When she puts on her laboratory coat, she is a doctor and a scientist. Someone who heals and finds solutions.

But when she takes off everything, she is nothing but a slave. A dog with a permanent collar around its neck. And she's learnt from day one that in this world, there is no leniency for a pet who fails to do its master's bidding. It was a lesson she should have never forgotten.

It was naïve of her to think that she would get off scot-free just because no harm befell Vex. Later on, she would tell herself that she was probably too distracted with trying to mend things with the succubus, and too busy to clear his name to think it through.

And so she was surprised when The Ash mentioned that he had decided on her punishment. It was not his fault, of course – a master had to be fair to all his pets. She should have been grateful that she hadn't needed to pay with her life.

The fae were nothing if not efficient. She was given two days' notice so she could finish her work and made sure that her assistants knew what to do in her absence. She was scribbling a 'to do' list for day 10 when someone appeared.

As soon as she heard the word 'hey', she gritted her teeth. The succubus really needed to learn about timing. Instead of showing up when she begged and cajoled, Bo chose to visit after a week of radio silence. She paid no heed to the succubus and continued with her list. "What do you want, Bo?"

"Excuse me? What do I want? I thought you were the one who called. And stuff."

"Yes, and I probably did that 50 times, but that was last month. I stopped a week ago. So, I reiterate – why are you here now?"

"I…I wanted to thank you for helping me out." The succubus shuffled her feet. "With Dyson."

"You're welcome. Anything else?"

She could feel the succubus bristling, but she sat still and remained silent.

"Fine. I'll leave now. I just came here to see if you wanted to talk, you know, after you begged me to let you explain."

"Again, that was a week ago. I'm busy now. Not everything has to be done according to your way, your schedule or your mood, Bo." She glanced at her watch and wrote faster - they were going to come any minute now.

"I thought you excelled at taking instructions, like a good little pet." Bo sneered. "I suppose everything should be done according to how your master wants it, including when, where, and whom?"

Lauren closed her eyes and put her pen down before she could break it. "Get out."

"Oh, really?" Bo said. "I thought your orders were to please me. Maybe I should tell The Ash about this. I'm sure he could come up with a suitable punishment for that."

"That's a great idea." Lauren finally looked up and walked towards the succubus. "I was just going to see him. Why don't you join me? My hypothesis is you'll have many topics in common."

"In fact," she said as she took off her laboratory coat and hung it behind the door, "here are my escorts. So unless you want to come along, I have to run now. My master's calling for me, seems he wants to discuss my previous task. Maybe he needs details."

Bo grabbed Lauren's arm and snarled. "I trusted you, and you turned out to be –"

"Then you wouldn't be too disappointed to know that I'll be getting my just deserts now," Lauren said calmly, shaking off Bo's hand and walking towards the guards. "Just so you know, I trusted you too. Should have known better, I guess."

"Me? What did I do to you?"

Lauren stopped and there was a pause. "You reminded me that I should only ever count on myself."