"You need to talk to your watcher. He should be training you."
It was the first time either of them had spoken for a while. Killian had folded himself down to sit beside Emma while she calmed herself after the fight, just offering her the kind of comfort that came from knowing you weren't alone in the world.
Even if that world had just gotten a damned sight bigger and scarier.
"Have you seen the man?" she snorted. "The whole guidance part I get. But training doesn't look like it would be his area of expertise. He looks like the kind of guy who would get winded when jogging to make the last bus."
"He might surprise you," Killian countered. "I doubt he'd have been placed this close to you if The Council didn't believe him capable of fulfilling his duties."
"What about you?" Emma asked, finally turning to look at him. "Why can't you train me?"
"I'm not a watcher."
"So? You clearly know what you're doing here. I don't. Surely you could train me better than he could. I mean, I'm not even sure he's ever met a vampire before, let alone fought one." Emma wasn't entirely sure why, but something inside of her was screaming that Killian was the one she should be training with. While she hadn't ever seen him actually fighting a vampire, she got the feeling that his cool demeanor could only come from the experience and knowledge that he'd be able to best one, should a fight occur.
"Talk to your watcher first," he told her. "His job is to prepare you for this life, in a way that I couldn't even begin to imagine. But if you still want someone to train with after that, I'll be around."
"You know, normal people just give out contact details," Emma teased. "Like a phone number, or an email address, or something. They don't lurk in the shadows waiting for people's lives to go to hell."
"I'll take that under advisement." He stood suddenly, before extending a hand back to help her up. "We should get you home. Your father will be finishing work soon."
"How do you know that?" she demanded, ignoring his hand in favor of pushing herself to her feet.
"I was prepared for your arrival," was all Killian said, before turning on his heels to head for the cemetery gates.
"You know, you're a little bit creepy," Emma called after him.
"So I've been told," he threw back at her.
"I killed a vampire last night," Emma declared, as she pushed her way into the library the next morning.
"Excuse me?" came the now-familiar voice that liked to linger in the stacks.
"He was trying to kill one of my friends. Well… former friends," she corrected. Emma had no doubts that Zelena and August would want nothing to do with her after what they had seen the night before. She would soon be known as the town freak, and the transition to her new home would be fully complete.
"So… you killed it?" Gold asked, as he pushed his book back into its place, to make his way down the steps and over to where she was sat, on top of the counter along the right side of the room.
"Yep. Stake through the heart and it turned to a pile of dust."
"Impressive," he remarked, with a slightly appreciative nod. "And you did that all alone?"
"Yeah. Killian was there, but he tricked me into thinking he wouldn't be," she replied. "He's kind of an ass."
The name Killian was still ringing a bell with Gold, but he hadn't yet managed to make a connection to it. He was sure he'd never met a man named Killian before, and that if he had, he'd have remembered doing so. But so far, none of his own research was turning up anything about a Killian being connected to the supernatural world.
"So, does this mean you're ready to accept your destiny and begin your training?" he asked hopefully.
"Well, I'm not denying that vampires exist anymore. But I'm not sure how I feel about training. I mean, I have school and… a life. What's that gonna entail exactly?"
"We need to work on your fitness," Gold began, his excitement already showing in his movements. "It's all there, lurking under the surface. But if we can hone your skills, you'll become a much more effective slayer. Of course, there's also the research that you'll need to learn to conduct, and the reports to be read on past supernatural encounters, so that you can better prepare yourself."
Emma slid off the counter and hoisted her bag back up onto her shoulder. "Yeah, you lost me at research and reports," she sighed. "I have to get to class and see what's left of my reputation in this town."
She left before Gold could say anything else, with the library doors swinging back and forth under the power of her push.
When Emma made it to her first class of the day, she was surprised to see Zelena and August both sat at their usual desks, wearing bright smiles that they aimed her way.
"We saved you a seat," Zelena explained, as she pulled her bag from the chair that was positioned just behind their own.
"Thanks." Emma wasn't really sure what was going on. She had expected the two of them to ignore her, not to treat her as if nothing had happened. "Are um… are you okay?"
"A little sore, but I'm guessing it would have been a whole lot worse if you hadn't shown up when you did. Thanks for that."
"You're welcome."
The arrival of their teacher cut any added discussion short, but Emma still found herself relaxing back into her seat a little more. The two people in town that she had actually bonded with had seen the crazy turn her life had taken since her arrival, and they still wanted to spend time with her.
Emma's second period was a class she didn't share with her friends, so they said their goodbyes quickly at the doors, before parting for their respective lessons. As she slipped into her Spanish room, she went back to feeling like an outcast once more, as the rest of the students gave her a quick glance, before turning back to their own established friendships. Regina didn't even bother sparing her a look as she made her own dramatic entrance, and took her seat in the center of the room. But Emma had been expecting that, after the way she had shunned her attention the day before.
"Shoulda let Gold talk me into the research," she sighed to herself, as she pulled out her books and pens.
The class seemed to drag by at a much slower pace without Zelena and August by her side. She hadn't realized just how much she needed that friendly reassurance in her life, until she had arrived in a new town without it.
As Emma sat making notes on Spanish terms she knew she'd never remember, and that she would probably never use in her lifetime, she realized that what happened the night before might not have been as terrible for her new reputation as she'd first thought it to be. The whole Slayer business was scary and new, and she didn't want to go through it alone. While there was absolutely no way she'd be able to open up to her father about it, Emma couldn't see any reason why she couldn't tell her new friends the truth.
They had, after all, seen a vampire in the flesh.
By the time the bell rang to signal the start of lunch, Emma had made up her mind to tell August and Zelena everything at the end of the school day.
"Where are we going?" August asked, as he watched the students quickly empty out of the building, heading out into the bright Storybrooke evening, full of plans for the night ahead.
"I wanted to explain what happened last night. What you guys saw. And there's someone here that can help me do that."
August and Zelena looked a little confused as Emma led the way down the halls, before finally stopping in front of the library doors. She took a deep breath in to steady herself, before pushing through them and calling out, "Gold? You in here?"
His familiar head of hair poked out from the stacks at the back of the room at the sound of her voice. Gold's eyes flicked first from Emma, to the two people stood either side of her, before settling back on Emma's face. "Yes, Miss. Swan?" he asked professionally.
"You can cut the Miss. Swan BS," she told him. "This is Zelena and August. They saw what happened last night."
"What happened last night?" he asked, still maintaining that air of detached professionalism, even as Emma dropped her bag to the floor, to pull herself up into a sitting position on top of the counter.
"Seriously?" she sighed. "God, you're worse than Killian in some ways."
Gold raised a brow in her direction, that told Emma he wasn't amused by the comparison, but it didn't stop her from barreling on.
"Zelena was attacked by a vampire last night. I killed it. August saw it all happen. And Gold here is some kind of watcher. I think that's everyone up to speed. Now can we stop pretending?"
"That… thing last night was a vampire?" August shrieked, his face a mask of pure shock.
"Welcome to my world," Emma chuckled.
"Miss. Swan, can I have word?" Gold asked, propping his hands onto his hips to convey his displeasure at the current situation.
Emma rolled her eyes in his direction, but slid off the counter to follow him back into the small office that was situated behind it.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" he asked, the moment she closed the door behind herself. "The work of the Slayer should be carried out in secrecy. The more people who know the truth about you, the more danger you put yourself and them into."
"Relax," she chided. "They were there last night, Gold. They saw what happened. They were bound to have questions. Surely it's better to tell them the truth, so they know what to look out for, rather than make up some kind of lie that gets them killed?"
Gold didn't look too happy about the current situation, but Emma could see that he was already beginning to accept it.
"Excellent," she declared, as she turned on her heels to head back out to the library, where her friends were still stood in stunned silence. "So, where were we?"
"Vampires," Zelena mumbled. "We were at vampires."
Emma pulled herself up to sit on top of the large table in the middle of the room, crossing her legs to lean back on her arms. "Yeah, vampires are real. I'm still trying to get my head around that one myself. Do you wanna do your bit?" she asked Gold.
He heaved a heavy sigh at her actions, pulling off his glasses to clean them on the inside of his jacket. Gold wasn't used to being around young adults. Being a Watcher would be so much easier if slayers weren't normally teenage girls.
"Into every generation a slayer is born…"
Thanks for reading and reviewing.