A/N: I'd like to thank those who have favorited, followed, and reviewed my story thus far for keeping me going. It may seem like a slow development, but it will pick up from here on out. I'll continue posting updates regularly, though I'm still trying to figure out where exactly this will lead to. SQ endgame of course, but there's gonna be a lot of players and finding the best roles for them can be hard. I hope everyone continues to enjoy this.

Pausing only momentarily to open the door, Emma jammed the key through the reader and dove inside, ready to grab her handcuffs and sprint once again out into the hallway. She checked her watch as she waited for the elevator, hopefully it wouldn't take too long as last time. Her watch had read 6:47. Exactly 13 minutes to make it there on time, every second mattered right now. She once again resumed tapping her foot impatiently, this time only for a couple of seconds before determining it was taking too long and she made for the stairs. Her footsteps echoed in the stairwell, reverberating off the cement that surrounded her, beating in time with her heart, amplifying the awareness of every second passing around her. By the time she reached the bottom floor, Emma was out of breath and had almost tumbled her way down the last flight when she mis-stepped near the top. The last echo she heard was her palm slamming against the crash-bar on the door, its boom carrying up to the ceiling, becoming louder with each flight.

Stopping her run less than a block away from the coffee shop, Emma tried to catch her breath, hoping that Will wouldn't notice that she was almost late. She walked up to the coffee shop, checking her watch once again, 6:56. Not a minute too soon. Opening the door, she spotted Will standing behind the counter, his eyes lighting up and a smile spreading across his face as their gaze locked on each other.

Emma pondered for a moment just how easy this would be as she walked up to the counter. Will however, was first to greet her, "Hey gorgeous, at least that's what I've been calling you myself, you know my name but might I know yours?"

A slight chuckle escaped Emma as she realized that she did in fact, know his name, but had never told him hers. "Emma."

"Emma, just Emma?"

"Yep."

"Well, alright just Emma, I'll be done here in a minute, would you like a drink?" Will asked, not taking his eyes off her as he absent-mindedly ran the rag in his hands over the counter.

"If I could get a water, but it's no trouble." Her mouth felt immensely dry after her impromptu run through the streets. It was just now catching up to her.

"One water for just Emma coming right up." He winked at her and Emma had to force herself not to roll her eyes. She couldn't wait to get this "date" over with. Will was getting on her nerves and fast.

Emma tried not to drink the cup too fast as Will returned to finishing up his cleaning duties. It was in this moment that she realized Will was the only one in that shop that she'd ever seen working. And as she started to ask him, he answered her question. "It's just me here, my shop's small enough I don't need anyone else to help. Poured my heart and soul into this place after I opened it." He walked over to the open sign hanging in the window and paused momentarily before flipping it to closed, seeming reluctant in his motions.

Emma had taken this moment to walk up behind him, she wanted this over with as soon as possible, and he was alone currently, what better time than now to do her thing. As she reached into her jacket pocket for her handcuffs she managed to miss Will tense in front of her. His right hand balling into a fist, he swung around on her, coming in contact with her gut. Emma lurched forward, the wind getting knocked out of her with a groan. Her track record really was starting to fail her, this was the second time her suspect managed to get one over on her. Will seemed prepared for this fight, at least more than she was and Emma questioned where she'd messed up as he grabbed the back of her jacket pulling it over her head. As Will went to knee her in the stomach, she grabbed his leg and pulled him off balance, holding on for all she could.

This wasn't going as planned. Not one bit. She had to let go of her handcuffs if she wanted to get out of her jacket. Will hadn't let go of that yet. She dropped her cuffs and slid her way out of her jacket as Will scrambled to grab on to them. "Shit," Emma muttered and found herself diving on top of him, trying to keep him from making it to the cuffs. He scrambled and slid his way across the floor, as Emma laid on top of him, trying to reach her cuffs before he could. It was cheap, and Emma knew it, but the only thing she could come up with was putting him in a choke hold. He couldn't very well fight his way out of that one in this position. She wrapped one strong arm around his neck and grabbed her wrist with her other hand, pulling back as far as she could, hoping to distract him. It worked, sort of, as Will wrapped one hand around her arm, he managed to lessen the pressure and drag her along even more effectively as he reached for the cuffs still. She had managed to only slow down the speed with which he moved. Emma's mind froze as she searched for another way to solve her problem.

Will was breathing hard and still struggling to keep Emma away from her handcuffs, he knew that if she put those on him, it was all over. His only chance at this point was to keep her from having them. A sly grin spread across his face as his fingers touched the cool metal of the cuffs. He heard a muttered "Fuck me" come from Emma and felt her grip around his neck shift. She wrestled her arm free of his grip and shoved his head forward into the floor beneath them. It was enough to faze him as she pushed off of his back and grabbed the cuffs from his grip. Will was quickly pushing himself off the ground and this time ran for the door behind him. Emma took in one last breath and rushed after him, out into the busy streets of New York, chasing after Will. Will had managed to bounce between the locals, sliding his way through the crowd with ease as Emma followed behind, being slowed by the people that never seemed to stop coming.

Emma darted forward knowing she couldn't let Will get away, she might never find him again despite her luck at finding him the first time. She wondered if she'd been figured out at first, given the way things had played out. How had he known?

Emma didn't have time to question much, her eyes never leaving the retreating figure in front of her. She had to catch up somehow. She saw Will turn down an alleyway and managed to follow him. Catching up to him, paused at a brick wall, pushing into the bricks. Emma stopped, wondering what he was doing, and momentarily frozen in shock as Will continued on forward, through the wall. Was that even possible?

Will looked back at her, a cocky smile splayed across his features and continued pushing through the wall as it filled in around him. Emma overcame her fear and managed to slide in behind him. She continued rushing, but stopped as she felt a pair of strong hands around her arms. She looked around her for the first time, taking in her surroundings now that she could no longer continue blindly on in search of Will. He was nowhere to be seen, but the muscular forms holding her looked like guards of some sort. Their dress was entirely unfamiliar to her, and they drug her forward. "Our Queen won't be liking this," one chided as he led the small group towards a doorway.