More than a little human friend
Set after 3.06 and right during 6.08. What might be Dyson and Kenzi doing while Bo and Tamsin are having their fun in Brazenwood.
Dyson opened the door to his loft and stopped dead in his tracks. There was no foreign smell or alarming noise. But the second he stepped over the threshold he was no longer in the there and now, he was, all over again, in the excruciating moment of holding a dead and bloodied Kenzi in his arms, on his bed. Her wonderful eyes shut, her little face still and her mouth dripping with blood – and all of that because he in his befuddled state of mind chose to think it was not her, not his beloved human.
He chose to think so, but was so not sure. Not sure right until Lauren pronounced her fae and a crushing weight fell off his chest. What would be have done, it she had turned out to be the Kenzi? It didn't even bare thinking about. One thing he knew for certain, his own life would have ended right there and then, with the life he had taken.
As luck would have it, his musings were purely hypothetical . He had killed an imposter, a psychotic fae who had captured the human and had insinuated herself among Kenzi's friends. The real Kenzi was probably having her third hamburger of the evening, or a second pizza, or a fourth ice-cream. And still, Dyson couldn't chake the image out of his head. How was he expected to sleep in the bed where just a while ago he had spent the most agonizing minutes of his life. How was he supposed to feel at home in his loft where he had taken the breath out of the lungs of someone with Kenzi's sweet little face.
So, when he finally worked himself up to entering the room, the first thing he did was to throw together a bagful of clothes and accessories. He was going to do what his wolf was telling him to. To run, to run from the horrible memory. To run, even if as far as the nearest hotel. He just wasn't feeling up to staying at the blood-smeared place.
Dyson was half-way done packing when he heard a light scratching noise at the door and turned around to see a pale-faced open-eyed Kenzi.
"Running again, D-man," she asked. "Last time you did that it didn't turn out particularly well. To the best of my recollection, it ended with me dragging you battered butt out of a hellhole."
Dyson, never the man of the words at the best of times, could only breathe out, "I am not running. Just relocating."
"Why? Don't you like your loft. Cause I totally do. I particularly cherish the memory of slapping you here", Kenzi tried to crack a half-joke.
"That's your blood over there, on the sheets," Dyson nodded towards the bed.
Kenzi's eyes went a little wider with an unidentifiable emotion. Fear, disgust, surprise? Dyson couldn't figure it out, though he felt like he should.
"So, you are running from me?" Kenzi whispered and this time the emotion behind her words was clearly consternation.
Chapter 2
"My blood?", Kenzi was having difficulty wrapping her head around what the wolf had just said.
"Not yours, I mean Inari's", Dyson corrected himself. "But I guess I haven't yet got it out of my system and feel like being somewhere far enough from the bloodstains on my bed and …" She didn't give him the time to finish.
"Holly baby bear balls! You are about to up and go, tail tucked between your legs because you killed someone in your own bed!" Kenzi was winding herself up into a screaming fit. "And if you had already hotfooted it out of here by the time I came? Have you thought how I would have felt if I had seen the empty loft?"
"I have not … ", Dyson mumbled, gradually giving up on reasoning with the frenzied human girl. "I was just feeling … "
"You were feeling?!", Kenzi yelled. "Poor puppy! It's so about YOUR feelings every time. You had a prior allegiance to Trick and that justified breaking Bo's heart the first time. Then you had your love ripped out by the evil Norn. And there again – poor broken Dyson, it was all right for him to hurt those who loved him cause he was missing his heart. And now what's your excuse? Traded your feelings for a Porsche? " Kenzi finally stopped to catch her breath.
Dyson should probably feel surprised or hurt by her tirade, but strangely enough he didn't. The girl's angry words were so clearly fuelled by something deep-running, something complex, something he hadn't yet put his finger on. Though, he was pretty sure he detected fear and panic beneath all the fury. He stepped forward, closer to the tiny human.
"You weren't thinking of me when you were busily packing your bag. But I have just imagined not finding you here… I would have freaked", Kenzi whispered, deflated after her outburst. She instinctively moved towards him, towards the warmth emanating from him.
"More than you have just freaked out?", Dyson asked with half a smile meant to conceal a sigh of relief. He thought the peak of Kenzi's fury was over.
"And while we are at it, what was the bitch doing in your loft, in your bed?" Kenzi seemed to have got her second wind.
"Hasn't Lauren or Bo told you?" the wolf asked not particularly relishing the prospect of explaining to her something which had been quite a blur to him himself.
"Lauren said she had got your call and rushed here to find a dead Inari", the girl answered. "On second thought, she might have mentioned she was in your arms and in your shirt and in nothing else"
At that juncture Dyson surprised himself by feeling a bit embarrassed – an emotion he hadn't experienced a lot in the last couple of centuries. However, he would be hard put to explain why.
"I brought you … her here because she was scared… she said she was scared and didn't feel safe", he finally managed.
"And you shirt made her feel still safer", Kenzi snarked. "She probably thought it was armoured"
But the expression of Dyson's face gave her pose mid-barb. Kenzi stepped up to the wolf and put her little hand on his arm. "What did she do to you, D?", she breathed out.
"She died on me", Dyson answered, "And she was you".
Chapter 3
Dyson was floundering with his choice of words. "I thought I had killed a dangerous enemy, Kenzi. It's just I wasn't completely positive. And as far as the good doctor enlightened you in such depth she might have mentioned the fact that my brain had been scrambled by Tamsin and …well … " He stopped, realizing that he sounded much colder than he felt.
But you can't beat a body swap to teach you to read a person. It started to dawn on Kenzi what the rub might be with the stolid shifter and his intended exodus out of his well-lived-in loft. Pity and warmth flooded her whole being.
"So, you were a bit upset when you thought you might have killed me?" she asked only half-jokingly. "Lauren has even mentioned some tears shed over my corpse"
At that point Kenzi was treated to a rare sight of a blushing Dyson. "I told you my brain had been fried" he sounded distinctly embarrassed.
After another minute's silence Kenzi realized she was getting nothing more out of the reticent shifter and decided to take the lead on the battlefield of emotions. "I've come to you cause I've been through a wringer", she confessed softly, "After something this grueling you would want to be with people closest to you. I didn't want to burden Bo, with the Dawning coming and all. So, I came to the place I feel safe at, I cam to the person I feel warm with, I didn't expect to find you in the middle of a twisted guilt-trip"
Dyson felt totally out of his depth with the emotional stuff, but it wasn't the time to play the stone-faced warrior. He put his arm around the girl's tiny shoulders and pressed her into his side. Confidence for a confidence time.
"About feeling warm", he whispered. "This is what I feel around you. And it wasn't a guilt trip. I just realized how bleak my life would have been without a certain nosy insolent little human"
"And the packing thing?", Kenzi nodded towards the bag.
"Just being in here brings me back to the moment I'd rather die than relive" Dyson answered and there and then it struck him full force. His eureka moment. "That's it. That's what my life is all about. About Bo and about you".
Mentally Kenzi thanked her lucky fashion choice of heels for that day. Had she not opted for the extra high out of her collection of high-heeled boots, she would have had to stand on tiptoe to achieve the appropriate eye level with the wolf and that would have definitely strain the moment and her calves. She looked up into his eyes. Right there in the deep blue was whatever D-man could make articulate and audible for her to hear with her ears, but Kenzi was notorious for hearing with her heart.
"And it's on me again", she sighed. "You'd die for Bo. You'd die for me. Cause I am irreplaceable. And I am your family".
"Whether you want a Russian thief hanging on your genealogical fae-tree or not", she added as an after-thought.
Dyson felt relief flooding him. Trust Kenzi to be his voice, and his heart, if was honest with himself.
"And back to the problem of the ruined sheets", Kenzi went on, "haven't you dealt with similar issues when you were younger, like a millennium younger when you were a pup or whatever. We can change them rather then your humble abode. Haven't put you down for squeamish"
"It might run a little deeper than the sheets, Kenzi", Dyson was already half-smiling.
"So, we need to de-hang-up you, D, exorcize the kitsune", the girl sounded confident, "I'm on it, wolf-boy"
"I just need a few of days out of here, a motel will do", the shifter grumbled. "At the worst, I'll find another loft"
"Are you going to run from Inari for another couple of centuries?" Kenzi raised an eyebrow. "Cause I totally don't have that long"
"No, we'll go for a granny remedy. The Russian granny remedy", she pronounced.
"We are not talking about Baba Yaga again, I hope", Dyson sniped.
"No can do. We've fried the hag", Kenzi brushed his words away. "But as they say in my language Клинклиномвышибают"
Chapter 4
That night Dyson had a near-unique opportunity to extend his knowledge of Russian proverbs, Kenzi's granny's remedy Клинклиномвышибают turned out to be roughly equivalent to fight fire with fire.
She made him strip the bloodied sheets, wrap them in a bin-liner and take them out to the dumpster. While he was out, she made a sweep of his loft and got new bedding in place. When Dyson came back, he was practically pushed towards the bed. Kenzi had already got read of her black jacket and tight-laced corset and was standing in front of him hands on hips in her skin-tight pants and a top, the only discordant note to her fashionable self being her bare feet.
"You look quite a sight, D, desperately in need of some z's", she pronounced.
"Kenzi, I can't ….", the wolf started, only to be interrupted.
"Don't Kenzi-block me her, I'm in full flow!"
"That's your renovated sleeping place, no blood, that's Kenzi here, not Inari and we are doing exactly what you were doing last night, right up to the moment the crazy bitch got her crazy on"
Kenzi flopped down on the bed and started to undo the laces of her boots, then her corset. Taking in the look of consternation on Dyson's face, she amended, "Don't get your hopes up, I wouldn't be seen dead in your shirt. My pants and top are staying put, but we are both going in". She motioned to the bed, "It's therapy, wolf-boy, trust me"
Dyson would be hard put to explain even to himself why he obediently shrugged off his jacket and lay down on the tarnished bed, looking up at the ceiling. He tensed a bit when he felt the tiny form stretch out next to him. He tensed even more when a small hand was put on his chest. But a few moments passed and suddenly he started to get the point of the proceedings. Bracing himself against the mental image still burnt in his memory, Dyson extended his long arm to put it around Kenzi and press her a bit closer to him. She just hummed something unintelligible and curled into him. Then she brushed a hand through his hair and mumbled dozily, "Disappointed I am not grasping the chance to jump your bones, D-man? Why would I need it? You are mine. In a way. That's what the stupid fox couldn't wrap her deceitful head around".
And that was the stark contrast, Dyson realized, between the kitsune psychotically trying to lie and screw her way in and Kenzi - warm, and real, and trusting, and loving as only the real Kenzi could be. Utter trust and love not conditioned on sex or on where he stood with Bo or on whether he acted noble or as a dumbass or as a noble dumbass for that matter - these were the elements the deceptive kitsune could never replicate. Whatever mistake he had made with Inari was just that – a mistake, a piece of the past. This time it was so very different – his mind was clear and the girl pressed against his side was his Kenzi.
That had finally done the trick for the wolf – the spirit was banished, the blood was washed away, Kenzi was back and his belief in his ability to keep her safe was restored. The rest of the night they just spent sleeping peacefully in each others' arms without a second thought, without a doubt, without reading or misreading the situation.
The morning rays of light landed on Dyson's face making him sneeze and half-rise form the pillow. For a second the wolf was struggling to get his bearings but the sight of a slight frame spread against the white of the bed made his chuckle. Tiny as she was, Kenzi still managed to take up a significant chunk of space. The biggest surprise was probably the fact that he hadn't ended up kipping on the floor.
The wolf was wide awake and ready to take on the world. The nightmare was over, his loft didn't seem a treacherous and unsafe place anymore, a significant purpose of his life was sleeping with a blanket scrunched around her. Now, at long last, Dyson knew what he needed to do. But first he had to wake up Kenzi, which seemed no mean feat.
The wolf softly touched her shoulder, "Rise and shine, Kenz". That elicited no reaction from the sleeping form. Dyson tried again this time with a bit of shaking. That earned him a slap on the shoulder and a mumbled oath in Kenzi's voice to have a lie-in for another couple of weeks. "Not weeks, not even minutes. You need to wake up, I'll get us coffee", the shifter persisted.
Kenzi finally cracked open an eye. "I deserve a medal not a rude awakening", she moaned.
"You deserve a lot of things, first of all, to be safe and cared for", Dyson smiled. "Right now coffee is the best I can do".
Kenzi sluggishly unpeeled herself first from the pillow, next from under a blanket. "It's morning. I don't do mornings, D", she whined.
"It's ten past nine", Dyson was unrelenting, getting busy with the coffee machine.
"So, it's early morning", Kenzi replied full of righteous indignation. "I am never fully functional at this time."
"That's because you drink too much during the night", the wolf deadpanned.
"That's because I nursed a certain wolf back to sanity during the night ", Kenzi sniped.
The look Dyson gave her immediately persuaded Kenzi that was not the right moment to talk about her rescue mission of yesterday and she reluctantly got up.
"Still, even if I am being uncharacteristically cooperative with this ridiculous getting-up business", she started again. "Why the rush?"
Dyson put into two cups on the kitchen counter and filled them with thick delicious-smelling liquid. "Because we are going on a journey", he explained in his most serious tone of voice.
"Oh, no! Not another field trip! I've just been on one with Bo and believe me, the Kenzi was not made to …"
"There is something we need to do, Kenzi, you and me. Before the Dawning comes, before it's too late," Dyson said.
"Now you are scaring me", Kenzi felt a chill running up her spine. "Is it about Bo? Is she in danger? Will she survive the Dawning?" The girl could barely contain her rising panic.
"I'll take care of Bo, I promise, I'll help her get through the trial", Dyson tried his best to sound reassuring. "But you, Kenz, you are vulnerable, exposed to the world of beings inherently more powerful than you. And whatever happens during the Dawning, I need to make sure that I am able to protect you even if I am not around "
Chapter 5
Kenzi had a very bad feeling about Dyson's sudden frenzy. While she heartily appreciated the "I need to protect you" part, she was definitely weary regarding the "if I am not around" part. The wolf was his usually mysterious self vaguely citing the Dawning and the general unpredictability of life as the main reason to put a rush on their quest. "I will just feel much better during Bo's trial", he said, "if I know that you are safe".
So, the quest began with … going back to the crack shack to pick up some of Kenzi's clothes and, above all, shoes. Dyson had sworn to make the girl walk bare-foot unless she exchanged her killer heels for some more sensible footwear. Shocked as she was by the suggestion that she might have an abomination like sensible shoes in her wardrobe, Kenzi was finally forced to admit that there was a stray pair of running shoes worn with misuse somewhere under her bed. Decked out in those, a pair of jeans, a plain shirt and a jacket she went downstairs to join Dyson at the door of the crack shack. The wolf gave her a once-over and nodded in approval. "We are good to go"
"Good to go where?", Kenzi inquired. "If there is anything I hate than more than wearing sensible shoes it is to be left in the dark. Bo's training at the Dahl and I am not even allowed to peek in. The stellar Stella snits that it's beyond my human comprehension anyway and now you playing it mysterious and …"
Dyson softly interrupted her, "Kenz, we don't have much time and have something important on the plate. And believe me you'll come to like the shoes…"
"Sti-ill too mysterious for my liking," Kenzi sing-songed.
"Ok, we are going to look for a lamp", Dyson relented to her curiosity. "we'll probably have to fight for it, to trade it and … we have like 12 hours before the Dawning. And we are taking my bike – for speed"
The girl airpunched in glee, "Some bike time! I can probably start hating it a bit less!"
As a matter of fact, she was actually able not to hate it at all, she had even to confess to herself that riding pillion on Dyson's bike was quite a thrill! The scenery streaking past on both sides of her at a neck-breaking speed, the smell of warm leather from Dyson's jacket, her arms circling the waist of one very hot wolf, whichever element did it the most for her, the composite came out more than enjoyable. Though, to be honest with herself, even if she took the view and the jacket out of the equation, the ride would still be giving her more than a bit of a buzz. At which point in her musings the girl had to get her rambling thoughts back on track and concentrate as she wasn't feeling up to being totally honest with herself, at least not as far as Dyson and the feels he was giving her were concerned.
An hour's ride later thy pulled over on the edge of a country road. The wolf got off and gallantly extended his hand to the human girl. "We'll need to walk from here", he motioned to the dark mass of the forest ahead.
"Pine-collecting mission?" Kenzi asked the mere idea of walking putting quite a damper on things for her.
"We are looking for Magpie, actually, you are looking for Magpie. The sneaky bastard is adapt at camouflaging, but his defenses are attuned to fae powers. Your human eyes are going to come very handy, though I still insist you get glasses", Dyson finally explained.
"Magpie? I don't even know how a magpie looks like? And what do we need the bird for?"
"He is not a bird, but a coyote shifter, Magpie is his nickname as he is notorious for stealing shiny things he doesn't really need and storing them in his hideouts in the forest", Dyson elaborated.
"I could totally relate to that", the girl drawled.
"I bumped into him a couple of decades ago, on a case, that's why I know where his turf is. The bad news is he probably already knows we are here, he knows me, he'll be hiding from my wolf senses. Good news is, as far as I know the sleazeball, he'll presumptuously discard you as no threat. Now Kenz, you are looking out for something incongruous, something which shouldn't be here", the wolf instructed and lead the way into the density of the trees.
"Something incongruous, my ass", Kenzi muttered, "Dirt? Bumps in the path? Barby bushes? No conditioning? What could be more incongruous"
After a good hour of walking through the forest the trees themselves started to look out of place to Kenzi, she was getting tired and bored.
"Maybe, you'll do better if you shift into the wolf? Your senses will be clearer and I'll get some in-flight entertainment?"
"As I have told you, my wolf senses are no good here. Concentrate! You need to see, to smell, to feel"
"But I don't know what can be out of place in a forest, I am not a forest person, I am not even a park person. Is this bluish tinge to the fur-tree ahead all right? Is the chirping somewhere to my left a red herring? Or the smell of … ", Kenzi practically tripped and would have fallen nose first in to the dirt path if Dyson hadn't held her up.
"The smell", the girl's voice dropped to a whisper, "it's J'adore. I am pretty positive forests don't smell Dior, not even knock-off Dior. "
Chapter 6
Dyson immediately crouched taking her down with him. "Try to locate the smell with max precision". Kenzi sniffed deeper turning her head, "I am not sure, but the whiff is coming from the right. And there is something shiny between the crop of rocks and … "
She didn't have time to finish her recce report because things suddenly became lightning-fast. Dyson's clothes went flying, a magnificent animal of lean muscle and grey-silver fur streaked past her and in a couple of leaps reached the rocks Kenzi had been talking about. Instinctively the girl jumped to her feet too. In a small clearing in front of her two large canines were dueling it out. She heard snarls and growling, saw the furry bodies coil and attack, crouch on the defensive and leap forward on the attack. The wolf was bigger and obviously stronger, but the coyote was fighting dirty. Kenzi cried out when she saw a rivulet of blood on the silver fur of Dyson's shoulder. But the powerful jaws finally managed to snap closed on the coyote's neck and Magpie gave up resistance. The animals stilled for a few seconds and then, imperceptibly to the human eye, male forms took place of the canine ones.
Kenzi couldn't help gaping. It wasn't, by far, the first time she saw Dyson without the hindering clothes, but that was one sight she could probably never get bored of. "Not sure about the fire or running water but this I can totally watch for eternity, that is if I had eternity", she told herself under her breath. "And back to harsh reality", she mumbled bending down to pick Dyson's discarded clothes. When she straightened up the wolf was already standing a foot away holding his captive firmly by the neck.
"Are you alright, D?" Kenzi pointed at his bloodied shoulder, worry lacing her voice.
"It's not deep. It'll heal soon", Dyson answered, oddly moved by her concern.
Kenzi stretched her hand to pass Dyson his pants, desperately trying not to let her eyes go south.
"A human to help track me down?" Magpie wheezed, his face contorted and blushed.
"J'adore? Really?", Kenzi countered. "Getting your kicks out of smelling rich or just a Charlize fan?"
"I liked the bottle", Magpie was suddenly abashed, "So shiny"
"Talking about shiny", Dyson growled still in his warrior mode. "I need the lamp"
"Which lamp?" Magpie half-heartedly tried to play innocent.
"The one you stole from Jean", the wolf was having none of it, "and you are taking us to it, while your larynx is still relatively intact"
"Just the lamp and you'll let me go", Magpie asked.
"Yes"
"Hey, wolfman", Kenzi interfered. "Have you realty thought this one through? No idea why you need the lamp, but this coyote ugly … no offense to the doggie here… might have something valuable with his klepto propensities. Something we can cash in".
Dyson didn't even bother answering, but the look he gave the girl spoke volumes.
"Sorry, professional deformation", Kenzi mumbled and looked down, which was by itself a mistake, because down was exactly the direction she had vowed not to look until Dyson got his pants on.
They took a minute to "cover their boy parts" as Kenzi dubbed it, and proceeded into the depth of the bushes with Magpie leading the way to his lair. On the way there a weird sense of apprehension washed over Kenzi. "Your lair, is it like a cave or what?" she asked haltingly. "A cave with shiny things scattered on the dirt floor?"
The men walking slightly ahead of her both turned, it would actually be impossible to do otherwise as Dyson was still holding the coyote by the neck. With a rare display of sensitivity the wolf immediately caught on to what was bothering his human companion. A cave with things, just like the one Kenzi was kept captive by the kitsune.
"You don't need to go, little one," he said kindly.
Invigorated by his soft voice, Kenzi defiantly jerked her chin up. "Yes, I do. Remember клинклином (Fight fire with fire). You should practice what you preach, right?"
"I hate t interrupt your proverb fest," Magpie announced arrogantly, "but my lair is not a cave, it's a cabin. And my collection is neatly deposited in boxes, not scattered and certainly not on the dirt floor. What am I? A filthy kitsune?" For his righteous indignation he was rewarded by a slap upwards his head from Dyson and the ragtag search party moved on.
The lair really turned out to be a small cabin in the midst of the forest and the impressive selection of metal, plastic, silver, aluminum and just shiny things amassed by the sticky-fingered coyote over the years was catalogued and stored in containers. So, to Kenzi's relief mixed with a hefty dose of disappointment she wasn't giving a chance of sifting through. True to his word Dyson turned to leave as soon as Magpie located the necessary box and handed him a slightly rusty old lamp looking more like an elongated tea-pot.
So, the wolf and the girl were again on their way, this time back to the bike and on to look for Jean, who as Dyson was kind enough to explain was the owner of the lamp.
Chapter 7
The next leg of the journey took them to a nice suburban house. Two children were chasing each other on the front lawn, screaming their heads off and obviously having the time of their lives. Dyson parked the bike at the curb, got off and walked up the drive towards the front door. Kenzi followed his suit, screwing up her face at the noise.
The shifter was about to press the doorbell when one of the windows was flung open and a woman was suddenly yelling at the top of her voice for the kids to stop raising hell and shut up. Next, the woman obviously saw two strangers on the porch and hurried out.
Dyson forestalled her inquiries by flashing his badge and pasting on a charming smile.
"Mrs Lambert? Detective Dyson, Madam, we've met. Two years ago your husband reported a robbery committed by a Fae and me and my partner came to talk to you."
"Ri-ight", Mrs Lambert squinted at the tall police officer. The woman was about 35 with a sharp face, untidy hair and a dirty apron thrown over a flower patterned robe.
"I remember you, officer", she answered and eyed Kenzi with unmasked suspicion, "But your partner looked different –older, male, black and fae". She heavily stressed the last word and practically skewered the human girl with her gimlet eyes.
"Officer Santiago has been promoted. This is my new partner, officer McKenzie, duly claimed and appointed by the Ash. Though you are welcome to verify her status with the Ash himself", Dyson replied formally, while Kenzie was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Mrs Lambert looked a bit subdued by the wolf's dry tone.
"There has been a new development in the case, Madam, we need to talk to your husband …", Dyson went on.
"I thought the case was closed", the woman remarked.
"It was re-opened as soon as we received new information concerning the robbery", Dyson replied glibly, having clearly prepared for the conversation on the way there. "We might have recovered some of your stolen property but we need your husband to identify it first. Could we speak to him?"
"Don't think so. We got separated a while ago, he isn't living here any longer. I am minding the house and the kids and the bastard is sitting on his ass and …"
The woman's flow of indignation was deftly interrupted by Kenzie. "And could we get an address for where exactly he is sitting on his ass?"
The woman choked on her last words and glowered at the girl.
"Unless of course you are feeling like obstructing justice and displeasing the Ash", the wolf sweetly elaborated.
Mrs Lambert seemed to be debating with herself for a few second before muttering gruffly, "I'll jot down the address for you".
Extending a piece of paper the woman couldn't resist a parting shot, "Remind the creep his kids are quite a handful and the mortgage won't pay itself … "
Dyson squinted – the woman was already giving him a headache – and made a quick exit pushing "Officer McKenzie" in front of him. Behind their backs Mrs Lambert was yet again screaming at her children to keep away from her flower-bed.
"What a colossal shrew," Kenzi breathed out when they got back to the bike. "My bleeding heart goes out to her hubby. Is she some kind of a nagging fae?"
"Just a trooping fairie turned sour by an unhappy marriage", Dyson replied and Kenzi chuckled, "Officer McKenzi? I am making it up the career ladder, D-man"
"What was I suppose to tell her? That you're a nosy human pet?" Dyson blurted out.
More than a little bit hurt, Kenzi punched him in the shoulder with all her might "Excuse me?!". But the fight went out of her when she saw the wolf wince with pain. "Sorry, D, I forgot you are injured".
"Serves me right, Kenz", Dyson was feeling repentant, "I am not good with words, you know, though have had centuries to learn… "
"Are you trying to say sorry?" Kenzi was already beaming, "For I am totally of the mind you should"
"You are definitely not a pet, though I won't take back the nosy part", the wolf affectionately pulled Kenzi into a hug.
"Where next?" she asked eagerly leaning into his embrace.
"To find Jean Lambert", Dyson waved the piece of paper obtained from the disgruntled housewife in the air. "To return the lamp and get something in exchange"
Kenzi knew better than to probe further and climbed onto the bike. "At least I'll cop a few more feels of the scrumptious wolf on the way", she thought to herself.
Jean Lambert's address led them to a much seedier neighbourhood, to a shabby apartment above a pizza joint. Dyson knocked on the door with a faded number scribbled in what looked like chalk and moved a bit forward shielding Kenzi with his frame. Through the thin partition they could hear hesitant footsteps and a voice asking, "Are you from the bank?"
"No, Jean, it's detective Dyson, we are here to see you about the lamp", he called out. After a minute's delay they heard a clanging sound and the door was cracked open to reveal a small dark-skinned man in boxer shorts and an untied robe.
""About the lamp?" he rambled. "I thought you were the landlord, or from the bank, or from my ex. Oh, about MY lamp! Have you found it?!" He exclaimed putting his right hand over his heart.
"Yes, we've got it", Dyson confirmed.
"Finally!" Jean's face lit up and he made a sweeping gesture to lead them inside. "What splendid news, my dear guests!"
They filed into a poky flat and were seated on a smeared sofa in front of a coffee table with the remnants of a pizza and, oddly enough, a hukka.
"Pepperoni", Kenzi diagnosed the leftovers with an air of a connoisseur, her stomach growling.
Dyson gave her a stern look. "What?" she raised an eyebrow, "I'm starving. Maybe, you managed to grab a rabbit or a badger when you were chasing Magpie. I didn't, I was busy worrying for you"
Dyson could only shrug with a Kenzi-will-be-Kenzi expression on his face and got down to business. He put the lamp wrapped-up in a piece of cloth on the coffee table and leaned back.
"This is your lamp, Jean, and we are here to trade it", he stated calmly.
Jean wasn't able to tear his gaze away from the lamp, his eyes shining, his face ecstatic, whether from seeing his lost property or from the effects of the hukka Kenzi couldn't tell.
"Whatever you want", he offered, "provided it's on the list and you follow the instructions"
"Provided you want your lamp back, you'll amend the list and explain the instructions" Dyson countered, putting his large hand on the lamp.
"Of course, of course", Jean was all beaming smiles and polite words again. "So, what is it you want in exchange for my one and only lamp?"
"A safety belt for her" and Dyson pointed at the girl sitting next to him.
Chapter 8
"A safety belt?" Kenzi asked incredulously. "You've been dragging me along for a safety belt? Are you gonna gift me your car or what?"
"Humans", Jean sighed ruefully, "so rash in their judgments"
"It's not a real safety belt, Kenz", Dyson tried to explain, "it's something that can keep you safe, an amulet, so to say."
"But it looks like a belt and is used by a fae owner to keep his human pet safe in dire circumstances", Jean interjected helpfully.
Dyson shot him a murderous look while Kenzi threw her arms up in the air. "I hear the word pet once again, someone won't need a lamp six feet under"
"Calm it, Kenz", Dyson took one of her hands in his, "We are here for a purpose, let's follow it through"
"Jean, the lamp is yours in return for the belt", he formally annunciated.
Jean lit up with joy, literally, turned into a spot of orange radiance and vanished into thin air.
Kenzi was gaping not sure what to make of it. "Where is he?" she finally managed out. Dyson seemed unfazed and pointed to the lamp. "Inside"
"So, he is like what, a jinnee? A jinnee of the lamp?", it dawned on her.
Before Dyson could answer, a spot of orange rematerialized again and a very grinning Jean was right in front of them.
"I have just conducted a thorough inventory of my stocks and found a very suitable belt", he said happily, "Mind that, we'll probably have to make another hole as this one here doesn't have much on her bones"
"Excuse me!" Kenzi exclaimed bringing her hand up to her chest, "Might not be much, but all in the right places"
"Women of my country don't look like starved sparrows", Jean went on chastising her but catching the wolf's death glare changed his tack.
"So, here is your item", he extended his hand with a thin strip of orange tinted leather in it, which Dyson took gingerly.
"Orange?" Kenzi's mood didn't stand a snowman's chance to improve, "Have you ever seen me in orange, D? Can you change the colour, Jean, and preferably choose another safety accessory?"
"No, I am not omnipotent, I am just dealing in useful trinkets", the jinnee explained, "and sorry, the colour scheme selections are limited"
But the wolf was done talking fashion choices. Without wasting his breath he put the belt around Kenzi slender waist and did the clasp. The girl inhaled – the belt felt surprisingly comfy, light and soft, practically imperceptible. When she looked down she found out that it didn't even mar the perfect black of her top – it had actually disappeared.
"What the fae…", she murmured, "And what now? Do I turn invincible? Super Kenzi powered to kick asses?"
Jean shook his head. "It doesn't work this way, it serves only to put up a protection shield against any ill-intending fae. And it actually has to be activated first and it has its switch"
"What's the switch for this one?" the girl asked.
"Grief", Jean's voice dropped a bit. "Once the little pet is truly grieving for someone she loves, the powers of the belt will kick in"
"Grief?" Kenzi gulper a premonition creeping over her. She turned to Dyson, "D-man, you knew? What the hell does it mean?"
"I told you the amulet is designed for the pets whose owners know they might die and leave their favourites behind. So, the grief for their master is supposed to trigger the protection forces", Jean lectured her while the wolf was keeping his poker face firmly in place.
"I'll let the p-word slide for the moment but I am not going to do the grieving, no way! You told me Bo would survive, you promised me", Kenzi fell into a full blown conniption fit. She grabbed the lapels of Dyson's jacket to pull herself up and look him in the eye.
Dyson tried for his most calming smile and tone of voice, "And I am promising you again, Bo will survive the trial. I am going to offer myself up as Bo's aide in the Temple and personally see to it"
"So, what's the deal with the grief thing", the girl asked perplexed and then the penny dropped, "Are you telling me you are not gonna make it out of there?"
"I can't be sure, Kenz" Dyson answered softly, "I won't lie, it's dangerous. But the belt is just a precaution, just in case it turns out too dangerous. Just something to set my mind at rest as far as you are concerned. To focus on helping Bo", he piled on hastily eager to reassure the girl.
"It doesn't mean I have to activate the belt, right?" Kenzi turned to Jean.
"No, if there is no need for it, you can just keep if on for decorative purposes or take it off altogether", Jean said.
"Decorative, my ass", Kenzi snorted. "Decoration should decorate, not burn my retina or blend into the background"
Dyson relaxed sensing a shift in her mood and pressed his flimsy advantage by elaborating how helpful her wearing the belt just in case will be for both him and Bo, and how they will together laugh it off when the Temple adventure is finally over. Kenzi had to admit it sounded sensible and deep down she felt more than a little better for knowing D-man was so concerned with her destiny. After a short bout of emotional outpourings was over they thanked Jean again and said they had to get going to be in time for the Dawning.
Jean seemed all too glad to be at long last rid of his guests and alone with his lamp. But seeing them out he waxed sentimental, "Thank you again for retrieving my dearest lamp - my safe haven from my ex-wife, the mortgage, the ungrateful brats of children. And now that I am back in the dealing business I'll definitely raise a lump sum."
Kenzi chuckled good-humouredly and was the first one across the threshold with Dyson falling slightly behind.
"Detective", Jean called out after him in a much lower voice, "That's one strange pet you have"
"She is not a pet", Dyson bristled surprising himself with the intensity of his resent at Kenzi being belittled by the word, "She is so much more than I can barely put it into words"
"Then why are you lying to her?" Jean asked slyly, "You know perfectly well that you won't make it out if you offer yourself up as the Hand at the Dawning"
Chapter 9
It was only seeing Dyson dead on the floor at the Dahl that brought home to Kenzi what sort of nightmare he himself must have been through when he had been holding Inari's bloodied body. Never before in her rather short but more than averagely eventful life had she experienced such a misery, such a sense of loss. No matter what she had been telling herself, what reassurances she had been carefully devising in her confused mind, there was no way she could have prepared herself to losing any of her two most precious people.
The wait for Bo and Dyson to reappear from the Temple was by far the most nerve-wrecking and subduing experience for the naturally chipper human girl. It was the inactivity and the total helplessness that was doing her in. That and the deep-seated conviction that the wolf was taking an inordinate amount of risk by standing up for the woman he loved. For Bo the Dawning was the inescapable rite of passage, for Dyson the danger was unnecessary and of his own choosing. That was something Kenzi could absolutely relate to. She would have opted to take on any risk rather than sit on her perfectly shaped little ass, helpless to help her family and going through the emotional wringer for them. That was what she had done when she had gone on her not so social visit to the Norn to retrieve Dyson's love. Facing one of the most feared creatures in the Fae world was preferable to seeing her dearest shifter broken, desperate and more pained by the emptiness of feeling than he could ever be by any feeling at all.
Even Trick's kind reassurance of her place among the Fae and his protection extended to het did little to alleviate Kenzi's worry for the pair undergoing the trial. If anything, Tricks words about claiming her and taking her under his metaphorical wing, if the worst came to the worst, only served to dispel any lingering doubt she might still have concerning the decision she had taken about the belt.
Incidentally, the damned belt was clouding the mind's eye pretty heavily and taking the afore mentioned decision was far from a walk in the park. Sitting at the bar and nursing a drink she didn't even feel like drinking, Kenzi was doing a kind of a self-talk "I am an independent and determined woman in my own right, absolutely gorgeous to boot. And Dyson with his bossiness and his overprotectiveness, though at times duly appreciated, cannot tell me what to do" However, after another twenty minutes of excruciating wait the girl had actually to admit to herself that Dyson could, in fact, feel free to tell her what to do all he pleased as far as he made it out in one piece. Which he actually did, at least the one piece part, but that one piece was not breathing.
Kenzi was still silently addressing the still-full glass when she heard Bo's desperate cries and turned to see her bff cradling Dyson spread on the floor. "He's only injured, please God, he's alive, please, someone whoever you are up there " Kenzi couldn't even remember the last time she prayed but that was definitely the time for it. She covered the short distance to where Bo and Dyson were and fell hard on her knees in front of the shifter. She slapped his cheeks, probed at his neck pulse, but to no avail. "No, D, not like this, you can't, you promised" She was no longer aware of what she said out loud and what was only inside her head. But Dyson was so very still, so cold that Kenzi suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
The girl was pushed aside by Lauren in her doctor's mode, trying to CPR the wolf. She stood back, wringing her hands, then pressing them to her mouth as if she was afraid of letting the words escape. Because she knew that what she might be saying was totally incongruous, not in front of her bestie or all these fae … people worried sick for their friend. She could only say it in her head, say that her life is running out together with the hope to revive the wolf, that her heart was as still as his, that probably he was her heart though she had never hoped to become his.
And when Bo did her Supersuccubus thing and Kenzi felt her lifeforce being sucked out of her body with a painful shudder, she didn't resent it, she was instinctively willing to give it all up. And then she watched a bright stream of energy enter Dyson's body and kick his system back into action. Kenzi didn't even feel drained by her chi-loss – she felt as revived as the man coughing his resurrected lungs back into life.
Dyson re-emerged from his death-sleep to a sharp pain in his chest, to shrill air entering his lungs and to Bo's lovely face looking down at him with immense relief and tenderness. "Hey you", he wheezed out, putting up his hand to cup her cheek wet with tears. His depleted force only lasted him a moment and then he dropped his head on the floor again, but plagued by another worry he immediately rallied the remaining shreds of energy to look up again, to look at Kenzi, crouching a couple of steps away from her. Her eyes were brimming with tears, and her little face was scrunched with a wealth of emotion he would never be able to describe. Nor to forget.
Later that eventful and momentous night, wrapping up their victory with a celebratory shot Kenzi asked Bo if Lauren would take good care of Dyson. But despite Bo's confident assurances that Lauren was a wonderful doctor, the girl knew what she was going to do as soon as her exhausted, though triumphant, friend went to sleep in her canopy covered bed.
A belated disclaimer: The lost Girl series is by no way my creation, no monetary gain is to be obtained from using its wonderful characters.
Author's Note: I am desperately trying my best to keep up with the original story line, up to episode 9 and then to incorporate some of the rest of the episodes, so minor spoiler alert! My story, though, will soon have to go off on a track of its own to suit my purposes, which is to find a convincing way to bring these two together without distorting their characters more than it will be strictly necessary. Thank you to all those reviewing, following and favouring my little work. Sorry for any mistakes, inaccuracies or liberties I might take with the language I passionately love but not command as a native speaker can.