Regina sat staring out the windshield of her car. Although part of her felt like screaming and hitting the steering wheel until her palms hurt, she didn't dare make a move.
Just the fact that she was sitting unmoving in her car was probably telling enough to the gaggle of reporters with high definition cameras camped just outside the prison gates. The staff parking lot was out in the open. They could see her. Watch her. Photograph any move she made.
So she didn't. She just sat still, her eyes drifting closed as she recalled the past five days...
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5 days earlier:
"Mills!" the officer's shout startled her to attention.
She had been at the county jail all day. For a few hours she'd been placed in an interrogation room where State Police asked a lot of very probing questions about the riot, and about the operations of the prison before the riot began. It was clear they were chomping at the bit for answers as to what happened, most likely at the directive of the governor's office.
Those were questions Regina would have liked to have as well, but she hadn't gotten any out of the State Police.
She'd spent the rest of the day in womens' lockup with a couple drunks, a few women arrested for possession of methamphetamine, and one angry broad who'd come in fresh from a domestic dispute.
Raising her head from the spot she'd been staring at on the floor, Regina saw the desk officer open the cell door and motion her out.
"You're free to go," the officer explained.
Regina breathed a sigh of relief, quickly making her way out of the cell.
"Your ride is waiting in the lobby."
She turned, confused, "My ride?"
The officer looked annoyed, "He made certain we give you the message."
She still had no idea what that meant, or who this 'ride' was, but it couldn't be any worse than what was in the holding cell, so she decided not to wait around to find out.
As she made her way quickly down the hall, she noted that every police officer she passed stopped to stare.
Word had obviously spread.
Holding her head up, she continued to forward with her jaw set.
When she finally emerged in the lobby, it became apparent who was waiting for her.
David was speaking with the officer at the front desk, but he stepped away immediately when he caught sight of her.
"Regina," he rushed over, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she nodded.
Squeezing her shoulder awkwardly, David turned her toward the front door, "I came as soon as I figured out where you were."
Now that she was out of jail and her attention no longer only on explaining the riot, her heart began racing.
"Henry!"
"Mary-Margaret's with him," David assured her, "Come on, let's get out of here."
He didn't have to make the suggestion twice.
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Mary-Margaret barreled into Regina before she'd even completely made it out of David's car. The school teacher squeezed her tightly, aggravating the aches from spending a night on the floor, and absorbing 50,000 volts of electricity, that had settled into her bones
"Oh, thank God," the younger woman gasped into her hair, "We were so worried."
She groaned in pain, "Mary-Margaret, I'm fine."
Mary-Margaret pulled back and opened her mouth to say something. Before she managed to get any words out, though, a yell echoed down the driveway.
"Mom!"
"Henry, wait!" a woman's voice ordered immediately.
By the time Regina turned, a smaller body slammed into hers even harder than Mary-Margaret had. She didn't care, though, as she basked in her son's embrace. Squeezing him as tightly as she could.
Her son had tears in his eyes when he pulled back.
"Are you okay?" he sniffed.
Blinking against tears of her own Regina nodded, "Yes, honey, I'm fine. I'm just fine now that I'm here with you, I promise."
As she hugged him close again, she was surprised to see Emma Swan standing in the doorway of her house.
"Let's go inside," David suggested, gently nudging both Regina and Mary-Margaret along.
Holding onto Henry she walked up the driveway into her house.
She nodded briefly to Emma, but went almost straight to the livingroom where she and Henry sat down on the couch together. He cuddled up to her without inhibition, which was basically confirmation that her fears about him having been worried about her had come true.
Trying not to dwell on the negative too much, she simply embraced her son tightly.
While wrapped up in him, Mary-Margaret floated around the room fussing. Finally, Regina agreed to a cup of tea in order to get rid of her for a little while.
When the other woman delivered the cup to her, though, she found it was actually helped her relax quite a bit.
Emma suggested they order pizza for dinner, and Regina, far from being concerned about nutrition at that moment, agreed with a wordless nod.
Even as she tried to put on a brave face and soothe Henry, she could tell he was still very tense, so, she suggested putting on a movie.
After some urging from David, Henry picked The Avengers.
Regina spent the next few hours staring at the TV, and forcing down a few bites of pizza.
When the credits finally rolled, she noted it was after 10:30 and told Henry that he needed to go to bed.
After walking him to his room and saying goodnight to him with a kiss, and a very tight hug she dragged herself to her own bedroom where she shed her clothes, and got into a scalding hot shower...where she stayed until the water ran cold.
When she finally emerged from the shower, Regina wrapped herself up in the warmest robe she owned, and slowly made her way downstairs.
David, Mary-Margaret, and Emma were waiting for her in the kitchen with pensive expressions. They remained quiet until after she'd gotten halfway through the second cup of tea Mary-Margaret presented her with.
"I kept Henry out of school yesterday," Emma explained quietly, "He was really stressed out so...I figured he wouldn't be able to concentrate."
Regina nodded. She and Emma had worked together in corrections for 5 years before Emma left to become a bail bondsperson, and Regina was promoted to warden. Although their personalities initially clashed, they eventually became good friends. Emma was even Henry's Godmother.
It was at that point that Mary-Margaret apparently stopped being able to restrain herself.
"Regina, what happened?" she asked shaking her head, "How...what happened?"
"That is a very good question," Regina answered irritably, "I don't have any answers to that, however! The State Police refused to tell me anything. They did, however, interrogate me for about two hours about the riot. Between that, and the fact that they arrested all the COs, tells me that they're desperate for answers, and suspect members of the Corrections Department might be involved."
Emma and Mary-Margaret looked shocked at the assessment. Staring quietly with open mouths.
"You're right about that," David said quietly.
She looked at him questioningly.
"While I was waiting for them to release you I spoke to a buddy of mine with the State Police," he explained, "He couldn't tell me much, but he did say it was a very organized operation. Apparently they even arrested someone at the power company who was involved."
"The power company?" Mary-Margaret gasped, "Why would someone at the power company try to help in a prison riot?"
Regina wondered the same thing.
"For pay apparently," David explained, "From what my buddy said they suspect Callum Gold was involved."
"Gold?" Regina asked, a sinking feeling settling into her stomach as she realized that she was, in fact, not surprised to hear that.
"Yeah," David nodded solemnly, "Regina, do you remember a few weeks ago when you asked me to look into your COs?"
"Yes," she nodded, "Weapons kept popping up in the prison, so it did make me think that someone on the outside was involved. I didn't have any proof, though."
"Well, I found that one of them had a connection to Gold."
"Who?" she demanded.
"Her name's Tamara Rice-"
"Rice?!" Regina was surprised, "I saw her outside the prison. It looked like she was hurt."
"Yes," David nodded, "I had to really push my friend at State on that, but he did let me know that five COs were killed, one, Rice, was seriously injured, as well as a nurse."
"Belle," she nodded, "I saw her too...what happened?"
David paused before answering quietly, "She was gang raped."
Emma's mouth dropped open silently in shock, and Mary-Margaret simply started sobbing quietly.
"What happened with Rice?"
"No one seems to be sure," he answered, "Although from what they're saying...it's looking like she might not make it."
Swallowing against the nausea that had settled into the pit of her stomach, Regina asked, "What was her connection to Gold?"
"Have you ever met her fiancé?" David asked.
She thought it over, "Yeah, I think once at last year's Christmas party. His name was Neal...something?"
"Neal Cassidy. However, he was born Baelfire Gold."
"What?!" Regina demanded, "He's..."
"Callum Gold's son," he explained, "Apparently he changed his name at 18, but...we'll it's not exactly looking like a co-incidence that his fiancée works at the prison where his father is locked up."
"So this was...what? An escape attempt?" she asked, "Gold's son and his fiancée were conspiring to break his father out of prison?"
The very idea was incredible. In this day and age attempts at prison escapes were almost unheard of.
"They aren't sure," David answered honestly, "However, I did manage to get out of my friend that they've already arrested Cassidy, but he isn't really talking."
Clenching her fists in anger, Regina answered, "So the bastard is as slick as his father?!"
"They aren't sure yet, or, if they are, the State Police aren't sharing," he shrugged, pausing to lick his lips apprehensively before continuing, "Regina, they know that at least one CO was involved, and it was pretty clear to me they believe it was more than just Rice. They let you go because they didn't have any evidence to charge you, but they aren't ruling anyone out yet...including the warden. You need to watch your back."
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Present:
Opening her eyes, Regina drew a slow breath as she recalled her friend's words.
"Watch your back."
The next day her union representative had given her the same advice, and, today, their predictions had come true.
The Corrections Department had called her to their main office in Augusta, and...well, it had been enlightening.
Regina pulled open the door to her car, slid out, and walked into the prison stiffly. She went through security in a daze, barely remembering to pick up her briefcase from the scanner.
It dangled limply from her hand as she walked through the corridors to the main office. The COs she passed along the way looked at her.
Normally, she would have stopped to greet them, but she didn't have the energy for it at the moment.
They didn't speak to her either. The prison had returned to full operations three days after the riot. Understandably, though, all the staff were tense and somber.
She had just set her briefcase down on her desk when Kathryn burst into the room, "Warden! We need you right now!"
Clearing her throat, Regina said quietly, "Now really isn't a good time, Kathryn."
"It's an emergency!" her assistant insisted, "Two inmates have been stabbed!"
Whipping her head around, Regina quickly jogged behind Kathryn to the main area of the prison.
"Where?!" she demanded.
"Yard," Kathryn pointed.
Quickly scanning her keycard, she rushed out into the exercise yard.
She was relieved to see that CO Humbert was waiting for her. She was much decidedly not relieved, however, to see the forms of two inmates lying on the ground.
Forcing down queasiness, she addressed Graham, "Are they…?"
"Both bled out before the medics could arrive," Graham answered grimly.
"Did you contact the State Police?"
"We were waiting for you," he answered.
"Any witnesses?" Regina asked.
"Several COs and inmates," Graham said, "Although it may not matter...he didn't even try to get away."
With that, Graham motioned with his head to the edge of the yard.
Sitting up against the fence, shackled and guarded by three COs, was Callum Gold.
Regina looked at Graham in surprise, "It was Gold?"
"Yep," Graham nodded, "He used a sharpened bar of soap. Usually they aren't very effective but...apparently he found a way."
"Why?"
"I don't know, he hasn't said a word."
Steeling herself, Regina stalked across the exercise yard until she was standing directly over Gold.
He didn't look up at her, instead staring morosely at the ground.
"What the hell happened, Gold?" she asked angrily, "First an escape attempt, and now you murder two people?!"
Gold smirked mirthlessly, "You've got it all figured out haven't you?"
"So explain it!" she snapped, "Why did you do this?"
He stared at the ground silently for so long she was on the verge of storming away in disgust when the inmate finally spoke quietly, "How's Belle?"
Regina blinked in surprise, having to take a minute to comprehend the words, "Belle...Nurse French?"
Gold did not respond.
"What does she have to do with this?"
Again, no response.
Leaning over him, she spoke forcefully, "Are you saying that these are the inmates who raped her?"
Looking up at her, Gold met her eyes defiantly, "Well they certainly aren't anymore."
"You're actually telling me you killed these men because of what they did to Belle?" she asked skeptically, "Why? You don't exactly seem like the White Knight type."
"Because you know me so well?!" he shot back.
He spoke with such visceral anger that it actually took her back. Studying his face, she took in the expression on his face. His normal serpentine smugness was replaced by dullness, even...despair. Regina's lips fell open in shock as the pieces came together in her mind.
"You're in love with her," she breathed quietly.
Predictably, Gold did not answer.
Glancing over at the two deceased inmates, she swallowed heavily, "So you did this for what? Revenge? Because it'll somehow make her better? Make her love you?!"
Her voice rose with every question. She could feel the COs staring in shock at the level of emotion she was showing, but she couldn't stop. It was all becoming too much, and she couldn't hold herself together any longer.
"What does it matter?" Gold spat bitterly.
Drawing herself up, Regina swallowed her disgust and answered, "You're right, it doesn't, and now you're a murderer...so it never will."
Not waiting to see Gold's reaction, she turned on her heel and hurried back toward the prison. In the back of her mind she heard Graham call after her, but she did not stop.
Her insides were fluttering as she climbed her way up the steps to the main cellblock, and turned into the corridor to the staff area.
She barely made it through the security checkpoint they had set up after the riot. As soon as she stepped through the metal detector, continuing directly to the women's bathroom where she fell to her knees in one of the stalls and lost her breakfast.
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A/N: Gah that was angsty! It was hard to write. We'll find out why Regina was so upset in the next chapter. I can't promise the next installment will be less angsty, but I swear it will include the kiss that I didn't get to in this one!