Author's Note: Welcome to Installment 2!

I hope you enjoy!

Killian Jones stumbled right into the front door of William Smee's apartment, with a nearly empty bottle of rum swinging freely in his hand. A smile was plastered on his face as he laughed at the way he desperately tried to turn the handle. "Furgit." he slurred as he danced his way into a wobbly stance, lifting the bottle to his lips and falling backward into the wall.

The disheveled haired man slid down the horribly painted wall, and placed the bottle between his legs. His head drunkenly swung to the side at the sound of the door opening and, once again, smiled wide. "Shmee!" he chuckled as his head fell to look to the bottle and scooped it up to hand it over. "Drunk? Mean-" he laughed as he slowly slumped to the side, raising the bottle to his lips, but missing and pouring some of the liquid down the front of himself.

Smee sighed at the sight of his overly plastered friend. It's been a week since he secretly left to go see Emma for her birthday. Upon his arrival home, he, for some godawful reason, decided to continue his daily routine of getting pisspoor drunk and ignoring his duties.

Sure, he's done the occasional job, just to keep on Gold's good side. But, he forbid going back to being the man he once was.

"Again, sir?"

"'gain?" he asked confused. He's pretty fucking certain that this was the first time he's spilled liquor on himself. "No." he mumbled as he wiped a hand down his sweater. "We must never waste it. Never ever ever… ever… ever. Never." he looked down at his sweater, just staring. Staring at the wet spot and sighed heavily. "Traggy." he slurred.

"What a tragedy it is, sir." he agreed, running a hand down his pudgy face. "Why do you do this to yourself?"

"What?" he finally fell to his side, still keeping the bottle upright as he raised it in the air in declaration. "I did nothin'!" he hiccupped. "I was fine where i-" he belched loudly, "-was! I was 'appy, Sm-Shmee. I was- I was- I, I w-wanna marry 'er!"

Smee nodded as he bent to try and get him up. "I know, sir."

"Ya do?" he asked bewildered. "'ow ya know tha'?"

He finally got him to his feet and threw his right arm around his shoulders to guide him inside. "You've informed almost every night. For four months."

"You know wha' she sai'?" he asked, swinging the bottle before them, nearly smacking Smee in the face as he pointed a finger into his cheek.

"You never asked her." he muttered as he dropped him onto the couch.

"Damn righ'!" he agreed. "I bloody well should've!"

"Would you like anything to eat?" he offered.

"I need more o' this." he swung the bottle towards Smee, who took it from his hand with a sigh.

"Goodnight, sir." he gave a curt nod before retreating to his bedroom for the night.

It was damn near three in the morning here in Scotland, which meant it was only 10 o'clock in Storybrooke. Killian fell back against the cushions as he desperately dug for his phone. He needed to hear Emma's voice. And sincerely hoped that she would answer. He squinted his eyes at the blurry numbers as he dialed.

Placing the phone to his ear, he waited as the call attempted to connect. "Domino's. Delivery or pickup?"

His brows furrowed in confusion as he looked to the screen, before placing the device back to his ear. "D'l'vry." he slurred.

"Uh, 'kay? So, what can I get for you?" the man asked on the other end of the line.

"Emma." Killian stated simply.

"What?"

"Emma, Domino." he repeated, seriously. He was quite confused as to why this man was, for one answering her phone. And two, why his name was Domino.

"We serve food here, sir. Um, I don't know who Emma is."

"Then why are you answering her phone?" he asked in disgust. "I demand to know who you are, Domino! Are you with her? Is she there?"

"Sir. This is Domino's. We're a pizza place."

"Oh, tha's good!" he smiled goofily, with a nod.

"Yeahhh… so anyway. Are you going to order, or…?"

"Gimme those red- red things. And extra cheese." his eyes fell closed, feeling his head beginning to swim from relaxing back into the couch.

"So, pepperoni? And extra cheese? What size?"

"Big."

The guy laughed. "Large. Got it. What's your address?"

"I don' fuckin' know." he mumbled. "I'm in Scotland. Glasgow."

"Uhhh.. sir? We're a Domino's located in New York? Like, in the United States? How did you manage this?" he asked through a laugh.

"Where's Emma?" he demanded again.

"Goodbye."

Killian pulled the phone away from his face and threw the damn thing to the other side of the couch. "SHMEE! DOMINO'S DOESN'T 'AVE EMMA!" he hollered as he attempted to get up from the couch. "SHMEE! SHMEEEEEE!" he waved a hand through the air in annoyance as he fell off the couch and onto the floor. He felt around for his phone to attempt another tactic.

He finally managed to grab it and held it close to his face as he scrolled through his contacts. He smiled happily as he clicked on a number and waited for them answer.

"Sir. Really? Get to bed."

"Did you not 'ear me? Emma is missing. She's not with Domino. I hafta to get there. I hafta find 'er."

"Sir."

"Shmee."

"Goodnight." the call disconnected.

"Well, fuck you! Fuck you!" he yelled before his face fell forward into the carpet. He passed out soon after.

Killian groaned into the floor as his hand moved to the back of his head. Him being beaten with the damn cane hurt a hell of a lot less than what he's feeling right now. "Bloody hell." his eyes opened, but shut immediately against the light streaming in from the main window. "Shut the fucking curtain, Smee!" he grumbled.

The stocky man sighed, crossing the room and shutting the sun out. "You are to be in Gold's office in an hour, sir."

"Yeah, right-" he slowly rolled to his back, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "How much?" he asked groggily.

"There's a swallow left." The man reached for his red knit cap and ran it nervously through his fingers. "May I speak freely?" he asked.

Waving a hand through the air, he rested his arm over his eyes, waiting for William to begin.

"Instead of wallowing and complaining, why don't you do something about it?" he asked, crossing the room again.

"Shut up and get some Tylenol, Smee." he grumbled, moving his arm away from his face. "You act like I haven't thought about every possible way out of this. I'm stuck. This is my life." he explained, slowly attempting to stand. "If I leave. He'll come after me again. Or, worse. He'll kill her. Then, there's no life to be had, anyway."

He had returned with a glass of water and a few pills, handing them over to Killian, who grabbed the items greedily. "Have you thought about moving her here?" he asked.

He was met with a threatening glare. "You're asking me… if I thought about moving my girlfriend… away from her family? Away from her friends? To live here, with her boyfriend? Who- not to mention- is a hired hitman? Who has to constantly watch his back. You want me to do that?" he asked. "Because, then, if she even agrees, I have two people to look after. I'll be on the constant worry that someone will be after her to get to me. Again." he shook his head and sat back on the couch. "No, Smee. Hasn't run across my mind. Not once." he gave a humorless chuckle, shaking his head as he took a drink of his water.

"Sorry, sir. Just trying to help."

Killian's eyes met his as he lowered his glass. "You can help by pissing off." he muttered, waving him away. But, just as William turned away, Killian snapped his fingers. "Oh, and eh… I'll be needing my jacket. And a fresh shirt. You, also, wouldn't happen to know where my sunglasses are, would you?"

Killian pushed open the double doors and strolled inside Gold's office. "What mark do you need my expertise on today, Crocodile?" he asked in an unamused tone, as he adjusted his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Have a bit of fun, last night?" Gold asked, sitting back in his oversized chair. "I can smell you from here."

"Then I'll use the sniper." Killian sneered.

A manila envelope was tossed across the heavy desk, towards Jones. "Not for this one, I'm afraid. You'll have to put on the charms."

He shook his head, holding up a finger. "Absolutely not. I told you, I'm not doing these. I will not jeopardize my relationship for you. Ask me to place a bullet in someone's skull, I'll do it. But, do not ask me to sleep for my hit."

Gold smirked as he leaned forward, resting his folded hands on his desk. "Dearie, your relationship is done."

Giving another shake of his head, he began walking backward towards the doors. "It's not."

"Do you honestly think that your little, girlfriend, is going to stick around and wait for you forever?" he asked, certainly amused by this conversation.

"I will get back to her."

There was an impish giggle as Gold made to stand, grabbing his cane to balance himself. "And how, may I ask, will you manage that? Need I remind you, you've made a deal. And the only way out of that deal, is death. Now, unless you want me to splatter your brains around my office-" he seized the envelope from the desk and limped his way over to wear Killian stood. "You will take this mark. Dearie."

Killian stared the wispy haired man down through his glasses for quite some time, flexing his jaw muscles in irritation. His teeth were clenched and his breathing was heavy as his hand came up to snag the assignment from his hand. Gold answered with an evil smile before backing away. "I will find a way. I will get back to her. Mark my words, Crocodile. You can't keep me forever."

"Good luck!" he sang with a wave of his hand and the wiggling of fingers.

His tongue ran along his lower lip as he shook his head in annoyance. This was going to be a challenge, him getting back to Emma. A small smirk formed on his face as he left Gold's office. A challenge he will not shy away from. Starting now, everything he does will be for her.

For them.

He's going home, to Storybrooke.

To Emma.

To his future.

Challenge. Accepted.

A week has passed since Emma's one night fling with Killian on her birthday. It was such a wonderful night. A night she replays over and over in her mind. Gods, did she love that man, every inch of him. As much as she loved him though, she despised him just the same. That morning when she woke, all she was met with was a freshly made pot of coffee, a written apology, and a cold bed. He had left before she woke. Another 'clean break', as he so aptly claimed it to be.

Ruby slid in front of Emma, smiling her red-lipped grin, as she leaned back onto the counter. "So…" she drawled. "Where'd you get the ring?" she asked with a knowing look.

Emma instinctively wrapped her fingers around the petite gold band as she averted her gaze. "I told you, already. It was a birthday gift."

"From?" the brunette pried.

With a roll of her eyes, she turned to walk away, and made herself busy with Walter. That only killed about two minutes before she scowled back to the counter, avoiding the eagerly awaiting Ruby.

"Is it from Killian?" she finally asked.

Emma dropped the handful of silverware into the tray at the mention of his name. "What?" she asked off guard.

"You heard me." she quickly closed the space between them and grabbed at her hand, pulling the ring towards her face. "Oh my gods! This is real gold! Like, really real!" she squealed.

Emma pulled her hand away, wiping the Ruby spit off onto her apron and shrugged. "I guess."

"You guess- Emma! He sent it to you, didn't he? For your birthday? Oh my gods! He gave you a ring! Do you know what this means?" she squealed in excitement, clasping her hands together.

"That he sent me a ring?" she deadpanned.

"That he wants to be with you! No man gives a woman a piece of expensive jewelry for their birthday, unless he absolutely loves you!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah. Right." she rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. "That's what you said about Victor when-"

Ruby lifted her head, folding her arms as she blinked back her disapproval. "We do not speak of him. He's dead to me."

Emma mouthed an 'okay' as she turned to leave the conversation, but got pulled back. "What?" she asked in exasperation.

Ruby smiled as she reached into the back pocket of her tightly fit jeans, and pulled out a folded envelope. Holding it between her two fingers, she smirked proudly as she shifted her weight to one foot. "Speaking of birthday gifts. You left the party before I could give you mine."

"You can take it back. I don't want it."

"It's kind of hard to take back a non-returnable gift." she explained, passing the envelope to her. "Happy belated Birthday."

Emma held the envelope in her hands, as she looked to Ruby uncertainly. What could she have possibly gotten that was non-returnable? With a heavy sigh after being urged to open it, she unfolded the white paper and lifted the lip from the inside. Giving another glance to the over ecstatic brunette, she parted the opening and peered inside.

There was a piece of paper folded inside of it. Emma pulled the paper from its home and dropped the envelope to the counter.

"I hope you like it." she squealed.

Slowly, she unfolded the paper and read through the typed print. "Oh my gods." Emma snapped her head up to a smiling Ruby who was beaming with pride. "Ruby-"

"Happy Birthday!" she sang in excitement.