Annabelle felt a little hopeful for the first time in months, since she was arrested. Working in the Wing Office was the perfect distraction, not to mention it appeared to be a rather coveted position. She wondered if it was because it felt like being able to connect with real life again. The office had a kettle, coffee machine, computers and phones; everything they weren't allowed in their cells; working in there felt a little like she was free again, the office could have been any office. Even the prison officers had been more or less polite to her so far; sure they demanded a cup of tea now and again but that was a lot nicer than most of the orders they gave on the wing. She pondered it all as she separated the pile of reports into appropriate stacks and swept a dust cloth over the desk. Her heart fell a little when her mind betrayed her and allowed her to wonder how long it might be before Zelena managed to ruin this for her. Working in the office was a privilege work duty; only the most trusted and well behaved inmates would be allowed to work there. All the confidential stuff was locked away of course but phone and computer were more or less accessible, and even the chance of making a cup of coffee from a fancy machine felt like a luxury holiday.
"Any tea Annabelle?" a voice called pulling her out of her daydream of thoughts. She turned to great Officer Gold and smiled.
"Yeah. Of course. I'll just bring this kettle back up to boil Sir." She replied and leaned over to flick the switch.
Gold tilted his head a little as the waist tie of Annabelle's apron pulled tight at her waist as she leant forward; it nipped her already small waist and accentuated her ass; and he appreciated it fully.
Annabelle straightened up and carried on with her tasks; knowing her role was to be seen and not really heard, and certainly not in the way. She moved away from the desk and began to clear the gathering mugs from the small coffee table.
Gold shuffled the stack of paperwork her was holding and made his way to the desk. He hummed approvingly at the piles Annabelle had created. He pulled a key from his chain and unlocked the filling cabinet to store the paperwork in the relevant section.
The kettle clicked off and echoed around the silent room. Annabelle tucked her cloth into her apron and hastily made her way back to the counter and made Gold's tea. She held it out carefully to him, burning her hands on the mug so he could grab the handle.
He accepted it thankfully. "You put the sugars in?" he asked, sipping the tea anyway to check. Annabelle nodded silently.
Gold smiled. "That's my girl" he said winking. He took another sip and sighed satisfactorily, "Perfect".
Annabelle remained silent and wanted to get back to her work but somehow felt compelled to stay in Gold's presence.
"So," he began, "How's it going? Are they leaving you alone now?" he quizzed looking genuinely interested. Annabelle stared up at him and remembered everything she had been trying all morning in the office to forget. It came flooding all at once and she couldn't stop her eyes from letting some of it out. Gold placed his tea carefully on the side and moved closer to her.
"Hey, what is it?"
Annabelle shook her head and dropped to try and stop him from seeing her tears. "Don't make me go back to the dorm, I'm scared."
Gold's finger found her chin and tilted it up to look her in the eyes, "I promised to look after you, didn't I?"
There was something about him and she couldn't place it. He felt dangerous but she also felt kind of safe with him; like no one could really hurt her, except him. He did say he would look after her and so far he had gotten her the job. Her head twisted with fear and her intuition was alarming constantly; she needed to be safe.
"I'll sort it out love, don't worry."
He was going to make her safe.
The thought had barely entered her head before she had pushed up on her toes and smashed her lips against Golds. He inhaled abruptly in shock and took her by the shoulders and pressed her back away from him.
"Wow, Annabelle." He commented, but didn't let go of her shoulders. He stared intently at her, and she started to cry again. Her head fell and he smiled…or sneered? "Just calm down" he whispered and stroked her cheek.
"Why don't you go to the bathroom and take a minute." He suggested and she wordlessly nodded and left the office.
Gold licked his lips and felt very pleased with himself; he had her exactly where he wanted her.
It wasn't the first hangover Regina Mills had ever had; not by a long shot, but after drifting to sleep promising herself she would wake up confident and strong she was a little bitter about her taunting headache. She pulled open her top desk drawer and routed around for a few seconds until her fingers felt the tell-tale feel of a half-used packed of paracetamol. She popped two in her mouth and washed them down with almost a full bottle of water.
Shaking her head and shoulders to loosen up; she regretted the move instantly, but dragged herself from her desk all the same and left her office heading in Emma Swan's solitary direction.
Officer Stewart unlocked the heavy cell door to the solitary cell and pushed it inwards to reveal Emma Swan. Regina stepped forward and immediately froze at Emma's appearance.
"What the hell is she doing in strips?!" Regina demanded to know, but proceeded without waiting for a response. "Get her clothes in here immediately!" she ordered Stewart, who mumbled something incoherent and ran off down the hall.
Regina stared at Emma, huddled in the corner with the thin, frayed blanket wrapped around her shoulders and pulled across her front in an attempt to keep her body somewhat covered. Her blonde hair was loose and mussed about her shoulders and face, covering her eyes; not that it mattered, she refused to look up to meet Regina's eyes anyway.
Regina forced herself to calm down a little and moved towards Emma, her eyes locked on Emma's, whether she was looking back or not.
"I'm sorry, Emma; this should not have happened."
Emma scoffed, dragging her eyes up to meet Regina's. Her green eyes were hard, and her voice cold. "Happens all the time." She stated.
"Not in future." Regina assured bluntly. Emma saw the flicker of fire in her eyes and for a moment believed her, before she remembered that Regina was the reason she was there in the first place.
"Why not?" she quizzed, "You going to lock up the screws?" she asked allowing a sneer to mark her lips.
Regina falters a little at Emma's statement and feels caught in her gaze. What is she going to do? She sighs and remembers why she came to see Emma in the first place; to appeal to her obvious passion for the rights of the rest of the women.
Regina allows her hard ass cover to slip a little more as she sighs loudly and lowers herself to perch on the hard, metal bed. Regina's eyebrows lower as her dark eyes narrow in Emma's direction. Emma appearance is the same; dishevelled, but the strength Regina can see in her eyes and her body language stirs something in her chest. Emma's bare arms look strong; clear defined muscles tensed with the rage she's feeling. Regina can sympathise with her obvious need to fix what she sees as injustice; and she barely holds in a scoff of laughter as she contemplates the side of the bars Emma fell on.
"Look Emma, I intend to make changes here, but I need co-operation." Regina starts. Emma doesn't flinch.
"You're right," Regina says, and Emma's instinct pulls at her to look up; never has an officer told her she was right, but she fights it.
"What you said yesterday," Regina clarifies when she gets no response from Emma. "I can't do this without your help."
Emma is desperate to believe her, but nothing about her experience in the prison system has given her any reason to think that this one might be different. She pulls her eyes from the floor and stares intently at Regina.
"Listen, darling, I don't know how you sleep working for a system that looks up pregnant women."
Regina's eyes flare; she was really trying here and this insufferable blonde wasn't even going to give her a second. She clenches her teeth and tries to relax. Emma is still staring at her.
"You'll have to trust me," Regina says, hoping Emma hears the request for what it really is, "I don't."
Emma sees the hardness vanish just for a second in Regina's eyes as she answers, but before she can respond Officer Stewart returns panting with a bundle of clothes clutched in his hands.
Regina stands up, smoothed out her skirt and took the clothes from Stewart. Emma stands up and struggles to keep the flimsy blanket covering her modesty. The fabric slips a little when Emma reaches out to take the piles of clothes and Regina barely manages to hide the sharp intake of breath her body demands when her eyes catch sight of Emma's taught bare stomach. Emma doesn't seem to notice but immediately turns away to get dressed.
Regina is frozen to the spot staring before she realises what she's doing and sharply turns her back to Emma to give her some privacy.
"It's up to you, Emma. Either we both climb down together and manage to make something positive out of this mess…"
Emma slides her royal blue hoodie over her head and turns to face Regina's back, flicking her hair from the collar.
"Or?" she asks Regina's back, allowing herself just a second to appreciate her Wing Governor's ass. She might not like the woman's position but she could still appreciate the woman.
Regina took Emma's speech as indication she was dressed and turned back, slowly, just in case.
"Or, we both loose out to the 'old boys network'." Regina pleaded. She'd read Emma's file; she knew this had to appeal to her sense of 'justice'.
Emma sighs. She knows Regina is right.
Gold stood firm, arms crossed defiantly as he surveyed his kingdom. His women were well into their lunch time routine; queuing at the counter, eating and chatting, scrapping un-stomached food into the bins. He noticed Annabelle making her way from the serving counter, eyes flicking between the women, trying to find a safe table to sit at.
"Annabelle" he called, and her head snapped towards him; her eyes big and bright like a dear in headlights. He loved the innocent type; well as innocent as you could find in the prison system.
"After you finish your food you're moving up to the threes; a girl is shipping out."
Annabelle nodded silently and couldn't stop a smile creeping onto her lips before she ducked her head shyly and moved to find a table again. Gold's eyes narrowed and he felt a sinister smile creep to his own lips.
Zelena over-heard him call to Annabelle and stood at the food counter staring daggers in Gold's direction. What the hell was he playing at?
"Oi Zelena, fill her up!" Vicky called, snapping her fingers in Zelena's face from the other side of the counter.
Zelena pulled her attention from Gold and focused on Vicky. "What do you want?" she asked, hovering her serving spoon above the poor excuses for a nutritional meal.
Emma took a deep breath and watched Regina as the brunette Wing Governor pulled the heavy key from her waist and slide it into the lock of the wing gate. Emma's gave a squeeze to the hand nestled in her own and smiled back at Ashley. Regina pulled the key back from the lock, and it retracted to the clip on her waist. She pushed the bars inwards and held it open for Emma and Ashley to enter behind her. Emma surveyed the other women dining and her eyes found Ana and Elsa standing by the food counter dressed in their aprons ready to clean up.
Emma's hand slips from Ashley's and instead places it on the shorter blondes lower back and guides her towards their friends. Emma more or less hands Ashely over to Anna's embrace and makes her way to the centre of the hall.
"I have an announcement to make!" she calls, and the women turn to face her, listening intently. She's not exactly Queen B, but she's made enough of a name for herself that generally the rest of the women at least want to know what she has to say.
"This unit is back in the fashion show!" Emma announces proudly, turning to look at as many women as she can. "Seeing as I'm the one who got it cancelled; I personally promised Miss Mills that if she let us back in, G Wing would give it our absolute best!" she grinned as the women cheered.
Gold was furious. His eyes met Zelena's across the room and she didn't appear to be very please either.
"So," Emma continued, "If that's okay with you; go and sort out your stuff!" she finished and dipped a quick bow before returning to Ashley's side.
Gold's eyes find Regina standing by the gate, a hint of smugness tugging at her lips.
"You bitch," he mutters but Regina doesn't see. Her attention is caught by Emma's bright, blonde hair swaying behind her as she walked back towards her friend. Emma's head turns and bright green eyes meet Regina's own brown ones, with an honest smile. Regina returns it for just a second before dipping her head to hide her smile growing bigger with satisfaction, and turns away to make her way back to her office. Emma's stares just a little longer after Regina's gaze leaves her own. Maybe this one is different.
Later that afternoon Ashley was escorted from HMP Storybrooke and was destined for another prison. Part of Regina's corrective action following the incident, had advised that Ashley be moved out. Emma wasn't impressed that one of her best friends in the place was being taken away, but part of her was also relieved that Ashley wouldn't have to deal with Hershey or Gold again.
Annabelle's eyes roomed around the room stopping on the photos of her son safely stuck on her new walls. It was far from being free, but a hell of a lot better than being stuck in the dorms with Zelena's right arm.
"Annabelle." A voice called through the wall, and Annabelle's heart lurched to her throat.
"It's me, your new next-door neighbour," Zelena's voice echoed around Annabelle's head.
"I just wanted you to know, it's really made my day you moving up here. You know, deep down, I have a great big soft spot for you." Zelena laughed and Annabelle swore it echoed around the whole prison.
She clenched the body pushed hard against her just a little bit tighter and Gold moaned into her ear as he trailed kisses across her neck, his hands tracing up her back underneath her shirt. What the hell had she gotten herself into?