Wings

Injured.

Not by powerful magics nor by a battle of the good and evil - debatable, if you ask Lauren who's sitting on her couch with her face twisted in pain. It was an inattentive teenager too involved in his cellphone to notice the red light and the zipcar with Lauren in it. Try as she might at hiding her discomfort and pain levels, it's obvious to anyone who's near and dear. Like Tamsin - the Valkyrie with a hard head and jagged edges laced in sarcasm and bad temperament.

Even with Lauren's furrowed brows and clenched jaw and fists, Tamsin thinks she's the image of perfection. She watches as Lauren gets lost in thought, her mouth muttering a million words a minute with who knows what. Probably science and geekery. At that, Tamsin smirks and decides to stop her creepy stares.

"Hey, nerd," she teases.

Lauren stops her monologue and a tint of pink paints her cheeks and neck at being caught -again- talking to herself. She's met with soft lips that taste a lot like love and concern. She inhales, a part of her calming at the scent of Tamsin. She's absent of synthetic perfumes and her normal cover-scent (they're still on the downlow, and Tamsin wears this cover to hide Lauren's scent). She'd love nothing more than to drown her senses…taste.. smell…the touch of Tamsin's deceptively soft skin on taut abs to impossible silkiness of Tamsin's love…the sounds that pour from her beautiful mouth in passion, but she can't. Not when Tamsin has a perp to catch at the station.

"How are you?" Tamsin asks with furrowed eyebrows and eyes painted with worry.

"Sore," Lauren replies. She pulls Tamsin in for another kiss. "Nothing that a few advil can't curve. I was just going over a few cases in my head. I've got to head to the lab in an hour and-"

"Like hell you are, babe," Tamsin interjects. She crosses her arms and stands straighter. "You are not stepping your fine ass outside of this apartment."

Lauren rolls her eyes and puffs out a breath. "I'm not an invalid, Tamsin. I am needed in that lab, and I won't just…sit here all day."

Tamsin lifts her eyebrow and retorts, "That's what the TV I bought ya is for, Doc."

"Right! And subject myself to bored, rich housewives? Please. I am fine. I've just got a mild headache."

"Bullshit. I know you're in pain, Lauren. And -no- It's not mild enough for a few advils to cover. That's what your diet heroin is for."

"My what?!"

"Your oxycontin, babe. I thought you were smart," Tamsin says and grinned.

Lauren rolled her eyes and smiled.

"There's my smile," Tamsin comments as she leans down for another kiss. "I've gotta shower and then put that gunk you made on my body."

The sounds of the shower reminds her of white noise. She grins as she realizes that showers are just like feeling the corporeal form of white noise. Of course, this joy might be induced by the two pills of oxy she took half an hour before.

It's been three months since she pinned Tamsin against one of the walls in her lab and kissed her. At the time, it was the only way she could think of to stop her rant (it was something about a broom being stuff up her ass). She didn't expect her kiss to be returned, and she definitely didn't expected the tenderness and passion Tamsin exuded.

It was overwhelming. Breathtaking. She was rendered into jelly, and she couldn't remember her own name or that one succubus' name. Her mind only knew Tamsin in those moments.

Currently, she's sitting at the edge of her meticulously made bed while Tamsin showers.

The acoustics in her bathroom allow the beautiful sound of Tamsin's singing to bounce beautifully, causing Lauren to smile.

She relishes these moments, the moments of seeing Tamsin so free and without calculated barriers.

The shower stops and Tamsin appears a few feet from Lauren. She's wearing a smirk and absolutely nothing else.

"You're dripping on the carpet," Lauren says without conviction. She's too entranced with the naked perfection in front of her. The water droplets race down a pale body with a teasing wake.

"Did you enjoy my performance, Doc?"

"…."

Lauren mentally traces her fingers along the curves in front of her.

"Doc?"

Lauren clears her throat as she smiles sheepishly.

"Take a mental picture, 'cuz I gotta cover this hot bod."

Tamsin leaves ten minutes before she's due at the station, but not before kissing Lauren (gently) on her bed for five minutes. She also tells Lauren to call her if she needs anything.

…

Eighteen minutes after Tamsin leaves, Lauren feels giddy and decides to watch Star Trek: Voyager.

Forty minutes later, her back starts hurting from the sitting position she's been in.

"What the heck. Two more pills won't cause me any harm. I'm a doctor. I would know."

So, she swallows two more pills in hopes of diminishing her pain.

It's bliss an hour later. Captain Janeway is awesome and she never knew that her head could come up with so many things.

Magical, awesome things.

She gets a worn notebook and hurriedly writes equations with glazed eyes.

"No wax. There must not be wax," she sing-songs as she rummages through her cabinets, pulling out various chemicals and chemistry equipment.

There are a few vials filled with clear liquid. Along the front are stickers with different Fae races written in black marker.

Her face shining with delight, she finally has her concoction.

She watched her formula drip through her IV cords and into her arm. There was some difficulty in finding a vein, but a few stabs later, she was golden.

Once the drip is done, Lauren throws her used IV bag and needles away and sits on her couch.

She finds that housewife show and watches for two episodes before passing out from sudden, excruciating pain in her back.

..

Lauren wakes and languidly rubs her eyes with her fists. The clock on her wall announces it's four in the evening, meaning Tamsin's shift is ending soon.

She notes her foggy state of mind. Her reaction timing is a bit slower than normal.

The next thing she notices is the strange, throbbing sensation in her back.

She lifts her arms up in a slow stretch but stops when she feels sharp pain and hears a strange noise. Like paper shuffling.

Then, she feels it. There is something on her back.

Lauren shoots up, hurriedly takes off her shirt, and bats at her back, but stops when she realizes she can feel her hand. She can feel her hand with …

"Oh my god," Lauren whispers. She takes a few calming breathes before walking toward her metal refrigerator.

Through her reflection, she can see wings sprouting outward from her back. There's blood caked on the feathers and on her back just below the growing site.

She's too shocked, too immersed in her reflection and in her thoughts that she doesn't hear her front door opening and closing.

"Holy hell….Just… what the hell is that?!"

Lauren shrugs and says, "Um.. Oops?"

It takes four seconds for Tamsin to reach Lauren. She run her thumbs over Lauren's cheekbones.

"Just, what did you do?" She asks, her voice thick with concern. Her tone is soft and so foreign that it makes Lauren's heart ache.

Tamsin runs warm water by the sink, pulls out one of Lauren's hand soaps.

"One organic, trade free, random shit coming up, doc. Come here, let me help you."

She brings Lauren toward her sink and finds a clean cloth in one of the drawers.

They're silent as Tamsin trails down warm liquid and soap down her back.

"This will probably feel funny if the pain's gone," she warns as she uses her fingers to run water through soft feathers.

"Orange and white. You're like part bird, part fox, and part doctor," Tamsin snorts.

"This is quite the strange predicament I've put myself in," Lauren offers.

A few hours later, they lay on their stomachs in Lauren's bed while Tamsin fails to hide her amusement and occasional bouts of laughter.

"Stop that! I wasn't in the right mindset."

"Yeah, you just somehow managed to temporarily give yourself the tiniest set of wings for your size," Tamsin says. She laughs and pokes Lauren's nose lightly.

"You've got baby wings, doc. Tell me that isn't the funniest shit."

Lauren smiles. "Fine," she concedes. She even rolls her eyes. "I didn't think of what Fae bird species I was injecting myself with."

Tamsin hums and runs her fingers lightly through the small feathers. They're a two feet wing span, soft, and completely ridiculous.

"Well, you're just jealous because I'm well endowed in the wing department."