Title: Ending Start

Author: lonejaguar

Rating: M

Summary: In the aftermath of Hades' destruction, Bo tries to put her family back together again.

Notes: This started as a drabble that was way too ambitious for 100 words and ended up as another love letter to Doccubus. Typical, right? ;)

"Mark!" Bo bellowed, pouring the tenth pint in a row. The Dal had been rocking all week, Fae of all kinds flocked to see those that banished Hades to Tartarus again. Some didn't believe the stories and had to see it for themselves, but the sight of the wolf at the bar and the succubus tending the steady stream of orders always surprised them. "Where the hell is that kid?"

Dyson drained his glass. "I think he's showing some girls around. I try not to track him anymore."

Bo made a face and loaded another tray for a server. "Well he better get his ass up here soon," she glanced at the clock, "because Lauren's going to be here any minute and I'm not missing this dinner."

"Cut him some slack, Bo," Dyson reasoned. "He's just a kid. And he did just survive the end of the world."

"Yeah, yeah." Bo waved him off. She stared at him for a second before she shook her head with a smile. "When did you get so level headed?"

Dyson shrugged. "Something about a Human."

Bo's smile faded, seeing the hurt in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Dyson."

He nodded. "Me too." He tapped a coaster on the bar. "I'm sorry about you and Lauren."

Suddenly, the urgency to distract herself with serving alcohol was overwhelming. Bo poured a couple pints when she saw him watching her as she poured a third. "She's scared," she said. Dyson sucked in a breath and nodded, pulling a couple shot glasses from the other side of the bar. Bo grabbed a bottle of tequila without a word. "And I get it. I do, I just…" She sighed.

"You've been through a lot together," he said, not without struggle. "Especially with Jack. Some Humans can't handle it."

"No," Bo shook her head, stepping out of the way of a server. "Lauren can handle anything."

"Maybe she just needs some time to relax." Dyson took a long drink from his glass. "We haven't stopped since we sent Hades back and Trick…" He trailed off as he realized what he'd said. "I'm sorry."

Bo shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. "It's okay," she replied. She smiled sadly and gestured at the ceiling. "At least we have something to remember him by."

"The perfect place for the Re-Unaligned Succubus."

She smiled and poured them another shot, raising it in a toast. "To my grandfather," she said. The glasses clinked and the liquid disappeared down their throats. Bo closed her eyes at its warmth. "I miss him."

Dyson poured them another shot. "Me too." He nudged the glass closer to Bo and held the shot aloft. "To our fallen friends and family, may their memory live forever in our hearts." Bo closed her hand around the glass as the alcohol singed her throat. The loss she'd witnessed, especially in the last year of dealing with her estranged father, didn't hurt as much as the decimation of her life with the Fae. She was alive yes, but at the cost of her immediate family, and some of her closest friends. "Bo." She opened her eyes to find Dyson staring into them. "Stop blaming yourself."

Bo sighed. "I just wish she would have told me."

"Okay, is there an ETA on some cable TV up in this place?" Kenzi walked toward the bar from the lounge, depositing a baby carrier on the wooden surface. "Because I'm not a big fan of reading." She waved a small book in the air. "And let me tell you, I'm tired of the exploits of Little Miss Naughty."

Bo smiled and passed her a pint across the bar. "It's good to have you home, Kenz."

"Yeah," she sighed and climbed up on a stool. "It's a good thing I did too, total game changer. Now come on, you want to look after this adorable bundle of joy with me tonight, don't you?"

"Oh no," Bo pointed at Kenzi. "You're not pulling me into babysitting duty."

Kenzi looked into the carrier at a tiny baby girl with piercing blue eyes. The familiarity in them was astonishing, like she already knew they were part of her family. She wiggled her finger in the baby's face. "So is Unnamed Valkyrie Orphan taken, or does this little girl get a real name?"

Bo paused, pouring a few drinks for the server waiting at the bar. "I guess we should name her, huh." She glanced at Dyson.

"Don't look at me," he held up his hands. "It took me two weeks and I ended up with Mark."

"You're telling me Dr. Love doesn't have a thousand baby names in her lab coat pocket?" Kenzi asked.

"Just two that I know of," Bo replied.

A stream of light poured in from the door as Lauren breezed through, weaving between people on her way to the bar and making a beeline for the carrier. "There she is," she said smoothly, depositing her bag on the stool next to Kenzi. The smile on her face was infectious.

"You know, I used to get that when she walked in." Bo crossed her arms and smirked at Dyson. He chuckled, starting into the refilled pint glass in front of him when Mark rushed behind the bar.

"Sorry," he said quickly, tying the apron around his waist. He wiped the side of his mouth and grinned at his father.

"It's about time." Bo stepped back as he picked up where she left off. "Just, next time-"

"I'll be more careful," he said, clearing the line up in front of him. "But when a girl like that tells you to-"

"Mark..." Dyson warned.

"What?" He looked at Bo who raised her eyebrows at him. "Come on, Bo, you know what I mean. I've seen you down there with-"

"Mark!" Dyson growled and the young shifter snapped to attention.

Lauren looked up in horror and glanced quickly at Kenzi who rolled her eyes. Bo slipped into her leather jacket. "Hey, I'm a succubus. I have a biological imperative." She winked at Lauren as she slid next to her, a hand resting on her hip. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Lauren said, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

Bo looked at Kenzi. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Pff," Kenzi scoffed. "Can do it with one hand tied behind my back."

"Mark?" Bo called to the young man behind the bar. "Don't burn the place down, okay? I just inherited it."

Mark saluted her. "You got it."

The walk down the alley to the car was silent. Bo had asked Lauren out, telling her she needed to talk to her once the dust settled after the battle and now that the night had arrived, Bo found herself nervous. She smiled and opened the door for Lauren, closing it after her. The Camaro's old door creaked when Bo pulled it open, sitting gingerly in the driver's seat. She grimaced as she reached for the door to close it.

"What is it?" Lauren asked quietly.

Bo closed her eyes. Damn it. "It's nothing," she said as she turned the key in the ignition. "Just from my fight with my father."

"Still?" Lauren said. "Bo, that was over two weeks ago." Bo sighed. Even separated, Lauren doted on her. "Take me to the clinic."

"Lauren," Bo groaned.

"Bo I'm not having some open wound become infected and grow into the next portal to Mars, okay?"

Bo blinked. "Could that happen?"

"Bo-"

"Okay, okay." The clinic wasn't far from the Dal and in a few blocks, they pulled into the parking lot. Bo stopped the car, pulling on the brake. She looked at Lauren seriously. "This won't take long, right?"

"Promise."

Bo followed her through the clinic doors, past the near-empty waiting room and into the hallways behind. The exam rooms at the back of the building were where critical patients were kept, surgeries were performed, and research was taking place. Bo glanced into the room that once held her father and felt the shiver in her bones. She knew he was gone, but she was having a hard time shaking his memory. Lauren turned a lamp on next to the steel table and reached for the buttons on Bo's shirt before noticing the cut along Bo's chest, scabbed and scarring.

"Bo…" Lauren touched her skin carefully. "You haven't fed?"

Bo looked down at the wound. "It's healing." Lauren stood straight and crossed her arms. "Lauren, come on, let's go eat."

"Bo, you need to feed."

"I know I need to feed, okay?" Bo's voice had raised unexpectedly and she lowered her tone immediately. "I just… I wanted to talk to you. Talk about us."

Lauren turned away. "Bo, I can't." She gasped when Bo grabbed her wrist.

"Don't." It was almost a whisper.

"Bo, please." The pain in her voice was palpable and it made Bo's heart ache for her.

"What happened to 'oh boy, yes?'" Bo asked, still holding her wrist in her hand. "Or 'I'm yours?' 'We'll always be together?' Any of those ring a bell?"

Lauren squeezed her eyes shut and she took a shaky breath. "I can't do this, Bo. I broke up with you because of me."

"Well I don't accept your break up," Bo said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms in front of her. "Not until you tell me the real reason you're holding back." Lauren sighed heavily, covering her face with her hands. Bo watched her pace in the small area next to the table, wondering what it would take to crack the shell Lauren had built around her. "Lauren, please."

When she reached the end of the table, she turned, her fingers dancing nervously along the stainless steel edge. Her chin quivered. "I'm sick, Bo."

It hit her in the chest, sucking the air from her lungs. "What?" she whispered.

"Something… jump started a disease that was already in my body when I was the Conduit." Lauren stayed at the end of the table, almost as if she was afraid of the reaction of her news. "I had to take the serum to become human again…" She trailed off, scratching at an invisible mark. "I'm sorry."

"Lauren." Bo moved toward her, but Lauren held up a hand to stop her.

"I can't…" Lauren sniffed, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "I tried to lengthen my life to be with you and all I did was shorten it." She laughed ironically at herself. "Only I could screw something up that badly."

"Lauren." Bo took Lauren's hand in her own, squeezing it tightly. "You're the most brilliant person I know. You've achieved things that no Human or Fae has done in history. Please don't sell yourself short."

"Why would you want to be with me when all I'll do is deteriorate and cause you frustration and pain?" The thought brought the tears to her eyes again and Bo was quick to pull her into an embrace.

"Because I love you, Lauren." The doctor groaned. "No, come on." Bo straightened her in her arms, forcing her to meet her gaze. "I don't care. I don't care if you get old, or go grey, or need help walking, or lose your mind. I love you." Bo smiled at her. "I will always love you."

Lauren sniffed. "Your romance game has gotten better."

Bo smirked and squeezed the woman in her arms. "So what's your plan?"

"I can't stop trying to fix this." She looked up at Bo. "But what are you going to do if I'm always here buried in experiments?"

Bo looked around the room and nodded to the chair in the corner. "I'll wait there."

"Bo…"

"No, listen." Bo stood back and held Lauren's shoulders in her hands. "I will not give up on you just like you didn't give up on me, so stop pushing me away. I have lost too many people I loved to situations I couldn't control, so I'll be damned if I lose my greatest love because I didn't fight for her."

Lauren kissed her hard, her mouth desperate and unabashed. Bo leaned into it eagerly and pulled Lauren against her, the energy and emotion behind it was irresistible. She felt Lauren relax in her arms the longer the kiss lasted, a quiet hum starting in her throat. When they pulled back, their lips a breath away from each other, Bo lifted a hand, her thumb brushing the tears from Lauren's face.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"I know." Bo wrapped her up in her arms. "I'll be with you every step of the way."

Lauren looked up at her again, this time her eyes were soft, vulnerable. "We're never going to live a normal life together, are we?"

Bo smirked. "Not if we're broken up we're not."

There was a small Italian feast spread across the coffee table in the living room of Lauren's downtown condo an hour later. They sat at arms' length from each other on the sofa, their fingers intertwining on the cushioned back. Bo studied Lauren carefully, her body, her expression, her aura. She was more relaxed than Bo'd thought, staring into the remnants of the linguine entrée.

"I wonder how Kenzi's doing," Bo broke the silence.

Lauren looked up at her. "I'm sure she's fine." She watched her carefully, and Bo knew she'd pick up on her gaze. "I'm sorry about Tamsin."

Bo's expression varied between anger and guilt. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"She didn't want me to, Bo, I'm sorry. I had to respect her wishes."

Bo nodded into her lap. "I could have tried harder to stop her."

Lauren scooted closer on the couch and put a hand on Bo's knee. "Bo, don't tear yourself apart over it, there's no way you could have known."

She couldn't stop the tears welling in her eyes. "I'm just so tired of losing everyone."

"Tamsin's in Valhalla now, she's where she belongs." Lauren traced the hem of Bo's jeans. "And we were able to save the baby."

"God, the baby," Bo sighed, looking at the ceiling. "Lauren, I'm not ready for a baby."

"I know," Lauren nodded and sighed. "But there's nothing we can't do together, right?"

Bo smiled widely. She took Lauren's hand from the back of the sofa and pulled her close, kissing her gently. "Thank Fae," she whispered between the kisses that continued, soft and yielding until the need became too much to ignore. Lauren shifted and climbed over Bo, her hands buried in the pillows behind her head. Bo's life had been tumultuous to say the least, but the friends she'd met along the way had proven their loyalty and they quickly became a tight-knit family. She didn't doubt for one second that they would be the ones to be there in the end, to see her through. In the search for her mother, her father, and in the aftermath of both, she knew her new family would be there to pick up the pieces of her shattered history, helping her through her journey while they navigated their own. And she was right.

END