Emma quickly made a mental list of the possible whereabouts of the group. If Regina had escaped, she would be in her vault. If they had taken her… Well she didn't know where they would be. The vault it is then, Emma thought as she climbed back into her car.

Luckily not many people were around, likely to do with the curse they'd all just woken from. Emma was sure she'd have caused a few accidents if the roads had been busy. She prayed as she drove that she would find Regina safe inside the vault and surrounded by a protection spell of some sort. She parked the car a little way away from the graveyard, aware that if that was the case, the villains would be nearby.

What she didn't expect was to see Gold calmly leaving the graveyard as she approached. She quickly ducked behind the brick wall surrounding the place and slowed her breathing as she watched him leave. He was alone.

Her heart rate sped up as she wondered what that could mean. Had he dealt with Regina already? Could he have killed her? She shook her head violently and tried to steady her shaking hands. No, there was no way Regina was dead. That woman was far too stubborn to go out like that.

The instant Gold rounded the corner and disappeared with a wave of his hand and a flash of smoke, Emma emerged from her hiding spot and sprinted towards the vault. She pummelled hard into the door only to find it locked, resulting in a sore shoulder.

"Regina?!" She yelled, but then instantly closed her mouth, realising that Cruella, Ursula or Maleficent could be inside.

For a moment she stayed still, unsure of what her next move should be, but after a few seconds, a familiar voice called out to her.

"Emma?"

"Regina! Open the door!" She called back, relief flooding through her.

"I can't, Gold trapped my magic." Regina answered.

"Okay, just one second." Emma said. She had never teleported herself before but there was a first for everything, she figured.

It turned out that all she needed to perform the magic was enough motivation. Letting herself feel the worry she felt for Regina sent her magic spiralling forth within minutes and before she even realised that she'd done it she felt her cloud of magic engulf her and when she opened her eyes she was stood beside the dark-haired woman.

"Thank God, Regina, I was so worried," Emma said as she enveloped her in a tight hug.

Regina raised her eyebrows and stiffened, "Really, Miss Swan, there's a time and a place. You've already wasted precious time just getting yourself in here."

"I thought you were dead! This is as good a time as any for a hug." Emma argued, but found herself blushing as she realised that she'd never really shown affection for Regina before. But when she glanced over the woman and noticed the handcuffs surrounding her wrists, the embarrassment quickly left her. "Regina, what-" She started to say but stopped when her eyes spotted something else, deep red marks the size of handprints encircled Regina's throat and though their cause was pretty obvious, she found herself asking tenderly, "What did he do to you?"

She reached towards the newly-formed bruises but Regina quickly slapped her hand away, "Nothing I can't heal, now listen to me, Gold will be back any minute and I need your help."

"What's he planning?" Emma asked, on full alert.

"He wants my help to turn you dark, he's been trying to coerce me to join his side."

Emma stifled and took a moment to let that information sink in, she wanted to ask why or how but there was no time now so she swallowed the questions that could wait and instead asked, "Well, can't you just lie?"

"Even if I do, he'll never trust me. He'll want me to sign some sort of deal I won't be able to back out of. We need another plan, some kind of leverage against him."

"Leverage against Gold? You think we can go up against him?"

Regina balked, "This is the Evil Queen you're speaking to. I can go up against anyone. It's Gold who should be afraid right now, not us."

Emma inwardly cringed, the last thing she needed was Regina getting back in touch with her dark side but she was well aware of the stakes. They needed to win this battle. "What would you suggest then, your majesty?"

Regina smiled, "We go after Gold's one weakness."

"Belle?" Emma widened her eyes, "I'm not hurting Belle!"

"You won't need to, you just need to take her heart. You can force her to forget the whole experience afterwards."

"Her heart? I don't know how to take hearts! That's your speciality, not mine." Emma complained.

"Emma, we don't have a choice-" Regina stopped talking suddenly and peered upwards, straining her ears, "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

Regina held up a finger to silence her. Yes, footsteps.

"He's coming back, there's no time, you have to go now."

"Already?! But, I-"

"Now!" Regina shouted, frowning at the incompetence of the woman.

Emma nodded and closed her eyes. She tried desperately to picture her parents loft and place herself there, but panic was beginning to bubble in her stomach as Gold got nearer and the fear chased away her intentions again and again.

"What are you waiting for?" Regina hissed.

"I can't!" She cried in panic just as they heard the door to the vault creek open above them.

"Hide!"

Without a second to spare, Emma darted behind the corner. It wasn't much of a hiding place but so long as Gold kept his eyes on Regina and didn't wander around the room, he wouldn't see her. Though, as he entered the room and took slow, deliberate steps towards Regina she was sure he would hear her heart pounding.

His voice echoed about the vault, cold and unnerving, "Now, where were we?"