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

Thank you so much to everyone who read/favorited/followed my story.

I am curious if anyone can guess from which movie some content in this chapter is taken. Hint: It's a movie from 2012 in which the actor who plays Neal had a small supporting role. (I don't own any characters from this movie either)

As always, I am keeping my fingers crossed for some more reviews. (-:)

Chapter 14

A silver BMW skidded to a halt in front on Neal, a large man leaped out, and almost threw him in the back seat. As the car took off again with tires squealing, a nondescript sedan came to a stop by Lee's side. A man she knew well from the fights in her karate studio leaned over to the passenger side window.

"If you want your boy back you better get in now," Lee recognized the man she knew only as Derek, one of the most lethal fighters she had ever come across. Without a second thought she jumped into the car. By the time Emma reached them, they had already driven off in pursuit.

"Derek, what are you doing here?" Lee turned to the driver.

"I could ask you the same thing but we don't have much time so I'll give you a general outline. Your boy, Neal, got himself involved with some pretty nasty people. People who stepped on some pretty big toes when they started working this territory. So now the two in that car with Neal have a contract out on them and I am working to collect the payment."

She knew he was one of the most dangerous people she had ever met. The best she could do when they fought together was to have a tie called. The rock hard muscles hidden beneath his shirt were nothing compared to the look in his eyes that long ago told her what he was capable of. The man was an expert mercenary soldier who knew how to kill quickly and efficiently.

"There is a Glock under the seat. Take it, you'll need it." Lee pulled out the sleek, silver weapon and held it. She was not proud of the fact that she liked the way the gun fit in her hand, the way her fingers slid over the surface gliding smoothly into every curve and crevice. The feeling was not unlike one she came to know while holding a sword in the old world.

"You better finish making love to that thing before we get there." Derek's voice pulled her away from admiring the weapon. "Now, the two in there may not go down easy but don't have any doubt that they will go down. Stay behind me and you should be all right. These boys aren't joking in there. The younger one is an expert shooter and I mean military weapons, machine guns, rifles, that type of thing. If things start to get rough, you shoot and you shoot to kill. No trick shots, no second thoughts, got it? I can trust you not to go squeamish on me, right? "

"I'll try not to get the vapors and faint Derek, thanks for the vote of confidence." Lee knew that this was the response he expected from her. With a smirk he slowed the car and brought it to a stop in what looked like an abandoned parking lot.

"We are stopping here?"

"Oh, yeah, I know where these boys hang out."

"Mind telling me what they've done?"

"They decided to move in and start underbidding building contracts. Well, the people they were taking the contracts away from are not the kind of people you want to cross. Oh, don't worry", he saw the surprised look she gave him, "these boys are far from innocent. They were warned and they still decided to sniper shoot five people to cover up the murder of one woman who refused to sell them her construction company and then pinned the whole thing on some guy they knew."

When they entered some sort of underground tunnel, Derek signaled for Lee to be quiet. They stepped as softly and as quickly as they could until they heard voices ahead of them.

"I had to make a decision," they heard Neal say.

"It was the wrong one," the older of the two men replied.

"Hey, wait a minute, we can work this out." This time there was raw fear and desperation in Neal's voice. The older man sat in a chair. The younger of the two stood facing Neal with a machine gun cradled in his arms.

Derek lifted his weapon, trying for a clean, quick shot. Lee stood by his side, weapon raised in her hands. And then everything seemed to start moving in slow motion. The two men must have heard a noise because they turned toward Derek. The older man reached down for the rifle lying by his side and the younger one reached for his own weapon. Lee saw the motion of his hands with an expert eye of someone used to watching her opponent and predicting where their sword would swing next. She knew without a doubt that the man planned to release a shower of bullets that would kill her, Derek, and Neal in a matter of seconds. Their weapons fired almost at the same time. Derek shot the older man in the chest and her bullet left a bleeding hole in the younger man's forehead. She saw Neal fall and roll on the ground to get away from the shooting. She didn't know she still held the gun in her hand until Derek gently touched her arm.

"Hey there, are you OK. That was a great job." She turned to face him even as her eyes began to glaze over.

"Ok, Ok," He gently sat her down with her back propped up against a wall. "I know your first one can be difficult but you've got to listen to me now," Derek's voice seemed like it was coming from a distance. "I told you there was a contract out on both of these men. One way or another they were going to end up dead. I didn't come here for half that contract pay."

When she sensed Neal come over and kneel down beside her, her eyes started to regain focus.

"Now," Derek continued speaking, "here is the deal. Normally, I would clean up all the loose ends," his cold, pale eyes looked directly at Neal, "sort of like a bonus to the people I work for. But seeing as how you probably want your boy alive, I'll let him leave with you instead of offering you part of the contract money."

Lee got up and Neal stood up with her.

"Thank you, Derek," She handed the gun back to him and watched him wipe the finger prints off every inch of the weapon.

"One more thing," Derek called out after them. "Get your boy out of town for a while Lee, just until everything quiets down. Sorry I can't offer you a ride back but I got some cleaning up to do and some phone calls to make."

"Will do", were her last words to Derek as she and Neal started to walk back the way they had come.