Lauren watched apprehensively as Dyson entered her sanctuary. "Can I help you, or did the puppy get lost?"

"I'm here on behalf of the Ash," Dyson said calmly. "Can we talk like civilised folk?"

Lauren said nothing, waiting for Dyson to speak.

"The Ash is concerned about your work for the Alchemist," he began. "Apparently, they don't get along very well."

"My work with the Alchemist is personal and the Ash knows that."

Dyson snorted. "When it affects your work for the Ash, it becomes his problem."

Lauren stiffened. "You can tell the Ash to rest assured. My dealings with the Alchemist should be done by the end of the week and things will go back to normal."

"Sure," Dyson said quietly. "How's Bo doing? I haven't seen her in a while."

"Bo's doing great. We just prefer not to frequent the Dal as much these days," Lauren said smugly. "We tend to stay in."

/

After Dyson left, Lauren locked herself in her office. She stared at her own reflection in the mirror against the door for what felt like hours. Everything about Lauren was different, and it was becoming clearer. How nobody had noticed it was beyond Lauren.

She was so close to finding the answer that she could feel it in her bones. Or maybe the feeling was part of the answer. Either way, things were changing fast.

Lauren sighed and left the office, searching for Marook.

/

Bo entered the lab, looking for Lauren. She noticed an open file next to Lauren's microscope that drew her attention. Her name appeared a few times. Making sure she was alone, Bo started reading.

Subject shows remarkable change in strength, similar to Bo's abilities. Previous sparring test with Marook shows increase in speed and agility. Further tests required on senses.

Subject's eye colour has changed dramatically. Bloodwork is clear of any infection, slight traces of Fae DNA detected on last test. FTR to compare subject's DNA to human/Fae born. (See: Veronica de Vaux)

Stamina has increased exponentially, to the point where Bo's feeding has almost no negative effect. Excluding above mentioned, other vital signs remain unchanged.

FTR on Bo, after trail period expires.

Bo stopped reading, trying to process everything. What the hell was Lauren working on, including Bo, without her knowledge?

Without hesitating, Bo threw the file on the counter and stormed out. Lauren had some explaining to do when she came over for dinner.