A/N: My first AU! Eep! I'm so nervous! While this is going to be (I think, at least) a fun adventure, this will contain some darker elements, hence the M rating. If you cannot stomach violence or blood, I suggest you look elsewhere. This will not be kittens and rainbows.

First Meeting

Emma Swan closed the file in front of her and stifled a yawn. After spending the last three hours listening to Captain David Nolan drone on about the upcoming mission, it was a wonder she was still awake, and that her CIA superior wasn't hoarse yet. Then again, he'd done only half the talking, Major Zelena Mills from MI6 providing the other half of the information for the joint British/American venture.

Emma eyed the two agents across the table from her. One was slumped lazily in his chair, his ankle propped on the opposite knee, a pen spinning gracefully in his fingers while the cap was tucked firmly between his lips, bobbing slightly as he chewed on it. The older one leaned forward earnestly on bent elbows, paying rapt attention to everything discussed. Both seemed more alert and wide awake than she felt, despite the younger one's cavalier attitude. Then again, they knew more about the case from the start than she had.

"Agent Swan?"

Damn, she must have missed something. Not a good way to start a mission.

"Yes, sir?" she said quickly.

Captain Nolan raised an eyebrow. "What we're asking of you is, to be honest, not entirely legal," he said, voice gentle. "I can't force you to take this case, but you have to understand that if you do, we cannot provide backup."

She nodded. "I understand, sir." A quick glance to the agents facing her. The dark-haired one, Killian Jones from what she'd learned, actually winked at her. She ignored him and turned back to Nolan and Mills.

"And you lads," Major Mills said to her subordinates, "if anything happens, you're on your own. There will be no extraction, no supplies other than what you bring with you, no rescue. Got it?" She was nearly glaring at Killian, who pointedly avoided her gaze.

"Absolutely, ma'am," the older brother, William, said crisply. The younger Jones only grinned.

"Excellent. You ship out tomorrow morning for Switzerland." The operation heads of British and American intelligence stood and collected their paperwork, moving off to a corner in quiet discussion with each other. Emma lifted her computer bag from the floor and slipped the file inside.

"I suppose we have a lot to discuss, Agent Swan," said the older Jones softly. Emma looked up, meeting his pale blue eyes. He reached his hand across the table. "Liam Jones, pleasure to meet you. You feel confident you can do this?"

She slipped her hand into his. She wasn't really surprised at the firmness of his handshake - he seemed strong enough - but she was pleased he hadn't tried to crush her fingers with his grasp as so many of the other agents she'd worked with had. Men who knew their own worth rarely needed to prove it in such childish displays of strength.

"Emma, please," she nodded. "I've never been in the field, 'agent' sounds… weird. And yeah, I'm pretty good at my job."

The younger Jones snorted at that, his leg falling to the floor as he leaned forward. "Never been in the field? Then why the bloody hell were you assigned this mission? Do you even know how to use a gun?"

"I had the same basic training you did," she replied quickly, her voice calm despite the rage that was starting to simmer underneath. Who the hell does this guy think he is? she thought. "I can handle weapons. Can you do my job?"

"It is the twenty-first century, lass. Most of us have pretty extensive training with computers." He grinned, but there was no warmth in it. In fact, his entire expression was one she wasn't sure she could read properly, and she considered herself a pretty good judge of other people. He seemed so cocky, confident, but behind his eyes there was almost… fear? That couldn't be right. Accomplished agent like him, service record longer than the mission file she had just put away, he'd been in his fair share of impossible situations. This was just one more job. So why did he seem so frightened?

"How's the bike?" she asked instead, changing the subject.

He looked startled, and she couldn't help feeling pleased. "What?"

"Your bike. Red, black, white stripe down the sides, think you nicknamed it… the Jolly Roger on your insurance form, right? How is it?"

"It's… it's fine," he said, eyes narrowed as if daring her to continue. Liam had an eyebrow raised as he glanced at his little brother.

"So the crash last week," she continued, "into the mailbox on - what was it, 5th street? The bike still works fine? I mean, with a damaged muffler like that, and that was a nice knock on the side of your head you're trying to cover up, I didn't think-"

"How do you know about that?" Killian interrupted, deliberately not meeting his brother's curious expression. Interesting, she thought, that he hides these things from Liam.

"Computers," she replied, and not a little smugly. "I also know about the time you helped your neighbor, Mrs. Johnson, pull weeds in her back garden, the type of shampoo you prefer, what you last purchase was online, and where you went last week with one Ruby Luc-"

The younger Jones held up a hand. "Okay," he grinned, his cheeks just a tad flushed. "I get it."

"Like I said, I'm pretty good at my job." Not a word from either of the brothers, not that she gave them a chance to say much anyway. Emma picked up her computer bag and slung the strap across her shoulder. "Now what do I call you? I highly doubt you want me to call you 'the little Jones' for the entire mission."

He regarded her for a long moment, sizing her up with the full intensity of his deep blue eyes, and she couldn't help feeling like maybe he understood more of her than she really wanted him to, that maybe he was just as good at reading people as she was. Maybe there was more to him than the overconfident swagger he paraded in public.

"Younger," he said finally, his grin spreading only wider. "And Killian will do." He extended his hand, which Emma took. His grip was, if anything, even more relaxed than his brother's.

"All right, Killian, Liam," she nodded to each of them in turn. "I'll see you tomorrow at 0800."

This is definitely going to be interesting, she thought as she turned away and left the room.

One thing Emma had forgotten from basic training - bulletproof vests weighed a ton. Her shoulders already ached, and they'd only left the car ten minutes before. Liam's so lucky for not needing one where he is, she thought, adjust the strap for the fifteenth time. She could feel the weight of it every time it bumped her back as she moved, banging against the holstered pistol Killian had insisted she carry despite her protests.

"Backup," he'd said, flipping on the safety and handing it to her back at the hotel room. "Never go in without backup." She'd tucked it in the small pocket at the small of her pants and tried to forget about it.

She and Killian stood outside the service exit of the secured building, her tablet in one hand as she tapped furiously at the touchpad with the other. She checked the internal building systems and protocols she'd slipped into the system through the backdoor she'd found earlier. She had already bypassed the external security, but getting inside would take a little… more…

"Got it," she whispered, and he quickly pulled open the now-unlocked door. He trained his weapon around the stairwell quickly, then motioned for her to enter.

"Second floor," she said quietly, nodding to the stairs.

He led her up the two flights and glanced briefly through the windowed door at the landing.

"Cameras?" he mouthed.

She shook her head. "Disabled, only they won't figure it out for the next thirty minutes."

He grinned, dimples deepening in both cheeks as he did, and once again opened the door for her, waving his hand through courteously.

"Oh, now you're going to be a gentleman?" she hissed, stepping through. His blatant dismissal of her skills the day before bothered her more than she thought it had, though he'd more than made up for it in the last few hours. While planning the details of the mission in the hotel, he'd listened to her ideas, took them seriously, offering a few suggestions of his own, exactly the opposite the rude attitude he'd shown her at the initial briefing. But she couldn't help wondering how much of that first impression he still held onto underneath it all.

He followed her, his weapon sweeping in all directions in case of any threats her computer program hadn't picked up. No one surprised them, as she knew they wouldn't.

"I'm always a gentleman," he said, his voice low as they approached the server room, and he offered a mock-bow to her. She smiled mirthlessly as she stepped up to the security pad and waved a gloved hand over the keypad, pressing the correct sequence quickly. The lock clicked softly. "After you," he bowed again.

The room was cold, her breath visible in the frigid temperatures. She eyed her tablet as she led him down the columns of machinery to the computer terminal in the far corner. She pulled out the small flash drive from her pocket, slid out the keyboard on the wall and looked at Killian.

"Three minutes, from when I stick this in to when when they're going to figure out we're not where my program says we are," she said quietly, though no cameras in here would pick up any audio or video of them. "You ready?"

"Always."

Emma turned back to the terminal and slipped the drive in the USB slot. Alarm bells sounded, but she knew all traces of the break-in would be directed toward the other end of the complex - after all, she'd programmed it. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, typing out the commands she'd memorized, expertly downloading the files she needed and evading some of the design changes she hadn't anticipated. She kept track of the passing seconds in her head, though she knew Killian would be keeping time as well.

The icon blinked on the screen with forty-five seconds to spare. She grabbed the flash drive, tucked in the keyboard, and turned around.

"It's done, let's go."

Killian led them to the hallway, his gun sweeping the floor for any stragglers who might have decided to check on this building for whatever reason. All clear. They raced to the end of the hall, slammed open the security door, and ran down the stairs.

Halfway to the first floor, they heard shouts from above them, the sounds of boots on steps heading down toward them, and a lot of yelling. Someone must have figured out their misdirection a little early.

"Dammit!" Killian muttered as they continued downward. She heard the safety of his weapon flipping off behind her, but she didn't turn back to check, just concentrated on not tripping as she took the stairs two at a time.

She wasn't prepared for the sound of gunfire in the enclosed space, how loud it would be, and just how terrifying it was to know they was the one they were aiming for. Killian returned fire, a short burst aimed upward in the space between the railings. They had no intention of killing any of the guards, they'd discussed earlier, but they couldn't let themselves get killed either.

Emma jumped down the last four stairs and hit the ground hard, Killian just a pace behind her as more shots rang out. She heard the bullets hit the cement walls near her as she felt for the bar across the door to open it. Some of the bullets ricocheting off the railing with a metallic noise, and she prayed they were as bad at shooting as bad guys in the movies always were.

A heavy force knocked into her back with a loud grunt, pushing her hard against the door. Killian, she realized quickly. He was slumped against her, his back to hers as he kept his body between her and the approaching guards. He raised his weapon to shoot back, but he couldn't seem to lift it high enough. The footsteps only got louder.

"The explosives," he said huskily, not quite turning around. "Do it."

She grabbed the small tablet she'd hastily shoved into the pocket at her side, tapped rapidly at the screen. The small charges they'd set earlier were primed and ready to go. "On three?" she asked, and he nodded.

"One," he rasped. She leaned into the door and the two of them tumbled out of the stairwell onto the pavement outside.

"Two," Killian grunted, kicking the door shut with his foot as he rolled on top of her, his warm weight a surprising comfort though she had no time to really think about it before-

"Three."

The ground shook as the world exploded around them.