The journey across the channel was a bumpy one, the sea was rough and uneasy making the boat rise and fall with the waves. It made Regina's already unsettled stomach twist and turn, her face becoming a rather pale shade of grey. There were many other nurses and doctors on the boat also, some of which had already lost the contents of their stomachs due to the water's motion. Regina simply sat as still as possible, back pressed against a wall with her eyes closed as she tried her hardest to fight against the ever-increasing need to vomit.

"Well, you look like shit," a voice chuckled.

Regina opened her eyes to see that Mal had returned, she'd disappeared around half an hour ago and hadn't been seen since. The brunette hadn't moved since then, opting to stay put, god forbid she try and stand when the boat moved as it did. "Where might you have been?" She asked, her mouth-watering with bile threatening to trigger something more.

"I went for a little explore and a smoke," the blonde grinned, sitting down beside her, "feeling a little seasick, are we?"

"You could say that," she closed her eyes again, it had helped somewhat not having to actually see the furniture rocking. "How is this not affecting you?"

"My father owned a boat and used to take me sailing when I was younger, this is nothing. Just some small waves."

"Tell that to my stomach," Regina groaned, feeling it start to heave, she was queasy and talking wasn't helping in the slightest. She gagged a little, her hand going to her chest as she fought with all her might to stop her stomach from rejecting its contents.

"Here, this might help," the older woman quipped, opening her bag and rustling around in it before finding what she was looking for and holding it out.

"What is it?"

"Just take it."

Regina did as she was told, taking what appeared to be a biscuit from her hand, she brought it to her nose taking an inhale, the scent of ginger reaching her senses. Reluctantly she took a small bite, though she didn't feel like eating anything, she was a nurse and it was a well-known fact that ginger could be used to settle the stomach, she just hoped that would be the case.

"Never travel on a ship without some kind of sickness remedy."

The brunette simply continued to take tiny nibbles from the snack, unsure if it was helping or not, it was better than doing nothing whatsoever.

"I'll go get you some water to sip on."

With that, she was alone again, left to continue her battle with the sea. She couldn't say how long it had been since Mal had disappeared to find her a drink, but she was suddenly startled out of focusing on not throwing up by the horrific wail of a siren, similar to those that droned on whenever there was a raid taking place. Alarmed and her sickness miraculously forgotten she shot out of her seat, her head whipping around trying to spot her travelling companion.

A dash of blonde hair came into view as the woman emerged from one of the rooms, her hand immediately grasping Regina's, eyes worried as she tugged her inside the room she had just come from, having only just enough time to grab her bag on the way. "What's going on?" Regina asked, her voice concerned as she followed Mal who somehow seemed to know where she was going even though they could have only been on the ship a matter of hours.

The place they were moving through seemed to be some kind of on deck ward, with beds all set up and strapped down seemingly so they didn't move with the boat. She opened a random door and pushed Regina inside before following after her, closing the door behind them. It was clearly some kind of storage closet and it smelt like chemicals and cleaning products, it didn't help that there wasn't a shred of light in the tight room, she was virtually pressed against the other woman, the blonde's hands holding tightly to her arms.

"Tell me what's happening!" Regina hissed, not knowing how Mal even knew herself, nor how she knew how to come into this closet. What exactly was it they were hiding from?

"German planes overhead," she murmured, making Regina's eyes widen. It was currently the middle of the night which meant that the sky was pitch black and the lights from the ship would be a dead giveaway to their location.

"What?"

"You heard me. It's the Luftwaffe."

"How do you know that?"

"I heard one of the crew."

"But surely they wouldn't bomb a hospital vessel."

Mal scoffed, and Regina imagined if she could see her the woman would have had the audacity to roll her eyes, "didn't you hear about the HMHS Newfoundland last year?"

"I can't recall. There was so much news, I stopped keeping track."

"It was bombed by German warplanes. The ship burned for two days before being sunk by gunfire from two destroyers."

"Fucking typical." It would be just her luck to die before she was even able to help anyone, her mother would be well and truly distraught. She couldn't quite believe that she hadn't even got to French soil yet and she was already facing potential death.

Mal burst into laughter, "my oh my. I wasn't expecting that colourful language from you."

"Oh, I have much more colourful language where that one came from and I shall certainly be treating you to some of it should we be bombed by one of those bloody planes." Regina's hand moved to the handle of the door, pulling it down a little to peek at what was going on beyond the little closet. It seemed the rest of the ship was also now in darkness, all the lights having been turned off, allowing the vessel to blend with the ocean below. It was also silent, the once blaring alarm still ringing in her ears even though it had been long since shut down.

"Looks like we're well and truly doing this now then aren't we Locksley."

Regina's head whipped around; she couldn't see Mal because of how dark it was but from her voice, she had a slight inkling as to where she was. "Regina is fine, please."

"You don't like being called Locksley? That's your name isn't it?"

She swallowed heavily, the other woman couldn't imagine how much just hearing that name hurt her, even though she knew she was going to have to get used to it. Robin was Locksley, she'd referred to him as it whilst they had been courting, teased him by using his last name until the point where he would chase her and scoop her up in his arms, saying 'stop being a little madam, Miss Mills.' "That's my husband."

"You took his name though."

"Yes but he's Locksley," Regina chuckled sadly, "it's just a thing."

"Right."

Mal's voice sounded confused and Regina couldn't blame her for being, she didn't know anything about her, not really and Regina wasn't in the sharing mood. She didn't know what would be worse, sitting talking about Robin and his death to distract from the Warcraft above or just thinking about the planes that could drop bombs on them at any given moment.

They sat there in silence for a long while, Regina wasn't sure exactly how long it had been. The older woman broke the quiet with a soft chuckle which had Regina cocking her head, she wondered what exactly she had to laugh at. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really."

"Oh, it must be something."

"Just thinking about those lovely ladies, we had the pleasure of travelling alongside earlier today."

"What about them?"

"Well, I bet they've just about jumped overboard and swam back to old blighty after this."

Regina sniggered, shaking her head at her. If she were honest, she wouldn't blame them, right now they were here hiding away in a closet which most likely would provide little to no protection should they be struck from above. "Do you think it's safe to go back out there yet?"

"Not sure, I think maybe we should stay in here a little longer," Mal sighed.

The brunette swallowed nervously, she could feel the other woman's breath hitting her face, her scent was taking over the once overwhelming chemical smell, masking it with a strong tinge of cigarette smoke and expensive perfume. She didn't know what it was exactly that was making her nervous, apart from the obvious situation, there was something more to it than just that. "So, do you have someone back home who will be missing you?"

"I have many people who will be missing me sure, however not one specific person no."

"Ah, so no lover then?"

"Not just one."

"Really?"

"Let's just say I wasn't all that affected in that department by the war."

Regina had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but she supposed it didn't really matter. They were both here now on this ship on the way to the front with no chance of turning back, so what did it matter what they had left behind. "Lucky you."

"Indeed. So what was it that your husband did before the war?"

She should have known her initial question would have led back to Robin, but she had felt as though she had to break the silence with something, now she was filled with instant regret. "He was already in the military."

"I see, so he was in it from the beginning?"

"Hmm."

Mal went quiet for a moment before reaching out to take Regina's hand, squeezing it softly, "he must be very brave."

"The bravest," Regina whispered, feeling a tear run down her cheek. She wasn't sure if Mal had picked up on the signals, but the way she touched her comfortingly gave her the slightest indication that the blonde knew there was something amiss.

"Is he still out there on the front?"

"Somewhere yes." It wasn't a lie, he had to be somewhere, his body anyhow, it couldn't just be gone.

"You said earlier about him being liberal, does he even know what you're doing?"

"If by that you mean did I tell him, the answer is no. He has no idea."

"Well forget what I said earlier about him being brave, you're the brave one. I should think your husband might just about kill you when he finds out, that is if he's like any other man."

"Well, I suppose it is somewhat callous, but…"

"An adventure? A once in a lifetime sort of thing."

"Maybe that," Regina nodded, though she knew the other woman couldn't see her in the dark. She thought about how Robin might react should he have been alive to find out and she had to say he would most likely have been furious at her for being so reckless with her, as he would put it, precious life.

The conversation lulled once again but now Regina's mind was back onto Robin, she would much rather be concentrating on trying not to throw up than dealing with the grief that came with the mention of her husband. Her eyes fell to the ground and that was when a strip of light below the door caught her attention, an indication that the power to the ship had been restored and hopefully the threat was over.

"I think it's safe to leave now," Regina quipped, picking up her bag again and fleeing the room as quickly as possible. Anything to avoid the continuation of their prior conversation.

When the ship docked in France a couple of hours later, the sun was just beginning to rise as the crossing had taken longer than expected due to the unforeseen run in with the German planes. The port there was just as crazy as the one back in England, though in many ways it was worse. There were injured people everywhere, soldiers, women and children, all who had been harmed by the battle that was still going on, most had simply been caught in the crossfire.

Regina and Mal had been reunited with the group of nurses they had been travelling with, plus a couple more from around the country that had journeyed to the boat on separate vehicles. Captain John had also re-joined them along with private Scarlet, the men were then responsible for getting them from the port to the field base.

They drove in a truck similar to the one they had travelled in before, however this time the mood in the back wasn't the same. As Mal had predicted, the woman had been shaken by the night's events and now instead of upbeat and excited, they were nervous and on edge.

Regina fiddled with the sleeves of her coat, she wasn't usually one to fiddle with things, however at the current moment she was just trying to distract herself from what was actually happening. The dread was really starting to sink in, most of the towns they passed on the way to their destination had been completely flattened, their buildings destroyed and populations fled. She had seen pictures of London in the newspaper and a couple of areas in Bath had also been affected, but it was nothing in comparison to the sheer devastation she saw here. Once they passed the buildings they transitioned into areas that were a mixture of dense woodland and vast fields, an area which was enough to convince anyone that there wasn't a war going on around them.

That notion however, was soon forgotten when the medical truck pulled up to the entrance of the field hospital. Her eyes widened as their vehicle pulled to a stop, she and Mal were the first to hop out, their clean shoes landing in the thick mud below, becoming filthy in an instant. They looked at one another for a moment before turning their gaze to the site.

Regina's heart beat a little faster in her chest at the view she was met with, row upon row of tents with giant red crosses upon them. There were people too, everywhere in fact, some of them were clearly medics, others on duty soldiers but most were patients. She spotted a nurse coming out of a tent to their left, her once white apron now a vivid shade of crimson, painted with blood of one or more of the fallen men. The woman paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before scurrying along the wooden walkway that had clearly been placed there to stop the mud from the ground trailing all over.

After all the ladies had vacated the truck, they were greeted by a tall man with a dusting of strawberry blonde hair, his round glasses perched on his nose as he looked from them to the Captain, shaking the man's hand. "Hello everyone, I'm Dr Archie Hopper, I would like to thank you for your service and look forward to working with you in person. I'll have someone come down to show you to your tent, as for now, duty calls," he offered them a sheepish grin before leaving them just as quickly as he arrived, talking to someone on the way as they hurried off in the opposite direction.

Captain John stood with them for a few minutes until another man in uniform joined him, they talked in hushed tones as the former signed something. The other man nodded before taking the piece of paper back. "Well ladies, I believe this is where we part ways, Scarlet and I should return on a supply run in a week's time, so until then good luck to you all." The Captain then turned to Regina, a soft smile on his face, "you will take care of yourself won't you Mrs Locksley?"

"Of course, though I dare say I came here to look after others rather than myself."

The stocky man laughed, shaking his head of dark hair, "stay safe madam."

"You too Captain."

Once the truck had driven away, the women were left standing at the gate, waiting for someone else to come out and show them around. The smell of smoke hit her nose and she turned her head to see Mal had lit up once again, something that by now was completely unsurprising.

"Well, this place is just as depressing as I imagined," the blonde grumbled, inhaling the smoke from her cigarette and exhaling through her nose.

"I'm going to have you giving those up by the time we leave here."

"If you can manage to do that then miracles really can come true."

"So sorry for leaving you waiting ladies," a voice sounded, prompting them to turn, seeing a rather young brunette walking towards them, her hair secured in a bun, the dark strands wrapped up in an emerald hair tie.

"Well isn't she an adorable little thing," Mal smirked, Regina glanced up at her new friend, spotting the rather predatory look she was giving the woman who was approaching. It was then that everything Mal had been telling her tallied up and she realised what the woman had been hinting at in their conversations.

She had heard of people that were the same sex liking one another romantically, though it was mostly frowned on in society, she couldn't care less what other people cared to do, why should it be any concern of hers? "She's very pretty, yes," Regina agreed, she couldn't deny it, she may not be interested in women in that way, but she could appreciate their beauty.

Dark eyes met hers as the woman stopped in front of them, Regina noticed her impeccable bone structure and crimson tinge to her lips. The woman smiled, her gaze turning to Mal as her bottom lip came between her teeth, "Mildred Ratched," she offered her hand, shaking each of theirs one by one.

"Mallory Drake. This is Regina Locksley."

"Well it is lovely to see you all," she smiled, her gaze returning back to Mal for a moment before she cleared her throat. "This way towards the nurse's tents, I'll let you all settle in and then we can…"

"New shipment coming in from the front!"

The woman's head whipped around to see where the call had come from, "come along quickly," she led them down the wooden promenade at a speed they could scarcely keep up with. The wood was slippery, the planks coated with a layer of mud from the ground, Regina knew that there would certainly be no need for the heeled boots she had packed just in case.

The walk took them through the entire set up, there were men missing limbs, it was bloody carnage, people screamed and wailed from inside some of the tents, things that made Regina shudder. They passed all of that before arriving at a quieter area of the camp, nurse Ratched glanced at them as she lifted up the flap of one of the smaller tents, inside there were a couple of bunks on the ground, which had been covered by a mat to stop the dirt transferring onto their things. "You'll be rooming in pairs, I don't care which of you want to pair together. There is this tent and the three down to the right of it. I wish I could explain more to you but I'm afraid that I may be needed over there." With a curt she was gone, running back in the direction of the hospital area.

Mal pursed her lips as she dropped her things down on the left, "scurry along then girls, this is Mrs Locksley and I's tent," she quipped, "as long as you're comfortable with rooming together?"

"Yes, I'm sure that will be alright." Regina hummed, the other women left them alone in the tent and Regina moved over to her bunk, laying her bag down on the foot of the bed as her eyes ran over the amenities. Apart from the skinny beds, they had a small trunk each and a gasoline lamp that rested on a turned up box, there was also a chamber pot tucked under the bed and in the corner a bowl she assumed was for washing up. It was very… basic and yet, exactly what she had been expecting.

"What are we actually supposed to do now?" Regina asked, her attention being caught by the outfit that had been laid out on the bed, something she assumed would be her uniform for the foreseeable future. "Just sit here and knit?"

Mal raised a single eyebrow as she unbuttoned her jacket and tossed it to the side, "I don't think that would be a productive use of time do you?"

"That was precisely my point." The brunette looked closer at the clothes, they consisted of a green button up shirt and a pair of what seemed to be scratchy trousers, there were also a pair of heavy duty brown boots sat on the ground, they looked like they had already been used by someone else and she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to their previous owner. Then, slung across the trunk there was a pristine white apron, Regina chuckled at that, it wouldn't be so clean for much longer, that was for sure.

Without another thought she stripped down to her undergarments before donning her new wardrobe, well aware that Mal kept glancing her way. She was right about the trousers, they were itchy, the material scratching against the soft skin of her legs but she was sure she would get used to it in time. Regina tucked the shirt into the waistband before rolling up the sleeves to her elbows, she noticed a small mirror propped up by the bowl of water and moved over to it to check her reflection, turning from left to right.

"Well someone looks the part," the blonde chuckled and Regina turned to find that her friend had also started changing into her own outfit, "so, what's the plan? Jump straight in at the deep end?"

"Why not? You heard what that nurse said, they're practically snowed under with the amount of patients here, they could do with some help and I'm sure that's something we can offer."

"Give me a minute and I'll join you," Mal grinned.

Regina nodded to her, grabbed the apron from the chest and donned it. She had been awake for over twenty-four hours already, but there was no chance she was simply going to bed, she'd been tired on the ship, but right now she was wide awake, running on adrenaline and ready for some action.