Merry Christmas to the truly amazing Buffintruda! I hope you're ready for some angst :)

This is a post-S2 fic that would be some kind of climax for a storyline I skipped over.

tags: Major Character Death, LaFerry, Angst

Love, Which Conquers All

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Laura's plan, though crazy, had been a good one. With the Dean caught alone and four vampires on their side, LaFontaine had thought for sure that everything would work out with minor injuries.

But somehow things had gone awry. There had been unexpected guards surrounding the Dean's lair, which Mattie, Danny, and J.P. had teamed together to defeat. This had narrowed the attack squad down to only Carmilla, Laura, and LaFontaine. Still, not that much of a problem. The three of them had taken down the Dean before—only this time, it would be for good.

And somehow, they would save Perry. That wasn't a question in LaFontaine's mind: they knew it would happen. It had to. They didn't care who did the saving—it could be Laura or Carmilla, they didn't want the glory for themself—as long as Perry was saved from the Dean's possession of her body.

Only, so far, the plan wasn't working. First, they had lost three of their vampires, albeit temporarily. Then, in the first assault on the Dean, Carmilla had been thrown aside to the wall so hard her leg had been broken. Now immobile, Laura's vampire girlfriend could only throw insults at her demonic mother. Laura and LaFontaine—only humans—had attacked again, but the Dean had proved too strong. She, using Perry's arms, and grabbed Laura and pulled her close, holding a knife to her throat.

In response, LaFontaine had leveled their gun at her. Laura cried out, "LaF! help!"

"Do something!" Carmilla, lying on the floor, shouted. "Shoot!"

"I..." LaFontaine's voice shook. They didn't know if they could. Not when it was Perry smiling at them, even if it was also Perry holding a knife to Laura's throat. Anyone else, they would have done it already.

"Shoot me, then," the Dean sneered through Perry's lips. "Shoot me down. It will kill Miss Perry, you know. Your little friend doesn't stand a chance."

"Don't make me do this," LaFontaine whispered, their arms shaking as they held their gun.

"LaF..." Laura whispered. The Dean pressed the knife closer to her throat. LaFontaine could see beads of blood appearing on her skin. "Please..."

"Kill me," the Dean challenged. "It won't do anything. I'll leave her body and find some other host; it's not too difficult. But the girl...oh, she'll be quite dead. And it will be all your fault." She chuckled darkly in Perry's voice. LaFontaine flinched at hearing such a familiar sound so twisted and distorted.

"Perry," they choked out. "Perr, I know you're in there. Please, Perry—"

"Or if you don't shoot," the Dean continued, "I'll just kill Miss Hollis here."

"LaF!" Carmilla shouted, crawling forward slowly, her face contorted with pain. "Shoot! Save her!"

LaFontaine's arms shook even more. "Perr—"

"Shoot!" Carmilla sobbed.

Laura said nothing, her arms limp and her eyes closed. She clearly had given up. LaFontaine's gut twisted: they didn't want to let Laura die. Not her, not the girl who had been such a friend and a help to them throughout this last year. But if they shot the Dean, Perry would die...

"Could you do it, Karnstein?" they asked, their voice shaking. "If you had to kill Laura to save your sister, would you?"

Carmilla flinched. "I—"

"Time is ticking," the Dean sneered. "Make up your mind! It is enjoyable to see you suffer, but I'm getting impatient."

"I can't kill her," LaFontaine sobbed. "Don't you see, Karnstein? Perry—to me, Perry is like Laura is to you."

For a moment, something in Perry's eyes changed. Her arms grew limp and she opened her mouth. Hope flared in LaF's chest. Was she back?

But then the brief flicker of humanity was gone. The Dean laughed, retightening her grip on the blade around Laura's neck.

"You don't really think love will save you, human?" she sneered. "Love, which conquers all...all but me, as Mircalla can testify."

Carmilla looked away from her mother, all hope gone from her eyes.

LaFontaine lowered the gun. "Laura, I—"

"LaFontaine, please," Carmilla begged, her voice cracking. "Perry is long gone, but Laura—Laura is still here."

"I saw her," LaFontaine whispered. "She was here—I—"

"I'm done waiting," the Dean growled. "Now you will all die!"

"No!" Carmilla cried.

LaFontaine realized what they had to do. All of them could die now, or...only one could.

"I'm sorry, Perr," they whispered, and shot the gun.

The bullet flew through the air and lodged itself in Perry's chest, just above the heart, barely missing Laura. The Dean shrieked on the impact, flinging Perry's arms into the air and releasing Laura in the process. Laura launched herself away and crawled over to Carmilla.

The Dean dropped her knife, her knees trembling. LaFontaine dropped their arm, the gun falling to the ground as their fingers loosened. The Dean let out a guttural laugh and dropped to the floor, blood trickling out of the wound in their chest.

LaFontaine took a few steps forward. "Perry?" they whispered.

"I didn't think you would do it," the Dean growled. "But regardless...this isn't over." She chuckled again, then sighed, her eyes going blank.

"Perry!" LaFontaine shouted, darting forward. They knelt at her side, propping her up in a sitting position. "Perr—no—!"

Perry coughed. "I...LaF?" she whispered, and LaFontaine knew it really was her this time.

"Perry!" they exclaimed, embracing her as best they could. "Thank God—you're back!"

"I'm...I'm sorry," Perry whispered, grabbing their arm. "For...everything she made me do."

"No, no—it wasn't you, Perr, it wasn't you," LaFontaine assured her. "She was doing those things, it wasn't your fault."

Perry only smiled, lifting one hand up to LaFontaine's chin. "LaF..." She spoke their name softly, tenderly. Somehow she had never seemed more relaxed. She was always so high-strung, so worried about everything, but now that it had come to the end, she was calm. "Did you really mean what you said earlier? About me being...like Laura is to Carmilla? To you?"

Tears welled up in LaFontaine's eyes. "I—" they began. They had loved Perry for a long time, ever since they were friends as children. But more recently, through their time at Silas, that love had changed. Suddenly they had seen her in a more romantic light, and they had begun to imagine things things they had never really thought of before concerning Perry. They had thought it possible that she had loved them back, but then the fiasco with J.P. had happened, and Perry had grown more and more distant as the Dean took over. They didn't know anything now—especially as Perry lay dying in their arms.

They hung their head, letting Perry caress their cheek. "Yes," they whispered. "I—I love you, Perr. I'm sorry, I—"

"Shh," Perry said, smiling dreamily. She leaned up, pulling their face down gently, and her lips met their own.

LaFontaine melted into the kiss, their heart beating faster. One of their hands moved up to Perry's neck from her back. They could feel Perry smiling even while she kissed them, and their cheeks flushed red.

Then Perry pulled back, gasping in pain. The wound on chest had begun to bleed faster. LaFontaine covered the wound with their hand, and blood soon began to seep through the cracks between their fingers.

"Ahh!" Perry cried out, her expression pained.

"You're going to be okay, Perr," LaFontaine insisted. "We're going to get you out of here and fix you up and—"

"It's no use," Perry whispered. "I'm already dying. It's okay, LaF."

"No, no it's not!" LaFontaine sobbed. "I can't lose you, Perr, not after I just got you back! This is all my fault!"

"No, it's the Dean's fault," Perry whispered. She leaned her head on LaFontaine's shoulder. "LaF—promise me something."

"Anything," LaFontaine said.

"Promise me, after I'm gone, you'll hunt the Dean down and kill her once and for all." Perry's smile was still unfocused and dreamy, like she hadn't slept well and was suggesting LaFontaine get her some coffee, not asking them to hunt down and kill someone. LaFontaine shivered. "She left her mark on me," Perry continued, "and I want vengeance. You promise?"

"I promise," LaFontaine agreed, and they really meant it. "She will die for what she has done." Their voice trembled. The Dean had done this. This was all her fault. Hers...and their own. If they hadn't shot that gun—no. No, this was the Dean's fault, for possessing Perry, for capturing Laura, for forcing their hand. It was the Dean's fault.

"Good," Perry sighed, going limp.

"Perry!" they shouted. She couldn't—! No—! Not really! She had to be fine, she would get better, she...

She turned her head slightly, still smiling. "I'm sorry we didn't—we couldn't—"

"No, Perr, we will," LaFontaine said fiercely. "I won't let you—"

"It's too late," Perry whispered. "But...kiss me, please. One last time."

"I love you, Perr," LaFontaine whispered. They laid down Perry's limp, dying body, then leaned down to kiss her for the second and final time.

After the kiss was over, Perry smiled, using the last of her strength. "I like that." She blinked once. "LaF." Then she sighed, letting out her final breath. She grew still, and was gone.

"Perry!" LaFontaine sobbed, clutching at her shoulders. "No! Perry! Perry!"

LaFontaine cried harder than they ever had before, clutching her dead body. They could vaguely hear the sounds of Laura crying in the background and Carmilla comforting her.

Eventually, Mattie, Danny, and J.P. walked into the room, a little worse for wear but all alive. Carmilla filled them in, but LaFontaine hardly noticed. They still clung to Perry's body, their eyes red and dull as they looked at the newcomers. Rage fueled them now—rage toward the Dean.

Laura came up to them and sat down beside them. "Hey." Her voice was dull and cracked. "We need to get going, LaF. The vampires are ready to go. We need to rest, recover—"

"I need to find the Dean," LaFontaine said, cutting her off. "I need to kill her." They clenched their fists, feeling Perry's curly locks between their fingers. They would keep their promise to her.

"No," Laura said. "Not right now. First—first we need to bury Perry."

LaFontaine said nothing. She was right. Perry deserved a proper funeral.

"Thank you, LaF," Laura said softly, taking their hand. "I'm so sorry about Perry, I..." She sniffed. "She was my friend, too. I never wanted this to happen...or for you to lose her like that. You deserved a better ending together. But...thank you for saving me."

LaFontaine nodded, their lips trembling. "Yeah. You're...you're welcome."

"She loved you," Laura said gently. "She really did. She..." She trailed off. "I'm sorry."

"Laura, we need to go," Danny said. "We have to leave before anyone else find this."

Laura got to her feet. "Danny, can you help me carry Perry?"

Danny nodded and walked over, easily picking up the body with her vampire strength. LaFontaine got to their feet and watched her carry her away. Mattie noticed Carmilla's injury and helped support her as they both exited the room. J.P. lingered behind, glancing at them with wide eyes. God, what would they tell him...? It had been rough enough explaining to the others that no, they weren't involved with him, and they didn't think everyone had believed the two of them. J.P. was a friend, a very good one they loved very much (and of course a scientifically fascinating one), but they weren't...dating. J.P. had known about what they felt for Perry; he was the only one they had told, though she suspected some of the others had guessed.

J.P. walked over and awkwardly patted their back. "I'm sorry, LaFontaine," he murmured. "It is truly...truly horrible." His eyes were wide and his voice shook. "We killed the other vampires, at least. And the Dean is...temporarily out of order. You did that much."

"It's not enough," LaFontaine whispered. "I want...I want her back. And it's my fault—"

"It's not your fault," Laura interrupted fiercely. "It's the Dean's fault."

"Then let me go kill her!" LaFontaine said, struggling to their feet.

"Not yet," J.P. said. "We have no idea where she is now, or what she looks like, and...Perry is dead, LaF. There are other things to do right now."

"Come on, LaF," Laura said, taking their hand. "Let's go bury her."