A/N: I gotta admit, this chapter was a little fun to write. Hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't even own a little bit of Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. Ed Kitsis, Adam Horowitz and the ABC Network do.

How to Fail at Negotiations

"Killian was really upset after George's goons hurt you," Henry began. "So Mr. Gold offered him a talisman to keep you safe. The downside is that every time you get injured, he absorbs your wounds. In other words, you get hit, he gets the bruise and the pain that goes with it. He was gonna keep the talisman on until you learned how to use your magic to protect yourself. And while you were getting your magic lessons, everybody was helping by keeping you safe, at least long enough for Killian to recover from the last injury. And the fairies were trying to help him heal by using potions and healing herbs. We thought that maybe he was gonna lay low after his last plan failed. We didn't know George would go after you so soon!"

"Wait, this talisman or whatever," muttered Emma, trying to wrap her head around what Henry was telling her. "It takes whatever injuries that I get and gives them to Killian? It can do that?"

"Allow me to provide you with a visual aide." said Regina wryly. She flicked her wrist and with a poof of purple smoke, a very familiar black leather duster appeared in one hand, and a glowing orb appeared in the other.

"That's Killian's coat!" Emma declared, reaching out for it.

"I'm not going to hurt it Ms. Swan," Regina scoffed, placing the orb underneath the jacket so that its light shone through the bullet holes that tore through both the leather and the pirate.

"Mom, put your jacket over Killian's." Henry urged, as he realized what Regina was trying to do.

Reluctantly, she did as she was asked. With barely any adjustment, the bullet holes in Killian's coat lined up perfectly with the punctures in the back of Emma's red leather jacket, the red light bleeding through both of them.

"Oh my god," Emma whispered, tumbling onto a nearby chair, unable to deny the obvious. She always thought that it was a stupid cliche, that people don't actually mean it when they say that they would die for someone else. Of course, she would die for Henry, for her parents, but this was something else entirely. She grew up an orphan, constantly discarded, constantly left behind, and no matter how good the intentions it still stung. Killian was different from everything she had ever known. He was willing to change his ways for her, abandon the revenge that had been his life's purpose for her. He was willing to suffer and possibly die for her, even when she was constantly running from him or pushing him away. He was even willing to accept a cursed talisman from his worst enemy to protect her from harm. What could she have done to deserve such devotion? That's when something dawned on her.

"Why?" the question tumbled out stupidly from her lips while she still felt stunned from Regina's demonstration.

"Dear gods how dense can you be?" asked Regina, throwing her hands up in the air, earning glares from all those around her. "Oh please, you're all thinking the same thing. It's not as if Captain Smitten hasn't been obvious with his devotion. And if you require further proof, just look at the effects of the talisman. It's fuelled by emotions - the stronger the 'affections' the stronger the spell. If he merely liked you or was quite fond of you, you'd be recovering faster than what might be considered normal while he might feel a little weakened. However, he's completely absorbing your injuries while you heal instantaneously. He loves you, that's not in doubt. The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"Thanks for that Regina," Emma retorted now that Regina's rant was done. "But what I meant was why would Gold give Killian anything? Just because he and Killian can be civil to each other for maybe a minute at a time doesn't mean they've become best mates. So unless someone's cast a spell on Gold that gives him an opposite personality, then he's up to something -"

"Did you have a question for me dearie?" chimed an ominously familiar voice.

Emma froze, and her first thought was that she was not going to let him hurt Killian any more than he already has. A protective feeling rose up within her, and she could feel the crackle of her magic swirl somewhere between her stomach and her spine before exploding outwards.

As she turned around, she saw Gold fly through the air, and land inches away from the door, a breathy 'oof' squeaked out of him.

"Quite impressive Ms. Swan," he grinned and chuckled while Belle rushed to help him up. "I can only imagine what you can do once you unlock your full potential."

"If you like that, you're gonna love what I do if you don't break the spell on Killian," Emma retorted confidently, her magic buzzing over her skin and pooling in a shimmering cloud of white light around her hands as she stalked towards the Dark One.

While Belle stood beside Gold, looking rather perplexed at why the saviour seemed to be attacking him, Emma could feel her friends at her back, standing with her.

"You gave him that stupid talisman," she spat. "It's the reason he's in the OR-"

"No, the reason why he's in the OR is because you got shot," Gold corrected. "And he happened to be wearing a talisman that allows him to protect you at all times, at a cost to his own health and well being."

"And you gave him this talisman out of the kindness of your heart?" she scoffed.

"No actually," Gold shrugged. "You see, I owed him for his efforts to save my son and grandson, so I offered him a reward from amongst the items in my shop. He chose a pendant that would spare you any injury. I fully disclosed to him what casting the spell would entail, and he accepted the consequences willingly. I even told him about the origins of the pendant, and how its creator died for her love. "

"Undo the spell," she growled, refusing to let him emotionally manipulate her. "Or break the spell. I don't care about the specifics or what the procedure is called, as long as in the end he's okay."

"You do understand that if the spell is broken, there's a very good chance that the injuries would return to you." he cautioned.

"Good thing that we're in a hospital." she shot back.

"Emma…" Snow began, realizing what Gold and her daughter were saying. "Look, I'm as worried as you are about Killian - okay, maybe not as concerned, but I do consider him a good friend and I don't want to see anything bad happen to him. But there has to be a way to heal him without hurting you."

"And if there isn't?" asked Emma, taking a deep breath, and composing herself, allowing her magic to dissipate. "Look, I know that he was just trying to protect me because he….because he cares for me. I care for him too. And I'm a lot tougher than I look. I can handle it. Just, maybe have the nurses and doctors on standby?"

"Do it," she nodded to Gold, taking a hold of her mother's hand. "Break the spell."

"No." Gold replied calmly.

"What the hell do you mean no?" Emma bellowed, letting go of Snow's hand as her magic began crackling across her skin again. "Break the spell or I make you break the spell."

"Oh, that's cute Ms. Swan," Gold chuckled smugly. "I think you need a few more magic lessons before you can even try to convincingly threaten me."

"Oh I get it, this is all part of your master plan isn't it," Emma hissed, the cloud of magic surrounding her building. "You can't just kill him outright because you know it would turn Belle, Neal and Henry against you. So you manipulate him, you make him think that I was in immediate danger and the only way to truly protect me is through that amulet. Very clever Gold, you get rid of a lifelong enemy and you keep your hands clean."

"Rumple wouldn't do that," Belle said hesitantly, before turning to the man she loved hoping that they were wrong about him. "Would you Rumple?"

"Dad, is this true?" Neal piped up from beside Tink as they made their way from the back of the crowd to Gold. "You said you were just testing him, that you weren't hurting him."

"Technically it is true, he isn't hurting Killian," Tink chimed in. "He's letting the talisman and George do it for him."

"Papa, undo the spell," demanded Neal. "Undo it right now or I swear to all the gods that I will never forgive you. Emma, Regina, Tink, the Charmings and I will see to it that you never lay eyes on Henry again. Do you hear me?"

Emma spared Tink and Neal a small smile. It was nice to know that they could all be friends even after all that had happened between them, and that they had her and Killian's back.

"Rumple, break the spell, please?" Belle pleaded.

"Bae, Belle, I can't." said Rumple in a quiet voice he reserved only for them.

"Can't or won't Gold," Emma pointed out. "Because it's hard to believe that the dark one isn't able to break a simple protection spell."

"There are limits to magic, even for someone as powerful as I," he sneered. "And protective spells involving the transfer of life essences is anything but simple. There are only three ways to break it. One - he dies. Two - you get him to willingly take off the talisman, and good luck with that. Not even Henry could persuade him. The third involves an act of true love. How you're going to accomplish that - I'll leave it up to you to figure out, which will be quite a feat considering that you won't acknowledge you even have feelings for him."

Before Emma could respond to Gold's accusation, she froze. Walking through the double doors to the OR was a familiar blonde, wearing a weary expression on his face.

"Sheriff, may I speak to you for a minute?" asked Whale.