One moment Emma was staring at the shocked expression on Regina's face. The next she was staring at the woman's back as she marched out of the study. The set of Regina's shoulders told Emma someone was about to be victim of her wrath. And that was not a good thing.

"Woah, where are you going?" Emma asked scrambling to follow the woman before she left the house.

"I need to speak to Gold."

"Hold up." Emma grabbed her shoulders and spun her round ignoring the glare sent her way. "Speak or maim? Cause you look like you're gonna do a whole lot of maiming and not a whole lot of speaking."

"Which one gets me out the door?"

"Neither right now." Emma huffed. "Just... talk to me, okay? You're not alone in this situation - no matter how fucked up it may be. I'm stuck here with you, whether you like it or not."

"Not."

"Hey, I'm getting deep here. Don't ruin the moment." Emma grumbled playfully as she pushed Regina's shoulder lightly. Emma was still in a small state of shock over her previous actions. However, the amusement beginning to shine in Regina's eyes made her feel like things were going to be okay. Or it could just be at her expense. Either way she didn't want to think too deeply on it.

"Do continue then. I'd love to hear where this is going."

"You're sarcasm is so not appreciated." Emma rolled her eyes with a smile. She let Regina go and stepped away. "I've lost my train of thought now, but you wanna go yell or maim Gold? Be my guest."

Regina watched Emma closely as she waved her hand to the door. To say Emma surprised her by trying to delve into the depths of their situation would be an understatement. The fact that Emma was happy – well, not happy more like resigned - to let her go and do whatever she wished to Gold was enough to make her stop.

"Do you want me to go?"

"I-I honestly don't know. I don't know if what I'm feeling is from this fucking bracelet or not!" Emma growled tugging at it roughly. Regina noted the heavily reddened skin under the charms on Emma's wrist as she unleashed her anger.

"Emma, stop." Regina rested her hand upon the red skin that felt as though one more tug would break the skin. "I'll talk to Gold and find a way to get them off."

"Okay." Emma deflated. "Okay, just... don't tell him everything, yeah?"

Regina smirked stepping closer to Emma. "Oh? You don't want me to tell him how you can't keep your hands off me?"

Emma paused before smirking. "At the moment you're the one holding, and stroking my wrist." Emma said nodding down to where Regina's thumb was idly caressing the red skin on Emma's wrist.

"Sorry." She blurted pulling back sharply and shoving her hands in her pant pockets. "I... We need answers. And we're getting no where with my books so maybe Gold has or knows something that could help us."

"Fair enough." Emma nodded. "Just... be careful what you tell him. He may say he's being good but he's shifty. Capital S Shifty."

Regina's brow furrowed as she watched Emma. "You want me to be careful?"

Emma blushed slightly and began scuffing her feet on the tiles of the entryway. "Well, we all know what he's like." She answered with a shrug. Regina didn't need Emma's superpower to know that wasn't the full truth.

"I know better than anyone, Emma. So why are you telling me this?" Regina pushed.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Then tell me."

Emma finally looked up from the ground. Regina waited for an answer that never came. She sighed as Emma backed away, her shoulders tense under Regina's scrutiny.

Potential. That was the one word Regina could use to describe Emma. She was an endless amount of potential that was so close to becoming great but never made it. There had been glimpses in those moments of high stress and, mostly, near-death situations where Emma would just shine. Blinding Regina as she watched in awe. Only to fade.

And now here she was, once again, fading.

"I'm going to see Gold." Regina stated. Emma kept her head down; Regina wondered whether it was due to insecurity or shame for not speaking up. It's not like she would ever find out though.

Her hand was on the door knob when she realized Emma was still hanging back near the study. "Are you coming?"

Emma's head shot up. "You want me to go with you?"

"Not particularly." Regina tried to ignore the pout forming on Emma's face. Henry should be the only person able to pout his way out of a situation. It seemed like his secret weapon was genetic.

Damn. "If you want-"

"I'll just stay here."

"No."

"No? So you want me with you?"

"No, because you'll probably end up punching Gold and then he'll tell us nothing."

Emma couldn't fault that logic but she was still confused. "Then why can't I stay here?'

"I'm not leaving you in my house unsupervised."

"I'm not six, Regina!"

"Could've fooled me. Now come on. There must be other people you can annoy. I bet your mother's just dying to find out how badly I've sullied you." Regina smirked.

"Ugh. You're unbelievable." Emma groaned sliding past Regina and out the door. Regina locked the door and turned to find a pale finger in front of her nose. "The only reason I'm leaving the house is because your minimalist decor hurts my eyes."

Regina watched Emma stalk down the path fighting a smile. "I take it back."

Emma spun around with a wary expression.

And rightly so, Regina thought. "You're not six. You're three."

Regina couldn't stop the laughter as Emma made a face and flipped her off before leaving. She shook her head with a fondness that was slowly becoming routine as she made her way to her car.

Regina leant back in the Mercedes massaging her temples as she felt a headache build. Passing it off as nothing but the looming prospect of a decidedly awful meeting with Gold ahead she started the engine.

AN: Wrote the majority of this on my phone when I should've been learning... oops.

This semester is looking a little less hectic than last (but that's probably cause I'm kinda useless) so hopefully more chapters more quickly. Hopefully.

Hope you liked this chapter.

And you know the drill:

Review, tell me what you think. :)