A/N: Welp, finally got around to another chapter of this. sORRY FOR THE DELAY. Between work and school and rp sometimes it's hard to find time to work on this. And sometimes I forget about it a little bit tbh. But anyway, here it is. The rest of 'Broken' and part of 'We are Both'. I think this one came out a lot better than my last one tbh. So hopefully you enjoy it. As always, read, review, but mostly enjoy XD

Emma had absolutely no idea what that meant and from the looks on Mary Margaret and David's faces, they didn't either. But the tone in Regina's voice suggested she had a clear plan in mind. And it wasn't as if they really had other options. They would just have to trust that Regina knew what she was doing.

Typical of Regina, she didn't clue them in to her plan at all. A simple, curt demand was given for them to follow her back to her office before she walked right past them, intent on leaving the station. Emma had cast a furtive glance at Mary Margaret and David who shrugged at her in return, expressions as confused as Emma's. And with a roll of her eyes, she followed after the Mayor, her parents following behind her shortly after.

By the time Emma had caught up to Regina, she was just opening the door to her office. She still said nothing to them about what they were doing, just went on her way. Again, she others followed after her coming to a stop at the large table where Regina had just placed a decent sized rust colored box. Mary Margaret and David had apparently lagged behind a little bit.

Emma had no idea what the hell was in it but she didn't get to ask before Regina was speaking to her again.

"Did Henry really ask you to protect me?"

Emma could tell that the question was something she desperately wanted to know the answer to, but also had clearly been hesitant to ask. Maybe that partially explained her silence until this point. She might not yet see just what good Henry saw in Regina, but he'd been right about who she, Emma, was and what she was capable of, she supposed for now she could give Regina the benefit of the doubt and trust Henry's instincts.

"Yes." She said it firmly and truthfully, the corner of her mouth twitching upward just slightly in a show of good faith.

Regina didn't say anything in return. But she didn't need to. Even without the momentary brief smile that had appeared on the brunette's face, Emma could tell her words had actually comforted Regina. Normally she wouldn't care much about Regina's comfort after everything she'd put her and Henry through, but right now she didn't have a choice. And right now, she was a hell of a lot higher up on her list of people to trust and please than Gold was. That was for damn sure.

However, any sense of wanting to cooperate or please anyone left immediately the moment Regina pulled out a large top hat from that weird box. She recognized it right away and her stomach dropped instantly and she felt like she was going to be sick.

"The hat…you had it all along."

Not only was she starting to feel sick to her stomach, memories of the last time she'd seen a hat like that rushing to the forefront of her consciousness, but there was a fire burning inside her as well.

If Regina had had that hat the whole damn time, then everything she went through at Jefferson's mansion had been for nothing. It had been for nothing in the first place; she couldn't make a goddamn magical portal-jumping hat. But here the whole time, the one Jefferson had been looking for was sitting in the goddamn Mayor's office.

"What do you mean?"

"That's Jefferson's hat—"

Emma spoke in barely a whisper, her mind racing too much for her to even look back at Regina or really focus on what was going on right around her. All she could think about was if Jefferson had known, had gone to Regina first, had been spying on her instead, maybe he would have known where to find his hat the whole time. He might never have come after and…and she might never have lost her baby. Their baby.

Even as angry as she was at Gold, she'd remembered him that night when he found out. He had been as crushed as she was, maybe even more as bad as that may sound. She couldn't, even in her head, deny that her baby had been just as much his as hers.

"Who's Jefferson…?"

Mind still muddled, she wasn't really paying attention to Regina, wasn't really looking to see if she was lying or not. Her focus was entirely elsewhere. She wondered if Gold had known about the hat. Did he know Jefferson too? There were so many more questions in her mind now that she'd sent that hat. But she was at least aware that Regina had asked her a question. Luckily she was saved from having to answer it (not that she would have truthfully anyway) when the door of Regina's office opened again and Mary Margaret and David stepped through.

It was then that she discovered the little detour they had obviously taken to not walk in right behind her. The two of them had walked in with a few old broomsticks, David declaring as he walked through the door that he planned to use them as torches. Emma hadn't ever really been known to use brooms very often but she sure as hell knew they weren't supposed to be used as torches. Of course, she couldn't deny that they'd certainly do the trick.

Hand gripping one of the broomsticks, poised in a battle stance, Mary Margaret had this fiercely determined look in her eye Emma could only remember having seen once, back at Jefferson's mansion. She leveled that determined look right at Regina, it wasn't directed at her exactly, not that determination in fight in her, just looking at her for directions.

"So, how does it work?"

"Follow me and I'll show you."

And then she led them back down stairs into a room Emma recognized immediately. She'd been in enough courtrooms in her days to recognize one when she saw one.

"It will open a portal to our land," Regina proclaimed as she led the three of them in. "All we have to do is send the wraith in there."

"Oh yeah, just that," David chimed in sarcastically as he set the broomsticks down on one of the tables inside.

"I don't understand, I thought our land was gone—" Mary Margaret said, stepping around to watch Regina fiddle with the hat on the floor.

"It is. But sending it to a place that no longer exists…well, that's banishing it to oblivion."

It was as if the wraith could sense that it was about to be sent away for good. As soon as those words left Regina's mouth, it got darker, the power in the next room over going out. The lights were flickering and the door to the courtroom was knocking back and forth with the wind the creature seemed to carry with it wherever it went.

David lit up the torches, distributing them to both Emma and Mary Margaret. With hers in hand, eyes trained on the door, waiting for the wraith to come through, she spoke to Regina, a hint of fear and apprehension leaking into her tone, urging her to hurry up and get the hat working.

"Regina…"

"I'm trying." The frustration in her voice was clear. It wasn't working. It should have worked already. She spun it around again, willing it to work this time.

Still, it didn't work. And her attention was momentarily taken away from the task at hand as she heard the wail of the wraith. Stopping her attempts, she looked up, fear evident in her features knowing that if she couldn't get the hat to work, her life was on the line.

Then the doors to the courtroom burst open, another loud wail from the wraith ringing out, the sound deafening. Wind blew in snuffing out the fires at the ends of their broomsticks. Yet there was no sign of the wraith just yet. Quickly they relit their torches and then the beast was upon them, wailing once again.

Regina continued to spin the hat in vain, while David, wielding his makeshift torch, held of the wraith, giving her more time to work. Meanwhile Mary Margaret grabbed a bottle of whiskey from her bag, pouring the alcohol on the small wooden gate that separated one side of the courtroom from the other. Emma didn't have to ask to know she planned to set it ablaze, creating a barrier between them and the wraith. Once she had it covered, she called to David to light it up, which he did right away, making sure to tell Regina to hurry. They didn't have a whole lot of time. A small-lit broomstick wouldn't keep the beast at bay forever.

Again, Regina spun the hat, and again, it did nothing.

"It's not working!" Still there was that noticeable frustration in her voice.

Emma bent down closer to Regina so that she could hear. "What's the problem?"

"Magic…it's different here."

Once again, Emma bent down, closer this time intent on trying to help Regina figure it out. She placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder and that's when it happened. The moment she had touched Regina, a purple smoke began to emanate from the hat itself, spiraling out of it as the hat began to spin.

Regina turned in confusion to Emma, but she had nothing to say. She was just as confused as Regina was. Emma wasn't willing to believe that it had anything to do with her. Always in denial in that respect. It had just been a coincidence.

But they didn't have time to figure out what had just happened; all that mattered was that they had gotten it to work. And in perfect time too as the wraith just then knocked David out of the way, determined to get it's prey. It was heading straight for Regina and Emma had just barely heard David shout that it was coming towards them. Regina, however, hadn't noticed, she was still standing directly in the wraith's path.

Acting quickly and on impulse, her son's wish to keep Regina safe and protected the only thing she was thinking about, she lunged forward to push Regina out of the way and to safety. The only problem was that her move put her in the path of the wraith. In it's sweep toward Regina it had gotten caught in the whirlwind of the hat, being sucked in, but in a desperate attempt to save itself had managed to grab hold of Emma's ankle, pulling her along with it.

Mary Margaret had tried in vain to grab Emma back, but it was already too late. Emma and the wraith had already begun their descent into the hat. Both David and Mary Margaret screamed out, angry and fearful of their daughter's fate.

"I'm not losing her again!" Mary Margaret screamed and jumped into the portal after her.

David proclaimed the same as he jumped up from the floor, hurrying towards the hat. He hopped quickly over the small gate, but he wasn't quick enough. The portal was already closing, as he was right above it in midair. And instead of going through the portal after his wife and daughter, he fell crashing to the floor on top of it.

After the initial shock had passed, David had gotten up from the floor, fury in his eyes and he rounded on Regina demanding an explanation as to what had happened to his family. But she didn't know. They'd gone through the portal to their land and even she had no idea what sort of state it was in. She knew it still existed; she'd lied about that bit. But she didn't have a clue what they would find there. All she knew was that with the wraith gone, she was safe. That's all that mattered to her.

Across town, Gold was in the backroom of his shop, where he usually was. His mind was churning with regret, about several things: what he'd done to Emma, what he'd said to Belle. So he'd gone to do the only thing he thought would help, spin. Belle had once asked him why he did it. 'To forget' he'd told her. And that's just what he had wanted to do, forget. He wanted to forget what he'd done, forget the guilt and regret he felt. It was his way of coping.

He'd been so engrossed, so focused on spinning that he hadn't even noticed the bell ring out, alerting him to someone's presence. It wasn't until her hear someone clear their throat that he knew anyone was there. When he turned to find Belle, he was shocked. He wouldn't have thought she would be back so soon.

"Hi…" Belle said, stepping through the curtain that separated the front room from the back one.

"Hey—" he returned somewhat lamely. He was still shocked to see her.

"I uh—I went for a long walk."

"I thought you didn't want to me see."

"I didn't. But I—I was worried," she replied with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"Well, the beast is gone and Regina…lives."

He'd misinterpreted her worry entirely. If she'd been worried about Regina, that's who she would have been talking about. She was worried about him. She always worried about him. He wasn't ever going to worry about himself and someone ought to do it.

"So uh…you didn't get what you wanted."

"Well that remains to be seen," he said smoothly, just the smallest hint of a smile on his lips as he looked back at her. What he wanted was Belle. That he wanted more than revenge on Regina. Or at least he didn't want to trade one for the other.

Belle opened her mouth, about to respond but closed it quickly as she noticed something off to the side of Rumpel on the small end table next to him. A small, amused smile curled her lips and a soft little chuckle let her. It was her cup. Her chipped cup. She still remembered it from her time in his castle. She moved around him where he sat, picking it up before moving back in front of him again.

"You still have it," she said in awe, another small chuckle escaping her. "My chipped cup."

He smiled sweetly back up at her, nodding his head. Memories were flooding back to him of their time together and his time without her thinking that she was dead. Gods he had missed her. It had killed him thinking he had in any way been responsible for her death.

Chewing on his bottom lip and blinking back tears at the thought, he stood, taking the small cup from her and began to speak.

"There are many, many things in this shop, but this—This is the only thing I truly cherish."

The sound that escaped Belle at his words was somewhere between a relieved sigh and a near sob. Emotion was filling her just as it was him, recalling the time they had spent together and remembering just how much she loved and cared about him. Which was why his next words came as a shock.

"And now you must leave."

She blinked at him in confusion, not at all expecting him to say anything like that.

"Wh-what?"

"Because despite what you hope…I'm still a monster."

He looked back at her in earnest, imploring her to see the truth in his words and to not take them lightly. She only knew part of his misdeeds. If she knew everything else…she would know. But that, that he didn't have it in his heart to tell her. He wanted her to understand he was not a good man, but he still couldn't bring himself to tell her anything about Emma.

At his words, however she did not look sad, she did not back away. Instead, she smiled at him, that brilliant wide smile of hers. And she placed her hands on his shoulders, looking him right in the eyes as she spoke.

"Don't you see? That's exactly the reason I have to stay."

His brows furrowed, mouth hanging open slightly as he looked away. The meaning of her words eluded him. In his mind he was sure he was interpreting them differently. That she intended to somehow make him not a monster, which was precisely what he didn't want her to think. He didn't want her to think he could change. He couldn't. He knew that above anything else. He was not a changeable man.

But he didn't say anything to her. He should have, could have. But he didn't. Because deep down, he didn't want her to go. Not really. Some part of him, despite knowing it wasn't possible, wanted to change, wanted to be the man she saw in him. It hadn't worked before and there was no reason it should this time, but she looked at him so hopefully, so happily, that he couldn't turn her away or go on further trying to convince her he was a monster.

Over the next few days, things went relatively back to normal. Or as normal as they could in Storybrooke. Gold lied low after what had happened, not really keen on having a town full of people demanding he help them fix their homes or cars or anything else that had found itself in the way of the wraith while it had been in town.

Though it was hardly even necessary for him to do so. Most people in town were too busy just cleaning up the mess to bother with blaming him for any of it. That, and trying to find their loved ones. Now that everyone remembered who they were, many of them were trying to get back together with those they had been separated from during the curse.

The fairies, David and a few others had set up camp in front of the Town Hall. They were giving relief to those who'd been directly affected by the destruction the wraith had wrought. There was water and other living necessities for people to take and help them get themselves sorted until they could repair their homes or anything else.

So with all that chaos going on, he didn't have to worry about that. No one bothered. Well, almost no one. Despite Emma being gone, there were still some people in town who weren't too afraid of him to seek him out in his shop. It was no surprise that Regina was the first to do so.

Of course, by the way she was rummaging around in his shop, he suspected her visit had less to do with him and more to do with something she hoped to find there instead.

"The library's beneath the clock tower," he said, finally alerting Regina to his presence. She'd been so busy snooping she hadn't even heard the sound of his cane as he came out of the backroom of his shop. "You closed it remember? When you still had power." A sneer curled his lips as he spoke and she returned it with a glare.

"I need the book—" she said, not even bothering to hide her desperation. "I need to get my son back."

"Which book?" He asked instinctively, though the answer came to him right after he'd spoken the words and he laughed. He was truly amused at this point.

"Ah, so it's come down to that, eh? You need your mummy's help."

This was far too enjoyable for him. She may have been saved from his revenge with the wraith, but no one could stop him from enjoying this moment, taunting her and keeping her from what she wanted as she had done to everyone else for twenty-eight years.

Regina walked over to him, glare settling in permanently on her features. "Give me the book."

"Do you really need the smell of the written word to get the magic flowing again, love?" And there went his signature smirk. "Maybe if you relaxed it would just happen," he advised, ever the teacher he was to her.

"I don't have time. It worked once; I know I can do it. I just—I just need a shortcut back," she pled again.

"Yeah, well I don't have time either," he sneered. "Leave. Please."

There was a snarl on his lips as he commanded her to leave, knowing that with the deal they had made, she wouldn't be able to disobey him. She had to do anything he asked so long as he said please. What he failed to take into account was that there was no longer a curse. That deal was broken.

Regina recoiled slightly, bracing herself for having to obey his command. But nothing came. That feeling that would overcome her when he used that word before never came. A wide grin took residence upon her face. She didn't have to listen to him anymore.

"Wow, how about that? Your pleases have lost their punch."

His lip twitched in irritation. He should have seen that coming, should have known that wouldn't work anymore.

Damn it.

"Well the fact remains, jumpstarting your magic is not in my best interests."

"You know what else isn't in your best interest?" She spoke with a smug grin, knowing she had an ace up her sleeve. Two even, if the first wasn't enough. "Having everyone know the Enchanted Forest still exists, knowing that you and I are keeping that little secret."

She waited a moment for that to sink in, to gauge his response. If he took that bait, she could save her ace for another day when she really needed it. Though of course, that one she could use over and over again until it came out on it's own, if it ever did. She had a feeling he'd go to the ends of the earth to keep that one a secret.

When he didn't appear to be too phased by that threat of blackmail, her grin grew even smugger as she anticipated his reaction to her next words.

"Oh, and if that's not enough, how would you like it if Belle found out about you and our lovely Sheriff, Ms. Swan?"

She could barely contain her devilish grin as she spoke. It was high time someone could finally make him quake in his finely polished shoes. Normally it was he who pulled the strings in town. Well not anymore. She wasn't going to let him stand in her way of what she wanted now that Emma was already out of her way.

Seeing him balk at her words was enough to satisfy her for years, she was sure of it. She relished in the feeling of being able to pull one over on him like he had done to her so many times over the years. Payback's a bitch.

She laughed lightly at him. "Didn't think I knew about that, did you? You really are slipping Rumpel. Did you really think something like that would slip past me? Oh no, I know about your little…accident."

The word had spilled from her lips with an entirely different meaning than the one he had heard. Regina had only meant having slept with Emma at all and getting her pregnant. It hadn't meant to be an allusion to their miscarriage. She may be evil, but even she felt bad about that accident. Nobody deserved that. Not even Gold or Emma.

But it was far too late to correct herself; Gold's free hand had already shot out gripping her roughly by her jaw line. He was leaning in close, teeth barred and nostrils flaring, a clear sign of just how angry he was. She wanted him mad, sure, but she truly hadn't meant to set him off that much. Of course, she also didn't understand his history with losing children. That was something she had never come to know the entire time she had known him.

"You don't get to talk about that," he spat, nails digging into her skin. Her hand came up to grab his in an attempt to pry it away from her, but it was no use. He was a lot stronger than he looked. She tried to speak, to tell him to let go over her, but he only tightened his grip as her mouth opened, effectively cutting her off.

"How do you even know about that?"

"Let—go—" she choked out, still grabbing at his hand, trying to force him away from her.

"How do you know!?"

"If you let me go, I'll tell you!"

He took a few deep, ragged breaths, mulling over the decision. With his snarl still in place, he let her go, pulling his hand back away. He was still breathing heavily, his lips thinning as he looked at her.

"How?" He ground out through clenched teeth.

"You might want to be a bit more careful where you have your lovers quarrels, Gold."

Judging by the look on his face and the way he leaned forward just slightly again, she knew he was feeling the desire to grab her again and she held up her hands in surrender.

"A nurse overheard you and Ms. Swan fighting in the hospital when…when Henry was there. I have eyes and ears everywhere, same as you. Something that big happens in my town, I'm going to know about it."

He said nothing but continued to glare at her.

"You know, I never would have thought you were into blondes."

He clenched his fist at his side, the other curling tightly around the head of his cane. She was really asking for it now. If she kept going he'd solve this little problem right now and kill her if he had to. Damn the consequences. He wasn't going to sit here and let her talk to him this was, taunt him about losing a child. She ought to know better, given the position she was in with Henry at the moment. The least she could do was be a little sympathetic.

"I'm only going to warn you once, Regina, keep pushing me and you'll never get what you want. You'll be dead before you have the chance to tell anyone anything."

"And then what would Belle think?"

"I don't care."

"Wow, you must really love her."

"Don't—You—Dare! This isn't a game, Regina. I lost a child and you're going to mock me?"

"Like you wouldn't do the same to me."

"You don't know me as well as you think you do, Mayor. I want you out of my shop. Now."

"Not until I get what I came here for."

Another deep, ragged breath filled his chest. Letting it out slowly, he glared at her, but decided it would be best to give her what she wanted. Even with her magic back it wasn't as if he couldn't handle her. And with a wave of his hand, the spell book appeared in it and he handed it over to her.

"Careful, dearie, these are straight up spells, rough on the system." His tone was laced with venom. In truth he wished her no care at all. He couldn't think of one reason not to be happy if something went wrong if she used those spells and something happened to her.

"I don't care if they turn me green; I'm getting my son back." And then she turned to storm back out of his shop.

"Oh my—"

Despite his foul mood, he couldn't help but laugh as she walked away from him, an amusing thought coming to his mind. Well, amusing to him, not likely to her. It was a derisive sort of laugh and he wasn't surprised that she turned to face him again as he spoke.

"What?!"

"It's just holding that," he pointed to the book, "I told you once you didn't look like her. Now, now I can see it."

If she wanted to come into his shop aiming to hit where it hurt, he would return the favor. He knew well of how much she had come to loathe her mother and everything to do with her. He knew it would piss her off to hear him compare her to her in any capacity, even looks.

The offended and hurt gasp that involuntarily passed her lips was just barely enough to satisfy him. But he knew he'd done well with that one. It was hard to match up with what she'd said to him, but it gave him great pleasure knowing she'd be go on the rest of the day thinking she'd turned out just like her mother, the very last person she had ever wanted to be like.

carlet: Glad you liked it XD As of right now, the plan is to keep it as close to canon as possible. Some things will inevitably have to change as Golden Swan isn't canon but that's what this fic is about.

Twyla Mercedes: when/if she finds out about emma we'll see ;)

louisethelibrarian: wow! i'm really glad you like it! that's always lovely to hear! and seriously, the compliments, my friend, they are too much! but thank you! and i have no plans on giving up on this story, i'm just super slow at updating :/

lozzy035: probably not. not by choice. we'll see. she might end up finding out on her own, she's p smart.