A/N: My first Lost Girl fic! So excited! I'm taking liberty here with the whole rash/norn/kitsune thing, because I think Kenzi is fae now, and I'm just waiting for the grand reveal. The second part I'm taking liberty with is the dead fae in the field, I guess this is just going to be my spin on it. In the end, it may have nothing to do with it. Just bear with me. Also, when is Vex coming back? He's my second fave apart from Kenzi!
Fae-ted
Somehow, it still bothered Kenzi that no one had noticed. Hell, Bo hadn't noticed til her bodynapper tried to eat peanut sauce. To be fair, Bo wasn't noticing a whole lot lately, what with her shaky relationship with Lauren, Dyson's unwavering "support," and the whole Dawning with potential to become Underfae thing, she figured she should give her bestie a break.
Nothing had been the same since the Garuda. Nothing. Kenzi sighed, leaning back against their stolen couch. Not even Robot Hookers could keep her mind from straying into unwanted territory. Even after everything she'd proven, done, and suffered, they all still saw her as The Human. She'd let her first love go and made a more than likely deadly deal with the Morrigan. She threatened the Norn's precious tree to get back Wolf Boy's love and paid in a sick rash. She'd helped Hale out against his father and got nothing but a nod and a get out of here look that froze her to the core.
Surrounded by people and all alone. Story of her life.
She pulled the makeup brush out of her pocket. It was one thing she didn't divulge to Bo. She carried the makeup brush Vex gave her when he left everywhere. Maybe for luck and maybe in hopes that he'd come back sooner than later, still broken or fixed, she sure didn't care. Of all of them, Trick, Dyson, Bo, Hale, Vex was the only one who hadn't asked anything of her. Maybe The Dark wasn't all that bad after all.
She had to admit she missed the half crazed Mesmer. He reminded her of crowds she used to roll with, insane and fearless and different all wrapped together. The kind of life she used to lead before hunkering down with a succubus. The day he'd said he needed to leave, to find himself, she wanted nothing more than to go with him, and that had scared her. Could she really leave Bo so easily? It was a niggling thought in the back of her mind, one that grew steadily since the Garuda, and even more so now that the Dawning had…changed her. She wasn't the same Bo. She was Bo 2.0, twice the power, twice the fury.
How long before Bo turned that power on her lowly human pet?
It seemed more and more like the other shoe was about to drop every day. She couldn't remember the last time they'd simply taken a case just for the sake of taking a case. She knew there were people out there in need of their special help. Or, Bo's special help. There was little a human was good for, after all. She was a distraction, as Trick had called her, and with Hale's sudden power shift she worried for her safety of a different sort. Power corrupted absolutely, as the saying went. She knew that now.
Her place in this world was slowly disappearing. She was obsolete. Bo had all but chosen a side anyway, always cohorting with the Light as Ryan and Vex had both put it once before. Bo just didn't know it yet.
Maybe she could try and find Nate and join him on tour; he had loved her, he would forgive her, she knew. But did she truly love him? Ever since Inari had kidnapped her, she'd been thinking more idly on her situation. To know her friends hadn't been able to see through an imposter, to know it had taken them days to put two and two together let her see exactly how much they paid attention.
Which was to say, they didn't. She could disappear and they would be none the wiser. Even now Bo was out searching for a missing Lauren with a desperate, still in love Dyson, and a less than enthused Tamsin all at the behest of an outraged Hale. She twisted the makeup brush in her fingers once more, making up her mind.
Kenzi didn't have much. A small cache of makeup, some stolen trinkets she could easily swap for cash, weapons, a little money left over from their days as detectives, at least enough to get out of the city. Most of her clothes were self-made, and she'd learned long ago how to pack lightly and quickly. The essentials. She'd leave most of her disguises, taking just a few in case of scrapes with the police. It wasn't like she'd need dvd's on the streets and the computer was Bo's anyways. She raided the kitchen, shoving a few odds and ends into the back pack.
She took a turn about their shack of an apartment. She knew from the beginning that she shouldn't have gotten attached. She should have cut her losses and run. It went against everything she believed. Never stay in one place too long. Never get comfortable with your marks. Never get emotionally invested.
For a moment she thought about leaving a note.
Only for a moment.
XOX
"Where to?"
Kenzi jumped, startled. "What?"
"This is a taxi, not a bus. And I'm not a psychic. Where do you want to go girl?" the exasperated taxi driver questioned with a raised eyebrow.
She huffed, pulling out fifty dollars. It was a lot, but she needed to go far and a bus made too many stops. She slapped the fifty into his palm. "As far as this will take me."
He shrugged and turned back to watching the street. She closed her eyes, resting her forehead on the cool pane of glass. She knew she was doing the right thing.
She clenched the makeup brush tightly.
XOX
Bo pushed the door open, welcoming the familiar smell of half rotted wood and the mess of candles that they always had burning. "I swear, it's like she disappeared off the face of the earth Kenz, how does someone do that? She left without a goodbye, left her phone, left her stuff…left me. I mean, I know we were having problems, but really, it was just a break, not a break up. She didn't have to leave the state, or the country, or wherever she ran off too! We could have worked it out," she called, dropping her weapons and shrugging off her jacket. "Enough about me though, how was your day?"
She turned, expecting her friend to be waiting on the couch with the game controller propped in her hands and a snappy, sarcastic comeback ready on her tongue. She was met with nothing but silence. "Kenzi?" She said carefully, picking the weapon back up from where she'd placed it, slowly traversing their small space. "Kenzi!"
"You're a little late, love," said a shadow leaning against the far wall. Bo whirled, blade raised in defense. She felt the sudden, familiar stiffening of joints, and the blade began turning inward, towards her stomach, before it was released.
"Vex? What, when did you get back? What do you mean I'm late?" Bo demanded as the Mesmer emerged from the shadow. There was something different about the childish man, she realized. The pomp and flair was toned down to a discreet level, it actually looked like he'd brushed his unruly hair, and while still clad all in black leather, there seemed to be an eerie calm about it.
"I arrived about a half hour ago, and since I left my fantastical makeup brush with your dear human, naturally I came to reclaim it. Imagine my surprise when I search the place and realize that she's gone," he deadpanned.
Bo flinched. "How do you know she's gone, how do you know she didn't just go to The Dal or decide to, I don't know, step out for a minute?"
"Because she took everything that meant something to her, love," Vex explained, cautious with his words. "Weapons are missing, her makeup is cleared out, half her clothes are gone and her secret stash of cash is missing too. And most importantly, she took my brush, I know she wouldn't just leave that behind."
"You seem pretty sure of yourself for someone who's been gone for months now. You have no idea what's happened since you left," Bo bit out, fear bubbling in her chest. Fear for her friend, unprotected from the Light and the Dark without her.
Vex smirked darkly. "Oh, I don't know anything is it? You forget that I have ears and eyes everywhere, Succubus. You don't think I left without having my friends in low places keep tabs on what you two have been up too. As I hear, none of you realized a certain Kitsune kidnapped our dear human for days, and even more so, that you, in specific, never knew what Kenzi sacrificed for you when she chainsaw massacred the Norn's tree for lover boy."
Bo crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. "I know the bottle broke on her arm, I know about the rash and how she got Dyson's love back. I'm not stupid Vex. Just because you hear what you want to hear, doesn't mean I'm to blame."
"You think you know everything? You think that rash disappeared magically without consequence when Dyson killed Inari, do you? She's not human anymore, you silly git. She's becoming fae, and when a human becomes fae, it's different. It's bad. The transition could kill her and she doesn't even know it! That rash was the beginning, she hasn't even started exhibiting the signs yet!"
Bo gaped, stunned by the revelation as a million thoughts swam through her head. If Kenzi was becoming fae, she wouldn't have to leave her, she wouldn't die, she wouldn't lose her friend. She wouldn't have to be constantly concerned for her safety. She shook herself, questioning desperately, "How do you know this? How could you know this?"
He ran a hand through his hair, fidgeting. "When I left, it wasn't to go discover myself, exactly. I was….worried…about her. No one has ever confronted the Norn, no human or fae in that way. It took me awhile, months, as you pointed out, to find anyone who knew anything about the consequences of human's coming into contact with fae power in any form. I can't divulge my source, it's not like he's known for his reliability anyway, but what I found out was that Kenzi is going to become fae, and it's going to get ugly. So you need to stop concerning yourself with my reappearance, and start searching for your damn human!"
"Alright," Bo said quietly. "Let's get moving."
XOX
The fifty dollars took her as far as the county line, where the taxi driver promptly let her out along a half deserted street, sparsely lined with broken wire fences and dilapidated houses the size of garages. Random bits of frayed yellow caution tape fluttered in the breeze like butchered ribbons. Rolling her eyes, she pulled out one of the smaller blades she'd jacked from the apartment.
At least she was out of fae territory. No one would come searching for her in a place like this.
She started walking, looking for a decent hiding place to crash for the night. It didn't take long to spot a slightly more kempt house, one with lights still on in the dark neighborhood. HOSTEL was written across the broken board of a sign in bright white paint. With her looks and smattering of Russian she could easily pull off the woefully lost foreign girl needing a place to sleep. She knocked on the door.
A tall, broad shouldered boy with bright green eyes and long blonde hair swung the door open. He couldn't have been more than twenty, she thought. She smiled sweetly. "I need room for night," she pronounced with a heavy, rolling Russian accent. "I am new, and do not know much English."
The boy smiled widely, ushering her in. "We have room for pretty girl such as you. You are Russian, yes? I'm Ukrainian. I'm Anton, and we welcome all foreigners into our house."
"I'm Sasha," she replied coyly, shaking his outstretched hand. He nodded.
"We have several others staying tonight. My brother Adam and I run this hostel. You may stay as long as you like."
"I have money, how much for the night?"
He smiled shyly. "It is, as the English say, on the house."
"Oh, thank you!" she gushed as he led her to the open room. Three other girls varying from sixteen to twenty-two filled the female section of the hostel. One was most certainly Russian, like herself, while the two others were maybe sisters, both flame haired Irish girls.
Anton bid her goodnight, and she quickly grabbed a bed. Perhaps she could find a way to stay a bit longer.
XOX
The Dal was quiet for a Friday night. A few regulars loitered by the pool table, throwing back beer and arguing over the game they'd just finished playing. Dyson was slumped against the bar, conversing with Trick, while Tamsin picked at her nails, pretending to be unfathomably bored.
Lauren was in the wind, and they had no way of tracking her down. Dyson wasn't so much worried about Lauren as he was Hale. Hale, who'd been his partner and best friend was now no more than a power mad dictator. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he couldn't blame Lauren for running when she did. Better she be gone when everything went down. He could sense change on the horizon.
And not good change, at that.
The peace was disturbed by the slamming of the Dal's heavy door. "Guys, we've got a problem," Bo announced without preamble, Vex following in her wake. Tamsin perked up, suddenly intrigued by this alliance.
"Vex, how nice to see you?" she said tartly.
"Ahh, the Valkyrie. Tell me, how is it being the Morrigan's new slave…I mean, second in command? She got you spying on the Light I see," Vex retorted snidely. "How is that going for you?"
The smirk flickered from the Valkyrie's face as she looked away. Something told Vex she'd been as persuaded by the Light as he had. Captivated, almost, by their nature. They'd both been sucked into something they couldn't escape from, pasts be damned. And if fate could change the choices they'd made in a perfect world, maybe they'd all be friends.
"Oh, shut up! Kenzi is gone, she just left," Bo said over the din of thick curiosity and dark glances between Vex and Tamsin.
"Are you sure she didn't just go out clubbing?" Dyson asked. Bo shook her head, trying to convey her desperation.
"She took everything with her. She left."
"Look, maybe she just needed a break. She has family in the area, maybe something happened?" He said, trying to assuage her fear.
Vex shook his head, agitation present in his face. "Look you idiots, she didn't leave a note and that's not our biggest problem. She's becoming fae, and the transition…" he trailed.
Trick froze, setting the glass he'd been polishing down heavily. Tamsin grimaced as well. Dyson seemed as confused as Bo. "This is very, very bad," Trick muttered.
Tamsin stared wide-eyed at the wall beyond the duo. "The rash from Inari's power, she let it linger on her skin, never got it looked at. It…she absorbed it. And because Inari died, she's the keeper of her abilities…"
Trick nodded. "We all thought it just went away, once Dyson killed Inari. We thought it was over. This is rare, it virtually never happens. It's unprecedented, really, and there are so few cases of it. We've got to find her before the changes start happening."
"Trick, how bad is this going to be?" Bo asked quietly. He opened his mouth, but closed it. He didn't want to upset his granddaughter anymore than she already was.
Tamsin broke her gaze from the wall, focusing on Bo. "No human has survived a fae transition."
Vex resisted the urge to make her punch herself. "Perhaps we should stop talking and start moving? Just a thought," he ground out.
Trick began closing the bar, yelling at the few remaining patrons to scram. Dyson was tempted to call Hale, but thought better of it. His call would probably remain unanswered anyways, and instead moved to comfort Bo, going over the logistics of where and how far Kenzi may have gotten.
Tamsin brushed past Vex. "We need to talk, you and I," Vex whispered, grabbing the Valkyrie's arm.
She looked behind her, to see if anyone was watching, and nodded to a quiet spot by the restrooms. "What the hell took you so long?" she demanded. "I've been sucking it out with these Light loving freaks for months now!"
"Oh please, you've got goo goo eyes for the Succubus, admit it. She's pulled you over onto her side, and you know she's innocent of the crimes against her," Vex said almost laughingly.
Tamsin shook her head with an eye roll. "At least I'm not in love with a human," she retorted. Vex clammed, eyes narrowing. "Please Vex, you've got it bad and you don't realize it either. I'm not the only one the Light's gotten their claws into."
"She won't be human much longer and you and I both know that. Now, in other news, what has the Morrigan been planning?"
Tamsin looked away, a serious expression crossing her face. "It's not the Morrigan I'm worried about Vex. She's nothing compared…nothing compared to what's coming, and it's coming straight for all of us. Dyson is starting to figure out what's going on, he found a field where dozens of fae were buried…it was like a dumping ground. I've never seen fae of either side do this to each other. This is…bad."
Vex clenched his fists. "Look, it's only going to get worse if they get Kenzi. We have to find her before she starts transitioning. You know as well as I what they'll do if we don't find her first."
"I know," she whispered.
XOX
Kenzi twisted on the threadbare cot, a dark feeling settling over her like a heavy blanket. Her arm was burning, and so was her head. She'd had the same dream for days now, all hellfire and brimstone visions. She never remembered the contents of the dream, just the same consecutive theme behind it. Darkness, death, and evil lurking around every corner of her mind. She heard whispers, and it sounded like they were calling her name.
A white-hot blaze of searing pain shot down her arm and she couldn't stop herself from crying out. She shot up, clenching her burning arm, the one the rash had occupied for almost two months. She tore at her shirt sleeve, trying to free her appendage. "What's happening?" she whispered to herself, tears coursing down her face. Her arm, which had so long been covered by the hideous rash, now looked as if it had been burned by an unseen force though it wasn't hot to the touch as she expected it to be.
Suddenly her head flew back as if she'd been hit with a 2x4, and she felt herself convulsing. The white-hot fire ignited on her skin, and she couldn't scream. It spread to the blanket, the wood floor, the cheap curtains, consuming the room at a rapid rate. The three other girls awoke, screaming as the fire jumped from the edge of one bed to the next and they scrambled for the door.
She heard the pounding of floorboards above her, as the boys ran down the stairs and out the door, she hoped, escaping as the girls had. She knew, instantly, that she wasn't getting out of this alive.
The house was burnt to ash long before the fire department ever made it to the scene.
XOX
"Where do we even start looking?" Tamsin asked. She was at the wheel of the cruiser with Bo in the passenger seat, Dyson and Vex in the back. She'd volunteered to drive, and as the only one not entirely invested in saving the transitioning human she figured she was the only one with a clear head.
"Just drive," Dyson said, a little more harshly than he'd meant.
"Any thoughts, Succubus?" she tried again.
"She'd try to get out of the city, it's fae territory and she knows it's not safe. She's not working with a lot of cash but she's a kleptomaniac so by now she could have a hundred wallets. Buses are too public. She'd probably take a cab," Bo answered, mapping out Kenzi's thoughts in her mind. Tamsin flicked the radio on, channel hopping. Bo grabbed her wrist when one of the news stations came on.
"Stop!" she yelled, cranking the volume.
And in nightly news, a youth hostel caught fire about an hour ago. Sources say that three men and three women escaped the fire unharmed, but firefighters are searching the ash for a fourth girl of Russian decent. At this time, there's no news on whether the fire was started with an accelerant or if it was due to electrical issues within the house. The owner of the youth hostel said that the fire burned so quickly that when firefighters made it to the scene, the house was already gone.
Bo swallowed thickly, catching Vex's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Is that…?"
"That's stage one."
"Well then, let's step on it," Tamsin said, turning on the cruiser lights and lead footing the gas pedal.
XOX
What was left of the youth hostel was little more than its foundation. Bo looked at it despairingly, paling at the sight. Dyson came up behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "What if…what if she's in there?"
He shook his head though she couldn't see. "She's not in there Bo. I talked to the firemen, they said there's nothing, no bones, no clothing, nothing. Somehow she got out. She's okay."
"For now," she mumbled. "I should have paid more attention. I was so focused on my relationship with Lauren that I pushed her aside. I've been the worst friend. And for the first time this is truly all my fault."
"It's all of our faults. None of us have been there for her, Bo. We all should have done more."
"Maybe, but she's not just some human to me. She's my friend. She's like my sister. And I let her down," she shrugged, brushing a tear away. "Hell, even Vex went out of his way to try to do something for her, to find out some way to help her."
Dyson smirked. "I think Vex is invested in a different way than you are."
She whirled, taking in the half smile on his face. "What does that mean?"
He shook his head. "I'm sure it will make sense when you think about it a bit longer."
XOX
She smelled like singed hair, she thought, as she stumbled on the crumbling asphalt. Smoke rolled off her body. She'd been lucky she'd salvaged her backpack, clothes and all.
She'd set the fire. How was that even possible? Her arm had been burning, and it had ignited an entire house. Last time she checked, Inari hadn't been able to set things on fire.
If she wasn't becoming a Kitsune, then what the hell was she becoming? Why now?
Why me?
Kenzi wanted nothing more than to go home. She wanted to see Bo, apologize for leaving without so much as a note, and curl up on their puffy red couch and play her video games. She didn't want to be on the run. Not now, not like this.
Not when she felt like something was after her.
A car zipped past her, before coming to an abrupt stop and backing up. The window rolled down.
"Are you okay?" the woman asked, eyeing her smoking form curiously.
"Yes," Kenzi mumbled tiredly.
"Look, I can give you a ride to a shelter if you'd like. There's one not far from here," the lady offered. Kenzi stopped. She wanted to sleep, but she was too afraid to dream again. It was better that she keep walking.
"I don't need your help," Kenzi snapped.
"Please, at least let me take you to a bus stop then," she tried one final time.
Kenzi sighed. "Fine." She opened the door, sliding into the passenger seat. "What is this, like, help the charity case day?"
"No, it's more like, help the transitioning human girl," she replied, a sly grin on her face.
Kenzi grabbed for the door handle as the woman flipped the locks and sped off.
"Let me out bitch!" she screamed, tearing at the door with her hands and pounding on the window.
"Oh stop, it's not like anyone is going to hear you. Besides, would you rather the fae get their hands on you? I don't think you'd like that outcome very much. You're a human who's becoming fae. They don't exactly like that."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, word is that a girl attacked the Norn to get something for somebody, whatever, and got a nice gift for her trouble in return. You're famous in our circle. We've been searching for you for awhile now, waiting for this transition to happen."
"What do you mean by your circle? I don't understand."
"Human's that transition into fae. They claim we're a rare breed, but the truth is we're not. They think we're dead and we like it that way. Think of the hierarchy like this. You have the Light and Dark fae as the supreme, pureblood royalty. When you take a human doused with fae juice, for lack of a better term, you get the bastard offspring of that pureblooded royal. In other words, you're like the illegitimate child of a king. You have power, but you have no ownership or legitimacy to claim a side."
"So…I'm not dying."
The woman laughed lightly. "No, you're just going to feel like you are. The fire is what brought me to you. That's kind of stage one. Each step in transition is different for every human. I, for instance, made it rain in a building so hard that people drowned before I blacked out. You'll have the nightmares and you'll feel like your body is being torn apart next, before your powers come to light. Typically the abilities you inherit from the host are similar. Yours came from a Kitsune, so more than likely you'll be able to glamour, or shift from one form to another."
"What can you do?" Kenzi asked cautiously.
"My abilities came from a water fae a few years ago when I myself almost drowned. I'm still not sure what she was, but she left a mark on me like Inari left on you. I can generally manipulate water. It doesn't sound like much, but we haven't had a drought in a long time. I'm Samantha, by the way."
"Kenzi," Kenzi replied, still wary of the blonde woman.
"You're lucky, you know. Your first stage didn't kill anyone."
Kenzi sighed, the heavy weight leaving her chest. "Thank god," she whispered.
"I wish the rest of us could say the same."
XOX
Dyson took the lead, going off of Kenzi's scent and the mixture of burnt hair and ash. He led them about a mile away from the remains of the hostel before the scent vanished into thin air.
"So lover boy, picking up anything?" Vex demanded, his fidgeting growing increasingly by the moment.
"Yes, your pure agitation and remarkable ease at pissing me off," Dyson ground out.
"He's doing his best Vex," Bo threw in.
"It looks like she got in a car. The scent fades, but something's…off. There's another scent. It's human, but not, at the same time. I've never picked up on anything like this."
"What does that mean?" Bo questioned.
Tamsin stepped forward, sliding her phone into her back pocket. "It means that I think I might know where they took Kenzi."
XOX
Kenzi watched as the dirty cityscape faded into country back roads. She felt like she'd been here before, or maybe it was a place she'd seen in her dreams. It was eerily familiar either way.
"We're almost there," Samantha said, gaze focused on the road ahead.
"How many human transitioned fae are there exactly?" Kenzi asked. She wanted to know what she was getting into here, if this was some cult scenario or a genuine institution.
"It's not like there's an abundance of us. Less than a hundred, really. The fae, as you well know, doesn't care much for humans unless they're lunch."
"That's not entirely true," Kenzi snapped crossly. "They've been my friends and family when I didn't have any. Bo is practically a sister to me. You're generalizing an entire group."
"If I'm generalizing, then why did you leave?" Samantha retorted. Kenzi flushed, turning back to stare out the window.
Kenzi shrugged. "You've got to know when to fold'em." She closed her eyes against the harsh light of the morning sun, missing her best friend more than ever.
XOX
"Apparently we've all been had, Kenzi included," Tamsin explained in response to the call she'd received. "You guys aren't the only ones with friends in low places, I have a few of my own. There's a compound outside the city, deep in the countryside that harbors fae. Fae kind of like Bo, those that want to be neutral or have fled their clans. It's like the fae version of deserting."
"Sounds like the fae alright," Dyson commented. "I vaguely remember hearing rumors, but nothing concrete."
"Well my contact said they rarely leave the compound, not unless something big is happening."
"And Kenzi's burning down a hostel was aired on the radio, so we have to assume the tv as well," Bo added.
"So what are we getting at here?" Vex asked.
Tamsin sighed. "These aren't humans transitioning into fae. They are simply fae, looking for a bargaining chip to get back into the good graces of their respective sides. They know she's Bo's human, and they know Bo's the unaligned Succubus."
Bo ran a hand through her hair. "And whoever has her did a great job convincing her she was doing the right thing." Frustrated, Bo walked away from their tiny group. Dyson moved to go after her, but Tamsin grasped his arm.
"Hold up Wolf Boy, we've got another problem," Tamsin whispered urgently.
"Now what?" He said with a hint of burgeoning irritation. Vex seemed tuned in as well.
"That field we found, the one with all the dead fae?"
Dyson leaned in, fear welling in his chest. Vex seemed to freeze.
"The compound is less than a mile from the field."
XOX