Captain Swan One-Shots

Love in the First Degree, Part One

Detective Emma Swan was standing in line at her favorite coffee shop, The Coffee Club. As she was waiting, she couldn't help but take a look at her surroundings.

Even though The Coffee Club had quickly become a staple in New York City for the five and a half years it'd been open, a recent storm had caused irreparable damage. As a result, the shop had to be remodeled.

Emma was still getting used to the red booths that littered the place instead of tables, as well as the "Heart of NYC" vibe that the shop now had.

She was so distracted that it took an "Earth to Emma!" to get her attention. The blonde jumped at the sound before she turned her attention back to the counter.

She ignored the impatient groans behind her and made her way up, where Ruby immediately handed her an order.

"One hot chocolate with cinnamon, one bear claw, one mocha cappuccino with a shot of espresso, and one scone."

"Are we that predictable?" Emma asked as she dug the money out of her wallet.

The red-streaked brunette smirked as she spoke, "You are - you always get the same thing. Killian calls every morning and puts in his order."

Emma rolled her eyes before she defended, "I am not predictable. I just, you know, like things a certain way," as she took the to-go cup carton and paper bag.

Ruby rolled her eyes that time before she pointed out, "I swear you were going to burst a blood vessel when you telling me that David assigned you a partner. And when I told you I was leaving Granny's diner to open up this place with Dorothy. You hate change. Admit it."

"Whatever," the blonde simply responded before she turned on her heel and headed out the door. Ruby shook her head before attending the next customer.

When Emma had sat down in her yellow Volkswagen Beetle, she placed the drinks in her cup holder and the brown bag on her passenger seat before cranking up the vehicle.

She then flipped on her radio and immediately changed it to play her Bryan Adams CD. Her classic rock station had recently been changed to a modern pop station - much to her unwavering annoyance - and she hadn't been in the mood for channel surfing.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she groaned when she realized that Ruby may have a point.

It wasn't like anyone could really blame her, though. After being abandoned on the side of the road as an infant and being shuffled around foster care for the next 17 years, she always yearned for some sort of stability.

Now that she had it, she bristled at anything that would cause even the slightest change in her life. That, and she was incredibly stubborn.

She shook her head from her thoughts before glancing at the time on her phone. It wasn't as though she was in danger of being late, but she liked to arrive ahead of time to work on paperwork.

She then turned up the music, put her car in drive, and headed toward the police station.

When she arrived, she straightaway headed for her office. She found Killian with his back turned to her as he was filing some paperwork.

"Morning, Killian," Emma greeted as she placed his breakfast on his desk. He turned to her with a smile and replied, "Morning, Swan. And how is my lovely partner today?"

The blonde rolled her eyes at his words, but she couldn't help but smile a moment later. She then told him, "I'm good, Killian."

He smiled back at her before she continued, "There's your caramel, uh, mocha frappe...chino thing with espresso."

Killian grinned at her fumbling before he teased, "I suppose it's a good thing that I relay my order to Ruby every morning."

Emma rolled her eyes before she pointed out, "If you would be a normal person and order the same thing every day, you'd make things far more simple."

"Come now, love, you're telling me you haven't grown tired of hot chocolate and a bear claw every day?"

"No," the blonde responded, with a set determination in her tone. Killian only shook his head in response.

Emma then rounded her desk and sat down. She took a sip of her drink before reaching for the stack of paperwork on the edge of her desk - only to realize that it wasn't there.

She then looked up at her partner with a raised eyebrow and questioned, "You did my half of the paperwork again, didn't you?"

Killian scratched behind his ear - a telltale sign that he was nervous - as he answered, "Well, love, our last case shook you up quite a bit, so I thought I'd help you out with getting caught up on the paperwork for that case and the last few others."

Emma wanted to be angry with him. She knew that she'd have to deal with cases that sometimes struck too close to home, and she didn't need anyone coddling her or feeling sorry for her. She could handle things just fine on her own, and Killian damn well knew all of that.

But, she couldn't find it in her to ignore the look of genuine concern in those blue eyes of his. They were friends - best friends even - and despite her feelings about him when they first met, he really only wanted to help her. She couldn't fault him for that.

And so, she sighed before she told him, "Thank you, Killian. I really do appreciate it." He smiled brightly in response.

Emma then took a breath and continued, "But don't get in a habit of it. I don't want David to think I'm slacking off."

"As you wish, Swan," Killian told her as he bowed dramatically. The blonde shook her head in response.

Emma then began eating her breakfast; Killian rounded his desk and did the same. They settled into a comfortable silence that was quickly interrupted by the loud beeping of Killian's phone.

"Bloody hell," he cursed before grabbing the phone from his pocket. He quickly read the text message from his brother before turning down the volume and putting his phone back.

When he looked up, Emma was grinning at him. She teased, "I may just need a hearing aid to recover my hearing from that loud beeping."

He couldn't help but chuckle before he told her, "Well, love, I always turn the volume up for my alarm. I suppose I neglected to turn it back down after I woke up."

The blonde only giggled in response, and Killian couldn't help the way his heart rate sped up at the lovely sound.

He then told her, "That message was actually about you, love."

Emma's brows furrowed before she questioned, "About me?"

"Indeed, Swan," Killian began. He paused before he continued, "Liam was reminding me to ask you if you wanted to join us for dinner tonight."

She raised an eyebrow as she commented, "You had to be reminded to do something? You have, like, a perfect memory - it actually makes me a little jealous sometimes."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her words. The weight of why his brother felt the need to remind him then sank in, and he couldn't bear to quite look his blonde partner in the eye.

He cleared his throat before he spoke, "He knows we tend to get busy down here - you know, protecting the city and all - and he just wanted to ensure that I didn't forget."

As he glanced back up, he saw that Emma had her eyes narrowed. It was as though she didn't believe him.

Just when he was afraid that she was about to go human lie-detector on him, he changed the subject: "So, Swan, will you come? It was Liam's idea, and I think he'd really rather want you to come."

"And you?" Emma asked, her tone only slightly teasing. She clearly wasn't satisfied with the way he avoided her inevitable questions.

"You are my best friend, love," Killian simply stated with a smile. She couldn't help but smile back, and the dark-haired man couldn't help but feel relief.

He then continued, "Liam still feels rather bad about the way he treated you when you two first met. He sincerely wants to make up for it and get to know you a bit better."

Emma tilted her head to the side in confusion before she pointed out, "We've already taken care of all that. I honestly didn't get why he was so judgmental and self-righteous at first, but I do now. You're his little..." pausing when she saw Killian's look of contempt.

She only grinned and shook her head before she continued, "Younger brother. He's fiercely protective of you, and I get that. Aside from the obvious of being family, he had to raise you when your dad skipped out. Of course he'd be terrified at the idea of you getting shot. And I don't think I can blame him for looking to blame someone else."

"It wasn't your fault, love. It was a high tension situation - we were both trying to do our jobs in the midst of someone being extremely uncooperative. Frankly, it was all we could do to make sure no one else was hurt."

"I know. We had each other's back, but our gunman was the unpredictable sort," Emma began - a serious tone taking over. She then took a deep breath and pointed out, "But that was almost two years ago. Why is Liam still hung up on it?"

Killian couldn't help but grin as he told her, "In case you haven't noticed, Liam is dreadfully stubborn." The blonde only shook her head before her partner became reflective and spoke, "Even though you and my brother reached an understanding, he never really apologized. And he really wants to."

Emma sighed before she relented, "Alright. Tell him I'll come." Killian smiled before she observed, "Let me guess, Granny's?" with a grin.

Killian grinned back as he answered her, "Well, of course, darling." She couldn't help but chuckle in response.

She then asked him, "Hey, did you catch the new episode of NCIS last night?"

Her partner gave her a strange look as he spoke, "Is that a trick question, Swan? You know that I always DVR it, and we watch it together on whichever day works best."

Emma only laughed in response before she replied, "I know - I was just testing you, Jones," with a grin.

Killian rolled his eyes at her before he told her, "You are rather incorrigible, love. Sometimes I don't know why I put up with you."

"Because I put up with all that ridiculous flirting from you when we were first assigned as partners," she pointed out with crossed arms.

"Ah, yes, I couldn't seem to get past the Emma Swan glare," he teased. He took a sip of his coffee before he continued, "But I think I rather grew on you once I showed you I truly did have a true interest in getting to know you."

A genuine smile played across her features as she added, "And I realized that I really wanted a best friend - someone who understands me."

Killian returned her smile in response. He then offered, "So, love, perhaps after dinner, we can catch up on our show?"

"Sounds great to me. Just make sure you have plenty of..." Emma began before Killian interjected, "Popcorn and Milk Duds. And Doritos - I always get the Lay's Sour Cream & Onion for you, but you always end up eating half of my Doritos," the teasing tone in his voice matched by a grin.

The blonde continued the teasing as she responded, "Well, maybe you should just get me my own bag since you have such a problem with sharing."

"Now, there's an idea, Swan," Killian replied, his grin growing into a smile as he got up to throw away the napkin he'd been eating the scone from.

He then sat down on the edge of Emma's desk and pinched off a piece of her bear claw, receiving a slap on the arm in response.

"Hey! You were just complaining about sharing your food."

"Perhaps I thought you deserved a taste of your own medicine," Killian told her before eating the piece of pastry.

Emma rolled her eyes before she shoved him to get off her desk. He stayed put just to spite her, grinning as he did so.

There was then a knock at their open door, and they both turned to see David holding a file in his hand.

"There was some new evidence in that cold case we had to close last month. All the rain we had the last couple weeks caused quite a bit of flooding in the area, and there was a body found in the river in the next town over. It matches the description of you guys' victim - Gold can tell you whether or not it's him. He's with the body now," he stated before handing the file to Killian.

Emma had already stood up as David was talking, scarfing down the rest of her breakfast. She then asked the chief: "You coming with us?"

David shook his head before he explained, "I have a lead on the hit and run case. I'll be back a little later, and you two can fill me in."

Emma nodded before David quickly returned to his own office to grab his jacket. He then headed out of the building.

When the blonde turned back to face her partner, he gestured with the folder and spoke, "Shall we, Swan?" She nodded in response.

The two of them then began moving to the elevator in order to head down to the lab. Killian moved to place his free hand on the small of Emma's back when he quickly moved it back.

He then scratched behind ear, letting out a deep breath as he did so.

Unfortunately, Emma heard him and asked, "Are you alright, Killian?"

"Uh, aye, love. I'm suppose I'm just a bit anxious about what Gold found," he covered. The blonde looked as though she wouldn't believe him for a moment when she resigned, "I get it. I just hope it's enough to put that bastard behind bars."

Killian couldn't help but shake his head back he told her, "Easy there, love, we don't even know for sure that it's our victim," before they both stepped onto the elevator.

As the door closed, Emma commented, "Even so, he should be enjoying freedom now," her arms crossed in determination.

Killian shook his head once more before pressing the down button, and the elevator began moving.

As soon as they walked into the lab, Emma spoke, "What's the deal with the body, Gold?"

"Tactful as ever, Miss Swan," the older man commented without looking up from his work. The blonde rolled her eyes while her partner chuckled beside her.

She swatted his arm before Gold looked up and spoke, "As I'm sure the chief told you, this body was found in the river in the next town, and it does match the description of the victim from your cold case."

"Aye, we're aware. Were you able to glean anything else from the deceased?" Killian said.

Gold nodded before he elaborated, "Our murderer was quite desperate to cover his tracks, and he dumped the body in the river believing that if someone found it, the cause of death would be seen as drowning."

He then gestured with his scalpel toward a deep puncture wound on the victim's neck and continued, "But this tells us how he actually died. He was stabbed in the neck until he bled out, resulting in his demise."

"Does the stab wound match the knife we believed to be the murder weapon?" Emma then asked.

"I believe you'll find that it does - Regina is testing it now along with the evidence that was procured earlier," Gold explained before moving back to studying the victim.

Emma nodded satisfactorily as Killian commented, "Forgive me if I'm being dense, but hasn't a bit too much time passed for that evidence - especially the blood - to be useful?"

Gold looked up before he smirked at the detective and spoke, "Not where Regina Mills is concerned. She is capable of making magic with forensic science - she'll have something for you soon, Detective."

And with that, the medical examiner shuffled across the lab to collect more of his tools before Emma and Killian filed out.

The blonde then began heading toward Regina's lab when Killian put a hand on her elbow.

"Love, where are you going? She'll call us when she has something," he pointed out.

Emma then told him, "I just want to see how things are going," with a shrug. Killian shook his head at her in response.

He then reasoned, "It's not the smartest idea to disturb Regina while she's deep in a case, Swan. She's liable to go Evil Queen on you."

Emma swatted his arm as she scolded, "Don't call her that. That's probably why it took her this long just to be able to tolerate you."

"It's not my fault that she didn't appreciate my sense of humor," Killian told her. He then grinned and continued, "Unlike you, eh, Swan?" before he moved a piece of blonde hair behind her shoulder.

She couldn't help but smile as she told him, "Even if you are kind of ridiculous." She then narrowed those green eyes and added, "And you still tend to be ridiculously flirty at times, Killian."

Killian resisted the urge to scratch behind his ear. He knew she was kidding, but the fact that she had noticed meant he wasn't quite as subtle as he had hoped.

Since he couldn't possibly tell her the real reason, he decided to use that charm and sense of humor to placate her.

"Well, Swan, when I spend every day with someone as intriguing and beautiful as you, you can hardly blame me for trying to impress you," he told her, a smirk playing across his features and a teasing lilt in his tone.

Emma only shook her head and chuckled, and Killian could feel the relief coursing through him. The blonde then teased, "Come on, Casanova, we have work to do."

"Aye, aye, Captain," he told her before offering a mock salute. She shook her head once more before they continued on to their office.







A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the first part of "Love in the First Degree"! I know it's pretty short for me, lol, but I thought it made the perfect intro of not only the setting and the story itself, but the dynamic of Emma & Killian's friendship. I hope you guys are all excited about what's to come!! Until next time :)