Emma & Jefferson~
Jefferson had specifically avoided being pushy for those obvious reasons. And because unlike Mary Margaret and David, when something didn't work the first time, he tried things another way. Except in the case of agreeing to deals with Regina..
He still didn't really see how he had anything to do with her magic. Yet the closer Emma got to the heart of her little pep talk, he realized she was trying to muster him up for the heap of impossibility she was describing. "Beat him? Emma, I can hardly stand. Just thinking straight is a task here, and you want me to beat a..a spirit? A demon? Whatever it is."
Telling him that he was his own undoing didn't necessarily help. If she thought Jefferson wanted to feel that way all of the time she was mistaken. Years of solitary confinement with nothing but the pain of loss, regret, and his own thoughts to keep him company did that. He didn't know how to be any other way except a father to Grace, and she wasn't here.
"What am I supposed to do? Shower him with happy thoughts and pleasantries? Look around you, do you see anything to be elated about, because I don't."