Author's Note: Be warned, I listened to Godspeed on a loop while I wrote this, so it's a little intense with the angst, but hopefully not too over the top. Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement; I hope the conclusion doesn't disappoint.

Freyja had given the succubus a week to settle her affairs before being taken to Valhalla and it was quickly coming to a close. Tamsin rose at dawn on the last day of this grace period. As the sunlight filtered into the room, she gazed at Bo, wanting to memorize every detail of her image. The Valkyrie refused to let herself cry; there would be time for that later. She quietly packed her things into the duffel bag and left it by the door before returning to make one last sweep of the bedroom. She was kneeling beside Bo to take one last look at her when the succubus stirred.

"Why are you awake so early? We were up all night, come back to bed," she demanded sleepily.

"The kitsunes called in a favor so I'm off to do a little job for them. It won't take long; sleep in and I'll be back in a couple of hours," Tamsin lied. She ran her fingers through Bo's hair and embraced her one last time, savoring her smell and the feel of her skin.

"Okay, see you later," Bo murmured as Tamsin kissed her softly on the forehead.

"I love you, Bo," she whispered reverently, knowing it would be the last time she got to say it.

"You too," the brunette sighed.

The detective felt an instinctive urge to climb back into bed. It took everything she had to stand up and walk out the door. I have to do it; she'll be waking up in Asgard next week if I don't do this. They are all counting on me.

There was a chill in the air when Tamsin met Hale outside the shack. "Are you sure these things work on Valkyries?" he asked, passing her a tranquilizer gun.

"Drugs are drugs. All the same principles apply to us."

They stealthily located the falcons on the roof, near Bo's bedroom window. Taking aim at the exact same moment, the detectives shot the birds down and Tamsin went to retrieve them.

"Thank you, Hale, for everything," the Valkyrie told him as she loaded them into her truck. "Give my apologies to Dyson, I never gave him a proper goodbye."

"Of course."

"And please… take care of her," she managed to choke out.

"I promise we will."

She nodded back at the siren, who could see the heartbreak in her eyes. He stepped toward her and pulled her in for a heartfelt hug. She let out a heavy sigh, "Time for me to go."

"We all wish things were different, Tamsin," he told her as she walked toward the truck.

"Me too," she lamented.

The Valkyrie drove to the sorority house and sat for a moment in the parking lot, bracing herself for the task at hand. She glanced at the falcons laying unconscious in the backseat. Tamsin had to make the succubus believe that she was one of the birds and she knew they wouldn't have agreed to collaborate with her. From the moment she'd seen them gliding through the air outside the Dal, she'd recognized the pair. They were two sister Valkyries she'd never gotten along with, sent specifically for that reason, no doubt. They'd be angry upon waking, but hey –at least she'd only used tranquilizer darts. She carried the slumbering birds over to the nearby ravine, setting them down safely under a bush where they would eventually regain consciousness.

Her heart full of dread, she trudged up the steps to the sorority house. Empty bottles of peach schnapps lay among the flowerpots, signaling to her that the kitsunes had held a party the night before. Tamsin frowned and shook her head at their shitty taste in liquor.

"God, Tam-Tam, why do we have to do this so early?" Casey had answered the door in her pyjamas, clearly hung over.

The blonde stepped past her into the house. "I had to leave while Bo was still sleeping, otherwise she would have wanted to come along."

"This is like, seriously intense, you know? I don't know why we agreed to this."

"Because I'm your friend, Casey," Tamsin reminded her in an unconvincing tone. "I can't do this at her house or at the Dal. I don't want her to have to revisit the place where she killed me." Her tone was stern, masking her sadness.

"Okay Tam-Tam, but you seriously owe us."

"I do. You can call on me for three favors in my next life," the Valkyrie swore to them.

"As if," Amanda scoffed, "You won't be coming anywhere near Toronto again in your next life, otherwise you'll run into the unaligned succubus and curse her all over again."

"You always were the clever one, Amanda. Here, why don't I give you a lock of my hair? It fetches a high price on the black market."

"Fine," Amanda grumbled, rooting around in a drawer until she found some scissors. She cut off a sizable lock of the Valkyrie's hair, which Casey deposited in a Ziploc bag and stuffed in a cupboard.

"Okay then, it's settled. Do you have the clothes I asked for?"

Casey handed her a bag from The Bay. "A spaghetti-strap tank top and a pleated skirt, both black, right? You hate skirts."

"That's the point. I have to wear something she won't associate with me to make the disguise work," the blonde explained as she dragged herself into the washroom.

Shutting the door, the detective changed into her new outfit and carefully unwrapped the syringe the druid had given her. You have to do this, You have to do this, You have to do this, she repeated to herself as she injected the contents into her arm. A disorienting coldness passed through her and she leaned on the sink to steady herself, looking at her own face one last time with utter self-loathing as she uncorked the rune jar and downed the liquid inside. She felt a sudden pain, as if the molecules that made up her body were rearranging themselves. Her head throbbed and her veins burned. After a few minutes she looked back into the mirror, only to see a stranger staring back at her.

Never give your heart away, Tamsin, or you will suffer for it. Freyja's words echoed in her head once more. She wasn't fucking kidding.

"Make the call," Tamsin coughed to Casey as she stepped into the living room. The kitsunes were stunned by her physical transformation and stood speechless for a moment before Casey went off into the kitchen to dial Bo. Amanda's eyes fell upon a leftover bottle of vodka sitting on the mantle. She brought it to the Valkyrie, who nodded at her gratefully and chugged the whole thing down at once. Who am I kidding? All the vodka in the world couldn't prepare me for this, Tamsin thought to herself as she stumbled up the stairs.

Bo woke to the sound of her phone buzzing; she had ignored it at first, hoping to sleep in longer, but whoever was calling was persistent. She didn't recognize the number on the screen.

"This better be important," she answered, still half-asleep.

"Bo! It's Casey," the fox fae announced hysterically, "Tamsin was just here at our place but someone came and took her!"

The succubus bolted out of bed. "I'll be right there," she replied, suddenly wide awake. Yanking on her pants, she scanned out the window: the birds were gone. A feeling of panic set in as she bounded down the stairs and jumped in the Camaro. Speeding through red lights, she frantically dialed Dyson as she neared her destination, but it went straight to voicemail. "Dyson, I need you at the kitsunes' sorority house on campus. They've taken Tamsin. Please hurry."

Bo skidded into the parking lot, observing that Tamsin's truck was still there. She raced to the house and threw the door open without knocking. Casey and Amanda were waiting in the kitchen, both pale-faced and holding back tears. "There were two women, one took her and the other went upstairs," Amanda apprised her.

The succubus gestured for them to go and crept up the stairs. Peering around the corner, she saw a strange woman at the end of the hallway, looking into one of the rooms. She had flowing blue-black hair and wore a black top and skirt; Bo could tell she was a Valkyrie. Stella had cautioned her to be careful, that young Valkyries were a force to be reckoned with, but her protective rage numbed her fear as she stepped forward.

Having gotten Bo's message, Dyson arrived on the scene to find Kenzi and Hale were already waiting outside the house. The kitsunes had called them, as instructed by Tamsin. They greeted him with grave expressions. "Where's Bo?" he asked, confused.

"There's something we need to tell you before we go inside," Hale admitted solemnly.

Bo marched down the corridor toward the unfamiliar Valkyrie, who turned to face her. The succubus looked into her striking black eyes; it was as if one of the falcons was staring back at her. "Where is Tamsin?" Bo demanded furiously, but the woman said nothing. Her face began to darken as the succubus reached her, indicating that she was about to use her deadly powers of doubt. In one fluid movement Bo grabbed the Valkyrie, sent a pulse of charm into her shoulder to pacify her, and leaned in to crash their mouths together, sucking her chi out as forcefully as possible. The woman sighed in surrender and her eyes fluttered shut.

Bo felt an electric rush. This Valkyrie's chi was intoxicating, much like Tamsin's. The succubus hadn't fed in a while and it was as if the hunger that had been building for days took command of her body. She closed her eyes and pushed the Valkyrie into a wall, continuing to push her persuasive charm for fear that without it her opponent might come to her senses and manage to resist her. The brunette felt the other woman weakening but held her steady and made sure to draw out the very last of her life essence, remembering Stella's words: do not hesitate to drain her chi –all of it. The Valkyrie's body tumbled face down to the ground and Bo stepped back, overwhelmed by the intensity of the chi she had just absorbed.

Pondering her next move, she looked down and realized something unusual was happening: the Valkyrie's hair was changing color in front of her. It settled on a familiar blonde hue. Weird.

Then she smelled it: the faint, familiar scent of vodka. She'd been so hasty attacking her opponent and so ravenous feeding off her that she hadn't noticed it before. No. No. No. The brunette urgently turned the body face up.

It was Tamsin.

Her face was drained of color, her eyes were closed, and she looked peaceful. Peaceful and most certainly dead. Bo's heart came undone as she sank to her knees. She cradled her lover's body in her arms and immediately brought their lips together, hot tears starting to fall as she sought to transfer chi back into the detective. But the Valkyrie didn't kiss her back -the golden wisps just flowed back into her own mouth. She did it again. Then again. She felt for a pulse; nothing. "Tamsin. Tamsin. Tamsin," the succubus whispered over and over again, repeating her lover's name as if it were a plea, as if she could will her back to consciousness. But the Valkyrie's body remained lifeless.

"No!" Bo let out a guttural sob when the truth of the situation dawned on her. Tamsin had planned this, and there would be no reviving her. "How could you?" she cried aloud, as if the blonde could hear her. "Don't do this to me!" she begged futilely.

"Bo," Kenzi called to her in a sad, soothing voice as she emerged from the staircase. She, Dyson and Hale slowly approached the brunette. The human knelt beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Kenzi was crying but her voice was steady. "Bo, I am so, so sorry."

Bo wrapped her arms around Tamsin, burying her face in her chest as she sobbed. Her friends looked on, powerless to ease her grief. Dyson leaned against the wall and slid down to a sitting position; he held his face in his hands and wept silently.

After a few minutes that felt like hours, Kenzi finally spoke, "We should take her out of here."

"Okay," the succubus agreed, her voice barely audible. She kissed the Valkyrie once more on the forehead and then let her go.

"I've got her, Bo," the wolf assured her. Dyson delicately lifted his partner and carried her out of the building, laying her in the backseat of her beloved truck, where he found the keys waiting in the ignition. The succubus was dizzy from shock and leaned on her best friend as she rose to her feet. Kenzi and Hale led Bo down the stairs and out the door.

The human drove a dazed Bo to the Dal in her Camaro, with Dyson and the siren following close behind. Trick had kept the bar closed and was waiting there with Stella. They settled the succubus into a booth and her grandfather brought her a hot drink that smelled of anise and several herbs she didn't recognize. "Drink this," he directed her, "it will help calm you down." She gulped it down, eager to take the edge off.

"Where's Tamsin?" she asked when the wolf entered.

"I'm sorry, Bo, but she's gone," a red-eyed Dyson sighed, "I left her in the backseat but when I got here and went to find her, her body had already disappeared."

The succubus let out another sob at this revelation and collapsed into Kenzi's arms.

"That's normal. When Valkyries die, their bodies naturally return to Valhalla shortly thereafter," Stella explained.

"You knew. You all knew," Bo accused them in a soft bitter voice.

"I didn't know," Dyson reassured her, "no one told me until I got there. But knowing Tamsin, I'm not surprised."

"It was the only way to break the curse, and she made us promise not to tell," Trick pleaded.

"There had to be another way…" the brunette began.

"I had no meeting with Odin, Bo," Stella revealed. "Freyja told me that the curse would stand unless you defeated Tamsin, and that if you didn't, others would come for you, and for her."

The succubus paused to let this information sink in.

"How did she…" Bo stammered, her voice trailing off.

"The druid gave her a compound to disguise herself, and an elixir to prevent her from being healed so you wouldn't be able to transfer her chi back to her. Bo, you have to remember, it was the end of her life cycle. She was going to die sooner or later, and if you weren't going to do it, Odin's other unforgiving minions would have. They would literally have torn her limb from limb for betraying him."

"And she would have endured that in order to avoid putting you in this position, but you had to defeat her to lift your own curse," Trick offered.

"You gave her an easeful death," Stella ventured. This was little comfort.

A desperate idea popped into the succubus's head as she regarded her grandfather. "Use your blood to write the Valkyrie's curse out of existence," she appealed to him.

"I'm sorry, Bo," he replied, "I told Tamsin you would ask me to do that. Stella told her it would have dire consequences, so she made me swear not to do it."

"Of course Stella told her that," the succubus answered with a venomous tone, "You're always around giving helpful advice."

"I don't blame you for your anger," Stella responded, "But sometimes you are unrealistic, Bo. I warned you this story wouldn't have a happy ending."

Trick whispered in the elder woman's ear and she took her leave. "It breaks my heart to see you in such pain, but getting angry at Stella won't bring Tamsin back."

She couldn't bear to look at him any longer. "I want to go home," the succubus asserted numbly. Kenzi led her out of the Dal and drove her home.

All of her things were gone, but Bo could still smell the Valkyrie's familiar scent on the pillows. "I am never going to see her again," she muttered to Kenzi, overcome by a plunging feeling of hopelessness. "She will never return here, even when she's reborn. She'll just … wander the earth alone forever."

"She knew that. That's why she left this for you." The human presented her with an envelope containing a handwritten letter. The succubus held her breath as she read it, clutching Kenzi's hand for support. She could hear the Valkyrie's voice echoing in her head.

Bo,

I cannot fathom how betrayed you must feel as you read this. I've never faced a dilemma that hurt this much. It destroyed me to lie to you once again and to ask your loved ones to be complicit. It was not a choice they made lightly and I hope you won't hold it against them. I don't expect you to forgive me for doing this to you; I know I never will.

By the time we met I was already running on steam, counting down the days until I would get to die and start over. Then you walked into my life —or rather I into yours— and it was as if I was reborn. You taught me to think outside the old ways, outside everything I have taken for granted about what it is to be a Valkyrie. You showed me what life could be like without my wretched curse, that my heart too could be both strong and gentle. Never in my lifetimes had I ever known the kind of joy I felt in your embrace and I would burn all of Asgard down if it meant I could be with you.

But I am too weak to do that. So I took the coward's way. It was, it is, a selfish decision. I couldn't bear to be the one to tear you from Trick and the rest of your chosen family. You told me once that Kenzi was your heart: you belong with her, not in Valhalla. This was all I could do to ensure you wouldn't end up there.

I deceived you today, but please know that I meant every loving word I ever offered to you. You are perfect to me. I do think you have what it takes to flourish unaligned. Your integrity is boundless, and meeting you rekindled my own.

For millennia my heart was hidden away, I never thought I would love anyone; just a few months with you made me unravel completely. I don't think I will ever be able to leave the Sanctuary; how could I surrender my feelings for you and go back to the way things were? You gave me the best week of my existence, a week I never want to forget. But it's over, and all I can say is that I'm sorry. You meant everything to me, and I hope you will live the long and happy life you deserve.

With love and sorrow,

Tamsin