The next morning, Emma was acquainted with all the people from the group. Many of them seemed like nice people. She had been told that one of the members was running late and would meet up with her later. Many of the members of Defiance were interested in taking her under their wing. She found it funny that a few of them even argued about it. She didn't think the arguing was that big of a deal because Killian didn't bother to stop them.
Even if it was only one day in the group, she was starting to like it. None of the people actually seemed to trigger alarm warnings in her head. She looked over to Killian to see amusement on his face. Once she met his eyes, he stood up straighter and tensed up. He pulled one of the men out of the room. It was only a few minutes until they both returned. Once Killian cleared his throat, everybody went silent and turned to look at him.
"August is going to be training Emma for the next few months," he announced. "She is a tough lass, but will still need to be informed on Defiance rules and fighting strategies. Get to work!"
A string of "yes sirs" filled the room and everybody disbanded and went to their posts. Some people left through the elevator and others disappeared into the penthouse. Emma watched as Killian made his way up the stairs. August walked up to her and held out his hand.
"My name is August Booth, Emma. I will be teaching you the ways of the group. If there are any questions that you need me to answer for you, please don't hesitate to ask them."
"Great. Yeah, no I don't think there is anything I have to ask. How about we begin?"
"Sure. Do you have some workout clothes you want to change into?"
"Yeah. Give me two minutes?" August nodded and watched as she went up the stairs. He pulled out his phone, seeing a text from the one gang member who hadn't showed up this morning to be introduced to Emma. The color in the man's face drained. He forwarded the text to Killian. A few seconds later, the man himself bounced down the stairs. His posture tensed and an angry expression on his face.
"Pan sent out the shipment? We were supposed to get that this morning!" He yelled in August's direction, but was on the phone with the gang member, Neal Cassidy. "I sent you out there to get the shipment. When you come back here, I better have those drugs!" He hung up the phone and exhaled. "I need some rum," he muttered as he walked into the kitchen.
Emma came down the stairs. A tank top and shorts on and her hair was up in a ponytail. "Let's go start my training."
The dark haired man led the blonde woman into the training room and brought her to the boxing ring. She stepped up while he grabbed her a pair of boxing gloves and a mouth guard. "Put these on," he instructed. "It is important to always keep your guard up, no matter where you are and who you're with. Even if you have a weapon on you. You always need to be prepared to attack somebody." August threw a punch at Emma, but she dodged it at the last second and moved away so she didn't get hit. "Good, but you left your midsection open, vulnerable for an attack."
Emma threw a punch, but August jumped back and grabbed Emma's arm, flipping her over and throwing her to the mat on her back. She groaned as pain shot down her spine. "Alright, alright, you've proved your point," she groaned, ignoring August's hand to help her up. She held her gloves up in front of her face. "Come on."
He surged forward, but she moved out of the way at the last second, causing him to run into the bands of the ring and fall the ground. She suddenly lost her footing as she fell to the ground next to him. She flipped on her back to look at the man towering over her. She scrambled off the ground and swung up to punch him. August stumbled back as punches continued to rain down on him. Emma pulled back, breathing heavily.
"That's more like it!" August said happily.
"It's not all I can do," she told him, kicking him in the leg, causing him to fall back. "How about that?"
August reached up and pulled Emma down and she fell on top of him. "I'd say to be careful about how cocky you get, even in the practice ring. Your opponent can always find time to strike."
She looked down at August into his blue eyes. "I guess I needed more training than I thought."
"It's okay. You can always improve."
Suddenly, the training room door opened and both of the adults looked over to see Killian coming into the room. She scrambled to get off of August and they both stood up. "I apologize that I have seemingly interrupted whatever was going on in here," he began. Emma opened her mouth as if to protest, but Killian didn't give her the chance to speak. "We are going to pick up some drugs from Pan tonight. Neal fucked things up today so we have to get him out of it. Shower and change and let's go," he spit out harshly, then slammed the training room door behind him.
The blonde shared a glance to the dark haired man before slipping out of the ring and chasing after Killian. She followed him upstairs and stopped him moments before he went into his room at the end of the hall. "Killian, wait. You didn't interrupt anything in there. There was nothing to interrupt."
"Then why were you laying on top of one of my best men?"
"He pulled me down and I fell on him! I've only been here one day and you think that there is something going on between me and August?"
"It certainly can happen."
"I came here to be apart of something, not to let myself take an interest in a guy."
Killian leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and letting a smirk appear on his lips. He tilted his head to the side, looking at Emma with an expression that made her feel exposed to him. "You've been hurt before, haven't you?"
She tensed up and clenched her fists. Memories of her life after she had gotten out of the foster system flashed behind her eyes. The way he had left her. Framed her and had her sent to jail to take the fall for his crime. To end up alone in that awful place. It was because of the things that he had done to her that made her put up walls around her heart to protect herself from the dangers of men and what each and every single one of them had to offer.
Life was not a fairytale where you could just meet someone, fall in love, and that would be it. Her parents had given her up when she was only a baby. Left her on the side of the road. They couldn't even stand the sight of her long enough to take her to an orphanage or a hospital. The torture she had been subject to when she was a kid was enough, but add in the heartbreak and abandonment she had from the man that she thought she loved? And thought that he loved her back? It was enough to send anybody over the edge, but Emma had been called tough and strong too many times to count. She wouldn't let her past define her future.
She hadn't seen him for almost ten years. Had no reminders except for the swan keychain that she still wore around her neck as a reminder not to trust anybody ever again. She had nothing of him left. Emma certainly wasn't going to complain. Her life had gotten so much better after she got out of jail. She didn't let herself love or be loved by anybody. Everybody just showed that they were going to leave or have her sent away. He was no different. No matter how much she wished that he was in those lonely nights in jail when she cried herself to sleep at night, a protective hand over her small baby bump.
Emma let her eyes snap up to Killian's where he was still standing. The same expression on his face that he had when she let herself get caught up and lost in her thoughts. She relaxed the clench of her fists, but kept her tense stance. "I was," she told him. "And I won't ever let it happen again." With that, she turned away from him and disappeared into her room, locking the door behind her. She grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to wash the sweat off her body, wishing the water would clean her mind from her upsetting past.
She sat in the passenger's seat next to Killian, holding the familiar weapon in her hand. She looked down to the gun in her hand. The safety switch was on, but she still felt uneasy. It wasn't the first time that she had a gun in her hand, but those were always for self defense reasons only. Emma had a feeling that tonight would be different.
"August, you and I will be approaching Pan and his men up front. David and Graham will sneak up from behind and block the other side of the tunnel. I want weapons ready at all times." Killian looked over to Emma. "You will be with me and August, but I want you behind us." She nodded but didn't say anything. They pulled up to the abandoned tunnel where a dark blue van was. Three people stood there, two of them holding guns while the third in the front wore a black suit. "Safety off," he told August and Emma before they got out of the van. "Malcolm Pan! What a lovely meeting," he said sarcastically. "Where is it?"
"Hook. Nice to see you too. I see you added a new recruit. Who is she?" Malcolm asked.
"None of your concern," August cut in. "Where is the package?"
"Ah, yes. Your drugs. I apologize for the mix up. Neal said that you didn't need the shipment until later tonight. But for this mix up, it's going to cost you."
"Name your price," Killian said, gripping his gun tighter.
"Hmm," Malcolm said, stroking his chin as if he was pretending to think. "I think a certain new blonde to add to my collection would suffice." Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream let out behind them. Another man held Emma close to his body. He was a muscular man, but was the same height as she was. "What do you say, Hook? Do we have a deal?" Killian looked back to Emma who was being choked by the muscular man.
"Name something else," Killian said, "or else I start shooting." He held up the handgun, showing that the safety was off and that he was ready for a fight.
Malcolm laughed, "you think that your pathetic little handgun scares me? These men are trained assassins, ready to kill at the drop of a hat. Give me the blonde and you get your drugs."
"I don't like bartering unless it benefits me in all ways. How about I keep the blonde and get my drugs."
"Not likely, Hook. This is the last time I am offering it. Give me the girl or else I walk with her by my side."
"Woman!" Emma shouted and kicked the guy holding her. He fell to his knees and she shot her gun, shooting Malcolm in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. "Are we going to have a problem?"
Malcolm forced out a chuckle. "She's strong. Is that why you are keeping her around?" He nodded to one of the men and he tossed a duffel bag into August's arms. "See you around again soon, Hook." The men got into the van and drove away.
"Do you understand how dangerous that was?" August yelled once the van was out of sight.
"I just met them, but they seem to be the type of guys to not be messed with! Neither of you two looked like you were going to do anything," Emma yelled. "I thought you guys were the ones with the balls," she huffed and walked to the van and got in, angrily slamming the door.
"Can you believe that?" August asked.
"I liked it," Killian said, looking over to August. "Maybe she needs less than six months of training."
Killian, Emma, August, Graham, and David walked into the penthouse. Emma was the very last one to enter, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the person standing in the living room. He was the last person she expected to see. Especially when walking through the elevator doors. Leaning against the wall, looking down at his phone was none other than Neal Cassidy. The man who had landed her in jail, pregnant, heartbroken, and abandoned.
She gasped audibly, making all the men look at her. Neal looked up but she couldn't find enough strength inside of herself to meet his eyes. Instead, she looked over at Killian who stared at her with concern on his face. "You okay, Swan?"
"Yeah," she said, clearing her throat. "Just gonna go find some water."
"I'll help you out," Neal suddenly said, pocketing his phone and following her into the kitchen. "What are you doing here?" He yelled in a whisper as soon as the door closed.
"Me? What about you! You were the one who abandoned me and sent me to jail ten years ago!"
"Emma-"
"No, you don't get to talk. Not when you did what you did to me. I want to pretend that we don't have a history together. You need to stay out of my way, or else I will kill you." With one last glare, she left the kitchen and stormed upstairs to her bedroom.