Emma didn't really have any idea of what to do. All she knew is that she couldn't get Will date Regina. She was sure this was some weird rebound thing from the whole Marian-Robin Hood thing. When she looked at it that way, it sort of made sense – maybe Regina was just trying to hold onto a piece of Robin by dating one of the Merry Men.

Will had actually settled down from his initial time in Storybrooke as far as Emma could tell. He was a legitimate business owner in fact, having opened up a bar, which he appropriately called The Knave.

On Wednesday night, she entered it hoping to speak to Will. She wanted to get a sense of what Will's angle was in all of this because she was sure he had one and if she could prove it then that would put an end to any date. Emma went to the bar and took a seat, but she didn't see Will around anywhere. She ordered herself a tall draft and decided she would wait for a bit to see if he would show up, if not she would simply ask the bartender.

Her beer was part way done and she was sure this was a mistake when she saw Will emerge from a door near the end of the bar. To her surprise he came directly over to her and sat down – motioning to the bartender to bring him a drink.

"Off duty sheriff?"

"Obviously," she said holding up her beer.

He pointed to the mirror behind the bar – "Two-way mirror. I saw you and thought I would see what brings you in here. I am fairly certain you haven't been here before. I like to keep track of people's comings and goings."

"That's probably a smart idea. It is indeed the first time I have been in here. I thought I would check it out. It seems like you are doing well for yourself from what I have heard."

"From what you have heard, are you checking up on me sheriff?" he said, giving her a smile which she had to force herself to return.

"Not really," she responded. "Small town, people talk, especially when new businesses get started. You got yours up and running rather quickly."

"I wish I could take the credit for that, but I can't."

Will was the type to take credit for himself from what she could tell so the admission surprised her.

"Who deserves the credit?" she asked taking a sip of her beer.

"Regina."

Emma started to cough as she choked for a moment on her beer. Once she calmed down, she looked at him. "Regina?"

"Yeah, this world comes with an awful lot of paperwork. You need permits for like every thing and a liquor license. Anyway, I thought if I went to the mayor I might be able to get around all of this red tape, but she wasn't about to let me cut any corners. Still, she scheduled off some time and helped me fill it all out and get it filed with the right offices."

"That was really nice of her."

"No kidding," he laughed. "I can certainly see why Robin fell for her."

"Regina has changed a lot for the better," Emma said. "There are some people who will never see that in this town, but for those of us that have seen it, it's great to see how far she has come."

Will gave her an appraisingly look which she didn't like so she turned her attention to her

beer, which was almost gone. He motioned to the bartender to bring Emma another.

"It's on the house," he said to her. "Let's grab a table."

He stood grabbing his own drink.

"I probably should get going," Emma said.

"The night is still young," Will said.

She didn't want to sit and chat with him, but she also hadn't figured out anyway to prevent that date from happening so she nodded. She grabbed her beer and followed him to a table nearby.

"You know sheriff, this is a small town and people do love to talk, especially in a bar. I got to say I wasn't sorry to hear about you and Hook breaking up. He comes in here once in a while and as much as I would like to kick him out Regina says I can't just go around doing things like that in this world. And she's right. I don't want to run an establishment like that. I don't want this to be some rowdy place. I want it to be a place where people feel good about coming to with their friends to enjoy a good time. In fact, next week I am starting karaoke on Wednesday nights."

Emma could hardly believe this was the same Will. He seemed to read that in her expression.

"Regina isn't the only one who has changed. Maybe that's what this town really is, a place where people can change their lives for the better."

"I can't argue with that. My life too has changed significantly for the better since coming here."

"See, you know exactly what I am talking about. Like I said people here talk. I've heard about you too, about how you weren't always on the right side of the law, but look at you now, you are the sheriff. Why don't we drink to that – to positive change."

He raised his glass and she felt obliged to clink glasses with him in a toast. Man, she thought, this would be so much easier if he was a completely unlikable guy.

"I know Regina told you that we were going on a date," Will said. "I gather you coming in here was some way for your to see that I am not out to hurt Regina or something. I get it, you two share custody of Henry so naturally you would be concerned about goings on around him. I am not a bad guy sheriff. I don't have anything nefarious planned and I wouldn't do anything that would bring harm to a child."

Emma was more than a little shocked that Will had made a connection with her coming there and his impending date with Regina. He thought it was because of Henry and while Henry was yes part of the equation – he wasn't the sole reason she was here.

She appreciated that Will was being straight with her, so she took a big drink of her beer and decided to return the favor.

"Regina and I do share a son so it would be natural that I would want to make sure that nothing bad happened to her or Henry. But that's not exactly why I am here," Emma said.

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I have no intention of letting you go on that date with Regina."