Disclaimer: I do not own Lost Girl or any of its characters, just borrowing for non-monetary creative attempts.

Chapter 1

"That was piece of cake!" Kenzi claimed waving the newly stolen wallet in the air without much sense of triumph, "so much so that it starts to lose its shine to me." Dyson chuckled good-humouredly draping his hand over her thin shoulders. "Well, for the sake of the sport try not to use your superspeed next time around," he advised half-jokingly.

"But you said I must train," Kenzi dragged out all the vowels to their maximum capacity.

"You can practice on animals, not people, they are by definition faster and more of a challenge in this respect. When you can grab a nut off a squirrel consider the speed course finished," the wolf told her in a pretend-teacher voice.

"Well, I think I can already grab a nut of a certain wolf," the girl shot back naughtily.

"Your thoughts are constantly veering off track," Dyson said trying and failing to instill a reproachful note in his intended rebuke, "but I like the direction they stray into."

"Someone here also needs training," Kenzi giggled slipping her arm around his waist and pressing her body into his side, "for such an experienced warrior you still deplorably lack finesse and pillow talk skills – the last thing a girl wants to hear after an amazing sex session is and now fifty press-ups."

The wolf parroted her intonation, "And now go back and return the wallet."

"Hello, there's money in it," the girl whispered in consternation, "It's against my professional code." But prodded by a stern look from Dyson she made her way back to the open-air café and passed by the table of her victim restoring the man's finances to their original state with a speed defying the human eye. Then Kenzi returned to the wolf checking herself in a tiny mirror with a light pout.

"And the question that keeps bugging me: is it a sun patch or is my hair going red?" she inquired with a concerned look. "It's not really my colour of preference. Always thought it's a dead giveaway for a con-artist. Do you go for red-heads?"

"Your kitsune features are revealing themselves and developing gradually, babe," Dyson reminded her patiently, "Actually, the list of possibilities is more than wide."

"What have we got for now? Speed, better vision – remember you said I needed glasses, nice to put you wrong – and reddish streaks," Kenzi was counting on her fingers and snagged her gaze on her nails, "And let's not forget, manicure is gonna be hell. These claws?! How do you varnish them? Oh, yes, you don't! This kitsune stuff is ruining my unique look."

Dyson didn't deign her ramblings with a reply and looked at the watch instead. "Let's get on with the shopping. We need to be back at the cabin in an hour tops. I wanted you to do a series of dagger-throws with the sun low in your line of vision."

"Charming," Kenzi mumbled dragging her feet behind the striding wolf, "when you said a trip with a spot of romantic love-making how big a spot were you talking about?"

Truth be told, Dyson himself was experiencing significant difficulty keeping to the strict outline of their training plan. Every day for a month already he had been bringing Kenzi out into the woods to put her through a running, hunting, snatching routine to be followed by a stint of sword-fighting and dagger-throwing. Then they would relocate to the lake for a swimming course and in the evenings Dyson dragged the less than cooperative girl out into the woods again to check her senses in their night mode. Her eyes were the most manifestly boosted, almost to Dyson-level. "Another hundred years and it'll be as sharp as mine," the wolf consoled, though her hearing and sense of smell was lagging pitifully behind. And at every slightest opportunity the foxy ex-human managed to get him distracted and involved in an activity baring only a remote resemblance to sport, though perfectly physical. Not that he could bring himself to complain.

Despite all the obstacles arising in their way they still got quite a lot of work done. At least, for now Kenzi seemed fairly at home with her newly acquired claws and fangs, though moaning about the animalistic look and the complexity of fine-tuning it in accordance to her fashion sense.

Another totally out-of-the-blue power Kenzi was getting a handle of was an exceptional memory she still hadn't figured out how to use. Not strictly applicable in a fight, the ability to retain huge chunks of information was revealing itself in instant absorption of the menus at the cafes, price tags at the shop and glossy magazines they were availing themselves of in the little town five kilometers away from their cabin on the lake shore aka training base.

"I might go to college, study a bunch of high-flown sounding subjects and enjoy myself showing Lauren up every now and then," Kenzi reflected dreamily once during a short break between the running and the dagger-throwing she had managed to carve for herself from her strict wolf.

"Knowing something is not tantamount to understanding it," Dyson softly taunted, "and here Lauren would hand your smart ass to you more often than not."

"Hey, whose side are you on, fluffy?" the girl exclaimed in mock-indignation, "Ok, scrap the college. I am too awesome for higher education."

That particular sunny day Dyson loaded the boot with the food and the stuff to last them till the end of the week and rounded the window-shopping girl into the car. Kenzi plopped down into the passenger seat and stuck her nose into a fashion magazine she had snatched at the newsagents. "What?!" she raised an eyebrow at Dyson's quizzical look, "You made me return the wallet and I had no money to pay for it. Had to lift it."

"You do see a moral dilemma here, Kenzi," the wolf remarked unable to hide his amusement, "To pay for a magazine with the stolen money wouldn't have helped the matters either."

"I'm stuck in the sticks with you doing some crazy Rambo stuff. I am entitled at least to fashion visuals," the girl grumbled flipping through the glossy not overburdened by qualms. "Hey, I could totally rock this jacket. And the top, on second thought, nay, for this top one needs booby boobs, not Kenzi boobs." Dyson refrained from getting roped into the boobs differentiation discussion and focused on the road ahead of him.

"Speaking of the boobs, have you heard from the mainland?" the girl asked without peeling her eyes off the pictures. "Last time I talked to Bo she sounded distracted but refused to be drawn. Said we'd go for a heart-to-heart once master Yoda sets me free. But I figured all is not well in the Hotpants kingdom."

"Trick is keeping me generally updated, but we steer clear of Bo's choppy love life," Dyson replied cautiously. "But he did mention that Tamsin was around a lot."

"You know I kinda like the blonde with an attitude, though she dares rival my snark on occasion," the girl remarked casually, "I could even say I miss her a bit but not as much as I miss the Succubooby and the rest of the gang."

"Don't try to push my buttons, babe. I miss them too but you need your training and you need focus and you'll never get one with the guys around," the wolf grumbled, "Can't say that you're doing such a great job of focusing as it is … "

"Well, if you could be a tiny bit less sexy, I might be more focused," Kenzi crooned putting her left hand to a good use by snaking it along the shifter's thigh. "As things stand I can test your focus starting now."

"You've just added an extra lap to your afternoon swimming routine," Dyson growled with unconvincing menace fighting a losing battle of trying to ignore the nimble fingers stroking the denim of his jeans.

As much as Dyson actually enjoyed the ride home his resolve not to cut the girl any slack did not falter and the rest of the afternoon they spent practicing the daggers. "Satisfied?" Kenzi inquired wearily after managing to hit the mark consecutively three times. "Yes, for today," her demanding coach replied, "You still lack consistency of result, but practice makes perfect."

"Aren't I perfect?" the girl fluttered her eyelashes mid-way between flirtatious and mock-naïve. "With big pointy things."

"Even talking dirty and looking delicious will not get you out of the swim, Kenzi," Dyson smirked and grabbing hold of the girl's slender waist hoisted her up over his shoulder. "And you superspeed won't come in handy much until you learn to be alert and work on your reflexes," he kept lecturing while carrying the laughing girl through the bushes and onto the lake shore.

"No, Dy, stop, you'll ruin my best work-out outfit," Kenzi protested through snorts and giggles but the shifter paid them no heed and strode straight into the water, then he stopped abruptly and switching the girl into the bridal hold threw her with a splash right into the lukewarm depth. The girl disappeared under the gleaming surface while the wolf was laughing heartily relaxed by the ripple of water and the rays of retiring sun. Seconds were flying by but Kenzi was not in any hurry to resurface, the water was only disturbed by a few air bubbles in the place where she had gone under. Dyson's laugh choked to a half-smirk before fading from his face altogether.

His laid-back amusement was rapidly giving in to a slight worry. Another dozen of inexorable seconds ticked by and still there were no traces of the girl. The wolf mentally counted down to a full minute and couldn't restrain himself any longer.

With a mighty push he propelled himself into the lake head-first diving and breaking surface over and over again desperately searching for Kenzi's snazzy maroon sweatpants or white top. No splash of colour disturbed the uniform dark blue and grey of the lake's interior. Driven practically to distraction Dyson went in for another deep dive testing the capacity of his lungs to the fullest, but he still couldn't find Kenzi. Once again above water the wolf dragged a ragged breath into his oxygen-starved system when his ears picked the all-too-familiar silver laughter. He turned his head following the direction of the sound and saw Kenzi sitting on the rock jutting out from under the water a couple of meters from the shore's edge. She was thoroughly enjoying herself observing the wolf's rescue attempt and was making no attempt of hiding her mirth.

"And who's putting in some extra swimming practice now, D-man?" the girl asked giggling.

Dyson felt immense relief flooding his mind as if he had just been dreaming of the end of the world and woke up to find it had only been a nightmare and the sun was still shining. But once his heart regained its normal beat and his thoughts lined up he was gripped by a much less benign emotion. In a couple of strokes he was beside Kenzi and straightened out of water in front of her dripping water and fury. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" he growled and the girl suddenly lost her glee. She had long learnt to distinguish between Dyson's mock growl and Dyson's really-pissed growl. "I though you might have drowned, I was ready to scour the lake bottom for you and die trying if I fail. You silly girl. You have been given extra powers but you are still behaving like an irresponsible human."

Kenzi's mouth dropped open, under different circumstances she might have gone ballistic at the mere mention of the words silly and human in one tirade but the soul-deep hurt in the wolf's voice pierced her heart. She wrung her still wet hands till the knuckles cracked loudly and she gasped from the self-inflicted pain. "Dyson, I don't know what possessed me," she whispered in wide-eyed consternation, "I wasn't thinking about anything but the fun it would be to watch you looking for me. It was meant to be a practical joke. But it's wasn't like me, Dy. What's happening to me?"

Dyson's anger was dispelled at the first tormented notes to leave his girl's lips. He took a step backwards and put his arms on her shaking shoulders. "It's OK, Kenzi, sorry I shouted, it's just a jest gone wrong," he tried to console her.

"No, it's not, I've been sarcastic, snarky, but never inconsiderate, never that selfish. It's not me, I'm a kitsune, I am turning into a heartless trickster, it was in the book, the fox pulling stunts that could drive people crazy," Kenzi was rambling scared and distraught, "I'm becoming a monster who can't control his nature, like Bo used to be. Am I also going to hurt people, to kill them."

"Stop it, babe," Dyson finally took full hold of the girl's trembling slight body and lifted her carefully of the rock to press her like treasure she was to him to his heart. "You are not turning into a monster, you are not going to kill anyone. Bo had a hard time coming to terms with her faeness but the was lost and alone. And you are not, my love, you have me. Forever."

Author's Note A huge thank- you to all those who read and reviewed the first story and who pushed me to start a sequel as I really need to be pushed sometimes. Hope you'll enjoy it, though truth be told I have no idea yet where it is going.