It wasn't an affair if she was never willingly involved with Rumpelstiltskin and it was her husband that she was with. That's the justification that Snow used when she and David started sneaking around together.

It couldn't be an affair, she wasn't cheating.

Snow was being rash about it but she was being careful at the same time. It was tempting to pretend that this was her husband and take things as far as David wanted to take them...but she also knew that it wasn't him. This was David Nolan not David the Prince.

So, she kissed him…in a very unprinccesslike fashion and she hugged him and there was a lot of caressing going on but she didn't sleep with him. It wasn't David. She didn't want 28 years of being separated from him being ruined because she couldn't wait.

No one knew, Snow made sure to be careful, she brought David to the house when no one was home and made sure he came in through the back. Rumpelstiltskin might understand but he would also tell her to be cautious. Snow didn't want to be cautious, caution wasn't getting her anything! The curse wasn't any weaker than it was when Charming woke up. Emma wasn't any closer to believing, she still thought that Henry's beliefs were based off Henry's silly stories.

But that didn't stop Emma from bonding with Henry. She was genuinely coming to love her son if she wasn't there already. Their small moments they could steal away together were valued by Emma…and that was about to be ruined now that Regina found their meeting place; the small castle playground by the sea. Snow listened patiently as Emma ranted about how Regina wanted to tear it down.

"Don't let my feelings cloud my judgment?" Emma imitated, "That's all Regina ever does."

Snow took a sip of her cocoa, "Well, she's just upset because you and Henry have a special place and she….she doesn't."

Jealousy was so ugly.

"How'd she find out about the castle in the first place?"

"You're spending time with Henry, don't you think she'd scope out where you went?" Snow asked and looked at her phone when a text came up, "She knows everything about the town, she's the mayor."

The text was from David; we need to talk. Meet at our spot.

Snow felt a pang of fear. Was something wrong? Was Kathryn pregnant after all? Did Regina know?

Emma studied her reaction, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she started to stand, "I just need to go. Look, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're right. I see the effect she has on Henry."

And everyone here.

"I wish everyone else did, too," Emma muttered.

"They will," Snow promised, "Just give it time."

She tensed as she passed Sidney going the opposite way. She didn't look behind her to see. Regina's favorite spy and her father's murderer. He had ruined many a plan after he became the man in the mirror.

But she didn't have time to make sure he WASN'T sitting close to her daughter, she needed to get to the bridge.

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Snow found David waiting for her at the bridge where he woke up. The relief was short lived, he looked like he was in one piece but any number of other things could've gone wrong.

"David, I got your text, what's going on?"

David grabbed her hand and looked around, "Follow me."

He led her further into the forest and Snow felt her heart hammering, was he worried that he'd been followed? Had Regina found out about them?

"David, you're scaring me, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong is you're late," he told her with a smile and pulled her to the clearing, "And the wine's getting warm."

Snow suddenly felt like an idiot when she saw the picnic he'd set out for them. She smiled and gave him a mischievous look. There was still some of David in there somewhere…the romantic that she married.

They were still safe for now.

She kissed him, "We have to stop doing this."

"We just started doing this," David almost whined.

Snow knew it wasn't cheating, she wasn't doing anything wrong, but as she stood there, she felt so guilty, "We have to figure out what we're doing."

"We will," he promised, "Tomorrow."

But then again, Snow had been separated from Charming so many times; she'd take what she could get. There was nothing wrong with this. Being together meant they could help weaken the curse too, "Okay. Tomorrow."

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It wasn't wrong, but Snow still wanted to talk to Emma about it. She wanted to see what she thought. Emma had hinted before that there had been a married man in her life, Snow wanted to know what she should do.

Of course she already knew what Emma would say and she might ignore it.

But somehow…she wanted Emma to know what was going on.

"Emma," Snow ran into her house and into the living room when she saw that her daughter's bug was parked in the driveway, "Emma, there's something I'd like to talk to you about-."

She stopped when she saw who was here. Sidney Glass. Emma brought him into their house and they were surrounded by boxes.

Snow felt her stomach roll but she swallowed the rising bile as she stared down the man that Regina used to kill her father, "Hi Sidney."

"Hey," Emma said obliviously. Why did she trust such an obvious puppet of Regina? "We're just doing some work. I think we may have found something on Regina."

"Interesting work," Snow said quickly so she didn't have to stand there, "Well, I approve."

She rushed to the kitchen and started making some hot cocoa to settle her nerves that this man was in her house.

"Let's get a warrant," Sidney suggested.

"And what judge are we going to find that she doesn't own? We're screwed."

Regina owned the man that Emma was trusting, how could Emma be so blind?

"Or there's my way."

"I want to do this right, Sidney."

"Well, what's right is exposing her. Sometimes doing a bad thing for a good reason is okay, right?"

Snow looked up, "Not usually."

Yeah, she might be a hypocrite for saying so but she knew exactly what Sidney was trying to do.

"Look what she's done to you, to me, to your son," Sidney turned to Emma, "I mean, she's not going to stop, so whatever you do, you've got to do something."

"Fine," Emma said, "We'll start by talking to her."

"Emma," Snow started, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Emma walked into the kitchen, "What's up?"

"You can't trust him," Snow nodded to Sidney.

"Regina fired him; maybe he's seeing the light."

"Emma, he has been her puppet for years."

"Yeah, a puppet that had a job," Emma told her, "And he came to me saying that money's been disappearing and Regina's responsible. Now if I can prove that, I can get a foothold."

"Or they're just playing you."

"Maybe," Emma said cautiously, "But this is the first advantage I've really gotten against her personally. I can't risk that you're wrong and wait another few months before the next opportunity presents itself. Where will that leave Henry?"

Snow looked at her daughter, "Where will it leave Henry if I'm right?"

"I can't take that chance," Emma turned, "This is my kid on the line here. I'm not going to let Regina hurt him to get back at me."

Snow watched as Emma turned and started to leave.

"So is mine," She whispered and grabbed a mug.

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Rumpelstiltskin wasn't expecting to come home to a ranting wife. It was cool outside, his leg hurt. He wanted to soak in a tub full of bubbles and go to sleep in warm bed afterwards…not hear the dreadful news that Emma was trusting Sidney Glass of all people.

"He was in our house," Snow hissed, "He murdered my father and Emma let him in."

"She doesn't know that."

"The point still stands. If she took off her blinders then she'd realize that he was no good and couldn't be trusted."

"Well dear, you know that and I know that, but you also know the lengths a desperate mother will go to save their child from some sort of danger."

Snow looked down at the fireplace, "I tried to warn her but she wouldn't listen."

"She is at that age," Rumpelstiltskin stretched his leg. He didn't tell Snow that Regina had contacted him about land she wanted to buy and it had to tie into all this. He didn't tell her because he saw this as an opportunity. If Emma got beaten down by Regina, then she'd realize she needed help and who else would she turn to but to him?

The phone rang and he answered it, "Yes?"

"I'll meet you tonight at Access Road Twenty Three with the rest of the payment."

Gods, was this Regina? Why was she wanting to meet in the middle of nowhere for? He didn't want to get out, he just got home! "Is that cash or check?"

"Yes, it will all be in cash!" she nearly snapped, "And I don't need to remind you that no one can know about this."

There was absolutely no other reason for Regina to be this cryptic unless she suspected that Emma was listening in.

Or Regina was being a drama queen again, both were possible.

"It has to be tonight then," Rumpelstiltskin said, "I have a city council meeting tomorrow."

"Yes yes, I know it has to be tonight," he heard the irritation in her tone.

He hung up with a smirk.

Snow narrowed her eyes, "You have that look."

"I always have that look."

"It's more that look than it usually is, I'm not sure if I like it."

"Hush," he kissed her forehead, "Things will all work out, you don't have to be suspicious."

Snow stared at him, "Did you just kiss my forehead?"

"Consider it an affection I have for you," he told her, "Nothing more."

Snow narrowed her eyes, "Don't you dare do anything to hurt Emma."

"Everything I do is to lift Emma up."

"You just do it in the wrong way."

"Well, everything's wrong if you say it with that attitude," he told her as he left.

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Rumpelstiltskin didn't know what happened on the way here that had Emma so steamed but he was certain that her unpleasant shouting could wake Maleficent in the mines as he waited for her in the woods

The briefcase was heavy. Regina hadn't been kidding when she said it was all in cash. He'd mocked her a bit, dropped a few hints to get her wound up so she'd leave faster and he could deal with Emma. But then he actually had to wait for Emma and his arm was hurting.

"-I'm going to find out what she's doing and why she's here!"

It wasn't that hard to follow the voice, "She was meeting me."

Both Emma and Sidney Glass turned around to face him. Oh gods, Emma really trusted him. He hadn't doubted Snow, but he had to honestly see this with his own eyes.

Emma, the woman with walls, who was difficult to give her trust to people, was trusting Mr. Sidney Glass."

Oh Emma.

"What are you doing out here with her?" Emma demanded.

He held up the briefcase that he was also certain Regina had packed with rocks as well as money, 'Just a little business transaction."

"What's in the briefcase?" Sidney asked.

"Everything comes at a price," he shrugged, "Land is no different."

"That's why you're meeting her out here?" Emma was at least smart enough to realize something was fishy about this whole thing. She'd probably go about things the wrong way afterwards, "Regina bought your land?"

"The very ground you're standing on," he walked down the incline.

Emma narrowed her eyes, "What does she want it for?"

"You know, in business, I find its best not to ask too many questions. Hurts the bottom line. The question is, Emma –," he gave a pointed look to Sidney, "Why are you standing out here in the middle of the night with Mr. Glass?"

"You don't know what Regina did to me. You don't know what she did to her son. We can't just sit idly by-."

He was really going with that tone, huh?

"Of course you can," Rumpelstiltskin smiled and started to walk past them, "Be careful – emotional entanglements can lead us down very dangerous paths."

And that was all he was going to offer Emma. She wouldn't believe him anyway if he warned her any more about Sidney.

If she wouldn't even listen to her own mother, why should she listen to him?

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Sidney being in the house had disturbed Snow far more than Rumpelstiltskin expected. She'd asked him to sleep in the room with her that night and he obliged and took his spot on the couch. They didn't really talk; there was nothing to really speak about. But sometime during the night, he thought he woke up to hear Snow sobbing. He didn't go to comfort her, she would never allow it.

The next day, they dressed for the council. Both were quiet, whatever was going to happen was going to happen today at the city council meeting, there was a reason Regina was so pushy about them meeting last night.

Snow sat next to him at the city council. She was tapping her foot and then her hands. The movement annoyed him, so he took her hand and squeezed it. Snow didn't pull away.

"The session of the Storybrooke city council will come to order," Regina said, "We will begin by reading the minutes from our last meeting."

Sidney stood up, oh thank Gods, he was going to get this done as soon as possible and spare them that horror, "Uh, excuse me, um, Madam Mayor. I have something I'd like to bring to the council attention."

Regina was good at feigning annoyance, "This is not an open forum, Sidney. And no one on this council's interested in hearing the boozy complaints of a disgraced reporter. Now sit down."

Emma stood up with the binder, "He's not the only one who has something to say."

Snow drew in a sharp breath, as soon as Emma finished her sentence. Rumpelstiltskin couldn't say that he knew what it was like to voluntarily sit down and watch their child make a fool of themselves with no way to stop it. He squeezed her hand tighter. She gripped his hand with the other.

"Miss Swan," Regina snapped, "This meeting is to discuss issues facing Storybrooke."

"Like the Mayor stealing thousands of dollars from the city to build herself a second home?"

Everyone started whispering to themselves. Snow looked down and even Rumpelstiltskin cringed for Snow's daughter.

"Miss Swan, you will sit down immediately or so help me-."

"What? You'll punish me?" Emma challenged, "You'll bully me like everyone else in this town? No. Not today. In my hand, I am holding documents proving that this woman, your mayor, stole funds from the city to build herself a lavish home in the woods. And this disgraced reporter – you want to know why he was really fired? Because he stood up to her. Because he questioned her. We all know what happens to people who question the Mayor."

"Oh gods," Rumpelstiltskin said in exasperation, "She thinks she's doing well, isn't she?"

Emma continued, "You claim that you act in the best interest of all of us, but that isn't the truth, is it? The truth is, you are a thug that doesn't care about anyone, or anything, but yourself. That is who you really are. And it is time for the people of Storybrooke to know that."

"The people do know that, they're just scared to do anything," Snow whispered.

Regina made sure to measure Emma's words carefully, "You are right, Miss Swan. I am building a house – a playhouse."

She used one of the remotes to pull up an image of a playground on the screen behind her, "The accusations are true – I did take city funds. I wanted to build a playground so my son, Henry, and all the children of Storybrooke, could have a special place to play. Safely. As for the sketch in your hands, it was inspired by a drawing I found in one of my son's books. So, there you have it, Miss Swan. You've exposed me for who I really am. I hope you're satisfied."

By the time Regina was done, Snow was squirming and Rumpelstiltskin felt sympathetic to Emma…and Emma just looked like she wanted to crawl under the seat and die.

When the council meeting was over. (Emma sat in the very back and was the first to leave), Snow's hand didn't leave Rumple's as they walked outside, "But I don't understand…she admitted that she stole that money."

"And everyone just watched her tear down the one woman that stands up to her, do you really think they'll do anything about it?" he turned back and saw Emma staring back towards Regina,

This was his chance.

He walked up behind Emma and Sidney, "Look at her – queen of the castle."

Emma cringed at the words.

"You know, what you did in in there was commendable, Miss Swan. But if you really want to bring her down, you're going to need a strong ally.

Emma gave a small smirk, "Like yourself? Thanks but I'm still not interested."

What sort of world was it where Sidney Glass was trusted over him? He gave her one of his enigmatic smiled that she hated, "Oh, one can wish."

Regina was coming over to give Emma a peace of her mind. He wanted to be well clear of the area.

"Wait," Snow whispered as he led her away, "Regina-."

"Regina has Emma right where she wants her. She won't hurt your daughter."

Snow gave a final look back towards her daughter and followed him to the car. She'd comfort Emma when Emma got home and they could talk alone. '

"Well," Rumpelstiltskin turned the ignition, "Now that that's out of the way, perhaps you can tell me about your little affair you're conducting."