"Is something the matter, Agent Jones?"

"No. God no. Sorry. I just uh… I just remembered something important that I have to do tonight… when I leave here," Killian lied, as he kept his eyes focused on a spot on the wall above Emma Swan's left shoulder.

"Uhuh."

He watched from the corner of his eye as Emma threw him a look that clearly said she didn't believe him, before she made her way over to where a few people were still buzzing around. They seemed to be checking over her look for the night, taming her hair with a little more spray and using some kind of handheld device to steam out any creases in her skirt.

Killian knew that she had a performance that evening, along with a live televised interview to promote both her new album and her tour, so he'd been expecting her to be dressed for the occasion. He just hadn't quite expected her to be wearing what she was. The two-piece ensemble was made of pale yellow linen and worked well with her complexion. There weren't many people who could wear yellow and pull it off, but Emma appeared to be one of those lucky few.

The skirt she was wearing fell to the middle of her calf and was high-waisted, so it sat just above where he knew her bellybutton would be. There was a series of buttons up the front that seemed to be the only fastenings on the piece, as Killian hadn't noticed a zipper when she'd turned away from him. (Not that he'd been looking for one.) But it was her top that he was struggling with the most. It was, quite simply put, a yellow linen bra. There was no other way he could have described it. The small piece tied in between her breasts and was held in place by two very thin straps, showing off more skin than Killian had ever seen on Emma Swan before.

And it was all that bare skin that had sent his mind reeling. Killian had always known that he'd been physically attracted to Emma. She was a beautiful woman, he'd have to be blind not to see that. But it wasn't until that evening when he'd realized just how arousing he found her to be. There was something about the sway of her hips as she moved and the confidence with which she carried herself, that called to him in a way he'd never really felt before. He told himself that it must be the performer in her that he was drawn to, because Killian really didn't want to examine that arousal any further than he already had.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" she asked, startling him a little with how close she was once again.

"Huh?"

"The plan, Agent Jones. Are you traveling with me? How long are you planning to stay for? Will you be accompanying me back?"

Killian's eyes briefly darted over her form to take in the hands she had resting on her hips before he snapped them back up to that safe spot just above her left shoulder. His mind attempted to focus on the questions she'd asked and not the freckles he could see that lightly dusted her upper chest. He hadn't realized that the rest of her team had left the house until the silence of the room fully began to settle over him, and Killian mentally shook himself for being so distracted by a pretty girl wearing a bra. Any kind of lapse in focus was unacceptable for an FBI agent, let alone one of his age and experience level. It was the kind of mistake that could get someone hurt - and Killian didn't make those kinds of mistakes.

"I'm going to follow just behind you on your way to the studio," he explained carefully. "If anyone else is tailing you, I should be able to spot them. And even if they're not, it's still a good way for me to ensure your safety as you travel. While you're inside the building, I will be with you. I don't doubt that the studio has their own security team but I'd rather be present. That way, I can get a feel for the people around you and anyone in the audience. When you're finished, I'll follow you home, escort you inside, and then leave you be."

Emma's cocky confidence from earlier that evening faltered a little now that they were alone, and she hesitated for a moment before she asked, "Do you think someone close to me is doing this?"

"I honestly don't know." Killian knew it wasn't a comforting sentiment but he didn't want to lie to Emma either. "The actions of our suspect suggests he's familiar with your home and your routine. But that could just be because you're a public figure and he's been watching you for a while. It could be that it's because he works around you. But for what it's worth, we've run the names of anyone and everyone that you've come into contact with recently, and there's nothing there to suggest that they're involved. So… try not to be too worried about that."

"I think that ship has sailed, Agent Jones." She turned away from him for a moment and carefully bent down to pick up her clutch from the table. After checking over its contents for a few seconds, Emma finally snapped it shut before she said, "Well, I'm ready if you are?"

"Don't you uh… do you maybe wanna grab a jacket or something?" Killian asked, before he could fully think it through. Emma turned back to face him and cocked a brow in question. "I just mean it uh… it could get chilly tonight. And you're not exactly…" When her brow climbed impossibly higher he cut himself off and attempted to rephrase his sentiment. "You might get cold."

"It's Los Angeles. It's seventy-five degrees outside. I'll be fine. But thanks for your concern, Grandpa."

"Hey! I'm not that old," he threw back, eliciting a small giggle from his charge for the evening, as she headed for the front door.

The drive to the studio was pretty uneventful. Killian kept his eyes peeled but nobody seemed to be tailing Emma's car, and nobody familiar appeared when they pulled into the parking lot to allow Emma to exit her vehicle away from the crowds gathered by the entrance. Killian took a moment to scan the group of people that had been patiently waiting to meet their idol, as Emma's assistant ushered her in their direction to sign some autographs. He used the opportunity it presented him with to snap a few pictures of the crowd to have their team analyze more closely, but Killian didn't think anything would come of them. Nobody there looked remotely familiar to him.

He could tell how uncomfortable Emma was around her fans, however, and Killian's heart broke a little for the woman he was watching over. Ellie had always gushed about how fan-friendly Emma Swan was, and how much she had wanted to meet her idol as a result of that. But everything that was happening to her had clearly taken its toll, as he could see unease and distrust etched into every tense line of her body while she signed pictures and album artwork for her fans. So after giving her a few moments, Killian stepped in to usher Emma away from the crowd and back towards the building. That way, if anyone was left unhappy by the encounter, hopefully they'd blame him for it and not their idol.

"Thanks," she whispered, once they were safely inside and Ariel was a good few strides ahead of them.

"No worries. If uh… If you need people to do that for you more often, then just let me know. I'm sure we can work something out."

"A secret hand signal?" Emma teased.

"Hey, joke all you want but hand signals and code words are still our go-to method of the twenty-first century. They work!"

Ariel threw a disapproving look back at the two of them as she continued making her way through the halls. When she came to a stop in front of a wooden door that was already labeled with Emma's name, she turned back to Killian to tell him, "You can wait out here."

"I will - after I've checked inside of the room." He motioned for the redhead to step aside and then brushed past her as he did a quick sweep inside the space. There was a dressing table pushed against one wall with a large illuminated mirror above it, and a gift basket sat in front of that. Along another wall was a stiff-looking black, leather couch and a small coffee table sat opposite that. No windows looked into the room and there was no other way in or out of the small space, which meant that Emma would be safe inside of it, should anything go wrong.

Killian gave Ariel a sharp nod as he stepped back out of the room. She pushed past him to settle herself on the sofa while Emma shot him a sympathetic look. "It's not you that she's angry at, it's me," she whispered, stepping around him to follow after her assistant.

Killian closed the door softly behind the two women and then took up a position outside of it. It wasn't how he'd wanted to spend his night, but it certainly wasn't the worst way to do so.

The host for the show came to meet with Emma roughly thirty minutes before they were due on air and didn't give Killian a second glance. The guy didn't stay long, citing his need to get to the makeup chair before they went live, but from what Killian could hear through the door, he spent more time talking about himself than he actually did speaking with Emma.

Ariel left the room a few minutes later, chasing down an assistant for a specific type of candy that apparently her client needed to have in her dressing room, and Killian chuckled as he watched her go.

"I figured that would keep her busy for a while," Emma said, as she poked her head through the open doorway.

"I'd say she only has your best interests in mind, but I really don't know much about her."

"She's one of the best in the business," Emma explained, pushing the door open wider and nodding her head for him to follow her inside. It was only when the door clicked shut behind him that she spoke again. "We used to get along fairly well. But since all of this began… I've changed. It changes you, you know? And I guess she thinks that I'm going through a rebellious phase or something similar, so she's tightening the reins."

"Why haven't you told her?" Killian asked, as he took a seat on the couch. It was just as stiff and uncomfortable as he'd expected it to be.

"Because she'd have all of these plans to handle it, and if they were anything like Regina's plans to deal with it, I knew we'd just end up fighting. Besides, I don't wanna drag more people into this mess than absolutely necessary."

"I get that."

Killian understood the urge to protect the people around him. It was one of the reasons why he always remained so tight-lipped about his job. He knew that Liam would never leak anything Killian told him in confidence, but he also knew that his brother would struggle to sleep at night if he knew what Killian had seen on the job. Liam would never let his daughter out of his sight if he knew half the stuff that Killian did about the city they lived in. Because God knows there were some days where all Killian wanted to do was curl up in a ball and lock himself away from the horror of it all.

"I'm uh… I'm looking forward to your performance tonight," he said after a moment, shattering the tension that had filled the room as both he and Emma had lost themselves in their own dark minds.

"I didn't think you were a fan."

"I'm not… I mean, I wasn't," he clarified. "I uh… I don't know if you know this… but, your music's kind of everywhere. It's hard not to be a fan."

Emma chuckled at his brutal honesty before pulling a tube of lipstick from her purse. She took a moment just to reapply the color, making sure she was perfectly happy with it, before she tucked the tube away and straightened up once more.

"And here was me thinking that you just wanted an excuse to stare at me in this outfit without being noticed," she giggled.

Killian opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the sharp rap on Emma's dressing room door.

"Aren't you gonna get that?" she asked, when neither of them made a move to answer it.

Emma's look here is based on Jen's look for the Sierra Burgess is a Loser premiere in August 2018.

Thanks for sticking with me as I battle through my health issues. It'll be a little longer before I get back to something resembling a normal posting schedule - but I hope to get there as soon as I can. Please know that even though I'm behind on my review replies right now, I read and treasure every single one.