Ones Among Us

All was quiet in the kitchen as she stacked onions and lettuce on top of a burger. With a bated breath she double checked the request. It matched! She sighed happily. One task down, many more to go.

Satisfied with her work here, she turned away from the counter, taking a moment to check her map. She needed to go to the vault. She would head north through the armoury. But when she put her map away she found herself trapped. He was just standing there in the middle of the corridor, ominously.

She tried to run east, hoping that maybe she'd find Emma still watching the cameras and find sanctuary in her presence, but she wasn't fast enough. He caught her, and with his dagger in hand he killed her brutally.

———

A body had been discovered and a meeting called.

———

"Oh no! Poor Belle!" Snow chirped in first. "What happened?"

Emma was second, much more practical. "Where was the body?"

Regina, who had found the deceased woman responded "Ah ah ah, I want to know what everyone was doing first."

Henry was first. "I was in the vault dressing up one of the statues. Grandma was with me, downloading something, I think."

Snow hummed her affirmation. "Mhm! I was!"

Zelena stepped up next . "I was in the Cockpit."

Then David after. "I was in Electric, flipping the switches."

Emma. "I watched Cams for a bit, but then I moved over to Cargo. I can confirm that David was in Electric when I passed through."

Neal followed her up. "Yeah, and I saw Emma enter Cargo. I was getting gas. What about you, Pops?"

"Hmm?" Rumplestiltskin replied. "I was in the Main Hall."

"No you weren't!" Interjected Robin. "I was in the main hall and I didn't see you there!"

"Well, the main hall has many rooms. Perhaps we had tasks on separate ends of it?" Rumplestiltskin responded casually, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"Perhaps..." Robin conceded for now, though he didn't sound convinced.

"So nobody was near the kitchen?" Regina asked. Nobody responded. "That means somebody here is lying, because that's where I found Belle's body."

"It's Gold." Emma said immediately, voting quickly to show she was confident.

"Oh, is it now? Do you have any evidence to back up your claim, Miss Swan?" Rumple queried.

"No, but my superpower, it tells me you're not telling the truth." She replied.

The accused chuckled. "Ah yes, your 'superpower', that's right. Now, tell me Miss Swan, did it really tell you anything or are you just throwing blame on the first suspicious person you see in hopes that people don't recall that security is right next to the kitchen?"

"You're forgetting that I didn't go to the kitchen. I sat on cams half the round and then went east. I have two alibis." Emma responded.

The Dark one hummed. "Why would you spend so long watching the cameras when you should be completing your tasks? Were you perhaps scoping things out? Seeing who was traveling alone and who was paired up? I say you saw that Belle was in the kitchen alone, popped over, killed her, and then headed towards Cargo just to get yourself away from the crime scene. Maybe Neal was your next victim?" He entered his own vote.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Nah, it's definitely Pops." Neal said as he cast his vote. "Emma wouldn't double back to security. She's more of a 'keep moving forward' type of gal. She'd have went to like, the armoury or something that way"

"Yeah, I think it's Grandpa too." Henry agreed, voting as well. "He sounds ... suspicious."

"I agree. There's simply no way he was with me in the main hall!" Robin threw in his vote.

"Do you really think I would kill Belle, my wife, first? She's my true love! I could never harm her! Not this early in the game." Rumple tried, sounding indignant.

"That's exactly why you would do it, though." David said, sending in his own vote. "Nobody would expect me to kill Snow, which would make it really easy for me to get away with it if I ever did."

"You'd kill me first?!" Snow asked, sounding distressed. "David!"

"I love you!" David replied.

"Yuck!" Zelena voted too. "I'm willing to vote for anybody just to get those two to shut up!"

Regina sighed. "I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with you on something..." she voted as well. "Beside we're nine, we can afford to vote Rumplestiltskin out, whether he's impostor or not."

Snow hummed thoughtfully. "Well, if everybody else is voting for Rumplestiltskin..." She voted last.

"I can't believe this. You're really all voting me off because Emma had a gut feeling? This is foolish!" Rumplestiltskin protested but there was nothing to be done. The votes were in.

Eight votes for Rumplestiltskin and one for Emma.

———

Rumple was An Impostor.

One Impostor remains.

———

Belle's ghost floated up next to his. "Did you really think you could outsmart them?" She asked in the Ghost Chat.

"No," he replied. "But it was worth a shot. I'm sorry I killed you first."

"Don't be! Turns out it's much easier to navigate the map when you can phase through walls!" She told him. "So, who's the other impostor?"

"Oh, it really is Miss Swan. She threw me under the bus to make herself seem trustworthy. I'll admit it's a smart tactic if you know your partner wont call you out on it and end the game."

"Do you think she'll win it for you guys? All on her own?" Belle asked him.

"Maybe. Especially if she keeps up this 'superpower' play." He replied quickly. "But she won't be doing this alone. I can still pull some strings behind the scenes as I am." And as if to prove a point he sabotaged the lights.

A moment later Neal's ghost joined them. He sighed, long, weary and irritated. "I hate to say it but, you were right, Papa. I was next..."