Neal was still determined to get Emma back. And just as determined to make her pay for making a fool out of him.
He had taken to diving to the house she lived in with the man she betrayed him with and watching for any signs they were not as happy as they claimed.
On one such occasion, he noticed Killian drive away, without Emma.
Realizing Emma was alone and that it would be the perfect opportunity to confront her about how she had treated him, Neal decided to sneak around to the back of the house and enter through that door.
To Neal's surprise, Emma was in no mood to talk to him and threatened to call the police if he didn't leave.
But Neal refused. He warned Emma that if she didn't stop being with Killian, that he was going to have to punish her.
Emma ran to her phone, but Neal lunged at her and knocked the phone from her hand. She kicked him hard in the groin, then ran to her phone that was on the ground.
Still in pain, Neal threw himself on top of Emma, determined to make her see that she belonged to him.
With being face down on the floor, Emma found it difficult to get Neal off of her. She feared what he might do and fought as hard as she could to get away.
Suddenly, the weight on her back was lifted. She looked up to see Killian, his face contorted in blind fury.
The sound of cracking bone sang in the air as Killian's fist collided over and over again with Neal's face.
Emma called the police and said nothing as Killian dealt with Neal.
When the police arrived, Emma told them exactly what happened.
"I realized I forgot my wallet and came back. I heard Emma's cries of distress and Neal shouting at her. I moved as quickly as I could and saw him on top of her, holding her down and threatening to hurt her if she didn't listen to him. When I pulled him off of her, he immediately started swinging at me. So I subdued him." Killian explained.
"Unlucky for him that you're a former navy man who still keeps in good shape." The officer said.
Neal was practically unrecognizable,
as a human being.
He could barely see out of his eyes, as his entire face was so swollen and bloody that the lids were permanently shut. The nose was flat and the jaw looked deformed, causing the paramedic attending him to comment, "I've only seen car crash victim's with this much damage. You sure did piss off the wrong dude."
His partner scolded him and told him to be more professional, then asked Killian if she could inspect his hand.
"It doesn't look broken, but you should have it x-rayed, just in case." She warned.
"It feels fine. I can move it without pain." He assured her.
"Please Killian." Emma spoke softly, but Killian heard her clearly.
She was looking at him with so much love and concern he knew he would give in to any request she made.
"Are you sure you're alright, miss?" The officer asked.
"I'm fine. Just a little bruised."
"I fear what might have happened had your boyfriend not returned when he did."
It was a fear shared by everyone in the room.
The next destination was the hospital.
Neal obviously needed surgery on his face to put his bones back in place. His jaw had to be wired shut, and would need to have several teeth replaced, since Killian seemed to have knocked them out. He also had multiple fractures to his ribs.
Neal wanted to press charges and sue Killian for assaulting him, but he was later informed that since the injuries had occurred because Neal was commiting the crimes of trespassing and assault, no charge against Killian would stick, and no judge would take the case of a man that did what Neal did.
Emma insisted on driving Killian to the emergency room to get his hand examined.
On the way, they let everyone know what happened.
The whole group arrived shortly after Killian had been taken into x-ray.
"I told my mother what happened and she said that if Robert pays Neal's bail, she's divorcing him." Regina announced.
Being in the hospital with several broken bones also caused Neal to be unable to sneak into Mary Margaret's and David's wedding.
He had planned to interrupt in the middle of the ceremony, like he had seen in so many romantic comedies, and proclaim he and Emma to be soulmates.
He had been so sure that such a grand gesture would have made Emma come crawling back to him.
But with his jaw wired shut, even if he could get out of jail in time, Neal's plan was impossible to pull off.
Adding to the case against Neal was that Emma and Killian's neighbor had witnessed Neal peeking through the windows on multiple occasions.
The woman next door told the police that she had seen the same man appear several times on the property. She became suspicious that the man never rang the doorbell and constantly peaked in through the windows.
When comparing their statements, Emma and Killian both said they were home during most of Neal's creepy visits. They admitted that since they lived alone, they often made love in the kitchen or the living room.
"So we need to add peeping tom to the list of offences." The lead officer of the case said.
In the end, Neal was sentenced to thirty days in jail, one year probation, community service and told he was not to go within fifty feet of Emma or Killian for the next five years.
Killian didn't believe that a piece of paper was going to keep a self entitled prat like Neal away, so he had the best security system and high tech cameras money could buy installed.
He made a vow to himself that if he ever caught Neal trying to hurt Emma again, they would never find Neal's body.