It took Killian less than an hour to arrange for somewhere safe to take Emma that evening. The FBI had a handful of safe houses scattered around the West Coast, but he wasn't sure that was the right option for them. Emma was a public figure, so whisking her away in the dead of the night to the middle of nowhere could end up drawing far too much attention to her, and that was the last thing they needed right then. Killian hated to admit it, but he was starting to think that Emma had been right to force him into secrecy about her connection to the murders. This way, the Bureau still had something of an upper hand when it came to weeding out potential copycats. So instead of taking Emma to one of the safe houses around the state, Killian called his boss to ask for details of the nearest hotel the Bureau had a standing arrangement with. After that, it was a simple matter of getting Emma out of her home and into the hotel, completely unseen.

"Okay, I know this isn't the kind of luxury you're used to living in," Killian chuckled, as he made his way into the small suite ahead of his charge, tugging the curtains shut along the way, "But you'll be safe here."

Emma didn't say anything. She did, however, take a seat in one of the chairs in the small living room, so Killian assumed that meant she was on board with his plan.

"This won't be permanent either," he promised, dropping to his knees before her. "We're going to get this guy, Emma. He fucked up coming into your house tonight. We can use this to finally nail him."

At his words, Emma raised her head to meet his eyes, and if Killian wasn't mistaken, he could see the tinge of hope forming at the edges of her gaze. Now he just needed to deliver on his promise - and soon, so that the sick bastard wouldn't disrupt more of her life.

"There are some things we need to talk about," he began gently, when she didn't say anything. Killian didn't want to spook her again after everything she'd already been through, but he also knew that he needed to speak with her while her memories were still relatively fresh. "Do you want me to call down for some room service first?"

"Just uh… just some cocoa?"

"Of course." He offered her a small smile before pushing himself back to his feet, his knees protesting a little along the way. "I'll be right back."

"Don't go!" Emma protested quickly, her head snapping up as her hand shot out to grab hold of the sleeve on his leather jacket.

"I'm just gonna go over here and place the call," Killian assured her, pointing towards the small telephone that was sitting on a table in the corner of the room. "You'll be able to see me the entire time, Emma. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

Emma nodded her head in understanding, but Killian was sure her heart was still pounding away. He had no idea how he was going to break the news about Ariel to her that evening. She was already terrified enough, without hearing that the serial killer stalking her had brutally murdered her close friend.

After calling down for some sandwiches, slices of cake, and hot cocoa, Killian took a seat opposite Emma to wait for their delivery. The atmosphere in the room felt suffocating. It was thick with dread, fear, and everything that had been left unspoken between the two of them. But still, Killian waited, biding his time to ask his questions and drop his bombshell, all while praying that he'd made the right decisions that evening.

When the delivery was finally made, it was Thomas who brought it to them. Killian wanted to keep Emma out of sight as much as possible, while they were at the hotel. He couldn't risk loose-lipped employees giving away all of their secrets. So Thomas and a few other agents had rented out the rest of the rooms on the floor. Whenever Emma or Killian needed anything, all they had to do was call down for room service and give the number of the room next to their own.

"Thank you, Thomas," Killian said, as the younger man made his way into the room and set the silver tray down onto the table by the windows with a slight clang. The noise had Emma recoiling in her seat, and Killian ached to reach out for her, to show her some much-needed comfort. But with his rookie in the room, he felt it best to keep his hands to himself.

Thomas left the suite with a stiff nod at his boss and as soon as the door had clicked shut again, Killian busied himself with dividing the treats between two plates. He was fairly certain that Emma wouldn't be able to stomach food, but he needed to at least try to convince her to eat something.

Then he pulled out his small notepad.

"I appreciate that this is not what you want to be doing right now, but I need to ask you some questions, if that's okay?"

Emma pushed the plate of food away from her as she reached for her mug. She took a small sip of her cocoa before slowly nodding her agreement to Killian's question.

"I need you to think back to when you first left your house today," he began. "Did you lock the front door?"

Emma's brow creased for a moment, but it looked more like she was confused by his question rather than offering it deep consideration.

"Yes."

"Are you certain, Emma?"

"Yes," she told him, more firmly this time. "My alarm system is connected to the locks. If one of the doors isn't locked and the alarm is set, I get a notification and so does the security department in the community. I'd have known if I'd forgotten to lock it."

"Okay. That's good," Killian assured her. "Whoever left that package for you didn't break into your home, Emma. So if you didn't leave the door open it means whoever is behind all of this has a key. Who else has your key?"

"Uh… just… just my housekeeper, Regina, and Ariel. But none of them would ever do something like this."

Killian's heart sank as he scratched down the three names Emma had given him. If Ariel had a key to the house, then their killer could have been anyone. Whoever took her would likely have had access to her belongings. They probably knew she had the key, and that was one of the main reasons she'd been targeted.

"Shit," he cursed, scrubbing his hand harshly over his face. Just like that, all of Killian's hopes of a break in their case had been dashed.

"What? What's wrong?"

It took a moment for him to steady his nerves and gather his thoughts before he dropped his pen to the table and reached out for one of Emma's hands. She looked a little startled at the contact but she didn't pull away, so Killian took that as a positive sign.

"Emma, I'm really sorry to have to tell you this, but um… I was able to identify the last victim from the photographs included in the package left on your coffee table."

Emma was already shaking her head forcefully, tugging her hand away from his grip. She knew what was coming, but Killian would still need to say it to confirm all of her worst fears.

"I'm really sorry Emma but… Ariel –"

"- No!"

"She's dead."

"No!" she protested again, pushing away from the small table and rising to her feet. "No! She can't be. You're wrong."

"I don't think I am, but we'll run a DNA test just to be sure –"

"And it'll tell you that you're wrong!" Emma insisted forcefully. "She's not dead. She can't be dead."

Killian reached for Emma's hands but the young woman snatched them away before he could make contact.

"You're wrong!"

The look behind her eyes was heartbreaking. The denial there was tinged with a kind of pleading he often saw when delivering bad news to the families of a victim, but Emma's was colored with something far more concerning. The longer she stood staring down at him, pleading for him to agree with her, the more Killian could see it taking over and consuming her.

Guilt!

"I'm so, so sorry, Emma," he offered, because there really wasn't anything else that could be said.

"No," she croaked out, her voice breaking as she did. "No. Please, no. She can't – I didn't – she –"

Killian pushed himself to his feet and reached out for her hand again, but she flinched away from his touch.

"I – oh, God… I killed my friend. My best friend – "

"You are not res– "

"– My only friend. I killed her. This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so angry with her about – and she probably died thinking I hated her. Oh god, what if she died thinking I hated her?"

Emma's legs gave out and she crumpled down to the floor in a mass of tangled limbs as grief washed over her once more.

"You are not responsible for this," he told her firmly, sinking to the floor to rest his back against the bed as he gathered the sobbing woman into his arms. While every muscle in her body was rigidly tense under his fingers, Emma didn't fight him when he pulled her into an embrace, tucking her head under his chin. "The only person responsible for this is the person who took your friend's life, Emma. Not you! Don't you dare allow him to fill your head with guilt for all of this. You're not the guilty party here. While you might not have been hurt the way these other women have been, that doesn't make you any less of a victim. Remember that, Emma. Remember that you're also one of his victims. Not an accomplice and certainly not in any way responsible for what's happening right now."

For the longest moment, the two of them sat in silence with Emma sobbing quietly into Killian's chest as he ran a soothing hand over her hair and down her back. This was always going to be a lot for her to take in, so he wanted to give her some time and space to process it all. Killian would have sat silently on the floor for however long it took to make Emma feel comfortable enough opening up to him again.

"She can't be dead," the young pop star eventually said, as her fingers tightened in the soft fabric of his sweater. "She can't be. She just messaged me yesterday."

"She did?" Killian asked, pulling back a little to look down at the woman in his arms. But Emma kept her face buried in his chest.

He brought both hands up to smooth her hair away from her face before resting his palms gently against her cheeks, turning her gaze up to meet his. "Can you remember what time that was?"

"N… no. But the… the messages are time-stamped."

"Would you mind if I made a note of those tomorrow, Emma?"

Emma shook her head in agreement to his proposal, even as he continued to gently cradle her face between his hands. Occasionally he would reach up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. It felt oddly reassuring. Agent Jones's hands were so large and warm against her much cooler and smaller frame. Being close to him made her feel far more secure than any amount of armed guards positioned outside of her home ever could.

Until a thought suddenly occurred to her.

Emma stiffed once more in Killian's arms as she asked, "Was he… do you think it was… him… messaging me?"

"I don't know," Killian told her honestly. "We'd need to wait for the results of the autopsy to be certain. But I'm not willing to rule anything out just yet."

She nodded her head in understanding before dropping it back down to rest against his chest. She was beyond exhausted. Emma had been tired before but this… this was something else. It was like every cell in her body had decided to give up, and she wasn't sure if they'd ever flare back to life again.

"It's gonna be okay, Emma," Agent Jones whispered from beside her, as his hands continued smoothing down and over her hair. "It's gonna be okay. We'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe. And I will find this guy, Emma. I swear I will."

Emma wanted to nod her head or say something to suggest that she'd heard what he'd said, even if she wasn't quite sure that she believed him. But she simply didn't have the energy to move.

The first thing Killian became aware of was the throbbing ache building in the back of his neck. He attempted to roll his head so that he could stretch it out, but groaned with frustration when he hit something solid behind him. The next thing that became apparent was the lack of feeling in his right arm, and the warm weight that was resting upon it. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness of the room, but when they did, the pieces of the puzzle fell neatly into place.

At some point during the evening, while he'd been comforting Emma Swan, the two of them had fallen asleep.

"Shit!" he cursed softly, twisting his head as far as it would go as he searched for a way out of his current predicament, without waking the young woman curled into his side.

After a moment of aimless flailing, Killian's left hand finally managed to grab onto one of the pillows at the head of the bed behind them, and he gently tugged it down, into his lap. He wasn't entirely sure how he was going to maneuver Emma's head off his chest and onto the pillow, but Killian knew that he couldn't stay where he was all night. He was already setting a dangerous precedent by letting her get under his skin the way she had. If he continued to allow this closeness, he knew it would end up backfiring on them both, and that was something he simply couldn't allow to happen. So Killian had to try something.

Unfortunately, given the lack of feeling in his right arm, Killian's movements weren't as fluid as he'd have liked. Before he could even think of easing Emma's head down to the pillow, she'd startled awake, drawing her knees up to her chest as her wide eyes flew around the room.

"Hey, it's okay," he soothed, shuffling on his knees so that he could put himself in her line of vision. "It's me, Emma. You fell asleep on the floor and I just wanted to try and move you somewhere more comfortable." Killian conveniently left out the part where he'd fallen asleep with her. She didn't need to know that.

"Why uh… why don't you get into the bed?" he suggested, cringing a little at the way he'd phrased his request. The last thing he wanted to do was make it sound like he was propositioning her. Especially after what she'd already been through that evening. "You'll sleep better there."

It took a few moments for Emma to relax her body, and then a couple more for her to nod her agreement. When she did, Killian pushed himself back to his feet, ignoring the way his cramped muscles protested the harsh movement, and then extended his hand down to her. "Let me help you up."

Emma took a second to steady herself before placing her hand into his so that Killian could gently tug her to her feet. He wasn't sure if it was the speed of the movement, or the lack of sustenance in her system, but she stumbled for a second and his free hand shot out to grip her waist tightly, keeping her steady on her feet.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I just uh… I just need to use the restroom," she told him, her voice cracking from all of her tears that night.

Killian waited until she'd relaxed her grip on his sweater before he let go of her. He watched as she snatched up her bag from the end of the bed and then headed towards the small bathroom in the suite. Before she crossed the threshold, however, Emma turned back to look at him.

"You'll still be here when I'm finished, right?"

"Of course," he assured her. "Take your time."

Emma nodded her head firmly before she shut herself away in the bathroom.

While she was busy taking care of her needs, Killian fired off a quick message to Thomas, asking him to bring over a copy of the case file and a laptop for him to work on. Then he began reading through the emails and messages that had already started coming in.

Victor's team was certain that there had been no forced entry on the premises, but that was no longer as promising as it had once been. Killian was sure their killer had taken Ariel's key to the house, which meant that he could come and go whenever he pleased.

The team had found a few fibers and hairs around Emma's home that looked a little out of place and they were busy running tests on those, but once again, Killian was certain they'd only trace back to either Emma or her housekeeper. Their guy was good and he was unlikely to have made a mistake this time, given how much practice he'd already had.

When the bathroom door clicked open once more, Killian abandoned the messages from David to turn and watch as Emma made her way back into the room, dropping her bag at the end of the bed. She'd changed into a pair of sleep shorts and a small tank top, and somehow, her attire made her look smaller and more fragile than she ever had before.

"You should get some rest," Killian encouraged, as she hesitated beside the bed.

"You'll stay, right?" she asked. Her eyes seemed to be pleading with him not to leave her alone, and Killian knew there was no way he'd ever have been able to refuse that look.

"I'll be here all night," he vowed. "Thomas is bringing over some stuff for me so I can work here. Don't worry – I promise I won't leave this room while you're in it."

Emma nodded her head again before pulling back the comforter to slide into the bed. Killian turned away to offer her some privacy as he listened to the sheets rustle while she made herself comfortable. When the noise finally stopped, he turned back to check on her and found that Emma was resting on her right side, with her back turned towards him.

"Good night, Emma," he whispered, reaching out to turn down the lights so that she could get some much-needed rest.

While he waited for everything to be brought over to him, Killian flicked aimlessly through the TV channels on offer before eventually settling on a news station that was already covering the body that had been found earlier that evening. Even though the volume was turned down low, he could tell they didn't seem to have much to go on, so the news anchor appeared intent on scaring the general public silly with speculation about a deranged madman on the loose.

Occasionally, Killian would flick his gaze over to the bed to check on Emma when she twisted or turned in the sheets. Although she didn't seem to be sleeping peacefully, she was at least sleeping. So he'd take that as the small win it was.

Thomas was relatively quick getting everything Killian had requested, and instead of knocking to deliver them, the young rookie had messaged his boss to let him know when he was standing on the other side of the door.

"Thanks," Killian offered, along with a tight smile, before he closed the door softly and locked it tight once more.

He made himself a coffee in the small kitchenette while waiting for the laptop to load, and then began setting out all of the pieces of the puzzle that were part of his current case.

That feeling of missing something obvious was burning in his gut stronger than before, and Killian was hoping that a change of scenery might help point it out to him. But no matter how many reports he reviewed and autopsy pictures he scanned, he still couldn't quite put his finger on what he was missing.

And then Emma began to stir.

At first, it was just some twisting and turning that made the sheets rustle a little more aggressively. But then it became something more. Little whimpers that grew into whispered words.

Killian stopped what he was doing to turn and watch as Emma's body stiffened in the bed before twisting around again.

"Please… don't," she panted out, her face screwing up with concern.

Killian watched as she continued to roll around the bed, her jerky movements suggesting that she was trying to fight someone off in her sleep, and his feet moved before he'd really considered what he was doing.

"No… please, no!"

"Emma," he whispered. A part of him wanted to reach out and shake her awake, but Killian was worried that might do more harm than good, given her current circumstances. "Emma, wake up!"

"Ariel… please… please don't hurt her."

"Emma, you've got to wake up," he stated more harshly, finally reaching out to grab ahold of her shoulders so that he could at least stop her from hurting herself.

The moment his hands made contact, Emma's eyes flew wide open. Her feet scrambled for purchase against the bed as she twisted her way out of his grasp and up to sit against the headboard.

"Hey, it's okay," Killian soothed. "It's okay, Emma. It's just me. You were having a nightmare. I didn't want you to hurt yourself."

Killian wasn't sure if she heard him. Her eyes were still staring around the room, looking for anything out of place, and she had wrapped her arms around her slender legs.

"Does this happen often?"

Emma's attention seemed to snap back to Killian's face for a moment before she turned away from him again. "Yes," was all she said, and his heart ached for her anew. He knew what it was like to seek sleep as an end to the torment you suffered during the day. And he knew what it was like to have those blessed moments of rest corrupted by your never-ceasing mind.

"I'm sorry, Emma. I can recommend a doctor that could help with some hypnotherapy and relaxation techniques, if you'd like? We have someone that works at the bureau. He's trained to deal with this kind of darkness."

Emma shook her head firmly and Killian let the subject drop. He knew from experience that those techniques would only help if a person was open to it. There was no point in forcing the issue.

"Is there anything I can do to help at all?" he asked instead. When Emma turned to meet his gaze, Killian hastened to add, "That doesn't involve pouring you a drink."

A small smile curled at her lips but it wasn't the kind she wore on Ellie's posters. This one was tainted and bitter.

For a moment, Killian thought that she was going to say no, but then she cocked her head slightly to the side to fix him with a rather intense stare. He tried to let her look as long as she needed, knowing that rushing her wouldn't help, but Killian couldn't stop himself from feeling a little frustrated when she turned away and shook her head.

"Emma, if you think something will help, no matter how stupid it may seem, you can ask for it. I've been where you are before. I know it's the small things that make us feel the most comfortable. So you can ask me for anything that you think will help."

Emma's eyes flicked over to assess his face for just a second before she looked away again. Killian watched as she drew her knees up a little closer to her chest and then tightened her arms around them. It was almost like she was bracing herself against his rejection.

"Will you… will you uh… will you stay with me?" she whispered.

"Of course, Emma. Like I said before, I'm not going anywhere tonight – "

"No. I uh… I meant with me. Falling asleep on you earlier was the best sleep I've had since this all began."

Killian sat frozen in silence for a moment as he replayed Emma's words in his mind. That certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting her to say, and he wasn't entirely sure how to react.

In the end, there was really only one answer that he could give.

"Um… sure."

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