A/N: I will ask that you be gentle with me for this chapter. I had some issues writing this, and I'm still not 100% sure about the end result. It includes a lot of things I wanted to add and that I feel are important issues to be addressed - especially on Emma's behalf - but I hope it doesn't drag too much. At first, reading it back when I got to about the 1K word mark, I kind of wished I'd skipped this altogether as I think some of the next chapters will be fairly heavy also, but, now that it's completed, I'm glad I found somewhere to slot these bits in. If you disagree; constructive feedback is always greatly appreciated, but, not to sound like a little bitch, please please please don't review with simply 'this is boring' etc... At least let me know what didn't work for you, as I really do put a lot of time into this fic! Thanks... :)
When Gold enters the dowdy breakfast nook offered by the motel, he's unsurprised to find the others sitting at a table on the far side of the room. It's much later than he would ordinarily have breakfast - not to mention, a strong cup of coffee - but he hadn't expected his companions to be quite so eager. That Regina is an early riser, he has no doubt, but he has a strong suspicion that Emma might be less inclined to greet the day with the rising of the sun, and so had simply remained lying on his back and staring at the ceiling for a while to accommodate this.
Not that he imagines either woman will have woken up alone.
It's a peculiar thought to him still, but not one he deems appropriate to muse over too deeply. He may be a man of many flaws, but he's far from uncouth, and while the unlikely bond between the women is of extraordinary interest to him, the carnal aspect of their relationship is something he deems private and none of his concern.
Making his way over to the table, he helps himself to the empty seat next to the brunette, despite it being a little more awkward to get to than the chair beside the Sheriff.
"Good morning."
A reciprocal mutter from the Queen and a polite nod from the blonde.
A waitress comes over to take his order, and he asks for coffee; the steaming heap of cooked breakfast foods in front of the Sheriff making his stomach churn. It would appear Regina must be of a similar opinion as she nurses a simple plate of toast and butter.
"Tell me, dearie, is there anything you won't eat?"
He asks the blonde as she swipes her finger through a smear of alarmingly neon yolk with a curious display of well-practised grace. In spite of her distaste for the little imp, Regina raises a brow in mild amusement; catching the younger woman's eye and offering her a small smirk as the latter rolls her eyes and addresses Gold icily.
"Several things, but as there's no way in hell I'm ever going to be eating anything you cook for me, I don't see why it matters."
The little man baulks at the Sheriff's response; Emma hardly the friendliest of people, but she has always been more or less cordial towards him until now. For her to snap at him as irritably as she does seems less of a surprise to the brunette, however, and the darker woman shoots a hard glance at the blonde.
She's nervous. Otherwise, that plate would be empty by now and she'd have answered you with sarcasm rather than spite.
You're making her nervous...
Her sharp look is reciprocated before Emma sighs and leans back in her chair to regard Gold cooly.
"Look, can we just talk about the task at hand? It's too damn early for small talk."
The pawnbroker nods in acceptance of her request and declines to offer up a snide comment that nine-thirty is hardly all that early for a woman supposedly working a full-time job. He supposes, in fairness to the Sheriff, she's rarely forced to converse with anybody other than her housemate - her mother - until around noon, by which point he's visited the station enough times to know that the one cup of coffee and the lack of sugar in the breakfast feast in front of her are a mediocre replacement for extra-large mochas and cavity-inducing pastries.
"Very well."
"So, what's the deal here? We're in New York like you wanted... What now? Because I know you think I have this whole tracking thing down, but as I told you before, I literally don't know your kid from Adam. So, unless he's walking around screaming 'magic', dressed in wizard's robes and still going by the name of Baelfire, we have a problem... And even if he is doing all those things, this is New York. He'd be lucky to achieve more than a funny look."
"Up in my room, I have something of Bae's. A shawl. I have my ways of tracking the owner, Miss Swan, but once that's been accomplished, I lack the ability to turn knowledge into action in this particular scenario. Finding people is what you do, you just need to be told where to look."
"Right, so when we find this guy that you let fall through a porthole into another world-"
"-Emma..."
Glancing up at the brunette, the Sheriff thinks momentarily that Regina scolds her for her snide words, but the darker woman simply looks around them pointedly in a request that she lower her voice. Carrying on in little more than a whisper, she hisses
"-When we find him, then what? You think he's gonna come running to you with open arms? You don't think he's going to be pissed? What makes you think he's going to want to talk to you - look at you- after you let him down the way you did?"
"That's where you come in, dearie."
"Me?"
"I'm not going to approach him, Sheriff. You are."
"You're planning to use her as bait?"
Dangerously low, but for all the warning that drips from the Queen's lips, it's Emma that leans forwards and snaps with true venom.
"And what the hell makes you think he'll listen to me?"
Looking from the blonde to the Mayor, Gold sighs; knowing there's no good way to word what he's fairly certain both women already know without incurring their wrath.
Regina's anger he can deal with.
He taught her, and there's a limit to what she can do to him here.
Emma he just doesn't want getting riled up in case she fucks this up.
Unfortunately, this seems inevitable.
"Because when you try, you can be really quite alluring. And, you will try, Miss Swan."
"You had better fucking explain what you mean by that..."
Tempestuous anger alights equally stormy green eyes, and Gold lets out a low sigh, having known the younger woman would rise to the bait before waiting for an explanation. It's a tendency that intrigues him in this case; having looked into what the Sheriff's previous job role had entailed. It would seem she's aware of her own appeal and that it can get her what she wants, yet, to have this same notion expressed by another is something she's venomously unwilling to hear.
Brutally defensive without cause.
"All I'm asking of you is that you keep him talking long enough to ascertain that it is truly Bae."
He replies placatingly.
"Oh good, because that's how I start all my conversations! 'So, is your father an evil sorcerer perchance? How coincidental! I happen to-"
"-Enough!"
The pawnbroker shouts, and the brunette's reaction is instantaneous; grabbing the man's arm as he leans forward to berate the blonde with the flats of his hands crashing down on the table.
"Don't you dare talk to her like that!"
"I'm talking to her as though she were a child, as that's the way she seems intent on being treated!"
"Gold, you-"
"-Shut up. Both of you. You're making a scene."
Emma hisses through gritted teeth, and the other two take a calming breath as they note several curious eyes upon them.
"Let's just go up to your room so you can do whatever the hell it is you need to do with the kid's shawl and we can get this whole fucking business over with."
She pushes herself up from the table as she speaks, and Gold throws a look at Regina who purses her lips and stalks after the Sheriff. He hangs back as the darker woman taps a sharp beat down the linoleum-tiled hallway; aware of where he stands in their current scene.
"Emma..."
The Mayor calls after the blonde uncertainly.
"Yeah?!"
"Please don't storm off, I'm trying to talk to you. It's going to be fine, I told you already, I-"
"-Will you stop fighting my fucking battles for me, already?! I'm not your child!"
"No, I know, but I came here to-"
"-To what?!"
The blonde snarls furiously, glaring over her shoulder at the Mayor.
"Don't... Don't start having a go at me just because you're feeling nervous."
"Then quit springing to my defence all the time!"
"You don't want me to take your side?"
"I don't want you acting like I'm made of fucking glass!"
"Fine. I apologise... I had little clue that having someone wishing to defend you would be so upsetting."
The brunette sniffs haughtily, and the Sheriff rolls her eyes before looking swiftly away. At first, the Mayor mistakes the gesture as one of annoyance, but the soft sound the younger woman makes next is one she recognises easily.
"Okay, stop. Come here. Go on. In."
Taking a firm hold of the blonde's upper arm, Regina steers her towards the door at the end of the hallway on which the small black 'ladies' symbol has been personalised with a pair of white-out breasts without sparing Gold a second glance.
He can wait. He's waited a good many years, and he can wait a while more.
Realising the room is divided up into cubicles, the brunette simply locks the main door to the bathroom in her own way before stalking into the nearest partition and grabbing several sheets of toilet paper. Holding them out to the Sheriff who stands with her arms crossed defensively over her stomach and her head bowed, she simply shrugs when the younger woman refuses to take them from her and places them on the counter.
"What on earth has gotten into you?!"
Her tone is neutral, bordering on irritable, but it's not due to any remainder of ill feelings towards Emma's stroppy behaviour in the hallway, but rather one of knowing that the absolute worst way to deal with this particular scenario would be to coo with concern.
She is awarded nothing.
Flicking sharply at the pale flesh of the Sheriff's forearm, she tries again.
"Hey... Princess... I'm talking to you."
This finally garners her some response, as she makes out a begrudged snort of laughter from beneath the hair that covers the younger woman's face.
"Shut up, Your Majesty."
A miserable sniff, and the blonde reaches for one of the tissues; cleaning herself up with characteristic ruthlessness, and Regina relaxes a little as she begins to recognise Emma beneath the mask of this new, curious woman.
"Not until you talk to me."
"I'm fine."
"Yes, I can see that by the rosy pink glow to your eyes and the healthy tremble to your lip."
"Regina-"
"-Tell me what's going on."
"I'm-... Well... I'm a b-itch!"
Fresh tears spill out over pale cheeks as the blonde chokes out the last word, and the Queen can't help but chuckle as she wipes them away swiftly with her thumb.
"I'm sorry, dear, I shouldn't laugh, but forgive me, but that is not something about which I would have thought you'd be all that concerned... Not that I'm saying I agree, mind, but, a little ray of sunshine you are not."
"I know... I just-... I've spent all this time worrying about Gold, and about whether this guy we're supposed to find was going to pose a problem, and I kept feeling so weird about it all, and I couldn't figure out why... But, don't you see? This is wrong! What Gold wants from us is wrong! And I was getting so wound up back at the table because I was just sitting there thinking, 'how dare you presume your kid's just going to want you back in his life!'... I was so angry with him. With Gold.
But, I wasn't thinking about what we're doing to Baelfire.
He left your world because he couldn't fucking stand magic and what it was doing to his father. And now what?... We're just going to go shove his face back into it? Forgive me, and maybe this is a selfish way to look at it, but-... Yeah. You want me to say it? I hate magic. I love you, and I love Mary Margaret, and I'm so-... S-so happy I've found my parents... But magic kind of puts a dampener on all of that. Because it's also the reason that everything went to shit for me... And, this kid-... I had no choice, I was a baby, and now the reality of magic has been thrust upon me, and I basically just have to deal with if I want any part in either my parents' or my gi-... Your life... But this kid; he actively sought to get away from it all! He gave up everything because magic had made his life that fucking terrible! And now, I'm endeavouring to pull him right back into the thick of it! I-... I just-... I'm not the nicest person, you're right. I'm not self-sacrificing, or especially empathetic... Hell, I don't even particularly like most people... But-... And I will say this just once, because I don't have time for this gut-spilling bullshit: what happened to me, and what I had to deal with... It hurt. It fucking sucked... And I can't be the person to do that to someone else... I just can't."
"...You have to."
The brunette whispers, tears threatening to escape her lashes.
"You made a deal, sweetheart, and I'm so, so sorry that you didn't know at the time what that meant. What it meant to make a deal with that man... And I will say this only once, as I know full well that you're awful with this kind of thing, but I will say it now, as I know that I risk probable punishment - and not the desirable kind - should I bring it up some other time... I do know, Emma. I do know that this is unfairly difficult for you... And, I wish-... Oh, Emma, I truly wish I could tell you what you want to hear. I wish I could tell you that there's a way out of this mess, but I can't. If there was, I wouldn't have come along to help, I would have tried to persuade you not to come here at all!"
"You did try to!"
"I know. I was scared... Everything happened so fast, and I was scared of losing you again and of you getting yourself hurt, but that was foolish of me... There's a theory that the Dark One can be defeated, but at what cost? I know I have too much to lose to find out... I wish I could give you any other explanation than that you have to do this because the man you made a deal with is Rumplestiltskin and that simply makes it so... Something you could make your peace with, but I can't... I tried to stop you from coming on this trip because I was nervous, but in hindsight, I believe that what you did-... In you seeking that hateful little imp out after everything that happened... You carry a certain amount of grace where Gold is concerned... Indeed, he's treated you far better than I'd expected him to, given that he's already persuaded you to come with him this far... Make no mistake, I despise the wretched man, but he's a far better ally than enemy... It bodes well for you that you seem to stand in his favour, but he will make you do this, dear... You have no choice."
"I-"
"-But, Emma... You're a wonderful person... An obnoxious pain in the backside, certainly! But a wonderful person, nonetheless. This is going to be okay... Is it ideal? No. But it's not the end of the world... You have no way of knowing how Baelfire feels about Gold after all these years. I'm sure he feels anger, abandonment, maybe even hate... But there could be some good that comes out of all of this, too, we'll just have to see. Either way, whatever happens, it's not your fault - this whole insane business was orchestrated before you were even born, for heaven's sake - and it doesn't make you a bitch. Yes, you might make things difficult for another person for a little while, but you'll also finally be free of what he created you for.
You deserve that."
"Thank you..."
Enveloping the blonde gently, there's no sensuality to the gesture, only friendship, and the Queen smiles when the younger woman hugs her back firmly.
Pulling away, Regina offers a small smile; pushing back long tangles to inspect the blonde's rather peaky face so that she can wipe away the last of the tear tracks glistening at her jaw.
"Come on... Let's get this over with."