Walking out the door of her apartment, Emma saw her mother and Henry come running up the hall towards her.
"Hey, whoa. What's going on?" she asked as Henry skidded to a stop in front of her. "What happened?"
"It's Gold," Mary Margaret panted. "He has David!"
Emma felt the panic rising up inside her, but fought to keep calm."What do you mean Gold has David?"
Henry grabbed her arm and started tugging her down the hall, with Mary Margaret trotting after them. "There's no time," Henry told her as he kept pulling. "We have to find Mr Gold!"
Confused but worried, Emma let her son drag her outside and towards her car. Emma opened the door, and turned to Mary Margaret briefly. "Where was he headed?"
"We're not entirely sure," she started, and Emma fought not to roll her eyes at her mother. "But he headed in the direction of the town line."
Swearing under her breath, Emma jumped in the car and took off as soon as Henry was buckled safely in.
Luckily, there was next to no other cars on the road, as usual, and Emma speed through the town.
Glancing over at Mary Margaret, Emma noticed she was rather pale and fidgeting with her scarf. Shooting her a forced smile, she asked "Do we know why he has David? What does he want with him?"
From the back, Henry piped up. "We don't know. We just saw David in the passenger seat of Mr Gold's car, and he looked unconscious."
Emma frowned, wondering what on earth Gold could want with David. Why was he taking him to the town line anyway? Had he found a way to cross the line without losing his memories? What would he need with David though? And what was over the line? These and a million other thoughts race through her mind as she drove towards the town line. She wasn't paying much attention to the road as a consequence and had to slam on her brakes when she saw Gold's Cadillac parked on the right side of the road, not three meters from the town line. She could indeed she David in Gold's car, and she fought against the rising wave of panic. She had to try to stay calm and strong for Henry's sake.
Everyone scrambled out of the Beetle and Mary Margaret made to race towards David, but Emma held her back.
"Let me go, Emma! What if he's hurt?" Mary Margaret tried to twist her wrist out of Emma's hold, but she just held on tighter.
"We don't know where Gold is," she muttered. "He's the main issue here."
As the two woman argued, Henry carefully snuck over to the Cadillac, keeping an eye out for Gold. He didn't think Gold would hurt him, he seemed to have a bit of a fondness for him, but he wanted to be careful anyway. Henry peered through the tinted passenger window and saw David slumped on the seat, unconscious but definitely alive. As he reached for the door handle, he heard Emma shout his name. He turned around and saw Emma running towards him.
"It's okay," he called back to her. "David's okay!"
"I don't think that's quite what she meant, dearie," a voice came from behind him and he spun round to see Mr Gold casually leaning against the boot of his car.
Trying his best not to look scared, Henry stood his ground next to the car door. "What do you want with him?"
Mr Gold gave a laugh and took a step forward. "It was never him I wanted," he said in a mocking tone.
Henry frowned at him, and suddenly noticed Emma sneaking up behind Mr Gold. He quickly looked back to Gold so as not to give Emma away. "Who do you want then?" he ventured and Mr Gold's eyes lit up slightly.
Without a word he spun around, knowing Emma was behind him and she stopped frozen in her tracks. "I want you, dearie."
Emma stood rooted to the spot, her eyes trained on Gold's face. He had a knowing smile in place and was looking at Emma in a strange way, with an emotion she couldn't quite place. Suddenly, he reached forward for her and as his skin touched hers she felt on odd heat radiating from him, before they vanished from sight behind a burst of purple smoke.
When the smoke cleared and Emma could see again, she ripped her arm away from Gold, though he wasn't holding her as tight as she thought he would be and she stumbled back, tripping and landing on her bum.
She looked up at Gold with a slightly surprised look on her face and could see him struggling to hold in a smile. She glared at him and scrambled to her feet, knocking his hand away when he offered to help her up. Looking around, she realized she was in the back room of Mr Gold's store and she looked at him, confused. "We're in your shop?"
"But of course. Where else would we be, dearie?"
She shot him a look at the teasing hint in his tone and sighed. "This had nothing to do with David, did it? You just wanted to get me to your store."
A small smile played over his lips as he answered her. "You're quite the smart one, Ms Swan."
Emma couldn't tell if it was intended as a compliment or not, but she took it as one. "Thanks," she said flatly, her eyes roaming the walls. She had never been in the back room of his shop before, and she eyed up the bed with a raised eyebrow. "Why am I here?" she asked, still looking at the bed in the corner.
"You haven't figured that one out yet?" he teased and her eyes shot back to him. "Very well let me give you a hint." He walked over to the bed she had been staring at, and sat on the edge.
She was confused to say the least. Was this his hint? Or did he just want to sit down? If not, what the hell was he getting at? She felt the heat rising in her cheeks and this made her blush even more. She quickly turned away from Gold as she got her emotions under control, but judging by the soft laugh from his direction, she guessed he had seen. Emma stared hard at a small antique vase, fighting against the emotions swirling in her gut, refusing to entertain the notion of her and Gold. That's not what he meant, she told herself sternly, but the little voice in her mind smugly reminded her of what Gold had said when he turned to her earlier. She turned away, both from the memory and the vase, and looked back at Gold who was calmly watching her. "What do you want?" she tried again.
"Oh, I want many things," he replied vaguely, but she saw the glint in his eyes.
She sighed and walked over to plonk herself down on the bed next to him. "Why did you go to so much trouble to bring me here?" she asked suddenly. Surely there were better ways of getting her to his shop without kidnapping David in the process.
"Because you wouldn't have come if I had just asked," he stated.
She opened her mouth, about to say she would have, but closed it as she realized she wouldn't have come without a fight. "But why kidnap David? Mary Margaret will be looking for me now, worried sick."
"No need to worry about her, dearie. She's not going to remember."
Emma frowned and went to ask why she wouldn't remember, before changing her mind as she realized he didn't answer her other question. "So, why David?" she pressed.
Mr Gold shifted slightly, and his knee brushed against hers, making her heart beat faster. "I thought I needed him, but then I realized it would work better with you."
Emma's heart stuttered as she considered the double meaning behind his words. "What would work better?" she asked quietly.
Mr Gold didn't answer straight away, but put his hand lightly on her knee; Emma almost stopped breathing.
"What do you want me for?" Emma forced out, trying to keep her mind out of the gutter. She couldn't say she had never thought about Gold in that way, because she often had, but she never let her thoughts go further than kissing him.
When Mr Gold turned to look at her directly, her heart skipped a beat. His eyes had darkened from their usual chocolate brown to almost black, and she could see the lust dancing in his eyes. When he spoke, she noticed that his accent got a bit thicker. "Just one thing for tonight, dearie," he muttered, before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.
Emma froze in shock, her eyes wide, but soon they slipped shut as she warmed to the idea of his lips on hers, and without warning she was kissing him back. She heard him move again, sliding closer to her and she turned her body, bringing one leg up under her on the bed. Just as she had decided she would happily continue kissing him forever, he pulled back from the kiss. Her eyes flew open and she saw him smirking at her. Deciding she hadn't quite finished, she grabbed the lapels of his suit and pulled him back to her, kissing him hungrily.
Gold growled low in his throat and pushed her back onto the bed, one arm around her waist to hold her close, the other moving up to tangle in her hair. Emma gasped slightly and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. She made an appreciative noise and one leg moved up to hook around Gold's thighs. He chuckled slightly, and deepened the kiss even more. After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes, Gold pulled back again, smiling down at her. Emma grinned up at him, slightly embarrassed but too full of want to really care. Using the leg she still had wrapped around his legs to keep him in place, she quickly flipped them over so that she was on top. Emma laughed at the shock on his face, and bent down to kiss him lightly. He pulled her back when she moved away and she giggled, happily going in for another kiss.
When Gold's fingers started making their way down her body to her jeans, she silenced the voice in her head that told her this was a bad idea- the one that sounded a lot like Mary Margaret- and slipped her hands under his shirt. One night can't hurt, she thought to herself as he began to undo the button on her jeans.