Special thanks to Riley for being my beta reader.

"Miss Mills,"

"Regina, please."

"Right, Regina, I've got that file you asked for." A short red head handed the brunette a manila folder, "And, your father called while you were in that meeting."

"Did he leave a message?" Regina asked.

"No," the red head hesitated.

"What? Did he say something?"

"No, he just…he sounded distressed."

Regina stopped, "What do you mean?"

"He seemed worried about something. He said he'd try you later."

"I see. Thank you." The brunette walked into her office, the red head turning down the hall to her own desk.

Regina settled into her leather chair, heaving a sigh as she leaned into it. She gazed around her office. It was very clean, and proper. Everything had its place and everything was in said place. There was a photo of Regina and her father, but no other personal touches. Her phone rang and she immediately reached for it, recognizing the number, "Hello."

"Regina, you need to get out of town."

"What?"

The voice at the other end was frantic. "You need to leave town, now!"

"Dad, what are you talking about?"

"It's not safe." The man at the other end continued, "You need to leave town now."

Worry crept into Regina's voice, "Why?"

"Your mother…" he hesitated, "…your mother's been murdered. Her killer is going to kill us all. You need to go into hiding."

Regina knew that this was inevitable. Being the daughter of one of the oldest crime families had its draw backs. Regina's father had done his best to keep her out of the 'family business.' He had succeeded, until now. Regina stood and leaned over her desk, trying to keep the anger out of her voice, "I thought there were safe guards for this. You promised me that her business would never come into my life. You promised!"

"I know, honey, but…she went too far." Her father had begun to cry, "I'm so sorry."

The anger subsided as everything started to sink in. Murder. Her mother was dead. She collapsed into her chair, tears starting to blur her vision.

"Honey?" Her father choked out, clearing his voice, "You need to get out of town. They will go after you and little Henry next."

"Alright," Regina cleared her throat, "And you? You're leaving town as well, correct?"

"No. I'm going to try to stop this."

"Dad, no."

The phone clicked off.

"Dad?" Regina cried, "No…."

Emma leaned back into her well warn and tattered claw foot chair. It looked like it had somehow managed to slide through hell and back in one piece. There were a few tears that had been tapped up with duct tape and one or two scorch marks on the wood claws from the previous owner having dropped his cigarette butts on them. It was just as well-worn as the rest of her apartment. Everything had been bought at a second hand shop or Goodwill. Not too surprising. One can only make so much on the salary of a private detective. The only thing that didn't look like a hand me down was a massive dog bed that sat next to her. The creature that sat in it was far from hand-me-down as well.

What lay in the bed looked more like a large black lion than a dog. He was a Tibetan Mastiff, a massive, fluffy, black mastiff with very sharp white teeth. He was well groomed, which made him look even fluffier. The dog lay there, quite content, next to his human companion as she kept impatiently checking her email for a job. She stared at her computer screen before looking over at him. "Nagpo, if we don't get a job soon, I'm going to have to stop feeding you."

The dog immediately looked up at her, giving her a quiet whimper.

"Don't worry. I'd never not feed you, ya big baby."

Then there was a knock at the door. Both dog and human jumped into alertness and stared at the door. Emma stood and walked around the dog and to the door. When she reached the door, Nagpo stood and prepared himself for the worst while Emma composed herself, and flung the door open.

Behind it was a short man with a balding head and what little hair remained was white.

"Can I help you?" Emma asked.

"You are Emma Swan, the private detective, are you not?"

"Yes, I just…don't usually get visitors. How did you get my address?"

"You came highly recommended by an associate of mine. He gave me you address." The man cleared his throat, "You are available for hire, yes?"

She hesitated for a slight second, giving the man enough time to panic.

"I'll pay double whatever your rate is."

"Double?"

"Yes, I desperately need your help."

Emma let out a quick huff, "Well, what kind of job do you need done?"

"I need you to protect someone. My daughter and her son."

"That's two people."

"Yes."

"Listen, not that your offer isn't tempting, but I look for missing people and things, I don't protect people. There are specific people you can hire for that. I'm not one of them."

"Please, I'm desperate. I need someone discrete. My associate said you were the best at what you do. Please. I'll pay you triple your regular rate. Please." The man was about ten seconds away from being on his knees.

The blonde stared at him for a moment. She glanced at Nagpo before nodding, "Alright. I'll take the job." Then she paused, "Who are you, anyways?"

"Henry, Henry Mills."