Chapter Three


"Bo-Bo, shouldn't we at least check out the bar you so fondly told me about? They'll have drinks! And maybe food. I'm getting a little hungry here."

Bo looked at Kenzi as they sat next to Trick's bed, watching the old man as he remained unconscious. "Sorry, Kenz. How about a pizza on me when we get out of here? I want to wait until Lauren comes back."

Her friend only observed her for a minute before saying anything. "I know you might not want to hear this, but I don't think the good doctor out there wants to talk to you right now."

"I need to know more about her, Kenzi," Bo said adamantly. "There's just something about her."

"Okay, you're going to have to explain something to me." Kenzi turned her entire body to Bo, looking into her eyes. "You're a Succubus, right? You can have anyone you want." She paused as Bo nodded. "Then why don't you find someone else? I don't think she's interested in you anymore."

"It's not that. She's scared and she's in a real shitty situation." Bo kept her eyes on the door, hoping that Lauren would walk back into the room. "She's trapped and it's not right. I want to help."

"Well, she must have amazing snatch powers for you to be this hung up." Kenzi shook her head. "I don't get it."

Bo smiled as she observed her friend. She didn't expect her to understand. She didn't even understand the pull she felt when she was near Lauren. The attraction was instant and she knew that Lauren felt it, too. The problem was the Fae and the terrible laws that ruled the colony.

"I can't describe it or explain it," Bo said after a minute. "But I get this feeling that I can help her. And I want to."

Kenzi nodded but didn't say anything else in response. They only sat in silence and watched over Trick. After a while, Kenzi found the remote for the TV and turned it in, finding a mindless reality TV show to watch. Bo soon drifted to watching it with her, knowing that the program would distract her from the ongoing drama in her life.

It was another hour before a nurse came into the room. "Hello, Bo. Good to see you again."

Bo smiled politely, knowing that the nurse was well aware that Kenzi was human and was likely going to ignore her presence. "Good to see you, too. We're waiting for Dr. Lewis. I would like to talk to her about my grandfather's treatment."

"I'm sorry, but Dr. Lewis is with another patient." She walked up to Trick's bedside and looked over his vitals. "Maybe I can help."

"No, I want to speak to Dr. Lewis. She is Trick's doctor and I know she's been his primary caregiver since he arrived. She should be here to answer my questions."

The nurse stared at her for a moment and Bo knew that she would have to pulse her if necessary to get Lauren back in the room. Part of her thought Lauren even put her up to it so she wouldn't have to see again for the rest of the night. She didn't know how persistent Bo could be.

"Okay, I'll let Dr. Lewis know you want to speak to her."

Once she left the room, Kenzi looked at Bo, an eyebrow raised. "That was interesting."

"What? I should be talking to his doctor."

"And it's even better that his doctor is a certain blonde hottie you're seriously lusting after," Kenzi commented. "Would you have done that hand job thing if she would've said no?"

Bo shook her head. "It's not a 'hand job thing', but yes, I would have pulsed her if I had to."

"Whatever." Kenzi looked at her curiously. "So . . . did she completely ignore me? Would she have talked to me if I asked a question?"

"She's a Fae bigot, yes," Bo said, hating that she had to explain stupid Fae behavior. "She probably would have only talked to you if you were the only one in the room and then it would be to ask where your master is."

"I don't have a master."

"No, you do not." Bo grinned at her, knowing no one could ever ask Kenzi a question like that and come away unscathed. "Others are not so lucky."

"Like me?"

Bo turned her head to the doorway, noticing Lauren walking through and shutting the door behind her. She smiled, even though the doctor looked less than thrilled. "No, not like you."

Annoyance was all over Lauren's face. "You wanted to see me?"

"When you were here last, we really didn't talk about Trick's health," Bo said carefully. She didn't want to say anything that would cause Lauren to leave again.

"I gave you an update," Lauren said. "What else do you want from me, Bo?"

"I want you to go out with me," Bo said quickly, not even realizing she said it was out of her mouth. She hadn't asked anyone out since she was in junior high, well before she had come into her powers. After that, she could get whoever she wanted without even trying.

Lauren let out a sigh. "Bo, there are rules and while you probably won't be punished for breaking them, I can. I would prefer not to be locked in my quarters or worse, the dungeon."

"Whoa, there's a dungeon?" Kenzi asked, eyes wide. "Fae are really old school and shit, huh?"

Bo gave Kenzi a quick head shake before turning her attention back to Lauren. "I will do everything I can to protect you and once Trick's back on his feet, I talk with him about freeing you. He has an amazing amount of power in the Fae world."

"He's not the Ash," Lauren countered. "And that's what matters here."

"No, there's more to it than that," Bo insisted. "Please, Lauren."

Lauren closed her eyes and let out a breath before looking at Bo again. "I have to be here until tomorrow night."

"Okay, do you ever get days off?" Bo asked, hopeful that this would be her opening.

"I have the next day off."

Bo quickly came up with a plan. "How about I pick you up tomorrow after you're done and we'll get dinner?"

Lauren didn't respond and seemed to be considering the offer when Kenzi spoke up. "Look, Doc, I know you've got a lot going on and it's far for the best situation, but I believe Bo when she says she'll protect you. Do you think she would have brought me into this crazy world if she couldn't do something like that?"

Letting out a sigh, Lauren finally nodded. "I'll meet you here." She looked at her watch. "I have to get to a patient."

"I will see you tomorrow," Bo said as she watched Lauren walk out of the room. Once the door closed behind the doctor, she looked at Kenzi and smiled. "Thanks for the assist."

"And I meant it," Kenzi said. "Just so we're clear, you can protect me from everything who considers me food?"

"Yes, I can and will."

"Then let's get some food and maybe you we can start working on why your gramps is in the hospital."

Bo agreed and followed Kenzi out of the room, letting her lead the way as even after all these years she knew better than to get in between Kenzi and food.


The Dal hadn't changed in 10 years and Bo figured that was Trick's doing. It still looked like a pub that had took the test of time and had a welcoming feel. She felt at home as she walked through the doors, just like she always did when she was here as a teenager.

Kenzi had walked in ahead of her and was already at the bar, trying to get the bartender's attention. Bo looked around and already saw a couple of Fae look at her friend as though she was unwelcome in the establishment. There was another she noticed that was looking at Kenzi as though she was his next meal and that was something she needed to prevent.

"Hey, barkeep, get me a beer and whatever you're serving."

The Fae behind the bar gave her a hard stare. "Kitchen's closed to humans."

"No, it's not," Bo said, stopping at the bar and standing next to her friend, "especially not in my grandfather's bar."

His eyes moved from Kenzi to Bo and his demeanor completely changed. "Bo, it's good to see you. I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Sure," Bo said, trying to remember who the man was but couldn't place the name. "Get my friend whatever she wants."

"Bo, we have rules . . ."

"There is no way those are Trick's rules and no one should be imposing ones that stupid while he's recovering," she said. "Kenzi is my claim and she gets whatever she wants here. Understood?"

He nodded. "Of course."

"Thank you." Bo glanced at Kenzi, who was smiling at the interaction, before turning back to him. "I've been trying to talk to Trick's assistant, but I'm told he wasn't visiting at the hospital. Is he here?"

"Yes, he's been running the Dal in Trick's absence," he answered. "He should be downstairs."

Bo nodded and turned to Kenzi. "Don't steal anything and be careful. I'm sure everyone was listening and knows you're under my protection but keep an eye out anyway, okay?"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Kenzi said. "I'll just make friends with this guy here while you do your thing."

"My name's Brant," the bartender said. "I'll grab you tonight's special and be right back."

He left through the kitchen door and Bo padded her friend on the shoulder before walking away from the bar and back to where Trick's lair was. She didn't like the fact that anyone other than her grandfather was treating it like a home and knew that ownership of the Dal was easily a motive for the poisoning.

When she walked down the stairs, Bo noticed a man at Trick's desk, writing out some paperwork. She didn't recognize him but then she knew from the couple of times she spoke to her grandfather that he had hired someone to help with his dealings about five years ago. The assumption she made from that revelation was that she was supposed to be the one assisting and then eventually taking over for him.

Her footsteps alerted him to her presence and she turned to face her, no recognition in his eyes that he knew who she was. "Excuse me, but you can't be down here. This area is for management only."

A smirk appeared on her face. "Then why are you down here? You neither own nor manage the Dal."

He scowled as he stood and Bo sized him up quickly. He was well manicured, hair and full beard neatly trimmed, and wore a tailored brown suit. His suit jacket was hanging on the chair and she noticed other personal touches in the area which told her he had been making himself at home over the last couple days. "I am the Dal's acting manager."

Bo laughed. "In that case, I'm the Dal's acting owner and you have some explaining to do. My name's Ysabeau. I'm Trick's granddaughter."

He smiled at hearing the name, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Well, then introductions are in order. My name is Apex. I've been working with your grandfather and I believe we spoke on the phone."

"Yes, you're his assistant," Bo said, emphasizing the role since she could tell he didn't like the title. "What happened to Trick?"

"There's not much to tell," he said, looking down at the papers on the desk then back at her. "I got to the Dal in the morning to meet with Trick and I found him on the floor here, unconscious. I got him to the clinic as fast as I could."

"When did you leave him the night before?"

"Probably six or so," he answered. "Trick does not need personal assistance. He is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. I am simply his business associate."

"Why does Trick need a business associate for a bar?" Bo asked, feeling that he wasn't telling her the whole story. "Trick's always had plenty of help."

"Trick is very important to the Light and this is a waystation of sorts. The Ash thought it would be best if I helped here to make sure Trick was available for the Elders if he was needed."

"The Ash, of course," Bo mumbled. "Well, your services are no longer needed. You can go."

"You don't have any authority to fire me," Apex fused. He stepped closer to her, narrowing his eyes. "I will not be ordered around by some unaligned Succubus who abandoned her family."

"Despite our differences, he is my grandfather and he has always talked about passing the Dal to me when I was ready," Bo said evenly, showing him her blue eyes. "I'm sure there are enough capable people to run this place until Trick is released and if there's not, I'll close it down until we can reopen. What I don't need is an Ash errand-boy getting in the way."

He gave her a hard stare before taking a step back. "The Ash will hear about this."

"Obviously, you don't know me that well or you would know that I don't care what the Ash thinks," Bo said. "I only care about my family and friends, whether they're Fae or human. You can tell him that, too."

Apex scoffed before grabbing his jacket and storming out of the room. Bo smiled as she watched him go then walked over to the table, looking over the papers he had been reviewing when she walked in. She scowled when she saw it was Trick's will and the deed to the Dal. The details were the same as she remembered as she saw her name as the only beneficiary, but she noticed that Apex had been making notes on where to make changes, starting with taking the Dal from her upon Trick's death.

"Good thing that's not about to happen," she mumbled before setting the papers down and walking back up the stairs. When she entered the main room again she noticed Kenzi chatting with the bartender, her beer and plate of wings half gone. "I see you've found some food," she said, sitting on the stool next to her.

"It's wing night!" Kenzi exclaimed happily. "Brant was just telling me about Trick's assistant and what an asshat he is."

"Well, good because I just fired him," Bo said, taking a wing off Kenzi's plate. "He was Trick's assistant on the Ash's behalf and I don't like that." She looked at Brant, noticing that he had already taken a liking to Kenzi and it wasn't to feed. "Did he actually manage anything when it came to running the Dal?"

He shook his head. "No, we only worked with Trick. I don't think Apex wanted to work with us. I heard him tell the kitchen staff he didn't speak with commoners."

"He sounds fantastic," Kenzi commented sarcastically.

"Would you watch over the place for me until Trick is better?" Bo smiled at the bartender, knowing that he probably had been anyway if Apex really didn't care about the day to day activities of the Dal. "His doctor said he should wake up in a day or so. The treatment they're giving him is working."

"That's great and yes, I'll handle everything here until Trick comes back," Brant said. "Apex made it sound as though he was slowly dying. I'm happy that's not the case. Trick is a great boss."

"He has a great doctor," Bo said, smiling at the thought of Lauren.

"On that note, Bo-Bo, we should get going," Kenzi said. "It's late and we've got things to discuss."

The look in Kenzi's eyes told her that Brant must have told her some good information while she had been downstairs with Apex. "Sounds like a plan. Brant, I'll stop by tomorrow to check in, okay?"

"Sure thing, temp boss," he said, grinning. "Let Trick know we're thinking of him."

Bo and Kenzi said their goodbyes and walked out of the bar, into the cool night. Bo could tell Kenzi really wanted to say something about her time away from Bo and it only took the time for them to get in the car before she spoke up. "That was equal parts weird and fascinating."

Bo let a smirk show as she started up the vehicle. "How so?"

"Like all those people in there weren't really people, but most of them looked human," she said. "Brant made sure everyone left me alone. He said he doesn't agree with the whole 'humans are food' thought that some Fae think."

"Did he tell you anything about what's been going on at the Dal?" Bo asked.

"Oh, yeah," Kenzi said, grinning. "You know I have a way with peeps. He said Apex had been taking weird meetings the last couple days with Fae who'd never been in the Dal before. He told everyone working there that Trick was dying and there wasn't much doctors could do."

"How would he know? He was never even at the clinic after Trick was admitted." Bo shook her head. "I knew the Light was involved in this. I bet that idiot detective hasn't done anything yet."

"Speaking of detective, are we going to talk to him?"

"I don't know," Bo answered. "He said he talked to Apex, but he didn't seem all that concerned about him. I spent five minutes with that idiot and I have plenty of concerns."

"So we need to talk to him," Kenzi said, "but not tonight. All those wings and beer has made me tired. Mama needs some sleep."

Bo laughed. "All right. I'll pick you up in the morning and we'll see Dyson. Maybe he'll actually be useful."


When they arrived at the police station the next morning, the officer at the front desk said that Dyson was unavailable. Bo figured that he was giving them the brushoff and one touch and pulse showed that she was right. The officer quickly changed his tune and led them back to where the detectives sat.

Dyson was sitting at a desk, looking at a computer screen with someone Bo assumed was another detective. She cleared her throat and the pair looked up, Dyson not looking very happy to see her. "Bo, what are you doing here?"

Bo raised an eyebrow. "Surprised since you told the officer at the front desk to tell me you weren't here? Lucky for both of us that I can work a little magic, right?"

"Yes," he said slowly and looked at the other man. "Why don't we go to the interrogation room and Hale can wait with your . . . friend?"

Seeing his distaste that she had brought a human with, Bo thought it would probably be easiest if she spoke with him quit and got it over with. She doubted he had much to go on anyway. "Okay," she agreed before looking to Kenzi. "I'll be right back. Try not to steal anything."

"No promises," Kenzi muttered as she glared at Dyson.

Bo shook her head, silently telling her to let it go, before following Dyson back to the interrogation room. She took a seat at the table while he shut the door behind them. "Now what can I do for you?"

"I want to know where you are in the investigation."

Dyson sat across from her and crossed his arms. "There's not much to tell. We didn't find any trace of the poison at the Dal and there wasn't any additional information obtained with the tests performed by Dr. Lewis."

"Did you interview Apex since he's the one who found him?"

"I did," Dyson nodded, "but he didn't give any leads on who would want to do this. We're lucky he found him when he did or Trick might have died."

Bo thought for a moment about whether or not she should share all her theories with Dyson. He worked for the Light and for all she knew, he was giving reports to the Ash. Since the Ash was the reason Apex was Trick's assistant to begin with, she figured she would have to tread lightly until Dyson proved to have a mind of his own. "So he wasn't suspicious or anything?"

He chuckled. "Why would he have a reason to?"

"Because when I went to the Dal, I found that he was telling all the workers that there was no hope for Trick. That he was slowly going to die. Doesn't that seem odd to you?"

"He hadn't been to the hospital since the first day when Trick's prognosis was dire," Dyson said, shrugging. "He's been busy running the Dal."

"Not anymore," Bo said, reading Dyson as he looked at her. She could pulse him, but he knew her powers and probably wouldn't tell her anything. He was definitely attracted to her and while she knew she could use that, thoughts of Lauren entered her mind when she thought of seducing him. "He wasn't doing anything but hiding out in Trick's lair so I let him know his services weren't needed. The Dal is in capable hands until Trick is released."

"Really?"

Bo smirked. "Since he was placed there by the Ash, I'm sure he can get another job." She stood up. "I am disappointed that you don't have more. I figured the Ash's best detective would have some suspects, but I guess I will continue to look into this on my own."

Dyson stood as well. "We have it under control and I'm confident we'll find the party responsible for poisoning Trick."

"I think I'll find the Fae who actually did it, not who you want to arrest." Bo turned away from him and opened the door. She smiled when she saw Kenzi sitting on a desk, chatting happily with the other detective. They seemed to even be flirting a little. "Kenzi, we're going."

She hopped off the desk and grinned. "Hale was just telling me some cases he and Dyson have had. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was all crap."

He grinned as he took off his fedora and extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Hale. I'm Dyson's partner."

"Bo Dennis." She noticed the raised eyebrow at her last name and shrugged as she shook his hand. "It's what I've been going by for the last 10 years."

"Fair enough." He smiled and Bo liked that it was genuine. She also liked that she could tell he was into Kenzi in a big way and that the feeling was mutual. "Be careful out there."

They walked out of the station silently and Bo waited until they were safely in the car until she spoke. "What was that all about?"

"What?" Kenzi said nonchalantly, but the grin on her face didn't go away. "He's really nice and didn't bite my head off when I asked what his superpower was."

"Kenz, they're not superpowers."

"They are to me." Kenzi's eyes lit up. "He's a siren! Cool, right?"

"Did he tell you anything?"

Kenzi nodded. "He said that they haven't been talking to anyone or really working on it at all. They were given a high priority case today so he thinks it might be lost in the shuffle."

Bo shook her head angrily. "I knew they wouldn't care if someone from the Light was responsible."

"He gave me his card in case we need help. He's a hell of a lot nicer than that Dyson guy. Even told me that he didn't think Fae were any better than humans."

Seeing Kenzi hopeful that all Fae weren't assholes made Bo smile. "Come on, you can tell me more over lunch about how hard you're crushing on him."

"I am not!"

"You know I can see it, right?" Bo asked, driving away from the station and in the direction of Kenzi's place. She planned on dropping her off after lunch so she could prepare for her next date with Lauren. "It's one of my superpowers."

"Ha, ha," Kenzi said sarcastically. "He was just cool, you know? It was nice to not be treated like garbage."

Bo nodded. "I know, Kenzi. Let's stop at that diner by your place. My treat."

"Now you're talking!"


A/N: not much Doccubus interaction but the date's next so the next chapter will be full of it. Please let me know what you think! I have a bit of writer's block on Moving Forward but I'll write whatever comes to me. Until next time! Twitter: hayley128 :)