Chapter 7:

The silence from the car transitioned to the walk into the hospital and its waiting room. Emma went up to the front desk to ask when they could visit Beth, and they said that they were still checking her over. She was malnourished and still a little confused. They told Emma that in about five minutes they could go in.

And so five minutes of complete and total silence commenced. They sat on the opposite sides of the small waiting room, and despite her resistance to it, she couldn't stop looking at him. She kept wondering what would happen, how this meeting would go.

Why he wouldn't look at her anymore.

Gold seemed to refuse to look at her now that they were but a few feet from the girl's room. Emma hated to admit it, even to herself, but it hurt for some reason. It was confusing to say the least, and a tad bit irritating that it bothered her at all.

Right when she was about to open her mouth to say something to break the silence, a nurse walked up to them. She looked between them, puzzled by the seating, before saying that they could go in now. Emma glanced over at him, which he didn't return, and got up. She lead the way to the room.

The door was open when she walked up, and she knocked lightly on the door while entering. Beth was sitting up in her bed, looking dazed and a bit worse for wear but overall coherent. Emma journeyed over to the chair next to her, opposite of the entrance. She looked up, expecting to see Gold sitting in the other chair, but…

He was still standing in the doorway, shock etched in every line of his figure. If she thought his eyes were wide back at the shop, then she had another thing coming. He stared at Beth as if she was everything he had been searching for, and he had finally found it. He looked at her like she was everything to him. Like she was precious to him. The girl looked up at him and recognition glinted in her eyes. She smiled at him and immediately he relaxed. A sort of peace seemed to surround him now.

And all Emma wanted to do was punch a wall.

An indefinable emotion swelled within her and she felt something break off and wither away. She swallowed dryly, trying to get her bearings, trying to understand what this reaction was. Nothing was working and she feared that she would have a panic attack. They kept looking at each other, and he seemed to gravitate towards the girl and fucking sparkles seemed to explode around them and she wanted to scream-

She cleared her throat.

Both jerked their heads in her direction, the mood broken. Emma silently (and slightly ashamed-slightly) patted herself on the shoulder. She could feel the frantic emotion leave her body slowly, and she rotated her shoulders to help it along its way. They were still staring at her, Beth seemed to be in shock by her little interruption. Gold cleared his throat as well and sat gently down in the seat Emma left for him. He kept his head down, glancing at the brunette every now and then. Emma grabbed her notebook out of her pocket, setting her mouth in a tight line. A frown seemed to be constantly pulling the corners down and she was unable to produce even the lightest expression for the girl. She went straight to the questioning, all business and sheriff-like.

"So, Beth, do you remember why you were put in the cell in the first place? Do you remember the circumstances?" She pinned the girl with a hard stare and Beth flailed under the scrutiny. Emma felt Gold glaring at her and she tried to tone it down. She managed it to a degree.

Beth took a breath, "Yes," her accent wrapping itself around the word, something Emma hadn't noticed in the cell. "I had just been…fired from Ru- Mr. Gold's establishment…and when I got home everything had changed." Beth narrowed her eyes, trying to concentrate, "It was difficult for awhile. Father and I had trouble adjusting back to normal, and…" Beth groaned, trying to recall the events. Gold's hand shot out and gently rested on hers, squeezing to give comfort. Emma felt her stomach turn, but Beth's forehead smoothed out and her eyes gleamed "The Mayor…showed up one day and offered help." She paused, "Next thing I knew, I was in the cell underneath the hospital. The only people that I ever saw were the Mayor, the nurse…and the janitor." She paused again, thinking, a dreamy look on her face, "A few times another man stopped by and chatted, but it was rare. I never caught his name." She looked over at Emma, finished with her tale.

Emma nodded, writing all of the information down as she spoke it. "Did anything happen to you while you were in the cell? Did anyone hurt you? Did they treat you properly?"

Beth started to shake her head, but stopped. She lowered her head timidly, "Well, it's hard to explain. On the one hand I assumed I was there for a reason. My father had agreed with the contract the Mayor put up, and my father has never let me down…however he never visited. He didn't seem to remember me, and whenever the Mayor would visit, a hate would just build up within me. Something never felt right. I began to feel like a prisoner instead of a patient."

Emma tilted her head, still jotting down the information, "Well, Regina tends to bring that out in people. Sometimes other effects are gag reflexes, or the urge to punch something repeatedly in the face…preferably hers." She smirked at the girl's aghast expression. Gold hid a smile, but Emma caught it in the corner of her eye. Her smile widened and she looked back at her notebook.

She couldn't think of anything more to ask, but she didn't want to leave them alone just yet. She didn't know why, but her body just would not move from its position. She swallowed again, but it didn't help. She looked up, they were staring at each other again.

Emma bit her lip. She could feel her incisors digging into the sensitive skin and she bit harder, trying to block out the other pain.

She had to leave.

Bracing herself, she stood up and put her notebook in her back pocket. "Well," they looked over at her, "I think that's all I need to know now…" she stood there awkwardly for a moment, "So…I'll just…go now."

She nodded to both of them and stepped around the bed, careful to avoid eye contact with either…especially him.

She didn't think they missed her.

It wasn't until she reached the lobby that she realized she drove him here. Which meant…that she would have to drive him back.

Emma ground her teeth together, biting back curse after curse. She stomped the ground, ignoring the looks the nurses were giving her. She dug her fingers through her hair, frustrated at these turn of events.

Maybe she should just leave him. He would've left her. What the hell should she care about him? She doesn't even trust the bastard! He's done nothing but cause her pain and annoyance. She should just leave him here to walk home by himself. She set her jaw: she had made her decision.

She dropped into one of the chairs near the front, banging her head on the wall. She knew she couldn't, wouldn't, leave him.

'Dammit,' it was times like this that she wished she was as heartless as Regina.

She leaned her head back, gently this time. She knew she'd be waiting awhile.

As she sat there she took a second and reflected on the past-hour? It's been an hour already. She thought of all the emotions that had gripped her in quick successions. All the feelings that seemed to suffocate her at the most improbable times. She didn't know what was causing it. She didn't even like Gold. At all.

She didn't.

Emma closed her eyes. Her mind was aching, and her body felt hollow. She should rest, but her thoughts kept racing. She took a deep breath- and held it. Then slowly she let it out. She repeated this process twice, before breathing normally again. It wasn't working. The dark feelings crept up her spine, intertwining into knots in her brain. They kept coming up, they wouldn't stop and the more she thought about what could be happening in that hospital room, the farther down she sunk into a dark place.

A noise startled her, and she jerked her head up and reached for her gun. That was the wrong move to make because her neck cracked from sitting in an awkward position. She let out a hiss and the hand that was going for her gun, shot to her neck. To her left she heard a chuckle and she glanced up, still cradling the back of her neck. Gold was standing there, poised with his cane, impeccable as always. He looked down at her, amused. She looked at the clock and saw that she had fallen asleep for about half an hour. She rubbed her neck some more as she stood up.

"Miss Swan? You're still here?" he asked, not unkindly, but it caused a pang in her chest. Was she really not wanted again? She shook the thought away, and looked at him, "Well, I drove you here," she dropped her arm and it slapped against her leg, "So I guess I just assumed that the right thing would be to drive you back." She shrugged and looked away.

Mr. Gold nodded, a smile curling his lips. "Ah, I see. Well thank you, my dear."He looked on her with a soft expression and Emma felt her walls crumble a bit. Then she realized that it probably wasn't really because of her that he was forming the expression. The walls went back up. He continued, "I will take you up on that offer, if it really is not too much trouble."

She lifted her shoulders, "Nope. No trouble. None at all." She bopped her head for a few seconds awkwardly, "Sooooo, are you ready now?" She lifted her eyebrows at him and swung her arms in the direction of the exit, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

He nodded and began limping that way, her on his heels. She tried to walk as slow as possible, so she didn't walk with him, but it seemed to be impossible and she ended up side by side, walking step for step with him.

She also tried to take care to not brush against him, but that horse was shot in the face pretty quickly. Every time the fabrics on their coats whispered against each other, she bit her lip, repeating to herself over and over that it meant nothing. Not to her, and certainly not to him. An image of a brunette easily squashed any feelings she had about the small moment.

They reached the car and she hurried to the driver's side, intent on getting this done and over with. She drove back to his shop (the destination was something that he insisted upon despite her offer to drive him to his house) in record time, but still staying at the speed limit. He got out and, after thanking her, walked up to the door and entered. Emma sat in her car for about a minute, staring at the entrance, before putting it in drive and pulling away.

She didn't get much sleep that night. She instead drank a cup of hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon (and more than a swig of whiskey) into an oblivion where no dreams (or nightmares) would haunt her. When she woke up the next morning she had a moment's peace with no memories of the previous day's events. Then everything came crashing down around her when she saw that Gold had left a voicemail on her phone.

She had completely forgotten about Mary Margaret's transference from the jail.

She quickly got up and hurried around the apartment, throwing on an outfit and making sure she looked decent before booking it outside to her car. She sped through the city to the Sheriff's office and walked in right when they were opening her cell. Gold was already there and standing near the entrance to her office. Emma rushed to Mary Margaret's side, trying to say words of comfort and promising things that she didn't know if she could keep. She tried giving her friend hope, but the woman never looked at her. She kept her head down and walked with hunched shoulders. Emma watched despairingly as the closest thing she had to family was escorted out of the building. She glanced at the only person left in the room and felt anger well up.

She strode up to him, "I trusted you. You told me you would help me against Regina." She was standing a few feet away now, "And now my friend is going to pay for me trusting you!"

Gold tilted his head at her, "Sheriff," he began and her glare grew fiercer. He paused, "Look. I know that this is emotional. But it's not all bad." She gave him a dubious look, and he smiled at her, "You must have faith, there's still time."

She scrunched her face up, the glare still firmly in place, "Time for what?"

His smile morphed into a smirk, "Time for me to work a little magic." He kept gazing into her eyes for a long moment and she couldn't look away. Slowly he turned and walked away. She didn't move from where she was standing. When he left her line of sight she turned her eyes to the ground, feeling the frustration that had been building over the past few days mounting.

She gradually stepped into her office and leaned over her desk, anchoring her hands on the surface. She hung her head, and felt the emotions finally reach the boiling point. Without warning her hand reached out and grabbed the first thing near her - the flower vase that Sydney had left for her. She chucked it with all her might at the file cabinet, letting her anger out through the action. The vase smashed into pieces and water coated the floor. She rested her hands on her hips and tried to take deep breaths, tried to calm down.

As she slowly circled in one spot she noticed something on the ground. She reached down and picked it up. It was small and mechanical with wires sticking out. Looking closer she realized exactly what it was, having used something similar in her previous career.

It was a listening device. Sydney was a mole. And Emma knew exactly who for. She clenched her hand that didn't have the bug in it, angry that she had actually trusted the man. She exhaled through her nose and set about putting the bug in an evidence bag. She'd need it for later.

But for now she needed some air to think.

She was walking up the steps to the diner when she bumped into August who was walking out the door. She remembered the accusations she put to him earlier that week. She had called him untrustworthy and a liar. She had thought he was the 'spy', being the stranger in town. She regretted it now, and she apologized for doubting him. He had actually been one of the few people that she could rely on.

They were in the middle of talking when Ruby's scream pierced the air, causing both of them to almost jump out of their skins. Sharing a look they both ran into the alley that went along the side of the diner to the back. They came across a distraught Ruby who was hurrying away from whatever had been behind the building.

"Ruby!" she called. "What's going on?"

The other woman was breathing heavily, seemingly on the verge of a panic attack. "She-she's in the alley!" she said, pointing behind her with trembling arms.

Emma looked at her with worried wide eyes, "Who?" but Ruby couldn't answer, as she leaned back against the building. The shock seemed too much for her. August went to her in concern, "Hey, are you alright?"

When Emma knew that Ruby was being taken care of she hurried to the alley. There was a figure on the ground, huddled face down next to a car in the parking lot.

Emma advanced on it, kneeling next the person. Carefully she lifted them onto their side, noticing that their breathing was not that of someone unconscious. The person sat up the rest of the way on their own and Emma suddenly found herself looking into the wild, scared eyes of Kathryn Nolan.

The supposedly deceased Kathryn Nolan.

Holy Crap, you guys. I finished this chapter pretty quickly :D Hope you like it. I did add some stuff from 1x18, 'The Stable Boy', because it will be relevant to the plot :)

Again, another reminder, This is Golden Swan. Do not think this will end Rumpbelle. I would never do that.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review! :D