Regina was not pleased. Gold was not her puppet anymore. But there was no way he could remember who he really was. Maybe Ian had gotten the best of him and convinced him to do the right thing. Maybe Gold had been swayed. And in that case, Ian needed to be taken care of.

This wasn't what she had planned. Ian and Gold had grown too close. She'd thought that Ian would be a distraction, keeping Gold out of her way and out of the Savior's way. But he was interfering now more than ever. It was Swan's fault. Her presence was doing something to the town. Her tree was dying, the clock was ticking and time was once again flowing. Emma Swan was the savior and she had to be removed.

The fact that she was growing closer to Henry bothered her impossibly more than her breaking the curse. She could live with the curse being broken, but Henry was her son. She had raised him since he was but a baby and Swan had no right to come and try and steal him away.

She had only wanted the best for Henry. She had never meant him harm.

But now the evidence was piling up, Snow White walked free and the evidence would all fall to Regina. Gold had set her up. He'd played her. She'd always known Rumpelstiltskin was far from stupid, and it seemed Gold had the same twisted mind as his counterpart. He needed to be put in his place. He had demanded the library for his services in the plan against Mary Margaret, but now she was going to have to get that library back. But knowing Gold he wasn't going to just give up the key. She was going to have to take it.

She stood up and paced. If Gold didn't remember, then she would have to tread carefully. Only True Love's kiss would break the curse, and Ian and he certainly weren't True Loves. Belle had been the perfect candidate, the perfect pawn. But Rumpelstiltskin had seen through her somehow.

And if he did remember then she'd have to get rid of him. But she couldn't kill him. He would be a useful asset in the future. She just needed to be able to control him. She smiles to herself. The asylum would do. But if he was going to get locked up he had to come up with a good reason, or at least a decent excuse. Ian would be suspicious as well. He and Gold were getting too close.

Or perhaps she just had to lean on the right people. She'd leaned on Archie before and she could do it again. Getting Gold to talk to Archie was going to be the hard part. She couldn't lock him in a room and then throw Archie in afterwards.

Or could she? The Queen inside her laughed at the absurdity.

She wandered to her desk again and opened the third drawer. The copies of Archie's files. Her fingers traveled down the backs of the files, stopping at the letter G and she pulled the file.

Nathaniel Arik Malachi Gold.

She'd had no idea what to call him other than Gold and had literally called him the first three names that came to mind. She'd tried to keep it as random as possible. There was no way she would have called him Rumpelstiltskin, or any variations thereof. Robert was close, but for some reason it just seemed weird.

It had been a while since the files were updated.

But even in this outdated version it said that Gold had displayed signs of anxiety. But the notes were old and Regina craved knowledge. If she was going to remove Gold, then she'd need every piece of potential evidence she could find. Every weakness that could be exploited.

Belle had been a weakness. But Regina didn't regret killing her. She'd served her purpose.

One of Archie's earlier notes was 'prone to anxiety and minor panic attacks'.

Regina smiled widely.

-x-x-x-

Emma sighed. She really didn't want to deal with Regina's shit today. "Tell me again, why you want Gold to talk to Archie. You and him hardly see face to face and you can't possibly want Gold to go to therapy for selfless reasons," she observed.

Regina arched a perfectly plucked brow, "I am simply concerned for him. Both him and his… boyfriend."

"Uncomfortable Regina?" Emma smirked.

"It seems a wrong term, but I am more uncomfortable calling them lovers," Regina said dryly. Her eyes flickered around the room and Emma was really enjoying this.

Emma smiled, "Alright, I'll call Archie." There was no way she was telling her royal Mayorness that Gold had already been visiting Archie. Under her orders no less. She really loved going under Regina's nose. Regina seemed satisfied and turned on her high heels, strutting away like she owned the place. Emma grumbled; Regina did own the place.

Emma honestly had a more pressing concern that Regina and Gold's pissing contest. There was a stranger in town and he was staying. She didn't outright believe Henry, but even to her it seemed fishy.