A/N: To warn everyone- there is violence in this chapter.

Disclaimer: All aspects of Once Upon A Time belong to ABC and the show's creators.

There was an unusual amount of commotion at the police station when Emma arrived for her shift Wednesday afternoon. A few cops ran by her towards the office as a radio went off in the background, signalling a situation. David met her at the door, a bit of panic in his eyes. Emma's heart started to thump and she reached for her gun, waiting for David to debrief her on the situation. David didn't get riled easily, not when he'd spent his first months as a rookie in one of the rougher parts of New York and then had been on the squad here for several years. If David was scared then Emma had good reason to be wary as well.

"Hostage situation." David's voice was sharp and his strides long and fast.

Emma cursed under her breath as she hurried after David to the car. Storybrooke didn't have these kinds of situations. Even the robbery a few weeks ago had been way out of the norm. The detachment wasn't prepared for this kind of action and backup was over forty five minutes away. Emma didn't even have her own bulletproof vest. David flicked on the sirens and they took off, tires nearly squealing as he backed out of the parking space.

"It's over some sort of custody battle. A man took his ex-wife when she arrived home from work and has a gun on her. It was the kid who called 911. He got away because he'd been carrying groceries in after her and saw his father with the gun. As of right now we're the only unit on our way since we were the only scheduled to be on parole when the call came in. Graham's already there, trying to diffuse the situation from outside."

"He's had no luck?"

David shook his head and radioed their ETA to the dispatcher. Cars pulled over in front of them as they hurtled past, travelling towards the residential portion of Storybrooke. They weren't actually that far from Emma's own place. David slammed on the breaks in front of a little two level house where Graham was perched on the deck, megaphone in his hands. The line of Graham's shoulders was stiff and his free hand was clenching against his side, just below where his gun hung. If Graham was that itching to get his gun things were not going well. An ambulance was there as well, parked in the driveway as the paramedics loaded the child up and took him away to be evaluated.

Emma could only imagine what the child was feeling. The whole situation reminded her too much of her own past, even though she'd never been in this kind of caliber of situation before. She understood the fear though. That fear still threatened to cripple her when it reared its ugly head. Emma pushed the memories away before they could steal her focus.

Emma got out of the car, pulling out her gun and clicking off the safety. She held it easily in her hands, pointed downwards but ready to be drawn and fired at a moment's notice. She approached Graham who tilted his head towards her to let her know he had noticed her, never taking his eyes off the door.

"Any response?" Emma asked quietly, eyeing up the house. It was too dark. Too quiet. She couldn't see the man with the gun or the hostage as all the blinds in the front of the house had been drawn. For all Emma knew he could be peering out from behind one of the slats in the closed blinds, watching, gun trained on any one of them. Everything about the situation screamed of a bad ending.

"None. I've asked him to let her go. There's no response at all from him though there was a scream from the woman after I called out so I know they can hear me. I was waiting for backup before trying anything else." Emma nodded and signaled for Graham to try to reach the man again.

"Come out with your hands up or officers will enter the premises."

Two gunshots rang out making Emma flinch backwards in surprise, running into David who had come up directly behind her as she spoke to Graham. Little tufts of smoke came off the house where the man had fired the bullets through the wall at an upwards angle. Warning shots. Graham cursed and set down the megaphone.

"I don't want this to get worse." Graham sounded weary, the stress of the situation wiping him out.

"Then we enter the house," Emma replied simply. This man was not going to hurt his ex-wife, not when Emma was around. Emma knew the damage abuse caused far too well to stand by and watch anyone experience it.

Graham glanced down at her, drawing his own gun. Graham would listen to Emma. Never once in their partnership had she steered him wrong. He was also well aware that she would go in herself, without backup, if he didn't agree. "You ready for a showdown, partner?"

Emma nodded sharply. "David, go around back and see if there's a back door or something you can use to get in. We'll distract him by going through the front. Gun up. Shoot straight. And get that woman out."

Graham gave her a tight lipped smile. "You should have been sheriff."

Emma shrugged. "Too much bureaucracy." She turned back to David. "Be careful. Mary Margaret would have my head if I let anything happen to you." She gave him a little push towards the side of the house before he could respond with anything sappy and break her focus.

She took a step towards the door, Graham following her.

"We're coming in now. Let the hostage go." Graham's voice was nearly as loud as it had been with the megaphone. Both stopped, listening for a response. Emma would give anything for that response not to be gunshots, especially ones that weren't meant as a warning this time.

There was nothing from the people inside. Emma reached forwards and jimmied the door handle. It swung open under her touch. What kind of person creating a hostage situation left the door unlocked? Emma had a feeling this situation hadn't been supposed to go this way, that emotions had run high and the gun had been pulled. That made her nervous. What else could this man be prompted to do in a high stress situation?

Emma and Graham entered the house, guns held aloft, checking the area for signs of the gunman. They entered into a little hallway and cleared it quickly. At the sound of their slow footsteps the woman started to make a whining noise from the adjacent room. There was the sound of skin on skin and then a cry of pain. Emma's fingers tightened around her gun, her knuckles turning white.

Graham stepped into the living room first. Inside, sitting on a tufted chair was a woman, mascara lines streaking down her face from crying silent tears. The man behind her had his shotgun trained to her neck. Sweat poured down his face and his eyes were wild, rolling quickly from Emma to Graham and back again.

"Put the gun down, Sir," Graham commanded, taking another step into the room.

The man shook his head. "Come one step closer and I blow her brains out."

"Put the gun down. I won't ask again," Graham barked. He didn't move closer.

Emma stepped further into the room, coming up next to Graham. She didn't like the idea of him being in front of her in such a volatile situation. "Do what he says and this will all go easier." Emma tried to keep her voice even and authoritative.

"You better listen to her. She has the best shot in the department," David said, entering from behind. The man jumped and whirled, gun pointed at David and away from his wife. David had his raised as well, confident in his stance in the other doorway. With his adrenaline pumping he was ready.

Before Graham or Emma could do anything now that the man's back was turned and his attention diverted, the woman bolted towards them, letting out a little shriek of terror as she stumbled off the chair and away from her ex. The man turned back to his fleeing ex-wife, anger contorting his face.

Emma saw it all coming. Saw the gun being raised and aimed. Saw the wife's back turned as she made for the door.

Emma stepped forwards as the man's finger twitched, positioning herself in front of the hostage. The wife didn't deserve that kind of ending. That's all Emma could think as she braced herself, hoping for a different outcome than the one she predicted. Two bangs echoed through the house as both barrels of the rifle were emptied. Emma felt the impact before she felt the pain. Right below her collar bone.

As she crumpled to the ground she couldn't help but see the red pooling across her beige shirt. She had a tickling feeling in the back of her mind that she should maybe put some pressure on it and keep the blood in but her arm hurt too much to move. So she just lay there on the hardwood floor, the pool growing to a puddle. A few seconds later the blood was all she saw as the liquid soaked into her hair. People yelled above her. Shots were fired from both Graham and David's guns.

David fell to his knees beside her as Graham radioed for help. He kept yelling officer down into the radio on his chest. The sound was too loud for Emma. She groaned, just wanting him to shut his mouth for five seconds. She needed some peace.

David grasped her hand tightly while his other hand pressed against the bleeding wound. A whimper tore itself from Emma's lips at the pressure. She tried to shift away but her vision was going black around the edges, blotting out the red she had focused on earlier.

"Don't you dare give up on me, Emma." David's voice was thick with tears. He squeezed her hand tightly. "You're stronger than this."

But Emma knew she really wasn't. She felt David was just being silly and she didn't appreciate the gesture when she was dying on a floor. Seriously, David, what human was stronger than a bullet? She sighed at the ridiculousness of his statement and her vision went completely black.