Things hadn't really gotten any better in the Special Victims Unit for Emma. She felt like she was being cast out from Regina due to the fact that she wasn't Lily Jake . She knew from the beginning that she got the job there because she had left, but the tension from Regina was unreal – it made her feel slightly insulted. She didn't trust her work skills, her judgements on suspects and she even questioned the fact that she recognised a MO from back home. It was hard to prove to everyone that she was the right addition to the squad, but it was even harder to get a smile from Regina, and with everything that Emma  was feeling and going through right now, that was all she wanted.

Emma felt so lonely. She wasn't the only new Detective – Nick Hastings had come in not long after her first day at the precinct, yet it seemed that he got along with Regina more, and that hurt. Maybe Emma was over-thinking it – maybe it wasn't because she was there to take over Lily. Maybe it was because she was a female – for so long Regina was the only female detective, so Emma could see how that was a problem. She obviously worked better with male partners.

But because she was lonely, and because she felt overwhelmed with thinking about Regina all the time, she went back to the only thing that was familiar to her – gambling. She didn't mean too. She just went to a bar one day and saw the pokies. It was only an occasional thing, but then went on to the casinos. Before she knew it, she was under again. She had gotten way over her head – she was under by 20k. She had no idea that what she was going to do. She had no body to tell, no body to help her. It wasn't until Sidney and Joan Eckhouse were shot dead in their home, and their daughter Emmy was critically injured that things got from bad to worse. Sidney had forced his daughter to place bets – this lead Nick and August to question a well-known bookie, Murphy. Unfortunately he also happened to Emma's.

As soon as Murphy saw Emma in the squad room, she knew that her life was going to be in danger. He had no idea that she was a cop. If he didn't kill her, then the one only thing he could do to her that would destroy her was to tell Captain Mary Margaret . She didn't want her knowing – not only would it be a risk to her job, but she didn't want her captain knowing that she had a problem.

That night, Emma was at the petrol station, filling up her truck with all the money she had on her. She pulled out the receipt from the machine, and was about to head to her vehicle, when she felt a sharp pain in the side of her gut. She saw Murphy, and another guy just before she fell to the ground with excruciating pain. "Detective Swan- this here is Officer Parker – you two have some things in common," Murphy told her, standing against her truck. The other guy, Parker, grabbed her by her elbow and pulled her up harshly, just before Murphy went in for another punch, right in the same place. Emma let out a large gasp, falling the ground once more. Parker came down to her level, grabbing her chin to make her look at him. "You're in deep to the wrong guy, sweetheart," he told her, a grimacing looking smirk upon his face. "I hope you're not dumb enough to talk to your captain," he said to her, which caused Emma to pull away from his grip. It was then that Murphy also came down to her level. "If you do, they won't see us coming. You'll just be gone – understand?" Murphy warned, looking at her sternly. Emma nodded – of course she did. Nothing made her think that this guy was kidding with his threat. He was serious, and there was no way he wanted to piss him off anymore. "Good girl," Murphy replied, and with that he and Parker were off. Emma winced in pain as she grabbed hold of her truck to pull herself up. She had no idea how much damage had been done to her abdomen, but she knew there would be a lot of bruising. She watched the two walk away – she was making sure that they wouldn't come back. It wasn't until they were out of their sight, that Emma got into her truck and grabbed her phone. Meet me at the pub, she texted August-they warned her about not telling the captain. But she needed to tell someone, and August was that someone.

Emma told August everything. From what happened in Atlanta to feeling so left out at in the squad that she turned to the only thing she knew, which in end, made her debt even worse. August, like the good partner he was, listened carefully – both with concern and understanding. He knew that she was over her head, and he knew that she needed his help. So he told her what they were going to do. They will take those creeps off the street, and let them know who they were. He also told her that she needed to come clean to the captain, which she agreed too whole-heartedly.

It took her a while to gain the courage she needed to tell Mary Margaret. Every time she tried, a lead in the case took priority, so she had to wait even longer. When she finally did, however, she was surprised to find out that Mary Margaret already knew. Mary Margaret told her that Murphy had ratted her out, because he thought it would help his case if he had dirt on a detective. He also explained to her that he had already spoken to IAB, as he didn't want Murphy to have any leverage over the squad. Emma was quiet at this point – she just nodded, wanting him to know that she understood everything he was saying. He told her that she had to have an interview with IAB, and asked if there was anything else she wanted to tell her, like if Murphy ever asked her to run a play or check someone out. She reassured her, however, that she only gambled and she lost. At that point, Mary Margaret asked her if she was fully aware how lucky she was, because if she was desperate enough she probably would have. Emma hardly ever cried, but this was an exception. She knew how disappointed she was, she was disappointed in herself. She continued, saying that she should really take her gun and shield, but he would bat for her with IAB if the extent was really what she said it was. It was that point that she went on to tell her his addiction. It took Emma by surprise, but now she fully understood why Mary Margaret, her captain, was being supportive of her. She listened to her carefully, even when she told her that she was going to get her help. She knew she needed it – and she wasn't going to protest. She wiped her tears away, just as a knock on the door sounded. She took a deep breath and straightened up, trying to look less upset. "We good?" The captain asked, which was responded by Emma nodding her head, "Yeah".

"Ah, we can come back later," Regina declared, when she realised that something personal was happening and that they had just interrupted it. Mary Margaret however dismissed that statement, moving past Emma to see what Regina and Hastings had brought. Emma glanced at Regina , feeling highly embarrassed. She could see her looking back at her, and it made her slightly uncomfortable – why was she looking like she was concerned? She never looked at me like this before, so why was she doing it now while I had just been crying? Emma thought this as she moved around, trying the best she could to not look like she had been crying. She tried to concentrate on what Hastings was saying, but she couldn't help but notice that Regina stole glances at her. Hastings mentioned that Emmy had the same strand of Herpes as her father, which made Emma feel even worse than she did before – Sidney was sleeping with his daughter. "Every unhappy family is unhappy in their own way – find out who else knew," Mary Margaret ordered, before turning back to his desk. Regina looked at Emma one last time, before exiting the office, causing Emma's heart to skip a beat. Surely she wasn't concerned about why she had been crying?

Later that day, when the case that been solved, Emma kept the promise she had made to Mary by attending a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. It was hard, but Mary Margaret had come with her for support, and that meant a lot for her. She had no family in New York – it felt as if Mary Margaret was mothering her, and she couldn't be any more grateful. Emma was so nervous and not to mention embarrassed. "You're here. That's the first step," Mary Margaret reassured her, sensing how nervous she was. Emma didn't respond straight away – she stared into the middle of the hall, at the people who were already sitting there. At least she wasn't alone. She took a deep breath, then realised that Mary Margaret had spoken to her, and nodded her head in response. "Yeah..." She said, before she turned her head. "Thank you," She said to her, before making her way into the hall and towards the circle of chairs.

It was only an hour, but that hour seemed to drag on for days. Since it was her first time, she sat there listening in. It was hard to hear people's stories. Hearing them say they lost their families, jobs, friends, all because they lied and cheated by stealing money. Some of them were worse off than Emma, some were in really deep – some had been shot even. This made her feel sick, thinking back on the threat that Murphy had made about her just being gone. Some of these people here today were lucky to be alive. It scared her, but it made her know how lucky she was that she was getting help now – while she still had her job and some friends.

After the meeting, Emma went straight back to her apartment. What she wanted to do was to crawl up into a ball on her bed and cry her heart out – but instead of doing that she grabbed a bottle of vodka, a glass, and sat down on her couch, staring at the black screen of her television. She poured herself half a glass, and then shot it down her mouth, straight. She knew drinking wasn't the answer, but if it meant that it would block out her thoughts about her gambling problem, what happened that day with Emmy, and her thoughts for Regina, then she would do it. It wasn't long until her mind was fuzzy and her vision was blurry – she was going to have some more, but she was stopped when there was a knock on the door. She frowned in confusion – no one came to visit her. She wasn't being noisy so she knew it wasn't any of her neighbors. She stood up, stumbled to the door, banging her knee on her sofa as she did so. She cursed, but continued to the door, rubbing her knee as she did so. When she opened it, she stood up straight, and stared at the person behind it.

"Regina." She breathed, wondering why on earth she had come to her apartment.