A/N: Finally finished with this chapter. It's a Regina and Emma chapter, too! :) Unbetaed so all mistakes are mine. If anyone watches Rizzoli and Isles, I kinda paraphrased a quote(s).

Happy holidays everyone and a happier New Year! Thanks for the reviews/follows/faves, as well!


The work floor was quiet except for the humming from various machines. August had left earlier with a harried 'I'll be back' after they scanned Regina's systems and found nanobots attached to the various CPUs in her body. The majority of them in the computer memory. He had looked a bit sick which freaked her out a bit and made her wonder what he knew. She hoped it wasn't anything illegal.

"Nova, give me another quick scan of her system and tell me if anything new comes up."

"Yes, ma'am. Scanning."

While Nova did her work, Emma sat down on a stool next to Regina, studying her passive face. She looked no different from the last time she had been here but there was something missing. Before, she had seem...more even in standby mode but now there was something meek and unassuming and it put her off.

"Scan completed. No new activities detected."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, ma'am."

Emma didn't want to proceed until August returned so went and got her datapad and began working on other projects. She made sure to check on Regina every few minutes just in case something were to happen.

An hour passed and still no sign of August. She grew worried so she made a quick call to his commlink.

"Booth," he snapped, once the connection went through..

"Where the hell are you?"

"Oh. Emma. Now's not a good time."

"Not a good time...What do you have to do that takes more than an hour?"

"Just stuff. Look, I'll call you back when I can."

"But what about Regina? We need to get her back to the Whites or they'll be coming by for a visit. And you know how much I hate it when people do that."

"I don't know-" He paused and she could hear some muffled talking on the other end. He sounded reluctant when he spoke again. "Turn her on and ask her questions about her life."

She raised a brow. "Her life?"

"Or memories. Whatever. Look, I really need to go. I'll talk to you later."

He hung up and when she tried to call him again, it went straight to voicemail. Rolling her eyes, she regarded Regina, lying prone and still with the myriad of cables and wires still attached to her. Since there were more cables than the last time, she had Nova detach them using the portable Hekaton. It's many arms went to quick work, carefully unplugging and pulling the cables out. Having finished it's job, it retracted it's arms into the cylindrical body beneath the table.

Regina, as required by work protocol, was naked but Emma forced herself to feel nothing but professional interest. It was hard, though, which was why she immediately threw a thin sheet over her body once the cables were out.

Emma hesitated, a little conflicted on whether or not to wake her since she was having trouble being around the droid and she can imagine it'd get worse if she were awake and looking at her.

"'Talk to her', he says," she muttered, verbally inputting the code to wake her. She sat down, waiting for Regina to wake up. She pretended to practice making small talk, pitching her voice an octave higher. "Hi, Regina. It's been seven months since I last saw you. It's nice to see you again. I hope you don't mind me poking around your naked body."

"Technically, I'm not naked."

Emma went bright red. She leapt up from her seat in surprise. "Holy crap, you scared me."

Regina stared back at her from where she was lying on the examination table. "I apologise for scaring you. It was not my intention."

"Yeah, no, it's fine," Emma said, fighting the urge to press a hand to her chest. She sat back down and glanced at her. "So, uh, you feeling okay?"

"Feeling is a human act, Miss…" She trailed off, looking at Emma expectantly. "I apologise. I don't recall being given your name."

"Can't you find that out yourself," she asked. Her details were on the public database so she was sure Regina could track down her name easily.

"It is more polite to ask the person in question when said person is in front of me," Regina said. And hell, if there wasn't a hint of snark in the tone. Her face was expressionless though so maybe she imagined it.

"Swan. Name's Emma Swan." She automatically held out her hand. Regina shook it with some hesitation. "Uh, your clothes are right there if you want to get dressed."

"Thank you." Regina sat up and swung her legs around. The movement forced the blanket to slip and twist around her waist, covering her lap but baring her chest. Emma, for some unfathomable reason, went red again and spun around on her stool. She tried not to listen to Regina dressing.

"I'm done."

She turned around and gave her a quick once-over, noting the style and cut of her clothes and appreciating how well it suited her.

"So…," she began, trying to find a good topic of discussion but coming up empty. Oh. Maybe… "Do you remember me?"

"No," came the immediate answer. Well there went that.

"Right, right." She fell silent, looking anywhere but at Regina and trying desperately to find or do something that would dispel the awkward atmosphere between them. Or just her since she knew droids didn't have the capabilities to feel awkward.

"Do you find my presence uncomfortable, Miss Swan," Regina asked.

"Honestly? Yeah."

"May I ask why?"

"Um, well. You're a little different. I mean, like the way you speak, for example. You're really formal with a speech but it doesn't sound like it's coming from a robot, you know?"

"My Perso-Pro program is highly advanced compared to most others. The Bluebloods are known for that. However…"

Emma perked up at that. "Yeah?"

Regina scrutinised her carefully. For some reason, she wanted to be confided in so she smiled encouragingly.

"My system seems to be getting overrun with nanobots," Regina finally said. "They seem relatively harmless but I'm a little concerned. Has Daniel spoken about what he did?"

Emma had been listening carefully and was a little intrigued at the wording Regina had used. A robot could use the word concerned if the context was right but it normally lacked the required emotion behind such stated sentiments. Regina, however, sounded genuinely concerned and Emma's mind flashed back to the first they had met and her devastating words. The mention of Daniel's name snapped her back to the present and she frowned, a small ball of guilt forming in her stomach. While she had nothing to do with it, in fact had outright rejected the plan, she was still aware of the nature of it.

"Not details, no," she said. A half-truth would have to do. "What exactly did he do?"

"He said it would help me and then injected me."

"Help you from what?"

Regina's face went blank and her voice voice, while not exactly warm, was now downright chilly. "Nothing that concerns you."

Emma was taken aback at the sudden dismissal. "Um, sorry. Didn't mean to pry."

She fiddled with items beside the table, confused and at a loss at how to break this silence now. Catching her datapad in her peripheral vision, she waved her hand a little to get Regina's attention. She reached over to grab her datapad and tapped in a quick search. When Regina looked at her curiously, she activated the holographic function and a shimmering image of water surrounded them, spreading as far as fifty feet from where they were seated..

"What is this," Regina asked, looking around, the water reflecting in her eyes.

"Fishing!"

Emma, grinning, slid the stool over to Regina, accidentally brushing against her bare leg. She said nothing when Regina subtly flinched although she did silently file it away for later musing. The hologram flickered as she went through all the rules, demonstrating how to flick the datapad to simulate a fishing rod. Regina was reluctant, holding the datapad with careful hands.

"I don't believe this is appropriate for the workplace, Miss Swan. Don't you have business or work you need to attend to?"

"You are my business," she said. "Think of this as an impromptu systems check."

"For what?"

"Motor control." She shrugged. "Something along the lines of making sure everything's in working order blah blah blah. Anyway, are you gonna cast the line? If not, gimme. I haven't tried this in months."

She made to snatch at the datapad but Regina whisked it away from her, holding it protectively behind her back. "I'll be casting the line. You keep your grabbing hands away."

Emma hid a smile as Regina glared at her warningly. This Regina was fun. She wondered if they had installed a new Perso-Pro since last she saw her because damn, the level of genuinity was amazing. The longer she spoke to her, the more involved Regina seemed to be.

"Why isn't this working? I've moved it as you've demonstrated but it only casts ten feet away. This datapad is malfunctioning."

Emma focussed in time to see Regina frown down at the datapad.

"Good thing you don't have laser eyes or my datapad would have a few extra holes." She got up to sit next to her, reaching over to demonstrate again. A quick glance at Regina's face had her catch the droid staring at her. They both froze, Emma keenly aware of her proximity and she could swear there was a tinge of pink rising to Regina's cheeks. Must have been the light from the hologram because there was no way she could be blushing.

"Emma, you in here?"

August's unexpected call, loud and echoing as it was, startled them both. Regina, who had been holding onto the datapad, jerked in surprise and released the device. Emma's grip on the datapad had been tenuous at best, the weight having been held by the droid, so when Regina had let go, the datapad had slipped from both of their grasp and crashed to the floor.

The holographic water around them flickered then disappeared as the datapad shut itself off after a few warning beeps.

Emma and Regina were still staring down at the floor when August ran inside, his eyes wide and darting. "What was that? What happened?"

"My datapad broke." Emma bent down to grab it, holding onto Regina's arm for balance. She handed it over to August with a sigh. "Think you can fix it?"

"I can try. What were you guys doing anyway?"

"Fishing. I was showing her how to cast the line when you interrupted and scared the crap out of us."

August, who had been picking at shattered screen, looked up. He glanced between the two of them. "Fishing. Catch anything?"

"No," Regina said, finally piping up. There was a certain indignant air about her that had Emma fighting back a chuckle. "Miss Swan's datapad seems incapable of handling a simple game."

"Hey! I've had this for years and it works fine for me. Maybe it just doesn't like you."

"Well, Regina's right, Em. Besides the data streams, it's not exactly the best model out there." He set the datapad on the table. "I can fix it but you're better off buying a new one."

"Aw, come on…"

"You can afford it," he pointed out, giving her a patient look.

Regina cleared her throat. "I have to apologize, though. It was my fault. I'll find some way to pay you back for it."

"What? No, no, no. You don't have to do that. It was just an accident and I was kidding about it. It's really not that important."

Regina looked sceptical but nodded. Emma smiled until she caught August's disbelieving look. She shot him a killing look when he looked like he was about to speak. He huffed but didn't say anything. She turned back to Regina. "Um, since August is back, I guess we can continue with, you know, your repairs and such. Think you can go into standby for us?"

"Not full shutdown," Regina queried. She began to take her clothes off, the blouse hanging open within seconds. Emma felt a little uncomfortable and not because of propriety. She was used to seeing certain droids strip, as per their Perso-Pro commands but it was usually the Glam Life models, not the Bluebloods.

"Not full shutdown," she replied quietly, averting her eyes and pinching August, hard, since he was staring. He yelped and shot her a wounded look but turned around anyway, rubbing at the sore spot with a pout.

"I see. Is full nudity required?" Emma shook her head. She heard a little rustling before it settled. "Then I hope you don't mind if I use the blanket. It seems my body discomfits you."

"I'm not complaining," August muttered, earning him a threatening look from Emma. He took a long step away from her.

"It's not that," Emma started. "I've seen plenty of naked people and it's not something I go nuts over. Not that I'm saying your body isn't worth going nuts over. Far from it. In fact, it's pretty top notch and you've got an amazing figure and I'm babbling aren't I?"

"Yes," Regina and August said in unison.

She sighed. "Right."

"Thank you for the compliment, regardless," Regina said, sounding very amused. It made Emma's shoulder droop in embarrassment. Way to go, Swan, she thought sourly. Managed to make a joke of yourself in front of a droid. No wonder you can't get a date.

"You're welcome," she said, ignoring the snicker from beside her. She'd get him later.

"I hope you have a productive work time. On standby."

Emma looked up as Regina finished speaking. Her body went limp and there was an eerie stillness to her that made Emma's heart thud faster until she reminded herself that Regina wasn't dead. Not alive either but she pushed that thought aside.

August clapped his hands, making her jump. He grinned at her. "Alright. Let's get to work, shall we?"

"I swear to god, Booth, one of these days…"