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The confused angel looks around the junk shop he suddenly finds himself in. He looks over at the man and in a deep voice asks, “Why have you summoned me here?” A summoning spell is the only explanation why he was in the 1967 Impala one minute and junk shop the next.“Because,” began the man, the British sounding accent adding to the smooth confidence of his voice, “you have the ingredient I need to complete my spell, the only one I can’t find here in Storybrooke.” With a wave of his hand, he manages to force the angel into a chair and bind his hands and feet. “Don’t bother struggling, Deary, these ropes are enchanted so that no magical being can escape.” The man leans over the angel, removing the blade from inside his trench coat. “And don’t worry, you won’t remember a thing.” With that, the man slices open the angel’s throat just under his Adam’s apple and the angel’s grace floats out like a brilliant blue light into the waiting container. The man uses his magic to heal the wound, and with another wave of his hand, the angel disappears from the shop.***Dean Winchester rushes into the Men of Letters bunker, clearly panicked and out of breath. He calls for his younger brother Sam, who comes running.“Dean, what’s wrong? Where are the snacks? Where’s Cas?” Sam’s string of questions gave Dean the time to catch his breath. “I don’t know where Cas is, that’s the problem. One minute we were in the car making a snack run, and the next minute he was just…gone.”“How is that possible?” Sam asks, “He still doesn’t have his wings, it’s not like he can just blink out anymore.”“Or like he’d do it mid-sentence either,” Dean agrees, “That’s what’s weird. He was saying something about food and molecules and something about peanut butter, then poof, he was gone.”“Maybe he was recalled to Heaven?” Sam says, half hopeful his friend is alright, half worried he’s now in Heaven’s jail.“That’s what we need to find out,” Dean states. “Let’s go, we’re going to crash Heaven’s gate and find out what the Hell is going on!”When the brothers arrive at the playground that serves as the gate to Heaven, Sam looks over from the passenger’s seat at Dean and suggests that the older Winchester stay put. “You’re a little…um…kill first ask questions later right now, Dean. Plus, most of them hate you. I’d better do the talking.”“Fine,” Dean agrees begrudgingly. He didn’t want to admit Sam was right.As Sam approaches the angels guarding the gate, one of them meets him before he can get too close. “Sam Winchester, I’m afraid you are not welcome here anymore. After the havoc you and Castiel caused by letting Metatron free, we were instructed to keep you away.”“Just hear me out,” Sam implores. “Castiel is the reason we’re here. We just need to know that he’s ok. He did get recalled to Heaven, right?”“I have no knowledge of that,” the angel answers. “Last anyone has heard of Castiel, he was with the Winchesters.”“He was,” Sam explains, “And then, he wasn’t. He just disappeared out of the car while Dean was driving.”“That’s not possible, he doesn’t have his wings.”“Exactly,” Sam agrees, “That’s why we’re here. We just want to find out what happened.”“Let me look into it,” the angel offers, “You can have a seat here.”Sam sits down on the offered park bench and waits for the angel to return.The angel approaches Sam, a grim look on her face, “I’m afraid it’s not good news. Castiel is not in Heaven, and no one can sense his location. It’s as if he’s hidden from us.”“His cell phone is too,” Sam adds, “Calls go straight to voicemail, and the GPS is a total blank.”“If someone can hide an Angel of the Lord from the Hosts of Heaven and the Winchesters, then that cannot be a good thing. Sam,” the angel implores, “You and your brother have to find him. You two are probably the only ones who can.”***Castiel awakens on a bus station bench and sees a red leather jacket and long blonde hair standing over him. “You can’t sleep here, Buddy,” blonde hair says to him as his blue eyes blink into consciousness.“I-I’m sorry. I have no idea how I got here,” he replies, clearly confused.“That’s the question of the hour,” the woman continues. “Nobody should be coming into this town,” she says basically under her breath. Looking back down at the loiterer, she says, “I’m Emma Swann, sheriff of Storybrooke. And you are?”“I’m Castiel and I am…” he stopped before he said “Angel of the Lord,” because as he rubbed his aching head and felt his stomach churning, he realized he was human…again. “Lost,” was how he chose to finish the sentence.“Well, Castiel, let’s head over to the Sheriff’s Station and see if we can get you unlost,” Emma offers him a hand to help him up and they get into her yellow Bug.
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They arrive at the sheriff’s station and Emma tells Castiel to have a seat. “Just wait there for a minute. I have to go in there and make a phone call.” Emma goes into her office and closes the door. As he sits and waits, Castiel pulls out his own cell phone and tries to call both Sam and Dean to no avail. Disheartened, he sits there staring at the phone.In her office, Emma waits impatiently for Regina Mills to answer her call. “Come on Regina. Pick up. We have a situation here.”Regina finally answers the phone, “Emma? What’s going on? I have 3 missed calls from you. I’m trying to enjoy my morning coffee.”“Yeah, well, you may want to enjoy something stronger. There’s a stranger in town,” Emma states.Regina almost does a spit take all over her phone. “What? That’s not possible. The spell we cast is supposed to keep regular people out, and magical-or magical adjacent-people in.”“You think I don’t know that?” Emma asks. “That’s why I called. Can you please just come to the Sheriff’s Station right away?”In a puff of purple smoke, Regina appears in Emma’s office. Emma gives her a “deer in the headlights” look. “What?” Regina says, “You said to get here right away.”“Yeah, but I meant to walk or drive over. What if the stranger sees you?” Emma asked.“Oh, Emma, relax. Look at him, he’s too busy staring at his cell phone.” Regina looks the stranger over again. “At least he’s easy on the eyes. Well, let’s go talk to him.”The women approach the stranger and Emma makes introductions. “This is Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke. And this is Castiel, who has no idea how he got here.”“Castiel? Is that a first name or a last name?” Regina asks, “Or is it like Madonna or Cher?”“I don’t understand those references,” Castiel almost groans as he cradles his aching head in his hands.“Well, this is getting us nowhere,” Regina states. Suddenly, she holds her hands up and a white light glows from them. She waves them around Castiel as if she were doing a magical exam of his aura. “OK, now I know how you are able to be in this town. You’re magical…or were magical anyway.”“You’re right,” Castiel agrees. “I was an Angel of the Lord. But it appears my grace has disappeared…or been stolen.”“Your grace? What is that?” Regina inquires regally.“It’s like…my angel…mojo,” Castiel replies, smiling a bit using Dean’s word for it.“And you don’t remember how you got here?” Emma asks.“No. One minute I was in my friend’s car, and the next you were standing over me telling me not to sleep,” Castiel answers, and then asks, “May I use your cell phone? I’d like to call my friends and see if they can come get me, and my phone seems to not be working.”Emma hands him her phone and he punches a series of numbers. He ends the call and enters another number. He does this multiple times before handing the phone back to Emma. “Your phone doesn’t appear to be working either.”“That’s impossible. I just called Regina with this phone. Let me see your phone.” Emma grabs Castiel’s phone and calls her own phone with it. The call connects. Emma looks over to Regina, “So apparently our spell isn’t just keeping us in and others out, but it’s also keeping us from communicating outside of Storybrooke. Interesting side effect. I guess we never noticed before because we only ever call people who live here.”“Well, then, can you please just undo the spell so I can contact my friends and they can help me find my grace?” Castiel practically pleads with the women.Emma and Regina exchange a glance and Emma finally speaks up, “Well…you see…it’s not that easy. When Regina and I cast this protection spell over the town, we made it to be unbreakable. Bad things tend to happen when people from out there get in here.”Regina adds, “And when the former Evil Queen and the Savior put their magic together, it’s pretty much unstoppable.”“Former Evil Queen and Savior?” Castiel asks incredulously. “What land did I end up in?” With that, he drops his head onto the desk in frustration, among other emotions he hadn’t felt since last time he was human.***Back at the Men of Letters bunker, Sam and Dean sit at the conference table, which is covered in papers, books, reels of audio and video tapes, and lots of leftover take out. Sam sighs, “I don’t even know where to begin looking for an angel that’s fallen off of everyone’s radar. How is that even possible?”Dean shoves everything that’s in front of him off the table. “Son of bitch! There’s not even anything here about missing angels. This can’t be happening. How the hell can Cas just disappear like that?”***At his home in Storybrooke, Mr. Gold is speaking to his wife Belle, who is still under a sleeping curse. “I’ve finally found a way to cleave myself from this cursed dagger. Maybe then I can be the man you’ve always wanted me to be. I only need two more ingredients to make the spell work. Blood from a former Dark One, and blood from a member of my bloodline. Luckily, both of those things happen to be here. But there’s no way Ms. Swan or Henry would willingly give me some of their blood.”***Emma takes Castiel to Granny’s diner. “Whether we figure out how to get you home or not, you still need to eat,” she told him logically.Granny herself comes over to take their orders, “Well, Sheriff, I know you’ll have a grilled cheese. And your guest?” She asks, eyeballing the stranger suspiciously.“Can I please have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Grape jelly, please,” Castiel asks, his charismatic smile masking the ache in his head.“Don’t get a lot of orders for PB&J,” Granny replies, “But I’ll see what I can do,” she smiles at him this time.“Peanut butter and jelly, huh?” Emma asks, amused.“It was my favorite thing to eat last time I was human,” Castiel explains, then grabs his head as another wave of pain engulfs him.Emma tosses a bottle of aspirin at him. “Here, take these…although you may want to wait until you eat something first.”Despite the pain in his head, Castiel manages to take a look around the diner. He notices a teenage boy and girl in a booth in the corner. Seeing where he’s looking, Emma says casually, “That’s my son, Henry and his…friend, Violet.” Emma was still unable to admit that her son had a girlfriend.“They’re on a computer,” Castiel observes. “The internet, is it working? Can the internet get outside of the magical barrier?”“Good question.” Emma gets up abruptly and heads over to Henry’s table. “Hey, kid, what are you guys doing over here?”“Hi, Mom. We’re just hanging out.” Henry replies, a little sheepishly, wondering if he’s in trouble for not being home doing his homework.“I can see that,” Emma answers. “I mean, what are you doing on the computer?”Confused, Henry answers, “Just watching a movie.”“Downloaded or streaming?” Emma asks.“Streaming. Mom, what’s with all the questions? You’re freaking me out a little bit.”“Sorry, Henry.” Emma apologizes. “You see that man over there in the trench coat? He just showed up here in town, despite the spell me and Regina cast. And it turns out; phone calls to people outside of Storybrooke don’t connect. I’ve gotta find a way for that man to contact his friends so he can get home.”“Oh!” Henry exclaims. “The internet works. I email my friends in New York all the time.”“Great. Can I borrow this?” Emma grabs Henry’s laptop before he can answer.When Emma returns to the table, their food has arrived. She puts the laptop down in front of Castiel, almost smooshing his sandwich. “Email works. You can email your friends. Although, I don’t know how that will help. They still can’t get in…and you still can’t get out.”“If I can reach my friends, they may be able to find a way around or through your spell. You see, they reside in a bunker filled with all sorts of books on magic, magical, objects, almost anything that defies explanation. The Men of Letters catalogued anything and everything that was mysterious to mankind. They may even have something on this little town of yours.” Castiel explains, and then he opens the laptop and starts typing. “Thank you for this.”“You’re welcome. I just hope it works.”***“Dean!” Sam calls his brother excitedly. “Dean!!! Get in here! I just got an email from Cas!”Dean runs into the conference room, where Sam had been tirelessly working all night, even after Dean’s hissy fit. “What? You got an email from Cas? Is he ok?”“Well, yes and no,” Sam starts.“Yes and no? What the hell does that mean?” Dean asks impatiently.“Well, he’s alive and in some town in Maine called Storybrooke. But, he’s lost his grace and this town is under some kind of protection spell that keeps people who have magic in and people without magic out. And it’s not on any map of Maine anywhere, but that’s probably part of the spell,” Sam explains. “I’ve just started looking to see if the Men of Letters have anything on this town.”“Good, you keep looking. And email Cas back and see if you can get coordinates,” Dean practically barks the order.“What are you going to do?” Sam asks.“I’m going to Maine. Call me when you get something.” And with that, Dean walks out the door.
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Castiel sits at Emma’s dining room table, eating yet another peanut butter and jelly sandwich, when suddenly the laptop that has not left his side since Emma leant it to him suddenly dings. He jumps, startled at the noise. Emma laughs from the kitchen. “You’ve got an email alert,” she informs him.“Oh,” he replies sheepishly. He should have known that. Email and technology are not foreign concepts to him. He opens the device, eagerly reading Sam’s email. “What are the town’s coordinates?” he asks suddenly.Emma expertly rattles off a series of numbers. Her time as a bail bondsperson had given her lots of experience with such things. “Why do you ask?”“Sam emailed me back. Apparently Dean is on his way here, but he needs to know where ‘here’ is. Did you know Storybrooke isn’t on any map of Maine?” Castiel replies.“That’s part of the magic,” Emma explains. “So, Sam and Dean…those are your friends? What are they, in a boy band or something?”Castiel’s eyebrows knit together momentarily as he’s confused by the reference. Ignoring it, he simply says, “They’re hunters.”It was Emma’s turn to be confused. “Hunters? Then why do they have access to a huge stockpile of magic?”“They’re legacies,” Cas begins, then realizes he’s not being clear. Obviously, no one in Storybrooke knows who the Winchesters are. “They hunt…things. Like demons and vampires. Their grandfather was a Man of Letters until a demon wiped out the order in 1959. Sam and Dean only found out about it a couple of years ago, even though they’ve been hunting their whole lives.”“Uh oh,” Emma says as she sits down at the table across from Cas. “If they were wiped out in 1959, then they won’t have any records of Storybrooke. It didn’t exist until 1982.”“That could be a problem.” Castiel states obviously.Henry comes home, surprised to see that the stranger from the diner is at the table with his mom. “What’s going on?”“I guess I should have introduced you earlier. Henry, this is Castiel. He is…or was…an Angel of the Lord. Somehow, he ended up here without his ‘angel mojo’,” Emma explained, still trying to wrap her head around the situation. It was unusual, even for Storybrooke. “Assuming someone actually attacked him and took it, and there’s only one person in town that could or would do such a thing…”“My grandfather,” Henry interrupted.“Exactly. I couldn’t just leave him at Granny’s defenseless with no magic in case Gold decided to come back and finish the job, so he’s staying here until we figure this out,” Emma finished.“Mom, does Killian know about this?” Henry asks apprehensively.“No, not yet. But I’m sure he’ll understand,” Emma answers.“Yeah, right. I’m sure Killian will totally understand his live in girlfriend letting a handsome stranger stay indefinitely,” Henry replies, a tad sassily.“He will understand the Sheriff of Storybrooke protecting an innocent person from the Dark One.” Emma insisted.“The Dark One?” Castiel interrupts. “Is that like, a demon or something? Because if so, when Dean gets here, he can take care of it.” He realized he was starting to babble, but he was starting to get freaked out. An emotion he definitely was not comfortable with.“Um, it’s kind of hard to explain,” Emma answers. “But no, he’s not a demon. More like a very powerful, very dark wizard.”“And my grandfather,” Henry adds. Emma shoots him a look.Taking control of the situation, Emma speaks up, maybe a little too loudly for the room. “Ok, so the first thing we need to do is figure out what Rumpstiltskin is up to. And where he is. No one has seen him since we returned to Storybrooke. Hey, kid,” she turns to look at Henry, “Can you use that magical quill and ink of yours to figure out what the Dark One has been doing?”“I can try. But it might be easier if I just wrote it so that Castiel got his mojo back and got to go home,” Henry replies.“You know you can’t change the story. Only observe.” Emma chides him.“I know, I know.” Henry grabs a snack and heads up to his room.Sam calls Dean and gives him the coordinates that Castiel was able to email too him. “And, according to Cas, Storybrooke didn’t even exist until 1982, so there’s no way the Men of Letters will have any information on it.”“Son of bitch!” Dean practically yells into the phone. “How the hell are we supposed to find a magical town with a magical barrier when our magical forefathers have no information on it?”“I don’t know Dean. I’ll keep digging, and see if Cas can get us any more information.”***The next day, Emma brings Castiel to Regina’s office. “I’m pretty sure I have a good idea who is behind this,” Emma states as she walks in.“Rumpstiltskin,” Regina replies. Emma nods. “He’s the only one who could pull this off,” Regina continues. “The question is, why?”“I’m hoping Henry’s magic quill will be able to answer that question for us.” Emma says.“Who is Rumplestiltskin?” Castiel asks. “You keep saying that name. I thought it was the Dark One who stole my grace.”“Rumplestiltskin IS the Dark One,” Regina explains. “In this realm he uses the name Mr. Gold, but back in the Enchanted Forrest, everyone knew him as Rumplestiltskin.”“The Enchanted Forrest? Is that where you’re from? Where your magic comes from?” Castiel asks as he sets the laptop down on Regina’s desk and starts to hurriedly type an email to Sam. “Surely that’s been around longer than 1982. Maybe the Men of Letters have something about that…and the Dark One.”Regina gives Emma a quizzical look. “Men of Letters?”“Um, yeah. His friends. Apparently, their grandfather was part of this group that collected all things magical. Yeah, I don’t get it either,” Emma adds that last sentence in response to Regina’s raised eyebrow.Henry suddenly bursts through the door of the Mayor’s office. “Mom! Mom!” he shouts, addressing both Emma and Regina. “I found out what Grandpa is up too.” He excitedly waves story book pages in the air. Henry lays the pages out over Regina’s desk and the women look over them intently. Written on the pages was Rumple’s plan.Emma looks up at Regina. “He needs my blood. And Henry’s.”“He’s not going to get it,” Regina replies with determination.“Too bad Belle is still asleep,” Henry points out, “She’s the only one who could talk to him. Make sure he didn’t hurt anyone.”“Yeah, and that only worked about half the time,” Regina said sarcastically.“Well, we don’t even know where Gold is keeping Belle,” Emma states. “And even if we did, her father isn’t exactly keen on the idea of waking her up.”“Who is Belle and why can she help us? And why is she asleep?” Castiel asks. He really doesn’t understand this town he was dropped into.Regina and Emma exchange a look. “Do you want to take this, or should I?” Regina asks.Emma sits down next to Castiel and tries to explain. “Belle is Mr. Gold’s wife. She put herself under a sleeping curse…I won’t get into why…that can only be broken by true love’s kiss.”“True love is the most powerful magic there is,” Henry explains.“And unfortunately,” Regina adds, “Gold loves power more than he loves his wife.”“And Mo French hates Gold more than he loves his daughter,” Emma finished.“No wonder she put herself under a sleeping curse,” Castiel practically muttered. A light bulb then went off in his head, and he raised his voice, practically going into a rant. “And I suppose her husband and her father are the only ones expected to truly love her? I will never understand the human’s need to categorize and set rules for love. Humans have a capacity to love greater than any angel can ever understand, yet how poorly they understand it. Love is love, whether it comes from lovers, family, or friends. Doesn’t this Belle have a best friend who truly loves her? Surely they can break this curse!” Castiel stopped, his rant had taken more breath than he was expecting. He kept forgetting humans need oxygen. As he sat there panting, trying to catch his breath, he thought about his friends, the Winchesters. They had a word for love. Family. “Family don’t end with blood,” is what Dean would always say. Castiel knew he was part of that love. And he was more sure than ever, if true love was the most powerful magic in Storybrooke, then he knew his family could save him.“Ok, calm down Cas,” Emma says, “Can I call you Cas?” The former angel nods slightly. Emma continues. “So, we need to figure out who Belle’s best friend is, then figure out where Belle is, and hope her friend loves her enough to wake her….So who IS Belle’s best friend?” Emma stopped, dismayed as she realized she didn’t know the sweet librarian very well at all.“It’s Leroy,” Henry answers with confidence.“You mean Grumpy?” Regina asks incredulously. “Belle is best friends with a dwarf?”“Yeah. Ever since they met in the Enchanted Forest. No matter what they were going through, they always encouraged each other to find themselves. And Leroy was the one who gave Gold the potion to turn Belle back into Belle after you gave her new memories,” Henry looks pointedly at Regina.“What? I was evil then. I’m not anymore. Belle and I have made up…mostly.” Regina continues, starting to formulate a plan. “Well, clearly you and Henry can’t go traipsing around looking for the Dark One and Sleeping Belle. If he were to get your blood, he’d be able to cast his spell and we’d never get the angel’s grace back. So you guys go talk to Grumpy and see if he’s willing to help. I’ll see what I can do from here, magically, to try to find her.” Regina then turns her gaze to Castiel. “You should always stay with either Emma or me. There’s no telling what the Dark One might do if he realizes he left a loose end in Storybrooke. And with no magic of your own at the moment, you need protection.”Emma nods in agreement. “You can come with us for now and try to find Belle’s best friend.” She turns to Regina. “If you do find him, do not go after him alone. He might be expecting you and be waiting with who knows what kind of magic. He’s crazy right now…well, crazier anyway.”“No, I’m not leading you into the lion’s den. You absolutely cannot go with me Emma,” Regina states.Henry speaks up. “But Mom, Mom won’t have to face Mr. Gold alone.” He shows them more pages from the story book, a looks over at Castiel, who is staring at a picture of something that looks remarkably like a man leaning on a 1967 Impala. “Is that your friend?” Henry asks.“That’s Dean,” Castiel confirms. “But how?” He can’t even finish that sentence.“Magic,” the three Storybrooke residents reply in unison.***Just outside of Storybrooke’s town line, Dean leans against his car, staring at the GPS coordinates on his phone. Confirming that they are the same coordinates Sam gave him, he sighs heavily and makes a phone call. “Sam, I’m here, but there’s nothing here. No town, no nothing. Just woods and more woods.”
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“Son of a bitch!” Dean barks into his phone after telling Sam what he found at the coordinates Castiel gave them.“Calm down, Dean. It’s probably just the protection spell. I just got another email from Cas, so maybe we can figure out a way around it.”“So what did he say?” Dean asks impatiently.“I don’t know yet. I was about to open it when you called.” Sam explained. “I’ll call you back.” He abruptly hangs up on his brother as he reads the email.Dean paces around his car, kicking the tires out of frustration. His eyes go wide with shock at what he’s done. “Oh, Baby, I’m so sorry. I’m just worried. I didn’t mean to take it out on you,” his apology to his car was truly heartfelt. His phone rings a moment later. “Tell me you’ve got something, Sam.”“Well, maybe. Apparently the town of Storybrooke was created with magic from the Enchanted Forest. The Men of Letters actually have a few books on it. It’s one of the Fairy Realms. Supposedly, the Enchanted Forest is where most of the fairytales that we know actually live. Or lived, as the case may be. According to the books, there was a prophecy that a powerful witch would cast a curse that would send the population of the Enchanted Forest to a land without magic. Here, apparently. Guess the prophets in the Enchanted Forest didn’t really know much about this land.” Sam chuckles with very little humor.“Is there a point to this, Sammy?” Dean asks, his frustration only growing.“Well, yeah, maybe. According to the email, the most powerful magic in Storybrooke is true love. The information the Men of Letters have on the Enchanted Forest say the same thing. Basically, and act of true love can break any curse,” Sam explains.“What does that mean?” Dean asks. “So, do I have to kiss some princess or something to get into this town? Or kiss Cas to get him out? That would be a sacrifice I’d be willing to make if only I could FIND HIM!”Sam chuckles again. “No. An act of true love is usually a kiss, but it can be anything. There are lots of types of love, and according to this, basically an ‘honest expression of pure love will defeat any spell and break any curse’.”***Emma looks at Henry after he reveals the new story book pages. “So I should just let Regina face the extra crazy Dark One with a powered down angel and a man from a land without magic?”Castiel snorts. “You think out there is a land without magic?”Before anyone can respond, Henry speaks up again. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. Castiel’s friend DOES have magic.”“What are you talking about?” Castiel asks. “Dean doesn’t have magic. A GED and a give-em-hell attitude, yes. But magic, not so much.”“Not according to this.” Henry reads, “When the hunter with a righteous soul and a resilient heart…”Castiel interrupts. “Well, Dean’s heart IS resilient. He’s been dead…” his eyebrows knit together over his blue eyes as he counts, “Well, he’s been dead more times than I can count, so yeah, his heart is resilient.”“I don’t think that’s what he means,” Emma starts.“Yeah,” Regina jumps in, “That’s just a normal Sunday around here.”Henry clears his throat and levels the adults with a glower he clearly learned from Regina. “As I was saying…When the hunter with a righteous soul and a resilient heart enters the realm where true love is the strongest magic, all of the love and loyalty he feels for those he calls ‘family’ will create a strong magic inside of him. A power nearly equal to the Savior’s.”All three adults look at Henry a little dumbfounded. Regina is the first to recover. “I think I know how we’re going to get your friend into Storybrooke,” she says with a smile. “But you will have to put your search for Belle on hold.”“How?” Castiel asks impatiently.“First, you need to find out if he’s made it to the town line,” Regina states. The angel looks at the mayor confused. “Check your email. Didn’t you hear it ding about five minutes ago?”“Oh.” Castiel opens the laptop. He can’t believe he missed the alert again. “Dean is at the coordinates I gave to Sam. But he says there’s nothing there.”“That’s the protection spell,” Emma explains, “it makes the town invisible to strangers.”“But you’re going to make it visible,” Regina explains, “with Emma’s help.”“How can I help?” Emma asks.“Really, do I have to do all the heavy lifting around here?” Regina asks with classic snark. “Think about it. You’re the Savior, the product of true love. And, apparently, true love is the trigger for his friend to discover his magic. So, you’re going to take Mr. Angel here to the town line and focus his ‘friend love’ on the barrier. Meanwhile,” this time she looks at Castiel, “You need to make sure your guy is focusing his energy on the town line as well. If I’m right, it should open up the protection spell long enough to get him inside. And I’m usually right.”“Mom, you’re a genius,” Henry says to Regina with pride.“OK, but once he gets in, how are they going to get out?” Emma asks.“Do I have to think of everything? One problem at a time.” Regina answers.“Actually,” Castiel interrupts, “Once I have my grace back, I can get us out. Angels can cross through many magical barriers, as long as they aren’t protected against us. How do you think I was able to be pulled here in the first place?”***Sam called Dean after getting another email from Castiel explaining the plan that the former Evil Queen had come up with. Even though Dean was skeptical, Sam convinced him that if Cas thought it could work, then it probably would. Dean didn’t know exactly how he was supposed to channel his “love and loyalty” towards empty air, but he knew he had to try. “This is crazy,” he said to himself as he held out his hands in front of him and thought about everyone he had ever let into his family, and then focused completely on Castiel before he lost him too. Suddenly, the air in front of him seemed change, almost as if it was shimmering. Before he knew it, he was staring at a quaint town. And there at the town line stood his favorite angel and a pretty blonde woman with her arms held like a reflection of his own. He looks from Castiel, to Emma, to her yellow Bug. “Nice wheels,” is all he can think of to say.Emma observes his black Impala, “Back at ya.”Dean crosses the town line and engulfs Castiel in a big bear hug. “Dude, I’m glad you’re not dead.”Emma clears her throat. “I hate to break up the bromance, but you might want to bring your car into town before the barrier closes. You don’t want to leave a classic like that in the middle of a deserted highway.”“Good call.” Dean goes back to his car and brings Baby into the small town. Emma shows him where to park and introductions are finally made.***The trio walks down Storybrooke’s main street while Castiel and Emma try to fill Dean in on, well, everything.“So, we have to find this Dark-whatever, somehow convince him to give Cas his mojo back AND find out where he’s stashed his wife so that some dwarf can wake her up from a sleeping curse? Is that right?” Dean says, not entirely believing the words coming out of his mouth. “This is weird even for me. And two days ago I exorcised a demon from a vampire before beheading it.”“That pretty much sums it up,” Emma confirms. “We just have to see if Regina was able to figure out where Gold is hiding these days.”“That sounds great and all,” Dean begins, “But can we get some food first. I’m starving. I drove straight here from Kansas with no breaks except for gas.”Castiel looks at him with astonishment. No road food? No diner stops? Dean must have been worried.“Yeah,” Emma replies, “I know a great place to eat. How do you feel about diner food?”“It’s my favorite!” Dean replies excitedly.When the trio goes into Granny’s Diner, they sit at the same booth that Emma and Cas sat at when he first came to town. Castiel sat next to the wall, with Emma next to him and Dean across from him.Granny comes over to take their order. “I really need to hire another waitress. It’s been Hell since Ruby left.” She looks at Castiel, “Peanut butter and grape jelly.” Then to Emma, “Grilled cheese.” And finally to Dean, “What can I get for you, hot stuff?”“Granny!” Emma chides her.“What? I might be old, but I’m not dead,” she replies as she waits for Dean to order.“Bacon cheeseburger, extra everything. And chili cheese fries,” Dean orders.Granny gives Dean a once over. “You sure can eat for being such a slender thing.” She smiles at the table and goes to fill their orders.Dean gets serious for a moment as he looks across the table at Emma. “Look, I just want to thank you for taking care of Cas while he’s here.”“How could I not?” Emma asks. “Look at him. He’s kind of like a baby in a trench coat.”Dean starts to defend Castiel when Castiel merely chuckles and says, “I like her. She’s like you with boobs.”
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After the heroes finish their meal at Granny’s, the three of them head back to Regina’s office to see what progress has been made. When they arrive, Henry is already waiting with Leroy in tow to wake Belle, and Regina has a triumphant look on her face.“You look like the cat that swallowed the canary, Regina. You must have something,” Emma said as greeting when she walks in.“Oh, I have more than something. I have a plan,” Regina says triumphantly. “I don’t know what you did at the town line, but apparently it knocked out whatever protection spell Gold was using, so we know where he is and where he’s keeping Belle.” She looks around her office, finally noticing the new person in the room. “You must be the friend,” Regina says by way of introduction, since no one else had.“Um, yeah, Dean Winchester,” Dean extends his hand towards the mayor and she takes it in a firm handshake.“Regina Mills,” she replies. As they shake hands, it’s as if a strong static shock radiates between them and they pull their hands away from each other with a start. “Well, I guess Henry is right. You do have magic. And it’s pretty potent judging by that jolt.”“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Dean says in disbelief. “That wasn’t magic…was it?”“Dean doesn’t believe things he can’t see with his own eyes…despite all the incredible things he’s already seen,” Castiel tries to explain his friend’s disbelief.“That sounds familiar,” Henry states, giving Emma a pointed look.“Well, you saw it, and you better start believing it, because we’re going to need your magic to defeat Gold,” Regina says.“So what’s the plan?” Emma asks eagerly. She hated being idle. She was ready to take action.“Well,” Regina begins, “You and Henry need to stay as far away from the Dark One as possible. You two should take Leroy to Gold’s cabin. That’s where he’s keeping Belle.”“And he must’ve had one heck of a protection spell on it, because me and the boys looked for her there a couple of days ago,” Leroy interjects.“Meanwhile, once I help the non-believer over here to get at least some control over his magic, we’re going to go to Gold’s shop and…” Regina starts before she’s interrupted again.“Kick some ass!” Dean interrupts this time. He too was ready to take some action.“I wouldn’t have put it so…crudely,” Regina states regally. She then returns her focus to Emma, who is really the only one in the room she was talking too. “Once you get Belle up and around, send her to the shop. If she can’t talk some sense into Gold, then at least she can distract him so we can get the angel and his friend back to where ever they came from.”“Kansas. We came from Kansas,” Castiel says matter-of-factly.“Of course,” Regina responds with an eye roll.Emma, Henry, and Leroy left Regina’s office to handle Operation: Save Belle. This left Regina alone with the two newcomers.Looking over at Dean, Regina announces, “Alright, tough guy, time for you to use your magic,” And with that, she poofs the two of them out, leaving Castiel alone in the office.“I guess I’ll just wait here,” he says to the empty room.***Dean looks around confused as he and Regina are suddenly in the woods. “What the hell? Where are we? Where’s Cas? How did we get here?”“It’s called magic,” Regina replies. “We’re in the woods to practice it, remember? And Castiel is safe. There’s a protection spell around my office that no one can break. And two more heroes standing watch. Don’t worry so much, you’ll get wrinkles.”An hour later, Regina had been unsuccessfully trying to teach Dean how to produce a fire ball…or at least replicate the spark from her office quite unsuccessfully. She sighed heavily, “This is not working.”“Maybe you were wrong. I don’t have magic,” Dean replied sullenly.“I am not wrong,” Regina responded forcefully. “I’ve been practicing magic for a VERY long time. I know it when I feel it. Besides, how else would you explain what happened at the town line?”“What you felt when we shook hands was static electricity, that’s all.” Dean tries to explain this logically. “As for the town line…that was Emma. She has magic, right?”“Yes, she does. But it’s not powerful enough to get through a spell she and I cast to be unbreakable. It takes a very special kind of magic to do that,” Regina also tried logic. “Now, think, what was going through your mind when you punched through the protection spell? What were you feeling?” “I don’t know. I was just thinking about saving Cas.”“Exactly. Your power is tied to your emotions. Find those emotions again and control them, and you control your power.”“Fine.” Dean tried to do as Regina said, but still nothing was happening.“We don’t have time to keep messing around like this.” Regina said, almost to herself. Then she had an idea.Suddenly, there was Castiel in the woods with them; he had arrived in a purple cloud of Regina’s magic. Only, he was tied to a tree. And he had a firing squad aiming at him…the same one Regina faced all those years ago in the Enchanted Forest.“Whoa? What’s going on?” Dean asked, panicked. He wanted to rush over to the angel, but found his feet pinned to the ground.“You have to save him,” Regina said matter-of-factly.“But, I can’t move.”“Well, you better figure something out before I give the command to fire.”“But, you wouldn’t. You can’t. Aren’t you supposed to be one of the good guys?” Dean asks, his voice starting to get more panic stricken the more he tries to move, but can’t.“Yes,” Regina responds, “But I wasn’t always. Back in the Enchanted Forest, I was known as the Evil Queen. Who do you think created this quaint little town?” She punctuated her statement with her best Evil Queen laugh.“You’re the one who cursed everyone here?” Dean started to realize that maybe there was more than one bad guy in this story. He knew he had to do something; without his grace, Castiel was a sitting duck.Regina started to give the command to the firing squad. She tried not to smile at herself, because the firing squad was merely and illusion. But Dean didn’t need to know that. “Ready….Aim…..”Before she could say, “Fire,” Dean lifted his hands towards Cas in a gesture similar to what he did at the town line. Suddenly, Castiel was free of his binds and dropped to the ground. Dean found that he could move again, and ran over to make sure his friend was alright.“See, I told you that you have magic. You just needed the right motivation to use it,” Regina said, almost smugly. “And don’t worry; I wasn’t going to hurt your friend. The archers were an illusion.” With that, she waved her hand and the firing squad disappeared. “But that’s the kind of power you are going to have to channel, because the Dark One, he WILL kill your friend. So, hold on to that feeling, because we’re about to go in. Emma just texted, they saved Belle, and we can’t let her face Gold alone.”***When Regina, Dean, and Castiel arrive at Mr. Gold’s Pawn Shop, Belle is already waiting for them. Regina takes one look at Belle and decides that she might be better used as leverage than as a buffer…besides, that would be safer for Belle anyway, she reasons. “Alright, new plan. Belle, you’re not going in there. It could be dangerous. Besides, it might be better to use you as leverage. Mr. Gold can’t turn down a good deal.”“So, what is your new plan?” Belle asks skeptically.“The plan is, you get somewhere safe. Go to Emma’s. I’m going to offer Gold a deal. I’m going to tell him that we figured out how to wake you up from your sleeping curse without your father’s help, and that if he wants us to wake you; he needs to return what he took from Castiel.” Regina explains.“That’s a good plan. Except for one thing,” Belle says. “I’m not going all the way to Emma’s. I’ll be right down the block at Granny’s so I can be nearby in case you need me.”“Ok, fine,” Regina agrees. Although she doesn’t think the librarian can be much help in what is sure to be a dangerous magical battle.Dean looks at Castiel. “You should go to Granny’s too. Without your mojo, you don’t have any way to defend yourself.”“Don’t be ridiculous, Dean. I can still fight,” Castiel argues.“Not magically you can’t,” Dean says, his tone indicating the discussion is over.Belle looks over at the angel, “Castiel, is it? They’re right, we should go. We don’t have any magic, so what good could we possibly be to them?” As she says this she rolls her eyes, indicating that she agrees with him that the others are being ridiculous. As they start to walk away from the pawn shop, Belle turns back to Cas, “Don’t worry, we’re not going to leave them alone. Magic isn’t the only thing that can work against Rumplestiltskin. I’m sure we can come up with something.”Once they believe Belle and Castiel to be safe, Regina goes over their plan. “So, I’m going to go in first and try to make a deal with the Dark One. If it works, great. If not, then you come in. We need to get his dagger if we have any hopes of defeating him.”“Dagger? What dagger?” Dean asks.“The magic of the Dark One is tied to a dagger so that it doesn’t get out of control. That dagger can control, or even kill the Dark One. He’s actually been trying to untether himself from it forever. That’s why he kidnapped Castiel in the first place. Apparently, an angel’s grace is one of the ingredients he needs for his spell,” Regina explains.“So, we just have to get this dagger and stab him with it, and poof, he’s gone?”“Not exactly. Whoever kills the Dark One becomes the new Dark One. So we can’t kill him. But if we get the dagger, at least we can control him,” Regina answers.“So, what does it look like?”“About this long,” Regina holds her hands apart to indicate the length. “It has a wavy blade and his name etched on it. It won’t be easy though. Rumple pretty much keeps that thing glued to him.”“Well, let’s get started then,” Dean says.Regina walks confidently into the pawn shop. “Gold.”“Ah, Regina, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Gold responds, acid almost dripping from his words.“I have a deal to make with you,” She starts to say.“And what could I possibly want from you?”“I know how to wake Belle. Without her father,” Regina says simply.“Oh, I know,” Gold states. He snaps his fingers revealing his prisoners; Belle and Castiel. Belle was lying on an antique sofa, apparently under a sleeping spell again; while Castiel was tied to the same chair the Dark One had him in when he first brought him to Storybrooke. “Imagine my surprise when I saw you and my wife right outside of my shop talking to the angel I thought I had sent away; and some other new comer to town. I suppose you and Ms. Swan found a way around the protection spell after all.” Gold then looks toward the door and opens it with his magic, “You may as well come in and join fun, Deary,” he says to Dean who is looking into the shop in surprise.Dean walks in, ready to fight. His confidence waivers slightly as he sees Castiel bound and gagged. He looks to Regina for guidance.“She can’t help you now, Deary.” Gold says with confidence, thinking he has everyone right where he wants them. “Now, I have a deal to make with you. I’ll let you and your friend leave here alive as long as I get the ingredients I need to cleave myself from this cursed dagger once and for all.” He looks towards Regina. “Call Ms. Swan and have her bring Henry here. Once I get their blood, I’ll release the fallen angel and you three can be on your way.”“What about Belle?” Regina asks, hoping to stall as she tries to come up with a new plan.“Oh, this is just some poppy dust. Once it wears off, she’ll be fine, and my family will be complete.”“And what if we don’t take your deal?” Dean asks boldly.“Well, then,” Mr. Gold holds his dagger tightly against Castiel’s neck. “Dead angels don’t need their grace.”It’s a stalemate. Neither side is willing to give in to the other. Mr. Gold holds the blade tighter against Castiel’s neck, causing a small trickle of blood to form. Dean starts to crumble. Regina gives him a stern look, “Dean, you know what to do.” She tells him firmly.“That’s right, Dean,” Gold says, letting the name play in his mouth for a moment. “You know what to do. Give me what I want and your angel gets to live.”Dean’s green eyes flick from Regina, to Gold, to the blood starting to trickle faster down Cas’ neck. Then, he remembers Regina’s lesson in the woods. He takes a breath and holds a hand out in front of him. Suddenly, the Dark One’s dagger is no longer pressed against the angel’s neck. It is now in Dean’s outstretched hand. His eyes grow wide as he looks to Regina. “I did it! I got the dagger.”“Yes, you did. Now use it,” Regina says. “You now have control of the Dark One.”“Oh yeah,” Dean says, quickly regaining his composure. He holds the knife out and says, “Dark One, you will let my friend go. You will return what you took from him. And you will release Belle.”Rumplestiltskin looks from Regina to Dean. “How did you do that? No one from that world has that kind of power.”“You’d be surprised what you can do when your main motivation in life is love and not power,” Regina says smugly. “Now, I believe you were just given an order.” Regina looks over at Dean who is still holding the dagger in front of him. She’s hoping it’s the real one and not a replica like Rumplestiltskin has used in the past.As much as he was trying to fight it, because he could not fathom taking orders from this stranger, the Dark One could not fight the control of the dagger for very long. He did what he was asked, and the heroes left the shop.Dean still had a death grip on the dagger even after they were a block away from the Dark One. “Do you just intend to keep carrying that thing around like that?” Regina asked.Dean looked down at his hands. “Oh. Yeah. This. I could take it with me and lock it up in the Men of Letters bunker.”“Dean, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the repowered angel says to him. “If we keep that in the bunker, then there will be nothing here to control the Dark One.”“Oh yeah, right.” Dean looks to Regina. “What should I do with it?”She gingerly takes the dagger from him. “I can put it in a safe place. And don’t worry; I won’t take advantage of the power.” Regina offers it to Belle. “Do you want to hold onto this? It might help keep Gold away from you, if that’s what you want.”“No, thank you,” Belle says emphatically. “Last time I had that, he still used it to control me. Regina, put it someplace safe. I can trust you.”Regina smiled at Belle. It was nice to have earned the trust of someone she had done some questionable things to while she was the Evil Queen. “Thank you, Belle. That means a lot.” She was starting to think that she could put the Evil Queen behind her once and for all.