Okay, so maybe she had gone through her clothes one more time.

So what, stop judging.

Emma had done it quickly in the two hours between her usual afternoon classes and her evening shift at the bar.

It was the only time that Emma had been able to fit it in.

Her schedule was - hectic at the least and a mess at best. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday she took afternoon classes starting at noon that went until six. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday Emma worked at Leroy's Bar and Grill as a food runner, and occasional bar-back, from 8 P.M. to 2:30 A.M.

She didn't have a lot of time for fun.

That's why she was so looking forward to this con. Well. One of the reasons.

When the con had been announced a year ago she had begun saving every spare dollar. That had been fairly easy. She didn't really have the time to go out and she didn't often date. Then six months ago she had marched into Leroy's office and told him that he would give her the four days of the con off or else she would quit. If she were completely honest she had kind of been hoping he would choose the latter; Leroy wasn't the kind of man who liked being told what to do. He had stared at her through drunken bleary eyes but had agreed. He knew the threat was not an idle one.

Emma had been at the bar for three years, since her first month of undergrad. And over those three years she had worked her butt off for the asshole trying to get a position behind the bar where she could have better hours and make more money, not to mention experience so she could move on to a better establishment. This was L.A. - if she had some bartending experience or even someone to vouch for her, she could make her own hours and make so much money. But Leroy wouldn't allow her behind the bar for one simple reason. Emma absolutely refused to blow him. He might be drunk, but he wasn't stupid. He knew what making her a bartender would do. If he was going to lose his best runner then it had better be worth it and he had...a thing...for the blonde. So that was his price. She wouldn't do it. So she stayed a lowly runner and bar-back.

She had been on the verge of quitting for years but damn, the money was good-ish; far better than anywhere else she had scoped out.

Oh well. She knew she had Leroy's balls in a bind.

And now she had well over a grand to spend on whatever the fuck she wanted at the con and the con had been placed conveniently enough that she could do her class work before it and take that Thursday and Friday off.

She hadn't had four whole days off since...she couldn't remember. High school maybe? She had never really had the type of life that involved vacations. Never had a family to fly home to over the holidays nor the type of job that allowed for her to miss work - even for serious illness.

She had a much-needed break ahead of her.

And now her bags were packed and stowed in Leroy's office, her car was gassed up for the hour long drive out of L.A. and into Anaheim - and her mood was up. She had even told Red that she would be there tonight though very late and Red had promised to leave a room key for her at the front desk. She was psyched. Nothing was going to bring her down tonight…except maybe having to put it off any longer.

"Oh come on, dude!" Emma carried the last dry rack of glasses from the back dishwasher to the bar counter. Coming around the bar, she began to empty the rack onto the back counter, stacking them in the crisscrossed pyramid pattern that left them looking typically presentable, while standing stable enough to be safe behind a fast paced bar.

"I'm fucking working on it!" Will cried with a friendly smile, "I know you're anxious to go. We'll get you tipped out in a second." He had five stacks of bills on the bar, dividing two for the bartenders, two for the servers and one for Emma. Will was good at every aspect of the business that he picked up for Leroy - except the evening tip outs.

He took forever; counting and recounting to be sure everyone got exactly what they were supposed to.

She knew that in the kitchen the two servers had a similar stack going.

"What's your rush, cutie-pie?" Leroy asked from the end of the bar, barely able to lift his head.

Leroy was the last person in the world who should own a bar. He was a less than fully functional alcoholic who paid bartenders to pour other people drinks - so long as they poured him one right along with it. Thank god for Will, otherwise, the damn bar would never open or close. At least, Will was smart enough to pour him glasses of Bud Light instead of the on-tap microbrews like Leroy requested.

She finished with the rack and brought it back to the dishwasher station, ignoring the catcalls from the kitchen staff. They were her friends, but she was damned anxious just to get out of there. She smelled like beer, dish soap, sweat, and bar food. Not so cute. She wanted to get a shower before she went to bed plus the con began at 10 A.M. sharp tomorrow morning. Since it was already after 2:30 she probably wouldn't get into bed until four.

"Will!"

Lacey appeared from the servers station with a grin, "Here you go, Em. We threw in a little something extra. Have fun!" Emma grinned and let Lacey hug her. They weren't really friends like that but...alright.

"Okay, Swan!" Will called and Emma grinned, her heart racing as she grabbed her stuff from Leroy's office using the key they all shared. "Have fun. Don't do anyone I wouldn't do!"

Emma scoffed, "So the only person I can do is your wife then?"

He let out a booming laugh and threw a cocktail onion at her.

"Wait, wait, blondie." Leroy grabbed her just before she walked out the door.

"What, Leroy?" She tried not to sound too annoyed with him since he was her boss after all, drunk or not. "I made sure that your office door was locked after I grabbed my bags, promise."

He stared at her through one eye for a long while, slowly processing what she was saying.

She checked the time, "Leroy, I'm sorry, but I really have to go."

He stared for another minute before he finally slurred, "I need you to cover Alice's lunch shift tomorrow. She uh, she called in sick tonight."

Emma glared, feeling both joy and terror rise in her. She had promised she would quit if he stood in the way of her going this weekend. The one other time she had requested time off he had taken it from her at the last minute like this. That wasn't going to happen again.

Fuck, she would love to be forced out of this job - for the choice to be taken from her, but that thought was also terrifying. She would be unemployed. But Emma had known for a long time that she needed a change in her life. Something - something positive - and losing this shit job, money aside, would be a good step. "Leroy," she tried in a stern voice, "we already talked about this, remember? I have the next few days off."

"After the lunch shift, you have days off."

"No, Leroy I can't. I will be in Anaheim."

"Go to Disneyland after."

"Leroy!"

Her short boss wobbled on his chair and then stood. Emma knew this move. He was about to start yelling.

"Leroy! Come on, man! We all already knew this was coming! Ask Lacey or Mike."

"Do not tell me -" Leroy began, turning on Will.

Will gave her a quick nod and Emma knew what it meant. They had all done it. Slip out while the drunken boss was yelling at someone else. As long as Will knew what was going on they were golden; Leroy wouldn't remember in the morning.

She gave him a grateful smile and bolted before Leroy could remember her.

Excitement began to build as she tossed her bags into the hood of her bug and climbed inside. She was going to be later than she wanted to be but next stop - Anaheim.


The hotel was neither the nicest nor the largest in this stretch of hotels on the outskirts of Anaheim. She supposed that didn't really surprise her. C&P wasn't exactly the most popular show yet. Seeing the size of the hotel, she began to hope that the rumors from the last con would be true this weekend as well. Maybe the actors would actually mingle with them. Maybe she would get to have a legitimate conversation with some of them Q&A questions aside.

She parked in the very full lot and, bags in tow, headed toward the lobby.

She was surprised to find that except for the front desk attendant, the lobby was empty. Well, it was four in the morning but weren't cons supposed to be nonstop partying? Everyone online had been telling her to prepare for absolutely no sleep for weeks now.

She approached the desk, frowning guiltily. The kid behind it had clearly fought sleep hard but had, in the end, lost; her face in her palm, her mouth agape.

"Uh, hi." The attendant didn't respond. Emma dropped her heavy bag on the floor and tried again. "Excuse me."

The girl jumped, looking guilty. She was so young. Wasn't there some type of rule about unsupervised children working the front desk? "I'm sorry! Ugh, welcome to -" the girl mumbled through her clearly rehearsed welcome speech with wide eyes as though she were worried that Emma would get her into trouble.

She wished she could tell her that she could relax without openly bringing it up.

The automatic doors opened behind Emma and she heard a large group walk in.

"Wow." The girl tried to laugh, "A lot of you for a 4 A.M. check in."

Emma tried to give the scattered girl a reassuring smile, but her eyes were busy trying not to be intimidated by the burly man who had just appeared at Emma's side. She didn't even need to look at him to know that he was at least a head taller than her and at least two of Emma put together across the chest. Emma blinked and took a step back, finally casting a glance at him.

Why was he glaring at her? What the fuck was his problem?

He took another step forward and feeling the pressure Emma took another sidestep down the counter.

Geez, all he had to do was ask her to move a little. Fuck.

Someone stepped up to the counter behind him, yawning and rubbing her face.

Emma's eyes grew wide and her heart jumped so hard it hurt.

Holy fucking shit on a cracker - that was Annabella Colt. Holy shit, holy shit, it was Annabella Colt. No! Wait! She swore at her tired mind. That was Regina Mills - not Annabella Colt. There was a huge difference. Duh.

The man glared at Emma the moment that recognition froze her face, his eyes narrowing menacingly.

Well, no wonder he was so in her face. Emma tried not to look, but that was just fucking impossible.

Just by looking at her you could easily see that no one was supposed to be in the lobby this late and that no one was supposed to see her. She was makeup free, something Emma had never seen in any picture. For most celebrities, it made them slightly less attractive but for her, well, her lips were less defined and her warm chocolate eyes shone a little less but - that was about it. She was fucking stunning. Her hair, which was always done up for photos and the show, now was pulled back into a loose ponytail and unlike her usual designer wear, she was in a comfortable looking cotton t-shirt, North Face TKA pants.

She looked exhausted like she had been traveling all day. Or maybe like they had pulled her out of bed to check-in during the middle of the night so that she would not be bothered by fans.

That thought made Emma feel bad. Emma took a shuttering breath and looked away, staring straight at the desk, trying to give her privacy.

Wow. She had always thought that Zelena Malvagio was hotter than Regina Mills but fuck, looking at the woman now she wasn't sure that was possible. Jesus. It made her head spin and, she closed her eyes for a moment because as much as she did not want to, she was remembering every smutty scene she had ever read starring that woman's character and it was pulling at her in just the wrong way. Well, she supposed any other time it would be the right way -

The burly man cleared his throat and Emma jumped, realizing she had no idea how long she had been standing there frozen like an idiot.

"I'm sorry." She turned back to the attendant who was flicking glances between Emma, the terrifying man, and the beauty at the end of the desk - she clearly had no idea who Regina Mills was. "I uh," Speak, Emma, speak! "sorry. Someone should have left a room key for me."

"Okay. Name?"

"Emma Swan." She blushed when her voice cracked. Jesus Christ, Swan, get it together.

The girl's confusion grew, but she nodded and began to root through the desk below her.

Emma tried not to but - it couldn't be helped. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Regina Mills again.

The woman had pulled out her phone and was staring at it with an intensity that made Emma think she knew Emma was struggling because of her and was purposely avoiding her gaze. Was she doing it to lessen Emma's stumbling or was she doing it because she was avoiding Emma's eye?

That was fair, she supposed.

Should she say something to her?

No. It was four in the morning. Plus, she had a feeling if she tried the beefy dude would take a bite out of her.

"Oh, here it is. Here you go, Miss. Swan."

Emma took it, ready to remove herself from the scornful gaze of the blonde man. "Uh, yeah, thanks."

She grabbed her bag and turned, looking for the other one.

Instantly the man's chest seemed to swell.

Jesus.

"Um. Excuse me?"

The man seemed to plant himself, "I'm sorry, but due to the late hour, Ms. Mills would appreciate her privacy at this time."

That was fair, but -

"Uh, yeah -" She started to point but the man rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but due to the late hour, Ms. Mills would appreciate her privacy at this time."

Embarrassment began to tinge Emma's cheeks as everyone in the group of people turned to stare at Emma as though she were fangirl scum who just couldn't give an actor space - one of those fans who loved their celebrity so much that they ripped their shirt trying to touch them or pulled out chunks of their hair.

"That's fine but my -"

"Ms. Mills will be available to greet tomorrow evening, ma'am. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Dude. That's fine -" she tried to reach around him, but the man moved with her. When he moved Emma got a clear view of Regina Mills for the first time since she had turned from the desk. The stunning woman was eyeing her, looking as though she couldn't decide if it would be better to ignore the rabid fan or simply greet her so she would move on. She seemed to make up her mind and made a move to step around the blonde man.

Emma panicked. She knew that she didn't know Regina Mills and Regina Mills didn't know her, but this wasn't the impression she wanted her to have. Humiliation made Emma snap at the giant man a little louder and harder than she normally would have had the balls to. The ass was making her look terrible in front of one of the two women she was here to see! "Whoa, Rent-A-Cop! That's fine!" The sharp blush in her cheeks was beginning to make her eyes sting, "Relax! Even celebrities deserve a quiet check in at four in the morning, but you're standing in front of my freaking bag!" She angrily pointed at the small duffle behind his feet.

He glanced back and a soft pink touched his cheeks. He nodded once and gruffly grabbed it. He thrust it at her and glowered as if daring her to need something else.

Livid, she slammed her room key into her back pocket and grabbed it, "Thank you."

She turned on her heels and strode briskly toward the elevators.

Had no one really seen her bag at their feet? She had a hard time buying that.

Fuck that was embarrassing.

She pressed the up button and glanced back before she could stop herself. The huge man was talking quietly to the girl behind the desk who looked exponentially more nervous after the exchange than she had when talking to Emma. Most of the group seemed to have already forgotten about the disturbance fussing over a boy that Emma recognized as August Booth and a woman that she was sure was Belle French.

The thing that caught her and made her angry blush deepen was that Regina Mills was staring at her with wide eyes. Had she said those eyes didn't sparkle like they did on TV? Because that was just not true.

At first glance Emma scowled, thinking that Regina was staring at her like she might attack at any moment. Then the elevator door opened and she got in. She had no choice but to turn around and wait for the door to close and that's when she got a second glance of the woman and realized that the stare was - apologetic? Her mouth opened to speak, but Emma hit the proper floor and stared at the ground, wishing that the deep chocolate eyes of the actress would stop mournfully following her.

She swore a few times under her breath to release some of the anger as the elevator rose.

What the fuck was Regina Mills even doing here? It was Wednesday night - well, technically Thursday morning. She wasn't scheduled to appear until Friday morning.

And what the fuck was the rent-a-cop's problem? Did Emma really look like that big of a threat? Yeah, maybe she still had most of her soccer muscles...she worked out...but what would she do that he couldn't stop? He could have broken her like a fucking twig. "Fucking asshole."

The doors slid open on an empty hallway and she quickly pulled out her key. She wasn't sure which floor the actors stayed on but just in case it was this one she didn't want to be caught in the hallway by the burly man again.

She followed the numbers and headed east until she was standing outside of the door.

Trying to put the keycard in the slot she realized her hands were shaking.

Goddamn it!

She finally got it in and the little red light clicked green.

She opened the door and was surprised to find a small light was still on. Was Red still up?

She stepped into the room and immediately averted her eyes.

Nope. Red wasn't still up!

She had seen pictures of Red before, of course, but she hadn't really expected to ever see so much of her. The crimson haired girl was asleep on her back, the blankets thrown off of her completely naked form with a smaller pale skinned woman draped across her, fiery red curls everywhere - equally naked.

Ooooookay. Red hadn't said anything about bringing a girlfriend to the con. She worried that perhaps she was ruining their couple's time or - she was going to have to listen to them fucking. They knew she was coming tonight, right? She was pretty sure she had told Red it was tonight.

Jesus. That - that was really all of Red, wasn't it?

She dropped her bags by the unoccupied bed and clicked off the light, feeling more comfortable when she could no longer see their naked, tangled bodies.

Well, that was - awkward.

Actually, maybe that wasn't a girlfriend. She thought that Red would have mentioned it if she had begun seeing someone. Maybe it was a one night stand. She had known Red's online persona for years, having met her in a previous fandom. Red was totally a one-night stand kind of girl.

Crap.

She hadn't thought of Red having one night stands.

Emma wasn't exactly the most - well - she didn't really party the way that most other twenty-two-year-olds did. She worked in a very busy bar and she was a full-time student. She didn't really have time to party...not that she really would anyway. She had a couple of one-night stands over the years when the itch really had to be scratched but - she couldn't help but to wonder if she bit off more than she could chew in her hotel mate. She had heard her stories. Why hadn't she thought about that? Emma rolled her eyes.

But this wasn't the time to worry about it. She had planned to shower but decided against it. She was going to have to be up in four hours or so anyway. Fuck it.

The day had been long and the interaction downstairs had tipped her from tired to dead on her feet.

She flopped onto her bed fully clothed and fell asleep instantly.