Lawyer vs. Love

Chapter 3

Over the next few weeks, Emma and Regina settled into a nice routine. On the days that Regina would be working late due to a case or the mountain of paper work that never seemed to go away, the blonde would bring takeout around 6 pm and would stay for an hour. They had also taken to meeting on Sunday mornings when neither of them were working at the coffee shop Emma worked at; staff discounts were amazing!

One particular morning Regina woke up to a text from Emma reminding them of their 'Sunday morning coffee date' as the blonde would call it. The brunette smiled at the message and carried out her morning routine before leaving her apartment.

The coffee shop wasn't far from Regina's apartment so she didn't need to get a cab despite the cold, winter weather in the big city. She donned her grey pea-coat with her favorite winter jumper and jeans underneath. Even though the pavement was slippy, Regina was never seen out of high heels, so the walk to her destination was tread carefully.

When she arrived she saw Emma standing outside waiting for her. She watched as a tall man with shaggy brown hair walked over to the blonde and grabbed her by the arm; the brunettes pace quickened as the man started to pull Emma away.

"Hey!" she shouted.

Emma looked up with pleading eyes to Regina; those green eyes... they held so much fear in that one moment.

"None of your business, lady!" the man said. "Leave us alone."

"It is if she is my friend," Regina shot back, "now I suggest you leave her alone or I call the cops."

The man let go of Emma's arm, "I'll be back, bitch," he spat before leaving and walking back where he had come from.

"T- thank you, R- Regina," Emma stuttered.

Emma stood in front of her shivering; whether it was from the cold air or fear Regina didn't know, but all she did know is that the woman standing in front of her needed a coffee and a bear claw.

"Come on, let's get you inside."

The duo went inside and Regina was thankful for the heating inside the shop. They sat in their usual spot, they didn't even have to order because they were regulars.

"Now, dear. Are you going to tell me what all that was about?" Regina asked when he large latte was placed in front of her.

"It was nothing," Emma said with a smile.

"Either you're lying or I'm the Queen of England. Tell me, Emma."

Emma took a long sip of her caramel macchiato before answering. "It's nothing, I promise you."

"Can you promise me that you aren't going to get hurt?" Regina looked at Emma and she saw the answer in her bright green eyes and in the silence she couldn't break, it was a promise that Emma couldn't make now... or ever. "Look, I'm your friend - or so I hope. Please tell me."

Emma set her cup down on the table with a sigh, "He's just an ex, okay. Nothing more and nothing less. He wanted to get back together and I told him no so he's a bit pissed."

"Does he know where you live?"

"I dunno, maybe? He's got a knack for finding me."

"How long has this gone on, Emma?" Regina asked sternly.

"This is the first time, okay. I'm not that stupid."

Regina could see that Emma was lying, her eyes and the way she chewed the inside of her lip gave her away. She didn't want to press the blonde any further in fear of her running away so she turned the conversation to something new.

"How is it being assistant manager?" she asked.

"Pay is better, hours are longer and I'm tireder."

"Well I'm glad you're enjoying it."

The conversation continued until Regina had to leave to go so she could let her decorator into her apartment which left Emma on her own with nothing to do. The blonde walked through the many blocks of New York until she was dragged into an alley; the stench of the person who dragged her reeked of alcohol and weed... she knew exactly who it was.

"Fin get the fuck off me!" she said with as her arms flailed about, one hand hit the man in the face.

Fin grabbed Emma by the neck and pushed her up against the grimy walls, "I thought you were smarter than that, baby," he spat.

"Smarter than you," she shot back, her words earning the fingers around her neck to tighten.

"I told you I'd be back, where's your girlfriend to save you now? Get in the van, bitch!"

He released Emma's neck and she gasped for air as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards a black van. When she tried to run away she was picked up and thrown in. She looked around and she saw faces staring at her, faces she knew from when she was a kid bouncing around the wrong crowd.

"What the fuck do you want with me?" she asked as she sat up.

"We need you to help us with a gig, you're the perfect girl," Ben snarled.

"I told you last time, I'm out of the game. I haven't touched that stuff in years."

"Well you're about to," Fin said. "Meet us at the usual place at 6 alone, or we can make you and your girlfriends life a living hell, Swan."

***

Emma sat in her small apartment's bedroom with the door locked and all the curtains closed. She glanced at the time on her phone; 6:07.

Maybe I can escape this, she thought to herself.

She saw the three missed calls and text message from Regina and sighed as she deleted them. She thought about calling the brunette and telling her everything but she couldn't bring herself to drag Regina into this mess; she was stressed enough with her work already and she didn't need a 21 year old bringing shit from her past into her life.

Emma jumped as she heard her front door being kicked in and she knew instantly who it was. She waited for the shouts but instead her bedroom door swung open and there stood Fin and Ben. For a second they stood still and stared at the blonde, neither of them knew a life without the business because there were brought up in it. They couldn't bring themselves to understand why Emma wanted out.

"Look who didn't follow instructions," Fin snarled. "You're comin' with us blondie!"

Ben grabbed Emma by the arm and she didn't out up much of a fight because she knew what would happen if she did. When they got to the door of her apartment he pulled a gun from his trousers and pointed it at her back.

"One wrong move and you're dead, and so is your girlfriend. Now move it!" he said.

Emma walked to the black van and climbed in the passenger seat. She already knew what to do, she did it many times in her youth. She thought back to what she had actually done in her youth, there was so much she had lied about to Regina and she hated herself for it.

"One last job and I can go home, yeah?" she asked feebly; she had to ask even though she already knew the answer.

"Your home is with us now, baby. Always has been," Fin said as she squeezed Emma's thigh like they had never broken up.

~~~

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with an update. I am currently taking prompts for one-shots and multi-chapter fics of you'd like to leave one in the comments. Hope you like the update, until the next time.