A/N: Hey folks, I've included a subtle reference to the web series that we all know and love into each and every chapter of Part 3, has anyone spotted it yet? Also, as for my big news, check out my Twitter account, ( devlinmma). I'll be posting my news there for all those who don't know me on Facebook. As always, enjoy the new chapter and remember, feedback is always encouraged and appreciated.

Laura was sitting at the dining room table going through some of the evidence on the memory sticks Jan had given her, her breakfast pushed off to the side as she'd lost her appetite shortly after starting one of the videos, when she was startled by a knock at the door. Since the only person she knew who didn't have keys was her father, she ignored it. When he didn't knock again she returned her attention to her laptop only to be once again be distracted when she heard keys in the lock.

"Hey, you are home," Dark greeted as he entered, Laura's father following sheepishly behind him. "Thought maybe you were in the office and didn't hear your dad knocking."

"No," she replied as she stood, grabbed her plate and empty mug and walked to the kitchen, "I heard him. I was just trying to ignore him."

"Oh, um, sorry?" Dark stammered with a glance at Laura's father.

"Not your fault," Laura assured him as she re-filled her coffee. "You didn't know."

"Do you want me to stay?" he offered.

"No, it's fine," she answered as she checked the time, "Kirsch probably wants help opening the gym."

Once Dark had nodded and left she offered her father a coffee without looking at him and then sat back at the table when he declined.

"What do you want?" she asked him coldly.

"I heard what happened yesterday, are you okay?"

"I was nowhere near the car when it exploded," she pointed out.

"Still," he pushed, "someone did try to kill you."

"Really?" she scoffed. "Must have been a Monday," she joked.

"It isn't funny, Laura, you need to be more careful…"

"Seriously?" she spat as she stood from the table and walked away. "Now you're worried about my safety?"

"All I've ever done is try to protect…"

"Protect me?" she cut him off. "You put my life in danger by lying to me! Worse yet, you put the lives of people I care about in danger!" She shook her head. "Why are you really here?"

"Was I…" he stammered and looked down. "Was I right about the picture?"

She regarded him a moment and then walked over to the fridge to grab her cigarettes from the freezer; she still had no desire to make it any easier for him.

"What happened the night she died?" she questioned instead.

"I already told you; she left angry and I followed her out, noticed her car was being followed and went after her. By the time I caught up, her car was on fire and another was driving away so I followed it and called Bill."

"God damn it," she hissed; she had a feeling Bill hadn't told Carmen the whole truth but now she was certain.

"What?"

"Nothing," she shook her head; her beef was with Bill on this one, not her father. "So you never actually saw her body in the car?"

"No," he shook his head. "So was I?"

"Were you what?"

"Was I right, is she alive?"

"Why do care so much about a woman who was never going to love you the way you loved her?" she spat.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, his confusion clear.

"Because, yes, not only is she alive, but she's been with the same woman for more than fifteen years. A woman who, for no other reason than the love she has for her wife, put her own life in danger to try and help her children." She laughed. "You know what really makes me laugh though?" He shook his head. "That you cheated on Mom and you can't even remember it."

Her father moved faster than she thought he possibly could and slapped her across the face.

"Leave!" she hissed.

"Laura, I…"

"No!" she interjected. "I told you what would happen if you ever laid a hand on me again. I want you packed up and moved out by the end of the day…"

"But…" he tried to interrupt.

"No!" she physically pushed him towards the door. "You can stay in my place in Burnaby but I don't want to see or hear from you again unless it's pertinent or someone's in danger."

"But…"

She took her gun from where she had it tucked in the back of her jeans and leveled it at him.

"I said, 'leave'..."

"But…"

"No!" she screamed at him. "You have been lying to me my whole life! How can I trust you ever again?!" He still hadn't made any move towards the door. "Get out!" she yelled. "I don't want to see you ever again!"

Laura woke with a start the next morning, her Chihuahua, Lucy, with her perfect nipple aim, having woken her from a dream she'd rather forget.

"Ow!" she cried out as she pushed the dog off her chest and then sat up.

Lucy, however, was not to be deterred and came bounding back towards her.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Carmilla rushed out as she entered the bedroom.

"My little dog might be only six pounds but it hurts like hell when she gets your nipple with one of her paws," she replied as she motioned for Carmilla to join her. "How long have you been up?"

"Since about four," Carmilla provided once she'd kissed her temple and sat beside her. "Rick called the landline and then I couldn't go back to sleep."

"Can you grab my crutches?" Carmilla nodded and get off the bed to grab them. "Thanks, I need to go the bathroom." She accepted Carmilla's help getting out of bed and then asked; "Why'd Rick call so early?"

"The clinic's gone."

"What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"They'd just gotten the last of the equipment out when the whole place caught on fire," Carmilla explained as she followed her into the bathroom. "Pity," she sighed, "even though I don't remember being there, I think I'd have enjoyed watching the place burn."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"No, everyone was clear of the house," she replied. "Why are you frowning?"

"It doesn't make sense," Laura supplied as she sat on the toilet. "Why bother burning it down if we'd already cleared the house?"

"Maybe they were covering up something that wasn't found?" Carmilla speculated.

"I don't know," Laura sighed as she flushed the toilet and then waited for Carmilla's help to stand.

"Um, Pup?" She sniffed her neck. "You're all sweaty, want a shower?"

"And how am I supposed to manage that with this big honking cast on my leg?"

"Well, I haven't exactly been idle the last few hours," Carmilla joked and pointed to the bathtub where a plastic chair sat inside. "I figured you might want to shower at some point so I found a way you could without having to stand."

"You'll help me?"

"Of course," Carmilla smiled and helped her and over to the bathtub. Laura balanced on her good leg while Carmilla tugged off her pajama bottoms and then lifted her into the tub and sat her on the chair. Laura watched as Carmilla grabbed a large garbage bag from the counter and then slipped it over her cast and secured it at the top of her cast with duct tape. "Wanna wash your hair?"

"Please," Laura replied with a smile.

Carmilla turned on the water, tested the temperature and then grabbed the handheld showerhead and wet Laura's hair. They didn't talk while Carmilla washed, rinsed, and then applied conditioner to Laura's hair. Their silence continued as Carmilla washed and rinsed her back and then rinsed the conditioner from her hair.

"You want to wash your front?" Carmilla asked, continuing when Laura met her eyes. "Or would you like me to?"

"I'd love for you to," Laura replied, her voice deep. "But that might lead to something we don't have time for." She smiled when Carmilla pouted. "Later?"

"Definitely," she replied and kissed her softly.

"Can you grab my face wash?"

"Sure," Carmilla replied and then wet her front for her before grabbing her face wash from the shower. "Wet your face for you?"

"Rinse me off first?" she asked as she arched her back and waited.

"Tease," Carmilla chuckled as she wet her face.

"Brat," Laura laughed before washing her face. "Rinse please."

Once Carmilla had rinsed the soap from Laura's face she helped her stand so she could wash her more intimate areas while Carmilla washed her good leg. After one final rinse she helped Laura from the tub and carried her back to bed. Carmilla returned to the bathroom to grab her a towel and then gathered her some clothes while she dried off.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if we're not the only ones messing with Lilita," Laura commented as she took her clothes from Carmilla. "Where did these come from?" she asked, an extra large pair of Karmma sweatpants in her hand.

"Laf brought them with them," Carmilla replied. "I figured we'd want to make a copy of the notebook and the memory sticks but I didn't want to mess up the memory sticks so I texted Laf around seven."

"Are they still here?"

"They are," Carmilla shrugged. "There was some encrypting but they didn't have much trouble." She knelt at Laura's feet and took the garbage bag off her leg as she continued; "I started scanning the notebook but then I decided to type it all into a spreadsheet to try and make some sense of it." She shook her head. "It's bad, Laura, there's almost thirty cops, half of them compromised."

"Shit," Laura sighed as Carmilla pulled her underwear up and then a pair of sweatpants. "I need to see that list."

"I printed two copies…" Carmilla trailed off at a knock at the door.

"Rick's here!" Danny called.

"I thought he wasn't coming until after noon," Laura frowned with a glance at the clock.

"He wants to take the files somewhere more secure," Carmilla provided as she helped Laura to her feet and then pulled her underwear and sweatpants the rest of the way up. "Wait, you think Deidre is messing with her?"

"She helped fake my dad's death rather than kill him," Laura commented as she took her crutches from Carmilla. "Deidre has to know Lilita is getting some information…"

"How though? Isn't she in isolation?" Carmilla questioned as she went to follow Laura from the bedroom.

"J.P.," Laura replied simply as she stopped at the door.

"The cab driver?"

"He's a first-year cadet," Laura explained. "I got him inside the prison with Lilita and he's been dropping information the whole time."

"Crafty," Carmilla smiled and kissed her cheek. "I take it Rick doesn't know?"

"It was his idea," Laura replied and pushed the door open. "Can you grab my laptop from the office?" After Carmilla had kissed her cheek she made her way over to the table where Rick was waiting. "You're early," she commented as he pulled a chair out for her at the head of the table and then helped her put her casted leg on a chair.

"Thought you'd want to get these file boxes out of your hair as soon as possible," he offered and sat beside her.

"Where are you taking them?"

"With your permission, I thought we could store them at your condo," he replied. "You know, given your top-of-the-line security system and that it's already under guard as an active crime scene."

"That's fine, I guess," she sighed and took her laptop from Carmilla and opened it.

"Coffee?" Carmilla offered as she handed both Laura and Rick a few sheets of paper each.

"What's this?" Rick questioned.

"That's from the notebook I told you about," Carmilla supplied. "You'll want to pay particular attention to the first page," she suggested as she went to make Laura and herself coffee.

"Shit," he hissed just loud enough for Laura to hear.

"What?" she whispered.

"He's here," he replied while pointing at a name on the list of compromised officers.

"Babe?" Laura prompted as Carmilla put her coffee down beside her. "I'm going to print something off, can you grab it for me, please?"

"Sure, Pup," she smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Be right back."

"What do we do?" Rick questioned once Carmilla was out of earshot.

"You armed?"

"Usually," he answered and took his gun from its holster.

"Got a spare?" she questioned and then took his smaller gun once he'd taken it from his boot.

"What's the plan?" he asked again.

"Play along," she replied and then, when the two officers who had come with Rick to pick up the file boxes from the clinic returned, hit print and continued loud enough for them to hear. "So this is the list of compromised officers, we'll have to take them all…"

Laura trailed off as several things happened very quickly and yet seemed to be in slow motion; one of the officers had stopped dead at Laura's words and then, in one swift motion, drew his gun and leveled it at her. Before either she or Rick could react, Carmilla returned from the office, assessed the situation, sprinted towards the armed man and tackled him to the ground with enough force that his gun went skidding across the floor. But she wasn't done; before the man had even thought to struggle, Carmilla wrapped her arm around his neck and choked him unconscious.

"You can let him go," Laura informed her, a slight chuckle beneath her words.

"Wait," Carmilla met her eyes, "you knew this was going to happen?"

"Not this exactly," Rick countered as he holstered his gun and then offered her a hand up. "But his name is on the list you gave me."

Carmilla stood and watched Rick handcuff the man and then lift him up and sit him in a chair.

"So what do we do with him now?" Carmilla asked as she went to gather the forgotten sheet of paper she'd dropped in an effort to protect Laura.

"Well," Laura started thoughtfully as she took the sheet of paper from Carmilla, looked it over once and then handed it to Rick, "I say you and I question him."

"You and me?" blurted Carmilla.

"You can't be serious!" Rick interrupted before Laura had a chance to answer.

"I am," Laura asserted. "Oh, c'mon, this can hardly come as a surprise."

"But…" he stammered.

"Being a cop was only ever meant to be a means to an end." Laura shrugged. "Now that that end is in sight, I see no reason why I should continue to risk my life for a job I never wanted in the first place." Rick shook his head and rubbed his face as he walked away. "Look, Rick," she prompted and waited for him to turn her way, "you have far bigger fish to fry. You need to round up all these people, both the compromised and uncompromised…"

"Why the uncompromised?"

"Because if you only arrest the compromised they're bound to go after the rest," Laura explained patiently as she watched the unconscious officer slowly come around and recognize his predicament. "Start with the cops, we need to stop the leaks." She looked back to Rick. "Let me and Carm question him since we can do it 'off the record'."

"Fine," Rick accepted. "I need to make some calls, come get me when you're done?"

Carmilla took a seat next to Laura and studied her a moment.

"What?" Laura prompted.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, why?"

"Someone just tried to kill you," Carmilla pointed out.

"Gee must be Monday," she joked.

"It isn't a joke, Laura," Carmilla replied with an edge. "Someone tried to kill you in our home."

"And he'd have been shot before he had a chance to pull the trigger," Laura divulged as she put Rick's gun on the table beside her laptop. "But thanks for 'rescuing me'," she praised and kissed Carmilla's cheek. "That was quite the tackle." Laura studied the list Carmilla had given her and then leveled her gaze at the handcuffed man. "So, Mr. Hughes, want to tell me exactly what you hoped to accomplish here?"

When he didn't answer Carmilla got up, walked behind him and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Answer her!" she commanded.

"I had no choice," he muttered.

"I've heard that before," Carmilla smacked him again. "You didn't answer her question."

"C'mon, Don," Laura coaxed. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"You can't help me," he replied, his voice shaking slightly. "She'll ruin me if I don't do what she told me."

"Who told you to do what exactly?" Carmilla pressed. "And almost as importantly, when were you given this task?"

"I don't know her name, I never met her in person," he supplied. "She contacted me just after the first 'purge' of the department, told me…" his courage failed him and he looked down again.

"Told you what?" Laura prodded impatiently.

"What exactly has she got on you, anyway?" Carmilla asked as she went to take a look at the list she'd given Laura. "Gambling debt?" He nodded but didn't look up. "How much do you owe?"

"Twenty-five thousand but…"

"Who has she threatened?" Laura interjected at his hesitancy.

"My little brother and sister," he replied.

"And what was your assignment?" Carmilla prodded.

"Kill Laura and anyone who got in my way," he answered, his voice so quiet they barely heard him.

"So that was your plan?" Laura laughed. "Kill me and everyone else in the house?" He shrugged. "And if you got killed in the attempt?"

"She said she'd see to it that my family was provided for as long as I killed you first," he supplied.

"Are you working alone?" Laura questioned and received his nod. "Were you leaking information to her?" He shook his head. "Is that only because you didn't have anything worthwhile to share?" He shrugged. "Look, Don, you've got to give me something or we can't help you."

"Help me?" he scoffed. "I just tried to kill you, why would you help me?"

"Because you're just as much a victim as most of the people on that list," Carmilla offered and looked at Laura. "I guess he can't officially be arrested yet or we'll tip off the rest, right?" Laura nodded. "Laf's working on finding addresses for everyone, hopefully that'll make the task a little easier."

"It should." Laura sighed as she studied the handcuffed man. "Is this something you'd have done on your own?" she asked him. "You know, kill someone in cold blood?"

"No," he admitted. "Why do you think I like working in filing?"

"Fair enough." Laura looked back at Carmilla. "Can you go grab Rick?" She looked back at Don as Carmilla left. "You'll be going to a safe house for now," she explained to his obvious relief. "You'll still be charged with attempted murder but if you're in danger from the people you owe money to, we can take care of that. Cooperate and we might even get the judge to show some leniency."

"You'd do that for me even after I tried to kill you?" he questioned as Carmilla returned with Rick and Steven in tow.

"First of all, I doubt you'd have gone through with it," she replied. "Secondly, you were put in an impossible position by a woman who doesn't care if you live or die, I do."

"Thank you," he answered as Steven helped him to his feet.

"You'll be taking him to a 'safe house'?" she questioned Rick.

"Steven is taking him and there'll be two trusted officers there to meet him," he supplied as he sat at the table. "So what's the plan?" he asked once Steven had left with Don.

"Detain all the officers and get them all at the same time," Laura suggested. "We can't risk them tipping each other off." Rick nodded. "Next go for the compromised civilians with loved ones in danger followed by the uncompromised with family in danger and then the rest of the compromised and uncompromised, in that order."

"Why?" Carmilla questioned.

"Because the only way we're going to get all the cops is if we take them all at the same time," Laura explained. "I think, as soon as they realize what's happening, they'll go after the most at risk first."

"Makes sense," Rick sighed. "I've got a long few days ahead of me."

"Hopefully Laf can help with that," Carmilla commented. "They're currently tracking down as many people on the list as they can." She stood from the table. "I'll go see where they're at and grab the notebook and memory sticks for you to officially put them into evidence."

Rick waited until Carmilla had disappeared into the office before asking; "So, what happened yesterday?"

"Were they able to get an id on the body?"

"No," he shook his head at her obvious deflection. "The fire burnt so hot for so long there was nothing left to identify. Which, I'm guessing, was the point."

"Shit," Laura hissed and ran her hands through her hair.

"What?" Rick asked as Carmilla returned.

"When we got there we could tell someone was in the front seat but couldn't tell who because the window was dirty." She shook her head. "I just figured out why and why the back window was left open." She took a deep breath as she was feeling slightly nauseous from her realization. "I couldn't tell who it was because it looked like their face was taken off by a gunshot. I just realized the reason we couldn't see through the window is because it was covered in their face." She shook her head again. "It might have been my dad," she admitted. "He was the right approximate size."

"But you don't think it was," Rick surmised.

"I think," Laura started carefully, "that if it wasn't him the only way he continues to breath is if we assume it was him."

"You think he faked his death?" he guessed.

"I don't know," she replied, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "But if he did, he must have had a reason."

"So we should let him stay 'dead'?" he suggested.

"We can investigate once Deanna is dealt with," Laura countered. "Chances are he'll reappear once it's safe."

"And are we any further ahead on the 'Deanna' front?" Rick inquired.

"We think we know who Deidre is masquerading as," Carmilla supplied but trailed off at a look from Laura. "What?" she prompted. "He needs to know if you're resigning and he's taking your place."

Laura considered her for a moment and then turned to Rick.

"It's not that I don't trust you but we can't risk her running," she stated delicately. "Here's the thing; she finds out we're looking for her and runs and we might lose Lilita as well."

"How do you figure?"

"If her twin runs she can't defend herself, right?" He nodded. "What happens if Lilita gets on the stand and blames her twin for all her misdeeds?"

"But then she'd have to prove that Deidre exists," Carmilla pointed out. "Laf's gone back more than fifty years and can find no evidence that Deidre or Lilita Morgan ever existed."

"That's probably because they're only looking on the internet," Laura argued. "Think about it, they're at least sixty years old and computers and computer filing didn't really become a thing until the mid-seventies." She rubbed her face. "She might have screwed herself," she chuckled. "In order to blame her sister she'd first have to prove she exists and it sounds like they might have done too good a job covering their tracks."

"But it might be enough for 'reasonable' doubt," Rick mused. "But even if we catch both, they might do the same thing, blame each other to the point that a jury wouldn't convict either of them."

"Not unless we can find Deidre and offer her some kind of deal for her cooperation?" Laura proposed. "Maybe a reduced sentence at a facility outside of B.C.?"

"We don't have the authority to offer that," Rick pointed out.

"She doesn't need to know that," Laura countered. "And it doesn't matter if it's a real deal or not, we just need to give her a reason to cooperate."

"But if we can't look for her for fear of her running away…"

"... then we wait for her to come to us," Laura finished for him. "If we're right, she'll do just that."

"Right about what?" he questioned.

"That she wants this to end just as badly as we do," Carmilla replied and then smiled as LaFontaine joined them. "All done?"

"Mostly," they replied and handed both Rick and Laura several pieces of paper each. "There's maybe a dozen people I can't find and some of them are dead or reported missing."

"So just how many people am I rounding up?" he sighed.

"About twenty-five cops," they supplied. "Fifteen of them compromised. As for the rest?" They shook their head with a sympathetic look at Carmilla. "Not counting the people in Carm's inner circle?" Laura nodded. "Maybe seventy-five with about a third compromised."

"Thanks for all your hard work," Rick praised as he looked over the updated list. "If there's ever anything I can do…"

"A ride back to the gym would be appreciated," they smiled. "I've got some experiments I'm monitoring."

"Sure thing," Rick smiled. "Unless there's anything else I need to know?"

"Nothing that can't wait until I meet with the bosses tomorrow," Laura answered. "Which is at what time, exactly?"

"Ten a.m.," he provided to her groan. "You want me there, I take it?"

"Since, as Carmilla pointed out, you're likely going to be taking over the investigation, yes," she smiled. "Or, at least, I'm going to suggest that you do and I might as well get all of you caught up at the same time."

"Alright," he sighed. "I'd better get going, this is going to be a headache pulling this off."

"Here's the notebook and memory sticks," Carmilla said as she gave them to him. "Keep them safe as they're the only thing that proves that list is real."

"Will do," he replied and motioned her to stand so he could give her a quick hug. "It's almost over kid."

"I hope so."

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked Laura.

"With bells on," she jested.

"Alright, I'll keep you updated," he offered and motioned for LaFontaine to follow him out.

Carmilla got up to refill their coffees and returned to the table.

"You okay?" she asked Laura.

"I'm fine, why?"

"Another day and another murder attempt?"

"When did almost getting killed become not a big deal?" she pondered aloud. "I mean really, it's just another day."

"You really think Deidre will come to us?"

"I think, once it comes to light that we're rounding people up from the notebook she left us, that she will because Lilita is going to freak," Laura suggested. "With every new discovery, I'm more and more convinced that she's trying to help us end this." She shook her head and rubbed her face. "The big question is; what will Lilita do?"

"What can she do?"

"Run," Laura suggested. "They managed to break Will out, what's to say they won't do it again?"

"True," Carmilla sighed. "I hate this, this 'sit -tight-and-wait' plan."

"But we're not just sitting tight and waiting," Laura disagreed. "We're prodding them with every little thing we do." She took a long sip of her coffee. "If we're lucky, and I mean like winning-the-lottery-grand-prize-two-weeks-in-a-row kind of lucky, Deidre will come to us for help breaking Lilita out and then we take them both out."

Later that night, Carmilla lie on the couch wedged between Laura and the back of the couch, her head on Laura's chest. After lunch, they'd spent the afternoon going through the files on the four memory sticks. Carmilla's were mostly medical records, which is why there were two of them, the multiple x-rays and scans taking up far more storage than the balance of the files along with a few short videos they hadn't the nerve to watch. Lilita's memory stick proved one of their many hunches correct; she'd spent hundreds of thousands of dollars maintaining her appearance over the last twenty years.

Will's, however, was the most disturbing of all four. It contained three videos, they only watched one. Even then, they weren't able to finish it. The only good thing was that they figured out why there was a replica of Deanna's master bedroom. It also explained how and why her little brother was so fucked up.

She snuck her hand under Laura's shirt as the movie they were watching came to an end, Laura having fallen asleep about a half hour in. She'd listened to her heart and breathing slow but didn't have the heart to wake her. Besides which, she needed some time to process all that had happened in the last few days.

What worried her most was Laura's reaction to yet another murder attempt. But the more she thought about it, the more she understood. After one of the many beating she'd endured, she realized she no longer considered it a big deal. It was just her 'normal'. She knew it wasn't normal despite Deanna's concentrated efforts to convince her that it was her fault. That she was to blame for the beatings. She couldn't help but chuckle; sometimes, after that epiphany, she had caused the beatings and when she started fighting back verbally, made them worse.

"Did I miss the whole movie?" Laura mumbled as she woke. Carmilla looked up at her, smiled and nodded. "Sorry."

"Don't be," she chuckled and kissed her softly. "Now I can keep you up for a couple of hours."

"Oh really?" Laura asked as she brushed Carmilla's hair behind her ear. "What did you have in mind?"

Carmilla pushed herself up into a seated position, her back against the couch, one leg folded under her and the other across Laura's waist.

"Well," she started as she stroked Laura's cheek, "I suppose that depends on how you're feeling."

"Physically or other?"

"How's your leg?"

"Better than its been in three weeks."

"Really?" Carmilla replied skeptically.

"Really," Laura affirmed. "Aside from the incisions itching, the dull ache is totally gone."

Laura went to sit up, made it a few inches and then slumped back down with a wince and a groan.

"You okay?"

"I think I hit the pavement harder than I realized," Laura confided.

"What hurts?" Carmilla asked as she stood on the leg that had been across Laura's waist and held her hands out to Laura to help her sit up.

"My biceps," she replied with a groan as she sat up. "Shoulders," she listed as she rolled them. "And my neck is a little stiff."

"Here," Carmilla prompted as she got off the couch completely, went to stand behind her and took both of Laura's biceps in her hands. "Sit up straight," she instructed, Laura complying with another groan. "Deep breath in." Once Laura had done as she was asked, she continued; "And out, slowly." As Laura exhaled she pulled back on both her arms. "Better?"
"A bit."

"Are your sore or injured?"

"Just sore, I think."

"Okay, new plan," said Carmilla as she moved to help Laura first turn where she was seated and then stand on her good leg. "Massage first and then see how you feel?"

"Me?" Laura laughed. "You're the one who's been up since four."

"I might have fallen asleep at the table after Laf got here," she admitted with a kiss. "Got woken up by your crazy kitten head butting me."

"My crazy kitten?" Laura scoffed to Carmilla's raised eyebrow. "Okay, fine, my crazy kitten."

"Hey guys," Danny said uncomfortably as she entered from the stairs that led to her apartment. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Not yet," Carmilla joked. "Would you mind walking Lucy and taking her for the night?"

"Worried she'll get in the way?" teased Danny.

"More like; we have to be downtown by ten and I'm worried we won't have time to take her out in the morning," differed Carmilla.

"Fair enough, what about the cats?" Danny asked.

"They're fine," Laura replied. "Even if they are a little nuts."

"Alright," Danny replied with a smile. "I was hoping I could talk to you guys at some point tomorrow?"

"I think we're planning to hit the gym after Laura's meeting," Carmilla said and received a nod from Laura. "Why don't we plan to have dinner together?"

"Sounds good," Danny replied. "C'mon Lucy, want to go out?"

The little black Chihuahua jumped off the couch and started dancing around her.

"Use the leash?" Laura requested. "I know we're fenced in but…"

"... who knows what's between here and the fence?" finished Danny.

"That and she's almost impossible to see in the dark," added Laura.

"True," chuckled Danny. "I'll see you guys tomorrow?" They both nodded. "Alright, c'mon Lucy."

Once Danny had left with the dog, Carmilla looked at Laura.

"Can you make it to the bedroom or do you need help?" she asked.

"I hate to be that person but…"

"... your arms and shoulders hurt too much to navigate crutches?"

Carmilla scooped her up in her arms, and once Laura had grabbed her crutches, carried her to the bedroom and set her on the bed. She helped her take off her sweatpants and then went to the bathroom to grab her massage oil and a couple of towels while Laura finished undressing.

"Where do you want me?" Laura asked when she returned.

"How about…" she trailed off as she prodded Laura to lie down and then helped her turn so her head was off the end of the bed when she turned onto her stomach and her casted leg was off the edge so she was more comfortable. "How's that?"

"Good."

Carmilla stripped, added oil to her hands and started Laura's massage. Neither spoke as Carmilla was too focused on what she was doing and Laura too busy enjoying it. She let her mind wander as she worked out each of the knots in Laura's back; yes, their life was far from perfect, but there were moments, many of them, like this one, that were.