I am so sorry that this has been so long since I have last updated! Life has been rather hectic and then my muse seemingly flew out the window. Fortunately it is now back so I will keep on writing! Please remember that leaving comments helps to inspire me and create chapters faster!
Liam Jones
Killian barely moved the day after the revelation from Emma, only getting up when he had a lesson with Anton and even then it seemed begrudgingly. Mark had gone back out of town to talk to various detective agencies and organisations including the CIA about the latest findings from this section of dark web cases, and god knows what or who he would come back with after all his meetings- especially considering he said he would be away for a week doing it.
I dreaded this week and even contemplated shutting the restaurant, but thankfully one of the other cooks had said he would take on the extra hours while Killian took the time he needed from work, leaving the restaurant covered. I too had decided that I should take the time off work so that I could be there for Killian, or just a phone call away should I be in a meeting or on a date with Elsa.
She and I had agreed that we should take things slowly in our relationship, but I did wonder if it would become non-existent now that she had had a glimpse as to how dangerous our lives had become. Little did I know that in the next few days more than a few skeletons hidden in our closets would be shaken and fall into the light of the small seaside town we wanted to make our home.
Emma, just as she had promised, told us when anything resembling the case came up at the station, but I had not expected it to be quite so blunt in its message.
"Are you sure that this was not done by someone in town, playing a dumb trick?"
"I am certain of it. It was done in the cabin where the break in was last week, so whoever did it I believe must have connections in Storybrooke and has found out that you and Killian will get whatever message that they want to send"
"How do you know that it is aimed at Killian and I?"
"There were… artifacts about the two of you in the cabin... covered in blood."
"Could I see the picture and message please Miss Swan" The sheriff and her deputy both looked to each other, debating whether or not I should see it, but both acquiesced and the envelope was handed over. I had made sure to tell Mark about everything that was found, although when I opened the envelope, I had to remember to simply just breathe.
Inside was a picture of the interior of the cabin which had been taken by the forensic team, and what I saw could only be described as blood curdling.
The floor beneath the wall was covered in blood, whose I didn't know, but it was what was on the wall that made my blood stop, and understand why Emma and David had asked me to come without Killian. The message on the wall was written in the blood from the floor, a heavy warning it brought with it.
"The next blood spilled will be yours"
The message was clearly meant for Killian despite the fact it was left for the police to find, and all it showed was that whoever it was who had attacked Killian was possibly still in town somewhere or perhaps that he had an associate who was helping him. Why any of this was happening in the first place was a mystery and whoever it was who had ordered my brothers murder attempts was clearly very rich.
I put the photo back into the envelope before handing it back to Emma and David, compartmentalising the shock away for later and making a list of what needed to happen. I needed to tell Mark about what had happened. I needed him to get some more FBI agents to help with the case if they weren't already. I needed to find a way to keep Kai safe until this was all over, without it ending in his death. I was halfway out of the office when I heard Emma calling after me.
"Liam I know this is really bad timing for you and bad circumstances but my brother and I agree that it might be an idea for you and Killian to go out of town for a few days, stay with Mark or someone else who will help you from that sector if you know them and see what happens. We need to know if they are watching you individually and following you or if it's a matter of them being in the right place right time and deciding to attack"
"I understand what you are saying Miss Swan but we have already tried that strategy before and no-one came. And I am not using my baby brother as a lure you hear me?! He has had enough happen to him recently as it is"
I noticed the phone in my hand began to ring, so I dismissed myself from the sheriff station to pick it up, noticing that it was Mark on the line.
"Hey Mark, what have you found on your travels?"
"Something interesting. Fancy meeting somewhere we can talk about it?" Code; this line has been hacked and it's not safe to talk
"Sure, the usual space?"
"See you there" Hurry.
I knew whatever he had to say it was important- otherwise he would have just said it plainly. And the added fact that he used our code for the line had been hacked was pretty big, in both good ways and bad. Because whoever it was had to have been close to get the connection, meaning they were nearby, but it also meant that Killian could be at danger should they decide to take action. I walked quickly back to the restaurant, nodding to a couple of the guys who were getting ready to open for lunch and thought again about the nature of the call. Mark was supposed to be away. And yet he was asking to meet up, so perhaps the people he was going to meet had met him on his way out and they would be coming here to meet us. Either way this wasn't going like it had been planned so I was anxious to know what had happened to come to this result.
I prepared the small flat for the on coming arrival of Mark and whoever else he had brought with him, and once that was done I shot Anton a text asking him to keep Killian at the yard until the metaphorical storm had passed. I didn't have to wait long till I heard a knock on the door, but it wasn't Mark who greeted me. There were a group of men dressed smartly and gun holsters, and the one in front of me showed a CIA badge before he and his men strolled into the apartment, with men going to the windows and checking almost every part of the apartment, and I was about to question what was going on when Mark appeared and told me what was going on.
"My friends here just lost something, they won't be a second" he handed me a piece of paper which was folded up tightly, and he nodded for me to open it.
Whoever it is who has been terrorising Killian knows everything we had discussed in here. They are trying to find any microphones or cameras. Give me your phone.
I did as the note had said, and watched as one of the men took the phone from Mark and filled the sink, placing the phone in and leaving it there whilst they continued to search the apartment. It wasn't long till one of the men had discovered a small microphone unit hidden under the coffee table, and after that they were popping up everywhere. Under the settee. In a lamp or two. On top of a cupboard. Even a few in the bedrooms.
I thought in abject horror of how without even realising it Killian's tormentors had always been here. Always listening. Never giving him the peace he deserved. As if he could sense my thoughts, Mark patted me on the shoulder, a knowing look of understanding as he too cared about Kai and wanted to keep him safe, even if he had only met us through business.
It was half an hour later before they finally all stopped searching, confirming the room was now clear and Mark guided me to sit down with him and one of the men in the room.
"I am sorry but something happened bringing us all here instead of in Boston. This is Detective James Quill, he has been on a team investigating attacks from the dark web and found our case along with some new information"
Quill nodded at Mark before turning to me, a grim expression on his tanned face turning my blood cold and my spine straighten. I remembered this man's name because he was supposed to save my brother and I from whoever was attacking us after the first attack but that failed as we were attacked again. I listened to what he said and was glad that Kai wasn't here- because then he wouldn't have heard that the man who chased him off the cliff and shot him had shot himself after being paid $500,000. Apparently he too had been paid by the same unknown user that has paid the bomber from the first attack and had paid it to an offshore account that was under a false name that wasn't even registered to anyone.
They were waiting to see if the forensics had found Milah's blood at the crime scene because then they would be able to tell if it was something personal to Killian or something he had done (although he had never done anything).
I barely listened to the rest of what they had to say, instead I paced around the room, thinking about what had been said by Mark and what Emma and David had told me in the morning. I knew that it was going to be a tough few weeks ahead but I couldn't tell Killian. Not yet. He needed some time to recover first, and considering how close to home it was I decided to let him be. This could be discussed later after these men were out of our apartment and restaurant.
From there I only picked up small pieces of information, that Mr Gold's lodge didn't have all its locks done up which made it easier to be broken into, the lodge hadn't been used in over a year but there was no dust suggesting that there had been more than one person had been there doing something. It was their last point that made me listen properly.
"During their divorce Milah was placed into witness protection with a new last name and given work at a veterinary hospital after she had been beaten up by Gold supposedly. He had won the court cases about domestic violence but it didn't mean that she was safe. She was attacked in her new home, leading us to the dark web where an order for her attack was found but it was to another man- he said his name was Neal Cassidy although he denied it he still lost the case and still serves time for it, however at the time it was also discovered that he had sent his previous girlfriend to prison for his crime so her record was cleared of the offences. Not long after the Neal Cassidy had been sentenced the divorce was finally processed and we were finally able to move Milah to Boston where she met you and your brother. Because of this history we are considering Mr Gold as one of the main suspects because he has the most motives but we suspect there will be others helping him which is throwing our search because it is not one person as we had thought it was"
"There's more than one? How was this not found earlier?"
"The dark web changes the ID addresses of the computers which are used so it takes extra time for the correct computers to be found but it is possible. We have found addresses on internet cafe's but the names were not taken at the time. We do believe however that the other people who were attacking your brother do not know of his new location and so we have some more time until anything drastic happens"
"You had better do your research then because I am not letting my brother pay for your mistakes. Now get out and leave us alone."
The team followed their leader out and went to their cars but not without double checking that the perimeter was now secure from bugs.
"I'm sorry Liam." Mark said solemnly, looking at his shuffling feet as he made his confession. "I did not know that there was more than one assailant"
"From the way they said it neither did they until recently. Although I still class Quill as an imbecile I am glad that he found what he has. Because now we know to be ready for anything. Even if it hurts us in the end."
Elsa
Thinking back on it I really shouldn't have done it. I didn't usually listen to peer pressure and especially considering what Liam was going through at the minute. But he had said yes.
And now I was going on a date with Liam Jones to a bar in the next town over. And I had less than a week to mentally prepare myself for it.
"I can't believe it!" Ana screeched loudly, with even her husband going to cover his ears lightly "You're finally going on a date! Oh my god we are going to need to get you a new dress, some heels, something that screams you whilst being a little but sexy…" Ana rambled on and at this point Kristoff and I let her continue whilst we had a conversation through post it notes.
You know the place? Kristoff wrote behind his Fiancée's back, not that she noticed, still in her own world planning my date.
Mostly. Been awhile since I went last I held up in my weird handwriting, and Kris just nodded before trying to get Ana off planet date and back onto planet wedding seeing as it was only a month away and she still had stuff to sort out and get.
When our little post it note tradition had started Kris had laughed at my writing, comparing it to nordic runes rather than english, although he was one to talk considering his looked like a spider had tried dancing and had a seizure on the page. And since we had met at college when he had met Ana I had seen it at its worst, when it was barely legible and a teacher handed it back to him saying it was unreadable and he had to hand in all future assignments typed up. Thankfully his handwriting improved allowing us to plan surprises for Ana behind her back through the obnoxiously coloured squares of paper. Such as planning their engagement.
Turning back to Ana I saw that he was finally starting to dwindle down into her calm state (there was never a time when Ana was calm. She is always a tornado of excitement.) and was finally talking about her wedding instead of my date. I heard my text tone go off, and couldn't resist the smile when I saw it was from Liam, and once I opened the attached picture I couldn't stop laughing. It was obviously taken by Killian, and it was Liam and Mark trying to get a phone out of a horse's mouth, and the horse was deliberately trying to keep his head up to keep it out of their reach. I replied asking if that was intentional, and he only replied it was for Killian.
I enjoyed little texts like this, because it made the Jones's more like normal people instead those who were being hunted by assassins and unknown men wanting the younger Jones dead. But despite all the complications they still made time for me, and that meant more than I could ever say.
I texted Emma to ask if she was free to go shopping later, and I put my phone down thinking that she would get back to me on her lunch break in a couple of hours, but as soon I had walked away from the table she had replied, saying that she wasn't feeling great and would appreciate some company to binge watch some films. Thanking the norse gods above for an excuse to get away from the wedding planning for a while I called out saying that I was going to look after an ill Emma and left before I got an answer. I may love my sister but there was only so much wedding stuff I could listen to before I lost my mind to it all.
Thankfully the drive to Emma's was short and the sight that greeted me was almost exactly what I expected. Emma was bundled up in her duvet in the couch like a burrito with a bazillion tissues around her, and what looked to be an empty tub of ben and jerry's ice cream underneath her head, and her sniffles were so loud they could be heard from her front door.
Typical flu induced Emma. She never dealt with illness well, even after my aunt adopted her because she was so used to doing everything alone but now that she knew she had people who would look after her when she was being grouchy and dramatic she wouldn't hesitate to ask for someone to come over. Although looking at her now she looked like she was barely with it.
"Elsa?" she croaked out in confusion. She was definitely out of it. "What are you doin' 'ere?"
"You asked me to come over after I had invited you out to go shopping. Seriously Emma you are burning up like a furnace, how long have you been like this? I only saw you two days ago and you were fine!"
The burrito before me seemed to move before Emma made to bury herself even further underneath duvet, a murmur of response to my question before she fell asleep again. I knew that Emma wouldn't want to move to get any but she was going to need food soon, and as to what she would want was no guess. Granny's chicken soup with fresh bread followed up by lots of ice cream. Although I did recall Liam saying something about Killian making a brilliant chicken soup whenever Liam was ill.
E: Are you on your break yet?
L: No, this is Killian's break at the minute as all his cooks are in for a change whilst have my waiters are off ill. What is it?
E: Emma is ill and I recall you saying your brother made an excellent chicken soup
L: That he does. Are you going to come and pick it up? :D
E: I don't know if I should leave Emma alone that long, because trust me last thing you want to see is a grouchy ill Emma. Perhaps if Killian is on his break he could bring it over?
L: I'll talk to him.
I put the phone down and prepared to clean up the room a bit before Killian arrived, and with tissues and empty tissue boxes covering the floor it took a while just to find them all. Once they were cleared I found all the other rubbish and dishes hidden underneath them and threw them away. Despite all the noise I was making Emma was not stirring, and for Emma that would mean she would awake very suddenly, and would be very hungry and grouchy. I was about to try and see what medicines Emma had when there was a knock on the door.
Upon opening it I saw Killian standing there in his usual attire instead of his work clothes, and his hand was full of various foods and medicines.
"I heard Emma was ill?"
"Yes although I didn't expect you to bring half your restaurant and the town pharmacy with you" I joked as I let him into Emma's house. "How did you know to bring medicine? I only just found out that Emma didn't have anything in"
"She had mentioned the lad had been quite ill with her and she had gone through most of her supplies, and I bought some because I didn't think she had had time to go and get some more herself" I thought back and Killian was right, just before Henry went back to Regina's for the week he had come down with a really bad fever, just like what Emma had now and Emma was saying that she was doing everything she could but he was still pretty deep in the fever.
I nodded in response when he asked if he could put the bits on her table, and out of the bag was a flask of chicken soup, a couple of boxes marked "Emma" but also a couple of boxes labelled "Elsa". As I opened the ones with my name on them I found Scampi and Chips along with a salted caramel and chocolate tart, I looked in Killian's direction to see he was checking up on Emma before I spotted a folded note at the bottom of the white bag.
Enjoy lunch. Killian will keep you company- I gave him the afternoon off seeing as all the cooks are here. Enjoy lunch.
L
I smiled at Liam's note for the fact that he thought of me even when didn't ask or think of it myself. I knew it was fast, what was happening between Liam and I but despite my early scepticism of it I knew that this was not going to be a passing thing. I was still afraid that they might have to move away but I had to make it work. Adults could do long distance relationships, right?
"She's running quite the fever, do you know where she keeps some hand towels or tea towels?" Killian brought me out of my thoughts with a crash, and I realised that I had been staring at him accidentally for a few minutes whilst I was thinking.
"Yeah I can go and get them. Seeing as you brought Emma and I food I hope you brought some for yourself"
"I did the are in the car still but I can go and get them now that I have a free hand again" he joked, and I was amazed that this man who had seen and experienced more than even his brother could still have such a sense of humour. I went into the bathroom to find Emma's favourite hand towel, this obscenely fluffy one that my aunt had bought her when she first moved into her own apartment in Boston.
I came back into the main room and wet the cloth in cold water, before leaving it in the sink whilst I tried to get Emma's head of her cocoon long enough for me to put the cloth on her forehead.
"El….sa?"
"Finally waking up swan princess? Food is on the table and I have a cold fluffy hand towel for you so sit up"
"I want Granny's chicken soup"
"You've got mine instead I'm afraid. Although I would listen to Elsa and sit up because this is very hot" Killian interjected, bringing over her soup in a bowl he must of found in her cupboard as well as some toasted bread from the restaurant. Emma was somewhere between shock, disbelief and anger that Killian was here when she hadn't said it or allowed it. Or she was annoyed that it wasn't Granny's, although by the smell of it the soup was going to be at least good, if not better than Granny's. He handed her the bowl on a tray along with the toast and a drink of gatorade. "You'll feel better if you have some of that. I was going to give you lucozade but alas, they don't sell it in the town shop. I put your lunch on a plate too Elsa so If you could come and pick it up that would be great"
The rest of the afternoon passed pretty quickly after lunch as Emma was starting to wake up a bit more after her lunch (where she gave in and said it was the best chicken soup that she had ever tasted) and then she decided to put on a dvd, forgetting that Henry had left the pirates of the caribbean omnibus in the machine so the afternoon was spent watching the movies in between Killian doing stupid pirate impressions to make Emma and I laugh. Somewhere after the third movie began Emma fell asleep again with her feet resting on Killian's lap when he decided that it would be a good idea for him to go and leave us to our own devices whilst he went to spend some more time with his horse for a change whilst I looked after Emma once she woke up.
What I couldn't deny was how Killian kept looking at Emma, looking after her when they barely knew each other with a look that resembled love in his eyes. A look that was barely concealed as he left the house, turning back to look at Emma and see her resting before he left. I knew at some point I should tell Liam but for now, I had an Emma to look after and tell about her knight in shining armour.
