Emma practically tripped over her own feet when the knock resounded from the front door at 9pm exactly. She had been sitting in the lounge trying to play it cool even though every fibre of her being urged her to wait by the door in excitement. As she walked down the hallway she gathered herself, desperately trying to control her pace and not make it to the door in record time, she steadied her breathing and opened the door with a big smile that she couldn't control, her happiness overwhelming her.
"Hey, Regina." She merrily greeted. "Come in.
"Hello, Emma." The brunette greeted in return before entering the home.
Immediately Emma could sense that something wasn't quite right with Regina, she smiled and spoke as she usually would but it just seemed less genuine to the blonde somehow, her eyes didn't light up in their usual way and her body language didn't seem as relaxed.
"Is everything okay?" She queried as she closed the door behind the brunette. She tried to sound light and laidback about it but it came out laden with concern and worry.
Regina couldn't even answer her, she wanted to play it all off as if there was nothing wrong but the moment Emma opened the door, full of happiness and excitement, she knew she would break. She meekly nodded her head as she looked at the floor and began untying the fabric belt on her back cotton trench coat.
"Let me help you with that." The blonde gently offered as she took Regina's purse then peeled the coat off her shoulders and down her toned arms to reveal a simple, but beautifully fitting knee length black dress, that revealed just enough cleavage to be elegant but teasing, matched with the same boots she wore on her previous visit, for comfort more than anything else. All the while the brunette kept her eyes glued to the floor, knowing that the second she looked into Emma's trusting eyes her resolve would vanish.
Emma hung up the coat and purse on the coat stand and turned back to the brunette who was stood stock still, her head bent and shoulders slumped as she silently stared at the floor. Emma wasn't quite sure what to do now, in the few seconds since Regina had walked in the house, everything had changed, the brunette wasn't even trying to hide whatever she was feeling behind a fake smile now.
Regina could feel the tears building with every second that passed, she didn't know what to do next. This situation had been thrust upon her and she wasn't sure what to do for the best but she knew she couldn't betray the blonde.
"I'm sorry, Emma." Was the only thing she could think to say as tears began rolling down her cheeks.
The reason for the tears being unknown to the blonde cause her to panic but more than anything she felt an overriding sense of protectiveness for the fragile looking brunette. She wrapped her arms around the smaller woman's shaking form and held her to her own body, Regina's arms hanging limply at her sides.
"It's okay." She whispered into he top of the brunettes head as she kissed the soft hair below her lips. "Whatever it is, I promise it will be okay."
Regina wanted to believe the blonde but there was no way this was going to be okay, whatever she chose to do now, the blonde would want nothing more to do with her she believed.
Emma didn't let go of Regina as the brunette cried into her chest, the sobbing becoming louder every time Emma reassured her, or kissed her head, or stroked her back. Between sobs and gulps of air the brunette would apologise over and over, and each time she did Emma would simply say that everything was okay and that she would help her.
Eventually she managed to get her crying under control but Emma made no attempt at releasing her or asking her any questions, she held her until Regina took a steadying breath and pulled back from the blondes embrace. When she managed to look up at the blonde, Emma could have sworn she felt a shooting pain radiate from her heart at seeing the brunette so upset.
"Hey, sweetheart." Emma softly spoke, she tried to offer a small smile but her expression was too pained to make it work. "Let's get you some water and you can tell me what's going on, if you want?" She cupped the brunettes face and used her thumbs to try and wipe away the fallen tears that were marring her beautiful face.
Regina nodded her head and let herself be gently led down the hallway and to the kitchen. She was going to come clean to the blonde, regardless of what that meant for her. If Emma refused to have anything to do with her again she would completely understand, and whatever Gold decided to do to her when he discovered her betrayal she would face it. Her life had been full of pain and betrayal and she wasn't willing to do the same thing to one of the very few people who had been kind to her.
Emma pulled out a tall stool for her at the kitchen island and went to grab a bottle of water for her from the fridge. It was only then that Regina realised she could smell something delicious, she lifted her head and looked around, there was a couple of pots on the stove, the dining table was set up and in the middle were the two vases, one containing the roses and one containing the bluebells. On seeing the effort Emma had once again gone to and the fact she had obviously tended to the flowers she had previously given to the brunette, Regina broke down again, her tears flooding her face as she covered it with her hands.
Emma rushed over, placing the unopened bottle on the island before hopping onto the stool next to Regina so she could once again wrap her arms around her. She was holding back her own tears in an attempt to be strong for the suffering woman. She would do anything to make things right for Regina, but she needed to know what was the matter before she could help.
"Listen to me well, Regina, I don't care what it is that's hurting you but I will do whatever I can to help you. You are not alone."
Her kind words just made things that little bit worse for the brunette. She didn't want to lose Emma but she couldn't see any other outcome.
Eventually Regina managed to regain control of herself and the tears stopped enough so that she could reach out a shaky hand for the bottle of water.
"Let me." Emma offered as she grabbed the bottle and unscrewed the cap before handing it to the brunette who took a few small gulps. The blonde grabbed a few tissues from the dispenser and handed them to Regina when she put the bottle back down on the counter top. Emma silently watched her as she rubbed soothing circles on her back, waiting for when Regina was ready to talk.
Regina thought hard about what she was going to say next. She wanted to say that they couldn't see each other again and spare Emma from the details of Gold's plan but she knew if she did that then there was a chance that Emma would still use the escort service and Gold would just get one of his other girls to film Emma and use it against her. She couldn't let that happen, Emma had to know the truth so she could protect herself.
"You can't use the escort service any longer." She managed to get out, hoping it sounded stern enough that Emma would listen.
It took the blonde a few seconds to get her head around what Regina was saying. If she couldn't use the service then she couldn't have Regina and that wasn't something she was willing to give up on without a fight, or at least a small protest.
"Why?" The blondes tears were now on the cusp of spilling. She didn't care a bout not being able to use the escort service per se, she only cared about not being able to see Regina again.
Regina takes a deep breath and looks into the blondes eyes, what she sees there is enough to fortify her decision, she can't hurt the blonde by lying to her, she has to tell her the truth. "Gold wants me to film us fucking so he can use it against you, I don't know why. He had his son attach a camera to my bag to record everything." Emma sat there in shock, trying to comprehend what this would mean for her. "He has always prided himself on the discretion he offers so I don't know why he wants me to do this all of a sudden." She continued as she stared straight ahead, looking at nothing in particular.
"I think I know why." The blonde stated as she continued to hold the brunette. "I asked an acquaintance of mine to look into him. He must have found out."
Regina pulled from the embrace and looked at the blonde. "What? Why would you do that?"
"Something felt off," she meekly answered, it was her turn to cast her eyes down. "After the other day with your feet, I knew something wasn't quite right. I didn't want to push you about it but I had to know you were okay, I was just trying to soothe my own fears so I had someone look into Gold."
Regina was torn between feeling angry that Emma had set this in motion and happy that she had cared enough to check up on her.
"You had someone check up on me?"
"No, no! I swear it. It was just Gold I got checked out." She rushes out, not wanting the brunette to think she was invading her privacy or being a creepy stalker. "I really did just want to know that he was treating you well."
Regina gave a watery laugh and a shake of her head at that. For the first time ever, letting Emma know things were not as they had seemed.
"Oh my God, he did it, didn't he? He's the one that hurt you." Emma was taken aback, so far August hadn't found anything on Gold, so she had hoped she was worrying for nothing but to have it confirmed was a shock.
Regina simply nods her head.
"You need to tell me everything so I can help you, Regina."
The brunettes head shoots to the direction of the blonde. "You want to help me?"
"Of course I do." The blondes own tears start falling now, having her worst fears confirmed was enough to crack her self-control.
"You can't do anything, Emma. He knows lots of influential people, he will ruin your career. The best thing for you is to walk away." It is her turn to comfort the blonde as she tries to wipe away Emma's tears.
"I can't do that. I can't walk away from you, Regina. I won't do it."
Regina has never heard the blonde sound so serious or determined before and if the situation wasn't so serious she would feel ecstatic that Emma had said those words. "You have to, for you own good." She tries to plead.
Emma clenches her jaw. "No, I don't have to do anything. All my life I have been told who and what I need to be. All I have ever had stuffed down my throat is other peoples opinions that I am neither a boy or a girl, not quite good enough to fit into some easily identifiable box that would make them feel better. All I ever wanted was to be me so I refused surgery to make me either a boy or a girl in their eyes and because of that I was constantly bullied and tormented by the other kids in the system and by the adults that were supposed to take care of me. I have never felt like I was enough by just being me, not until you came along anyway. You are the only person that has ever allowed me to feel okay in my own skin, you've helped me to believe in myself just by letting me be. I'm not running away from something that makes me happy just because of a bully. I have done that too often in my life and it stops now." She states with more conviction than she has ever felt before in her life.
Regina stares at her in disbelief.
"I like you, Regina, and I will get you away from him. The guy that I had look into Gold runs his own escort service down in Florida but he takes care of the women that work for him. I could probably get you a job there, if you wanted?" Her voice trails off at the last bit, she knows she won't be able to move back to the Tallahassee Tigers so she really doesn't want Regina moving somewhere she can't follow.
"You think I chose this as a career?" She asks the blonde in all seriousness.
"Urm… yeah." The blonde replies, her brow scrunched in confusion. She knew from August that some women were forced into prostitution but she thought that was a world away from the high class escort service Regina worked for.
The brunette figures that Emma is on her side so she really doesn't have too much to lose anymore. She takes a deep breath and begins to tell the blonde her story, everything from beginning to end and all the horrors in between, including the full details of the conversation she had with Gold just before coming to Emma's that night. By the time she has finished they are both in floods of tears and holding onto each other.
Emma wipes at her tears and growls, "that bastard! We have to go to the police." She feels utterly heart broken for everything the brunette has been through.
"We can't, half of the police force is in his pocket."
"I'm not letting you go back there, Regina. Please stay with me. It's not like he can force you. I'll change the code on my gate so the driver can't come in to pick you up. Stay here until we figure this out. God only knows what the sick bastard will do to you if you turn up without anything on the camera."
"I want to stay with you but he will ruin you and Kathryn is still there. He might take it out on her, she's my best friend...my only friend" She adds.
"If he lets it get out that I have used the escort service then that will put his business in jeopardy. I bet some of the other clients would be scared that they could be exposed. There are probably loads of high powered people that use it, right?"
"Yes, that's why he puts emphasis on discretion."
"That's perfect then, he can't expose me without ruining his own business."
"He won't let it be known that it is his business you are using, he's much too clever for that."
"He might not let it be known that it's his business but I will. If he thinks he can push me then I will push right back. As for Kathryn, Gold said he wanted you to capture my wildest fantasies, right?"
"Yes." She nods along, not quite understand where Emma is headed.
"So how about I call him and get Kathryn over here. I can pretend that's one of my fantasies, a threesome. Then she'll be here with us and he can't touch either of you."
Regina is trying to think it all through, thinking about all the different angles and everything that could go wrong. "Emma, I don't think you understand, Gold is evil, he will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and he won't take kindly to being challenged."
"Of course he won't like being challenged, no bully does. The way I see it is that we have two options; you can go back without any footage and end up dead or I can keep you and Kathryn safe and we can take him down. I know a lot of people in high places that can help us too. Money talks and luckily I have plenty of that. The very worst thing that can happen is that I lose my career, that's nothing compared to losing you." She said the last bit before she could think of the repercussions of her words.
Regina looked at her blankly for a few seconds before a huge smile took over her face, followed by a blush. No one had ever put her first like this and it felt incredible.
Emma was tempted to backpaddle at first but once she saw Regina's smile she knew she couldn't. "I know what we have isn't real, I know you're not my girlfriend but what I feel for you is real. I'm not doing this because I think I have any ownership of you, I'm not trying to take you from Gold so I can have you for myself, and if after all of this is over I can only have you as a friend then I will make peace with that."
"Oh Emma. If only you knew how often I wished it was real, and not just because I wanted an escape from this life but because of the way you have treated me. To be with someone who treats you like a, well, like a queen, who could want more than that?"
Emma found herself smiling as she read between the lines. They both wanted to be together. She didn't want to get ahead of herself but the possibility of a future together filled her with happiness. She knew they couldn't just jump into something, Regina had been and was still going through hell and Emma wasn't about to take advantage of a desperate soul, but maybe after all of this was over and Regina had done some healing, just maybe there would be a chance for them to forget their pasts and work on their futures, together.
Regina was smiling just as hard as Emma, not just because she may soon be away from Gold's cruel clutches but also because someone really wanted her, not to gain anything from her, but just wanted her for her.
"I should probably call Gold and try to get Kathryn over here." The blonde interrupts their moment of peace with a sigh.
"Yeah. She will probably be free a bit later on."
Emma grabs her phone and dials the now despised number, the fist of her free hand subconsciously clenching in pure anger towards the scumbag she has to be cordial with in order to not arouse suspicion.
Once she had been transferred through to him she did her best to control the pitch and tone of her voice, she found it easier to do when she looked at Regina and remembered what was at stake.
"Miss Swan, what can I do for you?" His voice turned her stomach.
"I wanted to have another woman for the night."
"Instead of Regina?" His words came out louder than he intended, he thought that Regina had perhaps bottled it and wasn't going to perform.
"No, as well as Regina. That blonde chick I had before, Kathryn." She ended the sentence with a low whistle, hoping it would imply that she'd had an incredible time with the woman previously, she couldn't risk Gold thinking she was just trying to get Regina's friend out of there. All the while she couldn't make eye contact with the brunette, she didn't know how much Regina knew of her experience with Kathryn, or Milah for that matter.
"You do leave things to the last minute don't you? I'll have to inconvenience other clients to make it happen." All the greasy man could see were dollar signs in front of his eyes as he tried his usual trick with the blonde.
Emma wasn't having it, she gathered from what Regina had told her that Gold ruled with threats and bluffs, she wasn't going to left him have anymore power so she decided to play him at his own game. "Never mind, Regina was just asking me what my deepest desires were so I thought I would try it out. Bye." She had never desired a threesome in her life but she thought by saying that Gold would think that Regina was trying to get him the footage he wanted.
"No, no. Wait, Miss Swan. Let me just double check her schedule and see what I can do." He didn't want to let this opportunity slip by. He knew that having footage of the world famous sports star with a hooker would give him power over her, but footage of him in a threesome with two hookers would surely be even more damaging to the young woman and thus worth more to him. "Ah, she has had a cancellation so it would appear she is free for the rest of the night," he lied. "I can have her there by midnight."
"Good, I want to keep them both until Tuesday morning again, I assume this won't be a problem if I compensate you as I did last weekend?"
"That's reasonable." He thought his luck was in, he would be getting some very valuable footage and making over a million from one weekend. She didn't wait for him to say anything else, she just hung up, sick of listening to his nauseating voice. She had called his bluff and won, she knew he wasn't as powerful as Regina believed him to be. The poor woman was so fragile and traumatised she would believe anything the bastard told her.
At least now they had some breathing space to try and figure something out.
"She will be here by midnight." The blonde said when she finally turned to the brunette who had been staring at her throughout the phone call with Gold. She heard everything and she couldn't believe that Gold had folded so quickly, it was so unlike the man she knew.
"Thank you, Emma." She said with wonderment in her eyes. She still wasn't convinced that everything would be okay but she knew there was a better chance now that Emma knew everything and was on her side.
"It will all be okay, I promise." She pulled the brunette in for another hug, just to reaffirm that she would protect her. "I made some seafood linguine by the way, if you're up for eating?"
Regina pulls back from the hug, she didn't want to refuse the offer of the food that smelled so delicious but she really didn't feel like eating. "I feel a bit too tense to eat, my stomach is in knots."
"That's understandable. How about some tea instead? Ginger is good for settling stomachs, I can make you some of that?"
"That would be wonderful, thank you." In that moment she had never felt more blessed to have Emma Swan in her life. The world famous soccer star was a million miles out of her league but here she was, cooking for her, making tea, even knowing the type of tea that would make her feel better, and saving her from her tormented life.
Once she had poured the tea for Regina she grabbed herself a beer she decided to call August to see if he could help her. She dialled his number and put him on speaker phone so that Regina could hear everything and add anything that the blonde may have missed.
"Hey, Emma. How are things there?" He cheerfully asked after picking up on the second ring. "I was going to call you tomorrow, the guy I have been waiting for is back in your state and we've arranged a phone call for tomorrow afternoon."
"Things aren't great here August. Something has come up and we need your help."
"We?" He questioned, confusion evident in his voice.
Once Emma gave him the short version of everything that had happened and the situation they were now in, the usually relaxed man was pacing around his beachfront home, expletives pouring from his lips at what Gold was up to and how he had treated Regina.
"I'm so sorry, Emma. One of the guys I asked about Gold must be in his pocket.
"What are the names of the men you asked for help?" Regina interrupted. "It's just that when Gold has someone in his pocket he let's them use us so I might be able to figure out who it was.
Emma blocks out the jealousy that rears its ugly head whenever she thinks of Regina with anyone else and instead gives a gently squeeze to the olive hand clasped in her own.
The phone call I have arranged for tomorrow is with a guy named David Nolan but he doesn't know why I'm calling so it can't be him." He reels off a couple more names but they aren't familiar to her either. "Then there's Killian Jones, he said he didn't know anything about Gold but that he would look into him for me."
"That's him!" The brunette shouts out. "A man named Killian has gone through all of the women, he usually has someone about once a week. It's not exactly a common name, it has to be him." Regina exclaims as she solves the mystery of the nark.
"That piece of shit!" August fumes. "We went through the academy together, he used to be a good guy. I'm going to have a look at flights and get myself up to you as soon as possible, I might be of more help up there."
"Thanks, August. That would be great." Emma feels a bit of weight lifted off her shoulders knowing that someone that has helped her out before will be there to help her again and she doesn't have to do it alone.
"No worries. I'll text you the details when I've sorted it all out. Take care ladies." He says before hanging up, wanting to get started on things immediately.
Emma lets out a big sigh before putting her phone down and rubbing her face with her hands. "At least we know who is on our side now."
Regina gives a forced smile. "I suppose you're right but I can't help but feel like this isn't real. Believing that we might escape from Gold feels surreal."
"There's no 'might' about it. You won't ever go back there, no one can make you. Slavery was abolished years ago, nobody can own anyone else."
"But he has a contract." She counter argues as tears begin to spill again.
"That doesn't mean anything. It's not worth the paper it is written on, please trust me on that." She wraps a comforting arm around the brunettes waist.
"Are you sure?" All she has ever known were the lies Gold fed her so it's hard for her to believe anything else.
"Yes. One hundred percent." The blonde firmly states.
Regina nods her head, accepting Emma's words as she hugs the blonde fully, seeking the comfort that only Emma is able to give her. They quietly sit at the kitchen island, sipping their tea as they both reflect on everything that has happened in the last couple of hours.
Not too long after she receives a text from August saying he has booked a flight ticket for early the next morning and should be there for around lunch time. She texts back her address so he can use the sat nav system on the rental car he will be picking up after the flight.
"Why don't we go lay on the couch until Kathryn gets here?" The blonde offers the tired looking brunette.
"Okay." She easily agrees, the thought of laying with Emma was too good to refuse. Their bodies always felt so right together.
The blonde takes her hand and they make their way to the lounge where Emma gently helps her out of her boots and then lays down on her side on the couch, pulling the smaller woman with her so they are facing each other. Regina nestles her head into the crook of the blondes shoulder and they hold onto each other.
"I won't let anyone hurt you ever again, Regina. You're safe now." She whispers into the brunettes temple.
For the first time in years Regina truly felt safe as she allowed herself to relax for the first time that night.