We let Sera drive Bo back in the mustang as I took the Camaro back home from the fae hospital, Anya was in the ICU in critical condition, my mother was taking extra care of her. Tamsin was in the burn ward sedated as the doctors worked on trying to repair the extensive burns she received. Sera refused to visit Tamsin and sat with Finnegan in his office until Bo was patched up enough to go home.
I drove slowly, I was tired and felt guilty about Tamsin. She had always been the brunt of so much within our family. Finnegan had already begun to send word out that the attack on Tamsin would be considered and attack on his own family, hoping to draw out the contract holder and bring them to punishment. I pulled in behind Sera as she helped Bo out of the car. Bo was in desperate need of a full feed. I shut the car off and ran to help Sera get Bo upstairs and into bed. Sera ran to her room and grabbed a few things, "is it okay if I stay over at Andy's for the night? I think AK is going to be wicked pissed at me in the morning for juicing her and you and mom need to um..." she made a fidgety motion with her hands, "its going to be loud, is what I am getting at." she looked at me, still sad and very tired, "his parents will be home and his mom makes me sleep in the guest room." I smiled at how responsible my succubus daughter was, even after she displayed an immense amount of power that could shatter me in a moment.
"that's okay, yea. Don't tell him what happened and be careful." I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, "i will call you in the morning as soon as mom and I are up, we can talk then." Sera nodded and looked into the bedroom where Bo was curled up into a ball, sleeping painfully, "go, I cant stand to see mom like that." I could see tears welling up as she ran back down the stairs and out of the house.
Walking back upstairs, wishing that my daughter did not feel it necessary to cloud her thoughts around me all the time, I went back to Bo. Bo was still in a ball and opened her eyes when I walked in, smiling weakly, "hey."
I sat next to her on the edge of the bed and lifted her up to lean against me as I took off her leather jacket. The burns on her arms were deep and hurt as she moved, "bo you need to heal."
"don't be shocked, but I am actually not in the mood..." bo looked up at me with pained eyes, I could tell that she was still digesting what happened. I ran my hand down her cheek, "i would be shocked if I didn't know you were lying." I ran my thumb over her lips, "sera is staying over at Andy's for the night, and before you get too momma bear, his parents are tougher than we are." I bent forward, kissing her forehead, then the tip of her nose, and settling at the corner of her mouth. I knew exactly what spots on my wife would turn her on. She sighed hard and pushed into my hand, opening her eyes to reveal that they were bright blue, "Lauren..."
I shook my head as I covered her mouth with mine, kissing her slow and delicately, knowing it would drive her insane. I could feel she was tentative and hesitant, worried about her daughter and friends. "this is what I love most about you, Bo. You worry about yourself last...even when you dont need too." I let my fingers graze gently across the soft skin of Bo's neck and down to the front of her shirt, settling at the edge, I lifted the shirt slowly off of bo. She winced as she moved, twisting burned skin and sore muscles. This was the first time I had ever seen Bo this cautious in the bedroom. I brushed my lips against Bo's, pulling a slow moan out of her as I would not make full contact. I was trying to wake her up in more ways than one, I whispered, "take from me." bo responded, meeting my mouth with a slightly guarded urgency, until my tongue found hers. She suddenly leaned back as I felt the familiar pull of chi, Bo stopped in gasps as I watched some of the burns and bruises dissipate, she cut the ribbon of chi off, turning away from me, still tentative to feed.
I brushed my fingers against the edge of her breasts before I bent, placing slow kisses against the edge of Bo's black bra. I reached behind her and unclasped her bra, revealing her to me. I kissed around her nipple, knowingly riling her up, but it had to be done, Bo was still holding back, her unfounded guilt coursing through her. I continued the soft kisses as I tugged at Bo's jeans, delicately pushing her back on the bed as I hovered over her. I pushed down her jeans past her hips, only moving from her breasts to kiss her again, making her take more from me, she took more this time and it began to kick start the succubus in her and the need to heal, she reached for my neck and held me against her mouth, kissing and pulling chi from me at the same time. My hands found her hips, Bo pressed hard against my hands as I broke away from her kiss. I laid quick kisses down her neck, her chest and slow kisses down her stomach. I stood up for a moment to remove Bo's jeans completely, her eyes were now blazing bright blue, and she grabbed me hard, causing me to fall on top of her as she ripped off my shirt, hands searching out my breasts, fingers running over my nipples in haste of wanting more, needing more. We kissed feverishly, as my hand came between us, my fingers made Bo arch her back hard as she pushed down on me, breaking off the kiss. I took the opportunity to push her back, and settle between her legs. I gripped at her hips and pulled her closer to me, before she could object I ran my tongue over the one spot that always unraveled her. It only took her a minute to let out a scream and buck her hips against me. Bo collapsed on the bed breathless, I smiled as I moved back up her body, I met her eyes as the infamous smirk appeared, "your the only one who can do that to me..." I smiled as I was quickly pulled up into a deep kiss, rolled over as Bo settled on top of me, her blue eyes flickering in between their normal color and the desire I had fully woken up in her, I ran my hand down her face, "i love you." Bo smirked and pulled me up, so we were now sitting in each others laps, "i love you more, Lauren, because you wont give up on me, never have and never will." she kissed me, her hands tangling in my hair, holding me tight against her kisses as she took from me, her hand moving between us taking its turn in pulling aching gasps from my body. We made eye contact and I could see my grey eyes light up in the reflection of my wife's beautiful blue eyes.
The slight sting of the cold sheets as I rolled over woke me up. I ran a hand over Bo's side of the bed and found her to be missing. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock, it was a little after three in the morning. I rolled out of the bed and pulled on a baggy sweat shirt and old pajama pants. I pulled off the extra blanket from our bed and walked down to the patio where I knew Bo would be.
I found her sitting in one of the large chairs on our patio, knees up against her chin wearing a tank top and her favorite sweatpants. Her eyes were trained on the night sky, the bright stars dotting the sky and casting a gentle ambient light on the earth below. I smiled as I sat down next to her, her burns were gone aside from a faint red mark of where they once were. Her burns were deep and sera was right, Bo needed more than the normal healing and it had gotten loud. As soon as I sat down, Bo curled up into me as I covered her with the blanket.
"i wanted to be mad at you for letting noodle stay at her boyfriends, but looking back, it was for the best. I am certain we would have embarrassed her for life." Bo looked up at me and smiled, finding my hand and squeezing it in hers.
"it was actually her suggestion to go stay with Andy, to give us some space to make sure you were taken care of. Those burns were bad, and I was afraid if we waited any longer." I let out a breath, "you were in a lot of pain, bo."
Bo sighed and closed her eyes, "what happened? I don't remember much after the one grabbed me and threw me at you and Anya. When did sera show up?"
"she pulled up after you were knocked out. She saved us, used her powers to defeat the cloudsmen and call my mom to send help." I stared at the night sky as images of Sera's power filled my head, "apparently her succubus powers mixed with her others and she became, becomes more powerful than you. She was able to take their chi like it was nothing."
Bo said nothing, her mind drifting to the intense burning of when she tried to pull from the cloudsmen. She snuggled harder into me, forcing me to hold her tighter, "how is Tamsin and Anya?" She was changing the subject, I could tell she was struggling with the levity of the powers we both passed onto our daughter.
"mom was walking into surgery on Anya, Tamsin is still sedated until she stabilizes from her shock." both women were in critical shape, my mother was concerned about the two more than she wanted to show. Cloudsmen were a rarity in the fae world, mysterious and no real research existed on them, because of the immense amount of power they held and when they were sent out, they almost always won the battle. Until they came across a very upset fifteen year old. As my mother told me about the condition of the two women over the phone, I could feel her go over the what ifs of what could have been if sera did not uncloud her thoughts when she called for help, it gave my mother a better foundation of diagnosis to work from. She was also concerned about the level of power Sera exhibited.
I shivered, the night air was cooling fast even as I had a very warm woman in my arms, "we will go first thing in the morning to check on them." I looked at Bo, she had fallen asleep. I lifted her up gently and carried her back up to bed. I realized that my wife just simply needed to be held, it was all she wanted and needed in that moment.
In the morning, Sera was waiting in the kitchen for us when we came down. She was making breakfast as Kenzi read comics at the table, her feet up on a empty chair. Bo walked straight to her, hugging Sera in a rib crushing hug, "hey."
Sera smiled as she held her arms up, hands full with a plate of food and a spatula, "i am making an apology breakfast for everyone."
Kenzi peered over her comic book, "you're damn right an apology is necessary." she looked over at Bo who had let Sera go, moving to push Kenzis feet off the empty chair so she could sit, "Bo bo, the baby succubutt here has quiet the juicing power. Better than anything you've got." she then shot a look at Sera, "but don't ever do that again kiddo, or I will tell your moms about that one thing you promised me to never tell." Sera's eyes widened as picked up what Kenzi was thinking. "and I thought mom grounding me was bad."
I tried picking up what it was kenzi was hiding from us, but was quickly met with my daughter blocking it and staring at me, "some things are better left to secrets between two friends, mum."
Sera walked to the table, setting down a huge plate of food smiling as Kenzi attacked it. Sera folded her arms as she stood behind her mom, "you guys, I am really sorry about showing up last night, and juicing AK to get the car keys from her."
Bo reached back, grabbing Sera's hand, "don't be sorry, mum tells me that you showed up at the right time, helping all of us."
Sera blushed, "i just reacted." she hopped up to sit on the island counter, watching Kenzi demolish the food, "i am going with you two to the compound. I want to talk to grams and gramps." I nodded as I slid into the seat next to Bo. "of course, we are leaving as soon as everyone has finished breakfast. I want to check on Anya and Tamsin and see what I can do to help."
Sera nodded and stared at her swinging feet, she said nothing as she reached behind and grabbed the rest of the food she made. Standing up to set it on the table, she still said nothing as she began to walk out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. Bo looked at her, "are you going to eat, noodle?"
Sera shook her head and kept moving, "i am not hungry, mom." She ran up the stairs leaving us and Kenzi singing her "more for me" song as she piled more food on her half empty plate. I sighed and ran my hand down Bo's back, feeling her concern, "lets let her be for a little bit, last night took her by surprise just as much as us."
"Anya's surgery went well, we were able to repair the internal damages and so far, she's holding." I flipped through the pages of Anya's chart as my mother kept on with her progress report. "as for Tamsin, the debridement of the burns is going to take a few more days. Valkyries do not heal like normal fae, they tend to replicate the healing process of humans." my mother let out a breath as she pulled off her surgical cap, she was tired having performed the surgery on Anya herself. "there is also an apparent infection in both women from the cloudsmen. It seems that their touch is riddle with poisons or a toxin of sorts, that slows down healing and increases infection chances. Anya is fairing better with the infection since her natural elf blood is full of natural antibiotics, Tamsin...well she is struggling." my mother rubbed at her eyes, "These cloudsmen were a double dose of evil. Bo was lucky you were there to take the edge off when she took from them. Your chi is her cure all since you two are so deeply bound together." I listened as my eyes were still glued to the test results and daily progress reports. I took a breath and looked up into the window of the room tamsin was laying in. Bo was standing with Kenzi at the foot of the bed as they worried over the Valkyrie. I closed Tamsins chart and watched Kenzi hold Tamsins hand, issuing her own brand of get well soons. Sera was not with the two, she had disappeared as soon as we got to the compound to find Finnegan. My daughter was still very distraught ,but I had no idea how to get through to her especially since she was still clouding her thoughts, more so after the nights events. "mom..."
She turned to me, "you don't have too, when sera called me, she allowed me a glimpse inside of her mind and I could see everything that was happening, that happened. Her powers, what she did and why she did it." My mother gently took the charts from me, "she is remarkable, in heart and soul, not only in her fae gifts." she motioned me to follow her as she handed off the charts to a nurse, "this may be an awkward topic, but has Sera and her boyfriend, um, met the succubus? So to speak?"
I shook my head, "as far as I know, no. Andy has not shown me anything that would tell me otherwise, and I can read his thoughts clearer than I can read Bo's." my mother furrowed her brow as she nodded, thinking deeply, "normally when a succubus feeds, her powers increase, but Sera is surviving on injections and only injections. I know they are not enough for how powerful she is showing herself to be." she met my eyes, "keep an eye on her. This event has taken a toll on her in more ways than one and the poor girl is unsure how to handle it all."
"neither do I, mom." I smiled and linked my arm into my mothers, "come on, lets get you to bed. You need to rest more than the rest of us."
After a few hours at the compound, Bo and Kenzi headed home. They kept a vigil at Tamsins bedside, telling her stories and keeping her company, letting her know that there were people watching over her. I stayed back to help my mother with and to take Sera home when she was ready. She had reappeared after a while, coming out of the depths of the ancient light fae library, to eat quickly and quietly before returning to the stone basement. Sera had been reading as much as she could find on succubus powers and how hers could be so strong, stronger than her mothers who had been proclaimed to be the strongest ever seen in succubus history.
I looked across the desk, my mother was sleeping lightly on her couch she kept in the lab. I covered her with a blanket, kissing her forehead as she used to do when I was little. I stretched and took off the borrowed lab coat and embarked on locating my daughter in the compound, I wanted to take her home to be close to bo and I.
I walked through the hallway of the hospital wing, rubbing at my neck, I had been hunched over charts all day as I tried to help my mother work on the infection Tamsin and Anya were fighting. As moved past the door to Tamsins room to take one last look at her chart, I heard a soft voice talking. I paused and listened harder, after recognizing the voice I peered in the doorway.
Sera was sitting next to Tamsin, wearing the hoody she had been wearing everyday since we took her home from school early, her hands were hidden deep into the long sleeves. "i hate that you call me midget, still, even though I am almost as tall as you. You were right, Danny is a dick, will always be a dick that was upset I turned him down." sera leaned her head back, staring at the ceiling, "you make me so mad sometimes, Tamsin." I glanced at the Valkyrie, laying in the bed motionless as she was heavily sedated to keep her body at a even level to aid in fighting the infection. Her arms were covered in bandages and there were bruises dotting her face. I watched as my daughter, pushed a hand out from her sleeve and grabbed Tamsins hand, leaning closer to the Valkyrie, whispering, "i am sorry I didn't get to you faster, I tried." Sera was about to say something else when she turned to me, "mum."
I stepped into the room, offering her a comforting smile as Sera pulled her hand back into her sleeve, standing up from the chair she had pulled up to the bed. I half hugged her, "i came to take you home, its been a long day."
Sera kept her eyes on Tamsin, settling on the massive burns that showed through the clear bandages my mother had made to aid in clearing out the infection. "grams is worried about how long it will take for her to come up with a antibiotic, and how long it will take the Valkyrie to come out of this."
"Valkyries don't heal like us, Tamsin is very sick, but very strong, she never gives up a fight." I nudged my daughter, "you of all people should know that."
sera would not break her gaze from the woman lying before her, "i found the file from when mom brought you back to life, after you died in the desert."
I gasped lightly, Bo and I had left out that detail on purpose, "Sera...your mom and I, that was a difficult thing for the both of us."
She shook her head, "that's not why I read the file, I wanted to find something, anything to help you and grams, I hacked into the system to get to the restricted files and I found it. It gave me an idea, moms ability to pass back life into you, reviving you." Sera looked at my eyes quickly, "grams is scared Tamsin will die if she cant stop the infection, even after using the super cure all injections developed from your original injections for mom." Sera moved to her bag, pulling out a handful of crumpled sheets of paper, "I worked all day on a possible antitoxin antibiotic, but I cant get anything to work right. It all falls apart, or is not strong enough. I blew through most of the cloudsmen blood samples grams collected as soon as they arrived here."
I took the crumpled papers, filled with messy scribbles and hurried handwriting and felt tears rising at my daughters drive to help the one person I was certain she hated.
"than I dug through gramps books and called grandpa Trick for advice." Sera pulled back her hood and pulled off the sweatshirt completely, revealing that she was wearing an old, ratty t-shirt from the dal, "i want to try something, mum." she threw the sweatshirt to the side and looked at me, "i am going to need your help."
"sera, what are you going to do?"
taking a deep breath, "i am leaving science at the door and relying on good old fashioned fae magic." I watched as sera closed her eyes, focusing deep until her hands began to shimmer purple. When she opened her eyes, they were now purple and blue flecked. She glanced at me, her eyes bright, "don't ever tell her I did this." sera waved me over, "when I say it, hold her mouth open for me."
I nodded and moved to the side of the bed, sera was pouring in thoughts of trust to calm me down. I watched intently as her hand moved over Tamsins largest burn. Her fingers making slow, knitting movements as a purple haze grew around her hand. Within moments, the wound began to change color from the angry red of an infection to a calm, healthier pink, the edges of the burn slowly smoothing out with every movement of Sera's hands. As quickly as it started it was over, sera's hands closed in on themselves and when she stood up she moved to a surgical tray, holding the gauze and bandages the nurses left for Tamsins next debridement. Sera opened her hands over the trays, I watched as the red ribbon of energy quickly sucked into her palms in a similar manner of a backdraft fire. She looked up at me, "i figured if I could focus my rage and powers to choke out a man and lower a old woman's body to the ground, I should be able to focus other emotions hard enough to pull out the infection with my telekinesis, mix it with my succubus chi pulling gift and turn it into a semi solid energy form. I then absorbed it into my own body through my hands." sera then moved to where I was standing, taking a deep breath, nodding to me, "okay mum."
I held Tamsin chin up and back, as my daughter bent close to her mouth. A slow ribbon of purple and blue flecked chi moved between the two. As soon as the ribbon of energy passed across Tamsins lips, she gasped and opened her eyes, startling Sera, who backed up quickly and ran out of the room.
Tamsin rolled her head to look at me, her voice raspy and gruff, "you are my bad luck charm, captain."
"are you gonna eat that jello blondie? Or can I have it?"
Tamsin pushed the green wiggling mass towards kenzi who was sitting almost on top of the Valkyrie. "take it."
"score!" Kenzi dug into the jello as Tamsin focused back on me. "so captain, what were you saying about my getting out of this joint?"
I laughed, "mom will probably clear you tonight, Anya will be here for a few more days now that her infection has cleared out." I scribbled in Tamsins chart. It had been three days since Sera brought Tamsin back from the grip the infection had on her. The burns began to heal rapidly and Tamsin felt little to no pain.
Tamsin laid back on the pillow, "i am just glad she is okay, what a terrible double date." she let out a sigh, "did I miss the midgets birthday?"
I shook my head, "no, its Friday. Sera has asked for no party this year, Bo and I had to bargain her to at least agree to a small family dinner with all of us." I kept at my notes as Kenzi mumbled, "pfft all that confetti, gone to waste."
I ignored Kenzi, "anyways, you are more than welcome to come and join us." I looked up at Tamsin and set her chart down.
Tamsin nudge at Kenzi, "could you give me a little more room here? Your leather pants are making me sweat."
Kenzi frowned, and slid off the bed, "i lurve you too blondie." she set the empty jello dish down, she gently punched Tamsin in the arm, "good to have you back, cranky as ever." Kenzi bounced out of the room as Tamsin rolled her eyes at the back of the Russian girl.
"how is midget doing?" Tamsins voice was soft when she asked, Sera had been distant and reverted back to her normal behavior around Tamsin, distant and cautious.
"Sera is doing okay, I think it has taken her a moment to adjust to her new powers and dealing with being a teenager." I smiled, "she has a boyfriend now, I forgot to tell you when I last saw you."
Tamsin smirked, "really? Hmmm. I hope it isn't that dickhead Danny."
I laughed, "no, its not Danny. Thank god. Its a nice boy from her applied science class, Andy. Bo and I have approved of him, he's quite the gentleman."
just before Tamsin could blurt out on of her typical comments, Sera walked into the room. Tamsin and her looked at each other, "um, mum, AK wants to know if she can teach me how to do doughnuts in the compound parking lot." She buried her hands into her hoody, shyly looking at Tamsin, "how are you feeling?" Sera had not been in to visit Tamsin since she had healed her.
"better, midget. I heard I have you to thank for that." Tamsin smiled lightly.
Sera shot me a look, "i asked you not to tell her." I could see she was irritated with me, "i will go ask mom about driving with AK." she turned to walk away, Tamsin called after her, "hey midget, come back here."
Sera huffed and turned around to stare at Tamsin, pushing at her red hair, "what."
"next time listen to the old lady when I tell you to get the hell away."
Sera groaned, interrupting Tamsin, "really?"
"let me finish?" Tamsin stared at the teenager in front of her, "you got to me just in time, you saved my life and I think that makes us even, now." Tamsin was gentle in her words, even as sera rolled her eyes, "whatever, can I go?"
I went to open my mouth to say something to my rude daughter, when Tamsin laughed, "you do hate being called midget, thank you for finally telling me. It just kind of stuck and I am glad that you agree with me about Danny."
Sera paused, her frown shifting to a mild look of shock and confusion, "how?" Tamsin had been deeply sedated, not remembering much of anything.
tamsin shrugged, "i only remember hearing your voice and everything you asked of me and told me."
Sera suddenly blushed, pulling up her hood and walking out of the room quickly. I looked at Tamsin, "commander, what was that all about." I raised my eyebrow. I could feel that there was more to just the things I had also overheard in the room right before Sera used her powers to pull out the infection.
"i think the only time the kid can get in my head is when she lets her guard down and shows her true emotions towards me. The first time it was pure anger I was leaving and this time, fear." she looked up at me and smiled, "both times I felt the exact same thing, angry that I had to leave her when I just met her and afraid that I was going to die from those black cloud bastards. It has only been those two times, the rest of the time, the kid is a damn enigma of teenage angst and annoyance directed at me." she sighed as I stared at her, she rolled her eyes, "what? I have had some therapy over the years...don't judge." she folded her arms and started picking at the gauze covering her arm. I reached over and slapped at it, "don't pick at it."
Tamsin frowned and looked at me with her cool blue eyes, "i know what you're thinking too, and hell if I know what it means." she scratched at her arm and rolled out of the bed, "can I go see my girlfriend and then sneak a beer?"
"yes to the girlfriend and no to the beer, antibiotics and alcohol don't mix." I held out my hand to help her out of the bed. Tamsin groaned as she held onto my elbow to steady herself, "you are still no fun, even though you were totally about to give her permission to do doughnuts in the parking lot."
"fine, I will sneak you one beer, but don't tell bo about that." I silently motioned to the request to destroy my fathers perfect parking lot and ruining the brand new tires on the mustang.
Tamsin laughed, "never happen." we both smiled as I walked Tamsin down the hallway where a smiling Anya was eagerly waiting a warm hug from her girlfriend. I watched the two interact, they seemed happy but I still wondered about the connection my daughter and the Valkyrie had that made them impermeable to each other on so many levels.
this is just a connecting chapter, pulling things together until the kids bday where things pick back up, something happens that kind of changes the kid...and maybe one or two more with her as a fifteen year old then onto her twenties. its obvious the kid is at a crossroad in her life with her powers, her thoughts, her feelings and all that. TBC!
