None of them had gotten any proper sleep that night, Kathryn had dozed on and off in the chair and Regina had caught a couple of hours in the familiarity of Emma's arms. They had all stayed in the lounge, David's call had put them on edge so that they didn't want to leave security of their little group. Just after 5a.m. Kathryn decided to make coffee for them all to help with their lost sleep and weary eyes. Regina peeled herself from Emma's side for the first time since David's phone call so she could help her friend make the coffee.
"What did that phone call really mean?" Emma rapidly fires at August as soon as both women are out of earshot. She been waiting eight hours to ask him that question, she had tried to whisper it to him during the night when both women were asleep at the same time but he hadn't heard her and when she raised her voice a little it had made Regina stir so she gave up. She was scared the answer wouldn't be a good one so she didn't want to ask it in front of Regina and Kathryn.
"I don't know, Emma. It could mean a multitude of things." He answers in hushed tones as he rubs his tired eyes. "It could mean something was leaked and Gold is onto them and their investigation or he could know that the girls have turned on him." He motions to the general area of the kitchen when he talks about the women. "Maybe it means they've caught him. I just don't know. All we can do is wait until one of the agents call us back so we can get some answers."
"I'm sick of waiting. I'm sick of not knowing what is going to happen." She runs her hands through her hair in frustration. "I just want to see that bastard and everyone that's in cahoots with him locked up. And I… I just want to start my life." It wasn't lost on August that the blonde looked at the door to the kitchen, the door that Regina was behind, when she spoke of her future.
"Even if we do get some answers today, you know this is far from over, don't you, Emma?" He didn't want her believing that even if Gold was caught that that was the end of it, he knew how long the judicial process could take.
"I know, I know. I just need to know what's going on. The hardest thing is not knowing." She flops back on the couch, exhausted from the toxic mixture of lack of sleep and over worrying.
"I'm sure we will know soon enough and as much as this sucks for you, you have to remember that it's even worse for Regina and Kathryn. So put on a brave face and be strong for them."
"I want it to be over and done with for their sakes more than my own. I…"
August springs up from his seat when he phone starts ringing from the side cupboard it's laying on as it's charging in the socket next to it. "I don't recognise the number." He informs Emma before accepting the call. "Hello?" He tentatively queries down the line.
"Hi, it's Fred." There was a lot of background noise, shouting and sirens were almost drowning him out.
Emma was eagerly looking at August, desperately wanting to know who was calling him. He put the speaker phone on and she got her answer the moment August opened his mouth. "Fred? Is that you? Where's David? What's going on?"
"I'm coming over, I'll explain everything when I get there." Was Fred's sharp, short reply when he hung up.
"That didn't sound good." Emma states.
"No, it didn't." August agrees.
"Coffee time." Kathryn declares as she enters the room, Regina just behind her. "What's going on?" Kathryn asks when she sees the looks on their faces.
Emma offers Regina a weak smile as she sits next to her and passes her a cup of coffee. "Fred just called, he's on his way over."
"That's a good thing isn't it? We will finally have some news on what's happening." The brunette looks between Emma and August for confirmation of her hopes.
"Maybe, but that depends on what the news is." August soberly informs her.
Emma notices the brunette stiffen up so she whispers into her ear as she kisses her sweetly on her cheek, "It's going to be okay."
Just like the previous evening they all sit around in contemplative silence until Fred is buzzing to be let onto Emma's property not too much later. August is waiting for him at the front door as he walks up the steps to the mansion. They greet each other with a handshake but Fred's grip is lacklustre. "Everyone is waiting in the lounge." The bearded man states as he leads the way to where they are all waiting anxiously for news.
Fred shakes off his own melancholy as he sees four sets of eyes pleading with him to be told good news. "We got him, we got them all." He happily declares.
*Flashback to early hours, Saturday morning*
"You had better have a good reason for calling me in the middle of the night." The gruff man in his sixties warned as she took his seat behind his desk, David and Fred sitting on the opposite side like a couple of excited schoolboys.
"We do, Sarge." David answers for them. "We have had an incredible break in the Gold case. We have enough evidence to get him locked up for life if we time things right.
This caught the Sergeants attention, making him sit up straight in his chair as he leaned forward, his fingers steepled on top of the desk. "Go on," he encourages David.
The sandy haired agent relays his meeting with August and then goes into detail about the interviews with the two women, leaving Emma's name out of it for now. There was no need to mention her, not at this stage at least.
"And these women are really going to testify?" The sergeant had despaired at ever getting a result with this case because each time they followed a lead in the past they came up empty handed because no one was ever willing to snitch on Gold.
"We have their signed statements in here." Fred confirms as his taps the briefcase that contains their signed statements. "The best part is, both of these women confirmed, separately, that every Saturday night, when the brothel is at its quietest, usually around eleven, they get a delivery of cocaine in, that Gold then passes to his dealers throughout the week. Again, separately, both of these women were able to identify and name all of our suspects in this case. Neither of them picked out the trick photos we threw in. They are genuine. They have been under his command for years and have picked up on all his illegal dealings, things that go beyond the drugs and sex trafficking."
"We could get this bastard tonight." David exclaims, half in excitement and half in pure anger at the man he had quickly grown to despise throughout the investigation.
"Let me make some phone calls. You two, go home and get some sleep. If I can get a judge to sign the arrest warrants we can raid his place later today when he gets his delivery. You are under the strictest orders not to breathe a word of this to anyone, including the witness'. I'll call you when I have everything in order.
"Okay, Sarge." David happily agrees. They leave the briefcase with the interview recordings and statements for their boss and head out of his office, both of them cautiously excited about what was to come.
Just after three the following afternoon they both receive the call from their Sarge that they had been waiting for. All the paperwork was in place not only to raid Gold's, but to raid the homes and workplaces of everyone involved, from the dealers to the crooked cops and lawyers on Gold's payroll. Once they both made it into the precinct and their boss had briefed them on the plan for that night they got there men together and coordinated the mass raids that they would be leading in a few short hours.
For over two hours before their raid on Gold's they had all the cars in and out of the building followed so that when the time struck for the raid, no one would get away. All the evidence they had accrued since the start of their investigation, along with the details from the women's statements were put into place to make the raids pinpoint accurate.
Once the signal was given to 'go,' David and Fred led their team out of the back of an unmarked van and into Gold's building as another unmarked van spilled out the rest of the team who were there to guard the outside of the building and prevent anyone from escaping.
*End of flashback*
"You got them all?" Regina asks blankly, unable to comprehend the reality of what that means.
"Yes, thanks to you two." The agents offers with a smile. We arrested all of them men you both picked out from the photos we showed you, well, except one, Neal somehow managed to grab the gun from the agent who was trying to arrest him. David intervened and got shot so I took Neal out."
"Neal's dead?" Kathryn asks, needing to know for sure.
"Yes, Neal is dead." He confirms. None of the agents enjoyed that aspect of the job but after everything Fred had heard during the interviews with the women, he didn't feel anything, not a spot of remorse. If he had been allowed to pull the trigger on every one of the men arrested that night he would have happily done so.
"Hoo-fucking-ray!" She declares with a giant smile. "At least that's one of them gone."
"How is David?" Emma interjects, he was a good man that she felt she owed much to and she wanted him to be okay because he was one of the few people in a position to help them.
"He's okay, luckily it was just a flesh wound. Once he had it checked out and stitched up he carried on with the work."
Regina doesn't react to the news, she was still trying to absorb it all. "What about the other women?"
"We have all the women you gave us names of safely under our protection. We found Gold's logbook that you told us about so we were able to use it to track down all the women that were out with clients. They have all been given medicals and taken to a safe house for now. Later today they will all have their mental states evaluated by a state psychiatrist and then we will begin taking their statements, then after that we will start the process of trying to track down any friends or family they may have so we can reunite them."
"So they aren't being prosecuted?" August queries, knowing very well that the system often prosecutes the victims.
"No, none of them." He confirms with a genuine smile, he also knew the system could be a bitch. "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to get back to the precinct to help with all the paperwork. David and I just wanted to thank you all, particularly you two, Regina and Kathryn, we could never have done this if you both hadn't stepped forward. We got the bastard! He isn't getting out of this, we caught him red handed as the drug deal went down, in his own building that housed all the women." His own excitement at how clear cut the case was got the better of him. "You should all get some sleep, you look exhausted. We will be back in touch when we have some more information for you. Would you like me to set up an appointment with the psychiatrist for you both, just as a precaution?" He asks Regina and Kathryn but they both shake their heads no. Neither of them wanted to leave the safety of Emma's home just yet. "Okay, but if you change your mind then just let us know." They both nod their heads in the affirmative.
August sees Fred out as Emma keeps her arm wrapped around the brunette sitting next to her, she did nothing else but give her hip a reassuring squeeze, unsure of what to say or what to do, given Regina's quiet stillness, she wanted to give her all the time she needed to process things and when the brunette was ready she would be there for her.
"This calls for a celebration!" Kathryn exclaims before she pats Regina's knee and goes through to the kitchen. She knew better than to push the brunette when she was processing.
"Emma?" Regina whispers as she looks at the blonde when it is just them two in the lounge. "You did this. You made it all possible. You saved us."
"No. You did all this" Emma confirms as she looks into still sad eyes. "You saved yourself and you saved all the other women. You were brave to take that first step and admit what was happening to you and I am so glad that you did. Now you get to let go of all that worry and be happy. You are free from that bastard. You heard what Fred said, Gold isn't going to get away with this." Emma's smile grew as she spoke of that wretched man no longer getting away with his crimes, but best of all, Regina's smile grew with hers. "I think Kathryn is right, we need to celebrate! Maybe after some sleep first though."
"Nonsense." Kathryn protests as she comes back in, holding a bottle of wine and some glasses.
"It's not even six a.m." August states with a smile as he comes back in the room and sees Kathryn with the wine.
"One glass won't hurt." Regina interjects before yawning. "Then some sleep." She says with a smile to Emma.
"Well, if this isn't cause for celebration I don't know what is," the blonde athlete readily agrees with Regina.
"Damn right. Count me in." The man agrees as he accepts a glass from Kathryn.
"A toast to Regina and Kathryn," the blonde announces, "who found the courage to save themselves with more bravery and dignity than I ever thought it was possible for anyone to have. Now it's time for both of you to look to your futures and make it whatever you want it to be."
"Here, here." They all cheered as they clinked glasses.
The sense of relief in the room was palpable as everyone but Regina downed their wine. She daintily sipped from the glass until she realised everyone was staring at her, empty glasses in their hands. A quirked eyebrow from Kathryn and she submitted to peer pressure, knocking the remaining alcohol back in one gulp.
They all whooped and clapped and Regina giggled, truly feeling lighter than she ever had. She couldn't quite believe how quickly and dramatically her life had turned around. She had never thought she would be free of Gold and she definitely didn't think she would ever be surrounded by people she loved and who loved her back. She didn't even think twice when she looked at Emma and realised that she really did love her, she had felt it growing for months but didn't know it until now, having never let herself believe such a thing was possible. She didn't think she had saved herself because she would have never taken the steps needed if it wasn't for Emma and everything she had risked. Her eyes glazed over with unshed tears as she looked at the woman who had given her a second chance at life, a real life, risking everything she had, everything she had worked for in the process.
"Regina, are you okay?" Emma worries at the sight of the brunettes wet eyes. She puts her glass down and places her hands on narrow shoulders, soothingly rubbing tanned skin through the borrowed tee the petite women was wearing.
A full smile spreads over her face. "I'm fantastic, Emma. The best I've ever been." She says with her voice full of joy, meaning every word of it. Not even when her father was alive had she ever felt this happy, her mother had always hung over her head like a dark cloud but now she felt free. She slips her hands around the back on the blondes neck and pulls her down into a deep kiss that surprises the blonde and everyone else in the room. Kathryn and August grin at each other and leave the two women alone as they go to their rooms to get some much needed sleep. Neither Emma nor Regina are aware of them leaving, the kiss commanding their full attention.
Emma could feel her dick stirring as the exploring and welcome tongue that was caressing her own sent hot waves through her body. Regina hummed her appreciation into he blondes mouth when she felt the stiffness pressing against her core as Emma pulled her closer.
Regina pulls back from the kiss so that their foreheads are resting together, before she lets herself take things any further. She wanted Emma but she was unsure of where exactly they stood in terms of their arrangement at this point. Sex had never been more to her than something she had to do, her job, she didn't really know how to let things naturally happen. Sex with Emma had never felt like any of her experiences with other clients, she enjoyed it with Emma for one thing but it had still been because she was getting paid to do it. She had no idea how to go about it outside of the bubble that was all she had known. "Shall we go and get some sleep?" She asks to distract from their intimate embrace.
"Mm-hm," the blonde agrees as her eyes remain closed, still feeling the kiss induced bliss throughout her body.
Regina takes her hand and leads her to their bedroom. That was how she was referred to it in her head, it felt like it was also hers, even after just a few days because she knew that was where she would be sleeping every night from now on. She didn't have to go back to Gold's or into protective custody and more than that, Emma wanted her to stay with her, to share her bed with her.
When they get to their bedroom Emma jumps into the bed first. "Come here, beautiful." The blonde requests as she lays on her side of the bed, her arms outstretched to welcome the brunette as they always did and always would. Her dick had softened again, she wasn't going to pressure the brunette in any way at all. If anything was going to happen she would leave it to the brunette decide.
She smiles at the word Emma uses to describe her and climbs into the bed. "I feel like I could sleep for a week." She sleepily grumbles into the blondes neck as she takes her usual place encircled inside Emma's arms.
"If that's what you want then that's what you can do. You get to do whatever you want from now on." She hoped Regina knew she truly meant it, all her decisions were her own from here on out.
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When Regina woke up she was in the same position she fell asleep in, curled into Emma's side, her arms slung over tight abs as the blonde lay asleep on her back, her right arm cradled around the brunettes shoulders. She lifts her head a little to look at the time, the alarm clock, the same one that had put the fear of God into her not too long ago, showed it was twelve thirty six. Her stomach rumbled as if to confirm it was indeed lunchtime. She took a moment to look at the peaceful blonde and had to bite her lip to stifle a small laugh that unexpectedly made an appearance, caused by the giddy feeling in her heart. From the corner of her eye she could see the tenting of the cover over Emma's crotch that was caused by her swollen cock.
She felt her core flood with needy wetness, not just because of the hard cock of the beautiful woman next to her but because of everything Emma had done for her and all the beautiful, sweet words she said to her that were always voiced with total and complete conviction. She wanted to reciprocate everything Emma had done for her and everything Emma had said to her but she had nothing she could offer the blonde and words seemed to fail her when it came to her feelings because they had always been disregarded by everyone in her past. So she did it the only way she knew how.
She lightly scraped her nails over the delicious abs below her hand, causing a noticeable twitch under the tented cover. That encouraged her to slide her hand lower until her fingers were toying with the waistband of the blondes boxers. She doubted herself for a second when she thought back to all the times she was woken by sex she didn't want but she knew this was different, they both wanted each other, so she continued down, over the waistband until she was caressing the thick hard-on through the cotton underwear. The blonde whimpered in her sleep as her cock twitched again. Feeling emboldened she pulls her hand back and licks her palm before slipping it through the opening at the front of the boxers and wrapping the wet palm around the warm, pulsing shaft. She begins slowly gliding her hand up and down, always squeezing lightly at the tip, just the way Emma likes it.
"Mmmmm." The blonde hums in enjoyment as she slowly wakes up due to the wonderful pleasure radiating from her dick. It takes her just a moment to register the warm weight of the body leaning into her side for her to realise that Regina is next to her and that it's Regina's hand around her cock that's the reason for her blissful awakening. "Regina, what are you doing?" She didn't want to question it, she wanted to lay back and accept the pleasure being bestowed upon her by the most beautiful woman she had ever seen but she felt it wasn't right.
The brunettes hand freezes in place as she panics. She hadn't considered that maybe the blonde wouldn't want this, which was exactly what her question was suggesting. "I was urm.. I was… I wanted to say thank you." She pulls her hand out of the boxers and shrinks into herself, the ingrained belief that she always did the wrong thing sending alarm bells ringing in her head.
Emma immediately picked up on Regina's change in demeanour. "Hey, sweetheart, it's okay." She turns on her side a little so she can face the brunette better and look her in the eyes. "It's okay. Please don't go in on yourself. You haven't done anything wrong. But you should know, you don't owe me anything, especially not that. Don't get me wrong, it feels amazing, but I don't want you to do it because you feel like you owe me something or because it's out of duty. If you want to do it because your turned on and you want us to enjoy each other then that's okay but somehow I don't think that was the reason, was it?" Regina shakes her head, confirming Emma's suspicions. "You have been through so much and this is going to be a learning curve, for both of us, but I want a relationship with you, Regina. An equal relationship where you don't feel like you have to do get me off just to show your appreciation. Do you think maybe we could have that, or at least build towards it?"
She gives a weak nod of her head. "I'll try, Emma."
"That's all either of us can do. Do you think it might be a good idea to take Fred up on his offer of seeing the psychiatrist?"
"Do you think I should?" Her brow line scrunches in concern at the blondes suggestion.
"It's up to you. I don't think it would hurt considering everything you have been through. I've had loads of therapy. I'm sure my therapist would make a house call if you would prefer that? You could just give it a try and see how it goes."
"Can I think about it?" She unsurely queries.
"Of course you can. Just let me know when you decide." She kisses the top of dark locks and decides to change the topic. "I don't know about you but I am starving. Do you want to have some lunch?"
"Yes, please, I'm quite hungry."
"Okay. Then I think we should do some online shopping so we can get you and Kathryn your own clothes and whatever else you need, seeing as you are going to be staying here," she finishes off with a big smile.
"That would be wonderful." Regina replies with eyes full of excitement. She had never picked out any clothes for herself before, her mother then Gold had been the ones to decide on what she wore. She looked forward to the prospect of being the one to decide what she was going to wear.
Emma places a small but promising kiss on plump lips. "Today is the start of the rest of your life, so be who you want to be, not who you think you should be, okay?"
"Okay." She wasn't sure who she was or where she fit in in life but she was looking forwarding to going on this journey, especially because of the beautiful blonde who was going to be by her side every step of the way.
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I'm going to do a bit of a time jump for the next chapter, just to push the ladies along a bit. Gold and that part isn't over but it is taking a back seat for now. Is everyone happy with that?