Fraser Valley Institution for Women

(Three Days Ago)

Lilita sat staring at her reflection in the two-way mirror in front of her. She wondered, idly, who was on the other side monitoring her 'visit'. She shook her head and chuckled; not that it mattered, they wouldn't hear a word. She and her twin were born identical, when it came to their strengths, however, they couldn't be more different. While she was the planner and the more logical of the two by far, she could barely send an email, let alone build the most complicated of devices. The bombs in Carmilla's cars? The plane? All Deidre. There was one other way in which the two sisters differed; one had a conscience, the other only cared for one thing; vengeance. A silly little thing like a conscious wasn't going to stop her. Not now. Not when she was so close to her goal.

She watched as the door opened behind her and smiled as her visitor was shown in.

"I must inform you," the guard was saying as they entered, "your visit is being recorded, both video and audio."

"Understood," her guest replied.

"You'll have fifteen minutes," the guard added as he motioned him to the chair across from her.

"Surely, Mr. Armitage, you can spare us more than a mere fifteen minutes?" Lilita commented icily. "I haven't had a single visitor my entire stay to break the tedium." She looked at her visitor. "Every day the only break I have, the only time I see another human being, is when they bring me my food." She shook her head. "Every other day I get to shower, and on the other, I get to see the sky." She chuckled mirthlessly. "Lucky me."

"You can have twenty," the guard replied and then added when she met his eyes in the mirror; "My apologies, Mrs. Karnstein, the Warden was very clear, if you wanted to be alone with your visitor, your time would be limited."

"Fine," she sighed and looked back to the man across from her as the door closed behind her. "So tell me, Mr. Adams, how is my darling stepdaughter?"

"I have some," he hesitated, "interesting news."

"Define 'interesting'."

"Carmilla was seen at the Las Vegas airport, accompanied by two heavily disguised adults, one male, one female, and two male children and one female," he supplied. "However, one of our contacts spotted them, Carmilla and Laura, at Disneyland last week."

"Explain," Lilita prodded tersely.

"I'm afraid I have no explanation at this time," he deflected.

"Then speculate."

"She knew, or suspected, she was being watched, and sent a decoy to Vancouver," he replied. "Our Vegas contact followed Laura from the Press Conference…"

"What "Press Conference"?" she interrupted.

"Nancy," he replied simply.

"Anyone dead?"

"Nancy, Julian and his sister, Julie."

"And Laura and Carmilla?" Lilita questioned.

"As far as we know," he stalled. "Laura was injured but left the hospital the next day, as did Carmilla." He shook his head. "Laura was still using a cane when he found her in Disneyland." He tapped his chin. "That is where it gets interesting." Lilita raised an eyebrow. "They fought, bitterly, and then left the park separately. Our contact and his partner followed them back to the hotel where they didn't come out again until the next morning. Their interactions since have been…" he searched for the right word; "frosty."

"Trouble in paradise, perhaps?" she asked thoughtfully. "Where are they now?"

"Making their way up the coast." He regarded her a moment before he continued; "There is one bit of worrying news; rumor has it they, the Vancouver Police, were considering subjecting you to a physical exam."

"And why do you think they'd want to do that?" Lilita pondered and then paled; "They can't know, can they?"

"I don't see how," he soothed. "Anyone who knew is already dead."

"What if she told that meddlesome Mark Hollis?" she countered.

"What does it matter?" he questioned and then all but whispered; "It's not as though we look alike anymore."

"They know," she hissed. "I don't know how they know, but they know." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter how they know, but they do." She sighed as she desperately wanted to run her hands through her hair, but as her hands were cuffed to the table thanks to one of the many compromises she's made for this visit, she shook her head again instead. "It's time we take care of the elder Hollis," she informed him.

"Shouldn't we find out what he knows first?"

"If we must," she dismissed. "As long as he's dead at the end of it." Her visitor paled. "Come now, Dougie, don't lose your nerve now," she chided to his grimace; she knew he hated the nickname. "That man has been a thorn in my side for more than twenty years." She leaned forward. "I want him dead." She sat back. "This is, after all, your mess." She nodded. "Time for you to clean it up."

"Setting them up was your idea," he countered hotly. "And need I remind you that I've been cleaning up your messes our whole lives?"

"My messes?" she scoffed. "This started because of your poor decisions…" she trailed off as the lock clicked behind her and the door opened.

"My apologies Mrs. Karnstein, Mr. Adams, your time is up."

"Please, Mr. Armitage," Lilita pleaded; "can't you give me just a few more minutes to say goodbye to my oldest friend?"

"Five minutes," he conceded and closed the door but didn't lock it.

"This is your fault," she accused. "If you hadn't stopped me…"

"You'd have killed her!" he countered.

"And you tried to kill yourself," she replied calmly. "If you hadn't," she shrugged, "they wouldn't have anything to look for, now would they?" She shook her head. "You almost ruined everything." She leaned forward and hissed; "Fix it."

Now

Carmilla sat staring out the window of the Jeep, her thoughts straying to the night before. They hadn't said a word since leaving Seattle almost an hour ago. Not that long silences were uncommon for them however they were rarely this uncomfortable or filled with unspoken tension. She sighed and looked over at Laura as she placed her hand on Laura's thigh. She gently stroked it with her thumb until Laura graced her with the briefest of glances.

"Can we talk about last night?" Carmilla asked carefully.

"I'd rather not," Laura replied quietly. "Not right now, at any rate."

"When then?"

"After dinner but before we go to bed?" Laura suggested.

"Can I ask why?" Carmilla questioned. "I mean, why can't we talk now?"

"Because I'm having enough trouble focusing as it is," Laura sighed as she took Carmilla's hand and squeezed it. "When we get back, you can take over the driving." She glanced at Carmilla when the brunette didn't comment and found her looking surprised. "You know Vancouver and the North Shore far better than I do." She shrugged. "Out here, where the area is just as unfamiliar to me, I have a bit of advantage. At home, your knowledge of the area could save our lives." She shook her head. "Especially downtown; all those dead ends and weird one ways."

"Can I, um, say one thing about last night?" Laura sighed and nodded; her attempt at the changing the subject obviously failing. "I'm sorry." Laura glanced at her when she heard the strain in her girlfriend's voice. "I didn't…" she wiped a tear with her free hand. "I didn't mean a word, you know that, right?"

"Then why say them?" Laura thought, but nodded instead; anything she might say would only lead to a discussion she wasn't in the headspace to deal with.

"Laura, please," Carmilla pleaded, "look at me." Laura turned and held her gaze a moment before looking back to the road. "I didn't," she sighed and took her hand from Laura's lap so she could run both hands through her hair. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know," Laura conceded and frowned as flashing lights in the rear-view mirror caught her attention. "What the actual…" Laura trailed off her phone rang; a quick glance at where it was mounted revealed that Steven was calling. "Can you answer that?" She waited for Carmilla to answer the call and then asked as soon as it connected; "Care to tell me why our 'friends' are getting pulled over by the locals?"

"He's driving a stolen car with about thirty pounds of explosives in the trunk along with a dead woman," he stated.

"And you found this out when?" she questioned, this time her voice had a distinct edge.

"Last night," Betty supplied. "We, uh, didn't exactly get a chance to tell you after we left the club, and…"

"So why now?" Carmilla interrupted. "They've been following…" Carmilla looked out the back window to where the flashing lights were already fading behind them. "The woman? His partner?"

"No," Steven replied. "We think she's the car's owner."

"Why not call the cops last night?" Carmilla asked as she glanced at the speedometer and noticed they had picked up speed.

"Because this way we might make it the rest of the way to the border without a tail," Laura replied before either of the Xanders had a chance. "If we'd gotten them arrested last night…"

"They could have been easily replaced," Carmilla finished for her.

"Laura," Betty started; even over the phone, Carmilla could hear her hesitancy.

"What?" Laura prodded.

"Maybe you should ride in the camper with Dark, Carmilla, and Kirsch," Betty suggested. "If we're lucky you might just make it to the cabin and back before anyone realizes you haven't gone straight home."

"We'll probably pick up a new tail once we cross the border," Laura pointed out.

"But we can stop them from getting close enough to the airport for them to know who left on the helicopter," Steven countered.

"Fine," Laura conceded. "Let's make our stop at the train station as quick as possible. We'll get the boys to help you guys transfer the camper to the Compass while we go in and get the paperwork signed." She glanced at Carmilla. "I don't know about you but I'd like to hit the washroom, we probably won't get the chance again before we get to the cabin."

"They can help Steven," Betty countered. "But I'll be going in with you guys…"

"That's hardly…" Laura started but was quickly interrupted.

"And now isn't the time to let our guards down," Betty talked over her. "Who knows how much they know? What if they have someone waiting for us at the train station?"

"Fine," Laura sighed and ended the call.

"I take it back," Carmilla commented and waited for Laura's questioning glance to continue. "You're not adorable when you're angry, you're downright scary," she chuckled. "You might look like a pissed off Pomeranian when you're trying to look fierce but you're more like this little dog I saw one morning down at Main and Hastings."

"What the hell were you doing down there in the morning?" Laura questioned; the area was notorious for illicit drugs, prostitution, and home to most of the homeless people in Vancouver.

"Dark knew a weed place down there," she supplied and then, to Laura's raised eyebrow, added: "What?" she chuckled. "I'd had a migraine for more than a week and then I got hit with cramps." She shook her head. "Anyway, I was kind of out of it, had already smoked half a joint and the migraine wasn't helping, when this little dog, couldn't have more than twenty pounds." She tapped her chin with a finger. "I don't know what the breed was, maybe a small Pitbull or an overgrown Miniature Pinscher, and it just sort of come out of nowhere before I could even react." She shook her head. "There was one homeless woman all bundled up and asleep against the wall and when a second woman tried to mess with her stuff, this little dog got her by the sleeve and chased her across the sidewalk." She laughed again. "The funny part was when the dog let the woman go and then looked at me like I was going to be a problem but then I said; 'Good dog!' it got all butt wiggling happy tail wagging and went back to his owner." She waited until Laura again glanced at her. "That's you. People have a hard time taking you seriously 'cause you're short…"

"You're not much taller," Laura pointed out.

"Yes, but you're shorter than me, so you're really short," she teased. "But as I was saying; they don't take you seriously cause of your size and generally pleasant demeanor but piss you off?" She shook her head. "God knows I never want to see you as mad at me as you were last night."

"I'm sorry," Laura said quietly, her voice strained.

"For what?"

"I shouldn't have slapped you."

"It's okay, I deserved it."

"That's not…" Laura shook her head as they followed the Xanders off the highway. "You don't 'deserve' to be hit out of anger, let alone by someone who loves you."

"Laura?" She glanced at her girlfriend. "What if that was exactly what I was trying to get you to do?"

"Excuse me?"

"What if I was pushing your buttons on purpose because people were watching?"

"Still," Laura sighed; "I shouldn't have let the anger get the better of me and I shouldn't have hit you." Laura noticed that Carmilla was about to interrupt so countered; "There's nothing you can say or do that's going to make me feel better about it." She reached over and briefly squeezed Carmilla's thigh before downshifting as they pulled into the train station's parking lot. "Please, just accept my apology and my promise that I won't ever do it again?"

"As long as we both agree to not let it get that ugly again," Carmilla amended.

"Shouldn't be a problem if Danny agrees to our plan," Laura replied and then glanced at Carmilla as she noticed Kirsch and Dark sitting on the hood of Carmilla's Jeep. "Figure out what you're going to tell Kirsch?"

"Mostly the same as everyone else," Carmilla replied. "I want to call Danny anyway so I might let him talk to her."

"Why do you need to call Danny?"

"I wanted to ask her to bring one of the ATVs to the helicopter so you won't have to walk," Carmilla replied carefully; Laura wasn't happy that her leg wasn't healing as quickly as she'd hoped and she was a little sensitive about it.

"It's only a half hour walk," Laura pointed out.

"Maybe I want an excuse to talk to Danny alone," Carmilla offered. "I have a feeling she might feel a little ganged up on if we both talk to her."

"Fair enough," Laura sighed as she put the Jeep in park and turned off the ignition. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

They both got out of the Jeep and were almost crushed as Kirsch and Dark came over and gave them both bear hugs.

"Ug," Carmilla grunted as she pushed Dark away; "Get off me!" she laughed. "Can you guys help Steven transfer the camper over to the Compass while we go in to use the washroom and sign the paperwork?" Both men nodded. "The four of us are going to ride in the camper until we get to the airport. We managed to get our tail arrested but we might pick up another. Do you guys know if you were followed?"

"Just by the guy Laura got to follow us," Dark provided.

"Are there snacks in the camper?" Kirsch, somewhat predictably, asked and smiled broadly when Laura nodded.

"Be right back," Laura stated with a nod to Betty who went ahead of them to the train station.

"It still feels weird not holding your hand in public," Carmilla commented in an undertone as they entered the station and then followed Betty to the nearest washrooms.

Betty went in ahead and returned a few seconds later to declare the room was empty.

As soon as they were inside Laura locked the outer door, pushed Carmilla against it and kissed her deeply.

"Thought we came in here to use the washroom?" Carmilla teased.

"We did," Laura smiled. "But then I realized I haven't kissed you yet today and wanted to correct that. And, like the washroom, I probably won't get another chance before we get to the cabin."

"Don't we have, like, a three hour helicopter ride?"

"Yes, but…"

"We can't let our guard down," Carmilla supplied for her. "Well, c'mon, the sooner we get out of here the sooner we can get to somewhere we can relax."

They used the facilities, washed their hands and then went to join Betty at the Service Counter to fill out the paperwork to ship the two Jeeps back to Carmilla's new place in Las Vegas. Laura had asked Ethan, Carmilla's driver from the Ultimate Fighter, to take care of the house while they weren't there and he had arranged to get the two Jeeps back to the house.

Since Betty had already completed the paperwork before they'd arrived all Carmilla had left to do was sign the paperwork and soon they were joining the boys in the camper. Carmilla motioned Kirsch to the bedroom while Laura and Dark took seats at the kitchen table.

"Is this about last night?" Kirsch asked as he sat on the bed.

"How do you know about last night?" she questioned in surprise.

"Are you kidding?" he replied as he took out his phone, fiddled with it a few minutes and then handed it to her.

"Shit," she hissed but was suppressing a smile. "I'll be right back." She went out to the main area of the camper to find Laura watching something on Dark's phone. "It worked."

"Yeah," Laura smiled. "Just fucking lovely."

She went and kissed the top of Laura's head before returning to her confused friend in the bedroom. "So, um, yeah, kind of," Carmilla stalled. Although she'd been planning this conversation for days she still had no idea where to start. "Look," she started as she sat beside him. "There are a few things I need to tell you. The first thing is really good and I think it'll make you happy but I'm not too sure how you're going to feel about the rest." She took his hand. "Danny's alive."

"What?!" he stood and turned to her angrily. "That's not funny."

"Not a joke," she soothed. "Want to talk to her?"

She took out her own phone and called Danny once he'd nodded uncertainly and sat back down next to her.

"Hey Xena," she greeted warmly.

"Hey Dru," Danny chuckled. "What's up?"

"I've got someone here who thinks I'm playing a nasty practical joke," she explained. "But first; can you bring one of the ATVs to meet us at the helicopter? I don't think Laura is up to the walk."

"Why not?"

"I forced her to get an MRI while we were in LA," Carmilla supplied. "The piece of metal that stuck her leg bruised the bone and gave her a bunch of small fractures. She's fine most of the time but it really starts to throb if she walks for too long." She glanced as Kirsch as she added; "Besides, I want a chance to talk to you alone."

"Okay," Danny replied slowly.

"I'll let you talk to Kirsch but, um…"

"Don't tell him anything about Laura?"

"Please, I'll explain when we get there," Carmilla sighed. As much as she hated keeping him in the dark, both she and Laura had promised his father to keep him safe and 'safe', in this instance, meant outright lying to the kind-hearted jock.

"Danny?" Kirsch greeted in disbelief as Carmilla got his attention. "What?"

"I'll let you two talk," she offered and then kissed the top of his head when he smiled. "But not too long, we still need to talk before we get to the airport."

She returned to Laura and Dark and took a seat on the latter's lap.

"You okay?" he questioned as he hugged her.

"Not really," she admitted. "I'll be happy when we finally get to the cabin and we can chill for a couple of days."

"Sounds like you had an interesting trip," he prodded.

"That's one way to describe it," Laura replied. "Is he talking to Danny?" Carmilla nodded. "You warned her not to…"

"Didn't have to," Carmilla smiled as Kirsch beckoned her back to the bedroom.

Once they were again sitting on the bed together she worked up her nerve to tell him what she had to.

"Look, Kirsch…"

"Since when do you call me Kirsch?" he interjected.

"Since it's what you prefer," she supplied to his chuckle. "What?"

"I don't mind when you call me Brody," he shrugged. "You're really the only one who does, so it's kinda like your nickname for me."

"Fine then," she smiled, "Brody, here's the thing; Laura and I are…" she searched for the right wording; "having some problems." She sighed deeply. "We're going up to the cabin to try to work things out but if we can't, and this is the part I'm not sure how you're going to feel about, I want to ask Danny if she'll give me a second chance."

"But Laura loves you," he said countered fiercely.

"What if that isn't enough?" she asked coldly. "What if 'love' can't overcome all the lies, the manipulations, and secrets?" she pressed. "She's been lying to me since the day we met, how am I supposed to forget that?" She shook her head. "I don't know, Brody," she sniffed, "I left for the show thinking she was one person only to find out I know nothing about her."

"Isn't that why you guys went on the road trip? To get to know each other better?"

"Do you know she's a cop?" she deflected.

"Yeah, so?"

"So maybe love isn't enough of reason to stay together."

"But she was really torn up when you left," he informed her. "I think she spent most of the first weekend you were away alone and drunk." The image he painted tore at her heartstrings. "I mean, shouldn't love be enough?"

"Are you just trying to keep me away from Danny?" she mocked.

"No," he shook his head empathically. "You and Laura are just so good together but, uh, I guess, if you and Danny can make each other happy…" he shook his head again. "I know she'll never like me the way I like her and that's okay, but you've both been through so much," he shrugged. "If you think you'll be happier with Danny than with Laura…"

"Being with Danny is…" she sighed, "less complicated." She got up and then met his eyes. "So does that mean you're okay with it?"

"Does that mean she's coming back to Vancouver?"

"If she says 'yes'," she smiled at his huge grin. "Thanks for being cool with this."

"I'm not cool with you keeping things from me," he said quietly, catching her off guard. "Don't you trust me?"

"Oh, buddy," she cooed as she sat back down beside him and pulled him into a one-armed hug, "if it was just about trust there'd be no secrets between us."

"Then why won't anyone tell me anything?"

"Because they know I promised your dad to keep you safe."

"I'm a big boy," he spat as he stood. "I can take care of myself."

"And no one is saying you can't," she soothed as she stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. "But the more you know, the more anyone knows, the more danger they're in. Yes, you can take care of yourself, but there's not much you can do against a bullet or a bomb. Both of which I wouldn't put past Deanna to use." She waited until he met her eyes. "I don't make many promises, Brody, but I always keep the ones I do. You and your dad saved mine and Will's lives by taking us in. I won't betray that kindness by getting you hurt." She regarded him a moment and then pulled him into a hug. "You're like a little brother to me Kirsch," she told him as she felt her throat close. "I've already lost one recently," she looked up to him. "I won't lose another."