Somewhere near UCLA campus

Hope starts tapping on Rose's face, but the brunette won't wake up.

"Maybe you put too much liquid..."

"Shut up" the brunette orders, which makes Ashlyn shut up.

In the room enters their newly ally, a boy called Ricky. He hands the shorthaired an envelope, before announcing a girl waiting outside of the room. Hope rolls her eyes, before making a gesture to make Ricky go away. She then turns around, only to see that Ash got the message : she puts a black band on Rose's eyes in case of she wakes up.

Then enter Lynn Williams.

"You're late" is the first thing Hope says.

The Stanford forward nods her head, before saying :

"I swear it was worth it" With that said, she then hand Hope a phone with a picture on the screen. That makes the keeper smirk : this is a medical record that absolutely allow her to blackmail someone working for her. Lynn has a serious mug on. "I think there's enough on that paper to please you."

"Good"

Ash throws a confused glare at Hope.

"Wasn't the plan only to find your daughter ?"

Hope turns on her, rolling her eyes.

"I never said 'only', my love. Vengeance is a sweet thing to get."

The short-haired shakes her head, but doesn't say a word.

Rose Lavelle is starting to move on the chair, probably waking up. Ash rolls her eyes, before putting huge earphones on her ears so that she wouldn't hear them talk. She then goes back to sit down on the couch, shaking her head in disbelief.

Hope, who realizes her girlfriend is not very happy with where things are going, rolls her eyes : she knows she is in control here.

So when Lynn is throwing her a look, the former Stanford goalie says :

"We can begin the next step now."

"Why take her then ?" Lynn questions, confused.

The three girls are now looking at Rose, who is definitely conscious and panicking now.

"Because I need a shield if our guest changes her mind."

"I don't think she will : she's tough." Ash argues.

Hope throws her a dark look.

"Mmh." She lets out, before turning on Lynn. "You can let her in now, thank you."

Lynn nods, before opening the door and letting the 'guest' in.

Kassey Kallman frowns as soon as she realizes who is sitting on the chair blind-folded.

"What the fuck ?" the blonde lets out, throwing a death glare at Hope.

"Just a warning" Hope says, an huge smirk on her face. She then shows Kassey the chair in front of hers. "Please, sit."

Kassey is not convinced at all, but does sit down after all. She then looks around to see Ash and Lynn throwing deathly looks at her. She then frowns.

"I didn't know you were back in town" the blonde then says.

That makes Hope smirk.

"You should know I am still determined to find my daughter, and there are high chances she is in Stanford or UCLA at the moment." The former goalie explains, before setting her jaw. "Furthermore, I'm here to get revenge."

"On ?"

"A lot of people"

Ash shakes her head, disappointed : she just wanted to settle with Hope in Italy for the rest of their lives, enjoying freedom and shit. Now they're here, stuck with Hope's revenge thoughts.

Meanwhile, Kassey is frowning. But Hope is not ready to go easy on her.

"Did you do what I asked you to do ?"

Kassey shakes her head.

"I haven't got the time, and someone was always in the way..." the defender starts, shaking her head.

That makes Hope angry.

"Who ?"

"Mewis."

"Well, I do believe you can get past Kristen Mewis easily, can't you ? Because you know that if she is too much of a trouble, we'll have to get rid of her."

No, Kassey thinks to herself, but controls her emotions.

"It won't be necessary."

"Can I still trust you or do I have to threaten you, Kallman ?" Hope angrily hisses, looking at the blonde straight in the eyes. "Because it seems to me like if you're getting too emotionally involved with that team."

"It'll be done by the end of the day, Hope. You got my word."

"Wait a minute" Ash says.

All the eyes are now on her.

The thing about Ash is that she's never liked either Lynn or Kassey. Last year, when Hope got in touch with her, Lynn was a key player at Stanford, and still is. She is now 'good friends' with Sam Mewis, while Kassey helped them get information on Shelina Zadorsky and Becky Sauerbrunn. They have a lot of allies now.

Well, not a lot, but valuables ones.

"Is Mewis a lesbian ?"

Hope frowns, while Kassey shakes her head.

"She claims not to be, but one night she was drunk and basically jumped on me, so..."

As soon as she said that, Kassey regrets it, because Ash's eyes are lightened, while Hope is just smiling.

"She 'jumped on you' ?" Hope asks.

"Y-yes. But she was drunk and-"

"I need you to do something for me, Kallman."

Why couldn't you just keep your damn mouth shut, Kass ? the blonde thinks to herself, shaking her head.

"Mmh ?"

"If you don't want the whole school - and your bffs - to find out about your secret, then you better do what I tell you" Hope says, serious as hell. The atmosphere is so tensed that even Lynn is sweating. "Got it ?"

Kassey starts freaking out.

"Y-yes ?"

"You're going to seduce Kristie Mewis."

Oh no, Kassey immediately thinks, shaking and setting her jaw. Something in her just tell her to run away because she doesn't wanna do harm to this team, or even Kristie even though they hate each other, but she knows she can't : her secret being revealed would end her, she knows that.

So she only nods.

*

When the door of the main team's conference room opens, and that Kassey appears, helping Rose walk, everybody immediately rush to them.

"Holy shit, what happened ?" Julie questions, while the rest of the girls are trying to make Rose sit down.

"I found her by the grocery store" Kassey starts explaining, thanking God that her acting skills from her younger years are still here. "I think she got drugged, because there is a mark on her neck..."

"And what happened to you ?" Lindsey questions.

Indeed, it appears that Kassey seemed to have taken a knock on the face - which actually was the case, because Hope insisted on it to seem real - and be pretty shaken up. Stick to the lines, Kass.

She can see all the worried faces around her.

"There was a g-guy with her, and he was about to put her in a car" she lies, shaking her head in disbelief. "So I figured I had to do something : he knocked me down, and then ran away."

"How long were you inconscious ?"

"I don't know... Honestly, when I woke up, Rose and I were the only ones on that street."

As Jane, Mal and Gibby are trying to make Rose comfortable on the couch, Abby is on the phone with an ambulance to make Rose pass some tests to know what they injected her. As the rest of their teammates are walking away, leaving Kassey on her own with some space, Kristie suddenly appears on her field of view.

Time to act, Kass.

Kristie looks worried when she asks her how she is doing, so Kassey knows what she has to do : she bursts in tears, before getting Kristie to hold her into what looks like a hug. Kristie, despite the fact that she hates her, hugs her close, slowly taping her back, probably in shock.

When Kassey pulls away, she shakes her head.

"I-I'm s-sorry" she stammers.

"Hey, don't apologize !" Kristie exclaims, putting both hands on the blonde's shoulders, shaking her head and looking at her straight in the eyes. "You saved Rose, Kassey. Thanks for that."

Kassey shakes her head.

"I-I meant about h-hugging you"

That makes Kristie tense up, before she nervously laughs.

"Uhm... It's okay. Look, we all have our weak moments, I guess."

"I guess" Kassey repeats.

When the ambulance arrives, Julie and Jane get in with Rose, as she is about to receive some treatments, while Hao and Kassey have to testify of what happened. During that time, Kassey fakes being traumatized and asks if she can go and get some rest.

On her way to the dorm, she finally does what Hope asked her to.