Captain Swan - Tangled Up In Blue

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"Shit..."

Emma mumbled to herself as she used the flashlight of her cellphone to see the tire of her yellow bug in the dark. She let out a heavy sigh as she looked at her surroundings. Just what she needed... a flat tire in the small town of nowhere.

She had a spare in her trunk, but she wasn't really in a condition to change it, seeing as she was four months pregnant and even if she knew how to change one, she couldn't see well enough to anyway.

She tried to use her phone to search for a towing company but there was no signal.

"Just perfect..."

Emma got in her car, rather than stand outside in the dark as serial-killer bait. She should have known this would happen. She knew that after a whole year of plotting an escape from her life... from Neal... and finally going through with it, something would go wrong and she would end up going back. But she couldn't go back. As much as she was capable of enduring what she had been through in the last couple of years, she couldn't just think about herself anymore. She had her unborn child to protect and she would stop at nothing to keep her baby safe.

Trying to think of a plan to get out of this current predicament, her thoughts were interrupted by the roaring sound of a motorcycle approaching, the headlight glaring through her window. She swallowed thickly as it stopped off to the side of the road, a few feet from her car. The motorcyclist got off the bike and approached, carrying a flashlight.

Panic ran through her blood until she realized it was just a cop. He tapped on the window and she quickly rolled it down.

"Everything alright, mam?"

A set of blue eyes under his helmet shot through her as she replied, a nervous tick in her voice. "Yeah, I just have a flat tire and my phone has no signal."

"Ah, tough luck. Well, do you have a spare in the trunk and maybe jack and a wrench? I can change it for you so you can get your car to a repair shop."

"Oh, uh yeah, I do." This wouldn't be the first time her yellow bug needed a tire change over the las ten years and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Although normally Neal changed it for her before he lectured and blamed her for driving over potholes. And he never liked to show her how to do it herself; she figured it was because he wanted her to need him for things, so she'd always have a reason not to run off.

"Alright, I can have it changed in no time so you can be on your way."

Emma. didn't really know if she should be grateful that he was trying to help her, or worried. She was a bit of both either way as she got out of her car and opened her trunk.

She held the flashlight, shining it in his view as he replaced the damaged tire with a doughnut. Putting the flat tire in her trunk and closing it in, he took the flashlight back as she handed it to him.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile.

"Not a problem. You must be new in town. I would have recognized a girl like you if I saw one," he said with a smirk. Was he seriously flirting with her?

"No, I'm just passing through," she replied tentatively.

"Well, if you need a place to crash for the night, there's a bed and breakfast in town just a couple miles east. There's also an mechanic shop not too far from there."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"Not a problem," he assured her, reaching into his pocket to retrieve what appeared to be a business card. "The name's August Booth, if you decide to stay and you need anything, don't hesitate to call."