Her first night in the studio apartment was the first night Regina felt like she could breathe in weeks. Marian had spent the whole day helping her set it up. She gave her a nice blanket and an electric heater to help with the cold until the A/C unit could be fixed. There was a bathtub and shower upstairs which was nice but she'd have to go down to the bar to use the actual bathroom. Marian gave her the spare key to the ladies room. They also spent a decent amount of time filling out the paper work Regina needed to work in the bar. She was relieved to find that the papers her father had given her didn't raise any red flags.

That night as she laid down to sleep with her son beside her Regina silently thanked God that she'd run into Marian at that bodega. She could hear the bustle of the bar downstairs but it didn't bother her or Henry. It felt too good to have a roof over their heads again.

She woke up to a loud metal banging outside her window. She quickly checked to make sure that Henry was sleeping through it before eyeing the clock on the desk. 8:10. She yawned as she stumbled out of bed. As the sun streamed in through the windows she could see the shadow of a person out on the fire escape. She cautiously stuck her head through the window to see a young woman in gray coveralls messing with her A/C unit.

"Um… hello?"

The woman turned to her with a confused smile. "Hi?"

She was tiny, even shorter than Regina herself. Her curly blonde hair was pulled up into a bun on top of her head and the tips of her fingers were stained with black oil. She and Regina stared at each other awkwardly.

"Why are you on the fire escape?"

"I'm fixing the A/C unit," she said pointing toward her toolbox. "Do you mind me asking why you're in the office so early?"

"I'm a new waitress. Marian and Robin are letting me stay here with my son for a while."

At the mention of Marian and Robin the woman gave her a bright smile. "Oh! Okay that makes so much more sense then what I thought!"

"Wait what did you think?" asked Regina with a tilted head.

"Something along the lines of you being Robin's secret mistress," she admitted freely.

"Oh…" Well he has seen me naked.

"I'm Isabella. The resident handyman. You can just call me Tink!"

Regina hesitated before shaking her stained hands. "Tink? Really?"

The girl rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Yeah well I've been 'tinkering' with things for as long as I can remember. I got the nickname when I was a kid and I've never been able to shake it."

Regina tried to stealthily wipe her hands as she let out a shaky laugh. "I'm Regina Gardiner. Just Regina."

"I'm sorry for waking you so early," said Tink. "I didn't expect anyone to be here."

Her apology was cut short by the sound of a knock on the door. When she opened the door she found a bright-eyed Marian in her hallway with a stack of clothes. She quickly let her into the studio.

"Hi I hope I didn't wake you," she said softly.

"No I already did that."

Regina turned to see Tink standing right behind her. She stared at her with wide eyes. "Did you climb in through the window?"

"Yeah that's usually how I get in," she said shrugging her shoulders.

Well that's disturbing, thought Regina. She reminded herself to check the windows for locks the next time she was alone.

Marian frowned at the tiny blonde. "Tink that's incredibly rude. She lives here now. We need to learn to respect her space. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm fixing the air conditioner like you asked me to."

Marian's eyes widened. "That was today? I completely forgot."

"Yeah well you're lucky I remembered," said Tink. "I can't believe you had your waitress and her baby sleeping in this place last night. The weather is frigid."

She turned to Regina with a smile. "He's really cute by the way."

Regina's eyes flickered back to her son. He was still sleeping soundly on the pullout couch. "Thank you. And we were fine. The heater helped a lot."

To be honest it had been a little cold but not as cold as it was outside. She'd take the chilly apartment over a plastic castle any day.

"I thought about calling you Tink," said Marian. "But it was such short notice I just figured that you were already busy."

Tink tilted her head at her. "On a Wednesday night? You really overestimate how social I am."

Marian rolled her eyes at her. "Well since you're already here, can you fix the unit?"

"Sure. It's just a blown fuse. I should have it replaced and ready in no time," she said heading back toward the window nonchalantly.

Marian let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you Tink. You're a goddess."

"I know," she yelled climbing back onto the fire escape.

Regina quickly shut the window behind her. "Not that I'm complaining but does she pop in like that often?"

"I'm sorry," said Marian. "Tink's social skills are a little… unrefined. She's used to this being my work space and Tuck's home. I promise I'll teach her some boundaries."

"It's fine," said Regina passively. "To be honest I kind of appreciated her bluntness."

She didn't realize how true the statement was until she said it. When she'd worked with her mother it seemed like every person she'd met had an ulterior motive. Something they wanted from her or her mother that they would never say aloud. Tink seemed freer than that. Perfectly capable and content of saying or doing whatever came to mind.

"That's one way to describe her," said Marian with a smile. "Anyway I just came to drop of your new uniform before you got started."

She handed Regina a pair of black jeans and a short-sleeved shirt with the bar's logo across the chest.

"The opening shift starts at ten," continued Marian. "Once you get better hours you'll rarely have to work this early but since you're in training we'll be using it as a chance to make sure some of our older employees get to know your face. They'll be real helpful."

Regina nodded and tried to put on her bravest face. On the inside she was screaming though. She'd never really done manual labor before. The only thing she'd learned to do for herself was sew and her mother had fought her on that for years. What if she was awful at it? What if Robin and Marian had to fire her because she was so terrible? Oh god, what would happen to her and Henry then?

Somehow Marian noticed her inner distress and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you'll do great. I promise."

The rest of the morning went pretty quickly after Marian left. Henry woke up and she fed him before getting ready for work. She still couldn't believe how close she'd come to losing him. She vowed never to let that become a possibility again. Running into Marian had been an amazing stroke of luck but she couldn't rely on that anymore. It was time for her to truly start making a life for her and Henry. And the first step was making sure that she didn't fail on her first day of work.

As she pulled on her new black jeans and tee she tried to figure out just what she could expect from this job. She'd been to plenty of restaurants before, eaten at really fancy places but she'd never considered her experience from the servers point of view. They'd always seemed very polished and sometimes a little standoffish. Somehow she didn't think that demeanor would for work for her at the Drunken Monk. As she stared at the fat monk on the logo across her chest she realized that she'd never been in a bar like the one downstairs. Her uniform was so different from the anonymous black slacks and white button down shirt she'd been so used to seeing on her waiters. She suddenly felt very out of her world.

Regina Mills' world, she reminded herself silently. She took a deep breath and put on a determined face. There were times where Regina missed her old life but it was time to let go. She wasn't a part of that world anymore. She didn't have to live by its rules or customs anymore. Regina Mills had been a miserable pampered socialite but that wasn't who she was anymore. She'd stopped being her the minute she'd jumped out of that bathroom window. She was Regina Gardiner now. And Regina Gardiner had survived starvation, homelessness and poverty. She could handle working in a bar.

As she took another look in the mirror next to her refrigerator she thought about just how much her life had changed in the past two months. When she saw her reflection it felt like there should be a completely different face staring back at her. The thing that stuck out most was her long hair. It was almost down to the middle of her back now. Her shower at Marian's had gone a long way to restoring it to its former glory. It was back to being thick, shiny and long. She'd always gotten compliments on it from the men her mother had forced her to meet. Looking back it was actually the only thing she could ever remember her mother complimenting her on.

As she ran her fingers through her hair she suddenly felt very resentful of it. It was a relic. A reminder of the person she never could nor wanted to be again. In a flash she was at the desk rooting through the drawers until she found was she was looking for. A pair of scissors.

She took two fingers and placed them around a section of her hair just below her chin. Before she could talk herself out of it she snipped just below them. A tiny gasp escaped her as her hair fell to her feet.

Goodbye Regina Mills

It was tougher than she'd hoped to leave Henry. Marian had agreed to take care of him until Regina could afford better childcare. She'd be using the studio as her office while she watched him and it made Regina feel better to know that Henry wasn't that far from her. After a promise from Marian to bring him down during lunch she finally made her way downstairs for her first shift.

Robin was already behind the bar when she came downstairs. He did a double take as she appeared at the bottom of the staircase. "You cut your hair."

She nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "It's less for Henry to pull on and it helps save on shampoo."

By the time she was done with her impromptu styling session her back-length hair had been reduced to a short chin-length bob. She was pretty pleased with results. It was just a haircut but it made her feel more like an adult instead of a lost little princess.

"Well it looks good," he said. "How's the studio treating you?"

"It's nice to have a roof over my head," she said gratefully. "Thanks again."

"It's no problem really. I'm just glad you and Henry have a safe place to stay now."

She looked around the bar curiously. She had been right in thinking that the bar would look better when the overhead lighting was on. She could now see a jukebox in the corner of the bar and the rich color in laminate floor. There were pictures on the wall behind the bar. Mostly of Tuck and what appeared to be other bar employees. She could even see Robin and Marian in a few frames. She drummed her fingers against the bar counter and eyed Robin nervously. "So what can I expect for my first day?"

"Nothing too amazing," he admitted. "We're a rundown beach bar. The customers will be surly and the tips will be awful but you'll love your coworkers."

"What are they like?"

Robin blew out a breath as he looked for the words to describe his employees. "Well Lani and Hook are great. They're around our age. Lani is a brilliant waitress. She's a bit of a dragon though. So just make sure you don't take her attitude personally. She's nothing to be afraid of. Hook on the other hand…"

"Did I hear my name?"

They looked toward the doorway at the sound of the new voice. A black-haired man had swaggered through the front door. He pulled off his sunglasses to reveal his sea blue eyes. "You're not bad-mouthing me to the new girl are you Locksely?"

Robin smirked at him. "I've told you Hook, it's only bad-mouthing if it's not true."

"Fair point," he admitted walking up to the bar. He reached out to shake Regina's hand. "I'm Killian Jones, the bartender.

"I'm Regina Gardiner," she replied automatically. She took a moment to observe her new coworker. He was good-looking enough she supposed. Black hair, blue eyes and bright smile. Certainly enough to turn any girls head. He was around the same height as Robin and she could tell from his accent that he was English as well.

He hung his leather jacket up behind the bar counter and sent her a mischievous smile. "Well it's good to have you on board Miss Gardiner."

Robin rolled his eyes. "For your own well-being I should warn you that there will be a moment that he hits on you and when it comes I advise you to walk away."

"Hey some of us aren't lucky enough to find true love at 16," quipped Hook. "All we can do is search until we find it. And search I shall."

He winked at Regina and she scoffed at him. "Well you can skip over me in your search. I've already found my true love."

An exaggerated look of disappointment crossed Hook's face. "Well damn my bad luck. Who is he? Is he as devilishly handsome as I am?"

"Even more so," she responded cheekily. "Looks cute even with drool running down his face."

Robin chuckled at Hook's look of confusion. "She has a son, you ass."

"Oh!" he said clearly surprised. "Um, how young?"

"Young enough to require all my attention," replied Regina strictly. "So you'll excuse me if I'm not interested in… searching with you."

He nodded his head respectfully. "Can't blame me for trying though, right?"

"I could but I think I'll let it go just this once," she said mercifully. She had to admit it felt good to be able to tell a guy no for once. It also felt really good to know that he'd actually back off. She'd never gotten either experience while she worked for her mother.

Seconds later a young Asian woman walked through the door. She rushed to counter and gave Robin an apologetic look. "Sorry I'm late. My mom was having a rough morning. I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"It's quite alright Mulan." He gestured toward Regina. "Meet our new waitress."

Mulan gave her a passing glance before focusing on pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "Hey."

Robin sent her a disapproving look. "Mulan it's her first day. I'd appreciate it if you gave her more than three letters."

She let out an annoyed groan before turning to Regina with a mockingly cheerful smile. "Hi. I'm Mulan Wu. I've worked here for two years. I'm the bar's headwaitress so when Robin's not bossing you around I probably will be. Any questions?"

"Why did your parents name you after a Disney character?" asked Regina flatly. Normally she wouldn't be so confrontational but something about Mulan's tone just lit a spark in her.

Both Robin and Hook grimaced as the words came out of her mouth. The name had always been a sore spot for her.

Mulan clenched her jaw and glared at the short brunette. "My parents did not name me after a Disney character. They named me after a legendary Chinese warrior who was so fierce she could ride into battle with a baby strapped to her back and still take down anyone in her way. My parents gave me the name to make sure I would grow with the spirit of a warrior. Tell me what significant meaning does your name carry Regina?"

Regina looked at her with a smirk. "My full name is Regina Caroline. If you take some time and brush up on your Latin you'll find it literally translates into 'strength of a queen.'"

Hook let out an impressed chuckle. "Wow. Warrior vs. Queen. Lani think she just pulled rank on you."

"This is all very educational," said Robin quickly. "But I'd prefer if you all actually did what I pay you to do and work. Regina get stared setting up the chairs. Hook set up the patio and Mulan you can come with me to storeroom for a little chat."

Hook raised his hand in a mock salute. "Aye aye captain."

Robin rolled his eyes at him before following Mulan into the storage room behind the kitchen. Once inside he turned to her with a critical eye. "What did you think of her?"

"She's got bite," said Mulan with a half-smile. "That's good. She'll need it for the customers."

"Well she is fighter," said Robin subconsciously touching his nose. "Do me a favor though and look after her with some of our more rowdy regulars. She's putting on a brave face but I thinks she gets shaken more easily than she wants to let on."

"Alright I'll keep an eye out," said Mulan. She gave him a curious look. "Kara barely handed in her resignation three days ago. How'd you find a replacement so quickly?"

"Marian found her," he said.

Mulan crossed her arms and let out a chuckle at that. "So that's why she didn't need my seal of approval first. She already had Marian's."

"I know you're still upset I hired her without talking to you first but trust me she needs the work," said Robin. "And as for Marian giving her a seal of approval when has Marian ever been wrong about a person?"

"Almost never," admitted Mulan softly.

"Just promise me you won't let the fact that you weren't consulted influence your opinion of her."

"Fine," huffed Mulan. "I promise won't let your professional betrayal color my treatment of her."

"Thank you," said Robin gratefully. Mulan was the bars head waitress and practically his second in command downstairs. He knew if Regina wanted to do well here it was best she get on her good side. After this morning he wasn't sure if she'd gotten off to a good start on that.

Soon after the bar opened Regina realized why Marian and Robin had given her the opening shift for her first day. Things started off pretty slow. For the first two hours there were only a few customers in the bar. It gave her a chance to get over her nerves and get it into the swing of things. Surprisingly she wasn't that bad of a waitress. Due to her mother's constant need for things to be to be just so her memory was practically a steel trap. It made taking lunch orders relatively easy. The hardest part was staying on her feet for so long. When she'd worked with Cora most of their business took place in the office, or sometimes at sit down dinners. She wasn't used to her work being so laborious.

As she slipped another order to the cook behind the counter she took a moment to lean against the wall and relieve a tiny bit of the pressure on her feet. Hook noticed her from behind the bar and gave her an understanding look. "Feet killing you?"

She stood a little straighter at his comment. "I'm fine."

He leaned against the bar counter and gave her a disbelieving look. "You might want to try losing the slippers next time."

She looked down at her old worn slip on flats and shrugged her shoulders dejectedly. "They're kind of the only shoes I've got right now."

"Well I advise you to invest in a pair of new shoes as soon as possible," he said. "It might be a pain to spend the extra money but you always want to be wearing the right shoes for the job. That's a lesson I learned on my trip up Mt. Kilimanjaro."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You've been to Tanzania?"

"Among other places," he added nonchalantly. "You tend to travel a lot when you grow up on a shipping freighter."

"How did that happen?"

He shook his head at her with a mischievous smile. "I'm a bartender love. I listen to life stories. I don't tell them."

"Not until you take off at least one layer of clothing," said Mulan making her way to the cook's window. She turned to Hook with a smirk. "What story did you tell the last girl to get her into bed? The one about the Habu Sake in Okinawa or the hurricane off the coast of Peru?"

"I went with Peru. It made me sound more heroic." He replied flatly.

"Of course," she said rolling her eyes. She turned to Regina. "You might want to head out Newbie. A group just sat in your section."

Regina looked over her shoulder to see a group of three young men seated at a table in her area. She tried not to groan as she lifted herself from the wall. "Back into the fray I guess."

She headed over to the table and forced herself to give the men a bright smile. "Hi I'm Regina. I'll be serving you today. Can I start you off with drinks?"

A tan dark-haired man at the table looked her over with a sleazy grin. "I'd rather start off with you."

As the other men whooped at his innuendo Regina forced a chuckle from her throat and gave him a stern look. "That's sweet but I'm not exactly on the menu."

"I'm more of a made-to-order type of man."

She internally groaned. These guys reminded her of the men she used to run into when she worked with her mother. Always leering and touching without asking. Completely gross and entitled. It was always best to just suck in your disgust and get the work done. She set the menus on the table tight-lipped smile. "I'll give you a minute to look it over."

She'd hoped that would be the last of it but a small gasp escaped her when she felt one of them smack her on the ass. She felt a ball of disgust form in her stomach as she flashes back to every time she'd been forced to allow Leo to put his hands on her. Before she could even get her bearings Mulan had stomped over and put the man's hand in a painful wrist lock. She glared down at him as he let out a painful grunt. "What the hell!"

"Do you know what happens to men who harass the waitresses here? They get banned," she growled fiercely. She tightened the grip on his wrist and a whine flew from his throat. "You know what happens to men who touch the waitress here? They get hurt. Now you can be respectful or you can get out. What is your choice?"

"Fine! Respect damn it!" he gritted out.

Mulan released his wrist with a smirk. "That's what I thought. My name's Mulan and now I'll be your server. I'll be right back to take your order."

She put a guiding hand on Regina's shoulder and pushed her toward the kitchen. "This is why I don't date men," she muttered. "Well that and the total lack of attraction."

The entire exchange had left Regina totally speechless. She only found her words halfway towards the cook's window. "Um thank you?"

"Forget about it," said Mulan absentmindedly loading up a tray. "I end up doing it more often than you think."

"Don't you ever get in trouble for it?"

Mulan shook her head with a small laugh. "No. Robin doesn't really care. He says that gropers aren't his preferred clientele anyway."

She looked her up and down with a tilted head. A frown fell on her lips as she landed on her slippers. "Are those the only shoes you have?"

"Yes," said Regina softly. She didn't realize footwear would be such a big deal in this place.

Mulan rolled her eyes and sighed. "Hang on a minute."

She quickly disappeared out the back door and returned with a pair of well-worn sneakers and fresh socks. "I keep an extra pair in my car in case I feel going to the gym. You can work with a size 9 right?"

"Um yeah," said Regina gratefully. Anything to get out of these flats, she thought silently.

"Take a minute to put those on and then bring that order to table six," ordered Mulan. "I'm going to go check on those idiots in your section."

She passed Robin on the way to the table and he gave her a smug smile. "Careful Lani your kindness is shining through."

"Shut up Locksely," she scoffed.

The rest of Regina's day went by fast. Her borrowed shoes provided her with tremendous relief and luckily the rest of her customers were fairly civil. By the end of her shift her feet were pretty sore and her shoulders were aching from carrying trays of food but she felt more accomplished than she had in a long time. Once she clocked out she took a seat on a barstool and let out a sigh of relief.

Robin smirked at her from behind the bar. "Not as easy as it looks is it?"

"I suddenly feel the desire to tip better if that's what you mean," she replied with a small smile. "Is it always like this?"

"It gets easier as time goes by," Robin answered wisely. "And you did better than Marian. She broke six plates on her first day."

"Will you never let that go?" yelled Marian playfully as she descended the staircase with Henry in her arms.

"Not until the day I die," Robin shot back with a smile.

"So good to know," replied Marian dryly. She leaned over the bar counter to give her husband a kiss before handing Henry over to his mother.

Regina's face lit up as she placed her son into her lap. "Hi there sweetheart. I missed you."

It took everything Regina had not to check up on Henry every twenty minutes during her shift. For the past two months she'd spent all her time with him. It was nerve-wracking not having him in her sights at every moment. She covered the top of his head with kisses before looking back at Marian. "How was he?"

"He was an angel," she answered with a bright smile. "Barely cried and only left one stain on my shirt."

Regina grimaced as she noticed an oddly shaped spit up stain on Marian's right shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Marian's waved her off as she took a seat in the barstool next to her. "Don't worry about it. I was happy to watch him. Tell me how your first day went."

Regina shrugged her shoulders as she thought of the words to describe her first day. "It was harder than I expected but I think it went pretty well. I made about 55 dollars."

"That's pretty good for a six-hour shift," said Marian brightly. "Definitely worth celebrating. Robin you want to grab her some celebratory wings on us?"

"Absolutely! First shift is always worth celebrating," he said heading back to the kitchen.

Marian leaned over the counter and grabbed them two cans of coke. She snapped open hers before raising it in a mock toast. "Here's to new friends and new beginnings."

Regina gamely clinked cans with Marian. Here's to Regina Gardiner, she thought silently. Long may she live.

Next Chapter: Regina learns to take advantage of an old skill.

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