So after mopping up my tears from the Winter Finale, I decided to throw myself into AU's so I won't have to think about the tragically beautiful canon moments for a bit. Thus sending me diving into the supernatural


3 years, 2 partners, 100 weapons.

Yet Emma can't see herself ever tiring of it. Sure it's life-threateningly dangerous and she would get thrown into the crazy house if she ever told anyone what she did for a living. But she knew this was the job she was born to do.

She glances over at her current partner, Neal. He was a good guy, kind of clumsy to be honest. But he always had her back and that was the kind person you needed in this business.

She looks back down to the loaded gun laid out in front of her. Smiling, she strokes it softly; it was the first gun she had ever held. She was fifteen and out in the woods with her foster dad and brother, ready for her first deer hunt.

Her eyes flash as she realizes it wasn't the deer that was being hunted.

She remembers the day well. They had been laughing over peanut butter sandwiches when her foster dad had heard a rustling in a nearby bush.

"Stay close, you don't want to rush it." He orders, creeping towards the bush with Emma and her foster brother behind. "Deer are very nervous animals. If frightened they'll run off, which in turn, will scare the rest and end our hunt. We don't want that do we, Goldie?" he scruffs the top of Emma's head, making her giggle.

The rustling grows louder, almost in anticipation. Emma slows her walk, allowing her brother to step in front of her. "What's the matter, Goldie? Scared?" he taunts, grinning.

She glowers. "No. I just think we should slow down when we creep up on it."

Her father nods. "That's true. But if we take to long it'll run away." He gives her a reassuring smile as the bushes shakes violently, growls emitting from it.

"I don't think it's gonna run." Emma whispers, her voice trembling.

"Stay behind me." Her father orders, putting an arm out to stop them. Slowly, he inches towards the bush.

"Daddy be careful!" Emma mumbles, clinging to her older brother.

He glances back to tell her everything will be fine but in that one millisecond he put his guard down the creature jumped out of the bush and straight for his throat. He gasps as he struggles with it, but the creature was to strong. It pinned him to the ground and with a sharp turn, snapped his neck.

Her father lay bloodless on the ground in a matter of seconds.

Before either of the children had time to fully react, the creature turned to them. It wasn't ugly, far from it; in fact it may have been the most attractive man Emma had ever seen. He grins at them, blood dripping from the stubble along his chin. Taking a small step forward, his hands become visible. Or rather… hand.

Emma gasps quietly at seeing the shiny sliver hook gleaming at them through the fabric of a long, leather trench coat. The man-creature raises the hand but before he could end their lives a loud, ear-piercing shriek echoes through the clearing. He freezes and gives them one last glare before sprinting off at a god-like speed into the woods.

Emma and her brother never spoke nor saw of the creature again.

"The info we need on this case just came in from the office." Neal calls Emma out of her memories, waving her over to the computer resting atop a desk.

Shaking her head clear, she makes her way over. "What'd we got?" her eyebrows crease in concentration as she squints at the screen.

"This map points to the monsters location." Neal points to the cluster of red dots littering the right-side of the map projected on the screen. "That's where we need to go."

"So let's go!" Emma picks up her gun and starts for the door.

"We can't. We still need to wait for orders from the office." Emma sighs but places her gun carefully back on the table top. Neal chuckles. "Always so impatient to get started."

"We have a lot of ground to cover with a minimal amount of time. Sorry for wanting to get going." She rolls her eyes and leans against a table as they wait for the signal from their home base.

Minutes go by before the blue light fizzes into focus above their heads. The shaky image of their captain appears before them. "I see you're all ready to go." He nods his head over to the tables lined with weapons.

Emma folds her arms across her chest as she stares at his hologram. "Get to the point, Gold. We don't have all day."

Gold's eyebrows rise. "I suggest, Miss Swan, that you find patience before you decide to go out into the world and blow a persons head off in the middl-"

"Those things aren't people. They don't have souls." Emma snaps, vibrating with anger.

"Though I agree that they aren't human, they do, on the contrary, have souls." Gold smirks down at the team. "And we happen to have one that is in need of our assistance or more accurately, yours."

Emma's jaw drops. "You can't be serious. What makes you think I would ever help those monsters!?" she shakes her head. "I kill Gold, I don't protect. Not for them."

"Perhaps the fact that you would be able to kill countless others for the protection of just one will change your mind." Gold smiles coldly down at them. "Should I send her in?"

"Her?" Emma scoffs. "They have genders?" Neal smirks beside her.

"Miss Swan, I wouldn't mock her kind in her presence. She has a bit of a...ah…temper." Gold advises.

Emma's eyebrow lifts. "I'm the one who has to protect her ass. What's she gonna do if I die?"

"I believe I am perfectly capable of killing you and finding another mortal to assist me. I've heard your kind is…disposable." A silky voice calls out from the entrance.

Emma whirls around, gun in hand. Her eyes lock on a gorgeous woman with hair as black as night, dressed in a satiny red and black dress. A smirk is plastered across her perfect stone face as she steps further inside the compound. Emma pauses, stunned by her beauty but her blood boils. "A vampire!? Seriously Gold why couldn't she be a shape shifter or something?" she mutters.

The frightenly beautiful woman cocks her head to the side. "Problem dear?"

Emma slowly lowers her gun, but doesn't remove her finger from over the trigger. "Not at all. We just weren't expecting a third wheel on our trip." She spits, glancing at Gold's image murderously.

"We?" she peeks around Emma to look at Neal, who stands shock still upon seeing her. "I see you have set up quite the team here, Gold." She smirks up at the hologram.

"The best in the business, dearie. I suggest you listen to them."

"Hmmm." She walks forward and Emma pulls her gun back up, ready to shoot. Chuckling she steps closer, the nozzle of the gun pointed at her partially exposed chest. "Go ahead." Her nose scrunches as she sneers, "Pull the trigger."

Emma frowns and adjusts her grip on the gun. They meet each others eyes in a silent challenge. A couple beats of silence pass by before Emma slowly lowers her weapon once more.

The vampire smirks. "That's a good girl." She looks up to Gold. "I don't suppose you told them of my dilemma?"

Gold sighs. "No, Regina, I haven't. I figured you'd want to do it yourself."

"You assumed correctly." She turns back to Emma. "Now I suppose you must have questions..."

"Hell yeah we do. Why should we trust someone like you?" Neal speaks up for the first time.

The brunette scowls at him. "If you would allow me to finish I would have elaborated." She begins to circle them, her tight fabric swishing against the floor. "I have a slight problem with my clan. They accuse me of having…affections for a mortal." Her voice drops suddenly.

Emma releases a dark laugh. "You? In love with my kind?" her icy blue eyes narrow. "I bet their just mad that you didn't share your meal." She snaps

A low growl emits from Regina's throat. "I didn't hurt him. I-I wouldn't do that…" the coldness of her eyes gives away to what might be…warmth?

Emma blinks. "You… you love him?" she asks softly.

Regina's arrogant attitude has vanished. "Yes…and such a bond is forbidden. They-my clan-plan to kill my love…and then me." Her eyes lower to the floor.

Emma watches her for a moment. "I've heard enough." Emma turns to Gold. "I'm not taking this case."

Regina's head snaps up, her eyes burning with hatred.

Neal looks sharply to Emma then glances up at the hologram. "Emma…you've never turned down a case before…" he mutters.

"I know that. But I'm turning down this one."

"Why?"

She glances at the infuriated vampire beside her. "I have my reasons."

"Miss Swan, I don't think they would be a wise idea."

"And why not?"

"For one thing if you don't help me, I'll bash your head into this filthy floor." Regina growls near her ear.

Gold gives her a pointed stare before turning to Emma. "Besides that point. Not only will Miss Mills be terribly upset but her clan will as well. They would have picked up on her scent and be lead here where-Well I think you know what happens next."

Emma ponders this for a moment. "So I either help this…thing." Regina bares her teeth. "Or risk the entire existence of the home base and my career being destroyed?"

"Don't forget you would be dead." Neal adds in helpfully.

Emma looks to him sourly. "That too."

Gold nods. "So have you come to a decision, Miss Swan?"

Emma could feel every eye in the room on her. She sighs and nods. "Fine. But on one condition." She whirls one Regina, stepping into her personal space. "If I feel even a trace of disloyalty…I will have your head sliced off and mounted upon my wall so fast you won't even have so much time as to open your filthy mouth and scream." She hisses dangerously. "Are we clear?"

Regina merely smirks. "Crystal." Her dark pupils dilate at the smell of Emma's blood.

Emma pulls back in disgust. "If we're going up against a whole clan of bloodsuckers I'm not leaving this place until I have every known weapon in history strapped to me." She tells Gold.

"I'll have a new shipment sent out." Emma nods. "Alright. I'll let you all get acquainted, have a safe case." He nods to them and fizzles out, the blue glow fading into the air.

Emma turns to Regina, eyes narrowing. "I hope you aren't afraid of getting that cold skin bruised up." She smirks as Regina's eyebrows rise up.

##

"I think we made a mistake." Emma mutters to Neal as they watch their newest member of the team complete the obstacle course.

"Why? I mean she has a pretty good reason to not kill us. Why would her kind ever come for help if they didn't really need it?"

Emma glances at him. "You have no idea what these monsters are capable of. Being in love doesn't change that fact. If she's really telling the truth." She presses a button to increase the tempo of the challenges being thrown the vampires' way.

Regina had exchanged her dress for a pair of cargo pants and a black turtleneck, still managing to look elegant as she flips away from the hoard of knifes shot her way, landing gracefully on all fours.

Neal watches her with a simmer of respect and admiration. Or maybe he was just checking her out. Emma rolls her eyes in disgust. "That's just sick, Neal."

"What?" He does a double take at her. "No! I-I wouldn't n-not with-" his face turns red and he looks away.

Emma smirks. "Seems to me someone needs to keep their di-" The pair jumps as a knife embeds itself into the glass, causing a trail of cracks to crawl up the window. Furious, Emma stomps through the door, pressing the button that ceases the challenge.

Regina is standing in the center, smirking as she twirls a knife through the air.

"You blood sucking bitch!" Emma growls, stepping into her personal space. "You could've killed us!"

Regina doesn't flinch. "No idea what you're referring to, dear."

"The knife! You could have taken our fucking eyes out!"

"I didn't realize that my protectors were such drama queens." She smirks

Emma's eyes narrow dangerously and she takes another step forward, forcing Regina to step back. "Don't fuck with me." She hisses.

Regina meets her glare evenly. "Wouldn't dream of it." She slowly allows her eyes to roam Emma from top to bottom, making the woman bristle. Their stare intensifies, both refusing to down from the challenge.

"Alright, alright ladies." Neal steps between them, careful not to touch Regina. "We're supposed to be fighting the dummies, not each other." Regina glances at him before huffing away. Once she was a safe distance apart Neal faces Emma. "What the hell was that? We're supposed to be protecting her not trying to kill her ourselves!"

Emma keeps her eyes focused on the vampire as she speaks. "She needs to learn her place." A mischievous smirk Neal has see all too often formed upon her lips, knowing it never lead to pleasant events.