This chapter is of episode 6 and it ends before episode 7. Also, there's a song that sets the mood for this whole chapter - Run Baby Run by the Rigs. If anyone cares.

She was at her locker exchanging textbooks before the next period when he came up behind her. It was a subtle knowing, it grew quiet around her as people either hurried away or turned to see what was going on. She didn't have everything she needed but the manila folder containing the Warden's documents was visible and she swung her locker shut turning to where the good Sheriff stood behind her.

"I'd like a word, Ms Vivian, if that's alright," he said in a manner she knew he wasn't really asking.

Her gaze didn't stray from his as students moved around them making their way to class, their curiosity made obvious in the way they stared. "The student lounge will be empty when the bell rings." At his nod she started down the hall feeling him close at her heel as he followed her. "Get out," she told the few students hanging around, delaying the inevitability of learning as long as they could. But her order had been barked in a firm tone and when they saw the Sheriff with her they quickly scattered.
As the last bell rang the two stood several feet apart, but there was something unbearably warm between them that made it feel impossibly close. "You didn't sleep last night," Lane stated, seeing the heavy bags under his eyes.

He hated what it did to him hearing that level of care, which he wasn't convinced she felt, but she knew the way it softened him. So he tried to steel himself against it, against her. "Well there is a manhunt for the boy you helped escape," he said making it clear from the start he knew her involvement, it made her less likely to try to play him and less likely for him to fall for it.

"I hear you gave a girl a seizure questioning her about that," Lane said slinking closer to him, her hand pulling gently on his shirt as though to straighten it, feeling the breath he took at the way her knuckles grazed his middle.

She was too good at getting under his skin. "He's only asking for one name," he told her trying to keep her on track. Or at least to keep himself on track. Hiram was being generous in this request, Lane had all the answers it wouldn't kill her to give him one.

He wasn't biting so she let him go and stepped back, he squared his shoulders as though to shake her off. "I'm sure his daughter doesn't count."

"You know it doesn't." He wanted her to give the name, to prove she could play nice when Hiram asked, to make this a little easier. But there was a desperation to her recklessness, as if she was asking to be hurt.

The reason they worked is because they'd struck a silent agreement not to ask the other for information, Minetta tailed her when Hiram wanted and she drugged him so she could snoop, but they didn't ask. Not like this, and she could tell from his distance he didn't like doing it. No, this was Hiram's order telling him not to come back without an answer which meant he was testing who Minetta was loyal to. "Give him my name, he'll know what it means."

"You need to play this smart," he told her, if they had any chance of doing this.

But Lane shook her head, knowing he was thinking more about her standing with Hiram than his own. "This one's not about me," she said seeing a wrinkle etch between his brows as he wondered what she meant. "And your deputies can handle one night without you."

Again that hint of caring and it had his hands balling into fists to keep from reaching for her. "You gonna be there?" he asked, though his tone was firm in a way they both knew he expected her to be.

She stopped in the doorway, a large dark shadow in her peripheral against the lockers, and a small half smile pulled at her mouth as she turned to look at Minetta over her shoulder. "I am your only suspect," she said, her voice low, suggestive, "I figured there'd be an interrogation."

She left him there shaking his head at her obvious intention, of his own intent. Her icy pale eyes flicked to where Sweet Pea stood listening to what the Sheriff wanted with her, still unable to let her go. It was starting to annoy her, the worst part of her; but there was a very small part, that she kept hidden from even herself, that was begging him not to give up on her.

They walked side by side as she headed for class, knowing his was on the other side of the school. "How long have you been with him?" he asked quietly, unsure whether he wanted the answer when he heard clearly how well they knew each other.

"A month less than me and you," was her callous answer.

If he'd thought about it he could've figured that out on his own, part of him already knew it, but to hear it stated so blatantly hit him square in the chest taking his breath away. He hadn't considered at any point she'd feel for someone else something she once felt for him, and it hurt. Like everything she did. His hand fastened around her arm forcing her to stop and turn to him, and she looked up at him with a mild level of irritability. "If you had to make a choice between him and me."

Her laugh cut him off, it was a sharp dangerous thing that grated on his ears. "Is that what you think this is, that this is what I spend my time thinking about?" she asked rhetorically, a lethal smile carved on her mouth, and it had him stepping back regretting letting himself care about her today. "No really," she said not letting him walk away again, "pussycat had a seizure, I'm going after the guy who's been trying to kill me and is most likely responsible for my accident and what – I'm thinking about who's gonna be my boyfriend?" She laughed again at the absurdity that she'd ever be small enough to care about that.

It was him this time who spoke over her demanding, "then what is it? What is all of this for?"

"Daya." Every awful thing that'd been festering between them the last five months grew silent as they were left with that name, a name they'd only spoken as they wrote it on a birth certificate before they buried her. "Everything I've done, and I'm doing, is for her. So you can stop blaming me, I do that enough myself," she told him in a low quiet voice. "Go check on your little girlfriend, go back to your stupid game, go live your simple thoughtless life. It's over. You did your best," she said with heart wrenching honesty, seeing how much of an effort he was making to figure out what she was trying to tell him, "but we knew from the start how this was gonna end. Your love was never gonna save me."

There was something so sad in her eyes as she blinked, something that wasn't in her vacant face. He watched her walk away wondering what she meant, his mind ricocheting between her and Josie too fast to realize she'd told him everything. All he knew, as she turned the corner disappearing from sight, is that it felt like goodbye.

…

She got a call, as she'd known she would, and clocking out at the shop she drove to the Pembrooke where she was let in by Minetta. He walked her to Hiram's study and he pulled out the chair for her, her quiet gentleman.

All of this Hiram watched from behind his desk unable to decipher the man's true fondness for her. The fondness Hiram himself felt for her last night had been replaced with contempt, she sat across from him nearly glowing. "I had many thoughts on you providing your own name: a cheeky jab at my already knowing your involvement, the naïve assumption I wouldn't have the Sheriff look into you as a suspect under the foolish belief I owe you for what you did for me yesterday. None of which I believe to be true." He folded his hands over his desk leaning forward, seeing what he thought was amusement in her face that had him seething. "It's telling that you felt the need to copy the documents you gave me yesterday to use against me." From the way the corner of her mouth curled he knew that's what she'd done.

But she leaned towards him saying, "no, what's telling is that I knew I'd need insurance when you tried to use my favor to you against me."

She played the victim so well, explained it so simple and pragmatic, that it was almost too easy to believe. "You can't expect me to believe that," he said knowing she had to have something up her sleeve. He allowed himself to think their working together would put her beneath him, would get her under his control or at least have her in a position he knew what she was doing. He'd been very wrong.

"I don't know nor do I care what you believe," she told him with careless honesty that had his jaw clenching. "What I do know is that if I hadn't given a name you would've sent Mike after me claiming a strand of my hair had been found in the Warden's office, and when my house was searched Archie's records would've been found so that you could pin his entire escape on me. Don't look at him," she said when Hiram's gaze flicked to Minetta beside her, "you and I both know this is the first time he's hearing any of this."

Hiram wouldn't have told Minetta his plan to have Lane take the fall for this, not if he thought Minetta would chose her. That's why Hiram tasked him with getting a name out of her, and it's why Lane gave her own. Minetta now understood what Lane meant when she'd said this one wasn't about her, she'd done it for him.

And now Hiram knew too, she didn't seem emotionally attached to the Sheriff but she'd shown her hand – she was protective of him. "You seem to have it all figured out," he said not liking how well she knew him that she'd been able to piece together the plan he'd had in place, "what comes next?"

They'd reached the end of this particular tête-à-tête and she stood placing her hands on his desk as she stared down at him. "The easy answer is if you throw me under the bus I'll reveal my copies and say you asked me to retrieve any incriminating documents. But nothing seems to stick to you, so: I have the name of the bouncer the Warden hired who saw your daughter and the friend she arrived with. And as his," she jerked her head to where Minetta sat, "deputies go through the Warden's belongings looking for any reason he would've killed himself you'll find I'm only one with that name. Should you come after me I will disclose our sexual relationship which will require an outside party to head the investigation, one who isn't in your pocket. Now," she stood upright sounding reasonable, but Hiram scowled severely at how thorough she'd been in thinking this through, "before you start thinking you'll just follow the money to the bouncer's name and have him removed from this equation, know that I've already contacted him and stressed the need for him to close that account. And in order to believably find a hair of mine in the crime scene you'd need to act within the next day or so, I've made it as hard for you track him down as I can, so if you do come after me I will not only release his name but your daughter's and the friend she was seen with. You might have been able to get your daughter out of it, but now you have a witness and two accomplices. And depending on how pissy I feel at the time I might try giving up the copies and pinning the Warden's death on you, see if that sticks." She blinked down at his forcibly calm face seeing the rapid rise and fall of his chest as he fumed. "So, Mr H, next is up to you."

He watched her leave letting his calm wither until he turned burning eyes on Minetta, who sat tiredly rubbing his brow. Minetta sighed looking up at Hiram, who was infuriated not only by Lane getting ahead of him but that she'd done it under his nose. Up until this moment Hiram had been under the allusion she could in any way be reigned in, that her use outweighed her turning on him because he still believed he could get rid of her, that she wasn't a cockroach capable of bouncing back after being stepping on repeatedly.

Holding Hiram's heavy stare he gave a curt nod and told him, "just give the order."

At the very beginning when he'd first brought Minetta in Hiram had seen an opportunity to get someone close to Lane, someone she wouldn't suspect would hurt her. Minetta let it get away from him and Hiram already spoke with him on the matter, but the intention was still there. And Hiram returned his nod, a silent exchange, and watched the Sheriff get up to follow her.

She climbed on the elevator feeling it dip as he came in after her, and she turned around to face him with her back against the wall. He stepped towards her, the doors closing behind him, and with a hand on the rail on either side of her he bent forward so that his nose brushed her forehead. As he looked down at her, and she looked up at him.

.^.

It was dark and quiet when Fangs found himself suddenly ripped from sleep and thrown into consciousness. Someone had their legs curled against his side as they leaned over him, dark hair that'd steadily grown past her slender shoulders tickling his neck. With a sigh he settled back trying to calm his frantic heart. "What the hell Lane? What time is it?"

She had an elbow on his pillow propping herself up, and she ran her other hand through his hair and down over his soft warm cheek. "It doesn't matter."

There was something somber in her quiet voice and he blinked up at her nearly glowing in the moonlight that streamed in from the window as she wore a long white nightgown that barely hung onto her shoulders. "What's going on?" he asked reaching a hand to her arm, finding she was cold. So very cold.

"You're gonna hear something about me, the worst thing you could ever hear," she told him in the same airy far away voice that carried a palpable sense of sorrow. She laid over him, the tip of her nose brushing his, her chest against his so that when they breathed they breathed together. "Don't believe it."

His mind was too foggy for this, to understanding what she was saying or how to deal with it. He pursed his mouth around the question, what, before she filled his mouth with hers. The breath went out of him and he laid there a moment too stunned to comprehend, but his arms wrapped around her pulling her closer, tasting the desperation on her tongue.

As quickly as she'd done it she pulled away, and she laid her head on his chest curling an arm around his middle as though clinging to him. He held her against him with a hand cupping the back of her head not knowing what was going on, only that something was. But he was still and she was starting to feel warm and his eyes grew heavy, and eventually he fell asleep with the weight of her against him. But he woke hours later and she was gone.

.^.

They were huddled together in the dark mineshaft wondering what they'd been called together for, what he wanted now. They heard the quiet sound of someone coming down the shaft and they drew tighter together in case they needed to fight. But a woman came out of the tunnel, she was young and small, and they could've mistaken her for an angel the way she glowed in that white dress. "Hello boys," she told them in a low voice, her sweet full mouth curling at the corner. They were so taken by her they didn't notice she'd brought the devil.

Lane stepped aside with her back against the cold stone wall, and from behind her Minetta came brandishing a rifle that cracked like thunder in those dark lifeless mines. There was a certain scent old empty spaces carried, and it filled her lungs in a way that churned in her stomach making her feel sick.

…

The two boys stood with mirrored deep set frowns and pained eyes as they were left with Joaquin's body under a tarp as blue as his lips. They didn't want to deal with this, to be in a situation where they had to deal with this, this wasn't supposed to happen. It was Sweet Pea's idea to call Lane, masking his need for her to be there by saying she'd know what to do: this would be her fourth body – she had the most experience.

But really he just wanted her there, because she'd know. She'd take one look at them and know he'd been their friend, she could pretend to hate Sweet Pea all she wanted but he knew she'd never leave him alone with this. So he wanted her, and Fangs wanted her too.

…

Her phone buzzed in the passenger's seat where it'd been left, Fangs' name and his face lighting up her screen. But she was laid across the backseat wrapped around Minetta as he moved over her, slow and deep, filling the empty parts of her until all she was was part of him.

After they finished they moved to the front so he could continue driving them back to Riverdale, Lane finally noticing she'd missed a call. Beside her Minetta was taking one, and every fiber in his body froze at what he was told. Giving a short affirmative the call was ended and he slowly lowered the phone and turned to where Lane sat beside him, so unaware and trusting. He raised a gentle hand brushing the hair out of her face, letting his knuckles graze her cheek finding her so beautiful it could almost break his heart.

…

Fangs and Sweet Pea sat with vacant stares on the couch in Lane's house not really knowing what to say about what they'd done. But Fangs had had a sick feeling twisting in his gut all day, that hadn't been the first time he called Lane and it wasn't the only time she didn't answer. "I think something's going on with Lane," Fangs finally said, now that it was getting late and she still hadn't called back.

"Something's been going on with her," Sweet Pea said, but it lacked its usual defensive bite. He was simply agreeing. He glanced at Fangs who nodded for him to continue. "She said something yesterday, about us always knowing how this was gonna end." Sweet Pea couldn't make himself say it, that last year she thought she'd die and he'd been so wrapped up in her that he was ready to go down with her – that he still was. "It's like she," he started and sighed letting his head fall into his hands.

"Like she was saying goodbye," Fangs finished for him. And Sweet Pea looked up feeling a pit open up in his stomach that felt like it was gonna swallow him whole. "She came by late last night, she was acting weird." He should've known something was up, he should've pressed her harder. "She said I was gonna hear something really bad about her, but not to believe it," he said looking at Sweet Pea's confused and now worried face because he heard it too, something was happening. All Fangs could do was shake his head. "That's all she said, then she kissed me and she was gone when I woke up."

"She kissed you?" Sweet Pea demanded before Fangs had even finished.

But Fangs was shaking his head. "It's not like that," he told him, because they weren't like that. It's just what happened.

That soured in Sweet Pea's stomach but he could deal with it later, he could be angry about it later. "Did she ever call back?" He looked at Fangs, and Fangs shook his head.

.^.

She never did. Sweet Pea slept on the couch, Fangs slept in the bed, neither one of them actually slept they just pretended to as they laid there replaying the last time they saw her and why they hadn't done anything when it'd been so clear she wasn't okay.

There was a loud slow knock on the door early one morning and suddenly every worry and fear they'd felt filled that small house as they answered it. The deputy standing on the doorstep took his hat off bidding them a somber hello. "Have either of you been in contact with Lane Vivian?" Both boys answered no and he sighed taking a moment to consider his next words. "She has you listed as her next of kin," he said looking to the taller of the two, and realizing Lane had never changed that hit Sweet Pea so hard he almost stumbled back. "We pulled a body from the river we believe is Ms Vivian. We," he paused seeing a fleeting looking of understanding devastation cross both their faces, "we need you to identify her."

They drove down to the coroners office and they felt as cold and dead as the room they were standing in. She was lying on a metal table like a slab of meat, her body bloated almost beyond recognition from being in the river.

"That's wh," Fangs' voice broke and he turned his face away unable to look at her, feeling like he'd be sick, "what she was um," he swallowed the knot strangling his throat, "what she was wearing, the uh, the last time I saw her."

The officer nodded patting his shoulder sympathetically, letting him knowing that was good. But Sweet Pea stepped forward trying to see something in that bloated corpse that looked like her. Because he didn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it, she told them not to.

But there was the beauty mark above her mouth, the one he used to kiss instead of her lips when he was being a tease. The Serpent tattoo warped on her bloated finger, that had his hand tightening feeling the band that'd been tattooed on his own finger start to burn. A flood built behind his eyes until he couldn't see and he turned to the officer nodding.

He opened the door and both boys rushed out needing the air they couldn't find in that cold room. He led them both to an office and invited them to sit, and with their legs trembling like jelly they all but fell onto the chairs. He'd made several notes including what Fangs had said about the last night he'd seen her, that he was the last one who'd seen her alive. "Did Lane mention anything to you that night?"

Fangs shook his head unable to think, too shell shocked to do anything more than gape. He ran a hand over his face realizing he'd been crying the whole time. "She was acting weird," he said in a voice that shook. "I should've known, I should've," done something, but the knot in his throat tightened cutting him off.

"Strange how?"

He glanced at Sweet Pea who, in a very minute way, shook his head. Sweet Pea's eyes were dry, and they burned. "I don't know, it's like she knew this was gonna happen."

The officer nodded making note of that. "Do either of you know if she was seeing anyone?"

Sweet Pea's eyes darkened as he turned to the deputy. Lane told Fangs not to believe what he heard about her, but this was the one factor Lane could never completely control. His resolved cracked a little, starting to believe this might be real, that she might actually be dead. "You think Minetta had something to do with this?" he demanded, his body beginning to shake as his blood boiled.

There'd been talk for the last several months about how often Lane came by or how often she'd been seen with their Sheriff – it was just talk, assumptions, gossip, because the relationship would've been inappropriate but not illegal. And he sighed heavily, because the last time Fangs saw Lane was the same day they last saw Sheriff Minetta: a clearer picture of this case was starting to form. "Was Lane aware she was pregnant?" If she knew then they might've found a motive.

But both boys wore the same look of shock and he knew this was the first they were hearing of it, Fangs then gave that confirmation that he hadn't known but he couldn't say one way or another if Lane had. Fangs looked at Sweet Pea to see his face had blanched and he'd stopped breathing. "Hey," he said reaching a hand to his arm, but Sweet Pea jerked away.

"How far along?" Sweet Pea asked. The deputy shook his head but Sweet Pea asked again, "how far along was she? Two, three weeks?"

The deputy sat back seeing through the boy's level of grief. "You were with her at that time?" he clarified, and Sweet Pea lowered his head into his hands and nodded. "Is there anyway he found out about that?" Given the state of the body and how long she'd been dead the coroner couldn't give a definitive estimate how far along she'd been, but jealous lover was now being added against Minetta.

"I don't know," Sweet Pea said, his hands curling into fists pulling his hair. It was too much all at once, he couldn't think straight. He couldn't think at all. Neither he nor Fangs really had much more information so the deputy gave them his card and let them go.

Sweet Pea stumbled outside heaving for a breath he couldn't catch, and he turned to Fangs with wide hopeless eyes. And his mouth opened trying to ask what just happened but the only sound he made was a sob, it all suddenly hit him and he dropped to his knees with his palms pressed against his eyes as his shoulders shook with his crying.

And that is the winter mid season finale. I won't say one way or another what actually happened to Lane, but because a lot of effort went into last chapter, I will say this - there are a few clues hidden in it. And I'd love to hear you guys' theories if you have them. Also, if you think you don't want to read the rest of the story you can always message me and I can let you know a little what I'm planning - you can then decide if you want to stick around, or you can drop the story since you know what'll happen. (please note, I cannot respond to guest reviews)
I know where this story is going there's just a few minor details I need in order to continue, so I will be back sometime next year when the show starts back up to finish this.

Until then, I am still working on Tower Over Me (With Your Arms Like Towers) - this one's about to take a DARK turn, Lane's in a very similar situation to Betty.
Also, in my One Shots I am reworking season 3 with Lane and Sweet Pea staying together and having the baby through season 3. The first chapter is up, it's chapter 12 if anyone's interested.

Otherwise, I will see ya'll next year.