Not Until We Are Lost

They had yet to track down the vigilante wannabe. His m.o. was all over the place, but he seemed to feel the need to make sure that his presence was known in the city. She’d asked Nyssa about it, but Nyssa swore that he wasn’t one of her father’s men. Laurel still hadn’t decided if she would trust that, but she had a feeling that it was true. Nyssa might not be entirely truthful with her about everything, but she didn’t believe that the other woman had good reason to lie about this. And she trusted Nyssa, in a strange sort of way.

So the team kept taking to the streets in search of the man who was causing so much trouble for Starling City’s underworld. Laurel thought that it showed growth that Oliver recognized that killing criminals and/or beating them to a bloody pulp wasn’t the way to go about things. Though she also wondered if he just had a need to micromanage any other vigilantes in the city. It was likely a little bit of both, but she was still glad that her ex had chosen a better path to justice these days.

She was currently checking out a street near the Glades that was rumored to be a haunting grounds for a gang that was terrorizing women who dared to walk through on their own. Roy was backing her up from the rooftops. Laurel preferred those times when she had Roy watching her back. The two worked well together-and that had been true before they started seeing each other.

No matter how aware she’d been as she patrolled, she still didn’t see the hulking blond guy coming. He managed to sneak up behind her and clock her in the back of the head. Laurel reeled forward, mind racing as she tried to get her body to cooperate and turn to fight. Instead, her knees hit the ground with a thud.

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Sunlight filtered in through the windows, and Laurel groaned as consciousness started to overcome her sleep. Her head was aching and she struggled to get her thoughts straight. What had happened last night? She hadn't been drinking. Of course she hadn't, though the headache and confusion certainly made her worry a bit. No. She remembered now. She'd gone up against that gigantic blond vigilante-wannabe and had her ass handed to her. She winced and chanced opening her eyes finally. If Savant, as he'd called himself, had knocked her out... then where was she?

That thought cut through the grogginess and the headache and she sat up straight and looked around. She was no longer in her Black Canary outfit, which was disturbing all on its own. Instead, she was in a sundress. She tried not to shudder at the idea of Savant undressing and dressing her again. She stood and paced around the room, which appeared to be a well appointed hotel room. A glance out the window made her stop and stare at the beach outside. She frowned at the expansion of white sand and the rolling aquamarine waves. Beaches like this didn't exist anywhere near Starling City. So she'd been knocked out and taken somewhere else? She forced herself to take a few deep breaths and circled the room yet again, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. And where was Roy? Had he gotten away, or was he here somewhere too? She wasn't sure which she hoped for. If Roy was here and she could find him, they might have a better chance of getting out of this together. But if he was back home and safe, then he'd be able to rally the rest of the team to find her.

She didn't find much in the way of weaponry or even makeshift weaponry, but she would just have to improvise if it came down to it. It was more of a surprise when she found that she was able to leave the room. The door wasn't barred and nobody was guarding it. Which was extremely strange. If Savant was behind this, then where was he? What was his plan here?

She grabbed the keycard on her night stand and then ventured out into the hallway, senses on high alert as she looked for anything or anyone that might be a threat.

Philip and their baby were gone. Aurora was frantic. They’d been whisked away to another realm in Philip’s quest to break the curse on their son, and now she was alone. She didn’t do well with being alone. With no one to talk to, she tended to mutter to herself. She had to find a way to get to the. She knew that Philip had meant to leave her behind to keep her safe, but she was getting awfully sick of being treated like a breakable damsel in distress.

“You fall into one enchanted sleep and he treats you like you’re made of porcelain,” she muttered to herself.

She had managed to get back to the enchanted forest. There was a lot more that could be done from there. Once there, she set off in search of the one person that she could rely on. Well, she thought she could. Though truthfully, she was still a little put out that Mulan had decided to leave them when she did.

Robin Hood’s band of merry men had given her some idea as to where the warrior woman was keeping herself these days. Though admittedly, a decent amount of time had passed since they’d all been cursed into Storybrooke, so she might have moved on.

“Please be here, please be here, please be here,” she said quietly as she moved through the forest. It wasn’t yet dark out, but she was losing daylight a lot more quickly than she’d expected.

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When Natasha first woke up, she figured that this was the work of the crew of the Centurus. She'd been stuck on that godforsaken ship that was little more than some sort of interstellar reality show, and she'd been at their mercy as they beamed her down to whatever planet they desired. She figured this was just another one of those planets. If so, it might have seemed better than the last few. Then again, looks could be deceiving. She was certainly evidence of that, was she not?

She looked around for her mobile device and didn't find it. That didn't bother her all that much, since posting on the network had gotten her into trouble in the last place. She did have to wonder how that had turned out. Those people caught in that revolution couldn't have fared well. She'd tried, but she was a little afraid that their group had made things worse for everyone. The only thing that bothered her was being out of touch and having no easy way to find out who was here or not. She wondered if Steve, Sam, or Clint were anywhere around. The only way to figure that out was to explore.

She didn't worry too much about her clothes. She was dressed to blend into the setting, which appeared to be a posh beachside resort. Clothes simply served as camouflage for any given environment, though she was a little more put out that her weapons seemed to be missing. She didn't need her guns or her widow bite bracelets, but they would have made things easier if there was trouble.

She set off to explore the hotel and eventually found herself out on the beach. The waves crashing against the shore was almost peaceful, if she could ignore that she hadn't come here by choice. All the same, she was capable of stopping and admiring beauty where it could be found.

Waking up in a new place in unfamiliar clothes had become par for the course as far as Mary was concerned. That didn't mean that she liked it, but she'd learned to just roll with the punches. And since she'd woken up in a bed in modern clothes, that was somewhat of an improvement over a few of the planets. She wasn't going to just blindly trust that everything was as tranquil as it appeared.

She glanced at the note left on her nightstand and grimaced. "Sadistic bastards," she muttered to herself.

It wouldn't be the first time that they'd sent people away. Not by a long shot. But if they felt it was worthy of mentioning in a letter, that made her wonder how many of the original group were left. She thought of her parents, Sam, and Rob. Were they still here? Was it even right to hope that they were? Considering that she still wasn't sure if people who disappeared were sent home, she didn't feel all that guilty about hoping that her family was still here. Especially considering that she didn't know if she could stand losing anyone else just now. She still wasn't over losing Johnny. She wasn't sure that she'd ever really be over that.

When she didn't find a gun in her room, she cursed the aliens yet again and then set out to explore. She would likely go knocking on hotel room doors at some point, but she figured it was best to just start looking for familiar places around the common areas first. Plus, she figured it was worth it to see if this place had a bar. She could use a drink right about now. She just hoped this wasn't one of those planets where they were required to find their own income source.

It wouldn't be the first time that Aurora had woken up in a strange bed. It took walking around the room and staring out the window to realize that this wasn't Storybrooke. In fact, this didn't look like any realm that she remembered visiting or even hearing about. Maybe it resembled some of the moving pictures on that enchanted box back in Storybrooke, but this was something different. Her clothing was also not the dress she'd been wearing when she fell asleep in Mulan's tent, and her crown was missing.

Was this another curse? If so, who was the culprit? And why? She sighed and made sure she was properly dressed before she ventured outside the room. The clothes in her closet resembled some of the things that she might have worn in Storybrooke, though the fabric was lighter and the clothes themselves showed more skin than the long sleeved shirts and pants that fit better to the chillier weather in the town. She layered enough to protect her modesty and then she set out to explore. She wasn't sure if she should hope that Mulan would be here or not. She also wasn't sure if there was even a chance that her husband and child might be here.

She eventually found her way to a large room containing a buffet of food. A man who looked like he worked here gave her a little bow and a gesture. "Help yourself, ma'am."

Aurora looked over the spread of food, which could have put some of the palace feasts to shame, then she looked back to the man.

"How much?"

He shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. "It's all paid for with your stay. Eat as much as you'd like."

Aurora frowned in confusion, but eventually helped herself to a plate. It was only once she'd sat down and started staring at the food that was heaped there that she had to wonder if the food was poisoned. It wouldn't make much sense to go to all the trouble of bringing her here only to poison her, but it did cause some hesitation as she looked over the colorful pastries and ham that she'd picked out. Her stomach rumbled in protest to her hesitation. It had been awhile since she'd eaten.

There was a soft sigh as she stretched; something in her ached, and she rolled over to a new room, a new environment, and a note. She felt disconnected, and she wasn't ready to find out what new hell she'd woken up to. She ignored the sound of nature coming from a window; she ignored the smell of flora that beckoned further inspection. There was a world out there demanding to be known, and she ignored it all. She needed a bit of comfort before going out into a new and possibly harsh reality.

She settled into sleep, something she'd done many times before. The dream began, as it had many times before. The world felt like it was about to open up, so that she could descend to the space she truly belonged; only there came a large squack outside her window. Or some other noise that would not have happened had her window been closed.

She rolled over, covered her head, and tried again. There was that noise. Now she swore she could hear music. The more she tried to sleep, the harder she tried to find her way to the world of power and comfort, the further away it seemed. Finally she rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling.

"Very well." She grumped and sat up; she wasn't happy, and she'd try again later. Perhaps a sedative? No, she wasn't desperate. She could survive without the other place; she would be just fine. Setting her feet down on the floor as she sat up, she finally looked at the note, guessing it was some sort of welcome bit from whatever place they were staying. They did seem to be staying at a posh resort.

"You've got to be bloody joking!" Stasis! How long had they been in stasis! How could it have kept her out of the dreamworld! Had it before! There were many thoughts bouncing around in her skull, all questions with exclamation points on the end. She balled the note up into a ball, tossed it into the closest rubbish pin - actually making it - and found something that didn't show off more skin than she wanted to show off here in the waking world.

"Now, Niklas Wright, you find your men." She nodded at herself as she pulled her hair back, pausing only a moment at the hint of pointed ear. Simon and Evan had better be somewhere in this place, or there was going to be a very unhappy librarian. She stepped out of her room in a sundress that was probably a little thinner than she'd normally wear, but didn't show off anything it shouldn't and a pair of wedge sandals. She could still dress very nicely even if it wasn't stockings and garters sort of weather.

"Yes!" Jack fistpumped the air as she stood in the window. "Yes! Finally! Fuckin' a!" She didn't care that she was standing in little more than a tanktop and boy's shorts. She bounced a bit longer before settling down. She'd caught a brief look out the window and got distracted.

"Shit." She knew she had more important things, but they'd ended up on a ocean side resort. How could she not be a little happy about that? Unless there were landsharks and man eating turtles. She shook that image off and continued to look around. The hunter found the letter; she'd also found some information about the resort.

"Shit. It had to be something." There was a list of the amenities, and they were nice, very nice. Then there was the description of the protection barrier and the warning about not going outside its boundaries. Her nose wrinkled. "Couldn't just send us somewhere nice and relaxing? Had to send us somewhere with a wall?" She looked up at the ceiling, as if the aliens would hear and see her disdain and disgust any better.

"Fine." She started digging around again, and found clothes. Couldn't walk around the place in her next to nothings, unless she was wearing a bikini. She wouldn't do that because she really wasn't in the mood to explain the tattoos and scars. Hunting didn't always give a gal a bikini body.

Capris, sandals, and a somewhat frilly tank under the loudest Hawaiian shirt she could find, that was what she was going for. She did find a letter opener, and hoping it was pure silver, she tucked it away to go find a certain woman. She didn't like that she hadn't woken up with Kai; it felt strange not having her there, even if one might question Jack's need to find the Hunter when she reacted so happily to the surroundings.

"There better not be landsharks." She muttered as she started down the hallway. The hunter didn't have a plan, but knowing the Hunter, Jack would guess the woman would be somewhere near the wall. Walls were rarely a sign of good things, right? Jack just hoped she'd find Kai before getting too far.