Chapter 3

AN1: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO Mocking_point who has helped me more than I can put into words. Hope you like this chapter. Please, please, please, let me know what you think.

ALSO, in a couple of chapters there is a completely new chapter so I really hope you like what's to come, and if you think it's too similar to Birds keep reading to see the changes.


Six weeks have passed since Thea moved in with Laurel, five since Thea went to a party that led her to realise that her old life doesn't seem to fit, and in that time the two of them have been making things work; finding the balance between their usual sisterly relationship and the fact that Laurel is now Thea's guardian. For the first couple of weeks Thea asked Laurel to stay with her in her room or asked Laurel to stay in hers, but over time Thea has become more comfortable in sleeping in her room alone.

True to his word Tommy has been helping out when needed, or even when not needed, as his idea of help usually involves bringing take away diner from fancy restaurants at least once a week; but that's not his only way helping as he also stays with Thea when Laurel has to stay late at the library to study or work late at CNRI where she is interning.

Even though the holidays have passed you wouldn't have been able to tell that around Laurel and Thea's place as neither were in the mood to celebrate the holiday season, so much so that they turned down an invitation to Gotham.

It is a Wednesday morning and Laurel is sitting in a class when her phone, which for once in her life she hasn't put on silent, starts to ring.

"I'm so sorry," Laurel says, as she pulls her phone out of her pocket, but before she can turn it off she notices that the Caller ID says Thea's school. "Sorry, I have to get this, it's my Foster Daughter's school," Laurel says, and she quickly hurries out of the room. "Hello," Laurel answers, as soon as she is out of the room, doing her best to push down her fear which tells her that something horrible has happened.

"Miss Lance?" The person on the other end of the phoneline asks.

"Yes," Laurel answers.

"This is Margret Hall, The Vice Principle at Star City Preparatory School. I'm calling you about Thea Queen,"

"Is she okay?" Laurel asks worried.

"Yes, but I need to see you at school as soon as possible, there's been an incident," Principal Hall informs Laurel.

"Um, okay, I'll be right there," Laurel responds, knowing that she will have to catch up on her class later, but Thea is more important.

"Good," Principal Hall informs Laurel before hanging up. Once she is hung up on Laurel walks back into the classroom and straight to where she was sitting where she starts to pack up her stuff.

"Miss Lance?" the person teaching the class asks.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Laurel says, not giving anymore of an explanation, as she picks up her bag and hurries out of the room.


Half an hour later Laurel arrives at Thea's school and once she does, she is directed to the Assistant Principal's office, here she finds Thea sitting outside.

"Thea? What happened?" Laurel asks, looking Thea up and down for sings of injuries.

"I'm sorry, I know your class was important today," Thea tells her, looking guilty.

"It's okay," Laurel assures her. "What happened?" Laurel asks, but before Thea can answer to the door to the office opens and the principal steps out. "Miss Queen, Miss Lance, please come in," The principal says and both Laurel and Thea walk into the room. "Please take a seat," the principal says and both Laurel and Thea sit down.

"What happened?" Laurel asks, feeling confused, as she looks between Thea and the principal, trying to figure out what is going on.

"There was an incident during lunch, Miss Queen would you like to explain to your guardian what happened?" The Assistant principal asks, and Thea just looks down at the ground.

"Thea?" Laurel asks, as she reaches out and takes Thea's hand. "What happened?" Laurel asks, as her mind goes to the worse possible things.

"I punched someone," Thea explains, her voice quiet though it is still enough for Laurel to hear.

"Why would you do that?" Laurel asks, and Thea doesn't answer, she just avoids looking at Laurel. "We'll talk about this at home," Laurel tells Thea, before turning to look at the principal. "What does this mean for Thea's standing here at school?" Laurel asks concerned, doing her best not to let her mind go to the possible fallout, which she fears it that Thea will be taken out of her care, that she won't be given permanent guardianship not to mention what it would mean for Thea's future.

"Considering Miss Queen's recent experiences, and the fact that the student was injured, Thea will not be expelled or suspended, but I have to inform you that something like this will not be tolerated again and you need to take Thea home for the rest of the day," The Principal explains.

"Okay, thank you for your understanding, Principal Hall," Laurel says, standing up to shake the principals hand.

"It's okay, Miss Lance, Miss Queen has been through a lot," Principal Hall says. "But be warned Miss Queen behaviour like this one be tolerated again. Understood?" The principal asks, looking at Thea.

"Yes Ma'am," Thea says. "Can we go?" she asks Laurel.

"Sure," Laurel says, as she stands up. "Thank you," Laurel says to the principal once more as she and Thea head out of the office.


Twenty minutes later Laurel and Thea walk into their apartment, for the entire drive home Thea has been quiet and Laurel has been trying to figure out how to talk to Thea about what happened.

"I'm going to do my homework," Thea says as soon as they walk into the apartment, really not wanting to talk to Laurel about what is going on with her.

"No, you're not," Laurel says sternly. "Sit. Couch. Now," Laurel says, in a stern voice and Thea realises that it is better not to disobey it so she walks over to the couch, dropping her schoolbag as she goes.

After putting her own bag and keys down Laurel walks over and sits down next to Thea.

"Talk to me, Speedy. Why did you hit someone?" Laurel asks, knowing Thea well enough to know that she wouldn't just lash out for no reason.

"Because I couldn't take it anymore," Laurel says, wanting to get this conversation over with as soon as possible.

"What do you mean?" Laurel asks in a gentle voice.

"For, weeks, people have been whispering about me," Thea reveals. "And today someone made a comment about the pathetic orphan Queen, and I lost it," Thea explains. "Since Dad, and Ollie, and now Mom, I've been feeling so much anger and today it just boiled over; I snapped," Thea explains. "Laurel you don't know what it's like, this anger…" The starts to explain, and as she does Laurel realises that she does know what Thea is feeling, and she knows how to help.

"I do," Laurel tells Thea, who just gives her a questioning look. "After Sara, and Ollie, after my mom left, I felt that anger, I still do; and I punched someone too," Laurel explains, as it was a drunk frat guy when she was in Gotham with Bruce. "But Thea you cannot let that anger control you like that," Laurel explains.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Thea asks. "I don't see it going away any time soon," Thea comments. "And I'm pretty sure that pushing it down isn't a good idea," Thea admits.

"It's not," Laurel admits, as that is what she has been doing and it hasn't been good, or healthy. "But I have another idea," Laurel admits.

"Oh?" Thea asks curious.

"When I was in Gotham for those three months Bruce told me that I needed to find a way to channel the pain and anger I was feeling, I didn't want him to be right, so I ignored the advice, but I think he is," Laurel admits, it being watching Thea struggle that has caused her to realise that. "Some of the clients at CNRI talk about this boxing gym in the Glades where the owner teaches people to express their anger through boxing so that they don't get into trouble or hurt anyone, including themselves," Laurel explains. "What do you say? Do you want to give it a try?" Laurel asks.

"Yeah, I think I do," Thea admits.

"Well, my Friday afternoon class has been cancelled and I know you finish early on Fridays, so do you want to try then?" Laurel asks curious.

"Sure," Thea says. "I'll go get this homework done," Thea says, standing up, wanting to go before Laurel explains her punishment.

"Not so fast, Speedy," Laurel tells her. "Sit back down," Laurel says and Thea does just that.

"How much trouble am I in?" Thea asks curious, as she would rather just know rather than have it drawn out.

"Oh, I'm still working on that," Laurel admits. "I think you can definitely call Tommy and tell him that he's not taking you to the concert Saturday night," Laurel explains.

"Laurel!" Thea exclaims. "That's not fair!"

"I also think you can help me organize the CNRI files on Sunday and even though you haven't been doing a whole lot lately no social activities for a week," Laurel tells Thea, continuing to speak as if she didn't hear Thea's objects.

"Oh, is that all?" Thea asks sarcastically, as that seems like a huge amount of punishment to her.

"Yep," Laurel says. "How about you go call Tommy and get started on that homework," Laurel suggests.

"Fine," Thea says annoyed before getting up and heading to her room, once she gets to her room Laurel hears the door slam behind her.

"Well done, Laurel," Laurel says to herself as she leans back on the couch, not completely sure she handled that in the correct way.


A few hours later Laurel, Thea and Lance are having diner together, eating a dinner Lance made, and as they eat is clear to him that there is tension between Laurel and Thea.

"May I be excused?" Thea asks, after being basically silent all throughout dinner.

"Sure," Laurel responds and without another word Thea gets up and heads out of the room.

"Trouble?" Lance asks his daughter once they both hear the door to Thea's room slam.

"Thea got into trouble at school today, she's not exactly my biggest fan after her punishment," Laurel explains to her father.

"What did she do?" Lance asks curious, though he can guess a few things she might have done.

"Punched another student," Laurel explain, causing Lance to look at her in complete shock as that was not one of his guesses. "I'm handling it," Laurel assures her father. "Part of her punishment is that I've told her that she isn't allowed to go with Tommy to a concert she's been talking about for weeks," Laurel explains.

"Yeah, that would do it," Lance says, understanding Thea's anger.

"You raised two teenage girls; how did you deal with our anger?" Laurel asks her father as she has memories of a lot of times that her and Sara were angry with their father.

"There's no method, you just deal, and you maintain the boundaries that you have put into place while showing her that she's not going to push you away, no matter how hard she tries," Lance explains.

"Thanks Dad," Laurel tells him, honestly the advice he has given her, while sober, has helped a lot.

"You're welcome," Lance responds. "Raising teenagers is the hardest thing to do, there is no manual, you just have to do your best," Lance explains as even though he wasn't the biggest fan of Laurel taking in Thea he knows how much Laurel wants to help Thea, raise her in the right, way so he is trying to be as supportive, and helpful as possible.


For the next to days things are rather quiet around the Thea/Laurel apartment as Thea still hasn't forgiven Laurel for the punishment she has given for her getting in trouble at school.

"I'll be at the school as soon as it finishes," Laurel informs Thea, who is texting Mary, during their silent breakfast. "And we can go to the gym after that if you're still interested," Laurel says.

"I am," Thea responds, without looking up from her phone. "I should go," Thea says, before standing up and heading to the door. Watching Thea Laurel sighs and then walks over to her.

"How long are you going to freeze me out?" Laurel asks, as Thea puts her jacket on.

"Haven't decided," Thea responds. "I'll see you later," she says before grabbing her bag and walking out of the apartment.

"Have a good day at school!" Laurel calls after Thea, but she doesn't even turn around. After she watches Thea walk away Laurel checks her watch and realises that she only has ten minutes to clean everything up before she has to leave for class. So, closing the door behind her Laurel quickly heads back to where she and Thea had breakfast so that she can get started on the dishes.


Due to the fact that her afternoon class has been cancelled Laurel is able to head back to the apartment, clean up things she missed before she left, and get some study done before heading to the school to pick up Thea.

Once she gets to the school Laurel only has to wait a few minutes before the bell rings and the students start to walk out. As the students walk out of the grounds Laurel starts to search the sea of uniforms until she spots Thea's familiar face. Once she spots the young girl Laurel waves at her, and Thea walks over.

"How was school?" Laurel asks curious.

"Fine," Thea responds.

"Are you going to give me more than that?" Laurel asks curious.

"Nope," Thea responds. "Are we still going to the gym?" Thea asks curious.

"Of course," Laurel responds.

"Good," Thea responds and the two of them walk in silence.


About fifteen minutes later Laurel and Thea walk into the gym that Laurel's client recommended. When they look around Laurel and Thea see several heavy bags, a boxing ring, and that the place is basically empty.

"Is it even open?" Thea asks Laurel curious.

"I think so," Laurel says, though she sounds uncertain.

"We are," A voice says, causing both Laurel and Thea to turn towards the voice which they see comes from a well-muscled man who walked into the gym from the back room. "I'm Ted Grant, this is my guy, and I can honestly say that we don't often get people like you in here," he says, sounding surprised.

"I heard about your gym from some people I know. I think it might be the perfect place to help us with some anger that we've both been feeling," Laurel explains.

"I doubt that" Ted comments, sounding disbelieving. "I help people with their anger so that they don't get into trouble, or hurt anyone, but I doubt I can help with whatever petty problems you have," Ted says, it being clear from the way he said problems that he doesn't believe that they are important problems.

"Petty Problems? Do you call the fact that in a little over a year my brother, and my parents die, petty? How about the fact that Laurel's sister was killed while cheating with Laurel's boy who happened to be my brother, do you think that's petty?" Thea asks angrily.

"You don't know who we are, so you have no right to judge us," Laurel says, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Ted says. "I think you'll both fit in pretty well here," He admits, as the kind of pain Laurel and Thea are dealing with is the kind of pain, he helps a lot of people with. "I can show you a few things tonight, but you should come by tomorrow, I run adult beginner classes on Saturday as well as teenage classes," Ted explains.

"You know; I think we might just do that," Laurel says after she and Thea exchange looks.

"Good, let's get started," Ted comments as he walks over to a nearby table. "Red or black?" Ted asks, as he holds up two sweatshirts.

"Black," Laurel says, the same time Thea says. "Red,".


After about half an hour of training with Ted Laurel and Thea headed home, both assuring the gym owner that they would be back. Hours have passed since Laurel and Thea arrived home, it's currently two am and Laurel is sitting on the living room floor eating out of a mixing bowl, having moved off her desk as she needed a change.

As Laurel works, she hears her phone ring, and after a bit of searching she finds it beneath a particularly heavy book. Finding her phone Laurel checks the caller ID and when she sees it she cannot help but look amused.

"It's two am, why are you still awake?" Laurel asks.

"I could ask you the same thing," Bruce responds.

"I'm in Law School, and raising a teenager, what's your excuse?" Laurel asks.

"How is Thea doing?" Bruce asks curious, as he sees so much of himself in the young girl and so he can't help but be concerned about what that is going to lead her to.

"Nice deflection," Laurel responds. "It's been a tough week for her, but I think she's going to be okay," Laurel admits.

"I'm glad to hear that," Bruce admits.

"Yeah, I took your advice," Laurel reveals.

"What advice would that be? I've given so much," Bruce reveals, causing Laurel to roll her eyes, as she takes another bite of what she is eating. "Are you eating uncocked cake batter again?" Bruce asks, having spent enough time with her to know her rather strange habit.

"The advice where you told me that I needed to find a way to channel my pain and anger, turns out Thea does too," Laurel responds.

"Now who's deflecting," Bruce responds. "I'm not an expert, but I don't think a sugar rush is going to help you study,"

"But it is going to help me get through the next few chapters of reading which is what I need," Laurel admits.

"Whatever you say," Bruce responds. "So, you're finally going to admit that I'm right about you needing to find a way to channel your pian?" Bruce says.

"Didn't I already say that?" Laurel asks.

"You said you took my advice, I'm going to need you to admit I'm right," Bruce reveals.

"I'm gonna hang up with you now," Laurel informs Bruce.

"Goodnight, Dinah," Bruce responds, sounding amused.

"Goodnight, Bruce," Laurel says, before heading up. Not long after Laurel hangs up on Bruce she hears footsteps and sees Thea walk into the room. "Thea, I'm sorry. Did my phone wake you?" Laurel asks, feeling bad if it did.

"No, I needed some water, why are you still up?" Thea asks curious as she climbs over the back of the couch and sits down on it.

"I have a big test coming up and a paper due," Laurel explains, causing Thea to feel guilty as she is pretty sure that the reason Laurel hasn't had as much time to study as she normally would is because she has been looking after her.

"What are you eating?" Thea asks, looking at the bowel Laurel is holding.

"Uncooked chocolate cake mix," Laurel explains, like there is nothing strange about that.

"Seriously?" Thea asks, confused and honestly a little disgusted. "Is there something wrong with the ice cream?' Thea asks, honestly feeling worried at the thought.

"No, this helps more when I'm seriously cramming," Laurel explains.

"Look Laurel, I'm sorry," Thea says.

"What for?' Laurel asks confused as she is pretty sure Thea has nothing to apologise for.

"For making things so much harder for you the last few days," Thea explains.

"It's oaky, you're a teenager, it's kind of your job," Laurel informs her, not wanting Thea to feel guilty or blame herself.

"It's still not fair," Thea says. "You've taken me in, you're looking out for me, and you're going to Law School, plus working at CNRI," Thea says. "You do so much for me and I've been making things harder for you," Thea explains, guilt in her voice.

"It's okay, I promise you, Thea," Laurel says as she pushes herself up so that she is sitting on the couch next to Thea. "I love having you hear, I love being your guardian, and I love you Thea," Laurel informs her. "There is nothing you can say or do that would change that, or make me regret my decision," Laurel promises her.

"Thanks Laurel, I love you," Thea says before hugging her.

"Love you too," Laurel responds. "Go get some sleep,"

"Can't I help you study?' Thea asks, as she wants to be helpful.

"No, but thanks, I appreciate it," Laurel tells her.

"Okay, night Laurel," Thea says, before heading back to bed.

"Night Thea," Laurel responds, and once Thea heads back to bed Laurel goes back to study. "Just a couple more chapters," Laurel says to herself as she forces her eyes to concentrate on what she is reading.


After a couple more hours of studying Laurel finally goes to bed, and after sleeping in a little while than she intended, Laurel heads out into living area. As soon as she walks into the main living area Laurel realises that the apartment is completely clean, which is a surprise to Laurel as she is pretty sure she left it pretty messy.

"Thea?" Laurel curiously calls.

"In here," Thea calls form the kitchen, and when Laurel walks into the kitchen a few seconds later she finds Thea doing the dishes.

"You're doing the dishes," Laurel says surprised, as even though Thea has been doing some housework since she moved in it usually takes some 'encouragement,' from Laurel.

"Yep," Thea conforms. "I figured that this is my home now too, so it was about time I helped without you making me," Thea explains, and Laurel realises that it is the first time Thea has called the apartment home.

"I'm glad to hear it," Laurel admits. "But how about I help you finish up so that we can get to the gym sooner," Laurel suggests.

"I like the sound of that," Thea informs Laurel and together the two of them start to work together to finish all the cleaning that needs to be done.


A little over an hour later Thea and Laurel arrive at Ted Grant's Gym. As they walk in Ted realises that they have arrived and walks over to them.

"I'm really glad to see you both,' Ted admits. "I think some time here will be good for both of you," Ted says, having realised that he was too harsh the day before, that he judged them too quickly.

"So do we," Laurel admits.

"Well Laurel, I'm starting the adult lessons over there in a few minutes," Ted says, pointing to a nearby area. "And Thea, the teenage lessons are starting over there," Ted says, as he points to the other side of the gym.

"Thanks," Thea says to Ted. "I guess I'll see you later," Thea says to Laurel.

"Yeah, you will," Laurel assures her and once she does Thea walks over to the other teenagers who are at the other side of the gym. As she walks towards them Thea realises, just like school, that all eyes are on here.

"Well, well, well, Princess Queen," A Girl with short black hair, who is standing next to a boy who looks like he should be a model, says.

"Can you be a princess when your entire family is dead? And the person who cares about me the most, the person who took me in and is doing everything she can to look after me, is the woman that my brother was cheating on, with her sister, when they both died?" Thea asks curious.

"That's dark," the girl comments, though she sounds impressed.

"Dark is kind of my life right now," Thea admits.

"What are you doing here?" The boy asks.

"I punched a kid, thought this place might be a good place to help me deal with some anger I'm feeling," Thea explains.

"It is," The confirms. "And I'm pretty sure that you're going to fit in pretty well, if you keep handling people the way you handled Sim," The Boy comments.

"Oh, I plan too," Thea reveals. "I'm done letting people assume the worse of me because of who my family was," Thea comments.

"Okay, maybe you're not all bad," The Girl, Sin, comments. "Like he said, I'm Sin, and this is Roy Harper," Sin introduces.

"It's good to meet you both," Thea admits, not wanting to get ahead of herself but thinking that she may have just made some friends.

"So, apart form punching a prep school student do you have any other experience?" Roy asks curious.

"Ted gave Laurel and I a lesson last night," Thea explains.

"Laurel? That the person who took you in?" Sin asks curious.

"Yeah," Thea confirms. "One of only a handful of people who care about me for me and not because of my last name," Thea admits.

"Okay, you'll definitely fit in here," Roy realises.

"Want another lesson?" Sin asks curious.

"Definitely," Thea answers and together Roy and Sin start to show her a few more things before their lesson begins.


About an hour later the adult beginner class has finished and Laurel is watching the teenagers, or more specifically she is watching Thea and the two people she is with, Sin and Roy. As she watches Laurel can't help but smile as Thea looks truly happy something which, other than when she's been talking to Mary, hasn't really happened much.

For the next few minutes Laurel continues to watch the class until it ends. Once the class ends Thea walks over to Laurel, with Sin and Roy.

"Hey Speedy, did you have fun?" Laurel asks curious.

"Speedy?" Roy and Sin ask together, both having amused looks on their faces.

"It's an old nickname," Thea explains. "And yeah, I really did," Thea admits. "Laurel this is Roy and Sin, guys this is Laurel Lance," Thea introduces.

"It's nice to meet you both," Laurel says as Roy just nods in acknowledgment and Sin gives her a half smile.

"So, I know that I'm in trouble, but Roy and Sin are going to Big Belly Burger and I was hoping that I could go with them," Thea explains. "Please," Thea adds, with a pleading look.

Even though Laurel knows that she should be stern she also knows that this is the first time, in a while, that Thea actually looks excited to do something than with her, Tommy or Mary.

"Sure, but be home by four," Laurel tells Thea.

"Thanks Laurel! You're the best!" Thea says excited before hugging Laurel. "I love you," Thea says.

"Love you too," Laurel responds, as she and Thea break apart.

"Good luck with your studying," Thea tells Laurel.

"Thanks," Laurel respond, and while she heads back to the apartment Thea heads off with Roy and Sin.


A few hours later, Laurel once more has law books spread out over the living room floor while Laurel is in the middle of them, as she is making various lists making sense of things, Laurel hears the door open and Thea walks in.

"Hey Thea, did you have a good time?" Laurel asks curious.

"Yeah, it was great!" Thea exclaims. "Sin and Roy are great! And after rocky start they treated me normal, just like Mary does, they don't treat me like the girl who lost her whole family, it's great," Thea says with a grin as she sits down next to Laurel.

"I'm glad Thea," Laurel admits. "Some fun is just what you need," Laurel explains.

"So, does that mean I can call Tommy and say I can go to the concert after all?" Thea asks, curious, hoping for the best.

"No," Laurel responds.

"Had to try," Thea says with a shrug, as honestly she did not expect that to work.

"And I admire that," Laurel responds, searching through all her stuff.

"What are you asking for?" Thea asks curious.

"A yellow ledger," Laurel explains. "It has some sample questions and answers that I'm going to have in a test next week," Laurel explains, as Thea looks around for the object Laurel explains.

"You mean this?" Thea asks, picking up the object that Laurel described.

"Yep," Laurel says.

"I can quiz if you'd like," Thea tells Laurel.

"Thanks, that would be a huge help," Laurel tells her and once she does Thea starts to quiz Laurel, who does her best to answer the question and makes notes about the ones she struggles with so that she knows what to revise.


Two days later Laurel and Thea are arriving back home later than usual as they went to Ted's gym once they were finished with their respective schools.

"I better get started on my homework," Thea comments. "Can we do Chinese tonight?" Thea asks curious.

"Sure, I'll order," Laurel responds as she picks up the mail. As Laurel picks up the mail she sees a large envelope with a familiar logo. "Thea," Laurel calls and instead of heading into her room Thea walks back over to Laurel.

"What is it?" Thea asks curious, and Laurel shows her the envelope. Like Laurel she realises what the logo means. "That's good, right? They wouldn't have sent us anything if it was bad news, they would have just shown up," Thea assumes.

"I'm not sure," Laurel admits, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"Open it, open it," Thea encourages, and Laurel quickly does that. Once the envelope is open Laurel reads what's on the first page, and as she does it is hard for Thea to read Laurel's face so she cannot tell what is going on, whether it's good or bad news. "So? What's the verdict?" Thea asks, desperate for the answer.

"I'm your permanent Guardian," Laurel says, with a grin, feeling overwhelming joy.

"Really?" Thea asks excitedly, wanting to be sure.

"Really," Laurel confirms, and Thea just hugs her.

"This is amazing," Thea says as she and Thea hug each other tightly.

"Yeah, it is," Laurel says as she places a kiss on Thea's head, knowing that a weight is now off her shoulders as she been so worried that someone was going to take Thea away from her and now she knows they can't.

"No one can take me away," Thea says amazed, still in disbelief.

"No, they can't," Laurel confirms. "You're stuck with me, Speedy," Laurel reveals.

"Good," Thea says with a grin.

Even though Thea doesn't need a paper to know that Laurel cares about her, or to know that Laurel is always going to be there or her, it is nice to have it as it means that now everyone knows what she has always know; that Laurel is her family.