"Emma, can you please make sure Robin finishes up the paperwork today. I really don't want to stay until seven this time," Mary Margaret, from accounting, was hanging out around her desk.

"I'll definitely try," Emma rolled her eyes inwardly and she walked away.

The woman did have a point though, the last time Robin had so much paperwork to sign they were at the office well into the night. It ended up being Killian to trick him into signing them by getting him to practice writing with his left hand.

She eyed the second stack of pay checks that he had to sign every Friday and decided to finally grab them.

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Twenty minutes later she left his office even more overwhelmed than when she went in. The paychecks were not her responsibility, but they would blame her if it didn't get done. She suspected that was the reason Killian jumped in for her the year before. He always managed to save her like that.

Her desk chair squeaked as she sat down and Killian raised his head from his desk. His prosthetic was under his desk and he was typing on the computer with one hand. She shrugged and set back to looking at the file on her desk.

Every so often, she'd look back up. Killian's face would grimace every so often and he started fingers around the edges of his prosthetic. The only thing she knew about his injury was that it was a few years ago, it was hard to imagine that it would still cause him pain.

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He came up to her desk an hour later. "Would you mind faxing these for me?" He handed over about ten sheets of stock. Looking up, she noticed he was looking at the ground and switched to eyeing the wall.

"What, broke your arm?" She snickered, but he just shrugged. Standing from the squeaky chair, she started fumbling with the machine. The fax machine was a tad tricky, but usually he'd just use his prosthetic to press the numbers while jamming the paper through. "Everything okay, Kil?" Reaching over, she caught the edge of his blue dress shirt before he could turn away again.

He forced a smile, she can always tell, "Hand's just giving me a day, Swan. Thanks for faxing those." He took his originals back and headed over to his desk where he put his head down for a moment. Robin still hadn't signed the forms.

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"No, I don't know what's bothering him. He is acting weird though. Maybe it's his hand?"

"I wish he would just talk to me for once. The man is so guarded, it' like a prison in his mind."

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"I'm fine."

"Emma said what?"

"No, I'm fine. She should mind her own business."

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David headed into Robin's office around 4:30 and came out twenty minutes later with signed paychecks for her. "Your welcome," he smiled. "I noticed the pirate wasn't coming to your rescue." As he finished distributing the paperwork by last name, he eyed Mary Margaret in the back with what she assumed was longing. It was odd her for to see him with emotions, but the woman blushed.

"Thank you, David." She smiled as he went back to his seat. Still, she was disappointed that Killian hadn't chipped in. Maybe she didn't have the right though. He wasn't he boyfriend, she wasn't even she he was her friend on days like they seemed to be having. Feelings weren't his specialty, but even for him this was a big flop. It had to be his hand, there was no other explanation that made sense.

With five minutes left on the work day, she shut down the computer and packed up her leftover files. Killian glanced up to her, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. She really didn't want to push him.

Most of the office had left by the time she put her coat over her shoulders and grabbed her purse. He was still at his desk when she stood. "Need a ride, Jones?" Usually he biked to work, but she knew if it was his hand it would strain the muscle there.

"I'm fine, Swan." He glanced down at his arm, but back to the computer screen that was slowly shutting down.

Emma put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Kil. Let me take you home, I know your hand's bothering you."

"I think I'll pass on the ride with your fiancé." She raised an eyebrow.

"Just you and me, Neal's out with a friend." Taking him by the arm, she gave a gentle pull and he stood up.

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Killian lived twenty minutes from the office, but she'd never seen his home before. Neal had been pretty upset the first time she had told him Killian had invited her over. It wasn't even anything special, just a get together with some people form the office. Neal had threatened to leave if she went, and eventually she decided that it was better not to rock the boat.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your hand? I'd rather an explanation than the cold shoulder routine." She turned down the radio just a tad, but he took a few minutes to even respond to her. Humming alone to the song, she waited out for his answer.

"It's just pain from the prosthetic."

There seemed to be an obvious solution. "Why don't you just take it off? It'd probably help."

"Swan.." He groaned and turned to look out the dark window.

"Jones, I just don't get it."

"It's my hand, and you can't understand that. Just let it go, I'm not your boyfriend." The silence in the aftermath was one where she could tell he regretted it. It stung. Hard. Almost like a slap to the face. He was her best friend really, no one else in the office was someone she could really get along with. To be honest with herself, she could talk to him about more things than she could with Neal.

"Fine, I'll back off."

They rode the rest of the way in silence until she pulled up to his house.