Shit shit shit, this wasn't part of the plan.
Lauren's mind ran frantically, trying to come up with an out. The squad had been half their plan, they were supposed to sneak up behind the two after they'd been distracted and allow Lauren, Chris, Camila, and Normani to spring out on the other side to surround them. How were they supposed to capture the two when they were all not only in this room, but not in positions that allow them any sort of power?
I did this. Nothing would have happened to them if it weren't for me.
With a jolt, Lauren steeled her gaze and met Clara's glare head on. Fighting for herself with the help of others was one thing, but now she had people to fight for and she felt the fire in her chest blaze. She never had been as apathetic as people always accused her of being, at least not when it counted. When it came to the little things, she looked out for herself, true. But when it came to life altering decisions or the safety of people she felt close to, she made that effort. Which is exactly what she was going to do now.
If I indirectly did that to them, then I guess It's time I actively did something for them.
"Yeah yeah I know. You want my money, my pub, whatever. I owe it to you cause you birthed me right? Well, hate to break it to you but I made everything I am, on my own. None of that belongs to you and you're not getting it either." Lauren lifted her chin, defiance clear in her features.
The crazed woman leered at Lauren, a cruel twist in her lips. "And what would I do with your silly little backwoods watering hole you ungrateful little wretch? Why on earth would I want anything to do with that?" A high pitched and manic laugh escaped her lips, setting all the pub owners nerves on edge. Lucy looked slightly off at the revelation and Lauren couldn't figure out why. "Honestly darling, you have no idea what I want. You always were the more dull of my children. Get your friends to come out please, I know they're hiding somewhere and I'd rather see them."
With a flick of her eyes, Lauren met Normani's gaze through the crack in the door to the bathroom and she nodded slightly. Chris did the same for Camila and the two came out slowly, steps wary as they stopped to stand just outside of their hiding places and not daring to get any closer to the two hostage takers.
Lauren was filled with confusion at Clara's words, and she couldn't help the jerk of her head to gauge Chris' reaction. He seemed just as floored as she was, his face had run pale and he met Lauren's eyes for a moment. A moment long enough for Clara to get the confirmation she needed to know that she'd been right in not trusting Chris with the truth.
"Alright, I give in. What do you want from me?" Lauren swallowed thickly, her eyes refusing to meet the woman's, instead they settled on Lucy as she stood behind Ally with the knife against her throat. The blonde's eyes held a wicked gleam and she puckered her lips at Lauren, causing bile to rise in the raven haired woman's throat.
"Simple really." Clara was pacing back and forth behind the line of her friends, hands continually running through her messy mane of hair. "You destroyed my happiness, so I'm going to destroy yours." Lauren started to feel numb in anticipation. "You can't imagine how pleased I was to learn you managed to find yourself a new family as it were, regardless of how ratty and ridiculous they are. There really is no accounting for your taste dear." Clara pouted and twirled her finger through a trail of Dinah's hair, pulling it enough for the woman to grimace. She didn't move though, although Dinah had a sort of martyr complex even she wasn't so hellbent on being the hero that she'd endanger Ally any further. "Having you in the first place ruined me let alone when you were taken. That was the cherry on the proverbial cake though darling. I lost everything." Her eyes snapped up to Lauren's, making the pub owner balk at their intensity. "So now you're going to lose everything. Or rather." Lauren was sweating and her eyes widened in realization. "Everyone anyway. Lucy dear, would you please dispatch of Lauren's family."
Shit, we played right into her hands. If I'd let her just take me instead......
Out of the corner of her eye, Lauren saw Dinah's hands tense at the same time that she felt Chris' hands slack entirely. Before any of them could react though, the blonde looked up with eyes wide and mouth agape. "Wait, what? You never said anything about killing people. I thought we were just going to extort her?"
"Come now darling, don't go soft on me in my moment of need. We've come this far." Clara's back stiffened and her hands clasped in front of her.
Lucy looked around the room and momentarily shared looks with Lauren and Camila. "Yeah fuck that." Quick as a flash, she pushed Ally forward and sprinted for the door, knocking Clara in the shoulder as she went, causing the woman to stumble back into the corner of the room.
Once the blonde was out of the cabin, everyone just froze for a moment in disbelief. It didn't take long for someone to do something though, as Clara was now trying to run towards Lauren with twisted hands outstretched and a snarl on her lips, she managed to snag her arm and yank the raven haired woman forward before Dinah shrieked "GET HER!" as she used her position from the floor to launch herself at the woman, jerking her away from Lauren. In short order, she found herself under a dog pile of gingers and one very angered frat boy who was as much puppy as boy anyway. Clara struggled and screamed from her position on her stomach, four grown adults sitting on her and successfully holding her still.
Camila ran up next to Lauren and latched onto her arm. "Lo! Are you okay?" Brown concern filled eyes scanned her and two strong hands ran the length of her arm making sure it was free of blemishes or marks.
"Camila." The brunette continued to frantically check Lauren over. "CAMILA!" this caught the tiny woman's attention finally. "Camz, I'm fine. In fact, I'm more than fine." The two turned their heads and took in the scene before them only to find that Normani had somehow removed her socks and stuck them in Clara's mouth to muffle her screams. She was now gagging slightly from what they could only assume was a ripe taste as they could smell them from their distance. Lauren looked up and met Camila's eyes, the humor in both women easily read. It took all of three seconds for them to burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation that had only recently been so grave.
During all the confusion, Chris had scampered to follow Lucy in ensuring she didn't get away. As the mechanic and pub owner started to control their giggles, he made his way back into the cabin with a perplexed expression. "Uhhh, guys? There's something outside you need to see." At that, he disappeared through the door again.
Filled with curiosity and trepidation, the two sobered up women followed him outside.
What awaited them was one very angry blonde laying flat on her back with a snarling wolfhound hovering over her while the great dane had her arm holding the knife held firmly in her mouth as she laid placidly next to her. At the couple's appearance outside, Anderson looked to them and her tail wagged emphatically, conveniently directly in Lucy's face and causing the blonde to sputter.
This time, their laughter couldn't be contained.
***
Miraculously, all of the scooby squad made it out unharmed. Not a scratch among them. Together (with the help of Shivers and Anderson of course) they'd managed to wrangle the two women back into town and into the Sheriff's office. Luckily for them, Lucy was also wanted but on charges pertaining to thievery, much less serious charges than Clara. However, she did have affiliation with a known dangerous criminal added as well as aiding and abetting a fugitive. So suffice it to say, they were both legally screwed for a good long while.
The gang all congregated at Camila's house after the excitement, all ready to partake in a few drinks around the fire to decompress from the stress. Granger had joined the group, Camila had left her in her house during the plan as she was still too skittish and neither she nor Lauren felt it was a good idea to expose her to such extreme circumstances and risk ruining the progress they'd made with her. She was quite pleased to see her humans and she immediately sat between the two, forcing her way into a nonexistent space as both Lauren and Camila didn't want to be far from each other and had deigned to sit side by side on a blanket. Granger made for a comfortable addition though and they couldn't find it in them to begrudge her that closeness and to be honest, they needed it in that moment as much as she did.
Anderson had taken a position near the fire, for once not on guard. She clearly could also feel the lightness in the air and she was sleeping soundly, more soundly than she had in ages. Shivers had made the decision to sit directly next to Chris surprisingly. The man had found a place in their ragtag group and that position was solidified with acceptance from it's toughest member. There were still issues between the biological siblings, but enough had transpired that they felt confident in the decision that trying to repair their relationship was the right call and it was apparent that Shivers supported that determination.
With a sigh, Lauren looked around the group of people and animals, feeling a strong sense of contentment of a level she had never felt before. She found it slightly disconcerting at first, but she dismissed that feeling, knowing it was a remnant of the life filled with fear she had lived prior to that day. The raven haired woman turned her head and looked at her girlfriend who was laughing at some corny joke Normani had told. She was the only one to laugh, her generosity of spirit obvious to all and Lauren felt so unbelievably lucky that this woman felt she was worth enough to spend that spirit on. That was not a gift she would ever squander.
Camila felt the weight of her gaze and adjusted to look at her as well, eyes soft and expressive lips framing a warm smile. "Hey." The brunette let her head fall forward to meet her forehead with the pub owner's, her eyes remaining open and locked on Lauren's. A work calloused hand found a smooth and pale cheek, cupping it almost reverently in a move Lauren felt she didn't deserve.
"Hey." The raven haired woman's lips matched the warm smile directed towards her, she just couldn't help it. "You know I love you right?"
The echo of the words she had spoken to Camila only that morning felt like they existed in a different world. But the had the same effect as they had earlier, Camila's eyes warmed even further and she wore a dazzling smile. She closed her eyes and tilted her head, her lips meeting Lauren's in a chaste kiss. "I love you too Lauren."
***
The next morning felt like a new start, filled with old traditions. The two women woke up in Camila's bed with three dogs wedged into every available space on the mattress. It was ungodly warm and as usual, the first one up managed to trip over at least one of the dogs on her way out of the room. Given that it was at least 11am, Camila had felt it was a good time for 'breakfast' and left Lauren in bed as it usually happened. It was rare for the raven haired woman to wake up first under normal circumstances, and this particular time she was emotionally drained still from their day before. Camila couldn't blame her.
With a pleased hum, Camila snapped her fingers and the three dogs followed her out of the room to scamper outside in the interest of relieving themselves and have a morning play in the yard. This activity leaving a grumbling Lauren who didn't much appreciate the disruption in her sleep from the movement of three medium to huge dogs moving the bed as they jumped off it. It took her about 3 seconds to fall asleep again.
Camila smiled and on her way to the kitchen, pulled the door mostly shut leaving just a sliver of space through which she could spot Lauren's sleep slack face drooling slightly on the vibrantly yellow pillowcase.
They hadn't eaten much of anything the day before, so she was deadset on making them a full breakfast that morning, as they had just thrown out the food they'd made the day before. It felt tainted in a strange sense, and this morning required a complete and full fresh start. In every sense of the phrase, breakfast included.
As she readied the food, Camila hummed softly to herself in favour of playing music like she normally would. She didn't want to wake Lauren until the food was ready, the woman deserved all the rest she could get and Camila wasn't about to begrudge her that. She was just pulling the last waffle out of the griddle when she felt a slim arm wrap around her waist from behind as a delicate hand pulled her hair to one side to allow a warm kiss to fall on the back of her neck.
Lauren spoke in sleep husked tones. "Good morning love. I missed you in bed."
"After we eat we can go right back, okay? I'm sorry you woke up alone. I wanted to bring you breakfast in bed." Camila turned in Lauren's arms, winding her own around the pale column of her throat to rest on the nape of her neck and tangle in messy black hair. She leaned upward slightly and kissed her good morning.
A pleased hum escaped Lauren's lips and she let her head fall to rest her nose in the hollow of Camila's neck.
For the moment she was completely content, everything else didn't exist and she was in no rush to draw the outside world into their home. In fact. "Hey cupcake, I have an idea."
Camila's lips spread in a warm smile and she dropped a kiss to Lauren's hairline. "Let's hear it then."
***
Following their giant breakfast, the two women packed a bag each and filled a cooler with food before loading the dogs into Camila's dad's truck.
Later that day they pulled into the parking spot behind Camila's dad's cabin and three happy dogs clambered out of the back once the doors were flung open, leaving the two women to take in the sight of them playing and frolicking down to the river.
The brunette wrapped an arm around her girlfriends waist and leaned her head on her shoulder. Lauren slung an arm around Camila's shoulders, kissing the crown of the mechanics head.
"Hey Lo." The raven haired woman hummed in acknowledgment. "Good idea."