New Bamfs On The Block

by protector91

Summary:

Having possibly made Carmilla's mother stronger than ever, Laura, Carmilla, and their friends flee from campus and take sanctuary at a house filled with people Laura thought only existed in the realm of fiction. Takes place after the first season finale. BAMF Girls Club Crossover.

Notes:

A/N: So for those of you that don't know, the BAMF Girls Club is a comedic internet web series that finds Buffy, Hermione, Katniss, Lisbeth, Michonne, and Bella all living together under one roof. Their personalities are exaggerated in that series for the sake of comedy, so if something about how they act in this story seems off, that's why. When I started this fic on Fanfiction.net, the first season had just ended so revelations about The Dean and other characters hadn't happened at the time. As of now, the story is still in progress, so things from seasons 2 and 3 may pop up in later chapters.

Here we go and I hope you enjoy this first chapter.

Chapter 1: On the Run

Laura Hollis sits in front of her laptop ready to record a new video in a brand new location. Instead of her familiar and welcoming dorm room, she now resides within a dismal motel. LaFontaine and Perry lay on one of the room's two beds while Carmilla paces around the space.

"I can't believe you're doing this. The entire point of laying low is to not draw attention to yourself," she chastises Laura.

"Hey, it's not like I'm saying where we're at," Laura reminds her. "My viewers also need to know that we're OK."

"No offense, but who's to say your viewers take these videos seriously?" Carmilla asks. "I mean, there's never been any definitive proof of the existence of vampires on your camera outside of my speed and Will's, which looks like something out of iMovie when you watch it on your laptop."

"I don't care. I'm making the video." Carmilla rolls her eyes, walks behind Laura, and puts her arms around her.

"You're lucky you're cute," she whispers and kisses Laura's cheek. She blushes and Carmilla smiles widely. "Make it fast, baby." Laura nods and Carmilla sits on the other bed. Laura switches on her laptop's camera and begins.

"Hi everyone. OK, so it's been a couple of months since I posted my last video. Sorry about how I left you all hanging, but we had to make one Hell of a quick exit. You see, we tried to kill Carmilla's psychotic sire, who just happened to be The Dean of the University, but instead we might've made her more powerful. Don't you just love a story with scope? I don't."

"Me neither," Perry agrees.

"I do," LaFontaine says.

"Shut up," Carmilla mutters.

"Moving on, the minute the school alarm went off, Carmilla grabbed me, Danny, LaFontaine, Perry, J.P. and we got the heck out of dodge. I don't know if The Dean did survive, but as we fled, I spotted a large group of vampires converging just outside of my dorm building. How were they out in broad daylight, I don't know. How does that work Carmilla?" She asks looking at her.

"When you get to be as old as me and some of the vamps on campus, the sun becomes an annoyance at best," she explains.

"That's…convenient." Laura looks back at her camera. "I called Kirsch as we ran and I hope he managed to get away too. I haven't risked calling him since and thankfully, he hasn't tried to call me. That could mean he's dead, however. Dear God, I hope he's not dead. Anyway, we've had to hide in some seedy places since then." Laura glares in Carmilla's direction as she says this. She only shrugs her shoulders.

"However, a few nights ago, I got an email from someone whose name, even though it's obviously fake, I won't reveal on camera. They offered us protection at their place. I don't know who they are, but we're desperate at this point and almost broke."

"Wrap it up, cutie," Carmilla says.

"Keep your corset on. I'm almost finished. So, this will be my last video for a while. If I don't make another one at least a year from now, then it's a safe bet I'm dead and it will be up to you, gentle viewers, to pick up where I left off. Wish us luck."

To Be Continued…

Chapter 2: The Bamf Girls

"Where's Buffy: The Vampire Slayer when you need her?" Laura asks after ending her recording.

"Trapped in the glorious world of fiction where she can't get to me," Carmilla jokes.

"Buffy wouldn't hurt you though. You're good."

"Not exactly."

"Oh come on, yes you are. Sort of. OK, I see your point, but these redemption quests take time. Look at Angel for example."

"I'd rather not." Their conversation is interrupted by Danny, wearing a necklace of garlic, stepping into the room.

"Our ride is here. Cross your fingers and pray this isn't a trap. It is safe to pray around you right?" She asks Carmilla. Carmilla sticks her tongue out at Danny and Laura silently sighs.

At least they aren't trying to kill each other, she thinks.

The girls gather what little possessions they have, scatter garlic around the room, and step outside where a black van waits for them. Laura gulps and Carmilla gives her hand a small reassuring squeeze. Laura smiles at Carmilla and they all pile into the van.

"You all smell like garlic," the driver comments.

"It's a long story Miss…Salendar is it?" Laura asks. The driver turns around revealing a girl around their age with a goofy looking smile on her face.

"Oh no. That's just an alias. Name's Bella Swan, at your service," she says and salutes the runaways.

A fake name for a fake name? Laura wonders as Bella drives out onto the road.

"Where are you taking us?" Danny asks. Bella turns around to look at the girls.

"The coolest place ever," she answers.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" Carmilla shouts. Bella looks back at the road and swerves the van back onto the correct lane, narrowly avoiding hitting another car.

"Phew. Thanks for the warning. Lisbeth would kill me if she found out I wrecked her van. I almost got hit by a van once, but Edward saved me. He always does. Except for the time when I stopped him from committing suicide and the time I saved him from getting his head ripped off by Victoria and Riley though no one seems to remember that. Not even Edward remembers. I'd ask him to read my mind so he could see that I'm telling the truth, but I'm immune to his powers for whatever reason. That sucks because I have so many happy memories of us together that I want him to relive."

"I think we were better off on our own," Carmilla whispers to Laura.

"Be nice," Laura whispers back.

Bella talks for most of the drive about her various near death experiences and how she thought life without Edward would be empty, but her new friends have managed to fill the void. Carmilla pretends to gag multiple times while all Laura can do is wonder what is up with this girl. Two hours or so pass before they finally pull up to a peaceful looking suburban house and get out of the van.

"Here we are, girls. My home away from home. Just some friendly advice, don't touch Lisbeth's stuff. Katniss went missing for two or three weeks when she made off with most of Lisbeth's weapons. Then again, I did steal her van, but we have an understanding-."

"Ok, how long are you going to keep up with this fictional identity? It's getting annoying," Carmilla interrupts.

"Fictional? What are you talking about? My identity is as real as my love for Edward." Carmilla growls and starts advancing towards Bella, but Laura stops her.

"She's not a threat."

"She will be to my sanity if she keeps bringing up that sparkly twerp." Bella unlocks the door to the house and the girls all step inside.

"And just where have you been all night?" A fierce looking woman asks sitting in a chair just a few feet from the front door.

"Hi Lisbeth," Bella greets.

"I noticed my van was missing. Care to explain what you've been up to?"

"Sure, no problem. You see, I've been using your computer as of late to watch this girl's vlogs and-."

One boring explantation later

"You used my name as a fake name? I can't believe you'd do something so stupid. No. Actually, I can believe you would do something so stupid. I don't have time to fend off people that might try to kill me for aiding fugitives," Lisbeth chastises her.

"You would've done the same thing."

"Yes, I would. I would. Not you."

"Well, Hermione has said that you're a bad influence on me."

"Bella!" The runaways hear a British sounding girl shout. They all stare in disbelief at Hermione stepping into the room to join them.

"Hi Hermione."

"Great. We're in a house full of Cosplayers," Carmilla groans.

"You got a problem with Cosplayers?" LaFontaine asks.

"Who said anything about Cosplaying and who are you people?" Hermione asks.

"I brought them here," Bella answers.

"You know you aren't supposed to bring anyone here without letting the rest of us know," Hermione scolds Bella.

"And you know you're never supposed to use my laptop. Ever," Lisbeth hisses; eyes twitching.

"Please. You're impressed that I took initiative. Don't deny it," Bella says batting her eyelashes at Lisbeth. She looks away from Bella, but she catches a quick glimpse of a smile on Lisbeth's face; a psychotic looking smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Ugh, initiative. I don't ever want to hear that word again," a new girl complains.

"Hi Buffy."

"Hi Bella. Who are these people?"

"Very confused," Perry says. "Who are you?"

"Yes, I suppose introductions are in order. I'm Hermione J. Granger. The J stands for Jean."

"I meant what's your real name."

"That is my real name."

"Yeah right," Perry dismisses. "I suppose you have a magic wand on you."

Hermione takes out her wand and points it at Carmilla's backpack. "Accio backpack."

The backpack flies through the air, collides with Hermione, and sends her crashing to the floor. Carmilla breaks into a fit of laughter while the other girls' eyes widen in shock, not only at the display of magic, but also at the name of the spell.

"A little help here," Hermione requests trying to lift the backpack off her.

"What did you put in that thing?" Danny asks Carmilla.

"Oh you know. A little of this. A little of that," she laughs as Bella tries and fails to lift Carmilla's backpack. Danny tries to lift it as well, but fails too.

"Oh, move over," Buffy says moving Bella and Danny aside and effortlessly picking up the backpack. Carmilla's laughter ceases and Laura's eyes widen even further at the sight of Buffy's strength and she walks over to Bella.

"Do you by any chance have bite marks on your arm?" She asks.

"Yes. Why?"

"Can I see them?" Laura asks holding Bella's arm.

"These marks aren't an attraction for you to gawk at," Bella scoffs pulling her arm away. "They're a symbol of Edward's devotion to me."

"I'll show you mine," Laura offers.

"Ok," Bella cheerfully accepts pulling her shirt sleeve down as Laura moves her hair off her neck revealing where Carmilla bit her.

"Whoa. Edward never bit me there," Bella says sounding bummed out.

"It's not as hot as television makes it out to be," Laura reveals.

"Speak for yourself," Carmilla says with a coy smile. Laura inspects Bella's scar and runs her fingers over it. It definitely feels authentic.

"Toto. I have a feeling we aren't in Kansas anymore."

"No. We're in Heaven," a beaming LaFontaine says.

To Be Continued… 

Chapter 3: Uneasy Living Conditions

"So would you care to explain what you meant about us being Cosplayers?" Hermione asks the confused arrivals.

"It's a long story," Laura answers and the rest of her friends nod in agreement.

"We've got all the time in the world to listen. Nothing exciting ever really happens in this house," Buffy says. "Whose backpack is this?" 

"Mine," Carmilla answers. Buffy tosses it to her and Carmilla places it on the floor. She opens it, pulls out a bottle of blood, and takes a quick sip of it.

"Is that human blood?" Buffy asks.

"Yes," Carmilla answers and starts to take another sip. She quickly drops her bottle and catches a stake an inch from hitting her heart.

She glares at Buffy and angrily snaps the stake in half before charging straight at her. She collides with Buffy sending them crashing through a wall and they fall into the living room. The other girls sprint into the room just as Buffy yanks Carmilla up to her feet and throws her into the kitchen. Carmilla lands on a wooden table, which breaks on contact. Buffy runs forward, grabs a broken table leg, and prepares to stake Carmilla.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione casts and the table leg flies out of Buffy's hands.

"What the Hell Hermione!?" Buffy shouts.

With Buffy distracted, Carmilla sits up and shoves Buffy back into the living room. They stand back up to their feet and start advancing towards each other to continue when Laura runs in between them.

"Both of you, stop it!" She orders them.

"Why should I? I'm Buffy."

"The Vampire Slayer. I know. Huge fan by the way, but the vampire you're trying to kill is my girlfriend."

"…what?"

"She said I'm her girlfriend you dumb blonde," Carmilla insults.

"Oh you bitch!" Buffy curses.

"Hold it!" Laura shouts trying to keep Buffy back from Carmilla.

"I don't even know who you are, so why should I care that you're dating a human eating vampire?"

"I stole that blood from campus health," Carmilla clarifies. "Have to get my nourishment somehow."

"That's not helping," Buffy says.

"She did try to save the world, if that helps, " LaFontaine jumps in.

"Besides, these girls need our help, Buffy. I thought you were supposed to be the good guy," Bella criticizes with her arms folded. Buffy glares at her, but she stands firm.

"Wow. This is uncharacteristically outspoken of you, Bella." Buffy looks at Hermione. "I thought you undid the training she had with Lisbeth." Hermione just shrugs her shoulders and Buffy groans before turning to Carmilla.

"Fine. I won't kill you, but listen and listen well Bela Lugosi."

"My last name is Swan," Bella says.

"Not you," Buffy groans again then looks back at Carmilla. "You feed on any of my friends and you're going to get personally acquainted with Mr. Pointy."

"Who's that? Your boyfriend?"

"I don't need one."

"I'd be surprised if you had one with that attitude."

"Carmilla, please stop trying to piss off the professional vampire killer," Laura pleads.

"Fine."

"I'll be watching you," Buffy threatens and exits the living room. The other girls stand in silence for a moment and then Lisbeth steps forward.

"Are you any of you hungry? I know a great recipe for Lady Fingers," she offers.

"No thanks. We're…," Laura begins to decline, but sees Lisbeth's eyes start to twitch. "On second thought, Lady Fingers sound nice."

"Gooooood," Lisbeth says with a smile and heads off into the kitchen.

"Do any other psychos live in this house?" Danny asks.

"Just Katniss and Michonne," Hermione replies.

"Where are they?" LaFontaine asks a little too enthusiastically.

"Katniss is probably up a tree somewhere and Michonne's out purchasing supplies for whatever apocalypse she thinks is going on. You shouldn't have to worry about them though you might want to keep being a vampire to yourself. Michonne hates the undead. Well, zombies specifically, but I don't think she'd see a difference in your case."

"I told you we'd be better off on our own," Carmilla mumbles to Laura.

"Can we just go somewhere and unpack what little we have?" Danny asks.

"Of course. The unclaimed bedrooms are the first hallway to the right," Hermione says.

"Need any help cleaning up this mess?" Laura asks.

"No, thank you," Hermione turns down with her wand pointed at the hole in the wall. "Oculus reparo," she casts and the wall fixes itself in seconds.

"That is so cool," LaFontaine marvels as Hermione continues repairing the damage from the fight. As the girls head for the bedrooms Bella quickly steps in front of them and takes Laura and Carmilla's hands.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you both just like Edward would protect me," she promises.

"Gee…thanks Bella," Laura says.

"No problem." Bella gives them a wide smile and walks away from the group. The runaways swiftly make for the bedrooms where they try to process what just happened.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" Danny asks Carmilla.

"Can't say that I have and I've seen a lot of weird things over the past few centuries."

"Who's to say those girls are the real thing? They really could just be Cosplayers that happen to possess the abilities of the characters," Laura suggests.

"That's possible. There was something off about their personalities. Bella's mind was never THAT one track when it came to Edward," LaFontaine comments and everyone stares at them. "What? I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I read the books."

"It doesn't matter what they are. What matters is whether or not it is safe for us to stay," Carmilla points out.

"I don't know about you all, but Lisbeth scares me," Perry admits.

"You're preaching to the choir," LaFontaine says.

"Still, if The Dean happens to find us, having a group of bad asses to fight with, not counting Bella, would be beneficial don't you think? I vote we stay," Laura chooses.

"Me too," LaFontaine agrees.

"This place is a lot cleaner than the motels we've stayed at. I vote we stay too," Perry decides.

"I'm willing to try this place out," Danny says.

"Assuming none of these bad asses will try killing us in our sleep, sure why not," Carmilla relents.

"Buffy is not going to kill you and if she does try, she'll have to go through me," Laura promises.

"And me," LaFontaine adds.

"I care about you Carmilla, but I'm not really a fighter." LaFontaine elbows Perry. "OK, OK. She'll have to go through me too." They all look at Danny. She remains silent for a moment then speaks.

"You're better at fighting vampires than us, so it would be in our best interests to keep you alive."

"Aw Danny. I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Carmilla sarcastically quips.

"So, now what?" Laura asks. At her question, five silver balls attached to parachutes drop into the girls' laps.

"Did these just drop out of the ceiling?" Perry asks looking above them for any place the items might have dropped from. Laura examines the ball and then it opens up revealing a small bottle and a piece of paper attached to it that reads:

Antidote

- Peeta

"Great. Baker Boy is real too," Carmilla comments while Laura stares at her bottle.

"Antidote? For what?" Another ball drops from nowhere this time only containing a note.

For the poison Lisbeth sometimes mixes into her Lady Fingers by accident.

- Peeta

"Still think it's safe for us to stay here, cutie?" Carmilla laughs and kisses Laura's cheek. "Bottoms up Creampuffs." They clink their bottles together and all down their antidotes before sharing an uneasy laugh at the situation.

To Be Continued…

 

Chapter 4: Fellow Fugitives

Laura was not sure what shocked her more. Lisbeth Salender knowing how to make Ladyfingers or her ladyfingers tasting delicious. They tasted so good that Laura initially forgot that she and her friends all took antidotes to the poison Lisbeth sometimes mixes into them. Even after Laura remembered, she just shrugged her shoulders and scarfed more of them down.

"What's in this stuff if you don't mind me asking?" Laura asks Lisbeth; mouth full of ladyfingers.

"4 eggs, 2/3 cups water, 7/8 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon tears of your enemies," Lisbeth answers.

"Excuse me, w-what?" Laura stammers in the middle of another bite.

"I said 1 teaspoon tears of your enemies," Lisbeth repeats. Perry looks at her plate of ladyfingers and slowly pushes it away. Lisbeth stares at her and she gulps.

"Oh, I-I'm just really full that's all," she lies with a nervous giggle.

"So you mean to tell me that you have the tears of your enemies stored in this house?" Carmilla asks diverting Lisbeth's attention from Perry to her.

"Usually yes. I ran out a month ago, however, and had to substitute the tears with a conservative splash of vanilla."

"Oh, so there aren't any tears in these Ladyfingers?" A relieved sounding Laura asks.

"Regretfully no," Lisbeth answers snapping one of the fingers in half with her teeth. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters I must attend to." Lisbeth leaves the living room and the runaways to their thoughts. Once she is gone, Carmilla turns to Laura.

"Before you ask, YES, I still think it's safe for us to be here," Laura answers.

"Hey, I didn't say anything," Carmilla says putting her hands up in mock defense. "Though we've been here less than, what, a few hours and I've nearly been staked and we all nearly got poisoned. But again, I'm not saying anything." Laura laughs and shoves two Ladyfingers into Carmilla's mouth. She swallows them both and gives an unexpected moan.

"Wow. These are pretty good," she says and grabs the last few of the treats off Laura's plate.

"Hey!"

"What? You weren't even going to eat them when you thought they might have tears mixed into them."

"Would you have eaten them if they did?"

"Pretty much."

"You scare me sometimes," Perry confesses.

"Only sometimes? I must be losing my edge," Carmilla jokes.

"Um. I think I'm going to go to bed." Perry springs out of her seat and fast walks out of the living room. A minute or two after she leaves, the rest of the girls decide to follow suit.

---

 

The Next Morning

A loud bugle playing the song "Revielle" sounds throughout the house waking up Laura and her friends. All of them, except Carmilla, jump out of bed. They look at each other and shrug their shoulders as the trumpet gets louder until a girl around their age, with a familiar pin attached to her shirt, marches into their room. She plays the bugle for a few more seconds then stops and smiles at the girls.

"Glad to see you're all awake. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm-."

"Katniss Everdeen, right?" Laura guesses.

"Yes. How did you know?" Katniss asks. LaFontaine, who looks like they can barely contain their excitement, points at Katniss' pin.

"Oh right," she chuckles.

"Would you care to explain why you're waking us up at," Danny glances at the clock, "6 A.M.?"

"Your training of course."

"Training? What training?" Danny asks.

"You're on the run right?" Katniss asks.

"How did you know that?"

"Bella filled us in on everything. As a fellow fugitive, I'm prepared to assist you all in whatever way I can."

"Thanks, but…"

"No buts," Katniss cuts off. "You may think you're safe, but you're never safe. Not until you've taken down the threat that haunts your dreams and causes you to wake up screaming in the middle of the night only this time Peeta isn't here to comfort you and!…" Katniss pauses at the slightly freaked out looks on Laura and the others' faces. "Oh. Sorry," Katniss apologizes. "Meet me outside after you've eaten something and we'll get started." She exits the bedroom and Carmilla loudly clears her throat.

"Still think it's safe for us to stay?" She asks again.

"Let's just go," Laura sighs.

Breakfast was rather…tense to say the least as Buffy made an unexpected appearance while the girls ate. She and Carmilla stared at one another for most of the meal and things got even more uncomfortable when Bella showed up to ask Laura and Buffy about what being bitten on the neck felt like. Both ladies avoided the question and LaFontaine got rid of Bella by stating that Jacob was a better match for her than Edward. Bella scoffed at the notion and stormed off. After that, the girls headed outside, but there was no sign of Katniss anywhere.

"This is rude," Perry comments.

"Laura, why are we doing this?" Carmilla asks.

"These people took us in, Carmilla. The least we could do is try to get along with them."

"And besides, this is Katniss Freaking Everdeen we are talking about. When will we ever get another chance to train with her? The answer, of course, is never," LaFontaine says.

"Lest we forget that we all nearly died fighting the Dean," Laura points out. "I think we could use the training."

"Well, I don't see much reason for us to stick around if our drill sergeant isn't even present." At Carmilla's comment, someone whistles, and the girls look up to see Katniss above them in a tree. She jumps out of the tree to their level.

"You just failed your first lesson soldiers."

"What lesson?" Danny asks.

"You didn't see me and you all just stood here. If you're meeting someone and they don't show up at the meeting place, you have to immediately scan your surroundings to make sure you aren't being watched while also looking for the best way to vacate the premises. Am I understood?"

"Sir, yes sir," Carmilla says and gives a mock salute making Katniss glare at her. She pulls her backpack off and opens it. Carmilla recoils and grabs her nose at the smell of garlic coming from it.

"Put this on," Katniss says taking out a necklace of garlic from the pack.

"Are you serious? I'm not wearing that," Carmilla refuses taking a few more steps back.

"No one gets any unfair advantages in my training sessions, soldier. Now put it on. That's an order."

"That's an order? OK, screw this." Carmilla starts to leave, but Laura grabs her arm.

"Just put it on," she says. "I promise you won't regret it later tonight," she adds and bats her eyelashes.

"…damn it," Carmilla whispers and takes the garlic necklace while Laura gives a self-assured smile.

"Thank you, Soldier Hollis. Now then…DROP AND GIVE ME 30!"

The ladies drop to the ground to begin when the song "Eye of the Tiger" starts playing in the background. Laura looks behind her and sees Bella holding a boom box playing the song. Bella puts it on the ground and gives Laura two thumbs up.

Rising up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger

"I want to see you see you sweat, ladies! Move it!" Katniss shouts leaving the girls in the dust behind her as they run laps around the backyard.

Danny starts running faster and Carmilla picks up the pace until they are neck and neck. Danny shoves Carmilla's garlic necklace in her face, but Carmilla slaps her hand away and they wind up rushing ahead of Katniss. She stops running and a wide grin breaks across her face.

"See? That is what I am talking about ladies…ladies?" Katniss turns around and sees Laura, Perry, and LaFontaine sprawled on the ground out of breath. Katniss runs a hand down her face and goes to help them up.

Face to face, out in the heat
Hanging tough, staying hungry
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street
For the kill with the skill to survive

It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor

Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger

"Hit me as hard as you can, Soldier Perry." Katniss orders.

"I'm reallllly not a fighter."

"Hit me!"

"But…"

"HIT ME!" Katniss shouts.

"Shut up!" Perry yells back and throws a punch. Katniss catches it, twists Perry's arm behind her back and pins her to the ground.

"Too obvious a move, soldier," Katniss says then pulls her bow off her back and uses it to knock Carmilla, who was trying to sneak up on her, off balance and fall to the ground. "Anyone else?"

Rising up, straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not going to stop
Just a man and his will to survive

It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger

The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger

"45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55! Ok, you can take a break ladies," Katniss says and they all gleefully cease doing their sit-ups except for LaFontaine, who keeps going until they reach 75. Katniss gives a satisfied applause at their effort.

"Good work, Soldier LaFontaine," she congratulates.

"That just made the searing pain I feel worth it," they breathe out.

"I think...I think I'm gonna die," Perry pants.

"We've only been working out for two loops of this song. That's, what, 9 minutes?" Danny informs her.

"Something like that," LaFontaine says.

"I told you all that I'm not a fighter. I can't keep doing this," Perry states.

"You have to," Katniss declares.

"Why? Carmilla's mother doesn't even know we're here. We're all dying from this workout, even Carmilla, and she's already dead," Perry points out.

"Hey. I'm fine," Carmilla says though her face has noticeably less color to it.

"And how long do you think you can hide before her mother does find you?" Katniss asks.

"Um..."

"You don't think she'll find you, do you? Newsflash, if she wants you all dead, truly wants you all dead, she'll never stop trying to find you. I know I'm being hard on you all, sort of, but I don't want any of you to fall victim to what I did." Katniss looks away from the group and stares at her tree. "You need to be strong enough to take out your enemies the first time you fight so you won't have to worry about them coming back for the people you love."

"…yeah. I know what you mean," Carmilla says in a somber tone then turns to Laura. Laura smiles at her and lightly caresses Carmilla's cheek.

"Ok. What's next?" Laura asks getting back to her feet; groaning from how sore her muscles feel despite the short workout. Katniss tosses her bow to Laura and hands her a single arrow.

"Um. I've never used one of these before," Laura admits.

"Seriously? After all the stories you told us about what your father taught you, I figured a bow would be a no brainer," LaFontaine says.

"Oh I've used a bow before, it was just a crossbow. Spoiler alert, I was a terrible shot with it."

"That's what this training is for. Now let's see what you've got," Katniss says. Laura faces the target Katniss set up and readies her arrow. She takes a deep breath, pulls it back, and prepares to let it loose.

"Hold it, hold it!" Katniss interrupts.

"What's wrong?" Laura asks.

"What's wrong is that you'll take someone's eye out, probably your own, if you fire it like that. Let me help you." Katniss walks behind Laura and helps her get into a better position. A small growl escapes Carmilla's lips at how close Laura and Katniss are and Danny slaps her on the shoulder.

"Jealousy isn't a very good color on you," she whispers.

"You'd know all about that wouldn't you?" Carmilla whispers back.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

"Sorry about them," Laura apologizes as she pulls back on the arrow.

"They're nothing compared to Johanna," Katniss laughs keeping Laura's arms steady. "Let it fly when you're ready." Katniss lets go of Laura and stands back. Laura's eyes zero in on the bullseye and she lets the arrow fly. It soars through the air and pierces the top right corner of the target. Laura's arms slump down and she sighs.

"I guess you shouldn't have let me go," she says.

"Guess not." 15 minutes and maybe 30 or so arrows later, Laura finally hits the bullseye. She jumps for joy and then hugs Katniss. The other girls run from Carmilla, who merely walks over to Katniss' tree and punches it. She lets out a loud growl as she recoils in pain from the punch. She tears off the garlic necklace and throws another punch this time taking a small chunk out of the tree.

"And yet, still not as intimidating as Johanna," Katniss jokes earning Laura's laughs.

The rest of the training session went as well as the first 9 minutes did with Carmilla and Danny going to absurd lengths to outdo one another including Carmilla bench pressing Laura and Danny responding by bench pressing Perry and LaFontaine with predictably disastrous results. This continued for the next few hours and Katniss didn't even look close to being finished. Fortunately for them, Katniss mercilessly ended their training for the day after they took turns trying to fight her again. Of course, Katniss pinned them all without much effort. She even successfully body slammed Danny much to her embarrassment and the others' amusement.

Katniss decided to give them tomorrow off, but warned that the next day of training would be even tougher. The girls groaned, but were too exhausted to argue. After Hermione was able to dull most of the pain and soreness they felt, they took their showers and plopped back into bed.

---

 

Laura woke up later that night feeling stiff as a board. She sits up and stretches before giving a loud yawn. She looks at her friends all fast asleep and wishes she could be the same, but alas she cannot due to how much is running through her brain right now. She gets out of bed and collapses to the floor thanks to her legs being asleep. She grabs her bed sheets, pulls herself back up, and forces herself to walk to the kitchen as the feeling in her legs slowly and painfully returns. As she approaches the kitchen, she hears the familiar hum of the microwave.

Who could be up at this hour? Wow, did I really just think that? Laura wonders as she enters the kitchen and spots Carmilla.

"Hi Carmilla," she greets.

"Hey cutie," Carmilla replies.

The microwave finishes and she pulls a cup out. She takes a long gulp of the blood in it and sighs in satisfaction. The two of them take a seat at the table and Laura places her hand over Carmilla's.

"I want to apologize for how things have turned out since we arrived," Laura says.

"I thought it was safe for us to stay here," Carmilla quips interlocking her fingers with Laura's.

"I still think it is. I just didn't realize we'd be staying at a place with such quirky individuals."

"Now you know how I feel when I have to deal with your friends," Carmilla says with a smirk. Laura rolls her eyes then looks at her and Carmilla's hands.

"You know, I've never noticed, but you're really warm," Laura comments. Carmilla smiles, stands up, and pulls Laura closer. Face to face. Chest to chest.

"Contrary to popular belief vampires are quite warm; when well fed at least," she seductively purrs then moves some hair off of Laura's neck then starts kissing it. "You said that being bitten wasn't as sexy as T.V. made it out to be. I was in a rush the last time I did it. Want to know how it feels when done right?"

"Um...Carmilla..." Laura feels her throat go dry and, even though she's shaking, feels herself holding Carmilla tighter.

"It'll hurt at first, but then you'll feel connected to me. Truly, truly, connected," Carmilla whispers and then licks Laura's neck.

"Oh my God," Laura whispers and finds herself kissing Carmilla's own neck.

"You smell delicious," Carmilla moans.

"Most people mean that figuratively," Laura says kissing Carmilla's shoulder.

"I'm not most people," Carmilla replies. Her fangs are just inches away from sinking into Laura's neck when she starts to laugh and pulls away.

"You can relax. I'm not gonna bite you," Carmilla reveals.

"Oh thank God," Laura says in relief. "Not that I wouldn't want you to. I mean, I don't, but...well, mmph," Carmilla silences Laura's rambling with a kiss.

Laura grips Carmilla even tighter as the kiss deepens and feels Carmilla's skin getting even hotter. Their moment of bliss is quickly interrupted, however, by someone slowly clapping.

"Just ignore her. She'll go away," Carmilla says against Laura's lips.

"I don't think so," Buffy says standing against the counter.

Carmilla and Laura, however, do ignore her and continue kissing. Buffy nonchalantly walks to the refrigerator, pulls out a few handfuls of garlic and places them on the table next to the two girls. Carmilla growls, breaks away from Laura, and swipes the garlic away from them.

"What the Hell are you doing here Slayer?" Carmilla asks.

"Just making sure you're behaving," Buffy says casually tossing some garlic into the air and catching it.

"Shouldn't you be screwing an emo vampire?"

"I'd love to except you're the closest one around."

"You couldn't handle me anyway."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No! I'm spoken for remember!?" A bright flash of light suddenly engulfs the room. When it dies out, everyone appears fine until Buffy tries to speak. No sound comes out of her mouth. Carmilla laughs, but stops when no sound comes from her mouth either.

Buffy throws her hands in the air and mouths out, "Not again!" She and Carmilla turn towards Laura.

"Hey. I didn't do anything," she says.

"No. I did," Hermione announces behind her.

"Silencing charm?" Laura guesses.

"Yep," Hermione confirms. Buffy bangs on the table to get Hermione's attention and angrily points to her throat.

"Do you realize what time it is, Buffy? If you and Carmilla are going to keep the house awake with your incessant arguing, then you're going to have to pay the price."

Buffy faces Carmilla and mouths out the word, "truce". Carmilla nods and they both start walking towards Hermione. With a flick of her wand, a barrier forms between the two pairs of girls. Buffy and Carmilla both punch the barrier and jump back when it stings them.

"That ought to hold them for a while," Hermione says walking over to the refrigerator and takes out a small bottle. "Butterbeer," she offers.

"Sure," Laura accepts and Hermione pours two glasses for them. They clink their drinks together and take a sip as Buffy and Carmilla glare at them from the other side of the barrier.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 5: One More Problem

The Following Morning

The sound of Laura and Perry's loud snoring wakes LaFontaine up from a wonderful dream where they and their new roommates were just battling the forces of evil. They smile and silently laugh at the two before getting out of bed. They quietly exit the bedroom and head for the kitchen; bumping straight into Lisbeth as they round the corner.

"Whoops. Sorry," they apologize. Lisbeth just stares at them. "Um…did you sleep well?" They ask unsure of how to converse one on one with Lisbeth Salendar.

"I didn't sleep," Lisbeth answers. "I was up all night engaged in an interesting conversation with your friend."

"Who?"

"The one trapped in cyberspace."

"J.P.? How? His flash drive was still connected to Laura's computer when I woke up."

"He can apparently jump between computers when plugged in. That is what he told me anyway. I must say, he is surprisingly cheerful and polite for someone in a situation like his."

"He does have the entire internet at his fingertips, so there's never a dull moment. I do wish we knew how to free him though."

"I'm willing to do any research necessary to help," Lisbeth offers. "He is a good man. There aren't many out there."

"There actually are, Lisbeth."

"…you're ignorance hurts my soul," Lisbeth insults and exits the kitchen. LaFontaine watches her go then spots her laptop on the living room table. Unable to help themselves, they open it up and J.P.'s picture appears onscreen.

Good morning, LaFontaine, J.P. greets.

"Hey J.P. So, Lisbeth tells me you can jump from computer to computer. Why didn't you ever tell us you could do that?"

You never asked.

"Very funny. Just be careful in this laptop. Who knows what disturbing things Lisbeth has on it."

I'll be fine and should anything unfortunate happen to me, I know I can count on you to embrace the weird and save my virtual butt.

"Aww, you're a real sweetheart," LaFontaine compliments. They kiss their hand and press it against J.P.'s picture.

*Blush*

LaFontaine laughs, but then hears footsteps coming from the hallway.

"I better go incase that's Lisbeth. Bye," they whisper and close the computer. However, the one to enter the living room turns out to be Laura much to LaFontaine's relief.

"Morning, Laura," they greet.

"Morning," Laura yawns. "Were you talking to someone?"

"Just J.P."

"But his flash drive is still plugged into my computer."

"Apparently he can jump between computers when plugged in."

"Really? I guess he never told us because we never asked?"

"Pretty much." Laura gives a humorous sigh then gulps at the sight of the kitchen.

"Would you mind coming into the kitchen with me?" She asks.

"Why?"

"Hermione and I left Buffy and Carmilla trapped behind a forcefield and…"

"You know, I just remembered. I need to, um, go recite Samuel L. Jackson's Pulp Fiction monologue in front of the bathroom mirror! Bye!" LaFontaine sprints out of the room leaving Laura to face her girlfriend alone.

"Coward," Laura mumbles and cautiously enters the kitchen hoping that she won't see it covered in blood. "Carm? I'm sorry I left you in here. Please don't bite me…oh my God," she whispers and then tries and fails to hold back a laugh.

Buffy and Carmilla are both asleep against the counter; Carmilla's head resting on Buffy's shoulder. Laura pulls out her phone, switches it to camera mode, and snaps a photo of the sleeping pair.

"I thought vampires couldn't be photographed," Hermione says behind Laura making her jump. "Sorry. Didn't mean to frighten you," Hermione apologizes while barely containing her laughter at the sleeping Slayer and Vampire.

"It's OK. You know, Carmilla's broken so many vampire rules that I tend to just not question what applies to her anymore. She doesn't like garlic though, so you might want to have some on hand when you take the barrier down."

"Do I have to?" Hermione asks.

"I'm afraid so," Laura answers. Hermione shrugs her shoulders, raises her wand, and with one flick, the barrier dissipates. Laura claps her hands and Carmilla slightly stirs awake. Her eyes open and slowly take in the fact that her head is resting on Buffy's shoulder.

"Morning baby," Laura chuckles. Carmilla glances at Laura and opens her mouth, but of course no sound comes out of it. She angrily points to her throat and then flips Hermione off.

"Obscene gestures like that make me less inclined to give you back your voice," Hermione chides her.

Carmilla takes a deep breath and mouths out the word 'please'.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Hermione asks. She flicks her wand and a bright light emits around Buffy and Carmilla's faces.

"Ugh, finally," Carmilla says then elbows Buffy. "Wake up. We can talk again."

"Ugh, finally," a still groggy Buffy unknowingly mimics then notices how close she and Carmilla are.

"Care to explain this?" Laura asks pointing from Carmilla to Buffy.

"Oh we just realized that if we were going to be stuck here all night, we'd have to work out our issues. We had a heart to heart talk and now we're the best of friends," Carmilla explains placing her arm around Buffy's shoulder.

"But you two couldn't talk."

"You know what they say. Sometimes when you can't say anything, that's when the lines of communication are open best open."

"Riley and I had our first kiss when our voices got stolen as a matter of fact," Buffy fondly remembers.

"Don't you hate him?" Laura asks.

"I didn't then," Buffy clarifies then Carmilla turns Buffy's face towards hers'.

"Do you hate me?" She asks.

"Hmmm. Not right now," Buffy answers and then leans forward and kisses Carmilla. Laura's jaw drops, but she clears her throat and composes herself.

"OK. Very funny. You're getting back at me for leaving you stuck here," Laura giggles yet neither woman stops. In fact, they both seem to be getting into it. Buffy wraps her arms around Carmilla's neck while she holds onto Buffy's shirt and Laura's almost certain she sees some tongue.

"Stop it, both of you!" She shouts and they break apart.

"Jealous?" Carmilla asks with a wink.

"Pretty much," Laura replies mildly exasperated.

"Look on the bright side. At least they're getting along," Hermione says.

"Oh, Hell no. Nothing's changed. We just wanted to mess with you," Carmilla says scooting away from Buffy; the Slayer doing the same.

"But Hermione's the one that cast the spell and trapped you here."

"Don't go bringing me into this!" Hermione interjects.

"If it helps, I've had better," Buffy reveals.

"Excuse me?" Carmilla asks almost sounding offended.

"You're good, but you've got nothing on Satsu."

"Satsu?" Hermione asks.

"She's a Japanese Slayer that Buffy briefly had a relationship with," Laura answers.

"How did you know that?" Buffy questions.

"Long story."

"Well don't feel bad Carmilla. There's nothing wrong with being second best," Buffy teases and pats Carmilla shoulders. Carmilla groans, stands up, and walks out of the kitchen.

"What exactly do you see in her?" Buffy asks.

"What you saw in Spike and Angel I suppose," Laura answers.

"Touche," Buffy mutters. The women share a laugh when they hear something go off in the next hallway.

"BUFFY!" Carmilla screams. The trio of women dash into the hallway and find Carmilla trapped in a net just in front of someone's bedroom.

"Sorry, I can't claim credit for this," a giggling Buffy says.

"Who's room is this?" Laura asks.

"Michonne's," Hermione replies.

"Oh great. I don't suppose she's still out collecting zombie supplies," Laura hopes.

"Remove the head or destroy the brain!" Someone yells at the end of the hallway. They turn around and see Michonne dropping a couple of grocery bags and unsheathing her sword. "Fear the living!" She cries charging towards the net.

"Locomotor Mortis!" Hermione casts. The spell hits Michonne locking her legs in place and she crashes to the floor.

"Are you crazy, Granger! We've got to get rid of the…hold on. She's not a walker," Michonne realizes.

"No duh," Carmilla darkly growls. Hermione casts the counter curse allowing Michonne to stand back up.

"Wait, this trap is only designed to spring when the dead walk over it…oh for crap's sake. Bella! I thought we told you not to bring anymore vampires into this house!" Michonne yells.

"She's with me actually," Laura clarifies.

"Who are you?"

"She's Laura Hollis. She and her friends are going to be staying here for a while," Hermione explains.

"OK. So, when you said 'she's with me'-."

"She means we're dating," Carmilla interrupts; not even bothering to try and get out of the net.

"…uh huh. You know the vampire almost always eats the human right?" Michonne asks Laura.

"She's different." Michonne moves Laura's hair off her neck with her sword revealing Carmilla's bite marks.

"Care to explain?" She asks.

"She's good now," Laura unconvincingly answers.

"Right." Michonne looks up at Carmilla. "You feed on her or anyone in this house and we're going to have a problem."

"You don't get that sword out of my face and we're going to have a problem," Carmilla threatens.

OK, this has to stop, Hermione thinks. She goes to the kitchen, picks up the telephone, and dials a number.

"Angel Investigations. We help the helpless," the voice on the other end answers.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 6: All That Matters

Notes:

A/N: I gave Carmilla's mother a name in this chapter. At the time this chapter was written, she hadn't been officially named in the show.

So a week or so has gone by since the creampuffs got properly acquainted with Buffy, Hermione, Katniss, Lisbeth, Michonne, and Bella. Unfortunately, the uneasy living conditions did not improve. Michonne and Buffy continue watching Carmilla's every move and Katniss' training regime got tougher with each day. It really didn't help that Carmilla's garlic handicap allowed the Mockingjay to outmaneuver her anytime they went one on one. Laura wasn't sure how Carmilla didn't snap, rip off the garlic necklace, and maul Katniss, but she's glad that she's kept it together. How long that would last is anyone's guess, however.

Night has fallen now and most of the house is asleep, but Laura sits wide awake in the living room reading some of the comments left on her last video. Most of them are the usual fair with people wishing her luck and to keep kicking butt. A few of the comments though were angry messages about Laura callously breaking Danny's heart. This annoys Laura, but she foregoes replying to them.

At least people are still visiting my Vlog despite the hiatus, she thinks.

Still, she was hoping to see a message from someone regarding what happened to Silas. J.P. has run multiple searches on the campus and everything seems perfectly fine, but Laura knows that things aren't always what they seem.

"Please tell me you aren't making another video," Carmilla says sitting next to Laura.

"Do you really think I'd do something that foolish?" Laura asks. Carmilla gives her an 'are you serious' look and Laura shrugs her shoulders. "Hey, I've learned from the other foolish things I've done."

"Doubt it. You busy right now?"

"Can't say that I am."

"Good. Go grab your jacket and meet me out front in five minutes."

"Why?" Laura asks as Carmilla walks out the living room.

"You'll see," Carmilla replies with a sly smile.

Well, I'm turned on right now, Laura thinks fanning herself with her right hand.

"Hi Laura."

"Bella!" Laura shouts and almost jumps out of the couch at Bella sitting right beside her. "What do you want?" She asks trying to calm her racing heartbeat. Bella shifts her head towards the back door.

"Walk with me?" She asks.

Hmmm. Should I risk Carm's wrath by making her wait? Then again this shouldn't take long. But what if it does? Oh screw it! She made out with Buffy in front of me!

"Sure." The two of them walk out the Bamf house into the backyard. Laura notices a large stockpile of weapons lying on the ground and gives Bella a questioning look.

"I train with Lisbeth sometimes. That's not why we're out here though," Bella explains.

"Why are we out here?" Laura asks.

"I didn't want the others to hear what I'm about to ask you because it's kind of embarrassing."

"We're alone now, so ask away."

"How do you and Carmilla do it?"

"...what?"

"Oh no, not that!" Bella quickly clarifies. "How do you two make it work?"

"You're seriously asking me for relationship advice?" Laura almost laughs.

"Yes. We're both dating super moody vampires yet you and Carmilla always look like you're up in the clouds when together whereas I always have this tiny nagging feeling that Edward doesn't really respect me."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think he does."

"What makes you say that?"

"There was the time he left town, asked you not to do anything reckless, and you jumped off a cliff."

"I wasn't trying to kill myself."

"I know, but it was still stupid of you to do." Bella lowers her head in shame. Laura puts her hand under Bella's chin and tilts her head back up. "On the other hand, if there is anyone that doesn't deserve respect, it's Edward." Bella looks completely perplexed by that statement. "He didn't just leave you. He erased all traces of his existence. Not only was that a dick move, but it was also an insult to your relationship since before the incident with Jasper, Edward stated that he was prepared to pull a Romeo and Juliet if you died."

"I never thought of it like that before. Maybe I need to rethink my feelings concerning Jacob."

"Hold on there. He doesn't deserve your respect either after he threatened to get himself killed in the battle against Victoria's forces because you were going to marry Edward."

"How do you know so much about me?"

"You gave us your life story when you brought my friends and me to this place."

"Oh right," Bella remembers.

That was a close one, Laura thinks.

"Duck!" Bella suddenly shouts.

Laura doesn't have time to respond as Bella tackles her to the ground. An owl soars over them and crashes into the backdoor.

"Whoa," Laura breathes out. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Bella replies helping Laura up. They walk over to the downed owl and notice a small parcel attached to its leg. The backdoor opens up and Hermione steps out.

"Bloody Hell, Errol," she groans. She picks up the Weasley family owl and strokes its head.

"Love note from Ron?" Laura humorously guesses.

"No. Just something for a spell I'm working on," Hermione says taking the parcel. Laura notices the sender is from Los Angeles, but does not question the matter. Errol prepares to take off, but Hermione holds onto him. "I think you better stay here tonight. Can't have you flying with a concussion my fine feathered friend," she says and brings him inside. Laura and Bella watch her leave then simultaneously turn back to one another.

"There anything else you want to talk about?" Laura asks.

"No, I'm good. Thanks," Bella says and then hugs Laura.

"Anytime, I guess," Laura replies and awkwardly hugs Bella back. They break apart at the sound of Carmilla loudly clearing her throat.

"Hi Carmilla," Bella greets.

"Hi," Carmilla says; Laura's jacket in hand. "I said five minutes."

"I figured you could survive my absence for another minute or two," Laura quips. Bella giggles at their banter and leaves to give them some privacy. Once she leaves, Carmilla tosses Laura her jacket.

"Follow me."

"Lead on." Carmilla leads her to the drive way and stops in front of a van. "This is Lisbeth's van," Laura points out.

"So it is," Carmilla replies and pulls out the keys from her pocket.

"No. We are not stealing it. Do you know what Lisbeth will do to us if she finds out?"

"I'm not afraid."

"Have you read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?"

"Yes as a matter of fact. Real page turner once the plot got rolling," Carmilla says opening the driver's side door. "So are you getting in because I will drive off and leave you here to explain to Lisbeth where her van is," Carmilla jokingly threatens. Jokingly or not, Laura does not want to take the risk and climbs in the vehicle.

"So where are we going? Make out point?" Laura jokes and bats her eyelashes.

"OK, no one has said 'make out point' since...you know, I don't think that term has ever been used in real life," Carmilla says as they hit the road.

"Where are we going then?"

"Like I said, you'll see." This time Carmilla bats her eyelashes and Laura playfully rolls her eyes. As they drive in silence Laura finds her mind drifting back to Silas and the people she left behind.

J.P ran a search on the campus. Everything is fine you idiot! Then why am I not calming down? Because an army of vampires was outside your dorm when you ran. They wouldn't all come after you. Most of them would've stayed for the walking buffet that is the entire campus. Oh dear, God. I should've stayed. Should've done something to help fight back. Yet here I am going off to enjoy myself with my hot girlfriend while people are dying...

"Laura?" Carmilla's voice breaks Laura out of her thoughts and she feels tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn't even realize she was crying.

"What is it?," Laura asks wiping her tears away and also noticing that the car is stopped and in a parking lot.

"I can take you back to the house if you want," Carmilla offers.

"No, no. I'm OK."

"Don't insult me."

"I'm sorry, Carm. I didn't mean to pick now to think about the people we left behind at Silas. It just happened," she cries.

Carmilla leans over and tightly embraces Laura. Laura holds onto Carmilla for dear life fighting desperately to push the possible images of the Silas campus being slaughtered out of her mind. They sit there in each other's arms for an untold amount of time. Only when her heart finally stops banging against her chest does Laura start to loosen her grip, but only just. Carmilla pulls back as well so she can see Laura's face and leans in to kiss her. Laura sighs from the feeling of Carmilla's lips against her own and rests her forehead against Carmilla's when they break apart.

"I've been so preoccupied with my own thoughts, you haven't had a chance to show me what you wanted to," Laura says.

"It's nothing really. I'll just take you back to the house-"

"Oh Hell no," Laura says while wiping away a few more tears. "We did not steal Lisbeth's van just to back out of visiting..." Laura looks out the window and sees that Carmilla drove them to the park.

Laura gives her girlfriend an unbelieving look. Carmilla simply gestures for her to get out of the van, which she does. Carmilla leads Laura over to a picnic table and they sit down; her gaze directed at the moon.

"The moon holds a lot of sentimental value for me," she begins; fingers interlocking with Laura's. "You see back in the early days of my vampirism, whenever mommy dearest and I travelled to a new town, I would always look for the point in the city where the view of the moon was best and just stare at it whenever I felt on edge and needed to relax." Laura looks up at the moon too.

"It's beautiful," Laura comments then Carmilla turns Laura's head towards her.

"But not as beautiful as you," Carmilla compliments stroking Laura's hair.

"You know how corny that sounds?" Laura asks.

"Regretted it the instant I said it," Carmilla jokes and this actually elicits a laugh from Laura, who then rests her head on Carmilla's shoulder.

"Do you really think your mother is still out there?"

"Ingrid," Carmilla says.

"Excuse me?"

"My mother. Her name is Ingrid."

"Like the actress?"

"Actress?"

"You know. Ingrid Pitt. The Vampire Lovers." Carmilla blankly stares at her. "For crying out loud, her character's name was Carmilla in that movie."

"And here I was thinking my name was unique," Carmilla lightly laughs and Laura does too.

"What was I saying again? Oh right, do you think Ingrid is still out there? You'd figure whatever power she might've got from the hungry light would make it easier for her to track us down."

"Whether she's dead or alive, we couldn't have stayed at Silas. Not with the amount of followers she has there." Laura's hand twitches at the mention of Silas and she holds Carmilla's hand tighter.

"Do you think our lives will ever go back to normal?"

"Normal ended for me a long time ago, cutie." Laura falls silent at her careless words and looks into Carmilla's eyes seeing something she rarely ever sees; sadness and vulnerability.

She's always so strong for me, Laura thinks. Has anyone ever been strong for her?

Laura cautiously reaches forward and lightly caresses Carmilla's cheek. She smiles and covers Laura's hand with her own.

"You know, we never did get a chance to finish our dance," Laura says standing up and holding out her hand. Carmilla accepts it and Laura pulls her close; face to face, chest to chest. "Can I lead this time?" 

"You know how to lead?"

"I've seen it done on T.V. dozens of times. How hard could it be?"

"Watching and doing are two separate things, but by all means, be my guest."

Laura resists the urge to start singing "Be Our Guest" and takes a deep breath. What follows is hardly the most graceful of waltzing sessions and before they even finish, Laura offers the lead back to Carmilla.

"No thanks," she declines as Laura manages to twirl her around. "Sometimes it's nice to not be the one in control," she says while spinning into Laura.

Laura feels butterflies form in her stomach from the feel of Carmilla's back pressed against her chest and forgets what to do next. Carmilla helps Laura out by turning her head towards Laura and gazing down at her lips. Laura stands on her tip toes and kisses Carmilla. She turns around and pulls Laura flush against her and she moans from the heat resonating from the vampire.

Laura doesn't know what the future holds, but what she does know is that she doesn't want this moment to end. So she and Carmilla stay in the park for hours. They forget about Silas, Ingrid, vampires, the hungry light, the fact that they stole Lisbeth's van; all that matters right now is each other.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 7: A Friend in Need

The sun is just beginning to rise as Laura and Carmilla pull up to the Bamf House; Laura at the wheel while Carmilla sleeps.

Awww. She's so cute when she sleeps…oh God, I'm watching her sleep, Laura thinks.

"Wake up, Carmilla." Laura says, but she remains still. "Carm?" Laura shakes her some and Carmilla's eyes snap awake and she throws a punch at the windshield of Lisbeth's van, stopping just an inch from it. "Carm?" A nervous Laura repeats while silently thanking the Lord that Carmilla didn't break the windshield. Carmilla pants lightly and her fist shakes as she turns to Laura.

"Bad…bad dream," she says.

"Want to talk about it?" Laura asks. Carmilla shakes her head. "I understand. Come on. Let's get inside before Lisbeth discovers her van is missing and kills us."

"Are you forgetting who you're dating?" A semi-offended Carmilla asks. "I could totally take her."

"Humans are stronger than you think. Have you forgotten the big battle we had in the library?" Laura asks.

"I try to forget about it considering the near death experience I had," Carmilla answers while rubbing her eyes. She gets out of the van and opens Laura's door for her.

"Never expected chivalry from you," Laura says with a smile. Carmilla takes her hand and assists her out of the van.

"It's not quite as romantic as people make it out to be. Once had two guys knock each other over trying to open the door for me," Carmilla chuckles. They walk up to the front door, pull out the keys given to them, unlock the door, and a net springs up from under the pair. It ensnares them and hoists them a good few feet off the ground. The door opens and out steps Lisbeth; arms folded and a scowl on her face.

"Hi Lisbeth," Laura nervously giggles.

"Have you been waiting for us to come back all this time?" Carmilla asks. Lisbeth just stares at them for a few more seconds; eyes shifting their gaze from Carmilla to Laura and back again.

"I thought I made it clear that you are not to touch my stuff," Lisbeth reminds them.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Carmilla asks and a smirk graces Lisbeth's face.

"I'm glad you asked," she begins and then someone taps her shoulder.

"Let them go," Bella orders. Lisbeth gives a quick sigh and faces Bella.

"They took my van."

"And it's in one piece, so I say no harm no foul."

"Your ignorance hurts my soul."

"Lisbeth. Down," Bella orders more sternly this time. Lisbeth stares at Bella and then pulls out a remote from her jacket pocket. She presses a button on it, which sends the net, and Laura and Carmilla, falling to the pavement below. "Good girl." Bella says and pats Lisbeth's shoulder. Lisbeth's mouth twitches into a smile and then switches to a scowl and then back again.

"Not that I mind you being on top of me, but please get off," Laura says to Carmilla.

"I could. Or I could do this." Carmilla leans down and kisses Laura.

"Awww," Bella coos. Lisbeth looks away in mild annoyance. They pull apart and Laura has a dreamy expression on her face, which brings a smile to Carmilla's.

"Ahem," Lisbeth says.

"What do you want?" Carmilla asks.

"If you so much as even think of stealing from me again…"

"Lisbeth, no," Bella interrupts. "Now you go back inside and hack into the Cullen clan's bank accounts. That always puts you in a good mood." A psychotic smirk suddenly graces Lisbeth's face and she swiftly enters the Bamf house.

"You alright?" Bella asks extending a hand to Laura.

"Yeah. How did you do that?" Laura asks as Bella helps her up.

"I just seem to have that effect on super moody people," she says. "Except you," she adds looking at Carmilla. The vampire runs a hand down her face at the comment.

"Let's just go inside," Laura suggests entering the house with Bella and Carmilla following her.

"Ah, maggots, happy to see you're home," Katniss says standing at the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Laura stops walking causing Carmilla and Bella to bump into her and nearly knock them all to the floor. "I've decided to work individually with you and your friends for these next few of sessions and you're my first pick," she says pointing to Laura.

"I'm really not in the mood right now."

"Evil never sleeps and neither should you, soldier," Katniss declares.

"But Katniss."

"Silence!" Katniss orders and Laura stands at attention. "Now start running! Run! Run! Run!" Laura starts running and Katniss follows her out the door while still shouting 'run'.

"Aren't you going to join her?" Bella asks Carmilla.

"Hey, I didn't hear my name get called," Carmilla jokes.

---

 

Later that day

"Keep it up! You're almost done!" Katniss encourages.

"We've been…training…for over…9 hours. Can we…please…stop…?" Laura gasps as she continues to jump rope throughout the house.

"No! Just 20 more seconds!" Laura summons all her strength and pushes through the last few seconds of Katniss' workout. "Time!" Katniss yells and the exhausted Laura collapses to the floor.

"Solid effort. Keep it up and you just might be a match for the people pursuing you someday."

"I've saved the world once before already," Laura pants.

"You're not gonna have a vampire to back you up in every fight," Katniss reminds her. She pulls Laura up and keeps her steady.

"You're starting to remind me of my father," Laura says.

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's quite the survivor. He'd probably make a good mentor in The Hunger Games as a matter of fact."

"There aren't any games anymore. Only war. The sooner you accept that, the better your chances will be of seeing this through to the end."

"I have accepted it."

"Show me," Katniss says and then unexpectedly throws a punch at Laura. Almost on instinct, she dodges it, grabs Katniss' arm, pulls it behind her back, forces her to the floor, and puts her into a choke hold.

"That good enough for you?" Laura asks and then loosens up her hold.

"For now." Laura releases her and pulls Katniss back up. Just then, the doorbell rings.

"Now who could that be?" Katniss wonders.

She and Laura approach the door and open it. Laura instantly forgets the aching soreness running through her body at the sight of a trio of breathtakingly beautiful women standing on the other side of the door.

"May…may we help you?" Laura asks; throat feeling dry.

"We have come to see Hermione," the ladies respond. Each of them saying one word of the sentence. "Mmmmm, Hermione," they all sigh at once.

"Oh. You're the Transuding Furies," Laura recognizes. "It's ok. They're friends of Buffy's ex-boyfriend Angel," she tells Katniss.

"Mmmm, Angel," they all coo at the sound of Angel's name.

What is up with all these fictional characters appearing out of nowhere? Laura thinks to herself.

"Ah, ladies, happy to see you've made it," Hermione says approaching the group. "Katniss, Laura, these are…"

"The Transuding Furies, I know," Laura interrupts. "How do you know them?"

"I don't, but I needed some ingredients for a spell I'm working on, so I called Angel Invetigations…"

"Mmmmm, Angel," The Furies interrupt.

"Anyway, the Furies were recommended to me and they decided to personally deliver the last ingredient I need."

"You don't know them, but they seem to know you," Laura observes.

"Being the brightest witch of your age does get you some recognition in the magical realm," Hermione states as if it were obvious. "It's a pleasure to meet you three by the way," she says to the Furies.

"The pleasure is all ours, Hermione. Mmmm, Hermione."

"Now ladies. Stay focused if you will," the clearly flattered Hermione laughs. "Shall we proceed?"

"Laura," Lisbeth calls from the kitchen breaking into the conversation.

"What is it?" Laura yells back not wanting to be alone with Lisbeth in a room full of sharp objects.

"There's a phone call for you."

"What?" Laura goes into the kitchen. Lisbeth is holding Laura's cell phone.

"I put them on hold," Lisbeth says.

"Are you crazy? Why didn't you end the call?" She asks and Lisbeth glares at her. "Sorry, but I'm putting my foot down," Laura whispers. "I'm on the run, remember? What if that call is being traced?"

"Please. It's not. Trust me."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Just take your phone," Lisbeth almost threatens and Laura obeys.

"Wait," Hermione says joining them with the Furies close behind. She pulls out her wand and aims it at the phone. She casts a spell that washes over it. Nothing happens. "Whomever's on the other end isn't being magically influenced. Answering should be safe." Laura nods and looks at the caller ID. She gasps and answers it immediately.

"Kirsch! I thought you were dead!"

"Who? Me? Not in a million years," Kirsch chuckles.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to hear your voice!" She exclaims and looks at Katniss. "Go get my friends. They'll want to know Kirsch is alright."

"On it," Katniss replies and goes to collect them.

"Hold on. I need to be 100% sure it's you. How did we first meet?"

"I assigned myself to be your Designated Zeta Omega Mu Safety Companion/Dudescort, following the Zeta vow of 'if there's a hottie we'll be on her'," Kirsch answers in a whisper.

"Yep, it's you. Um, why are you whispering?"

"This really angry Summer chick has rallied some of us together into a resistance at the university and if she hears me say anything Zeta related, she'll kick my ass."

"Hold on, you're still at Silas? Why didn't you run?"

"I tried, but I got caught by some vampires masquerading as students. I didn't think they were vamps because it was a bright and sunny day, but apparently vampires can walk out in the sunlight no problem! Since when can vampires do that!?"

"Calm down, Kirsch. Tell me everything that's happened at Silas since my friends and I ran."

To Be Continued…

Chapter 8: Back in the Fight

Notes:

A/N: Hey everyone. So with Carmilla over (until the movie that is) things from the actual second and third seasons might (or might not) start making their way into this fic. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.

"Hey, where's Carmilla?" Laura asks while the rest of her friends pile into the kitchen to hear what Kirsch has to say.

"Still asleep." Katniss replies. "She looked like she was having a nightmare. Knowing a thing or two about those, I figured it was best to let her play it out than risk waking up the super strong vampire."

"Good grief. Fine." Laura puts her phone on speaker. "We're all here, Kirsch, so tell us what happened since we ran."

"Ok, so like I said, when you all ran away, I got captured and thrown into a dungeon. Since when does Silas have a dungeon?"

"Focus Kirsch."

"Right, sorry. In addition to me, several of the Zetas and Summers that fought against The Dean were thrown into the dungeon as well. Every day, The Dean would have someone taken away and we'd never see them again."

"The Dean's definitely alive? You saw her?" Laura asks.

"Alive and kicking though soon she'll be kicking and screaming. Whatever she did to keep that hungry light at bay wasn't working anymore, so she started sacrificing students at random in hopes that that would work. It seems to be doing the trick, but only just. The campus is still experiencing earthquakes that have gotten worse as the days have gone by. It was like something out of a horror movie, and being the handsome eye candy that I am, I knew it was only a matter of time before I was next. But then this Summer, that looked like an angrier version of that chick from The Hunger Games, broke into the dungeon and started freeing all of us. You should've seen her. She was seriously the baddest lady to ever live."

"This girl. She wouldn't happen to be Mel by any chance would she?" Danny asks.

"Hm, um, yeah! That's her name. Why? Do you know her?"

"She and I have crossed paths on a few occasions. She's not exactly the nicest person especially when Zetas are involved. I'm dead shocked that she saved you to be honest."

"Oh she's made it clear that she doesn't like me, but she also said that she needs to be practical when it comes to saving the university, so she's recruiting anyone she can find to help fight The Dean."

"How has no one noticed this! The forces of darkness taking over an entire campus is kind of a hard thing to cover up!" Perry shouts.

"I wish I knew, but I don't. Anyway, so far we've rescued the bulk of the hostages, but that's kind of a hollow victory when you think about it since without them, the light's gonna kill us all. But fear not! We've got our brightest mind working on a plan. You remember Betty, right?"

"She was my roommate, Kirsch," Laura sighs.

"Oh right. Well she's been researching day and night on a way to wipe out the light. That girl's smart. Like Willow from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer smart."

"Mmm, Willow," Hermione dreamily sighs and the others stare at her. "Sorry," she apologizes; avoiding Buffy's knowing gaze.

"I wish I could be there to help you guys," Laura says.

"That's actually why I called you. No matter what you may see or hear, don't come back to Silas. I have never been more serious about anything in my life. Don't come back. The Dean hates you most of all and I don't want to imagine what she'll do to you if she ever learns where you are. Wherever that is, stay there. Ok, I have to go now. It's been great hearing your voice again, Laura."

"Been great hearing your's as well. Do us all a favor and don't die."

"For you all, anything. Bye."

"Bye," the Silas ladies say in unison and Kirsch hangs up.

"Ok, so who's in favor of packing up and heading back to Silas?" Danny suddenly asks.

"What? No. You heard Kirsch. The Dean wants me dead more than anything. That means she'll want you all dead by proxy."

"Our friends are dying, Laura. We have no right to be hiding like rats while that happens."

"We're also no good to anyone dead. If we're going to help then we need to be smart about this. If Betty's trying to figure out a way to stop the light then we can help her from here. Hermione-"

"Mmm, Hermione," the Transuding Furies coo making Laura roll her eyes at them.

"Your bag is connected to the library back at Hogwarts right?"

"Yes it is."

"Then start bringing in as many books as you can on demonic evil light things. Same goes for you Buffy. Get into contact with Willow and Giles and see what they can dig up. You too Lisbeth. See what information you can hack from The Dean's personal files."

"It will be my pleasure," Lisbeth says rubbing her hands together.

"Your help would be greatly appreciated as well, Furies."

"We will see what we can do," they reply.

"It would help if we knew something distinguishing about this 'hungry' light," Hermione says.

"Carmilla got the closest look at it. I wonder if she's awake now." Laura's thought is answered by a loud scream from their bedroom. The girls rush to the scream and see Carmilla thrashing about on the bed.

"Don't do this! Don't do this! DON'T DO THIS!" Carmilla screams tearing the bed apart. Laura tries to run to her, but Buffy holds her back.

"She's scared! Let me go!" Laura yells struggling in Buffy's grip.

"It's not wise to wake up a distressed vampire, remember," Buffy advises.

"It's ok, I got this," Bella declares already approaching Carmilla's bed.

"Bella, don't be!…stupid."

Buffy and the rest of the group are at a loss for words as Carmilla starts calming down the closer Bella gets to her. She sits down on the bed and places her hand on Carmilla's forehead. Her erratic movements come to a slow stop and her eyes open; her breathing coming in short, panicked spurts. Bella notices Carmilla's eyes are briefly red, but in one blink they are back to their normal color.

"Bella?" Carmilla asks.

"I told you I'd be here for you," Bella reminds her. Laura runs to her girlfriend's side and hugs her. Carmilla clinging to her for dear life.

"You were dead. It felt so real. So real," she pants.

"I'm here, Carmilla. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." They continue to hold one another and Bella gets off the bed.

"Um, how did you do that?" Buffy asks.

"I can protect myself from certain powers, so I thought maybe I could shield her from whatever nightmare she was having."

"I don't think that's how your power works," LaFontaine comments.

"Never mind how my powers work. Let's give these two some privacy. Go on, shoo. Shoo," Bella says already pushing them out the door and shutting it.

---

 

"So Hermione," Buffy says and shoots an angry look at the Furies before they can coo her name again. "Why did you summon the Furies anyway?"

"To be honest, I called them to help me finish an anti-violence spell that I planned to cast on the house." Hermione's friends glare at her for this. "Don't look at me like that. You and Michonne have threatened to kill one of our guests and I don't even want to know what you planned on doing to Laura and Carmilla for taking your van, Lisbeth. But circumstances have changed now. If we're going to help save the world, we'll need a different kind of protective spell around this house. If you're still willing to help with that, Furies."

"For you, anything, Hermione. Mmmmmm, Hermione."

"Do you ever stop doing that?" Danny groans.

"No," they all reply.

---

 

Carmilla and Laura remain where they are just holding one another for the next few minutes. Every now and then Laura kisses her girlfriend's forehead and, if possible, that makes Carmilla hold her even tighter. Laura had never seen Carmilla like this before. So scared and vulnerable. It was almost kind of scary.

What did she see? Laura wonders.

She wants to ask, but doesn't want to make her relive the nightmare. So she keeps holding her. It was Laura's turn to be the strong one.

 

Chapter 9: The Darkness within the Light

A/N: Hey everyone. So despite several revelations surrounding the Dean in the third season, I'm keeping her the way she was in the first season unless I change my mind otherwise. I'm also keeping her name as Ingrid. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

---

 

Later That Night

Carmilla feels warm; safe and warm.

Safe. There's a word I haven't associated with myself in a while, she thinks.

Her heavy eyes slowly open and she realizes that she's still in Laura's arms.

How long have I been out? She wonders and glances at the clock; it's 10 P.M.

Has she been by my side all this time? She truly is amazing.

Carmilla kisses Laura's forehead and silently chuckles when Laura tries to hold her closer. She gently slips out of Laura's grasp and gets off the bed nearly stepping on Bella, who currently rests on the floor.

Good grief. Don't tell me SHE'S been here all this time, she thinks and walks around Bella to exit the bedroom.

The house sounds relatively quiet except for the sound of something coming from the kitchen. Carmilla heads for the kitchen and spots Michonne sitting in the center of the room sharpening a stake.

"Hi," Michonne says.

"Hi. Those for me?" Carmilla asks pointing to the pile of stakes next to Michonne.

"I've got other things on my mind besides ending you, Vampira. These are for your friends to protect themselves," she answers adding the stake in her hand to the pile and starting to sharpen another.

"I am not going to bite any of them."

"Who said anything about you?"

"You've been watching me like a hawk ever since I came here, Blade."

"Hardy, ha, ha. Well, they're not for you. They're for your mother."

"We are not going to fight my mother."

"Just because you don't want to be in a fight doesn't mean she won't one day bring it to you. It pays to be prepared for these sorts of things."

"Right. How's the whole stockpiling for the 'zombie apocalypse' thing going for you?"

"You know, it's pretty rich that you're mocking me for that given that the Earth was nearly destroyed by an ancient evil light. You never know what life may throw at you, so, like I said, be prepared."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"Well, as long as you're here, grab some stakes and start sharpening them," Michonne says and tosses one to Carmilla.

She catches it and glares at Michonne. They sit there in silence for a while just sharpening stakes until they are eventually joined by Hermione and Buffy.

"Ah Carmilla. Glad to see you're awake. I have some questions for you," Hermione says through a yawn.

"What about?" Carmilla asks dropping another stake into the pile.

"We were wondering if there was anything specific you could tell us about the evil light you fought at Silas that can help us with our research."

"Research? What research?"

"Oh right, you were asleep when that conversation was taking place. Long story short, a friend of Laura's called from Silas to tell her that your mother's definitely alive, there's a resistance fighting her on campus, and the light you all tried to kill is growing restless and soon might no longer be able to be kept pacified with human sacrifices."

"See what I mean about being prepared," Michonne laughs.

"Shut up," Carmilla says.

"Anyway," Buffy starts. "Laura's got us all trying to figure out how to get rid of the light, but it would help if we knew something distinguishing about it. She said you got the closest look at the thing, so was there anything you saw that could help us out?"

"You want me to talk about the night I almost died?" Carmilla asks with an edge to her voice.

"Yes," Buffy replies with even more of an edge to her voice.

"Sorry, but I prefer to not discuss traumatic life events with people I don't know."

"I can sort of see where you're coming from given how traumatic my second death was," Buffy understands. "But still, we aren't asking you this for kicks. We're trying to keep the world safe, so start talking," she orders and Carmilla snaps one of the stakes she's holding in half in response. "Oh, I'm so scared."

"Carmilla, tell them." Carmilla's eyes glance to her left spotting Laura entering the kitchen. "Now," she adds in a firm voice.

"You think I'll talk just because you want me to?"

"Carmilla, normally I'd put up with your vampire broodiness, but not this time. Especially since you were perfectly fine with telling me about your traumatic backstory when I had you tied up in my dorm room."

"Wow, didn't peg you as one of those people, Laura," Buffy says.

"You're one to talk."

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind! Sorry," she apologizes then turns her attention back to Carmilla. "Look, you already signed up for the 'heroic vampire crap' so you're just gonna have to embrace your pain, spank your inner moppet or whatever, and get over it."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Buffy thinks out loud.

Carmilla gives a frustrated growl, walks over to the living room couch, and slumps on it; the rest of the ladies joining her in the room. She rubs her temples and takes a breath. Laura places a comforting hand on her shoulder and Carmilla places one of her hands over it. Laura notices Carmilla's other hand tightly gripping the couch. She sits down beside her, pulls Carmilla close, and kisses her cheek calming Carmilla down a little.

"Ok, fine. First things first. We are not fighting a sentient ball of light. It's only part of what lies beneath the library; a monster. The light made it very hard to see, but when I dove into the pit and stabbed the thing with the sword, I was able to make out a pair of two bright white eyes and a giant set of razor sharp teeth. The light itself was coming from something attached to the monster's forehead. It shook me loose in its agony and I got flung into the side of the cliff. I could feel my life starting to drain as the light was dying down, but I still tried climbing out of the pit even as the sword attempted to pull me back. About halfway up the cliff, I looked back down and with the light not so blinding I think I saw what the monster was. It looked like a giant fish."

"A giant…fish," Laura repeats.

"Buffy and I have seen giant snakes, so a giant fish isn't out of the realm of possibilities," Hermione says.

"Oh right," Laura replies. "What happened next?" She asks Carmilla.

"Not much. As my life started to fade, I could faintly hear you, cutie, making some sort of quip and then I heard my mother screaming followed by her falling past me and onto the beast."

"We know the light/fish had to have used Ingrid as another sacrifice to stay alive and since it didn't die, that must've been why the sword stopped draining you. That still doesn't explain how Ingrid survived though. Is there anything else you remember?" Laura asks.

"Just the light starting to grow bright again and then passing out. After that, the next thing I remembered was waking up in our room at Silas," Carmilla finishes and looks over at Hermione. "That's all there is, so I hope it's enough for you."

"It's more than enough, Carmilla. Thank you," Hermione says. Carmilla sighs and starts rubbing her temples again.

"You keep doing that. Is your head alright?" Laura asks.

"Just a headache is all," Carmilla answers.

"Want me to get Bella? Her powers were able to calm your nightmares earlier today."

"Thanks, but I think I'll take my chances," Carmilla laughs.

---

 

Silas University

Ingrid paces back and forth in front of two women sitting in the center of her bedroom; a red aura encircling them both. She does this for a few more moments before throwing her hands up in the air in annoyance.

"What on Earth is taking so long?"

The aura around the women disappears and they unclasp their hands. The two ladies stand and face Ingrid. One appears to be in her mid-twenties and is dressed in a red jacket and black dress. The other woman is in her early forties and is also dressed in black.

"Our apologies," the woman in the red jacket says.

"Our apologies? We have nothing to apologize for," the other woman responds and Ingrid shoots a hard look at her. The woman doesn't appear intimidated. "This kind of magic takes time on one with a strong will," she explains while spinning her wand in her hand.

"I'm aware of the strength of my daughter's will, which is why I recruited you two in the first place."

"It isn't just that," the woman in the red jack adds. "There also seems to be something shielding her mind wherever she is. I don't know what, but it must be damn powerful to almost immediately cut our connection to her the couple of times we have broken through."

"Hey! You can't come in here! AHHHHH!" A guard outside the room screams. A few more screams follow in addition to what sounds like a neck or two being broken. The two women with Ingrid stand ready to attack, but she motions for them to stand down.

"I'll handle this," she tells them. After about fifteen more seconds, the carnage outside dies down and the door is calmly opened.

A black woman, who looks a few years older than Carmilla, with red lips, perfectly filed nails, and an aura of extreme confidence strolls inside the room and takes a seat; licking away some of the blood staining her teeth.

"You should get better guards. Not that they would've been a match for me anyway, but the ones I killed put up such a lousy fight that any human could've waltzed in and, well, you would've killed them too. Still, it's the principle of the matter, maman," the woman laughs and a smirk forms on Ingrid's lips.

"My dear Matska. The wayward daughter returns," Ingrid says.

"Wait a minute. You look different. Have you gotten some work done?" Matska asks earning a laugh from Ingrid.

"The blood of a god does work wonders for one's figure," she chuckles.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 10: Team Building

"I assume there's a story attached to this?" Mattie asks wiping away the remainder of the blood from her lips.

"Of course," Ingrid replies then turns to the other two women in the room with them. "Leave us," she orders. They nod their heads and exit the room. The woman in the red jacket waving her hand and the door shutting behind them.

"Where did you get those two from?"

"I'll explain that later, Matska."

"Please mama. Mattie will do."

"Alright," Ingrid replies; rolling her eyes at her daughter's familiarity. "Before I start, how much do you know about what happened?"

"Not much, but when the Earthquakes reached home base, the board figured you must've lost control of the Deep One, so they sent me to investigate. Looks like you've done more than just lose control."

"Ok, so there is a rebellion taking place. It's nothing I haven't handled before."

"But you've never had to deal with a pissed off fish goddess before have you?"

"No. This is…new territory for me."

"Speaking of which, you said you fed on her? That's a bit of a risky move, don't you think?"

"Yes, but I did so out of necessity. To make a long story short, Carmilla turned on us for a human and her little pet, by pure luck, managed to knock me into the Deep One's pit. She was dying from Carmilla stabbing her with this special god killing sword and so it started to drain me in order to survive. To survive myself, I started feeding on her and we wound up cancelling each other out allowing us both to live."

"And you get to be all bright, shiny, and new again as an added bonus," Mattie observes.

"If I knew this would've happened from feeding on that thing, I would've done it years ago," Ingrid chuckles; running a hand through her no longer gray and now blood red hair. "But my good looks aren't the only thing I got from the Deep One's blood."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed. You'll see for yourself soon enough. Sadly, now that The Deep One's fed on my essence, it wants more of the same and there aren't enough of those twigs we call students to keep it sustained. Eventually, it's going to break free and kill us."

"Well, now that I'm here, you can relax. I'll have this problem sorted out in no time and then we'll have a word with Carmilla."

Ingrid gives a devilish smile at this. "You always were my favorite child."

Mattie crosses her arms and scowls at Ingrid. "I'm the Chair of the Board of Governors. That hardly makes me a child."

Ingrid chuckles again and then sprints at Mattie at a speed she's never seen before. In less than a second, she finds herself being lifted by the neck into the air.

"Hm, you look like a child from where I'm standing," Ingrid says keeping a firm grip on Mattie's neck as she glares back at her. "And there's that cute little look of defiance you've always had. The one that you think will someday lead to my death, am I correct?" Mattie gives a single nod. "Well, that day is not today." Ingrid drops Mattie and heads for the door. "Make yourself comfortable and then get to work solving my fish problem."

Ingrid exits the room, not paying Mattie a second look as she does, leaving her alone with her thoughts. It's true. She never did like her mother and she always hoped she would get her's one day. But, Matska Belmonde is no fool. She knows to move against one as powerful as Ingrid, especially now, would be suicide. So instead, Mattie stands up to her feet, moves some of her hair back into place, clears her throat, and exits her mother's chambers.

---

The Bamf House

A few days later

Lisbeth glares at her laptop as she blows out a puff of smoke at the monitor; the words "access denied" appearing on it. She swears in Swedish and puts her cigarette out on her desk.

"Knock knock," Bella's flighty voice sings.

Lisbeth turns and sees the happy go lucky teenager leaning against the door frame with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Can I help you?" Lisbeth asks turning back to her computer.

"Hermione wants us to meet her in the living room. Something about a team building exercise."

"Tell her I respectfully decline," Lisbeth requests and resumes her hacking.

"Come on. It could be fun," Bella says while pulling up a chair and sitting beside Lisbeth.

"I don't have time for fun. Not when Carmilla's mother's system is mocking me like this," she groans as the words "access denied" appear again.

"Don't feel bad. We all have our off days."

"I don't have off days."

"Maybe you just need a little help. Have you thought about contacting Mikhail?" Lisbeth stops typing and glares at Bella at the mention of Mikhail's name.

"He and I aren't currently aren't speaking. More so, I am not speaking to him," she replies and turns back to her laptop.

"How come?"

"It is none of your concern."

"Hey. Of course it is. Remember, I'm your friend." Bella tries to put he hand on Lisbeth's shoulder, but Lisbeth shoos it away.

"Not now." She barely starts her next hack before the words "access denied" appear once more. Lisbeth sighs and closes her laptop. "Well, you're right about one thing. I won't get anywhere with this on my own."

"I'd be happy to help," Bella offers.

"You're cute when you say dumb things, but no. There are some old associates of mine that should be of assistance."

"Oh cool. I'll come with, I've never met your friends before."

"They're not my friends, but…I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to accompany me."

"Wow, really?"

"Your presence is oddly calming when you aren't doing that thing you are now."

"What's that?"

"Staring."

"Come on, you know you like it," Bella says scooting just an inch closer.

"Maybe," Lisbeth replies; finding herself moving a little closer to Bella in return.

Before this moment can continue any further, there is a second knock at the door. Lisbeth and Bella turn to see Danny watching them.

"Um, hi. Sorry," Danny apologizes. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Hermione wanted me to make sure Bella was actually getting you."

"We were just on our way," Bella says.

"We were?" Lisbeth asks.

"Yes," Bella replies; doing a not so flattering imitation of Lisbeth's accent.

"Great. Well, before you go, I was just wondering. Do you have room for one more for wherever it is you're going?" Danny asks.

"You want to come with us?" Lisbeth questions.

"Yeah, I can't stand being cooped up in this house. I need to be out there doing something, anything."

Lisbeth approaches Danny and looks her over. "You fight, yes?"

"Yes."

"Good. We could use a body guard. We shall leave later in the week."

"And where are we going?"

Lisbeth smirks. "You'll see. We will need your friend, what was their name, LaFontaine, as well."

"Why them?"

"The more brains on hand, the better."

"But enough about that," Bella says taking Lisbeth's hand. "Let's go see what Hermione wants." Bella pulls her out of the room.

Danny watches how unusually calm Lisbeth is next to Bella. It reminds her of a certain adorable tiny gay lesbian and her brooding lover much to her annoyance. Danny pushes those thoughts out of her head as the trio enters the living room where everyone else is already seated.

"I was beginning to think we would need to send a search party," Hermione jokes.

"Sorry," Danny apologizes.

"No apologies necessary, Danny. Now then, I assume you're all wondering why I've called you here."

"Now that you mention it," Carmilla starts, but Laura elbows her in the side. Carmilla feigns pain and Laura silently laughs.

"Right, anyway, I know we've been hard at work this past week with not a whole lot to show for it."

"That's putting it mildly. We knew nothing about this fish bitch when we started and I think we somehow know even less now," Michonne comments.

"Are you finished?" Hermione asks.

"I've got plenty more snark, but I'll zip it just for you." Michonne pretends to zip her mouth shut and Hermione sighs.

"I just thought we could use a break is all," Hermione states gesturing to the T.V. hooked up to the laptop behind her.

"Isn't that Lisbeth's spare laptop? How did you get her to let you use it?" Laura asks.

"You don't want to know," Hermione answers glancing at Lisbeth; the hacker giving her a playful grin. Hermione briefly shudders.

"So what are we watching?" LaFontaine asks.

"Just a little Web Series we all starred in a couple of years ago," Hermione answers.

"You all were in a Web Series?" Laura disbelievingly asks.

"Yeah, that's how we met," Bella reveals.

"So, you're all actors?" Perry asks.

"No Perry, we're not. We just got contacted about doing the show one day and we all figured 'why not' and agreed to appear."

"I still think Bella just wandered on set and the Powers that Be were too polite to ask her to leave," Buffy quips.

"Hey! I'm just as bad ass as the rest of you!" Bella complains.

"Right, keep telling yourself that, vampire girl," Michonne playfully dismisses.

"Don't worry, we make Bamf Girl out of you yet," Lisbeth promises. Bella just crosses her arms and pouts.

"Let's just watch the show," Hermione suggests. She waves her wand to dim the lights in the room, accesses the first episode of the web series, and pushes 'play'.

Announcer: When Buffy, Hermione, Katniss, Lisbeth, Michonne, and Bella, all move into one house, it's an utter BAMFGASM of awesomeness! It's the Bamf Girls Club!

"I think we've just discovered the greatest web series ever made," LaFontaine says marveling at the title sequence.

---

Episode 1

"Wait, you actually shot Jacob? And then cooked him for dinner?" Laura asks Katniss.

"Of course not," Katniss answers as if it was obvious. "It was a neighborhood Doberman actually, but the show runners thought it would be funny for us to pretend it was Jacob for the episode."

"You shot someone's dog?" Perry questions with a mild look of disgust on her face.

"No, it was a stray."

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Perry groans.

"Hey, no barfing! I just finished cleaning that carpet," Michonne scolds and some of the Creampuffs stare at her. "What? Yeah, I know how to keep house. There's nothing worse than messy quarters in an apocalypse."

---

Episode 6

"Lisbeth and Bella? I ship it," LaFontaine comments, watching the montage of Bella and Lisbeth cooking ladyfingers together.

"Please don't ship it," Carmilla requests.

"Why not? It's cute."

"Cute is whatever you and Betty Crocker have going on," Carmilla comments, failing to notice how offended Perry looks from being called Betty Crocker. "This is…," Carmilla loses her train of thought as the episode concludes with a shot of Bella resting her head on Lisbeth's shoulder as the latter girl hungrily eats her ladyfingers. "Too weird for words."

"Trust me, it gets weirder Vanapira," Michonne says.

"Hm, I have honestly never heard that one before."

---

Episode 7

"Your wand is beautiful," Willow marvels at Hermione's wand. "I've always wanted one. They seem so nice."

"Would you like to hold it?" Hermione asks her and the other witch nods. The minute their hands touch they let out a gasp as if they just found each others' soulmate.

"Your wand is perfect!" Willow gasps. "Just like you! Did I just say that out loud?"

"This is so Willow and Tara 2.0!" Buffy cheers as she wraps her arms around the two witches.

"We were just experimenting with potions!" Hermione frantically tries to clarify.

"This is my weird fan fiction come to life," LaFontaine whispers to Perry, whose face is somewhere between utter confusion and amusement.

"It was just a curious crush is all," Hermione tries to write off.

"Don't kid yourself," Carmilla jumps in. "I've seen the curious look and that ain't it."

"Hermione and Willow sitting in a tree," Laura starts to sing.

"Actually, keep watching," Buffy informs her. One montage later and everyone's eyes are on Lisbeth.

"You and Willow?" Carmilla clearly sounds impressed. "Damn, didn't know someone like her would have it in her."

Lisbeth shrugs her shoulders. "Things were easy with her. She was just here for the week, we're both into computers, so we went for it."

"Yes, you most certainly did," Hermione mutters.

"Jealousy is not a good look for you, Granger."

"What, I'm not jealous!" Hermione shouts; her red face betraying her.

"I've been in your shoes, you definitely are," Danny says from the corner of the room; not in a mocking tone, but one of understanding.

"Hermione and Willow, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Bella starts to sing this time.

"Well, I never-ugh! Next episode!"

---

Episode 12

"I am the Mockingjay!" Katniss proclaims and the show descends into chaos around her. The camera gets knocked over obscuring what's going on, but it sounds hectic before Hermione can be heard yelling "Stupefy" and Katniss falls back into the camera's view.

"Real or not real," she mutters against the carpet.

"Before anyone asks, that was a scripted event. I didn't really try to shut the show down," Katniss explains.

"Uh huh, right," the unconvinced Perry says.

"It's the truth. I needed to take a break from the show to help Peeta deal with a minor rebellion back home, so this was the writers' way to take me out for a while."

"What is that?" The onscreen Katniss asks as she briefly winces from whatever Bella is giving her to drink to help calm her down.

"Blood," Bella answers.

"Oh," Katniss says and goes back to drinking it.

"Wait, that's not really blood you're drinking, is it?" Perry asks.

"Oh no, that part was real. It was weirdly refreshing if you can believe it."

"Oh my gosh," Perry whispers into her hands.

"She's not wrong. I've got some blood in my bag if you want a sip," Carmilla offers.

"Next episode," Hermione says and continues on before things can get any weirder.

---

Episode 15

"Wow, you have such a lovely singing voice, Michonne," Laura compliments as the unexpected, but hilarious sequence of Michonne singing alongside Snow White plays out.

"Thanks. I figured I needed some type of healthy hobby to help me cope with the apocalypse. It help keeps me grounded and not lose my mind amongst all the chaos."

"I can relate to wanting normalcy," Perry says.

"Sometimes I think you want it too much," LaFontaine says back.

"Only to help balance out your desire for the weird."

"You know you like it." Confidence oozes from those five words and Perry averts her gaze from LaFontaine so they can't see the blush forming on her face.

"…maybe," she whispers.

Danny's jaw lightly drops at her two friends unknowingly mimicking Bella and Lisbeth from earlier. She isn't sure if she should find it adorable or weird.

Of course it's adorable. You're just jealous, Lawrence, she thinks. Everyone has someone and you have jack squat because you lost the perfect girl to Mistress Broods A Lot. Such is life sometimes.

"So what happened to Snow White after you sent her off to the BAMF Academy?" Danny asks to keep her thoughts off of Laura.

"Turns out, she's a quick study. Last we checked, she's gone from weapons training to rousing speeches," Michonne answers. "She still enjoys the occasional song, however. We've even recorded a couple of duets."

"Ooh! Carmilla and I recorded a song together while we were on the run. I should show it to you once we are finished with this show."

"Laura no," Carmilla grumbles.

"Laura, YES!"

---

Episode 17

"Well, if it ain't my two favorite vampire adoring gal pals, Buffy and Bella," Sookie says as she joins the monthly Vampire Lovers Anonymous Meeting.

LaFontaine can barely contain their excitement. "You're friends with Sookie Stackhouse too?"

"Sookie. So glad you could make it," Buffy says on screen followed by Sookie reading her thoughts.

Go back to Louisiana you telepathic fang baby hick!

"Does that answer your question?" Buffy replies. "Sorry, but telepaths give me the creeps especially after that one time I was one."

One of the best episodes of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer ever, LaFontaine thinks, glad that no one can read their mind; at least they hope so.

"Hey, you should join our Vampire Lovers meetings, Laura," Bella eagerly suggests. "We're always looking for new members, especially after Buffy kicked out Elena."

"Elena Gilbert?" Laura asks.

"Yeah, how do you know her?"

"Long story, so why did you kick her out, Buffy?"

"Oh, she was starting to develop feelings for Stefan's brother Damon. The last thing our group needed was someone else involved in a love triangle; let alone another one that copied me."

Ok, I'm almost certain The Vampire Diaries books predate Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, LaFontaine thinks.

"Any love triangles happen to you, Laura?" Buffy asks her.

"Um," Laura begins.

"Of course not," Danny lies for her. Laura looks back at her with a surprised look, but goes with it.

"Yeah. Let's just keep watching this delightfully weird series shall we," Laura suggests.

The group obliges and one episode later, Hermione pauses the video as the credits play.

"So, what did you all think?" Hermione asks the Creampuffs.

"That was, um, I'm not sure," Laura replies.

"Are you kidding? That was awesome!" LaFontaine exclaims. "What happens next?"

"Nothing, that was the last episode."

"Why? This show was hilarious."

"We're not entirely sure to be honest. It was a fairly popular show, but we speculated it might have had something to do with the show runners not have the finances to keep the series going. Given how some of us know people that are rich, we would've covered the cost if finances were indeed the issue. Nevertheless, the producers moved on, but told us if we want, we were free to keep the house."

"Hm, I figured you'd want to get as far away from one another as possible," Carmilla says.

"Yes, we may get on each others' nerves from time to time, but deep down, we've grown close as time has passed."

"Yeah, I know I don't say it often," Bella starts, "but you guys are, like, some of the best friends I've ever had." Bella then unexpectedly starts to cry tears of joy. Buffy sighs, but pulls Bella's head onto her shoulder.

"I know a thing or two about getting off to a rough start with someone," Laura comments; giving Carmilla a knowing look.

"Don't look at me cutie. I was attracted to you from the start. You're the one that assumed I wanted to sacrifice you to the pits of Hell."

"Wait, what?" Came Buffy's questioning voice.

"Trust me, it was a legit misunderstanding," Laura confirms, then stands up and walks to the front of the room. "I just want to say, thank you all again from the bottom of my heart for letting us stay here."

"It was our pleasure," Hermione says. "After all, what kind of Bamf Girls would we be if we turned our back on our own kind."

"So we're Bamfs now?" Laura asks with a flattered smile.

"Anyone that takes on a fish goddess is a Bamf in my book. Wouldn't you all agree?" Bella and Katniss give enthusiastic nods. Lisbeth just nods. "And what about you Buffy and Michonne?"

The two of them exchange glances and then shrug their shoulders. Buffy speaks first. "I still don't fully trust you Carmilla, but you have kept your fangs clean since you showed up and I suppose anyone that helped stop an apocalypse can't be all that bad."

Carmilla next looks over to Michonne. "I do let my fear of the dead get to me from time to time. I guess I owe you an apology."

"Well?" Carmilla asks waiting to hear the magic words.

"Didn't say you'd be getting it now." Carmilla has some choice words for this, but Michonne's sly smile elicits some laughs from the brooding vampire instead.

Hermione flicks her wand and butterbeers for everyone fly into the room. "I propose a toast; to gradually forming new friendships."

Everyone raises their glasses and exclaims, "Cheers!"

Announcer: Can these New BAMFS and Old BAMFS out BAMF themselves? Find out in the next Bamfciting, Bamfmusing, Bamftastic chapter!

Chapter 11: Love Hurts

Danny rushes through a tunnel armed with two stakes and vampires coming at her from every direction. It's almost pitch black, but she can see the light at the end of the tunnel not too far from her. A vampire jumps on her back and sinks its fangs into her neck, but she holds back a cry and forces it off her without losing a step while staking a vampire jumping straight for her. It turns to dust, which flies in her face and briefly obscures her vision, but she keeps moving.

Almost there! She thinks, just barely being able to make out a human shape within the light.

Then suddenly an alarm starts to sound; one remarkably similar to the Emergency alarm at Silas. The tunnel begins growing darker and starts to consume Danny and generate more and more vampires, but she keeps moving towards the light; a light encircling one Laura Hollis.

"Laura!" She shouts out as the light around Laura begins fading. "LAURA!" She cries out once more as the light dies out; a certain broody vampire appearing behind Laura and putting her arms around her shoulders with a smirk on her face.

---

Danny's eyes open and she sits straight up and pulls a stake from underneath her pillow. There's no one in the room with her, however. She takes a deep breath to calm down and rubs her head when she hears Silas' Emergency alarm start blasting again. The confused Danny gets out of bed and moves towards the source of the noise in the living room.

"Hey guys, am I hallucinating or did you hear Silas' emergency…?"

Danny stops when she sees everyone sitting in front of the living room TV, which has Laura's YouTube channel on the screen.

"Good afternoon, Danny," Laura greets. "For a moment, I thought you were going to stay in bed all day." Danny glances at the clock to see it's 2:00PM and then looks back at the screen, noticing that Laura had just reached the end of a YouTube playlist on her channel.

"Laura...tell me you didn't."

"I tried to stop her," Carmilla sighs.

"Ok in my defense, I originally just wanted to show them my duet with Carmilla of Love Will Have Its Sacrifices," Laura begins. "Next thing I know, Bella wanted to see more of my channel and, well, here we are. By the way, what did you all think?" She asks the other ladies.

It's dead silent for a few moments before Michonne speaks up. "It's cool to see how you all saved the world, but this was essentially an apocalypse log and yet you added music, quirky edits, and a freaking cast list to it. The juxtaposition is a little too jarring if you ask me."

"Finding humor in dark situations is how I cope with things sometimes," Laura explains.

It's Buffy's turn to speak up. "I can appreciate that as much as the next gal, but, and I don't mean to be rude, that vampire puppet show was like in super poor taste. I don't think Angel would've ever talked to me again if I tried that on him...hm, it might've been funny if I did it to Spike, however."

Note to self, make fun of Spike with a vampire puppet show, Buffy thinks.

"Are you two kidding?" Bella cries. "This was one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever seen."

"This wasn't a story, Bella," Katniss says. "This was their life. And I thought I had it tough."

"But it was still beautiful. The way Carmilla did all of this for Laura, and the tragedy of her lost love, and it all climaxing with a kiss...sorry, I just need a minute," Bella continues to cry.

"Like sixty," Lisbeth mutters.

"Any other comments from the peanut gang?" Laura asks and Hermione raises her hand.

"It was a tad odd to see your lives play out, but it does fill this BAMF girl's heart with admiration seeing you all in action. Or at least hearing you recap all the action you went through," she says with a laugh.

"If we had Go Pros, we would've brought them with us to film the final battle," LaFontaine says. "You would've loved to have seen us fight, particularly Perry," they say giving Perry that same look that always makes her blush.

"I still don't like violence," Perry says turning away to keep the others from seeing her face turn red.

"But you are good at it though," Laura says.

"So are you, cutie," Carmilla adds, walking behind Laura, putting her hands on her shoulders, and kissing Laura's neck.

"Carm, this is no time to go Non-PG," Laura laughs. Danny turns around, rolls her eyes, and leaves the room.

I should have stayed asleep, she thinks and goes back into her bedroom. However, as she begins to close the door, Lisbeth's hand stops it and she steps inside.

"Whatever you want Lisbeth, I'm not in the mood," Danny says laying down on her bed. Lisbeth shuts the door and takes a seat beside Danny.

"I can see that," she replies. "But we leave for my home tomorrow and I need you in top shape, so whatever is bothering you, we are going to sort it out now."

"You wouldn't understand."

"My job is to understand people."

Danny sighs and sits up. "Have you ever been in love?"

"Sort of."

"Like I said. You wouldn't understand."

"You mean how it feels to see someone you thought you were forming a connection with in the arms of someone else. And it's through no fault of your own. You just weren't the person that they wanted. Yes, I understand fully. This is about the tiny gay one I assume."

"Who else? Tell me, Lisbeth. Have you seen, Laura? Like have you really seen her?"

"Yes. I believe the word 'adorkable' sums her up best."

"Oh, she's more than that. She has this sense of justice I've never seen in anyone before. In addition to being sweet, funny, and just flat out beautiful. They say time stops when you meet the 'one'. They never said what happens when the 'one' is in love with someone else."

"Hm. Wait here," Lisbeth says and leaves the room. Danny momentarily contemplates locking the door to prevent Lisbeth from returning and continuing their little session, but she knows she'll find some way to blow it open if she does, so she sits and waits. A few moments later, Lisbeth returns with Buffy beside her.

"What's going on here, Lisbeth?" Buffy asks.

"Danny is in distress because she has an unrequited love for Laura."

"So that's why Laura fast forwarded through all the footage of you together -"

Danny gives out a loud groan at this and buries her face in her pillow.

"Sorry," Buffy apologizes.

"Look, I need her to understand that one lost love is not the end of the world."

"She's totally right," Buffy agrees. "You're, what, 21 or something? That's too young to decide you'll never love again. I thought Angel was it for me, but I decided to move on because I was only 17 at the time. And then I met Riley."

"Look how that turned out," Danny points out.

"Sure it ended badly, but at least I tried to find love in other places instead of secretly hoping I'd get Angel back. Spike, Satsu, I loved them both."

"Would you get back together with Angel over any other loves if you had a chance?" Danny asks.

"I don't know. To be honest, I'm still trying to figure myself out. There was this cookie dough metaphor I told Angel once. It's a long story."

"I wish this was as easy for me as it was for you."

"Hey, no one ever said love was easy. You need to get out and actually search. What about that Kirsch guy? He seems cute."

Danny sits back up almost immediately at that suggestion. "No, no. Definitely not." Danny quickly turns down. "I mean, don't get me wrong he's sweet underneath that frat speak, but he feels too much like a kid brother."

"Ok, I know how that feels," Buffy says.

Lisbeth clears her throat. "Should I get the others girls to try and help?"

Danny shakes her head. "Look, I appreciate you both trying to help me out with this, but I need time to myself to think about it."

Lisbeth doesn't look like she wants to give up, but ultimately gives Danny a nod. "Alright, we'll go. Just remember that we leave tomorrow at noon. Please try to have your stuff together by then."

Danny gives a short nod and Lisbeth and Buffy leave her alone. Danny lies back down and gives another sigh.

Get out and search, huh. Maybe the reason you don't want to search is so you can't get hurt again. But you can't get better if you never try to heal. But do you want to heal? She thinks.

Danny closes her eyes and envisions Laura's smiling face. Just as Danny figured, it hurt thinking about her, but it felt good too. Danny reopens her eyes and lets out yet another sigh. She knows it isn't anyone's fault that Laura doesn't share her feelings, but she can't help, but feel angry that things have turned out this way. Yet she's also angry with herself for having those thoughts because she doesn't get to decide that Laura should be with her instead of that brooding vampire.

"It's true what they say. Love hurts," she says into the empty void and fruitlessly tries to fall back asleep.

---

The Following Day

Danny and LaFontaine enter Lisbeth's bedroom where she along with Bella are waiting for them.

"I trust you are ready?" She asks them, but directs the question more at Danny.

"No," Danny admits. "But some time away from the house should clear up my head."

"Good. Our home is not for the faint of heart."

"What part of Sweden are you even taking us to?" LaFontaine asks.

"Whoever said anything about Sweden?" Lisbeth asks with an eager grin and approaches her closet. She opens it and steps inside while dialing a number on her phone. "This is Lisbeth. We are about to crossover. When we do, we'll be on our way."

Danny and LaFontaine glance at Bella, who gives them a smile as wide as Lisbeth's. "You're gonna love this," she promises before entering the closet as well. Danny and LaFontaine exchange confused looks, but step inside nevertheless.

"So what now?" Danny asks; Bella shutting the closet behind them.

"Ooh, can I do it this time!" Bella eagerly asks Lisbeth.

"Sure."

"You're the best!" Bella exclaims and then clears her throat. "Over the rainbow and through the woods, through the looking glass we go! The Thestral knows the way from dungeons deep and caverns oooollllld! Over the rainbow and through the woods, through the looking glass we go, to a world of wonder and fantasy that you have to see to believeeeee!"

As soon as Bella finishes singing, the closet becomes bathed in a beautiful and warm light. It's wonderful enough that Danny and LaFontaine forget to question what is even going on. Almost as quickly as the light appeared, however, it vanishes and as far as the Creampuffs can tell, nothing has changed.

"What the Hell was that?" Danny asks.

"Teleportation spell for my apartment in New York," Lisbeth answers and then she and Bella leave the closest like it was no big deal.

Danny and LaFontaine follow them, but the second they step outside the closest, they give out brief gasps and almost stumble over.

"Sorry, forgot to mention that sort of thing can happen," Bella apologizes.

"What is happening?" Danny asks hand over her heart that's beating a mile a minute.

"I don't know, but I like it!" LaFontaine exclaims.

"I…kind of do too," Danny says. This unfamiliar feeling washing over her body is oddly comforting. The most comfort she's felt in months in fact.

"Danny, come on!" LaFontaine calls over to her.

Danny realizes they are already heading out the door and runs to join them. The group all ride down the elevator mostly in silence save for Lisbeth giving one or two extra warnings and then after leaving it, they step outside the apartment complex and Danny and LaFontaine have to shield their eyes from the sunlight.

"Take these," Lisbeth says heading them a pair of sunglasses. "Your eyes will adjust in time." The Creampuffs put the sunglasses on and then their jaws drop when they see why the sunlight is suddenly brighter.

"Lisbeth, would you mind telling us why they are now two suns in the sky?" Danny questions her. Bella steps in between Danny and LaFontaine and puts her arms around their shoulders.

"Welcome to The Fandom Zone."

To Be Continued…