A/N: there's not new traumatic content in here but this chapter does revisit what happened to Regina with Killian, just FYI.
The room was small, airless. A single window offered a view onto the carpark behind the court. It didn't open. A dusty bluebottle lay on the sill, legs in the air, surrendered to the winter which had gripped London without warning after a long, drawn out autumn. She looked out over the tarmac, watched as people came and went. She wasn't waiting for anyone. Everyone she needed was already in the room.
"Would you like some water?" Emma asked quietly.
Regina shook her head. She didn't think she could swallow anything, even water. The clock above the door showed twenty past ten. Ursula had said she'd be called at ten. What was the hold up? Had the case been thrown out? Had Killian been set free?
"Courts never run on time," Emma said, as if she could hear Regina's thoughts.
She forced a smile and nodded briefly. The were both on edge, she knew that. This was hard for both of them.
"You don't have to come in with me, if you don't want to."
This was not the first time she'd offered Emma the out, the opportunity to not hear her girlfriend detail violent sexual incidents in a public space. And it was also not the first time the blonde had vehemently shaken her head. "Of course I'll come in with you. I wouldn't be anywhere else."
"Ok. Thank you."
Because she was thankful. Despite saying to Emma several times over the past few days that she didn't need to accompany her into the courtroom, Regina did want her girlfriend there. She wanted to know that she could look out into the sea of strangers' faces and find someone who cared for her. David, too, would be there and Regina was grateful for his enduring support. But the person upon whose eyes she'd focus when the difficult questions were asked would be those emerald orbs looking so lovingly at her right then.
There was a sharp rap on the door and it opened. "Miss Regina Mills?" asked the court employee.
Regina nodded. "That's me."
"They're ready for you." He stepped back, holding the door ajar with his palm.
Emma got to her feet and held out her hand for the brunette who had gone extremely pale. "Take a breath," Emma said quietly. "We'll only go when you're ready."
She closed her eyes, breathing in through her nose to steady her nerves. It didn't really help but she reached out for Emma's fingers anyway. The warm, familiar touch did ground her slightly and Regina felt her heartbeat slow just a fraction.
"Let's go," she said, allowing Emma to lead them out of the room where they'd been waiting for over an hour.
They followed their summoner through the corridors until they got to a nondescript door. "Ready?" he asked, turning to Regina.
"Yeah," Regina replied, reluctantly dropping Emma's hand.
The door swung open and Regina found herself stepping inside on autopilot. She'd been in the room the week before. Ursula had shown her where she would be sitting to give evidence, as well as talking her through where the judge, jury, defence and the press would be sitting. There was, David had told her, national attention on the case given its nature. Regina's name would be kept out of the public domain, however.
She had no memory of how she got to the witness stand but her hand was placed on a bible and she found herself swearing to tell the truth before taking a seat. Immediately she scanned the room and found Emma, smiling confidently in her direction, beside her father.
Her attention flicked back to Ursula who had stood up and begun to speak, asking a few easy questions to settle Regina in and to set the scene for the jury. She glanced to her left and noticed the people who were responsible for deciding whether Killian had committed a crime for the first time. She looked away, concentrating on Ursula's questions.
They were simple, as they'd rehearsed. She answered honestly as she told the court how she had come to London, what her plans had been and what her parents' dreams for her were.
"And your mother's brother is the defendant, Killian Jones, correct?"
Regina forced herself to look at her uncle for the first time. He was wearing a suit, sitting beside his lawyer, slightly reclined in his chair. The slightest smirk played on his lips. Regina wanted to punch him. At the violent thought, she sought Emma's face and found it. The blonde gave her a smile of encouragement and a slight nod. She could do this.
"Yes, he is my uncle."
"And your mother made arrangements for the defendant to meet you upon your arrival to the UK and to help you settle into your new life in London, correct?"
"Yes, he met me at Heathrow airport. I hadn't seen him in years but I recognised him. He used to come over for dinner some nights when I was a child but he came to London years before I arrived."
"Where did he take you, that first day?"
"To his building."
"This is the property at 16 Juniper Street in Archway, correct?"
"Yes, that's the address."
"As the jury can see from the police record, this is the address at which the defendant was arrested earlier this year. And was also his primary home, correct?"
"Yes, he lived there too."
"Too? Who else lived there?"
"There were lots of girls and young women living there."
"How many?"
"I don't know exactly. It changed. At least a dozen at any one time, maybe more."
"Did the defendant introduce you to these girls?"
"The next morning, yes. Katherine was the first person I met. She was sort of like a big sister to me."
"You'll hear from Katherine later," Ursula told the jury. Regina knew that the woman was testifying but had not yet seen or spoken to her. She wondered briefly whether Katherine blamed Regina for not having gone to the police sooner. Or maybe she blamed Regina for going to the police in the first place. Maybe - "And can you tell me why Katherine lived in 16 Juniper Street?"
"That was where we all lived," Regina replied simply, getting herself back on track. "It was the property where my uncle kept the women he sold as sex workers."
"Objection," Killian's judge, a slimy barrister aptly called Hades, called.
"I'll rephrase," Ursula said quickly. "Did you know why Killian had a building full of young women before you arrived there and did you have any idea what these women did at night?"
"No," Regina said quickly. "I had no idea. It wasn't until that first time that I realised where I was."
"I know this is hard, Regina, but do you think you could talk us through what happened that first time? Start with when it was and who you were with. If you need to take a break, let me know."
Regina closed her eyes briefly and then opened them, gazing straight at Emma. She had told the blonde exactly what had happened to her that night a few days before. She didn't want the first time Emma heard it to be in court.
"It was my second night in London. Killian came to my room and said that London life was hard, so things were different here. He said that women like me had to meet rich men to make good money. I didn't understand. I thought he meant I had to marry a rich man to look after me. We walked downstairs together and there was a car outside. Katherine was sitting in it and Killian told me to get in and then he said something to Katherine."
"What did he say?"
"I don't know, and Katherine didn't tell me. We drove for about ten minutes and then we arrived at a hotel. We didn't stop at the reception and Katherine walked straight up to a room. She knocked on the door and a man opened it."
"Can you describe the man?"
"He wasn't wearing a top. He just had trousers on and he had a beer belly. I think he was about fifty. Mostly grey hair. He didn't say anything and Katherine told him my name. Well, she told him I was called Roni. She had said in the car that I should have a new London name. We decided I'd be called Roni. I just thought it was a fun game to pass the time. But all of the men knew me as Roni from then on."
"Did you know why you were there at this point?"
"I think I started to realise, yes. I … I'm not experienced with boys. I hadn't dated or anything. It took me longer than it should have to realise what was happening. No one actually spelt it out but Katherine whispered to me that if I did what he said, I'd be fine. Then she pushed me into the room. She talked to the man and we all had a glass of Champagne or something bubbly. The man was sitting on the edge of the bed. And then I went into the bathroom with Katherine. She told me we weren't allowed to kiss the men then said she'd be waiting for me in the bathroom once he'd finished. And then she pulled out a syringe, a spoon, a lighter and a lump of heroin. I'd never done drugs before.
"Katherine told me it would make things easier and prepared the heroin then injected me in my arm. I was so naive, I didn't even put up a fight. I don't want to condone drug use but all of the fear I had been feeling did melt away. I understood why she used it, basically. I don't think I said anything but she must have known I wasn't going to put up a fight. She opened the bathroom door and pushed me back out."
She paused and took a sip of water from the glass in front of her. Her throat felt so dry she didn't know if the words would come. She saw Emma nod encouragingly at her, even though her green eyes were shimmering with tears. Regina forced herself to speak once more.
"The man was naked on the bed. He told me to come to him and I walked over and lay down on my back next to him. To be honest, he did all the work. I didn't know what to do anyway and the heroin made my body floppy. I didn't put up a fight but I also didn't consent. He had sex with me. He took my virginity that night."
"This was your first sexual experience?"
"Yes," Regina nodded. "Even with the heroin, it hurt. There was blood on the sheets when I got up to go back to the bathroom. I didn't even know why. Katherine had to explain to me that my hymen had been broken. The next day, I was sore between my legs."
"Before we jump ahead, what happened when you got back to 16 Juniper Street that night?" Ursula asked.
"Killian was waiting for us in the entrance of the building. I saw Katherine give him some money."
"How much?"
"I don't know. Lots of bills. Folded."
"Where did the money come from?"
"I didn't see the man give it to her but she didn't interact with anyone else. I guess he gave it to her when I was in the bathroom cleaning myself up."
"Objection, speculation. The witness was not there to see this and therefore cannot say what did or did not happen," Killian's lawyer said, jumping to his feet.
"Miss Mills, may I remind you to only speak to what saw yourself?" the judge asked, directing his comments to Regina.
"Ok, sorry." Regina blushed.
"So Katherine handed the defendant money upon your return. Did she give you any money?"
"No."
"Did the defendant give you some money?"
"The next day, yes."
"How much?"
"I can't remember. I think there were three notes but I don't recall the value."
"Did he tell you why he was giving you the money?"
"He told me I could stay in my room and pay my rent by working for him."
"Did you understand that working for the defendant meant having sex with men for money?"
"I did. But I also asked about the job at the library which I had hoped to start when I flew to London. Killian told me that the library had called him and told him I hadn't been successful in getting the job. I didn't question it. The drugs and the experience in the hotel room with man had left me very confused."
"I can only imagine what you went through, Regina. Thank you for speaking about this so openly here today. And the events of that first night became, sadly, a regular occurrence for you, correct?"
"Yes, Katherine gave me some more heroin the next afternoon. And the next night, we did the same thing. Different man, different hotel room. That became my life Sometimes it was in a car, or even an alley. It was whatever the man wanted. After a while, I went on my own and I started having regular customers. I'd get paid and then when I got back to Juniper Street, I'd give my money directly to Killian. He'd give me back a few bills and keep the rest. He told me it went towards rent but the rooms were tiny and we had to buy our own food and clothes and everything else we wanted. I used a lot of my money to buy heroin."
"Why did you use heroin?"
"It made it easier," Regina replied. "When I took it, I felt happy. Or maybe I just didn't feel anything. I'm not sure, to be honest. It's been a long time since I last used. As soon as I got away from that life, I stopped. I'm not a drug user, at least, I never wanted to be."
"Well done on getting clean, Regina. That's a big achievement."
"Thank you," Regina said quietly. In her seat, Emma beamed and nodded her agreement with the statement.
"So, how long did you work for Killian as a woman whom men paid to have sex with for?"
"About a year," Regina replied.
"And why didn't you leave sooner?"
"I couldn't. I had no money of my own. I sent as much as possible back to my parents and the rest went on food and heroin. Plus, Killian tracked our phones. He bought us phones as a gesture of generosity but actually it was so he could always see where we were. And I didn't know anyone outside of that building in London. Where would I go?"
"But you did leave. Back in July of this year. Can you tell me about that day?"
"I woke up with an injury to my face from a man who had become violent while having sex with me. It wasn't uncommon," Regina said. Out of her eye-line, Emma's hands balled into fists. "I went to the hospital because I knew I needed to seek medical attention for the cut. I was seen by a nurse who suspected that something was wrong and she contacted the police. David Nolan came to speak with me. He is a Domestic Abuse Police Officer and he asked me if I was being abused by a boyfriend or husband. I wasn't and I said that to him. But when he started asking questions about sex work, I left. The nurse tried to stop me but I knew that if Killian found out then he'd kill me. The officer gave me his card and I went back to Juniper Street.
"When I got back, Killian asked where I'd been and kicked me into my room. He could see that my face had received medical attention as there were steri-strips over the cut. He was angry because it's harder to sell sex when we're not looking attractive."
"Objection," Killian's lawyer called.
"Overruled," the judge said with a dismissive wave of his hand towards the man who sank down into his chair.
"Then he asked for the money from the night before and I went to get it from my bag. But as I pulled it out, Officer Nolan's card fell out and Killian saw it. He got even angrier and pulled his flick knife out. He held it up and I thought he was going to cut me or even kill me. He called me a whore and that was when Emma knocked on the door."
"Who's Emma?" Ursula asked.
"Emma Swan, the nurse who saw me in A and E. She had looked up my address in the system and come to find out if I was ok. When she knocked, Killian opened the door and told Emma to," she looked apologetically at the judge, "to fuck off. Emma told him we had tickets to a show for my birthday."
"Was it your birthday?" Ursula asked.
"Yes, my twenty-first. But we didn't have tickets to a show. I didn't even know Emma then and I definitely didn't expect her to show up just when my uncle was about to murder me."
"Objection!"
"Sustained, jury will disregard," the judge nodded.
"So, when Emma spoke with Killian, what happened?"
'He let me go. I don't think he really had a choice. He knew he couldn't make a move in front of her so he told me to be back by five and took my room key so that I'd have to report to him once I got home. Only, I never went back. I threw my phone into a bin and Emma took me back to her house to hide. I told her bits of what had happened and eventually I gave a statement to Officer Nolan and, well, now we're here."
"Thank you, Regina. I really appreciate you telling us what happened to you at the hands of your uncle. I know it was hard to talk about and I want to recognise your strength coming here today and speaking about something so terrible in front of all these people."
"Thank you," Regina said quietly. "It is hard but it's the right thing to do. I don't want anyone else to have to go through what I did."
"Neither do I, and neither does the jury, I'm sure. Now, do you mind if we go over some more details about your life at 16 Juniper Street? Can you describe your bedroom. I'd like to draw the jury's attention to Exhibit 4b at this time, to facilitate their understanding." A photograph of Regina's room, neat but bare, flashed onto the screen. "Regina, in your own time."
A/N: Chapter one of two of the court proceedings!