DISCLAIMER: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual. Lost Girl and its characters are the property of Prodigy Pictures and Canwest Global. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is my first Lost Girl story. I'm relatively new to the show. So, as a newbie, I hope I managed to capture the show's spirit to some level. I'm Team Lauren all the way, always. That said, I like Dyson (the guy needs a new girlfriend) and will like him as long as he doesn't try to get between Bo and Lauren (Hence the need for a new GF). Dyson might seem out of character in this story. The thing is; I really like the tentative relationship that started building between him and Lauren, I really feel that she won him over to some level and I wanted to add to that. I'm pretty sure that Zoie and Kris' interaction at conventions inspired me too. English is not my native language, please be patient with me ;-).
SPOILERS: Mentions of events all through the first three seasons.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To lysangelle2[at]skynet.be
Runaway Love
By Lysangelle
Part 1
The unaligned succubus rushed through the familiar hallways of the light Fae compound, a path she took many times back when Lauren was helping her discover her true nature.
But Bo refused to think about the blonde doctor as she headed to the hospital rooms situated across the hallway from Dr. Lewis' old lab. All she wanted to focus on at the moment was Dyson, even if she had a hard time keeping her mind off of a certain beautiful blonde with tender dark eyes.
She received the call less than half an hour ago. The shape shifter was awake. At last. She remembered vividly the meeting with the new light Fae doctor, almost two months ago. How he told her that the coma was normal and was just the wolf's way to heal. The serious injuries Dyson suffered in the car crash would need time to heal but the doctor was unable to give her an estimate of how long the coma could last. She remembered the dozens of bird names she sent his way, quite unaware that she was actually shouting at a Fae version of a phoenix. Then she rudely let him know how incompetent she thought he was, screaming that Dr Lewis would have known. So much for trying to get over the blonde, Bo thought, everything was reminding her of the beautiful doctor.
Her nerves were shot. So much had happened these last few weeks. Ever since Lauren had asked for a break, in fact, and Bo felt like she had lost her good luck charm.
Between Lauren's disappearance, Tamsin and Dyson's nearly fatal car crash and her own meeting with her supposed father, the bad stuff kept piling up on her.
She actually had little memory of what happened with the wanderer. Only flashes of dark fog. A deep, almost hypnotizing, voice trying to entice her and her own refusal to reign over both the Fae and human worlds at her father's side. She had chosen humans again. Against Light and Dark, Bo had picked humanity over the Faehood.
She had woken up among piles of broken glass next to the bar of the Dal. She has been trying to pick up the pieces of her life ever since, without much success.
The first good news in forever had been Dyson waking up at last.
Bo found the shifter allotted room and pushed the door. The big wolf looked strangely small in the hospital bed. She looked around and noticed the lack of medical manpower around. 'Where's that freaking doctor?' she thought. 'What's with all those doctors always going missing?' Bo sighed as the image of Lauren crossed her mind. She pushed it away, unwilling to delve in her confused feelings and thoughts about the blonde.
The brunette pulled a plastic chair from the corner, sat next to the bed and laid a hand on Dyson's arm. The big wolf's eyes rolled behind his lids as he tried to open them.
"Dyson?" Bo urged quietly. She sighed in relief when blue eyes blinked open.
"Bo?"
The shape-shifter coughed. His voice rough from lack of use.
"Bo, what happened? Where am I?"
The succubus poured water from the nearby pitcher in a plastic cup and brought it to Dyson's mouth.
"You're in the hospital, back at the light Fae compound. You were ejected from Tamsin's truck somehow."
Dyson frowned at the news; "Tamsin?"
"She's missing. There was no sign of her at the site of the crash." Bo explained quickly.
The wolf's frown deepened briefly before his face relaxed again and Bo thought he was going to fall back to sleep.
Dyson closed his eyes. The disorientation he had felt when he first woke up was dissipating slowly. As his mind cleared up, the memory of the events that preceded the crash came back in a rush.
"Lauren!" he jumped suddenly. "Where's Lauren?"
The shifter looked around quickly as if he thought, or hoped, he'd find the blonde doctor lurking around close by.
"Bo, where's Lauren?" he asked again when he didn't see the other woman anywhere.
The brunette lowered her head, unwilling to talk about her missing girlfriend.
Dyson growled. "Bo, look at me! What's going on?"
The succubus defiantly looked up. "I don't know where she is, ok?"
The shape-shifter looked at her hard, the tension suddenly filling the brunette's body and the way she was now avoiding his eyes made him uneasy. He knew Bo had been at Taft's compound at some point and he couldn't envision that she didn't do everything in her power to find Lauren.
"You went to look for her right?" The wolf asked, the bad feeling building inside him. "After we traced her phone's log, you went and looked for her, didn't you?"
Bo, edgy, suddenly felt the need to defend herself.
"I was there but then all Hell broke loose. We had to evacuate the compound quick and we had no way to know where they took her. When we went back with a full team there was no trace of her."
Dyson sighed in relief. At least they didn't find a body; the doctor must have managed to escape.
"Where did you start looking for her?" The shape-shifter asked as his head hit the pillow tiredly.
When no answer came he turned his head toward the brunette.
"Bo, you looked for Lauren, right?"
"She doesn't want to be found, Dyson." Bo said flatly.
The wolf frowned. "Did she tell you that somehow?"
"She didn't need to; she made clear she doesn't want anything to do with the Fae or with us."
Dyson couldn't believe what he was hearing. The shape-shifter believed wholeheartedly that, no matter the circumstances, Bo would have raised hell in order to find Lauren. It was who Bo was.
"Let me guess; she talked to you in front of that Taft, didn't she?"
Bo looked up in surprise.
"And you believed her. Or did you decide to believe her? After everything she accepted or chose to oversee out of love for you. She tells you she doesn't love you in front of a mad man and you don't look any further. What happened to you? You're not usually that fast at writing off someone you care about." The shape-shifter pushed.
Bo exploded. She was so upset it didn't register with her that Dyson knew so much about what went down between her and Lauren.
"She left! She packed up, dropped her phone off and was gone! She left, Dyson! She left me!"
"Is that what it's really about? You're pouting? Are you willing to lose the woman you pretend to love because you're too childish to give her a chance to explain, or to try and understand what she went through?"
Bo was fuming. "When did you start defending Lauren Lewis anyway?! You hate her!"
"Since she saved my life!" Dyson growled his answer. "Since she risked her life to protect the Fae from being revealed! Since she single handedly stopped a mad man who was intent on creating a crossbreed race and start waging war on us all!"
Bo stared at the wolf, stunned.
Thoughts were rushing through her mind; she was unable to make sense of everything she just heard. Despite that fact, a deep feeling of guilt was blossoming inside her.
"She loves you, Bo." Dyson affirmed sternly.
"You don't know that. How could you know that?" Bo asked finally, feeling worse every passing minute.
"She told me. She wanted me to know what she was doing and why. She told me as she was performing surgery on me and Taft."
Dyson fought to stay conscious as waves of pain rushed over him from the syringe plunged in his pelvis.
"Lauren." He hissed through clenched teeth. "Please, don't do this. You have no idea of what you're doing."
Taft laughed crazily from the other operating table, just a couple of feet away.
"Oh she knows what she's doing, wolf! She's a freaking genius. Shame on your kind. They had a real genius among their ranks and they couldn't see that."
As the man kept of cackling, Lauren silently kept working on Dyson but her eyes discreetly moved up to catch the wolf's.
"Lauren, he's insane. You know that. Put a stop to this madness." Dyson tried again as he stared deeply in the doctor's surprisingly soft eyes.
The blonde lift her right open hand in front of her body, making sure Taft couldn't see her. Still without a word, she bent all fingers except for her index finger, turning her soothing gesture into the universal 'one moment' sign.
With a sharp pull she retrieved the now filled syringe and the painful growl Dyson let go of launched Taft into another fit of crazy laughter.
Lauren turned to the laughing man. "It's time, Isaac." She started quietly. "I have to put you under for the injection."
"Is it really necessary? I hate to miss my own evolution to greatness."
Lauren smiled behind her mask. "I'm afraid so. There's no way to tell how your body is going to react to the invasion of the Fae cells. My educated guess is that it will be relatively painful. I don't want to take any unnecessary risks."
Taft's eyes hardened as he looked up at her. "Fine, do what you have to do. Just remember people are watching, Dr Lewis."
With his hand he waved to the glass door behind her. A man she recognized as Taft's assistant was standing there and a heavily armed goon was posted at each door and window of the mostly glass walled Operating Room.
Lauren ignored the barely hidden threat and calmly moved to inject the anesthetic in the IV line attached to Taft's arm.
"I'll see you when you wake up." She quietly stated.
Dyson watched as the doctor moved to a nearby table covered with medical equipment. She emptied the syringe filled with his bone marrow in a couple of test tubes and placed them one by one in some kind of machine. The shifter raised his head higher when he saw the last tube being deftly dropped in the doctor's lab coat pocket. With a move worthy of Houdini himself, Lauren extracted a similar tube from the tight long sleeve of her shirt and placed it in the machine. She flipped a switch and the machine started to hum.
Lauren checked Taft's vitals on his monitor then approached Dyson again.
"He's asleep. How are you feeling?" She asked softly as she started working on the site of the puncture she made earlier.
Dyson almost laughed. "You're serious?"
Brown soulful eyes briefly dove in his.
"Sore, confused." The wolf admitted. "What's going on, Lauren? What are you up to?"
Gentle hands started disinfecting the puncture site as the blonde started speaking in a low tone.
"I'm doing what I have to, Dyson. Taft wanted me to turn him into a Fae hybrid and that's what I'm going to do. I'm also making it easier for an old wolf like you to do what you need to do." She finished, the smile hidden by her mask showing clearly in her beautiful eyes.
The shape-shifter frowned; "What do you mean; what I have to do?"
"I had a busy, tiring day." the blonde doctor murmured as if she was talking to herself. "Treating that poor woman earlier in the cell then operating on you and Isaac. Dealing with wolf DNA, cabbit DNA…"
Lauren sighed dramatically behind her mask: "I'm only human, sometimes I mix things up."
"No, you don't." Dyson smirked as he realized what the doctor was trying to tell him.
The soft hands were still working at his side but he saw the smile vanish from the brown eyes as they turned hard. "I'm going to unlock your restrains. When the goons come to get you, fight your way out and find that bastard."
"What about you? What are you going to do?" Dyson asked, suddenly worried.
"I think I found a way out of here. I'm going to take my chances and run. I have no choice now. Not after this."
"You're going to be chased by both Fae and humans if you do that. Let us help you. Bo will…"
"Bo won't save me this time." Lauren interrupted. "Not after what I just told her."
"What do you mean? When did you talk to her? Is Bo here?" The wolf winced when the doctor applied a big bandage on his hip, the usually soft hands turned rough, betraying how upset the blonde was.
"I mean she must hate me by now. I'm sure she thinks I betrayed everything. The Fae, our friends, you, her, our love…"
Dyson watched as the doctor walked away and back to the humming machine. "What the hell did you do? What did you tell Bo for her to think that?" He groaned.
Lauren's body tensed visibly.
"I told her I loved her, past tense." She spat out in self-loathing, so upset she didn't stop to think about who she was confiding in.
"Lauren…" Dyson started but the doctor kept talking.
"I did what I had to do to keep Bo safe. I couldn't let Taft figure out who she is or how much she means to me. I wasn't going to let him use her, even if it meant making her think I'm over her. Or that I choose Taft's offer over what really matters to me."
"But you still love her." Dyson deducted from the sadness and self-loathing in the blonde's voice.
"Of course I love her!" Lauren admitted, quickly turning on her heels to face him.
She noticed the closest guard moving forward at her harsh reaction and calmly picked up a clipboard and pen. The guard settled down and she moved to Dyson's side again.
"If I ever thought I could get away from her, this whole mess only proved that I was lying to myself."
"Why did you leave? Why did you accept to work for that mad man?" the shifter asked quietly. He understood her predicament only too well.
Lauren sighed. "He made an offer I couldn't refuse. He made me believe in my talent again, that I could make a difference. It had been so long since I felt that way."
The doctor was back at the table, filling up another syringe with the now processed bone marrow.
"Six years working under the Fae, being treated as barely more than chattel. Everything that happened with Nadia. The dread of what my life would be worth for every new Ash… Even with Hale."
Lauren walked to the sleeping Taft and injected the bone marrow in the IV line as she kept on talking.
"In fact it was worse with Hale. I thought he was a friend but when I needed his understanding and asked for a favor, he pulled the all powerful Ash card on me." Her voice trailed off as the events leading to her decision to leave caught up with her.
She cleared her throat. "I had to leave. Too much had happened. And I needed time away from Bo to have a chance to find myself once more. I kept hope that we'd find each other again."
Lauren looked up at Dyson. She started as she realized at last who she had opened her heart to. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't be talking to you about my problems with Bo. It's inappropriate."
The wolf smiled sadly.
"You're something else, Dr. Lewis. Look at the situation we find ourselves in and you worry about being inappropriate."
Lauren eyes were smiling as she approached the wolf again.
"Don't do that, Dyson. I'll start thinking you might like me."
Dyson smiled again; "Never!"
The blonde laughed quietly.
"Time to split." She announced, sadness settling in her doe eyes. "Please, take care of Bo."
Dyson tried to interrupt.
"Don't." Lauren shook her head lightly. "Please."
"Good luck." She added softly.
"Good luck, friend." Dyson answered quietly.
"You have to find her, Bo. She had a plan to escape and I believe she made it. But you have to find her before something bad happens to her."
The succubus sat back in the chair, completely dumbfounded. The revelation of what really happened was too much for her to grasp.
"I don't know where to start." Bo admitted dejectedly. "Can you find her? Can you follow her scent?"
"Not in this state." Dyson sighed. "And you can't wait for me to be back on my feet to look for her. Plus I'm sure our dear doctor took precautions to cover her tracks. Most Fae trackers rely on their sense of smell first and foremost and Lauren knows it."
Bo smiled knowingly. "Damn, I hate when she outsmarts everyone."
The shifter laughed and winced as his still sore ribs reacted badly to the action.
"Go see Trick. He might have an idea." Dyson said tiredly. "But you have to find her, Bo. She's in serious danger. The Fae must already be hunting her. Both sides have cause to want her arrested for treason."
"But you just said she kind of saved the day." Bo interjected.
"She did but no one else knows. You need to find her and protect her until we can fix this."
"If I didn't know any better I'd think you really care about Lauren." Bo stated, surprised.
"She grew on me." Dyson laughed more quietly this time.
"She does that, right!?" Bo exclaimed, taking the wolf as her witness. "She gives you that beautiful shy smile of hers and bam, you're done for! She gets right under your skin."
The shifter grinned. "That one must be a 'for Bo only' thing. But I admit I underestimated her. In many ways."
Bo smiled in understanding. "I'll find her. I promise."
Bo got up and leaned over the shape-shifter to kiss his cheek. She wouldn't tell him but she was extremely grateful to him for shaking her out of her misdirected anger and self-pity trip.
"I'll be back soon. With your new best friend." She teased him before heading out.
She was barely out the door when she practically bumped into Hale.
"Bo!" Hale exclaimed as he put his hands on the succubus' shoulders and leaned to kiss her cheek. The dark-skinned man was back to his laidback ways and wardrobe. "You heard the good news then."
"Yes! Yes, your new doctor called me." Bo smiled.
"Of course he did!" Hale smiled. "But he's not my doctor, Bo. I resigned as the Ash, remember? I did hear about your first meeting with the new doctor, though, and how persuasive you were."
The succubus chuckled. "Well, I have a low tolerance for incompetence."
"Yeah, I guess were all too used to Dr. Lewis' high standards." The siren said sincerely before he leaned closer to whisper. "Do you have any idea where to find Lauren, Bo?"
A cold shiver ran along Bo's spine as she remembered what Dyson told her about the way Hale had treated Lauren during his time as the Ash. She didn't get the details but it had been obvious that Hale hadn't been much better than the previous Ashes when it came to dealing with Lauren Lewis.
"Even if I did know, I'm not so sure I would actually tell you at this point. Not after what you did to her before."
Hale's face paled.
"She was under my protection, Bo. I did what I thought was best."
"Your 'protection', Hale?" Bo uttered through clenched teeth. "Don't you mean 'ownership'?"
The succubus took a step forward and into the siren's personal space.
"Lauren is your friend, Hale. She fought at your side more than once. She helped you saved Kenzi. Remember Kenzi? The small human you're so fond of? How could you treat Lauren the way you did?"
Hale's complexion turned a sickly grey, his shame painted clearly on his features.
"I was wrong, Bo. I let the whole Ash thing go to my head. I think the prospect of being the Ash and showing my father that… never mind, I have no excuse." The siren sighed in defeat. "Listen; I let Lauren down, badly. But you're right, she's my friend and I want to help her."
"I'll keep that in mind, Hale." Bo said rather harshly as she pushed back the siren.
Bo drove to the Dal Riata without paying much attention to the speed limit.
She had to talk to Trick and look for a way to find Lauren like, yesterday.
The Blood King had been back behind his bar for a few weeks now. Unable as he was to stay away from his tavern or his people.
The succubus sighed, knowing she was up for a serving of humble pie, delivered directly by her own grandfather. She had been less than pleasant lately, she realized, and had especially avoided Trick. She found him a bit too pushy when it came to discuss what happened, especially Lauren's actions.
He'd been one of those who tried to get Bo to think about the doctor's motivations. To ponder the reasons why she might have wanted to leave.
But Bo had been too stuck in her own pain and feelings of abandonment to consider Lauren's predicament.
It also would have meant allowing the small voice at the back of her mind to come forth. And that voice was trying to tell her things she wasn't willing to hear. That she had been a shitty girlfriend, that she became complacent in her relationship with the blonde and had neglected her.
Bo had been happy with their relationship, especially after they came to an agreement over her need to feed off others. In Bo's mind, everything had been perfect and Lauren's asking for a break had taken her totally by surprise.
Accepting to hear that small voice would mean having to face her own shortcomings and she had been too stubborn to do that, preferring to blame Lauren for leaving.
It was time for Bo to admit that she had been too blind and, yes, too selfish to see her lover's reticence.
A terrible pang of guilt hit her suddenly as she remembered the day before she had left for that delinquents' camp. That time, Lauren had told her plainly that she felt like they were out of sync and that they needed to talk.
And still she had chosen to go, letting her need for adventure to take precedence over her lover's feelings. And Lauren had even taken a severe beating because of it.
"Shit!" Bo yelled, hitting her hand hard on the steering wheel.
She had lied to herself all along; she hadn't been blind to Lauren's feelings; she had chosen to ignore them. She had refused to acknowledge anything that might have been a threat to her own happiness, including her love's dissatisfaction.
Bo entered the Dal and spotted Trick instantly, standing behind the bar, at what he called his rightful place.
"Bo!" He exclaimed happily.
"To what do I owe the pleas…what's wrong?" Trick finished with a frown as he saw the look on Bo's face.
"I'm the worse girlfriend in the world, ever." The brunette admitted, tears filling her dark eyes.
Trick sighed. "Lauren?"
"I let her down so badly. I took her for granted for too long. And I lost her." Bo stated quickly. "And I've been horrible to you too when you tried to talk to me about her. I'm sorry."
"You're forgiven, child. You were not ready to hear what I had to say."
Bo raised an eyebrow. "Trick, I told you that your fondness for Lauren had scrambled your egg brain."
The Blood King smiled brightly. "And it was pretty funny then too!"
The succubus smiled back, hesitantly.
"I need your help, Trick."
"What can I do?" The old Fae asked seriously.
Bo started talking, for long minutes she related everything that Dyson had told her earlier. The more she talked, the more intense her need to find Lauren became.
As for Trick, the more he learned about what really happened, the more his admiration for Lauren Lewis grew. Bo was right; he always had been fond of the blonde doctor. Her knowledge of everything Fae, her dedication to her work, her talent; all elicited admiration. Her often hidden warmth, her innate kindness, her deep love for Bo were the real reasons Trick cared deeply for the blonde.
"We have to find her, Trick." Bo concluded ardently.
The old Fae nodded.
"Dyson is right. We do have to find her first so we can plead her case before the Elders."
"How are we going to do that?"
"Did you hear about the Aphrodites?" Trick asked, getting into Faekipedia mode.
"Something tells me you don't mean the Goddess chick from Greek Mythology." Bo deadpanned.
Trick snorted. "Not exactly. The Aphrodites are a type of Fae who feed on true love, usually humans' but it can work with Fae too."
"How does that help us?" The brunette asked, skeptical.
"While they're feeding off a person, the Aphrodite can connect to their true love's mind. They can read their thoughts; see through their eyes, for as long as the feeding lasts."
Bo's face lit up brightly.
"Do you think it'll work for Lauren and me?" the brunette asked avidly. "Wait, what the catch? Is she going to drain all my love for Lauren out of me, like the Norn did to Dyson?"
"No, nothing like that. We'll just need to monitor your vitals. The feeding can play tricks on your pulse." Trick answered with a benevolent smile.
"Ok! Cool! Where do we find one of those?"
Bo reluctantly sat down on the lounge chair in Trick's lair. The Aphrodite wasn't at all what she expected. In any case she had nothing to do with the usual way the mythology was describing the creature of the same name.
Small and witch like, the Aphrodite had piercing, almost white, eyes and had a slight feeling of lubricity about her.
Trick was nervously patting the lunge chair's pillows as he explained the process.
"Anya's feeding is going to put you in an altered state of consciousness but I'll record everything she says and we can try and figure out where Lauren is later."
Bo smiled at him confidently. "Don't worry, Trick. It's going to work just fine. It has to."
"Of course." Trick smiled back at her. "Now lay down."
For once the brunette did as she was told, keeping a close eye on the Aphrodite as she sat next to her on the lounge chair.
"So, what now?" Bo asked, slightly nervous. "Do I have to focus on L…"
"Don't!" Anya interrupted with a raised hand. "No name. It'll be easier for me to establish the connection if I'm not influenced by any knowledge of who you think is your true love."
A deep scowl appeared on Bo's face. "What do you mean 'who I think is my true love'! I know L…"
"BO!" Trick intervened. "Now is not the time to let your stubborn streak take over."
Bo pouted but made an effort to relax against the pillows.
Anya smiled slightly; that one was going to be so much fun. The passion was literally pouring out of the succubus pores. The connection would be easy to make.
"Now, child." The Aphrodite started patiently. "I'm going to lay my hand on your heart before I try to connect, don't be scared."
Anya laid a surprisingly gentle hand over Bo's heart and instantly the young woman felt a heaviness trying to claim her.
"Clear your mind, child." The Ancient Fae whispered.
Bo felt herself slip into blackness but her rebellious mind refused to let go.
"Why do you need to touch my heart, my feelings come from my brain, don't they?" She sleepily asked.
Anya sighed. "They do but I need to keep track of your heartbeat and sever the connection if it slows down too dramatically."
"Oh. Makes sense."
Trick smiled affectionately as the brunette's voice tapered off.
"Now, do as I say." The Aphrodite insisted. "Empty your mind."
Bo tried to do as she was told but a memory unwittingly came to her mind.
"This is such a chick flick!" Bo moaned as she dropped her head to Lauren's shoulder where they cuddled on the couch. "All those red hearts everywhere are making me nauseous."
Lauren hummed; "It's actually interesting to see how the red heart kept his symbolism when it's a recognized fact that the center of all emotions is in the brain. The heart being, well, basically a pump."
'I so love when she's getting all geeky on me.' Bo thought as desire sparked to life deep inside her.
"And how are you explaining that interesting tidbit, Dr. Lewis?" The succubus huskily whispered in Lauren's ear.
The blonde turned and instantly noticed the fire in her girlfriend's eyes.
"I actually have a theory." She answered in a husky voice.
"Tell me."
"Well," the doctor started, enjoying Bo's little game. "There's only one plausible explanation for the fact that the red heart remained the universal symbol of love."
Bo almost groaned. "Oh yeah?"
Lauren looked seriously at her lover.
"Of course! It's obvious! A stand full of Hallmark Valentine's greeting cards covered with drawings of brains would be a lot less romantic!"
Bo instantly pounced on her girlfriend, pushing her flat on her back and quickly turned the blonde's bouts of laughter into heated moans.
If Lauren's geek speak was the cake Bo couldn't resist, the blonde's usually hidden, wicked sense of humor was the cherry on top.
"Clear up your mind, succubus!"
Part 2
Trick clicked the tiny recorder on as Anya, eyes closed and focused, signaled silently that she had successfully established the connection. It had made sense when Bo suggested they'd used the digital device. He had agreed easily, seeing how reluctant he was to write for any considerable length of time. In reality the Blood King had come to dread the simple action of writing as it reminded him too vividly of the consequences his use of a quill used to have.
Right this moment, though, Trick was suspiciously spying the small piece of modern appliance, checking for the red light Bo said would let him know it was recording. Satisfied, he looked up to watch the Aphrodite as she fed off his granddaughter, keeping a close eye on the not quiet trusted Fae.
Anya hummed. "Yes, I found the thread. It's a very strong one."
Trick smiled, he didn't need an Aphrodite to tell him that Bo and Lauren's love bond was a strong one.
He jumped a bit when the old Fae turned to him abruptly, her eyes wide. "Your granddaughter's true love is a female HUMAN?!"
"And quite an extraordinary female human at that!" The Blood King defended with a scowl, his voice stern.
The Ancient Fae closed her eyes again, duly chastised.
The way the Fae considered and treated humans was one thing that Trick wouldn't mind getting rid of. It really needed be replaced by a more modern version of rules.
"She's a bright woman. Passionate but quiet. Her love for your granddaughter runs deep; Bo's on her mind all the time."
Anya took a deep breath and frowned.
"She's in a constant state of hyper vigilance."
Trick sighed. "She's scared."
"No, not scared." The Aphrodite said, she sounded almost in awe as she 'listened' a while longer. "This is one brave woman your Bo is in love with."
A proud smile blossomed on the face of the barkeep. "I know."
"She's sitting in high grass. In the middle of pasture land or a meadow." Anya started again. "She's watching a house. A white house with a porch and a dirt driveway. There's vegetation covering one of the outside walls, and a couple of big trees surround the house. It's a place she had been visiting a lot lately. She's thinking about Bo again."
Anya suddenly took her hand away from Bo's chest. The succubus' unconscious body tensed then relaxed.
"What's wrong?" Trick frowned deeply.
"Nothing, it was time to let go. Her heart was reaching its limit. The feeding is taxing, both for humans and Fae."
The Aphrodite stood, gathered her things and accepted payment from Trick.
"She's going to stay unconscious for a bit longer but she'll be fine."
Trick sighed in relief. "Thank you, Anya. You just might have saved the life of a good woman."
"I know, Blood King." The Aphrodite said. "And I won't tell anyone about the unaligned succubus and her human lover, either. Let's say that my debt to you is paid off, now we're even."
With a last look at the still unconscious Bo and a smile to Trick, the Aphrodite left noiselessly.
Bo clicked off the digital recorder. She raised teary eyes to Trick's face.
"She's in Grimley; my hometown."
"Are you sure?"
Bo quickly wiped away a tear that was running down her cheek and cleared her throat.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. That white house is my childhood's home."
Trick nodded. "Ok let's get this show on the road. You go find her and you keep her safe until we're ready on this side."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll go see Dyson with an Elder of each side. They'll be witnesses of his statement. Then I'll ask for a Light and Dark Assembly. As the Blood King I can plead Lauren's case. It's our best option. They won't be able to hold on the treason charges when they'll hear of her role in Taft's demise. Not when they'll realize how close we've been to having the Fae's existence revealed to the world."
"I hope you're right, Trick." Bo stated gloomily.
"One last thing." The barkeep added. "Lauren won't be able to go back to work for the Light Fae. They won't allow it, whoever is picked as the next Ash. Not after what happened."
Bo frowned. "Meaning?"
"Meaning there's only one option to keep Lauren safe on the long run; you're going to have to claim her." Trick explained patiently, knowing what Bo's thoughts were about the Fae's rules on owning humans.
The succubus tensed and her eyes narrowed. "Trick…"
"I know! But if Lauren isn't the ward of one of the sides, she'll be fair game to both!" Trick quickly explained. "You're the unaligned succubus; both the Light and the Dark Fae still hope you'll pledge to one of them. As long as you're unaligned you have an advantage. Both sides are weary of you and even fear you a little, I think. Lauren will be safe as your human."
Bo nodded in acknowledgement. She didn't like it but she could see the logic behind Trick's words."
"I'll do it only if she agrees with it."
"Of course." The Blood King answered with a relieved sigh. He hadn't thought he'd manage to sell that idea to his stubborn granddaughter.
"I gotta go, the sooner I leave the sooner I'll get to her."
Bo leaned to give her grandfather a tight hug. "Thank you, Trick."
"Send Lauren my love." The barkeep said as a goodbye.
Bo entered the Crack Shack with a bang, making a dark head appear over the back of the old couch.
"Hey succubabe! Where have you been?" Kenzi asked animatedly.
"Hey Kenz, I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry." Bo answered as she rushed through the house, quickly gathering various items and clothes.
"Whatcha doing?" Kenzi asked as she leaned over the back of the couch, following her BFF's movements.
"I have to go." Bo answered distractedly as she dropped her collected items in a dufflebag.
Kenzi jumped off the couch and ran to the succubus' side. The whole situation had a sense of déjà vu.
"What do you mean you have to go?!" The young thief asked with a touch of panic in her voice.
Kenzi suddenly saw her worse fears coming to life. Ever since the Druid offered her the option to become Fae, Kenzi had been thinking hard about her life. Both her pre-Bo and her current life. She still had to take a decision about the Fae thing but the whole introspection deal had brought up her fear of being left alone again. Without Bo she just would be the little human who already bugged many Fae in her time with the succubus. Maybe becoming part of the Fae was a good plan.
"You can't go! You can't just pack up and leave the sidekick behind! I'm pretty sure it's the number one rule in the superhero handbook!"
Bo smiled despite her anxiety; "Superhero handbook, Kenz?"
"Yeah! Well…There's got to be one! And it HAS to state that rule!" Kenzi rambled quickly, "You know, about the sidekick…"She finished her voice tapering off as she realized how she sounded.
"You're no one sidekick, Kenzi." Bo said gently, putting a comforting hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "And I didn't mean I was skipping town, I just have to go deal with something."
"Oh! Good. Sorry about that." Kenzi sighed. Lauren's leaving had affected her more than she thought, the young thief realized.
Bo smiled tenderly. "Don't worry, sweetie. If I ever leave this town, I'll make sure to fold you and stuff you in my suitcase."
"Ah ha, very funny, tease the tiny Russian woman, why don't you!"
Bo laughed, however serious the situation was, she could always depend on her best friend to make her laugh.
"I'll probably be gone a couple of days but I'll call you when I can, ok?" Bo said with a smile.
Kenzi opened her mouth to talk but was cut short by a now very serious looking succubus. "And no; you can't come with me. And double no; I can't tell you where I'm going."
"What?!"
"Look, Kenz, the less you know the safer you are. Believe me. I'll be ok and I'll be back as soon as I can." Bo explained quickly.
The succubus leaned and kissed her best friend's cheek. "Don't get into too much trouble, ok?"
"Qui? Moi?" Kenzi asked with a peeved look.
Bo laughed again: "Who else!?"
She grabbed her bag and smiled at her friend before turning to leave. She was reaching the front door when Kenzi called to her.
"Hey, Bo-Bo!" The young woman started seriously. "Bring us our Lauren back, ok?"
Bo dropped her bag, quickly made her way back to her best friend and just wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly.
After another quick sisterly kiss and a last smile, Bo picked up her bag again and left.
The Russian sighed as she watched her best friend leave; hoping with all her heart that Bo would find Lauren.
Kenzi herself had shared a love/hate type of relationship with the blonde for the longest time. Basically she had been jealous of the doctor 's obvious bond with Bo. But the young thief had got to know the real Lauren shortly before she left and now she would even grudgingly admit she liked the doctor. What really matters was that Bo loved the blonde more than anything and needed her, Kenzi knew that.
At that moment, the Russian finally realized what her only choice was. Bo didn't need another Fae in her life. She was surrounded by them and didn't have much to show for it, except perhaps a grandfather. What Bo really needed to stay in touch with her own humanity was Lauren and herself. Bo needed her humans. She felt a sudden kinship with the blonde doctor. Kenzi promised herself that when Lauren would be back, she'd try harder to be a good friend to the blonde as well. Together, Lauren and Kenzi were Bo's anchor and they would make sure to keep the succubus happy.
She needed to call Bruce, who made her promise she wouldn't go anywhere close to the Druid without him, and tell him she wouldn't need the shifty Fae's help after all. Bruce would be happy; the Druid was bad news anyway.
Bo tried to find a better position between two thick branches. She didn't remember the tree being that uncomfortable. She had climbed that particular tree many times before to escape her adopted parents' surveillance but it had been definitively easier when she was thirteen.
The brunette hoped her stakeout wouldn't last too long, not only because it would save her ass from permanent bark imprint but because she couldn't wait to find Lauren. She counted on the fact that the blonde would make her way to her own childhood home again.
Bo had been perched in the tree since dawn and she was starting to really miss the comfort of the rental car she had left in a nearby hidden spot. She loved her Camaro but it was just too recognizable and she had reluctantly left it behind. She didn't regret it anymore though, since the rental car had been a lot more comfortable to sleep in. After so many hours stuck in a tree the cushy backseat of the car was calling her name. Loudly.
She decided to wait another hour. A little voice in her head was yelling at her that this stakeout was a long shot. But short of camping in front of the only drugstore in town and wait for Lauren to come shop for some of her doctory items, it was her only option.
The sound of a car at the very end of the driveway caught her attention and she dove in her bag for Kenzi's 'DIY spying kit' binoculars. They were tiny but surprisingly effective.
Bo quickly spotted the car as it slowly rolled off the end of the dirt driveway and slid under the cover of a contorted tree. Its branches leaning close to the ground and efficiently hiding the car. But not before Bo got a good look at it.
Painted a burnished gold, classy without being flashy, sleek and beautiful, the car fit Lauren perfectly.
The brunette looked on, holding her breath, as a long body emerged from the vehicle. She had to wait for the new comer to move out of the shadows the tree was casting for a better look, but then her heart started to pound.
There was no mistaking the familiar long legged gait or the blonde hair shining in the sun.
"Lauren." Bo whispered in relief. Her throat tightened and she had to fight off tears.
She watched as her lover made her way through the grass and went to sit under a tree, far enough from the house that no one could spot her.
The binoculars' range was high enough for Bo to see the look on the blonde's face. It was determined but sad, almost haunted, and made Bo's heart break.
The succubus contented herself with watching the woman she loved until she got up and left. This was not the place to try and confront her. When Lauren's was out of sight, she quietly climbed down the tree and stealthily made her way through the pasture toward her car.
It'd be easy to find Lauren again. The car was discreet but specific enough. She would sweep the ten streets making the town of Grimley, night and day if need be, until she'd spot the gold car again.
Bo was starting to doubt the practicability of her plan when, twelve hours later, she found herself still driving slowly through Grimley's streets. She was now trailing down a small town equivalent of the suburbs and running short of places to check.
Almost too late, she spotted the entrance to a dead end street and made a last minute quick turn. Fifty yards into what really was a two houses private driveway, Bo sighed as all she could see was a red station wagon parked at the curb. She was slowly driving around the loop at the end of the driveway to head back to the main road when her headlights dove inside an open garage.
She almost jumped on the brakes when she spotted the golden car. It was backed up in the open garage, like if its owner was prepared to flee at the drop of a hat.
Bo took a deep breath and forced herself to keep driving until she was out of sight of the houses before parking her car. She took a few minutes to clear her thoughts then got out and slowly walked back to the house where she hoped to find her Lauren.
The big bad succubus ran her damp palms over her thighs to dry them off and swore as she realized it was not working that well with leather pants.
Bo took a deep breath, knocked on the door in a non threatening way and waited.
She was starting to think she wouldn't get an answer, feeling both rattled to be ignored and glad that Lauren was being cautious, when the door finally opened and she found herself face to face with her heart's desire.
Lauren was barefoot and was wearing jeans and an oversized t-shirt. Her long blonde hair framed her face and there were dark circles under her brown eyes. Casual Lauren was a vision and to Bo she looked as beautiful as ever.
"Hey," Bo started in a shaky voice, "you really shouldn't open your front door for anyone."
The succubus quickly closed the distance between them when she saw Lauren's knees starting to give way. She caught the blonde and wrapped her arms tightly around her slim body. Soon long arms were folding around the brunette's neck.
"I thought I'd never see you again." Lauren sobbed against Bo's neck.
"Shhh. I got you. It's ok." The brunette comforted. "I'm here. I found you. Thank God I found you."
The two women grasped each other tightly for a few minutes until Lauren gently but firmly pushed Bo away.
The blonde turned on her heels and headed deeper inside the house.
Bo sighed, closed the door behind her and followed. She found her lover pacing nervously in the living room.
Lauren was at a loss, she wasn't prepared for this. After two months of running and hiding, she wasn't expecting Bo to come find her anymore.
She had stopped hoping weeks ago.
Faced with the reality of having her lover standing just a few feet from her, she didn't know how to react anymore. Or how she felt about it.
"Lauren?" the succubus tentatively called.
When Bo had set up for this trip she wasn't sure of how Lauren would react to her appearance. The reunion had been all she had hoped for but the rather cold reaction that had followed had hurt.
When the blonde heard her girlfriend calling her name, she turned her way and offered her a tender smile.
The brunette smiled back, somewhat relieved and tried to break the tension that settled between them.
"So, how did you managed to keep the Fae away this time?" she asked lightly. "More skunk ape secretions?"
"No." Lauren chuckled, "Trackers might find suspicious to spot a solitary skunk ape in the middle of nowhere. I used ghost's pheromones. No smell. The only way they'd find me would be for them to be standing very close and notice the total lack of scent around me."
"You're so damn smart, it's scary." Bo teased with a sincere smile.
The blonde snickered; "I've never scared you before."
"Oh you'd be surprised. The feelings I have for you always scared me to death." Bo retorted half seriously.
"That makes two of us then." Lauren admitted with a smirk.
The two women shared a warm smile.
"I need a drink." The doctor stated finally. "Do you want one?"
The succubus snorted; "So much!"
Lauren smiled and headed out to get their drinks.
"Here." Lauren whispered as she came back. She offered Bo a glass of red wine before walking to the couch and sitting down on the edge of the seat.
Bo thanked her softly. Despite the seemingly casual exchange she was aware of the still very present tension. She joined Lauren on the couch, making sure to not sit too close to the obviously skittish blonde.
The awkwardness between the two women deepened some more but soon it became too much for the doctor.
"How did you find me?" Lauren blurted out.
Bo started in surprise, "An Aphrodite. They feed on…"
"True love." The blonde finished, her throat tightening.
"Yeah," the brunette confirmed with a tender smile. "She saw my childhood's home through your eyes."
Lauren tried to not read too much into the Aphrodite's part in their reunion, or what it meant about their relationship. She needed to keep a clear head for now. She didn't intend to fall back in Bo's arms just yet. No matter how much she really wanted to. Some things needed to be cleared off first.
"Why now." She asked at length. "It's been two months so, why now?"
Bo sighed; it was confession time. "I was hurt when you left. And, later, I was too stubborn to look behind those terrible things you said that day. I dismissed all of that at first, wanting to believe you said those things to send me away. But with time; I let doubt set in. It all caught up with me in the following days and I got angry."
Lauren's face crumbled and the look broke Bo's heart.
"I guess it was easier to blame you than to face my own mistakes. I'm sorry." The brunette admitted, her eyes dropping to the floor.
"You're here now though. What made you change your mind?"
"Dyson told me everything that happened with Taft and made me see what a jerk I've been."
Lauren couldn't hold back her smile. Bo was so cute when she got all pouty and trying to make amends.
"We have a lot to talk about, Bo." The blonde stated. "But I'm so very glad you're here."
The succubus raised her eyes to find her lover's gaze and Lauren smiled at her tenderly.
"Me too." Bo answered softly before remembering the reason why they were in that particular place.
"But what are you doing here, Lauren? Why pick this place to hide?"
The blonde sighed, she felt she had to be as honest as Bo just had been with her. "I needed a connection to you. I've been checking on your mother from afar. It made me feel close to you to be here, where you grew up."
"But this is not a safe place, the Fae has many ways to find you, and if they do…" the succubus exclaimed with a frown.
"Bo, I know. But this is as good a place as any." Lauren interrupted laying a comforting hand on her girlfriend's arm. It didn't convince Bo whose frown deepened.
"Look, apart from the Elders and Trick, I'm probably the person, Fae or human, who knows the most about the Fae World. I studied the Fae from the moment I became ward to the Ash. And it was not to satisfy my nerd side, like you probably think right now."
Bo smiled; she didn't need to remind Lauren of how the doctor's nerdy moments used to affect her. From the spark in the big brown doe eyes, she remembered perfectly.
"Oh no?" the brunette teased, lifting an eyebrow.
"No. Well not only." Lauren conceded with a smile. "No, the real reason is that I always knew knowledge would be my best bargaining ship. The more I'd learn about the Fae themselves, about their politics, the more the odds turned in my favor."
"What does it mean in this instance, though?" Bo asked with a frown. "How can it help you, here and now?"
"It means I know how to hide from the Fae most effective searching squads, make myself invisible to their most common tracking species." The blonde explained. "Plus I took some guarantees after the Taft's fiasco."
"What guarantees?"
Lauren hesitated a second but decided it was time for total honesty again.
"I sent copies of part of my research about the DNA splicing to both the Ash and the Morrigan."
Bo jumped; "You what?! Are you crazy?"
"Sometimes I do wonder about that but no, at the end, I don't think I am." Lauren deadpanned. "Letting the Elders know about my research, and letting them think that I'm ready to sell it to the highest bidder if feeling threatened, actually assures me some leeway. As long as they're trying to figure out how I'm planning to diffuse my information, they won't take the risk to go after me."
"Lauren, you're gambling with your life, here. You took a tremendous risk." The succubus warned.
The doctor frowned; "What other option did I have? I'm pretty sure I'm wanted by both sides for treason because of my part in splicing human and Fae DNA by now. Taft's associates are small fry compare to that."
"Lauren, you need to come home with me." Bo insisted. "Trick said he can request an assembly with both Dark and Light. He'll plead your case as your advocate. Once the Elders know everything that happened they won't have anything left to hold against you. You saved the Fae from being exposed. Among other things. We probably even have enough leverage to try and gain your freedom."
"And then what?" Lauren asked, she really wanted to believe but remained skeptical. "What happens after that? If it even works?"
"Well," Bo thought quickly. "You could offer to freelance for both sides. They'll all know what a real genius you are after that, they won't be stupid enough to let go of such a scientist."
Lauren smiled at her lover's enthusiasm. 'Could it really be that simple', she wondered. It was just too good to be true. And after everything she went through Lauren was just too disabused to believe in fairytales.
"There might be a slight problem though." Bo added tentatively.
Lauren raised an eyebrow and the brunette forged on.
"To keep you safe I probably would have to claim you as my human. But only if you agree! And it would be for show! Whatever happens I want us to be equals. I'll never consent to anything less between us."
Lauren sighed. "That's it?"
"Well, yes." Bo answered surprised.
The blonde smiled at the puzzled succubus. Now was not the time to tell Bo that she was considering herself as her human already anyway, after all she knew without a doubt that she was Bo's, heart, body and soul. She had been hers for a long time. Besides after her time as the different Ashes' servant, it sounded like a pretty sweet deal.
But then there was the unresolved issue of their private life. The reasons Lauren had to request a break were still standing. She still had to protect herself from a relationship that was hurting her deeply, despite how strong her love for Bo really was.
"And what about us, as a couple?" Lauren asked. She needed to know what Bo's expectations about their romantic relationship were.
Bo swallowed hard, not wanting to mess that one up even more. "I know we need to have a serious talk about that but I was hoping our break could end here."
The blonde sighed. She wished so badly she could just fix things between them.
"Things won't change by some miracle, Bo. I'll keep asking more of you than you can give and I'll keep feeling guilty for asking, or even for wanting it! I tried but I'm not that selfless."
Bo felt her heart clench. As much as she wanted to get Lauren back, she didn't have the slightest idea of what to say to her to fix things. She decided to take the plunge anyway.
"I love you, Lauren. More than I ever loved anyone. And I want to make you happy, to give you everything you need but you have to help me." Bo admitted dejectedly. "Please talk to me. Make me understand how you feel, please."
Lauren's big doe eyes dove right into Bo's soul, looking for any sign of insincerity but found only earnest need and obvious love. She decided it was time to reveal everything to the woman she loved more than anything.
"Ever since I pledged myself to the Ash, I had built that wall around myself. The way the Fae treated me more often than not, the slave tag I was carrying, it was just too hard. I had to turn off my feelings, to disconnect myself from what my life had become. I distanced myself from everything but my work. I had to become cold and professional, period."
Bo grabbed her lover's hand, squeezing it in understanding.
"Then you literally burst into my life." Lauren started again with a tender smile. "And you turned everything upside down; you woke me up from the empty emotionless life I was leading. You were a blessing; making me feel again. But then, at one point, feeling again turned into a curse."
The succubus tried to hide the hurt the last words invoked in her as the blonde forged ahead.
"The roundabout of Ashes, the rivalry with Dyson, the fact our Fae/human relationship is prohibited by Fae laws." Lauren had to clear her throat as her emotions threaten to choke her. "All those people who kept saying we'd never work. That was a lot of pressure but I kept fighting it all. As long as it was only obstacles coming from outside of our relationship I found the strength to fight, because you were fighting them with me."
Bo raised the hand she was holding to her lips and kissed it, reluctant to interrupt her lover but needing to show her support.
"Then I had to accept that you would have to see other people to satisfy your needs." Lauren's voice cracked; the pain in it obvious. "And I know! I know I pushed you to go for it! Because it was the only solution I could come up with if I wanted to keep you. As long as you were feeding off strangers I could pretend it was nothing more than a biological imperative, that it was not you 'cheating' on me. But still, it was the moment I started to crumble."
"And you were right!" Bo jumped in. "I felt guilty every single time I was with someone else. I kept saying to myself that I might have been physically 'unfaithful' but in my heart and in my head there was only you, all you, all the time."
"I know." Lauren whispered.
"Then what happened? I know you had been through a lot. But what changed?" Bo wanted to know.
The doctor stood up quickly as she was getting wound up and started pacing.
"The thing with Dyson after the dawning happened! You saved him at the expense of all of us. You could have killed me and Kenzi, Bo. All that for him. Do you have any idea how I felt then?!"
Bo stayed silent, the guilt choking her.
The blonde turned to face the still sitting succubus, her brown eyes full of pain and her arms crossing over her chest. This had been one of the main issues between them. Lauren couldn't believe Bo had failed to see the times she had gotten upset and why.
"Oh and then Tamsin happened!" Lauren added, feeling her anger rising even more.
"Tamsin? What do you mean? What about her?" Bo asked, not understanding.
"She told me you kissed her, Bo. She went as far as specifying that there was no feeding involved! And it was pretty obvious she knew it wouldn't attenuate the blow she was delivering in the least."
The succubus' face flushed in anger; "She what?! I'm gonna kill her!"
"Are you saying she lied and it never happened?" The blonde suggested skeptically.
"No. No. It did happen but she's the one who kissed me. It was so fast and I was so stunned that I didn't get a chance to react."
"Didn't react huh? Somehow I highly doubt that." Lauren knew it was a low blow but she was just too incensed at the time as all her pain and frustration over the situation was finally being expressed.
Bo took the remark for what it was.
"Common, Lauren! You know my biology better than I do; don't be unfair!" Bo defended herself. "You know I can't stop my sexual response! What I meant was that, if I had seen it coming I would have pushed her away!"
The blonde doctor sighed in defeat; a part of her believed her lover. In a way Bo was like a five years old when it came to relationships.
Needing some distance Lauren went to stand at the closest window.
Bo sighed as she rubbed her face with her hands. It was all such a mess. And she felt that she was in big part responsible. They should have talked this through months ago.
They had started to set ground rules the evening the succubus confessed her indiscretion with Dyson. Well they had set the one rule before Bo's relief at Lauren's understanding and Lauren's need to prove that Bo belonged to her quickly led them to bed.
Intuitively, though, Bo knew what Lauren was really saying with her 'no Dyson' rule. In the few seconds that followed her confession, Bo easily read her lover's emotions just by looking in her expressive brown eyes. First there was pain and anger, quickly followed by the realization and acceptance of what needed to be done. It was only made more obvious by what Lauren had said next and Bo had known what would be acceptable for her lover or not. By promising there would be no Dyson she was agreeing to unspoken conditions. Ones night stands with strangers could be considered as biological imperatives to feed. Using the same body repeatedly or seeing someone they were associated with in some way would be cheating.
At the time Bo had thought it was very reasonable conditions, and more than she could have expected of her lover. Way more than she ever thought she'd have to ask of her lover.
"Shit." Bo whispered her face still in her hands.
She had let Lauren down so badly. At first she had asked her girlfriend repeatedly if she was sure that it was what the blonde really wanted. But quickly she had stop worrying about it. Taking it for granted.
She was happy; she felt renewed after the Dawning, she had the woman she loved more than anything, she had her friends and she had pretty much carte blanche when it came to feed her succubus self.
And she had failed to see that Lauren was unhappy. Admittedly the blonde was a master at dissimulating her feelings. Six years working for the Light Fae and being surrounded by creatures that, in the best case scenario; would treat her as a pet, had made sure of that.
Still Bo felt she had failed her lover greatly; she should have kept track of the blonde's feelings. She should have taken better care of Lauren's heart.
Instead she had chosen to ignore the signs Lauren had been sending, out of fear of losing her perceived perfect life.
Bo lifted her head to find Lauren still standing at the window, back turned to her, arms tightly wrapped around her body.
"I can't even start to say how sorry I am. I've been an awful girlfriend. I neglected you." The succubus admitted. "I took you for granted. I was a jerk and I can only hope you'll be able to forgive me, one day. But Lauren, please know I won't be going anywhere until that day. I'll be waiting for you."
Lauren sighed. How was she supposed to resist Bo when she was being that adorable? She was reminded of why she fell in love with the succubus in the first place. The dichotomy between Bo's succubus nature and the innocence she was displaying at times was so endearing.
"Do you mean that?" the blonde asked as she walked back to stand in front of the succubus.
Bo looked up into her Lauren's soulful eyes, a sorrowful look on her beautiful face. "Every single word."
The doctor's breath caught in her throat at the sincerity in both Bo's eyes and voice.
"I realize I was trying to ignore anything that could have been hindering my happiness, including your uneasiness about… everything." The brunette confessed. "At the end, I lost way more than my happy place; I lost you."
The succubus swallowed the tears that were threatening to fall.
"I'll never be that stupid again." She finished in a shaky voice.
Lauren impulsively stepped closer until Bo's face was pressed against her stomach and her own hands buried deep into dark hair.
"What am I going to do with you?" the blonde whispered tenderly. She barely heard the muffled answer.
"Love me?"
"Oh Bo, I already do. So much."
Lauren gasped when she felt Bo nuzzling deeper against her stomach and running her hands over the expense of her back in an effort to get even closer.
She tried to reign in her blossoming need, knowing it was in vain considering the succubus could read her level of desire like an open book.
The blonde rolled her eyes. Six years she had managed to keep her feelings bottled up inside, even the most passionate ones like sexual needs. She hadn't counted on the woman who was currently sliding her warm hands under the material of her shirt and who was constantly turning her into a teenage boy in heat.
Bo didn't even need to use her succubus 'I can do anyone' power to make the blonde burn fast and bright. If it has been the case, Lauren would at least have an excuse for her inability to resist the damn woman. But no, it was all due to her own love-born desire and lust.
"Bo." She whispered in a husky voice.
The brunette sighed in approval as her hands stroke the soft skin of Lauren's back, inching higher and higher. A quick look at her lover's face confirmed she wasn't doing anything that the blonde didn't want. Her aura was catching fire fast.
Bo realized with a groan that nothing was hindering the sensual travel of her hands up the strong back she was mapping.
A long-fingered hand wrapped around the back of her neck as her face nuzzled her way up until her mouth reached a small perky breast. Her parted lips caressed the already hardening nipple through the thin material of Lauren's shirt.
Staying attuned to her girlfriend's feelings, the brunette slipped a hand back down her lover's back, around her hip and along a toned thigh. Her fingers hooked behind the blonde's knee and pulled the long leg around her own hip until Lauren had no other choice than to straddle the succubus' lap.
Lauren put her new position to good use and pulled Bo's face up and into a deep hungry kiss, giving up all pretense of aloofness.
"I need you, Bo." She murmured huskily.
The succubus moaned and she hurriedly rid her lover's of her shirt before pressing her face against the pale warm skin of Lauren's chest. One hand coming to rest between the woman's breasts.
"I can feel your heart pounding." Bo whispered heatedly. "And I know it's beating for me. It belongs to me and I won't let anyone take it away from me. Not even you."
Realizing suddenly she might have said too much, the brunette lifted her face to watch Lauren's reaction. She found only love and heat in the soulful brown eyes looking down at her.
"Make love to me, Bo."
The succubus growled and attacked the blonde's mouth. Kissing her hard and deep, putting all the love and passion she felt in the kiss.
Lauren rose on her knees to gain leverage and Bo made the most of it, unbuttoning and unzipping the blonde's jeans before pushing them down the slim hips as far as she could.
They broke the kiss in order to breathe and Lauren's head fall back as the succubus' hand slipped between her legs. Bo's agile fingers started stroking the swollen velvety folds she found there.
Bo wrapped her free arm around her lover's waist to keep her where she was as she dipped her fingers in the silky wetness awaiting them. The brunette read Lauren's arousal as it climbed even higher and gasped when the blonde grabbed her wrist and lowered herself on her fingers.
Bo looked in awe at the vision that was her Lauren as she arched back in her arms and slowly rode her hand. The feeling of long blonde hair caressing her arm as the woman moved above her and the strong fingers digging in her shoulders were making her wild with need.
When the brunette felt inner muscles start to tighten around her fingers, she pressed her thumb on the blonde's swollen clit and whispered a few encouraging words of love making her lover come hard.
Lauren collapsed against Bo, her head falling to the brunette's shoulder.
Bo wrapped both arms around the panting blonde. Lauren's hot breath against the succubus's ear was making her shiver with desire but Lauren was all that mattered at that time.
"I think you broke me." The blonde finally chuckled, her mouth still pressed against Bo's ear.
The brunette laughed. "And I'm not even close to be done with you, got a bed around here, doc?"
Lauren hummed. "Upstairs. But I don't think I can walk right now."
"It's at times like this that I really appreciate the Fae's superior strength." Bo teased as she rearranged the blonde's legs around her waist before standing up easily, making long limbs lock tightly around her body.
A couple of hours and bunch of multiple orgasms later, Lauren, exhausted, was rolling off Bo's body. She settled on her side, pressing herself against her lover's body.
Bo, still short of breath, sighed in satisfaction.
"I wouldn't have thought so when I met you but you, Dr. Lewis, are definitively a top."
The blonde chuckled. ""What can I say? You bring out the best in me."
The brunette pushed a strand of long hair behind Lauren's ear, looking at her tenderly.
"Does this mean the break is over?" She asked tentatively.
"I love you." Was the blonde's only answer.
Bo frowned, puzzled. "I know, and I love you."
Lauren sat up in bed, wrapping her arms around her long folded legs.
"I loved you from the moment we met, Bo. But not because you were a succubus." She explained looking at her girlfriend over her shoulder.
Bo smiled and shifted on the bed until she was wrapped around her lover's body, pressing against her back, her hands sliding along the toned arms.
"Strange, I seem to remember you displaying a very non-scientific curiosity."
Lauren laughed. "I'm not denying that I was rather… stimulated."
Bo laid her chin on the blonde's shoulder, looking at the beautiful profile.
"Stimulated? Really?! Lauren, you were burning so hot I almost went blind."
The blonde blushed and the succubus chuckled before kissing the red cheek.
"Why was it love at first sight, then?" Bo teased.
"I think it's because of what I saw in you that day." Lauren explained as she leaned back into her lover's body. "Despite that big bad girl's front you were trying to keep up, all I could see was the lost little girl who wanted answers and needed someone to tell her she wasn't a monster."
"And you did just that." Bo whispered. "That day and every time I met you since."
Lauren shook her head. "I couldn't help you as much as I wanted to. I wanted to do so much more to protect you; you were so scared and innocent."
Bo snorted.
"Not that kind of innocent, obviously." Lauren chuckled. "I meant you were innocent about the Fae world and its rules. It was refreshing actually."
"Well I'm glad I was able to refresh you, baby."
It was Lauren's turn to snort. "Says the woman who was leaving me hot and bothered every time we were meeting."
Bo burst out laughing. "I'm sorry about that."
"You are so not!" The blonde retorted with a wide smile.
"You're right, I'm not."
Bo leaned back against the headboard, bringing her lover with her.
"Why are you telling me this?" the brunette asked, serious again.
Lauren sighed. "I'm not sure. I don't want to hide anything from you anymore. Bottling up feelings became a second nature to me, it was a survival necessity. I think it's time I learn to open up again."
"I'm listening." Bo whispered sincerely.
The blonde turned in the succubus' arms until she could hear the brunette's steady heartbeat under her ear.
"I really had no say about falling in love with you, Bo. I tried to fight it, there were too many things playing against us." Lauren felt her lover's body tense at the admission and she tightened her hold on Bo.
"But the pull was too strong." Lauren continued when the brunette relaxed again. "I knew being with you would be hard. I mean it was obvious it wouldn't be easy to be in love with a sex fiend."
The blonde smiled with relief when the succubus laughed briefly.
"It's not the worst thing I've been called. Though I wonder what that says about me."
Lauren laughed. "I just have five words for you; best sex of my life."
Bo's body went rigid again and the blonde looked up at her. "What?"
"I don't want to have sex with you, Lauren. I never did."
Lauren frowned. "You could have fooled me. What's this…"
"Don't." The brunette quickly added when the doctor tried to get away from her. "Baby, you're the only one, human or Fae, man or woman, I ever made love with."
Lauren swallowed hard at the succubus' admission.
"Why are things always so complicated between us, Bo?"
The brunette leaned to kiss the doctor's forehead. "I think it's because we always had a hard time communicating. But things are going to change, babe. I know what I did wrong before and I'll work on that. I refuse to lose you again."
Lauren smiled and raised a hand to caress the succubus' cheek. "We'll work on it together, ok?"
Bo pulled the blonde higher against her and kissed her with all she had.
"Yes, Bo." Lauren whispered when the kiss broke.
Once more the brunette was left puzzled. "Yes?"
"Yes, the break is over." The blonde clarified with a big smile.
Bo's face was beaming with happiness. "You're sure?"
"The last two months proved to me that I can't stay away from you." Lauren explained. "I need you. Even if it means I might end up dying of a broken heart. So, yes I'm sure."
"Lauren, I promise to protect your heart with my life." Bo said solemnly.
"Good. Because if you hurt me again; I'll kill you, succubus."
The End