Emma knocked firmly on the Prefect's door, though her insides felt anything but firm. She was above Prefect status herself, as Head Girl, but she knew that wouldn't matter a bit tonight.
"Enter," she heard Regina's airy voice from the other side, and allowed herself one deep, steeling breath before she raised a trembling hand to the doorknob and opened it.
Regina stood before her in the casual attire allowed a senior - her khaki pants had been swapped out for flannel ones in her dorm room, and she wore a school sweatshirt to protect herself from the fall chill. She was leaning against her desk, arms supporting some of her weight, her head tipped just slightly to the right as she watched Emma enter, as though she were studying something in a lab.
Two of her cronies, Vicki and Ashley, were sprawled comfortably on the bed. Vicki smirked, and Emma knew that the junior girl was enjoying this immensely after Emma had paddled her so soundly two weeks ago when she'd caught her smoking. Behind the bleachers, no less.
Emma ignored them both, her eyes on Regina as she came fully into the room and closed the door behind her. There was no point in pretending she would be leaving in a moment, much as she wanted to, and there was no point in pretending she was here for anyone but Regina.
"There was something on my door about a room inspection?" Emma made the statement a cool question. Regina's smile only grew, and she pushed herself gracefully off the desk and turned her back to Emma, making a show of going through papers and finding one.
"Ah, yes," she said, turning back around and holding the paper up. "I conducted a room inspection this afternoon, and I found three infractions. Of course, as you know, any more than two infractions warrants a trip to my room for a paddling." Regina's tone made an attempt at sounding regretful, but her eyes glittered maliciously.
Technically, Regina was correct, assuming the three infractions weren't complete fabrications. Of course, she was playing havoc with tradition. Senior girls were rarely subject to room inspections, and, as a Prefect herself, Emma had never paddled any girl in her hall for a messy room. Technically, Regina was within her rights to do so, even if the girl in question was the Head Girl. Of course, as Head Girl, Emma had the right to challenge the punishment, and if the Prefect Board, including its staff advisor, sided with her (which, in this case, it almost certainly would), Regina would be subject to a punishment of Emma's choosing. The system was designed to keep the Prefects from punishing each other frivolously, and in fact, none had ever attempted to punish a Head Girl, either. Until now. But, of course, Regina knew perfectly well that Emma wouldn't challenge the punishment anyway, and she simply waited silently while Emma came to the same conclusion.
"I'm...sorry to hear that," Emma said finally, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vicki's gleefully surprised look that she wasn't arguing.
"I'm afraid Alex's name is on here, too, since you're roommates," Regina went on in that same not-regretful tone.
"You leave my sister out of this," Emma flared up at once. Regina didn't look at all taken aback; if anything, she looked even more pleased.
"I thought you would feel that way. You're so protective. You'll be accepting punishment on her behalf, then? I wouldn't want to be accused of letting someone off just because they are the Head Girl's little sister.
Emma nodded, forced the word out between clenched teeth. "Yes."
"Good. That's really sweet of you. You must care so deeply for her." Emma felt her jaw muscles aching with the effort to keep silent, but she knew anything else she said would only worsen her predicament, which, in fairness, was bad enough already. She saw a hint of disappointment in Regina's dark eyes when she didn't respond, but the brunette shook it off quickly. "Well, let's get this started then, shall we?"
Emma glanced pointedly at Vicki and Ashley, still sprawled on the bed, having made no move to leave.
"Don't you usually conduct discipline in private?"
"Oh, usually, yes," Regina said happily. "But being as you're a senior and Head Girl, I thought witnesses would be a good idea - both to set an example, and so no one can claim I showed any undue favoritism toward you."
Emma choked back a laugh at the idea of Regina favoring her, under any circumstances, and rolled her eyes instead.
"Right," she said. "Let's get this done." Regina's eyes narrowed at her expression and tone, but Emma moved past her to the desk Regina had cleared off for her. Without waiting to be told, and forcing herself not to hesitate in the slightest, she bent over it, arms pillowing her head, up on her toes just slightly so the edge of the desk was across her hips. It had been years since she'd been across a desk like this for any real discipline (though she and her ex-girlfriend had had some enjoyable role plays) and she'd forgotten how vulnerable it felt. It brought back darker memories, too, from before Academy, and she forced those thoughts firmly from her mind. This experience would be plenty painful on its own.
She felt a brush of cool air as Regina lifted the hem of her skirt and tucked it firmly into the waistband. Every muscle in Emma's body tensed - she knew what came next - and a moment later felt Regina's cool fingers slip into the waistband of her painties and pull them right down to her knees. Her breath hissed through her teeth as her feeling of vulnerability increased intolerably. She heard Vicki titter nervously behind her and felt her face flush as she imagined the sight she presented to them. Emma wasn't remotely surprised when Regina drew the moment out, making another show of looking for her Prefect's paddle, before scooping it off the bed.
"Ah, here it is!" she announced cheerfully, and returned to Emma, positioning herself on the blonde's left.
"Now remember, if you stand up at all, or take your hands off the desk, the punishment starts over," Regina reminded her.
"I'm aware," Emma said, voice tight. She closed her eyes, wanting nothing more in this moment than for this to be over with.
CRACK!
The sound startled Emma an instant before the pain registered in her backside. Jesus. Had the paddle always hurt that bad? She gasped, forcing herself to stay still though every instinct screamed at her to stand up, to fight, and the paddle found its mark again. And again. Regina was using a slow, measured pace, placing each swat exactly where she wanted, hard enough to be sure it was felt. She concentrated primarily on the lower part of Emma's backside, which only made the occasional blazing swat higher up hurt even more.
After a dozen strokes, Emma couldn't help the small grunts of pain that escaped her with each blow. They escalated as Regina picked up the pace, placing a hand on Emma's lower back to brace herself as she turned her body into each blow.
Emma realized she was going to cry an instant before the first sob hiccupped out of her throat. She buried her face in her arms, and Regina paused, allowing her to hope for a brief moment that the paddling was over, that all she'd wanted was to make Emma cry. Regina leaned down to the blonde, close enough that she could feel Regina's breath tickle the side of her neck.
"My, my, you're in quite a predicament. I know that stings, Miss Swan," she said softly, her voice almost gentle. "Your ass is already starting to bruise. You're going to have a very difficult time sitting in class tomorrow, I think."
Emma didn't respond to the taunts. Instead, she used the pause to try to force her breathing to return to normal, hating the helpless tears that continued to spill from her eyes.
"Well, I think that will do for your part of the punishment," Regina said, standing back up. Her slight emphasis on the word "your" let Emma know they weren't done yet. "Now, for Alex's part."
The paddle cracked down again, and this time there was no finesse, no pausing between strokes. They rained down on her backside in rapid, blistering succession, and Emma's back and shoulder muscles bunched and knotted as her body and mind struggled to absorb the pain. It was too much, and her sobs began anew, fresh tears falling from her eyes to Regina's desk.
She managed to keep herself from pleading, but that was the only dignity she could claim when the onslaught stopped a couple of endless minutes later. Her hair blanketed her face, tangled and damp from her tears and sweat. The muscles of her forearms rippled as she fought to regain control of herself, and she couldn't make the tears stop.
"Stand up," Regina snapped. She was annoyed. She'd wanted to see Emma beg and plead for mercy while Ashley and Vicki watched. The Head Girl pushed herself up from the desk with little of her usual grace, however, and Regina took a measure of satisfaction in her stiff movement, the way her hands trembled as she pressed them to her sides, the tears that Emma still couldn't stem. It was a start, at least.
"Well, now," she crossed in front of Emma, and leaned against her desk again, chest rising and falling as she regained her breath. When she rested her hands on the desk, she felt a jolt of pleasure as her skin registered its wet surface. "Do you think you've learned your lesson, Miss Swan?" she asked, unable to keep from circling one finger idly in the small pool of Emma's tears as she spoke.
Green sparks flashed in Emma's eyes. "Certainly, Regina. I'll try not to leave my socks on the floor again." Her sarcasm was evident, and Regina almost slapped her. The blonde stood before her, half naked and paddled to near-hysteria in front of her peers, and still she had the gall to make smartass remarks? Regina managed to stay her hand by crossing her arms, but the anger glittering in her eyes was unmistakable, and registered as dangerous to all three girls in the room.
"Ash, Vick," she addressed her friends without taking her eyes off of Emma. "I think I need some time alone with the Head Girl." They looked disappointed, but neither of them protested; they knew Regina too well to imagine she'd be swayed, especially when she was already irritated.
As the door closed behind them, Regina saw Emma's shoulders sag slightly with relief. Foolish. Didn't she know how much more Regina could hurt her in private? She would learn.
"Is it true," Regina began in a casual voice, "that after you and Alex went to live with your older sister, Alex would wake up screaming at night? That you were the only one who could comfort her?"
Regina watched the emotions play across Emma's face: green eyes widening, hands going still with surprise, then pupils dilating, fingers clenching with fury, and, finally, horror at the pain Regina could cause with this knowledge. Chest and shoulders dropping in resignation, even as she took a steadying breath and spoke in a voice that gave Regina nothing.
"Yes."
"And that your stepfather never touched you? All the fucking and the beating was only for Alex, the youngest of all three of you?" Regina's head tilted slightly as she watched the tension creep back into Emma's slender frame, the flush that spread across her neck.
"Yes." The voice was taut with pain and fury.
Regina shifted off her desk and moved closer to Emma, their faces only a few inches apart.
"The counselors say she's doing better, don't they? She's opening up more and more - she even talks in class now sometimes, doesn't she?" Regina's tone could have been mistaken for compassion by someone who had never met her. Emma just glared at her through her tears.
"I'd hate to see her re-traumatized, Miss Swan. I'd hate to see rumors flying, and the whole school talking about her stepfather raping her when she wasn't even ten years old. Girls can be so vicious. I'd hate to see her suffer just because you couldn't keep your. Smart. Mouth. Shut." Regina finished, biting the words off in an unforgiving voice.
She watched as Emma's shoulders sagged, the fight leaving her body, at least for now.
"What do you want, Regina?" she asked, and Regina smiled thoroughly enjoying the meek tone that had finally found its way through Emma's fiery voice. She took Emma's chin in her fingers, disregarding the tears that still flowed, and squeezing hard enough that the green eyes winced in pain. But Emma didn't try to pull away. That much, already, she'd learned.
"From now on, what I want is all that matters to you, Miss Swan. You will come here, every day after classes and make yourself...useful, to me. You will not discipline me or my friends. You will treat me with unfailing courtesy in public, and in private, you will submit to me completely. That is the price of my silence." She released Emma and stepped back abruptly, crossing her arms and watching the impact of her words sink in, watching the green eyes darken as her demands registered. When Emma looked up again, her eyes were hard, but not particularly defiant.
"Okay," she said quietly. "But you don't raise a hand to Alex. Not you, or any of your friends. You don't touch her."
The small smile grew on Regina's face, and she reached up toward the blonde. Emma flinched, but Regina only stroked the last of the tears away with the pad of her thumb.
"Oh, my dear, don't you know? You are the interesting one."