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[dishearten]

username: HUNTSMAN

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[sheriffing]

I'm a danger to you and everyone who I come into contact with.

[ isn't that enough? it's more than enough for her. ]

[dishearten]

you're not a danger yet. you're only a few weeks at best. they'll sort a cure before it comes to that.

( he really is refusing to believe in the contrary. it explains why he's pushing so hard to find the errant doctor, though; he needs answers, and suddenly it's all the more personal. )

[sheriffing]

I hope you're right. But you know I can't take that chance.

[not with anyone, but especially not with him.]

[dishearten]

I don't want you to go. I think we'll be safer together.

( she's scared? well, he's scared too — and having her at a distance is not going to make him feel 'safer', even if that's what she intends. )

[sheriffing]

You think I want to go? I can't let you take on more risk than you have for me.

[ how many times has she exposed him to infection in the last week alone? it's a miracle if he isn't infected, they'd be tempting fate.]

I wish I'd known sooner.

[dishearten]

you're not protecting me from anything, Emma. I face the virus every day, whether you are in quarantine or not.

( Graham doesn't actually know if he's infected or not, though he doubts it. he doesn't feel any different... though, when does he? )

I'm not afraid you will harm me. I think being together would help more than distance would. touch helps stave it off, you seem calmer when we're together. I can't make this choice for you, but I don't want you to go.

( and she's kidding herself if she thinks he's just going to forget about her, he's more than capable of going to quarantine himself to see her. )

[sheriffing]

It's a little different than sleeping beside it.

[ they've both seen her start to struggle with it. she's in control now, but exactly how long is that going to last? ]

Being together would help me, not you. It'd make things worse for you. The truth is, you'll be able to do more good around here without having to worry about me - and that brings all of us closer to a cure.

[dishearten]

I suppose it's not possible that helping you would help me, too.

( he's not going to function as well knowing she's alone, that there's risks and dangers between them and if something goes wrong in quarantine, he might not know until it's too late. )

I'll worry about you more if you are gone, Emma. not less. if you want to move to quarantine, I understand, but I would rather go with you.

( GRAHAM THIS IS NOT HOW QUARANTINE WORKS... )

[sheriffing]

You can't do that, you're not infected. People need you out here.

[ she needs him safe, away from anyone who could hurt him in quarantine.]

[dishearten]

and I will keep working, I assure you. but everyone needs to sleep sometimes.

( he'd rather do that where she is, and it turns out it doesn't really matter as long as she's still there. )

[sheriffing]

No, Graham.

[ in the worst case scenario, she can't bring him down with her.]

[dishearten]

( she should have considered that a little sooner. he's already doomed to that, as long as she's still in Audentes. )

you can't keep me from coming to quarantine, Emma, just as I can't keep you from going. we make our own choices. stay away from me if it pleases you.

( he'll at least know how she is, whether she'll talk to him or not. )

you don't have to worry about Sunny. I'll take care of her.

[sheriffing]

It doesn't please me. None of this pleases me.

[ she didn't want to become infected, yet there's even relief in it being her instead of him. it's almost selfish, how badly she needs him to stay safe.]

Thank you. I have some things I need to send your way, just in case.

[dishearten]

it doesn't please me, either.

( in the end, as much as he understands her reasoning, there's no getting him to like it. he'd rather face this together, though that's a choice that can't be made alone. )

in case of what?

[sheriffing]

I know.

[ facing it together just sounds like hurting him, and she's seen that happen enough without her backing it.]

There's a chance this won't end well.

[dishearten]

Emma, you've got to stop thinking like this. there's no chance if we all give up on it.

( he's not exactly a beacon of positivity, yet now that so many people he cared about were sick, he was incapable of giving up, either. )

you're going to get better.

[sheriffing]

I still need to be prepared for the worst, you know that.

[ they've lost a teammate here, she can't assume this will work out.]

[dishearten]

you're not going to die, Emma.

( he says, like he has any control over it. like there was even a single thing he could do to prevent it if the virus really took her over. it seems particularly cruel, to bring up such ideas when he couldn't even look her in the eye.

when he had to go back to the place they'd shared together with the painful knowledge she wouldn't be there. )

[sheriffing]

Good, then when all of this is over you can say I told you so.

[ she would welcome the opportunity to be wrong. Emma's fought for her own survival since she was too small to understand what she was doing. it's not that she wants this, she's not just giving up.

it's just that she's realized how many people she cares about, and how much she'd like to say goodbye, if it came to that. getting infected prompts that kind of thinking, she can't deny that. there's a chance she won't make it back to Storybrooke, and somehow that's never really occurred to her before.]

That's probaby your right, as my partner here.

[ how do you tell your fake boyfriend he's better than any real one you've ever had?]

[dishearten]

it felt more like a partnership before you started making my choices for me, Emma.

( he doesn't care about the chance he'll get infected. he cares more that she thinks she's going off to die, and she's determined to do it alone. )

if you're leaving, you could at least say goodbye. I'll take whatever you want then.

[sheriffing]

What about my choice, Graham?

[ her choice not to hurt anyone else, not to snap at him, not to get aggressive. if it gets bad, her choice not to let him see her that way. she gets a choice, too. her choice is not to fall apart in front of someone she cares about.]

[dishearten]

you think this could be the end, and you'd still choose to spend that away from me? choose to let me lose you without a chance to be there, not even the opportunity to say goodbye?

( she may not see it that way, but isn't that what it boils down to? it was easier to accept when he thought it was only for short-term protection. it seems a crueler reality, now that he knows it's more than that. )

[sheriffing]

I would choose to protect you. I couldn't do that in Storybrooke, I can do that here. Chances are, this'll be fine. They'll find a cure, everyone will get better.

But if they don't, I can't cost you your life a second time.

[dishearten]

if you believe that, it seems awfully odd to prepare for the end.

you're not protecting me from getting infected, or sparing me any risk. it's all around us, Emma, and you choosing to suffer alone doesn't protect me from all of Woodhurst.

I'd rather take the risk than let you go through this alone.

[sheriffing]

It protects you from having it in your home, Graham. You know it does.

[ it doesn't protect him from Woodhurst, but it does protect him from someone in a state of decline.]