A/N

Just to let you all know that this fic will be around 20 chapters long, depending on how long I wanna draw some things out.

Thanks again for your reviews and I'm glad some of you are scared!

Enjoy.

Chapter 8 "Venustus"

Emma glared at the brunette before she swiftly pulled a gun, which she had taken from Regina's drawer, "You have five minutes to tell me who you really are and what this message means or I will shoot you"

The blonde's hand shook as she pointed the gun in Regina's direction. Regina felt her whole body still, unable to move.

In all her years of being a homicide detective, this was the first time anyone had pointed a gun at her. She had no idea how to react, especially as it was Emma holding the gun up, threatening to kill her. Regina slowly lifted her hands, surrendering to the blonde.

"I'm not someone you want to shoot, Emma" Regina pleaded, urging Emma to lower the gun. "I promise you, this was only for your safety."

"Just tell me who you are!" Emma practically screamed, her finger shaking against the trigger.

Regina winced the moment Emma raised her voice, becoming more afraid by the minute. She was trained for these kinds of situations. She knew how to handle this, how to talk people down from shooting her. But this was Emma, the woman she had just spent the night with.

"My name IS Regina Mills but" The brunette started as she took a step closer to the blonde, her hands began to shake furiously as did her voice, "I'm a homicide detective, I work within the Boston police department."

Emma's head tilted, taking in this new information. She kept the gun up, her arms becoming heavier as she kept her stance. "Keep going."

Regina took a deep breath and offered a nod of her head, "I was asked to come here to protect you from someone."

"Who?" Emma bit back.

"I'm not supposed to tell you—" The brunette faltered, "We were asked to make sure you never found out about any of this, for your own benefit."

"Who are "The Dark Ones" and why are they in Storybrooke?" Emma ignored Regina's previous statement, hoping to get answers from the brunette. "Don't say that you aren't gonna tell me because I will force you to."

"You won't shoot me, Emma" Regina replied, her voice shaky. She took another step closer to Emma, anxiously awaiting a response from the blonde. "Look at me, please" The brunette pleaded with Emma.

Emma caught Regina's gaze, seeing the distress in her eyes. After a moment of challenging stares, the blonde slowly lowered the gun. She set it aside on the desk and then looked back towards Regina before pulling the belt of her robe tighter. Regina eased at once.

"Tell me who I need to be protected from."

"If I tell you, I will be taken off of this case and I can't have that." Regina replied, with urgency

The blonde shook her head. "If you don't tell me the truth, I will walk out of that door and I will never speak to you ever again."

Both women kept their eyes locked on one another. Regina exhaled, feeling completely beaten. She slumped down onto the plush sofa by her feet. Emma's eyes followed the brunette's and she decided to take comfort on the chair behind Regina's desk.

"It started way back in 2012.."

The sun began to pour through the shades in Regina's office.

Emma made her way towards Regina, a cup of warm, black coffee in her hand. The brunette's eyes lit up upon seeing the dark liquid. "That is exactly what I need." The blonde smiled and took a seat next to the brunette.

Regina had spent the last three hours telling Emma everything she knew about the murders and why Emma was under protection. She told her about each murder, in detail and what she knew about the murderers. Emma had taken it all quite well, except for the part where Regina had to explain that her other friends back in London, had been killed.

That part shook Emma.

But she was quick to understand why Regina had hidden everything from her. Even though it had been her job to ensure the blonde never found out, Regina felt more at ease now that the blonde knew everything about the case.

"This is insane." The blonde stated, her eyes fixed on the steaming hot cup of coffee in Regina's hands. "It's like I'm in a movie or something."

"Trust me, this isn't a movie." Regina replied before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Mostly, I'm sorry that you had to pretend to be Mayor"

Both women laughed, Regina appreciated the humor. The fact that Emma had held a gun up to her only three hours ago, had somehow completely slipped her mind. Regina set her coffee cup down on the small table beside the sofa and shifted to fold her legs into a basket. She leaned closer to Emma, offering a shy smile. "You're taking this well."

"Yeah, right now I am." Emma joked before gesturing towards the sheet of paper that had caused all of this chaos, "I'm just shocked that this is happening to me, of all people."

"I can't imagine what you're thinking right now."

Emma's eyes darted up to the brunette. Regina was fiddling with her fingers nervously. The blonde set her own cup of coffee down and nudged the brunette. "How do we get them?"

"Them?"

"How do we find the people who are trying to find me?"

Regina smirked and shook her head, admiring Emma's bravery. "Emma, we have been tracking these people for over two years and still haven't found them. We have an inside source but even he can't tell us where these people are based."

"So, we'll go find them!" Emma snapped. The brunette winced, taken aback by the blonde's tone of voice. Emma took a deep breath and then exhaled, "Sorry, I think this is all just starting to sink in."

"It's okay." Regina replied. She stood up from the sofa and headed over towards her desk. "We have three profiles."

Emma followed the brunette, standing behind her as Regina logged onto her computer. The infamous message popped up once more, suddenly sparking Emma's memory.

"My father had a message like this on his laptop." The blonde gestured towards the message from Venustus on the computer screen.

Regina's brows furrowed in confusion, she looked over her shoulder. "That's not possible, only certain people have access to these messages and transmissions."

Emma eyes shut for a brief moment, trying to figure it out. She shook her head and offered a shrug of her shoulder, "Whatever, just show me these profiles"

None of the profiles had images. There was a fake name, a brief description and all tracking points that had been tracked and recorded. Regina showed Emma the first profile, to which Emma responded with a quick "Nope"

Regina brought up the second profile and read it aloud. "Male, early 30's, scruffy-looking, had been referred to as "The Captain" …" Regina continued, while Emma read over the profile on her own, she checked out the last tracked points.

"Wait!" Emma nudged Regina's shoulder, urging her to stop. "This says that this man was last tracked in London in 2013."

"Yes.."

"Regina! I know who this guy is!"

The brunette didn't seem phased, she shifted to turn fully towards Emma. "That's not possible, Emma" She reached out to take the blonde's hands, understanding that she was desperate for information. "We had a whole team of investigators and detectives looking at this and no one could come up with anything."

"Well none of those investigators or detectives were living next door to him!"

Regina leaned forward, her head tilted. "What?"

"This description, this guy sounds exactly like the creepy dude who lived next door to us." Emma gestured towards the profile on the screen and re-read it aloud before she nodded her head frantically. "That's him! I know who he is!"

"Emma, are you really sure about this?" Regina asked, "We have been looking for so long, there's every chance that this isn't the guy you're talking about."

"Regina." The blonde assured. "It's the guy."

The brunette chewed her lip nervously before she turned back toward the computer screen. "Okay, so how do we find this mystery man without a name?"

"Easy. I have a name." Emma leaned over Regina and began typing a name into the police database.

Both women watched as the computer got to work, searching through thousands of profiles. Emma stood by the brunette whose eyes were fixed on the screen.

Suddenly, a profile popped up and Emma's breath hitched. "That's him."

Regina's eyes were wide with disbelief. She read over the description and nodded. "That's him." She bit down on her lip and zoomed into his profile picture. "We have you now, Killian Jones."

It was around noon before both women had dressed themselves and eventually made it outside after spending the whole morning playing detective, well Emma played detective. Emma had convinced Regina that she was fine, telling the brunette that she wasn't the least bit afraid and hiding out would only drive her crazy. She explained to Regina that since all of the murders had taken place in a secluded setting, as long as she wasn't alone, she'd be perfectly fine. Regina agreed with that part.

They strolled along Mifflin street, side by side. Their hands would touch every so often but neither woman had plucked up the courage to actually link them.

"My parents don't know about any of this, do they?" Emma asked, her eyes following the trail of bird feet prints in the snow on the ground.

"No, they don't." Regina replied, her eyes fixed on the path in front. Emma offered a shrug of her shoulders and carried on walking beside the brunette.

They reached the pier a half hour later. Emma inhaled the fresh breeze and instantly felt at ease. Regina didn't find the pier to be all that exciting, especially with the smell of fish and crabs coming from the harbour.

"You'll get used to the smells, I promise" Emma assured, a smile gracing her lips. She watched as Regina's face screwed up in disgust, the smell of tuna filling her nostrils.

"I'm sure I will."

Both women took a seat on the bench, looking out onto the water. Emma glanced over to the brunette beside her and sighed. "I can't believe I almost shot you this morning."

Regina's eyes narrowed in Emma's direction. "You wouldn't have."

"I was just so terrified."

The brunette nodded, understanding Emma's actions completely. She reached over and took Emma's hand into her own. "I meant what I said." Regina looked up at the blonde, her eyes searching Emma's. "I will protect you, at all costs."

Emma gave a simple nod and a smile before she shifted to rest her head against the brunette's shoulder.

The room was almost pitch black, the only light coming from the corner of the room. The place was eerily quiet. He had been searching for this exact room, this particular person. They were the only thing keeping him from taking what was rightfully his. He paced the room and headed over towards the light source. It was a laptop, a message lit up the screen.

PROTECT EMMA SWAN AT ALL COSTS.

-VENUSTUS

He scoffed as he read that name over, then spat on the keypad.

"That's not a very nice way to treat my equipment."

Came a voice from behind. He spun around on his heels and pulled a pocket knife from his jacket pocket. He brought a hand up to his eyes, rubbing and smudging eyeliner as he attempted to make out the form before him. "Who are you?"

"The one person you thought you'd never find." The voice replied, filled with confidence. "You were right, considering I found you first."

He lunged forward, his arm swung out to take out whoever stood in front of him. There was silence for a moment. He wanted to believe that he had defeated his enemy but it was never that easy.

A chuckle filled the room, causing him to jump back. He held the knife out, preparing for his battle. "I know who you are." He cried out, listening for any sound of movement. "You can hide behind your ridiculous name, But I know who you really are." He began to back up towards the light, still glowing in the corner. "Why don't we discuss your daughter, Venustus?"

A figure stepped out of the shadows. "I'd rather kill you first, Killian."