Coming out of the supermarket, Gold looked around, trying to remember where he had left the car. Parking, as always in the evening, was full. When he found the Cadillac, he put the packages in the trunk and as he slammed its door close, he saw the Mayor of Storybrooke right in front of him.
"We need to talk!" Regina Mills looked at him intensely.
"Again?" Gold sighed wearily. "I hope you're planning to tell me that you, Henry and David have come to terms with the way the American justice system works."
"You know I won't.", the Mayor shook her head.
"What do we need to talk about then?", Gold asked. "We already seem to have discussed everything."
"You have to help me." Mayor Mills said uncertainly, without strain.
"Is that so?" Gold looked at her probingly. "And why should I do that?"
"Because I can also help you and I've come to make a deal.", the Mayor answered quietly.
"This became more interesting." He walked along the car, opened the passenger's door, gesturing for Miss Mills to sit down. Going around the Cadillac, he sat in the driver's seat. "I just rumored all over," he turned to Regina. "To begin with, why are you still here?"
"You know that I can't just leave." Mills said tensely. "You know your grandson. If I step back now, he will erase me from his life forever."
"You raised him like that." Gold shrugged. "Perhaps the time has come to take off the bandage."
"Stop it." She looked out the window, turning away from her interlocutor. "You know that I cannot do this."
"So, are you going to tell me something that I don't know yet?" Gold asked.
"Help me free Emma, Killian and Belle and you will never see them again, I will make sure of it. File a petition." She nervously ran her hands over her knees, resting their wrists on them. "I'll take everyone back to Storybrooke. I'll put a spell on the city line and completely block the city, no connection with the outside world ..."
"And what will you do when Henry will need you to return Belle's child?" Gold interrupted her.
"I will tell Henry that the city is under your spell." She drummed her fingers on her knees. "We will search for a long, long time to find a way to undo it and then, perhaps, he will come to terms with it. This is the best option for you too. You yourself understand what is happening now is a time bomb. Even if I do step back, the rest won't leave you alone as long as these three are here in prison. If you give them to me you will never see anyone else from Storybrooke again. I'll take care of it. We will make a deal. None of them will ever bother you or her."
"I have already explained to you that this is a public charge, I can do nothing. And I will not ask my friends to get this trinity out of prison. No one will understand, believe me. This will bring me much more problems than all the inhabitants of Storybrooke would put together." He covered her palm with his. "Regina, he is no longer the baby that you shook a rattle upon so that he would not cry. You have to explain to your son that you cannot fulfill all his desires. He wanted you to rescue Emma and the pirate. You tried. You did everything you could. Nothing came out of it. He needs to come to terms with this and continue loving his mother despite the fact that she is not omnipotent."
"You know this won't happen.", she laid her head on his shoulder. "He will never love me simply like that, he is not your Bae."
"No, he's not like my Bae at all.", Gold agreed. "But maybe he will eventually be able to accept you like that, who you are."
"He is everything I have, he is my whole family, I cannot lose him. Help me! At least pretend that you are trying to help us free Emma, file a petition."
"It's amazing how different you two are." Gold looked at her thoughtfully. "How did you get along in one body? I will not help you delay the inevitable. He has to face the truth. This is your chance."
"No, I'm not ready.", she recoiled from him.
"You will never be ready." He put an arm around her shoulders, pressing her slightly against him. "You cannot prepare for this."
"Then war awaits us.", she said. However, she did not push him away.
"We are not your enemies, Regina." He stroked her shoulder. "Perhaps it will surprise you, but I want you to be okay. And now you really have a chance to change everything. Your entire life. Shifting points in life are always painful but sometimes it's necessary to break what had been glued together wrong before. You won't be alone. My wife and I have talked a lot about you in the past few days. You can stay here with your son. I will pay for you an apartment, help you with finding work. And Regina and I will be with you, you will have a family, we will help you."
"What?" Mills recoiled from him again. "What are you talking about?"
"You know, my Regina doesn't have many relatives and friends." Gold continued. "She needs someone except me and the children, someone close. A sister that you can become for her. And I honestly worry about you too. I have known both of you for many years, I taught you both, you were the same little child that I shook in my arms once. And I don't like what is happening to you. You completely lost yourself trying to please your son and his relatives."
"Me and the Queen?", Regina laughed. "We will never be sisters."
"You don't know her at all, you really don't know yourself either." He removed his hand from her shoulder. "I must go home now. If you accept my invitation to dinner, then you can come along with me. You will be alone in Storybrooke. Here you can have a family, a life, a chance to finally establish a normal relationship with your son, a chance to meet someone. Everything can change if you give yourself a chance. Decide and tell me now: yes or no."
"Yes." Mills answered, barely audible.