Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC written by two morons. Thanks so much for your reads and reviews, I will try to get back to you. Please let me know what you think and happy reading!


The blue Golf sped into Storybrooke.

"We're over the town line, could you please slow down?!," Emma shouted.

"Slow down when we get closer to our destination. Yes, that makes sense!," Joseph snapped.

"Leroy's in the street!"

Joseph held down the horn as he swerved around the dwarf. Inarticulate curses followed.

"I'm never getting in a car with you again," said Emma.


Regina walked into the living room of the pink house, Henry following.

"Gold! I'm here!"

He entered the living room. "Good, you can get set up."

Regina tilted her head as she took off her coat. "It would be a lot easier if you knew what we were up against."

"Why didn't I think of that?"

Martha began barking. From the front door, they heard a loud yelp of pain. Gold walked forward with Regina and Henry following. They found Mary Margaret tending to David as he rubbed his head.

"I see you've found my protection spell," said Gold.

"Protection spell?," asked Mary Margaret.

"To keep you out of my house."

"Rumple, who is that?," Belle asked. She found out as she reached the front door. Her face turned to disgust. "Oh."

"Neal told us what was going on, we just wanted to help," said Mary Margaret.

Belle turned to Henry. "Henry, Pamela's in the kitchen. She'll help you find a snack."

"I'm not hungry-"

Regina shot her son a look. "Listen to your grandmother."

Defeated, Henry left. Belle turned back to Mary Margaret and David.

"Do you want to know what would have helped? If you hadn't put Emma's darkness in my sister. Because then Lily never would have been separated from Maleficent and Beatrice- who was also trying to save your lives if you remember- would never have had to leave Storybrooke to find her. She would have been safe at home so pardon me if I don't think so highly of your help."

"Safe at home?," asked Mary Margaret. "You mean like she was for the whole Dark Curse?"

If looks could have killed, Mary Margaret would have been dead on the spot as Belle's ire rose.

Regina spoke. "Perhaps now's the time to take a step back-"

"No, I've been hearing how I put Beatrice in danger, what about Emma?"

"This is not a conversation you want to have, dearie," said Gold.

"You were supposed to be together," said Belle. "You were supposed to go with her. You have no idea how I felt when I found out you managed to screw that up along with all of your other chances. Then again, tell me why I shouldn't look out for my child when it's clear you only care about yourselves? Someone has to and you know what? I'm her mother, it's my job so if you want me to feel bad that I'm not as good a person as you, I won't."

Merlin came up the steps behind the Charmings. "Oh, good, you lot. I didn't have my daily dose of moron yet."

"Merlin, I'm-"

"Save it. I have no time for canned apologies." He stepped past them and looked to Regina. "You're here to help?"

Regina nodded. "Gold asked me."

"Well, you can start by getting them where I don't want to smite them."

The three walked off. Regina turned back to David and Mary Margaret.

"That was dumb," said Regina.

"Helpful as usual, Regina," said David.

"I don't understand why they're being like this," said Mary Margaret.

"You mean Belle," said Regina. Mary Margaret looked up in surprise. "She's the brains of this operation. Those two do what she tells them and right now she's told them she doesn't like you."

There was a sound from the street and they looked . This rather ordinary event was cut off by Beatrice's blue Golf appearing out of seemingly nowhere and coming careening towards the house, jumping the curb and barely the Charmings as they stood on the sidewalk.

Emma was the first to stagger out of the front passenger's seat, holding on to the edge of the vehicle for stability. She looked up at Joseph as she tried to catch her breath.

"I am never getting in a car with you again."

John was next. "You ass!"

Joseph shrugged. "We're here, aren't we?"

Lily crawled out. "You psycho freak!"

Belle, Gold, Merlin and Pamela reappeared. The parents headed straight for the car.

"You were meant to get rid of them," Merlin snarled at Regina.

John and Joseph were negotiating how best to get Beatrice out of the car when Gold walked up, placing a hand to her cheek.

"Well, it's definitely magical in nature," said Gold.

"But there was no magic," John objected.

Belle ignored that, crowding the doorway with her husband. "Will she be alright?"

"I'll make certain of it." Gently, he slid Beatrice from the car and picked her up.

Gold carried Beatrice inside, Belle shot daggers at the Charmings.

"You're him, aren't you?," asked Lily.

Merlin turned to face her. "I suppose I am..."

Lily glared.

"Listen, if you're going to berate me about my inadequacies as a father- most do, though to be perfectly fair I just recently found out about this- it's going to have to wait."

"You know he said you only gave a damn about her."

Merlin shrugged. "Guilty."


They walked into the house. Gold gently laid Beatrice on the sofa.

"I'll get some pillows," said Pamela.

"We should start looking through tomes," Regina suggested. "Perhaps some kind of blood magic?"

"Yes, but why does it work outside Storybrooke?," Gold questioned.

Regina rolled her eyes. Merlin now turned to lecture Gold.

"Because whoever we're dealing with cares about what happens outside Storybrooke. The Author. He's behind it all."

Belle frowned at their bickering and knelt down next to Beatrice. She took her daughter's hand in hers. The instant she did, Beatrice took a great gasp and her eyes opened.

"Well, that was quick," said Regina.

Beatrice looked around. "What am I doing here? We were all in Lily's crappy apartment..."

"You're back," said Belle, she pulled Beatrice close to her.

"Strangling me, Mom."

"You're back with us," said Gold, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "That's what matters."

"Where's Lily?"

"Emma's handling it," John answered.

"What? You let Emma bring her in?"

"Beatrice, that's not important," said Belle. "What's important is that you're both home and safe. Now Lily can get to know her family and we can get to know her."

"A thrilling prospect," Gold muttered.

"Rumple."

"There's still the slight matter of why your daughter fell into a cursed state," said Regina. "Not to mention how it was undone."

"What about the couple in the diner?," asked Joseph.

"What?"

"That's the one detail I can't account for. That young woman was quite eager to be away from you and she distracted you when we arrived."

"What young woman?," asked Merlin.

"It was nothing."

"It doesn't sound like nothing," said Regina.

Beatrice looked around. "This is so embarrassing..."

"More embarrassing than everyone finding out you had a one night stand with a dragon lady?," asked Merlin.

"I have these recurring dreams where I'm sort of like me, but I'm somewhere else."

"Somewhere else?," Belle probed.

"Like a Hunger Games AU. Or Nick Fury recruits me for the Avengers. I'm like me, but in a different setting. There's this one where you and I lived in Manhattan."

"I'm not there?," asked Gold.

"No, not at first, but I go to school with this girl, Taylor Billingsley and that girl looked just like her and had the same bracelet and the same name..."

They stared at her.

"I said it was embarrassing."

"Nick Fury, you said?," asked John. "But that's-"

"A moment, John," said Joseph, dragging him off to the kitchen.

"What?"

"She doesn't know."

"Why not?"

Joseph paused.

"Oh, you don't want your girlfriend knowing you changed the course of her life. And time. Seems like a fairly big thing to keep from her."

Regina stalked in, Gold and Merlin on her heels.

"She knows," said Regina. She snapped towards her old mentor. "How could you not know she knows? What kind of parenting is this?"

"Shut up," said Merlin.

"How did this happen?," Gold demanded.

Merlin shrugged. "He must have altered something when he went through time. We know a Beatrice with two lives went in- this one and the Far North Kingdom."

"Or rather the one I went in with."

"Three already. You weakened time. She can see across it, she just doesn't realize," said Merlin. "I'm assuming just the ones she's in."

Regina scoffed. "That's a good thing. Some of them are a real mess. There's this one where it turns out Marian was my sister in disguise."

"What?," asked Gold.

"I know."

"Well?"

Regina scoffed. "You don't think I checked after I read that?"

"I think we should check again," said Gold.

"He's right," said Merlin. "No one's ever actually dead around here. I personally find it a bit grating to say the least."

"Sorry," said John. "Your girlfriend doesn't know you changed history?"

"What did you do?," asked Regina.

"She can never know."

"So you're just going to let her think those other worlds are just dreams?"

"You don't understand what that other world was like, John."

"Where are you going?," asked Beatrice.

Joseph turned. "I have a thing."

"A thing?"

"Well, we still don't understand precisely what happened to you and I intend to find out."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I have sources." He looked at Belle coming their way. "Your mother has something to tell you."

"What?"

As soon as Beatrice turned back towards Belle, Joseph was gone. John groaned as he put his jacket back on.

"He'll be in touch."

Regina followed, then Merlin.

"Are you going to see Lily?," asked Belle.

He paused and turned. "Why would I do that?"

"You know why, Father."

"Trust me, Belle, she doesn't actually want to see me."

"I think she does."

"Not everyone has as generous a nature as you, my dear," said Merlin.

"Well, I should probably go check in with Maleficent."

"No," said Merlin.

"He's right," said Gold. "You need to stay here where you can be looked after."

"But-"

"I'll be at my shop."

"Rumple," said Belle.

He looked back.

"We were going to have that talk."

"Oh."

"Oh," said Merlin. "Have fun."

"What talk?," asked Beatrice.

"It's nothing," said Belle.

"It's really starting to sound like something."

Belle led Beatrice back to the sofa and sat down next to her. Gold pulled up a chair.

"What's happening?," asked Beatrice.

Gold and Belle exchanged looks.

"Okay, seriously, someone's going to have to say something because I am starting to have a very bad feeling-"

"I'm pregnant," said Belle.

Beatrice froze. Belle smiled.

"You're going to have a little brother or sister. Well, Grandmother says it must be a girl because there's this legend about the Ice Princess and the Summer Princess, but it's way too early to know for sure. Beatrice? You're not saying anything or blinking..."

"You, um, you..." Beatrice tried to collect her thoughts.

"We were surprised if that helps," said Belle.

"Right, no, surprise relatives, that keeps working out so great for me..."

"Beatrice..." said Gold.

"No, Rumple, she's allowed to react," said Belle.

"Oh, good, I get to react."

"Sweetheart, that's not what I meant, I'm sorry," said Gold.

"I should move out," said Beatrice. "Right? I should?"

"Who said anything about moving out?," Gold asked in horror. He looked to Belle with a panic stricken expression.

"Because I'm nineteen and that's pathetic, right? I'm dead weight as it is and you guys are going to be busy-"

"Beatrice, you don't need to leave," Belle said quickly. "Of course someday you may want to leave, we understand that, but nobody is pushing you out and we will always have time for you."

Beatrice stood. "I need some air."

"Sweetheart-" said Belle.

"I just need a minute, okay?"

Belle and Gold looked at each other skeptically.

"I'm just going to walk to Starbucks and back."

"Do you want us to go with you?," asked Belle. "Can we come with you?"

"No, I just need a minute!"

Beatrice grabbed her phone and her coat, letting the door slam as she left.

"That went horribly," said Belle. She shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe it. That went so horribly. I thought she'd be surprised, but... Gods, Rumple, what are we going to do?"

"I'll go after her."

"No, we promised we'd give her a moment."

"I could call Joseph."

"She's been shutting him out for weeks!" Belle shook her head. "I don't want her to leave, it was a mistake to let her leave Storybrooke before, I don't care, I don't want her to leave like this!"

"Sweetheart, this isn't like you," said Gold. He took her arms and she fell into his arms. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know, I- I just keep thinking there's this dark cloud hanging over all of us and something terrible is coming. I want our family to be safe."

Gold looked up. "Regina and Joseph..."

"What about them? You don't think Regina..."

"The books in the house. If they're real, then perhaps this has happened somewhere else and we can know how to stop it."

"I'll come with you."

"No, you should stay home for when she comes back."

He kissed her and left.

Then something occurred to Belle as she headed upstairs.

"Pamela?"

She got to the landing and found Pamela passed out. She rushed over just to see a man looming over her.

"Who are you?," Belle demanded. "What are you doing in my house?"

"I'm Isaac. And you need to call Beatrice."

Belle shook her head. "Why would I do that?"

Isaac smiled and took out a quill and a paper. "That's okay. Character motivation is important, but I have other ways of making you cooperate."


There

"This is my fault," said Rory.

Peggy looked back from beyond the glass where SHIELD's best physicians were looking over Beatrice as her parents watched. It was no secret that Rory had a softer heart than her older sister, more trusting, but it was widely supposed that was due to the time the Golds had spent hostage in a Hydra facility. Beatrice had been a toddler at the time, but that sort of experience couldn't help but leave an impression. Rory had been lucky enough to be born after that chapter.

"You mustn't think like that," said Peggy. "It won't help your sister."

Rory shook her head. "My mom says my grandpa always knew she was going to be a hero. And she is and I... I killed her. What does that make me?"

"You haven't done anything, Rory. She's not dead."

Coulson entered. "Rory, how are you holding up?"

The girl said nothing and plopped down in one of the waiting room chairs. Peggy shrugged at him.

"Director Fury is arriving. Did you contact the rest of the Avengers?"

"Yes, Doctor Banner is still missing and of course Thor isn't easily contacted."

"I'm going to check in with Romanoff and meet with Fury. You call me if anything changes."

Peggy nodded.


Here

Beatrice made the final turn down the street to Starbucks.

During the Curse, it was as if she'd been invisible, like everything had been invisible, when it broke, when she was noticed, it got worse.

Then it got better. Just like her mom had promised. She had helped defeat Zelena and the Snow Queen and things were good for a while.

Then after Joseph died things took a remarkable turn downward. She had gotten condolences at first, but then it was like no one knew what to say so they just stopped saying anything and her world shrank again.

The semester at Colby had been well-intentioned, a way to physically remove her from the circumstances, but in the end, no change of location was going to help so she went home and she tried to help...

She always tried to help.

"Aurora, are you-"

She looked up to see Aurora and Mulan barreling her way.

"How could you?," asked Aurora.

"How could I-"

"You brought her back."

"Maleficent?"

"You should have just left her."

"I, I- I tried to get her to apologize to you."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "She's a monster. Monsters don't apologize. You should have just left her to rot."

"But she wasn't rotting. She was in an eternal prison. No one deserves that and no one deserves to have their kid thrown into another dimension."

"And my parents deserved to die without ever seeing me again?"

"I didn't say that, no one deserves-"

Aurora walked away. Beatrice looked to Mulan.

"I was trying to help, I-"

Mulan nodded. "I get that, but the next time you try to be a hero, maybe you shouldn't."

Then Mulan stalked off as well and Beatrice was left on the sidewalk. As she looked around, she realized she had quite an audience. A disapproving one.


There

Isaac stared at Romanoff as she entered.

"I don't know what you want," he said.

"I want to know what was in that ink."

Isaac shook his head.

Natasha walked forward and put a case on the table. She opened it and pulled out a gun.

"You aren't going to shoot me."

"You hurt my friend and I am losing patience."

"You don't have many friends, do you?," asked Isaac. "The Black Widow program didn't value that."

"Yes, so you should be very scared because I value what friends I do have. And also..." The door opened. A medical team walked in. "Did you know we work on all kinds of projects at SHIELD? Like bringing back the dead? Generally, I frown on using violence as an interrogation tactic, but I can just bring you right back and I figure once we've brought you back enough times and you see the janitor mop your blood off the floor, you're going to get tired of it."

"You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Natasha shrugged. "I guess we're going to see."

She pulled the hammer of the gun back.

"The Savior's Darkness!," Isaac shouted. "The Savior's Darkness, it's the only thing that can weaken the Dark Princess enough to rewrite her story. Please, please, I don't want to die!"

Natasha put down the gun. "The Savior's Darkness?"

"It's what makes the ink work."

Natasha nodded, waving the medical crew off.

"I can live?," asked Isaac.

"Well, yeah, if Carter says it's okay."


Here

How had this happened?

Merlin had been on his way to the mansion when he was stopped by his mother and the Charmings because his new daughter had turned into a dragon.

It had only been a few hours.

"She needs to be careful!," said Maleficent. "This is her first flight!"

"Oh, maybe I ought to be recording this then!," Merlin shouted.

"How can you be so cold?," asked Mary Margaret.

"Oh, right, like the time I threw her in a portal to another realm because I was pouring my daughter's darkness into her," said Merlin. "Oh, wait, that was you."

Mary Margaret looked at David.

"All the things you did for Beatrice and you would have drawn the line there?," she asked.

"No, but I was never pretending to be the purest princess ever."

"She's your daughter-" David began.

"No, you know what? I didn't ask for this. I didn't even know this had happened before this week. Why? Why am I suddenly responsible for her?"

"Grandpa?"

Merlin turned and waved the Charmings off as Beatrice approached.

"Beatrice?," said Merlin.

"Hi, yeah, I just came to tell you that I'm done."

"What do you mean you're done?"

"I mean I'm done. This whole Dark Princess plan. I'm done. I'm calling it off. Better luck next time."

"Get back here," demanded Merlin.

She spun back. "What?"

"What's this? Is this about the new baby?"

"No. This is about the fact that no one wants the Dark Princess. Nobody cares. Let's face it, no one thinks I'm a hero. I bet there is no universe anywhere where anyone thinks I'm a hero. So, why bother? I should go back to college or take one of those classes where you learn how to make apps."

"I have been at this for centuries-"

"Yeah and I wanted it, okay? I wanted to be the one people counted on. I wanted to be a hero, but I'm not."

"You are singular. You are light and dark, you are the only one who can-"

"Defeat the Author. So I hear, but how long am I supposed to do something no one cares about?"

"They will."

"They never will because this is the day I stop trying."

Merlin shook his head. "No. I know you. You are a hero. You won't be able to resist it."

Beatrice shook her head and walked away. Her phone rang.

"Mom, I said-"

"I need you to come to the library now."

She frowned. "Mom? Why do you sound so weird?"

"Now."

"Okay, okay. I'm coming."


There

"I know how much the Dark Princess means to you, Phil," said Fury. Coulson looked up at him. "You wanted her for the Avenger initiative."

"I thought she could be a valuable asset."

"I had my doubts. I thought she was too young, but your instincts were correct. She's been a valuable member of the team."

Coulson shook his head. "I've known her since she was a little girl."

"But now we need to consider what impact her leaving the team might have and what we can do about it."

Coulson frowned. "She's not dead. Gold said it himself, this isn't something from this world."

"And you trust his judgment?"

"I trust that he loves his daughter enough that if he thought there was any way we could help her he wouldn't be hiding behind excuses."

"Then it's time to consider the solutions available to us."

Coulson looked up. He knew what this was and did not approve. "Sir, not-"

"We can't lose an Avenger under any circumstances."

"I've expressed my reservations about those programs."

"I've acknowledged those reservations, but we can't risk the whole planet for your reservations and that's what we'd be doing, Coulson."

Fury walked away and Coulson watched as he went in the room to talk to the Golds.

Gold turned to glare at Coulson.

The other man knew what Fury wanted and didn't like it.


Here

"No, no, no, no, no!"

With the last exclamation, Joseph tossed the next book aside on the floor of the mansion. Regina raised an eyebrow as she continued looking.

"Find it then?," asked John.

Joseph glared as Gold joined them.

"Nice of you to show up," said Regina.

"We're looking for a story where Beatrice touches the Savior's darkness."

"What?," asked John.

"Belle had a dream that the Charmings succeeded in kidnapping Beatrice and the Apprentice filled her with Emma's darkness. It killed her."

"Of course," said Joseph. "Emma's darkness is in Lily's blood."

"The blood magic we were looking for," said Regina.

"Here, I found it!," said Henry.

Regina approached first, followed by the others.

"The Avengers one again," said John.

"It's the Author," said Gold. "His quill hurts her because it has the Savior's darkness."

"Yeah," Henry confirmed.

"Well, how do they stop it?," asked Regina.

"I don't know. The story just sort of stops there."

Suddenly, the room grew dark. Gold and Regina looked at each other.

"I don't suppose that would be a coincidence," said Joseph.

"Very doubtful," said Gold.


"Mom?," Beatrice called, entering the library ignoring that the sky had gone dark.

She heard the doors lock behind her and turned to find Belle on the floor.

"Mom?" Beatrice rushed towards Belle.

"Don't touch her."

Beatrice looked up to see a man holding a quill and a book.

"Or you'll do what?"

Isaac wrote and read aloud. "Belle gasped out in pain..."

Suddenly, her mother did just that.

"You're the Author..." she seethed.

"I'm close enough."

"Don't you dare hurt her."

Belle was stirring awake. "Beatrice?"

"It's okay, Mom, I-"

"Don't touch her," Isaac repeated.

"Fine, I'm not touching her." Beatrice backed away. "Though I don't know what makes you think I won't kick your ass."

"This quill and this book."

"You can't write me in a book."

"No, I can't. I can only write your family, your friends, everyone you have ever loved or cared about. Your mother, your father, your boyfriend, your brother, your new baby sister... assuming she makes it."

Beatrice tried to throw magic from her arm. It bounced off Isaac harmlessly.

"I might have written myself in a defense mechanism." He shrugged. "It wouldn't be a very good story if it was easy, now would it?"

"What do you want?"

"Your book."

"My book? What-" Beatrice paused. "My book."

"You hand it over and this little plot twist can be easily resolved..."

Belle struggled from the floor. "Beatrice, don't."

Beatrice turned to her mother.

"You do not hand over your fate."

"Terrible thing to lose a child."

Beatrice turned back to Isaac as the man shrugged.

"You saw what it did to your father. Do you think he can survive it again? And your mother?"

"Beatrice, don't-"

Isaac scribbled something as Belle gasped and clutched her stomach.

"Wait!," said Beatrice.

Isaac took his quill away from the page.

"My family, my friends, they'll all live?"

"You have my word," said Isaac. "Sort of a pun there."

Beatrice held out her hand and her red book appeared, its gilded letters shining. She passed it over to Isaac.

"I've been waiting to work on this," said Isaac.

Beatrice shook her head. "I was never going to be able to do anything with it anyway."

"Beatrice, you can't do this," said Belle.

He took the quill and made a mark, shutting the book. Magical smoke came from it and the sky outside grew dark.

Beatrice began coughing. "What's happening?"

"What isn't happening?"

Beatrice fell to the floor as Belle rushed towards her.

"Don't touch her!," Isaac snarled as Belle looked up. "A stroke of the quill and she's dead."

Belle stood, trembling with fear and fury. "What are you doing to her?"

"You're too late," said Isaac.

Belle got up and came around the counter. "What have you done to her? What do you want with her?"

Around them, the air began to whip.

"This is what is written."


There

Gold had not moved from his spot next to his eldest daughter. He had long since sent Belle home, it was the middle of the night and Rory needed sleep. Instead he held her hand, watching her chest slowly rise and fall and listened to the beep of the monitors.

Coulson finally entered. Gold didn't turn.

"You know she was born a few weeks before winter, our castle was atop a mountain... She was safe there. I used to watch her like this, every night, waiting for the gods to take her as punishment for letting my son go... and so here we are."

"I don't believe that," said Coulson.

Gold scoffed. "And what do you believe in, Agent Coulson?"

Coulson paused and came around in Gold's sight lines. "I believe in heroes."

Gold glared. "You know Merlin wanted the same thing from her. He wanted her to be a hero from the time she was inside her mother, long before and he died for that."

"It was worth it."

"She almost died, then we all nearly died when we came here and we were held by Hydra. They wanted to use her the same as you did and Merlin."

"I am not like Hydra."

Gold looked up. "Really, dearie?"

"No. I didn't use her. She chose to be an Avenger."

"Well, let's go through the chain of events, shall we? You saw my daughter had incredible innate power and you did what I didn't know then was called 'asset assessment.' You found my son to win my trust, you made a friend of Belle, you gave us jobs here so we wouldn't go anywhere else."

"Nobody's got you chained to your desk, Gold. If you want to leave, you can."

"We have nothing and no one in this world. Where the hell were we going to go? I had a wife, a daughter and another one on the way, you knew what I was going to do. I've made enough deals in my time to know that much and I know what Director Fury wants now."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Lazarus, Tahiti, Resurrection-"

"Those are all classified ops. How did you find out about them?"

"I'm not an idiot, dearie, but I do know that no matter what, you're not going to use any of them on her. I've seen that sort of so-called science first hand and I am not a fan."

"That may not be up to you."

"And that's where you're wrong, dearie."

Coulson's phone beeped and he picked it up.

"Coulson."

"You've got to get down here, sir."

"What is it, Romanoff?"

"One of those portals just opened here and you're not going to believe who came through."

Coulson left. Gold turned back to Beatrice.

"I never wanted you to be a hero," he said, kissing her hand. "I just wanted you to be you."


Merlin awoke, finding himself on the ground.

He sat up and looked around. No Maleficent, no Lily, no Charmings and no dragons just to be safe.

"Merlin!"

He looked up to see John and Henry running towards him.

"Thank God you're here," said John. "They're all gone."

"Who is?"

Henry answered. "My mom. Grandpa, Joseph-"

"I figured you must know what's going on," said John.

Merlin frowned. "Why?"

"Because you're bloody Merlin!"

"Right. Sorry. I forget people know how to apply logic." He stood. "Come on."

They walked back into town finding Storybrooke half inhabited. His mother, Alec and Catherine stood outside Granny's talking.

"You're here," Venus said in relief.

"What happened?"

Alec shook his head. "There was this cloud and half the townspeople disappeared."

"Where's Beatrice?"

"We haven't seen her," said Catherine. "And I'm sorry, Henry, we don't know where Emma or Neal went, either."

"Where's Belle?," asked Merlin. He began walking towards the library. "Find Belle, you'll find Beatrice."

"And why do we need Beatrice?," asked John.

They walked into an empty library. Merlin stepped forward to the circulation desk.

"I'll check the other rooms," said Alec.

Merlin saw two books on the circulation desk.

The first was entitled "The Dark Princess Rises."

The second was called "The Dark Princess' War."

"Don't bother," said Merlin. "They aren't here."

"How do you know that?," asked John.

Merlin picked up the first book. "Oh, my poor Dark Princess, what did you do?"

Henry opened the second book. "The copyright date is two years from now."

"How can that be?," asked Alec.

"Merlin, I demand an explanation," said Catherine, quickly growing impatient.

"She said she quit and I didn't believe her. She quit." Merlin gave a rueful chuckle. "She gave up the rights to her story."

"Joseph had a theory," said John. He motioned at Henry and the teenager pulled the Avenger Dark Princess book out of his backpack.

"You see, Black Widow interrogates this guy who calls himself an author and he cut Lily- Great Aunt Lily - to get her blood to make ink."

"The Dark Princess in this story touches it and goes into the same state," said John.

"Because it has the Savior's darkness in it," Merlin finished.

"That was what Joseph thought," said John. "The reason she passed out."

"You would need the same ink to make this story," said Merlin, caressing the pages. "Which is very, very bad."

"Worse than what we're currently facing?," asked Catherine.

Merlin looked up. "They've all been transported to a world that is built with the Savior's darkness. The one in these books. Now, do we all remember what happened when Beatrice was briefly exposed to the Savior's darkness?"

John frowned. "She was in a coma or cursed or whatever, but if she's inside it..."

"It's going to kill her," said Merlin. He looked up at the others. "And if that doesn't motivate you, when it does, this story will be finished and we will never be able to get any of them back again."

"Anything else?," asked Venus.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I think the rest of us have been frozen in time."

They stood in silence.

"Well," said Alec, "I offer my sword."

"And I will gladly utilize it, but right now I need John to ring up his auntie." He looked at the younger man. "This man, Isaac Heller, he is in possession of a book that does not belong to him. I would like to return it to its rightful owner. I believe she has a man for that."