Take me to Wonderland

Chapter 1

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed.

She was looking "great".

Thankfully she had managed to cover the dark bags under her eyes, her make-up was flawless altogether, and her black leather pants were fitting perfectly.

And yet she did not feel well.

She was tired and worn out, she was lacking motivation and she hoped that the night would go by fast. She was in desperate need of a break although she was aware that she would not get one anytime soon.

"Regina, are you okay?" a blonde woman peeked into the room, watching her with worry.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm good. How long?"

"Two minutes", the blonde stated quickly.

"Okay."


"Ruby, you can't be serious! You just can't…this is a joke, right?" Emma glared at her best friend, eyes wide and sparkling angrily.

"What? All Mary Margaret said…and I quote 'No naked men at my bachelorette party. I don't want to see any guy naked – no matter how hot he might be. I'll stick with my Charming…forever'", Ruby countered in defense, "And let's face it…what's a bachelorette party without strippers?!"

Emma did not know whether to laugh or cry, Mary Margaret was standing in the corner, her face pale, holding on to Belle, who was trying not to laugh out loud.

This had to be one big nightmare.

Ruby had dragged them into some bizarre strip club full of staff, dressed up as some fairytale characters and the whole club literally looked like Wonderland.

Who the hell owned this place? Tim Burton?

"Ladies, you better hurry. The Evil Queen will be on stage in a minute", Jefferson announced and ushered them forward.

"Mary Margaret, we can leave if you want…" Emma offered, worried how the pixie-haired woman would handle a club full of female strippers, but right in that moment a red haired woman, dressed as a mermaid, brought some flutes and a bottle of champagne and Emma was forced into a seat in the front row by Ruby.

Never had she thought she would end up in a strip club like some needy guy and yet here she was – thanks to her eccentric friend Ruby Lucas and Emma felt truly sorry for Mary Margaret, because she knew that her friend had something completely different in mind for her bachelorette party – something cute and fluffy.

The only one who did not seem to mind, except for Ruby, was Belle and Emma wondered why that was.

Belle had always been big on moral and True Love like Mary Margaret and yet she was counting dollar bills, ready to put them God knows where.

What was going on?

"Oh come on, Em…don't be so prude. You should be happy that you'll get to see some naked skin…it's been months since you've gotten…"

"Ruby, shut up! If you think I would hook up with some chick, who works in a club like this…then you are even more crazy than I thought", Emma snapped back and got up to leave, but the lights went out before she could make her first step and Ruby pulled her back down, "I swear to God, Em…if you don't calm down now…I'll have Jefferson chain you to that damn chair. And believe me…he'd do it. Just enjoy the show…it's only for tonight…and I promise...that woman is so hot…not even you will be able to resist her."

Emma sat there, frozen to the spot and stared ahead, instantly captivated by the so called Evil Queen.

The woman on stage was…different.

And it was not because of the heels, not because of the leather pants that fit like they would be a second skin, not because of the corsage, not because of the purple ornamented coat, not because of all the fake hair, not because of the hat.

Not even because of her snake like movements, nor because of her panther like walk, but because of her eyes.

Breathtakingly beautiful, brown eyes.

While said Evil Queen lost more and more of her clothes, revealed more and more skin, all Emma could focus on were her eyes, simply because they had nothing warm.

Brown eyes usually were exactly that – warm and comforting and yet the woman before her looked misplaced, lost even.

"Isn't she the hottest?!" Ruby bumped Emma's shoulder which stopped the blonde's current trail of thought immediately.

"Uh…yeah…" Emma stated the obvious, even if she had not taken a look at the naked body of the stripper before her, because she had been too fascinated by the sad, brown eyes.

When Emma realized that Mary Margaret was drinking champagne like water and throwing dollar bills on stage – together with Belle - she finally became aware of the fact that she seemed to be the only one uncomfortable in the whole club, because all the other guests clearly enjoyed the performance of The Evil Queen to its full extend.

What the hell was wrong with her?

When had she stopped to have fun?

This was a bachelorette party for heaven's sake!

She should be drinking with the others, celebrating as if there would be no tomorrow.

But she could not bear to drink another sip of champagne.

All she could do was follow the direction of these disturbing brown eyes.


Half an hour and two more bottles of champagne later Mary Margaret, Belle and Ruby were in a pretty crazy mood, cheering to all the strippers who came on stage, but Emma felt like hiding.

Unfortunately it did not stay unnoticed by her best friend, who waved The Mad Hatter over and whispered something into his ear, which caused Jefferson to break into a big smile and he nodded eagerly.

Emma knew right away that it could not mean anything good, but before she could get up Jefferson was already standing next to her, extending his hand.

And while Emma was sure that taking the offered hand would get her into nothing, but trouble, she still got up and took it, simply to get away from her friends, because they clearly were out of control and she really needed a break.


Regina sat in the dressing room, covered in her robe, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

She felt nauseous and her whole body hurt, but she was aware that she had to do two more performances tonight.

At least she had an hour to recover before she would need to get on stage again and she prayed that this blonde woman would be gone by then.

She had caught this particular guest watching her every look and she had not liked it one bit.

It was bad enough that everybody could see her naked, but nobody ever cared to look her in the eye and she really appreciated that.

But said blonde had not bothered to watch her body, watch her moves, all she had been interested in had been her eyes and that was something Regina did not appreciate at all.

When the door opened she sighed heavily.

This could not mean anything good.

Her colleague and only friend Ashley sat down next to her and Regina had a feeling she would not like what was about to come, because Ashley knew exactly how tired and exhausted she was and the apologetic look on the blonde's face said it all.

"What is it?", Regina growled through gritted teeth.

"Your presence is required in one of the private rooms", Ashley answered quickly, "I'm sorry. I told Gold you are not feeling well, but you know how he is. He does not give shit about us. I even offered to do it, but they have asked for you specifically."

Regina sighed in frustration.

A lap dance.

That was exactly what she needed tonight instead of a break.

Not.

A lap dance for some wealthy guy, who had no manners and would be nothing, but rude.

No, she definitely was not in the mood for that.

But she could need the extra money.

Whom should she fool?

It was almost the end of the month and every penny had to be spent wisely.

"Fine."

Without another word she put on some of her extra hot underwear, some leather panties and Ashley helped her to lace her corsage.

"What about my hair?" Regina asked, eyeing herself in the mirror.

"Put everything out. Just your normal hair…nothing fancy", Ashley commented quickly and started to work on her friend's head without waiting for permission.

Once her make-up was fixed Regina put on some of her highest heels and stalked out of the dress room with hanging shoulders.

God, how much she hated her job.

How much she hated her life.

But she would not be able to change anything about her situation, at least not anytime soon.


Emma was sitting in a private room, not sure what she was supposed to do.

Jefferson had offered her some more champagne, but she had ordered a bottle of water instead.

At least one of them had to stay sober and take care of the others, to stop them in case things would get out of hand and since Ruby was part of the crowd it was highly unlikely that the night would go smoothly.

When the door opened and Jefferson returned with her water and a glass, Emma was glad because she thought she simply could sit here for a while before she had to go back out to the others, but then the door opened again and she caught sight of her.

The Evil Queen.

Emma gulped and the brunette woman glared at her in disbelief.

"Have fun, ladies! If you need anything…well, our queen here knows what to do…", he winked at Emma and left the room, leaving her alone with a woman, who looked as if she was considering how to murder her.


Regina wanted to turn round and leave.

Of course that creepy blonde was the one, who had asked for the lap dance.

God really hated her.

Why on earth did this shit always happen to her?

Gold would bite her head off if she would not do what she was told, so she stalked forward, ignoring her wobbly feet and the dizziness.

Unfortunately the blonde seemed to notice that she was not feeling too well though and she stopped her before she could have started her performance, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"I highly doubt that...you are shivering", the blonde commented, "Please…take a seat."

"No, thanks."

Regina became even more annoyed. The last thing she needed was pity.

"As far as I understood…you are here to keep me entertained for the next thirty minutes. So, no discussions. Sit down", the blonde demanded and Regina sighed heavily, but did as she was told,

"And now what? Wanna have some sweet talk or what?" she asked provocatively.

"Aren't you supposed to be nice to your clients?"

"Aren't you supposed to eat caviar sandwiches with mommy and daddy?" Regina shot back.

"Whoa, now slow down, lady…I was just trying to be nice because obviously you are not feeling well…and honestly…I'm not in the mood for a lap dance", the blonde confessed while she waved her hands in surrender.

"Why are you here then?"

"It's my friend's bachelorette party…and since she did not want a male stripper…one of our other friends…Ruby…she brought us here…because she knows the ridiculous guy with the hat…and she thought it would be nice to mess with me… a little. She always tries to hook me up with someone…" the blonde tried to explain and felt slightly embarrassed.

"I see…looks like you should learn to be more picky when it comes to your friends", Regina bit out, feeling the urge to leave the room even stronger than before. She had no intention to talk to this woman, especially not today when she was so damn tired.

The blonde poured some water into the glass and handed it to Regina, "Drink something. Might help you to feel better."

Regina eyed the blonde suspiciously.

This had to be some trick, some test from Gold to check if she was doing her job, because nobody ever cared if she was doing okay, especially no client.

But the eyes of the blonde told a different story. She saw concern in them. Honest concern and it convinced her to grab the glass and take a sip.

Emma sat there and watched the brunette woman's every move. The stripper clearly was in a bad condition.

Why did she even work?

She wanted to ask her so many questions, but the brunette clearly was not in the mood for a conversation, so Emma stayed quiet.

And the woman, who sat opposite from her stayed quiet as well.

It gave Emma the possibility to actually take the woman in, because she had refused to take a look at anything, but her eyes before.

But now that she really looked at her Emma became aware of the fact that Ruby had been right.

The brunette was absolutely stunning.

Tired and exhausted maybe, but stunning.

Why would somebody as beautiful as her work in a club like this?

Emma knew she could not ask that, simply because she did not want to offend her, but the question kept running through her head and while Emma knew that not everybody was as lucky as she had been, she still did not like the fact that the brunette had to work here, especially since she did not seem to enjoy it one bit.

When the blonde's time was up Regina started to pace, because she knew Jefferson would be back any second and she was still in her clothes.

She would be in big trouble if Gold found out that she had not done her job.

The blonde seemed to sense that something was wrong, because she gave her the same concerned look than before, "What is it?"

"If somebody gets that I have not danced for you…"

"Oh", the blonde understood immediately, "Well…wait…", she took her purse and grabbed some bills", Here…take these…and if…if you have to get out of…you know…I'll just head for the door. I promise I won't look."

"And I thought you were into women", Regina almost laughed.

"I am. But…but I'm not into this…I mean…I'm not this kind of girl…you are nobody's possession…and I would never force somebody to undress for me…that's just not right."

Regina was taken aback by the statement, but on the other hand she was so relieved, because she was not into women and stripping for one always made her more than just uncomfortable.

When the blonde had placed herself at the door, her back to Regina, the brunette finally got out of her clothes, but she had to admit that she felt a bit better. The water and the rest had worked their magic and Regina was grateful that the creepy blonde, who was not so creepy after all, had been her client.

A knock on the door announced Jefferson's arrival and said blonde was ready to leave, "Just so you know…my friends are the most amazing people you could ever imagine. And I pick them more than wisely. People in my position can't afford anything else."

Regina stood there, even more surprised than before.

And then she opened her hand to put the money away, realising that it were one hundred dollar bills altogether.

She held sevenhundred dollar in her hand in fact.

Who the hell was that blonde?


When Emma returned Ruby, Mary Margaret and Belle were dancing, drinking and laughing like some wasted teenagers, but she was so not in the mood to join them.

She wanted to go home, wanted to sleep, wanted to forget about this night.

She wanted to forget about Wonderland and more than anything she wanted to forget about a certain brunette, who's eyes could easily become her undoing.

Emma wanted to forget about a woman, who fascinated her deeply although she did not even know her name.