I don't own any characters from Once Upon a Time.

Thank you so much to everyone who read/favorited/followed my story. Reviews are very much appreciated!

The inspiration for the character of Eli Kincade came from Steven Seagal's role in the "True Justice" series. (I don't own any characters from that show either) (-:)

Chapter 9

The day after the bank robbery, a phone call from Emma almost sent Regina over the edge. The news was worse than she could ever imagine. A special team of Boston PD detectives was coming to Storybrooke to investigate the crime.

She walked into Mr. Gold's pawn shop and locked the door behind her.

"Gold," she called, "where are you?"

He came out to meet her from the back of shop.

"And what can I do for you today, Regina?" he asked in his usually sarcastic tone of voice.

"Have you heard that our town is about to be invaded by the police?"

"With Mrs. Lucas running around airing out her guestrooms at Granny's Inn and everyone in town talking about it, it's hard not to hear."

"Then how can you be so calm?"

"What else is there to do, Regina?" he answered, "We simply need to get these detectives in and out of town as soon as possible. Everyone needs to answer their questions, keep a low profile, and not make them suspicious of anything. They will see that no one in town knows anything about these criminals and leave."

"Why did I come here thinking I was going to hear something I didn't already know?" But for once she walked out of the shop door without almost breaking his little bell.

When his contact at city hall called to say that two men just walked out of the sheriff's office, Gold was certain their next stop would be the inn. He walked out of the shop and made his way over to a table in the back of Granny's diner. From this table he had a perfect view of the front desk. As he predicted, a black SUV drove up and parked across the street from the diner. A young man in his mid twenties got out of the driver's seat. Tall, athletic, with a full head of blond hair, he looked ready and willing to take on any job no matter how difficult. But it was the man getting out of the passenger side who disturbed Gold. Obviously the senior of the two, this man looked to be somewhere in his late forty's with slightly graying hair, a little over six feet tall, and a muscular body that still looked like it could chase down and get the better of any criminal in a fist fight. More than his physical appearance, it was the look in this man's eyes that worried Gold. His eyes seemed to look right through whoever stood in front of him, reading their thoughts, judging their character. He looked like a man who had managed to get out alive from places few people ever went in this world and when they met in the next few days, as they were bound to do, Gold did not want this man to recognize a kindred spirit.

Granny Lucas was welcoming the two detectives and Gold listened in on snatches of their conversation.

"I am Detective Steve Bowen", he heard the younger man introduce himself as she handed him a room key, "and this is detective Eli Kincade."

"Your rooms are all ready, just up the stairs and to your right."

"Thank you very much," he heard the two men as they disappeared upstairs.

He knew Leena was staying in a room down the hall to the left and something about her being in such close proximity to Eli Kincade disturbed him. After calling in a favor from the cook at Granny's Diner, he just happened to be having dinner, seated in a booth directly behind the detectives the next evening.

"I don't think there is much more for us to investigate here, Eli", he heard the younger detective's voice. "Both bank robbers are in jail. The Gold woman shot the second one in self-defense. As strange or lucky as that may be what else is there for us to do except close the case."

"That's just it, Steve", the older detective put down the water glass he held in his hand. "These bastards robbed two banks in Boston and vanished without a trace. They came to this town thinking that robbing a bank in "Mom and Pop Smallville, USA" should be a piece of cake after the big city, right? But they were wrong. They were wrong because a woman decided to go Robocop, took down an armed gunman with her bare hands, and shot the other one with a gun she just happened to have in her coat pocket."

Gold got through the various retellings of the bank robbery by imagining that the stories were exaggerated. Hearing the police detective's description almost made him feel dizzy from knowing how much danger Lee had actually faced.

"She is a karate instructor and she has a private investigator's license to carry that gun. She was lucky."

"She wasn't lucky Steve." For a second Kincade's voice sounded louder but he quickly brought it back down to almost a whisper. "You saw the bank security tape. Those weren't karate moves she used on the first gunman. That was hand-to-hand combat, straight navy seal. Where would she learn how to fight like that? And that's not all. Did you see her eyes when she stood up and started walking toward the guy? Nothing to lose, nothing to live for, that's a professional, Steve. That's who I used to work with. "

"We could do a background check."

"Already did. Apparently she was born and lived in this town all her life. I am just waiting for a call from the top office telling us to drop the whole thing."

"You think she is working for the government, that she is some kind of agent?"

"I don't know. If she isn't, she should be. I'd love to get her together with some of my former contacts, if she wants the job."

"She did say her marriage fell apart recently and that's why she rented a room here now. Maybe you should talk to her off the record."

"Maybe." was Kincade's only response before Ruby brought their check to the table and Bowen got up to pay and then walked to his room upstairs.

It was then that Gold saw Lee coming down. She smiled politely at Bowen and would have turned and seen Gold sitting in the side booth had her attention not been caught by Kincade's greeting.

"Ah, Ms. Gold, just the person I wanted to see?" Lee came up and took Bowen's seat in the same booth he just shared with Kincade.

"Do I need a lawyer for this conversation, detective. In that case my husband just happens to be one?" Was Lee's arch reply.

"No, Ms. Gold. I am not here to arrest you. I am here to simply discuss a few things I found out during the course of my investigation." A few booths away, Gold sat stock still trying to hear the conversation in the quiet diner.

"And what exactly did you find out detective?" It was then that Gold noticed the similarities between Lee's and Kincade's body language. They looked like sparring partners circling each other, trying to read each other's eyes, find out exactly what cards the other was holding.

"You run a fighting ring, Ms. Gold, with a little illegal betting on the side to make it interesting," was Kincade's next parry.

"I am sure I don't know what you mean, detective. I am a karate instructor. That's all." Gold heard Lee answer.

"Like I said, Ms. Gold, I am not here to arrest you or press charges. I do want to give you one bit of advice that I learned a long time ago."

"And what is that detective", In Lee's voice, Gold could hear how much she was enjoying this encounter.

"A bored fighter is a dangerous fighter, Ms. Gold. They are dangerous to others but even more so they are dangerous to themselves. They take risks without thinking of the costs or consequences of their actions, they put themselves in unnecessary danger, and they very often get killed, Ms. Gold. And that would be a waste, especially when I can offer you such useful and interesting work."

"Detective Kincade," Lee leaned back in her seat. "I am very flattered but I don't think being a police officer is the job for me."

"I am not talking about joining the police force, Ms. Gold. What I am offering is much more off the books, more freelance in nature, and would provide more opportunity for the use of your very formidable fighting skills. If you are ever interested, please call me." Kincaid stood up and handed Lee his card.

"Thank you detective. I promise to consider your offer." Gold heard Lee say as Kincaid inclined his head toward the woman and walked away up the stairs to his room. With a bemused expression on her face, Lee walked out the front door and drove away.

That night, the detectives' conversation kept playing over in his mind. Only now did he understand exactly how highly her skills were valued in this world. Eli Kinkade or the men who came from out of town to fight in her karate studio would be only too glad to offer her any number of opportunities for dangerous and exciting work. If that work was wrapped in a mantle of patriotism and honor of protecting one's country, would she be able to resist such a siren song. Tomorrow, he had to talk to her. He had to make sure she knew the consequences of stepping over the town line. He had to try and make her stay because, even if she didn't come back to him, he would do anything to keep from losing her completely.