The Butcher

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On the way back to town, I drove, and David continued to try and reach Emma on his walkie-talkie.
"Emma," he says. "Can you hear me? Emma, are you okay? Say something!"
He takes his finger off the side of the device to give Emma a chance to respond. Silence.
"Dad...? Can you hear me?" Emma's shaky voice comes through the walkie-talkie.
"Emma!" Hook says and grabs the walkie-talkie out of David's hands. "Say again."
"I'm...in here with this woman," Emma tells us. "She's looking for her sister, Anna. She thinks that Anna is in town because she found a necklace of hers in Gold's shop. She wants us to try and find her before-"
"Before I freeze this town and everyone in it," another voice comes through the walkie-talkie, and we do not hear Emma again.

Back in town, we head to Gold's shop, where Belle and Rumpelstiltskin are sorting items behind the front counter.
"It appears our honeymoon is over," Rumpelstiltskin says. I guess they got married.
"Yeah, there's an emergency," David tells them. "Emma's trapped under ice by a woman with some kind of ice magic."
"And this involves me because?" Rumpelstiltskin sighs.
"You're the bloody Dark One," Hook says. "Do something."
"Well," Rumpelstiltskin says. "I could melt the ice and destroy it with a thought, but that would also destroy your girlfriend. Is that what you want?"
"No one's destroying anyone," David says, putting his arm out to prevent Hook from lunging at Rumpelstiltskin. "Now, the woman who has Emma trapped is in there with her, and she's looking for her sister--name of Anna. She thinks she's in town because of something of hers she found in your shop--a necklace."
"Is that it?" Belle asks, picking up a paper on the counter with an image of a snowflake shaped necklace. Hook grabs it and looks at the image.
"Wait," David says. "I know this. I know exactly who Anna is."
David led us to the butcher shop, a place in Storybrooke I had never been actually. David directed Hook and myself to go in the back door in case the butcher was not helpful. We sneak in, to already see David's plan had gone downhill, because the lady was swinging at him with her butcher knife. Hook grabs the hand with the knife in it and says,
"Don't do it." David pushes her up against the freezer.
"Now," he says. "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," the butcher replies.
"Her name was Anna," says David. "She went by Joan back then."
"Do I look like I keep a record book?" the butcher scoffs. "'Cause I don't."
"Then you know what I need," David tells her. "Ashton, back room. She won't keep it far from her."
I go to the back room and search for the object we need. In the Enchanted Forest, this hostile butcher was Bo Peep. On her daily reigns of terror to poor people's farms, she would brand people with her staff who could not pay their wages to her. Once you were branded, she could always find you. I find the staff hanging behind a cabinet with an assortment of knives on it.
"Hey!" Bo Peep exclaimed when I come back out from the back room, carrying the staff. "That's my personal property. Give it up!"
"Sorry," David says, still holding Bo Peep firmly against the freezer.
"Ah, so, in this world, you're a hero?" She asks David as he backs away from her and towards me to take the staff. David looks her in the eye,
"In this world, I don't have to answer to you," he says, as I hear the walkie-talkie crackling in Hook's hand. "Hook?"
"It's that woman, Elsa," he informs us. "She said Emma's passed out. She's freezing to death."
We get back to the ice wall as quickly as possible. Once there, David takes Bo Peep's staff and runs to the wall, Hook and I following. David presses the walkie-talkie button and says,
"Elsa? Elsa, how's Emma?"
"She's freezing...turning blue," we hear Elsa say frantically over the walkie-talkie.
"No," Hook says. "Emma!" He chops at the ice with his hook.
"It's not gonna help," David stops Hook. He presses the button again. "Elsa...listen to me. I need you to find a way out."
"I need Anna," Elsa says quietly.
"Well, we don't have her right now," says David. "But we have a way to find her, and we will, but right now, you're gonna have to do this on your own."
"I can't control this," she replies.
"I know how you feel," David comforts. "Y-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."
"No, I won't," Elsa says. "I'll survive. But Emma-"
"Survival isn't enough," David continues. "You have to live."
"Where did you hear that?" Elsa's voice sounds stronger.
"You know where," David tells her softly.
"Anna? You knew her?" asks Elsa.
"Yeah," David smiles as if remembering something. "I did. She helped me once, a long time ago, become who I am. She saved my life and yours, and now I need you to save Emma's. I didn't know much about Anna, but...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. Now do it!"
Elsa does not reply, and we wait for something to happen. Then, the ice starts crackling in a circle to our left. We watch as a perfect circle is melted out.
"It's working," Hook says excitedly. "I can see her. Emma!"
As soon as the hole is melted, Elsa and Emma come out. Emma's skin is a shade of blue, and she can not stand on her own.
"Let's get her home," David says. "And warmed up."
Hook hugs Emma tightly,
"Are you okay?" he asks.
Emma nods into his shoulder. Hook picks up Emma and carries her to the truck. David puts his arms around Elsa.
"You did it," David tells Elsa. "You saved her."
"Yes, I did," she says, smiling. The smiling ends. "But I also endangered her. You owe me nothing."
"I owe your sister everything," David says. "And what I said was true. She helped me, and now I'm gonna help you. This isn't over. We're gonna find Anna."

At Mary Margaret and David's apartment, Emma sits in a chair with many blankets wrapped around her and her feet in a bucket of warm water. The power is still out, so we can not do much more than that at the moment.
"Emma, you okay?" David asks.
"She's so cold," Hook says, holding Emma's hand. Suddenly, the power turns back on. Hook gets the electric heater and sets it by Emma.
"Ooh, that's good," she says, and snuggles deeper in her blankets.
"I'll go make some hot cocoa," Henry says.
"Wait," says Emma.
"I know," Henry smiles. "With cinnamon." Emma returns his smile gladly and hugs him tightly.
"I'm sorry if I wasn't much help earlier, kid," Emma apologizes.
"I'm just glad you're okay," Henry assures her. "I'm already down to one mother, and I won't go lower than that."
Emma laughs as Henry goes to the kitchen to get the hot cocoa.
"Elsa, you okay?" Emma asks.
"Not only have I lost my sister, I've lost her necklace, too," Elsa sighs unhappily. "Now I have nothing of hers."
David retrieves Bo Peep's staff and brings it to Elsa.
"Then let's find her," he says, and holds out the staff to Elsa.
Elsa takes the staff and stares into the middle of the crook.
"I don't see anything," she says, disappointed.
"Is it broken?" I ask.
"Or does it mean, something happened to her?" Elsa looks up from staring at the staff worriedly. I hear a soft heartbeat.
"Wait," I say. "What's that sound." Everyone is quiet to try and hear.
"Is that a heartbeat?" asks Elsa.
"It is," David grins. "We might not know where your sister is, but we know the most important thing."
"She's alive," grins Elsa.
"Who's alive?" Mary Margaret asks as she walks into the apartment. She sees Elsa. "Oh. Who are you?"
"Uh, this is Elsa," David introduces her to Mary Margaret. "We're gonna find her sister." He puts his arm around Mary Margaret and continues, "That's what this family does. We find people. We always do, because we really, really don't like to give up."

New update every Sunday.
One coming halfway this week also since it has been a while.

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