When they arrived at the airport a short time later Carmilla took Dark aside to talk to him; she hated leaving with so many questions still unanswered but she also knew she and Laura desperately needed a break from it all.

"You sure you can trust her?" Dark asked as he looked over to where Danny and Laura were talking.

"Who? Danny?" she asked, continuing when he nodded. "I trust her more than I trust Will right now," she admitted ruefully. "Keep an eye on both of them while we're gone?" He nodded. "Go through Will's things when you have the chance, only don't let him know we're suspicious of him."

"We are?"

"He's been seeing Deanna behind my back and somehow convinced Danny he's on Deanna's side," she replied with an edge. "I don't know what he's up to, but even if he's actively working against me with Deanna," she sighed.

"He's still you little brother and you don't want to see him get hurt?" Dark offered.

"The bottom line is that I don't know and I don't have time for this shit," she replied.

"Why don't you call him before you leave? See if he admits where he is?" Dark suggested.

"No," she replied, smiling as her attention was drawn by a laughing Laura and Danny, "I'm still so angry from the meeting this morning that I don't think I can manage subtle at the moment."

"Fair enough," he allowed and pulled her into a hug. "And if it turns out the little shit has been working for her I'll gladly kick his ass on your behalf."

"You won't have to," she replied, "if he's working for her I will find a way to feed him his own testicles," she laughed as Dark crossed his legs and visibly squirmed. "I've put too much into this to have anyone, especially him, fuck it up."

"Why especially him?" Dark questioned.

"Because he's a big reason I'm doing it," she reminded him and sighed. "I hate that she targeted you again," Carmilla admitted sadly.

"It's my own fault for pissing her off," he joked.

"More like she knows how important you are to me," Carmilla amended.

"I love you too, midget," he said affectionately as he gave her an extra squeeze before letting her go. "Have a good trip and try not to worry about us too much?"

"Don't think you can stop me," she answered with a shake of her head. "I still can't, somehow, get over the fact that I've been driving around in a time bomb for the last year."

"Maybe you should take comfort from the fact that she didn't blow you up?" Dark suggested.

"Too many questions if I just randomly blew up," she pointed out. "Honestly I think it was more of a fail safe to destroy any evidence if I managed to get myself killed some other way." She smiled as Danny and Laura walked over to them. "Just keep me updated, okay, every night?"

"Sure thing," he replied and looked to Laura, "You'll take good care of her while you're gone?"

"Always," Laura replied and took her into her arms. "You wanted to get changed before we took off?"

"Yeah," she replied as Laura kissed her cheek, "As much as I love my leather, sitting in it for almost five hours doesn't really appeal." She looked to Danny. "You going to be okay Xena?"

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow," Danny joked.

"Call us, anytime, if you need to talk, okay? I mean, I know this, finding out everything you have in the last day, it's a lot, but we are your friends, okay?" Carmilla asked as she took Danny's arms in her hands and looked up to her. "And be careful with Will; I don't know what he's up to and I don't like it."

"Maybe I should call him? See if admits to where he is?" Danny suggested.

"Would you normally call him out of the blue to see where he is?" Carmilla countered.

"Well, no," Danny conceded.

"Then act as though nothing has changed," Carmilla advised, "And deposit that cheque to your account but don't forward it to Deanna until we get back."

"You're worried what she'll do once I break off ties with her?" Danny questioned.

"It's more that I have no clue what she'll do," she sighed as she saw Betty pull into the airport. "You're in the best of hands, though," she said as she gave Danny a hug. "But maybe…"

"Don't leave the gym too much while you're gone?" Dark teased.

"There's no such thing as safe right now, only safer," Carmilla clarified, "and I'm more worried what she'll do to you once she realizes you're no longer someone to be used." She looked to Laura. "Shall we?" Laura nodded, hugged both Danny and Dark and then followed her onto the plane.

"When did you have our bags brought out?" Laura asked as they entered the bedroom to find their overnight bags waiting for them on the bed.

"Steven came out a couple of days ago to give the plane a once-over along with a mechanic," supplied Carmilla as she fished out a pair of jeans and t-shirt to change into, "so I quickly packed our bags and asked him to bring them out so we wouldn't have to worry about it," she said as she threw her clothes on the bed and pulled out her phone. "I forgot to ask Rick a couple of things," she supplied at Laura's raised eyebrow.

"Can't it wait?" Laura asked.

"Probably," she replied but dialed Rick's number anyway, "but I'll feel better if I know the answers before we leave."

"And you're sure," Laura said as she slowly undid her shirt, "that it can't wait?"

"Since we don't have nearly enough time for me to fully appreciate what you're trying to do, yes," Carmilla replied and then kissed her briefly as she pouted. She dialed Rick's number and then put it on speaker while she changed.

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" Rick asked when he answered.

"Just a couple of things I forgot to ask you about," she replied as Laura took her cape from her and hung it up. "Any leads on my gun?"

"None, but it's been reported missing so if it turns up somewhere it shouldn't you'll be in the clear," he answered.

"What was so special about the top of the tree that a piece of it went missing?" she questioned.

"We think there was a lightening rod attached," he replied, "Carm, I hope you don't mind, but I've sent the techs up to put some extra security into your storage sheds, keep anyone from getting in there again."

"And we have no leads as to who found the most indirect way possible to help us?" she asked once she'd taken her shirt off.

"None, but I've organized a team to do a sweep of the perimeter, check to make sure the fence is still intact and check on the cameras," he informed her.

"Do all that but I doubt we'll find them if they don't want to be found," Carmilla replied tiredly. "Besides which, all things considered, someone helping us, even in a weird roundabout sort of way? Not high on my list of concerns at the moment."

"You're worried about Will?" he questioned.

"If the little shit is stupid enough to go back to her," she sighed again, "I want to say fuck it, he's made his bed and he can lie in it but…"

"He's blood," Rick finished.

"And he's the only blood I have left," she smiled as Laura walked over, took her in her arms and kissed her shoulder, "though granted, my chosen family is becoming far more important rather quickly." She kissed Laura's cheek. "Rick, keep an eye on Will. I want to know as much about what's he's up to before I confront him."

"Will do," he replied, "I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Sure, but call Laura," she paused as Laura gave her a squeeze, "she's still filtering the crap during training hours."

She turned in Laura's arms to find she was still wearing her blouse, albeit undone, but had also taken off her her dress pants to reveal lacy black underthings. "You're terrible," she growled as she pulled her close and kissed her neck.

"Just wanted you to know what you're missing out on," Laura answered as she undid Carmilla's leather pants. "You know, since we're playing host instead of joining the 'Mile High Club' like I thought we'd be doing."

"Oh Cupcake," Carmilla cooed affectionately as she pried Laura's hands from her pants, "as good as that sounds I doubt I'd have been comfortable getting it on here."

"Why not?" Laura managed, her voice having dipped as she watched Carmilla take off her pants.

"Well," she drawled as she pulled on her jeans slowly as she knew Laura was still watching her, "there's the fact that this room is hardly soundproof and we tend to get a little…"

"Oh god! You don't think Danny heard us last night, do you!?" Laura gasped in horror as her cheeks turned red.

"I doubt it," Carmilla replied with a sly smile, "Unlike this room, our bedroom is actually, pretty much, soundproof once the door's closed," she confided as she handed Laura a pair of jeans.

"But you usually sleep with the door open," Laura commented as she pulled on her jeans.

"Because there's not usually anyone else in the apartment and I don't like being cut off from it when I'm sleeping alone," she shrugged. "I like to hear what's going on."

"Alright, I can accept that excuse," Laura teased, "what are your others?"

"I don't know how I'd feel about being found in a compromising position and/or naked if the plane went down," she admitted, she'd only flown a few times since her father's death and hadn't been a big fan of it before then either.

"Yes, but if the plane went down we'd probably be dead so would it really matter?" Laura countered.

Before Carmilla could answer they were both startled by a knock at the door and then Steven calling through it to advise them they'd be taxing out to the runway in the next ten minutes.

"Tell you what," Carmilla said as she watched Laura finally slip a t-shirt over her head, "How about, after we leave Vegas, we come in here and cuddle until we get to New Mexico?" She leaned in and kissed her neck. "Maybe make out a little?" she suggested in her most seductive voice before Laura pulled her into a kiss so deep a low moan escaped her before she could stop it.

"Do you really think we could stop once we started?" Laura asked breathlessly when they parted.

"Point taken," Carmilla chuckled and kissed her briefly. "I'm willing to try if you are."

"Time to get buckled up!" Betty called.

"C'mon Pup," Carmilla said with a grin as she she took her hand and led her towards the door, "let's go get to know my next opponent." When they entered the main compartment Carmilla beelined for the bar fridge. "Beer?" she asked Laura who smiled and nodded in response as she went to sit down.

"Rose? Shannon?" Carmilla questioned.

"I shouldn't," Rose replied regretfully.

"I'll have a Grand Marnier, if you have it," Shannon answered.

"I think we might," Carmilla said as she opened the freezer to check, smiling when she found her, yet opened, bottle of Patron Tequila. "Or," she said presenting the frosty bottle with a flourish, "we can celebrate with this?" Shannon smiled but Rose shook her head. "Oh c'mon, one shot of very expensive Tequila won't kill you," she teased as she grabbed six shot glasses and walked over to the others. "Betty? Steven?"

"We're on duty," Betty replied seriously despite her smile.

"And you really think you're going to have anything to do once were in the air?" Carmilla joked.

"She has a point," Steven replied with a grin as he watched Carmilla open the bottle and pour out the shots carefully.

"One of us should be sober," Betty teased, "you know, in case of an emergency."

"Fine," Steven laughed, "I'll have hers," he said with a jerk of his thumb towards his wife.

Carmilla poured the shots and handed them out as the plane took off. She passed around a ziplocked bag of lime wedges and studied her own shot glass while she waited for them.

"To fighting a good fight!" she toasted as the plane leveled out.

Carmilla watched as Shannon drank her shot, suck on her lime and then stare at her empty glass.

"Is there something wrong?" Carmilla asked as the silence stretched.

"I had an interesting chat with Dana on my way here," Shannon replied and turned to Rose. "Thank you again for putting on your headphones." Rose smiled and shook her head. Shannon turned back to Carmilla. "I trust anything your associates have heard, or might hear, will remain confidential?"

"Of course," Betty replied from across the aisle.

"Dana is…" she sighed, "concernedyou'll get hurt and threaten your participation on the show." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "He's pressuring me to cancel the fight," she laughed ruefully. "Don't worry, that's not happening. Unless you want out?"

"What about Joe's, um, offer?" Laura asked vaguely with a glance at Rose.

"Carmilla has already fulfilled her end of the deal by accepting the fight," she supplied, "nowhere does it say you have to actually fight."

"You said you won't cancel the fight, why?" Laura questioned.

"Because the venue has sold out since the official announcement of your fight," she announced proudly, "and the buyrate for the pay-per-view has tripled." She looked from Rose to Carmilla. "Your fight has been moved up the card to co-main event."

"Seriously?" Carmilla gasped.

"No way!" Rose exclaimed.

"Holy Hufflepuff!" Laura blurted out, all of them having spoken at the same time and then bursting out in laughter.

"Ladies, my girlfriend," she teased and kissed her cheek. "So," she said as she turned back to Shannon, "what do you propose?"

"I'm not, officially, suggesting anything," she clarified lightly. "However, if the two of you could, somehow, come to some sort of agreement," she smiled, "I'd appreciate it."

"Of course," Carmilla replied.

"I'll go in the other room once we've leveled out," Shannon continued, "let the two of you talk."

"Thanks," Carmilla replied and sighed; Laura was rubbing her thumb with her own and it was calming her. "I noticed a variety in the sandwiches in the fridge if you're hungry."

The plane finally leveled and the pilot informed them they were free to move around the cabin.

"Come get me when you're done talking?" Shannon asked as before making her way to the other room.

Rose and Carmilla studied each other a moment after the door closed, neither willing to break the silence.

"What, exactly, do you think she's asking?" Rose questioned as she watched Carmilla go to the fridge to grab a couple more beers and a couple of sandwiches.

"Are you sure you don't want one?" Carmilla prodded as she waved a beer in her direction. "It's only Corona."

"Oh fine," Rose said with a laugh, "I'm not training again till Tuesday anyway," she nodded at the sandwiches in Carmilla's hand, "I'll have one of those too."

Carmilla handed Rose her beer and sandwich and then sat down next to Laura and unwrapped her sandwich as she gathered her thoughts.

"Look, Rose, I know there's no good reason for you to agree to this but…" Carmilla started, trailing off when Rose held up her hand.

"Wait," Rose said with a laugh, "I still don't know what I'm agreeing to."

"I think Shannon wants us to agree to not hurt each other in a way that would keeping me from fighting on the show," Carmilla offered.

"And you'll agree to the same?" Rose asked, her tone unreadable.

"I can't remember who said it," Carmilla started, obviously wrong footing her, "but it's a philosophy I try to follow; only hurt your opponent enough to get the win, in his case, the submission."

"How do you explain the 'Matrix' elbow?" Rose joked.

"Have you seen Danny?" Carmilla countered with a laugh. "She's huge!" She shook her head. "I knew my only chance to submit her would be to get her to the ground, but given our size difference, I knew the only way I'd get her down is if I took her off guard." She smiled. "And that's why I waited until the end of the round…"

"In case it didn't work," Rose finished for her. She took a sip of her beer and leaned back in her seat. "So what are you suggesting?"

"No cuts or anything else that would take either of us more than a couple of weeks to recover from," Carmilla suggested. "But I don't expect you to hold back," she shrugged. "If I get hurt, I get hurt. It's the cost of fighting and really, aside from me asking, there's no reason for you to agree." She studied her a moment. "In fact, I'm still not sure why you agreed to fight me in the first place."

"We got moved to the co-main," Rose deflected.

Carmilla laughed under her breath as she took a sip of her beer.

"What's so funny?" Laura prodded.

"Remember what I said about short notice fights?" she offered before turning back to Rose. "Win and it's no big surprise; you were supposed to," she smiled as Rose nodded. "Lose and it'll be considered an upset. One, maybe two, fights and you're back to where you are now." She tapped a finger on her chin. "Aside from the paycheque though, I'm still not sure what's in it for you."

"A shot at the title, either way, in the next year," Rose admitted. "Barring injury, of course." She smiled as she leaned forward and offered Carmilla her hand. "You've got your agreement," she smiled as Carmilla shook her hand. "Still gonna kick your ass though!" she joked as she sat back.

"I look forward to you trying," Carmilla countered.

'Hey," Laura interrupted, "why did you keep teasing Danny about her punching technique?"

"I accidently punched a cement wall once…"

"Accidently?" Laura interrupted again. "How do you 'accidentally' punch a cement wall?"

"Deanna was always on me about my grades and when I bombed a math test I knew it was only a matter of time before she took out her displeasure on me." She sighed and rubbed her face before turning to Laura. "You've seen how bad my anxiety attacks can get." Laura nodded. "Well, back then, my coping method was punching things, usually the nearest wall." She took Laura's hand again. "The pain snaps me out of it." She shrugged. "Anyway, I went into the bathroom, checked one wall, it was wood, but hit the wall behind me."

"Which was cement?" Laura guessed with a small smile.

"The school nurse sent me to the hospital to get it checked," she laughed. "The doctor was shocked; he told me, given that everything between my wrist and elbow was bruised, pulled or torn, I should have broken every bone in my hand."

"And you didn't?" Laura asked in surprise.

"Yes, my knuckles were bruised, swollen and torn up but I didn't break, or even fracture, anything," she clarified.

"Your friend, Danny, is she going to be okay?" Rose asked.

"How much of the Press Conference did you watch?" Laura queried.

"Shannon watched the whole thing but stopped me when they asked about your Jeep," Rose replied.

"For the record," Carmilla said with a sigh, "I really didn't know she was sick." She shook her head. "We'll know tomorrow but I think we caught it early enough that she'll be okay in about a year."

Shannon rejoined them a short time later and sat across from Carmilla.

"So," Shannon started with a smile, "do we have an understanding?"

"We do," Rose replied.

"Excellent," Shannon said with a grin and turned to Carmilla. "Can I ask you an ethics related question?"

"I suppose," Carmilla replied with a shrug.

"If you went into a fight knowing your opponent had a pre-existing injury, would you try to exploit it?" she asked.

"Only if I was losing and I could do it in such a way that it wouldn't make the injury any worse," Carmilla replied after a moment's thought. "But if it was an injury I caused, say something like a cut? Damn right I'd target it." She shook her head. "But, as I explained to Rose, I'll only do what's necessary to win." She smiled. "I have my own reasons for fighting and I appreciate anyone who is willing to fight me. I'm not about to endanger their careers with an avoidable injury."

Shannon regarded her a moment and then pulled her briefcase into her lap. She opened it, took a single sheet of paper from inside, scanned it a moment and then handed it to Carmilla.

"And you do this for the same reason?" Shannon questioned.

Carmilla recognized it immediately as the standard amendment she'd had for all her fights so far so handed it to Laura to read. Normally, however, this was presented to her opponent after the fight. Perry had suggested, given the size of Invicta, that if she still intended to offer her opponent the money, that perhaps she should run it past Shannon before offering it to Rose.

"Seriously?" Laura exclaimed as she handed it back to her.

"Most fighters at this level don't get paid very much and struggle to make ends meet," she shrugged and handed the paper back to Shannon. "I'm not and I don't feel the women I fight should suffer financially if I win." She smiled and looked to Shannon. "They still get less than they would have if they'd won, I make sure of that, and there's a built in NDA."

"You don't want someone to accuse you of paying your opponents to lose?" Shannon provided as she handed the paper to Rose. "What about fight bonuses?"

"If I ever manage to win one," she joked, "I'll keep it." She shrugged. "Figure I'll have earned it."

"Fair enough," Shannon conceded and turned to Rose. "If you agree you'll get forty percent of Carmilla's purse if she wins."

"Wait," Laura interected, "so with mine and Perry's twenty percents you get barely anything for fighting?"

"I don't need it," Carmilla reminded her.

"I'd be stupid not to agree," Rose said with a smile as she signed it. "And I'm grateful enough not to question your motives."

"I always mean to win Rose, but I don't need the money and I don't expect to be doing this for the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong, I love competing, but in the end it's still nothing more than a means to an end."

The four continued talking about the fight game with Rose sharing her experiences of fighting for Invicta versus fighting in smaller organisations. The conversation stayed light, and not too personal, until the silence had stretched for a little while.

"I almost forgot," Rose smiled, "I have a bone to pick with you," she added as she pointed at Carmilla.

Before Carmilla could figure out what Rose could be referring to, Laura piped up; "She didn't know anything about it."

"Am I missing something?" Carmilla asked bemused.

"Pat Barry is her boyfriend," Laura supplied and looked back to Rose. "Sorry," she offered.

"No, I was just teasing," she replied with a grin. "We both thought it was funny and Pat's wasn't planned.

"Attention ladies and gentleman," the pilot announced over the PA, "we'll be starting our final approach shortly, please fasten your seatbelts."

They landed a short while later and said their goodbyes along with an offer to Rose to train at the gym anytime she liked. Laura and Carmilla settled themselves back in their seats to await take off again with the Xanders now taking the seats across from them.

"So, Betty," Carmilla started, "what's your story?"

"Well," she laughed, "I certainly didn't grow up dreaming of being a bodyguard." She took Steven's hand; "No offense, dear."

"None taken," he replied with a shrug, "neither did I."

"I'd been out of school for about a year," she smiled proudly. "Graduated top of my class and already had a promising law career ahead of me," she sighed. "Until I crossed paths with your stepmother." She shook her head. "I overheard her, well what sounded like anyway, threatening one of the senior partners. It had gotten quiet so I got a little closer to the door when she stormed out and right into me. I was fired by the end of the day and then blackballed from ever practicing law in this province again by the end of the week. But even that wasn't enough for her and why I ended up hiring Steven here." She laughed. "I know, it sounds like the plotline to some cheesy movie but here we are."

"By the time Deanna finally backed off she was head over heels for me," Steven added affectionately, "or maybe that was just me."

"So I took over the business side of things but we realised the temperamental actresses who normally pay our bills, sometimes felt more comfortable with a woman watching over them." She smiled. "So I spent the next two years learning everything I could from Steven."

"And now she can kick my ass!" Steven joked.

"Would you pursue your law career if given the chance?" Carmilla asked.

"I've already been offered the chance," Betty confided, "I guess your lawyer ran some background checks on us and he's offered me a job but I kind of want to see this assignment through first."

"Sorry about that, standard procedure I'm afraid," Carmilla replied as she felt the plane speed up for take off.

"No, it's okay, we understand," Steven assured her, "and you needn't worry about the extra help we hired, we ran them past Frank and Rick first and they all checked out."

Carmilla felt Laura's head on her shoulder and turned to kiss her forehead.

"How about that nap once we level out?" she offered.

"We'll be there in just over an hour," Betty reminded them with a raised eyebrow.

"Nap wasn't code for anything," Carmilla joked as the seatbelt light went off. She unbuckled herself and then did the same for Laura before leading into the other room. She took her phone from her pocket and set an alarm in case they actually fell asleep. She put her phone aside and then lay on the bed and waited for Laura to join her. Laura smiled and lay down her left side, her right arm coming to rest across her belly as she nuzzled into Carmilla's neck.

"Did you ever get around to calling Laura?" Carmilla asked.

"Yeah," Laura sighed, "on Wednesday." She propped herself up on her good arm so she could look at Carmilla while they talked. "She describes Bruce as gentle and kind. At least at first." She sat up and faced her. "Her parents had kicked her out when she came out and he 'rescued' her off the streets. At first it wasn't so bad; he gave her the basement apartment, made sure she was eating well and even gave her a television to watch. All that changed right around our stunt at the airport. She'd never tried to leave, because despite the weirdness of it all, she really had nowhere else to go. But she heard yelling upstairs one night and things breaking so she went to investigate. She found him alone but yelling at someone on the computer, she didn't see who. That's when he started locking her in there and disappearing for days at a time. When she saw on the news that he'd been arrested she got desperate and set the fire."

"So where is she now?" Carmilla asked.

"Staying with her aunt, who isn't much better than her parents," Laura replied and looked down. "I was thinking…"

"She can have the apartment across from Danny's but I expect her to finish school, understood?" Carmilla finished for her, smiling when Laura looked up with a grin. "Unless Tyler's taking that one in which case she can have one of the smaller ones."

"No, he's decided not to move in," Laura informed her, "he's afraid he'd only be in more danger if our affiliation with him is confirmed."

"Which is why you had him ask if I poisoned Danny?" Carmilla asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Partly," she admitted, "but I also wanted the conversation headed that way."

"Come here," Carmilla said as she motioned her back to her shoulder. "I'll call Dark and you call Laura…"

"She's decided to go by her middle name, Natasha, or Nat for short," Laura corrected.

"Alright, we'll have Dark call Nat and he and Danny can go get her and help her move in," Carmilla finished. "But enough about the real world," she said and kissed her forehead, "I just want to lay her for a bit and enjoy having you in my arms." Laura moved so she could kiss her softly and then lay back down. "It's been an exhausting couple of days and I feel like it's been forever since I've had you all to myself."

"Sounds good to me," Laura replied contentedly. "Are we still going up to the cabin when we get back?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," Carmilla replied which prompted Laura to look up to her again. "Like I said to Rick, with everything going on somehow hiding out at the cabin and sabotaging my Jeep so we wouldn't get hurt, isn't high on my lists of concerns." She could see Laura remained unconvinced, so continued; "Rick's sending up a team to check the fence and cameras. And though he didn't say it I suspect he's going to try to sweep the place and find any evidence of someone living up there. But don't forget the cameras that surround the cabin, no one can get near it without us knowing."

"How can you be so sure?" Laura questioned.

"Because Rick will make sure of it," Carmilla assured her and rolled her to her back. "And we won't be up there alone, at least for the first few days, so we're going to do a little exploring of our own. If we find anything suspicious we'll go home with everyone else." She kissed her softly. "Okay?" Laura nodded and pulled Carmilla back for another kiss. "Now," she said as she broke the kiss to nibble and kiss her way down Laura's neck, "there's plenty we can do with our clothes on and I'd rather concentrate on you than a bunch of stuff we can't do anything about right now." She kissed Laura again and searched her eyes. "Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?" She shook her head and kissed her again. "I have no idea how I'd have managed without you the last few days and everything you did to get the Press Conference ready and everything else," she sighed and studied her a moment, "How'd I get so lucky?"

"Karma?" Laura offered. "With the amount of shit you've been through, we've both been through, we're getting something equally, if not more, good to balance it all."

"Well then," Carmilla replied with a low chuckle as she snuck her hand under Laura's shirt, "we should celebrate our good fortune," she squeezed Laura's nipple through her bra, "Yes?" Laura could only nod and pulled her back for another kiss.

No, leaving Vancouver and it's all drama behind for two weeks might not be the best plan, but it was what she, and by extension, Laura, needed. Time away to regroup and prepare for the next round. She also suspected that her going away anyway, despite all the shit going on, would further discomfort Deanna. Will though… that was worrisome; she had a few theories and none of them were good.

Further thought was put on hold as Laura reversed their positions and started grinding into her hip as they kissed. "How did I get so lucky?" she wondered one last time before losing herself in Laura. Sure, her life was scary, but it seemed less so now that she had something more to fight for.

A/N: So you may have noticed that the title has changed slightly. That's because I came to a somewhat scary but exciting decision the other day. This story has taken on a life of it's own and I've decided, in order to properly do the story justice, to split it into three parts. Each part will have it's own big revelation and conclusion. I'm hoping to wrap up this, the first part, by chapter thirty and I aim to have each part be about thirty chapters each. I'm hoping you guys see this as a good thing but I know many of you have been looking forward to Deanna getting what's coming to her and that won't happen for awhile. Thanks again for the support everyone and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Any mistakes I've missed will likely get fixed in the next couple of days.