A/N 1: SPOILER ALERT for Season 5, Episode 9 – You've been warned, and seriously, don't ruin yourselves, people!

A/N 2: This was posted and then removed about five minutes later because of formatting errors—at least for me. I apologize for that. While this isn't my first fic, it's my first posting to , so the formatting of things eludes me, apparently. So much for considering myself tech-savvy.

Also: I own nothing and don't profit from this. I just love this show.

Honestly, few things scared Bo anymore. She'd survived countless Big Bad Fae, including the Garuda and now the Nyx. There was little that faedon could throw at her that would frighten her.

Lauren's mortality, though, that terrified her.

Walking hand in hand, they were happy. They were finally happy. And Lauren, she was downright joyful, the way she ran into the street and proclaimed her love for Bo. Lauren's joy was infectious. Any onlookers could tell they were deeply in love.

And in an instant, it was gone. It was all gone, taken from Bo before she could blink. A moment of nothingness, of utter shock, was followed by the horror of the one thing Bo truly feared, and the bile churned her stomach, threatening to splatter Bo's last meal on the pavement.

Bo was quite certain she'd never seen so much blood in her life, and for a second, she was frozen, torn between calling for an ambulance and pushing her chi into Lauren.

It was a matter of seconds between Lauren falling to the ground and Bo crouching to give Lauren her chi. Bo leaned in to press her lips to Lauren's when it happened. Lauren's eyes shot open, and they were glowing. They were a bright cerulean, and before she could register that brilliant blue, she felt her life slip past her lips. Except she hadn't yet begun giving her life to Lauren. No, Lauren was taking it.

Oh god, Lauren. What did you do?

Bo felt the tug on her insides, like something was literally being pulled from everywhere, from all of her. Her life was flowing from deep within, from her cells, from every bit of her. She felt the chi slip through her throat and brush across her tongue. This wisps swirled in her mouth, the tendrils tickling her lips.

Just as each moment since Lauren was hit by the car was saturated with a different, powerful emotion, so, too, were the first moments of Bo's life force passing into Lauren. As the reality of Lauren's genetic handiwork dawned on Bo, she felt waves of feelings wash over her. She was shocked. She was excited. She was aroused. She was afraid. Bo was afraid for Lauren, but Bo was also afraid for herself. A succubus was sucking her chi, a succubus who probably didn't know how to stop the bright blue flow. Bo wasn't in control of this exchange of life, and that scared her. She had to pull away because she was certain that, like in the infancy of her own fae development, Lauren wouldn't be able to stop the flow, but being fae, being stronger than a human, Bo could stop it. She could cease the flow and keep Lauren from draining a good portion of her essence.

Bo pulled back, cutting the flow off with a little distance and the turn of her head. She was breathless, panting, kneeling on the asphalt in the dark, looking down at her lover, the woman who, mere seconds ago, was all but lost to her.

Lauren gasped, her head jerked up slightly and then fell back to the ground and into the pool of her own blood. She took several deep, labored breaths and started to move.

Seeing Lauren breathing snapped Bo immediately back from her thoughts and into the present. "Babe, stay still, okay? I've got you."

"Bo..."

"I've got you." Bo scooped Lauren up from the ground and ran. She didn't know where she was running to, just that they needed to get away from that scene, from the middle of the street. The park. There was a park a half block away. They'd just walked past it. Bo turned and sprinted to the park, scanning for a secluded spot. Finding one, she lowered Lauren softly down, helping her lean against a tree.

"Are you still in pain? Are you still bleeding?" Bo blurted out, her eyes and hands searching Lauren's body for a serious injury that needed pressure applied, for a bone protruding. Nothing was serious externally, but Lauren had to be bleeding internally. "Let me give you my chi," she said, leaning in, her face meeting Lauren's.

This time, prickling of chi passing out of her cells felt controlled. It felt normal to Bo. This was a sensation she knew, the push of chi from every corner within her to a flow between her lips. Lauren leaned into her, her lips ghosting over Bo's as she took in the chi offered to her. Bo leaned back just enough to keep the flow going and to see the marks marring her love's beautiful face. She watched the facial lacerations heal themselves, and as her eyes focused back on Lauren's, the sensation of pushing chi into Lauren started to change. Lauren was drinking; she was drinking Bo in like she had just spent days in the desert, her thirst insatiable. When Bo recognized that, she stopped the flow. This time, she was the one panting, exhausted and in need of rest and breath. "Are you okay?" she asked as she took several deep breaths. "Are you okay inside? Have you healed?"

"I think so." Lauren's voice sounded more sure than the last time she spoke. She looked like she was in much better shape. "This wasn't the heavy breathing I was looking forward to doing with you tonight." Lauren joked.

Bo chuckled and leaned her forehead against Lauren's for a second, smiling at the thought that everything was okay. Bo leaned back on her heels. The madness of the last few minutes started to play out on her face; Lauren could see the internal struggles as her features changed. "You're really okay? You've healed?" Bo asked.

"Yes," Lauren told her, breathing comfortably.

"Yeah?" Bo still searched Lauren's features. "What did you do? What did you do to yourself? What the fuck?" Her concern had shifted to frustration.

"Bo..."

"Ugh, Lauren! You were dying! I watched you dying. And why didn't you tell me? What did you do to yourself? What if it isn't safe? I can't watch you die again. I can't." By the end of her outburst, Bo's eyes were filled with tears. "I don't want to lose you over a science experiment. I don't want to lose you because some stupid fae find out you have fae powers and they don't like it." Bo paused. "Shit, Lauren." She scooped Lauren into her arms, holding her for dear life. They were both crying. The adrenaline of the accident and subsequent healing finally started to dissipate, leaving Bo and Lauren with the reality of the overwhelming fear from the situation, with more questions than answers.

Bo leaned back, taking Lauren's hands in hers. "How?"

"Not here."

"How do you feel? Can you walk?"

Lauren smiled. "Yes, actually, I think I can. I feel good." They rose.

"You're covered in blood. I don't want to go back the way we came. I don't want anyone who was at the accident scene to see us-see you. You face has healed, but you still have blood on your hair and on your clothes. Here, take my jacket. You can wear that, and maybe you can do something with your sweater?"

"I hate to ruin it..."

"Lauren..."

"Right. Okay. Maybe I can get some of my hair cleaned off on my sweater. Do you have a hair tie? Maybe it'll help if I pull it back."

"Here," Bo said, removing the rubber band from her wrist. She helped Lauren tidy up.

"Ready," Lauren said, smiling at Bo. Her sweater was balled up in a completely untidy and un-Lauren way. "Evidence," she said as the saw Bo notice she still had her cardigan. "I don't want anyone to have such easy access to my blood."

"Okay. Let's go." Bo strategized a route as they walked, taking them through alleys and side streets until the arrived at the Camaro.

"So, um, surprise!" Lauren said after they'd both closed their car doors and Bo had turned to look at her.

"This is what you meant, isn't it? When you said the maybe I didn't have to lose you?"

"Yes." Lauren paused. "I didn't know how to tell you yet."

"Well, that was some way to announce it. I hope that people didn't see the chi." The fear of the chi flow being seen did give both of them pause. So many years of keeping the fae secret couldn't be obliterated by Lauren's first feed. The elders wouldn't stand for it. The elders...

"Oh, god. We're going to have a shitstorm to deal with when people find out, if that's how they find out." The reality of fae politics suddenly felt overwhelming. "Trick and Evony. Oh, Evony... Lauren, you aren't going to be safe when she finds out that you've been researching making yourself fae instead of trying to find a way to reverse taking hers."

"Bo, one step at a time. We can't deal with all of them tonight. Besides, this just happened. Today. Your father-"

"What about my father?" Bo jumped in quickly.

"Bo, I couldn't have done this without him. When he was in my lab before you got there, he saw the chemistry notes I had. He solved the problem. I've been stuck for weeks on this, on getting any fae DNA to bind, and he had the answer. He took a look at the notes and had an idea, and it worked. When I saw it under the microscope, I couldn't believe it. I had been stalled on both Evony and myself. I was out of ideas, and he had the key. I might even actually be able to deliver on Evony."

"Maybe think on that delivery method." Bo regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth.

Lauren's face changed. She looked guarded. "That's not fair, and you know it."

"I'm sorry. I really am, Lauren. That was a stupid thing to say." They sat silently for a few moments. "Why, Lauren?"

"Evony? Haven't we been over this?" Lauren was becoming frustrated.

"No, this. You, fae." Sensing the sincerity behind Bo's question, hearing the concern in her voice, Lauren's expression softened. "Did you do this because of me? I never wanted you to change for me, Lauren. I love you. I-"

"I did this for me, Bo. Yes, you're part of that. I'd be lying if I said you weren't. This was a long time coming. You can't know what it's like to know that you and all of our friends will outlive me by hundreds—even thousands-of years, that you'll have lifetimes after I'm gone, that you'll love someone else, maybe a couple of someone elses. And I was always going to be insecure about you feeding." Bo looked like she was going to speak, but Lauren stopped her, going on. "Bo, you don't have to say it. I know that it's just feeding to you. It's not your issue; it's mine, and I was in a position to do something about it. So, I did." Bo was silent. "Bo, what are you thinking? Talk to me."

Bo rubbed her forehead. A million things were running through her mind. "The politics. What are people going to say? You won't be safe."

Lauren put a hand up to stop her. "For the first time, I can protect myself. I'm stronger now, Bo."

"There's so much to teach you..."

"Can we worry about that and Evony and the politics tomorrow? I almost died tonight."

"You almost died," Bo whispered, emotions rising again.

"Take me home. To the clubhouse. I want to sink into that tub, and then I want to sink into your arms in bed."

Bo reached out and touched Lauren's hair softly before she turned from her and started the car. They drove in silence. Lauren's hand found its way to Bo's thigh, and Bo gave it a gentle squeeze at the first red light they reached. There would be plenty to discuss, but those small gestures reassured them both that their foundation was okay.

They walked from the car to the clubhouse hand in hand. Lauren entered ahead of Bo, and Bo helped Lauren out of her jacket as they headed into the sparse living room.

"Head up if you want," Bo said, heading to the kitchen. "I'll get us something to drink and meet you up there. Wine?"

"Please," Lauren replied, fatigue in her voice.

In the kitchen, Bo pulled a couple bottles of water and a bottle of white wine from the cooler. She noticed the pizza in the back-only a day old-and decided to plate that up for them. They'd never made it to dinner. Bo found a tray behind the big popcorn bowls in a cupboard and arranged everything for the trip upstairs. She placed the tray on the bed, depositing the water bottles on the night stands. She poured them each a glass of wine and decided to light some candles. A bath with wine deserves candles, she reasoned. She picked up the tray with wine glasses and pizza and headed into the bathroom.

Lauren was already chin deep in bubbles, her eyes closed. She let out a contented sign upon hearing Bo approaching and turned her head to look at her. Bo knelt down beside the tub and offered her girlfriend a glass and some pizza.

"Pizza and wine. My hero," Lauren exhaled before taking a long sip.

"Do you want help with your hair? That blood was a mess," Bo said as she set down the tray on the bathroom floor.

"Sure." Lauren stuffed pizza in her mouth and leaned forward to allow Bo access. She tugged at the hair tie in Lauren's hair, freeing the blond waves. After putting shampoo in her hands, she started working the blood from Lauren's hair, massaging her skull. "Mmmm," Lauren sighed under Bo's ministrations-music to Bo's ears. "Aren't you going to join me?" Lauren questioned her.

"I thought you'd never ask," Bo said with a smile. She leaned forward to kiss the top of Lauren's head before she went to get undressed. A minute later, she slipped in behind Lauren, who leaned back against her. Bo wrapped her arms around Lauren's middle, and Lauren leaned back with her head on Bo's shoulder. They both closed their eyes and sat in silence for awhile, enjoying the hot water and the way they felt sitting together. "I love you, Lauren Lewis," Bo whispered before kissing Lauren's temple.

"I love you, too."

"Please don't ever play in traffic again."

"Hmm. Deal."

Finally, one of them made a move for more wine and pizza. They finished off the leftovers and emptied their glasses as they shared easy conversation. Bo shared a story about a recent conversation with Trick. Lauren told Bo about a couple interesting cases she's seen recently in the clinic. They stayed away from the earlier topics of conversation.

Eventually, the water began to cool and the women grew tired. They pulled their tired bodies from the bath and prepared for bed.