So this is something no one asked for, or probably wants. But this chapter is a retelling of Lane's accident and how she handled it- there's no Angie. Instead Lane gets close to Sheriff Minetta (so it's a little dark, and maybe a little uncomfortable). I decided to do my original ending for season 2 in this, which I changed for Tower Over Me because I wasn't ready to break up her and Sweet Pea yet.
However, Sweet Pea/Lane fans - trying not to spoil anything - you'll be very satisfied if you read to the end. (so incredibly satisfied, you don't even know yet)
The title is a line from a poem by Elizabeth Hewer, found on tumblr.
VIII. only boys with gasoline mouths should play with burning girls
He was there for the Serpent being used as a scapegoat in place of the Black Hood, it was easier. It'd make the town happy, it served to further divide between north and south sides – a perfect storm, as Hiram had called it.
But as one of his deputies threw Fangs to the ground and cuffed him Minetta noticed the young woman he'd been told to keep an eye on, of all the problems she was likely to cause. Hiram Lodge spoke of her with a revered disdain that caught Minetta's interest. And now there she stood, only a couple inches over five feet, holding back a football team with nothing but the sharp point of her finger and a piercing stare.
"Hey," he said in a commanding voice as he moved toward the scowling Bulldog who towered over her with her arm clenched in his fist. "You don't ever put your hands on a woman." He waited until the boy's hand fell from her arm before Minetta looked to her, finding himself looking at the greenest eyes. And they stared up at him with suspicious knowing. "Are you alright Ms Vivian?" he asked, playing the part of a gentleman.
Her smile was small and strained as she answered, "yes, thank you." Then she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving her now arrested friend without a second glance.
Minetta watched her disappear around a corner. She was a smart girl if she'd figured him out that fast. It meant she was likely to know Hiram had someone tailing her, and if the brief flash of panic he'd seen on her face at his knowing her name was anything to go by then she was about to skip town.
And so he was surprised to find her with Attorney McCoy when she barged into the interrogation room demanding to speak with the Serpent she was now representing. He'd jerked the boy off the chair and took him back to holding where he locked him in his cell, then he turned to the Vivian girl to find her watching him closely. "Can I get you anything, Ms Vivian?"
Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him, and he just barely caught the slight tilt of her head as she appraised him. "Not yet," was her simple reply.
Trouble indeed, he thought as he gave a curt nod and left her there. Returning to his office he reached for the phone and hesitated as the dial tone droned in his ear. It was the first time he considered going against Lodge for this girl, it wouldn't be the last. But with a sigh he punched in the number letting him know she was still in town.
…
When it was just the two of them Lane stepped to the cell reaching for Fangs who clung to her. "What's gonna happen when I get out of here?" he asked in a trembling voice.
"Me and you are gonna leave town," she answered, raising a hand to his cold cheek. "Sweet Pea made himself clear he wasn't leaving, and I don't plan on coming back. What happens after that's up to you."
The expression she wore was one of calm but Fangs could see how much that hurt her. He didn't know what happened between her and Sweet Pea after he'd been arrested to get to this point. But the only reason she'd consider leaving was if someone was after again. "You can't stay for me," he told her.
She smiled sadly feeling him take her hand. He was the only reason she stayed. "Haven't you figured out by now you're the only one I do anything for?" It was his turn to smile, and it was just as sad as hers as he pressed a soft kiss to her hand.
They stayed that way until they heard someone coming and Fangs sat on the floor while Lane stood against the desk a few feet away, and they both looked up to see Sheriff Minetta.
He was to inform Hiram the moment she left the station, so he could then alert the man waiting to take her out. His eyes fell to her rounded stomach and he took a sharp unhappy breath. "Are you hungry? We've got vending machines upstairs," was his quiet offer. And he watched her contemplate turning him down before she decided she was hungry, as he figured a pregnant woman would be. "Do you have any money?" he asked standing next to her at the machines as she looked at her options.
"Do you have any charges against him?" she asked smartly. She watched his brow raise and the corner of his mouth just barely twitch, but he didn't answer. So she turned back to the machine and told him very plainly, "guess you're buying then."
He gave a breath of a laugh that was only partly amused. He'd been told what to expect with her but it hadn't prepared him enough. She asked for five things, all different flavors, some savory some sweet, and he bought them all.
He checked on her throughout the day, brought her water, got her lunch then dinner. Every time she'd look up at him with the heaviest stare and he'd know she knew exactly what he was doing. And his mouth would curl in a way she knew meant he'd caught on, and it would in turn curl a smile on her own mouth.
Hours later he was forced to released Fangs into a mob surrounding the station with too much prejudice to consider the Serpent was innocent. Which was all part of Hiram's plan. But his eyes fell to Lane, who he already informed his boss was going with the boy. Before she got too far he moved to her side holding an arm across her chest forcing her to stop, and she turned looking up at him curiously. "You know what happens if you go out there."
For the life of her she couldn't find a reason for his warning - he was trying to get her to trust him, Lodge wanted someone close to her. But there was a man outside who'd been waiting here all day for her to leave so he could kill her, there was no reason for Minetta to be warning her now. "Are you gonna protect me if I stay?" she asked instead, and he released a heavy breath before taking a step back.
With nothing else to do he watched FP get her outside to the car Fangs wasn't making it to without a bullet in his abdomen. And even that still fit Hiram's plan, and Minetta made his way to the hospital to check on the boy so that he could intercept any news to the Serpents – they needed to believe he was dead.
So he was surprised again when he looked from FP, who blamed him for what happened to his boy, and saw Lane standing at his side. "Put your dicks away," she told them sternly, as though they were the teenagers, "this doesn't help anyone."
While FP looked for his son, who he just now realized had snuck out, Minetta followed Lane back to the small alcove she'd taken away from the windows. Taking a moment to consider it, and her, he took the chair beside her. "There aren't too many cold cases in this town," he said still trying for the innocent sheriff, feeling her watchful gaze on his face. "I know how hard this must be for you." He turned in time to see a flash of something almost vulnerable flit across her eyes before she masked it.
No one had considered what this night would be for her, waiting to see if another person she loved had been murdered. It took effort to pull herself back together, to remember he was playing her. "Is me liking you the job or does it make the job easier?" she asked, seeing the way he smiled.
"It's the job," he told her with a stark honestly he saw surprised her. "Though my liking you is where things will get difficult." He watched her eyes narrow not knowing how to take that, how to take him, and he smirked at finally catching her off guard the way she so easily did to him.
She didn't know him well enough to read anything from his expression, the only thing she knew is that he had the lightest brown eyes. "For me or him?"
"Both, I hope." His smirk grew at her furrowed brows and he reached a hand to her leg squeezing it briefly. "I'm gonna head back to the station, let me know if you need anything."
He made the mistake of thinking her being pregnant meant she wouldn't cause much trouble the rest of the night, that it was safe to leave her. But he got a call from the nurse to let him know Fangs was out of surgery, and he headed back to the hospital checking first the alcove he left Lane and found it empty.
The doctor was very hopeful the boy would make a full recovery, the bullet missing anything vital. "There are still a lot of folks in this town who wish to harm Mr Fogarty. Consider him under official police protection. Should anyone ask, for now it's safer to say he didn't make it." That would cover anyone smart enough to check with the hospital staff. Getting an agreement from the doctor he then turned to the front desk and asked, "the pregnant girl that'd been waiting here, did you see where she went?" not knowing she'd be listening and was now running around the back of the hospital to find her friend.
It'd been a mistake to assume she was anything less than capable, and after this night it was a mistake he'd never make again. She not only found her friend but she was somehow able to sneak him out of the hospital, avoiding Minetta who'd almost gotten her before she barred the door, as well as the guy Hiram had on her for the second time that night.
Minetta then assumed, another mistake, she'd taken the boy and left town as she originally intended. But he got a call from the hospital reporting what sounded like a gunshot in the back lot, and with the sun beginning to rise he scoured the parking lot flashlight in hand until he caught the gleam of a cartridge. Then he found the blood and he followed the smeared trail realizing it was from a body being dragged. Lane was small, easy enough to carry, which meant she'd been doing the dragging.
He was left with two choices, Hiram or Lane, and it took him several minutes of holding his phone before he reached a decision and stuffed it in his pocket.
…
What was left of the Serpents were found broken and bruised in the Whyte Wyrm. Their boy was dead, Jughead was on his way, their trailer park was in flames, and they'd lost the war with the Ghoulies. Their despaired quiet was disrupted by the door being thrown open and they looked up to see Lane standing with blood smeared from her neck to her pants.
Sweet Pea was on his feet in an instant, but FP made it to her first. "Is that yours or Fangs?" FP asked her, realizing Minetta lied when he called not only to say Fangs was dead but that she'd left town.
"Neither, Fangs is passed out in the car" Lane answered feeling their relief. She swallowed heavily before continuing. "I shot someone else, he's in the car too." FP nodded thinking dealing with that was the least of their concerns, but then she continued again. "He's really mad."
"What?"
She ran a hand through her hair too tired to be anything but straight forward. "I've got them both on morphine but I can't get them inside."
"We'll get them," FP assured her, reaching a hand to her arm but she pulled away. "Sweet Pea take her home, you need to get rid of those clothes," he explained when she tried to refuse.
He was right but she shook her head. "I'll wait til Fangs is settled then I'll go."
She looked like hell and so even though he knew it was better to get rid of the evidence now he reluctantly agreed. And she followed Sweet Pea and Mac to the car making sure they didn't catch the IV drip on anything as he helped Fangs onto the couch in the back room. She didn't leave him until he'd fallen asleep again, if she had it her way she'd take him home but she wasn't sure she could handle him by herself.
But she finally left the back room and Sweet Pea, who'd hovered at her back noticing she was refusing to look at him, followed her to the door and they stopped when it opened. At the sight of the uniform Sweet Pea shoved Lane behind him and balled his hands into fists as he looked at Sheriff Minetta. FP was on him in flash ready for another fight, they all were. But silence fell when Lane crept behind him and pulled the gun from his holster aiming at him - FP's face slackened with surprise and Sweet Pea stepped back at the malice etched in her features.
Minetta looked down at her hard face with blood smeared on one side of it, he had no doubt she'd pull the trigger. "I got pain meds from the doctor," he said slowly pulling the bottle from his pocket and holding it out to her. She didn't move, but her boy moved around her taking it from him. "You need anything else?"
"No," Sweet Pea said the same time Lane snapped, "antibiotics." He smiled faintly and pulled out the other bottle, this time he offered it to the tall boy hovering behind her.
FP moved around him and gently placed a hand over hers forcing her to lower the weapon. "Easy girl," he told her gently as he took the gun from her, and he handed it back to the Sheriff. "She's had a rough night," he said not knowing if he planned to arrest her or not. Not a single person in that bar would've let him.
But Minetta's eyes were on Lane seeing the fierce way she watched him. His hand shifted on the gun and they moved in unison, he raised his weapon the same time she grabbed the one she had tucked in the waistband of her jeans. It ended in them both aiming at each other. And he smiled. "It wasn't enough to get a gun on me you needed to make sure I couldn't get to mine. Smart girl," he told her, consistently impressed by her wit.
He returned the gun to his holster not minding that she still held hers on him. "If that's the one you used to shoot him you need to get rid of it. There'll be a full-fledged investigation on his disappearance." He held out his hand knowing she'd figure it out.
It took a few moments to get he wanted the keys, that he was gonna take him back to Hiram where he'd most likely be disposed of. Hiram couldn't pin it on her without Lane, five months pregnant, turning it back on him – and the reason Hiram wanted him back was because Lane would've turned him on Hiram and had him testify. So she lowered the gun and handed Minetta the car keys.
Taking them from her he held her eye and gave a short nod she was slow to return. He opened the door and waited as she walked out with him, offering her the keys to his police issued car. She followed him about an hour out of town and pulled off the main road into a clearing hidden by a dense patch of trees. And she waited watching as he stood at the back door talking to the injured man inside, whatever he said Minetta nodded before shooting him.
He went around the back of his car and rapped on the trunk for her to open it, and he grabbed the lighter fluid he'd gotten from the store and doused the car and the body in it before tossing in a lit match. She scooted to the passenger's side as he climbed behind the wheel, and she looked in the mirror as they drove away to see the whole thing up in flames.
It was a quiet drive back, he didn't bother trying to talk to her and she knew he wasn't likely to answer anything. She still couldn't make sense of him, of why he'd done that, of what made Minetta decide to kill him. As he pulled into her driveway she turned to him and asked, "what are you gonna tell Hiram?"
"I'll tell him I tracked you back to the Wyrm, no sign of him or the car." He looked at her sitting calmly beside him, and he raised a hand to her jaw brushing his fingers against the dried blood. "Get rid of the clothes."
She went inside and barely got out of the way before Sweet Pea slammed the door. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded nearly shaking. He thought she'd left him then she came back covered in blood with Fangs, who he thought was dead, and then she left. Again. Yet all he wanted to do was hold her.
"We got rid of the body," she answered feeling his hand brush the blood on her neck. And with no emotion to her voice she told him, "you need to pack your things."
"Lane," he said shaking his head, unable to comprehend.
But she shook her head and stepped away from him, forcing all feeling for him so far down she could feel it next to the place the baby kept kicking. "You know I understood you were scared when you thought I was pregnant, I get why you left me then. Not as much when you left me to figure out what to do with her, but enough I still took you back. Because beside it all I at least thought you'd be here when he came after me again. Except last night I almost died. Alone. Twice." She took a breath feeling her eyes flood as she fought the instinct to just give in and let him hold her – but she was Lane goddamn Vivian, and she was stronger than her need for any boy. "I'm not taking you back this time."
"Lane," he said on a desperate breath, gaping at her as he tried to breathe.
"You're her father I won't take you out of her life, but until I can trust you again you will have no place in mine." She swallowed around the knot in her throat, knowing she wouldn't make it much longer without breaking down. "So pack your shit and get out of my house."
She left him standing by the door with tears running down his face, and she took a shower trying to wash it all away. There was the smallest flutter low in her stomach and she held a hand over it forcing herself to be the kind of strong her daughter needed her to be.
.^.
Less than two weeks later Lane's car was run off the road, a week after that she woke to a world her daughter was no longer apart of. Sweet Pea lay in the hospital bed curled against her back with an arm slung loosely around her waist, and she breathed quietly against him looking at the note that came with the flowers set beside the bed. "Don't push me away," he told her softly. They were releasing her tomorrow, he didn't want her going home alone.
"This changes nothing."
He had to take a moment to catch his breath, that hurt him so much. All of this did. None of this would've happened if they'd left when she asked him to. "I love you," was his final plea.
She looked at the name on the card and then looked to the flowers – Dahlias, her favorite. Her eyes filled with everything she'd lost, but it soured in her turning into something dark and ugly. "I don't have time to love you right now."
.^.
The first time Minetta saw her after the accident was at the gym. It'd only been a few weeks, she was smaller but still losing the baby weight. Her hair was tied back and sweat beaded on her livid face as she pummeled a punching back that hung from the wall by chains that shook loudly with each hit. Someone was teaching her how to box, she had good form and she hit hard.
Without a word he moved around her and stood behind the bag holding it in place. And she continued for a long while never once looking at him, her breathing growing increasingly labored, sweat beginning to collect on her chest. She finally started winding down. "How are you?" he dared asked.
Her glove hit the bag with a loud crack. "You really need me to answer that," she posed instead. But she took a deep breath and leaned back finally looking at him. "Did Lodge ask you to keep tabs on me?" It was the first time she'd stopped and she only now felt how tired she was.
Watching her pull off the gloves he grabbed the hand towel on her bag. "The opposite actually," he told her, catching her interest. "I'm supposed to be keeping my distance."
"Why aren't you?"
He stepped to her and wiped the sweat from her face, and then he trailed the towel down her neck and over her chest feeling it swell with every breath she took. "I told you, my liking you would make things difficult."
"Then stop," she told him in a hard tone. Grabbing her bag she snatched the towel out of his hand, and he shook his head watching her leave.
.^.
He found her again a few days later and once more he stood holding the bag for her. This time he didn't say anything, he waited her out. And after she was done she stood with him once more wiping the sweat off her face. "Why are you following me?" she demanded.
She was so hard, loss did that to a person. But he caught the heavy way she swallowed as he moved down her neck. "It's a small town, this is the only gym."
"That's not what I asked."
He lowered the towel and looked at her unkind eyes, seeing nothing but his own reflection in them. "Do you have any unregistered guns?" he asked, closer to the point he wanted. Her lack of an answer was answer enough and he nodded. "Let me take you to the shooting range," he offered, seeing her immediate refusal. "Or give me the guns. It's your choice."
When she admitted to herself that there was no getting out of this she sighed heavily. "I'm free Sunday," she told him, and she stuck around long enough to hear what time he was picking her up before she left.
.^.
He stood behind her wearing earplugs watching her shoot, tweaking her body every now and then to get her into a better position; his hands on her shoulders, her hips, skating the inside of her thighs as he spread her legs a little farther apart. He'd see the sharp breath she took when his hands were on her, and it left him lingering longer than he needed to.
She wasn't a bad shot but she had a lot to improve. When she emptied her clip she set the gun down and looked up at him.
They were at the last station behind a dividing wall, somewhere several feet down from them was another man shooting. Looking up not seeing any cameras obvious or not, he bent low with his mouth next to her ear so she'd hear him through the foam earplug. "Where'd you get it?" he asked, wondering if there might be a way to get it registered.
But she leaned into him raising her chin, feeling him shiver as her lips brushed his ear. "From the guy you killed for me."
He jerked back staring at her now gleaming eyes feeling his breaths grow short as she blinked slowly up at him. He was so busy looking at her darkly inviting stare he didn't pay attention to what her hands were doing until after she'd undone his buckle. He had her bent over the bench at their station pulling up her skirt to find she hadn't worn a damn thing under it, she'd planned this. But he was already unbuttoning his pants, and he was the thankful for the dividing wall they were hidden behind and for the man that was shooting in time with the thrusting of his hips.
Several minutes later they climbed in his car and he drove her home. It was a quiet ride, his hands gripping the wheel, his eyes fixed on the road as he tried not to think of her sitting next to him wearing nothing under her skirt or of what he'd just done to her. With her. His hands tightened around the wheel.
Pulling into her driveway she gave him a hard look before climbing out and heading up the walkway to unlock the door. He considered driving away, of never mentioning it again because Lodge was likely to get rid of him because he was compromised. But he couldn't shake the feeling she wanted something from him, or was trying to take it from him. So he got out and followed her inside, planning to explain the situation and what they needed to do to make sure Lodge didn't find out.
But he made the mistake of closing the door, and he looked down at her eyes that still gleamed feeling her hands slide under his shirt running along his sides. He had her on the bed this time, with her facing him feeling her legs tight around him as she bucked against him. And when he was done with her he bought her dinner, and they sat on her couch talking about the little things. He even made her laugh. The only way he could see this ending was in Hiram disposing of him, and yet for the second time she had Minetta choosing her.
.^.
The bell above Pop's door rang as it opened, and Sweet Pea looked past Josie to see who was walking in and his smile fell. Noticing that Josie turned to see it was Lane and she looked back to him wanting to tell him this was why it would only ever be a fling, because he was so obviously still in love with her no matter how hard he tried to pretend he wasn't. "Either go talk to her or stop staring."
Sweet Pea looked at Josie guilty, seeing her unhappy eyes as she nodded, and with a sigh he stood moving to the counter Lane was leaning against. "Hey," he said not knowing how to start. He hadn't spoken to her since she'd kicked him out of the hospital and he only saw her around occasionally, but she looked good. Great even and it had his mouth running dry. She didn't turn to him as she repeated his short greeting and he cleared his throat not knowing what to say. "I don't want this to hurt you."
Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him wondering what was going on in his small mind. Veronica set the drink carrier on the counter telling her the food would be ready in a minute, and she watched Sweet Pea's eyes fall to it noticing there were two cups. Fangs was staying at camp tonight, Cheryl and Toni were out of town, which meant she had company.
She waited until his eyes were back on her, seeing the muted hurt somewhere behind the wall of anger he was trying to build. "I'm gonna be honest, I don't really care," she said in a bored tone. "But since you want me to be jealous let's see what I can come up with." She looked from him to Josie and pondered it a moment before nodding to herself as she reached a decision. "My problems were always too big for you, it makes sense you'd go for someone whose entire world crumbled when her mom got a boyfriend." She raised a hand toward him as though asking if he liked that one, when his face didn't change she crossed her arms and thought briefly again. "How about, did you really think I'd be jealous of someone who's gonna drop you faster than she dropped her friends."
He took a steadying breath as his hand curled into a fist, not liking the person he was looking at - she really didn't look like Lane. "Are you done?"
"Aw," she cooed sarcastically, "you ask me that in conversation the same way you used to ask me in bed." She watched his eyes widen and his mouth fall open as she threw his never being able to make her come first in his face, and she made a show of grimacing. "Yikes, that was mean. I'm gonna go before I say anything else. But thanks for the laugh, babe, it was great seeing you." She looked at him with an almost pleasant expression but he blinked it fell away until all that was left was stone. Grabbing her bag of food she turned her back on him and walked away.
…
Pulling his bike into the driveway Fangs stared at the unknown car parked behind Lane's for a moment before he went inside. And he was stopped short at finding Sheriff Minetta in jeans with a toolbox as he fixed the outlet that'd shorted out. Returning his casual hello Fangs went into the kitchen where Lane was standing with her back to the counter watching the sheriff.
Before he could even open his mouth her eyes, which were steadily growing harder each passing day, flicked to his. "It won't be honest," she warned him.
There was so little of her left Fangs almost didn't recognize her anymore. "Give it to me anyway."
"I ran into him at the hardware store, he offered to help."
She'd never lied to him before, granted she told him she would but it didn't make it hurt less. He threw out the coffee he finished on the way over, in doing so he saw the remnants of her dinner last night realizing the same way Sweet Pea had that it'd been for two. "I just came by to grab more clothes and let you know I'm staying at the camp with Sweet Pea againt," he told her, looking at her to see her stony gaze was back on Minetta.
He found Sweet Pea later, who was still infuriated by what she'd said to him last night. "Something's going on with Lane," Fangs told him, hearing him scoff wanting nothing to do with her. "I think it might be really bad." That had Sweet Pea looking up, of dropping the self righteous indignation as he was filled with what he always felt towards her – the need to protect her.
Several hours, with the sun having fallen, the two sat in a truck across from her house. There were two cars in her driveway, and they could see the glow of the living room light through the blinds and knew she was watching TV. Close to midnight they watched the window darken as she turned off the light, and they waited as she walked to her room and turned the light on there. She'd gotten rid of the blinds in the room and replaced them with curtains that'd been left open, and the boys were so close they could actually see her through the window.
"Who the hell is that?" Sweet Pea asked on a quiet breath as a tall figure moved behind her and bent to kiss her neck. He couldn't make out either of their features but something dark churned in him as he watched someone else undress her.
"Maybe we should go," Fangs suggested uncomfortable, hearing Sweet Pea's heavy breathing as he seethed.
But he didn't take his eyes off them as she pushed him onto the bed and climbed on top of him. He couldn't look away from her, seeing only her shape as she moved over him with her head thrown back. Sweet Pea remembered the feel of her, of the way he held her hips watching in awe as she got herself off on him – and it did something terrible to him to know someone else got to have her. She was thrown forward and she held herself up on his chest, Sweet Pea didn't need to see her clearly to know the way her body was shaking, and he was left watching someone else flip her onto her back and settle between her legs. Watching someone else enjoy her.
As the light cut out Sweet Pea turned to Fangs, who sat staring at the same spot on the dashboard as he had for the last half hour. And in a barely level voice that crawled out of his throat in a low growl Sweet Pea demanded, "who the fuck is she with?"
…
She was standing in the kitchen sipping the coffee Minetta made her before leaving for work when the door was thrown open. A cruel smile curled faintly on her mouth, having purposefully left the window open last night.
"You're fucking the Sheriff?" Sweet Pea cried as he stormed to where she stood at the counter. "You know Lodge is using him to get to you, right? How the hell could you of all people be so stupid?"
She blinked calmly up at him, seeing that only ignited him further. "When I want your opinion I'll give it to you. Until then, get out of my house."
That sucked the anger right out of him, and he was left with the pain under it all. She was still pushing him away, and all he wanted was for her to let him stay. "After everything we've been through?" he asked, not thinking she could give up on it so easily. He'd once meant everything to her, the way she had to him.
She lost what little patience she tried to spare him, having made it very clear she didn't have time for this. Her cup hit the counter with a loud clap as she turned to him. "Everything we've been through?" she repeated in a sneering tone. "You mean me taking care of things while you went along for the ride?" She watched that settle on his face like a slap, and she found the part of her that would've felt guilty had been burned out of her.
"That isn't fair," he told her. He'd been there for everything, he was the only person who hadn't left her – she was hurting and was trying to make him hurt too.
But her eyes burned with cruelty. "Isn't it? What exactly have you done for me?" She looked at his eyes shining with the vulnerability he wouldn't show. "I saved your ass from the Ghoulies, I got you out of jail twice, I helped get rid of the snake charmer twice, I'm the one facing Lodge, I killed three of his guys, I got a job I got the house, you didn't realize I was alcohol dependent until I decided to quit, I took care of Fangs, I took the pregnancy tests without you, I'm the one who decided to keep her, and I am the one who held her as she died. So I'm gonna ask you again, what exactly have you done for me?"
It was everything she'd never said to him, and he continued staring at her as they were left with everything that'd happened between them – everything they'd lost. And he didn't have the strength to fight. So she nodded accepting his silence and walked to the door holding it open. "Until you have an answer you can keep piledriving a girl who's never gonna want you, while I continue to be the only one getting shit done."
She fixed him with a hard look and waited for him to leave her like he always did. He stood with his brows drawn deeply together for several moments deep in thought, and the breath caught in her throat when his dark eyes finally flicked to hers – for the first time since the accident he looked as livid as she'd felt. Moving to her side he held her gaze as he pulled the door out of her grasp throwing it shut.
.^.
Hiram wouldn't be happy to know his daughter sniffed out his plan of getting her speakeasy closed with the drugs Penny mailed her. Minetta didn't know how they'd done it, though as he left Pop's he was halted by the sight of Lane sitting on the trunk of his car. And he realized he should've known she was involved.
"Ms Vivian," he greeted, impersonal as he tried to be when on duty.
But he close enough her legs brushed his side and he'd set his hand on the trunk next to hers. "Mike," she said leaning more toward the intimate part of their relationship.
He would've laughed at the thought of this being a relationship but it'd been almost four months and he could barely go a night without her. She was the worst kind of drug, and she wouldn't let him go. Eventually he stopped fighting it. "We talked about this, it's Sheriff Minetta when I'm working."
"And I told you to stop lying to me," she spit back. She knew Hiram had a plan in place as soon as Veronica told her Penny had stopped by the diner, and she'd asked Mike that morning if he was apart of it – no details, she never asked for those – he'd looked her in the eye and told her no.
He knew it was a mistake as soon as he'd done it. She didn't ask much of him, and that surprised him considering she knew exactly who he was, but she asked him not to lie. Before he could think up a reason to give her she slid off the car and climbed into hers, and she drove off looking up at the rearview to see him following.
After a while she pulled into the back of a long since closed store that was slowly being consumed by the surrounding wood, and she got out and waited as he walked around his car to meet her. "Is the shipment in the trunk?" he asked waiting for her to open it so he could at least take that back to Hiram. Try to play it off like Lane was helping him.
"It's at the diner," she answered blandly watching him freeze. "Well, probably not anymore."
He stepped to her glowering as he realized she'd led him away to buy her friends time. His hand curled around her throat dragging her up onto the tips of her toes as he looked down at her feeling a searing heat flood his stomach. "That was the wrong move Lane," he told her in a low quiet voice.
Her throat pushed against his hand as she swallowed and she stared up at him, a dare shining in her eyes – she knew exactly what was doing. "What are you gonna do about it?"
Taking a sharp breath at her invitation he jerked the back door open and shoved her inside. Before she'd even settled on her back he turned her over and she was dragged back to him as he pulled her jeans down. Hearing his buckle she released a breath letting her eyes close, feeling his zipper bite into the soft flesh inside her thighs as he moved.
"Harder," she told him, getting him to hurt her the way she wanted to hurt herself.
He knew she was punishing herself for what happened. She woke him sometimes with her crying and he'd hold her, trying not to let her see what was in his own eyes. But he also knew this was the only way she knew how to let go. As his hand closed around her throat he felt her fall apart beneath him. And after several long quivering seconds she settled against the seat, and he leaned over her kissing away the tears that escaped from the corner of her eye.
When he was done he turned them so she lay over his chest with his arm around her shoulders. It was quiet between them as the wind rustled through the leaves, and he found himself thinking that he wouldn't mind a life like this. "What do you think about leaving?"
She sat up enough to look down at him and saw something almost soft in his stoic face as he reached a gentle hand to her cheek. It filled her with an awful warmth, and instead of answering she laid her head back on his chest feeling his hold on her tighten.
It was a bitter rainy day as though spring was reluctant to let to go. She'd been driving home from her doctor's visit, still seeing Dr Schafer an hour outside of town. There was a long stretch of road surrounded by a steep hill littered with trees, an easy place to get lost.
Lane wasn't paying attention on that secluded two lane road, her mind a million miles away. She assumed the car driving towards her would stay in their lane, she never considered they were there for her. Until it was too late. Her eyes widened as they swerved into her lane, so close she could see inside his car, and instinct had her jerking the wheel too far to the right.
With a loud squeal the other car came to a sudden stop on that long empty road, before the car reversed and backed up to where she'd gone over. And with a pained face Minetta climbed out of the car to see hers upside down in the small ravine.
He found her lounging in his bathtub with her eyes closed looking something close to peaceful. Pulling his clothes off he climbed in and sat with his back to her chest feeling her arms come around him, and he was able to find his own kind of peace. "You give it anymore thought?" he asked, thinking they could be happy if they could leave it all behind.
Instead of answering she pulled him close peppering soft kisses down his neck and over his shoulders, feeling him sigh as he settled further against her. And as his eyes closed in momentary bliss hers opened.
.^.
It was the last meeting between them. Minetta would accept his next assignment, which he knew was to kill Lane because hitmen weren't enough Hiram needed someone close to her. So Minetta would accept it, Lane would call Hiram saying she'd killed him and was now on her way out of the country, and Lane and Minetta would get on a plane and never look back. Lane had gotten the tickets and the fake IDs, now it was up to him.
"Thank you for meeting me," Hiram said with a smile as he ushered Minetta into his suite at the Pembrooke and led him to his study. "Would you like a drink?"
"Not this time," Minetta told him stepping through the doorway, and he stilled at the sight of Lane sitting at the table.
Hiram waited until the man turned back to him and he smiled again. "How about that drink?" he asked again moving to the ornate tray with four bottles filled with different amber liquids.
"Scotch," Minetta finally answered, sitting in the chair across from Lane while Hiram stood at the head of the table. He looked at her cautiously and she did little more than blink.
Hiram handed him the drink and poured himself a glass of gin taking a large swig before sitting to address the foolish man who'd fallen for the wiles of a young woman with nothing to lose. "I was very clear in telling you not to get familiar," Hiram said sounding very much like a scolding father. "Not for you, but because I knew she would inevitably turn on you." He cleared his throat seeing Minetta's hand tighten on his glass. "She informed me of your relationship and offered a deal," he swallowed and cleared his throat again, "your head for her freedom."
Instead of the smug manner he normally wore at times like these he loosened his tie still trying to clear his throat. In trying to swallow he realized he couldn't, and he turned to Lane who sat emotionless as his throat closed.
Holding the glass to his lips Minetta swallowed what was in his mouth, an understanding he wasn't ready for chilling his blood, he watched Hiram fall to the floor jerking helplessly as foam pooled from his mouth and filled his lungs. Minetta cleared his dry throat looking to Lane, who now sat watching him with her hair tied back in long sleeves with her hands her lap not touching anything. "How did you know which drink he'd take?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
With feeling absent from her face she callously told him, "I didn't."
All at once he understood she'd known the entire time what he'd done to her. He opened his mouth but only the breath of her name came out of his throat before it closed. And as he too lay dying Lane turned to the door as it opened and looked up at Sweet Pea.
She stood with her face upturned to see Sweet Pea's unreadable one, having told him everything. "If you do this with me there is no coming back."
He found himself once more left with the choice to stay with the Serpents or to go with her, and he'd already tried life without her. Cupping her openly vulnerable face in his hands he thought her so beautiful and he bent to kiss her soundly on the lips. "I'm not leaving you again," he mumbled. A promise.
As Minetta's eyes fluttered and his body began to shake the two teens pulled on gloves and moved to either end of him, Sweet Pea grabbing his shoulders and Lane taking his legs, and they carried him back to his car. She followed him a ways down the water's edge and then helped Sweet Pea drag Minetta's corpse into the driver's seat before they rolled the car into the river.
Minetta's were the only fingerprints in the study, he'd be the main suspect in Hiram Lodge's murder. By the time they found Minetta at the bottom of Sweetwater River, Lane and Sweet Pea would be long gone.