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Merlin showed up thankfully and took care of the birds. Cassi relaxed with her hands on her hips, at least until Merlin spoke again, an urgency in his voice. She quickly followed on her sister's heels before more crows broke through. Cassiopeia grabbed her bag, still full of everything she needed before she grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows.
”Do we bring the cats?” Cassi didn’t know how long they would be gone and she didn’t particularly want to leave them behind but they would be hard to carry as well.
Once they had everything they needed, Cassiopeia headed back into the hallway and waited for more instruction from Merlin. It was quiet downstairs and Cassiopeia seriously hoped it was just because everyone was taking a drink at the same time.

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Willow assessed the damage of the room after the crows had gone and the state of Colby and Matthew before Merlin redirected them. He knew something and wherever these crows had come from, clearly it wasn’t good. She squealed as more crows crashed through the window before she dashed back to her room.
Willow grabbed her bag and daggers, not having anything else that she needed to carry. Bathing and new clothes were the furthest thing from her mind now as she went about her room gathering things. She didn’t know if Sierra would be able to make it up here, so she grabbed what she could before joining the others back in the hallway.

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"...Now that would definitely be something I'd could get behind, that would be a hilarious thing to see, and the two of them definitely deserve that sort of thing," she responded to Taylor, giggling a bit at the thought. Yup, that was definitely a hilarious thought that was going through her mind, it was a great image. The two idiots just hanging and probably not being able to figure out how to get back down again or something like that. It definitely would be hilarious in her mind, but she wasn't going to say anything like that out loud.

"Wow Meg, then again would it be that surprising if something like that actually was the reason? No, if I had to guess it might actually be a real reason as opposed to something as dumb as that. But based on the people here someone probably would complain about that," Jack said with a bit of a laugh to his sister. Yeah, that would be an amusing reason, a part of him wanted to go upstairs to see what the actual reason was that they had called for Merlin, and the rest of the people who seemingly knew more about what was going on in this world, but he stopped upon hearing the door open, and his blood ran cold when he heard the voice that spoke directly to him.

Rosalia glanced towards the door and the man who had appeared as if out of nowhere. That guy really looked creepy, and she could tell within an instant that he was clearly bad news. Of course, she being herself, decided to make a comment regarding him. "Who let the creeper into the pub? Seriously, not invited don't you think," she said, and she wasn't sure if she was going to regret making a comment regarding anything. She wasn't even sure who the hell this guy was, or what business he had showing up, all she knew was that she wasn't sure if this was good or bad.

"...Hi," Jack said, looking at his father. That was who he was, and he clearly hadn't really changed in the amount of time that it had been since he'd last seen him when he was younger. Of course, there was the issue of everyone he had met so far had been saying that he was bad news, and with the memories he really had of his father, that added up. He recalled a few times when he'd seen his father being more then a bit manipulative that was for sure. The problem was at this point he wasn't all too sure what to do. "...What brings you here?" he decided to ask, not sure if he actually wanted to know the answer.

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Rose wondered why their house had caught fire, and what the wolf had been protecting her from. Or maybe it was that the wolf had been growling at her mom. She had said 'we' who was the other half of that? As Rose went to follow her mom up the stairs the door opened, she turned around. The tension in the room ratched it up when a man walked in.

He set off the alarm bells in her head. Her hands went to her bow. She darted a look at Jack. The cop looked confused and worried. Who was this man? Was he Jack's dad? If so...their reunion was not going as well as Rose's had gone with Red. She didn't draw her bow, but she was ready.

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Maddie's gaze wouldn't let go of Colby, making sure that he looked OK through the haze of fluttering wings and fallen feathers as the crows stormed about the room frantically. If ever there was a truth to a group of crows being a murder it was now. He watched as Colby snagged some birds into a sac, thinking about how much of a fool he must've appeared to be for trying to grab and then use a crow as a weapon. Distracted by the chaos around him Maddie didn't realize the crow turning its neck until he felt the sharp sting on his hand and he let go, waving it to his side in an attempt to shake off the stinging sensation.

"Ouch!" Matthew cried out as he turned on his heel in an attempt to grab something near him to capture the crows. But as he began to spin there was a lurching feeling in his stomach and then the sound of flapping wings was dulled. Matthew lost his balance, falling over and into the arms of Colby almost launching them towards the wall.

Colby blinked startled as he was suddenly in the hallway. ”Thank you Merlin.” He helped Matthew get his balance. Jack, the now annoyed cat jumped onto his shoulder meowing. ”You okay?” He asked Matthew, sort of dusting him off like that would help.

Matthew felt himself get righted by his friend. Colby's hands both carefully, yet firmly, keeping him steady. He looked up with blushed cheeks and wide eyes at Colby before his face was tilted downwards in embarrassment. It was strange, yet welcome, change to see him be so openly affectionate and caring. "I-I-I'm fine. Just a few scratches. Are you ok?" He spoke softly as if they were the only two people in the hall.

”Yeah I’ve got both my eyes still. I’ll have to clean up face, maybe get a couple scars.” Colby shrugged trying to sound cool. ”Wonder what is up with those birds and why they attacked.” He listened at the door listening to the cacophony on the other side.

Matthew traced a finger underneath one of the cuts, being careful not to touch it or hurt him. "Heh. That would be kinda cool." There was a short pause as he looked into his eyes. "You'd look really good with scars, but don't go looking for them ok?" His eyes shifted back to his hand, watching as blood trickled his hand.

”I wasn’t. The birds broke into our room.” Colby said a little defensively. But more upset about their game of Go Fish getting disturbed. He did grin his little crooked grin.

There was that grin again. It drove Maddie wild everytime that he saw it. He hardly noticed the irritation in Colbys voice, too enchanted by the crook of his lips and the way they invited him in. The sound of pelting crows echoed behind them and just reminded Maddie how dangerous this adventure was going to be.

In a little over a day they had escaped guards by villains watch, stood against Maleficent, saved a prisoner, fought skeletons, and now were being attacked by crows during what was otherwise a nice evening. The alcohol's intoxication had worn off, overtaken by the adrenaline and the feeling that Colby made him feel. A new form of intoxication. Maddie moved his hand behind Colbys head and leaned in for a kiss, planting his lips against theirs in a spur of the moment feeling. If life would be this difficult for them then perhaps he should act now before there was no time left to act...or worse, no one to act with.

Colby was startled, but the kiss was nice. He sank into it. Kissing back and pulling Maddie. It wasn’t a clean kiss, nor was his best. But it was his first kiss with Maddie and that was what mattered. He didn’t want to pull away. Didn’t want it to stop.

Maddie wasn't sure what sort of reaction he was expecting to get from Colby, but this was a welcome one. As he felt himself get pulled in closer and felt Colby kissing back, his lips parted ever so slightly as he gasped at the new development in shock. He practically melted into Colby’s arms, allowing his hand to lower down to Colbys lower back, relaxing more as he leaned into it. He didn't want this moment to stop, didn't want it to ever end, but there were crows bashing into a door and the sounds of battle nearby.

He separated from Colby slowly, resting his forehead against him. His voice remained soft, calm, collected, as he spoke like a guy with determination. "Merlin, why would a bunch of Crows attack my lovely evening?" e.”[/color] Maddie had completely forgotten about why they went upstairs, pushing away any memory of the fight earlier as his mind swam with thoughts of Colby and his stomach fluttered with butterflies.

Colby was sad that the kiss ended, but it had been bliss while it lasted. His face was red though as he stepped away from it. Knowing that Layla and Merlin had seen that. ”Uh, yeah...why did they attack do you know?”

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Rumple turned to look at both Rose and Megan as they went for their weapons and rolled his eyes at the two of them, and used his magic to fling Rose' bow and arrow out of her hands. When Meg went in and attacked her, managing to graze the side of his cheek missing where she had intended to hit, drawing a bit of blood. "Well this isnt how you should treat a customer." Rumple said with a slight laugh as he took a handkerchief from his pocket and whipped some of the blood off of his cheek.

Sierra watched as Rumple went and easily disarmed Rose and then getting hit by Megan, she was about to get up and try and attack Rumple when he used his magic and flung her across the room knocking Sierra onto her back letting out a slight groan as she slowly sat back up looking at Rumple. Taylor thought that it was best right now to avoid attacking the guy, as she watched what Rumple was going to do next

"Now i'll need to have a few words with my son privately." Rumple said as he appeared in front of Jack and laid a hand on his shoulder, and the two of them were gone in an instant. The next thing Jack knew he was now in a rather nice looking room with a large couch and a fireplace that was roaring. Rumple walked over to a nearby bar and filled himself a drink turning to look at Jack and smiled some more, as he poured a second glass. "Would you like one?" He offered Jack.

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Layla watched as Matt went in and kissed Colby and visibly made a gagging motion to her sister, why he decided to do it in the first place was way beyond her. They were being attacked by a group of murderous birds. She went over to both Colby and Matt and flicked both of their ears looking a bit annoyed. "If you two are done tongue wrestling and trying to get into each others pants." Layla said shaking her head slightly as she turned to look over at Merlin for a moment. She was also a bit curious why the crows would even come in and attack them in the first place as well to, they needed to get going with what was going to happen next.

"I'm not sure but it was somehow related to magic." Merlin answered, as he stared at Layla and shook his head slightly, he then gestured to the group to head back down stairs. "You can bring or take your pets with you, some of us are heading back to my tower to contact the rest of your parents." Merlin said as he headed back down the stairs.

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Megan frowned as Jack's father used magic to knock the bow out of the hands of one of their companions, clearly acting aggressively. She drew her sword and swung, grazing Rumplestiltskin's cheek with excalibur. His comeback made no sense to her. She clearly didn't work there. She was ill suited to customer service, unless those customers were preparing to be placed six feet underneath the ground, and in that case they got along swimmingly. Rumplestiltskin then threw another girl across the room with his powers and Megan went for another swing, only for Rumplestiltskin to place a hand on Jack and then the two of them vanished.

Her nostrils flared in silent anger. Her brother hadn't given his consent to be taken someplace with him magically. And while Jack could throw fireballs now, Megan doubted he'd be able to just teleport himself out of there. There was only one person present with magic that she trusted and last she recalled, he had gone upstairs. Megan didn't sheath her sword as she dashed over to the staircase, only to run into Merlin there - the very person she was looking for. "Rumplestiltskin took Jack," she informed him frantically.

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Yeah, this situation was escalating rather quickly, and before he could even try to get people to not even try to fight against his father, something he was partially sure at this point was likely suicide, he had disarmed and thrown several people around the room. This fighting wasn't getting nowhere, that much was obvious, especially since he was pretty sure his father could continue to throw them around or whatever if he wanted to. Seemed like to him, all they were were just flies on the wall to Rumpelstiltskin. Personally he sort of wished that Merlin and the others who might know how to deal with this sort of situation hadn't all gone upstairs at the same time.

"...Wait what?" Jack said instantly, clearly a bit confused as to what exactly his father was saying, when he appeared in front of him, and a second later they were some place else. "Uh, no thanks," he said to him with the offer of a drink. Right now, he was incredibly wary as to why he had been brought here, wherever really here was. "And where exactly are we?" Yeah, this situation was screwy. He had no idea where he was, no idea how to get back to where the others were, and really did not want to be in the same room as someone who everyone knew was bad news.

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Well and here she thought everyone in this world was boring! That certainly was an exciting moment that was for sure, watching the mysterious guy start throwing people around as if they were nothing. Yeah clearly this was a guy she didn't want to mess with, right now she was perfectly content with just watching the entire confrontation, much like what her friend Taylor was doing. Everyone else seemed to be doing alright getting beaten up by a random stranger who clearly at the least knew who the detective was. Actually now that she thought about it, she didn't remember him ever saying who his fairy tale parent was, so maybe it was this guy?

Of course, that thought crossed her mind right when the stranger flat out confirmed that Jack was his kid. Well that was interesting to see the least. Though it was more interesting when the guy disappeared with the cop. "Well, now what? The creep is gone, so guess that is kind of a good thing? At least he's not mopping the floor with you all anymore right?" she commented, having to try hard not to find some amusement with this situation. The amusing thing was how they got beaten by a guy who seemingly didn't do anything but wave his hand around. The bad thing was that the creepy guy was probably not someone you wanted to mess with.

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Cassi was relieved to hear that they would be able to bring the cats. One way or another they would be safe and she could still keep her annoying companion with her. Cassiopeia wouldn’t change Artemis for anything. Except for maybe not having to see Matthew and Colby kiss.
Cassiopeia stared for a moment before shaking her head and shifting the cat carrier.
”Oh great, you’re in love. How gross for everyone,” she said but smiled as she walked away. At least something good came out of killer crows.
Cassiopeia followed behind Merlin down the stairs and heard Megan say Rumpelstiltskin took her brother. Cassiopeia cursed and looked at the others in the room from what she could see.
”I knew it was too quiet.”

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Willow blushed when she returned to see Maddie and Colby kissing. She thought it was sweet but she hadn’t seen many boys kissing before. Even though she was in university. Willow was still a little new to the LGBTQ+ community and being an ally, so seeing it made her blush but she was completely supportive.
”I’m glad you two are okay,” she said to the men as she passed them. She was genuinely happy that they had made it through. Merlin said it was magic related, that much was obvious. She didn’t think birds would just smash through a window and start attacking normally.
Willow headed down the stairs when there was a bit of a backlog as Merlin was stopped by Megan and then Cassi behind him. Willow was in shock hearing that Rumpelstiltskin was here.
”Maybe he was responsible for the bird attack!”

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Magic related wasn't exactly much to go off of. Maddie thought back to fairy tales and Disney movies, trying to find who would send such a flock to them and why? His first thought was Grimms Tales which he was sure mentioned crows in Cinderella, but he didn't think Miss Midnight would be the culprit. His mind immediately went to Maleficent, the cause for all of this turmoil in the first place. But...he was fairly certain that Diablo was a raven and not a crow. Then again he may of been miss categorizing these birds this whole time. It was rather hard to pinpoint exactly what they were as they stormed in and flapped about. He tried to think of more tales until Layla flicked them in the ears causing him to cover his ear with his hand as he rubbed it gently. "That smarts you know." The sting lingered for a moment, distracting him from everyone's reactions to their kiss and keeping the pink blush of his cheeks at bay.

Did Maleficent hold a grudge for the knife he threw at her? After all she enchanted an entire kingdom for not being invited to a birthday party so perhaps she was just the type of Karen to hold a grudge for blood drawn. Maddie was about to voice his theory, see if those of this world may know a bit more, until Wednesday Adam's, er, Megan, came bolting up sword drawn and saying something about Rumple and her brother Jack. Out of the fire...and into the frying pan. Maddie held Colbys hand tightly, afraid that he might lose him too. "Why would he take Jack? How did he take Jack? Who even let him in here?" There were too many unknowns, and Maddies adventure was beginning to seem less Bilbo Baggins and more Frodo.

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"It was kind of funny to see you all get your asses handed to you." Taylor said jokingly, though she personally wished that it was Colby and Maddie were the ones to get flung around a bit. Sierra slowly stood up and dusted herself off she had no clue why Rumple would just simply kidnap Jack and not the rest of them. They all were pretty valuable by the sounds of it as well to, she turned to look over at the stairs where Megan had gone up to grab Merlin and tell him and the others what had happened.

She just hoped that Merlin had a plan to get him back and apparently they knew where they were right now to which was also pretty worrying in her own opinion as well to. "So whats the plan now?" Sierra asked as she went and sat down at one of the open tables and looked down at her arm seeing some bruises were appearing now as well to.

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Merlin turned to see Megan coming up the stairs informing them what had just happened, and knew that the birds were just simply a distraction for Rumple to come in and do whatever he wanted to. "We need to get to the tower right now and I can track your brother from there grab your things and get ready to leave if he was just here he'll send more after you all." Merlin said looking over at Megan gently resting a hand on her shoulder in a way to try and reassure her that they were be able to get Jack back safely from Rumple. Layla rolled her eyes slightly at Matt when he said that it stings and flicked him on the forehead this time. "Well yeah that is what it's suppose to feel like." Layla said sarcastically as she looked at Megan as she informed them that Rumple had taken Jack.

"Alright then." Layla said as she turned into her room again and started to get all of her things together and packed up as well to, she had a feeling that this little hideout wasnt safe anymore either. And she was more than ready to get out of here as soon as possible as Layla headed down stairs Merlin turned to look at Megan for a moment before speaking. "I promise you we will bring him back safely." Merlin said as he headed downstairs as well to. "We are all going back to the tower it will be safer there so get all of your things and get ready to leave." Merlin instructed everyone.

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Rumple's Hideout:
Rumple frowned for a moment but poured a drink anyway and went over and sat down on a leather chair and motioned for Jack to sit down at the nearby couch Rumple rested his feet on the coffee table in front of it. "You are still in Camelot don't worry you aren't in any danger." Rumple said as he set the other drink down closer to Jack offering it anyway if he wanted the drink anyway. Rumple turned to look at Jack and smiled some more. "So glad to see you again my boy." Rumple said as he leaned back slightly. "So what has the old crusty man Merlin said about me anyway?" Rumple asked. "I am sure you have a lot of questions as well to, i'll give you all the answers you want that Merlin hasn't answered."

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Megan raised an eyebrow, hearing the blonde exclaim something about a bird attack. She had no idea what that was all about, and she definitely would have pursued it, if it hadn't been for her brother's abduction. While she hadn't been a cop and was instead the medical examiner, she knew that the longer a kidnapping victim went without being rescued, the more the odds dropped that they would return alive. Jack had already been moved to a secondary location and she didn't need John Mulaney to explain the horrors of that. The curly haired boy was annoying her. The answers to his questions seemed rather obvious.

"You shouldn't make promises to a victim's relative," Megan told Merlin, before going up the stairs and snatching up her and Jack's belongings. She then raced back down in record time, her heart pounding with adrenaline. If anyone complained about having to move quickly or wanting to take a shower, she'd skewer them with her sword. "Let's leave, we need to hurry," she then told Merlin. She didn't trust everyone here to not drag their feet.

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"Well maybe if you had contributed you could have joined us in getting tossed around, or I don't know maybe Jack wouldn't have been taken." Rose snapped at Taylor. Taylor and Rosalia were frustrating. They had stood by and done nothing. She retrieved her bow and stepped over to Sierra.

"Are you okay?" She asked her friend. Co-worker was definitely not a good description for them anymore. Even though they had always been on the friendly side. Now a bit of Rose felt that Sierra had her back and so she would have hers. She looked up and nodded. "I'll get your things too Sierra. Put some ice on the bigger sore spots." Rose said before heading up to the rooms and gathering their personal belongings. It wasn't a lot. But it was all they had. She understood why homeless people always carried around so much. The risk of losing anything felt so high.

As she got their things she thought about what Rumpel had said. He wanted to talk with his son. Jack was his son. She frowned. It wasn't the first kid in the group that was the child of a villain. There was the girl who had been with Maleficent. She had been one of the kids that Merlin had brought to Nebraska too.

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"Ouch. You're just jealous." Colby said rubbing his ear. With the news that Jack had been taken by Rumpel, his hand dropped though. "The birds were a distraction." Colby said. It was sort of relieving to know that. It meant that they hadn't been targeted. They didn't have an unknown enemy out there. Instead, there was a known enemy. One that Merlin had been fighting for a while.

"Let's go." Maddie and he had their stuff already, rescued from the room. No one had gotten a chance to clean up though so half the group smelled bad. Colby had his cat climb upon his shoulder with a tap, it was a trained trick that came in super handy. Colby had always been good at getting cats to do what he wanted.

He joined the others downstairs waiting for everyone else to get their things so they could leave. His back slung over his free shoulder. He watched as Rose came back down a look of deep thought on her face as she handed Sierra her things.

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Jack really wasn't sure if he wanted to sit down anywhere near his father, especially considering the fact that he was currently the only other person in the area. It was literally only just the two of them, and he was not liking the odds that he'd be getting out of here any time soon despite his father's reassurances that he wasn't in any danger. Right now he was just trying to think of some way out of this situation, anything that could help him, but he wasn't seeing anything. Nothing, he really was just sort of alone with the entire situation, so now he had to try and make the best of the entire situation.

Hesitantly, he took a seat on the couch, and looked over at his father when he asked him what Merlin had said about him. "That you're kind of a villain," he said rather bluntly, not too sure what else to say. Questions wise he didn't really have any, well, at least much of any. What sort of questions should he even ask? For a long time now, any memories he had had of his life in this world had been pushed away and thought of as dreams. "...Questions wise I don't really have any at the moment."

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"Uh no, it's called a survival sense, ever heard of it? It's when you can see someone whose probably somewhat a big deal enter the area and you purposefully don't do anything reckless unless they specifically start attacking you. It's called also assessing your opponents strength, since if you go charging in you could end up knocked down like you all just were since you didn't stop and think about what could happen or anything. From what I just saw you are probably lucky the guy didn't kill us all because you fought back like that, based also on info we've been told about him. But oh no, me stepping in totally could have changed how everything was handled. Look, based on what I've been told about that guy so far, nothing would have really stopped him, at least not easily. We just got into this world not too long ago, would we have really been able to do much?"

Yeah, she was annoyed with people getting mad with her for not doing anything. Just because she wasn't stupid enough to immediately attack an opponent or whatever. "I also don't have to take any crap from you," she added before she headed upstairs really quick to grab what few possessions she really had. Even before some guy had attacked her at her apartment when all of this chaos was starting, she hadn't owned very much. Stealing only got you so far, so she grabbed her bag and headed back downstairs, going over and scooping her puppy up into her arms and holding onto Lucky for the moment, just waiting for everyone to get going to the tower. Just what she wanted though, to be stuck in close proximity to Colby more.

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Cassiopeia walked down into the bar, seeing everyone else head up to the rooms to gather their things before coming back down to join them all once again. Cassiopeia set Artemis down on the ground and crossed her arms. They were going to have to trek back through the city again unless Merlin could create a portal for them to go through.
Cassiopeia looked over at Rose when she returned to the room and saw a deep concentration on her face.
”Penny for your thoughts?” She sat down at the table, seeing Sierra nursing some bruises. ”Did you seriously try to take on Rumplestiltskin?”

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The birds had definitely been a distraction and now they had to get Jack back. Merlin gave Willow hope that it was possible for them to find Jack by Merlin tracking him. They had a bit of a plan and that was something. Willow wondered what kind of information Rumple would be giving Jack and if he would choose to stay with his father.
Willow walked down the stairs behind Rose after she had come up to retrieve more of their items. She walked over to the table and noted Sierra sitting there with bruises. Cassiopeia then joined them and asked Sierra if she had taken on Rumple. Willow looked at Sierra with alarm.

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"I didnt think he would Force Push me or anything like that honestly.." Sierra said to Rose and gave her a slight smile and nodded as Rose left to go and get her things, she was okay for the most part just a little bit sore at the moment as soon as Rose had gotten her things she put them over her back. "I'll be fine though really." Sierra said as she watched Merlin along with Hansel, Gretel and Red had gotten some things as well to, looks like they were going to be joining them as well to which was good then more numbers the better anyway she thought.

Taylor glared at Rose for a moment and gave her a bit of an annoyed look agreeing with Rosalia, jumping in like the way Sierra and some of the others did was kind of dumb in her opinion. "He could have turned you into a fish or whatever, we don't know what other stuff he has up his sleeve either. Kind of bringing a knife to a gunfight scenario to, the gun would always win." Taylor said shrugging slightly she was a bit annoyed to honestly.

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"Looks like you got your ass kicked." Layla said jokingly towards Sierra as she had gathered her things and was met up with the others, she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. She was a bit paranoid that more guards or something would end up showing up and trying to arrest them or something like that. "Lets get going now yeah?" Layla asked looking at Merlin as he nodded towards her and stared at Megan for a moment at her comment, he wanted to make sure that everyone was okay and safe. "Lets go." Merlin said, he didnt want to use magic in the middle of the city, it was still a bit to risky as he looked to see the last remaining bits of smoke from the prison break from earlier.

"Are you okay?" Red asked looking over towards Rose for a moment as they walked down the street, bringing the hood over her head so that way no one would be able to recognize her face really either. The city was on alert right now as well to, after the fire and prison break as some guards were occasionally stopping people and questioning them. One of the guards getting a bit rough as he shoved an elderly woman to the ground. "Stay close and don't draw attention to yourselves." Merlin said to everyone as they made their way towards the gates.

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Rumple's Hideout

"I'm not a villain at all, everyone just simply thinks or says that I am one." Rumple said, Jack would get the sense that he was actually lying about that however as Rumple leaned back and took a sip from his drink while looking at Jack for a moment. "I am here to protect you believe it or not, you are my son after all. See Maleficent here wants you all because you are special to her, she has plans for you all. Merlin just wants to raise you all as his little toy soldiers to try and defeat her." Rumple said as he took another drink while looking at Jack. "I can teach you how to protect yourself from her. You are able to use magic since you have gotten here correct? All you have to do is stay by my side and I can tell you everything I know." Rumple said giving Jack a slight smile.

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Matthew winced as he was flicked on the forehead. Feeling the short sting before he placed his hands over the mark and it began to fade away. It was a weird comforting feeling to know that he and Colby weren't the main targets, though it was discomforting to think about himself as bait. He didn't know Rumples connection to Crows, but Merlin had said they were magical so perhaps there wasn't any. He knelt down and scooped up Carroll, placing him on his shoulders before grabbing what was left of his stuff and heading downstairs. It appeared that there was some argument about them getting their asses kicked, and as much as he understood about trying to fight at least, he seemed to recall someone mentioning Rumple was Maleficents magical right hand man, so he must've been powerful.

Matthew awkwardly rubbed the nape of his neck as he slowly made shis way towards Colby in the room and sat down quietly. He wasn't sure what to say, or if he should say anything. So much was happening and all he could do is sit there and wait until the others finished getting ready. Time passed and finally they made the push to head out. Matthew taking in the sights of the city one last time with somber look. The towers of smoke, black ash marks where fire once stood, and guards harassing citizens. His fists clenched and tightened at the sights of those abusing their power as he flipped his hood up and kept his head low to avoid sight from the guards.

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To answer Cass' question when she returned, "Just irritated at people who don't want to help, but instead just want to wine and sow chaos." She shook her head.

"Real great to stand by when someone you're supposed to be working with gets kidnapped. Real group ethic you've got going for you." Yeah getting involved fighting with Rumplestiltskin wasn't the smartest thing in the world, but she wasn't one to let those she was supposed to be on a team with get hurt. She didn't understand how Taylor and Rosalia couldn't see that.

Rose tried to smile at her mom, but it failed a little. "I'll be alright. I didn't get hurt." She answered with more her physical state than her mental one. Her mental one was too angry to be alright. Thankfully they were finally leaving so she could be distracted with that. She walked close to her mother, keeping an eye on Sierra.

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Colby was legitimately confused. He had missed some sort of drama. Rose was furious. He was glad this wasn't directed at him. He walked next to Maddie as they made their way back out of Camelot. He was tired of the bickering. Even if he was at fault for some of it.

"You okay?" He asked Maddie. They had just been through a lot. He wasn't certain how Maddie was handling being attacked by magic birds sent as a distraction so that Jack could be kidnapped. He certainly was a bit freaked out by it and wasn't sure how he felt about it. Even to himself. And he tried to not be self-delusional.

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Megan's nostrils flared. She didn't have the time or the patience for everyone's petty, silly arguments. The sound of the kid's voice was like nails on a chalkboard with the long rant of hers. She could feel her insides starting to curl inwards. Each second they spent here increased the odds that they wouldn't retrieve Jack alive. They needed to move quickly and efficiently, like a blade gliding through water, if they were going to get her brother back. They had just risked everything for one family member, they could afford to do it again for another. But if they failed, if they couldn't get Jack back, then Megan was going to reevaluate just who she was willing to work with. She didn't like children - much less squabbling ones.

She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes into the back of her head as she saw one person sit down. Did no one understand crime statistics and trends here? She kept a hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it at a moment's notice as she left the pub along with Merlin. She didn't need to be told twice to stick close. They couldn't afford to get separated and waste even more time. She wasn't going to plan a funeral for Jack - she had always imagined her funeral would be first (and of course, she would attend her funeral in disguise as a mysterious widow with a dark secret).

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Now at least the info that he was getting at the moment was somewhat useful, aside from the fact that he knew that Maleficent was after them. Maybe he could get his father to explain why? Well, he lied flat out about the whole thing about not being a villain. Or at least he was pretty sure that he had lied about it. Though he wasn't sure if he wanted to say anything about that. If he said something it might end badly, so for the moment, he was going with the idea of not saying anything more or pushing the idea of him being a villain. This was going to be an interesting sort of conversation to say the least.

"What exactly does Maleficent want or hope to accomplish?" he decided to ask, trying to hold off on answering his father's offer to teach him about his own magic but have to stick by his side or something like that in exchange. Part of him had a few more questions with regards to that. Namely what would happen if he said no, and what would happen in it's entirety if he said yes, like what would the whole staying by his side thing mean? "...A few other questions with regards to everything before I answer that last offer of yours. Hypothetically if I said no what would happen? And if I said yes what does that mean? Like staying by your side what does that mean?" he ended up asking.

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"I don't exactly have much in the way of friends, because what I ended up doing for a living, people could get hurt or potentially killed if things go wrong, so sorry for not liking to work with anyone typically because of it," she snapped as she followed after the others outside of the pub. Of course aside from the few idiots who for some reason decided to sit down at the tables still in the pub. That was weird, and idiotic in her mind, since they clearly were pressed for time and had to get running to reach Merlin's tower without getting caught.

Sticking close somewhat to the others as she carried her things in her bag, putting Lucky into the main pocket so that the puppy was easier to carry. Her attention went towards Meg, and she couldn't help but feel somewhat bad for her with regards to her brother the cop. She wasn't too sure how hell bent Merlin was to actually help the guy, since it seemed like he had a lot that he had to deal with, so who knew if she would be able to get help in finding him. Rosalia knew that she wasn't on just about anyone's good side currently, but she went over and leaned to talk to her. "Hey look, I know I don't get along with a lot of people, like at all, but your brother in the real world was always one of the few people who was ever nice to me, tried to get me out of being a thief a few times too, failed but he kept trying anyway... Look if you want help in finding him and want to go off by yourself or whatever because Merlin is too busy doing other stuff since let's be honest, sounds like he has a lot to do, let me know and I'll help you out, okay?" she kept her voice down enough so that only Megan would be able to hear her.

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"Ah," Cassiopeia said and nodded to Rose. She looked at Sierra and smirked, shaking her head. "I'm all for playing the hero but we already know we're out of our element here. I'm sure Jack would have been taken if you did something or nothing. Assess the situation before jumping in next time." Cassi was used to a slower approach when it came to things. It developed with hunting. One couldn't get overly excited when an animal would show up or it would spoke and run. In this case, the animals here attack.
Cassiopeia stood when they all headed for the door. She shouldered her back and bow before carrying her cat in her left hand. They walked through the streets and Cassi saw the left over damage from what had been done earlier. The guards were roaming and questioning people. Cassi tried not to stare at one thing too long.

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There was a lot of tension in the room from Rumple getting in and taking Jack. It wasn't surprising but Willow hoped things would relax when they were on the move again. Having so many different people with different personalities was becoming rather difficult to navigate.
Willow pulled on her own pack and stood near Sierra until they were on the move and she walked out of the pub with her. Outside Willow could see people being questioned by the guards and the woman get pushed. She heard Rose's mothers words and agreed with them. They couldn't bring anymore attention to themselves then there already was with a large group. Willow wished Merlin could have gotten them out of there faster than this.