A/N:

Hey guys!

Happy Sunday! Today has been a very SwanQueen filled day for me, spent working out the tricksy plot-lines of this story. So. Much. Fun. This chapter continues on from Rumple and Zelena's conversation, with a little bit of reveal but not much. Rumple, after all, always plays a long game. However there is a little bit of plot unnecessary SwanQueen domestic fluff which makes all the confusion better. There were some great responses to last chapter so thank you for those, as well as the follows and favs. Comments/criticism is always appreciated!

Enjoy,

Rosie xxxx

(I do not own Once Upon A Time or any of its characters – no copyright intended).

P.S. The song they are listening to is El Cuarto de Tula by Buena Vista Social Club, have a listen while you read if you fancy.

It had only taken Rumple several minutes to figure out what he was going to do with the information he had gained and how he could use it to his benefit. There were several factors which came into play here and he wanted to keep the road ahead clear for himself for the time being which is why he decided to let the fates try and align themselves. He had always played with fate, and in turn he had been played by fate. Of course, he would dabble, but there were many ways in which he could tip the scale in his favour with minimal damage to himself in the long run. There was, as always, risk for casualties; but what he had learnt from this woman already was that she wanted to impress him. She was flattered that he was making a deal with her and that gave him nothing if not an advantage, all things considered. Using this leverage all he needed to do was convince her of something. If she figured out what she thought was the right thing for to do by herself then she would in fact be doing something very gravely wrong. Suggestion and misinformation; two of Rumplestiltskin's favourite words.

"Of course not, Dark One," she replied to him, poised, "I am eager to hear your proposition."

"I'm sure you are. My offer is my information," his eyes glinted as his game moved from her eyes to her chest, "in exchange for your beautiful necklace."

She almost laughed at him. If he thought she was giving that up he was highly mistaken.

"And what might this information be regarding? You don't expect me just to had it over, do you?" She was offended slightly, did he think her stupid?

"No. I do not underestimate you, that is for sure," he played to her narcissism. "What I will tell you is something that may indeed be a game-changer for you. Or should I say, someone?"

"I am confused," Zelena responded after considering the implications for a second. "No matter who this person is, who I'm assuming you think has the ability to defeat me," she raised her eyebrows like a petulant child, "you forget that with this necklace, I am stronger than they are." Her anger flared up then. She hadn't expected her father to patronise her like this. "You insult me. I am not an idiot."

"You may not be an idiot dearie, but without the full picture you may as well be blind, there are forces at play which even you have not considered," he baited her, knowing that she wouldn't take it. That was the point. Her self-indulgence, that belief that she was the most powerful was in the end going to be her demise, and Rumple knew it.

Zelena weighed her options with a menacing scowl on her face. She was fuming. This was her plan and she didn't need him interfering in it or telling her that she hadn't thought of everything. She had. Even if she hadn't, she could figure it out for herself without having to sacrifice anything to get it; especially something so powerful.

"I'm afraid you do not have a deal, Rumplestiltskin, as much as I would like your help and your information. It comes at too high a price."

"Very well, it was wonderful to see you Zelena," he said as he lifted himself from the seat and with a low tone and curling grimace continued, "I shall see you soon, no doubt."

Then Rumple was gone as quickly as he had arrived.

Emma wandered through the woods, Ruby at her side. Leaves and twigs crunched underfoot and a cold but not altogether unwelcome breeze rolled through the canopy of trees.

The blonde was dressed in her usual attire, hiking version. Comfortable fleece-lined tan boots encased her feet, housing warm hiking socks with tight black jeans tucked in. On her torso she wore a long sleeved white tank top with a tan leather jacket and a big grey beanie to top it all off.

The wolf had the afternoon off from work and had volunteered to help Emma on her search. As much as she appreciated the help she had been looking forward to taking a walk alone today. Her mind was running with a million different things that she needed to address, and she hadn't had much time to herself of late, something that she desperately needed to stay sane and on her game.

She was distracted, because wow, so much had happened in the last 24 hours. She was actually struggling to process it all, struggling to figure out what it all meant. Regina being thrown through the clock tower and what that meant for her; the necklace and what its implications would be; but mostly waking up in Regina's bed and what it meant for them. She just wanted this to be over so maybe they could have a chance to figure it all out. But as of yet there was a long way to go.

Emma still hadn't told Regina about their drunken kiss, and it was starting to gnaw at her. There was guilt in knowing something Regina didn't and it certainly didn't feel great to be keeping it a secret. After last night, the blonde was beginning to think that maybe, maybe there was some mirrored feeling, emotion, whatever. She realised that the brunette had been fairly sedated but the pills weren't that strong, and Regina in some subconscious way would have known what she was doing, would have wanted to do that. She had wanted to ask the woman to stay, or ask her if she could stay, on more than one occasion. Whenever she was with Regina she felt this unexplainable feeling inside her. It was like the feeling she got when practising magic but less overwhelming, and all the time. Just bubbling lazily under the surface, drawing her towards the brunette like it made sense more than anything else in the world. Sometimes Emma stopped to think that maybe it didn't make sense but quite truly, Regina was in her head and she was never getting her out. The woman invaded her personal space and her personal life from the very day they met, it only made sense that she was now invading Emma herself as well. The funny thing was, Emma didn't want Regina out of her head now, in fact she wanted the very opposite.

"So..." Emma was interrupted in her thoughts Ruby's bored voice from a few meters behind her. They had only been walking for about twenty minutes and as much as Emma loved Ruby, she had a very short attention span.

"…What are we looking for again?" she continued sweetly.

Emma turned around to glance at her companion with an eye roll.

"Anything really. Anything you haven't seen before or which looks suspicious or you know…is surrounded in a cloud of green smoke," she japed and heard a laugh in reply from the girl behind. She turned again and raised her finger, tapping her nose.

"Use your snout," Emma said, sticking her tongue out.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Ruby replied in a monotone.

They walked for several more minutes, passing through a clearing then back into the brush before coming across a muddy path. Considering how uninhabited this part of Storybrooke was it seemed strange to Emma that there were so many footprints along it.

Before Ruby even said a word Emma felt the girl perk up, her wolf senses going onto high alert, causing Emma's magic to come alive in her veins too.

"You mean something like that?" Ruby asked as she pointed her finger in the direction of a barn, only just visible through the trees. "It smells…" she tilted her head into the wind and inhaled deeply as Emma watched. "Like magic."

"Yeah," Emma retorted with a shiver, "It feels like magic too, and not the good kind."

The two women looked suspiciously at the barn. Emma suggested they get closer and they took off again, walking carefully down the edge of the footpath so not to leave their own footprints too. They advanced on the structure and made their way towards a shrub just inside the tree line with a clear view of what sat ahead. They crouched down behind it and surveyed the area.

In front of them was a large wooden barn. The dark old beams reached up high and were supported by a slightly dangerous looking roof. It didn't look like anyone had used this place in a long time. Well not until now. The presence of magic the blonde felt was strong. She had only experienced this feeling one other time: in Skull Rock, when Pan was trying to take Henry's heart. The magic there had been seriously intense. This wasn't as bad, but there was no doubt that something interesting had been happening here.

"It's definitely hers," Emma whispered to Ruby, "I can feel her power here. I don't think she's here though. It looks pretty empty and I can't hear any noise from inside. Shall we go take a look around?"

"Yes boss. Lets go," the wolf rose silently to her feet and waited to fall behind Emma and sneak towards the barn. Emma had her gun in her hand, defensively pointed out in front of her.

They walked around the whole building once until they found themselves back at the door. The blonde leant against the wood, gun in one hand, handle in the other. Ruby followed suit and waited as Emma gently turned the door and pushed it open. She pushed herself gun-first into the building and quickly flitted her eyes around to check and see if they had any company. When it appeared they didn't, she moved out into the open space of the main room and stopped as she saw the floor in front of her. Ruby stopped by her side and they gazed together in silence at the intimidating symbol carved into the ground. There were three circles one, above the other, with a long line through the middle of them all and two horizontal line at either end. Emma heard a whistle from next to her and turned to look at her partner.

"What in the hell is that," Ruby asked, dumbfounded.

"I have no idea. But it doesn't look good. We should probably get out of here," Emma said. She plucked her phone from her jeans pocket and snapped a few quick pictures of the symbol as well as the inside of the barn.

"Emma," Ruby whined, "this just got exciting!" She looked up at Emma with puppy dog eyes, "can't a girl have any fun around here?"

"Sorry Rubes, but you know its stupid sticking around here for too long. Its not like we can fight her ourselves," Emma reasoned, turning around and walking towards the door again with Red following at her heels somewhat miserably. "Plus, Regina would killlllllll me. I need to let her know about this actually."

"I guess you're right," Ruby said as they walked side by side away from the barn and back in the direction of Emma's bug. "But anyway since when do you listen to Regina?" she teased with a smile, jostling the blonde's shoulder playfully.

"Uh-" Emma was just formulating her reply to that question when her phone rang. She shot Ruby an apologetic look and picked up.

"Hello," Emma answered.

"Hello Miss Swan," came the familiar sultry tone from the speaker in Emma's ear. She couldn't help but allow a small smile to break across her lips.

"Oh, hey, I was actually just going to call you. Patrol turned up something weird. Is everything okay?" she asked casually, trying not to look over at Ruby who was clearly trying to work out who was on the other end of the line.

"Yes, everything is fine, thank you. I was just calling to say that Henry and I are already home, I finished early for the day so there's no need to pick him up. What did you find?"

"A barn, northwest, quite close to the boarder. It was chock full of magic and there was this huge thing carved into the ground, looks like its set up for something. I have pictures." The blonde looked over at Ruby who still seemingly hadn't figured out who Emma was talking to, though she could probably guess.

"That sounds intriguing, maybe we can finally find out what she plans to do. We can do some digging tonight. When will you return?"

"Umm, I have to go by the station to tell David and write this up, then drop Ruby at Granny's so I guess I'll be home in a couple hours?"

Ruby's eyes widened. She knew Emma was talking to Regina now and she was also shocked and excited that the blonde had referred to the former Queen's mansion as 'home'.

"Very well, I shall see you then."

"Yup, see you later," Emma answered.

"Goodbye," came the final reply from Regina.

"Bye," the blonde said, a smile stretching across her cheeks even though she had specifically told herself not to do that. She replaced her phone in her pocket and glanced over at Ruby who was looking at her with sheer surprise.

"So where were we?" the girl asked suggestively, "Since when do you listen to Regina?"

Emma blushed and pulled her beanie forward onto her forehead. "Uhh…I guess since we're a team now, or something? We're in this together. And after Neverland…almost losing Henry. We've bonded I guess."

Ruby stopped walking and when Emma turned to look she was met with a face of absolute shock, complete with raised eyebrows.

"You…" Ruby carried on walking, "and the Evil Queen…a team? Bonding?" Emma got another shove from the girl next to her, who was smiling up at her with pure joy in her eyes. The wolf thrived on gossip. "I mean…I know you don't hate each other anymore and you haven't for a while but like, really?"

"Number one, she's not the Evil Queen anymore, number two, never say that again," Emma looked harshly at her friend who looked guilty under her gaze, "and number three…" she paused, thinking of the right words to say. What were she and Regina? How could she talk to someone else abut their relationship?

"…We're…friends. We help each other. We share Henry. Its nice," the blonde smiled up at the tall wolf.

"Nice?" Ruby looked aghast, but quickly softened her face, "Jesus Christ hell has frozen over…If you say so though. Just be careful. Have you told Snow?"

"Umm…what is there to tell?" she asked innocently and she pushed ahead of he companion and began to climb up the steep rise in the ground in front of them.

"Uh, duh, that you and Regina are friends? Friends Emma this is a big deal!"

"Well…she knows I'm staying there, so she must know how much time I spend with Regina, right?"

Ruby followed Emma up the slope and fell in next to her when it evened out. Emma had absolutely no idea how the brunette had managed to trek through the woods with knee-high, high-heeled boots on, she never understood people's ability to walk in heels.

"I guess," Ruby replied, trying to put her statement in the nicest way possible, "but this is Snow we're talking about. She tends to be…oblivious to things she doesn't want to see."

Emma ran her hand through her hair and sighed, "You're right. But she did see me after the fight with Zelena…when I," Emma's brain caught up with her mouth, did she really want people thinking that her saving Regina had other implication? Even if it was just Ruby? "You know what don't worry about it."" She sighed, "parents are so difficult."

Ruby looked perplexed for a second, and Emma could tell that she was stopping herself from asking questions. In the end she chose the less personal response to Emma's statement. "Too right, having one Granny is enough for me. Speaking of the difficult parents part though… I think Snow is still trying to set you up with Neal. I saw them speaking in the diner the other day and Snow had that 'please love my daughter' smile on her face. I overheard your name too so just…watch out," she gave a wolfish grin.

"Thanks for the heads up Rubes. I appreciate it," she laughed. In all seriousness though, Snow and Neal were the absolute least of her worries.

Finally they made it back to Emma's bug, which they spotted through the trees. Emma dropped Ruby off at Granny's and swung quickly by the station to fill David in on what she found that day, and tell him to put guards at the barn overnight. She did't suspect Zelena would do anything this quickly, but they had to be careful. She assured him that she was going to speak to Regina and Gold and find out what this magical symbol on the ground meant. His consensus was that it couldn't be good. She filled in some paperwork and once it got dark headed home where Regina and Henry were waiting for her.

Emma stepped through the mansion's door after what felt like a long day of being the leader of Storybrooke's finest, even though she had only been away from the house for 6 hours. Walking had taken it out of her and the strange barn had been on her mind all afternoon, as well as the lingering magic that came back with her. She could still feel it on her skin. This whole magic thing was strange, Emma mused, but since when did she become so susceptible to it?

"Henry, Regina I'm back," she yelled as she slipped off her hiking boots and put them outside the front door, then shrugged her jacket off her shoulders and hung it up in the closet in the hall, just as Regina liked.

"We're in here!" Emma heard her son shout from the kitchen over the music. She could hear loud stringy guitars and timbales sweeping through into the atrium, accompanied by a flowing voice singing in Spanish.

"El cuarto de Tula, le cogió candela.

Se quedó dormida y no apagó la vela…"

Emma heard as she made her way towards the source of the noise. She walked under the archway into the room and immediately a smile pulled the corners of her lips high up her cheeks. Regina and Henry were cooking, both in aprons, dancing around the kitchen. Henry was wearing a huge sombrero whilst attempting to roll out pastry and simultaneously swinging his rolling pin round in the air to the beat of the music.

"We're having latin night!" Henry shouted happily at Emma as he aided his other mother in the food preparation.

"I can hear," Emma smiled, glancing from her son to Regina, who was tossing pulled pork in a bowl with herbs and spices, "the food smells amazing, and I love the music. Its great," Emma said as she shuffle-danced across to her son and snatched the hat from his head.

"My choice of music," Regina conceded, "they're my favourite. And it seemed perfect for the evening. And Henry and I thought we should do something fun, after evening that has been happening." A small smile appeared across her mouth as she made eye contact with Emma. Their situation was getting more and more domestic each day, and everyday it made her smile just a little more. Especially after this morning when she woke up wrapped in Emma's embrace. Today though the weight of her discussion with Gold sat on her shoulders. Could what he was saying really be correct? As unlikely as Regina thought it was she felt more hope at that moment, staring at Emma, than she could describe. It was a foreign feeling for her and it made her uncomfortable, but there was something else; something that just pushed her towards Emma. She considered that it was simply the revelation of today pressing on her mind, and resigned to that fact for now through lack of a better idea. She knew the truth, really, but that didn't mean that she had to face up to it just yet. Because when she did, when they did, everything would change.

"We're having tortilla chips and homemade guacamole, chicken and chorizo empanadas, which Henry is currently preparing, and pulled pork enchiladas, I hope you're hungry."

"Of course I am," Emma answered, her eyes twinkly as she continued to stare at Regina. She couldn't take her eyes off the woman's face, slightly flushed from the warmth of the kitchen and the dancing, but beautiful and happy, given the problems which were currently pervading their lives. "You know me, I'm always hungry," she smirked, fingering a tortilla chip and earning herself a slap on the hand from Regina.

"What can I do to help?" Emma asked sincerely.

"I think we have everything covered here, don't you Henry?" the brunette asked the boy, who was now filling the small pastry circles with the pre-made mixture, and folding them around into semi-circles. Regina moved across the kitchen and opened the oven, placing the enchiladas inside to bake.

"Yup, I'm almost done" he said as he glanced quickly at the two women then continued his task.

"By the way Emma, we'll talk about your discoveries later," Regina whispered, trying to stop Henry from hearing, she didn't want to tell him about anything until she knew for sure what it was herself.

"Yeah, we will, after the kid…you know," Emma replied as she pointed upstairs.

"Indeed," Regina looked at Emma again who was sitting at the island, moving along to the music with the sombrero still atop her head. "You could always get us a drink, dear, something befitting the occasion?" she asked smoothly, her sleek tone expelling the words out of her mouth like music to Emma's ears.

"So you mean something….latin themed?" Emma snickered, "I think I can do that."

The blonde moved from her seat and fetched two glasses from the kitchen cabinet behind Regina, brushing her arm slightly against the other woman as she moved past, sending a jolt through both women's nervous systems.

"What are you going to make?" asked Regina while she finished putting the finishing touches to the Guacamole.

"Its a surprise," Emma grinned back at her, she knew Regina didn't like surprises. Emma rifled through the fridge, pulling a carton of juice into her arms and picking up a lime with her spare hand. She placed the ingredients and glasses on the worktop and left the room, returning with a bottle of tequila and a cocktail shaker. When she same back in Henry was by the stove placing his creations in the pan one by one to cook.

Emma turned around from her position and gazed at the ingredients she currently had. She looked over her shoulder at Regina and spied something on the worktop which she could use.

"I'm assuming you like spice?" Emma jokingly asked Regina, "considering you're put like 6 thousand chillies into that pork?"

"I do," Regina answered, turning to face the blonde behind her and leaning on the counter with her back.

Emma stepped forward and grabbed one of the jalapeños from the work surface, "can I use this?"

"I suppose so, I don't know how I feel about peppers in my drink thought Miss Swan," she taunted. "Do you need any help Henry?" she asked the boy who was conscientiously flipping the empanadas with a spatula.

"No, I'm fine thanks Mom," Henry replied, bouncing happily to the music as he cooked.

"I promise it'll be good Regina, you just wait,". Emma was now adding her ingredients to the cocktail shaker filled with ice. She slammed the boston tin on the top and whisked it into the air, shaking vigorously - much to Regina and Henry's interest - for ten seconds. The she carefully placed the shaker back on the surface and tapped the side of the tin with the edge of her hand to loosen it. She prepared two glasses with salt and lime around the rim of each and poured the mixture into them, ensuring that both glasses had an even distribution of jalapeños, ice and liquid. She took a sip of her glass first, to test, then offered the other container to Regina.

Regina looked on in interest as Emma handed her the glass, "There you go. Tell me what you think." Emma said.

The brunette raised the glass to her lips tentatively and took a small gulp, her eyes never leaving the blondes. The rim was salty on her lips, but the drink tasted nothing like Regina had imagined it to. It was tangy at first, then the tequila hit, then warmth started to spread through her mouth from the jalapeños.

"Its actually rather delicious. What is it?" she asked as she took another sip.

Emma smiled in victory, "its a spicy blood orange margarita," she said, taking a sip from her own glass as she smirked.

"Can I have one?" Henry asked innocently, earning a glare from both his mothers.

"No you certainly can not young man," Regina replied, but her tone was loving and he knew she wasn't angry. "How did you learn to make this?" Regina asked inquisitively. It was becoming more apparent to her that she knew little about Emma's past. She knew the outline, but she didn't know about the woman's experiences in any great detail and she was starting to wish that she did.

"I worked at a cocktail bar for a while, once you know the basics about flavours you can pretty much make up your own stuff. Looks like I've still got it." She laughed.

"Wow-", Regina started to say, but was interrupted by the oven buzzer loudly informing her than the enchiladas were ready. She immediately put down her glass and picked up the red spotted oven gloves, removing the tray from the oven.

"Okay Henry, will you take the chips and dip to the table? I'll plate up the starters." Regina continued.

"I'll get us plates", Emma said, ducking down to retrieve three dishes from the cupboard underneath the counter, where she was standing. She placed her and Regina's drinks atop the plates and carried them into the dining room where Henry was already at at the table, patiently waiting for his meal.

Regina entered with the two dishes and set them down in the middle of the table, soon all three were digging into their Mexican feast.

Emma and Regina were sitting on the floor of the study in the low lights from the lamps and candles scattered around the room. The blonde was lying on her front, chin touching the bottom of the large book while she looked straight down her nose to read the words. The other woman was leaning against the couch with her legs crosses gracefully and books surrounding her in all directions.

"Anything yet?" Emma asked Regina without looking up from the page.

"Not yet, you?"

"Nope." Emma flipped herself onto her back and held the book above her head. "Right," she turned to look at Regina, placing the book on the floor again and leaning on her elbow to prop herself up, "we have the symbol, that has to mean something. She told you at the fight that she was going to," Emma hesitated for a second, she didn't even want to think about what might happen if Zelena succeeded.

"You can say it," Regina interrupted sadly, "she said she was going to make it so I had never been born, which by proxy probably means no you, and definitely means no Henry. It has to be a pretty specific spell, and a pretty powerful one at that. Find some of the bigger, older looking books maybe. We might have more luck."

They trawled through book after book for several more hours before they got anywhere.

Emma stood up to stretch her legs and choose another book from the shelf. The one she chose was against Regina's instructions, very small but old, bound in black leather with red trim extended into swirling in patterns across the cover.. When she sat back down, she unconsciously moved closer to Regina who now had her legs tucked to the side and was leaning one elbow on the sofa behind her. Emma leaned her back against the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting the book on her kneecaps and staring at the strange cover.

Emma fanned the pages through her fingers. Her mind wasn't made for this, she didn't have the attention span to read for hour upon hour like Regina did. As she flipped the pages again, pulling them with her thumb she glimpsed something near the middle of the book. She fanned slower this time, watching until the symbol made itself clear to her vision. She stopped on the page and grabbed the brunette's arm.

"I found it!" Emma squealed, pushing the book towards Regina's already outstretched hands.

"Let me see." She picked the Sheriff's phone from the ground and tapped the screen to expose the picture of what Emma had found at the barn. The symbol in the book was indeed identical.

Emma smiled up at the mayor hopefully and then pulled the book back towards her, and began to read.

"The time turner," Emma read the title of the page. She looked up at Regina warily, he eyebrows drawing together in apprehension, her green eyes filled with worry. "The time turner is one of the most notoriously difficult curses any practitioner of dark magic can produce. It can be used to shape, alter or reveal the course of time itself. Well, that doesn't sound great," she interjected before continuing. "There are three forms of this spell, each will achieve a different result. See below."

She skimmed through the next paragraph which explained the history of the spell while making muttering sounds, and progressed to the part which detailed each of the ways to cast it.

"Which one is it?" She asked, looking up at Regina who had moved just slightly closer to her to get a better view of the book.

"Verus amor," Regina read the titles, "verum vitam, verum vindicta. Well she doesn't want love or life, so try that one," she responded, pointing at the latter section.

"Okay. Verum vindicta is used to alter the course of time in order to change the of one whom has done you grievous harm. It is not for the faint hearted. In order to cast this curse one will need: The symbol of the time turner carved into the ground, large enough that one person may stand in the centre of each circle, with grooves deep enough to hold liquid. Something belonging to one's own mother and father," Emma continued.

"Okay," Regina said, "What else?"

Emma looks up at the brunette then back at the book in front of her.

"The ashes of a fire used to cast another dark curse, well I guess now we know why she had to curse you all back here. An entire grove of hemlock to burn on the four corners," she read, but then her face dropped.

"What is it?" Regina asked nervously, fiddling her hands in her lap and looking directly at Emma, "tell me."

"Uhhh…A sacrifice," Emma said disbelievingly, she had no idea why she still didn't expect the worst when it came to anything magical. She waited for Regina's go ahead before she read further. With a nod from the brunette she continued.

"If the curse is being cast verum vindicta, then the sacrifice must be the heart of the thing the target loves the most." Regina expected Emma to stop at that but she didn't, "The blood of the sacrifice must be drained into the time turner, infused with the magic of the parental objects and the poisonous smoke. Only then will the curse begin."

Emma looked at Regina with raw emotion pouring from her eyes. "If she needs what you love the most to cast the curse, does that mean…?"

"Yes…", Regina said, removing the book from Emma's hand and placing it on the floor as deep, turmoiled yet angry chocolate eyes met panic-stricken green ones. Emma's now empty hand moved towards Regina's knee to rest lightly upon it.

"…It means she needs Henry."