Chance and Reason

Chapter Twenty-Six

A/N: Back with the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Once again, as I cannot say it nearly enough times, every vote and comment means so much, and I am incredibly grateful to everybody who has stayed with the story! Thank you!

She stormed out of the room, and when she returned, a black holster was strapped to her chest, with the smooth barrel of a gun sparkling threateningly from her hip.

The sight of the gun set off alarm bells in Camila's head instantly. Lauren was seething, her green eyes almost black with rage, and it frightened the journalist more than she could say. Prickles erupted along the back of her neck as she kept her stare trained on the weapon, determined not to let it out of her sight.

"Lauren... don't do this,"

"I'm going to kill them, Camz,"

This was no empty threat or throwaway comment. She was deadly serious. After months of grief, pain and fury, there was more than enough charge behind her words for the agent to follow her promise through.

"You can't," Camila whispered, pleading with her desperately, "Put the gun away,"

"Why can't I?" Lauren hissed, "They killed Lucy; they almost killed Dinah; and they want to kill you. Why do I have to give them a free pass?"

"Please, I'm begging you. Just put it away,"

Camila was shaking so violently now that she could scarcely clasp her hands together in prayer before her. Panic was flooding through her in a burning torrent, but Lauren was stood perfectly still, her face set. She reminded Camila of a lioness, waiting in that moment right before the kill, prepared to pounce.

"You're not thinking clearly," Camila pressed on.

"Aren't I?" Lauren gave a cold laugh, "Funny. I've heard that before,"

"It's natural that you're angry, but you can't just charge off into the night. Come to bed, and we can decide what to do in the morning,"

Camila stood up gingerly, and edged towards the agent, holding her hands out in front of her. She was trembling as she reached Lauren, but gently reached over to pull the gun out of its holster and place it on the side. It was surprisingly heavy in her hand, and the icy metal chilled her to the bone. The feel of death.

Lauren flinched as it was extracted, but made no other movements to prevent it from being removed. Every muscle in her body was clenched, and Camila could not help but be a little frightened of the impassive figure, even though she was now unarmed.

"You're scaring me," she choked out.

The words took a few seconds to sink in, but Lauren suddenly blinked, as if coming out of a stupor.

"Camila..."

Hearing her name, Camila gave a little whimper, but clamped her palm over her mouth to hide the noise. Inky smudges of mascara left her looking even more wretched, and she hastily tried to wipe it away with the back of her hand.

"Yeah?" she stammered, turning away to disguise the fact that she was on the verge of losing her grip.

"I'm so, so sorry,"

Lauren's voice cracked, and the sound alone triggered a fresh wave of emotion in Camila. Turning back, she was immediately met by Lauren's tight embrace. The agent held her to her chest, and let her weep into her shirt. All Camila could hear now was Lauren murmuring into her hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry,"

"It's okay," Camila managed, "It's fine,"

"I shouldn't have gone so far,"