…would be a classic case of “two birds, one stone” as far as Regina was concerned, so I can totally see her planning it that way, though I think Gold wants Emma to keep her job. So I can totally see that Gold’s words to Emma about “find her or it’s your badge” would have ensured that she got out there and found her and brought her back in time. Then Regina gets all irritated about how the plan didn’t work (which is a WIN for Gold coz he likes to watch her squirm), but he can shrug and say, “Well I played my part, but it’s not like I can actually control their actions, so it’s not my fault she came back.”
Ya, now that I think about it. It would be quite silly for Mr. Gold to want Emma to lose her job, but maybe the deal is worth more than her job on the other hand.