A/N: Hello beautiful peoples. This chapter was a doozy. I kept worrying that stuff wouldn't make sense, and that no one would get what I'm trying to do. But, in the end, I decided I'll just go with it and see what happens. I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know if it does/doesn't make sense.

Emma's POV

Snow stepped forward, and Emma watched her cautiously. She could feel the distance closing between them, feel Snow's presence press upon her and shorten her breaths.

"Emma, what were you thinking? You are going to hurt Henry." Snow's voice was soft, but Emma could hear the underlying anger and disappointment. It swept past her ears and curled around her mind in a dizzying whirlwind of pain.

"You think that I would ever hurt Henry?" Emma snapped. On the other side of Snow, Regina pulled Henry behind her. They both looked uncertain, disturbed, waiting for a lion to pounce.

Her son.

David stepped forward then as well, his presence pressing against Emma in combination with Snow's. "Emma," He said, "It's likely that you will hurt him. You are under the influence of a powerful curse. We can't let you near him alone."

Claws dug into her heart. Surely David knew how it felt to have a child taken from you. Why would he do it to his own daughter? This couldn't be happening. They are supposed to be on her side. Emma growled fiercely then, and gestured at Henry. "He's my son! You can't take him from me!"

Regina reached out a hand placatingly, but all it did was make Emma more angry, "Emma, please, just take a moment to calm down. No one's trying to take Henry away from you."

Out of respect for their friendship, Emma did take a moment, but it did not help. One never could take a moment in this town. A dark thought pushed into her mind, keeping out all the others, 'We put one toe out of line and they no longer trust us.'

She was dizzy now.

'They don't want to deal with us anymore.' That's how it always was. Right? Thoughts swirled around her brain in a flurry. Like a blizzard it blocked out her ability to clearly see, to do anything but lash out blindly. She could hear voices of nameless people, whispering at the back of her mind. When Emma finally spoke, her own voice was small, almost getting lost in the whirlwind and joining the nameless masses, "So, all I have to do is mess up once? That's all it takes?"

Yes.

Anger built and built, it's burning fire being stoked by the voices in her head. The fire burned hotter and hotter, scorching her insides, 'Strike first.' A voice murmured, 'They cannot take away what you want, if you act quickly.'

Yes. That's right.

Her eyes darted around, not landing on anything. Her fists clenched, her muscles tightened. Like a lion, her body prepared to pounce, not fully under her control. Just before she did, however, she managed to catch a glimpse of Henry and Regina. Henry was hiding behind Regina, eyes wide and fully on Emma: a deer caught in headlights. Regina stood strong in front of him, body bent just enough to get a point across: 'I won't let you hurt him.'

The blizzard of thoughts stopped in an instant. Clarity followed.

Emma ran.

She ran past the crowd of people, past the stores, and past the houses. Her feet pounded on the street in a desperate staccato. Too much like a few days ago, with the young man. (She pushed that out of her mind.)

Emma ran until she couldn't. Until her lungs could no longer take in more air, until her legs just stopped moving to her command. It wasn't enough. She could never run far enough from this, from her current source of shame. But hiding could be the next best thing.

The smell of salt began hitting her nose. She turned toward it, let it grow stronger and stronger as she walked until she found an empty building. At least, she thought it was empty. Not many people went near the docks this time of day, so there wasn't too much danger of someone being there. (Hopefully).

Once inside, Emma found a room without any windows and tucked herself into one of the corners. Shelves, empty boxes, and trash filled the room, blocking the sight of anyone standing at the door. It was the perfect place to let go and stay hidden. A place to calm down and think. Luckily, The multitude of voices she had heard earlier were still silent. Unfortunately, one voice remained, but that wasn't unexpected.

"That was fun," Nadie deadpanned, "Totally wasn't expecting them to turn on you like that. Nope, not at all."

"Shut up!" Emma yelled, whipping around and staggering toward the other woman. "Just shut up! You know nothing!"

They were face to face. Unlike Emma, Nadie was the picture of relaxation; a soft, cruel smile decorated her face, and her head tilted slightly. "Yeah? Is that what you think?"

Emma reached forward to shove her, but only met air. Growling, she turned around to look at Nadie once again. "Yeah, of course! You're nothing but an evil, heartless bitch who gets off on hurting people."

Nadie shrugged and, walking forward, dragged a finger across one of the dust covered shelves. "That's true. Doesn't mean I don't know what it's like to be betrayed."

Emma huffed and sat back down, "No. We're not doing this. You don't get to act like we're the same. It's your fault they don't trust me."

Nadie ran a hand through her black hair, "We're not the same. Not yet. And really? 'It's my fault' they're scared of you? You're the one that attacked the man. You're the one who gets angry so, so easily now." She stared at Emma, the same smile on her face, "You're the one that decided to go out alone with Henry— who was going to attack them."

"No. No, that's not what happened!" Emma barked, and ran a hand through her hair, trying to even remember what exactly happened— why was it so hard to remember?

"You— This damn curse— It… it… It's changing me." Right? She was not like this before? Everything was getting more and more unclear. Her brain was fuzzy again.

Nadie moved to crouch down in front of her, "Poor, poor Emma," She mocked, "Do you remember? When we first met?"

Emma shuddered.

"You were so blood-thirsty. You wanted to rip me apart, you wanted to destroy the one threatening your family."

"Shut up!" Emma growled, still shaking, "That… that was completely different!"

Nadie tilted her head, her smile all teeth, "Was it?"

Was it?

Emma felt fingers brush across her forehead, but her vision was swirling, making her unable to see. Voices murmured in the back of her mind again.

"No. You haven't changed. This is who you really are." Since when was Nadie's voice so soothing?

"This is who—"

"Emma!" A new voice called out. Silence was shattered, and Emma could see again. Nadie turned toward the source of the voice, face red, and completely livid; her teeth were bared, eyes narrowed, and hands clenched into fists. If she could, Emma knew she would attack the person.

Meanwhile, Emma heaved, taking in breaths like a thirty man would water. Her eyes darted around, looking for the person who just saved her. The shelves blocked her view.

"Emma!?" The voice was familiar, she knew who it was.

"Regina." Emma croaked. Nadie glared at her, then stood up. Emma could now hear Regina's heeled shoes clack against the ground, getting closer. It was rain after a long drought. Soon enough, the woman herself appeared, finally finding Emma behind the shelves. As soon as Regina caught sight of Emma, her shoulders dropped, and her face relaxed. Nadie growled angrily.

"Emma, I've been looking for you." Regina said carefully, coming to a stop in front of her. In response, Emma buried her head in between her knees, "Just go away Regina." She says, angry about early, but slightly hoping for the opposite.

Regina sat down instead, her knees almost touching Emma's. "Would you like to tell me what's going on?" She asked, none of the anger from earlier present in her voice.

"No." Emma responded.

Regina just sighed. Emma waited for her to start talking again, but it didn't happen. They sat there for quite a while, breathing in tandem. Every breathe began to be fresher and fresher, and Emma soon found she no longer needed to force air into her lungs. Regina always seemed able to help with that. Now, much calmer, Emma looked up. Then she jumped at the sight before her.

Nadie was crouching right next to Regina. Her face was unreadable as she stared intently at Regina; it was intimidating and out of character. Regina was, of course, oblivious to her observer. But Emma could feel worry creeping up again: Nadie hadn't ever cared enough about the people around Emma to even give them a second glance.

'Nadie's just in my head. She can't hurt her.' Emma assured herself weakly.

Hoping to distract herself from the she-devils strange behaviour, Emma asked tersely, "Got any booze?" If she had to talk, she was going to do it drunk. Being sober was too hard.

Regina struggled to keep a small smile off her face, "Of course those would be the first words out of your mouth." Then she turned her face to the left, straight at Nadie, and Emma felt a thrill of fear. When Regina finally turned back to face Emma, she spoke, "If I get us some wine, will you talk with me about today?"

Emma contemplated for several seconds, and decided it was a price worth paying to numb everything she was feeling. "Sure," She shrugged.

Regina waved her hand and summoned a wine bottle and two glasses, "Do not make me regret this." She warned, then filled both glasses with the wine. Emma easily took the glass and downed it. Then a second, and a third. Regina stopped her after that, "Now tell me, why did you run away?"

A wonderful buzz was filling Emma's head and making her tongue loose, "It happened again." She whispered solemnly.

Regina leaned forward, "Emma, what exactly did it put in your mind?"

Emma looked upward, "It's… it's not just that it put a thought in my mind." She almost lost control; Regina, or at least someone, should know.

"What else?"

"I—" Emma started, but was interrupted by Nadie, "If you tell her, I will make you rip out her heart." The woman finally stopped her silent staring, and placed a hand over Regina's chest.

A growl jumped from Emma's throat, making Regina jerk slightly, "You can't."

"I can't do what?" Regina asked, confused.

"Not you," Emma moved to a crouch, "Nad—"

Everything became blurry, and Emma couldn't get the word out. There was no air in her lungs.

"Last warning." Emma barely heard Nadie say, over Regina's concerned voice, "Emma! What's wrong?"

But alas, Emma couldn't speak, and she fell forward as the world became blobs of colors. Arms caught her and shook, "Emma! Come on, breath!"

'Wonderful advice for someone who literally can't.' Emma snarked internally.

Time slowed, every second becoming more painful than the last. The world was fading to black. Regina's words were becoming farther and farther away. It was only when an electric warmth started filling her chest, that Emma was able to start breathing again. Her vision filled with a soft white.

"I don't understand," Emma heard Regina speaking over her, "You're wearing the cuff, your magic shouldn't even work."

Colors became shapes, and became the room filled with shelves once again. Emma looked up from her position on the ground, staring at Regina.

"Wha—?" Emma broke off into a coughing fit.

"Idiot. Don't try speaking yet." Regina barked, "You're still recovering."

Emma finally noticed the white light was coming from Regina's hands over her chest. It was like a warm blanket wrapped around her heart.

"The curse's magic… Emma… It was—I've never seen anything like it before. Your magic was choking you." Regina finished, and moved to put Emma's head on her lap. She started stroking the blonde's hair. "What happened? Why was it doing that?"

Still woozy, Emma slurred, "It w's 'er." Regina somehow managed to understand, and asked, "Who?" Emma went to respond, but started choking again.

"Damn it!" Regina cursed, and started pouring magic into Emma's chest once more. Only a moment passed before Emma could breath, but it left both of them shaken.

"It's the curse… it's trying to stop you from telling me something. Isn't it? Regina whispered, laying a hand on Emma's cheek. Emma leaned into the hand and nodded. Shame and embarrassment filled her at her own lack of strength. If she was stronger, she wouldn't have to worry about the curse's threats. If she was stronger, then all of this would be over already.

Regina whispered reassurances to Emma, guilt swimming in her eyes, "We'll figure this out Emma, I promise. I'm going to save you."

Exhausted, Emma simply nodded and closed her eyes, relaxing into Regina's warmth. Sleep beckoned to Emma. It lulled her deeper and deeper into it's blissful darkness. But just before it claimed her, she felt something press against her head: it was soft and firm.

"So don't you dare lose, Miss Swan. I won't allow it."