Premise: Season 2 AU. Regina and Emma are unable to stop the trigger and it explodes, destroying Storybrooke. However, instead of perishing, most of the citizens of Storybrooke are scattered, ending up with new lives and memories in New York. Except Rumpelstiltskin, who is discovered by the NSA.

After three years in a government facility, the NSA makes a deal with him to help them combat the residual consequences of the trigger's explosion. The others are recruited and awakened. The deal is they form a taskforce and help fight the magical entities that have been unleashed on the world and keep their freedom as a reward.

Thanks for the reviews. Please consider leaving reviews. It seems engagement has really dropped, so if you're reading and you like what you're reading, please review. Feedback is very much appreciated. Here are responses to individual reviews:

Ghostwriter: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

Sammii16: You're welcome

Grace5231973: I hope Neal finds his family too. Yeah, hopefully together, they can find a way home. Glad you're enjoying!

Sexystarwarslover: Yep, things are getting very interesting. Yep, Henry's friends are those three from Storybrooke. I know, Josh singing is the best. Yep, she called them Mom and Dad! Glad you're enjoying!

The Grey Jedi 2020: To be fair, I don't think the trigger came with a warning or instructions. Because I'm sure detaining them, though not off the table, they have other purposes to use them for. Yes, the Nick and Ava from season 1. Glad you're enjoying.

Operation Castle

Chapter 8: Exposed, Pt 2

Idly, Emma watched the spar between her father and Hook in one of the training rooms in Castle. She remembered last night and finally let her walls down for her parents. It felt good and had made them all happy, including Henry. He had gone to school with a beaming smile. They finally felt like a family and were starting to pick up where they had started to get to before the trigger. She was still keeping a watchful eye on Hook though. He claimed he had changed and she was inclined to believe him for now, mostly because they all now had a common enemy.

"You're not bad for a royal," Hook said, as he parried David's blade.

"Not a real royal. Born a shepherd, taught by a friend, and then became a Knight. I'm only a Prince by marriage," David corrected, as he parried again and sidestepped Killian's footwork.

"Plus…you have been doing this a lot longer. I mean…a lot longer," the prince said. Killian looked at him in surprise.

"Oh…old jokes. Really?" he asked. David smirked, as they exchanged several strikes.

"You wanted to open that door about origins," he countered. Killian rolled his eyes.

"Fair enough…but you know, I haven't always been a pirate. I was once a military man," he boasted.

"You?" Emma asked in surprise from the sidelines. He smirked.

"Aye love…it's a long, sordid story, but my brother and I sailed the seas retrieving whatever our greedy King wanted," he replied.

"Which King?" David asked, as he parried another strike.

"His name was George, but he was well before your time," Killian replied.

"Probably a great, great Grandfather to the asshole that raised my brother," David said.

"Entirely plausible," Killian agreed.

"So…why did you leave the military to become a pirate?" Emma asked.

"Ah…well, our exploits for the King ended up getting my brother killed. He was our leader. I rebelled and the crew with me. We turned against the King and became pirates in revenge against the crown," he explained.

"Didn't know you had a brother," Emma mentioned.

"Aye…losing him started me down a dark path," Killian said.

"There's a lot that's not in the book," Emma mentioned.

"It seems that the book only covers certain parts of Misthaven's history," David said.

"Misthaven?" Emma asked.

"It's what a lot of the other Kingdoms called the Enchanted Forest," he clarified.

"There are more Kingdoms than what's in the book?" she asked, though she supposed that made sense. She just had never thought about it.

"Sure…I have a couple friends that hail from Arendelle. It's even further north than the Kingdom that Snow's mother came from. Then there was the Maritime Kingdom, Camelot, Nottingham, Briar Forest, the Southern Isles, Prydain, even Atlantica," David said.

"Wait…like the little Mermaid?" Emma asked. He smirked.

"Your mother and Ariel were actually good friends," he said.

"Where is that story?" Emma asked, as her interest was piqued.

"I'm sure she would be happy to tell you all about it," David replied.

"Don't forget Neverland, though I've bloody tried," Killian said.

"So Peter Pan…you met him?" Emma asked.

"Aye…that bloody little demon makes the Crocodile look tame," he replied.

"Mind your tongue, pirate," Rumple warned from the sidelines.

"Hold on…I thought Pan was the good guy," Emma said. Both Killian and Rumple looked at her like she had three heads.

"Who the bloody hell told you that?" Killian asked.

"Disney?" she offered, which received eye rolls.

"Sorry lass…he is evil incarnate, I assure you," Killian replied.

"Thankfully, I never had to meet him, but the stories of him stealing children by luring them from their beds with his pipe were well known legends," David said. Emma was reeling from information overload at that point, but she found herself craving it all now.

"So…do you think there are more books?" she asked curiously. David stopped for a minute.

"I've never thought about it…but maybe. We don't even know where this one came from," David said, as he looked at Gold.

"Don't look at me. Not even I know where the book came from," he replied.

"Did Regina understand anything about the curse when she cast it?" Emma asked.

"Excuse me…I did," Regina interjected, as she came down into Castle from the bar above. Emma raised an eyebrow.

"Sure about that?" the blonde asked.

"I was told it would give me my happy ending and that it would take away that of my enemies," Regina replied.

"Yeah…I'm seeing why they gave you the evil title," Emma commented. Regina's nostrils flared and she marched up to the blonde.

"You don't know anything about what my life was like!" she said, pointing her finger at her, but Emma glared right back.

"I know enough. Your life sucked so you made sure everyone else's lives sucked too," she countered.

"You have no idea what I went through!" she hissed.

"And you have no idea what I went through either!" Emma shouted back.

"Enough!" Casey interjected, as he looked at them.

"This is training…not a time to air your grievances," he snapped. Before he could go on, David's phone rang and he smiled, as he answered it.

"Hey…" he said.

"David…" Snow said and he could instantly detect that something was wrong.

"Snow…what's wrong?" he asked.

"The students and staff seem to recognize me from Greg and Tamara's fun little broadcasts. I never even made it to my classroom this morning. The teachers cornered me in the teacher's lounge, demanding answers," she replied, as he had her on speaker.

"The Principal is one of ours…he should be at least providing cover for you," Alivia said.

"Well he's not!" Snow snapped.

"He no longer seems like he's one of yours…he's in here too. They said they can't let a vigilante teach students and they've called the NYPD," she said, obviously starting to panic.

"I'm on my way," David said, as he and Emma were already running for the exit, followed quickly by Killian and the others.

As Snow arrived that morning at work, she instantly knew something was definitely off. She got stares from students and teachers alike, as she made her way through the hallways and to the teacher's lounge. A bad feeling settled in her gut even further, as she walked in and found several teachers and the principal waiting on her there.

"What's going on?" she asked her colleagues.

"You tell us…this went viral this morning," one of them answered snidely. It was the old, crusty English teacher that taught across from her classroom. Ms. Parsons had never liked her and Snow had never given her a reason not to. But she was one of those people that seemed to despise other women, especially young, successful and happily married ones. Snow watched the video of them luring one of the Banshee's into a trash can fire, with very clear video of their faces.

"That was quite a spectacle, but who are these mysterious people?" Tamara asked, as the camera panned to her.

"They appear as Saviors here to rescue the city from some sort of paranormal activity. But are they really? Or are they perpetuating these hoaxes to make a name for themselves as some kind of heroes?" Greg asked.

"What exactly are you involved in, Mrs. Nolan?" another teacher asked.

"What I do outside school is really none of your business," Snow replied, without missing a beat.

"The students are very distracted by these strange occurrences and we think having you trying to teach would be too disruptive," the Principal stated.

"Well…then I guess this little display is your way of asking me to leave. Guess I'll send for my things later," she said, but the door was then blocked by two of the gym teachers.

"Sorry…we can't let you leave. The reporters on the broadcast said that the people involved with this are of interest to the Police. They'll be here soon," the Principal replied. Yesterday, the man had supposedly been read in on her status as an NSA asset and now he had a completely different attitude. She immediately pulled out her phone and dialed her husband.

David slammed the car door, as they arrived at the elementary school.

"You can't just go barreling in there!" Alivia warned.

"I thought you said she'd be safe to continue teaching!" David snapped.

"We were wrong," Casey said.

"Obviously…" Emma commented.

"You said that the Principal was aware of her status as an asset," Killian recalled.

"He is…something's definitely wrong," Casey said, as they saw NYPD cars pulling up to the school.

"I'll handle this…" Casey said, as he marched toward the entrance, with David and Emma following him.

"Excuse me Sir…we have a situation inside and cannot allow you to enter," one of the uniform cops said. Casey flashed his badge.

"And my authority supersedes the NYPD. Agent Casey, NSA and these are my colleagues, Agent Nolan and Agent Swan," Casey said sternly, as they easily bypassed the uniformed offers and they entered the building. Students milled about in the hallways and no one went to class as the bell rang, for they had realized one of the teachers they had seen on the news was cornered in the teacher's lounge.

The door swung open and Snow prepared to make some kind of drastic move to avoid being arrested by the NYPD, but she was incredibly relieved to see her husband and daughter there with Agent Casey. She rushed to him and he hugged her tightly.

"We were told she was going to be brought in by the NYPD," the Principal said.

"You were told wrong," Casey said, as he approached, with his menacing gaze.

"You were on board and the school was compensated to be discreet about Mrs. Nolan's status as an NSA asset," he said. The Principal smirked.

"Guess I got a better offer," he replied. In turn, Casey grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him off the floor, causing the other teachers to gasp.

"Who are you working for?" Casey demanded to know.

"Sorry…I'm more afraid of them than I am of you," he choked out, as Casey let him down and then cuffed him.

"We'll see about that," he growled, as he led him out of the school. Once they were outside, David stopped for a moment and cupped her face in his hands.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded and breathed another sigh of relief, as he hugged her briefly and then swept her away toward the car when he saw the press running toward them.

"Guess my teaching career is over," Snow said sadly.

"I'm sorry, my love," David replied, as he kissed her forehead.

"Me too, Mom," Emma offered. Snow smiled at her and squeezed her hand, as they returned to Castle to deal with this latest fallout.

Neal hopped off the bus in Augusta and went into the bus station and up to the window. Thankfully, when he fell through the portal, he still had his wallet on him and enough cash to get by for a day or so.

"Hi…I need a ticket for the next bus to Manhattan," he requested. The attendant printed a ticket for him and he paid, before going and sitting down on a bench to wait. He saw on the ticket that he had two hours and then went up to the attendant again.

"Is there a library nearby?" he asked.

"Yeah…it's about two blocks east," she said. He smiled and thanked her, before walking out and heading there. If he knew one thing about most libraries, he would be able to read copies of large newspapers and magazines from years past. He entered and approached the librarian at the desk.

"Hi…I'm doing research for a paper and I'd like to find some major newspaper articles from Maine and New York from about three years ago," he said.

"We don't keep physical copies of anything that old anymore, but find a computer and you should be able to search our digitized collection of most publications," she replied. He smiled again and thanked her, before finding an unoccupied computer and sitting down.

"Okay…I did miss the Internet," he said, as he started his search. After about ten minutes, he found an article from a local newspaper, talking about a short lived, but mysterious seismic event. It was the very day that he had fallen through the portal. Experts had been baffled, for Maine was not known to have seismic activity. But there wasn't much else in the official records. He supposed that made sense with the government suits he saw yesterday. They had likely and quickly covered it up, because he knew whatever seismic event had taken place probably had a magical and supernatural element involved. He knew that there probably was unofficial chatter about that day in certain communities, but he didn't have time to do a dark web dive on it, so he decided that real answers would only come.

"Okay Emma…if you're still a bail bonds person, maybe you'll pop up on Google," he muttered to himself. He put in a search for bail bondsman, plus New York, plus Emma Swan. He smiled, as the search results returned instantly with an answer.

"Express Bail Bonds," he said and he scribbled down the address of the place that Emma seemed to be working now. It was a great starting place. He put the piece of paper in his pocket and left for the bus station. New York and his family awaited him.

When they arrived back at Castle, they gathered at the situation table and David had a hard stare for the General when he appeared on screen.

"It appears that the game has changed quite drastically and we underestimated what we believe is a rogue agent," Shaw said.

"Gee…ya think?" Emma quipped sarcastically.

"Greg and Tamara are extremely dangerous. We should arrest them next time they're doing one of their fear-mongering broadcasts," David said.

"Agreed," Rumple said.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Shaw said.

"Why the hell not?" Hook asked sharply.

"Those two are responsible for my son's death," Rumple growled and Belle put a hand on his shoulder.

"We have reason to believe that this rogue agent has his other agents running this network. If the NSA goes and arrests Journalists, it will not play well with the public at all and put us all under even more scrutiny. We'll never smoke out the person at the top of this if we take that path," Shaw reasoned.

"The General is right. Most of the public believes whatever their idiot boxes tell them to. They'll see it as us trying to undermine the freedom of the press," Alivia offered.

"Politics suck," Casey added, as it was clear he agreed with David and Rumple.

"So what now? I can't go back to my teaching job and Regina won't be able to even run the bar upstairs," Snow said.

"Yes, we have agents that will take over the daily operations of the bar," he said.

"And what am I supposed to do?" Regina asked.

"For now, you should all go home and lay low until there is another anomaly. Your identities haven't been revealed yet and we'll have agents posted nearby each residence," Shaw replied. They got up from the table and started to make their way out.

"So much for a meeting at Ruby's," Emma said.

"We'll just have to meet at our house and hope it's not bugged," David replied, as they agreed and headed there.

Tamara smirked, as she watched the spectacle outside the school. They hadn't revealed the identities of Storybrooke's residents yet, but their identities would soon be outed.

They just needed the perfect situation to truly expose them.

"That seems like a high concentration of radiation in Midtown Manhattan," Greg mentioned to his boss, as they looked at the map of New York City.

"Yes…if I had to guess, I am willing to bet the next anomaly may appear in this area and very soon…maybe as soon as tomorrow," Aza said.

"We'll be ready. Midtown Manhattan is the perfect place to truly expose them. Time Square might as well be broadcasting to the entire world," Tamara replied.

"Be ready…this could be big," Aza said.

Shaw sat at his desk and Alivia entered his office, having been summoned from Castle.

"Thank you for coming, Agent Becker," he said.

"Of course, Sir…I assume we are putting together a task force to track this rogue agent?" she asked.

"Yes…but I believe we already know who he is and drawing him out won't be easy," Shaw said.

"Who is he?" Alivia asked.

"That's not important for now. What is important is finding out the secret to these objects," Shaw said, as he pulled a painting out and it swung out, revealing a safe in the wall. Shaw opened it and she peered inside.

"What exactly are these objects?" she asked.

"Just a few artifacts we recovered at the site of the explosion three years ago. It's imperative we find out what they do and if they hold any power," Shaw replied.

"Why not just ask our assets?" she questioned.

"They must not know we have anything from their town. I suspect they're already searching for a way out and we're not done with them. If they can harness magic…then we

want to be the ones in control of the ones with such power," he said.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"I believe Mr. Gold suspects that we have the story book that details all their history, but it was never recovered," Shaw replied.

"Then how do we know it survived and how do we know so much about them without it?" Alivia questioned. She had heard them talk about Henry's book and always assumed the NSA had it.

"We have a source from years ago. We suspected the existence of the town for almost thirty years, but could never find it or gain access. That source has been persuaded finally to loosen their tongue," he said, pausing for a moment.

"She told us about a certain collection of books at the largest library in the city and I want you to investigate," he said, as he handed her a piece of paper with the exact

location.

"I'll go right away," Alivia said, as she left. Shaw stared at the objects in his safe and then closed it. He hoped to soon know what power they held.