It’s been a week since she started working at Intelligence. The team is amazing and very welcoming. Regina, her partner, however is a very different story and Emma sometimes wishes they would’ve put her with Ruby or Killian.
A few days ago, she and Regina were on a stake out. 3 hours in a car. Regina only really spoke to her when she explained details about the job.
Some crypto bro was found dead, after his business partners scored a huge deal. Of course, that’s very suspicious and so they investigated.
Regina proposed that Emma should get to know Boston and the best way in doing that would be going on patrol with Marian. And yes, Boston has a very different vibe compared to Tallahassee.
She pushes the struggling perp into the station; he reeks of dirt and alcohol. Marian follows closely behind, papers in her hand as she approaches Ashley.
“We will book him for disturbance and drinking in public.” She informs the clerk, “Come on Emma.”
The blonde pulls the man with her towards the holding cells, suddenly Regina passes by, an amused look on her face.
“Thought about joining patrol permanently?” she asks Emma and earns an eye roll.
“And be out of your hair? I can’t do this to you.” The blonde fires back.
Marian’s eyes jump between them and she shakes her head. “You two should listen to yourself. Arguing like an old married couple.”
The prep, who’s still dangling between Emma’s hands by his jacket, also looks at them and groans. “Shouldn’t you book me?”
Emma huffs and drags the man along with her to the holding cell.
Marian turns back to Regina and grins. “She’s a feisty one, huh?”
“She’s insufferable. “
“Give her a chance. I spent the entire morning with her and she seems really nice.”
Regina chooses to say nothing and shrugs instead.
“Will I be seeing you at Granny’s tonight?”
“I’m not sure yet, I’ll decide spontaneously.”
“I’m back,” Emma joins them again and smiles at Marian.
“Will you come to Granny’s after work?”
The blonde furrows her brow briefly and shrugs. “Depends how today goes. I really want to hit the gym.”
Marina nods and looks along the booking reception. “Guess I’m back on the road. Thanks for joining me this morning Emma.”
The blonde cop shoves her hands into her back pockets and rocks lightly on her heels. “I guess I’m all yours now. What’s on the agenda for today?”
Regina sighs quietly and turns on her heels. “There’s a few leads we have to check out on the crypto case. I spent the morning on the phone, trying to find our victim’s girlfriend. She either never existed or vanished.”
“Damn, I hope she’s okay.” Emma says and enters the elevator with Regina.
The door closes and for a moment they’re both quiet. Emma feels the tension in the air and clears her throat. “Are you going to Granny’s tonight?”
“I’m not sure,” Regina answers curtly.
“We could…have a drink and maybe clear the air?” Emma proposes carefully, acutely aware of the tense looks on Regina’s face.
“Miss Swan, there is nothing to ‘clear’.” The brunette says and presses a button so the elevator stops. “David went behind my back when he hired you as my partner. I don’t need you and I don’t want you here.”
Emma feels her throat constrict and her self defense mechanism shooting up. Regina’s pretty much in her face, almost pushing her into the elevator wall.
She takes a deep, soothing breath. “It’s not my fault, Regina. And I’m sorry he went behind your back. But this does not give you the right to attack me personally, because I didn’t do anything to you. Quite the contrary, I want to make this work….I want to communicate with you, so we can make this work. We’re not some pencil pusher, we go out there and risk our lives every single day. So I need to know that if push comes to shove you’ll have my back. I need to know if some asshole tries to take me down, that you got me covered? Because I sure as hell got your back, no matter if you hate or love me.”
Regina feels unable to respond. Her heart races in her chest, her eyes jump between emerald eyes. She swallows. It’s so tough to accept someone other than Daniel.
“Right now,” she starts. “I can’t promise that we will become best friends. But I can promise that I got you covered.”
Emma nods, her face slowly relaxing. “Good and I’m going to say this once and only right now, you’re a goddamn beautiful woman, Regina. Even if you’re angry.”
Regina feels her cheeks heating up and she takes a step back, looking away from Emma. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”
The blonde chuckles and presses the button. “I know but I needed to get this off my chest.”
—
Regina and Emma enter their department, when David’s office door opens and a tall blonde woman appears. Is every woman in this police department a beautiful goddess, Emma wonders. Regina brushes past Emma and for the very first time, she sees the brunette smile happily.
She hugs the beautiful blonde woman and Emma sighs quietly.
“Who do we have here?” The blonde woman speaks and walks towards Emma.
“This is Emma Swan, she got transferred from Tallahassee to work here with us.” Regina says briskly and walks to the kitchen.
“Hello Emma, my name is Kathryn Midas. I’m the DA.”
She shakes her hand and returns the bright smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I hope you feel comfortable here. Is it your first time in Boston?”
“Yes, it is and so far I can’t complain. It’s different from Tallahassee, but I like it.”
Kathryn walks after her, as Emma approaches her desk.
“Oh, you’re Regina’s new partner?”
Emma ducks her head slightly and nods. “In the flesh.”
Kathryn turns to see if Regina is still out of earshot and leans towards Emma. “Don’t take her personally. She’s actually a big softie with an even softer heart.”
The blonde cop smiles gratefully and nods. “I’m getting there. Hey, are you going to Granny’s tonight?”
“Yes, I’ll be at the gym first though.”
“You and I, both.” Emma laughs.
“No way! Let’s meet there after work?” Kathryn suggests.
Emma cracks a smile and nods. “It’s a date!”
In the meantime, Regina approaches the desk, hearing the last few words. She looks up at Kathryn and Emma. Usually she doesn’t care what her colleagues do after work. But for some reason, this rubs her the wrong way.
“Emma,” Regina speaks up. “Let’s hit the road.”
—
Regina steers the car into an alley, when Emma points at the suspect who stands mere feet away. But he sees them and starts running.
“Regina, call for backup. I’ll chase after them.”
Before the brunette could say anything, Emma had left the car and ran after the man. She takes a right and jumps over a fence, her eyes still on the suspect. After dodging several boxes, Emma sees Regina racing along the street opposite from them.
Her lungs start to burn, her legs quiver slightly. She doesn’t know how long she can keep up the chase. But luckily the next fence is way too high and the man bounces against it and falls into a pile of trash.
Emma stops and grabs him by his jacket. “Are you armed?”
“No,” he yells and struggles against her. Emma hears tires screeching and knows it’s Regina.
The brunette hurries towards them, taking the handcuffs from her belt. She helps Emma pressing the man against the fence, patting him down.
“I didn’t do anything!” He exclaims.
“Innocent people don’t run.” Regina says coolly and looks at Emma. “Are you okay?”
Emma nods and still catches her breath. “Yeah, I just need to search if I lost a lung along the way.”
That coaxed a small smile from the brunette as she escorts the man to their car.
“You’re really fast.” Regina comments, when they’re back on the road.
“Yeah, growing up in the system teaches you stuff like dodging, running, hiding.”
The brunette looks at her and there’s understanding in her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t know,” she says and feels almost civil.
“It’s alright, you couldn’t know. But I also really like sports and stuff. So I guess I was always athletic.”
Regina suddenly feels a bit warm and clears her throat nervously. Of course she’s noticed that Emma is strong and attractive. But she’d never admit that out loud.
“You didn’t call in for backup, right?” Emma suddenly asks.
“No, there was no time.”
Emma nods and looks back at the suspect. He ignores them, staring out of the window.
—
Kathryn and Emma are on the treadmill, talking while the rest of the team works out in various sections. Emma likes this kind of team building. She didn’t have that back in Tallahassee. And she really likes Kathryn, who’s incredibly nice to her.
“So are we hitting the bar after?” Graham asks and smiles at the two women. “I’m in,” Emma says and looks at Kathryn. “Me too.”
Graham turns and gives Ruby, Killian and August a thumbs up.
Kathryn sighs and looks at the man. “Killian is coming too?”
“Sure, why?”
“Sometimes it’s exhausting to keep him off my back. He likes me, which is fine, if it weren't so annoying.”
Emma furrows her brow and looks over to where the man is lifting weights. “Did you tell him that you’re not interested?”
“I did and that I’m only interested in women. But still, he’s persistent.”
“Well, maybe I can help you out.” Emma winks and earns a cheeky grin from Kathryn.
Emma leaves the gym shower and almost bumps into someone. She stops mid step and sees Regina, wrapped in a towel. Shit, shit, shit, Is all she can think, because holy shit.
“Swan,” Regina mumbles and rushes past her quickly. The door to the shower clicks shut and Emma swallows.
She doesn’t understand herself. Regina is beautiful, yes, and she’s a good cop. But Emma doesn’t understand why she’s so enrapt and fascinated by the brunette.
—
The bar is busy tonight and Emma recognizes half of her workforce there. It’s truly a cop bar. She nods at David, whose arm is wrapped around the shoulder of a petite woman with short brown hair. Probably his wife, she guesses.
She finds the rest of her team at a table near the counter and joins them. Kathryn’s there too and she didn’t lie when she said that Killian loves hitting on her. He sits next to her, trying to get her attention.
Emma takes a seat next to Regina and is mildly surprised that the brunette isn’t trying to get her to sit somewhere else.
After a while, Kathryn manages to flee from Killian and takes a seat next to Emma. They really clicked and Emma is glad about that, because it makes things at work a bit easier.
“Regina,” Ruby calls over. “How are things with Robin?”
Emma’s ears perk up. Who is Robin?
“Things are…okay.” Regina answers reluctantly and plays with a napkin. Emma almost didn’t listen to what Kathryn just had said.
“Kathryn,” Killian says and places another Martini in front of her. “I’d like to go out with you next week?”
She sighs and rubs at her temple. “Jones, I didn’t order another drink and no, we will not go out.”
Emma watches the scene and feels really sorry for Kathryn. Maybe…she should help out?
She leans closer to the other woman and whispers, “Play along, okay?”
Kathryn furrows her brow but nods. Emma looks at the other man and smiles. “Jones, Kathryn’s busy next week, because we’ll be going on a date.”
“Aw man,” he says and his shoulders sag down. Graham pats his back compassionately.
Emma looks again at Regina and notices that the brunette has grown awfully quiet.
“Hey, do you want another drink?” Emma asks carefully and braces herself for another blow. Regina looks at her and raises an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be buying drinks for your date ?”
Emma looks at her confused and rolls her eyes after. “I was merely helping her out.”
Regina snorts and shakes her head. “Sure, Emma. Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be leaving anyway.” She stands and takes her purse.
“Dammit, I don’t seem to do anything right when it comes to Regina.” Emma says and Ruby smiles.
“She’s just a very tough cookie,” the woman says. “Give it time.”
—
Emma and Kathryn are the last people remaining at the bar. “Thanks for tonight, I really had a blast.”
The blonde cop smiles and leaves the bar with her. “Same for me.”
“So, I’ll be seeing you at the department.” Kathryn says slowly. “Unless that date idea wasn’t just a distraction to get Killian off my back?”
Emma swallows and laughs nervously. “You’d like to go out with me?”
“Yes, I’d like to get to know you better outside of work.”
Emma bites her lower lip and looks at the Boston late night traffic passing by.
“I just moved here and everything is so new. I have a partner at work who hates my guts and wants me gone. Boston is a lot more chilly than Tallahassee. There’s a lot to get used to. I don’t know if I could do ‘serious’ right now?”
Kathryn raises her hands and nods quickly. “Of course Emma, I just want to spend time with you because we’ve clicked. Maybe show you around and just generally have a good time? No strings attached, no expectations.”
Emma chuckles and takes a deep breath.
“It’s a date then…”