Author's Note: There is method to my madness...

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Rain and mud splashed up the back of his pants as Dyson sprinted down the street. Kenzi, Hale and Cleo were a block behind him. They had all been at the Dal sharing a pitcher and discussing the case when Lauren's frantic call had come through. Everyone had stopped talking at the look on Dyson's face and when he pushed back from the table so fast that he knocked the chair over, they knew something was terribly wrong.

He skidded to a halt, sniffing the air. He shouted and waved an arm before taking off again. He loped out into the street where a startled motorist honked amidst screeching tires, and hollered behind the safety of her windshield. Dyson looked at the woman, his expression fierce. The driver's eyes went round as saucers and she paled to a ghostly white before peeling away.

When Dyson entered the alley, the first thing he saw was a human lying on his back, rain splashing over his destroyed face. Dyson could tell he was alive because the guy's legs were twitching and his fingers curled and uncurled in pain.

Shifting his gaze away, Dyson saw two more men—obviously dead—before finally spotting Bo. She was propped against the wall, one arm slung around her middle. Her other arm cradled Lauren's unmoving form. Though her eyes were tightly shut, her body tensed and she opened them in alarm as he splashed up to her.

Bo didn't have to speak. Dyson knew her first priority would be to make sure he helped Lauren. He knelt down and gently lifted the doctor off Bo. Bo raised her hand, reaching for Lauren as he shifted the blonde's limp form away. But the succubus was so weak that she had to drop it to her side after a moment.

Dyson hurriedly felt for Lauren's pulse; it was thready. The doctor's face was ashen and her lips, curled into a garish Joker-like grin, were surrounded by bluish-grey veins. He was reminded of the look on the face of the young man Bo had killed before Dyson and Hale had met her.

He looked over to Bo with a stricken expression on his face. If they didn't do something soon, Lauren would surely die. Bo beckoned to him with a feeble motion of her hand.

"I need… to… feed," Bo ground out between clenched teeth.

Dyson barely managed to nod before Bo's soft lips closed over his and she began to syphon his chi. She took only enough to give her a boost of energy before shoving him aside. She struggled up and moved to Lauren.

Kneeling before the prone woman, Bo dragged the doctor into a sitting position and kissed her deeply. When she pulled away, Dyson saw that Bo was forcing her life essence into Lauren. The purplish-blue flow lasted merely seconds before Lauren seemed to revive. The doctor coughed and immediately curled into a fetal position, shivering uncontrollably.

The commotion of the others arriving at the entrance of the alley drew Dyson's attention. He stood up and waved them over. Hale was already removing his jacket as Bo helped an incredibly weak Lauren to her feet. The siren put his coat around Lauren's shoulders and moved to assist Bo with the blonde.

"Bo," Dyson whispered.

The succubus looked over and then followed his gaze to the gash across her stomach. It was still open and bleeding. Bo had known the wound should have been fatal. The hot, ropey stuff she had tried to hide from Lauren could have been nothing other than her intestines. She had almost completely husked the doctor, yet it had scarcely been enough to keep her alive until Dyson's arrival. The shifter's chi had healed her enough to be able to function, but it was clear that she would still need more.

"What happened?" Kenzi asked, surveying the scene with incredulity.

Before anyone could answer, a rush of foul air surged through the alley. A shimmering orange and red fire danced above one of the dead humans before coalescing into the body. The body rose from the ground, arms and legs hanging limply as the chest expanded.

Hale forced Bo and the doctor to move a safe distance away. Cleo grasped Kenzi's shoulder and maneuvered the girl behind her. Kenzi huffed, but stayed put. Dyson faced the reanimated human just as its head snapped up. It dropped to stand on two feet.

Fiery, dead eyes surveyed the scene. A wicked smile spread across its features before a gravelly bark of a laugh erupted. "So much fear," it said in a rasping, surreal voice, licking its lips. "Delightful." The abomination's gaze settled on Bo.

"Champion," it addressed the succubus, taking a step forward. Dyson growled. The thing ignored the shifter, obviously not threatened. It looked Bo up and down, shaking its head. "The fate of the fae rests in the hands of a weak, mewling child," it said, unleashing another amused laugh.

Dyson lunged just as the body exploded in a fiery mess. The shifter threw an arm over his eyes to shield from the brightness. He was thrust backward while flaming, fleshy bits pelted him, but somehow managed to keep his feet.

The alleyway had returned to darkness and the others merely stared through the gloom to where the dead human had been standing, each one attempting to process the situation to the best of their abilities.

Dyson wiped gore off his face. "Everyone okay?"

"I need a freakin' drink," Kenzi muttered.

"That ain't gonna help, Li'l Mama," Hale said. "Things just got real." The siren shifted his weight slightly as Lauren leaned a little more heavily on him as she attempted to disentangle herself from Bo.

"We need to report to the Ash," the doctor said quietly. She turned to Bo. Her eyes widened, noticing that the succubus' hand was still firmly pressed to her stomach. "Why aren't you healed?"

Bo's mouth worked, but she couldn't force herself to tell Lauren that the sacrifice she had made, which nearly ended the doctor's life, had not been sufficient. She didn't know what to say. Lauren, of course, read between the lines and her eyebrows knit together as she closed her eyes, fighting off anguish. She took a deep breath and moved away from Hale's support all together. She walked a little way down the alley, before stopping with her back to everyone.

"Hale, get Cleo and Kenzi back to the Ash's compound. Take that one with you," Dyson said, indicating the remaining living human. "Maybe we can get some answers out of him, if he doesn't die first."

He looked at Bo and said, "I'll be right back."

As he approached Lauren he could tell that she was crying by the way her shoulders were shaking. "Hey," he said quietly, gently squeezing her shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay." The doctor shrugged away from his touch and turned to look at Bo, who stood leaning against the wall for support, just out of earshot.

"She died, Dyson."

His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"

"She was dead!"

"But how—"

"I used chest compressions to keep her blood circulating. I kept kissing her in the hopes that some primal survival instinct would kick in."

"It worked."

The doctor chuckled derisively. "If she had been with you it wouldn't have been a close call."

"Lauren, you can't think like that," Dyson said quietly. In an effort to distract the woman from a conversation he was positive he did not want have, Dyson waved a hand toward the human that Hale was currently lifting into a fireman's carry. "You did that?"

Lauren shrugged. "You could tell?"

"Well, the other two suffered knife wounds. That one's face is a bloody pulp." He gripped the doctor's wrist and lifted her hand up. He pushed back her sleeve to get a better look at her fingers. The bandages they had applied earlier that day were covered with fresh blood. "You might have broken something."

Lauren waved his concern away. "It would be a small price to pay," she muttered. Dropping her hand to her side, Lauren contemplated the shifter. Her gaze betrayed the pain she felt at her failure to heal Bo. "You need to finish it, Dyson."

Cursing the doctor's tenacity, Dyson tried to feign ignorance. "What?" She merely stared at him. Finally he sighed in frustration, his shoulders drooping. "Don't ask me to do this, Lauren."

"Dyson."

"Bo is a grown woman! She's capable of choosing her own partners. She chose you."

Lauren dropped her voice. "That may be the case, but the choice was made easy because you got yourself taken out of the running. She loves us both equally. She would—" Lauren's voice faltered and she had to swallow around her pain to continue, "she would give in to you if you went to her."

"I can't. I just can't."

"This isn't about her choosing between us anymore, Dyson. If you still care about her—even if you can't love her—you would be there for her."

He clenched his teeth, suddenly angry. "What are you, a goddamn pimp?" He hadn't really meant to snap at her, but he couldn't help himself. The chasm signifying the absence of his love for Bo sprawled within him and he consistently stood at its precipice. What Lauren was asking might push him over the edge. If he gave up hope of getting his love back, he might never recover.

He stalked away.

"It's about the champion's survival," Lauren whispered harshly to his back, knowing full well what a low blow it was.

He turned back, a hard expression on his face. "I'll help her this time, if she wants it. But the two of you need to find another way, Lauren."

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