A/N: I haven't posted anything in awhile, but while I'm getting up the nerve to post something I wrote ages ago (but am convinced everyone will hate), and while I'm waiting for inspiration to strike to write some other new stories I've had in mind, I thought I'd give this one a stab. For awhile now I've been wanting to rewrite and refresh the first fic I ever wrote for OUAT more than 2 years ago (and it was the first bit of writing I had done in nearly a decade, so it admittedly wasn't great and needs some drastic revision). Originally this idea was supposed to be SQ, but I chickened out and was still figuring things out at the time, so I hastily changed it to fit a different pairing the first time around. But, now I'm completely reworking it using my original intended coupling to bring my original story plot to life, and hopefully improving the quality since I've done more writing since my initial attempt.
I have this fully prepped to go (it will be 5 chapters), so it'll be posted in its entirety over the next few weeks.
I. Trapped
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Regina slammed her palm against the wall as she stared at the emergency lights that flickered above her when the elevator jerked to a stop. The flickering stopped as quickly as it began and the small cubical was soon eclipsed in darkness. "Just great," she sighed.
"Relax. The backup generator should kick in any second now."
Regina turned to the voice behind her, the familiar lilt grating on her nerves. The other woman never looked up. Instead, she continued to scroll through something on her phone, the glow of the screen illuminating the ends of the long blonde hair that fell around her shoulders.
"I hope that's true, Miss Swan, but nonetheless, being stuck in an elevator with you is not how I'd like to spend my afternoon," she said as she turned to lean against the wall, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Emma looked up from her phone as she slid it into her back pocket, extinguishing the soft light emitting from the screen. "Well I'm sorry, Ms. Mills, but I don't think you have much choice," she replied, an undercurrent of bitterness in her tone. "But if it's any consolation, this wasn't exactly on my to-do list for today, either."
Regina scoffed as she pushed herself off the wall and toward the sliding doors, examining them as best she could in the darkness. "Do you think we can pry the doors open?"
"I highly doubt it, and I think we're between floors. Even if we get the doors open, it's not like we can just walk out," she said, pausing when she saw Regina dig her slim fingers into the small crevice between the doors in a feeble attempt to make them move. Emma chuckled and shook her head. "Careful, Regina, don't break a nail."
Regina looked back at her as she dropped her hands and made a sound that could only be described as a growl. She resumed her previous position against the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the floor of the elevator, resting her forearms on her knees. She looked over at Emma and glared. "Okay genius, what now? We just wait to be rescued?"
Emma took her cue from Regina and sat down against the back wall, shrugging. "Yep. Pretty much."
"That could be hours."
The blonde laughed again. "Don't be melodramatic. It won't be that long. I texted Gold to let him know we're stuck in here." Emma's phone vibrated in her pocket and she took it out. "Ah, speak of the devil."
Regina looked up at her expectantly, but the blonde said nothing. She just put her phone back in her pocket and stared straight ahead. God, Emma Swan was infuriating. "…And…?"
"He said that the power's out all over town because of the snow storm. The school's generator isn't working, but they're trying to fix it. He said to hang tight for now and he'll let us know when he has an update."
"Well, that's super helpful. Thanks." The sarcasm dripped off Regina's tongue as she spoke, taking out her phone and starting to type furiously.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Hey, it's not my fault that he doesn't have answers…and who are you texting? There's nothing anyone can do for us right now. We're stuck here for the time being."
"My mother. I'm letting her know she's a shitty superintendent and shouldn't have gone with the cheap generator that can't even make it through one small blizzard," she answered. When the message had been sent, Regina set her phone down next to her and turned on the flashlight feature to at least give them some light while confined in the dark box. She stretched her legs out in front of her and kicked off her heels as she rested her head against the wall, causing Emma to raise an eyebrow at her action. "What? If I'm stuck in here I'm at least going to try to get comfortable," Regina explained.
A sly grin appeared on the woman's face. "Is that an invitation?"
"God, no."
"Oh, come on, Regina. We have time to kill, and we do have a history with small, dark rooms. It would make for a good memory."
"There will be no memory, Miss Swan," Regina turned her head to glare at the other woman before staring back at the wall in front of her. "I knew going to that Halloween party was a bad idea."
Emma took her tote bag off her shoulder and set it on the floor next to her, leaning forward to bring herself a few inches closer to Regina. "You're wrong. Going to the party was a very good idea."
Regina rolled her eyes, but never met her gaze. "It was one time, Miss Swan. One kiss. One very bad lapse in judgment after a very shitty week and too much rum. Now, can we change the subject, please?"
"Sure. But you know, you can't avoid me or this conversation forever."
She continued to look straight ahead, avoiding the penetrating gaze of the other woman. "Well, I thought I was doing a fine job for the past few weeks until this godforsaken elevator decided to crap out on me."
"Okay, fine, I'm sorry," Emma said, holding her hands up to placate the brunette. "We can resume our lives of hating each other from across the hallway if that will make you feel better."
Regina visibly relaxed. "Thank you. That's all I ask."
"So…" Emma started a few minutes later, trying to fill the painfully awkward silence. She and Regina Mills never had much to talk about unless they were criticizing one another's teaching methods. "…do you have any fun plans for Thanksgiving?"
Regina looked over at Emma, debating whether to entertain what promised to be a very boring line of conversation. She was never one for small talk. "Oh, fuck it." She launched herself off the floor and quickly straddled Emma's lap, quite literally crashing their lips together.
Emma reciprocated before pulling back with a smirk. "What happened to it being a 'one time thing'?"
Regina stared at her incredulously. "Seriously? Do you really want to give me a chance to change my mind? Besides, anything is better than having to actually talk to you."
"Touché." Emma shrugged before using the hand that had found its way to the back of Regina's neck to guide her face back to her own, while using her other hand to pull Regina's hips more firmly to her lap. A minute later, as things continued to get more heated, Emma groaned as the lights flickered back on and the elevator started moving again. "It figures. Great timing."
Regina allowed a small sigh of frustration to escape her lips before quickly composing herself. She climbed off the blonde and retrieved her shoes from the middle of the elevator before standing up and straightening out her skirt. Glancing over at Emma, she saw that the woman was still sitting on the floor and looking up at the lights, annoyed about their impeccable timing to start working again. Regina lightly kicked her foot. "Get up and pull yourself together….and needless to say, this never happened," she said, articulating each word to emphasize her point.
"Right," Emma looked over toward Regina and obliged, picking up her bag and using her thumb to wipe any remnants from Regina's crimson lipstick from her mouth just in time for the doors to open.
"Mom, are you okay? Principal Gold said you were trapped in there." Henry Mills pushed his way through the small group of teachers and students who had gathered around to see who had been trapped in the elevator during the blackout.
"Yes, honey, I'm fine. It was barely 10 minutes. Let's get home before the snow gets any worse." She headed straight for the staff parking lot, not once looking back Emma who simply rolled her eyes as she watched the pair walk toward the exit.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first installment! Part II will be up by Saturday.
