Hamilton hasn't changed much in the years Lauren's been gone. Downtown is still a mess of concrete and glass, made more bleak by the late autumn grey. People in black and gold still hold out hope that maybe this will be the year, even though the Cats haven't won the cup since '99 and don't seem any closer to doing it. Barton is still littered with boarded up storefronts; the faded marquee above one door still reads "SAV OUR JOBS HOP CANADIAN" like it has for as long as she can remember. Lauren doesn't miss it, not really. Too many bad memories are rooted here for her to want to stay for long. For a moment, though, it's nice to be home. She wanders aimlessly for an afternoon, coffee in hand to fend off the cold, before she finally makes her way to the cemetery.
The grave is simple, just a plain headstone with a name and dates, tucked in beside the graves of their parents. Otherwise, it's completely unmarked; no motto, no "beloved son", no stylized markings or unusual shape. Maybe not the way most people would choose to commemorate their brother's final resting place, but Lauren was still nursing a grudge at the time. Most people would, she imagines, if somebody tried to car bomb them and later filled their apartment walls with bullets. It had been a bloody, months long struggle after that across southern Ontario and three US states, but she eventually came out on top. That was four years ago, and the intervening years had been spent consolidating and securing her hold over her new empire.
She wishes she could say she misses him, and she does sometimes. The person he used to be, at least. When they were still kids she'd idolized him, followed him and his friends around everywhere. He'd humoured it too, even when the other boys teased him about his little sister constantly being underfoot. Lauren isn't really sure when things started to change. Sometime after they were both off to college, though, she began to notice the shift. He started becoming more anxious, shorter-tempered. When their dad died and left the family business to him, it turned into outright paranoia. She started spending more time away, in northern Ontario, Quebec, down in the States. Furthering the family's interests while keeping her distance from her increasingly unstable brother.
Her brother instigating a violent civil war in one of the largest criminal organizations in Canada had, unsurprisingly, been bad for business; and Lauren ended up being the one holding the bag when the dust settled. The last four years had been spent away from her old home trying to put out fires, placate her new lieutenants, and direct the occasional skirmish against the Rizzutos and Hells Angels. Finally, though, things are starting to settle down. Her underlings are happy and their rivals aren't breathing down their necks for the time being. Hell, she hasn't needed to have anyone killed in months. Sure, she's still stressed out of her mind, but that's just a side effect of work. She'd have been quite happy remaining her brother's trigger-woman and never engage in criminal politics beyond her orders, but it wasn't in the cards. For now, she just contents herself with attempting to keep some semblance of peace and dodging the RCMP and FBI.
Lauren stays at the grave until the sun starts to set, then heads back to her car. She takes the long way; doubling back and taking circuitous routes to shake the tail she's inevitably picked up. She fiddles with the radio for a minute, indecisive, before flicking over to the AM band and putting the football game on. She hasn't kept up, doesn't even have any idea how the team is doing this year. It's familiar though, and she lets herself reminisce about going to games with her grandad at Ivor Wynne when she was a girl, long before everything went to shit. When she finally gets home, she sits in the car and listens to the rest of the game. Once she gets out, she'll be back to being the cold, calculating criminal again. For now, though, she relaxes, and lets herself be the little girl in black and gold, cheering on her hometown team with her grandad and big brother. The world can wait until the end of the fourth.