Regina had found some sweatpants and still wore Ruby's sweater but she found herelf decent enough to go into Mrs. Lucas's office.
Mrs. Lucas was sitting at her desk and Emma was sitting in a chair across of it. Regina walks in and sits down in the chair next to Emma. She is looking at the girl and Emma stares right back at her. There was something playful in her eyes.
"Emma! What would you like to tell Miss Mills." Emma rolls her eyes. "Emma!" Mrs. Lucas says a bit harsher.
"I'm sorry, miss mills for making your day so eventful." Regina frowns. How can everything that happened today be the girls fault?
"Why don't you explain your very impressive plan to Miss Mills." Emma signs.
"I made a friend come to you this morning telling you Miss Blanchard needed your help for something. My other friend lead Miss Blanchard away from the class while we soap in the floor, make it slippery. We made sure the paint bucket was open so It would spill all over you. When it did you needed a shower, Friend number three clocked the toilet in unit G which are in connection with the showers of the educators break room. Which made the toilet water come out of the showers. That same friend stole your clothes while you were showering and I pulled the fire alarm knowing you had no other choice but to get out of the shower wearing only a towel. And because the only way out was for you to come to all of us through the main hall."
Regina gaped at Emma, she couldn't believe that this all was a trick. "But why do this to me?"
"Because I'm the fucking welcome committee. Welcome to Edmonton correctional centrum for young girls." Emma smiles, she had been so proud of her plan and everything had worked out just the way she wanted it.
Regina couldn't believe what she heard. This girl was laughing in her face, she made her first day miserable and she still had the nerve to laugh.
"I want her to be punish for her behaviour." Regina demands.
"Of course she will be punish miss Mills." Mrs. Lucas says and directs herself to Emma. "Emma you have breakfast duty for a week, this means you will get up at six instead of seven. Ruby or another educator will let you out of your cell and you will make breakfast for units H and G. When you don't have any other duties or classes you will report to Miss Mills, to help her with anything she needs assistants with." Emma signs and rolls with her eyes. It was still worth it, she thought.
"Emma! Did I make myself clear!" Mrs. Lucas asks more firmly.
"Yes Ma'am."
"Miss Mills, do you have something the aid to the punishment?" Regina shakes her head. She likes the punishment and she could use the extra time she was going to spend with Emma to figure out what was wrong with this girl.
"Well, miss Mills you can leave now and resume your tasks." Regina nods and leaves the office.
"So Emma was it worth it?" Mrs. Lucas asks with curious eyes.
"Yes it was granny, did you hear everyone? They all laughed and had a good time." Emma can't help the smile that spreads across her face. That was the reason behind her welcome committee. She could bring smiles to all the faces of the girls. And some girls really needed it. Granny smiles and shakes her head.
"You can go now and don't forget to set you clock for six a.m."
As soon as Emma was back in the main hall, Mulan, Belle and Lily approached her. "Oh my god, I can't believe we actually pulled that off. The look and Mills' face was priceless." Lily says.
"Did you get in a lot of trouble?" Belle asks concern.
"No, just breakfast duty for a week and being Mills' slave." Emma grins. She really didn't care about the punishment. Everyone looked so happy.
"Are we going to get in trouble for helping," Mulan asks. Emma could heard the insecurity in Mulan's voice.
"Of course not I didn't tell on you. You're all save."
"EMMA!" A voice from behind the girls yelled.
"Yes miss Blanchard?" Emma turns to look at the pixie cut woman who tried her best to look serious like she was a person with authority but she failed miserably.
"No lunch for you young lady! You are going to clean my classroom, there's paint everywhere and I need to teach this afternoon. When you are done with that you will go to miss Mills for further instructions."
Emma rolls her eyes at the teacher and follows her but not before giving her friends a hug and a wink.
It had taken her two hours to clean the classroom from any paint and her arms were feeling sore. She walked to the counsellor office and knocked. Emma enters and waits by the door for orders. Regina didn't look up, she was wearing black glasses on the top of her nose and Emma cursed herself for thinking she looked super cute with them.
"So what do you want me to do?" Emma asks suspicious. There wasn't much to be done in this office. She couldn't think of a single thing she could do while she was here. Regina looked up from her paperwork and stared at Emma with a curious look. Emma didn't like the way she was looking at her it was like she was trying to look in her head. Regina gets up, walking past Emma to the large office closet.
"I want you to copy these files, you start with the names starting with A to C." Regina takes the files with the A names and hands them to Emma. She shows her the copy machine and instructs how she needs to copy them.
"When you have finished copying a file you stable them and put them on this pile." Regina points at the pile with papers that were already done. The brunette goes back and sits done in her chair and starts writing again. Emma signs loud enough for Regina to heard but started her work nevertheless.
They didn't speak, the only sound you could hear was the scraping of pen to paper and the zooming of the copy machine. Emma was starting to get irritated by her work, she tried but she could not find a single reason while all the files had to be copied. Emma hated doing work without a purpose. She took a few glances at Regina but the brunette counsellor was still busy writing stuff down.
"I'm bored!" Emma says trying to make conversation.
"Do I have to remind you that this isn't supposed to be fun but a punishment." Regina states dryly. Emma rolls her eyes and sits down in the chair across of Regina and watches her like a hawk watches her prey. She was bored and she was going to play her own fun game, pissing off the new counsellor, again.
"What are you doing?" Regina asks after a while. Emma smiles and keeps looking in her eyes but she doesn't say anything.
"Go back to work Emma!" Regina says more firmly. Emma shakes her head, she wonders how far she could push Regina. How much would it take to break her.
"If you don't go back to work I will talk to Mrs. Lucas and you will get a more severe punishment."
Emma starts laughing. "Really? You can't handle me on your own? You know, you can't show weakness in this place. People will take advantage!"
Regina eyes grow hard. Emma could see her vein on her forehead. She was really good in pissing people off.
"I'm not weak and you will listen to me!" Regina jumps up and glares daggers at Emma.
Emma can feel the tension in the room and she knows if she pushes Regina more she will probably get a punishment but Emma isn't a girl who backs down because she could get punished.
"Make me!"
Regina tenses, she can't let Emma talk to her this way. Why does this girl need to make this so hard.
"You will stay here all evening, no dinner and no socializing with your friends. Now go back to work and stop talking!" Regina waits for Emma next response but is surprised when Emma stands up and grins at her.
"There you go, no weakness. I think you will survive just fine."
It was fun to mess with Miss Mills, but lying in bed not able to sleep because of her grumbling stomach, Emma was having a hard time feeling good about it. Or was it because she had seen something in Regina's eyes that was very familiar to her? When Emma told her not to be weak, something inside the brunette's eyes had changed. Emma had identified anger, sorrow and regret; three emotions Emma was very familiar with. It made her curious.
She hears a soft knock on the door. Emma sits up and watches the dim light from the corridor peering in. For a split-second Emma feels a shiver go down her spine: she doesn't like people coming into her room especially at night but as the figure comes closer she can see dark brown hair and cautious brown eyes looking at her. She breathes in and out and forces herself to relax.
"What are you doing here so late?" She asks Miss Mills.
"I thought you might like something to eat. Mary Margaret told me you didn't have any lunch and I don't want you to starve because of your stubbornness," Miss Mills says and hands Emma a plate with a grilled cheese. Emma takes the plate and sets her teeth into the delicious snack. She can't help but moan. This is the best grilled cheese she has ever had. Miss Mills turns around to leave but Emma catches her arm and pulls her back.
"Can you stay for a little while? I can't sleep." Regina hesitates - she's not supposed to stay - but before she can make up her mind Emma gives her the little excuse she needs.
"We're not supposed to have plates in our room, so you have to wait for me to finish to take it with you."
Regina knows what Emma is doing but she is grateful that she does. Emma pats the edge of her bed, gesturing for Regina to sit down.
"So I have been wondering all afternoon and evening what the purpose is of copying all those files."
Regina sits down on the edge of the bed looking a bit uncomfortable.
"I like to take the files home with me so I can look through them, to determine how I can help some of the girls with their problems when they come to me for guidance."
Emma starts laughing at Regina like she has said the most ridiculous thing ever.
"Why is that funny?" Regina asks, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow.
"No one will come to you for help," Emma states and Regina gets up angrily.
"Wait! I didn't mean it like that! It has nothing to do with you, it's just… in all the time I've been here no one has ever gone to the counsellor. I was shocked they even agreed to hire someone new when counsellor Archie left."
Regina stares at Emma.
"Why doesn't anybody come and talk to the counsellor? I could really make a difference to many of the girls."
"What if we made a deal?" Emma asks.
"What kind of deal?" Regina replies suspiciously; if there is one thing she has learnt today, it is not to trust the blond.
"I will advertise your services to the other girls and instead of a week of helping you in the office I will help you for two more days."
Regina turns her back to the blond and thinks this through. Should she take the deal? Will the girls listen to the blond? Why would Emma have this much influence? She turns back around and looks the blond in the eyes.
"Okay fine, three more days!" Emma grins as she gets up and shakes Regina's hand.
"It's a deal."
They both smile at one another, pleased with the arrangement. Emma is happy because her punishment has been reduced and Regina is happy because it feels like she has made some progress.
Emma finishes eating her grilled cheese and Regina sits back down.
"There's something I have been wondering, Emma."
"What?"
"I was looking at your file and I was a bit shocked with what I was reading. Only the bare facts are mentioned in the file and not the motivation behind your actions. Why did you do it?"
The whole afternoon when Emma was in her office, Regina had had Emma's file in front of her whilst pretending to write things down. She still couldn't believe that the girl sitting right next to her could have done such an awful thing without a clear motivation or reason behind it.
"Yeah, we are so not doing this. I told you I would promote your work to the other girls, but that doesn't include me."
"Why not? I could really help you," Regina says and puts her hand on Emma's knee, "why don't you come to my office tomorrow? Not to work but to talk."
Emma pushes Regina's hand off and gives her the plate back.
"Read my lips lady! I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!"
Regina gets the hint. She stands back up, but before she leaves the room she turns around and holds Emma's gaze.
"I don't think you did it without a good reason, Emma. You're not a horrible person." Her voice is soft and warm, but Emma can't show weakness.
"You don't know me, so don't act like you do!"
Emma lies back down and pulls the covers over her head. The next thing Emma hears is just a whisper, but it does something to her that she can't explain.
"But I want to know you."
Regina closes the door behind her and walks into her apartment. Today has been hell, mostly because of Emma Swan, but she feels like she has made some progress with the girl and she truly wants to get to know her. She walks through the foyer and into the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out the bottle of wine she had started the night before.
Sitting on her coach by the fireplace, Regina puts down her glass of wine and can feel her muscles relax. Even after everything that had happened today, being in that place had been easier than she had originally thought it would be. She thought it would bring up severe emotions, knowing she was in the same place where her sister had killed herself.
She stands up and lets her eyes wander over the fireplace and to the picture frame sitting on the edge. She grabs the frame and holds it close to her chest. She can feel tears rolling down her cheeks but she doesn't stop them. She needs this, she needed to cry. It was a natural reaction. She looks at the picture and traces the lines of her big sister's face.
"I wasn't able to help you, Zelena, but I will do everything in my power to help these girls." She says softly, before putting the picture back on the fireplace, grabbing her glass of wine and going into her bedroom to get a good night's rest
He grabs her head and smacks her in the face. She falls to the floor and loses her grip on the knife she had clutched in her hand.
"What is this you little CUNT?"
He grabs the knife and holds it against her throat.
"You were going to use this on me weren't you?"
Emma shuts her eyes and waits for the knife to cut into her skin. She can smell the alcohol on his breath and feels the cold sharp edge of the blade pressing into her flesh.
"You're not even worth the trouble I'll get in if I kill you."
He loosens his hold on her and she falls to the floor again. She touches her neck and sees blood on her hands.
"You will live in this house for the rest of your worthless life, doing exactly what I say. You will be my slave and there is nothing you can do about it."
He turns around and makes to leave to room.
Emma gets up shakily and pushes him. He loses balance and falls, the knife clattering to the ground. Emma doesn't think: she grabs the knife….
"EMMA! EMMA!"
Strong arms are shaking her awake. Emma opens her eyes and pushes the person away.
"AH!"
Emma's push makes Graham stumble and fall on his ass.
"God damn, Emma! What the hell is wrong with you!"
Emma sits up and wipes away the wetness on her face. She had been crying in her sleep.
"I'm sorry, I had a nightmare."
Graham gets up and looks at her with concern.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks tentatively, but feels he already knows the answer.
"No, I don't. What time is it? Why are you in my room?"
"It's six o'clock. Your punishment, remember? You have to start making breakfast for everyone."
Right, for a second it had slipped her mind. Graham walks out of the cell. "Get some clothes on and meet me in the kitchen in five minutes."
Emma sighs and dresses quickly. She walks to her small bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror. Her eyes are red and she looks extremely tired. She washes her face and puts concealer on the scar on her throat. When she is satisfied that you can't see it - only if you look really close and know that it's there - she leaves her room and heads to the kitchen. Graham is already busy gathering the ingredients to make omelettes. At around half past eight everything is ready: the omelettes are cooked and the orange juice is poured into jugs and placed on the tables, along with some boxes of cornflakes. Emma's kitchen duty is done for the day and she joins her friends at their table.
"Mmm these eggs are delicious Emma." Tink comments and Emma smiles. She likes cooking because it's one of the few things she is actually good at. She learned when she was nine years old at her fourth foster home: her foster mom was an older Latina woman called Maria. It was the first foster home she felt she could actually call a home. Maria was a fantastic woman; she was so experienced that it felt like she knew everything about anything.
"The thing about cooking, my sweet Emma, is it has to taste, smell and feel right. Close your eyes, Mija."
Maria takes a spoon and holds it in front of Emma's mouth for her to taste the liquid on the spoon. It's pure olive oil; it doesn't taste that bad but she wouldn't drink a whole glass of it.
"How does it taste, Emma?"
"It's tastes fine."
She can hear Maria laugh.
"Good girl… Now try this. How does it taste now?"
Emma takes a bite of the crunchy bread and can taste different spices and smell the olive oil. She might not be able to drink a whole bottle of the oil, but she could eat this bread all night long.
"This is delicious," she exclaims happily.
"Open your eyes, Emma."
Emma opens her eyes and sees ciabatta bread covered with olive oil.
"You see, Emma - something that tastes good can taste so much better if you find the right matching ingredient."
"Hello? Earth to Emma!"
Lily is waving her hand in front of Emma face.
"What are you thinking about?"
Emma abruptly snaps out of it. She is mad at Lily though; it's been a long time since she could remember anything good from her childhood. Those beautiful memories are mostly blocked by the awful ones. Just like the memories with Maria are mostly blocked by the image Emma has of finding her foster mom motionless in her favourite chair. Her heart had failed.
"I'm not thinking about anything, I just zoned out for a second."
"So what are we going to do today?" Belle asks.
"We…" Emma points to her and Belle, "we have class. You two," she now points to Lily and Tink, "you are going to Miss Mills' office to talk to her."
"What?" Lily questions. "Why do we have to talk to Miss Mills?"
"I made a deal with her. If I promote her counselling, I only have to work three days for her instead of a whole week. And who knows where Mulan is?" Emma had looked around the cafeteria but couldn't see the Asian girl.
"She had a tantrum this morning and is locked in isolation."
Emma can't believe it. The last thing Mulan needs is to be locked away. Mulan is the only one who has kept her secrets to herself and so Emma doesn't know the real reason why she had smashed a pastor's head in. Emma likes Mulan, but she also doesn't have any power over her. If she wants to keep Mulan as a friend she has to help her out with this.
"Hey, where are you going? Class is going to start soon," Belle asks nervously, she doesn't like being alone in class without her friends.
"I'm going to make sure Mulan gets released from isolation. Don't worry, I'll be in class in a second."
Emma leaves the cafeteria and hurries to Miss Mills' office.
She doesn't bother knocking, barging through the door and accidentally hitting Miss Mills in the back with it, making her spill coffee all over her white blouse.
"Oh shit, sorry about that!" Emma closes the door, takes a box of tissues from the desk and tries cleaning up the blouse. She doesn't realize the awkwardness of her actions.
"Emma! Emma stop, I'll just get a new shirt." She grabs Emma's wrists to make her stop. Emma finally realizes that what she was doing was very inappropriate, making her blush bright crimson.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Regina smiles at the apology.
"It's okay, please calm down and take a breath. What did you need me for?" Regina sits down and looks at Emma patiently.
"Yeah, right okay. I want you to take Fa Mulan out of isolation."
Regina coughs in astonishment.
"Excuse me, you want? I'm sorry Emma but what you want isn't something I need to take into consideration."
Emma grits her teeth.
"Please, Miss Mills. It's not in her best interest to be in there."
"And what do you know about her best interest? Is there something I need to know about Mulan?" Emma rolls her eyes. Why does she have to make this so difficult?
"I know more about her than you and no, there is nothing you need to know about her."
Regina is taken aback by the girl's rudeness.
"I'm sorry but I don't have to listen to your demands. Go to class!" Regina takes some more tissues and starts cleaning herself up properly.
"Oh for Christ's sake!" Emma curses angrily.
"Miss Swan! Language! Or do you want to be put in isolation as well?"
Emma breathes in and out, trying to control her frustration with this woman.
"Alright." She sits down and stares at Regina. "I will work an extra day in here if you let Mulan out of isolation."
Regina raises her eyebrow. "Really? And why would you do that? And please don't give me a lame excuse for your actions. I only want to hear you tell the truth."
"Because in this place I'm the boss because no one knows my secrets and I know all the secrets of every girl - except for Mulan - and I need to keep her as my friend and not my enemy. So if I can get you to release her, I'll have more control over her."
Regina is amazed by the way Emma's mind works. It isn't how a girl her age should think. She should want Mulan out of isolation just because she is her friend- but this? No, this isn't right. Yet there is nothing she can do about it and Regina isn't pleased about that fact. Maybe the last counsellor had left because he had come to the same conclusion. No, Regina wasn't raised like this! She was not going to give up on these girls. She might not be able to do anything right now, but she was going to do something.
"Go to class, Emma. I will release her from isolation."
Regina watches the smile on Emma face as she gets up.
"Oh yeah, before I forget, today you'll be able the put your counselling talents to good use."