Chapter 32: A Nest of Ice

"Reports are coming in from all over town, Asgeir." Jason said. "We're the only building in the region that has power right now with our backups set up. The rest of the town shares a whole power grid, so they're all in the dark until they can get their own power restored."

I patted Jason on the back as he got back to work on his unit. "Good work, Jase." I stood up and turned. Lima and X-Ray Teams were waiting for my instructions. "It's clear what's going on here, Assassins. Ingrid knows what we were doing earlier today, and has now taken away the town's power in retaliation. With the rest of the town focused on restoring the power, no one will be looking for her, or think of getting in our way towards finding her ourselves. Zar, do we have any idea where we should start?"
Zar took out a clipboard with a map of the town. The different sectors of the town were shaded in different colors, and a few arrows were pointing at various locations on the map.

"The blackout interrupted our uplink to the thermometers, but I say we should at least send pairs out to the borders of town and start from there. If we pick up anything unusual in the temperature when the uplink is restored, we might be able to pinpoint where Ingrid is from there, and head directly there from who is outside."

"How long could that take?"

"I don't know, Asgeir. By morning, at the latest. But hours at minimum. As for where we should start, that part is a little easier."

Zar started handing out paper maps of the town with paths drawn out over the various roads.

"From what little we know about how Ingrid works, it's unlikely her lair is in the town itself. I reckon we send our pairs out to the town boundaries and start combing the woods from there." He then looked out at the teams assembled around the Bunker. "So if you have authorization, buddy up with another member of your team and then wait for Geoff and I to give you your locations to cover."

Rory stepped up beside me. "I can go with Asgeir, Zar." He said. "It'll be fine."

"Sure." Zar nodded. "You and Asgeir have a basic one: just head out to the town line on the main road, then start working northwards on foot. Got it?" He handed Rory our copy of the map just in case.

"Surely." He replied. "C'mon, brother."

Rory had already seemed to easily adapt to how far our technology had passed since he was last here. He was officially declared K.I.A by the Dublin branch back in the 70s, and now was in a world with digital information, automatic sentry drones and the other useless shit on the Internet. Hell, he was like a Neanderthal seeing fire be created when Zar was on Google. Yet, he was taking it with ease. He even helped himself to a spare smartphone and had spent as much of his free time catching up where he could online. He was a fast learner. He sat beside me in the shotgun seat of my pickup, humming along to another of his folk songs, which was blasting from his phone.

When the song was finishing up, he turned his phone off, leaving us drowning in silence; I hadn't spoken at all since we had left Cormac's, just wallowing in the thought of Ingrid still out there, and how she had thought attacking the town's power supply would draw us into one of her traps. I knew better, though. I knew way better than she ever would.

"So this Ingrid's gotta be really evil, right Asgeir?" Rory said.

I said nothing.

"I thought I had faced real brutality at the hands of Zelena, and you really hated her. But I can see it's even worse with Ingrid."

Nothing for a few minutes, before I spoke up.

"I saw both my sisters die at the hands of that…thing, Rory. Of course I hate her. She's evil enough that I can't even think of her anymore as anything else but a monster in human form. An 'it'."

Rory pressed his lips together. "I heard from Jason about your family. The ones you never had met in that brief time I knew you as a kid. You must have known them afterwards, then. How did they even die?"

We were just pulling onto the main road out of town, driving past another set of residential houses on the edge of the woods. I wondered if one of those houses carried another meth lab run by George.

"Asgeir?"

I shook my head. "I don't like to talk about it, Rory. At all. Who could even be able to get so close to it after all that they have seen in this prolonged life that was given to me at the hands of that monster?"

"And yet you were willing to start showing me what happened when Shay started Arendelle's Templar Branch?"

"Because Shay's dead." I replied. "He might be up here in my head, with his ghost taunting me at every turn, but he is dead. And Ingrid is not. Ingrid was even worse than Shay because it denied everything that it was. That it wasn't as much a monster as we believed it to be. It saw how Anna and I felt about it. How suspicious it was that it was sealed in an urn for years at the hands of our mother, and then decided that it would be better family for Elsa than us. It tried to get me to kill both of them by cutting my eyes with a knife made of the Shattered Sight mirror, and when I resisted it, it cursed Anna with it and tried to get Elsa to kill her by making it look like she was expressing how she really felt. I think it also was expecting me to be killed by Elsa too, but I resisted the curse as best as I could, for as long as I could. Then Elsa did something that Ingrid didn't expect: Even though Anna threatened her and spat the harshest of words at her, she would not give up on her, as Anna had not given up on her before. She knew that Ingrid had cursed our sister, and saw through the lies. She refused to hurt her, and Anna sealed her in the urn. This was not in Ingrid's plan, and it snatched the urn from Anna. It was going to kill us both, when suddenly, Troy, Rabbit, and Kristoff burst in. I had my chance to kill it with them behind me, but I didn't take it. Because I cared so much about Anna, and I didn't want to spill anymore blood in front of her, even if it was that creature. I…" I swallowed my fury. "It's the one thing I regret the most. I shouldn't have taken Anna into consideration and just killed the freak right then and there."

"Why? Would that have made you feel any better? Elsa wasn't dead. She was only in that urn."

With the steering wheel in one hand, I held my fist up, extending my fingers with each name. "Helga. Hans. Troy. Rabbit. Kristoff. Elsa… Anna. Only half of them were innocent, but none of them should have died at the hands of Ingrid. I might not have seen them die exactly, but I know that someone as twisted as Ingrid would have done just that to both of them. Hans was my kill, and it took that from me. Troy and Rabbit weren't innocent either, but they had hearts bigger than their bloodlust. They cared deeper for the freedom of slaves than their own lives. And Kristoff, Helga, Elsa, and Anna would never hurt a fly. Look what it all got them. And that's not counting the lives I saw lost at the hands of Abstergo and the Templars that we're fighting today out there." The ones that I loved, as well as the ones I fought beside. I had thought love was possible for me in this world, but this war showed me that it was not unless if I was willing to put aside mercy and cut down anything that got in my way.

Rory didn't respond, because deep down, he could see that I was right, I hoped. Showing any mercy for something who would not give you the same is the real fatal mistake. I should have learned that before Ingrid killed

"Ingrid then froze all of Arendelle with a wave of it's hand. I saw them all be reduced to frozen statues in front of me. As for Elsa, I doubt Ingrid had much use for her since she refused to kill Anna and me. She's certainly dead as well. More than likely destroyed the urn with her in it."

"Wait, hang on. Back up, brother." He said. "You said that she froze Arendelle and everyone in it instantly. So how were you the only one who got out alive?"

I shook my head. "It's what scares me just as much as everything I've learned during my exile: I have absolutely no idea. Ingrid clearly didn't want me to live as well, and when freezing the whole land didn't work, it froze my heart instead, which did work. In a way. But both the frozen heart and the Shattered Sight in my eyes were not meant to go together in the same person. Now I'm trapped in immortality. I can't die no matter what befalls me. You know what it's like to feel a bullet getting driven through your skull, and get up after that? I've been stabbed, shot, impaled. Neck broken as many times as they were able to try before I returned the favor. I don't think it's even possible to count the amount of volts Daniel Cross pumped through me when he hooked me up to a number of car batteries at once. But you know what did kill me on the inside? Seeing people I cared for die at the hands of Abstergo agents. People I tried to love after having everything I loved ripped away from me to never return. I was a soldier fighting a war that doomed me from the start, Rory. And Ingrid may not be the one responsible for all of my pain and suffering, but everything that happened started by it's hands. Fact. And you know what I have realized in the recent weeks? Now I am dying for real. The ice in my heart has finally reached it's homestretch. I couldn't resist it forever, and now that I'm in a place with magic for the first time in recent years, it's job is now starting back up again. I'm going to freeze to death unless I kill Ingrid. That's the only way, Rory."

"But I thought it was said that 'only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart'?"

"Look at me. You think it's possible for me to ever love again, after all I've been through? Everything that I have seen, everything I have done, and everything that has been done to me, I want nothing more than to die after it all. But I can't just yet. My work is not yet done. And when I kill Ingrid, then I can do what I have owed myself for so long, and take the rest I earned. The eternal one."

Rory said nothing for a few minutes. The dark forest road wound round the corners and dove through the small hills as we headed closer to the boundary line.

"I can't blame yah, brother. You've earned your rest a thousand times more than most of us can ever dare to say. But think hard about how much you wanted to get even with Zelena because of what she did to me and Neil. I can't speak for him, but I can speak for this Irishman, and I wouldn't want you to lose your way trying so hard to get even with her for everything she did to me. I was only doing what an Assassin would do, and I knew the risks when I signed up for this. I was only being an Assassin, and Zelena turning me into a monkey was an occupational hazard."

"Occupational hazard?" I laughed. "So does that mean that you wanted to be turned into Zelena's slave? Fine. But that doesn't excuse Ingrid. It never will. My sisters didn't sign up for anything when they were killed by that monster! They were innocent, and that didn't matter to the freak. So attacking innocents like that? That's why Ingrid deserves every ounce of suffering I will inflict on it!"

"Asgeir, you're not listening. Zelena got what was coming to her, and you didn't need to do anything about it. I'll bet even Ingrid will dig her own grave by her own efforts alone without you hunting her down."

She was reckless and stupid enough to do something like that. But she was just as smart with her enemies as she was stupid in thinking her actions had no consequences. I doubted even she would dig her own grave. I would do that for her and send her right into it. No one would play judge or jury to her when she deserved it, so I would play the first two, and add executioner to that.

"So what do you expect me to do? Roll over and give up? Never." I said. "The scum that killed my family and the brothers is beyond redemption."

"She is if you think so. And if so, by all means, kill her in cold blood. Slice her open and let her blood spill over everything and everyone in sight. The paved streets and the innocent people of this town. See what that gets you."

I squeezed the steering wheel. "Justice for me when a broken system couldn't deliver."

Rory hadn't heard me. He was looking out front. "Well, that's something new."

He was talking about what was blocking the road as we rounded the bend. A giant wall of ice that went in either direction as far as we could see. Neither of us could see where the height of the wall stopped, as it pierced through the canopy of the tree branches above. I killed the engine, keeping my eyes glued to the wall as Rory pulled out his two-way. He was just about to report our find when the whole line lit up with various voices.

"Mentor this is Kingshark." I heard Zar's voice first.

"Mentor this is-"

"Reporting on a giant wall of ice-"

"Most likely circles the whole town-"

"Mentor, please advise."

"Mentor-"

"Ment-"

I ignored the chattering of the radio altogether as Rory tried to get his word in. It was clear to me right when I saw the wall that the town was sealed off once again. Ingrid would not take our monitoring of it's store lightly, and wanted to pay us back for it. I noticed a power line lying on the road right in front of the wall as I reached in the backseat, pulling out the rifle Keif had given me.

"What do yah bet that that power line was what caused the town's power to go out?" Rory said. "Ingrid must have knocked it down when putting up the wall."

I checked the rifle's ammo. Six shells locked and loaded. Plus my revolver with six Bullets of Eden, my Rope Blades and my air rifle strapped to my back with a shrapnel grenade. Any one of them would do. Rory knew what I was thinking, and we both opened the doors and stepped out.

The air was cold as we expected it to be, sticking to us like a shroud through the spring air.

"It's here." I said, mostly to myself, feeling it's presence. "I can feel it. Ingrid is close."

"I don't know, Asgeir." Rory said. "This doesn't feel right."

I glanced at him, shouldering the rifle. "What isn't right about this? It's ripe for the killing and just a hundred feet away from us."

"Just think about it. Ingrid sends a snow monster to attack us, and then less than a day puts up a wall of ice to keep us in here? And you say that's she's close by. Well, listen here: If she was smart in any way, then why is she makin' it so easy for us to find her? Brother, I'm feeling some kind of a trap. So I reckon we stay here until Matthew and Keaton send out reinforcements, and at least have a plan ready."

Rory grabbed his two way out to call it in with the chatter slowing down, but just then, we saw a police car approaching from behind. I waved to it with my free hand. I heard it's siren bleep a few times, then David and Emma got out.

"Asgeir. Rory." She said. "You know something about the wall?"

"'twas here when we got here, lass." Rory said. "We reckon whoever made that snow monster that rampaged through town made the wall too."

"Yeah, that's a good guess." David said. "You carrying guns wherever you feel now?"

"It's to take care of what made the wall. Get used to us carrying." I snapped.

David was taken a bit aback, but held his hands up. "Fine. But are you sure we can't just talk to who made this wall?"

"No." I said.

A light appeared out of the trees off of the road, and Hook stepped out with a lantern.

"In case you were wondering, it goes the whole way 'round." He said.

"Hook. I didn't know you were joining us." David said with distrust. I guess he didn't approve of the man now that he was with his daughter.

"Well, I get a distress call from a fair maiden, and I'm on the spot."

"I was not distressed." Emma said. "And you're saying this wall goes around what- the whole town?"

"Aye." I replied. "We got all our hands spread out across town and they just reported saying the same thing everywhere."

"So once again, we can't leave Storybrooke." David groaned. Typical of this town.

"Doing more than keeping us inside by the looks of that." Hook said, glancing at the fallen power line. "Guess that's what caused the loss of power?"

"Look at your becoming a 21st century man." Emma replied, grinning. She looked back at the wall. "Yeah. It looks to me like whoever was putting up the wall wasn't trying to take out the lights. They were just putting up the wall."

No, it was trying to kill two birds with one stone by doing one to cause the other. Two eagles to be exact.

"To keep us in. But why?" David said.

Easy answer. "Slaughter us all, one by one." I replied, still glaring at the wall, not daring to take my eyes off it. It was around, and if it showed up near that wall, it would be too late for it.

Rory kept his hand to his radio as he called in for reinforcements. Zar and Jason said they would both try heading that direction, as well as Marc and Willis guiding their teams to the location. Emma and Hook chatted about whatever as I tightened my grip on my rifle, almost daring to grab my revolver with it. Something was wrong here, and I wasn't letting my guard down any second soon.

Suddenly, I noticed something. Something Emma noticed as well. A shape, moving in the stalagmites on the edge of the wall. I could see it's blonde hair.

"I think I see something by the wall." Emma said. "You, uh, wait here with the ice bucket while I check that out."

"Emma, don't!" I said, raising my rifle towards the wall.

"Asgeir, calm down. I'm just gonna check it out. I'll be okay."

Yeah, of course she would. And then her life would be the eighth light snuffed out by that creature. After that, I don't think I could get anywhere further with the amount of suffering I planned to put her through. Emma disappeared into the batches of ice and that was it.

"Rory, rifle up, and do not drop it no matter what." I ordered.

"Aye." He said, taking his shotgun out of the truck cab and aiming it at the wall.

Thirty years. Thirty goddamn years of misery, watching everything ripped away from me while I stayed alive, cursed at the hands of that thing that thought it had more right to my family than one that would never kill any of his, no matter what he was told. I had my hood taken from me because of what her curse led me to do, and spent seven years alone in hell. This was it, and if Emma died, she would as well, but a lot slower. As slow and painful as I could make it.

Emma was taking a few minutes too long for the others' comfort, so David and Hook started walking for the wall. Rory and I followed, still holding up our guns.

"Emma!" David called when he reached it.

"Stay back!" We heard her reply reply.

I stalked forwards with eagerness, my teeth nearly grinding down to a powder. Rory and I caught up to them, when I saw it beside her. A flash of blonde hair in the ice a few feet from Emma. Clever girl…

"DIE, MONSTER!" I hollered, shotgun blasts and cold spittle filling the air around me with the snowflakes swirling around.

I wasn't trying to kill it, but scare it to back off from Emma. And it looked to work too well. Rory jumped backwards and landed on his backside on the wet pavement as more stalagmites sprouted up suddenly. David and Hook reared back in just as much surprise as Emma fell backwards against the ice. She sounded as though she was trying to warn us against Ingrid, but that wasn't necessary. I kept pulling the trigger on my rifle, even when I ran out as snow came down in a small avalanche from the top of the wall. Emma was now trapped in the cold with Ingrid, and no way out.

"The device, call her!" Hook cried.

He was talking about the two-way, and David understood. He took his out and hit it.

"Emma! Are you in there?!"

Static. Nothing but literal dead air. That's eight.

"I'm getting her out!" Hook jumped for the wall.

"NO!" I cried, punching my hand into the wall do hard, I felt my fingers shatter and then reset themselves in an instant. I couldn't have another one gone. The Savior's blood was now on it's hands. "Even if you could, what Emma's now trapped with is going to kill her regardless. David, I'm sorry. But Emma's-"

"No." David said, simply. "I don't wanna hear it. And you, Asgeir! You get trigger happy that close to my daughter one more time. One more time, Asgeir!"

Hook wasn't listening to me, and climbed up, hacking away at the wall with his hook. I slammed my fist into the wall as I stayed on ground level.

"Gods damn you to the deepest hell, Ingrid." I snarled under my breath as the other two tried feebly to get in. "I will destroy you."

Nothing was doing anything. David tried to stop Hook from continuing to chip away, but he wouldn't have it. "I'm not giving up!"

"We won't, but this is not getting us anywhere!" He replied.

"Well, I'm open to suggestions."

"A flamethrower." I replied. "We get our flamethrower operator down here, he melts it down, and I get her bones out."

David was horrified that I would even think that of Emma, even if it was the truth. I could see it in his face as he looked down at me and Rory.

Shay was leaning against the wall beside David. "Well, now we're in a real pickle, aren't we? He's terrified for his daughter, Asgeir." He said. "I mean, how can you even suggest that she's already dead, even if it is the truth? The truth is oft the most painful thing we can find. Especially when it's hidden from us for so long. Though why does he still make an effort like that? A dead woman's not worth the effort to get back."

"No." David replied to my suggestion. "Magic made this wall, so I think we're gonna need magic to unmake it. And I'm not gonna stop fighting until we do."

"His funeral." Shay chuckled.

David tried for his radio again. "Emma, can you hear me! Emma, are you okay, say something!"

Static for a few minutes, but then we got a reply. One that shocked me. "Dad, can you hear me?"

Well, shit. She was alive. But why did Ingrid trap her and then keep her alive? Was it baiting me to come in if it kept Emma alive?

Hook grabbed the two-way from David's hands. "Emma! Say again?"

"I'm in here with this woman. She's looking for her sister, Anna. And her brother. But she's not giving his name. Says he keeps it secret. She thinks they're both in town, because she found a necklace of hers in Gold's shop."

…no. No. No, it couldn't be her. That was impossible. Unthinkable! Rory was making the same expression as me, but he was not feeling the same sense of dread and anger I felt boiling in my frozen heart. It was one thing for her to kill everyone I cared for, but to pretend to be Elsa to lure me in there? I was smarter than that.

"David, that 'woman' that Emma's with is lying. SHE'S LYING!" I snarled, climbing up to him. "Don't listen to what she says. That's just what she wants."

But David wasn't paying attention. Because then came the ultimatum.

"She wants us to try to find her before-"

"Before I freeze this town and everyone in it."

I fell to my knees in the frost. Could she even mimic voices to go along with it? It sounded exactly like Elsa. Exactly like her in every way, no matter how impossible it was. But magic made the very thought of impossibility moot. Why did it even want Anna? It already killed her. But I already knew the answer to that. It wasn't after Anna. It was after me and waiting for me to let my guard down.

David and Hook only looked at each other with silence. I tapped him on the shoulder.

"The radio." I managed to say through my rage. "H-hand it over."

David obliged, though not without his fear. I gripped it tightly in my hands as I stood up, facing the wall of ice.

"Emma, are you there?" I said.

Silence. Was she talking with it?

"Emma, listen to me. That thing down there is not what it appears to be. You can't talk with it, or reason with it because both those things mean nothing to it. Let me talk with it and you'll see what I mean."

No response. For a few moments. Then I heard a familiar and shaky voice.

"A-a-Asgeir?"

It was hers. I took the radio wanting to check, but now I was sure of it. I had no doubt in my mind that it was a perfect replication of my sister's voice. Clearly she had gotten very good in the deceptive magic. David and Hook started climbing down off the ice while I sat there alone to speak with her.

"It's been a while, monster."

"Is that you?!"

I took no notice. "You hurt that woman you're with, and I swear to you, I'll start with your fingers. Break every one of 'em." I growled low and slowly. "Make sure you never cast anymore of your hocus pocus shit."

"…where's Anna?"

I narrowed my eyes as I kept staring at the wall. "You know damn well where she is. Why don't you check that mirror of yours if you forgot? By the way, nice job trying to mimic my other sister's voice. Thought you could fool me though, right? You're literally dead wrong! I know what you are better than anyone!"

"Why are you talking to me this way? I saw you in the town earlier. You called me a 'freak' before, and you're calling me one right now. What's happened to Anna?"

I stood up, ignoring the question. She was trying to get me to say something, I guessed. "I'm not giving you any chance to hand that woman back unscathed, monster. Do what you will with her. Neither killing her, nor sparing her will stop what comes next. You've killed enough people to count on all my fingers, but along with all you did to me, it's enough to make sure you die. Slowly, in every way I will know you fear. Pliers, hammers, knives, car batteries, the possibilities are endless. Then when I've run out of ideas, and I've used everything I could get my hands on to hurt you, I'll do it all over again. And again. And again. Until you finally know what pain you did to me with everything you did to me and my sisters."

"I am your sister, Asgeir!" The voice cried, the sound of tears in her voice. "What's happened to you?!"

"Oh, enough of your LIES!" I roared. "MY SISTERS ARE DEAD! THANKS TO YOU! You pathetic, monstrous waste of life! I should have killed you the second I laid my eyes on you! Hurt that woman, and not even the coldest blizzard you can summon will protect you."

I heard Emma's voice come from the radio trying to talk to me suddenly, but the boiling blood in my ears prevented me from hearing it as I tossed the radio back down to David. He looked up at me strangely. Hell, all three of them did as I climbed back down.

"We don't show mercy when we get Emma out. Just let me take care of this. Let me take care of it."

"Where are yah fellahs goin'?" Rory asked as he saw Hook and David heading to the patrol car.

"Gold's. He might be able to help. Can you come with us?"

I glanced back at the wall. I would normally have protested going to that prick for help, but I was more focused on the one at the top of my list being less than twenty feet away under all that ice. It was obvious to me that David wanted me to come there so he would stop me from killing Ingrid if it came out of that ice cave. "I'm not leaving in case that wall comes down and Emma's already dead. That monster in there cannot escape from me again."

Rory pulled out his two-way. "Mentor, where is our reinforcements? Primary target now has a hostage."

"We are already there." Came a reply.

Three white vans pulled up past the trucks and stopped right in front of the wall. Matthew, Keaton, Jason, Zar, Marc, Willis, and Torren jumped out along with teams with rifles.

"We'll be calling in for more troops if you can confirm that she's down there." Matthew said as he walked back from the wall towards us.

"Bitch is down there, and she's got Emma. It's not lookin' good." Rory said.

"Understatement. Especially when that hostage is the Savior herself." Shay said.

"It's more than that." I replied. "She's pretending to be Elsa. I heard her through Emma's two-way. Thinks mimicking her is gonna let my guard down and make me go in alone. I'm staying here for when she finally comes out."

"Leave this alone, Asgeir." Matthew replied. "She's not getting out there without facing us, and none of us are stealing the kill. It's all you. We'll radio you if anything changes."

Zar patted me on the back, and Rory gestured for me to get in the truck. I would have stayed as long as I needed to before Ingrid gave up waiting for me to come in, and come out. But I knew what they were doing here. They were there to order me to leave so that I wouldn't brutalize it. I didn't say anything, but I complied.

David shoved the door to Gold's open, the bell clanging loudly. The Imp and his newlywed wife, Belle were both at the desk. I still couldn't believe a smart girl like her would do one of the stupidest things alive, since I knew he had lied to her, pretending to give her the Dagger so he could kill Zelena.

"It appears our honeymoon is over." He growled as the three of us walked up to the desk.

"Yeah, there's an emergency. Emma's trapped under ice by a woman with some kind of ice magic."

"And this involves me because…?"

"Hah! Cause you're the fucking Dark One, Imp. You think we have other options about who to turn to?" I snapped.

"Well, I could melt the ice and destroy it with a thought. But that would also destroy your girlfriend." He said to Hook. "Is that what you want?"

"Great!" Shay said in the Imp's face. "It would be very worth it to kill Ingrid and Emma at the same time than save them both. We will gladly take that offer!"

Shay wasn't wrong, as I hated to admit it. I knew it would be worth it, though no one else in the room knew that. It would get me nowhere, trying to reason with these people. They didn't believe in killing, and one day it would come around to ruin them all.

"No one's destroying anyone." David said.

"Except Asgeir destroying the one who had the Savior trapped down there in the first place. Why aren't any one of you idgets listenin' to Asgeir here?!" Shay snarked.

It was taking all my ounces of resistance to stop myself from making another outburst. If I made another one, they'd turn on me instead of focusing on letting me kill Ingrid.

"Now, the woman who has Emma trapped is in there with her, and she's looking for her siblings. A brother with no name and her sister- name of Anna. She thinks they're both in town because of something of hers in your shop: a necklace."

Belle then looked down at one of the slips on the desk and pulled it out. "Is that it?"

It was like out of a pleasant dream. Though this was nothing more than a cruel jape by the hands of it. Ingrid was taunting me by taking every little thing that mattered to me at the time to try to lower my guard. The necklace was the same one that Elsa had made for Anna for her wedding. But the photo showed it badly bent and warped. How did she get it? More importantly, how did the Imp acquire it?

"Wait." David looked down at the necklace's slip. "I know this." Then he looked up at me. "I know exactly who Anna is, Connor."

I knew what he meant by that, calling me by my alias, but it didn't matter. "David, this is a trap. That is not my sister down there with Emma, and you cannot trust what she is saying. They are both gone." Then I glared at Rumplestiltskin. "And where in seven hells did you even get this?" I held up the slip.

Rumplestiltskin scoffed. "I have many items in this shop of mine, from many deals I have made over the years. You think I keep a full ledger of how I obtained everything I have collected from those who couldn't pay up?"
I glared hard at him, but kept quiet. I still remembered what he did to Anna, and while everyone here seemed to have forgotten what kind of monster he was, I didn't. And I knew how to get him out of my way now. I'd use that card soon enough.

David wasn't listening, though. None of them were listening to me! He only went straight for the door and beckoned for me and Hook.

"What the hell are you doing now, shepherd?" I said as we crossed the street. Hook had headed off in a different direction after he spoke with David for a minute.

"Bo Peep's Crook."

More and more ghosts of memories. "Come again?"

"When you and I first met, we took down Bo Peep after she had branded you and Anna with her Crook. You had her remove you from the Crook, but I don't think Anna was released from it."

I had to think hard about it for a second, trying best not to think about how pointless it all was since Anna was dead, but in the end, David was right. Anna never was taken from the brand of the Crook, so there could be a way to find her. Maybe by trying to sound like we were giving Ingrid what it wanted, it would walk right out into the open for me to get the drop on it. Though I doubted even that would work. But all I needed was one second with it's head out for me. And I wouldn't miss that shot.

David opened the door to the shop we were standing in front of and we both stepped inside. It was a butcher's store, evident by the whole room reeking of meat She stood there at the counter with a cleaver, chopping up a steak or something. I really didn't care. I was more focused on who it was and how I hadn't seen her in so long. Bo Peep. Wearing a hair net and a butcher's apron. I'd have laughed at the sight of her if she didn't look so pitiful. Here was one person I took down that I could at least show some pity for.

She noticed us both, though gave a much more scornful look at me. "Sorry lambkins. We're closed."

"I need your help." David replied, his hands on the counter.

She only sneered. "You and me- we ain't friends. And him, I don't even speak to his kind. I'm not interested. Get out!"

"Sorry, love." I replied. "But you don't have your lapdogs… or herd with you anymore, Peep. So you're not in a position to say no to either of us."

She grinned as she almost seemed to struggle to stand up straight. "Right. I just 'ave one. Say 'ello!"

I saw that cleaver flying at me ten minutes ago. David jumped out of the way, but it flipped through the air and slammed right between my eyes, cutting my face in half. It hurt. A lot. I fell down on my knees, breathless and soundless, then onto my back, my eyes rolling up into my head. David looked down at what had happened to me in horror as blood trickled down into both my eyes, before I got right back up, yanking the cleaver out from the bridge of my nose, wiping the blood out of my eyes.

"Right. About helping us?" I said, like it was nothing. "We're not asking again."

Peep was even more scared than David. That cleaver sliced my head open, and I just got back up like I skinned my ankle. She went for the knifes on the wall rack, but Hook suddenly came from the back room and grabbed her.

"Don't do it!" He snapped.

David grabbed Peep and slammed her against the wall, clutching her wrist.

"What's the deal wiff' the Assassin? 'e some kind of phantom now?"

"What afflicts me doesn't concern you anymore, Peep. Give us what we want, and do it quick."

"Now, my daughter's in trouble and I need to find the person that can help her- someone you branded."

"I branded a lot of people."

"Her name was Anna." I said. "She went by 'Joan' back then. She was my sister!"

"Do I look like I keep a record book? Cause I don't." She looked over at me. "And I wouldn't even tell you especially if I could remember 'er, Assassin. Got you to thank for this."

She patted her outer thigh. I noticed that it was in a brace, and then I saw the crutch propped against her counter. Then it all came back to me. I tortured her to take the brand off me by cutting her leg with my sword. It left a massive wound on her, damaging her leg so badly, she was now walking with a crutch. Was my freedom worth that, even if she was a Templar? Was her ring worth it? I tried hard not to show the doubt on my face. She might have not deserved that, but I had to remind myself that Ingrid deserved everything that was coming to it the second it walked out of the ice cave. If I didn't doubt myself wanting to kill it, then I shouldn't have for crippling Bo Peep.

"Hook!" Back room." David ordered, not taking his eyes off her. "She won't keep it far from her. You're looking for a shepherd's crook."

Bo Peep tried to wriggle away at the mention of her Crook, so I pulled out my revolver to quiet her down, aiming it right at her head. But she only started shouting when Hook returned with the Piece of Eden. Still with the same stupid flowers all over it.

"'ey. 'ey!" She cried. "That's my personal property! Give it up!"

"Sorry." David said, pushing her off as Hook and I started for the door.

"Ah. So in this world, you're a hero?" She mocked.

David shook his head. "In this world, I don't have to answer to you." He replied.

"None of us answer to you." I said, reaching under my shirt. One of my chains of Templar rings was there, and hers was on that one. "Miss this?"

"If I did, I wouldn't tell you, Assassin."

"Let's go find Anna. Hook?" David said.

Hook had the two-way out, the grim horror painting his face a new shade of dread. "It's that woman, Elsa. She said Emma's passed out. She's freezing to death."

Shay shook his head. "Tut tut tut. They really should have listened to yah, mate."

The barricade of Assassin vans was still there when we returned, and several sentry guns were deployed, pointing directly at the wall. David and Hook ran up to the wall to try to take it down, while I ran over to one of the open vans. Matthew and Keaton were sitting by there, wearing thick jackets with the Assassin logos on the lapels. Guess the cold was getting to them as much that they would wear them over their hoodies.

"Any change?"

"Temperature around the wall has dropped considerably since you left. If this is Elsa, then it's the stress most likely that's causing the temperature to keep falling."

I heard my teeth crack under my jaw clenching. "How many times do I have to say it? That's not Elsa down there! It's clearly Ingrid. Why else would Emma end down there unless she was meant to?"

Keaton got up from his seat. "Asgeir, just hear me out. What if Elsa was still alive?"

I was appalled. "Why are you even asking this question?! You know the answer to it."

"From what we heard over the radio chatter we intercepted, there could be a very good chance that that really is her down there. I mean, did you even see her die in front of you?"

I said nothing for a minute in doubt. More towards myself than him. Was I so sure indeed that Ingrid had killed Elsa? It had wanted Anna and me dead, but it wanted Elsa for it's own. I was so sure Elsa would have been nothing more than dead since she would not bend to Ingrid's will. That was why I was so sure she was dead; if she wouldn't bend for Ingrid, she would have broken. But I had to have seen her body, or at least a dagger through the neck to be sure. That was the rule. And I broke it. I was realizing more and more that for all this time that I thought Elsa dead, that this might not have been the case. But just as I was about to go back to accepting this possibility, I felt that light snuff itself out. I couldn't take any chances anymore. I had to

"Elsa is dead." I said, angrily. "That is a certainty. If we believe otherwise, especially right now, with a hostage in it's hands, then we're digging Emma's grave along with ours. I want our guns trained on that wall right now, and we keep them up. When Emma and that… thing come out, open fire."

"But Emma-"

"Emma's already dying. When Ingrid realizes we're not being fooled, it'll kill Emma before coming out to face us all." I looked out to all the Assassins around the van. "I want all guns trained on the wall." No response until I shouted. "NOW!"

Most of the troops jumped and unholstered their guns. Matthew and Keaton only glanced at each other as I pulled my own shotgun out and we started towards the wall. The Assassins assembled into a firing line as they staggered apart and aimed their guns at the wall. David was in the midst of talking into the two-way to get Ingrid to open the wall.

"I know how you feel. You're trapped. It's a battle you can't win, but it's exactly the kind of battle you have to fight, or you'll die."

I heard a faint response, but the radio was too far away. David was falling into the trap, paying no attention to the firing line.

"Survival isn't enough. You have to live."

David smiled as he heard the reply. "You know where." He paused to let her speak. "Yeah, I did. She helped me once a long time ago become who I am. And Asgeir, your brother, is a great friend of mine. He's a lost soul trying to find atonement for his sins. He's just as lost as you are, Elsa, and he needs you as much as you need Anna. Maybe even further gone. He lost all his hope. But you can bring it back to him."

Yes. David was right. I almost felt my eyes sting slightly as I leaned hard into my rifle's stock. I wanted both of my sisters back, and even Kristoff, and especially Troy and Rabbit. But they were all gone. That was something I couldn't do, nor could David. I could only avenge them.

"They saved my life, and yours, and now I need you to save Emma's. I didn't know much about Anna, even though I know Asgeir well. But I know that she wouldn't want you to live alone in an ice cave, which is where you'll be if you don't melt that ice." David said. "Now do it!"

I almost felt my breath catch in my throat. How David was speaking, and how much "Ingrid" was committed into selling that she was Elsa? It was starting to make me think that this really could be her. Was that her?

"What are your orders, Reaper?" I heard one of the Assassins say.

I shook off the nostalgia. "Disregard what David is saying. Proceed as expected, but fire on my command only. On my command only!" I needed to be sure it was her.

Silence fell over the entire area. Everyone stood tense in the firing line, and no one over by the vans even breathed loud enough for Rabbit to hear. David and Hook were up at the wall in front of the firing line, unsure of what was coming next.

Then, starting small and growing with each moment, we saw a light form in the ice. It grew brighter and bigger, forcing a hole through the wall down.

"It's working!" Hook cried. "I can see her! Emma!"

The two of them reached through the small hole in the wall, pulling the two people out. Emma came out first. Then her companion.

I fell to the ground as I saw her, dropping the shotgun. "No, no, no." I breathed. "It can't be."

"Asgeir? I don't think that's Ingrid." Zar said as he walked up from behind me. I felt the firing line suddenly put their weapons down, then dissolve away, leaving me the only one left there.

I felt my heart suddenly freeze up. Or maybe it stopped. Then it was pounding hard and fast as I faced down on the wet pavement, my shotgun only a few feet from me.

"It can't be her!" I whispered, looking down on the black pavement, refusing to look up at her. It was nothing more than a hallucination by Ingrid's hands. She was still trying to fuck with me. "It just can't! It's a trick!"

"It's no trick, Asgeir." Jason said.

I heard David and Hook walk by as they carried Emma off towards the car. An Assassin threw a blanket over her as they passed. I looked back to see this, but then only looked down at the pavement, shivering and shaking. This wasn't real. It couldn't have been her! MY SISTER WAS DEAD! HOW COULD INGRID DO THIS TO ME AGAIN?! HAD'T I BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH?!

"Jason?" I heard her say.

"Your Majesty." He replied. "Clearly Asgeir needs to see this for himself.

I saw a sparkled blue skirt just at the top of my eyesight. Then a familiar chill in a hand as it took my chin. I was so close to shaking it off, grabbing my revolver, and shooting it. But I didn't. I only looked up.

Same baby blue eyes. Same blonde French braid. Same warm smile to counter her cold magic. I was shaking as I saw her somewhat confused smile as she knelt down to my eye level.

"I'm here, Asgeir. No matter what you ever say to me, I love you. I'm here."

I suddenly jumped and nearly broke her ribs in the biggest hug I ever gave someone. I was sobbing the hardest I ever had before, crying as I got so close to her, I think I had caught her braid in my teeth. It was just as cold as she was. The friendly one.

Cue Arkham Knight "All Who Follow You"

I heard Matthew say something through his two way before blanking out. I felt someone pull me and Elsa up, but I refused to let go of her as we were walked over to the closest white van. We took a seat inside as Zar and Rory sat across from us, both of them shocked and amazed at the sight of her as I still held onto her as hard as I could. Neither of them had ever met her before, but I think they were more shocked at how she was still alive. I could almost feel frost gather on my hands from her, but I still would not let go of her. My only family left was still alive…

The convoy of vans stopped at the apartment, and the next thing I knew, I was walking into the apartment with Elsa, Jason and Rory. David and Hook sat Emma down in a chair while Elsa covered her in a blanket.

"Emma?"

She was too close to freezing to death, she could barely nod.

"She's so cold." Hook said as he entwined his fingers around hers.

"Fire." I said, jumping for the fireplace. I took out my lighter and built a small pile of sticks, lighting them up and starting a fire. Then the lights came back on.

Rory grinned. "There's more good coming out of tonight."

Hook reached into the other room and pulled out a heater, setting it down right in front of Emma.

Now she was able to speak as we all did our best to warm her up. Elsa didn't even pay attention to how warm it was getting in here. "Oh, that's good."

"I'll go make some hot cocoa." Henry said.

"Wait-" His mother gasped.

He only grinned. "I know. With cinnamon."

Emma embraced her son. "I'm sorry if I wasn't much help earlier, kid."

"I'm just glad you're okay. I was already down to one mother and I won't go lower than that."

Emma looked up at me and Elsa. She was teary eyed. "Elsa, you okay?"

She swallowed. "I may have my brother back, but I still have lost Anna. And now her necklace, too. Now I have nothing of hers."

"But you have me, Elsa. If I'm enough." I said. "And I'm sure you have a lot of questions about what's going on. Questions I may have answers to. But first I need to know something that I know it the most important: what was the last thing you remember seeing of me and Anna?"

She didn't seem to be mentioning Ingrid, or even realizing I meant what I had said towards that ice freak and not her. Which made me realize one thing that Elsa confirmed for me.

"Last I remember seeing of you and Anna, you were on the ship leaving for Misthaven."

That bitch… She must have stolen Elsa's memories somehow. Which meant she had no idea of what had happened after we returned. She wanted to try again in manipulating Elsa against me and Anna, thinking that hitting a reset button would give her the advantage.

"Where's Anna, Asgeir?"

I shook my head. "I thought she was with you." I said. And it was the truth. I thought they both were dead.

David walked over with Bo Peep's Crook. "Let's find her."

Elsa took it, holding it up and looking through it. After a few moments, she shook her head. "I don't see anything." She said.

"It should work." David said under his breath.

Unless… Anna really did serve no use for Ingrid anymore, and she was dead.

"Is it broken?" Hook asked.

"I don't think so." I said. "Peep wouldn't keep a broken Crook.

"Or does it mean something happened to her?" Elsa realized.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, almost ready to tell her the fate Anna had faced at that monster's hands. "Elsa…"

Emma looked up. "Wait, what's that sound?"

I heard it too. A small thumping sound. A heartbeat. Coming right from the crook.

"It's Anna's." I said, a massive wave of relief hitting me. Both my sisters were still alive! Two miracles in one night.

"We might not know where your sister is, but we know the most important thing." Emma said.

Elsa nodded, grinning. "She's alive."

The door opened and Snow walked in with the baby. "Who's alive?" Then she saw my sister. "Oh! Who are you?"

"Uh…" I laughed a little. "Elsa, this is Snow White. A dear good friend of mine. Snow, this is Queen Elsa of Arendelle. My half-sister."

"We're gonna find their other sister." David said, going over and putting an arm around his wife. "That's what this family does. We find people. We always do. Because we really, really don't like to give up."

Elsa smiled as I slid my hand around her. "Reminds me of another family, shepherd. Ours."

Rory and Zar were flies on the wall until now. "We better head back to base, Asgeir."

"Right." I said. "Elsa? You coming?"

She smiled. "Absolutely."

Elsa agreed to stay at Cormac's for the time being while we looked for Anna. Rory, Zar and I walked up to the door with her close by.

"Lima Team returning from objective." Rory called up at the camera.

"Confirmed." We heard from the two-way.

The door unlocked and we walked in. Assassins came and went throughout the whole tavern. Most were sitting down, talking as Keaton and Matthew approached.

"Your Majesty." Matthew said as they both bowed their heads. "We're honored to have you here. Welcome to Cormac's, our safehouse here in Storybrooke."

"What is all this?" She asked, looking around. Some Assassins looked up from their pints at their ice queen.

"This is all part of an ongoing... quest you could say, for the past couple years." Keaton replied. "We're all working to eliminate the Templar presence in town, as well as all the major threats that are facing this whole town."

"One threat being this sorceress that Asgeir thought I was? I thought you people weren't vigilantes."

Elsa was smart enough to figure out what I was talking about, but she wasn't getting the whole picture. She could have thought I was talking about someone else, and I never mentioned Ingrid by name in front of her, so I count myself damn lucky I did. Her desperate want of someone with powers like her made her blind to see Ingrid for what it really was, and I doubted she would be so keen to agree with me to shoot first again. She never agreed with my killing, no matter what my intentions. S he could not know about Ingrid just yet.

"Yeah." I said. "An evil magic user. Name of Cora." She was the first name that came into my mind, thinking about my grandfather Norik as I did so. She was the most ruthless Templar in the history of the Land of Magic second only to Shay Cormac after he arrived in Arendelle. At least, that's what the books would tell you. "She's smart. And formidable. We're still trying to track her down since she went underground, but we'll find her."

"Spare me all the details." She said. "But as long as finding Anna is high on the priority list, you have as much support as I can give to you."

Zar chuckled. "No offense, Your Majesty, but there's not really much you can give us for support. This isn't Arendelle."

She glanced at him. "And you are?"

"Salazar Cortez. Though everyone knows me as Zar. I spent a lot of my time working away from Arendelle while Asgeir and Matthew restored the branch's foundations, so we never got the chance to meet."

I knew a lot of what the Assassins listening in were wondering: how was it that both Anna and Elsa were still alive after all this time? Even I was more amazed at that than ever. Time to start asking my questions.

"Elsa, what's happened in the last two days? Was that snow monster you summoned you as well?"

"I told you, Asgeir. You called me a freak while I was trying to hide. I was scared. I conjured it up because I was afraid of what was happening and where Anna was. I remember emerging out of some kind of magical urn in a barn outside of town, walking in through the main road, and the next thing, one of those magical carriages nearly hit me."

"That must have been what Grumpy and Sleepy saw of you the other night. They nearly ran her over with their truck." Jason said. "And the urn?"

"I destroyed it." She said. "I don't know why I was in it, or what happened before it. All I remember is seeing the ship with you and Anna on it sailing away with Kristoff beside me, and then waking up in the barn."

She destroyed the urn. Damn it. Could have used that on Ingrid, but I guess we couldn't win them all. After all, why use the urn when a bullet or a blade would do just as well?

"Asgeir?"

I looked up. Red had walked down into the tavern from her room. I suddenly grinned at the convenience.

"Who's she?" She asked.

"Uh. Heh… Red, this is my half-sister, Elsa. You know, the one I thought was dead and with the ice powers? Elsa, Red and I are very close friends. Met while we were on the run from the Templars."

Elsa smiled as she reached out a hand, which Red took, grinning. "It's nice to meet you, Red."
"Asgeir's told me a few things about you, Elsa." She said, happily. "We've got a few things in common."

"Oh?"

A match made in heaven, with Elsa's difficulties with her ice magic, and Red's struggles with the wolf when she first learned she had it. "Why don't you and her connect over drinks? Kevan! I'll need an iced coffee for my sister over here!" I turned to her. "I don't think you ever tried icing it before, but I know you'll love it."

"You got it!" I heard him say.

"Assassins!" I called out to the whole pub. "This is my sister, Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Show her the hospitality of the Assassins, and I might not just make your life a living hell for the rest of this operation."

"Aye!" Came a few calls as the whole bar raised their glasses, laughing. Elsa gave an awkward wave as she and Red took a few seats. As she smiled back at me, I felt it. It lasted for a few seconds, but then that feeling of hope was tarnished as I saw Shay sitting beside her at the table, grinning up at me.

"The game's not over, Asgeir."

I beckoned for the other Assassins, and Matthew, Keaton, Zar, Jason, and Rory followed. Marc and Willis stayed behind, taking seats close by to Elsa's table.

"This can't be a complete coincidence." Matthew said. "Swan and Hook must have brought that urn with them back from the past by some unforeseen miracle, and now Ingrid has what she wants back in her reach."

"I'm confused. Why did they even have the urn to begin with?" Rory said. "And how did it end up here in the present?"

"It must have been the Imp." I said. "He was working with Ingrid since the beginning. She wanted Elsa, and he wanted the hat that we had stolen from him. My best guess is Ingrid refused to give it to him, so he stole the urn. Locked Elsa up in the vault without realizing it was her in there. Or maybe he did. Makes no difference to me."

"And Elsa's memories getting stolen?" Jason asked.

"Also Ingrid. I'm sure of it." I said. "Elsa now knew what it really was, and it wanted to try again. The convenient reset button. Like it's that easy."

"So what happens now?" Keaton said to Matthew. "We keep pretending we're hunting a Templar who's already dead? Elsa's a smart girl. She'll soon figure out that the one we're hunting is the only other of her kind. And I know she won't be thrilled to hear we're lying to her about it. Matthew, we need to tread lightly. What do we do?"

"I'll leave that up to our potential future Mentor." He said, looking at me.

I stood up from my seat. The bulletin board in the corner had X's drawn over the photos of the last Primary Targets we had had in the past few years. Cora. Pan. Zelena. All with the strings trying it all in a spider web of connections.

"Elsa's always been the pacifist. Neither she, nor Anna would ever shed blood. That was always what I was meant for. I'd take the darkness of all three of us put together than let a shred of any of it touch both of them. If- no, when she finds out that I'm going to kill the only other one capable of ice magic, she will try to stop to me. Appeal to my humanity. As if she still believes it's there. And maybe it is still there. I can't tell anymore because I had to bury it so deep it was brushing close to bedrock. But we don't let her stop us, none of us, from finishing what we started. Zar's right: this isn't Arendelle, and Elsa isn't queen here."

I took a spare pin out of the wall, and then the photo. Emma and Ingrid in the ice cream parlor. I pinned it up.

"I want at least one Assassin watching her at all times. No novices on this. I want a full-fledged Master with her at all times. Project Boden continues alongside hunting down Ingrid. I want no more shipments of drugs coming in, distracting us if it's even possible with the ice wall put up. Emma and David? They are the law in this town, but we can't rely on them to make the hard calls anymore. They will not kill Ingrid when I will. We are bound by no laws or morality as we never have been. We stop George from taking Storybrooke, we find Anna, and-" I drew out an old dagger with a reddish resin handlefrom my holster, and stabbed it into the photo, right through Ingrid's eye and through the bulletin board. "We find Ingrid so I can slice it's goddamn throat open."

I walked back into the pub not long after the meeting. Most of the troops had either gone to their rooms for what remained of the night. Elsa and Red were chatting happily in the corner, and I saw Marc and Willis were playing a board game close by. I sat down beside them

"Fellas." I said.

"Asgeir. Aw!" Marc cried. Willis had just rolled really well, and hit two of Marc's pieces that were so close to the end of the board. They were playing Backgammon. I knew how to play, but the pieces looked very confusing to.

"You're both playing white." I said.

"Yeah? Is there a problem with that?" Willis said.

"Well, how can you tell the difference between your pieces and his?"

"Believe me, Asgeir. We can tell the difference." Marc said.

I looked down at the board. I couldn't see any difference between the pieces, even when I tried focusing my Sight and looking hard enough. I couldn't tell the difference.

I swallowed as I looked up at Elsa, who hadn't noticed how grim I felt. She glanced over at me, and I put on my smile with a flick.

"Asgeir, why didn't you tell me about Red before? She's someone I know Anna would like as well."

"I didn't know her until after Arendelle-" I stopped myself. Was she ready to know what had happened yet?

"Asgeir?" Elsa looked worried. "What is it? What happened to Arendelle?"

I hadn't put a lot of thought into what I could say to Elsa that wouldn't make her any more suspicious of what had happened. I mean, when does anyone come back from the dead like that? I was hoping that Red would play along, and based on how she reacted to my story, she did.

"The magic using Templar, Cora was the one that sealed you in the urn, Elsa. It wasn't until Anna and I returned that she froze Arendelle completely with an ice spell after she had sealed you in the urn, wiped your memories, and captured Anna. I escaped, and that was the last I had seen of her. Apparently, the urn was a hidden artifact that was capable of sealing a magic user away, but she kept it close enough to her that Anna and I couldn't get close enough."

"She has Anna?" She looked more horrified with each second.

"We'll get her back, Elsa. I promise. This Cora, she might not have the same ice magic as you, but she is powerful in all kinds. And she was vicious enough to make things personal between me and her. Elsa… I thought I saw her kill you and Anna. And for so long, I spent every waking second doing everything I could to avenge your deaths." I never thought I would be saying all this, but here I was, telling Elsa that convenient lie every one of us tell. The lie that we tell all our loved ones and friends to make the darkness we fall into seem a lot more shallow than the endless pit it truly is. "Elsa… you have to understand that everything I did, I did because you and Anna were the last family I had left, and I loved you."

Elsa gave me a sad smile, putting a cool hand on my neck. "Asgeir, I know that. Anna knows it too. And I have no doubt in my mind that we will find her if you keep the hope alive. But I don't want you to lose your way doing it. You taught us that Assassins only shed blood because it's what they have to do. What's that irony that they say? 'We preach peace but must achieve it through violence.'"

I could barely speak. Elsa remembered what the Creed truly stood for, while I had forgotten everything it had meant in so long. But then again, she didn't go through what I had. Even if Elsa and Anna were still alive, it didn't change that I saw other Assassins get cut down brutally and horrifically in front of me at the hands of the most vicious Templars. I hadn't lost my way. The Creed was only getting in my way, and I needed to take a new path if I were to stand any chance of killing every last piece of filth that had crossed me. One was already dead by another's hands, one was in town waiting for the arms shipments that would hopefully never come because of what surrounded the town now, and one was now our main focus as the oncoming storm would begin. But another one had convinced everyone that he had turned over a new leaf, and now I had a way of making sure that he would stay out of my way. All I needed to do was make the ultimatum.

I smiled at Elsa as I stood up. "I'll have Kevan set you and Red up together. We have every Assassin in town staying here, but I'm sure there's enough room for you as well. But I think I'm gonna call it for the night. Kevan!"

"Aye!" He said from the table. "There should be a two bed a few doors down from yours, Asgeir. It's all theirs!"

"Thank you, Asgeir." Elsa said.

"Thank me later, sister." I replied. "Get some rest, and we'll start looking for Anna tomorrow."

As I headed out of the pub and into the hallway leading into the inn, Zar came out of the conference room.

"Asgeir, I just thought of something."

"Can it wait until tomorrow?"

"Not this." He replied. "I just thought of something. If Elsa and Anna are both still alive, what if they aren't the only ones?"

Alone. As in Ingrid didn't kill a single one of the people I thought she did without confirming it. "You think Troy and Rabbit are still alive as well?"

Zar nodded. "Ingrid may not have had a use for them, but if she didn't kill Anna even though she hated her, then who's to say she killed the Broken Chain Brothers?"

I shook my head. The possibility of Troy and Rabbit both being alive gave me some hope, but I wasn't paying much attention to that, since I barely cared for it anymore. Hope. What was that anymore? Was that what I felt when Elsa smiled at me as she always did? It was just a weakness now.

` "Even if that what you're saying could be true Zar, it doesn't change anything. Ingrid is still as dangerous as can be, and make no mistake about it, because this only ends one way: with my hands right around it's fucking throat and my blade going through it."

I started walking away, but Zar stepped in front. "Your sister is back from the dead. Another is confirmed to still be alive. I bring you news that both Troy and Rabbit are still alive, and all you can focus on is Ingrid and killing her? What's happened to you, Asgeir?"

I glared at my friend. "What happened was I had too much taken from me at the hands of people just as bad as Ingrid. They're all dead now, but I'm not finished here. Then when that ice freak is gone, I'll rest. For good."

I stalked past Zar into the inn, leaving him wordless.

The next morning, I became as certain as ever that the lockdown had done it's job right. I woke up in the pub sitting right up against the front door. The whole place was mostly empty, but I assumed it was probably because of how most of the hands here had spent the whole day and night mobilizing all across Storybrooke to fight Ingrid. We could all use the rest.

I got up and looked down at the doorknob. It had been jerry rigged with the new lock mechanism put in place for the lockdown, as well as iron bars being bolted into the window frames. I was about to head out to make my first big move since our sights had moved to Ingrid, but not to the Snow Queen itself.

I tried the doorknob. Locked up. And very tightly, I might add.

"Reaper stepping out." I said through my two-way, hoping an excuse for a cigarette could get me out.

"Negative, Reaper." Came the reply. "You are not authorized to go outside without at least one more member of your team."

"Open the goddamn door!" I snarled, getting furiously impatient.

"Let him through, Harpy." Matthew replied through his own two-way. "Though think hard about what it is you're doing before you head out, Asgeir."

I had thought about it. Long and hard. And while none of the Assassins could truly see it, this was the most desperate of times, and that required the most drastic of measures. I needed to be sure the biggest thorn in my side outside of the Assassins would play nice.

The day was just as clear as the last. Spring was finally settling in, the snow melting right before we had defeated Zelena. I unzipped my hoodie as I walked down the small hill Cormac's was built on and down Main Street, feeling the breeze from the ocean behind me.

It was a very short walk from the pub to the shop. The bell clanged loudly above my head as I opened the door and walked inside. The old bastard stood at the counter with a loupe over his eye as he was examining several pieces of jewelry.

"You clearly seem to have mistaken last night as a message that you are welcome here, Assassin." He said calmly as he looked up. "I gave you what you wanted last night, so I would advise that you turn and walk right out of the door."

"Oh, but then we'd miss out on the business we have to discuss, Rumplestiltskin." I said. "I'm here to make a deal."

The Imp scoffed as he took the loupe off his eye and looked up from his work. "And what on earth makes you think I'd be interested in dealing with you? Or why you would even think of wanting to make a deal with me at all? After all, you seem to be the only one left in town that doesn't trust me."

It was true. Belle had married this shite, and no one seemed to see him for the monster he really was. But he couldn't hide his true intentions from me.

"Well, it's not really a deal I have in mind. It's an offer, really. One I know you'll agree to because you should know what kind of man I am now."

"And what, pray tell is that? The kind that just won't leave me in peace, even after your own blood comes back from the dead? Seems that's happening to a lot of Assassins these days. First Marian, and now Queen Elsa. How convenient for you all."

Marian. Glowing red at every moment I was seeing her. I wasn't planning on ever killing her, but then why was she showing up like that when my Sight was in focus? Something was wrong with her.

"No, no." I said. "I'm the kind that's perceptive enough to know that the Dagger you gave Belle was a fake. I mean, how else would you have killed Zelena? I know you, Rumplestiltskin. And I know that you're just as addicted to power as I am to afflicting pain. You'd never let anyone hold that Dagger aside from you. Not even the ones you pretend to love."

"Heh." He chuckled a little, though more frustrated than amused. "We had been over this, Swortssen. Zelena killed herself with what magic she had left. End of story."

"It was the end of her story when you tried covering your tracks using magical Photoshop on that tape. But let's get past that. I suppose you know why I'm here. Here in Storybrooke."

"You came here to help the Assassins defeat Zelena. Good job, by the way. You want a medal? You won't find one here. Door's behind you." He pointed.

"Ingrid. My… aunt Ingrid, the Snow Queen. It's here in town, planning something. Something that will end with this town facing an endless winter as they tear each other at the seams." I swallowed the word that said of it's relation to me. Aunt.

Rumplestiltskin's eyes gleamed at me. "You can't be serious that she would dare come here. I am more powerful than she would ever dream, and I have leverage against her."

"No, Rumplestiltskin. You had leverage with my sister as hostage. Because it wanted Elsa as it's family and for Elsa to kill Anna and I. Now you don't have her and the pieces are in it's favor unless I act first, and quickly." I replied. "I'm here to end Ingrid, and finally end my suffering at it's hands. But I have known all along that it wasn't alone when it tore my family apart by the seams. You helped it with all this."

"Nothing of the sort. I simply helped your mother and her husband try to find out what afflicted your sister, and then gave them the forgetting potion to erase you from their minds. That is all I dealt with when I encountered your family."

"But Matthew told me the whole story after you and I had our little duel with Anna in the mix. How you gave my mother and aunts the urn to seal Ingrid in, and the gloves that my sister now wears every time she gets upset. You are just as responsible for putting my family through all this madness as Ingrid is. Now that it is in town, I have everything I have in place set for my revenge. All that's left now is you."

"I do hope that this history lesson ends with a point to all this. If not, I recall telling you where the door is."

I ignored him, coming real close to the counter. I place both my hands on it, the heels of my palms pressing flat against the cool glass between a pair of ancient dangle earrings. "My deal, Rumplestiltskin, is this: You're going to do what you should be doing all along. You're going to place nice with me. And you're going to do it by living the life of an old man here in this world. Love your wife, enjoy what friends you still have here, live a normal life without the addiction of magic and power, and stay the hell out of my way as I take Ingrid apart."

"And in return, you will not tell Belle that the Dagger she has is a fake? Thank you, but I will pass on this deal. She knows better than to trust you after I tell her of all the offenses you have made towards the Order. Why should she believe that the Dagger is fake if you are the one to tell her? A raging psychopathic killer."

I laughed. "No. No, no, no. Making a threat like that will only set you off. Rattle your chain, and make you nothing more than a rabid dog ready to tear my throat out if someone were to simply unhook you from your lead. Make you all the more ready to strike back against me. No, I need you scared. More scared than ever. Scared to lose a lot more than your life at the hands of me. And it's easy when I'm dealing with a coward with plenty to lose. Let me be perfectly clear, Imp. I'm not an Assassin anymore. And I'm certainly not the brother that Elsa once had anymore. I now know that merciful is the last thing I can afford to be anymore. Mercy is what'll get in my way as I learned with Ingrid. Ingrid taught me plenty, but that doesn't change what I will do to her; I will burn her and all that she holds dear. You, however, have been little more than a thorn in my side when Zelena had you as her dog. You've got a new person yanking on your chain, as you claim, but I want to be absolutely sure that you will stay out of my way. I will kill Ingrid, Rumplestiltskin. And if you deal with her, get in my way, or do something that I don't like, then I will take everything away from you just as the Templars did to me. It becomes a hell of a lot more simpler, and I kill Belle."

It was a threat I would never make before I had my sisters taken from me. Before I had my friends taken from me in the last decade. A threat that I now knew was the only way to ensure the Imp would know I wasn't fucking around anymore. And now that I had one of them back from the dead, and another still alive but within the abomination's grasp, I needed to keep the drastic measures to protect them from Ingrid.

His hand shot out over the counter, and was suddenly wrapped hard around my throat. "You made that threat with my boy, but I will not let you do it again with my wife!" He snarled. "You wouldn't dare kill an innocent life, or you would cease to ever call yourself an Assassin."

I chuckled, hearing Shay practically howling and hooting with laughter behind me. "I just said I'm not one anymore. Are you certain I wouldn't dare kill your Beauty, Beast? I killed plenty of innocent people in the recent years. It was why I got sent to the Gates in the first place. But if you're so certain that I wouldn't kill your wife, then by all means, stand between me and Ingrid and try to stop me from taking it's head off. But are you brave enough to make that risk for your love's life? Or are you just as much of a coward as you ever have been?"

He let go of my neck, the perfect balance of horror and anger over his face. "You live up to your name now more than ever, Reaper. When does the spilling of blood ever end?"

"It ends when I see everyone who had made me suffer dies at my hands. Everyone, and then some."

"Then you're more lost than I ever was! Get out of my shop!"

I smirked, taking a low bow as I walked out. "Always a pleasure doing business with you, Rumplestiltskin."

"Get out!"

"I must remember to tell Belle what a nice husband she has. One that would do anything to protect her, including playing nice."

"GET OUT!"

"Nothing is True, Imp. And Everything is-"

He didn't let me finish, flinging a vase in my direction as I ducked out of the door, shoving it open as it smashed against the wall beside it and out into the cool air.

I took out my lighter and lit a cigarette. Taking a drag on it, I thought hard about the ultimatum I had just delivered. It was harsh punishment I was threatening the Imp with, but would I deliver on it if he really did support Ingrid? I wouldn't want him to die yet until I took everything he cared about from him. When he truly knew my pain. When he finally knew my pain.

"Well done, Asgeir." Shay said, laughing beside me. "You're becoming more and more Templar with every passing second. Threatening an innocent life to further yourself against the third worst person you ever faced? You're even worse than I was. You know, this obsession with vengeance brings up that old saying: On the path for revenge, remember to dig two graves."

"Right." I muttered. "One for Ingrid's top half, and the other for-"

I stopped. I lost my train of thought and focus as I looked across the street. Through a window. A store's window. Of an ice cream parlor.

There it was. Ingrid. Leaning against the freezer in the parlor, smiling to herself as ice gathered on the wall around it. It glanced out the window of it's store, right at me. The cigarette in my teeth suddenly fell to the ground, still burning up.

"Aha! There is that vicious c***!" Shay sneered. "This is the first we've seen of her in ages! Amazing!"

I felt a chill in my heart as it did the equivalent of a big middle finger right to me: it gave a small wave to me.

I only glared back, my fists clenching up hard. My revolver was in reach. With a Bullet loaded into the chamber. But I wouldn't do it. Because a gun would be too quick. I wanted to savor it all. The begging and the crying for mercy as it would be there, on it's knees in front of me, begging for mercy while soaked in it's own blood. No mercy. Anymore. That was all that mattered anymore. Elsa would try her best to see the good in me and do what Anna would have to her, but there was the difference between us: they both still had goodness in them. Mine was long since dead. And all because of that fucking monster. It had Anna. And with her still alive, it meant more than likely that Troy, Rabbit, and Kristoff were alive as well. That meant that I had something more than revenge to fight that freak, but it also meant that I had a lot more left to lose than I expected. But I was ready. Was Ingrid?

A/N: Okay, before anyone makes any reviews yet, I have two points I want to make about this chapter, hoping you might understand better by the time you finish reading. Firstly, if you were waiting very eagerly for this chapter, I apologize for this taking longer than I had wanted. I wanted to hit all the right nerves and get everything as best as I could for the reunion with Asgeir and Elsa. Though that being said, here comes my next point. If at any point from this chapter, and onwards, you are feeling like Asgeir is a character that you cannot root for anymore, then perfect. Because that is exactly what I am aiming for. I mean, here we see a guy who finds out his family is back from the dead, and all he cares about is killing Ingrid. But at the same time, Asgeir will learn what the Creed has meant to his brothers, and how he can atone for his crimes and become the Assassin he needs to be. Arno was one Assassin who was cut from the Assassins for fucking up multiple times, but Asgeir did something a lot worse when he faced off against the Templars right before he was sent to the Gates. I at least hoped you liked this reunion chapter, and the return of Elsa. Now comes the real story I was eager to tell. The part where the fic goes down into the dark pit that Asgeir fell down in his exile. Where everything twists, turns and shatters…