TITLE: Burning Bright

AUTHOR: Angelina

EMAIL: angelina2006@hotmail.com

FANDOM: Coyote Ugly

PAIRING: Rachel/Cammie mostly, but bits of Rachel/Lil and Violet/Lil

FEEDBACK: Most appreciated.

PERSONAL ARCHIVE: http://members.aol.com/bufpop/default.html

ARCHIVE: http://www.realmoftheshadow.com/angelina.htm

DISTRIBUTION: Take it, just drop me a line.

SUMMARY: Violet suspects something's going on between Lil and Rachel and discovers more than she'd bargained for.

RATING: R for language

DISCLAIMER: The characters in this story are from the movie Coyote Ugly.  I don't claim any credit for inventing them and I'm not getting any money for writing this.  Like anyone'd pay money for it.

NOTES: Another take on the history of the Coyotes. For the purposes of this fic we can pretend that Kevin never existed.  My next aim in life is to write a CU fic that *doesn't* contain a flashback sequence.

NOTES[2]: ChildeofDarla/charmedonepiper/Molly...this is for you!

Violet sat at the bar, giving her tired feet a rest.  Her head was propped up on her hand and she could feel her calves throbbing with over-exertion.  She watched as her fellow coyotes bustled around behind the bar, picking up discarded bottles, washing empty glasses, wiping sticky surfaces.  They really were like a well-oiled machine when it came to this part of the evening.  Scratch that, this part of the morning.  Violet still felt clumsy next to them, even during the clean-up process.  Rachel's sleek movements mystified Violet, Cammie's speed impressed her and Lil, Lil was just amazing at everything.  And none of them seemed half as tired as she felt.

Violet sighed and let her eyes drift to where Rachel was bending over to pick something up.  Lil stalked by and smacked Rachel's ass on the way.  Rachel straightened up and smiled at Lil, shaking her head.  Lil just winked and went back to work.  Violet quirked an eyebrow at the exchange.  Her mind was a little foggy...she hadn't used her spittoon bottle as often as she should have during her shift.  Violet laughed to herself, she was probably seeing things that just weren't there.

"Cammie, Rach...you wanna bring up a coupla crates of MGD?"

"Sure thing Lil." Rachel said, already on her way to the cellar with Cammie scampering after her.

Violet watched Lil as she wiped the bar with a long, circular motion.  For the first time Violet noticed the muscles moving underneath Lil's tattoo, supple and rippling.  She idly wondered if Rachel had ever kissed Lil's tattoo.  Then she idly wondered where the previous thought had come from.  Rachel and Lil weren't an item.  Were they?  No, she would've noticed before now.  Or someone would have told her.  Definitely.  Probably.  Well, only one way to find out.  Her mouth loosened by liquor, Violet decided to make subtle enquiries.

"Lil."

"Yeah?"

Lil didn't look up, still intent on cleaning the residue of a busy night at Coyote Ugly from the bar.

"Are you sleeping with Rachel?"

Violet's enquiries weren't quite as subtle as she'd planned.  Lil's arm froze in mid-swipe and she looked up.  At times, Lil resembled a tiger.  Violet had thought that since the first day she'd met her, in the cellar.  Lil had looked at her and Violet had felt...intimidated, dominated, frightened...and exhilarated.   She had that look again.  And Violet felt exactly the same.  With a little bit of 'aroused' thrown in for good measure.

"Why do you ask?"

Good question.  Does one slap on the butt really indicate a full-blown relationship?

"Uh...I...I just thought...you know...you might be...that's all."

Lil continued to watch Violet as she stalked towards her.  Finally, she stood directly across the bar from her, eyes flashing dangerously.  Violet suddenly wished she'd kept her suspicions to herself.

"I'm not sleeping with Rachel," Lil stated simply.  "I think Cammie might have a thing or two to say about it if I were sleeping with Rachel."

Then she turned on her heel and returned to her previous activity, scrubbing the bar with increased vigour.   Violet couldn't help but feel she'd hit a raw nerve.  Lil's demeanour had changed the moment the stupid question had left her mouth.  So she wasn't sleeping with Rachel...but she sure wanted to be.  All of a sudden, what Lil had said filtered through to Violet's alcohol clouded mind.

"Cammie?  Why would Cammie have someth...oh.  Oh!"

Violet's surprise was evident in her voice.  And in the widening of her eyes.  The fact that she also slipped off the bar stool and ended up on the floor also demonstrated that she was pretty shocked.

"Jersey?"

Lil hurriedly jumped over the bar and found Violet sitting on her ass on the floor, and looking like she hadn't a clue how she got there.  A smile tugged at one corner of Lil's mouth as she hoisted Violet back onto the stool.  The girl was so adorable at times.  Her innocence was refreshing to Lil, who sometimes felt that life in the city had jaded her beyond the point of no return.  Then along comes Violet, the singing coyote from Jersey.  Lil had liked the girl on sight.  But years of experience of hiring and firing girls had taught her about first impressions.  She'd given the girl a chance.  She hadn't expected her to last the night.  But she had, and the next night, and the next, until she finally ascended to the position of fully fledged coyote.

Lil had been shocked that her impression of Violet had been proven wrong.  But she was pleased at the same time.  The girl had become a real part of the team, a fine replacement for Zoë.  Hell, even Rachel tolerated her.  And that was practically a miracle.  Lil found herself smiling at Violet's still confused face.  After making sure that she wasn't going to fall again, Lil jumped back over the bar and picked up two beers, popping their caps off without even looking.  She slammed one down on the bar in front of Violet and took a long drink of the other. Violet looked at the beer warily.

"Uh...no, I don't think I should have any more"

"Drink it."

Violet picked up the bottle and took a swig.  Lil put her beer down and leaned her elbows on the bar, looking closely at Violet.

"You didn't know that Cammie and Rachel are a couple?" Lil asked, doubtfully.

"No.  I didn't.  At all." Violet replied, wincing at the bitterness of the drink.

Lil shook her head incredulously.

"Why do you think they're taking so long to bring up two cases of beer?  Rachel could carry both of them herself.  They could've been back up here five minutes ago."

Lil watched as Violet processed this information.  Violet's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh my God...so they're." Violet made an unmistakable hand gesture. "...down there?" she asked, pointing to the floor.

Lil laughed out loud.  Then she took another drink, draining half of the bottle.

"I don't know.  I don't care to ask what they do.  As long as they don't do it while we're open I don't mind." Lil said with a shrug.

"So there isn't a rule about dating other coyotes?" Violet asked.

"The guys like to watch them dance together, they look out for each other, everybody's happy."

"Yeah...I guess I *have* noticed Rachel looking out for Cammie...there was that time she dived into that group of drunks to help her."

Lil raised a single eyebrow.

"If you think Rachel's bad you ought to see Cammie.  Not long before you started here we had to literally peel her off some guy who called Rachel a whore.  I thought we might have another court case on our hands but I guess the guy was too manly to admit he'd been beaten up by a little blonde woman." Lil said, staring into the middle distance as she remembered that night.  "So believe me, I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Cammie again.  No sir."

"Again?" Violet prompted.

"Huh?"

"You said you wouldn't want to get on Cammie's wrong side 'again'.  How come you got on it before?"  Violet asked, taking another sip of her beer.

"Not as drunk as you look, are you Jersey?" Lil said, eyes narrowing.

Violet shrugged and waited for an answer.  Lil sighed and decided to tell her about it.

"OK, I did sleep with Rachel.  Once, and only once.  It was a mistake, we were drunk and she was upset about something and we ended up in bed.  That's it."

"Well, obviously that's *not* it, cuz you said that Cammie was involved."

Violet wasn't willing to let this one slide.  She was way too intrigued by all of these Sapphic goings-on that she had been previously oblivious to.  Lil eyed her for a moment.

"You really want to know?"

Violet nodded.

"Right then, but this goes no further, got it?"

"Got it."

"OK, it was about three years ago...Cammie hadn't been working her all that long."

******

"My Grandma's sewing club makes more noise than this!  C'mon, lemme hear you scream!"

Zoë was marching up and down the bar with the megaphone.  A huge roar erupted in response to her taunts.  She dropped the loudspeaker and turned her back on the crowd.  She held her hands out wide and then fell backwards, knowing that she would be caught.  Lil kept an eye on her to make sure she was OK and then turned her attention to the other two girls on the bar.  Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' was blasting from the speakers and Rachel and Cammie were dancing up a storm.

Cammie was a recent recruit and Lil was thrilled by how well she had become part of the team so quickly.  She was sweet and nice and kind and sexy.  But she was no fool, despite the little pink outfits and the big, innocent baby blues Cammie could handle herself.  Lil watched as Cammie ran her hands down Rachel's sides, their faces almost touching as they looked into each others eyes.  Then Cammie quickly turned and strutted down to the other end of the bar.  The look of disappointment on Rachel's face didn't escape Lil's notice.

Ever since Cammie had appeared on the scene, Rachel had been different.  Not at work; on the bar she was 'The New York Bitch' and nothing would change that.  But when the doors were locked at night Lil noticed subtle differences in Rachel's behaviour.  She had liked Cammie right away which was the biggest difference.  Usually Rachel liked to be hostile to the new girls for a few weeks to see if they could hack it.  But Cammie hadn't received that kind of treatment at all.  Lil knew why.  Rachel had fallen for Cammie.  She'd fallen for her hard.

Lil couldn't quite work out how Cammie felt.  She knew she liked Rachel.  They had quickly become friends, and not long after that, Cammie'd moved in and become Rachel's room mate.  But as for deeper stuff...Lil wasn't sure.  What she did know was that Rachel was feeling down and needed cheering up.

When the song ended, Lil watched Cammie stretch up to kiss Rachel's cheek.  The crowd whooped in appreciation and Cammie turned and bowed.  Rachel just jumped down behind the bar and tried to hide her blushing cheeks with her hair.  Lil walked over to her.

"Tonight when we close, we're going out and we're getting shit-faced and you're going to tell me all about it."

Rachel quickly looked up, surprised at Lil's perceptiveness.  Lil's expression brooked no arguments and Rachel simply nodded.

"We'll head over to that club on Bleecker." Lil said, having to raise her voice above the din.

"Ooooh, are we going out after?" Cammie asked excitedly, coming up behind Rachel and putting her arms around her waist.

Lil saw Rachel's eyes close briefly at the contact.

"Excellent! I am way too pumped to be going home tonight!" Zoë came over to join in the conversation.

Lil looked at Rachel apologetically and shrugged.  Rachel barely noticed because Cammie was grinding into her from behind, her hands splayed across Rachel's bare midriff.  Lil sighed, just another night at Coyote Ugly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If there was one thing Rachel couldn't stand it was incompetent bar staff.  So as she stood watching a young guy fumbling with bottles and struggling to add up prices in his head she had to reign in the impulse to jump over the bar and get her own damn drinks.  She turned away from the bungling youth and switched her attention to the dancefloor.  Cammie and Zoë were dancing with two guys.  In fact, Zoë was practically eating the blonde one's face.  The dark-haired one was behind Cammie, his hands on her hips as they swayed together in time to the music.

Rachel closed her eyes before she saw anymore.  If she'd seen his hand move, up or down, she might not have been able to control her anger.  Finally the bartender, if you could call him that, set down two beers and two cocktails.   She shoved some cash into his hand and swaggered over to where Lil was sitting, also watching Cammie and Zoë.

"Fucking pre-pubescent bar tenders." Rachel muttered as an explanation of her long absence.

Lil grinned and picked up a beer, clinking it against Rachel's bottle.

"Cheers."

"Cheers."

Rachel tipped back her head and emptied the bottle in one go.  Then she cursed herself for not buying a double round so she wouldn't have to deal with the inept barman again so soon.

"So Rach, talk to me about Cammie."

Rachel flinched.  She'd hoped that Lil would wait until she was a least a little drunk before she started with the third degree.

"What do you want me to say, Lil?  You seem to have it pretty figured out."

Rachel glanced at the two untouched drinks on the table and wondered if Zoë and Cammie would notice if she drank them.  Lil leaned in closer to Rachel.

"Well here's my take on it, see if I'm right." Lil paused until Rachel nodded.  "OK, you've got it bad for Cammie.  And I'm not talking about wanting to get into her pants.  This is something else, right Rach?  Something you don't quite know how to handle."

Lil watched Rachel as she spoke.  She could tell that her words were hitting home.  So she carried on.

"And you're all conflicted, cuz you don't know if she feels the same way.  One minute you think you might have a chance.  Then you see her like that."  Lil gestured towards the dancing couples.  ".and you think it's hopeless.  Which is why you're moping around the place.  Am I close?"

Rachel kept her eyes firmly on the empty bottle in her hand.

"She...she's." Rachel broke off with a frustrated sigh.  "She's fucking perfect.  She's funny and sweet and gorgeous.  And she blows so hot and cold.  Sometimes I think she knows that I...how I feel.  And then other times I think she doesn't have the slightest idea."

"Why don't you."

The song had ended and Lil spotted Cammie heading their way.  She shut up quickly and smiled widely at the young blonde.  Cammie slid onto Rachel's lap and draped an arm around her shoulders.  She leaned forward to pick up her drink, giving Rachel a perfect view down her top.  Then she sat back and held the cool glass against her forehead.

"I'm so hot!" she exclaimed, seemingly unaware of the effect her presence was having on Rachel.

"You sure worked up a sweat out there babe," Lil said, seeing that Rachel clearly wasn't about to speak.

"Yeah, he was OK, but not nearly as good as my usual dance partner."

Cammie squeezed Rachel tighter as she spoke.  She took a sip of her drink and looked around at the other patrons of the club.  Lil studied the pair of them.  They really looked good together.  Now if only they'd talk about it.

"Looks like Zoë's set for the night," Rachel noted as they saw Zoë heading for the door and waving at them.

"I think the other guy thought he was set for the night too, he seemed a bit disappointed when I left him out there," Cammie said, waving goodbye to Zoë who was pointing at her guy's backside and making a thumbs-up signal.

"So...you're not...you're not going to go find him again?" Rachel asked semi-casually.

"Nah," Cammie said dismissively.  "He was kinda boring...I'm waiting to see if I get a more interesting offer."

Rachel picked up Zoë's drink and downed it in a single gulp.  Lil stood up.

"I'm gonna get another round at the bar."

She looked meaningfully at Rachel.  Rachel pretended not to notice.  Cammie just smiled happily and leaned her head against Rachel's.  As Lil made her way to the bar she wondered how the hell she was going to sort this out.  She couldn't stand to see Rachel so down.  But then, if something did happen between them and it didn't work out there would be problems in the workplace.  And Lil did not like those.

She ordered a double round of shots for everyone.  She could now see why Rachel had a problem with the staff.  Lil turned to look back at their table.  A guy was standing talking to Cammie, who was still firmly ensconced on Rachel's lap.  Lil watched as Cammie reached up and took the guy's hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet.  Then she bent down to kiss Rachel's cheek.  A goodbye kiss, Lil presumed.  And then she headed off into the crowd and disappeared from sight.  Even from the bar, Lil could see the slump of Rachel's shoulders.

She paid for the drinks and headed back to the table, placing the six shots down carefully.

"Where'd she go?" Lil asked, cautiously.

Rachel just shrugged.  Then she looked at the drinks.

"You mentioned something earlier about getting shit-faced?" Rachel asked, picking up a shot glass and holding it up.

"Let's do it."

Lil clinked their glasses together.  They both tipped the fiery liquor down their throats and followed that shot by another.  And another.  And many more after that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rachel awoke to find that someone had filled her mouth with sandpaper.  After thinking about that for a minute, she came to the realisation that it was actually just her tongue.  It felt much thicker and rougher than usual for some reason.  And it tasted absolutely vile.  It tasted like a small animal had crawled into her mouth about two weeks ago and died.  Her stomach was another matter altogether.  It seemed as if someone had replaced her actual stomach with a bag of liquid and it was currently sloshing around worryingly inside her abdomen.  Whoever had committed this terrible act had also stuffed her head full of cotton wool.

Rachel groaned.  She had a hangover.  And a killer one at that.  She tried valiantly to remember what she'd been drinking.  But the whole night was a blank.  That was never a good sign.  Her stomach lurched ominously and she tried to pull her legs up so that she could just curl herself up and die quietly.  But she couldn't.  There was something lying on top of her legs.  Come to think of it, there was a weight on her chest.  Rachel cracked open an eye and squinted down at the unidentified foreign object in her bed.

A head of blonde hair was resting on her chest.  And a naked body was very much lying on top of the rest of her.  For a split second Rachel's heart jumped into her mouth.  She was in bed, naked, with Cammie!!!  Then the blonde shifted, flinging an arm out across the bed.  The arm had a black tribal tattoo on it.  Lil.

"Oh shit!"

"Nice pillow talk, Rach, thanks."

Rachel was startled by the voice coming from against her chest.  She had thought Lil was asleep.  Otherwise, why would she still be here?

"I...I didn't mean...uh...what did we do?"

Lil managed to lift her head up and look at Rachel through bleary eyes.

"I haven't a fucking clue.  But it doesn't take a genius to work it out."

Lil offered a lazy smile before dropping her head back to its previous position, away from the invasive light coming through the window.  Rachel fought down the increasingly strong need to throw up.  She desperately tried to get her sore brain to think clearly.  Evidently waking up naked with your boss with the genuine object of your affection sleeping in the next room was not an ideal situation.  Rachel searched for a way to say this that wouldn't end up getting her fired.

"Uh...Lil...this was...I mean, I'm sure it must've been...nice, but."

"Relax Rachel, I'm not gonna propose to you or anything.  This was a mistake, we both know that.  And I'll be getting up as soon as I'm sure I won't puke all over your bed if I move."

Rachel let out a relieved breath.  She needn't have bothered.  Any relief she felt quickly dissipated when the door to her bedroom opened.

"Rachel, have you seen my pink ski...oh my God!"

Cammie stood framed in the doorway.  Her hand flew to her eyes and she abruptly turned and left, a muffled sob escaping her throat.

"Cammie!  Wait!  It's not what it looks like!"

Rachel sprang out of bed, taking Lil by surprise with her sudden movement.  Rachel was about to run after Cammie when the need to vomit resurfaced with a vengeance and she sprinted to the bathroom instead.

Lil sat up gingerly, pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to release some of the pressure in her head.  So much for office politics.  Lil took a deep breath and stood up, grabbing her clothes from a nearby chair and hurriedly slipping into them.  Then she headed out into the living room where she found Cammie curled up on a chair, sobbing.

"Cammie?  Cammie what's wrong?"

Cammie looked up at her incredulously.

"What's wrong?  What's wrong?!?" she snorted.  "How can you even ask me that?"

Lil thought for a second.

"Because I don't know what's wrong with you and I'm trying to find out?" she offered weakly.

Cammie narrowed her eyes.

"Oh yeah, like you didn't know how I felt about Rachel...and then you went and...and..." Cammie couldn't even bring herself to say the words.

"How you feel about Rachel?  You mean...Cammie how *do* you feel about Rachel?"

Lil couldn't quite believe what she thought Cammie was implying.

"Isn't it fucking obvious?   I'm in love with her!" Cammie screamed at Lil, her face red with crying.

"You're in love with me?"

Rachel's voice was barely above a whisper but it brought all eyes to her.  She had acquired a man's shirt from somewhere and that was all she wore.  Cammie turned away and covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking as she cried.  Slowly, Rachel approached her.  She reached out tentatively and turned Cammie to face her.  Gently she pulled Cammie's hands away from her face.

"Do you love me?" Rachel asked.

Cammie looked up at her, cheeks stained with tear-tracks.  She nodded her head once.  Rachel smiled.

"I love you too."

And with that Rachel wrapped her arms around Cammie and drew her into a warm embrace, revelling the feel of having Cammie against her.  Lil looked away awkwardly.

"I...uh, I'll leave the two of you alone." she said, heading for the door.

Rachel looked up and smiled at Lil.  She mouthed 'Thank you'.  Lil nodded and let herself out.  Rachel looked back down at Cammie and giggled.  Cammie's brow creased up in confusion.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked, curiously.

"I'm just thinking that it's lucky I brushed my teeth."

Cammie grinned and pulled Rachel down to meet her as she captured her lips in a first kiss full of passion and possession.

*****

"So that's why Cammie might be slightly upset if I was sleeping with Rachel." Lil finished with a wry smile.

Violet had ended up sitting on the bar.  She now watched Lil's expression closely.

"So, how come Cammie had gone off with that guy?" she asked, still observing Lil's face.

"Turns out Cammie had resigned herself to the fact that Rach wasn't interested in her 'that way' so she was trying out other avenues.  But when she saw us...ummm...in all our glory that morning, she couldn't deny her feelings any more."

Lil sighed.

"Are you...uh, are you sorry that Rachel and Cammie got together?" Violet enquired.

Lil looked at her in surprise.

"Why would I be sorry?  I told you, they're great together."

"Yeah...but I kinda...well, it just seems to me that maybe you and Rachel."

"Me and Rachel was a mistake, it should never have happened.  And besides, once you've seen Rachel and Cammie together you know that anything else would be a fallacy...and I'm not willing to be that."

Lil's pointed look told Violet a lot more than her words did.  She decided to change the subject slightly.

"Sooo, is Rachel the only woman you've...you know...slept with?"

Lil looked amused.

"Why the interest, Jersey?"

"I don't know.  I've never tried anything with a woman before...just curious I guess."

"That right?" Lil challenged.

"Yeah, that's right." Violet shot back.

"Ever think of doing something to satisfy your curiosity?" Lil asked.

"What if I said I'm thinking about it right now?" Violet replied, emboldened by alcohol.

Lil didn't respond.  Her eyes flickered unbidden to Violet's lips.  Taking this as an invitation, Violet leaned down and pressed her lips against Lil's.  Lil's mind screamed for her to pull away but her body completely ignored it.  Instead, her mouth opened and before she knew what was happening her hands were entwined in Violet's hair, pulling her more firmly against her, deepening the connection.

"Well, well, well.  What do we have here?"

Lil and Violet jumped apart as Rachel's voice invaded their little private world.  They looked over to see Cammie and Rachel, each holding a crate of beer and grinning knowingly.

"God Cammie, we leave them alone for five minutes and things just turn into a big love-in."  Rachel said, shaking her head.  "It's just disgraceful."

Violet blushed and smiled, bowing her head away from Rachel's teasing.  Lil just stared her down.

"Five minutes?  Well, those were definitely the longest five minutes in history.  And Cammie has her top on inside-out."

Rachel and Cammie both quickly looked at Cammie's garment.

"No it's not!" Cammie exclaimed.

"Nope, but I made ya look, so you must have a guilty conscience.  Both of you."

Lil smirked in triumph as Rachel glared at her.

"Anyway, dump that stuff anywhere, we can finish up tomorrow. I wanna go dancing!" Lil decided suddenly.  "How about we try that club over on Bleecker?"

The significance of the location wasn't lost on Rachel.  She pulled Cammie into a loose embrace.

"Yeah, why not?  We're in."

Lil looked at Violet.

"Coming Jersey?"

There was that tiger look again.  A predator, looking to get what she wanted.  Violet reached out and took Lil's hand.

"Definitely."

END