Smother ━━ Killian Jones [Discontinued]

twenty three; a chase through new york

     "She's right, Rumple." agreed Sage, who was stuffing her hands into her coat pockets. "When I was on the run from Cora and I had to stayed at motels, I payed extra for my name not to be shared."

     Confidently, Emma reached over and pressed the white buzzer, "U.P.S. package for four-oh-seven."

     The person on the other end didn't responded, but instead, hanged up. All was confusingly silent, until Henry spoke up, "Maybe you should have said FedEx."

     "I doubt some people discriminate when it comes to mailing services." Sage muttered, blankly staring at the apartment intercom.

     Suddenly, a loud rattling came from outside, specifically coming from the metal fire escape that twisted around the side of the apartment building. The four rushed outside and onto the rain-drenched sidewalk, only to see a man in a black hoodie anxiously climbing down the fireplace.

     "That favor you owe me – this is it. Get him to talk to me." Gold was beginning to panic at this point, his only chance to reconcile with his son was slipping from his bony fingers. He needed Sage and Emma to fulfill their end of their agreement. He glanced down at his crippled leg, eyes wide. "I... I can't run."

     Sage gulped, glancing between her former boss and the hood-covered man that was breaking into a frantic run. Her and Emma shared a brief nodded, before the brunette exclaimed: "Watch Henry! We'll be right back!"

     With that, both woman began running after the man with all of their might. While the man did get a faster head start, Sage and Emma were quickly catching up. Either they were extremely fast runner or the man was losing energy and getting slower. Sage, by instinct, not nature, was always a fast runner; she had learnt how to run that fast when she was running from the Queen's knights chasing after her, when she was a teenager and stealing from street markets, and when she was running from all the problems appearing in her life.

     Emma and Sage ran across busy streets (they were beyond lucky they didn't get run over), and was still able to keep the man in eye-view. Both of them jumped over a chain fence in order to follow the man, determined to catch him and bring him to Gold. Sage was internally grateful she had decided to wear her converse as opposed to Emma, who was wearing boots with small heels on them.

     After a minute, the man was sprinting down a back alley. Both girls stilled, finding themselves at a crossroads. If they went down a narrow alleyway, that cut through two buildings, they would reach him quicker. So, that's one they did. Both woman ran down the alley― Emma in front of Sage. Unfortunately, Emma forcefully collided into the man, both of them sliding onto the wet, cobble pathway. Sage, unable to stop herself in time, tumbled into Emma as the blonde was falling down.

     The brunette flipped a few times, before roughly landing on the road, her body sliding slightly across the water-moist. She winced loudly, a burning sensation running up her right leg. When she looked down, her narrowed eyes landed on the large, bloody gash that was residing on her knee. The fall was apparently so strong it had cut through the denim fabric of Sage's skinny jeans.

     "Neal?"

     Sage's head shot up at the sound of Emma's voice, genuine shock dripping off that single word. Neal? Who the hell was Neal? The brunette followed her friend's eyes and saw that they were locked onto the mysterious man, whose face they could now clearly see. The man, who looked equally as surprised as Emma's was, gave a strained smile. "Emma?"