A/N: let's see what happens to these ladies when people start to find out about them!
Emma woke with a smile on her face on Sunday morning. The memories of the previous evening washing over her, quickly followed by a wave of nausea. Groaning, she leapt out of bed, grabbed her toothbrush and paste and headed for the bathroom.
As she knelt on the cold tile floor, her head bent over the bowl, she wondered how much longer she could keep her pregnancy a secret. Her flat stomach would doubtless start to swell in a few weeks, although her baggy inmate clothing would probably cover that for a while. But not from Regina. Emma smiled again at the thought of her lover before the smile faltered. What would Regina say when Emma told her she was pregnant? What would that mean for the tentative relationship they had started? When had her life become so complicated?
Emma walked back through the quiet corridors. It was barely seven am and, being a Sunday, most inmates were taking advantage of the chance to have a lie-in. As Emma entered her sleeping area, she glanced towards Regina's room. The bed in her line of vision, which belonged to an inmate Emma didn't know, was empty and neatly made. Looking furtively around, the blonde stepped up to the open doorway before moving inside towards the other bed.
Regina lay asleep, curled into a tight ball with the blanket wrapped around her body. She looked smaller than Emma had ever seen her, more vulnerable. Her long brown hair was splayed out over the pillow, contrasting brilliantly with the white fabric below. Her face was relaxed in sleep and the features looked younger, softer somehow. As Emma watched, the brunette's breath tickled a few hairs, fluttering them away from the stunning face before they settled against the sheets once more. Emma grinned wider as she watched Regina. Suddenly realising what she was doing may be considered creepy, the blonde turned to leave.
"What are you doing, Miss Swan?" came a sleepy voice from behind her.
Emma froze and turned around, a sheepish look on her face.
"Morning," she offered, smiling shyly at Regina.
"Were you watching me sleep?" the brunette asked, pushing herself upright and rubbing her hands over her face.
"No. Maybe. Yes. Sorry. I'll go," Emma said, turning to leave.
"Come here Emma," Regina laughed, shuffling sideways in her bed and patting the space next to her.
Emma glanced at the empty bunk before looking questioningly at Regina.
"Oh, McDouglas left on Friday. I guess a new inmate will be assigned that bed when they arrive tomorrow. But for now, I'm all alone," Regina smirked.
Emma grinned widely and practically jumped onto the bed, pulling Regina towards her and bringing their lips together. Mouths moved slowly, both enjoying the feel of the other woman again. Regina's tongue was welcoming into Emma's mouth where it explored, danced and stroked slowly through the warm wetness.
Pulling back, Regina smiled lazily at Emma, reaching down to tangle their fingers together.
"You taste minty," she commented, laying her head on Emma's shoulder.
Emma faltered, not wanting to tell Regina about the pregnancy or sickness yet. "Erm, yeah. I hate it when my teeth feel fuzzy after I wake up so I always brush my teeth first thing in the morning." It wasn't exactly a lie, Emma mused, she really did hate that feeling.
"What are you doing today?" Regina asked.
"I want to finish my book," Emma said, stroking her thumb over the brunette's palm. "Then I think Red and I are going to play basketball with some other girls. You?"
"I have nothing planned," Regina shrugged. "My days are remarkably empty now I don't have a business to run."
Emma laughed and leaned in to kiss Regina once more. When she pulled away, she looked into the brown eyes before her. Reflected back she saw warmth, passion, and desire. She shivered at the intensity of the gaze.
"You wanna have lunch with me?" Emma asked.
Regina giggled again. Emma's heart skipped. "Are you asking me out on a date Miss Swan?" the brunette teased.
"I guess, except it's a really shitty, unromantic date in which we'll have to eat bad food in a dining hall with about one hundred convicted criminals. I would do better if we were on the outside, I promise."
"I'll hold you to that," Regina said, squeezing Emma's hand, "but I don't think it's a good idea I'm afraid. I may not be a drug dealer any more but I am still the queen in here and I have a certain image to maintain."
"And I don't fit into that image?" Emma frowned, pulling her hand free from Regina's grasp.
"Hey, Emma, stop!" the brunette said as the younger woman made to climb off the bed. "It's not like that."
"Then what is it like?" the blonde asked, sitting back down.
"Look, Trident, Feinberg and Faery are all willing to protect me. For two years I've been on my own, with those three women and no one else. They wouldn't take too kindly to you suddenly joining our group."
Emma nodded slowly, understanding Regina's reasoning but still hurt by the rejection.
"Let me talk to them," the brunette assured.
"And say what? 'Hey guys, so I've started screwing the new chick and now we're all going to be besties'?"
Regina laughed again. "Not exactly but these women are loyal and they do as I say so there is no need to worry. They just don't like surprises so I'll speak to them first, leaving the details out of course. What about your friends?"
Emma snorted. The brunette raised her eyebrow at the unladylike action. "Yeah, I think they already know Regina."
"How?"
"The first time we kissed, I didn't realise your lipstick was all over my face and when I went back to the movie room, yeah they kinda put two and two together. I asked them not to spread it around and they agreed to keep it quite."
"Oh," Regina said, her cheeks pinking prettily as the memory flashed before her eyes. "Sorry," she said.
"I'm not," Emma shrugged. "It saves me the trouble of having to tell them now."
"Were they ok with it?"
"They told me to stay away from you because you were dangerous. Which I suppose they had a right to say because you had already punched me in the face at that point," she said glowering mockingly at the brunette who looked guiltily back, "but they trust my judgement and they know I really like you."
"Emma, about that punch …" Regina began but Emma silenced her with a firm kiss.
"No," she said as she pulled away. "Forget about it. It's the past. I've forgiven you so you need to forgive yourself, ok?"
Regina nodded mutely before she pulled Emma back in for a sweet kiss.
Lost in the sensations, Emma began to push Regina backwards, leaning down on top of her as her hands slid up the brunette's sides. Regina's fingers tangled once more in Emma's messy blonde hair, their tongues sliding more insistently over one another.
"Milton, can you grab my towel from the end of my bunk!"
The couple sprang apart at the sound of a voice from just outside Regina's room. Breathing heavily, the two women held their breath as footsteps approached, a thank you was said, and the forgetful inmate headed past the open doorway towards the bathroom. If the woman had glanced to her right, she would have seen Regina propped up on her elbows and Emma lying close beside her with her hand on the brunette's waist, both staring petrified at the doorway.
Regina let out a sigh of relief when the door to the corridor closed once more. "You'd better go," she said, quietly, giving Emma's shoulder a gentle push.
"Ashamed of me?" Emma teased as she clambered awkwardly off the bed and straightened out her clothes.
"Never," Regina assured, pulling the blonde back to her for a final kiss.
"Meet me later?" Emma asked as their lips broke apart.
"Six pm, dining hall. I'll have spoken to the girls by then."
Emma grinned, gave Regina a final peck on the cheek and walked out of the bunk and back to her own bed.
"That was so much fun!" Red exclaimed as she and Emma headed inside after playing basketball.
"Well of course you enjoyed it," Emma grumbled. "You don't even have to jump to make a basket your legs are so damn long!"
"Quit being a sore loser," Red laughed, nudging her friend. "And it really wasn't your fault, Swanny. You played well but your team sucked ass! I mean, had Arendelle ever watched a game of basketball before?"
Emma chucked. "Didn't seem like it. Anyway, our team playing badly just made you look better for French."
"You think she was watching me?" Red asked.
Emma laughed harder. "The whole time she was perched on that bench, she couldn't keep her eyes off you!"
Red grinned wolfishly at Emma's declaration, a renewed spring in her step as they walked back to their bunk to gather their wash things. They had both worked up quite a sweat in the hour they had spent playing outside and needed to shower before dinner.
"I'm just going to nip to commissary," Emma said, shaking her body wash bottle and discovering it to be empty.
"Sure, I'll see you later," Red smiled as she jogged off to the bathrooms, a goofy grin still plastered all over her face at the thought of her lover.
Emma walked in the opposite direction towards the commissary. Rose was dosing behind the screen as usual and it require Emma shouting her name three times to wake her up.
"Oh, hi Swan, sorry," the sleepy blonde said, yawning and rubbing her eyes with the heel of her palm.
"Do you not sleep well in here or something?" Emma asked, curious as to why the woman never seemed to be awake whilst at work.
"No, I'm an excellent sleeper," Rose shook her head. "I get at least eight hours a night. But my body always needs more and I've always been prone to napping in the daytime."
"Huh," Emma frowned. That was an excuse for lazy she hadn't heard before. "Erm ok, what scented body washes do you have?"
Rose pulled a few bottles from a back shelf and lined them up. "Apple, vanilla, cherry, coconut, and strawberry," she announced.
Emma smiled. Regina smelled like apples. No, that would be creepy, she decided. "Cherry please," she said, remembering a scene from Castle she particularly enjoyed.
Rose handed the bottle over and Emma headed off to the bathroom.
It always amazed Emma how quickly she adapted to her environment. When she arrived in FCI, she had hated showering in the too-big cubicle with the too-low water pressure and the too-public area in general. Now however, Emma was unfazed as she joined the short queue of her fellow basketball players and waited patiently until the lukewarm water finally splashed onto her skin. Washing and conditioning her hair thoroughly, Emma turned to lathering every inch of her body with her cherry scented gel. She smiled as the smell filled the cubicle, making her think of summers and cherry cheesecakes and fruit salads.
A bang on the door interrupted her moment of solitude and reflection. Realising she had been in the stall for longer than was polite when there was a queue of people, Emma shut off the water and dried herself quickly before wrapping her towel firmly around her body and stepping outside.
She gasped as she came face to face with Faery and Feinberg. The two women stared menacingly at the smaller blonde who glanced around the bathroom, panicked. It was deserted.
"What do you want?" Emma asked, standing up a little taller and staring back into the harsh faces before her.
"Just to give you a warning," Feinberg hissed. Her accent suggested she came from money, as did the way she carried herself. Faery too appeared well educated and respectable. Emma wondered what the two women did to end up in prison. Perhaps she could ask Regina … The blonde mentally shook herself, needing to focus on the current situation.
"Oh yeah?" Emma asked, folding her hands defensively over her chest. "And what warning is this?"
"Stay away from Mills," Faery growled.
Emma frowned. She thought Regina would have told the three women something by now as they were meeting for dinner in an hour but she hadn't expected them to appear before her and threaten her. Perhaps the brunette never said anything, Emma thought. She decided to play dumb.
"What do you mean?" she asked nonchalantly.
"This thing, whatever it is between you and Mills. It ends today. Stop pursuing her, stop talking to her. Stay away from her in every sense of the word." Feinberg snarled, her face inches from Emma's by the time she had finished.
"Understand?" Faery asked, flexing her fingers menacingly.
Nodding mutely, Emma stayed stock still, just inside the cubicle door, as she watched the two tall blondes stalk from the bathroom. When they had disappeared, Emma sank to the floor, wrapped her arms around her shins and placed her forehead on her knees. She tried not to cry but as the cherry smell wafted up from the drain, reminding the blonde of her upcoming 'date', Emma couldn't stop the tears from falling.