Killian was already waiting in the surveillance room by the time David arrived at the hotel.

"Did ya get much sleep, mate?" he asked, as he made his way into the room with Phillip just a step or two behind him.

"A little," Killian mumbled absentmindedly. He didn't really want to think about what had happened before his partner had called that morning. He couldn't let himself get distracted that way. Not again.

"Well, it seems like you were right," David began carefully, handing Killian an ordinary-looking manilla file. "Dental records confirmed that our victim was Ariel Fisher, best known as Emma Swan's personal assistant. She has an estranged father living in Kansas City, so I've reached out to the bureau there and asked them to break the news to him before the press can leak it. But… I've got to be honest, Killian, I don't see how we can keep Emma's name away from this guy any more. Her assistant being murdered is going to leave people speculating about if she might be connected in some way. Even if we can play this off as nothing but a coincidence, they're always going to be linked now in people's minds."

"Shit. Yeah," Killian agreed, because why hadn't he thought about that before? "That's the last thing she needs with these tour dates approaching. The press coverage will be brutal. You know how those leeches like to depict anyone and everyone as the bad guy. And if that happens, they might end up painting targets on their own backs."

Killian had known Ariel's death was significant the moment he'd recognized her in those pictures, but he hadn't realized just how damaging it could be for Emma until that second. The poor girl was already carrying the weight of every death on her shoulders. If she found out that a journalist had been murdered because they'd dared to even hint at suggesting she was responsible for what had happened to her assistant, he was pretty sure they'd be adding another body to the case's count.

"I hate to be the one to say it but… maybe she should think about canceling this tour," David suggested hesitantly.

Killian snorted out a bitter laugh as he began flicking through the documents in his file. "I'll let you be the one to make that suggestion to her," he said, carefully turning the page to find Gold's preliminary report on the body. While he knew that logically David was right about it being safer for everyone involved if Emma postponed, Killian was also certain that having some form of normalcy in her life was the only thing keeping Emma going at the moment. He didn't want to be the one to take that small comfort from her. Not when he knew what he needed to do later that day.

"I think she'd probably take the suggestion better if it came from you," David argued.

Killian's head shot up at those words to fix his partner with a harsh stare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," David said, chuckling a little awkwardly. "It's just that uh… she clearly trusts you more than she does anyone else. She'd probably be more likely to take the advice if it came from you."

Killian continued to stare at his friend for just a moment more before he nodded his head and turned his attention back down to the report in his hands. "Nothing at the scene?" he asked, swiftly changing the subject.

"Lots at the scene, but nothing Victor thinks will give us any leads," David explained.

"Eyewitnesses?"

"Just the woman who called it in. She was out jogging with her dog and he found the body. Gold thinks this might be the closest we've gotten to a body being found minutes after it was dumped, but until he completes his report, he's not willing to state anything for sure."

Killian nodded his head in understanding as he flicked through the notes David had made while he'd interviewed the woman who found Ariel's body. She had been pretty traumatized at the time, so she hadn't been able to provide them with much useful information, but Killian hoped that if Gold was right, then she might recall seeing a vehicle or a person in the area when she'd had time to calm herself down.

"Surveillance?" he asked instead, as he mentally checked through the list of evidence collection that had been drilled into him at Quantico.

"We sent officers to every building in the area, but at that time of the night, nobody was around. They're gonna head back a little later this morning and see if anyone has anything; however, their preliminary feedback is that it looks like nobody has cameras pointing in that direction."

"Of course they don't," Killian scoffed, because they never did. Their killer was smart. He'd picked his body drop locations because he knew he was unlikely to be seen at the time, which meant that he either knew the seediest parts of Los Angeles well or he'd done his homework.

"So, basically, we have yet another body; one this time that's more closely linked to Emma than ever before, but we still aren't any nearer to finding out who this guy is," Killian summarized.

"Yeah, that's basically it."

"Fuck me!" He tossed the file down onto the table at his side and then dragged his hand roughly through his hair. "How is this guy always one step ahead of us?"

"He'll fuck up soon, Killian. They always do."

"But how many more lives are we gonna lose before he does?"

The room fell ominously silent as each person inside of it considered the implication of Killian's words. The death toll was already far too high, and at this rate, it was only going to get worse.

"Find me something," he declared firmly, "Anything I can use to nail this guy."

"We're on it " David assured him, as he reached out to squeeze Killian's shoulder firmly. He let that statement hang between them both for a moment before he finally asked, "How's Emma holding up?"

"She uh… she's struggling," Killian admitted honestly, as he tried hard to block out images of what had happened the night before. "I'm scared to think of what will happen if we don't find this guy soon."

David nodded his head in understanding as he gave his partner's shoulder another firm squeeze. "We'll find him, Killian. I know we will."

Killian nodded his head but he wasn't sure he agreed with David this time. Normally, the bureau had some sort of lead they could chase at this stage of their investigation, but right now, they had nothing. This guy could be literally anyone and he could be literally anywhere.

"I guess there's not much point in asking if he left anything at her house?" David wondered.

"There were no signs of forced entry at the house," Phillip jumped in to offer. "Tom and I checked inside and out, there was nothing we could see."

"But Ariel had a key," Killian added, "So it's not much of a leap to assume our killer took hers and let himself in."

"Emma should change her locks," David muttered, and Killian nodded his agreement. Even if he wasn't planning to take her back just yet, he knew she'd feel better returning to a home that she was confident their guy wouldn't be able to let himself into.

"Victor's team doesn't seem to think they'll find anything at the house to help, but this guy took her stuffed bear, so his obsession with her is definitely escalating now," Killian sighed.

"And here was me thinking it couldn't get any worse," David deadpanned.

The three men in the room fell silent once more as they tried hard not to think of what would happen next – because they all knew the answer to that.

"I think she should cancel this tour, Killian," David pressed. "I don't think we should be dangling her in front of him at a time like this. We need to keep her out of the spotlight and away from any harm that might come her way."

"Unless –" Phillip began, and then quickly fell silent when both of the senior agents in the room turned their full attention his way. "Well… I was just… I mean… we all had the same basic training, right? So we all know what comes next."

David and Killian continued to stare in his direction, their expressions giving nothing away, and Phillip's confidence faltered for a moment before he finally found the drive to carry on.

"What if we use the tour to try and draw him out?" he suggested. "I mean, if it were me, that's when I'd go for her. She'll be distracted, constantly surrounded by new faces, and always on the move. It's the perfect time to grab her and run. So why don't we let him try? We just need to make sure we surround Miss Swan with familiar faces that know what they're looking for so they can grab him before he gets to her."

"It won't work," Killian protested immediately. "Whoever this guy is, he knows Emma's routine well enough to know how to slip past you guys. He'll notice her usual entourage has changed and he won't act. But it was a good idea," he assured the lad, because he didn't want to dishearten him. If this had been any other case, Phillip's idea would likely have been a winning one.

"I uh… I should get back to Emma," he said suddenly. "I'm hoping that she can tell me a little more about Ariel's final few days once she's had a good night of sleep."

"Has she said anything at all?" David wondered.

"Just that Ariel was off sick the week before her death. I'm hoping Gold can confirm or deny that fact for us so we know if this guy had her the whole time, or if he snatched her just before she died."

"I'll be sure to ask him," David informed his partner, as he turned towards the door. "I'll give you a call if anything new comes up before you get back to the office."

"Thanks, mate." Killian reached down to snatch up the preliminary file once more, and then followed his friend out of the room. When David turned left to head for the elevators, Killian turned right and began fishing in his pocket for the key card to Emma's room.

Once safely back inside, he closed the door as quietly as he could, praying that Emma would still be asleep. She needed as much rest as she could get, and selfishly, Killian wanted to avoid the conversation he knew they had coming for as long as he possibly could.

The moment he turned the corner to head into the small lounge, his eyes landed on a very awake Emma Swan, who was surrounded by his open case files.

"Emma," he chastised, "You shouldn't be looking at those."

"Why not?" she asked, and the tone of her voice made him shiver a little. All of that warmth and passion he'd felt from her the night before was gone, and in its place was the emotionless cold he'd been dreading. "He's doing it because of me, right? I should at least know what he's doing to these people in my name."

"Nobody needs to see this," Killian told her, as he hurried around the coffee table, flicking the files closed. "Even I don't want to see this and it's part of my job," he explained, before finally taking a seat on the sofa beside her.

Emma was still staring down at the place where the pictures of their second victim had been only moments before, but now that he was closer to her, Killian could see that his files hadn't been the only thing she'd read that morning. The note he'd left for her before leaving the room was crumpled up in her right hand with the end of his name just barely visible to him.

"Emma?" he called out gently, hoping she would snap out of whatever pool of despair was threatening to drown her. When she didn't, he reached out to carefully unfurl her fingers, and then remove the piece of paper from her hand.

"Emma, this isn't your fault," he said again, because it was important for her to understand that. "Whatever this guy does is all on him. It's all his fault."

"He's going to kill me too, isn't he?" she whispered, as a solitary tear slipped free from her eye to roll down her cheek.

"No!" he protested fiercely. "No, I won't let him do that, Emma. I won't let him hurt you."

She leaned forward to rest her head against his shoulder and after a moment of hesitation, Killian brought his arms up to wrap around her back. Emma seemed to melt into his embrace for the longest second before she pulled back slightly to press her lips softly against his.

For that one brief moment, Killian forgot. He forgot where he was, who he was, and more importantly, why that moment was so very wrong. But it didn't take long for reality to come crashing down over him and when it did, he stiffened before pulling away.

"Emma, no. We can't!"

"Nobody needs to know," she repeated, leaning back into his personal space.

Killian reached up to hold onto her shoulders, hoping it would help keep some distance between them.

"I can't, Emma. And believe me, it's not because I don't want you. I do. I'm not… I'm not gonna deny that after last night. I just… I can't risk this case. Not now, and not with so much at stake. I would never be able to live with myself if everything was tossed out of court because a defense attorney got hold of the information that we were involved. If he came after you and hurt you as a result of that, it would be my fault. I need to recuse myself from this case, Emma, and then we need to stay away from each other until this guy is firmly behind bars."

"You can't," she protested immediately, shaking off the grip he had on her shoulders. "Killian, you can't!"

"I have to, Emma."

"No. I won't let you. I can't… I can't do this without you, Killian. I don't… I don't trust anyone," she explained, as tears began falling freely now. "Every person I see, everyone I let into my home, has me questioning every decision I've made that's put me in their presence. I spent thirty minutes the other day obsessing over whether or not I'd seen the guy who delivered food to my house before. I can't do this without you. I can't… I need someone… I just need someone I can trust in my life right now. Please. Please don't take that away from me. Please!"

Killian reached out to take both of her hands into his own and then waited for her tears to slow enough so that he was relatively confident she would be able to see through them; that she would be able to see how much pain this was causing him, too.

"I don't want to hurt you, Emma. That's the last thing I want to do right now and it's certainly not making this any easier but… I have to tell my supervisor. If I don't, I could end up putting you in more danger than either of us could ever imagine, and that's not a risk I'm willing to take right now. Not with you, Emma. Never with you. But I promise, I will do everything I can to make sure that I stay close, if that's what you need. I promise you I will fight for you, Love. I will always fight for you."

Emma nodded her head but Killian could tell that she didn't really believe him. She knew that the moment he told his supervisor what had happened between them, he would likely be kept away from her by any means necessary. But she needed something to hold onto at that moment. Some vague notion of hope. And Killian wasn't about to kill that spark just yet. Not until he absolutely had to.

"How are you feeling?" he asked after a moment, as he brought a hand up to push her hair away from her face. "Do you wanna get some more rest before I have to leave?"

Emma wasn't sure she'd be able to get any sleep, but she nodded her head nonetheless.

"Come on then," he invited, pulling her up to her feet to lead her over to the bed. He sat down on it first, kicked off his shoes, and then pulled his legs up to stretch them out over the sheets as Emma stood stiffly beside him. "Come here, Sweetheart," he invited, giving her hand a gentle tug.

Emma needed no more encouragement to curl up in his arms and screw her eyes shut tightly as she fought back tears once more.

Leaving Emma later that morning hadn't been easy. She'd woken from her nap cold and closed-off, refusing to meet his eyes and not saying a word. He'd tried everything he could think of to coax some form of life back into the beautiful young woman standing in front of him, but nothing had worked, and eventually, Killian had been forced to say goodbye to her back as she stared out of the windows and across the hotel grounds.

The drive over to his office had been one of the worst of Killian's life. The urge to turn a corner and detour to the nearest liquor store had never been stronger. He knew what was coming wouldn't be easy. He knew that at best, he'd end up with a suspension on his hands; at worst, he was probably going to tank his career. But he also knew that whatever Isaacs threw at him would be so much better than having the truth come out on a witness stand in the middle of a murder trial. So Killian tried to keep that thought at the front of his mind as he parked his car and made his way up to his supervisor's office.

After hesitating briefly outside of the door, Killian rapped his knuckles against the wood as hard as he could, and then waited for an invitation.

"Enter!"

"Sorry to bother you, Sir. Do you have a minute?" he asked, striding with as much confidence as he could muster into the room and closing the door firmly behind himself.

"Please tell me you're here to inform me that you've made an arrest?" Isaacs begged, as he watched one of his best agents take a seat on one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"I'm afraid not, Sir."

Isaacs let out a heavy sigh, pulled his glasses off, and then rubbed his eyes. He'd been expecting as much, but that hadn't stopped him from hoping they'd finally caught a break. "Then what can I do for you, Jones?"

"I uh… I don't really know how to say this, so I'm just gonna give it to you straight, Sir." Killian took a deep breath in and held it before finally exhaling the words, "I had sex with Emma Swan last night."

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Isaacs asked, looking absolutely gobsmacked, "Because it sounded to me like you were just admitting to gross misconduct."

"I uh… I guess I am," Killian whispered towards the floor.

For the longest time, the words hung between the two of them, suspended in complete silence. Killian didn't want to be the one to break it, but the longer it lasted, the more concerned he became.

"I'm sorry, Sir," he eventually mumbled, and those words finally seemed to snap Isaacs out of his trance.

"You're sorry?" he exploded. "You're sorry? What the fuck happened Jones? How is this even a thing? Are you just sleeping with all of our witnesses now, or is it only young blondes that get you going?"

"Of course not," Killian protested. "I wouldn't ever… I… I don't know what happened, Sir. I… I like her. I'm not gonna deny that. And she was just… she needed someone, Sir. She needed something –"

"You're not honestly trying to convince me that this young girl needed your cock so badly that you just had to go and throw your entire career down the drain? This case too? Fuck… every case you've ever worked, Jones! All of them! They're all going to be called into question now because you just couldn't keep your dick in your pants!"

"I haven't… this was different, Sir. I can't… I don't know how to explain it. All I know is that… I don't regret it."

It wasn't until the words had left his mouth that Killian realized just how true they were. He knew exactly what he'd been risking and he'd still gone through with it all because, at the end of the day, Killian knew that the risk had been completely worth it. Emma Swan had somehow worked herself into his heart in a way that he'd never imagined when he'd first met her, and now that she was there, in all of her soft vulnerable beauty, he wasn't sure he wanted to remove her.

"I know it was stupid, Sir. I know it was reckless. And I know what the risks are if this leaks, but I can't bring myself to regret what happened. I just can't."

Isaacs sat in silence for a moment, staring over at Killian who couldn't read anything from his supervisor's impassive face.

"You know you're off this case, right?" he eventually asked.

"I know, Sir, but –"

"But?" Issacs parroted back, "But? There is no but here, Jones. You had sex with a key witness in our case. The only reason I'm not firing you on the spot is because I presume this is the first time anything like this has happened."

"It is, Sir."

"Be that as it may, you're suspended, without pay, while I conduct a thorough review of your past conduct in this office. Is that understood?"

"I understand, Sir. I just… I just wanted to point out that Emma Swan trusts me, Sir. She trusts me more than she trusts anyone else in her life right now, and while I can understand that you don't want me working on this case anymore, I'm begging you to at least let me stay in contact with her. I don't have to be a part of this investigation anymore and I don't have to be involved in finding this guy, but let me stay close to her. She needs someone in her life that she can trust or she's going to do something stupid. The bureau doesn't need that on top of this serial killer. It wouldn't look good, Sir."

"Don't you dare sit there and tell me what would or wouldn't look good for us right now, Jones," Isaacs barked out. "How the hell do you think it's gonna look when a defense attorney finds out that one of my agents has been screwing one of our witnesses, huh? You are suspended until further notice and if I hear you've gone anywhere near that girl, I'll have your badge. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Killian whispered, closing his eyes briefly in defeat.

"Good. Then get the fuck out of my sight," Isaacs barked, turning his attention down to whatever it was he'd been working on before Killian had entered his office.

Killian sighed heavily and pushed himself up to his feet, making his way quietly out of the room. David was waiting for him on the other side of the door, but he ignored his friend in favor of heading to his office to gather up a few of the things inside it.

"Killian?" David asked carefully, "What the hell is going on?"

Killian ignored the question and instead, thrust everything he had related to the case into his best friend's arms.

"Find this bastard," he said, finally meeting and holding his partner's eyes before he stormed out of the building and down to his car.

Once inside the safety of the vehicle, Killian pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts list to find Emma Swan's number. He tapped the button that brought up a blank message and quickly typed out two words that he sent to her before he switched off the device.

I'm sorry.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.