Regina overrode her secretary's microphone to speak. "Then what is so important that you can't take a message?"
There was a moment of hesitation on Elizabeth's end where Regina could virtually see the fear in the hazel eyes of her subordinate as she wondered whether to further disobey her. The white noise of the speaker crackled and Elizabeth's mousy voice leaked through again. "It's Corporal Swan–"
Regina ended their communication and reached for her phone, patching the line through to her office. "Hey," she said breathlessly.
"Hi."
Emma stood in front of one of the many pay phones located just down the hallway and across mess hall of the common room after waiting nearly twenty minutes for her turn. There were two lines for some reason, despite the fact that there were at least five pay phones available. Neal said it was because the phone closest to the corner wall by the window was the best spot, and it was an unspoken rule that the time limit on that one was inexistent. She saw a new recruit on the phone there, sitting on the window sill with his back to the line, nestled in his own private cocoon as he talked happily, probably with his mother. Neal had graciously stood in line with her though she could see that he was shaking with the need to ask who she was going to call. She knew he knew who she was going to call, but confirmation would have had the man reeling. Still, he held his tongue. Emma had never made a phone call since she came, and it was pretty exciting to see it first hand.
By the time a line freed up, Neal stood across the hall, holding up the wall with his shoulder as he crossed his arms and waited for Emma to finish up.
She had followed the instructions he had given her and soon the phone was ringing for Mifflin Street. So this is what zoo animals feel like, Emma thought as she looked around awkwardly at the impatient soldiers waiting for their turn. She felt their gaze deepen when the phone just continued to ring at the mansion and Emma quickly hung up only to dial Town Hall. Maybe she was breaking protocol and it was only one call per person, but like hell that was going to happen. She stood in line and everything.
The line rang and rang, and Emma became nervous and a little embarrassed that she had been standing at this phone for so long not talking to anyone. She stole a glance at Neal who had ceased watching her and had struck up a conversation with a man in the next unit over. Frederick Holt, if she remembered right. He was a pretty nice guy, which made many of his opponents underestimate him whenever they trained for close combat. His smile and friendliness was no match against his right hook. She quickly ducked back to the phone, pressing her hand on the wall above it when they turned at her gaze. She only managed a tight lipped smile at them just before turning her back to them.
The line continued to ring, and just when she was about to call it a day and hang up, Ms. Lizzie, as Henry liked to call her, answered and put her on hold. Instead of the dial tone, Emma had to suffer through some Muzak. She made a mental note to quiz Regina on that musification they had talked about on their non-date date.
But then the instrumentals cut out and her ears were flooded with the velvety smooth, rich and dark sound she hadn't heard in weeks.
"Hey," Regina said breathlessly.
Emma's face broke out into a grin she had no chance at containing. "Hi. I figured out how to use the calling card."
"It took you long enough," Regina quipped.
"Hey, there's like two numbers on the back of this thing before I get to put in yours," she argued.
"Our country is being protected by the best and brightest," Regina quipped.
"If you want to call me an idiot, just say it."
". . .Idiot."
"Feel better?" The blonde snorted.
They shared in a laugh before the line quieted down in contentment.
"It's good to hear your voice again," Emma whispered, breaking the silence.
"I know the feeling," Regina admitted, and though Emma couldn't see her, she was willing to bet Regina's cheeks had taken on a rosy hue. "How have you been?"
"Okay," the blonde said, twisting the phone to her other ear and turning to lean her back against the wall. "I've just been working a lot. They've got me in weapons control."
"I've no idea what that means," Regina admitted.
"It means I get to save the day by making sure our arms are in working condition."
"You're starting to sound like Henry with his hero ramblings," Regina teased. "Do you get to have a shield with a star on it as well?"
"You know Captain America? You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"
"You know this yet you continue to be surprised."
"It keeps things interesting," the blonde grinned. "Is Henry with you?"
"No, he's still at pre-school," Regina said apologetically.
Emma flipped her wrist and scrunched up her brow. "What's he doing there? It's almost 7. And why are you still working?"
Neal leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for Emma to finish up her call. He very badly wanted to laugh and poke fun at how nervous she looked once Neal had explained the calling card and left her to her own devices and privacy, but this was the first phone call Emma was making in the three years he had known her, and he was secretly hoping she'd fill him in on who got her stomach into knots.
Emma had always been reserved. The very first time he met her, he offered her a handshake, and he got two shakes and her rank and last name. It took him another three weeks to find out her name, and another week after that to realize that was all he was probably gonna get out of her.
Regardless, he liked the girl. She was tough and strong, and though he'd never admit it to her, she could kick the crap out of him and had done so on numerous occasions.
Throughout the months he got to know a little bit more about her, but it was all given up with the greatest of caution. She had grown up in the foster system where she had met their Sergeant, and from there she had enlisted. He thought she was one of those army brats since the first few months Emma did nothing except eat, sleep, and train in silence, but then one day he heard her name being called out for the mail, and that was enough to get him curious.
What truly peaked his interest was the barely contained smile, the first one he had ever seen from the blonde, every time there was something in the mail for her. And then little scribbles began appearing on her walls, and Neal was so sure that she had a kid back home that she was just missing. He knew as well as any that the first few months of being in the military took its toll, and she was just adjusting as best as she could. But when he asked if the drawings were her son's, she wrinkled her nose and said "no" before hitting the gym, and that was that.
He accepted the fact that this mystery person she was writing to must have been a friend or something, but seeing Emma after their month off had him wondering. She looked like some of the older guys who went home once a year to see their wife and kids and returned slightly bitter.
If it really was this friend, this female friend, she was calling, and writing to, and visiting, he had to wonder. . .
"Is that Swan using the phones?" Frederick Holt came from mess hall and leaned against the wall next to Neal, watching Emma just as bizarrely as the shorter man.
"Yeah, couldn't believe it myself."
"Boyfriend?"
Neal paused, watching as Emma shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and catching her eye. She gave them a tight lipped smile before turning her backs to them, pressing a hand to the wall as she hovered over the pay phone.