I've been watching clips too much. But I can't help myself. So there was this look on Jefferson's face when he caught Emma as she started to pass out. Scripted? Or just Sebastian Stan being awesome? We will never know. But I watched that scene again this morning and noticed it for the first time. And that's where this came from. Enjoy.
"Let me help you" he said, grabbing her around the waist. He hoisted her up, holding her close.
He had been watching her since she came to town, but having her this close was something else. It felt new. Visceral. He didn't expect to have this kind of reaction to her. She was the means to an end, that's all she was. Or all she was supposed to be.
He knew from the moment he laid eyes on her that he found her attractive. The way she moved around her office with purpose and good intentions. He could tell from the distance that she was the key to it all. She could really end the curse and bring them all back to where they belonged. He just had to make her see.
Then the opportunity presented itself when Mary Margaret had all put wrapped herself up in a bow on his front steps. He knew that all he had to do was wait. When he watched her sprint from her office with that kid and Rumple hot on her heels, he set it all of his plans and thoughts in motion.
What he hadn't expected was her kindness. Her caring for others and truly wanting to help. He thought he was going to have to force his way into her car, but she invited him willingly. She helped him into his home and wanted to make sure he was fine before she left.
He had paused for a moment before putting the drug in the tea. He thought that he could just ask her to help him. She cared. He knew that from all these weeks of watching her. But then he remembered that he had her mother, the lovely Snow White, tied up in the other room, as his insurance policy. He knew she would never help him willingly once she saw that he had her… "friend"… hostage. So he did what needed to be done.
"Let's just lie you down here" he stated, laying her back on the couch. "Let me get you some air."
"Your limp."
"Oh." Even in her altered state, she was still observant. Still true. Still what he knew he needed. "That." He strode back over to her. "I guess you caught me."
"Who are you?" she asked as she passed out. He just smiled at her sleeping form. He had work to do. He strode out of the room, but not before glancing back at her sleeping form. He took a moment to just look at her. He had been doing it for weeks, but this close, she was…
"No" he muttered, shaking his head. She's just the means to an end. His way back to Grace and home. Nothing more. But still, he thought as he left the room, there is something… hopeful… about the woman sleeping in his living room. And smiled slightly as he entered his workshop.
"Time to get it to work."