A/N: Sorry for the delay. This may have been the hardest chapter I've had to write for any of my AUs because I just didn't know how to continue. Everything I tried seemed boring. But this inspiration struck as I was writing and I'm pleased with how it turned out. I know this chapter may seem harsh but remember, Killian still has a lot of issues of his own to deal with and that this is a set up for the final section of this story (hence the short length). I hope you guys like it and that you can kind of see where I'm trying to go with Killian for the next few chapters. I've got ideas now for the rest so it should come quicker. Let me know what you think. Thanks for all your support, favourites, follows, views, and reviews! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All aspects of Once Upon A Time belong to ABC and the show's creators.

It was as if Killian was a different person then the one Emma had picked up before the appointment. "Are you hungry, love?" he asked as they drove out of the hospital parking lot. There was an energy radiating off Killian, as if he were bouncing to do something, like a kid waiting to be let loose in a toy shop. If this was how he was reacting after his prosthesis fitting, Emma couldn't imagine how he'd be once he had the new hands.

"Oh, so now you're hungry?" Emma asked with a good natured laugh. She knew he would be, it was just entertaining to have her predictions confirmed. Killian shrugged with his own chuckle in response. "How does Granny's sound? I've got a surprise for you I thought we could look at there."

Killian raised a brow, Emma catching the movement out of the corner of her eye as she merged onto the highway to go to her neighbourhood. "And what would that be?" He made it sound dirty, as if he were waiting for her to inform him she was wearing crotch-less panties. Emma rolled her eyes.

"Open the glove compartment."

Killian did as instructed, flipping it open with his deft fingers then pulling out the file folder. A flick of the cover revealed the contents. Emma tried to focus on driving and not on Tom or having the info now to face him as Killian read.

"Why are we going to Granny's? We should be going after Tom," Killian insisted, breaking the silence and looking over at her.

Emma glanced over, shaking her head at the determined look on Killian's face. "Not tonight. We can't go in without a plan. If we get close but don't get Tom it's over. The man's cocky but he's not that stupid." Emma couldn't let Tom get away. She couldn't take any undue risks just so they could feel like they were doing things. This wasn't just a paycheck. This was justice. Tom might have only been one bad foster care home she'd been placed in but it was something. And it wasn't just for her. Emma could still remember the little seven year old boy who'd been placed there too, crying on the yard when they arrived because anything sellable had been cleaned out, including his two treasured toys. Emma hadn't had anything worth selling and it had been the first time she'd been actually glad she had nothing. The older boy, a fifteen year old prone to anger had stayed true to his behaviours and kicked down the mailbox. The scene they'd all caused in the yard had resulted in a neighbour calling the police and a subsequent ride in a squad car. Watching Tom get thrown behind bars was a closure she needed and one she owed all the kids who'd been taken advantage of by the man, even if she didn't know who they were anymore.

"But we need to go get him now. What if he leaves?" Killian's fingers pulled at the papers in the file, ripping the corner of one.

"He won't." Emma's hands tightened on the wheel. Why wouldn't he listen to Emma? She'd been doing this for years and hell, she lived with the wanted man for weeks. Emma knew how to be a bail bonds person and how to be a good one.

"Emma."

"Killian."

"Why don't you want to go after him?" Killian snapped, slapping the cover of the file folder over. Emma jumped at the harsh action. Why was Killian getting mad? Emma couldn't understand the fierceness starting to crack through his tone.

"Why are you being like this? I never said I wasn't going to, I just said not this minute." They arrived at Granny's, Emma quickly pulling into a spot. Neither moved from the car though, each caught in this quickly escalating situation that Emma couldn't figure out.

"But we can go now. Don't you want to feel useful?"

"What?" Emma asked, taken aback. Her hands were starting to shake, her mind fighting to remember that the man starting to yell was Killian, not Neal. She tightened her fingers around the wheel, desperate not to show weakness. What did he mean feel useful? She'd been working this morning with Graham and taken time off to take him to his appointment. Emma had never had a problem feeling useful, she'd made her way in the world all on her own. Her problems were in feeling wanted, and Killian's tone was not helping dispel the negative thoughts that lifelong desire caused.

"We're at a diner not out hunting this criminal. We could go, he wouldn't be able to fight off the two of us. And yet you say no. It's as if you don't want to take him in." Killian had fallen fully into anger now. But it wasn't pure ire; there was something under the surface colouring the anger- frustration maybe? Emma had lost control of everything now and her mind wouldn't cooperate long enough for her to figure out what was bubbling beneath the surface. Her hands could barely grip the wheel and she could feel the flashbacks starting, clawing at the back of her mind.

"Stop, Killian. Why are you saying this?" Emma's voice shook and she had to bite down on her cheek to stop it from cracking. If she showed weakness the sharks circling would pounce. She'd learned that over and over. Hell, she'd had that lesson reinforced time and time again from Tom.

"You know this guy runs," Killian continued on, lost in himself, not answering Emma's question. "Hell, he was one of the many who left you."

That callous tone was it. "Out," Emma shouted, slapping the top of the wheel for emphasis.

Killian shook his head a little and gave a small noise, as if he was just realizing Emma was beside him, that he'd said all those things aloud. "Emma, wait-"

"Out," her voice was a screech, grating against her ears, but she needed to be alone. Killian had promised to be there for her and yet he'd gone off on her. It was just like Neal all over again. This was why she could never squash her issues- because they were never wrong. "Now. I try my best and you treat me like this. You bring up my abandonment issues like they're nothing? Get out of my fucking car."

Killian looked like he wanted to say something but stopped, figuring it wouldn't help now. Slowly he set down the file and got out, standing on the curb. Emma couldn't even find it in herself to care that they weren't at his place or that he'd need to call someone to come get him. The car door hadn't even shut before Emma was driving away, desperate for him not to see the tears starting their way down her cheeks. She didn't look back to see if he was watching her, not that she could have seen through the water pouring from her traitor eyes anyways.

Emma pulled around the corner and into an alley, her hands shaking so much she could barely turn. But her car was hidden if Killian was still on the sidewalk. The last thing she wanted was Killian knocking on her window like that first day she'd made a run for it after being yelled at. She'd been stupid then for letting him in. She'd sure as hell learned her lesson now.

With fumbling fingers Emma pulled out her cell phone and hit the number one speed dial. The call picked up on the second ring, her friend's soft voice settling her pounding heart enough that she could speak.

"Elsa, I need you."