"Wha… what was that thing?"

David's shaky voice cut through the silence of the street and startled his daughter's eyes away from the man… no, vampire, she reminded herself… that had just saved their lives.

"We should get him inside," Killian stated calmly. "He's bleeding."

He didn't need to add why that was so important. The slight flare of his nostrils told Emma everything she needed to know. However, it took her a moment to accept the hand that he held out to help her off the floor. He might have just killed Milah to save their lives, but Emma still wasn't sure how much trust she should be putting into a vampire.

When she was back on her feet she turned to her father, and with Killian's help, the two of them managed to pull David up and off the sidewalk. Her father tried taking a small step forward, but instead, he ended up stumbling back into the building behind him. Killian stepped in at a slightly faster pace than normal, wrapping one arm around David's waist as the other man reluctantly slung his own around the vampire's shoulders.

"The library," Emma told them, bending down to pick up their discarded weapons. She couldn't be certain that there weren't more vampires out there, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And while the stake in her hand still felt alien, it was more reassuring than being completely weaponless.

"Emma, what's going on?" her father asked, as he stumbled his way up the sidewalk.

"We can talk about it soon," she promised, her gaze flicking from one set of shadows to another, checking for any signs of danger. "Let's just get somewhere safe first, yeah?"

"There's nobody else here," Killian assured her. "I'd know if there was."

Emma still wasn't sure she should allow herself to fully trust him, but she did drop her guard a little as she watched the two men struggle their way towards the high school.

"Where are we going?" David wondered, because they were nowhere near close to the house he shared with his teenage daughter, and he'd been assuming that Emma would want to return to the safety of their own home.

"The school's library," she explained. "I have friends there that can help." When she turned back to look at her father he was wearing that perplexed frown again, and Emma stopped moving while the two men caught up to her. "I know this is confusing. Trust me, I've been where you are right now, and not too long ago. But I know someone who can explain everything to you much better than I can, Dad. And he can take a look at that head wound for you too."

"Are you in trouble?" David asked, leaning heavily on Killian for support. Emma was starting to worry that Milah might have done more damage to her father than she'd initially thought.

"I guess that depends who you ask," was all she said, before turning back to head toward the school. Emma waited until she was a good few steps ahead of where Killian was practically carrying her father, and then whispered, "Is he okay? Should we be taking him to a hospital instead?"

When she pushed open the double doors of the entrance closest to the library, she turned back to watch the two men make their way across the threshold and Killian shook his head slightly in her direction. Emma knew that she probably shouldn't be making decisions about her father's life based on the word of a vampire, but she couldn't help the way her entire body relaxed a little at his gesture.

David looked more confused than ever before as Emma lead the way down the halls until she came to a stop in front of another set of wooden double doors. He could just make out the large word library written above them, although he was pretty sure a few extra consonants were floating around it.

Emma waited until Killian and her father were only a step behind her before she squared her shoulders and pushed open one of the doors, holding it in place to allow them to squeeze through without it swinging back on them.

"Gold? Are you here?" she called out, as Zelena and August's heads shot up from the books they'd been buried in.

"Oh my God. What the hell happened?" Zelena asked, pushing away from the table to make her way over to where the others were stood. August jogged past her to wrap his arm around David's waist and with Killian's help, the two men guided him over to a chair at the head of the study table.

"It's a really long story," Emma explained to her friends. "Is Gold here?"

"He's on the phone with someone back in England," Zelena told her. "The guy claimed to have information that would help us with The Master. I'll um… I'll go and get him for you."

"Thanks."

Emma finally let go of the door she was still clinging to and made her way over to her father's side. Killian was wandering around the room, picking up books and sheets of paper that littered the table to scan through the research on them. When his eyes finally landed on the vampire information board that her friends had made, he turned back to Emma with one brow raised in silent question. But the slayer was more concerned by the blood that was still steadily dripping from her father's head wound than what he had to say.

"What's going on?" Gold asked, as he made his way out of his office and through to the library. He froze when his eyes landed on David, and more importantly, the uniform he was wearing. "Seriously? You weren't satisfied with just dragging your friends into this life so you had to go and bring an officer of the law along too?"

"He's bleeding. Can you take a look at him for me please?" Emma begged.

"He's her father," Killian threw in, from somewhere behind them all. And while Emma wanted to be pissed that he had the audacity to reveal that information without her permission, her concern for her father was winning out over her anger towards the vampire in the room.

"If I take him to the hospital there will be questions. Lots of questions. Questions with difficult answers," she pressed. "Please, Gold. Those stuffy old council members must have taught you some kind of basic first aid, right?"

Gold's anger seemed to melt away as he watched the genuine concern flicker behind Emma's eyes. The young girl might have been new to life as a slayer, but she was learning fast - even if absolutely nothing seemed to be going to plan for her.

"Of course. You two," he snapped, turning his attention towards Zelena and August, "I'll need some warm water and clean towels. Go and see what you can find for me."

The two friends nodded their heads and dashed out of the room at a run as Gold turned on his heels and headed back through to his office, where he kept his first aid supplies.

Emma dragged one of the chairs around the table so that it was a little closer to the one her father was slumped in, and then reached out to take his hand into hers. "How are you feeling, Dad?"

"What's going on, Emma? Why can't we go to a hospital?" he asked.

"Because… because that woman that hurt you… she wasn't human, Dad."

David shook his head forcefully with his denial, even though the motion sent his vision swimming. "No," he protested, because that couldn't possibly be true. His eyes had simply been playing tricks on him, thanks to his head wound.

"She was a vampire. And if we tell people the town's Sheriff was attacked by a vampire, they'd probably have us all committed."

"There's no such thing as vampires," David declared.

"I think you know there is," Emma threw back at him. "But it's okay, Dad. Because that's my job here. I'm not an ordinary human being either. I'm… I'm a vampire slayer."

David passed out from his injuries just as his daughter finished speaking.

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