I Can't Stand To Fly

Not Not Trying To Kill You

Laura's phone rings and she rolls over, clawing at her nightstand until she gets her hand on it.

Carmilla.

She picks it up. "Hello?" she asks, her voice raspy from sleep.

"My mother left," Carmilla says. "She got a call and said she had to leave."

"Mmm, do you need me to come over?" Laura asks, yawning.

Carmilla chuckles. "Did I wake you up, cutie?"

"I may or may not have been napping," Laura replies slyly.

There's a pause. "Are you still feeling off from Will draining you?"

"Maybe. But I also like my naps, so..." Laura clears her throat. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'll be there as soon as I can."

~*~

Laura finds Carmilla in the basement of the apartment building.

"I guess this place is less organized than that office," Laura comments, stepping over several opened cardboard boxes.

Carmilla turns and smirks. "Well, I found Will's test results... and mine... and Mattie's. But I haven't found my mother's, yet."

Laura nods and pores over those files, committing them to memory, before heading to a different area that Carmilla hasn't touched yet.

About half an hour passes with neither speaking before Laura finds what they're looking for.

"Whoa, Carm," Laura breathes out. Carmilla makes her way over and glances at the file. "According to these numbers, you're more powerful than your mother!"

Carmilla's eyes widen. "Really?" She looks through the file. "I knew I was more powerful than Will and Mattie, but..."

"According to this, you absorbed and released more power than she did at that age."

"Enjoying yourselves?" a voice asks sharply, making both of their heads shoot up.

"Hello, mother," Carmilla says, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "We, uh..."

"We were just wondering if maybe some mission Will did in the past may have something to do with what happened to him," Laura interrupts.

"I see."

The Dean makes her way over towards them from across the basement and stops a foot away from them. Her usual forced, cold smile fades away, transforming into a sneer.

"Because William just told me you two knocked him out and left him for the superheroes to capture," she says, a dangerous look flashing in her eyes. "What do you have to say about that?"

Laura gulps.

"I expected better of you," the Dean says icily to Carmilla, who averts her eyes.

That's the only warning they get before the Dean opens her mouth and unleashes a beam at them. Laura is the first to react and tackles Carmilla to the ground.

"We need to get out of here," Laura whispers, rolling off of Carmilla.

"That was just a small beam–– she's not trying to kill me," Carmilla insists.

Laura stares at her, mouth hanging open. "She's not not trying to hurt you, Carm," she hisses back. Her gaze wanders to an emergency exit behind them. "I'll distract her, and you escape."

Carmilla shakes her head. "Absolutely not."

"This isn't a debate," Laura says, pushing herself up and shrinking herself down to about a foot tall. She flies around the room, dodging small blasts from the Dean.