A/N: Surprise surprise! Another chapter! The end is flowing easily and I might actually be able to do weekly, yes, I said weekly updates! Enjoy!
Now
Laura had arrived at the gym far too early but as she was wholly responsible for the small gathering of people outside of it, she wanted to be there to greet them. To say it had been a rough week might have been the understatement of the century. After Monday's events came the cleanup and trying to figure out what the hell happened. If nothing else, those events proved that Deanna still had at least one patsy pulling the strings for her. If that wasn't enough, LaFontaine, while correct she'd be walking by the next day, had overestimated the effectiveness of their 'healing compound'. Laura was still a miracle recovery by the doctor's standards as she should have been casted and laid up for at least a week to make sure the femoral artery she'd damaged healed, and while he conceded that the damaged artery had healed, seemingly overnight, the damage to her thigh muscles hadn't. Aside from the four inch gash there were almost another dozen cuts, only a few of them needing stitches, scattered across the backs of her legs and arms. When she'd woken this morning, aside from her leg, it was the closest she'd felt to normal since Monday. All the smaller aches and pains she'd gotten from hitting the pavement as hard she did were starting to fade, as was the lingering headache from the minor concussion.
By Tuesday night she'd decided she wanted to be outside the gym when Carmilla left it for the last time. By Wednesday morning she had a plan, by that night she'd managed to contact most of the people waiting with her. Thursday morning she finally called Dana and let him in on what she'd done; found someone for each of the cast to meet as they left. She'd reasoned that if most of them were already there, or on their way, he could hardly say no.
She was leaning against Carmilla's MG, her cane resting beside her and her backpack on the car's hood when she received a text from Ethan; "Fight's started."
"This is it," she thought. "For better or worse, in the next few hours I'll know where we stand."
Laura had sent Perry to see Carmilla in hopes of finding out if she knew about anything that happened on Monday. If she did, she didn't mention it. Perry had assured her, though, that Carmilla seemed fine.
A little more than ten minutes had passed when she looked up at the sound of the gym's front doors opening and saw Ethan running towards her.
"You gotta come quick," he panted as he reached her, "something's wrong. She bolted from the gym before anyone could stop her."
"Where is she?" Laura spat out as she reached for her bag and cane.
"Round the side," he answered and turned his back to her. "C'mon, hop up."
"Don't be..."
"I'm not," he interrupted. "She needs you, now, and you can barely walk, let alone run."
Since his point was a valid one, she slipped her backpack on and then hopped up onto his back and felt a searing pain in the back of her leg as she pulled several of her stitches. "Damn it!" she hissed and thought; "Good thing I wore the black shorts."
"You okay?" Ethan panted as they reached a prone Carmilla on the grass surrounded by, Laura presumed, her coaches, and Dana White.
Laura didn't answer him but sunk to her knees beside her weeping girlfriend instead. "Someone want to tell me what happened?" she demanded.
"L... L... Laura?" Carmilla stammered.
"Hey Kitten," she soothed as she awkwardly pulled her into her arms. "It's okay, I got you, just breath." Carmilla nodded, but as Laura studied her through the blood that covered most of her face, she realized her blood sugar was dropping. "Ethan?" she called as she shrugged off her backpack. "Grab the sugar gel from the side pocket and the protein shake from the lunch bag inside my bag please?" Ethan nodded, found the gel pack first, opened it and handed it to her. She looked back to Carmilla to find her fading fast. "Hey, hey, hey," she cooed as she squeezed the concentrated sugar into her mouth, "come back to me baby." The gel pack worked the way it should and Carmilla's eyes started to clear. "That's it," Laura coaxed as she held the protein shake up to her lips, Ethan thoughtfully having opened it. She let Carmilla drink until, with a badly shaking hand, she reached up and pushed her hand away.
"Someone want to tell me what happened?" Laura repeated calmly as she looked up to the men around her.
"I'm not sure," one of them finally replied as he knelt beside them.
"Gilbert right?"
He nodded and then continued; "Something happened after Randa broke her nose," he shook his head. "It was like, she was there, but not."
"She went out in the third and knocked her out in about five seconds, we're checking, and then turned to hit her again," Dana supplied. "All of sudden she got this look of fear on her face, fell back onto her ass and then bolted out here."
Laura looked back to Carmilla and regarded her a moment.
"Flashbacks?" she questioned gently and received Carmilla's nod. She looked back to Dana. "How long before she gets disqualified for leaving the cage?"
"Maybe twenty minutes?" he replied as he looked at his watch.
"And how much do you have left to film?"
"Just the decision, her face off and the coaches, and," he looked at Carmilla. "I take it you still want to hand out your 'gifts'?" Carmilla nodded as he knelt down beside her. "I can try to get them to give us more time."
"What do you think, Carm?" Laura prodded as she stroked her blood covered cheek. "Think you can pull it together in fifteen minutes and stay that way long enough to get you through, maybe, an hour of filming?"
Carmilla looked at Dana and then back at Laura as she reached up and held her hand. "S... s... stay?"
Laura looked at her moment and then back to Dana; "She'll get it together faster if I stay for the rest of the filming," she explained and looked back to Carmilla to find her nodding and smiling. "But, uh, we'll ask the rest of the cast if it's okay for me to stay before we start?" she asked Carmilla, who again nodded. "I know it's a lot to ask, but..."
Dana silenced her with a wave of his hand as he stood.
"You guys go in and tell them we'll start filming in a half hour," he informed Gilbert and the rest of the coaches, effectively dismissing them before turning back to Carmilla and Laura. "Do we use the footage?" Dana asked, looking between them.
Laura again studied her girlfriend as she considered her answer and then looked back to Dana when Carmilla nodded. "Yes," she replied firmly. "I'm not sure what happened, but I suspect she had a flashback to the first time her stepmother broke her nose," she explained, a slight look of shock and nod from Carmilla confirmed her theory. "Right now, she's fighting the worst anxiety attack I've seen her have because of those flashbacks."
"Should I be worried?" Dana asked, explaining further when both women looked at him in confusion. "What if something like this happens again?"
"I don't think it will," Laura replied truthfully as she looked back to Carmilla. "For one, this is the biggest thing in her past she's forgotten until now." She looked back to Dana. "But it was brought on by stress; the stress of being here, being away from her support system and then add in all the crap in the last two weeks," she looked back to Carmilla, "and boom!" she mimicked an explosion. "You have the perfect conditions for a crap storm." She searched for a spot on Carmilla's face that wasn't covered in blood and kissed the corner of her forehead. "So, no, I don't think it will happen again because she'll never be in exactly this kind of situation again."
Dana rubbed his face and looked at his watch.
"Look, I have to go talk to the officials," he sighed. "We'll talk in a few days?"
"Use the footage, Dana," Laura urged. "If anyone still has doubts that Carm is telling the truth about her stepmother, this will convince them." She looked back to Carmilla. "You just can't fake this level of terror." She looked back to him. "We have plans tomorrow and Sunday morning, how about we meet for an early dinner Sunday evening?" He nodded and then walked away. She looked back to Carmilla and sighed; "Hey."
"H... h... hey."
"Think you can walk?" Carmilla shrugged. "How about we try standing first?" Carmilla chuckled and nodded. She looked up and spotted Ethan standing nearby. "Think you can give me a hand up?" she called.
Ethan nodded and walked over as Laura helped Carmilla sit up on her own. Laura got to her knees, took his hand to stand and then, as she stood, felt a trickle down the back of her leg.
"Um, Laura, you're..."
"I know," she cut him off and prodded him to help her help Carmilla to her feet. She pulled her into her arms the second she was standing and held her as tightly as she could. "It's going to be okay," she cooed. "I got you, okay?" she added as she pushed her away to take her face in her hands. "How about we get you cleaned up?" Carmilla nodded and then frowned as Ethan handed Laura her cane.
"Y... you okay?" Carmilla stammered.
"Will it help you pull it together quicker if you're angry?" Laura questioned as she put her free arm around Carmilla's waist and led her back toward the gym.
"Maybe."
"What happened Monday wasn't about sabotaging your fight," Laura supplied. "Well, maybe that was 'plan B', but it was more to get you out of the house." She glanced at her before continuing. "I won't go into detail, not now because it might be counterproductive and we don't have enough time for me to explain properly, but the short version is; someone was sent to kill you at the clinic. They, in turn, was fitted with a bomb vest that was triggered just as I was about to get some answers. I took some shrapnel to the backs of my legs and one of them was really deep." Carmilla pulled her to a stop. "I'll be okay, really, give me a week or two and I'll be totally fine," she rushed to assure her.
"You were hurt," Carmilla said quietly, surprising them both that her voice was steady despite how low it was. "When you came to see me?" Laura nodded. "You didn't say anything."
"I couldn't Carm, you know why," Laura all but pleaded. "I mean, look at you, you're already a mess and you didn't know." She hadn't been paying attention, Ethan having led them inside as they talked. "Medical?" she suggested. He nodded and led them down the hall. "Besides," she continued, picking up where she left off, "if you found out what happened, Deanna still would have won."
"True," Carmilla conceded and held her hands out to her once they were in medical. "Take these off for me? I want to wash my face."
"Sure," Laura smiled. "You mean there's a face under all that blood?" she joked as the medic joined them and offered her a pair of scissors.
"She head-butted me by accident near the end of the second," Carmilla supplied and then, at the look of disbelief on Laura's face, asked; "She do the same to you? Randa?"
"You know we fought?" Laura stalled.
"Found out on Wednesday," Carmilla supplied. "It's okay, Pup, I understand why you didn't tell me," she added as she watched Laura removing her gloves. "But this ends tonight, right?"
"Mostly," Laura qualified. "I was planning on telling you most everything tonight but there's someone waiting to meet you at the house and they have answers they haven't given me yet so it'll just be easier for you to talk to them," Laura took a deep breath. "Judging by your face, we're going to be making one last trip to the clinic before we head home, so it might be kind of late by the time we get there."
"Okay, whoa..." Carmilla laughed. "Slow down! There are about five things in that statement I don't understand." She shook her head. "So let's start with, house?"
"We've, uh, I mean you," Laura stammered. "You've been given a house about a half hour from downtown, but please, I can't explain more than that right now."
"Because of the people waiting there?" Carmilla questioned and received Laura's nod.
"Excuse me, Miss Hollis?" the medic interrupted. "Did you know you're bleeding?"
"Yes," she sighed. "How about you get me what I need to clean her up and you can take care of my leg?" she suggested. "I might not be a level three first attendant like my girlfriend, but I did ace the level two."
"You did?" Carmilla blurted
"Yup," Laura smiled. "That's how I knew I was in good hands when I broke my arm." She shrugged. "Given what I do for a living, watching my mother die and spending most of my free time in a gym, seemed like a good thing to have."
"What, um, do you do for a living?" Carmilla asked as Laura removed the last of the tape covering her hands.
"I've been a cop since I was twenty," Laura replied and then waited for her reaction.
"Seriously?" Carmilla laughed. "So you knew Rick before I even met you?"
"Yes, but he didn't know what I was doing until we took care of Bruce," Laura clarified. "We can't get into this right now."
"No," Carmilla sighed. "You're right," she smiled. "Let me wash my face so I can finally kiss you."
Laura followed her to the sink, washed the blood from her hands then met the medic over by the cot and dropped her shorts to the floor so the medic could check her wound as she prepared the supplies to clean up Carmilla.
"Shit," Carmilla hissed as she joined them. "Pup," she kissed her softly, "that looks bad."
"She's right," the medic interjected before Carmilla could kiss her again. "You've pulled most of your stitches and opened a bit of the laceration."
"Just bandage me up," Laura instructed. "I'm going to have to take her to get her nose looked at anyway, they can clean me up at the clinic." She patted the cot. "C'mon, we're running short of time; let's get you cleaned up a bit." Laura went to work on the cut above her eyebrow first. "Shit, babe, I think you're going to need a few stitches too," she informed her as she put a bandage over it to stem the bleeding. "But," she smiled as she carefully prodded the area around her nose, "I don't think your nose is broken, fractured maybe, but not badly."
"That's a relief," Carmilla sighed, studied her a moment and then asked; "You knew, didn't you? About the pictures?"
"I, uh, suspected," Laura replied carefully; she was afraid to tell Carmilla too much as she was still so fragile. "How much do you remember?"
"I don't," Carmilla shook her head, "I can't talk about it, not yet."
"I think I know something that might make you feel better," Laura offered.
"What could you possibly tell me that will make me feel better about my stepmother whoring me out?" Carmilla asked angrily as she jumped off the cot and walked to the other side of the room. "Without my knowledge, no less?" she hissed.
"Can you give us a few minutes?" Laura asked the medic, who nodded and seemed relieved to be leaving. "Are you mad at me for not telling you sooner or..."
"When did you know?" Carmilla cut her off.
"I've suspected for a while but I had no idea it was more than once let alone as extensive as it was," she supplied as she walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't tell you because," she sighed, "I didn't want to open a can of worms you didn't remember if I didn't have to." She rubbed her arm. "But Kitten, there is good news."
"How can any of this be remotely good?" Carmilla spat.
"I have definitive proof the pictures were staged and altered," Laura smiled.
"Staged?"
"Aside from being touched inappropriately while clothed, nothing more happened," Laura explained. "Both you and Deanna's targets were drugged to the point of being barely functional. She'd take pictures of you with the person and then take the naked pictures of you both separately to create the photos you found."
"How do you know all this?" Carmilla asked in shock.
"We don't have time to get into that," Laura forestalled when Dana poked his head in the door.
"I got you a little more time but that time is up," he advised them as he entered. "You going to be okay to get through this?"
"I'll manage," Carmilla replied dryly. "Can someone grab me a t-shirt and my shorts?" She looked at Laura. "I'm feeling a little..."
"Vulnerable?"
"Exposed," Carmilla countered. "It was fine when I was fighting but..."
"I'll be right back," Dana said before leaving.
"I'm proud of you," Laura said as she turned to her and ran her thumb along her jaw. "You did it, you made the finals," she kissed her forehead. "And that you managed to win despite whatever was going on?"
"I've been feeling off all day," Carmilla began quietly. "I didn't sleep well last night, kept dreaming about finding a stairwell behind Deanna's desk."
"We need to put this on 'pause' for now," Laura stopped her. "I already know a bit about what happened, but I'm afraid, if we get into it right now, you won't be holding it together for much longer." She could see the frustration in Carmilla's posture. "Please, baby, it's not that I don't want to tell you, I promise, by this time tomorrow if I haven't told you something it'll be because I just haven't told you yet." She put her hands on Carmilla's arms to stop her from walking away. "Listen to me, the better you hold it together, the quicker we get out of here, right?" Carmilla nodded. "You've trusted me this long, please Carm, just trust me for a little while longer."
"Do I have a choice?" she asked defeated.
"Please baby, it's..."
"No," Carmilla sighed. "It's fine," she took a deep breath. "Cause as much as I hate to admit it, you're not only right, you're the only thing holding me together."
"Considering the state I found you in I'm impressed you pulled it together at all," Laura commented.
"Yes, well," Carmilla softened and kissed her; "despite how little I know you, you know me very well." She smiled and kissed her forehead. "Anger trumps anxiety every time and as pissed as I am that you didn't tell me you got hurt, I'm far more angry you got hurt in the first place."
"Carm, I promise, once we get out of here I'll tell you everything I can and answer whatever I can, okay?"
"Okay," she replied as Dana returned with a sweatshirt, her shorts and the envelope from her bag. "Hold onto this for me?" she asked as she handed Laura the envelope so she could get dressed. "How's Randa?" she questioned Dana.
"She'll be fine," he replied. "Though I think you broke her nose worse than she broke yours."
"Serves her right for breaking it," Carmilla joked before pulling on her sweatshirt and shorts. "C'mon, let's get this over with," she said as she took Laura's free hand and then followed Dana back into the gym.
Carmilla took a deep breath as they entered, not sure what to expect from her cast mates. Of everything she might have imagined though, finding them waiting just inside the doors and then clapping as one once they saw her, wasn't one of them. She motioned them to quieten and then looked to Laura to speak for her.
"Hey guys," Laura started, despite being nervous herself, she could tell Carmilla's nerves were worse but how tight her grip on her hand was. "So, um, Carm's not coping very well right now, and um, if it's okay with all of you, I'd like to stay for the rest of the filming to help her through it."
As one they looked to Randa.
"Hey, if I don't have a problem with it," she shrugged. "I don't see that anyone else should," she supplied to some surprised laughter. "What?" she laughed. "Whatever gets me out of here and on some pain medication faster works for me."
"Th... tha... thank you," Carmilla stammered.
"Alright then," Dana intervened. "Let's get this show back on the road. Carmilla, Randa, if you'll join me and the ref back in the cage?"
Carmilla nodded and kissed Laura's cheek before following Randa and Dana into the cage. She and Randa took their spots on either side of the ref and waited for the cameras to set up before Dana announced the winner.
"The winner, by knockout," he started to renewed applause, "and moving onto the finale to face Carla," he smiled. "Carmilla Karnstein!"
Carmilla had her hand raised and then turned and pulled Randa into a hug.
"It was a good fight," she said quietly.
"Good?" Randa laughed. "You totally kicked my ass."
"I like to keep my promises," she winked and looked over to Dana when she heard him calling Carla into the cage. "Look, I know you're dying to head to the hospital, but stick around a few more minutes, trust me, it'll be worth it."
Randa nodded and then left the cage as Carmilla and Carla faced off in the middle of the cage and then shook hands. She and Carla left the cage, Laura taking her hand at the first opportunity, to let the coaches film their face off.
Once they were done Dana got everyone's attention; "You'll all be free to go shortly and you'll be getting a call in the next few days to tell you who you'll be fighting on the finale, but before you go," he motioned Carmilla over. "Carmilla has one last speech to make, though," he smiled, "I have a feeling it'll be a short one."
Carmilla nodded and motioned everyone over to the matts where she led Laura over to the wall and sat down against it. As Carmilla waited she took the envelope back from Laura, emptied it and then sorted the envelopes so that they could be passed around the circle. She waited until she had everyone's attention and then passed the stack of envelopes to Bec sitting on her left who, once she'd passed the stack along, returned Carmilla's necklace and Promise Ring to her.
"Thanks Bec," Carmilla said fondly as she gave her a one armed hug and kissed her cheek. She looked around the circle, most were eyeing their envelopes but none had opened them. "Go ahead," Carmilla prompted. "They're not going to explode or anything," she joked and then looked at Laura. "Sorry, poor choice of words." She looked back to her cast mates. "You can read the letters later but, uh," she sighed. "Wednesday night I thanked you all for helping me through the last six weeks," she shook her head. "If it weren't for you all, what happened during the fight, might have happened a lot sooner and ended up sending me home."
"What, uh, did happen, exactly?" Carla interrupted. "What?" she protested as several people turned to glare at her. "I'm fighting her next, I have a right to know."
"That's fair," Carmilla replied. "The truth is, I'm not sure. But rest assured, now that it has happened, I know the signs and I'd forfeit a fight before I let it happen again." She rubbed her face and then regretted it when she touched her nose. "But, I don't, can't, get into that right now." She looked around. "Look, these gifts, they're just that, gifts. I get that most of you are doing this in hopes of earning a living, and frankly, I don't have to. The only tangible way I have to show you how much I appreciate each and every one of you is like this. If, for whatever reason, however, you don't feel right, or something, about taking it, all I ask is that you give it away. Give it to a charity, your favorite gym, whatever," she smiled. "Or, use it as I intended it, as a gift. Don't worry about money for the next few months and let's give Dana the most exciting Ultimate Fighter Finale ever." She smiled at their looks of shock, each of them only now realizing what they held. "And my offer to train at my gym extends to everyone, with my team getting first dibs, of course."
"What about me?" Tecia asked.
"If you're not fighting one of us, I don't have any objections," Carmilla reasoned. "But how about we get out of here?" she joked to renewed applause mixed with laughter.
Every fighter came over and thanked Carmilla for the generous gift and assured her they'd put it to good use. As the last of them headed out, Laura took her hand and led her out through the same side door she'd escaped out earlier.
"What are you doing?" Carmilla asked as they came around the front of the gym.
"It was Dana's idea," Laura replied and kissed her cheek. "Since you're partially responsible for what's about to happen, he thought you should get to see it."
"See what and responsible for what, exactly?"
Laura didn't get a chance to answer as Dana, over by the main doors, opened them. The first to exit was Bec followed by a shriek of, "Mommy!"
"What did you do?" Carmilla sniffed as more and more of the cast had their own happy reunions.
"I've had a pretty epically shitty week," Laura replied as she wiped away a tear of her own. "And I didn't want to wait any longer than necessary to see you." She turned to face her. "But it didn't seem fair if I was out here waiting for you..."
Carmilla interrupted her with a kiss.
"You're..." she shook her head and laughed. "You're amazing, you know that?" She kissed her again. "This?" she motioned to the rest of the cast. "It's perfect." She kissed her a little longer this time. "You reminded them they're not the only ones who could benefit from my gifts." She kissed her forehead. "Thank you."
"I didn't do it for them," Laura admitted with a blush. "I did it for me."
"Laura," she sighed, "if I had any doubt, it's gone." She smiled and took her hands. "If it weren't for you," she shook her head, "I'd of forfeited my fight because I'd still be a quivering incoherent mess. Hell, I probably wouldn't have made it this far to begin with." She kissed her softly. "I might not like the things you've done, or the methods you used to get us here, and I know, from what you've told me so far, you've kept more secrets than told me lies," she took a deep breath. "But I wouldn't be here without you." She smiled. "And I wouldn't want to be here with anyone but you."