If you follow me on Tumblr, you'll know I was considering splitting this one in half. To help with the flow of the story, I've added a double line break where the split would have occurred.
When Emma woke the next morning, it was both far too early and far too warm.
She was wrapped up tightly in Killian's arms, and buried under the comforter. But she'd fallen asleep that night before she could remove her bodysuit, and the leather was proving to be difficult to sleep in.
She pulled herself out of Killian's arms as best she could, while he mumbled his protests into her pillow, and slipped out of the bed to pad quietly through to the bathroom. But when she switched on the light to see what she was doing, the harshness of the bulb seemed to illuminate every worry and concern that had been buried deep inside of her, and Emma crumbled to her knees as her tears and fears began to overwhelm her.
"Sweetheart?" Killian called out softly, as he made his way over to her side to pull her back into his arms. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Emma mumbled unconvincingly into his chest. "I just… I don't wanna go home."
"Me either," he assured her, as he ran a soothing hand through her hair, gently teasing out the tangles that had formed as she had slept.
"I wish we could stay here forever," she mumbled petulantly. Even with the separation they had been forced into as part of the convention, Emma had still enjoyed her time with Killian. And letting him go again was proving to be more and more difficult with every passing second.
"I guess it's time for us to talk about our future, huh?"
"Yeah." Emma sniffled a little into his chest, before she pulled away to grab some tissue.
"How about we do this in bed?" Killian suggested with a chuckle, as he used the pads of his thumbs to brush away the last of her tears. "It's much more comfortable than this cold bathroom floor."
Emma let Killian pull her up to her feet, before she remembered that there had actually been a reason she had come into the bathroom. "I just wanna change out of this," she chuckled, as she teased the zip at the front of the suit. "It's a little uncomfortable to sleep in."
Killian's eyes darkened at the movement her hand made, as it drew his attention down to the way her nipples had pebbled in the cool air of the room, and how visible they were through the gaps in the lace.
"Yes. Right. Of course," he mumbled, shaking his head to snap his thoughts out of the gutter. "Do you want me to grab you something more comfortable to change into?"
"One of your shirts?" she asked shyly. "They're far more comfortable, and they smell like you."
Killian leaned forward to brush a kiss to Emma's hair, as he told her, "I'll be back with one in a second."
When she finally emerged from the bathroom wearing one of her boyfriend's white t-shirts, it was to find the soft light beside the bed switched on, and a half-naked Killian Jones sat against the headboard waiting for her.
"What?" he asked quietly, when he saw the affectionate smile creep its way onto her face.
"Nothing. I just… I was just thinking about how nice it would be to come out of the bathroom to that sight every night."
Killian held out his hand in silent invitation, and Emma slid her own into it as she made her way back around the bed to climb in on her own side.
"You could come to Canada," he suggested quietly, when she was back in his arms once more. "I know it's not an ideal situation, but I'm locked into a contract with the network for another two years, so I can't leave the country right now. But you could come up to me. And then, when my contract is up, we can come back to Storybrooke, if that's where you want to be?"
"You'd really do that?" she asked, pulling away a little to get a good look at Killian's face. Emma had known that the logical path would be for her to join Killian in Vancouver, given that his job was based there. But she hadn't expected him to suggest coming back to Storybrooke, when his contract was over.
Nobody had ever offered to give up something for her before. So Emma hadn't been expecting him to offer to give up so much, just to be with her.
"Of course I would," he scoffed. "Relationships are about compromise, right? If you're willing to come to me before my contract ends, then I'm willing to come back with you when it does."
"What about your home?" she pressed. "I mean, don't you miss it? Wouldn't you rather go back there, than be stuck with me in sleepy Storybrooke?"
"I um… I do miss home," he admitted softly. "But I had resigned myself to being away from it the moment I left all those years ago. I just… I hate that one of us needs to sacrifice so much for us to be together. And I don't think it's fair that you should be the one to make the biggest sacrifice, in order for that to happen. As long as I'm with you, Emma, I honestly don't care where we live."
Emma twisted in the sheets so that she was facing her sweet boyfriend, and took his hands into her own. "I've never really had a place to call home before Storybrooke," she told him. "But it's not the town that's my home. Or even my apartment. It's the people in it that make Storybrooke feel like home. They might not be my family in a biological sense, but they're the first real family I've ever had. And I um… It'll be hard to say goodbye to that. But we can go back and visit, right?"
"Of course," Killian agreed. "As often as you want to. Every weekend, if that's what you want. We can even fly friends and family out to us too, no matter where we choose to settle. Whatever your heart desires, Emma. That's all I want for you."
"I don't need to be living in Storybrooke to be happy, Killian. But saying goodbye to you gets harder every time we have to do it. So I think my true home is wherever you are."
"It does for me too," he assured her. "And there's no rush. You don't ever have to come to Canada if you don't want to. I'd just… I'd really love to wake up next to you every morning, Emma Swan."
"I'd like that too." She smiled sweetly as Killian pulled her back into his arms to give her a soft kiss, before he eased her gently back down to rest against his chest.
"How about we get a few more hours of sleep, and then we can do something special before we leave for the airport?" he suggested, dropping another kiss into her hair.
"That sounds perfect," Emma mumbled back. Her eyelids were already drooping, as he wrapped her up in the warmth and comfort of his embrace.
When Emma woke a little later it was slightly brighter in the room. The bed was still warm on Killian's side but this time it was empty, and she could hear the faint sounds of the shower running from inside of the bathroom.
She turned her head to check the time, and smiled fondly when she found a steaming mug of coffee sat beside the bed waiting for her. A small sip told her it had been prepared exactly the way she liked it, and there was a small plate containing her favourite breakfast pastries stood next to it.
"Hey, you're awake?" Killian noted, as he stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but a pair of jeans.
Emma's mind froze for a moment as she watched him run a towel through his hair, before she allowed her eyes to trace one rogue drop that slipped down the side of his neck, to run over his left pec. It was only when Killian cleared his throat softly to get her attention, that she snapped out of her lust-fuelled haze.
"Yeah. Sorry. Con weekends really take it out of ya," she teased. "Are we um… are we going anywhere in particular?" She nodded to indicate the jeans that he was already wearing.
"Yes, actually. I have something planned for this afternoon, before we have to leave for the airport. I thought we could stop off and get some lunch first, if you wanted to?"
"That sounds wonderful to me," she chuckled, as she picked up her mug and settled back against the headboard to finish drinking her coffee, while she watched her boyfriend dress himself.
Only Killian Jones could make putting on clothes look just as sexy as when he took them off.
"So, do I get any clues as to where we're going?"
"Nope," he chuckled, as he took a seat beside her on the bed, and leaned over to steal one of her pastries. "But I have a feeling that you'll love it."
"As long as you're there with me, I have no doubts about that."
Killian dropped the pastry he was holding down onto the bed, in favour of pulling his girlfriend in for another kiss. One that he intended to use to show Emma just how much her words meant to him, even if he couldn't find his own to express the sentiment to her. But as things usually did where Emma was concerned, Killian soon found himself caught up in her, as his hands came up to frame her face, tilting it to deepened their kisses.
Emma moaned a little into the small space between them as she twisted on the bed, turning to face the man she loved.
But when she felt something warm splash against her lap, she quickly pulled back.
"Shit."
They'd both been far too caught up in each other to remember that Emma had been holding a half-empty mug of coffee, before they'd started making out.
"Don't worry about it," Killian chuckled, as he watched her twist around in search of something to clean the mess up with. "I'm sure housekeeping will take care of that. Why don't you go and get showered so we can get out of here? I have a feeling that if we wait too long, we're just gonna end up making a bigger mess of this bed."
"I wouldn't necessarily object to that."
Emma giggled as her boyfriend slid off the bed to put some distance between the two of them, as he groaned at her words. While he finished getting dressed for whatever plans he'd made for their day, she ate the last of her breakfast in silence.
Emma honestly wouldn't have objected to spending the rest of their time together in bed, but she had to admit that she was curious to see what her sweet boyfriend had planned for their afternoon.
After checking out of their beautiful suite, Emma and Killian loaded their bags into the back of his rental car, before taking their seats. Whatever he had planned for the day wouldn't give the two of them enough time to return before Emma's flight was due to leave, and a part of her regretted that.
Saying goodbye to Killian in private was hard enough. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to do it in public.
But Emma pushed aside her fears of what was to come in order to focus on fully enjoying what was left of her trip to the Windy City.
Killian had gotten the name of a good restaurant close to their intended destination from one of the check-in staff at the hotel, so after plugging the address into his phone, they both set off for what was left of their last day together. It only took about ten minutes for Emma to realise where they were headed, but he was pretty sure she couldn't guess exactly what their plans would be for the day.
"Lake Michigan?" she asked excitedly, almost bouncing in her seat. "I've always wanted to visit the Great Lakes."
"I'll pitch some new cities to the organisers next year for you," Killian teased, as he reached out to take Emma's hand into his own. He raised it to his lips to press a sweet kiss to her knuckle, before dropping it down to hold against his thigh. "Or, we could be really daring and even book a couple of vacations together that don't involve us being separated for the majority of our time together."
"You mean those kinds of holidays actually exist?" Emma chuckled, playing along with his joke. "And here was me thinking you could only go away for conventions."
Killian laughed along with his girlfriend as he easily navigated the roads of Chicago. It wasn't long until he was pulling the car into a parking lot just outside of a small lake-side restaurant, with stunning views across the open water.
"I'm sorry it's not a romantic, sunset dinner experience. But I promise I'll make up for it the next time we're in the city."
Emma leaned forward to brush a chaste kiss to her boyfriend's lips, before she pulled back to meet his eyes. "Thisis perfect," she assured him. "I don't need romantic sunset dinners for that. I just want to spend as much time with you as I possibly can."
"Then your wish is my command, Milady."
Emma giggled as Killian pulled open his car door with a flourish, before jogging round to her side of the vehicle to help her out.
The small restaurant was the perfect location for the two of them to share a lunch date. It was far enough outside of the city that nobody there recognised Killian, but the food was still of the kind of quality that Emma had come to associate with big city restaurants, making it the perfect location for their last day in Chicago.
But it was their secondary destination that had Emma gushing over just how wonderful her boyfriend was, as he helped her climb the gangplank onto the ship that they would soon be setting sail on.
"I can't believe you booked a pirate ship tour of the lake," she giggled. "Don't you spend enough time on ships at work?"
The elderly couple behind them threw a strange look their way, but Killian either didn't notice, or didn't care.
"I've actually been missing the Jolly recently," he teased. "Besides, we both know that deep down, you fell for the Captain before you fell for Killian."
"I did. But I love Killian more," she assured him, as he pulled her back into his arms to hold her close.
The pirate tour was such a wonderfully unique way for the couple to spend their final day together in Chicago. While Killian had been worried that an early afternoon cruise wouldn't be as romantic as the ones that set sail at sunset, he'd really had nothing to be concerned about.
Emma loved every single minute of the tour.
Although, her favourite part was perhaps the moment where the elderly couple had caught the two of them talking about Killian's own experiences on location, filming scenes on board the Jolly Roger. Emma had been forced to explain that the sweet Irish man stood next to her played a loveable version of Captain Hook on television, and the reactions from the elderly couple had been simply priceless. After she had explained the premise for the show, they had both promised to tune in the following weekend to see Killian in action.
The couple had also been kind enough to offer to take some pictures of Emma and Killian together, so that they would have plenty to remember their weekend by.
But all too soon, Killian was pulling back into the rental agency at O'Hare international, with Emma's departure time looming ahead of them.
"I hate this," she whispered, as she dropped her forehead down to rest against his.
"Me too." Killian brought his hand up to push Emma's hair back off her shoulders, before wrapping his arm tightly around them to hold her close. "But I'll see you again real soon. You still have that ticket to Vancouver for next month, right?"
"Yeah," she chuckled bitterly, because even with those tickets tucked away in her safe, October still seemed so far away. "David's already agreed to cover the extra time for me."
"Good. Because I plan to be really greedy with my time with you that weekend. I might not let you leave my bed."
"Who says I'd want you to?" she teased.
The two of them shared one last laugh before their expressions fell, as the clock on the dash counted down the minutes they had left together.
"You'll call me when you get home, right?" he worried.
"You'll be on a flight then," Emma reminded him gently. While her own was only half as long as Killian's would be, he had insisted on booking his flight home for a later time, so that she wouldn't be forced to wait alone at the airport when he'd left. "But I'll send you a message as soon as I land, so you don't have to worry about me."
Killian nodded his agreement as he took her hands into his own, to link their fingers together between them. "I'll call you when I get back to my place."
"After you've called your mother," she scolded gently. The last thing she wanted was for Killian's family to worry about his safety.
"I'll call you before," he chuckled. "She's um… she's been asking about you all weekend, and I've been dodging her calls. So it might take me a while to get her off the phone."
"She knows about me?" Emma asked, caught off guard by Killian's confession. She wasn't really sure when the appropriate time was to tell one's parents about the person they were dating, given that she'd never been through the process herself. But somehow, knowing that a part of Killian's family knew about her, filled Emma with a kind of warmth she was struggling to explain.
"Of course they do. I love you, Emma. Why wouldn't I wanna share that news with them?"
Emma didn't know how to answer that question, so instead, she leaned forward to press her lips to his once more, trying to convey through her kisses just how much she loved him, as Killian tightened his grip on her hands and met her passion with just as much of his own.
"I should um… I should go," she eventually stated, pulling away to drop her forehead down to rest against his once more.
Emma didn't want to leave the car, or Killian's embrace. But she knew that the longer she put it off, the less chance she'd have of actually leaving on the right flight that evening.
Killian nodded his understanding but didn't let go of her hands, or make a move to exit the vehicle. "I'll um… I'll help you with your bags."
It took them a few more moments of just sitting and staring at each other for one of them to finally move. Emma was the one to break the stillness in the car, detangling her fingers from his to cup his face, as she pressed another kiss to his lips, just savouring that warmth and comfort that always radiated through her whenever she did.
"I love you, Killian."
"I love you too," he declared, closing the space between them to press one final kiss to her lips, inside the privacy of their car. "Let's um… let's get you checked in on this flight before one of us does something we could come to regret."
Emma finally pulled away from the spell that Killian was inadvertently casting with his eyes, as she tugged on the door handle to slip out of the car. The cool air that hit her outside wasn't helping the tears that she was desperately trying to hold back.
"Are you okay, Sweetheart?" he asked, startling her out of her trance.
"Yeah. I um… I just… I'm gonna miss you," she whispered, because there was no way she could deny that, and there was no other explanation for how she was feeling in that moment.
She didn't fight him when Killian pulled her into his embrace. Instead, Emma simply melted into his arms, soaking up all of the comfort she could get, before she reluctantly pulled away.
"You um… you probably shouldn't come in," she chuckled. "You're bound to be spotted here. I know for a fact that some of the girls fly back on Monday instead of Sunday, because of how late the event can run."
"I wouldn't mind." Killian stuffed his hands into his pockets as he rocked back onto his heels.
"I know. But I'd rather be by your side when it all comes out, than hundreds of miles away and alone."
"I get that." He reached forward to brush the hair out of her face before he pressed his lips firmly to her forehead. "Have a safe flight home, Emma."
"You too," she choked out, hating how weak her voice sounded in that instant. "I love you."
"I love you more."
His lips travelled down across her forehead, brushing lightly over her closed eyes; her cheeks; and her nose, before finally stopping at her lips.
The two lovers savoured that one final moment they had before pulling apart as one, for Emma to turn and head into the busy airport. She didn't look back until she was inside the entrance, because they both knew that if she had looked before that moment, Emma wouldn't have made her flight home that day.
It wasn't until she was back home in Storybrooke, and had the door to her apartment closed behind herself, that Emma finally allowed herself to cry the tears she had been fighting all day long.
"Sheriff. I um… I didn't realise you would be back today."
Emma cocked a brow at the man frozen in the doorway to her kitchen, wearing a red silk robe that was almost indecently short, as his cheeks flushed bright pink.
"Yeah. I got back last night," she chuckled, hoping it would break the awkward tension in the room. "Has Ruby left for work already?"
"Um… no… she's showering," Whale pointed out, looking longingly over his shoulder. There was nothing he wanted more in that moment than to escape back to the comfort of his girlfriend's bedroom.
"Okay. Well, there's fresh coffee if you want some?" she offered, taking her own mug over to the island to sit down and begin sipping at it, as she browsed the paper's morning edition. It was always the best way to catch up on what had happened in town while she had been away. And if the front page was any indication, then nothing really had.
Whale was saved any further embarrassment when Ruby suddenly appeared behind him, rising onto her toes to press a kiss to his cheek, as she told him, "The shower's all yours, Babe," before turning her attention to Emma.
"Ems! You're back! I need to see all of the pictures, and not just those cryptic ones Killian's been posting to Instagram."
"They're all here waiting for you," her friend chuckled, as she stood to make Ruby a mug of her own coffee. "How was your weekend?"
"Not bad," Ruby deflected easily. "Not bad at all. But I suspect yours was better. Did you honestly go on a pirate tour of Lake Michigan?"
Emma giggled fondly as she took her own seat at the kitchen island once again, and scrolled through to the images on her phone from that day. Killian had shared one to his Instagram page that she'd taken of him underneath a sign advertising the tour, and another that the elderly couple had taken of the two of them together on deck, looking out over the lake. She was once again almost completely unrecognisable in the second image, but Emma still loved the beauty of it.
"We did indeed," she told her friend. "There are some pictures on my phone, if you wanna see those too. Have I missed anything here in town?"
"Neal got into a drunken brawl with Leroy while you were gone," Ruby began casually, as if there was absolutely nothing odd about that statement. "But other than that, it's been pretty quiet around here."
"Wait, back up a second there. Neal did what?"
"David said something about it being a drunken brawl, but that he sorted it all out. You don't need to worry about him anymore, Emma," Ruby tried reassuring her. "Neal's not your responsibility."
Emma didn't look overly convinced, but she didn't ask any more questions about the incident either. She could always read the police reports when she got to the station later that morning, to see what had happened.
"Ugh. How do people not know that you two are together yet?" Ruby sighed, as she flicked through the images on Emma's phone, before holding up one of the selfies they had taken during Killian's meet and greet. It was the same image Emma had been using as her wallpaper since the weekend. "This… This shit right here… this is so disgustingly loving, it's practically written all over your faces."
Emma shrugged her shoulders as she drained the last few sips in her mug, and then set it into the sink to wash when she got home later that evening. "I guess people aren't expecting it, so they're not exactly looking for it. Would you have guessed about us if you hadn't seen it for yourself?"
"But that's the point, Ems. I saw it before I knew about it. You guys should probably consider coming out soon. I mean this in the best way possible, but the longer you leave it, the more chance you have of exposing yourselves accidentally. And I think it would be better for everyone if you did this on your own terms, rather than having it all blow up in your faces."
Emma nodded her agreement as she chewed over Ruby's words in silence. She'd been thinking the same thing, after how difficult the weekend had been. But she'd be lying if she said she didn't want Killian by her side, when that time came. She'd seen first-hand just how brutal the fandom could be when they turned on someone. And she knew that they would turn quickly on her, when it was all revealed. Emma selfishly wanted Killian by her side, offering the kind of comfort only he could, when that moment came.
"We um… we spoke about our living arrangements yesterday," she whispered softly.
When they had been discussing a potential move to Canada, all she could think about was how good it would feel to finally be with Killian every single day, as opposed to constantly worrying about how she would be able to say goodbye to him once more.
There would be no more hiding their relationship, or sneaking around hotels and convention cities. They could go out together as all other couples did, and focus more on enjoying each other, than on keeping their secrets.
But now that she was back home again, the reality of that situation was starting to sink in. Emma had a job that she would need to make arrangements for, before she could even begin to consider leaving. There was no way David could cover the station alone, and she would feel awful if she had to put him into that position.
And then there was Ruby.
Her friend had just gotten out of Granny's place, and was starting to truly flourish whilst living as Emma's roommate. But with Emma no longer there to help pay the mortgage, she wasn't sure if Ruby would be able to afford the place on her own. And the last thing she wanted was to be the reason her friend was forced back to the bed and breakfast once more.
"You're moving to Canada?" Ruby asked, although she didn't seem all that surprised by the idea.
"No. I mean, not yet. I have things to take care of before that. But… yeah. Eventually. I just… I can't keep doing this Ruby. Every time we say goodbye it rips my soul apart, and I'm struggling to keep it together right now."
Ruby stood up to pull her friend in for a tight hug. "You shouldn't have to keep doing it, Ems. I knew the time would come eventually, so I'm not angry or anything. I mean, you're my best friend, so I'm gonna miss you like crazy. But I'm not angry you're going. I'd have made the same decision in your position. And probably a lot sooner than you two have."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere just yet," she chuckled. "There are still plenty more girl's nights in our future."
"How does tonight sound?" Ruby asked. "I recorded Fairytales while you were away. We could always grab a pizza and open a bottle of wine while we watch it together this evening?"
"It's a date," Emma promised, looking up to watch as Whale finally made his way out of Ruby's bedroom, wearing one of the suits she was more used to seeing him in. "Now, I have to get to work. Have a great day, you guys."
"You too, Sheriff," Whale called, out, looking less awkward now that he was dressed in his own armour for the day.
While Emma's first week back in Storybrooke was starting out as it usually did, Killian's own in Vancouver was getting off to a slightly unusual beginning.
"Hey, Mam," he greeted, as he hauled himself up the bed in an attempt to wake himself up. A quick look over to the clock on his bedside table showed it was only a little past seven, but as far as his mother was concerned, that was a perfectly acceptable time of the day for her to call.
"Don't you, 'Hey Mam,' me, Killian Jones. I've been trying to call you all weekend. It's rude to send your mother to voicemail."
"Sorry, Mam. I was just busy," he explained, scrubbing a harsh hand over his face. "I had that convention this weekend, in Chicago. And Emma was with me too. I didn't wanna waste our time together, given how little of it we seem to get."
"What do you mean you get so little time together?" she asked, her tone already softening at his words. Killian knew that his mother could never stay angry at him when he tugged on her heartstrings that way.
"Emma lives in Maine. We only really get to see each other over convention weekends. And those are never long enough." Although, if he were being completely honest, Killian was pretty sure she could move in with him, and he still wouldn't see enough of her.
"You said in your messages that the two of you had been dating for a while? How did you meet?"
"In a hotel elevator in Boston," he replied truthfully. While Killian was not yet ready to share with his mother just how they had both come to be in the same elevator, at the same time, he didn't want to lie to her either. "She um... she was having a bit of a panic attack, so I helped to calm her down."
"Well of course you did. I raised you to be a perfect gentleman. And you truly are," she gushed proudly.
Killian snorted a little as he thought back on the other elevator encounters he'd shared with Emma, since they'd first met. He wasn't exactly a perfect gentleman during those, but he wasn't about to point that out to his mother.
"When do we get some better pictures of her? Ones that actually show her beautiful face?" she asked, completely unaware of where Killian's mind had gone.
"I'll send some over before work," he chuckled. "You're gonna love her, Mam. Emma's… she's just perfect for me."
"I don't doubt that at all, Honey."
While Emma and Killian's first week apart transformed quickly into the second, the couple found their routine once more. They would exchange flirty and loving messages during the day, which quickly morphed into hours spent on the phone talking to one another before their nights were over.
It wasn't the same as being able to see each other, or being able to hold each other. But it was better than nothing.
During their third week apart things took a slight twist, as Killian revealed that he would be needed on set for night-shoots until the start of the following week. At first, the two of them struggled to find a time that would allow them to still speak to each other every day, and also worked with their own busy schedules. But eventually they realized that calls on Emma's lunchbreak usually coincided with the time Killian would be getting back home from work. And the days she worked the night shift at the station would provide them with a few extra hours to chat, whilst Killian was on his own breaks.
It was the only thing getting Emma through the long and boring nights in Storybrooke, between her patrols.
But on Wednesday evening, long after David had left for the day, and while Emma was distracting herself by uploading police reports from their storage archives to the computer system, the phone in the station began to ring. The Sheriff jumped a little in her seat at the sound of it. She was so unused to hearing someone call at that time of the morning, that it took her a moment to compose herself, before she answered the phone.
"Storybrooke Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Swan speaking."
"There's some strange noises coming from the forest, close to the town line," the caller replied, as Emma furrowed her brow in concern.
"Can you be more specific?" she asked, while she pulled the logbook they kept towards herself, to make a note of the call.
"I think someone might be hurt."
"You think someone might be hurt, or you can see someone is hurt?" Emma's mind was racing as she began gathering up everything she would need to go and investigate the call.
She knew absolutely everyone in town, and the voice on the other end of the line didn't sound familiar to her at all. Which meant that whoever was in trouble was probably unfamiliar with Storybrooke, and the forests that surrounded the outskirts of the town.
Either that, or the local teenagers were attempting to pull some kind of elaborate prank on her. And if that were the case, Emma made a promise to herself that she would make them suffer when she found out who was behind it all.
"Just hurry," the person replied, before disconnecting the call.
The Sheriff sighed to herself as she finished making a note of what the guy had said in their logbook, before she grabbed her keys from her desk, and her jacket from the small coat stand by the door.
Emma frowned as she pulled the cruiser over to the side of the road and killed the engine. There were no cars parked on either side of it, nor were there any obvious signs of disruption around her. But she knew that the kids liked to play in the forest in that part of town, as it was often deserted. So as she climbed down from the vehicle, Emma pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on.
"Hello?" she called out softly, shining the beam around all of the usual places that she had caught people hiding in before. "Storybrooke Sheriff's Department. Is there anyone here?"
The only sounds she could hear were those of the animals and insects in the forest, going about their business as usual. There wasn't even the usual sound of the traffic in town to drown them out.
Emma had just turned to head back to the cruiser when she heard a loud crack from somewhere to her left.
Her hand flew to the gun at her side, unclipping the holster just to be safe.
"Hello?" she called out again, shining the beam of her flashlight in the direction she was sure she'd heard the noise originate from.
Emma really didn't want to have to go into the forest that late at night. But she also knew that there was no real way around it. Someone could be hurt in there, and they'd be relying on her to help save them.
As she edged closer to the complete darkness provided by the trees, she pulled out her gun, raising it to hold along with her flashlight, as Graham had shown her all those years ago.
There was no way she was going in to that part of town unarmed.
Although it was rare, black bears had been spotted hunting in the forests close to Storybrooke before. And while Emma knew that a gun would do little damage to a fully-grown adult bear, it might be enough to buy her some time to escape, should she need it.
"Hello?" she asked softly, as she walked a little further in, swinging the beam of light around her as she went.
With every step she took, Emma felt more and more uneasy about the situation.
Every instinct inside of her was screaming that something was wrong.
She was just about to turn back and head for her cruiser once more, when a voice called out softly, "Sheriff Swan?"
"Yes?" she asked, spinning the beam of light around in the direction the voice had come from.
But there was nobody there.
"We've been asked to pass along a message," another voice added, from somewhere behind her.
Emma turned again, her heart racing as she did. She kept a firm grip on her weapon as she swung the flashlight round, trying to find the source of each of the voices.
But all she could see was complete darkness, outside of the small beam of light.
At three-eighteen am there wasn't a soul awake in the small town of Storybrooke, Maine. All of its residents were tucked up in bed, sleeping soundly throughout the night, and dreaming of what the morning would bring.
Only the animals were awake to hear as the first gunshot rang out in the forest by the town line.
It was quickly followed by two more.
I'm so sorry! Please don't hate me. Chapter 34 will post exactly 1 week from today.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.