Rating: PG-15

Pairings/Characters: Emma/Gold and Regina

Warnings: None

Spoilers: Anything up to 1X22 is fair game.

Disclaimer: If I owned them Gold and Emma would have been having sex long ago.

A/N: *Tip Toes In Sheepishly* Hi everyone...remember me? I am so sorry for the delay on this story. Real life got in the way (business, illness, moving, etc) and my muse was taking a long vacation. After seeing that Need was nominated for an OUAT Fan Award (Best WIP, thank you to whoever nominated me) I decided to get my butt in gear and start working on the next chapter. I hope people are still interested in the story. Thanks for reading and as always please review, just so I know there is still an interest in the story. Also…if you want to vote for this or any of the other Golden Swan stories nominated here is the address: (you need to have an Live Journal account to vote…I think)

X

Emma pushed her way past Regina's personal assistant, ignoring his calls to stop. She marched into the Mayor's office, clutching a copy of The Storybrooke Mirror which blared the headline: SHERIFF SWAN DATING ARSON SUSPECT MR. GOLD-WAS SHE INVOLVED WITH THE FIRE TOO?

Regina looked up from her paper work and glowered as Emma strode purposefully to her desk. "Sheriff Swan, I don't believe we are meeting today."

Slapping the paper down on the desk Emma placed her hands upon it and leaned forward, a furious glint flashing in her blue eyes. "Retract it," she hissed through clenched teeth.

Regina leaned back in her chair and smirked. "Retract what?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"You know damn well what!" Emma pointed at the headline, bristling as Regina continued to smirk at her. "You accused me of setting fire to this building."

"I didn't accuse you of anything. Sydney is the one who wrote the article Ms. Swan, not me."

"Everyone in town knows that Sydney doesn't so much as sneeze without your permission," Emma replied curtly. "You and I both know you're behind this."

Regina rose from her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Prove it," she sneered.

"Oh that won't be necessary," a familiar voice called out from the doorway.

Regina rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of exasperation. "I seriously need to fire my assistant."

Emma turned around, her eyebrow quirking up when she saw Gold standing in front of her. "What are you doing here?" she asked him in surprise.

Gold limped into the room, his cane in one hand and a copy of the newspaper in the other. He came to stand beside Emma and grinned, his golden eyes piercing her. "I came to discuss this article with Mayor Mills but it seems you've beat me to it. I would have been here earlier but I overslept…someone kept me up last night."

Emma ducked her head as her face began to flush, ignoring the noise of disgust Regina made in the back of her throat. She looked back up and stepped closer to him. "I thought we had agreed that if you have to talk to Regina and it involves Henry or me, you would keep me in the loop."

"Yes, well seeing how the mayor also accused me of a crime…" Gold began to say.

"For the last time," Regina cut in, "Sydney wrote the article, not me. Besides Gold, your girlfriend here accused you of arson in front of the entire town. But I guess since she spreads her legs for you, you've given her a pass."

Emma raised her hand, ready to slap the smug smirk off of Regina's face. She heard the newspaper in Gold's hand flutter to the ground as he grasped her wrist, pulling her arm back.

"Don't," he said calmly. "You'll just give her an excuse to fire you and press charges against you."

"I don't care," Emma replied, her body shaking with rage.

She felt him move behind her, his chest pressed against her back. His head leaned in close, his lips brushing against her ear.

"Think of Henry," he said simply.

"Yes Ms. Swan," Regina said with a simpering smile. "Think of Henry. I mean, he already thinks you're an arsonist. How do you think he would feel if he found out you assaulted me…again?"

Emma's arm dropped to her side and she felt her blood run cold. "Henry saw the article?" she asked in a horrified whisper. She began to imagine the look of disappointment on his face and it made her ill.

"There may have been a copy of the paper next to his bowl of cereal this morning," Regina answered nonchalantly.

Emma closed her eyes, trying to control her anger. "You're a sadistic witch," she said coldly, opening her eyes to glare at Regina. "You have no problem hurting Henry if it means you can hurt me too." She turned to Gold and placed her hand on his chest, reveling in the comfort of his beating heart under her palm. "I need to go see Henry…make sure that he knows it's all a bunch of lies."

"The hell you will," Regina said threateningly.

"Try and stop me," Emma replied forcefully.

"Regina won't do that. After all, she gave her permission for you to see your boy," Gold said, catching Regina's eye with a meaningful look. "Or did you forget the conversation we had in my shop Madame Mayor?"

Regina glared at him, her lips curling up into a snarl. "No I didn't forget," she replied tensely. She straightened her back and let out an annoyed huff. "Fine. Henry should be having morning recess for the next 15 minutes Ms. Swan."

Emma looked at both of them in puzzlement. 'What on earth did Gold say to her that made her back down like that,' she wondered. "Alright," she said slowly."I'm going to head over to the school to undo the damage."

"Good luck," Regina muttered sarcastically.

"I'll meet up with you later," Gold said. He gave Regina a wry smile. "I have some things to discuss with Mayor Mills."

Emma paused for a moment, wanting to know what exactly the two of them needed to discuss. The idea of Henry thinking she could have set the fire, however, made her move towards the door. "I'll see you later," she called out over her shoulder.

Gold waited until he heard the door close before moving towards Regina slowly. "You certainly are determined to ruin Ms. Swan's life dearie," Gold said as he picked up a red apple out of a bowl placed upon her desk.

"Don't call me dearie you treacherous imp," Regina spat, snatching the apple out of his hands.

Gold chuckled mirthlessly. "Haven't you learned yet that destroying the lives of others doesn't endear Henry to you…dearie."

"You really want to lecture me about destroying people's lives," Regina answered, a savage smile gracing her beautiful face. "What was the name of that girl who lived with you for awhile?" she asked, tapping her manicured finger against her bottom lip, pretending to think. "Beth…Bess…"

"Belle," Gold replied quietly, recalling his conversation with Emma the night before about the ghost who still haunted him.

"That's right! Belle…Belle who ended up killing herself when you threw her out. You know all about destroying lives don't you Gold." Regina smirked, circling around him like a shark.

"I'm warning you Regina…leave Emma alone," Gold said with a piercing stare.

Regina studied him for a moment before letting out a gleeful laugh. "Oh I don't believe it…you've fallen in love with her!" she exclaimed with a cold smile. "I thought you were just using her to keep your bed warm but you've actually fallen for her. Oh, how her heart is going to break when she finds out who you truly are and all the horrible things you've done."

Quick as a flash Gold's hand wrapped around Regina's neck, squeezing it lightly. Her eyes widened slightly with fear and she cringed at the horrible grin he gave her. "The problem with you Regina is that you never seem to learn," he growled. "Leave Emma alone or you will regret it. Do you want the courts to question your adoption of Henry?"

"No," she answered meekly.

"What was that dearie?"

"I said no," she said a bit more forcefully.

He let go of her neck and started to limp back to the door. "That's what I thought. You're going to make sure that the story is retracted and you will issue an apology to Ms. Swan in tomorrow's paper. Is that clear?"

Regina rubbed her neck and scowled at him. "Perfectlyclear."

"Good," Gold said as he opened the door. He turned back to her and smirked. "I always enjoy our little chats…dearie."

As the door closed behind him Regina picked up a vase of flowers and threw it, letting the sound of breaking glass cover her screams. Her assistant rushed in, glancing at the shards of glass on the immaculate white carpet.

"Leave it you useless idiot," she yelled at him as he bent down to pick up the pieces. She picked up the apple she had taken out of Gold's hand and threw it at his head. "Get out!"

He ran out of them room, mumbling an apology under his breath. Regina paced restlessly around the room, a million different vengeful thoughts running through her head, before walking over to her desk. She picked up her phone and pushed the speed dial button.

"Storybrooke General Hospital. Psychiatric Ward."

"It's Mayor Mills," Regina replied with a twisted smile. "We need to discuss the patient in room 6."