Title: Fire Water Burn
Author: hbomba
Rating: Eventual M
Summary: Bo & Lauren get away and get down with the Elements.
Ah, freedom! Moving ahead; she was on her way. The wind insinuated itself between the weather stripping and her window, flapping like a tattered flag, an odd but powerful sensory delight for her. The radio played a late seventies, early eighties revival and the sun streamed in the windshield. Life was good.
Bo slammed on the brakes jostling her passenger from her respite. "Shit," she breathed, heel of her hand bouncing off the steering wheel in protest. The highway was busy with the typical mid-week rush and Bo was content to zoom in between braking semis to find an advantage. Lauren sighed and Bo couldn't help the grin that spread across her face, slight and yet wide enough to catch her attention.
Lauren's eyes smiled and Bo knew she was in good spirits too . Driving a few hours with her best girl at her side, hugged deep in the bucket seat of Bo's Camaro, was a little slice of heaven. She loved being on the open road, trees blinking by as they passed and she remembered a time when all she knew was those blinking trees. Before the Fae. Before Lauren.
Running from Kyle's truck, through the woods in bare feet, feeling like the world was ending. And it was for her. She would never forget the look on her mother's face when she told her what she had done. Devastation and guilt, a ripe combination that didn't stop her shame. And when she left them that night, she watched the trees file past rows at a time and in an instant, knew what death was all about. Kyle had died that night, and so had Beth.
The others who died after, died for no good reason. She fed and fed and fed until the last assclown had put the Fae on her trail. Shame followed her all those years, from her very first fumblings with Kyle, to her chi-sucking the degenerates who preyed on women like her. There was no plan, life just happened to Bo. From town to town, job to job, change was Bo's new normal. It wasn't until Lauren led her away from the Fae even as they fought over her that Bo was able to stop. Her chains were literal but the quiet of Lauren's lab was oddly soothing as was her gentle way. She wasn't very subtle but Bo found her so completely and perfectly mysterious that she felt her affection begin like kindling, the bonfire yet to come.
Upon seeing the Falls, she was reminded how it felt to fall for Lauren. The water rushed on, relentless, as was the pace of Bo's life since being discovered by the Fae. The sounds-its roar, blasting her eardrums-left her as dizzy as Lauren's kisses had the first night she came to Bo. Lauren's touch was incomparable. It felt like she cared, and Bo thought she really did care for her. She was a succubus-something she had barely understood at the time-and she could take a life or give it back on a whim but love was always spilled through her fingers like water defying her claim. That night she fell for Lauren just as the water flowed over the impossibly high cliff, and Bo tumbled from such great heights, to the bottom when Lauren told her why she had come.
Lauren had her own reasons, Bo learned as time passed. And Lauren did care, despite the situation she too found herself in with the Fae. A pawn in the Fae's end game, Lauren had always felt Bo's gravity. Like the water roils before it plunges over the cliff, so did Lauren for Bo. But exile was swift, falling a mile only to crash onto the rocks. Separation, molecule by molecule pulled them apart, each thrashing internally against it. So much time wasted, she thought as she looked out over the railing. They stood at the top of the Falls-in the sweet spot-the aquamarine halo tempting, shimmering on the edge as if time had stopped, though gallon after gallon of water poured below in milliseconds.
Bo looked at Lauren and she could tell her mind was working overtime. Pressing her hand into Lauren's, Bo quieted her thoughts. Lauren lifted her chin to the sun, a smile to light every dark space illuminating her features. "I can't believe we've never come here before."
Bo smiled and nodded. "Well, there was that one timeā¦"
"Right." Lauren set her jaw, nodding like she did when she disapproved of something.
"I can't help it if someone wanted to put a ring on it," Bo sassed.
She smiled, jaw still locked in place. "He roofied you."
"He meant well." Losing interest in the topic, Bo turned toward the Falls again.
Lauren bit her lip to keep from saying something she'd regret and looked out over the spectacle below as Bo plunked a dollar into the viewfinder bolted to the railing. Grinning mischievously, Bo pressed her forehead into the machine and gazed through the magnifier. The promenade was still scattered with people snapping selfies and taking video of the Falls, mostly lovers and families, too late in the day for the tourist groups that usually peppered the site. Fall colors surrounded them, leaves scraping the pavement as the wind blew them about. Lauren lost track of time watching her and suddenly Bo was thrusting a hand full of quarters in her direction. "You want to?" She jerked her thumb back at the viewfinder and Lauren blinked, disoriented by her beauty. Bo cocked her head, stepping towards Lauren, her arms slipping around Lauren's waist and stealing a kiss. "It never would've worked out," she cooed in Lauren's ear.
"Why's that?" Lauren asked humorlessly.
"Isn't it obvious?" Bo leaned back and grinned. "I like blondes."
Lauren chortled, dropping her head to Bo's shoulder. "Can we just sit here for a minute?"
"Sure," Bo whispered. They sat together, quietly, on a nearby bench. She had run from everything she knew and become seasoned by her instincts and lifestyle. She even ran from who she was. The water rushed on, pushing her with the current, pulling her closer to infamy.
And then she met Lauren, who saw her for what she was and didn't retreat in horror. She didn't even shy away from Bo. Instead, she drew Bo in. And on this blustery fall day, they sat by the Falls, Lauren's head on her shoulder, her hand in Bo's and Bo was done moving. Lauren's warmth against her side, the mist that hung so thick in the air it felt like sitting beside a humidifier. It condensed on their cheeks and made their clothes feel colder and more damp than they were in the hotel room. She would always remember how Lauren's sigh was barely audible amidst the roar of the Falls but it was the most important sound in the world as Lauren's fingertips traced the knuckles of her hand thoughtfully.
"Did you ever think we'd make it this far?" Lauren's lips brushed her ear as she spoke only loud enough to be heard over the pervasive roar of the Falls.
Bo pulled slightly away and smiled. "Always." The molecules that had separated by crashing against the rocks ascended and reunited around everything on the Promenade, the mist dancing above the Falls once again. The sun was waning, ducking behind the clouds, blocking the warmth of the remaining daylight and Lauren shivered. Bo felt her body shudder and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, gathering Lauren closer. "Maybe we call it a day."
Lauren hummed. "I should have worn a different jacket."
"No matter." Bo smiled. "They're not going anywhere," she said of the Falls.
"Actually, Niagara Falls recedes about a foot each year to erosion-" Lauren looked at Bo's expression of wonderment and suddenly felt self-conscious. "But I am feeling peckish."
Bo's eyes twinkled. "Me too."
end of part one
