When Abby wakes up, she hears Steph whisper :

"Don't say anything stupid"

Coming from her, the blonde thinks to herself, before opening her eyes.

The first thing she sees is Lucy on the ground, blood on the back of her head, while Steph is just sitting next to her girlfriend on the couch. Even though Abby doesn't know much about the Brit, she knows she was part of the initial plan to take Ash down, and that Sam cares about her a lot - even though she doesn't want to admit it.

Abby sets her jaw.

"Is she..." she starts.

"No, I don't think she's dead" Steph whispers. When a noise is heard on the other side of the room, the brunette then says : "It's going to be okay, baby girl. I'm right here."

The short-haired enters the room, pretty angry.

She takes a look at the two girls sitting on the couch, before taking a peek at Lucy. Out of rage, she kicks her in the stomach. Of course she's angry at Lucy : she killed her girlfriend. But Lucy doesn't deserve that. And where the fuck is Kassey ? Abby's mind is creating more questions than answers, as usual. When Ash kicks Lucy in the stomach again, there is a gasp, as the Brit starts holding her stomach.

Before Ash can do anything else to the poor brunette, the door rings.

She grabs the gun she brought with her, before walking toward the door. The girls only hear some female voices claiming that they don't have anything on them. Ash comes back, the gun pointed toward the door, as Kassey and Lindsey enter the room. She indicates them to go and sit down on the couch in front of Steph and Abby, and they so it without even resisting.

Ash is pretty much satisfied.

"You must be wondering how I found out, right ?" the short-haired asks, pretty happy to be in charge here. She then smirks. "You know, when that bitch killed my Hopey, I first thought I wouldn't be able to do anything anymore. My soul was shattered... But then, I realized something : she wouldn't have wanted me to do nothing. She wanted to get revenge, so it's her legacy I am taking on."

A laugh escapes Kassey's throat, and when the former Cardinal looks at her, the blonde only shrugs.

"You want revenge, Ashlyn. Hope's only goal was to provide her daughter everything she needed so that she could live a happy and healthy life."

"What are you talking about, Kallman ?"

Kassey smirks.

"Hope told me to come over one night, when you were away. She gave me a letter, knowing that the end would be near. She thought she'd get arrested the next day, but destiny chose another ending for her." the blonde says.

"She told you to come over ? What are you, besties ?" Ash asks, a peak of jealousy in her voice.

"She trusted me" Kassey says in an honest voice. "She spent the last year looking for her long-lost daughter, how could you not expect her to want her help her ? She regrets the way things went twenty years ago. She was fifteen : what would a fifteen years old do with a baby to take care of ? She had a promising career ahead of her, the dad was gone... She didn't have any choice."

There are tears rolling down Abby's cheeks, and she is not sure why.

Steph knows that her girlfriend has never healed about being abandoned and never have known her parents. All she wants to do now is pull her into a tight hug, but the circumstances are not adequate.

And Ash is getting angrier.

"This is bullshit."

"She wanted Abby to have the life she deserves" Kassey goes on, fearless. The atmosphere is becoming heavier. "Her daughter came first from the beginning ; more important than the rivalry, that the car accident that killed Whitney Engen, more than get revenge on Whitney's sisters for putting her behind bars. More than anything. So she gave me a mission."

There is a long silence, only broken by Abby's tears.

"You are lying..."

"No" Kassey harshly says. "You have been lying to yourself this whole time. Hope didn't care about you. Maybe she loved you at some point, but she loved Abby more. You became thirsty for revenge, but she didn't have the same goals."

"But she told me..."

"Lies" the middy continues, shaking her head. "She knew you are a psychopath and wouldn't have taken that well. You would've tried to kill her daughter to get revenge on her, Ashlyn. And then kill all of us. You're sick."

Ash can't take all of that anymore.

She gets up, pointing her gun at Kassey, who puts her hands in the air, getting up as well. But Lindsey gets up as well, while Steph gets closer to her girlfriend, who is crying harder now. The former goalie also has tears in her eyes.

"You fucking liar !" she yells.

Kassey shakes her head.

"You know..."

"ENOUGH"

Everybody looks at Abby, who is throwing daggers at both Kassey and Ash, before setting her jaw.

Steph has never seen her girlfriend in such a state of anger.

"Babe..."

"SHUT UP" Abby yells.

Ash, who is frowning, thinks she understands what the blonde wants. So she frees her, as Abby walks toward Lucy Bronze.

She then kicks her as well, before ordering her to get up.

"You are the one responsible for my mother's death" Abby yells, out of her mind. She then turns on Ash. "She needs to be punished first."

Steph's heart misses a few beats, as Lindsey is on the edge of her seat.

"Abby, wait-"

"Shut the fuck up !"

The brunette sits back down, as Ash is forcing Lucy to at least look up, as Abby's face is red because of how angry she is.

Ash smirks.

"I knew you'd be like your mother : strong and eager for revenge" she then says.

Abby cracks a devil smile.

"Like mother, like daughter." she then settles.

Steph is crying.

"Babe... stop..."

"Don't call me that, Stephanie ! That girl killed my mother, and Kassey betrayed her !" she yells, shaking her head.

Abby then turns on Lucy.

"Here" Ash says handing Abby the gun."

The defender points it toward Lucy, whose eyes are now wide open. She tries to move, but can't achieve to do it. Steph and Lindsey are screaming, praying that Abby wouldn't pull the trigger, because she is so mad right now that she is not thinking clearly.

Then, something happens.

Abby points the gun at Lucy, and her eyes flicker : she turns around and shoots Ashlyn Harris, who falls on the ground heavily.

The blonde lets go of the gun, as the police sirens are on their way. Lindsey and Kassey immediately go and help untie Stephanie, as Abby bursts into tears in the middle of the room, falling on her knees.

Steph surrounds her with her loving arms.

"It's going to be okay, babe."

She repeats that a hundred time, but Abby doesn't listen.

*

The ambulance arrived only seconds after the police, as the girls are being escorted out. The Mewis sisters, who have been arguing for the past hour because the older sister didn't share crucial information to the other, immediately run toward the survivors : Kristie jumps into Kassey's arms, locking their lips together, while Sam carefully hugs Lucy as she is escorted out in a stretcher.

The Bruins immediately surround Abby, holding her, telling her that everything would be okay. Nobody here blame her for anything, especially not being Hope Solo's daughter : she saved everybody by pulling that trigger.

As the rest of the team is supporting the defender, Lindsey starts walking toward the ambulance, shaking her head. When she spots Megan right in front of her, she frowns. The blonde is running toward her, and when she reaches for her, she literally jumps on her soccer-celebration-wise, before wrapping her arms around Lindsey's neck.

She kisses her deeply, until the two girls run out of hair and that Lindsey puts her on the ground again. They are looking into each other's eyes, before Lindsey lets out :

"Uhm, Megan..."

"I am in love with you" Megan clearly settles, biting her lips. "So hold me please."

Lindsey does as she is told, a silent tear rolling down her cheek.

"I am in love with you too."

____________________

Following that night of madness, Abby got cleared by the authorities, as the other girls present to the unfortunate event pleaded self-defense. She and Steph got back to their apartment, and the brunette took care of her girlfriend.

The rest of the team - both Stanford and UCLA - are trying to recover, as it is now all over. In three months time, they'd get to the Final Four once again, and have to work their asses off. They both qualified for the semi-finals, against Harvard and Penn State.

Normal life resumed.