Emma Swan was not the kind of person to go to people for help. She abhorred the idea of admitting when she was struggling, of leaning on other people and letting them see her scars. In her experience, that was just when people chose to leave. They would allow her to bear herself to them, would take all that she was including the darkest parts of her soul, and then they would leave. People always left, and it only made it hurt more when she had opened herself to them.
That was why she had left it so late to do this. She had tried to find a place on her own, had cut it too close to the wire for comfort.
Finally her fear, her need to survive, had overtaken her pride and she had pushed her little bug as hard as she could to get here on time. Before the dreaded klaxon sounds and she is stuck on the streets with madmen who have nothing to lose.
Emma thunders up the stairs of the apartment building, not wanting to risk getting in an elevator right now. Sweating and panting, she pounds her fist on her brother's door praying that he hasn't completed locking up for the night yet.
"Who the bloody hell is that?" The voice that is whispered behind the door is not her brother's and Emma is ready to attempt to kick the door in until she hears her brother's reply.
"I don't know, but it hasn't started yet. Maybe someone is looking for a place to stay safe." That was so her brother, Emma thought. Forever the optimist, believing the best in people even in times like this. On days like this.
"Or a place to hide till the purge and then get their first kill in early." Emma snorts at that. Whoever this guy is he's definitely not a threat to her brother, he's a realist. She then realises that she is still in a rush to get inside the safety of the apartment.
"Would it help if I said it's the first one?" Emma called through the door. There was a silence that greeted her, the men obviously not thinking that they had been heard. "Also I don't think I'm planning to kill my own brother."
"Emma?" David calls out as the sound of locks unlocking, and latches unhooking begins. Emma winces, so he had started locking up. A few seconds later, the door swings open to reveal a relieved looking David.
"Hey, mind if I crash here?" Emma feigns nonchalance, as if it were just an average question asked on any other average day. By David's raised eyebrow he is clearly not in the mood to play her game, so she just walks past him and into the apartment. And comes face-to-face with the owner of the other voice. Jesus Christ. He is probably the handsomest man she has ever laid eyes on, one of those 'can't believe an actual human looks like that' kind of people. The kind she thought only existed in glossy celeb magazines or in movies. But clearly there was at least one exception, the very real man stood in front of her wearing a smirk as if he knows exactly what she is thinking. Pull yourself together. Emma forces her eyes away from his chest, the hair that is peeking through the obscene number of undone buttons on his shirt, and meets his gaze. "I'm Emma." The man looked expectantly, as if waiting for her last name. "Swan. Emma Swan." If the man knew her brother's surname and therefore realised that they didn't match, he didn't give it away.
"Killian Jones, at your service milady." Killian takes her outstretched hand but instead of shaking it, he brings it to his lips and lays a kiss to her skin. Who the hell is this guy?
"Do you know what time it is?!" David closes the last latch on the door with much more force than necessary, causing Emma to jump from where she was getting lost in a stranger's perfect blue eyes.
"Yes, Dad." Emma snaps as she turns to him.
"Don't be sassy, Emma, not today. I am allowed to be tense. It is less than an hour until the purge and my little sister has been running around outside." David's arms are crossed over his chest and he is glaring down at her. This is another reason why Emma did not want to do this. David was only a few years older than her but always acted like her dad. It didn't help that David never did anything wrong, whereas she was basically a screwup.
"And here I thought you'd be happy to see me!" Emma crossed her own arms now, matching David's glare with one of her own.
"Of course I'm happy to see you!" David took a deep breath, letting his arms drop to his sides. "I just…I couldn't handle it if anything were to happen to you."
"I know." Emma stepped forward to give her brother a hug, relaxing as his hand cupped the back of her head as it always had. She knew her brother worried, and she knew she had been reckless to leave it this late, but it didn't mean she liked being called on it.
"What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were planning to lock in at your apartment." David pulled back, his brow furrowing when he took in the bags under his sister's eyes and her unwashed hair. "What's happened?"
"Where's Mar?" Emma turned her head in search of her sister-in-law. "I'd like to only say this once."
"She's…not here." David walked over to the living area and sat down in his armchair. It took Emma a moment to figure out where Mary-Margaret might be.
"No…" Emma breathed out, watching her brother put his head in his hands.
"I'm afraid so, lass." Killian spoke from where he was leaning against the kitchen island, a tumbler of rum in his hand.
"We've been lucky up until now, Emma, by the odds her name should have been picked years before now." David raised his head, keeping his hands clasped tightly together.
"It's not fair." Emma felt awful for snapping at her brother when his wife was putting herself at risk like this.
"Sadly, it is. The hospital draws names every year, keeping the bare minimum staff to take care of the existing patients. It's as fair as it can possibly be." David muttered as he walked to the kitchen, getting himself a clean tumbler and a bottle of his favourite scotch. "At least her name will be kept out next year."
"Can always count on your brother for a dose of optimism, love." Killian chuckled lowly, taking a drink from his glass.
"Don't I know it." Emma slid herself onto a kitchen stool next to David, leaving Killian standing. "How do you know my brother anyway?"
"Well…um…you see…" Killian scratched behind his ear with his left hand, which Emma quickly identified as a prosthetic due to its rigid movements. He was clearly nervous and hesitant about answering her question, which only heightened Emma's intrigue. However, before she could prod him further, David chimed in.
"Before we get into all of that, it's back to my question. Why are you here?" David gave her a look which said there was no getting out of this.
"Alright, alright, but first I'm gonna need some of that." Emma gestured at the dark liquid in Killian's glass.
"Ah, a woman after my own heart I see." Killian laughed as he poured her a generous portion of what she guessed was his own rum; seeing as neither her brother nor his wife touched the stuff. "Plenty more where that came from." His wink, which would normally have put her off, actually set her at ease.
"What d'you wanna know?" Emma took a hefty gulp of the rum as she turned to her brother.
"Well I would like to know everything that has happened since I last saw you, but I'm guessing that a lot has happened in three years." David was not at all subtle with his subtext. He thought that she stayed away too long. This Emma knew and had expected. What she didn't expect was Killian's reaction.
"You haven't seen each other in three years?" Killian's eyes darkened.
"I mean…I guess…but we Facetime and stuff." Emma shrugged, feeling strangely like she was on trial right now.
"Not often enough for my liking, and half-an-hour Facetime sessions aren't the same thing." David repeated himself for like the hundredth time. But Emma barely heard him as she watched Killian refill his tumbler with rum before exiting down the hall towards the bedrooms.
"Is he ok?" Emma stared after the figure as he slammed the door to the guest bedroom.
"Probably wants to give us some space." David answered too quickly, and Emma knew that there was more. However, she also knew that her brother wasn't going to let this drop.
She went through three refills of rum during her story, choosing to focus on the burn of the alcohol over the burn of the tears fighting to be shed; she wouldn't let them fall though. Emma didn't cry. Not anymore. She spoke of how she'd lost her job due to them finding out that she was an ex-con – even though she had been a minor so the records should have been sealed – to how she became evicted from her apartment and forced out to live in her car. Emma did make it seem like this had just happened the other day, when it had actually been over six months since the bug became her permanent home.
"Emma, why didn't you come to us?" David laid his hand over hers and rubbed his thumb soothingly across her skin. Emma shrugged, knowing that she had hurt him by keeping this from him. "We're family."
"I know we are, I just…" Emma couldn't think of how to finish that sentence, so she chose instead to have a gulp of rum.
"Emma, some day, I hope you will realise that you're not alone." David spoke softly.
I hope so too. Emma thought, but didn't have the courage to say.
"I better go check on Killian, it's almost time." David stood and walked down the hall towards the closed door that his friend was behind. Emma took a few seconds to collect herself, pushing the events behind walls where they belonged along with all the other shit that had happened in her life, before going to find the TV remote. She turned on the TV just as her brother and Killian came to join her. Killian kept his head low as he went for another drink of rum. Emma couldn't judge with the amount she'd had tonight before it had even properly begun. She was about to ask for some herself when the countdown begins.
"This is not a test.
This is your emergency broadcast system announcing the commencement of the Annual Purge sanctioned by the U.S. Government. Weapons of class 4 and lower have been authorized for use during the Purge. All other weapons are restricted. Government officials of ranking 10 have been granted immunity from the Purge and shall not be harmed. Commencing at the siren, any and all crime, including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours. Police, fire, and emergency medical services will be unavailable until tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., when The Purge concludes. Blessed be our New Founding Fathers and America, a nation reborn.
May God be with you all."
The klaxon then sounds, as obnoxiously loud and foreboding as ever. The apartment then falls to silence, as the whole country waits for the carnage to begin.
"Right, what should our first board game be?" David is the first to speak, switching the TV to mute but leaving the countdown up as is law. And as a police officer, the law must be followed – no matter how much David hates it.
"What mate? I don't really think this is the time for playing games." Killian's eyes glisten with amusement. Now Emma gets it. Killian has a mask, much like her walls, and it is now firmly in place.
"It's tradition." Emma argues back, crouching down to go through the cupboard of games beside the TV.
"Ah, I see." Killian nods, moving closer to get a peek at the games. "Well who I am to mess with tradition? And may I choose first, seeing as I am the guest?"
"Of course, mate, as long as you don't choose…"
"Let's play Monopoly!" Killian lights up when he sees the tattered game box at the very bottom of the pile.
"No!" David shouts.
"Yes!" Emma exclaims at the same time.
"Problem, Dave?" Killian chuckles as he sits on floor to help Emma set it up.
"He's always hated Monopoly, says it goes on too long." Emma laughs at David's crestfallen expression. "But I really think it's because he never wins."
"Well we've got twelve hours to spend, so time isn't really an issue." Killian dishes out the money, not having to even glance at the rules to know how much of what notes to give everyone. He's obviously a seasoned player. "Oh cheer up, Dave."
"Yeah, cheer up Dave!" Emma laughs as she attempts to mimic Killian's British accent and fails miserably. She holds up a little silver figure to her brother. "Here, you can be the car."
"Fine." David grumbles as he snatches up the car and dramatically throws himself on the floor. "But you only win because you somehow always get Boardwalk." Emma and Killian burst into laughter at his childish pout.
#
Killian ends up buying both Boardwalk and Park Place, both men chuckling at Emma's scowl when she attempts to hide the property card. Ok, so maybe she does like to always buy Boardwalk.
David gets sent to jail a ridiculously high amount of times, much to the others' delight.
"Oh Dave, what would the Police Captain say?"
"Shut it."
#
When Emma gets fined for 'Drunk in Charge' she expects to receive her own brand of ridicule. However, Killian just once again goes deathly quiet as that darkness returns to his eyes.
"I think it's about time for a snack, don't you?" David nods towards the kitchen for Emma to follow him. She's glad to do so, because she's never been very good around sad people. This man is clearly going through some stuff and that honestly makes her feel uncomfortable. Not that it's his fault. It's just there's always the possibility that he'll tell her what's going on with him, and therefore expect her to share some part of herself with him in return. Her throat begins to constrict at the thought. "Emma?"
"Huh?" Emma blinks a few times to re-focus herself on the present.
"I asked you what you felt like eating…" David turned to his sister from where he was rooting through the cupboards. "You ok?"
"Fine." Emma gives David the biggest smile she can muster in current circumstances. David gives a 'who do you think you're kidding' look, but doesn't push her any further on it. Her brother knows her well enough to know that one heart-to-heart is the limit for this evening.
"What about some popcorn?" David returns to the cupboards where he spots the microwavable packets of corn kernels.
"Depends, have you any Milkduds?" Emma knows it's a long shot, her brother does not have the sweet tooth that she does.
"No, because I'm an adult." David rolls his eyes, and Emma pokes him in the ribs. "Hey!"
"Don't you like have a sugar supply for when I come over?" Emma stands on her tiptoes in an attempt to see over her brother's shoulder.
"We used to." David's look is so open that Emma has to avert her gaze. Great. She's been away for so long that they stopped expecting to see her. "Might have some Pop-Tarts left over, if they're still in date."
"Pop-Tarts don't go out of date." Emma snorts as she goes to the guest bedroom, where a welcome basket was always kept in check by Mary Margaret. Sure enough, at the right bottom underneath toiletries and cereal bars, were two boxes of Pop Tarts. She hoorayed in relief, rushing back out into the main area to shove the box in her brother's healthy-eating balanced-diet-advocate face. She stopped in her tracks at sight of the two men in the living room. Killian was sat on the couch, head bent forward, and David was crouched down in front of him with a consoling hand on his friend's neck. Not wanting to intrude, Emma silently went into the kitchen to begin warming up the Pop Tarts. Once they'd all been toasted, she peeked her head into the front room. The men were in quiet conversation. She went to sneak back into the kitchen when David clocked her eye.
"Looks like my sister has found us some disgustingly sweet treats which will rot our teeth." David gestured her forward with the plate of PopTarts, and Killian turned towards her.
"Pop Tarts? Really, love?" Killian grinned despite his red eyes. The man was hurting, and Emma felt like a coward for running away. For wishing she had run further so that she wasn't here now.
"What? They're so tasty!" Emma put the plate on the coffee table and picked up a snack, proving her point as she moaned around the sweetness.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to try one." Killian regarded the plate like one may regard an animal when they didn't yet know if it was friendly or deadly.
"Wait, hold up!" Emma talked around her mouthful, staring at the man in front of her. "You have had a PopTart before, right?"
"I must admit I have yet to partake on this culinary journey, love." Killian chuckled at Emma's expression, which was little less than aghast. "You see, my brother was a bit of a stickler for healthy eating so it was always 'eat your greens' and if we were to snack it would be on an apple."
"Hmm, an overly health conscious brother. Why does that sound familiar?" Emma looked to David who was happily snacking on a cereal bar. "Have our brothers ever met?" Killian shook his head slowly as he concentrated on the PopTart in his hand. "Oh good, well let's make sure it doesn't happen, otherwise it will probably be all carrot sticks and coconut water."
"I wouldn't worry about that…" Killian put the PopTart down in favour of taking a gulp of his rum. Emma froze at his tone of voice. She knew what he was about to say before he said it. "My brother passed away six years ago."
Fuck. Emma wanted to rewind time, to have not mentioned this guy's dead brother so flippantly or to have stayed in the kitchen to allow him time to properly secure his mask. Hell, she was starting to regret coming here in the first place.
She didn't know what to say. It was clear he wasn't going to speak first. Even David seemed at a loss of how to break the atmosphere that she had caused with her foot-in-mouth tendency.
The ringing of David's phone made all three of them jump.
"It's Mary-Margaret." David answered the facetime call, the awkwardness from before forgotten as everyone prayed that she was alright.
"David, are you alright?" Mary-Margaret's tired face came onto the screen.
"Yes, yes, we're fine. Playing boardgames as usual." David assured his wife. "What about you, are you ok? Has anything happened there?"
"I'm fine, nothing's happened that I know of, but I'm on the children's ward so I'm as safe as I could be."
"That's good to hear." David felt some of the tension leave his body. They had been hoping for a posting on the children's ward ever since her name had been picked. No Purge activity ever happened on the children's ward.
"My Lead Staff Nurse posted me here, because of the pregnancy…"
"Because of the what?!" Emma shouted from off camera, charging forward to sit on the arm of her brother's chair.
"Emma! What are you doing there?" Mary-Margaret's face lit up at seeing her sister-in-law after so long.
"No, don't be coy and change the subject, it doesn't suit you Mar." Emma pointed her finger at the nurse through the phone screen. "You're pregnant?"
"Yes, we are." David grinned widely at being able to finally share the news with his sister.
"That's amazing, I'm so happy for you Mar." Emma wished they were together now so that she could give her a congratulatory hug.
"Hey, what about me? Father-to-be over here." David pouted up at the blonde sat next to him.
"You didn't tell me!" Emma smacks her hand against the back of her brother's head.
"Emma, in his defence he did try, you haven't exactly been answering your phone recently." Mary-Margaret slipped into her mother-hen mode.
"Oh…" Emma hadn't exactly had a phone to answer recently, that's what happened when you didn't have the money to pay your phone bill.
"Is everything ok with you, Emma?"
"Everything's fine." That time Emma didn't even sound convincing to her own ears. "Maybe when you guys have an actual kid of your own you'll stop trying to parent me."
"Not gonna happen." David chuckled, earning him another smack on the head. "Right, I'm going to move before I get concussion." He stood and carried his phone into his bedroom, clearly seeking out a bit of privacy with his wife.
That left Emma and Killian in the living room. Alone. Great.
"That's exciting news about the baby, I bet." Killian spoke after a few tense moments, and Emma realised that he was definitely a better person than she. It was her fault it was tense, it was his brother who was dead, therefore it should have been her job to move the conversation forward. However, Emma was nothing if not a coward when it came to things like this. Something about Killian had her wishing she wasn't.
"Yeah, they'll be great parents." Emma sat down in the armchair her brother had vacated, leaving Killian on the couch by himself. It felt safer that way. "You don't seem surprised by the news?"
"Well, truthfully, that is because I have known for a few weeks now." Killian scratched behind his ear with his prosthetic, in what Emma had surmised was an unconscious nervous tick. It was as if he expected her to be angry, that he knew about the pregnancy before she did. But she wasn't. Any negative feelings she had over the situation lay solely on her shoulders.
"I'm happy he could tell someone." Emma sipped at her rum, definitely starting to feel some kind of affect from it now. "I've kind of…been off the grid recently, I guess."
"How come?" Killian whispered before snapping his eyes up to hers, clearly not having thought about the question before asking it. "I…Forgive me, lass, you are under no obligation to tell me anything." He was right, she was under no obligation to tell him anything. However he'd been to some pretty dark places tonight, some of it being her fault, so she guessed it was only fair that she answer his simple question.
"I've had some money problems recently. I lost my job, my apartment and had to choose paying for food over my phone bill." Emma spoke quickly, not looking at his face for his reaction. She didn't take kindly to pity.
"I see." Killian's words did not come from a place of pity, however, they seemed to come from a place of understanding. That assurance got her to lift her head to meet his eyes. "If I may be so bold, though, your brother and his wife are most likely the kindest people I've ever met. Surely they would never begrudge you coming to them for assistance."
"Old habits." Emma mutters, bringing her knees up to hug them against her chest. Despite being fostered – and later adopted – by David's mother when she was 13 years old, Emma still had a lot of her survival traits from when she was alone and unloved. It didn't help that she had run away at 16 with the supposed love of her life, only to end up pregnant in prison.
"Understandable." Killian sighs, cracking the knuckles of his right hand against his thigh. "Some advice though, from a lost boy to a lost girl, don't leave it till it's too late. You never know when something might happen to take away those in your life, making you truly alone."
"I'm sorry…" Emma hadn't been planning to say sorry, she knew how irritating it was when people apologised for shit that had happened to you which had nothing to do with them. Killian raised an eyebrow, as if he was thinking the exact same thing. "For what I said earlier. I was careless and insensitive, which if you knew me better you would know to expect."
"It's alright, lass, you didn't know. I specifically asked your brother not to tell you."
"How did you meet? You and my brother, you never did say." Emma tried not to look too curious, but she knew there was a story here. Killian read her anyway, if his smirk was anything to go by.
"Ah, yes, well that is a tale." Killian laughs and Emma notices the tips of his ears going red. "We met three years ago – almost to the day – that's not when we became friends though. You see I was a bit of a nuisance, getting myself into trouble, mostly just drunk and disorderly behaviour. One night, the night before the Purge to be exact, I got pissed off my arse and got involved in a bar fight. Who came to break it up, why your brother of course. And let me tell you, he was not impressed with my conduct from what I can remember…which to be honest isn't much."
"I can imagine." Emma rolls her eyes. David had collected her from a few out of control drinking sessions of her own over the years. She would never get over the look of disappointment on his face, or the lecture that she had to endure when hungover the next day.
"He locked me up for 48 hours, I mean I couldn't afford a lawyer to argue that the officer was just being an arsehole." Killian winked at Emma as she snorted at his choice of words. "Although, looking back, I think he was just trying to keep me contained during the Purge."
"You said that wasn't how you became friends though?" Emma mused, sloshing the rum around her tumbler.
"It wasn't. Trust me. I think your brother was happy in the knowledge that he'd seen the back of me upon my release." Killian took another sip of his rum. Emma narrowed her eyes, there were obviously parts of this story which Killian was missing out. She wouldn't call him on it though. Emma was not a hypocrite. "It was actually his lovely wife, your sister-in-law, who set us on the path to our friendship now. She asked me round for dinner, I didn't know that her husband was the Sheriff when I accepted, so we both got quite the shock when he came through the door to find me setting the table I can tell you."
"I bet his face was priceless." Emma chuckled along with Killian, knowing her sister-in-law's tendency to pick up strays. "So how did you meet Mar?" The man's chuckling stopped at that question, and Emma knew she'd done it again. Curse her foot-in-mouth syndrome. Don't you think if he'd wanted you to know he'd have mentioned it.
"At work." The way Killian avoided her eyes let Emma know it was at the hospital. What he was doing there, however, was none of her business.
"And what do you do as work, Jones?" Emma thought it was worth one last time to save this seemingly ill-fated communication.
"Why, Swan, I am but a humble barkeep." The speed with which this guy's mask went back on was giving Emma whiplash.
"Figures." Even for only knowing him a couple of hours, a bartender seemed like the perfect job for him.
"And how's that?" Killian didn't seem annoyed, more amused by her reaction.
"What with the dark clothes, intentional scruff, broodiness, not to mention the flirting…" Emma trailed off, she had not meant to say out loud.
"Believe me, Emma, you would know if I was flirting with you." The man's voice dropped an insane level of octaves.
"Who's flirting with who, now?" David's voice cut in before Emma could respond, with what she wasn't sure. It was then she noticed how close her and Killian had become, both of them subconsciously leaning towards the other. The blonde jumped back putting some much needed distant between them.
"What? No-one." Emma glared at Killian who seemed to be enjoying her flustered state a little too much. "We were just talking about Killian's job."
"Ah." David did not seem wholly convinced.
"In fact I was about to offer that Emma here come down for an interview at the bar, seeing as she is currently in between jobs." Killian seemed sincere in his offer when he looked at her, however they had drank a lot of rum.
"Umm, I don't….I mean – thanks – but…" Emma was pretty sure this was the most uncomfortable she had felt all night.
"Come on, Emma, I think it's a good idea." David joined them back in the front room after getting himself a re-fill of scotch.
"If we manage to survive the night, of course." Killian winked at Emma as his comment made her brother groan.
"None of that morbid talk, thank you, I get enough of it from Emma." David shook his head disapprovingly, making the other two feeling like naughty children.
"It's not morbid, it's realistic." Emma and Killian spoke at the same time to argue David's claims. Killian's eyes shone with amusement when their eyes met. Emma had to suppress a shiver.
The rest of the night continued like that with drinking, board games and David being ganged up on by his sister and his best mate. They all passed out at various times in front of the TV, although Emma was certain that Killian barely kept his eyes closed longer than a minute.
#
A few days later, Emma agreed to go for a drink with her brother and sister-in-law to properly celebrate the news of the pregnancy. That's what they said anyway. She should have known there was a hidden agenda.
"Swan, you made it!" The bartender called out before hopping himself over the bar in a move which only belonged in cheesy music videos.
"Seriously?" Emma turned to her brother who was helping his wife up onto a bar stool.
"Come on, Emma, what harm could it do?" David threw his arm around his sister's shoulders, chuckling at the pout she gave him.
"I didn't think you were actually going to fall for it." Mary-Margaret's face was the perfect face of innocence, not counting the twinkle in her eye. And if Emma knew her sister-in-law, which she did, Mary-Margaret was probably the formulator of this plan.
"In my defence I didn't know that they were planning on blindsiding you, love." Killian scratched behind his ear nervously.
"We just thought that, seeing as you're staying with us for the time being that you'll need a job close to the apartment and with Killian's bar just down the road…" David shrugged his shoulders and gave Emma one of his way-too-open looks. We're trying to give you more roots so that you might actually stay. Emma heard the unspoken meaning loud and clear. And maybe it was that paired with her sister-in-law's downright hopeful expression, as well as emotions still being raw after the recent Purge, which halted Emma's usual flight response.
"Fine, I'll agree to one trial shift." Emma turned back to face Killian with her hand outstretched.
"Oh you will, will you?" Killian grinned, taking the blonde's hand and resisting the urge to lay a kiss to her knuckles. He didn't want to test her resolve.
"Well seeing as we're here I might as well get paid for it." Emma pulled her up into a ponytail before copying Killian's earlier move of hopping over the bar, only this time to land on the workers' side.
"Um, we don't usually pay for trial shifts lass, what with us not having your credit information yet." Killian tried to hide how much the blonde had thrown him off-kilter, he had half been expecting her to storm out of the bar once she discovered the rouse. He had definitely not expected her to get on board with the plan, mimicking his own manoeuvre no less.
"No problem," Emma began to pour a pint for her brother, not looking over at her new colleague until she had placed the beer on the bar. "I'm happy to take cash."
Killian snorted before proceeding to join his potential new employee behind the bar. He already knew that a trial day was simply a formality, that Emma would be a force to be reckoned with and he couldn't wait to see where this went.