Poison & Wine

Chapter 39

The Charming's, Regina, Hook, and Belle were all rummaging through Mr. Gold's pawnshop. They had been looking through things for over an hour, hoping for any hint of a message that could tell them what happened to the dark one himself. Emma kicked at the wooden dresser she searched through. "This is pointless." She grumbled and turned to her girlfriend. "Why can't you just go a locator spell?"

Regina closed the drawer she cleared out. "I told you why. We don't know what who we're going against. We need a plan, Emma. We can't go in guns a blazing."

"I don't see why not." The sheriff complained. "If Gold is in danger-"

Belle cut her off. "He is. Rumple wouldn't leave me in the dark about where he is for this long."

Emma went on. "Like I said. If he is in danger then the person who took his dagger might not have magic."

The former queen scoffed a laugh. "Listen to your words, dear. I won't bet the well being of this town on the off chance whoever has him doesn't possess magic."

"If they have magic then why do they need the Dark One?" Killian questioned.

Regina shook her head at the stupidity of her true love and his pirate friend. "Rumplestiltskin possesses the most powerful of dark magic. If you have an evil plan you wish enact then you'd want him on your side… or at least in your control." She explained.

"So we're assuming that whoever took Gold has some evil plan?" Snow asked as she finished rummaging through bookcases.

Emma shrugged. "I mean, why else would they take the dagger?"

"They didn't just take the dagger." Belle reminded everyone. "They took Rumple with it."

The pirate walked over towards them. "Maybe they don't have a plan. Maybe they just wanted Gold."

Blonde eyebrows creased together. "Why would they want Gold?"

Realization dawned on the mayor. "For revenge." She stated slowly in understanding. It made sense.

Killian shrugged. "He did make many enemies."

Emma rubbed her forehead with a small groan. "So we're looking for somebody in this town who got screwed over by Gold. That's not a long list at all."

Regina put a hand on her girlfriend's back to get her attention. "Will you call Ariel and ask her if she's seen any strange activity in the water recently?"

The blonde looked at her. "You think someone from the Enchanted Forest came here for Gold?"

"I don't know what to think!" The brunette woman argued. "We have nothing to go by."

"Which is why we need to find Gold with a locator spell!" Emma pointed out. "Even if it's dangerous, it's better then being a sitting duck and waiting for the possible threat to reveal itself."

The former queen sighed deeply. "Locating him could get us killed." She informed everyone.

Emma shrugged simply. "Not finding him could get us killed. Lesser of two evils, baby."

"Regina-" David began, but the brunette held her hand up to halt him.

"Don't even say it." She knew he would say that they had no choice but to blindly go find Gold with a locator spell. She didn't agree. She couldn't agree. She knew if she did then Emma would want to follow the locator object they used and that would put her in danger.

The sheriff said it for him, confirming the for queen's fears. "I don't see think we have any other option."

After taking a deep, angry breath Regina scowled. She hated working with a bunch of 'good always wins in the end' heroes. While by every account in history they were right, good winning wasn't a guarantee that lives wouldn't be lost in the process.

"We aren't going after him tonight." She stated firmly. "Tomorrow morning we'll call an emergency town meeting and explain the situation to everybody."

Charming scoffed as he crossed his arms. "So that whoever has Gold can tell him to kill us?"

Regina laughed without humor as she looked at the deputy. "We're taking an even bigger risk going after him with a locator spell!"

"I agree with Regina." The savior spoke up. "We call the town meeting in the morning and ask them to report any suspicious behavior. Having them know can help us out. At the least whoever took Gold will be forced to lay low."

"What are we supposed to do until morning?" Belle asked the blonde.

"Nothing. Look, whoever took Gold, it's obvious that they either have some plan they need him for or they're after revenge against him." Emma laid out.

The librarian huffed. "And Rumple could be dead by this time tomorrow."

Regina rolled her eyes. "He could be dead now if you want to get technical. But he can only be killed by his dagger and if someone was stupid enough to kill him then we have a different dark one to worry about."

It was obvious to Emma that her girlfriend wasn't helping the auburn brunette. "Either way the best strategy is to tell the town what we know and go look for him tomorrow." The sheriff explained. "Can we all agree on that?" It seemed that everyone but Belle was in agreement so Emma turned to her and put a hand over hers on the counter. "Hey, we're going to get him back but to do that we have to outsmart whoever took him."

As she spoke to the woman, Hook took notice the jealous glare in Regina's eyes. He smirked at the sight. He knew the Evil Queen had quite the temper and it was hilarious to see.

Belle nodded slowly, but she was still visibly upset. "Okay." She had no other choice but to agree.

Emma squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Don't stop looking for anything that could be helpful." She instructed.

"You got it, Sheriff." Killian said for the short woman.

Regina cleared her throat loudly. "Henry will need to be picked up from his friends house soon, Miss Swan." It was nearing dinnertime and when they dropped him off at Nick's house they promised they'd be back for him in a couple hours.

Blonde eyebrows furrowed in question as she released her hold on Belle and turned to look at her lover. Usually the mayor only called her by her surname when she was in trouble and the tone Regina used was rather sharp. "Yeah. We have to go get him." She agreed breezily and reached out for the older woman, but the brunette stepped out of reach and headed to the door.

When they locked eyes, Emma saw anger that confirmed she was somehow in trouble. She didn't know what she did, but she'd sure find out soon. Her girlfriend wasn't one to hold in her feelings for very long.

"Me and Hook will patrol the town, see if we can find anything out of the ordinary. We'll call you if we see anything." David offered up.

"Thanks dad." Emma said sincerely. She gave Belle one more assuring smile and headed towards her true love. Once they left the shop and the door shut behind them, the savior decided to find out what was wrong. "Okay. Lay it on me." She told the former queen, preparing herself for it.

"Why don't you just marry her already?" Regina growled and turned around to shove the blonde back a few steps. She was irrationally angry and she wasn't even sure why. Yeah, Emma had touched the former maid's hand, but Regina knew that there was nothing even remotely romantic between the savior and Belle. Rationally she knew that she was being stupid but she was mad regardless.

Emma released a disbelieved laugh. "Are you kidding?" She asked. "Is that a joke? Please tell me you're joking." Was her girlfriend honestly jealous of the fact that she held Belle's hand for a second? The mayor glared, but didn't say anything so the savior grabbed her arm and lightly backed her up a few steps until they were against the yellow bug. "Baby, please tell me you aren't jealous-"

Regina rolled her brown eyes and cut her off. "And what would I be jealous of, Swan?"

"You tell me." The sheriff challenged, both her hands going on the roof of the car next to either side of her lover.

The brunette cleared her throat. "Let's just go get our son."

She was acting strange, Emma noted. It seemed to be a pattern lately with the older woman. She would be fine one moment and completely distraught or angry the next. The savior couldn't tell which way her true love was going to be some days. "Okay, seriously. What's going on with you?" She demanded to know. It wasn't cute or even entertaining to her anymore. As much as she enjoyed the irrational jealous of her girlfriend, it didn't make sense and Emma was tired of having to figure out the puzzling woman's attitude.

Brown eyebrows furrowed as she watched the younger woman back away from her slightly and rub her forehead. It was a sign of frustration that the blonde often did. "What do you mean?"

"You!" Emma exclaimed. "For the last few days you've been unpredictable. I say something as a joke and you're mad for five hours. I comfort Belle and you act like I dry humped her. You're quick to anger lately and I don't get why. What did I do?"

Regina thought about what the sheriff was saying. She supposed that she had been rather irritable lately. There was no reason for it either, and it wasn't all the time. Sometimes she was extremely happy, or extremely… aroused. "Nothing." She said softly, feeling bad for acting so bipolar. "You didn't do anything."

"Are you PMSing for something?" The blonde questioned her with a small laugh, hoping to clear the tension in the air.

The mayor let out a small smile at the joke and reached out for her girlfriend, bringing her back against her. She sighed deeply and hugged the sheriff, needing to feel her. "Probably." She admitted and thought about when her period was due. It had actually been a pain in the ass since she started having it again. She quickly counted back to when he last cycle was and as she did the math her eyes widened slightly. It was good thing she was embracing her girlfriend of Emma would definitely see her panicked face. As the couple pulled back from their hug she quickly recovered and cleared her throat.

Emma grinned softly at her lover and cupped her cheek, leaning in for a quick kiss. "I love you, baby. Let's try to refrain fighting. Please?" She pleaded, feeling drained. "We have a lot going on right now. We don't need any distractions."

Regina gave her a tight smile and nodded. "You're right." They didn't need anything else to worry about on top what they were already dealing with, especially not a pregnancy of all things. And if the mayor's cycle didn't come soon, they might just be dealing with one.

Regina was rubbing lotion on her legs as she watched the sheriff look out of their bedroom window with both of their dogs looking out with her. "You told everyone not to worry and yet you're stalking our neighbors."

The blonde didn't even turn around as she spoke. "I'm not worried. I'm just being cautious."

Brown eyes rolled playfully as Chief got bored with looking out the window and jumped his huge ass up on the bed, rubbing himself against it to get comfy. "I put up a protection spell for the house. We're safe in here, honey."

Emma turned her head around for a moment. "You told me that people with powerful magic could break through protection spells." She reminded her before turning back to the window.

"Typical protection spells they can, but I used blood magic. No one is getting in or out of this house until I break it." Regina insured her.

The savior nodded. That made her feel a little better. "We're safe, sure, but the rest of the town isn't."

"It was the right call to wait until tomorrow to tell the town." The brunette said.

Emma nodded from the window. "I know, but that doesn't make it any easier to sleep."

Regina stood up and walked over to her freighting lover, wrapping her arms around her from behind and kissing her shoulder. "It's one night, Emma. One night and tomorrow we're going to find Gold and end all of this."

Emma turned around in her arms and they locked eyes. "Do you really believe that?" She asked.

The older woman shrugged helplessly. "I honestly don't know what to think, dear. But we'll figure it out. Haven't you read any fairytale story ever?" Blonde eyebrows furrowed, not understanding. "Heroes always win."

A sly smirk spread over the sheriff's face. "You think highly of yourself, don't you your Majesty?" She teased.

Regina laughed. "Let me show you how good I can be." She smirked and leaned on her toes to kiss her girlfriend hotly, sliding her tongue past smooth lips and exploring her mouth. She was trying to take her mind off of the possible dooms day they could be facing.

Emma happily allowed the intrusion and moved her hands to cup the supple backside of the mayor. She moaned quietly as she maneuvered them towards the bed.

The plan was to lay them down, but Boss and Chief were currently laying their happy asses down on the comfy temperpedic mattress so Emma snapped her fingers and ordered them off. "They need to learn manners." She grumbled before attaching her lips to a slender neck.

Regina grabbed a fist full of blonde hair and pulled her away. She smirked darkly at the younger woman before sucking her bottom lip into her mouth and nibbling on the tender flesh. "Let me teach their owner some manners first." She said in that dark husky voice she knew drove the savior wild. "Now get on the bed."

The mayor slammed her gavel down to hush the rowdy crowd. Her along with the Charming law enforcement and their pirate receptionist had just informed the town of Gold's disappearance and a million questions arose. Belle decided to sit the meeting out and opted to search the dark one's house for any information that might be useful and Snow White was resting at home. She had interviews with possible nannies later and she wanted to rest up before them.

"Everyone needs to calm down." David spoke up.

A man that Emma knew as George scoffed. "You want us to calm down when you've lost the dark one?"

"Gold isn't a danger to us." Emma reminded them. "He may have been the dark one back where you come from, but he's-"

"Not dangerous?" George cut her off. "He's controlled by a dagger sweetheart, something else you managed to lose."

The crowd started to get unruly again and Regina banged her gavel down once again. "That's enough!" She yelled and stood up. Everyone went quiet. "Sheriff Swan and the rest of our law enforcement are handling the situation. They will find Gold and whoever is responsible for his abduction."

"Until then we need you all to help us." Emma told them. "Report anything that might be suspicious. The littlest thing could help us."

"And what are we supposed to do about our safety until then?" Mother superior questioned.

The savior cleared her throat. "Right now we don't have any solid leads of a motive so we can't say that anyone is even in danger."

"But you can't say that we aren't in danger either." Blue pointed out.

Emma shook her head. "No. I can't." The crowd started to get loud again but the sheriff cut them all off. "We will protect you." She declared. "Whoever took Gold, whatever their motive is, we'll stop them and we'll protect you."

"What do we do until then?" Michael Zimmer asked.

"Continue with your lives." The blonde summed up. "But report anything that seems unusual."

Regina cleared her throat. "Tonight's previously scheduled town meeting will be postponed until further notice. Meeting adjourned." She banged the gavel down and stood up from the table, Emma, David, and Hook following in suit as majority of the townspeople left the hall.

They huddled on the stage and Killian breathed deeply. "What time are we meeting at the crocodile's tonight?" He asked.

"Eight." The mayor informed him.

After hours of debate following amazing sex last night, her and Emma had come to an agreement about how to handle the locator spell for Gold. The two of them would follow the item to him and Killian along with Charming would follow behind, tracking Emma's cellphone just in case something went wrong.

The pirate nodded. "You got it, love."

"Madam Mayor? Sheriff Swan?" A bearded man that Emma had never seen before called to her and the brunette.

Regina smiled politely at him. "Hello Mr. Dane. What can we do for you?" She asked.

He removed his hat and cleared his throat. "You told us to report anything out of the ordinary."

This perked Emma's attention. "Yeah. Do you got anything?"

"I'm not certain if it's useful or not, but I saw this woman around town… a woman I hadn't seen before." He told them. "She was in Granny's this morning before the meeting."

"Did you see her here?" The sheriff questioned him.

Mr. Dane shook his head. "I didn't."

"What did she look like? Did you catch her name?" Regina wondered.

"I'm afraid I did not, Madam Mayor. She was a curly redhead though, dressed in a green coat. I don't know if it will help at all, but-"

Regina smiled at him and cut him off. "Thank you, Mr. Dane. Any information at all will help us."

"You're welcome." He grinned slightly and turned to leave.

When he was out of earshot, Emma asked, "You know everybody in this town. Right?"

The mayor shrugged. "I'd say I know majority of them. Maybe not by name, but I know their faces."

"Do you know the woman he described?" David questioned.

"I know of a few redheaded women in this town. It could have been any of them." Regina informed him.

Killian nodded. "One of them could have taken the dark one." He reminded the group.

"I doubt it. Besides Ariel, all were peasants back in the forest." The woman revealed.

Emma licked her lips. "We'll follow up on it. Hook, you go ask Ruby to see if she saw the same thing as that guy. Regina and me will help Belle look for anything that could help us figure out who took Gold and why. Dad, go help mom interview your nannies and make sure she's not stressed out. It's not good for the baby." Regina's ears perked at the word baby. She felt her heart start beating quicker, but she remained composed. She felt ridiculous for even considering that she could be pregnant. It was difficult to conceive when people with magic knew what they were doing and her girlfriend was magically stupid. She'd have to get a pregnancy test in the next few days to put her silly worries to rest. They had bigger things to worry about until then though.

Hook laughed. "And how do you know so much about babies, Swan?"

"I had a baby dumbass." She reminded him.

The pirate scoffed with a cheeky grin. "Yeah. In prison."

Green eyes rolled. "They have pregnancy books in prison, you dick. Just go do your job. There's a serious threat in town." She shoved him towards the stage stairs. "Meet us at Gold's when you're done."

Hook saluted her. "Aye aye, Sheriff."

Belle came back into the living room where Emma, Regina, and Hook were waiting. She was holding Rumple's favorite tie in her hand. "Will this work?" She asked the former Evil Queen.

"If it's his it'll work." Regina said and grabbed it from her. "Has he answered yet?" She asked her girlfriend.

Emma was trying to call her dad, but he wasn't answering. It was eight thirty and Charming was nowhere to be found. She was starting to become worried. "No. And my phone is about to die."

"Do you want me to charge it for you?" Belle questioned.

The sheriff shook her head, but Regina snatched the phone and tossed it to the librarian. "That would be great. Thank you." When Belle left the room to put the phone on the charger green eyes looked at her expectantly she said, "Like hell I'm going to let us follow this to a possible trap without your cellphone working. Your father is supposed to track it."

"But my dad isn't here." Emma argued. "We don't know where he is!"

"He's probably with your mom. Maybe they're still interviewing nannies." The mayor suggested.

Killian cleared his throat. "I'm sure the prince will get here soon enough. Can we get on with it? I'd like to find the dark one as fast as possible so I can go back to my non-threatening life."

Regina huffed. "Don't we all." She grabbed Emma's hand. "We have to move forward without David. Hook can track your phone.

The sheriff laughed. "Killian? The guy who thinks my phone number is 2?"

"I don't think that anymore." The pirate defended himself.

"You hired him to answer phone calls at the station." Regina stated with humor.

The doorbell rang, catching all of their attention. "I'll get it!" Belle called as she quickly walked from the back room to the front door. She opened it and saw a tired looking Neal standing in the doorway. "Bae." She greeted breathlessly, in slight disbelief.

"Hey Belle." He grinned shyly. "Where's my papa?"

Her jaw was hanging open for a few moments until she shook out of it and opened the door wider. "Come in. There's something you should know."

The brunette man walked into the house and headed straight to the livingroom where he assumed his father was. He dropped his duffel bag when he saw the three occupants of the room. "Emma."

Regina glared at the man. "The prodigal son returns." She said sharply in greeting.

Neal ignored her, mostly because he was confused. "Where's my dad?" He asked them.

Emma licked her lips. "He's missing."

Another cliffhanger. Don't kill me! Lol. Next chapter they locate Gold, you'll find where Charming is, & you will finally meet the witch that took the dagger. Should be a good one. I know these last two chapters have been a little slow with the progression of the wicked plot but things will be picking up in the next one. Things won't be going down as they did in the show with that plot, but you'll see some similarities.

Tell me what you're thinking about things! I enjoy reading reviews. Next post will be Friday! See you then! :*