The sunglasses slid down her nose as Regina watched her target. A man in his late 60's was talking to his security guards as he clutched a young girl's arms. Regina's lips curled with disgust and studied the girl's face to find the look of fear she expected to find.

Regina was sitting in one of the hotel hall's sofas seemingly reading something on a tablet. She pushed her sunglasses up and noticed the guards nodding before her target got into the elevator only with the helpless girl. A few of the men that formed the security team walked away while the rest of them waited for the next elevator, and Regina lowered her head so they didn't spot her.

The unfinished job from the day before had forced her to reveal her identity, but a wig and sunglasses can work wonders when it comes to a group of stupid men such as the guards. She waited until they were out of the building to stand up and head towards the receptionist.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Mr. Miller. I bring...supplies," Regina said with a high-pitched voice. The man behind the desk narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything, she clarified. "Dora couldn't come today. There's a terrible flu virus flying around."

His shoulders relaxed as his eyes opened. "Yeah, I caught one of those last week."

"Then I better stay away," Regina joked, making him laugh. "So I came for her but she forgot to tell me which room he's staying today."

"He's…" he said checking it on his computer. "Room 265."

"You're too nice. I hope Dora gets sick more often," she winked as she gifted him the sweetest of her smiles.

He blushed and laughed softly. "Yeah...Tell her I hope she gets better thought."

"Will do!" Regina promised as she walked away. As soon as she turned she rolled her eyes and headed towards the stairs.

She should've known by now, but it still surprised her how easy the whole process was. Once she knew Miller's routine it was easy to make a plan. He would go out almost every night and at the end of the party he would take home the girl he wanted. Then, on the way to his favourite hotel, he would call his reliable source of sex toys so they would deliver what he needed. It was always Dora. The only thing it felt like a challenge for Regina was to get rid of the guards in the door of the room 265. Perhaps what made it so easy for her was that she didn't even had to check for cameras since an investigation some weeks before had revealed they turned off the cameras while he was in there. He was that important. And corrupt.

She studied the map of the hallways that hung on the wall and quickly found the room she was looking for. Taking a deep breath, she checked she had everything she needed before she went out of the stairs. The room in question wasn't far away and she could hear the soft chattering of the two guards that flanked the door. Stopping on a corner, Regina closed her eyes and focused on the sounds, calculating their position. The wire was firm in her hand, inside the pocket of her coat.

She wished she could have her earphones on and play one of her favourites songs. With her eyes closed, Regina imagined the vinyl slowly falling onto the turntable and placing the needle on top of it as "We're not gonna take it" by Twisted Sister started playing.

A bag she had carried for her alibi was left on the corner when she turned, her head down. They immediately saw her and stared at her, suspicious and already reaching for their guns.

"Hello, I'm looking for room 265?" she asked with the same innocent voice she had used with the receptionist. Before any of them could answer, she was already close enough so she pulled out the wire and jumped towards the guard nearest to her. She climbed her back and rounded his big neck with the wire, pulling hard enough for him to feel out of air. The other guard was trying to point his gun at her, but Regina was using the other guy's body as a shield, and only when he fainted, she fell with him. She used thrust of his body to roll on the floor and swept the other guy's feet, making him trip and fall as well. All that was left was for Regina to pin him down and use the wire to strangle him as well. It took longer than the other one, and even some drops of blood stained Regina's hands, but soon the guard's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he stopped resisting.

"Thanks," she murmured breathily before blowing a strand of hair off her face.

Checking both sides of the hallways, she grabbed one of the big guys from his collar and tugged. It took her a few minutes, but she managed to drag them to the nearest laundry room and steal the key card. Once in front of the door, she lifted her dress and pulled out the knife she had been keeping for that moment. She had grabbed one of the guard's gun just in case, but she wanted to finish that job as he deserved it.

The door was silently opened and closed, and Regina listened carefully to guess where they were. It wasn't hard to find the girl sitting on a couch next to a drunk -and very probably high- Francis Miller whispering who knew what in her ear. Regina caught the girl's gaze and her eyes opened wide, but before she could say anything, Regina placed a finger on her lips and nodded at him. The young girl lowered her gaze and breathed out.

It was quick. One second she was standing on the door, the other she was hitting the man's head with a stool. He fell to the floor, woozy from the blow. Regina raised her gaze to the girl, then glanced to the wad of cash sitting on a nearby table.

"Get the cash and run." Miller growled from the floor and Regina's attention came back to him. "Go," she repeated urgently to the girl, who suddenly snapped out of it and nodded.

"Thank you," she softly said from the door before disappearing from sight.

Regina waited for the door to close again before kneeling down to meet Francis Miller's confused gaze.

"Now, let's have fun. Shall we?"

Emma didn't need the alarm to wake up. Her body slowly stirred from its slumber as her mind became conscious. For a moment she thought she was back in Mary Margaret's loft, but the brightness didn't add up and neither did the ceiling she saw when she opened her eyes. She remembered the old woody ceiling, with the cracks and lines she had learned from many years waking up to it, but this one was just white. A plain white ceiling.

Her mind went immediately to the previous night. To Regina's face buried in her shoulder, the soft moans vibrating against her skin and the tugs on her shirt. Emma thought she had taken care of the warmth on her body afterwards on her own, but it lit up at the memory and she groaned.

She rolled on the mattress and reached for her phone, looking for a distraction. She read a message from her ex roommate wishing her a good day and Emma smiled. It felt weird to 1. not have the apartment smelling like cocoa in the mornings and 2. going to work on a Saturday. That was life from now on and she had to get used to it. At least to the first point.

The house was empty and quiet when she left her bedroom, and she was almost relieved to not having to deal with Regina after waking up. What had happened had left her in a puddle of mixed feelings and if Emma was good at something was at avoiding feelings she had to deal with. Especially when she felt she had ruined a good opportunity of a living place like that.

Face washed and bladder empty, she made her way to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. She barely remembered where the food was from her tour the previous day, but it wasn't hard to find everything she needed. What she found thought, was that Regina seemed to live somewhere else, or at least eat, because there was a few of the basics and little more. Emma fished a bag of sliced bread on the back of a cupboard and butter from the fridge. However, when she opened the butter a repulsive smell hit her in her face and she almost threw up.

"Some cheese it is then," she murmured picking up the cheese from the fridge. Luckily for her, it was fine.

When everything was ready she sat on the living room's table and took a bite from her sandwich, scrolling down her phone. Emma still hadn't swallowed down the first bite when the front door opened.

"Oh, you're awake," Regina cheerfully said as she entered the apartment. She was wearing a short black dress and a coat, and she looked ready to go to work. "I recommend you having breakfast on the terrace while you can. Winter won't be so nice."

Emma watched her moving around the kitchen, preparing some coffee and the rest of her breakfast. She looked happy and Emma felt a little proud, counting on the previous night for the good mood.

"I forgot," she just said with a shrug. "Still getting used to live here. By the way, I threw away the butter."

Regina stopped to look at her, her eyebrows high in her forehead.

"Was it bad?"

"Decomposing" Emma corrected.

Regina wrinkled her nose and Emma tried to look away and not think it had been cute. "Sorry. I don't usually have breakfast here."

"I noticed," Emma murmured under her breath. Then she tilted her head, glancing at the mug in the other woman's hand. "Why the change?"

Regina raised it to her mouth and closed her eyes to the taste of warm coffee. "I have a roommate now."

Emma was thankful Regina's eyes were closed, because she shifted uncomfortably in the chair, not really knowing what to say. Instead of risking saying something absurd, she just went back to scrolling down and one of the news caught her eyes.

"Hey, did you see this?" she asked showing her roommate the phone.

Regina walked closer and leaned forward over the chair, using it as a support with her free hand while the other clutched the mug. She read the headline. Francis Miller, co owner of sports company Klog, found with his mouth sliced in hotel room. Emma watched how the only facial expression in Regina's face was a soft lopsided smile.

"That must have hurt," she just said before taking a sip and redirecting her attention to the letters she had picked up on her way up.

"Yeah," Emma agreed, coming back to her breakfast. She read the news and grimaced when she read the details. After a moment, she seemed to realize Regina's clothes. "Are you working again today?"

Regina raised her gaze from one of the letters and openly smiled. "Actually, I answered an early call this morning and I'm free for the day. You have a shift today right?"

Emma nodded, "Yeah. I'll leave around 2."

"Good," Regina smiled, leaving the mug on the table. "I am going to sleep for a while to recover from the few hours of sleep. If you need anything though, you can just knock. I'm not a heavy sleeper."

Emma opened her mouth, not even knowing what she was going to say, but she didn't even have to think about it because Regina had already closed the door of her bedroom and left her alone. Again.

The machine shrieked when Emma passed the card and its screen lit up with her name. "Two minutes early. Not bad, Emma," she murmured to herself with a proud smile.

The building was almost empty except for the few dedicated doctors and staff who didn't seem to have a life, in Emma's opinion. They gave her the opportunity to work there though, so she was thankful they had no life. She nodded and smiled at the doorman as she walked past his desk and pressed the elevator button. Music was blasting from her earphones, but she still heard the sound when it arrived.

After changing her clothes to the dull white jumpsuit she had as an uniform and picking up the bucket, she made her way to the top floor to start her round. She walked past a few scientific looking workers and some of them nodded at her as a salute, but most of them were minding their own business, carrying papers and test tubes. It was her third week already but if someone asked her to identify any of them in an identification parade, she'd have a really hard time at getting it right. It's not that she didn't care, she just wasn't good at faces. But also, she didn't care.

She had found she wasn't bad at cleaning as she had thought when she first started the job. Actually it was quite easy, as long as she could have her music. Emma softly murmured the lyrics of her favourite songs as she swiped clean the long tables and shelves carefully as to not to drop anything. Repeating the same routine, she went from top to bottom, stopping on the floors she had on her schedule and crossing other workers, not only doctors but also cleaners, on her way down.

When she arrived at the empty lockers room, she glanced at the big clock hanging on the wall to her right and smiled. She had finished her work half an hour early. Emma used that extra time to take her time taking the jumpsuit off and giving Mary Margaret a call. She hadn't heard of her and she was sure it was because her former roommate respected her space, as much as Mary Margaret was dying to call.

As she had expected, the other woman picked up the phone at the second tone.

"Hello?"

"Hey there Double M," Emma said into the phone. She was balancing it between her shoulder and neck, using her free hands to pull out her bag out of her locker.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret happily exclaimed. "How are you? How's the new apartment? And the mysterious roommate?"

Emma laughed at the euphoria of her friend and decided to start by the beginning, leaving out the making out part for the sake of both her friend and her own pride.

The subway jumped and Emma gripped the pole, hoping the surfboard that towered her from her left would stay in place and not fall over her. Who the hell carried a surfboard in the subway anyways? She moved a little to escape a certain death and got closer to the window. Her eyes followed the scrolling on her phone as the news rolled down but she was barely reading them. Instead, her mind was wandering about what would happen when she arrived at the apartment.

That morning Regina hadn't mentioned anything about what had happened and Emma was starting to doubt she ever would. Still, she played different scenarios that went from a full soap opera with screaming and crying to another make out session in every room. She shook her head and tried to focus on something else, but as if universe had been reading her mind, she got a text from Regina.

Are you coming for dinner?

Yeah, I'm on my way, Emma typed. The answer came almost instantly.

I'll wait for you then.

Emma was going to write she didn't have to wait for her, but then she stopped. It's not like she was going to miss an opportunity to hang around Regina.