It Began In Africa: Epilogue
This part is completely optional from the original story. It ties up the one loose end left by the story and there may or may not be some sexy times. Posted for the International Day of Femslash. Enjoy!
SIX WEEKS LATER
A knock sounded through the clubhouse and Bo moved quickly to answer the door. Earlier that evening, she had shipped Kenzi off to the Dal for the night and ordered in some of the best Chinese food in the city. The only thing missing was on the other side of that door. It creaked as she pushed it open to reveal Lauren looking-stunning of course-though Bo could be biased. She hadn't seen Lauren in a few weeks since the Tokoloshe and did Bo ever miss her house calls.
"Come in," Bo said enthusiastically.
Lauren smiled pleasantly and slid through the doorway, past Bo. Bo closed the door carefully and took a few quick steps to catch up to Lauren in the kitchen. She didn't know why she was so nervous. Lauren had been there countless times. They'd shared everything from a movie, to dinner, to her bed and yet here she was, mentally chewing her fingernails over one evening. The table was set with candles and an array of red cardboard containers. Bo thought she'd overdone it, but the rise in Lauren's shoulders as she sighed was sign enough.
Lauren smiled at Bo over her shoulder. "I brought some wine," she said, holding up a bottle.
Bo's eyebrows raised. "Ooh, looks expensive."
"Well," Lauren started, but stopped herself. "I've been saving it for a special occasion," she said, walking behind the island to retrieve a corkscrew from the drawer. In a few deft moves Lauren was pulling the cork from the bottle. She poured the fruity white wine into their glasses and sat on a stool across the table from Bo.
Bo held up her glass. "To finally getting an evening together."
Lauren smiled and tilted her glass to meet Bo's in a toast. They sipped the wine quietly and regarded each other like two teenagers on their first date after school sharing milkshakes at the burger joint on the corner. Lauren opened her mouth to speak, but took a second to start. "Why does this feel so…"
"… Weird?" Bo drank from her glass again. "This is delicious."
The distraction was welcome. "It was, ah…" Lauren stopped herself and closed her eyes. "My favorite," she finished.
Bo watched the woman across from her. She knew what Lauren was omitting. "Shall we eat?"
The awkwardness was frustrating. Bo felt so at ease around Lauren every other time, why was this different? The conversation eased from work into elementary school and family vacations, and with each egg roll consumed, the atmosphere relaxed. Before they knew it, they had worked through the bottle of wine and broke into Kenzi's stash under the counter. Bo promised Lauren she wouldn't mind, though the first bottle paled in comparison to the one Lauren had brought.
"This is nice," Lauren said, pushing a chicken ball around her plate.
"Yeah," Bo agreed. She watched Lauren play with her food and imagined her getting chastised for it as a child at the dinner table. "Lauren, I…" she trailed off when Lauren looked at her. "We really have been through it all together, haven't we? I mean, this past six months has shown me how lucky I am to have you in my life seeing as you saved it single-handedly and everything."
"Yes, but-"
"But?" Bo interrupted.
Lauren reached into her jacket and pulled out a piece of paper. She slid it across the table toward Bo who inspected the red wax seal before unfolding it and reading the contents.
Dr. Lewis;This missive is to inform you that as of today you are released from your contract with the Light Fae. Thank you for your service. We appreciate everything that you have sacrificed for our clan.Sincerely,LachlanBo's eyes widened and she read it again. Slower and mouthing the words. The feeling in her chest was indescribable and the pulsing in her ears almost made her head throb. She looked up at Lauren, holding the paper out in front of her. "Is this real?"
Lauren grinned. "One of the Ash's assistants hand-delivered it last week."
"And you didn't tell me!" Bo exclaimed, swatting the air with the paper. She read it again and her fingers hid the smile.
"I've read it a thousand times." Lauren played with the stem of her glass. "It's been killing me keeping it from you, but I wanted to tell you tonight." Bo's attention was recaptured as Lauren gestured to Bo's filled glass. "Like the end of one thing and the… beginning of another."
They toasted the landmark declaration and Bo drained her glass. The revelation was massive. The implications, countless. Bo found herself unable to wrap her mind around this and so she sat, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're free," she said.
"Yes," Lauren grinned.
It was sinking in at an frustratingly slow rate. "What are you going to do?"
"Bo," Lauren leaned over the table, her out-stretched hand turning Bo's face to meet her own. "I'm doing it."
"What?" The shock on Bo's face was plain. "But you can go anywhere, do anything." Why are you arguing this? "Why stay for me?"
"I want to be with you, Bo."
"Me?" Bo repeated. "Lauren, this is so much bigger than me, I…" Bo smiled apologetically as she slid off the stool. "I don't want to hold you back."
It was apparent Lauren's heart dropped like an anvil. "Oh," she said trying to hide her disappointment. Then she nodded. "No, you're right. I mean, a human and a succubus together, it's unlikely to work because true monogamy is impossible."
"I never said that." Bo rounded the table to pick up Lauren's plate and set it aside with hers. She took her hands. "I want the same thing, but…" Bo watched her thumbs stroking the back of Lauren's hand. "I'm just so scared that I'll hurt you."
"That's my chance to take." Lauren reached out and pushed her fingers through Bo's hair. "I just want to be with you."
Bo took Lauren's hands from her hair and held them in front of her. Her heart beat against her ribs. "Lauren, you're just so… special. You're so smart and ingenious and… beautiful." She could feel Lauren's breath on her face before she felt her lips, pressing gently against hers. The seconds they touched made Bo crave for more when Lauren pulled away.
"I have one condition," Lauren said softly.
Bo leaned forward to capture Lauren's lips again, but she backed away. "Anything."
"I can live with you needing to heal," she said, relishing the trails left by Bo's roaming hands. "I don't… expect you to deny your basic need, but…" She pulled Bo's hands from her body, holding them at her sides so she could form a complete sentence. "I need to know that at the end of the day, I'm the one you're coming home to."
"Oh…" Bo freed her hands and took Lauren's face between them. "I wouldn't want to come home to anyone else." There was a time when Bo would have shimmied down a drain pipe to avoid the feelings talk, but with Lauren, it was a long time coming. Bo had chickened out once before and she had felt terrible about it afterwards. So here she was, telling Lauren she wanted to be with her in a fit of pure resilience again anything she was before.
In the seconds before Bo crossed the inches between their lips, there was a moment between them; a moment of pure serenity and understanding that had always been missing. Despite the number of times they'd fallen into bed together, there was never an intention. That wasn't to say there was no meaning, but what was expected the next day and the days after was never discussed.
They moved quickly through the living room, the leisurely pace quickly forgotten. Lauren held Bo's hand, pulling her towards the stairs at the end of the building, her mouth curled in a devious grin that Bo only saw when they were heading to the bedroom. Her stomach flipped, a feeling Bo had been missing as she moved from feed to feed and her grip on Lauren's hand tightened. She stopped at the doorway to the stairs, not far from Kenzi's bedroom door. When Lauren ran out of real estate and looked over her shoulder, Bo pulled her back, their lips meeting in a hurried kiss.
"Bo," Lauren started with a chuckle.
Bo knew she was known for her haste, but there was something about the heat building in her. The lure was too great. She pushed Lauren against the narrow table under the hallway light, the small vase teetered and righted itself. Bo eclipsed Lauren, unable to keep her need under so many restraints. She kissed her like she was never going to see her again, her mouth commanding, her hands pulling at Lauren's shirt.
Lauren's fingers fumbled at the buttons, leaving the shirt to hang open as she pulled Bo's face to hers. Bo's desire for the shortest path to the goal competed against her craving for Lauren and Bo was beginning to understand this overwhelming urge as something that was just as powerful as her biological necessity, just without the survival instinct. Her hands traveled Lauren's body and came to rest on the button of her jeans. Bo turned it on, pushing Lauren back almost to the wall and she smiled when Lauren pushed back, never one to give up in any avenue of her life. Bo thanked whoever was in charge of things in the world for that.
Without Lauren, Bo wouldn't be there, wouldn't be opening the jeans at Lauren's waist, and wouldn't be pushing them over her hips. She would never feel her hands in her hair, and the sigh from Lauren's lips wouldn't fall on her ears, making the wet impossibly wetter. Bo pulled at Lauren's jeans, leaving the bunched mess inches above her knees. If she was ever given the ultimatum of losing every memory but one, Bo picked the soft whimper that barely escaped Lauren's throat when her lips touched her.
Everything was magnified with Lauren. And Bo wanted to let herself go, to give Lauren everything she could take. She wanted to thank her in one of the only ways she knew how. Lauren's hands braced herself on the table she leaned against, her fingers curling around the edge, slowly turning white. Bo hummed as her hips shifted. Lauren tried to keep it together, but Bo's mission was the contrary. The doctor had spent the better part of five years keeping it together, more specifically the days she spent keeping Bo alive. This time Bo would let her release, let herself go without worry, a notion which Bo quickly realized the timeliness of.
Bo's hands moved down her hips, up the back of her exposed thighs, and rested at her ass. As she held her still, Bo could feel the tension and the electricity of the moment. She didn't intend for this to happen here, it wasn't part of her plan. The evening's design included candles, gentle caresses and soft kisses, but the sounds Lauren made now and the movement of her hips were enough to keep Bo between her legs, pulling her closer to the edge with each second. That, and the view from the floor was spectacular.
Why they danced around this, why they avoided talking about it was the question that kept springing to Bo's mind over and over again. It was an unsolvable riddle. Bo loved Lauren's quiet strength and her vulnerability, the way she put everyone before herself and her desire to be taken care of. Lauren possessed what was the best about humans, her compassion was unmatched. She was a rare gem amongst the colored glass. Genuine. When she pulled at Bo's hair and whispered her name just before her body grew taut, Bo knew the pounding in her chest wasn't from the anxiety, or even the sexual attraction. It was the emotion that overwhelmed her.
This was becoming her favorite place, the aftermath, and it looked so good on Lauren. Bo got to her feet, pulling Lauren's jeans to a haphazard mess on her hips, and kissed the damp skin at her throat. "I love you," she whispered.
FIN
