What did you do? [Emma/Gold]

I'm not just a Savior

As predicted Mr. Gold appeared to indeed be lurking around in his shop as Emma made her presence known in the shop. It wasn't like he wandered the streets very often so she wasn't too surprised. The still ever present limp in his step that she had noted the first time she had spotted him. She still wasn't entirely sure what to make of the man considering their last few meetings were exactly very pleasant. Not to mention he looked too happy about the recent turn of events that it was all too clear he had some sort of involvement with this. She couldn't put her finger on what that involvement could mean, but she knew he had his fingerprints over some part of this. She just was going to have to try and pry it out of him which wasn't probably going to be easy given his track record. He was rather good at playing innocent, but she had started to figure him out a little better the more times she encountered the man. She heard him walking around back there so she took her time scanning the pawn shop wondering how it was he'd come by most of it. Her eyes still occasionally glanced towards the unicorn mobile as if she recognized it somehow, but that was incredibly ridiculous.

She'd never seen anything like that in any of her foster homes for the simple fact she didn't stay long in many of them. Some she only spent a couple of days and others maybe a few weeks. Rather disheartening for a young girl who had so much potential, but never given the chance to flourish. To prove to those families that she could be their idea of a perfect daughter, not for a lack of trying, though. She would still never understand why her parents simply left her on the side of the road or even abandoned her at all. It was a burning question that almost always was at the forefront of her mind. Continuing her look around the shop she noticed that there were some puppets which she found odd. Creepy and decrepit, but rather out of place considering most of the shop was made up of boxes, paintings, occasional jewelry and other things. The puppets though seemed to stand out the most to the blonde woman as she stared at them. They were hard not to look at, noting the way in which their facial structures seemed to scream help to anyone that would listen. Strange really that they seemed so life like the way they sat there holding each other's hands.

Emma looked up though when Mr. Gold finally made his appearance, dropping her hand away from the puppet she had been about to touch. As per usual he was wearing a nicely tailored suit, positioning his hands on the cane that helped him with his limp and clearly a force to be reckoned with. Course, he wasn't the only one that could dangerous when messed with as she moved towards him, her hands on her hips.

"Well don't you look rather cheerful? Couldn't have anything to do with the recent smoke invasion?" asked Emma as she stood there daring him to challenge her.

Granted, she had a lot of questions for him, but she figured she'd settle with the basic one and go for the blunt approach. No point sugar coating anything about this when she clearly had a feeling this could spell trouble. Already people were anxious as to what had happened since it was a bit much to consider it normal. She didn't really want to pass it off as magic quite like, but it was certainly strange. Even her with her denial couldn't ignore that purple smoke didn't just come out of no where. Regina didn't seem like she had done it so she had to turn her attention to someone else. Someone who had motives that were never really known and he seemed to know quite a bit about this place. The way he had said her name those weeks ago didn't go unnoticed by her as she watched him critically for any sort of give away.

"Know anything about it?" asked Emma, rather casually waiting to see just what he was planning to give as an excuse. She wasn't here for games or riddles, but answers. And she wasn't leaving with nothing even if she was probably crazy to be standing up to the likes of him. Except, she nothing to fear from any of the higher ups of the town and she wasn't about to start now.

that's only half of who I am.

I'm not just a Savior

She should have known better than to assume she'd get a straight answer from the man in front of her. Honestly, he was one of two people Emma looked the least forward to deal with. While Regina had her issues with concern to Henry and her overall need to show Emma up, Gold just merely infuriated her. He could never be straight with her and always enjoyed twisting her words or making deals to meet his needs. Honestly, she was lucky to not have to deal with the likes of him very often as she stood there feeling like he was messing with her. Unfortunately, he was rather good at giving her the poker face, but there were some things she could still detect and thus catch him lying to her. After all, she'd learned long ago to read more than just facial expressions, but she supposed she couldn't let him know all his secrets. At the moment though she figured she'd humour him and see if she couldn't just get him to come out on his on. Wouldn't that be the day that she actually got Mr.Gold to spill his thoughts to her rather than having to force them out. Not exactly likely to happen, but she was just about willing to try as she stood there, half tempted to perhaps punch him in the face. No, that definitely wasn't going to get her the answers she was looking for.

Oddly enough at times she felt as though he was trying to be coy with her on purpose. Like he was trying to show her something in his own manipulative way. Helping her if that were even possible by playing these little games and forcing her to come up with her own conclusions and reasonings. She huffed in frustration all the same though because Emma wasn't very fond of riddles or games and was getting rather impatient. All she wanted to know was what the smoke that came through Storybrooke was. Alas, he continued to irritate her by putting on a good show of cluelessness. As if he just had no idea why on earth she would even bother to come and visit him. Well, he certainly wasn't the worst person she had to deal with, but he was own mess of trouble. She still didn't know what he wanted from her after she had made that deal with him not a couple months ago. Still, as far as she was concerned it was a fair price to pay at the time knowing how much Ashley had wanted to keep her baby. Even attempting to go so far as to attempt to leave Storybrooke to keep him.

Still, she knew what it was like to have that option taking away from oneself as in her case of Henry. Had she not been in jail for a crime she actually hadn't committed, she would have kept him. Which meant she probably wouldn't have made it to Storybrooke, but she had a feeling something would have brought her there. What that was she really wasn't sure, but she knew that something would have eventually gotten to her. Even if she still didn't exactly believe that there was magic curse here that was keeping fairytale characters in a world where they didn't even remember who they loved. She shook her head to clear her thoughts once more as she focused on the man who was becoming a real problem for Emma.

"Funny, I must have missed the latest addition about a strange smoke washing over Storybrooke. Then again given the fact the Mayor's got her hands in just about everything, I hardly think it would make the news," retorted Emma as she stood there, giving him a look as if to say she wasn't buying what he was selling.

The way he spoke next though grated heavily on her nerves as she looked at the man standing in front of her. Like she was an idiot or one of those scared little townsfolk trying to make up their rent on time. Well, he certainly couldn't bully her that way much as he may try to think he could. She had no connections except for that one deal and that was it. Besides, sometimes she almost felt as though she needed him though he'd never outwardly said so. Just the way in which he helped her at times even if for a fair price, but it was annoying all the same. Clenching her jaw just a little and only for a moment as she looked at him try to weasel his way out of this mess. She wasn't leaving without some sort of answer and this was hardly anything.

"Don't flatter yourself, Gold. I know better than to think it came out of nowhere. Purple smoke doesn't just happen on it's own," started Emma knowing she'd forgone the thought of trying to trick the answers out of him. He had already gotten her irritable and it was starting to show with her attitude towards him. Something he seemed to be a master of as did Regina when it came to get her angry and irritable.

that's only half of who I am.

I'm not just a Savior

He was playing her as if she was one of the mere townsfolk that could be pushed around and toyed with. Luckily, Emma wasn't about to get herself in a position where she was subserviant to either Gold or Regina. Not since the last home she'd been in where she had learned what it meant to be walked on. No longer was she going to run from her problems or allow another person to cow her into submission. She was above that and had done much better at standing up for herself than she ever could as a small innocent child. Well, she wasn't so innocent anymore though considering she had been arrested for a hefty thieving crime even if she had been set up. By her own boyfriend no less which made Emma just a tad bit more annoyed when those around her seemed not to take her seriously. At least, Gold wasn't attempting to make her feel like he owned her because she'd like to think she could take him down. Not that she ever would because of the fact that she wasn't a violent person by nature. Unless you hurt someone she cared about like her son Henry. She was a lot tougher now and had been through more than enough pain to make her realize what she stood to lose by appearing weak.

The last thing she needed to do was let either of them see that part of her because at the very least Regina would take all too easily and start to pick at those weak spots. With Gold, she could never really be sure where they stood in terms of what sort of relationship they had. Sometimes, it felt like they got along amicably well for a young woman and a grouchy recluse. Other times, she felt as though they were at odds with each other over their own opinions. Like the fact that he'd forced her into helping to find young Ashley so he could get her child. That had been about the first time she'd really had taken a stance against him and it appeared to have made quite the impression on everyone around her. That she had stood up to Mr. Gold and actually challenged him over one of his scheming deals. She honestly didn't see what they were all afraid of, but she supposed it had something to do with the fact he owed the majority of the property and thus collected rent from them all. She was stunned though by his next words considering she hadn't really thought this entirely through. That was one of her pitfalls when it came to her emotions, she sometimes didn't think these things out.

She really should have known better than to come here without some sort of concrete evidence even possibly linking him to this. Except it was she who was starting to look like the fool as she regrettably had to look away from him. Where had the smoke even come from in the first place? Recalling what science she had learned from books and over the years, she knew little about smoke let alone whether it could even change colour. She supposed if the right substance was added, but that didn't account for the fact it had come out of nowhere in the first place. More importantly what DID he have to benefit from it in the first place? Certainly not mass panic because that wasn't his type of scheming, but rather Regina's.

"Well, it can't have some out of nowhere. Someone had to have made that happen. Humour all you want I know you had something to do with it. While I do know Regina has her troublesome manners, she tends to be more upfront in their motives," reasoned Emma as she returned to a more argumentative stance.

God, she hated when he got her doing stuff like this as if he were some sort of parent figure. As if that were even remotely possible let alone a thought she even wanted to entertain. She hardly considered him nothing more than another thorn in her side giving how often he forced into playing his little games. He was manipulating her into thinking up her own answers and actually making her think through her reasonings as to why she had come in there. Oh, no. The last thing she wanted was to get sucked into his manipulations just like everyone else. She knew now how he conned people and it was making her rather annoyed by the minute. She raised an eyebrow though when he went a step further proposing the idea that this all was some sort of magic. Magic was for fairy tales books and stories, not for a simple town with a few stranger than normal people. It didn't necessarily mean that the town was magical or that Henry's theory was actually real. Or is that exactly what it meant? After all one didn't necessarily have to see something merely to believe in it.

No, this was utter rubbish as she looked at the man who was clearly just trying to humor her. This had nothing to do with magic or an evil curse cast by a woman who had a change of heart when a 10-year-old spilled a nasty secret. There had to be a logical explanation to solve this without going to extremes. The problem was that she didn't have any sort of logic to help aid her in that potential area of thought. All, she had to go on was the mysterious vanishing smoke, but it had to have done something, right? It wouldn't have just appeared for no purpose. No, she wasn't going to go to other less logical approaches, but she was curious why he had brought it up.

"Alright then humor me. If magic had been the source of the smoke, then what? Why bring a purple smoke out here anywhere? Unless you're suggesting that perhaps it was meant to restore magic. If Henry's theory is at all correct. But that would just lead me right back to you then. A man like you, well can't say I wouldn't be surprised to see you wanting magic back," responded Emma, figuring she may as well test the waters. Leaning against the counter that separated them from each other.

that's only half of who I am.

I'm not just a Savior

Emma was starting to feel as though he were a teacher at one of her very old schools when her foster mum had been kind enough to give her an education. Like he was testing her for some purpose or scheme, she just wasn't privileged yet to know about at the current moment. That was a scary thought to think about feeling a shiver slide down her spine knowing that it was highly unlikely she'd ever come to see him like that. At least, now while she was inwardly irritated by the fact he was inadvertently pushing buttons he didn't know she had. Sure, Regina knew ways of making her miserable and enjoyed outwardly destroying her reputation and or relationships with the people in town. Gold got to her on a level she didn't even know existed until she met him and started having to deal with the man in question. He was infuriating to say the least and he knew how to do it well without actually stepping over any boundaries. She wondered if it was just her that he seemed to find highly amusing or if he did this with other people around town. Granted, most of the people were pretty afraid of him, except maybe Henry and well Regina. She often thought about those two wondering just what sort of past they shared. Certainly weren't very friendly to each other more of the time and yet at other times they seemed like partners in crimes.

Very confusing for the young woman as she stood there trying to figure out just what Mr. Gold was wanting to get from her. Why all the questions and making her talk theory? She knew part of it was because he didn't want to actually admit to bringing back magic, but there was something else. Like he was trying to get her to prove something to him, but she just couldn't put her finger on it at this moment. Very frustrating to say the least as she looked at the man who was getting on her nerves. Sure she was humoring with the concept of magic, but it wasn't true. It was all just a working theory and even then Emma was hard pressed to call anything magic until she'd exhausted all possible answers. It just wasn't something she was going to outwardly admit to despite years ago believing magic was everything. This wasn't some Enchanted Forest, this was the real world where there were no fairy godmothers to come out and grant you a wish. If you wanted to get something done, then you were going to have to it yourself as she had told Ashley Boyd once upon a time.

She still owed the man a favor and it was starting to gnaw on her like a leech that wouldn't get off. She knew he was just waiting for the opportune moment, she just didn't know what that was exactly. Whatever he had planned though was likely to be big and she hoped she could do what he thought he would want from her. Pushing those thoughts aside, she turned her attention to around the shop. Finding it was easier to do so than to keep looking at him knowing soon she may just hit him. Not to hurt him, but to get him to stop with this incessant test he was trying to seemingly give her. He was really starting to wear down on her knowing she had other things she could be doing. Much preferred things instead of playing games and riddles with this man who only seemed interested in playing her.

"I'm not even sure what to make of his theories anymore. But yes, I suppose if it were true, then you would have knowledge of such things," replied Emma, getting really tired by this whole conversation.

Him laughing at her did nothing to improve her somewhat better mood that had come to her that morning. Her patience was wearing thin already and it was only going to last so long. Both Gold and Regina were quite good at testing her patience levels though Regina was a bigger issue altogether. The more that woman tried to push her away, the more she felt she needed to stay to keep an eye on Henry. She sighed contently as she looked to him asking her the most basic and yet logical of questions wishing she could do something to shut him up. Well, short from punching him knowing that wasn't going to be a good idea.

"Knowing you, I suspect it would be because you have another agenda of your own. Everyone has a price as I'm sure you know and I suspect you have one of your very own. But, I mean this is purely in theory, right? I mean magic's not real. It can't be, I mean it's ridiculous," supplied Emma as her hand moved towards a replica of a windmill. It looked so intriguing as she studied the little thing, tapping it carefully and watching the windmill start to spin. It was almost mesmerizing as she watched it circle up and around in an endless loop.

that's only half of who I am.