a/n: I want to take this time out to thank you guys for reading and favoriting this story. I know I have been here for years, but I have been battling depression for the past few years, It explains my sporadic updating... and I have to say it also excuses it for sure... In this state of mind, I require quite a bit of cheerleading, not only the good job kind but the kind that makes me think about the characters I am sharing with you. So please keep it up y'all are practically saving my writing life. There was never a depression I couldn't write myself out of til this one. This one got me and buried my writing. It is justifiable, but I shouldn't wallow. So thank you. - S.K.

Trust Me

Blaize entered the Apple store a little late. Emma noted the tardy and knew something was up. Mal rushed up to Emma and pulled her aside. "You can't trust her."

Emma was about to speak when Marco walked up to them. "Emma. Malory."

"Hey Marco," They both said.

"How's customer service training?" Marco asked.

Emma and Mal looked at the man. and humored him to keep their cover. But as soon as the man left them The older blonde's gaze burned into The young genius. "I don't want you to have any more private meetings with Regina."

"Um, is there... is there a problem?" Emma asked, confused.

"No problems, only solutions."

She got a text and Emma glanced down at her apple watch.

Regina: Meet me at the Cheesecake Factory.

Emma's eyes flashed back to Mal, and she looked over to Ruby who looked super bored. "Hey, Rubes…. Care to do some role-playing with Mal here?"

Mal's brows furrowed and scrutinized the younger woman. "Sure I'm game."

"Yep, you heard Marco, we need to work on your customer service skills, you should take the time and role-play with Ruby here," Emma said, walking toward the glass doors. "I'm going on a coffee run."

"Sure Ems," Ruby asserted, turning to the older blonde. "Got it from here."

Emma ran as fast as she could to the Cheesecake factory and looked around for Regina on the floor. She finished serving a couple and Emma headed toward her pretend girlfriend. "there you go." Regina said and smiled at Emma with a pretty blush. She then pulled her to the back break room. "so, Emma, no private meetings with Blaize today."

Emma sighed. "What? What is it with you guys?"

"Did she tell you the same thing?" Regina asked and sighed "Right, of course, she did".

"Hold on a second. Is something wrong?" Emma asked concerned.

"The doctor from last night-" Regina paused, reaching into her locker for the detonator. "He was killed in an explosion soon after he left us."

"Wha-what? The doctor who was supposed to fix me?"

She pulled the device and showed Emma."Tell me what this is."

"A…" Emma began and the images flooded her head telling her that indeed this thing was dangerous. "a nasty... NSA incinerator. Special issue designed to eliminate all biological traces." She looked at Regina in a panic. "That's what killed the doctor?"

"And guess who works for the NSA?" Regina said with a quirk on her brow.

" Why…" Emma asked incredulously. "why, why would Blaize…"

"She's a killer, Emma. It's what she does for a living." Regina answered adjusting her vest and the ponytail she has to wear while she serves. "She tried to kill us, and she'll probably try to do it again. Maybe it was ordered. Maybe she didn't like the way Whale looked at her."

"Oh, that's nice," Emma said, not sure if she could keep standing. "I feel much better now, Regina. What am I supposed to do?"

"You go back in there and you pretend like you know nothing," Regina said taking hold of the blonde's shoulders and shaking her. "Go. You can do that, Emma."

" I know nothing. I know nothing, I... got it" She said walking back toward the apple store trying to convince herself she wasn't completely terrified.

"All right, so I'm gonna try again. Ready?" Ruby was saying as Emma walked back into the Apple store. "Does Apple Music have any Ramones? No, don't say no. It's not gonna…" By this time Mal was distracted by the other blonde. She watched as the blonde looked skittish and was no longer paying attention to the annoying brunette. "listen, okay. Uh, excuse me, Mal. How are you doing? Does Apple Music have the Ramones here, dude? Don't tell me it doesn't have any".

Mal stood there stoically watching as Emma came back to them. She watched as the Blonde schooled her features back to something normal. "Blaize, the... the correct response is let's do a search. If the Ramones is not on our platform, it is likely that Apple does not have the rights to the Ramones."

"Ramones, man, Ramones" Ruby insisted.. "'Cause I love Ramones... ow!"

The last was uttered as Blaise pushed Ruby away and rushed Emma grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to the back room.

"That's a "no" on the Ramones, I guess."

"Ow Mal, Stop pushing…" Emma stated.

"What did Regina tell you?" Emma looked at the older blonde surprised. "I know you talked to her. It's what I do for a living."

Emma said nothing, and Mal walked out of the store angrily.

"There you go," Regina stated to one of her patrons. After Emma had left, the lunch rush began and she was busy. However this day there was a teenage boy gawking at her and she was a little irritated. "Thanks. Bye," she said and started to walk away

"I love you," the kid said and she stopped short. Then she spotted an angry Mal walking into the Cheesecake Factory. She looked around and ran out of the back of the restaurant.

Mal followed, "What did you tell Emma?"

"That you're a cold-blooded killer," Regina answered, turning back to face her old friend. She was holding a bucket in her hands. It had hot water in it. She had grabbed it on the way out of the restaurant. "Was I lying? "

" No," Mal answered with a shrug coming closer. ." The way I figure it, the only two people that knew the doctor was coming are right here. Since I didn't cap him, you're under arrest.".

Retina tossed the bucket of water at Mal before she could draw her weapon. Then flipped onto the lid of the dumpster. Then threw herself at the older woman to knock the gun out of her hands.

Blaize blocked Regina's Next attack with the bucket and threw the thing at the brunette's head, but she ducked and pushed Mal back into the dumpster. Blaize finds a rod next to the dumpster and swings it at Regina who expertly dodged it.

The brunette kicked the rod out of the older woman's hands, just as the kid from the restaurant and his friends rounded the corner and took a video of the fight. "Quick, take a pic. She's so hot." The kid said. Regina looked at the kids and when she turned back to her opponent she was long gone. " Did you get it? Come on. Let's go put it on tiktok."

At the Apple store, Emma watched out of the window waiting to spot Mal again. She wondered where she'd gone in such a hurry. "Swan,"

Emma looked over at the voice. "Hey Al," she acknowledged.

"Uh, code zebra. MacOS install at a factory off Ventura. 142 Euclid" The south Asian man stated.

"Uh... I'm sorry" Emma asked, a little perturbed. . "Why-why can't you and Leroy go?"

"MacOS Installs?" Aladdin asked. "We're, uh, we're creative Media guys, Emma. We're... we're IT artists."

"Okay. Yeah. Uh... fine, whatever." Emma stated glad to be leaving the watchful eye of Mal and Regina. "I'll be back in half an hour. And, uh, just tell Blaize that I'm on my cell."

" You tell her. I'm not your servant." Aladdin sassed. Emma looked at him. One of the few people that she could intimidate. "Okay, you know what... no, no, I mean, I'm gonna tell her. I just, you know, I mean, in general, I don't always…" Emma continued to watch the man and her eyebrow quirked. "absolutely, I'm going to... right now, should I tell her?"

Emma stood and folded her arms across her chest, and the man left to go find the older blonde. She knew he wasn't going to find her, but that was a little fun when she has been feeling a bit too powerless as of late.

She shook her head, grabbed her kit, and rushed out to the company car. The drive was relaxing, that is until Emma arrived at her destination. There was no warehouse on Euclid. The blonde looked around, a big black SUV pulled up to her and her phone rang. Emma frowned and saw Mal's number flash. She picked up. "hello?"

"Pull over," Blaize's voice came through the other side of the line. Emma looked over at the black SUV and saw the blonde behind the wheel.

"Well, I can't pull over. I have a home install at, uh…"

"142 Euclid?" The older woman stated. "Guess who called that in?"

Emma panicked, "Oh, my god. It was you! You killed the doctor, and now you're here to k!ll me!" the intersect decided she was going to outrun this woman. And drove off.

"Shit " Mal said and was in hot pursuit. Mal side-swiped the Apple mobile and ran Emma off the road.

Emma gets out of the car angrily. "Are you out of your mind?" Emma yelled. "What... what…" Then she noticed Mal's bruised face. "what... what happened to you?"

"Your girlfriend happened"

"What, who, Regina?"

"She's a rogue, Emma. She killed the doctor, then she tried to kill me." Mal stated, touching her bruised lip.

"Is she okay?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I'm golden. Thanks for asking." Mal said with a roll of her eyes.

"No, no, no, why should I believe you?" Emma said, stepping away from Mal. "She showed me the bomb. She said you did it."

"NSA incinerator, right?" Mal stated. "It's a nice explosive easily purchased on the black market." The older blonde said. She pleaded with her charge. She really needed Emma to cooperate right now. "What do you really know about Regina, Emma, huh? Think. She's CIA. She worked with Daniel. He was rogue. Maybe she is, too. She found you in L.A., But she couldn't grab you because I was around. So she had to wait for her chance. Dr. Whale screwed that up. He could pull those secrets out of your head, then she loses the intersect, so she had to act fast."

Emma's iPhone rang and it was Regina. Before Emma could answer, Mal took the phone and turned it off. "What?"

"let's go. Come on." Mal said and led Emma to her SUV, abandoning the Apple Mobile. Another phone began to ring. "Thought I turned that off"

"Well, it's not me. Is it yours?"

"no."

The two of them look around the car trying to find the ringing. Emma sees it. "NSA incinerator! Run"

Mal puts the car in park and the two blondes jump out of the vehicle trying to avoid the explosion. They watched for a few seconds, and there was nothing. The two breathed a sigh of relief and began to move back to the SUV when… BOOOM!

The two were thrown backward. Blaize shook her head, as her hearing was affected. "Blaize! Blaize!" Emma shouted.

"Still think it was me?"

"Why would Regina do this?" Emma stated shaking her head.

"She's cleaning the operation," Mal said absently.

"Cleaning?" The younger woman looked at the agent

"Eliminating everyone she's come in contact with." At those words, Emma remembered the dinner planned that night. " You know where she is?"

"We have to get back to my house. She's having dinner with us tonight."

"No, kid," Mal said, picking up her phone. "you're on the next plane to Washington."

"But my sister…" the younger blonde says frantically.

"doesn't have a supercomputer in her noggin," Mal answered, not noticing Emma moving backward. "You're the priority." As the call goes through Blaize turns away from her charge. Emma turned and Ran toward the Apple Mobile. "It's Blaize. Put me through to general... hey! Hey!"

Emma was behind the wheel of the Apple mobile and raced home.