"I don't like how this is going, David." Mary Margaret pushed her lunch around on her plate. "We're fighting with Emma, we haven't really seen Henry or Emma for a couple of days, and the town is starting to divide up into camps over whether or not Regina should be mayor again." Her frown deepened as she glanced up to where he stood on the other side of the kitchen island. "You ever get an odd feeling of déjà vu?"

"Around here?" He lifted his eyebrows and gave a little smirk. "All the time."

She chuckled a little and then sighed heavily. "I went off the deep end didn't I?"

"I'd say going over to confront Regina a second time might have been a little much." He took a seat and started on his salad. "I'm surprised all she did was tell you to leave."

"Honestly," she pushed her plate away, "so am I now that I think about it. Maybe she really is trying to change? But we know she's also good at deception. Of course, that was before Henry came along, but she's done a lot very bad things since Henry's been in her life." She shook her head. "I don't know. I want us to do the right thing for everyone, but, at the same time, I'm tired of getting burned by Regina."

"I understand that." David leaned down a bit so he could make eye contact with his wife. "You've been really aggressive about this situation, and I understand that you want to protect our family and the town, but," he held a hand up as if to say 'don't hurt me', "you're not really acting like yourself, even with regard to Regina. You want to talk about what's going on?"

Taking in a deep breath, she leaned back a little so she could cross her arms in front of her. "I don't know. I think I'm worried that Emma is going to get hurt or something's going to happen to her. She doesn't know Regina like we do, and she doesn't understand how important it is to always keep your guard up around her. I think Emma wants Regina to change because it's what Henry wants, but I'm afraid she's so blinded by her determination to prove Regina can change that she's going to miss something that might end up getting her really hurt or worse."

"You think Regina is setting us up so she can kill Emma?" David's face was tense.

"I don't want to think that. I want to believe that Regina is really trying to change. But, what if she's not? At some point, we have to learn from our mistakes, from history. History tells us that we keep giving her all these chances to do the right thing, and she keeps doing the wrong thing. How many times are we going to fall into the same trap?" She huffed.

They sat in quiet contemplation for a bit, both lost to memories of the past. The sound of David's phone ringing threw them from their thoughts, and he answered it just before it went to voicemail.

"Leroy, what's wrong? You did what? Why would you… I see. I can't say that I'm surprised. What? No, I don't think that. I think you should have come to us first before going to see Archie. As a matter of fact, we were just talking about it, but we still haven't fully… No, Leroy, and I don't think you should, either. I think we should wait until the town hall meeting today to see what everyone…"

He pulled the phone away from his ear, wincing slightly. Mary Margaret raised an eyebrow in question. "He hung up on me."

She rolled her eyes. "Do I want to know?"

"He apparently went to Archie to see if he would stand up at the meeting today and testify that Regina isn't mentally fit to run the town." David set his phone down on the island. "Archie didn't agree with him."

She made a face. "I bet that went over well."

"About as well you'd think." David picked up the dishes and began to clean up from their lunch. "What do you feel we should do?"

Giving a shrug, the pixie haired brunette turned to look out her windows and into the afternoon sky. "I can't shake the feeling that Emma's being manipulated in some way."

David slowly turned toward his wife. "How do you mean?"

"This whole situation, how she's behaving, is just so unlike her." She turned back to her husband. "Emma's our child, David. We're supposed to protect her, and, for most of her life, we haven't been able to. But we can now, and I think we should at least try. If Regina is using some kind of spell to force Emma to act this way, I think we have a duty to find out."

"What if she's not?" David leaned against the sink and crossed his arms. "What if she's honestly trying to help Regina?"

"She can help Regina and still not be so close to her." Mary Margaret stood, walking to the door. "I think we need to chat with Mr. Gold."

David quickly pushed away from the counter to go after her. "What? Why?"

"I need to know." She began putting her coat on. "If we're seriously considering allowing Regina to run the town again as mayor, then I need peace of mind. I need to know she's not using magic and especially that she's not using magic to manipulate our daughter."

"Mary Margaret," David grabbed her by the elbow and spun her around to look at him. "What happened to not making deals with Gold? You know what it means to make a deal with him. You're worried about what Regina might do, but what about what Gold would do if we gave him an open ended favor?"

"I'll take my chances," she glared up at him. "Are you coming or not?"

He grunted in frustration and then grabbed his coat before following her out the door.


Gold looked up from the book he was reading as Mary Margaret entered his shop followed by a very frazzled looking David. Tilting his head to the side and narrowing his eyes, he placed a marker in the book and set it down on the glass counter before addressing the couple. "To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"

Mary Margaret wasted no time. "We need a favor."

Straightening his posture, Gold's face cleared of any emotions that might give away his thoughts. "Oh? What kind of favor?"

Ignoring David's uncomfortable shifting behind her, she answered with determination. "We need to know if Regina is using magic to manipulate Emma."

"Ah," Gold picked up his cane and started to walk toward the other side of his store. "This is about the town hall meeting today and the rumor going around that Emma has moved in with Regina."

"She hasn't moved in," the brunette snapped back. "Can you help us or not?"

Gold shook his head. "No, I'm afraid I can't help you this time, Ms. Blanchard." He shrugged. "I've already made other agreements that bind me from assisting you with this. But," he held a finger up to keep her silent, "I'm certain you know of other magic users whom you have better relations with that may be of some help to you."

A sound from the back of the store made them all look up in time to see Belle enter the front. She glanced around at all of them and then shot a warning look directly at Gold. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing, Belle," Gold answered in a clipped tone. "Mr. Nolan and Ms. Blanchard were just leaving." He turned to the couple. "Weren't you?"

"You're really not going to help us?" Mary Margaret's face had fallen into a look somewhere between anger and desperation. "We're offering you a favor in exchange."

"I'm sorry, but no." The older man looked to Belle and then back to guests. "I've already told you that I've made other agreements that would be in conflict with assisting you. But, as I've said before, I'm not the only magic user in this town. Perhaps someone else can help you, but I cannot. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a few things to attend to before the town hall meeting this afternoon." He looked at them expectantly.

"Fine," Mary Margaret turned to David. "Let's go." They left; she in a fit of irritation and he in subdued acceptance.

As the door to the shop closed behind them, Belle turned to the older man to look him in the eye. "Rumple," her voice held an edge of disappointment to it. "You promised me you wouldn't get involved."

"And I didn't. I told them I couldn't help them. You heard me." He scowled down at her.

"You also gave them a suggestion on where they could go to get help. How is that not breaking your promise to me?" She crossed her arms and glared.

"I simply suggested something they already knew and would have probably come up with on their own." He rolled his eyes. "It wasn't really much help at all."

"If they find help from someone else for whatever it is they want," Belle turned back to the closed door, "is it going to hurt Emma or Regina?"

"I don't think so." His voice was softer now, as if he was genuinely trying to assure his companion. "They're concerned about the safety of their daughter. You can't really fault them for that, can you?"

Belle shook her head. "What if whatever it is they end up doing does hurt Regina's progress?"

"Well," Gold took a step away and turned toward the curtain that separated the front and back of his store, "every story needs at least one villain, and the town has been quiet recently. Besides, it would be nice to have the old Regina back. She can be incredibly useful under certain circumstances."

The young woman scoffed at him. "That's not funny, Rumple."

"Who said I was joking, Belle?" He returned before disappearing behind the curtain, leaving her alone in the front of the store.