Take me to Wonderland

Chapter 2

Emma had left the bacherlorette party only a few minutes later, because she had not been able to stand being at The Rabbit Hole any longer.

She had not wanted to be confronted with the brunette and another one of her Evil Queen - performances either.

She had not wanted to let her friend Mary Margaret down, but it simply had been too much and the others had enough fun without her.

AlL Emma had wanted was to forget about the whole night and about a certain brunette stripper, who had caught her attention – whether she liked it or not.

She had even suffered through one of her parents' boring Sunday brunches the next day, just to keep herself busy and somehow it had worked its magic in the end.

Maybe because she treasured the time with her parents more than anything, simply because she saw them so rarely since they spend most of their time travelling since she could remember. It had been a rather lonely childhood, but it had been way better than the orphanage, not that Emma could remember much about it.

She had been almost five when the Swans had shown up there and had taken her with them to make her a part of their family.

And Emma knew exactly how lucky she had been, she could have ended up in the foster system as well.

But instead she had been adopted by one of the wealthiest families in Boston, a family that called a shipping company their own.

Their family name and their contacts had given her opportunities, had opened doors for her others could only dream of and Emma was perfectly aware of that.

And now that she was 29 she was running her own business and she managed to do it with success.

Emma had always wanted to become an event manager, because numbers and organizing things had always been her thing and she had wanted to be independent.

While Mary Margaret and Belle were happy and content spending the money of their families, she had always wanted to do something on her own.

So when Emma had gotten some model jobs when she had been in college, she had seen her chance to make the money she needed to start her own business and that was exactly what she had done in the end.

Her parents were beyond proud, although they had not been fond of the idea at first, because they had hoped for her to continue with the family business one day, but they had realised that they could not force Emma into something she did not want fairly quickly.

All in all Emma Swan had been one of the lucky dogs.

By the time she arrived in her office the next morning Emma already knew that her day would be a disaster.

An exclusive bar she had booked for a rather important event had burned to the ground during the night and Emma had to find a new location within the hour since the event was in two days time and rescheduling was impossible.

She could already feel the headache coming, especially since she had tons of work to do and the current emergency would ruin her whole schedule.


Regina sat in her dowdy kitchen, the dollar bills from the mysterious blonde in hand.

She could really use the money, but there was no way that she could keep it.

She had to give it back.

She had no idea how she would manage to do that though, because she had no idea, who the blonde was, but she would find a way.

It had been a hell of a week and Emma felt so relieved when she left her office around 7 pm on Friday, aware that she had made the impossible possible once again and it was exactly the reason why people paid her the big box, but still.

She was more than ready for the weekend and for girls night tomorrow, because she had not seen her friends all week, simply because she had been too busy.

But the good thing about her week was that The Rabbit Hole and all its craziness was long forgotten.


Emma had gone to bed early, because she had been worn out from the stressful days at work, but her ringing phone had her out of her much deserved sleep around three in the morning.

It had been Ruby, who had told her that Emma had to come and pick her up, because her car had broken down and that she would text her the address right away.

At first Emma had thought it was some crazy joke, but Ruby had insisted that she needed Emma and so she had gotten up in the end.

Ruby had texted her the address as promised, but Emma had been too tired to notice where she was headed. She had typed said address into her navigation system without giving her a second thought – it would guide her wherever she needed to go and that was all she cared about.

Until she saw The Rabbit Hole.

Emma's eyes grew wide and she started to curse – of course Ruby had to be there.

Where else?

Had the universe decided to hate her all of a sudden? That was so not funny.

She texted Ruby to let her know that she had arrived, because she would not, under no circumstances, enter that club again.

But Ruby was nowhere to be seen for and Emma grew impatient as the minutes ticked by and on top of it heavy started to fall all of a sudden, putting Emma into an even worse mood. Ruby would pay for this, she would pay for this big time.


By the time the leggy brunette finally showed up Emma was more than just pissed. She had waited for almost half an hour and she was tired as hell.

Ruby practically jumped into the car, but when Emma moved her hand to start the engine, her best friend held her back, "Em…I'm sorry. Please don't freak out, okay?"

"What is it? And where the hell have you been? I've texted you countless times", Emma's voice was more like a growl.

"The battery of my phone just died, sorry…the thing is…", Ruby gave Emma her best puppy dog eyes and widest smile.

"Don't even try it…spit it out!", the blonde demanded impatiently.

"I…I wanted to call you…but as I said…low battery…I'm staying, because Jefferson invited me to…"

"WHAT?!", Emma yelled, as angry as she could get, "You woke me up in the middle of the night…although you knew that I had the worst week ever…and you let me drive out here and now you tell me I can go back home? That's a joke, right?"

"I'm sorry, Em…really, I am. The thing is…Jefferson…he is different…I like him…and…", Ruby tried to defend herself, but knew she was in trouble when she saw the look on Emma's face.

"Don't tell me he is your soulmate or crap like that now, please…or that it was your destiny to meet him. Mary Margaret would say that…or maybe Belle…but not you. And we both know that fate does not exist…or true love for that matter. Happy endings are for fairytales…"

"Yes, I know that, Em. And I don't even want a happy ending…or true love…but that doesn't mean I can't have fun…now does it?", Ruby watched her friend closely, fully aware where Emma's little outburst had come from, but this was not the time, nor the place for this conversation.

"Fine. Go then. I'll meet you for lunch tomorrow…and you're paying", Emma gave in and once Ruby had left her car she drove off, still furious, but too tired to care at this point.


Regina was stalking through the rain, completely exhausted and worn out.

Of course it had to start raining right when her shift had ended.

Another one of her lucky days.

Not.

She heard the sounds of a car and sighed heavily, trying to mentally prepare herself for what was about to come and a few seconds later the car was already next to her and a window was opening.

"Don't even try it. I'm not a prostitute!", Regina hissed in annoyance.

"I just wanted to offer you a ride…"

That voice.

That voice sounded familiar somehow and it only took a moment before it dawned on Regina who's voice that was and she froze.

This was a joke, right?

This could not be true.

She looked inside the car and stared right into the eyes of a certain blonde, who's name Jefferson had refused to reveal.

"Thank you, but no, Miss..?", she managed to say while she kept walking, but the car did not speed up.

"Emma. Emma Swan", the blonde answered casually, "Come on…you'll get sick as hell. Let me drive you home."

Regina hesitated, because the truth was that she did not trust this Emma Swan.

But then again – she trusted no one.

And so Regina opened the door of the ridiculously expensive Mercedes convertible and got in, "I'll ruin your seats. I'm soaked."

"I don't care."

The weird thing about the statement was that it seemed to be the truth and Regina did not understand why she felt so relieved about that fact.


Emma had not said one word during the whole drive and had just waited for her instructions where to go.

Regina had considered to ask Emma to let her out around the corner, because she did not want anyone to know where she lived, not only because she was ashamed of the place, but also because it was no one's business and Regina was big on her privacy.

For a lot of reasons.

But then she remember that she had something that needed to be returned to the blonde and so she had finally told her the full address.

Now that Emma parked in front of the run-down building Regina became aware that she felt not only embarrassed, but also exposed.

"Could you wait a minute, Miss Swan? There is something I want to give you."

"Of course. And take your time. You must be tired", the blonde answered, "By the way…what's your name? Since you know mine it would only be fair if you would tell me yours."

She did not want to tell her, she really did not want to, but she did it anyway, "Regina Mills. I'll be right back."


While Emma waited the rain stopped and she decided to get out of the car to get some fresh air. It would help her to stay awake, because she felt the tiredness kick back in.

She caught sight of the light that was turned on in one of the apartments on the first floor and smiled.

So, this was where the brunette lived.

It was the worst area of Boston and the building was in a terrible state, but Emma figured that Regina probably would not be able to afford anything else.

Shocking, wasn't it?

Especially since The Rabbit Hole was a rather exclusive club. The owner clearly had to keep all the money to himself.

Emma felt sorry for the beautiful brunette, because there had to be a story to her being a stripper and living here, but Emma was not sure if she wanted to hear it, not that Regina would tell her – she was sure about that.

She might be a stripper, but when it came to talking to somebody Regina Mills was all closed up, that was obvious.

Before Emma knew it the brunette was back and standing right in front of her, some dollar bills in hand, "Jefferson would not tell me who you are, so I could not return it earlier. Thank you for driving me home, Miss Swan."

Emma only shook her head and refused to take the money, "Keep it."

"I can't do that. It is not appropriate. Take it back, I don't wish to argue. It's late."

"Tell me you don't need it…", Emma countered.

"Miss Swan…I don't need your pity or…"

"Stop it! You don't know me…you think I'm some stupid blonde, who spends her days shopping and wasting my parents' money…", Emma fired back.

"I said no such thing", Regina defended herself.

"Well, it's rather obvious…the way you look at me says everything. But the truth is, Regina Mills…you don't know me. Not at all. You have no idea, who I am. I was at the club last week…together with some friends…to have fun. And you did your job…and that's why I gave you the money", Emma's eyes sparkled furiously and she was breathing hard.

"I did not even dance for you", the brunette stated angrily.

"Because I didn't want you to. All I wanted was some peace and silence. And I had that. So you can as well keep the money."

"No."

Emma sighed. This discussion was pointless. Regina clearly was one stubborn woman.

"Please, keep it. I really didn't think anything of it. I did not mean to offend you or anything. Nor do I think I'm better than you. I could have easily ended up in the streets or something like that…but I've been lucky and got adopted. So please take the money…I'm sure you will spend it wisely...", Emma tried one last time and noticed the questioning look on Regina's face.

She had not meant to reveal so much about her life, but it was too late to take it back.

"What have you done at The Rabbit Hole today?"

The brunette's question came out of nowhere.

"Uh…Ruby called and asked me to pick her up…but when I got there…she told me she would stay with…the hat guy. So I wanted to go home when I saw you", Emma answered truthfully.

"I assume she woke you up?"

Emma only nodded and Regina laughed bitterly, "I remember telling you this before…but I will say it again. You should be more picky when it comes to your friends. Your choices are quite alarming."

"Ruby is just a little crazy at times. But she has a heart of gold, I swear. She is always there for me…she has helped me through a lot."

"If you say so."

"I do. And I better get going…you must be tired. God knows I am", Emma opened the door of her car, ready to get in, when Regina grabbed her hand and pressed the dollar bills against her palm, "Good night, Miss Swan."

And before Emma could have reacted Regina had already turned round and was heading inside the building, causing Emma to sigh heavily once again.

Why wouldn't Regina accept help when somebody offered it?

She really needed to go home and get some sleep now, but she would try to talk to the brunette again one of these days.

Before Emma got into her car for real she looked up once again, looked up to the window, where the lights were on and she caught sight of the small form looking down on her, causing Emma to gasp in surprise.

Regina Mills had a child.