Pulling up outside Gold's store, Regina hesitates for a moment as the Benz's engine idles quietly. Tracing the streering wheel with her finger, she sighs before switching off the ignition. With this, the dull hum of hot air passing through the vents falls silent, and the dry crackle of leather as the blonde moves seems strangely magnified in her mind. Turning in her seat to face Emma, she adopts a tight smile; the heady mirth they'd shared outside the hospital now a distant memory.

"Alright?"

The younger woman asks, looking politely curious, and the brunette nods before coming clean.

"Yes, I'm fine. It was my suggestion we go see Gold, and I stand by that, but it doesn't diminish the fact that I don't feel good about this. I learned long ago that he's a man that's best to avoid, particularly in the case of matters of the heart. If anyone might be able to shed some light on how we go about what must be done, it will be Rumple, but I never for a second would have believed I would be so reckless as to serve you up to him. I'm wondering now if I should go in alone... I don't want this to be a mistake, Emma. I don't want to put you right where he wants you."

"Why would he want me?"

"I don't know, but that does little to soothe my fears. He made you who you are; it was his will that created the Saviour, and I have never been given a straight answer when I've asked him why he did so."

"Maybe he'll tell me."

Emma muses quietly, and Regina considers this for a moment before admitting that the thought has never occurred to her.

"If he does, perhaps it will be helpful, but you need to understand something, Emma. Gold works by making deals; nothing is free, even if he says it is. You must be careful what you tell him, and under no circumstances are you to agree to anything he might ask of you- no, don't give me that look; that truly is an order, not a suggestion. If he asks you for anything, we can discuss it between us, but I need your word that you'll play by my rules. I'm only telling you this to protect you. I trust that you will respect the fact that I have my reasons."

She falls silent with an air of finality, her expression stern and demanding as she stares the blonde down.

"...You're scared of him, aren't you?"

Emma asks tentatively, recalling the curious interactions she'd witnessed between Gold and the Mayor years ago. They make more sense now when corresponding to the words in the book, and she finds herself feeling increasingly uneasy.

"In short... Yes. He was my mentor, but there were times when my power- my magic- superseded his own. My purpose was always clear at the time however; I wanted revenge. Rumplestiltskin never professed any linear reason for behaving as he did or making the requests he made. There's a huge amount of power that lies in secrecy. Back then, I was wary of him, but I looked to him as an ally as well as a threat. Since meeting you and becoming aware of his interest in you the last time you were here... I am afraid of him."

Regina admits gravely, and the blonde nibbles her lip uncomfortably as the words she'd like to use to scoff at this rather dramatic answer die on her tongue. She recalls her own conversations with the slippery little man back when she'd been oblivious to the madness shrouding the town. He had asked her about her stint in jail- had goaded her about it- all the while speaking partially in riddles. At the time, she had simply found him creepy, but she remembers the way that the Mayor had seemed to bristle whenever facing the pawnbroker or discussing him. Twenty-eight years of hard, unwavering logic tell her that there is no way Gold is the embodiment of some dark force; some immortal madman with a dagger...

No way!

And yet, as she complies with Regina's small nod and request that she exit the car, she can't help but admit that beneath that stubborn, iron-clad certainty exists a growing pool of doubt.

"This way."

The brunette instructs, not that directions are neccesary. Emma almost tells her so, before opting for silence. The windows of the store are once again overflowing with curios and artefacts, but she has no trouble conjuring up the image of white sheets behind murky glass; showcasing just the one doomed item to attract passers by.

"Emma?"

Regina frowns, catching movement from her left as the younger woman shivers visibly. The blonde turns to her and smiles a smile that shows just a few too many teeth.

"I'm okay."

Emma assures automatically, as she strives to push all memories of the crop she'd bought here from her mind, along with the results of that unfortunate purchase. Shrugging helplessly as the Mayor continues to study her for a moment longer, she breathes a sigh of relief as the brunette finally turns around and stalks for the door; her own brow furrowed as she recalls the darkness in Regina's eyes as she'd wielded the crop. Her weapon.

Back when she'd lured out the Queen.

Swallowing, she follows Regina into the dark gloom of Gold's store, her eyes flickering from one oddity to the next as her nostrils flare with the curiously dry scent of old books and cedar.

"Gold?"

The Mayor calls out as the door swings shut behind them, once more triggering the little bell heralding their presence. For a moment, the women believe they might be alone, but then the sure pad of footsteps sounds from behind a heavy velvet curtain and the man in question appears, dressed in a well-tailored suit.

"Madame Mayor... Miss Swan."

He greets, having wondered when Regina might seek him out again. He'd had a feeling it would be soon, but for her to come in with the Saviour in tow is something he hadn't bargained on. The younger woman stands behind the Mayor looking rather uncertain but by no means shy. She meets his steely gaze as he stares her down, and reciprocates his slow smile with a courteous twitch of her lips.

Polite, but all business.

"What can I do for you?"

Gold asks, and some of his curiosity is genuine, as he is intrigued to uncover the current state of play. He beckons them up to the counter and watches on curiously as the blonde's attention lingers on the delicate crystal mobile hung in the window before she stands beside Regina and settles cool green back onto him.

"We've come to ask for your help with something... It concerns the curse."

The brunette divulges, and the pawnbroker forbids his expression from showing his surprise at her openness. Casting a surreptitious glance at Emma, he watches her face carefully to gauge her reaction, but she seems neither confused nor agitated. She simply waits.

It seems two can play at this game.

"I see."

He nods, looking back to his long ago student and offering her a dry smile.

"What of it?"

"Emma's read Henry's book. We have discussed the matters within to some extent, but mostly I have covered the topic of my past and of hers as she has a right to know why all of this is happening."

"I agree... Tell me, Miss Swan, does knowing lessen the sting at all?"

His voice is silky, and Regina flashes her teeth; nothing genial this time, only warning. Beside her, the younger woman does allow a small smile, her tone icy as she answers him curtly

"I'm not sure what it is that I know just yet, only what I have been told. Your question would imply that everything I have supposedly found out should be painful to me. Perhaps some of it is- if it's true- but having no answers at all, whether they're insane or not, isn't the most wonderful feeling either."

"Curious that you should word it in such a way; accentuating the fact that you're unsure whether Regina tells the truth. There was once a time when you refused to entertain pure logic because it suggested she had betrayed you."

"When?"

The Mayor snaps, glaring at the little man accusingly as she feels a knot of disquiet form in her stomach.

"The young Princess here once threatened me bodily harm when I suggested that the only way I would have heard about her incarceration was from yourself. It was the obvious answer, yet she preferred to stay stubbornly blind. Interesting then, that she would now doubt you when you need her to cooperate."

Dark eyes narrow as the brunette seethes, but it is Emma that bites back angrily

"She doesn't need me to cooperate, she's doing this for me, not for herself."

"Such certainty, such foolishness."

"No. It's not. And if the book's true, then you know that. There's no benefit to the Evil Queen in the Saviour succeeding at her task, I'd imagine it's the opposite! And she didn't betray me. Yes, the situation at the time pointed to her having done so, and maybe I was naive, but Regina never did tell you that I was incarcerated because you knew. You knew that and plenty more about me, but at the time I had no reason to imagine that you did. Regina would never have told you something like that at the time you claimed she did. I trusted her then and I trust her now. Completely... There's a difference between trust and belief. And there's a whole world of difference between trust and believing in magic, a curse, fairytale characters and a prophecy."

"Then why are you here, if the book lies?"

"I never said it lied. In the world outside Storybrooke, there are millions of people that believe in gods whose stories are laid out on the page. Sure, some of them sound sketchier than others, but on the whole, I wouldn't call someone preaching from one of those books a liar. That doesn't mean I believe in their god or any other... I would like to. It seems like it would be comforting to have faith and the community that comes with it. In the same vein, I would like to believe what it says in Henry's book. The book says I have a family and a purpose, and it explains why things went the way they did the last time I was here. It gives reasons that I can in some ways accept; that I can live with. Sure, it also covers a whole bunch of dark and twisted crap that doesn't sit well with me if the good is true, but if you've ever read a bible, then you'll know it's not all bread, fish and walking on water. There's people who pray for the second coming, for their Saviour, and yet know that if their belief is justified, they're gonna have to deal with the fact they've eaten a couple of cheeseburgers over the years despite it being forbidden according to the text in Exodus, for which they should- apparently- suffer. They pray because they believe, despite knowing that bad will come with the good.

I've never done much of either."

"Then I don't see what I could do to help you."

Gold replies, although his mind is already ticking with ways he might be able to do just that. He is impressed with her. As a young adult, she had been angry and closed off towards him. He'd supposed she must have something hidden beneath her shell or the Queen would have tired of her after sating any simple carnal interests, but they had rarely spoken to one another, and the brief glimpses of his creation he had managed to snatch had been curt and altogether rather teenaged. Now, he is fascinated to hear her voice- her mind- as she stands before him as he had once prophesied. As it was intended.

"Think harder."

Regina growls, not willing to accept that she has reached yet another dead end. Still, what Emma has said has hit home with her. She had wondered how it could be that she'd taken the blonde down to her vault- that the younger woman had visibly reacted to nearing the room bearing her dark trophies beating their doomed melody- and yet still refused to accept what was being suggested to her. She understands now that it is for the same reason that Emma has read the stories of the terrible things done by the Queen- how she had actually wished to beckon her out to play- and not reacted with greater appall.

She's allowing me to tell her what I deem fit. She's prepared to read what I give her. She's willing to ask for explanations and to think them through to gain understanding on everything she's processed thus far, just as a student will read a textbook and wish to know more while they accept the words on the page as reason and truth. The author has no reason to lie. Yet pictures and words, diagrams and charts, are not the same thing as seeing something in the flesh. One could read an essay explaining the exact workings of a lightbulb and accept them for truth. They could listen to a lecture on the same subject and feel better informed. But unless one actually witnesses the bulb illuminating for themselves, they'll never know for sure. For some, like Henry, the very meaning of belief is to hold onto something and accept it and need no proof because they know in their heart that something is true.

Emma works with her head, not her heart, because going with your heart is how you get hurt.

She needs to see.

Most believe in something and search for proof. Emma needs proof in order to start believing.

Yes, she is sure of it, but while she understands the importance of working to the blonde's way of thinking, she feels like she's back at square one again. She and Henry have both searched for proof- had believed the book to be proof- and they have found nothing.

"There must be something in this shop that can help show that the stories are real."

She appeals, her gaze flickering to the crystal mobile- Emma's mobile- before returning to dark coals. Gold smiles- not unkindly- and points to the tiny glass beasts with a sigh.

"I believe Miss Swan clocked that stunning piece when she came in, didn't you, dearie?"

"The mobile? Yeah, I mean, I looked at it. Why?"

The blonde frowns, and the little man offers Regina a weighted look as though this response proves his point.

"I believe Madame Mayor had her hopes up just now, that's all. The unicorns are crystal but the beads are glass; the crystal comes from the diamond mines, while the glass is dragon blown. Very rare. Go ahead and take a closer look."

"Uh... I mean telling me the glass has been made by dragons isn't really going to convince me just so you know. And I wouldn't know 'mine' crystal over any other types of crystal if my life depended on it."

Emma points out with a slightly apologetic look over her shoulder at the brunette, before touching one of the delicate unicorns gingerly. Gold chuckles in response- also shooting Regina a commiserating glance- and shakes his head.

"Oh, I wouldn't have thought the mention of dragons would be the place to start. No, I should think Regina spared some hope that you might recognise it, albeit any opportunity would have been brief... That mobile hung over your crib in your parent's castle. I have keepsakes from that past life belonging to every one of the lost souls here. That's yours. I believe you possess the other; the blanket."

"... What blanket?"

The blonde whispers, and she's no longer touching the mobile but backing woodenly away from it.

"The baby blanket, the one Granny made for you as a gift to your mother. The one with the purple embroidery."

Gold replies, and Emma turns around so fast that her hair tumbles over her shoulder; her eyes glittering and wet.

"How... I... Did you?"

She asks with a waver to her voice as she turns her attention to Regina, and the brunette shakes her head, her expression solemn.

"No. I didn't tell him. Why would I? I didn't tell him about the blanket any more than I discussed your being incarcerated with him. I've seen the blanket a couple of times in this world, but I know it from back there... There's a unicorn missing on the mobile, did you notice? That was my doing. That was my doing as the Queen."

"I... I don't know what to do with that information."

Emma croaks eventually, and Gold nods with genuine sympathy and laments

"It was never going to be easy. The Dark Curse is one of the most powerful that has ever been foretold, and for you to break it was never going to just happen overnight. I foresaw the two of you going to war, it is the way it was supposed to be, and out of the chaos and fighting, the truth would finally come out... In a way, this turn of events is all rather unfortunate; perhaps it would have been easier to believe Regina to be the Evil Queen if you had considered her an enemy. Given how close the two of you are, I would guess another approach is going to have to be taken."

The little man sighs, and the blonde frowns as she chances a glance at the Mayor; unsure how to react to Gold's apparent knowledge of their relationship.

Or at least part of it!

The brunette offers her a small shrug that suggests she isn't in favour of this curious fact, but it is out of their hands. Gold himself pretends to ignore all of this, supposing that it'll do him no good to make the others uncomfortable at this time. He wants to help Emma do what must be done for his own reasons, and as he watches the Mayor's shoulders slump defeatedly inside the fine tailoring of her jacket, he limps towards a large armoire that stands beside an old grandfather's clock. Producing a key from his pocket, he opens the rich walnut doors and bends into the shadows; keeping his actions hidden from his guests.

Finally, he emerges with a glass vial, the inscription down the side blurring over the years and illegible.

"Take this. Regina told me about how she wiped your memories using a potion made of ingredients once holding magical properties, and I see no reason why that same ploy might not work now."

"What is it?"

Emma asks, before the Mayor interrupts her and demands much more seriously

"What do you want for it?"

The stern distrust in her voice causes the pawnbroker to giggle, and he throws a smile at the blonde as though sharing his humour. Emma simply frowns back at him before looking to Regina and Gold sighs once more.

"Nothing. I've told you before that my interests lie in Miss Swan breaking the curse. That hasn't changed. Once she's done what she was made to do, then we may talk business, but for now, I am simply trying to help out."

"It's never that simple with you."

The brunette hisses, and the little man seems to think about this pensively, before nodding in agreement.

"That is because you and I have often been at odds, and there is much to be gained from keeping one step ahead of you. Take that as a compliment; it was meant as one. The same rule doesn't apply to Emma. I am fairly sure that I will be best positioned supporting her wishes. At least for now."

He holds out the vial once again as his tone carries an air of finality, and after a moment's pause, the blonde reaches out to take it from him.

"What do I do with it?"

"It's to be taken before bed, half an hour or so should do it. A couple of swallows will be sufficient. Keep whatever there is left over... It might come in useful."

His eyes glitter as he smiles cryptically, and Emma regards the greenish liquid in her hand dubiously.

"Do I just drink it straight?"

"It can be ingested however seems most palatable... But I never said that you were the one that would be drinking it."

"Huh?"

Emma frowns, and Gold smiles as he tilts his jaw pointedly towards Regina.

"Miss Swan merely needs to be present when you retire to bed, dearie... I trust that shouldn't be too much of a problem for either of you."

"How dare you-"

"-What's it going to do to her?"

The blonde interrupts the Mayor's fury nervously.

"Nothing untoward, I promise you... But you might want to restrain her."