biting down a smile as she thought of Holly threatening to enroll just to glimpse him. She was going to miss that damn A.I.

"Do you mind, if I…" She purposefully trailed off, nodding toward the retreating form of Gilbert. Killian looked up, grinning, before turning back to her.

"Aye, love. Real or not, whatever relationship you had with him mattered." She looked into his eyes, a little surprised at the fact that her lie detector was silent. "I won't pretend I'm not a tad jealous of the idea of my wife having spent significant time with another man in any sort of romantic capacity, but, I also understand he took care of you in my stead. For that I am ever grateful." He raised her hand to his lips, kissing her there, before giving her the biggest, brightest grin. "Go." he nodded with his head, and she returned the grin.

She moved quickly, giving him a chaste kiss, grateful her ribs were back to being perfectly normal.

She exited the building, looking around. For a moment, she thought he was already gone, but spotted him move around a dark SUV.

"Gilbert!"

He spun around, looking, spotting her. He looked unsure, completely taken aback at her sudden appearance.

"Emma?"

She breathed deeply, stopping in front of him. "You really don't remember? Anything?"

His gaze panned behind her, to the door that opened just enough for Killian to lock in his gaze with loaded eyes before disappearing back into the building.

He smiled, returning his eyes to hers. "I picked up on the fact that everyone else remembered. Must have been something in the code. I was thrown in at the last minute."

"Right." she smiled sadly. She supposed this was easier. She was married, happily, for christ's sake. "Well.. I just.." She stopped herself from awkward ramblings. "You were a friend, in there. More than a friend, really. And you - well. You did a lot for me. And I know you don't remember, but I wanted to thank you."

He cocked half a grin, and she saw a sliver of the old Gil there. "Whatever I did, I'm glad I was able to help the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. That'll take a while to sink in. Who's Lily?"

"Maleficent's daughter." She supplied. "Hey, I grew up an orphan in your world, so imagine my shock when I found out." She rolled her eyes. "You gonna be okay, with all this?"

"I think so." He nodded. "I can't ever tell anyone, or else I'll make a permanent residence in a hospital, so I might come back to talk to your -"

"Archie. Also known as Jiminy Cricket."

"There are worse options for a shrink."

She smiled. "Maybe I'll see you again, then. Just… be safe. And always put up the stars."

He barked out a laugh, backing up, away from her. "Whatever that means."

-x-x-x-

He knew exactly what that meant.

Gilbert continued to back up, and she turned around with a small wave, heading back to her husband, her family, her life. It was better this way. It was. She was already happy, he'd seen the look on her face when her husband woke her.

Her husband, Captain Hook.

He had no idea how much of the dream was real, how much he chose, how much he consciously lived through. But everything in the dream had been accurate. His parents, his backstory. Him joining the police force was old, forgotten news, but it led him into security. The apartment in the dream looked exactly like the real one, minus a few dirty dishes, a few extra photos displayed. Looking back at the fragments of memories, like playing scrabble with the pieces, he couldn't say anything he did there was any different than anything he would normally choose to do.

If.. any of it had actually happened.

Only one thing survived the computer generated dream world, only to break into two when she walked away from him. He had to tear his eyes away, force himself to move toward the driver's side. It felt completely unnatural to walk away from the love of his life.

If you love something, let it go.

-x-x-x-

Emma stood in the warehouse, one last time, looking around. Every cot was empty, the computers had been shut down, Lily was sent out of town with her mother for a chance at her own happy ending. Regina banned the pair from returning with a spell around the border, Zelena wiped the minds of the hired guards, and Rumple returned them all to their normal ages, but he pretended not to notice the other little prank Zelena had pulled. He nearly made them all infertile, until Belle stopped him with a touch to his forearm.

Emma marveled at the fact that she was only really in this room somewhere between twenty-four and thirty-six hours, as she moved around. The dream world really felt like it lasted months or -

A green tee shirt was folded, on a cot, in the middle of the room.

Her cot.

She rushed over as soon as she noticed it, picking it up - no -

Gilbert's shirt from the simulation.

How had he - He didn't - did he? Nah.. He probably just… changed and forgot it… lots of men fold… and forget...

She knew she was lying to herself.

When had he even - how long had this - did anyone even -

She knew she'd never see him again.

Fin

Such bitter sweet. I almost left him dead than to suffer this, but.. That's not how the story goes. Since deciding on the plot, I've intended this to be a short story. It's been.. Really difficult to hold myself back, skipping forward, cutting out scenes here and there, toning down Lily's revenge to sort of modernize and match the apple mistake of her mother. Now I find I'm editing this again to keep from publishing - because then it'll really be over. This was only supposed to be a random, word-vomit, get out of writers-block thing and I really didn't want to end it. Keeping things short was the challenge, though, so..

Let me know if you're interested in a different story that explores this Gilbert/Emma thing. It might just happen.