Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or the characters.


"You just left him?" Ruby demanded, looking up from the cigarette tray they were preparing. "You kissed him like there was no tomorrow, and then you just left?"

"She shouldn't have even been kissing him," David argued, opening a box of liquor bottles. "We barely know anything about him! For all we know, he made up the entire story he told Emma."

"What would he gain from lying to Emma?" Mary Margaret asked from her spot behind the bar with David. "You need to stop being so overprotective. Emma is a big girl, she can handle herself."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Now I remember why I usually don't tell people anything about my flirtations. You are all too interested in being involved in my love life."

Ruby draped an arm across Emma's shoulders, smiling sweetly. "We just want you to be happy, honey. Killian looks like he knows how to make a girl happy."

"Besides, you haven't really even looked at men since Neal," Mary Margaret added, ignoring the scowl David shot at Ruby. "It's nice to see you interested in someone and dancing and flirting again."

"I've looked at men since Neal!" Emma bit back. "I just didn't like what I saw."

"Except with Graham," Ruby murmured. Emma paled slightly as Mary Margaret and David shot looks at Ruby.

"Graham was-" Emma paused. "He was a good man. There you go, Mary Margaret. I had Graham. I've been with someone since Neal," she set down a box of cigarettes on Ruby's sale tray and went across the empty club to the restroom.

"Should I go apologize?" Ruby asked quietly. "I shouldn't have mentioned Graham."

Mary Margaret shook her head. "You know Emma. She'd probably prefer we act like nothing happened so we can all pretend to forget that we even mentioned his name. Lord knows she will come back out and act like we didn't say anything."

The door to Storybrooke swung open, letting in Jefferson and Killian. They strolled into the club, laughing together. "David, you've got to stop getting here so early. You're making the rest of us look bad," Jefferson complained, sliding to his spot behind the counter.

"You don't need my help for that," David grinned. "You make yourself look plenty bad as it is."

Jefferson shook his head in mock regret. "A man is in one bar fight and suddenly his entire reputation goes down the drain. Does that seem fair to you, Killian?"

"Depends," Killian replied, leaning against the bar. "What did you do?"

"All I did was send a drink to a pretty broad across the club," Jefferson said. "How was I to know that she was some guy's girl? And then the man comes up to the bar and tries to punch me! I was just practicing a little self-defense."

"Is that what you're calling it now?" Robin asked, strolling out of Regina's office. His brown hair was neatly slicked back, but his necktie was a bit looser than necessary and he had a small smudge of red lipstick at the corner of his mouth. "I thought you broke a bottle over the man's head when he turned away."

Jefferson shrugged. "I don't like it when folks try to hit me. I get a bit mad."

"Will Regina be joining us before the club opens?" Ruby asked Robin, tapping the corner of her mouth.

He grimaced and quickly rubbed the lipstick off with the back of his hand. "No, I think she wanted to go over the papers for the next liquor shipment. She's still a bit tense from last night."

"But you guys got out alright, didn't you?" Emma asked as she rejoined the group. "I thought I saw you slip out right away."

Robin nodded. "We went out the back and hurried over to Granny's. She was watching Roland last night, but I have to go get him from her before we open tonight. Granny doesn't like to be woken in the middle of the night by hammering on her door and trying to dodge the police."

"You're lucky she didn't try to shoot you," Ruby remarked. "She's worse than me when she wakes up."

Robin nodded. "We got off easy. It was quick work to talk to Regina's father, bail our people out of the jail, and pay off the police so they'll leave us alone."

"You got off easy," Jefferson complained. "You weren't stuck in that jail for three hours while you waited for the paperwork to go through."

"I thought you went out the window," Ruby commented.

David shook his head. "I snuck out the window and met Mary Margaret back home. She left with Regina and Robin."

Robin looked over at Ruby. "How did you manage to avoid the police?"

"Victor has friends," she said vaguely. "A few of them are police. They recognized me and looked the other way while I slipped out."

"Emma?" Robin asked. "Were you alright? I know you don't have the best record with raids."

Emma hopped up to sit on the bar counter in the space beside Killian. "I was fine. Killian let me hide out with him for a while, so the police wouldn't have even known where to look if they had thought to check for me." Killian glanced at her from the corner of his eye, noticing she wouldn't look at him.

Robin nodded, pulling out his pocket watch. "I have to go get Roland. I have extra security on hand for the club, but it will probably be a slow night as people get over the scare. We open in an hour."

Everyone drifted around the club to their positions for preparation, leaving just Emma and Killian at their spot by the bar. He turned to look at her, noticing shadows beneath her eyes. "Sleep well, love?"

"When I actually went to bed, yes," Emma replied. "I was up until almost dawn working on the article."

"Did you finish it?" Killian asked.

"Mhmm," she said. "I'll turn it in to my editors tomorrow and it should be in print by the weekend."

"That sounds like cause for celebration," he grinned. "David, could we get some rum over here?"

David set two cut glass tumblers on the bar, pouring a bit of alcohol into each. "Starting a bit early tonight?"

"Your sister is going to expose Gold for the criminal he is," Killian replied. "I think that's as good a reason as any for a drink."

"Cheers to that," David agreed before walking away down the bar again. He chatted with Jefferson as Emma and Killian sipped their rum.

Killian finished his drink and looked at Emma, admiring how the dim light of the club struck her golden hair and ivory skin. She held her glass in both hands, watching the liquid move around the tumbler. "It's rude to stare," she said. "Didn't your mother teach you that?"

"Some might also consider it rude to kiss a man like you did and then leave him alone," he replied. "Or are we just pretending that didn't happen?"

She kept her eyes on the glass in her hands. "It happened. But that doesn't mean we have to talk about it."

He shook his head. "Right, instead we can just keep doing this. We can drink and dance and flirt and you'll lead me on a wild chase until you get bored. I've played that game enough times, love. I'm not interested in that."

"What would you rather?" she demanded, green eyes hard. "I suppose you'd like us to date and for me to be your girl and to run away together and be in love forever? Life doesn't work that way."

He moved to stand in front of her, torso against her knees. "It's much too soon to talk about love, but I would like for you to be my girl. I'd treat you well, Emma."

"I've heard that line before," she said. "It ended with my getting caught in a raid and taken to jail."

"I'm not Neal," Killian replied. "Didn't I prove that last night when I helped you to hide from the police? Or when I gave you evidence that should put Gold behind bars? I'm not Neal, and I don't plan to hurt you like he did."

"What makes you think he hurt me?" Emma asked.

His blue eyes were painfully earnest and sympathetic. "If he hadn't, you wouldn't be so afraid to give me a chance."

She looked away from his gaze, unable to respond without lying. "Step away, please. I'd like to get down."

Instead he reached out and put a hand on either side of her waist. Carefully he lifted her off the counter and set her down with her feet on the floor. "When you are ready to take a risk," Killian murmured, "I'll be waiting." He gently pressed his lips to her knuckles before releasing her hand and walking away to his post by the door.

"It couldn't hurt to give him a chance, could it?" David asked from behind Emma.

She turned around to glare at him. "I thought you didn't even want me kissing him, now you want me to give him a chance?"

"I'm your big brother," he replied. "I'm supposed to hate anyone who tries to flirt with you. Really all I want is for you to be happy. Killian is a good guy, and he sure seems to care about you. It's good to see you dancing and laughing and flirting again. If that's because of Killian, I think you should give him a chance." David winked at her before walking towards the band to chat briefly with Mary Margaret before the club opened.

Emma sighed and sat down at the bar again. "Jefferson? Could you pour me something strong? I don't want to be able to think straight by the end of tonight."