A/N: Wowzers, I feel like I've been gone forever. I've been able to do Gemma artwork, but my writing's been suffering lately. I apologize for that. :/ An anti-Gold x Emma troll actually invigorated my inspiration, so you got a quicker update than originally intended. The fandom has been a nasty place ever since "Skin Deep" aired, so I plan on staying inside my Gemma bubble and living life in blissful ignorance. lol Enjoy! ;)

CH 8: A Slip of the Tongue

"Morning, Gold."

Looking up from his work upon Regina's entry, Gold's eyes narrowed and he placed his palms flat against the counter. "You're awful cheery this morning, considering all that's happened."

"Yes, well perhaps I just have hope," Regina shot back, smiling as she smugly approached him. "You seem to forget I know a lot more about you and Miss Swan than meets the eye."

"Oh?" Gold asked, appearing unamused. "Forgive me, but I fail to see how that's more important than your own son."

Regina scowled. "And what would you know about parenting, Gold? Everything you touch ends up being destroyed."

Adam's apple bobbing reflexively, Gold gripped at the edge of the counter and leaned in close. "If you merely came to belittle me in my own shop, I suggest you leave before I force you."

"Very well," Regina agreed, shrugging as she unearthed an envelope from her purse. Now placing it onto the counter, she slyly explained, "Sidney does remarkable work, don't you think? He's able to capture so much depth and emotion."

Eyes hard as flint, Gold opened the envelope and withdrew several vivid, graphic snapshots of himself entangled in Emma's arms. With a slight smile, he countered, "You do realize that you can't blackmail with these, don't you? It was a very foolish decision to bring these to light."

Regina frowned. "I wanted you to know I know, so I'd say I accomplished what I set out to do."

"Perhaps," Gold agreed, "but it would've been far wiser to publish these without my knowledge." Now tearing up the lewd photographs, he coyly added, "If you have the negatives, give them to be now, please."

Pale, Regina instantly realized her mistake and begrudgingly handed them over.

"Oh, and if you have any other bits of incriminating evidence, destroy them the minute you get back to your office, please."

Eyes narrowing, Regina pointed a finger at him and challenged, "Just how long do you think you can keep up this tacky little charade, Gold? Sooner or later, you will slip up again, and when that day comes, I'll be right here waiting to pick up the pieces."

"Get out," Gold urged, his tone dangerous as he picked up his polishing rag. "Perhaps if you spent as much time on your son as you do defaming me, Henry wouldn't have sought out his real mother in the first place."

Regina felt her temper flare. "You'll regret that," she warned, yet she said nothing more as she turned and stormed toward the exit.

Jaw clenching, Gold picked up the object he'd been polishing and threw it to the floor. It was made of brass, so it merely skittered and rolled to a stop somewhere near the front entrance.

Head bent and fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, Gold knew that he had to brave a visit to Emma's for the sake of his own sanity. Regina was hiding something, but until he figured out what that something was, he didn't dare get Emma's hopes up.


"Can I get you anything? Hot cocoa? Chocolate? Maybe a nice scotch?"

Not even cracking a smile, Emma hugged a pillow to her chest and curled in on herself. Eyes bloodshot and make-up smudged, she was fully aware of how she must look to the other woman. She'd been up for hours trying to find Henry, and this was the first time she'd even bothered to lie down.

With a sigh, Mary Margaret moved over to have a seat at the edge of the bed, but that's when she noticed the dark, purplish bruises on her friend's arms. "Emma, what on earth happened to you? These almost look like fingers..."

Images of Gold thrusting up into her pliant body flashed across Emma's mind, then she closed her eyes and shook her head. "Nothing, I...I must've bumped into a wall last night."

Mary Margaret clearly didn't believe her, but she didn't want to cause the blonde anymore pain than necessary. "Are you at least feeling any better?"

Emma grunted in response, then rolled over to see if Mary Margaret was actually serious. Upon seeing the teacher's piteous look, the blonde groaned and buried her face in her pillow. "Please don't look at me like that, Mary... At the end of the day, all I truly want is for someone to act like everything's back to normal."

"But everything's not back to normal," Mary Margaret gently insisted. "You can't just run away from your problems like this, Emma... You need to face them once and for all before it gets any worse."

Emma scoffed. "Oh, you mean like with you and David? Yeah, you've done a wonderful job of upholding your own advice." When Mary Margaret winced, the blonde sighed and finally pulled herself into a sitting position. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for," she mumbled. "You're right, I am running from my problems, and it's not fair of me to take it all out on you... I guess I just need some time to pull it all together."

Mary Margaret smiled sadly. "I'll tell you what: you get yourself a little power nap, and then I'll go out looking with you. Regina's search party is out combing the woods as we speak, so you don't have to worry about nothing being done for Henry."

"But I'm not out there..."

"No," the school teacher agreed, "but you're worth far more to him rested than being in the state you're in now. If you were to go out looking for him, you could easily end up walking right past him because you're so exhausted. Get some rest, alright? You'll feel much better if you do."

Emma sniffed. "Perhaps, but Henry will still be missing when I wake up, so I won't feel better."

"You don't know that for certain..." Gently rubbing the blonde's blanketed leg, Mary Margaret murmured, "I won't pretend to know that we'll find Henry for sure, but what I do know is he's got the best possible sheriff out there looking for him."

Emma gave a tired smile. "Thanks, Mary."

The school teacher mirrored her smile, but before she could venture any other thought-provoking advice, a series of knocks came at the door. The pounding was urgent, so Mary Margaret hastily excused herself and went rushing into the living room.

Emma could hear a soft, almost furtive exchange of words, and before she knew it, both Mary Margaret and Mr. Gold were at the foot of her bed.

"Emma, my dear, I really must speak with you," he urged, thus causing her to snort and roll over onto her stomach. With a pause, Gold earnestly added, "It's about Henry..."

Instantly shooting up in bed, Emma turned her wall-eyed stare to him and choked out, "Henry? What do you know about my son?"

Sensing the tension between them, Mary Margaret cleared her throat and announced, "I'll, um...I'll go take a walk."

Neither Gold nor Emma responded as she turned to leave, for both were far too busy staring at one another - Emma accusing and Gold pleading.

When they were completely alone, Emma irritably provoked, "Well? It's cruel of you to keep me waiting like this, you know..."

Gold cleared his throat, then hesitantly had a seat at the foot of her bed. The blonde seemed none too pleased by this action, but the look on his face prevented any possible outburst.

Rubbing at his upper lip, the pawnbroker finally turned his solemn eyes to Emma's and confessed, "I'm afraid I don't know where Henry is, Miss Swan, but I do have some theories."

"Oh, to hell with your theories!" Emma snarled. "You're the reason I lost my son in the first place!"

Gold's dark eyes were hard as stone. "Miss Swan, you know that's not completely true..."

"Do I?" With a bitter laugh, she crisply fired back, "If you hadn't taken me away, I would've been here for Henry... I would've been here when he needed me."

Gold's expression was pained. "Emma," he earnestly began, "I swear to you, my intentions were honorable. If I'd known just how much pain I'd cause, I never would've taken you away from Storybrooke."

Emma sneered, yet her expression lacked all mirth. "Just why did you kidnap me, anyway? I mean, did we ever do anything of importance? No. Did I reach some strange, astounding epiphany? No. Did I discover the true meaning of life? No. As far as I'm concerned, our trip was a complete waste of time!"

Gold exhaled deeply through his nostrils. She was right, of course, for they really hadn't accomplished anything of importance.

"I'm sorry," he lamely returned, "really, I am... I took you away with the intentions of enlightenment, but as soon as we arrived, I knew you weren't ready for the truth."

Emma was livid. "What, so you couldn't have figured that out before kidnapping me?"

"I know it's hard to understand, but-"

"You're damn right, it's hard to understand! I don't even know why you bothered coming here... I told you we had nothing more to say to one another, and I meant it." Tempted to strike the sorrowful look right off Gold's face, Emma pointed a shaking finger toward her door and urged, "Out. I can't take any more arguing with you on top of everything else."

"Very well," Gold agreed, yet he hesitated since he yearned to express exactly why he'd come.

In that moment, a loud knock at the door decided their fates for them, and the pawnbroker excused himself so he could receive the caller. The minute he opened the door, however, he discovered that the hallway was completely barren.

With a frown of suspicion, he lowered his eyes and spotted a small package at his feet.

"Who is it?" Emma asked, now entering the room behind him.

Bending over in order to pick up the box, Gold inspected the alleged gift and explained, "I'm not certain... The only thing out there was this tag-less package."

"Well let me see - if it's for me or Mary Margaret, it's no business of yours," Emma impatiently pointed out. When Gold relinquished his hold on the box, the blonde tore it open and began sifting through the tissue paper.

Peering over Emma's shoulders with unabashed curiosity, Gold's mouth went dry the moment he saw a bloody scrap of cloth.

Lifting the attached note with trembling fingers, Emma breathlessly revealed, "It's Henry's..."

Gripping his cane so tightly that his bones ached, Gold placed a hand on the dazed Emma and tried to steer her toward a chair. "Sit down, my dear, please...let's try and think through this rationally."

Emma gave a humorless laugh. "Rationally? A piece of my son's bloody shirt is in this box, and you want me to think rationally?"

"Emma, we don't even know that's really his blood..."

"What, so you're just suggesting I not worry about it? That I just shrug it off as though it were nothing? Gold, that's my son!"

"He's my son, too!"

Silence ensconced them so thickly that they could hear one another breathing, Gold's limbs trembling from the adrenaline as he moistened his lips. "E-Emma, I..."

"What did you say?"

He paled. "Nothing, I just..."

"No, seriously...what the hell did you just say, Gold?" Her eyes were blazing as she glared up at him, almost daring him to repeat the monstrosity she knew was a lie.

Gold's jaw set and he returned her fiery gaze, his voice soft and surprisingly calm as he urged, "I suggest you have a seat, my dear."


"Regina, I can't do this to them..."

The mayor gave a dry laugh. "You can't be serious, August. I catch you red-handed in the kidnapping of my son, and now you think I'll let you go without strings attached?"

The author narrowed his eyes. "I suppose not, but you're using him as a pawn, Regina. I only meant to keep him for a few days so you could start seeing the fault in your methods."

With a disdainful scoff, the mayor pointed a finely lacquered nail at him and snapped, "Listen to me and listen to me good, Booth: Henry is Emma's weakness, and Emma is Gold's weakness, so I can't just let things return to the way they were. If you go through with this as planned, you will be rewarded quite handsomely."

August's gaze was hard. "I kidnapped Henry with the intention of changing you for the better, not for money."

"Then how's this for a reward? I'll drop the charges and pretend like this never happened. Or..." Here Regina lifted her shoulders in an elevated shrug. "Or I can call up Sheriff Swan and have your ass thrown in jail. The choice is yours, Booth, but I suggest you choose wisely."

With that, Regina spun around on her heel and headed for the exit, August raking a hand through his hair as he cursed his inevitable decision.

A/N: Oh Goldie, you're so silly. :') So yes, it's FINALLY out. I know a lot of you have been waiting for Emma to find out about Gold, sooo here it is! Er...part of it. The continuation of that will obviously be in the next chapter. :)

At this time, I'd like to thank my LOVELY reviewers. You're all so amazing, THANK YOU!

randress89: Finally updated! :P Thanks for reading!

PrettyChelsea: Hopefully this chapter shed a bit of light onto your question. :) And thank you so much, that means a lot!

ShiftingWinds125: LOL Who doesn't like some good ol' angry sex? XD *coughs* I actually really like that idea...where were you when I needed a plot bunny? :P

Funky Giraffe: Haha, I'm sorry, I'm a slowpoke lately. :P But thank you, you're so sweet!

DarkFairy207: Thanks so much, hon! :)

ElizaSP: You and me both. :P If Emma broke that damn cup, I'd be cheering up a storm. I never thought the writers would make me dislike my favorite princess! x_X Aaand, I guess the spoilers didn't turn in our favor, seeing as to how there was ZERO Gemma. ...Again. ;_; I guess I'll just have to keep on relying on fanfiction to satiate my inner fangirl. lol

imagine808: Haha, I'm sorry you're confused! :P Feel free to ask me what's been bugging you. And thanks so much!

Twilightluver1966: Thank you very much! I'm glad you think it was a speedy update, considering how out of sync I've been lately. LOL I spoiled you guys with weekly updates, but now I'm all brain dead. xP

southernanimechick: Aww, well thank you, I really appreciate that! I'm so glad you like it!

Musicalfan2012: Thank you, I'm so glad you thought so! And it kinda-sorta ended in your favor, since Gold was an idiot and accidentally let his tongue flap. :P

AntlersontheMoose: Haha, well thank you! My love scenes can get a bit over the top sometimes... *coughs*

Emerald Imagination: Well, you're partially right. ;) Regina's always behind everything, haha. And I saw the nice review you left in defense of khan81 - on behalf of Gold x Emma fans everywhere, I really appreciated that since the troll left a comment on my fic, too. I deleted it, of course, and he/she/it failed since they actually INSPIRED me to write more! lol I'm actually disgusted since they're bargaining to make Emilie a regular in season 2, so it seems we may never catch a break. I honestly may stop watching if that's the case, 'cause I can't take much more of this canon vs non-canon hate. And thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Ravenclaw992: LOL Thank you. xP If Gold can't be Henry's father on the show, I at the very least want Emma to break his bell or his tea cup. :P And yep, you guessed it right! *hands you a cookie* I don't mind Belle per se, but I can't say I like her since she's a very flat interpretation of the princess I know and love.

hippiechic1967: Thank you, I'm so glad you think so!

Dr. Temperance Brennan: I agree with that, and it really makes me nervous. I'm afraid Regina will "disable" Gold somehow, and will thus prevent him from assisting Emma because of Belle. I really don't want that to happen, but hey, the show's already done everything else I didn't want, so what's one more storyline? lol And I can understand why you might've viewed it as odd. I'm familiar with the connection, but I still felt the need to give a disclaimer in case other people weren't. Thank you very much, and thanks for reading!

helikesitheymikey: Haha yes, Emma is on the pill. ;P I don't think I want to add a pregnancy to the mix, 'cause that'll just make things explode in a bad way. LOL That, and I'm sure most of my readers are expecting that, and I don't typically like to go the obvious route... Although I suppose sometimes I can't help it. :P I really love that idea, but I obviously went for a different approach. *sad face* And LOL! Ironically, I almost wrote "belle" at one point, but it wasn't really conscious. I wouldn't mind it becoming a reality, though... *coughs* As always, thank you so much! Your reviews always give me great food for thought. :)

MonkeesDoctorWho1987: I can't say I like the ship, no, especially since a lot of the fangirls have been attacking other ships because they're "not canon." I find that rude and disrespectful, but hey, it comes with the territory. :/ But thank you, I really appreciate that! Hopefully this update answered some questions!

Lady Elena Belle Petrova: Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it! Hopefully I didn't keep you guys waiting TOO long. ;P

E: Now that you know who took Henry, you're probably thinking it was so obvious. haha And agreed! Belle's dead to me, too. ;P She fell in love with the softer side of Rumpel, not the monstrous/deal-making side, so how could she truly love him for him? I dunno, just a thought... But there have been a few plotholes lately, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of them. x_X Thanks for reading!

khan81: Thanks, love! I'm glad you found it believable... I just couldn't help myself. xP

last to dance: LMAO! I'm sorry, that made me smile. :P Thanks for reading!

Fairy Demon26: Thank you so much, I'm really glad you like it! And I was afraid some people wouldn't get that, but it was actually a joke...sort of. lol As in, Gold told Emma he wrote her as his sister so she wouldn't freak out, but he told the clerk she was his wife. So that's why Emma goes, "Wait a minute, I thought I was-?" and Gold cuts her off. Sorry for the confusion!

DarkMarked4614: It would seem we're definitely in the minority, yes, because everywhere I go people have bought into the Rumpel/Belle pairing. It's perfectly fine that people like it, but I could never accept an OTP romance that was so hastily slapped together. If FTL has proven anything, it's that romances can be created in less than 45 minutes. lol And thank you, I really appreciate that! ;)