12I apologize in advance for mistakes. I consider myself a complete beginner at writing stories. I welcome suggestions for improving my writing style.
Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT.
A Bounty Hunter after Her Heart
Chapter 1
Emma Swan is a bounty hunter, and a very damn good one. She's never missed a mark, and she'd be damned if she lost one now. So how is it that she ended up in the middle of a standoff, in the middle of the night, in the middle of some unforsaken town, and helping Regina Mills instead of brining her ass to jail?
It all began one sunny morning when Emma parked her yellow beetle just outside a local diner in Boston. She has lived from state to state most of her life, but somehow this city is where she ended up in. It wasn't a terrible place. In fact she had grown accustomed to the familiar surroundings. It was the one constant thing she knew that would always remain the same even though her job entailed traveling from one place to another. No, this time around she had her own apartment and a city she can call and look forward to going home.
A day in the life of a bounty hunter isn't for everyone, but Emma managed to make it work. She formed a habit of ensuring that she has some quiet time to herself. She'd wake up bright early in the morning, go for a run, take a shower, and acquire some needed hot chocolate with cinnamon at her usual diner all the while reading the latest newspaper. It was such a mundane task, but it was more than welcomed since as soon as a job presented itself meant that Emma had to go chase around some poor criminal who think they can outrun her. No, Emma Swan was good at finding people, and catching them. She knew how to get into their minds and expect the unexpected after all, she did used to be one of them. Emma Swan used to be the one trying to run away, stealing to survive, but all of that change when her probation officer offered her a chance to start her life over. She wasn't stupid, what he offered was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and she wasn't about to let it go. Now, Emma Swan, sat at her favorite spot at the diner, taking a sip of her hot beverage while she reads the daily newspaper in peace, or so she thought.
"I do apologize, but I was hoping it would be alright if I sat here while I wait for my order?"
Annoyance was the immediate effect that the bounty hunter felt as she lowered down the newspaper to take a look at the peace disruptor. She was going to give whoever it is a piece of her mind, but what she hadn't expected to see sitting across was a beautiful, captivating woman with a smile that made Emma forget any ill feelings she had boiling down inside the pit of her stomach. Indeed this woman had a profound effect on the blonde as realization dawned on her that she has yet to say a word, any word...
Say something damn it!
But words seems to fail her as she continued to look on mesmerized. If she hadn't, then perhaps she would have noticed that the brunette's hand acting fidgety. No, the woman across looked like she was hiding from something or someone, but even before Emma came back to reality the brunette had gotten up and said her goodbye.
Just great…
Emma tried to chase after the mysterious stranger, but she was long gone by then. She supposed it was for the best. With my luck, I bet she's already taken.
So the blonde had decided to forget about the stranger and drove to work. She had done what she set out to do, except her mind kept wondering towards the beautiful woman. "What is it about her?" She wondered out loud.
The blonde rolls her car in the parking lot, and noticed right away a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance parked next to her. "Must be a client," said Emma, knowing no one at work owned one.
"Hey Ruby," the blonde greeted the receptionist as she walks over.
"Morning Ems! Graham told me to tell you as soon as you arrive to come to his office right away."
"Is it about the Cadillac?" Emma didn't care for the names of those that hired her, so she always referred to them by the car they drove.
Ruby nods in response, but the bounty hunter was never one to follow orders. She bends down to meet the receptionist at eye level, deciding to flirt with her a little. Perhaps it would make her forget about the mysterious woman from that morning. "I figured as much. Did you do something new? You look… different today."
Ruby raised one eyebrow, not oblivious to Emma's charm. "Different good or different bad?"
Before Emma had a chance to respond however, she hears Graham call out to her.
"Swan, in my office, now!" He goes back inside knowing the death glare Emma was giving him.
"Ugh, I swear every time some fancy schmuck walks in this door he thinks it's okay to act like a blundering idiot," Emma commented as she start to take her leave. She was almost out of sight when she turns around and yells out to Ruby, "Different good. Yeah, definitely different good."
"Ah! Speak of the devil. Mr. Gold this is the Emma Swan."
The?
Graham explains just who Mr. Gold is and why he is an important client. He owns a percentage of the business and he also happens to be the CEO of a major corporation company which earned him an eye roll from the blonde. Graham knew that Emma didn't care for titles or power. As long as the guy can pay the right amount, then she's their girl for the job and anything else didn't matter.
"You came highly recommended Ms. Swan, and I want to make sure that you can do the job. The woman I need you to find, her name is Regina Mills and she stole something very valuable to me."
Whatever…my job is to retrieve a person, not your personal mementos.
A man accompanying the old man hands the manila folder containing all the necessary files they have on the target. Emma looks them over while Mr. Gold continues to explain who she would be after, "I've frozen all of her assets, so she'll have very few access to get any form of aid. This is a personal matter Ms. Swan, but even so I trust that you will see to it that no harm will come her way? I want this matter dealt with discreetly as possible."
Well that was new. Emma never heard of a client giving care to whoever hustled them. If anything, it was always a guarantee that they would like to get the job done no matter what it took. She glances over at Graham to check if this old man was legit, and when she gets an approval Emma looks back at the client and promises to do what he had asked for.
"Then if you'll excuse me, I have nothing else to say regarding this matter. I shall be off," Mr. Gold announced as he takes his exit.
Graham follows him and the assistant that accompanied the old man. He walks them out assuring that Mr. Gold was in good hands, and once again Emma rolls her eyes at this. Why does he turn into such a kiss ass whenever some big hotshot is here?
After a few seconds later Graham returns along with his normal behavior. "Would it kill you to behave professionally when someone like Mr. Gold enters this office?"
"Would it kill you to not be such a kiss ass when someone like that old fart walks in here?" Emma retorts back.
"This is important Em's. You know a client never meets face-to-face with one of you guys unless it's a really important, so please please please find whoever that woman is?"
"When have I not done my job?" Emma asked, disbelief and insulted that he would even suggest making sure that she captured this Regina, and that's when it hits her that something was off by the Graham spoke.
He continues to explain how important Mr. Gold is and Emma remains quiet, trying to decipher what is being said.
"So how much exactly are we talking here?" She asked, knowing the answer wouldn't be to her liking.
And that was a question. The one that Graham was trying to avoid talking altogether. "Um…"
You have got to be kidding me…
"Do not tell me that this is pro-bono!"
Silence
"Oh hell naw! I am not some—"
"Please Emma? I really need you on this." Graham gives her a puppy dog eyes, hoping it would win the bounty hunter over, dead wrong.
"NO!"
"Please?"
"N-O...NO!"
"But Emma!"
The blonde starts to take off, leaving the manila folder behind. Graham picks it up and follows. "Please?"
He gets a silence response.
"Emmy?"
"NO! N-O. NO!"
Graham was running out of options. He needed to make sure Mr. Gold is happy if he wanted to remain in business with him, and Emma was the key to that problem. He had to think fast before he lost his chance.
"I'll give you the car," he said, and that did the trick. Emma stops abruptly and turns around. "What do you mean give me the car?"
"Y—your car, that yellow buggy out there."
"First of all that is a classic. Second, it is not called a buggy. It is a Bug, a Beetle, a vintage, and third, I own that car!" Emma worked long and hard to purchase that car, and saw no reason why Graham would think he had any power over it.
"Um…Emma?" Ruby interjected. "About that…"
"About what?"
Ruby glances over the yellow car before looking back at the blonde. "Remember that last check you made?"
"Yeah…" Emma's tone was enough indication that Ruby's inquiry had caused for concern.
"It bounced—"
"What?"
"Y—yeah! So you see you owe me." Graham added, believing he had Emma where he needed her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Emma's tone had changed from concern to anger.
Graham explained that he had meant to, but work had gotten in the way.
"Until now? Bullshit!" The blonde charges towards him, but Ruby once again runs interference.
"Think of it this way Emma. You have the pink slip for that car, and you don't even have to make sure to find whoever it is you need to. Graham owes you that much at least."
"I do?" Graham looks at the brunette, and feels an elbow nudge him with a strong force. "Fine, the pink slips, all yours."
Emma thinks about it. Something didn't feel right, that she was sure of, but that car is her baby. She'd die before she gives her up. "Fine, but you better wire me some generous cash to start." She snatches the folder from Graham and takes her leave, angry obviously that she wasn't getting paid.
As soon as she had left Ruby turns around to Graham with the same fury that Emma had. "And you!"
"Me?"
"How could you promise that old man that we would be doing the job for free?"
"I-I don't know. One moment I was welcoming him and then—"
"The next you were kissing his ass. Would it kill you to stop acting like that whenever people like him come here?"
"See, now, you just sound like Emma."
"With good reason!"
Graham realizes his mistake and apologizes. He then asked if Emma's check did bounced which Ruby glared at him in response.
"Just checking."
"Yeah, just be grateful she didn't catch me despite her abilities. I almost thought it wouldn't work."
Graham's curiosity increased tenfold. "Just how exactly did you pull that off?"
Ruby smiled at the question. "Do you even need to ask?"
Graham shrugged. Emma did love that car for some reason.
A few hours later Emma found herself inside her apartment going over the documents on one Regina Mills. She looks over them, pulls out an empty glass from the cabinet and some orange juice from the fridge. "Let's see, Ms. Regina Mills stole two million dollars and a personal keepsake from Mr. Gold…blah blah blah…she's escaped numerous times…blah blah blah…." Emma takes a bite of the bear claw she had saved from that morning and continues to read. She glances over the former bounty hunters that failed to capture Regina, and nearly spit out her food. "HA! Those two idiots couldn't even catch a worm if it bit them in the ass."
Graham only had one competition in town, and it was the Nolan's. She takes another bite out of her donut, savoring each one. "Now, let's see who the fuzz is all about," Emma said looking to place a face in the person who bested Mary Margaret and David Nolan.
…
…
Oh...
my...
god...
Emma couldn't believe it. The enigmatic woman from this morning was none other than the woman she has to find. Things just got very interesting.
End of Chapter 1
Is it worth continuing?