At 1255, Regina approached Emma's building for their briefing. Two things occurred simultaneously. The earphone connected to her radio transmitter crackled to life, and she saw Emma Swan flag down a cab, slide into the rear seat, and disappear as the vehicle pulled away into traffic.

"Commander. Please be advised that Cobra is flying solo." Graham's voice informed her. "unit one has been dispatched but does not have visual."

Regina turned abruptly, stepped into the street, and hailed one of the many taxis passing by, practically walking in front of it to force it to stop. As she pulled open the front door, she extended a hand displaying her open badge folder. "I need you to follow that cab up ahead."

The taxi driver stared at her. "You're kidding, right?"

Regina shook her head and got in beside him, her eyes following Emma's vehicle around the square. "I wish I were. You're going to lose them if you don't get going."

It was something about the utter stillness in her face and the unnatural calm in her voice that made him face forward, sit up straight, and, with his hands gripping the wheel tightly, execute a performance of New York City driving that would have won him a trophy at Daytona. He pulled to stop ten feet and twenty-five seconds behind the cab that had carried Emma to a small café shop deep in the heart of Middlemist Village.

"Thanks." Regina handed him a twenty as she stepped out.

He leaned across the seat to look up at her. Her sculpted features, dark hair, and deep voice seemed familiar, and he thought he finally understood.

"You're making a movie, right?"

She didn't answer. She was already halfway across the sidewalk.

As soon as she entered the small storefront café, she located Emma seated with another woman at a small table for two in the rear. Emma looked up at the sound of the chime over the door, her eyes meeting Regina's, but she gave no sign of recognition. Regina threaded her way through the few tables to the counter and ordered a double espresso. While she waited, she glanced around the room, noting the location of the exits and the general position of the few patrons, mostly twenty something reading newspapers or working on sleek laptops.

She paid and picked up the small espresso cup, moving to the opposite corner of the room from where Emma was seated. She chose a small circular table in the front corner, her back to the wall. From there, she could watch the front and rear doors as well as everyone in the room without infringing on Emma's conversation. She would have been happier to have a car out front in case they needed to leave quickly, and she hoped unit one, Ruby Lucas and her partner, would arrive momentarily. They'd been scrambling into one of the unmarked SUVs in front of Emma's apartment building as she went by in the cab.

Fortunately, most civilians didn't recognize Emma when she went out dressed casually, with her hair down and wearing little to no make-up. Today, in jeans, a navy cotton V-neck sweater over her white t-shirt and, and scuffed boots, she looked like most of the young citizens of the neighborhood. The paparazzi usually recognized public figures only when they were attired formally and placed in the appropriate surroundings. That was one thing that made Regina's job easier. Because Emma Swan certainly didn't.

"'Commander?" Ruby's voice asked in her ear.

"Yes." Regina murmured, tilting her head slightly as she listened to Ruby relay her position. She gave Ruby her exact location and informed her that she'd stay inside with Emma. "Just maintain in the vehicle outside.

"Roger that." Ruby replied sadly, wondering just how pissed off her commander was going to be that they had just let Emma Swan walk unescorted right out of the building. The president's daughter hadn't pulled one of her old tricks in so long that when she called for the elevator and announced she was going to the lobby to get her mail, they hadn't brought the car around front in anticipation. When they finally realized that she had exited the building and was hailing a cab, they'd lost two minutes mobilizing. Ruby sighed, settling back to watch the door to the café and the people going in and out.

Forty minutes later, the statuesque blond with Emma stood up and crossed the room to Regina's table. She leaned down far enough to show more cleavage than could easily be ignored and said in her low throaty voice, "How nice to see you again, Commander. Emma tells me that you're back in charge of her."

Regina shifted slightly so that she could keep Emma in her sightline. "I'm not sure I'd phrase it precisely that way, Ms. Boyd." She said with a faint smile, her eyes following Emma as she gathered her things.

"Actually, Emma didn't put it exactly that way either. The way she described it was quite a bit more colorful." Ashley Boyd said provocatively. In fact, Ashley had sensed that Emma was on the verge of tears through much of the conversation, although she wasn't certain if they were tears of anger or tears of pain. Even if she was right, she knew that Emma would never give in to them, particularly when the woman at the heart of her distress was sitting fifteen feet away.

No one who didn't know Emma very well would even have realized how distraught she was. Ashley knew because she and Emma had been friends since they were teenagers together at prep school, and she knew because six weeks ago Emma had asked to use Ashley's apartment while Ashley was in Europe.

It had been a long time since Emma had brought a lover to Ashley's, because Emma rarely slept with anyone more than once and rarely planned for it in advance. She didn't need to plan an anonymous love affair with a woman she met by chance in a dark bar or at a high society fundraiser. When Ashley had asked who she was planning on seducing, Emma's silence had been telling. Whoever she was, she mattered. Now, Ashley had a very good idea just who that woman had been.

During a brief moment of madness, she contemplated informing the strikingly handsome, dark haired security agent that she was making the biggest mistake of her life. If she chose to be Emma's protector rather than her lover, no matter how noble her motives, Emma would never forgive her.

But Ashley knew she wouldn't say anything, today or any other day, and she wasn't altogether proud of the reasons why. Despite her long friendship with Emma, they had always been attracted to the same women, and most of the time they have been good natured about the competition because it was all in fun, the chase, the seduction, the achievement. This time it was different. For Emma to admit any feelings at all for a woman, it had to be serious. Even knowing that, Ashley couldn't deny the quick surge of attraction she felt every time she saw Regina Mills.

"It was nice to see you again." Regina said, rising, but her attention was on Emma, who was walking towards the front door. "If you would excuse me." She stepped away to follow Emma.

Out on the street, Emma had turned and was watching Regina come through the door. At the same time, Ruby stepped out of the car that had been idling across the street from the café. Regina waved Ruby back and walked over to Emma.

"It makes it difficult when we don't know where you are going." Regina said quietly, although she knew very well that Emma was aware of that.

"Apparently, the rules of this engagement can change at any time." Emma shrugged slightly. She wasn't able to keep the edge of bitterness from her voice. "Fair is fair."

Regina nodded and met Emma's heated gaze. "I know it must seem that way, and I'm sorry. For the time being, we're both going to have to live with it."

"No, we don't. You made the decision, I'll deal with it any way I want." Emma shook her head dismissively and turned her back, moving quickly away down the sidewalk.

Damn it. Regina caught up with her and fell into step, automatically placing herself between Emma and the street. She knew without looking that Ruby and her partner would follow slowly behind them in an unmarked vehicle.

"There's no point in putting yourself in danger because you're angry with me, Emma." Regina persisted gently. "If you'll let us do what we need to do, I'll intrude on your private life as little as possible."

Emma stopped suddenly and faced Regina, regardless of the complaining people who had to suddenly step around them on the narrow sidewalk. In a low, seething tone, she asked, "Has it occurred to you, Commander, that I wanted you to intrude on my private life? You. Not strangers twenty-four hours a day. Just you."

Regina ran a hand through her hair, struggling with both frustration and temper. She wanted to explain to Emma that she did care, and that she didn't plan for this to happen, and that it was torture to see her and not be able to touch her.

"Emma..."

Someone ran into her shoulder as they passed, and she swore under her breath. A public sidewalk was no place to have this discussion. If she had only managed to keep her own emotions under control when she had first been assigned to Emma Swan's security detail, none of this would be happening now. She had allowed herself to give in first to physical attraction, and then to emotional attachment. Now she had entangled them both in a situation for which there were no rules and only potential disaster.

She grimaced because she could see the pain in Emma's eyes, and she didn't have the luxury of explaining herself at the moment. Not here, not now.

"Can we talk about this in a somewhat more secure location?"

Emma laughed darkly, unable to help herself. If there was one thing she could count on with Regina Mills, it was that no matter what was happening, Regina would never let it interfere with her duty. And she hated being Regina's duty.

She started walking again. "I don't think there's anything left to talk about. You made your decision. I don't intend to adjust my life to make yours easier. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the gym and beat the crap out of someone."

"Ernie's?" Regina asked, remembering the third-floor hole in the wall establishment that Emma had somehow managed to frequent for six months before anyone in the security detail realized that she was there and not at her massage therapists around the corner.

"Ernie's is the one place I can go that no one knows me and no one cares where I come from or where I'll be going back to. The only thing they care about is what I do in the ring." She wasn't in the mood for company. "I'd like to keep it that way."

"Wait a minute." Regina hurried to keep step with her through the narrow streets. She barely stopped herself from grabbing Emma's arm to slow her down. "Are you trying to say that no one has been inside with you?"

"Not upstairs. One look at the cop looking boys and half the guys up there would have jumped out the window to get away."

"That's my point. Damn it." Emma should never be left unguarded, even in the most secure circumstances. Exceptions occasionally occurred, but they were rare, and Ernie's was not one of them. It was a tough, almost exclusively male crowd, and Regina was willing to bet there was more than one man there outside the law. "I can't believe Graham didn't put someone in there with you."

"It's happened before, if you remember."

The biting tone of Emma's voice told Regina what she meant. She and Emma had spent five nights together of Ashley's apartment while Ashley was in Europe. None of the team had actually been in the apartment with Emma, but there had been a car with two agents parked on the street in front of the building. If the people stationed outside knew that Emma was not alone, no one had ever given any indication.

Regina hadn't liked placing fellow agents in a situation that they might later have to lie about, but at the time, she hadn't been assigned to Emma's security detail. Their few hours together each evening was personal, personal and intimate and no one else's business. She wasn't hypocritical enough to deny, even to herself, that she and Emma had tried to keep their meetings a secret, but they had not purposely avoided the Secret Service agents either.

"I remember." Regina steeled herself, refusing to discuss their personal issues when there was a real threat to Emma's safety to deal with, and knowing how Emma would react. "But the gym is an entirely different situation. You're in unsecured surroundings with two dozen men who, even if they don't recognize you, might present threats. If you were recognized, absolutely anything could happen, from simple harassment to abduction."

Her words were met with stony silence, but she continued.

"I don't know how you have managed to keep the team away from here, and I'm not certain I want to know, but I can't let you go alone."

"I know that." Emma snapped, turning down the alley that led to the unmarked, unpainted door that was the street entrance to the third-floor gym. "Usually a car waits just at the end of the alley. That should be good enough. I've been coming her for years. No one will bother me."

"I'm coming up with you." Regina said grimly. It was too late to change plans now, and since she was only immediately available, the responsibility fell to her.

"You can come up if you want, Commander." Emma stopped with her hand on the door and glanced at Regina, her face completely unreadable, her eyes flat and expressionless. "But I would prefer that you stay away from me."

With that, she opened the door and took the stairs two at a time, leaving Regina to follow.

Minutes later, Regina leaned against one wall, her hands in the pockets of her trousers, watching two fighters prepare to spar in the ring opposite her. Automatically, she gave the entire room and its occupants a thorough examination, noting how many people were present and each individual's position.

The top floor of the warehouse was dimly lit by what little natural light managed to seep through dirty windows situated well above head level and augmented by fluorescent fixtures dangling from heavy chains in the cavernous ceiling. The combination cast the entire space in a harsh, flickering haze. Sparring rings stood in each of the three corners. In the fourth, a space was partitioned off from the larger room by plywood and exposed two by fours and served as the business office and makeshift locker rooms.

When she and Emma had first entered, Emma had disappeared into the tiny women's dressing area, which was nothing more than a closet with a curtain strung across the door.

For several reasons, Regina did not follow.

She had wanted to give Emma as much privacy as possible and following her into the dressing room would only call more attention to them both. Furthermore, she had been in that dressing room with Emma once before, and she knew just how small it was, and she knew exactly how Emma looked when she stripped off her clothes to put on her workout gear.

She did not want to be standing two feet away from her when Emma did that, because regardless of her intentions, she knew she would be tempted. It had been six weeks, and not a day, hell, barely an hour, had passed that she didn't think about Emma. What she couldn't tell Emma, and what she didn't want to think about herself, was how many times in those six weeks she had imagined how Emma's skin would feel under her fingertips.

So now she stood in the shadows where she could see the entire room and still be as close to Emma as she could be without actually climbing into the ring with her.

Twenty feet away, Emma jogged lightly in place on the soiled canvas cover of the ten-foot square ring while she waited for her opponent to adjust his gloves and get his mouthpiece between his teeth. She had been free sparring for almost three months with some of the men in her weight class. None of the other female kickboxers who frequented the gym were experienced enough to spar with her. The men accepted her as one of the regulars, and no one thought anything of working out with her. After the first few times she'd put one of them soundly on the mat with a roundhouse kick or a strong right cross, they'd forgotten she was a woman and had fought her with no holding back.

The young guy opposite her approached, a little aggression in his attitude. Perfect.

She needed an outlet for her physical frustration and her mental turmoil. Regina's abrupt return and the sudden change in their relationship had left her reeling. Nothing would test her or distract her as much as being in the ring with someone who could potentially hurt her. She would be forced to focus and she would need to burn. Still, she knew that somewhere nearby, Regina was watching. She couldn't see her, and she didn't want to see her. I want to forget her.

But she felt her.

And part of her wanted Regina there, even though she hated to admit how comforting she found the agent's presence. Regina was so very good at making her feel cared for, even when it was part of her job. From the very beginning, she's made Emma fell that she was what mattered and not just the status report or job performance evaluations that seemed to motivate some many of the dozens of agents who had guarded her throughout her childhood and into adulthood.

God, I hate that I love every single thing about Regina Mills.

Emma lifted her gloved hands and tapped them against those of her opponent, eager for the first contact, wanting desperately to erase Regina's face from her mind.

Regina watched Emma dance lightly across the canvas.

She's even better than she used to be.

Unlike most male kickboxers, who relied primarily on their punches for knockout, Emma had to depend more on her legs, which were, as for most women, more powerful weapons than her hands. This gives her the advantage of staying beyond the range of most of the other's punches and, with a well-placed kick, she could render a man unconscious. On the other hand, she wouldn't be able to weather too many direct blows to the face from a man her size or even a smaller one. As Regina watched, Emma effectively countered a volley of punches and pushed her opponent back with a nicely executed front kick to his thigh.

As she kept constant vigil of the people nearby in her peripheral vision, Regina allowed herself the luxury of simply looking at Emma. Her hair was pulled back away from her face and gathered at the nape of her neck, the few remaining wild curls secured with a rolled red bandanna tied around her forehead. She wore loose navy shorts and a cropped white t-shirt that left her midriff bare. The small gold ring in her naval glinted against the sweat sheen on her skin.

Watching the muscles ripple in her stomach, Regina stared at the ring and remembered how it felt to rub her palm over it. It was a memory she's looked back on many times since that first night they'd shared in Ashley's apartment, and the intensity of the image remained undiminished.

She'd been there close to an hour, waiting for Emma. She tried to kill time reading a magazine from a stack next to the sofa, but she couldn't concentrate. Too anxious. Too worried about Emma. She knew the agents who followed her to the apartment, and watched the building, would wonder what she was doing at Ashley's. Emma didn't make a secret of her sexual preferences, at least as far as her security team was concerned, but it was never wise to give anyone too much information of a private nature. And rumors of Emma having sexual relations with a Secret Service agent would make for a powerful discussion around the water cooler.

Regina reminded herself that she knew these agents, and she believed in her heart that they could be trusted to be discreet, but the habit of a lifetime of guarding her own secrets was hard to change. And there was more than just her personal privacy involved, there was a little matter of Emma's very public image. When and if Emma decided to share her private life with the world, because that's what it would amount to for someone in her position, it should be her choice and not because she had no freedom to choose.

Despite the potential problems, she couldn't wait to see Emma again. After resisting her for so long, now all she could do was think about her. When she heard the key turn in the lock, she got to her feet and crossed the living room toward the tiny foyer just inside the front door.

Emma stepped through, breathless and smiling, and deposited a bag and a bottle of wine on the small table nearby. For just an instant, she looked shy. "Hi."

"Hi." Even that small word was hard to get around a throat suddenly tight with desire. She though that she had never seen Emma look quite so young. When Regina kissed her, she meant it only as a kiss of greeting. But they had seen each other for almost twenty-four hours, and they'd only one night together then. It had not been enough, and at that moment, it felt like it would never be enough.

One of them groaned, and each began frantically undressing the other right where they stood. Soon, they were pressed together half naked, unable to stop touching each other long enough to finish the job. Hungrily trading small kisses and small bites. Regina found Emma's breasts. She lifted them, squeezing a little harder than she intended as the astonishing thrill of finally touching her drove caution from her mind.

"Oh yes." Emma gasped, pushing harder into Regina's hands, working desperately to loosen the button on Regina's jeans. They were both in danger of falling in their eagerness to consume one another.

Finally, Regina wrenched her head back, gasping. "Wait! There must be a bedroom here. I really need to do this laying down."

Eyes wild with urgency, Emma simply grasped the waistband of Regina's jeans where she managed to get the top button open and tugged. "Come on." she ordered, her voice husky with want. "Guest room. This way."

Regina followed, slipping one hand around Emma's body from behind, smoothing her palm over the silky tautness of a bare abdomen. The small gold ring rubbed lightly against her skin, and she didn't think she'd ever felt anything quite so sexy. She stopped Emma just outside the door to the bedroom, pressing her bare chest to Emma's back, lifting both hands to cup Emma's breasts again.

With her lips close to Emma's ear, she moved her fingers to Emma's nipples and squeezed. "Yesterday, you made me beg."

Emma jerked in Regina's arms, arching into her hands as Regina continued the pressure on her nipples. "Do you have a point, Commander?" She reached back with one hand, searching for the rest of the buttons on Regina's fly.

"Could be it's your turn to beg." Regina whispered, biting lightly at the skin below Emma's earlobe. She was about to slid her palm down Emma's stomach when Emma succeeded in opening her jeans and pushed her hand down the front.

"Fuck." Regina gasped as Emma's fingers slid through the wet heat between her legs. Her knees nearly buckled as Emma tugged at her. Wrapping her arms around Emma's body, she pressed her face to Emma's neck, floating for a moment on a wave of pleasure. Then she stiffened as the persistent pull of Emma's fingers drew her suddenly to the brink of orgasm.

"Uh-uh. No." she murmured, stepping back unsteadily, head buzzing with the thunder of blood, forcing Emma to move her hand. Shaking her head, she cleared the mist of arousal from her brain. She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the throbbing that began in her belly and thundered through her limbs. "Not so fast."

"Says who?" Emma turned in her arms and pushed at her jeans, ready to take her on the spot.

"Me." Regina kissed her again, pulling Emma's lower lip between her teeth, biting her lightly all the while backing her step by step into the bedroom. She kept her lips firmly on Emma's and grasped Emma's wrists, keeping them away. She'd never last if Emma touched her again. She was already twitching with the faint tremors of impending orgasm, and it wouldn't take more than a stroke to send her over.

When they hit the bed and fell backwards together, Regina rolled on top, pinning Emma's hands above her head with both of hers. "Not so fast." she whispered hoarsely again, just before she caught Emma's nipples between her teeth.

Emma moaned in surprise and struggled to free her hands, thrusting her hips against the thigh Regina had driven between her legs. "Let me touch you." she urged in Regina's ear. "Let me do it fast this time."

"Soon." Regina murmured against her breast. It had been so long since she'd touch a woman this way, and she wanted Emma so badly for months. She'd denied it when she was in charge of her security detail, but she didn't have to now. "I want you so much."

Emma's hands were in her hair when Regina slid between her legs and finally put her mouth on her. Those same fingers opened and closed erratically as Regina sucked and licked and tortured her with her tongue. When Emma pleaded, Regina slipped her fingers inside. And when she begged, Regina moved her hand slowly deeper. And when she cried, Regina let her come, stroking and thrusting and turning gently until every muscle clenched and relaxed a dozen times over.

Then she lay her cheek against the inside of Emma's thigh, exhausted and content, without a single ounce of regret. But even then, as she listened to Emma's breathing finally quiet, some part of her knew it was borrowed pleasure, because happiness, most of all, came with a price.

Regina flinched as Emma hit the canvas hard, the memory of that night dissolving in the demands of the moment. Fists clenched, she took one instinctive step forward, then forced herself to stop as she saw Emma get to her feet. Emma swayed unsteadily for an instant, but then seemed to shrug off the effect of the left jab that had caught her in the face, signaling her partner to come ahead again.

Regina watched her carefully for the rest of the session, which mercifully lasted only another few minutes. She seemed alright as she regained her balance and moved quickly to counter punches, even managing a spectacular sweep that put her opponent flat on his back, winding him for a minute. Still, Regina was happy when she climbed out of the ring and disappeared into the back of the gym.

When she emerged in a dry t-shirt, ready to leave, Regina joined her. "Nice fight." she said, relieved to see that Emma's eyes were clear and her motion steady.

Emma shrugged, smiling faintly. "I didn't exactly beat the crap out of him though."

"Close enough." before she could stop herself, Regina raised her hand and brushed her thumb across a bruise beginning to form on Emma's cheek where his glove had landed. "Maybe you should wear a helmet next time, Ms. Swan." she said softly.

Emma's eyes widened at the gentle caress. The touch was so tender it reached deeper than desire. Unable to take her eyes from Regina's penetrating gaze, she whispered, "I'll take that under advisement, Commander."

"Good. Because I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Yes, I know. That's your job."

There was no resentment in her voice, and Regina smiled, unexpectedly comforted by the first moment without anger they had shared all day. "That's part of it."

"Let's not go there again." Emma regarded her steadily. "You can tell your team to relax. I'm going home."