A/N: There are some references to events that we have not seen yet, but as you know, that's half of what we see on Once. Asgeir has gone through a lot in the 30 year gap until now, and that includes knowing several people from the Enchanted Forest after Arendelle froze. This chapter also introduces the first of potentially other modern day Assassins from the games.

Chapter 12: Return

Begin Sequence 2: The Shattered Eagle

All I wanted when things started was to be one of the greats. People like Ezio, Altair, Connor, Adewale, Edward, my own father. They were people who became legends in their own right as Asassins. And I aimed to be like them one day. But she took that from me. Ingrid. There are those in the Order who said all I cared about was revenge. Maybe it was revenge, or just satisfaction of putting down the animal that tore my family to shreds. The animal that sealed one of my sisters in an urn, and froze the other along with her future husband, and two of my brothers at arms. It was revenge that drove me. I never forgave, and I never forgot. I may never forgive her at all.

My name is Asgeir Daniel Swortssen. I was an Assassin.

I knelt down on the hunting blind in the tree. As the deer came into view, I pulled an arrow out of my quiver. I would make the shot this time. This time I would eat real food instead of that canned crap tonight. Yeah, deer sounded good. Anything that I killed myself I could eat instead of something that came from a warehouse a hundred who-gives-a-shit kilometers away.

I nocked the arrow carefully, and drew my bow back. I breathed slowly, waiting for the deer to come into view. I would normally try to aim for the deer myself, but I had been shaking in the fingers for years already. I couldn't risk missing the shot with only another month's worth of food left in the cupboard, and close to nothing worth of money left in the safe. A hundred thousand went by faster than I expected.

The deer slowly wandered through the forest, unaware of my presence. It leaned forward out of my aim to eat some of the grass at it's feet in the snow. I suddenly heard a twig snap, and the deer looked up in a direction away from me. After what felt like a lifetime, it went back to eating.

I was tempted to try to aim for the deer instead of waiting for it to move into my sight, when it suddenly trotted away. I heard a loud banging as the deer left.

I yelled out in anger. All that trouble for nothing. And here I remembered the Interior having deer infesting the place like rats.

I jumped down. I didn't bother trying to track the deer back down either, since I knew I was broken enough to never find that deer again unless it came back to me on it's own.

"Asgeir?"

I pulled my flintlock out and aimed it. A man stood in front of me. He had greying hair and a beard, and had a hunting rifle slung over his shoulder.

"Hello, friend." He said.

I walked up, and jammed the gun in his right eye. He didn't do so much as flinch in fear.

"We're not friends! No one's my friend anymore. No one stands by me anymore. Let's not forget those were the exact words you told me when you left me here to fend for myself. When you left me for dead!"

He raised his hands. "Fine. Then let's talk as potential allies again."

I glared at him, then lowered the flintlock. "What the hell are you doing here, William?"

"The Assassins sent me to get you."

I laughed, heading towards the cabin. William followed, hoping he could make things up to me. "The Assassins abandoned me years ago. You abandoned me years ago. You left me here to fend for myself. Why would they give a damn about me anymore?" I snapped.

"Because we found Ingrid."

Bill came with me back to the cabin. I still hadn't cleaned up from a few nights ago.

"Jesus, Asgeir. You get in a fight with someone? I'd hate to see the other guy."

Almost everything was scattered about like there was an explosion. Bill sat down on the couch while I sat across from him in my easy chair.

"Another attack last night." I said.

"Aha." Said Bill. "Still not able to get ahold of them?"

"No. And the last seven years of solitary confinement out here didn't help one bit."

I lifted my pant leg, showing my chain. A GPS enabled ankle cuff. Had I stepped one inch out of bounds, the Assassins would have destroyed any chance of me getting my hood back.

"If you're going to guilt me, Asgeir, I'm going to leave. I'm not in the mood to have you do this to me."

I looked at the painting above him. Nice painting I bought from an artist in Vancouver. I unloaded my flintlock on the painting, just barely missing William.

"Oh, you're not in the mood? Well, boo hoo. Let's be real honest here. I mean, let us be fucking honest. What happened here ten years ago? You baited me into thinking we found Ingrid, you had me tied up, with a sack on my head, drove me all the way out here, and tossed me out to fend for myself. I think you can put up with my shit just for a bit, you bloody Yank. You. Left me. FOR DEAD! IN BLOODY CANADA! You know the stories?! These pricks are nowhere near as nice as those stereotypes set them up to be!"

Bill eased up a little, clearly intimidated. "Alright. Calm down."

"What's this about Ingrid? Where is the bitch?"

"That's the thing. We think she's in Maine. That's where the curse brought the people from the Enchanted Forest."

"Oh really? I thought you didn't believe in that shit?"

"No, I didn't. Until I got the phone call. Every Assassin stationed in the Enchanted Forest, and the chapter from Arendelle lit up our transmitters like a Christmas tree a year and a half ago. I had heard the rumors of the others lands by the other Mentors, but I was always skeptical. There are others who handle affairs with other lands, not me."

"Let me get this straight. So you found out that they existed a year and a half ago, and no one told me?!"

"Calm down. No, we didn't, because officially, you still weren't an Assassin. Matthew was worried about you, but we told him you'd call soon."

I glared at him. "You lying bastard."

"Asgeir, this is your chance to get Ingrid. Do you want to see what I have?"

I glared at him, still aiming the gun at him. "Let's hear it."

Bill reached into his jacket, and pulled out a file. It was light blue, with the words "Operation: Icebreaker" in big letters written on it. It was my name for the mission on Ingrid when the Assassins sent me here to this Land.

"We dropped the case after we left you here. We figured it was all a load of crap, and let it go. But then someone in Maine took this picture almost two years ago. When the Assassins there thought they saw her, they found the picture in the town's files and sent it to us. Sent us a few more to go along with it."

He held out the file. I pushed back a tuft of my coal black hair and opened it up.

It was a picture that looked like someone had taken from quite a distance away, from the outside looking into a store. It was two blonde women in an ice cream parlor, talking. One I didn't know, but the other still had that smug look on her face that I so wanted to cut in half for decades. I didn't dare turn to the other pictures, thinking my fury towards her would only make me rip the photos to shreds.

"That's her, isn't it?" Said Bill.

"Yes." I said, darkly.

He leaned inwards. "The file also has a couple more new pieces of intel, as well as what you were able to gather up in the past thirty years."

"Thanks." I said.

"No 'thanks'. This isn't for you, Asgeir. The Assassins out there know what kind of threat Ingrid poses to the town, and they're already at war with another enemy in the town. You take out the current threat, then we will do everything we can to getting your family back from her."

"What's the current threat, and where is the town?"

"The town is called Storybrooke, if you can believe it. As for the threat, we have no idea. All we know is that people in the town are disappearing. This could be Ingrid's work, but Matthew said it's unlikely."

"Just know that the current threat is top priority, and then comes Ingrid. So far she hasn't caused anything to go down, so she's not a concern to us for the moment."

"Fine. You got my stuff?"

"All your weapons and personal effects we confiscated are in the pickup outside." Bill placed a set of keys on the table. One was an older car key to a Dodge, but the other was newer.

"What's the other key for?"

"It's to your ankle monitor. This is your chance to get your hood back, Asgeir. I'd say we've given you a good deal: you get revenge on the woman that took everything from you and your hood back, and we may get one of our best Masters back in the fight. Win-win."

"It's been hard for me." I said. "At some point the symptoms to a frozen heart destroy you. I haven't made a shot in years."

"Matthew knows about that, and they'll help train you. Plus he suspects that killing Ingrid may undo the...effects as you said. Are they all still there? The symptoms?"

I shrugged. "Figure it for yourself."

Bill pulled off his rifle, and pushed the barrel in between my eyes. I sighed, and felt the bullet blast me backwards, the chair falling back with myself.

The force winded me for a second, but I just got right back up, no bullet wound present.

"Jesus Christ. That's just-wow." Said Bill. "You're like some kind of Wolverine, Asgeir."

I shook my head. "Wolverine can deal with that. I don't want this anymore. I should have died hundreds of times over. And I haven't really felt pain in a long time. I mean, I feel pain, but not as it should be. At some point you want to feel it because it makes you human."

"You still haven't gotten a hold on everything, have you?"

I scoffed. "I told you, William. The last years of solitary confinement out here haven't helped. You clamped the ankle monitor around me and gave me the boundaries, then left me behind. So of course it wouldn't help. I needed to spend my time finding Ingrid to help my problems. Not sitting here, wanting to die."

"Alright, I get it. Truth be told, I didn't want to be the one to drop all this stuff off, but the council ordered me to since I was the one who left you here. It was my responsibility."

"Damn straight."

Bill exhaled. "All the same, I want to help you. You finish what you started with the Order's permission, and then you won't have to see my face again."

I glanced at the coffee table as I fixed the chair. One of the drinks left over from a few nights ago was still there. I took a long swig of it.

"Fine with me." I said. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. The pickup out there also has enough space to fit a fair amount of your stuff. Take what you want to keep with yourself from this place, and leave the rest at this location." He pulled out a map with an "X" on it a good five minute walk from here. "When you're done, take the C4 charges from the truck, burn this place, and ditch the phone we provided you. Abstergo's been searching for us even harder since December, and you're within their top twenty most wanted."

That was December 2012. The end of the world, as many said. But not entirely. Desmond Miles, an Assassin in exile like me, was supposed to have saved the world. I felt the earth shake that night, but I was also in the middle of the worst attack I had ever had, so I didn't notice all that much.

"Did he do it?" I asked.

Bill nodded. "My son sacrificed himself so that we could keep fighting. We need you to return to us so that we ensure his sacrifice isn't all for nothing. I have no idea what either Ingrid or this current threat plans, but either one of them could potentially set of the chain of events that sends all of New England from the present, into the history books."

"Desmond was a good kid, Bill." I said. "I should like to think he knew he made the right choice."

William nodded, the faintest ghost of a tear shining in his eye. He placed a familiar small black leather satchel on the table, and I opened it up. The beans. Six of them.

Bill stood up. "Nothing is True..."

I nodded. "Everything is Permitted..." I replied.

I threw the last box into the truck's canopy. I had a lot of possessions from the last thirty years jumping the realms, but the most important of them were in this box. All my weapons and my old hood from Arendelle. As Bill said, the Assassins confiscated them when they banished me here. I was only left with a hunting bow, and a knife. I was also left with a hundred grand as a severance, and told to screw off until I got ahold of my instability. I opened the box, and pulled out the weapons I needed. I had bought several others in Kamloops and Merritt, the only two towns within my boundaries I was allowed to go to. I was somewhere between Kamloops and Merritt on my map, but truth be told it would have made a more appropriate notice if I was told I was halfway between the edge of the world, and hell. I had to go to town every few weeks for supplies. I grew my own food, tried to hunt what I could, and did whatever in those seven somewhat years out there. I was glad to see the whole place gone.

I was thankful for a few necessities out of a modern life in this world. For example, propane. It became that much more easier to cook what lazy animals I could. I never made a shot against animals, but then there were the ones that were sound asleep by the time I grabbed them by the neck and they met the end of my knife.

I pulled out the C4 remote, and hit it. The cabin glowed brightly as it met it's end on account of a few charges of explosives. Smoke billowed up and started spreading across the grass. The fire department would call this a wildfire on account of an abandoned campfire, most likely. Might never even find a scrap of evidence of my house.

I opened the duffle bag that had been left in the truck with a few other essentials. A replacement phone, $20k American, and a walkie talkie which I didn't seem to have a connection to anyone else with. I threw my leg onto the rim of the truck's flatbed door as I stood outside the truck. I pulled up my pant leg and inserted the key into the cufflink and turned. It beeped twice, then undid itself falling just beside the rear wheel of the truck. The flesh around my ankle was moist and wrinkly, after failing to even experience the light of day for years.

There was one other item left in the duffle at the bottom. I pulled it out, then pulled it on: a white zip up hoodie with a dark green lining on the inside. I pulled my hood over my head. The hood was beaked, just like most hoods before this one. I holstered my weapons to myself. My twin cutlasses, my Rope Blades, my flintlocks, the various throwing weapons I carried. The last I stared at with such loathing, yet holstered that air rifle to my back all the same. I climbed into the cab of my truck, and started the engine. I drove away as I tossed the GPS cuff down into the chasm below. Soon enough I started approaching a fence on the dirt road.

"NO TRESPASSING. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED." It read.

I ignored it and rocketed for the gate, pushing harder on the gas pedal. It slammed open as I crashed through. I pulled out the bean and started cranking the handle, rolling down the window of the truck. The dirt road started to go at a downward grade that became steeper and steeper. I knew exactly where it would head to after a sharp turn.

Sure enough, the path showed large yellow arrowed signs, urging me to take a left. But I kept driving, speeding past them until I hit the edge of the trees.

The ground gave way instantly past the trees, and the massive ravine I was now falling down ended with the raging white rapids of the nearby river. I tossed the bean down towards the river, and braced myself, closing my eyes.

I kept falling, and I saw the bright green glow around me through my closed eyes. The still open window sprayed some water droplets onto my face as I fell through the portal at top speed. Then I felt the truck hit the ground hard, and I was driving down a road in the middle of a forest. Literally five seconds after I resumed driving on this road, I heard a loud crash on the roof of the truck, and felt something shake the truck hard.

"Son of a bitch!" I yelled out, pulling over. Whatever hit the roof of my truck was still on the roof as I pulled over, and stopped. I got out, fuming.

"You know, I was hoping that I could have five minutes in here without-"

"Asgeir?!"

I looked closely at what was on my truck. Little John, Robin Hood's best friend. But he wasn't alone. He was caught in the claws of what looked like a winged monkey. As soon as I saw the beast, I knew who the priority target was.

"Zelena..." I groaned quietly. I pulled my flintlock and aimed it at the monkey.

The monkey snarled, then shot off into the sky.

"Help!" Cried Little John.

"John!" Said a voice.

I turned and pointed the pistol at who came up behind me. "Not another step!" I snapped.

"Asgeir?! Is that you?!"

"I'm not here for five minutes, and something freaky already landed on the roof of my car!" I snarled.

Robin held his hands up. "Put the gun down, my friend. Remember me? I'm an Assassin, like you! Remember? Robin! Robin Hood!" Several Merry Men came up behind him, gaping at who stood before them.

I raised an eyebrow, then lowered my gun. "Yeah. I remember." I holstered my gun and pointed at the roof of my truck where the monkey stood. "Now who is going to kindly tell me what the hell is going on?"

A half hour later, as I sat on the hood of the truck, two cars approached. One, a brown pickup, the other, a yellow VW bug.

"This!" Said Robin as the driver of the bug got out. It was the blonde from the photo. She wore a dark red jacket that almost seemed like her equivalent of Indiana Jones' hat by the way she wore it. "This was where he was taken!"

"I wouldn't step over that line if I were you!" She said. She took no notice to me just yet, nor did the two men who got out of the pickup. I recognized only one of them. One was wearing a jacket and button up shirt, and the other was in leather from toes to shoulders with a hook for a hand.

"You think Little John was carried away because he attempted to cross that line?" Asked Robin.

"It makes sense." Said David. Just like the others I recognized, he seemed like a ghost to me. "The dwarves were out checking the line to see if anyone was coming or going and they disappeared. Did you say someone else was entering the town as John was snatched?"

"Yes." Said Robin. He pointed at me. "Him."

I had my back to them for a second, but the hook handed man then said something that made me jump.

"Kenway?"

I turned, and lowered my hood. I suppose I did look like the pirate with the hood up, but I was shocked all the same. "No, I'm not Kenway. People just called me Asgeir."

"Asgeir?!" Said David. "What are you doing here?!"

"Answering a call for help." I replied. "And whatever that thing was, it was kind enough to use my truck as a landing pad."

"Wait, David." Said the blonde. "You know this man? He's not an outsider?"

David nodded. "Asgeir was one of our fiercest allies in the war against Regina."

"That's a name I never heard of." Muttered the blonde.

"It's not very common." I agreed. "And you are?"

"Emma." Came the reply.

"Emma?" I asked with realization. "Then you're..."

"Yeah." She replied. "The Savior. I get that a lot."

I jumped off the hood of my truck. "Let's make better introductions later. What the hell was that thing, and why am I the one to receive the shit welcome by it?"

"Didn't get a good look." Said Robin. "Some manner of beast with wings."

"That sounds a lot like the monster that attacked me in New York."

The hook handed man smirked. "The monster you were going to marry?"

David raised an eyebrow at his daughter. Yes, that's right. His daughter was the same age as him. I had missed a lot since the Curse. "You were going to marry someone?"

"Did you just miss the part where I said 'monster'?!" Said the other guy.

"We need to find Little John!" Said Robin.

"It may lead us to everyone else's who's gone missing. David, take him and the rest of his-" Emma couldn't remember the name of Robin's brothers.

"Merry Men." He replied.

"Right. Them, and Asgeir, and run a search grid and see if you can find any sign of our missing guy."

"You not joining us, Swan?" Asked the hook handed man. I assumed that must be her last name.

"Not yet. Regina was right. I'm not going to figure out who's behind this curse by talking to people one by one."

For a second there I could have sworn she said Regina. As in Evil Queen Regina. I really had missed a lot while I was gone.

"What are you going to do?" Asked David.

"I'm going to talk to everybody." She said as she walked away. She got in her Beetle and drove off.

I glanced the hook handed man. "You called me Kenway. Like Edward Kenway? THE Edward Kenway?"

"Aye. One and the same. You must know of him. I knew him personally."

I shook my head. "Impossible. He lived three hundred years ago. Who are you?"

The hook handed man bowed slightly. "Killian Jones. Although you might know me by my other moniker-"

"Hook!" I realized. Both of his names were familiar to those in the criminal underworld of the Land of Magic. "So you really did know him. Was he a friend?"

"Of a kind. He had me at the end of his sword, but let me go as a show of respect and welcomed me to Nassau. Never knew why he wore that hood. Was he part of a cult or some nonsense?"

"We can exchange history lessons later, guys." Said David. "Right now we have a missing person to find."

As we headed through the woods, I asked David quickly. "Emma mentioned Regina. Is this the same Regina that tried have me hung, drawn and quartered for butchering all those black knights?"

"You've missed a lot in the last thirty years, Asgeir." David then realized it when he got a closer look at me. "If you only just got here, how are you still that young? Time doesn't move here so we're safe, but you...?"

I still looked to be 26, the age I was when Anna and I set off to the Enchanted Forest.

I shook my head with sorrow. "That curse inflicted on me affected more than my vulnerability: I can't even physically age. I should be 56, but I'm still the same age on the outside. So many people wish for immortality, but they would change their minds if they went through what I did. Both before and after the Dark Curse."

"So whatever you were cursed by affected you here just as it did in the Enchanted Forest. How the hell did you escape the Dark Curse?"

"How does anyone escape that Curse? A magic bean. I had a couple left with me, so I was sent by my mentors to continue our war in the Land Without Magic since I was one of the only remaining Assassins who carried the beans."

This was a lie. While I carried the beans all the time, I wasn't chosen for the lack of beans, but rather chosen for my services to the Brotherhood. They would not lose one of their best fighters for 28 years. Ironic that they would only have him for 23 of those years.

"...and the next thing we knew we were back here like it was any other day. So we reckon whoever is controlling that winged creature is who sent us back here in the first place."

"So you seriously don't remember anything out of the last year?"

"Not a one. It was clear that a year had passed because Snow's pregnant."

"How bout that... You've been busy." I muttered. "And where are my brothers, Robin?"

"You'll find them at the pub off Main Street. A guy named Matthew told us he was a friend of yours." He said. "But first things first. We gotta find..."

David suddenly bent down and picked up a leaf. Covered in blood.

"Guys!" He called.

Robin noticed the blood and started following a trail while I focused my Sight. It still hurt, but that pain was one I had to get used to over time. I could see the trail of blood that David couldn't.

"He was dragged." Said Robin, pointing. He must have also been using his Sight.

I saw a ghost of Little John and the monkey pulling him through the woods. Not as it was happening, but rather seeing them as they had unfolded.

"He's there!"

Robin noticed his brother lying on the ground twenty feet away. I knelt down beside him, noticing a massive gash on his shoulder. It looked like he was bitten.

"Is he alive?" Said Hook.

"Yeah, barely." I said.

"John, I'm here!" Said Robin. "We got you!"

"I've never seen a bite like that before." The pirate said with concern.

"Yeah, me neither." Said David, helping us get John up.

I had. Long ago. And now it was too late for John.

"We've gotta get him some help." Said Robin."

After David called the ambulance, I was in the middle of a convoy towards the town. David's truck, my own with Friar Tuck in the shotgun among my stuff, and the Merry Men in a large van with the ambulance at the front. The town came into view as we cleared the woods. Nestled between steep seaside hills on the Atlantic, there it lay as we passed the sign: Welcome to Storybrooke.

The hospital was around the corner from a pawn shop on Main Street, beside the woods. The ambulance pulled up quickly as I parked my truck. I jumped out and the paramedics started unloading Little John from the ambulance on his stretcher. We hurried down the hallways, the nurses, and who appeared to be Dr. Frankenstein started examining him.

"BPs dropping fast!"

"What did this to him?" Asked the doctor.

"We don't know." Said David.

Little John started shaking rapidly, apparently having a seizure. But I could only watch with dread. I had seen this before, a lifetime ago. There was only one thing I could do, that any of us could do, but I was the only one who knew it.

"He's going into shock!" Cried one of the nurses.

"We need to sedate him." Said Frankenstein. He called over the nurse what he needed. Robin and his brothers started holding down Little John, hoping that they could save him.

"Asgeir!" Called Alan. "A lil' help here, would ya kindly!"

I jumped over and held John down, but I wished I didn't have to see what was happening. John screamed loudly as a tail appeared between his legs, and his voice became much less human. He thrashed so hard, he knocked me to the floor, and Frankenstein jumped back.

"John!" Cried Robin.

His closest brother at arms kept screaming, each second changing him more and more. Several nurses and other Merry Men tried to hold him down, but the tail smacked them aside, knocking over shelves and scattering various hospital items. Eventually everyone in the room was either on the floor, or taking cover.

"John!" Robin cried again.

But John was gone. He had completely turned into a flying monkey.

"Holy shite..." I muttered.

"Okay! I didn't see that coming!" Said David.

The monkey that was John shrieked loudly before it flapped it's wings and burst through the window.

"What the hell was that?" Said David.

"Don't look at me." Said Frankenstein. "I'm a doctor, not a vet."

I took out my lighter and leaned against the wall as I lit a cigarette. Yet another sign of my fall from grace, I could only accept the fact that I wasn't the person I once was with every drag I took. But I had turned to things a lot worse than smoking.

David walked over as I puffed away. "How is it that you knew to come here, Asgeir?" He asked.

"I said I was answering a call for help." I replied, pulling the roll of death from between my teeth. "My brothers here said that there was an unknown threat here when they contacted me. I was as clueless as you are until I saw what I saw back there. I saw a flying monkey back there. And if we're dealing with flying monkeys, then there's only one person this threat is."

David knowingly raised an eyebrow. "And you faced this Witch before?"

"Something like that. The mission was to kill her, but I thought that I could help her instead. But the wrong people got to her, first."

"Templars?"

"Not even in the slightest."

"Alright. Let's get going. Emma should have an idea of what's going on now. Hopefully."

Hook, David and I arrived at a nice flat just off Main Street. As we were going up the stairs to the flat, I got a text.

"Heard u were back. Walk towards the cannery, past the library, and take a right past it. Avoid the store Any Given Sundae. Do not go in there, or linger there. u'll know where we r when u see the pub.

M."

It was Matthew. The Assassins must have been hiding in that pub today, because this was my first contact with them since I got here. David opened the door and we walked in. Snow was there with Emma, sporting a very progressed baby bump, and a boy playing what looked like a portable game player was on the couch, sucked in his game. Regina stood off to the side. When she noticed me, there was a brief flash as though she might try once again to burn me alive. But she held her ground, as did I.

"We need to talk." David said to Emma.

Emma glanced at the boy, then beckoned. "Outside."

We went out into the hallway, and Regina spoke up.

"What is he doing here?" She pointed to me.

"Easy, Queenie Templar." I said. "We got bigger problems right now."

Snow was amazed I was here. "Nice to have another friend here among this chaos, Asgeir."

"Yeah, you too Snow."

We filled Snow, Emma and Regina on what had transpired at the hospital.

"They're being turned into flying monkeys?!" Snow cried out, quietly.

"Yes." Said Hook. "He took on a simian form with the added bonus of wings."

Snow cringed with worry. "Do you think that's what happened to the missing dwarves?"

David nodded. "It would explain why we haven't found any trace of them."

"And Neil?" Asked Emma.

"No sign of him, either. So yeah, it's possible." Said David.

"Wouldn't be the first flying monkey I dated."

Snow gaped at Emma. When she said the name Neil, I could only think of one person.

"Wait! Neil's here? Neil Cassidy?" I asked. "Why?"

Emma glanced at me. "You know him?"

"Know him? I taught him how to live here in this world. I'm how he got off Neverland in the first place." I waved at an imaginary fly as I disregarded this. "Long story."

Regina piped up. "The person who escaped our trap, disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. And now there are flying monkeys in this town?"

"That's right." I said. "It's clear now who we're dealing with."

"Who, The Wicked Witch of the West?" Emma said, sarcastically.

I glanced at her, my expression giving an affirmative.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? She's real, too?"

"Says the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming." Said Hook.

"Yeah, she's real. Had my face-off with that woman back in the day." I said.

"I don't get it." Said Emma. "It's not like we're in Kansas. Why would the Wicked Witch of the West wanna come to Storybrooke?"

I shrugged one shoulder. "I got my theories. But I need to report back to my brothers first."

"Wait, who were you in the Enchanted Forest?" Asked Emma.

"I was an ally of Snow and David's against Regina. I was tasked by my brotherhood to kill her." I nodded to Regina.

"And what? You came here to finish the job?" Snarked Regina.

"No. But I'm considering it. Whatever I see right now between you and those I trust here, I'm not buying yet. I see what's going on, Your Majesty." I spat. "People I trust here trust you. But I can't go to your side just yet. I trusted people once before, and they stabbed me in the back just for that. I won't make that mistake twice. But regardless, we have a common enemy right now. I can let it slide as much as it can for now."

"You still didn't really answer my question, Asgeir." Said Emma. "What are you, some kind of thief?"

"Assassin." I replied. "Part of a group dedicated to ensure freedom for humanity. Regina is a sworn member of the Templar Order, which still exists even today from the Crusades. I spent thirty years under a curse of immortality in this Land. Earlier today I was in British Columbia's Interior when I was contacted by my brothers at arms. They said there was some kind of threat looming here, and I came to help them finish it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to them."

I heard Emma mutter something as I headed down the stairs. "Asgeir...I read that name before."

Following Matthew's instructions, I walked down the street past Any Given Sundae. I angrily realized that this was where the bitch was hiding. The windows were dark with a sign in the window saying "closed".

I kept walking until I passed the library, and turned right at the cannery. The pub stood about three stories high, and looked to be one of those pub/inn mix buildings, because it was too big to be just the one. And by the looks of it, it was an Irish pub. Although as I got closer, I noticed the sign that showed the name of the pub, and it made me cringe.

The wooden carved sign above the door had a four leaf clover in it's center, but instead of green, was a deep shade of blood red. From my distance, it made the clover look too much like the Templar cross. The Celtic designs surrounding it made it look even more Irish. But it was that damned name: "Cormac's"

The sign in the window also said "Closed". I assumed they were expecting me, and ignored the sign as I opened the door. A bell above the door rang loudly. Some patron who I didn't recognize sat passed out at the bar table, and an Assassin who I remembered from Arendelle, though not his name, stood cleaning glasses.

"Sign says closed." He said, not looking up.

"Screw off." I replied. "Matthew sent for me."

The bartender looked up, then gasped. "You've returned! Asgeir!" He said.

"Yeah." I replied. "I have."

"Asgeir?"

I glanced at the rear of the bar. A hallway to what might have been the inn rooms was at the back, and it was filled by the few friends I had left that I missed dearly. Matthew, Jason, and Zar.

Salazar was a recruit who spent almost all of his life outside Arendelle, jumping the realms, but rushed to our aid when we were called to the Enchanted Forest to fight Regina. Most of us just called him "Zar" as he insisted. He felt Salazar sounded too "evil", and "Sal" sounded too much like a 1930s gangster. He had brownish skin and short black hair. Most of the time he went under Hispanic names as aliases in this world.

My three brothers embraced me as I walked in. Matthew was a little shook off by the state of me. I hadn't taken a shower in days, so some of the pine needles were still stuck in my hair from the Interior. My stubble had grown significantly, as well as my hair. Life as a hermit didn't help my image.

"Good to see you again, brother."

I nodded as Matthew beckoned me to join them. We turned left halfway down the hallway to the rooms and walked into a large room. A massive conference table lay at the center with other men in white hoodies around it. They whooped and hollered, slamming their hands on the table as I took my seat at Matthew's left side.

"It's been far, far, far too long, brother." He said as we sat down.

Jason sat across from me to Matthew's right, and Zar was beside him. Matthew, who sat at the head, looked a little confused as he glanced at me.

"What is this?" He gestured to his face. "You trying a new look? Billy told us you were away on that mission for a long time, but how long was it?"

That son of a bitch. Couldn't even own up and lied to his own brothers to cover for his sorry arse. "Years, Matthew." I replied. "What do you know from William Miles?"

"Bill said that you had been away for a long time on business and that it was hard to contact you. We told him that it was urgent that you come here when the Curse was broken almost two years ago, but he said he couldn't find you. And then when I had to practically beg him to find you, with none of us remembering the last year, you're here less than a day after I called."

"He caught me at the right time." I replied.

"Well." Said Matthew. "Beyond happy that you could make it. Now, onto business. Jason. What do our field members have on the missing individuals?"

"Nothing aside from another brother disappearing. Little John of the Merry Men got snatched earlier today, and he hasn't been heard from since. That brings our total of missing brothers up to five. And that includes Keaton."

Keaton Alden, the Enchanted Forest Mentor. Of course he would have been a target if the Assassins were involved with this. Zelena had less than pleasant feelings about us, though not nearly as much as her loving sister.

I heard several groans of anger on the total of missing brothers. I spoke up. "We found John." I said. "But let's just say he's not as focused on the Creed as much as he is on bananas."

"What?" Said Zar.

"He's turned into a flying monkey." I said. "And with that, I think it's clear who we're dealing with."

Matthew nodded, smirking. "Zelena. At least we have that to our advantage. Asgeir, you fought her before. What can we expect?"

"If Zelena is here, then she must have found what she needed against Regina. I'd say we confront and kill her right now since the rest of the town has no idea who they're looking for."

"Easy, Asgeir." Said Matthew. "You're on the right track, but we can't just kill someone who the town thinks is one of their own right now. So far none of us have seen someone with green skin, so naturally it means she's hiding among us. Even we run the risk of getting turned on every time one of us goes out of the pub."

"Yeah, why is this place called 'Cormac's'?" I snapped. I always hated Shay, but what I learned about him in the last few years made things worse. I didn't find the pages that were torn out of his books, but I found the information contained within them.

"Regina. She shaped this town to be as she pleased when the first Curse was here. You're looking at the front of an ongoing illegal arms dealing ring, Asgeir.

Apparently founded by the bastard himself, Shay Cormac, he opened this place as a gathering spot for Irishmen like himself, as well as a glorified meeting spot for him and his Templar shites. But one of us took it over fifty years ago, and here we are. Here in Storybrooke, we were outcasts from the town, loathed for the fact that we sold and shipped guns to people around New England and Europe. Everyone knew we shipped the guns, but no one could prove it. Sheriff Graham, rest his soul, tried many times to shut us down, but couldn't gather enough evidence. Every time he got close enough, one of us would sabotage his efforts."

"So this is what we've been reduced to?" I said. "Low life criminal scum selling guns for a living?"

"Asgeir, the world always looked at us like we were low life scum." Said Zar. "The difference now is that the Templars aren't around that much to push us around. Look here."

Zar stood up and walked over to a blackboard on the far side of the room. He flipped it over. On that side, there was a massive board of names and photos of known enemies and Templars, all connected in a spider web of string. Some of the photos were X'd out. It was who was X'd out that surprised me. Cora, Pan, and several of Regina's generals of the black knights. All dead. Without me to be watch them die with glee.

"What about Regina? George?"

"Regina has already proven to us indirectly that she has no wish to continue her ways of the Templars. She's no longer a threat."

"So you really trust her?"

"Yes." Said Matthew. "Just not enough that we can leave this place and start kicking down doors to find Zelena or Ingrid. She may still be looking to bury us."

"And George?"

"He's been spending the months since he disappeared trying desperately to round up allies and find new followers in the few nobles left throughout the town. No idea what he has been doing in the missing year. Until the time is right, we won't kill him. But when it comes, Asgeir, I want you to pull the trigger on that."

I grinned. "It would be an honor."

"Good." Said Matthew. "Now, recap. Asgeir has returned from his mission by William Miles, and we have one of our best back in the fight. We gather what we can on Zelena and report back in a week. Adjourned."

Matthew slammed a gavel onto the table. Jason and Zar walked over as the rest of the Assassins walked out.

"Where's your truck?" Said Zar. "I can park it here."

I tossed the keys to him. "Hospital."

Zar nodded, and went off.

Jason beckoned for me and we headed down the hall to the inn's rooms.

"Most of us either have our own places here in Storybrooke, but there have been a few of us who have rooms here."

"So no one in town trusts us?"

"Not really." Replied Jason. "Snow and David know us through you, but people like the dwarves and fairies don't like us."

I scoffed. "As far as I'm concerned, Blue and Grumpy can go screw off. Bunch of stuck up arseholes think they're better than us."

"Yeah, they think the same of us. Here we are."

The hallway ended at a big entrance hall for the rooms. It was almost built like a prison cell block by the way the hall was arranged. All the rooms on 3 floors were all arranged in a big square circle with a long balcony circling around the room on both floors above the ground. The center ceiling carried a massive chandelier. There was a staircase on two opposite corners of the hall that led up to the top two floors. Jason led me up to the second floor, took a right, then stopped at a room in the center of the long side.

"Here's your room." He said, handing me the keys. "Get some rest, Asgeir. If you're up early enough, I'll show you the underground."

"Underground?"

"You think an arms dealing ring carries their weapons stockpile in the inn itself? Regina wasn't able to get rid of any of our weapons or gadgets when she cursed us the first time. All she could do was hide them in the Bunker."

"So how does that work?"

"When we were cursed, we had no idea of the hidden room within the hidden room. There's a basement area where we stockpiled the weapons, and beneath that room is the Bunker where Regina hid all of our Assassin vault items. The books, beans, and weapons. Everything we wanted to protect from the Curse we did, but we couldn't find them until after the Curse was broken. There's a hidden staircase in the kitchens that leads down to the Bunker, where we carry out our operations. Like the Tiber Island Hideout Ezio ran."

"Excellent." I said. I unlocked the door and walked in. Basic enough for an inn. Bed, bathroom, window facing the town from the inn, and a clunky tv from the 80s.

"Retro." I said.

Jason smirked. "Yeah. It was '83 when we got sent here. Time's never really moved here. If you want breakfast, Kevan's serving at 8:00."

"Great." I replied. "I'll be up."

Jason nodded, then embraced me, slapping my back in a brotherly hug. "Good to see you again, Asgeir."

I smirked. "Too long." I agreed.

Jason left as I fell into the bed. None of the Assassins here had any idea that I was stripped of my hood seven years ago because that bastard William Miles lied to them all. Made them all think I was safe when he had left me behind to fend for myself. And now Zelena was in town for god knew what. I hated both fiends that made this town their home now, but if I could choose, Zelena would be easier to handle. She was the opposite of Ingrid in some ways. All that she cared for was easily her weakness. Taunting her made her reckless, and careless, making her easy to beat. Once I believed she could be a good ally, but then she proved to me that she was only jealous. That was her only motivation in life. But Ingrid. Ingrid was just insane.

I often laughed at how similar I was to Zelena, right down to the color green. I too had been left behind as an infant, taken in by others who shared no blood of mine. But I learned that what Elsa and Anna were blessed with, royalty and grace, I didn't want or need. The life of an Assassin was the life I was destined for, and I would never change that.

A/N: So there you have it. Asgeir has not arrived at the beginning of season 4, but still an appropriate time. It was by a pure coincidence that Zelena and Asgeir turned out to be very similar in their beginnings. But hopefully you like Asgeir more than Greenie. (She has the crazy eyes!)

I've just recently put together a timeline of all the events in the enchanted forest that only includes events that Asgeir was involve with. However, with the flashbacks so out of order on the show, I don't know where to start for the flashbacks showing Asgeir's slow decent into losing his hood. Some ideas of where to start include when Asgier met David after George took him in, when Asgeir was tasked of killing a certain werewolf not long after Ingrid froze Arendelle, and when Asgeir and Blue developed a bitter hate for each other. Please tell me what you would want to see Asgeir a part of for the first chapter in the new set of flashbacks.

Zar is a reference to an opinion of mine. In everything I've seen in movies and video games, if someone is named Salazar, then they're either evil, or will betray someone. Zar will not do this, and prove to be just as good an ally as any with Asgeir as the approaching storm against Ingrid approaches. I just noticed that there are too many evil Salazars in my experience, so I wanted to make a good guy Salazar.

I'm picturing Matthew and Jason also based off of awesome Game of Thrones actors. Matthew is fairly older than Asgeir, but there is someone from GoT that I picture him to be like: Bronn. And Jason I pictured to be based off Robb.