As another piece of equipment in her quarters started making noise Lauren made a few adjustments before going back to studying the latest slide she had placed under the microscope. Despite the best effort of her staff, the preliminary examination of the deceased humans, and last Fae, from the attacks had gone beyond the normal work hours and left Lauren working from the lab in her condo.
The compound had better equipment, but at the first sign of trouble staying upright in a chair, she transferred what she could to her personal lab and took a break long enough to eat an order of take out. Spending most of the day examining the organs of a Fae that did not seem to have died from assault, and analyzing the results from the samples afterwards, required a frustrating amount of active participation that had not gotten her any closer to an answer.
It wasn't until the sudden sound of something ringing that Lauren remembered she had asked Bo to check in on the chance she needed help in gathering data from the locations of the attacks. Mostly it was just something to say as she left the clubhouse and a rather sullen looking Bo at 6:43 in the morning. Knowing the woman though, there were probably several texts and a couple of messages making sure she wasn't in need of a rescue seeing as she had left her cell in the office all day ignoring it's ringing.
Answering the phone Lauren didn't even get a chance to greet the succubus, who she had thoroughly enjoyed spending a few hours alone with, before the woman's voice echoed through the small speaker.
"It's not desperate Kenzi, she asked me to call!" Bo loved her best friend, she really did. But, after listening to the girl's running commentary about her relationship with Lauren, which started simply because she checked her phone for missed messages every few minutes, had left her considering leaving the pint-sized human at the Dál and letting Kenzi bother Hale for a ride home.
"Yes I did, though I was thinking more around lunch. At this hour I'm not sure you would be able to properly see the area or find any of the samples I needed." Lauren felt a genuine smile surface at the thought of Bo trying to find and retrieve samples of the various fluids that could be produced by a deceased Fae. Somehow the leather outfit just seemed more suited for pummeling Fae than identifying the type of Fae from the blood splatter left on the ground.
"Hi Lauren." After making a shooing motion to Kenzi, who had already been wiggling her eyebrows and performing a mime act that had some of the Fae entering the Dál looking rather confused, Bo moved away from the front entrance. "You're not at the compound still are you?"
"No, I've been home for a few hours. Sorry I didn't call, I should have let you know that I didn't need those samples." Lauren knew that she had simply forgotten to call Bo after the autopsy got underway. Given how important the woman was to her she immediately felt upset by her carelessness. "Well, if you really want to make it to me I'm at the Dál with Kenzi. We'll probably be here for a couple of hours as Kenzi is certain she can prove Trick's liquor supply is magically replaced as soon as a bottle is empty. After that I'll be home with a passed out Russian and nothing to do. You could bring some files over and I've still got that bottle Kenzi hasn't found yet or I could grab some wine before I leave." Waiting for a response Bo felt like that teenage girl who would twirl the phone cord in her fingers while waiting for the cute boy to say something. The fact it was over a decade later, talking to a woman who could turn heads in a lab coat, and that it was thoughts of Lauren in nothing except a lab coat distracting her, made no real difference.
"That sounds great Bo, really." Looking around the room Lauren had to admit it didn't have the same charm as the club house.
"But you're working on something that's really important and requires some place with walls." Bo slumped down with her back against the brick wall as she accepted she wouldn't see the woman. It was a bit weird given it had been less than 24 hours since she saw her, but over the last few weeks she had gotten use to Lauren being around and she didn't want to lose that.
"Mostly it's just some tests and a report about these preliminary findings, but the Council has concerns about possible Dark Fae involvement and I'm hoping to rule that out before the idea permeates among the rest of the Light Fae." Lauren had to admit that she felt just a hint of excitement at Bo's disappointed and that made the next part of their conversation all the more difficult. "Actually, Bo I won't be able to leave the compound unless it's on an official matter."
"Why? What's going on?" Bo felt instantly panicked, getting to her feet and heading towards her car. Without Lauren most the Light Fae would be dead. Bo didn't trust that to stop them if they decided to blame Lauren for getting their asses handed to them by humans.
"Bo, it's not like before. The Elders are limiting travel outside the compound for all Light Fae as if there is another incident. Most of the council is being kept away from the compound under the same reasoning." Given her history with imprisonment, the security measure understandably sounded negative. It was definitely an inconvenience, but the decision made sense and given that most of her staff had already complained of their suddenly rigid schedules, she didn't feel like anyone was trying to punish humans. That she and other wards of the Light Fae were regulated to on-site housing was simply because that was where their residences were.
"What's going to happen when they change their minds Lauren?" Bo walked past the car as Lauren's level headed behavior started causing doubt that her plan to drive to the compound, through the security gate, possibly over some Fae, and rescue the woman, was necessary.
"Bo, I'll be fine. The council doesn't believe the attacks were random, or that the humans acted on their own. They don't have any interest in directing blame away from the Dark and I'm not sure they'll even listen to my report if it shows they're wrong." Lauren could hear Bo pacing and felt the weight of ruining Bo's night landed squarely on her shoulders as the woman remained silent.
Even if Lauren wasn't being mistreated Bo wasn't happy about being kept away from Lauren by a group of paranoid old Fae. "If the Elders really are just trying to keep things calm around the compound they'll want to know of anything that could help them. What better source of information is there than an unaligned succubus who can talk to Dark Fae without starting a war?"
"Well, there are these Underfae that can burrow inside a person and feed on their hippocampus. They can survive for months on the new memories being created by the host and rituals even exist where those memories are absorbed by another. Of course the extraction method often kills the host, and that would likely result in executions or a war." It was only after she finished that Lauren realized she hadn't considered Underfae involvement at all in her tests and forgot she was actually in the middle of a conversation. "Bo, I could kiss you."
"I'm going to hold you to that doctor." Bo wasn't sure what Lauren was doing, but suddenly the doctor sounded busy and that meant she would have to wait for the promised reward.
Lauren smiled at Bo's response and started adjusting the test parameters to keep her thoughts from straying to the likely scenarios of where that kiss would lead. "I'll get you that clearance Bo. We are going to need your help and politically the Elders can't refuse the Champion." Lauren knew how much Bo loathed the title, but it carried importance in the political world that would outweigh concerns over the succubus not being Light Fae. "They'll stall for a few days Bo, but that's just politics."
"A few days? Lauren you shouldn't have to ask and wait for anything. You stopped the Garuda from snacking on an entire city of Faebefore destroying the world, which should entitle you to a pony and not being locked up in the lab because the Light Fae Council is suddenly scared of humans." She was only alive because of the brilliant doctor and yet neither one of them could see the other when it suited them.
"Bo, Fae politics is very complicated, especially without an Ash. I wouldn't be good company for the next few days anyway." Even if there were no further attacks Lauren knew there would be weeks, if not months, of work ahead of her all stemming from the one incident, the more immediate days were especially important.
"I'll see what Kenzi and I can find out from the Dark Fae. Remember that's breakfast and a kiss you owe me." Bo finally felt the last of her anger slip away at the thought of kissing Lauren after she geeked out about why breakfast was the most important meal of the day, or the chemical balance of syrup, without needing to worry about the stupid Fae. If she could make the woman's life easier by taking her frustration out on some creepy Dark Fae than all the better to get through the next 72 hours.
"Just be careful Bo." Lauren had found nothing suggesting Dark Fae involvement, but if she was wrong that mistake could end up putting the succubus into a very dangerous situation.
"I'll be fine Lauren, but if you need anything just call me." Finding herself at the front entrance of the Dál, Bo made one last effort to test the doctor's selflessness. "The compound's not that far from the Dál, I could bring that bottle of wine to you."
Lauren smiled and shook her head, the woman was incorrigible. "Good night Bo."
Hearing the call end, Bo stared at her phone for another minute before putting it away and walking into the Dál. The conversation didn't exactly go how she wanted it to, but she felt more relaxed now than she did when wandering the city looking for a stolen vase that, not surprisingly, no one had ever heard of. Kenzi had graciously given her the crack shack until Lauren left for work. The act of kindness in the girl staying with a cousin apparently meant she now owed her a night out at the Dál and a new pair of boots.
Bo spotted the other very important woman in her life already seated in her usual stool at the bar with a bottle of vodka in front of her. Two other people who held a place in her heart were also accounted for, but clearly too lost in some conversation about the centuries before indoor plumbing, to have paid much attention to her arrival. Oddly enough, Kenzi seemed to have an interest in the story as well, which probably had something to do with the half empty bottle of vodka in front of the girl.
"Clearly no one told the two old guys that it's impolite to let a lady drink herself into intoxication." Bo smiled at all three of them before being overwhelmed by her enthusiastic friend.
"Bo Bo, the Boobylicious Slayer of Stinky Big Bird, its drinking time!" Kenzi had endured over 30 seconds of old-timey stories before she couldn't wait any longer for Bo to finally show up and when Trick turned to keep talking with Dyson she decided to just help herself to the bottle.
Meeting the lax attitude of the two Fae with a questioning glance Bo only got a shrug from Dyson and a sympathetic smile from her grandfather. Two gestures that meant she wasn't going to get any help. "And I think that's a sign that I'm officially late to the party. Let's get the mighty sidekick home before the evil hangover kicks in."
"Not yet, wolfy was just getting to the good part." Somewhere along her goal of starting at 100 and counting backwards in Russian for each shot she took Kenzi had picked up on the tales of old battles and wanted to hear more about what Dyson did when there were no robot-hookers to kill.
"Just go home Kenzi, the stories will still be here when your sober." As Trick took the bottle and shot glass away he watched Bo help the tiny human to her feet.
"Kenz, I think you were just cut off for the night. Now let's leave these nice men to their boredom." Physically lifting up Kenzi off the stool by the waist and guiding her away from the bar was easy enough. Typically Kenzi stopped protesting once they started moving, but as Bo started pulling, Kenzi actually pushed away.
"But I want to hear how all this ended last time." Giving her best friend the best drunken puppy eyes she could manage, Kenzi also tried to stay standing under her own power at the same time.
"What do you mean how it ended last time?" Bo looked at the two men for an answer, but neither one met her eyes. Dyson's stories never had any modern importance and on the occasion one of her grandfather's did it was never good.
"Wolfy and Trickster were all up in that shit when some humans went crazy and they were just getting to the good part."
Keeping a hold of her swaying best friend Bo waited for a reply only to see a silent exchange between the shifter and her grandfather, something that she saw far too often in the past to take as a good sign. "What is the drunk Russian talking about?"
"It's nothing Bo, a misunderstanding of history and too much alcohol for all three of us." Trick moved the aged whiskey from between him and Dyson back to its place on the shelf, hoping that would be the end of it why preparing to handle its continuation. Bo's inquisitive nature came from his wife's side of the family and just as with her grandmother there were things that he kept out of the light of day from Bo. He had shared too much about the world with his only daughter and that would not be a mistake he repeated with his only grandchild.
"Kenzi, I need to you tell me what Dyson said and then we'll see if wolfy will share the rest of the story." Seeing the happy smile on the girl's face Bo offered a smile of her own thankful for small favors that Kenzi wouldn't remember much in the morning. Before the girl could start with what she heard though, it was Dyson that chimed in.
"Bo, I didn't think she was sober enough to actually be paying attention." Ever since the Garuda there was something about Bo's reaction to the slightest irritation that Dyson did his best to avoid provoking. Honor required he explain his actions though and he could only hope Bo stayed calm.
"Well clearly you were wrong. Now, what was it that reminded you two of a time when humans attacked Fae?" There was no response until she moved to leave with Kenzi in hand, and made the two Fae decide how they wanted her visit to end.
"There was a war Bo. About 350 years ago in northern Europe. A few Fae had gotten careless and exposed too much to the humans in the area. Some of the humans started asking questions, but instead of bringing an end to it with deflection the Fae revealed themselves completely to them. They argued that the humans were capable of living among Fae as equals, that interference with their rulers was unnecessary." Trick, like Dyson, had never assumed Kenzi would actually take an interest in their conversation. It wasn't even a topic most Fae had an interest in.
"That's it? Some Fae refused to follow these stupid rules so the Light and Dark started a war?" Bo had heard enough similar stories from Lauren and Trick to know she wasn't the longest reigning neutral Fae in history, but that, in comparison to most Fae lifespans, those that didn't choose a side, or refused to blindly support the one they did, died young.
"Like it or not, their actions made them an enemy to all Fae Bo. Those rules keep the humans from doing anything foolish and the traitors should have honored their oaths when the Elders asked it of them." Dyson turned more to face the succubus. The woman was naïve, but not stupid and he disagreed with the Blood King on hiding the truth from her.
"Yeah, wouldn't want the Fae to do something radical like being nice to the lowly humans for once. Guess you wouldn't want to risk finding the buffet table actually feels something." It was an old argument, but Bo wasn't going to give up on it simply because the Fae had a long history of being assholes.
"I'm sure they felt a lot when murdering those Fae yesterday." There were four Fae dead at the hands of humans and Dyson wasn't going to let that go simply because the succubus had a soft spot for them.
Bo wanted to walk away, to hit Dyson with a bar stool and get back to the point. Fortunately for the shifter she wanted an explanation more than she wanted to hurt him, though not by much. "Upset that you missed a chance to show off your wolf without getting whacked on the nose with a newspaper?" There was a low growl from Dyson at Bo's reaction. She had no regret over her choice of words, especially as she heard Kenzi fail in her effort not to laugh.
"Bo, the traditions might seem foolish to you, but Dyson and I have spent our lives trying to keep the Fae and humans safe from each other." Trick felt relieved when he saw Bo take a step back and her hand moved away from the dagger she had reached for after Dyson's irritation became clear.
"Understand that the Light took every effort to reduce the loss of life. With the clans in agreement, a more direct route allowed the Light to move against their army without needlessly risking conflict with the rest of the population. The clans offered terms of surrender first, but the Fae refused and the humans in their army were loyal. The war was short and the Fae responsible for their mistakes captured at the end of it. Most of the humans came to believe the stories about the Fae were simply lies, which was enough for the clans to recognize that with the army defeated, the threat of exposure was minimal."
"Oh I'm sure the clans were very happy after beating down the big bad humans with their deadly pitchforks." Bo didn't find anything good about the war being a short one or that the two men had started discussing it after yesterday's attacks.
Dyson laughed at the comment. The idea of humans using pitchforks and torches as weapons seemed to come up in every movie the humans did about evil Fae coming to eat them, but when Bo only seemed to become more irritated, it reminded him that she probably sided with humans when watching those films.
Ignoring Dyson's strange outburst Bo kept her eyes on her grandfather. "What happened to the humans that actually knew about the Fae though? There must have been people who supported them and figured they hadn't been lied to."
"Bo, you need to understand none of the clans were willing to risk being exposed to the other humans. There was a resistance gathering strength that believed if they could find the exiled Fae they would be able to defeat the Light and Dark by having those Fae prove to other humans that they existed. Part of the truce between the Light and the Dark was that any humans identified as a threat would be regarded as unclaimed." Trick did not want to delve further into the history of that time, not when it would only upset Bo, but his granddaughter seemed determined to burden herself with the past.
"And what the hell does that mean?" Bo didn't want to hear some cryptic Fae bullshit and if Dyson wasn't being such an ass about it she might have thanked him for at least being honest with her.
"It means any Fae could kill any of the humans without the risk of offending the clan they served." Almost as soon as the words echoed in the bar Dyson felt something pull on his energy, familiar yet more aggressive, but before he could be certain it was Bo doing it the succubus slammed her palm on the bar and the sound that came from it startled everyone in the Dál.
"Of course it does. Well, we wouldn't want the clans getting offended that a human drank for free in a Fae bar." Without much thought to any protest the woman might have had, Bo grabbed Kenzi's hand and heading for the exit, leaving some money, and a deep crack, on the wooden surface. She paid no attention to the few lingering Fae that had lost interest in anything except the argument and their departure.
"Asshole." Putting the woman gently in the front seat Bo made sure that her anger didn't affect how she treated her best friend. The door on her side of the car door though was not spared from her wrath as she slammed it shut. "I cannot believe that the world has gone crazy and all Dyson can do is talk about murdering humans."
"Sorry Bo Bo, it sounded cooler when there was a free bottle of vodka involved." Kenzi was the first to throw down if some person, with or without super powers, started causing trouble, but seeing her strange group of family fight each other wasn't a situation where she felt like breaking out the brass knuckles.
"It's not your fault Kenzi, Dyson is completely to blame for being a dick. I don't like that he's been taking shifts guarding the compound these last couple of weeks either." Bo gripped the steering wheel and ignored a stop sign as she put further distance between them and the Dál.
"Dyson has been playing security guard? The same Dyson that requires we all sit at the bar because those literally giant Fae sized booths don't have enough room?" She felt buzzed, but even after that much vodka Kenzi had trouble picturing the wolfman sitting at a desk and playing solitaire on the computer.
"Yeah, one of the nurses that works with Lauren said he has been in the lab six or seven times checking up on things. She even overheard him suggesting that they post guards near the living quarters." Bo thought of the last time she saw Dyson and Lauren together, he had been on the woman's heels to make sure she filled in the council when they were too scared to come out of hiding. That Dyson might have been the one that pushed for the humans at the compound to be locked up when they weren't working had Bo considering turning the car around and pulling that bar stool out from under him, before using it to beat some sense into his thick head.
Kenzi knew her friend was thinking Bo smash puny wolf and she really didn't want to see how that match up would turn out, though if it came down to it she would put money on her bestie. "Bo Bo, I'm sure hot pants would have told you if there was a problem. She's got it so bad for some soccubust that she would tell you the atomic weight of all our furniture." Kenzi yawned and then put her head against the window as it became too heavy for her neck to support. "Bo?"
"Yes Kenzi?"
"If Lauren starts telling you the atomic weight of our furniture you have my permission to succubus her on the couch to get her to stop. Just thinking about it has made my head hurt."
Despite everything she had heard at the Dál Bo couldn't help but laugh at her roommate's distress. "I'm sure the headache has nothing to do with all that vodka."
"Damn straight, tis like water."
Despite the proclamation Bo noticed the girl was quickly falling into a vodka induced sleep, complete with light snoring. They weren't far from the compound and after how her day went Bo really wanted to see Lauren. Knowing how the visit would most likely go, Bo kept on the route towards the crack shack. There would not be enough boots in the world to get Kenzi to forgive her for leaving her in a car for a few hours just because she wanted to thoroughly distract Lauren from whatever work the woman was doing.
Another chapter in the tales of unbridled Doccubus attraction, a drunken Russian goth and two cranky old men. If you enjoyed it a review is always appreciated and don't forget to favorite and follow.
