The pulsing music made her feel out of her element and combined with the paint thinner-esque quality of the vodka tonic she was sipping, she already had a headache.

It had been years since Regina had stepped foot into a night club, and even then she had never been in one quite as strange and dirty as this. In this 'night club' she'd quickly learned that the appeal came not from popular music or excellent libations, but from the women taking off their clothes and dancing for money.

Regina was trapped in a seedy strip club forty miles from home with a wild group of her middle-aged peers.

It was hell on earth.

Mainly, she was bored and annoyed.

Not any of the dancers who had been paraded out on the stage to grind and shake against a sweaty pole under the lights were doing much for her libido. A few of the girls looked cracked out and she felt nothing but disgust coupled with pity for those particular dancers. A few had some nice tricks and tits, but the whole atmosphere was off putting.

Deciding that the only way to make it through her colleague's birthday party at the strip club was to drink until she couldn't feel her face, and the girls on the stage were too fuzzy to offend her senses, Regina ordered a third disgusting and overpriced cocktail. She drew the straw to her lips and was mentally extolling the only perceived benefit that at least the drink was cold when the next exotic dancer took to the stage.

The crowd, made up of ninety five percent of men, whooped loudly. It was embarrassing to listen to grown men caterwauling for the mere privileges of watching a young woman take off her clothes so they could gawk and fantasize.

Regina curled her lip into a sneer as she looked around the dimly lit room.

Working as an English teacher at Storybrooke Community College didn't exactly make Regina's mother proud, but all that mattered was that Regina was relatively happy with her chosen vocation. She enjoyed the subject and aside from a few long nights grading term papers she actually had much more free time than she had when she was heavily involved in small town politics.

Her students were very young and fresh from high school. Most of them were working on getting an associate's degree before they transferred to a four-year university.

It didn't matter that it wasn't a prestigious gig, but Regina finally had time to herself and was working on getting a life. Still, she thought of herself a leader and role model for her students and tried to maintain a modicum of self-respect. For this reason, she was a bit hesitant when the other teachers started talking about throwing a birthday party for the Chemistry teacher, Mr. Gold.

The party itself wasn't the issue. Little did Regina know she was going to be hauled off 40 miles out of town to spend her free evening at a strip club.

Regina covered a yawn with her palm as she squinted through the bright gel lights as a new dancer made her way onto the stage. The men really seemed to like this one better than all the others. She glanced over at Mr. Gold, who had found a young brunette who was dressed in a faux 'librarian' costume and was presently grinding her yellow thong clad ass on his crotch. He had never looked more delighted.

Regina could only make out a shapely silhouette on stage, but her interest was piqued. Coupled with the men going ape and the apparent grace and athleticism of the woman, which was noticeable from her silhouette alone, it was obvious the mood of the club had changed dramatically. The lights brightened and the dancer was illuminated. She had long blonde hair, a golden tan and a super toned body. She was wearing a bright blue tight skirt and corset.

Dragging her eyes from stiletto heels, up tight, smooth legs and over muscular abs Regina stopped when her gaze reached the woman's breasts. She blinked in surprise at herself, realizing she was starting to covet the woman onstage. She peeled her eyes away from ample cleavage and looked up at her face. She expected to see the hollow eyed stare of the other girls, but when she looked up she gasped in recognition.

The hot stripper was one of her students. The recognition was instant, although the girl could not have looked more different than she did in English class. For a moment, Regina entertained the idea that Emma Swan had a much frumpier, butch-er identical twin, but she let go of that idea when she searched the catalogue of her memory for everything she knew about her student.

She knew Emma was an orphan, and often came to the 10am class late apologizing with a mumble about work keeping her up. Yes, it had to be one in the same. Regina had assumed she was a partier or a bartender, but it made sense that she'd be up late if she was working at a strip club.

She sucked on her straw and crossed her legs, unable to tear her eyes away from her student who was working the pole with grace and strength that far surpassed any of the other dancers.

"Regina..."

She heard her name faintly, but was too focused on watching Emma shake her ass and press her cleavage into the face of rowdy men surrounding the stage to register someone was trying to get her attention.

"Regina!"

She finally tore her eyes away in annoyance, and looked to her right where her friend and colleague Maleficent was smirking at her with an arched eyebrow.

"What?" Regina snipped.

"I think you found the girl you want your private dance from, hmm?" Maleficent teased. The other teachers had been trying to get her to pick a stripper for a lap dance ever since they'd arrived, but Regina had turned her nose up at all the girls, advising her friends that she wasn't into lap dances.

But her opinion on lap dances was rapidly changing as she tilted her head and turned her sole focus back to Emma. She watched, captivated as she unsnapped her bra and catapulted it out into the crowd. Her breasts were plump and…bouncy. Regina leaned forward trying to see more. Emma leapt off the stage and onto a woman's lap. She was smiling seductively and bouncing her ass on the woman's lap, running her palms up and down the other woman's chest.

Regina's mouth was dry; her body felt overly warm and a strange irritating sense of dread and anxiety started to fill her slowly. She exhaled in a long gasp, and stood up, racing outside. She needed air.

Once outside, she leaned against a wall, feeling overdressed for the low bar establishment as men and trashy looking woman came and went. Thoughts raced through her head: had Emma seen her? Why did she feel so anxious?

It was as if all the heat, shame and guilt of the universe bubbling up inside her. She felt turned on and simultaneously like she needed to hold on tightly to something so her world would stop spinning. This was her student. She didn't know what was more embarrassing: being seen by Emma or seeing her there. No, Regina knew. She was embarrassed because she was intrigued the much younger woman.

She licked her lips thinking back at how different the girl was in this environment. She appeared powerful and confident even though she was being gawked at…lusted over. It was a far cry from how she was in class, acting sweet and turning in thoughtful essays.

Regina had one goal in mind: she wanted to know which version was the real Emma Swan.

A few minutes later, she had calmed down with fresh air. The burning in her lungs had not subsided, but that was mainly due to the sharpness of the alcohol. Wishing she wasn't so far from home, she squeezed her eyes shut and took a long steadying breath before making her way back inside.