Regina lingered in the bathroom doorway while Emma watched Henry in the bubble bath she'd drawn up for him. She knew that the blonde was on edge just as she was herself and she couldn't blame her for being scared and for thinking the way she likely still was and would until this whole thing with the Gold's was over and done with.
"Who was it?" Emma asked quietly. "The feds?"
Regina nodded, looking over at the toddler playing with a toy boat in the bath and not paying a speck of attention to either of them. "Yes. As far as anyone else knows, Emma, they're cousins of mine here for a brief visit."
"Cousins?" Emma looked confused. "Is that the cover story?"
"Yes and it's not that much of a stretch. Chapman looks like he could be my brother, my bald-headed brother."
"Oh?"
"He's half Puerto Rican as I am."
"What about the other one?" Emma asked and Regina shrugged slightly since she had only seen him in passing and had only spoken with Chapman. "And they're staying at your house?"
"If we're going to pull this off without Gold suspecting a thing, there really is no other option, is there?" Regina sighed and she shifted against the door frame. "This isn't going to be easy for any of us, Emma, but we have to keep ourselves together if we want this to go off flawlessly."
"Nothing about this is going to be flawless, Regina. You don't have to sugarcoat it for me. I know that once you go after Gold, things are going to get messy."
Regina knew there were many, many risks involved, more so than what she was used to. A lot of people worked for Gold in town and their loyalties were with him, many of which had been forced to work under his rule because of a debt of sorts or out of desperation. Even if they got both Gold's behind bars, there would still be many problems from those working for them.
"Just promise me you won't let anything happen to you."
"I'm more worried about you two," Regina whispered softly and she moved from the doorway and sat on the edge of the tub. "I won't let anything happen to either of you."
She leaned forward and kissed Emma lightly and they both pulled apart as Henry splashed water at them. He was giggling as Regina scooped up a handful of bubbles and blew them towards him and scooped up another handful and blew them towards Emma. It caused Henry to start shrieking in laughter as a glob of bubbles slid down and off the tip of Emma's nose.
Regina joined Henry in laughter and shot up from the edge of the tub as soon as Emma scooped up a large handful of bubbles and aimed at her, winking at the last moment before dumping them on top of Henry's head. Regina shook her head and left them to finish up bath time alone.
A soft knock on the back door sounded just before she walked into the kitchen and she saw Chapman though the window. With a sigh, she unlocked the back door and stepped outside into the warm night, the sun just starting to dip low in the sky.
"Chapman, what can I do for you?"
"Tom," he replied. "It's Tom when we're not working."
"Right," Regina nodded. "We'll have to keep up with our cover," she smiled.
"The reason I'm here is we need to go over a few things regarding the case," he said and he held out the folder she just noticed he was carrying towards her. "This is your copy. This is sensitive information, Regina, and I have reason to believe these photographs are the reason Gold came to you yesterday about doing all that you can to keep us feds out of Storybrooke. I do, however have a way to get him to believe you've followed through in your task."
"How?" Regina asked, intrigued. "He'll already question about you and your partner being related to me seeing as I don't have any male cousins in the family."
"We're a few steps ahead of him, Regina, just like we have been from the beginning. It's no secret that Robert Gold is a master manipulator and very clever, very cunning. He's already sent men after the dummy team we had set up in Portland this very morning. They're the men behind these photographs that were taken late last night," Tom Chapman said, careful to keep his voice low. He tapped on the folder when Regina went to open it. "We need more of this kind of evidence. This alone isn't enough to arrest and charge him."
"Gina!" Henry's voice called out from inside. "Where Gina?"
"Look Tim—"
"Tom."
"We'll discuss the case tomorrow morning, okay? I don't want to talk about this around her son. Robert Gold might be a bad man, but he is that little boy's grandfather and the less he knows about the truth of who his grandfather is, the better."
"Of course. Ahem, I'll leave you and your...partner alone for tonight. Perhaps there can be proper introductions in the morning," Tom said, his face reddening slightly. "Good night, Sheriff."
Regina nodded and slipped back into the house as the agent walked out of the backyard. She locked the door and turned on the back porch light just as Henry came running across the kitchen and wrapped himself around her left leg. Regina barely had the folder safely on the counter before Henry was trying to crawl up into her arms. She picked him up and tickled his bare belly since all he was wearing was a pair of pajama bottoms.
"Henry," Emma said firmly as she stormed into the kitchen carrying the matching top. "It's time for bed, Henry."
"No."
"Now, Henry."
"Why aren't you listening to Mama tonight?" Regina asked and she sat him on top of the counter and took the shirt from Emma. "You know it's important to listen, especially to Mama."
"Okay, Gina," he said with a pout and lifted his arms so Regina could pull his shirt on for him.
"How come you listen to her and not me?" Emma asked as she wrapped her arms around Regina from behind and laid her chin against her shoulder. "You totally like her more, don't you?"
"No, I love you Mama and Gina too."
"No, I think you love me, but you love Gina more," Emma chuckled throatily. "Is it because she calls you Deputy all the time?"
"Yep!"
"And it's because she gave you that hat and the badge too, isn't it?"
"Yep!" Henry grinned and Regina shook her head, laughing lightly. "And Gina beautiful."
"So, you're saying that you don't think Mama is beautiful?" Emma asked, feigning hurt. "My poor, poor heart is breaking into a thousand pieces."
"No, Mama!" Henry laughed and he reached out for her and Regina at the same time. "Beautiful too! Like Gina."
Regina lived for these moments now because they filled her heart with such warmth and so much love, filling a missing piece she hadn't realized was missing until she had them both in her life. She moved to the side to allow Emma to pick Henry up from the counter, declining the offer to join them for a bedtime story and pointed to the folder on the counter near the back door. With a nod of understanding, Emma took Henry off to bed and Regina grabbed the folder and sat down at the table.
Inside the folder was a seventeen page report along with more than two-dozen photographs that had been taken around and inside the cannery. With every photograph she went through, she saw with her very own eyes of the complexly detailed and hidden operation within the cannery. Every illegal drug out on the streets was being packaged alongside legitimate cans of tuna, cod, and haddock and shipped out along the eastern seaboard and abroad. A few photographs showed men loitering around the workers, toting rifles they had strapped over their shoulders.
Only two of the photographs showed Robert Gold inside the cannery, but almost in each and every single one Killian Jones was present and accounted for. Regina leaned back in the chair and pinched at the bridge of her nose. This whole investigation was about to take off on a whole different level and one she wasn't sure she was even ready for. She was just a city cop with ten years experience, and something on this level was something she had never been involved with before in her entire career. The fact that it was personal, because of Emma and Henry, it made it far more dangerous just to be involved than it would've if she'd approach it just as the sheriff and not as the sheriff and Emma Swan's lover.
"Hey."
Regina jumped at the sound of Emma's voice, yet she instantly relaxed when Emma's hands rubbed over her shoulders from behind her. She closed the file and turned to look at her with a smile, her hands reaching out to grasp at her hips and she pulled her down on her lap.
"Hey."
"It only took one story tonight," Emma said quietly as she straddled her thighs and ran her fingers slowly through Regina's hair, her short nails grazing along her scalp as her lips lingered just a hairsbreadth away. "And I was thinking..."
"Of?" Regina murmured a few seconds later, her fingers effortlessly dipping under Emma's shirt and along the warm, smooth skin of her hips and lower back. "What were you thinking of?"
"Finding out just how insatiable you truly are," Emma murmured unhurriedly, her lips capturing Regina's in a slow yet deep and passionate kiss. "Because," she pulled back from her suddenly, both of them gasping to catch a breath, "all I have been able to think about since we left your bed earlier has been about how much I want to...taste you."
"Who are you, Emma Swan?" Regina groaned, her hands moving down across Emma's back and down to grasp at her ass firmly. "Who are you and where have you been all my life?"
She bit her lip at the words that escaped past her lips, worrying of the impact they'd have, but Emma was too consumed within the moment, within her to hear the true meaning behind those very words. She too was all too consumed within the confines of Emma's lips and the desperation and need behind the kisses they shared.
"I'm yours," Emma murmured just as Regina chose that very moment to rise up from the chair, pulling Emma with her, strong but not quite strong enough to rise and lift her in her arms all at once. "I'm yours," she repeated, a ghost of a whisper. "As long as you'll have me."
Regina answered her with a kiss, one that was hard and deep and full of longing. Of passion. Of promise. Of love. She blindly led her out of the kitchen, her hands grasping as she forgot, quite literally, of everything else but her in that very moment. The clatter of the tacky scenic picture frames that hung just along the wall outside of the kitchen rattled loudly, yet Regina kissed her harder, deeper, hungry with insatiable need that nothing else other than taking Emma Swan as hers crossed her mind in that very moment.
In a move that took her by surprise completely, Emma swept her hands under the back of her thighs and lifted her into her arms, carrying her the few dozen steps from the bedroom door to the bed. Regina grunted softly when they collapsed on the bed together and she idly reached for her gun holstered to her belt, pulling it free just as Emma's lips claimed her own again. Blindly, consumed by lips upon her own, she placed her gun and her badge on the bedside table before taking control, rolling the beautiful blonde who had captured her heart and soul on to her back amongst a cluster of breathless giggles.
In just a handful of weeks, between all the shy and tentative kisses, that very moment between them was anything but. They kissed like old lovers reuniting after years apart, their hands grasping and caressing as neither could get enough of the other.
Emma pulled at her shirt, pulling it out of where it was tucked into her jeans as always, her hands sliding underneath and along Regina's back. Regina ground her pelvis down against hers, moaning into the warm confines of her mouth, their tongues dancing and dueling as their bodies moved together with desperate urgency.
"Don't forget," Emma murmured against her lips as she began to pull her shirt up hurriedly.
"Quiet," Regina whispered. "We have to be quiet."
"That," Emma grinned, pulling Regina's shirt off as she leaned back and tossed it to the floor. She pulled Regina back down just before catching her off-guard and rolled her on to her back. "And one other thing."
"Hmm?"
Emma kissed her way along her jaw and licked at the skin just below her ear. "I've yet to taste you," she murmured softly.
Regina could hardly bite back the moan that not only slipped past her lips it had reverberated through her entire body, rattling her to her very core. She reached for the hem of Emma's shirt, wanting to rid her of it as quickly as possible, but Emma had other ideas as she kissed her way down her neck, her tongue dipping out and sliding over her clavicle before the tip circled a hardening nipple. Regina moaned, albeit a little too loudly and hissed as Emma pulled back. She groaned and bit her bottom lip, watching as Emma dipped her head back down and wrapped those delectable lips of hers around the nipple she had just teased with her tongue and sucked hard, eliciting another moan past Regina's lips.
The lingering feeling of desperation had her moving her own hands to her belt buckle while Emma's lips, tongue, and teeth teased over one nipple before moving to the other. While they had made love earlier that day, the need to feel her lover's tongue on her and in her had been so strong, so painfully strong, and she had fought it for so many selfless reasons. Yet in that very moment she was feeling so very selfish, so very turned on, and so very ready to spread her legs and let her lover take her first taste.
Regina has had a lot of lovers in her time, ones that weren't worth remembering because they had been nameless one-night stands that barely made a blip in any of her memories. Emma Swan was not one of those, despite how vanilla she was when it came to sex. She was proving to be nothing but a fast and eager learner, one more than willing to quite literally dive into the unknown.
Emma's hands felt hot against her skin, her lips lingering with every kiss lingeringly left along her abdomen. Regina gripped at the sheets when Emma's hot, agile tongue dipped inside her navel while her fingers hurriedly worked at getting her jeans unbuttoned. The sound of the zipper sliding down echoed all around them in the otherwise quiet of the room and Regina lifted her hips effortlessly the very moment Emma's fingers hooked around the edges. She bit her lip harder to suppress the moan that dared to escape past her lips as Emma tugged her pants down hard over her hips.
Emma leaned back, the pace slowing down as she removed Regina's pants and socks, leaving her laying there in only a pair of white cotton panties, ones that were hardly sexy in any way or form, yet that didn't seem to matter much to Emma at all, not from the hungry look in her eyes as she trailed her hands up Regina's bare legs and licked over her lips. Despite the show of confidence by taking control, Regina could feel how nervous she truly was in the way her hands shook slightly as her panties were slowly tugged down.
Regina sat up slowly and pulled Emma close to her, kissing over her lips softly and lightly as she eased Emma out of her shirt, unbuttoning each button slowly before she pushed it open and down her arms. She felt Emma subtly shake her head before she was pushed back down on her back. Her eyes fluttered open to stare into lustful green eyes.
Emma looked as if she were about to say something, but Regina stopped her suddenly, pulling her down on top of her completely as their lips met halfway for a deep, passionate kiss. Regina knew she was stalling her, moving things along slowly for the sake of the blonde's nerves when it came to doing something so very new. Regina wanted to feel her agile tongue on her cunt, teasing over her steadily throbbing clit until she could hardly take it anymore, but it was a moment that could wait and one that couldn't be rushed along.
She groaned at the roughness of Emma's pants against her bare skin and again at the feel of Emma's breasts against hers, feeling how hard her nipples were growing the deeper the kiss became. Emma's hand grew bolder, confident, sweeping down her side and over the curve of her hip, fingers grasping firmly as she pulled Regina hard against her. With a gentle nudge, Regina sat up with Emma on her knees between her legs and she smiled up at her before leaning in to kiss along her abdomen, her fingers working as unbuttoning her pants. Emma's fingers slid through her hair as she eased her pants down, raining kisses along exposed skin along the way.
They fell back on to the bed when her pants reached her knees and they giggled quietly together as they both tried to rid Emma of her pants completely. Their quiet laughter subsided when Emma's lips moved to kiss along her neck, careful not to leave a mark as she sucked along her pulse point. Regina inhaled deeply, feeling the burn of arousal as it sent a feeling of warmth through her entire body at every kiss Emma placed against her heated flesh.
Her hands swept along her thighs and Regina watched as Emma leaned back with a small and nervous smile dancing over her lips, the lustful hunger still prevalent in her eyes. She dipped her head down and placed soft, lingering kisses over the tops of Regina's thighs before she spread her open wide and inhaled sharply. Regina's clit was throbbing hard and she was wet, ready, and waiting for Emma to make the next move.
"Touch," Regina murmured huskily, moving to gently take Emma's right hand in hers. "Touch me first and then...taste."
Emma nodded, as if she were in a trance, her eyes fixated on her cunt spread open before her. Regina licked over her bottom lip and gently guided Emma's hand along the inside of her thigh, taking her own hand away to let Emma touch her on her own accord. She could feel herself dripping with arousal, growing wetter by the second the closer Emma's light touch neared. She forced her eyes to stay open as Emma ran the tip of her finger down her slit before bringing her finger up to her lips for a taste.
She bit her bottom lip with worry, worried that her taste wasn't appealing to her inexperienced blonde lover, but the sound that fluttered past Emma's lips chased that worry away in an instant. Her lips were wet and warm against her inner thigh, teasing their way to the apex of her thighs, her fingers just skimming over her nether-lips, spreading them as her mouth neared slowly. Regina moaned quietly when she felt Emma's hot breath spill over her core and then the faintest touch of her hot, wet tongue slipped over her pulsating clit. Regina's hands went to the sheets, balling them up tightly in her fists, resisting the urge to arch herself fully into Emma's mouth.
The second touch of her tongue wasn't as tentative and Regina couldn't still her hips as they jerked at the feel of her agile tongue sliding down her cunt and pulling back just as she reached her clenching hole. Regina leaned up on her elbows, looking down at the blonde between her legs and with a shaky hand she reached down to stroke her fingers through her hair.
"Are you all right?" Regina whispered.
"Yes," Emma breathed out, her eyes sliding shut for a moment before she opened them and looked up at her. "I'm fine, I'm just—what if I'm doing this wrong?"
"You're not," she smiled down at her. "It feels incredible. Just...take your time."
Emma nodded and her eyes glanced back at her cunt and she licked over her lips before leaning back in for more. Emma was an attentive lover and she had learned that much over their lunch hour, listening to the sounds that made it past Regina's lips and the way her body reacted to each different touch. While they had to be careful to be quiet, there were other ways of letting Emma know what felt good and what felt right.
She moved the hand that had just stroked through her hair and placed it over the hand that was firmly on her right thigh. She intertwined her fingers through Emma's, squeezing gently each time her tongue hit her just right and stroking over her thumb as a way of begging for more. She found it incredibly erotic on how quickly Emma picked up on her signs and she was twitching with every firm stroke of her tongue. Her orgasm built up deep from within, building slowly before barreling through her like rolling thunder.
Spasms rocked through her body as Emma's lips kissed along her lower abdomen, each one lingering as she felt the faintest of smiles upon those very lips. Just as she thought Emma was making a slow, steady ascent up her body, she felt her tongue swipe over her clit, moving down slowly until she teased it inside her still quivering hole.
"Emma? Again?"
"Yes."
"I don't know if I—oh Emma!" She couldn't contain the breathy moans that escaped one after another after another.
She gasped and panted, struggling in her weak attempt at keeping quiet, the task proving to be impossible with the way Emma's tongue thrust inside of her at a quickened pace. The hand still on her thigh gripped tightly before moving to thumb over her clit with she kept her lips spread wide for her greedy, hungry tongue to taste her whole.
She wasn't just tasting her, Emma was devouring her and she was ravenous, her tongue thrusting, plunging, twisting and stroking until Regina's hips lifted off the bed and her toes curled, the orgasm ripping through her hard and blindingly fast. Even as her body shook under the force of her climax, Emma didn't let up, though she did slow down, licking over her languidly as her thumb drew out lazy circles over her clit.
She had never come so quickly before, especially not when she had just came a first time. Her whole body was buzzing in delight and she felt sated and thoroughly devoured. When she felt Emma's lips trailing feather-light kisses over her hip and slowly ascended up her body, she smiled and murmured under her breath as she wrapped her arms around the beautiful blonde. She had always loved the taste of herself on another's lips, but there was no comparing to anyone else because of the way she tasted on Emma's lips was erotically satisfying.
Emma rocked her center against Regina's thigh and she moaned when she felt the dampness between her legs rub over her skin. It was clear that Emma had thoroughly enjoyed herself. It only served to turn Regina on incredibly more so than she already was and she kissed her harder, deeper, with a hungry passion that was returned completely. She wanted nothing more than to flip them over, to take Emma as she had taken her, but her legs felt like spaghetti and her heart was still racing as the last quakes of her orgasm fluttered through her body.
"Hmm," Emma moaned as she pulled back from Regina's lips. "I didn't want to stop."
"Then why did you?" Regina teased, her hands skimming over her lower back and hips, subtly encouraging her to roll her hips against her thigh again. "Emma?"
"Was I okay?"
"Okay?" Regina furrowed her brow in confusion. "Darling, you were incredible."
"Yeah?" Emma asked, a shy smile curving over her lips. "Really?"
With a soft laugh, Regina finally found the strength to roll them over and she settled on top of Emma and lifted a hand to brush aside the hair that had fallen over her eyes. "Yes, really," she whispered, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "Absolutely incredible."
Emma laughed as she buried her face into Regina's neck for a moment, sighing softly as Regina's hands moved lower and grasped at her ass and pulled her down against her thigh, clearly showing her intentions that they had only just begun and that she was ready for more.
[X]
It was just after two in the morning when a noise pulled Emma from her deep sleep. She shifted slightly, blinking her eyes open as she spooned Regina from behind. She heard it again, clearly that time and she kissed Regina's shoulder lightly and gave her a small shake to wake her up.
"Gina?" Emma murmured into her ear. "Gina, wake up."
"Hmm? Emma?"
"There's someone outside. I think. I heard something."
There was another muffled thump and it sounded close to the open bedroom window. It caused Regina to sit up in the bed with a start and she hurriedly pulled on her clothes and grabbed her gun off the bedside table, pulling it out of the holster and switching the safety off within a matter of seconds. Emma pulled the sheets around her naked body, watching her as she quietly made her way over to the window and pulled back the drapes to peer outside.
Regina backed away from the window and motioned for Emma to stay quiet by placing a finger over her lips. She opened the bedroom door and slipped out, leaving it partially open. Emma swallowed thickly, her heart racing as she heard another muffled thump, this time closer to the window than the last.
Emma slipped out of bed and grabbed her robe that hung on a hook on the back of the closet door. She kept her eyes on the window, the drapes swaying slightly in the light breeze and she felt her heart leap into her throat as she slipped out of the bedroom and headed towards her son's, ready to protect him at all costs.
"Emma, what are you doing?" Regina asked in a hushed whisper.
"I need to go to Henry."
"It could be nothing."
"What if it's not?"
Regina sighed and nodded her head and she headed into the kitchen and opened the back door while Emma walked into Henry's room, finding the toddler fast asleep with his blanket in his arms and a thumb in his mouth. She didn't move from the doorway, not until she heard a muffled shout coming from just outside Henry's window. She rushed towards it and peered outside with wide eyes, catching sight of Regina running towards the street in her bare feet and gun drawn.
She moved out of Henry's room quickly and quietly, shutting the door behind her before making a dash towards the living room window to look outside. Even though it was dark, she could see Regina struggling with someone, a man, on her front lawn and she was on his back, struggling to get a hand behind him. Emma clutched at her chest, watching it all unfold and within the next minute, the agents that had arrived hours before came running out of Regina's house with their guns drawn in front of them.
It looked like a scene out of a movie and she held her breath as the agents assisted Regina in handcuffing the assailant without any further incident. But her relief never came, not when she caught sight of the man's face. Killian Jones, Robert Gold's one-handed right hand man. Panic rose and her stomach churned. It was all over for them, that she knew. Either Gold had sent him there or he was there on his own accord, but that didn't matter because one way or another Robert Gold would find out that Regina had disobeyed his orders completely.
She was on the brink of tears as she opened the front door and the moment Regina looked over at her she rushed towards her. She reached out, not to hug her but to guide her back into the house quickly.
"What the hell is he doing here?"
"We're going to find out," Regina said. "Stay with Henry, please? Lock the doors and don't open them for anyone but me."
"Gina—"
"Please, Emma, just stay here with Henry and lock the doors."
The urgency in her voice was clear, but Emma was panicking and she pulled Regina in close before she could turn and walk out the door, still barefoot and her shirt wrinkled and her gun in hand. She kissed her, her body trembling as Regina indulged, but only for a lingering moment before pulling back. She frowned and kissed her once more, a firm press of lips upon lips.
Emma stepped back and ran her fingers shakily through her hair, watching as Regina rushed out of the house and turned, motioning for her to shut the door and lock it. When she obliged, she felt the tears that stung her eyes begin to fall and she went to the back door to lock that as well and when she turned, she saw Henry lingering in the kitchen doorway.
"Mama?"
"What are you doing out of bed, baby boy?"
"Thirsty, Mama."
"Come here," she whispered, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice as she bent down to pick him up and she sat him on the counter beside the sink. She reached for a clean sippy-cup and filled it with cold water from the sink tap, screwing on the lid tightly before handing it to him.
Emma briefly gathered the courage to look out the kitchen window and saw the two agents hauling Killian Jones into Regina's kitchen and forcing him to sit down in a chair. Regina came into sight a moment later, her gun pointed straight at his head. She watched in horror as she placed the gun against the center of his forehead and a split second later, one of the agents moved to shut the blinds. The image of his cold, hard stare was burned into her mind and she picked Henry up and hurriedly carried him back to his bedroom.
After he had sipped a few times, Emma took the sippy-cup from him and placed it on his bedside table before she crawled into his small bed with him. She held on to him tightly, her eyes wide, her senses on high alert. She heard nothing, save for the crickets chirping out in the grass outside and she swallowed hard, knowing she'd give anything to know just what was happening next door in that very moment. She just kissed her son's head and closed her eyes, willing herself not to think of just what was happening less than fifty feet away and willing herself not to think of the absolute worse when she knew what pockets of happiness they'd had in the last twenty-four hours may as well just be the last.
[X]
Regina had been half-awake when she had searched around the house, looking for any signs of forced entry and noting to herself that she needed to remind Emma to close all the other windows at night because they just didn't know who could come for them. Her suspicions were confirmed when she entered the backyard and turned the corner of the house and found none other than Killian Jones lurking beneath Emma's bedroom window.
After a short chase later, she had him pinned on the ground on the front lawn and the smell of rum emanated off of him almost as if he'd taken a bath in the drink. He struggled and so did she, yet her relief came the moment the two agents had heard their scuffle and came running out of her house next door.
Now she stood in her kitchen with the tip of her gun pressed squarely to his sweaty, creased forehead, her emotions getting to the better of her in her still half-awake state. Chapman placed a hand on her shoulder while reaching for her gun with the other and eased her away from Jones. His partner handcuffed Jones' right hand to the very chair he sat in and in a move that disgusted her, despite who they were dealing with, he yanked off the prosthetic hand and tossed it on to the table with a scowl on his face.
"Let go," Regina said with warning as she gave up her gun to the agent and he backed away, letting go of her. She turned her attention back to Jones and grabbed at the front of his leather jacket. "What the hell are you doing lurking around her house in the middle of the fucking night?"
"Been drinking—"
"Of course you have, I'm getting a damn buzz just standing here," Regina snapped and she let go of his jacket with a scoff. "Answer the question, Jones."
"Is this necessary?" He asked with a slight slur to his voice as he tugged on the cuffs. "I'm here on your side, Sheriff."
"My side?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "You expect me to believe that?"
"After what Gold told you to do today, yeah, I'm on your side, for that reason and many others, luv," he said and he smiled in a way that made her cringe. "You want to know how I lost my hand? Gold. Back when I first started working for him. Disobeyed orders and that was that."
"He just cut off your hand because you disobeyed orders?"
"Was a hell of a lot more than that, but yeah," Jones said with a nod of his head. "You and I both know this man is scum."
"Yet you continue to work for him," Regina countered, casting a glance at the two agents who were listening intensively to the conversation. "Why?"
"It is the only way."
"The only way for what?"
Killian Jones sighed and smacked his lips. "Can I get a drop of water, luv? Bit parched here."
"Not until you tell me why."
"Gold's first wife," he sighed with a pathetic shake of his head. "Milah. Love of my goddamn life. I was the reason they split. I was barely fourteen. I knew I loved her the moment I laid my eyes on her. Didn't matter none that she was old enough to be my mother nor did it matter that it was Bobby and Neal's mother either. She is the love of my goddamn life and nobody could ever tell me otherwise. Gold found out of course, after the divorce," he said and he inhaled sharply and wet his dry lips with a shake of his head. "When I didn't stop seeing her, he dragged me into the manager's office in the cannery and—" He made an abrupt slicing noise as he brought down his left arm, the stub of it slapping hard against his thigh. "I was just thankful it wasn't my di—"
"Shut up," Regina snapped as she grasped the collar of his jacket again. "Why are you working for Gold?"
"To save her life," he murmured quietly. "I pledged my allegiance to him in return of her life being spared after she had betrayed their vows."
"And now?"
"I'm done," Jones spat out. "I'm fucking done. I'm already in prison for the rest of my life once he's caught, but it doesn't matter because he deserves it. All I did was love her. All I did was try to protect her. Isn't that what love is all about? Protecting them no matter the cost?"
Regina let go of his collar, but not before slamming him back against the chair for good measure. Her head was throbbing and her body was begging for sleep after making love with Emma Swan for hours on end. For just a split second she could sympathize, she could understand where he was coming from, yet it was not enough. He was still Gold's go-to man and there was no telling if he was playing a game or not.
"I can get you what you need," Jones said, the slur still prevalent in his voice. "Tell me what you need to bring him down."
"Evidence," Chapman said as he stepped forward. "Solid evidence that he is behind the illegal operation at the cannery. Can you get us that?"
"What do you need?" Jones asked with a face cloaked in what Regina thought as false honesty.
"I don't trust you," she glowered as she stared long and hard at him. "Give me something that'll make me trust you, Jones."
"This," he said as he pointed to the front pocket of his jacket with his stump. "Key to the cannery. Master key. You got between two and four in the morning to case the place without anyone around. Also," he said and he inhaled sharply as he leered at Regina. "I'll tell no one of how intimate you and Ms. Swan have been, especially tonight. Gave me a—"
Regina wrestled with Chapman for her gun, winning it on grounds that he was unprepared for the moves she made and she held the gun to Jones' forehead once again. She watched the small bead of sweat roll down his forehead and held her hand steady.
"I need more than that," she murmured as she cocked the gun and placed her finger over the trigger. "More than your word, more than a promise, more than a fucking key."
Killian stared at her, long and hard, and after two whole minutes he began to laugh uncontrollably. Regina pressed the tip of her gun harder against his sweaty forehead and the laughter suddenly came to an abrupt stop.
"I can get him in," he said as he pointed to Chapman. "Gold has no idea who the fuck he is. I can get him in to the cannery and we'll get everything we need to put him not only in prison, but the goddamn electric chair."
Regina sucked in a breath and went by her gut instinct in that very moment. She pulled back the gun and patted Jones on the chest with a forced smile curling over her lips.
"Done."