A/N: A word of explaination about Dyson in response to FrenChi and Guest reviewer – In the last episode of the show he convinced Lauren to give her relationship with Bo another chance and Lauren told him after she was gone he would always be there for Bo. So, I don't think this is something Dyson dwells on day to day but rather just a possibility for the future in the back of his mind. But after arguing with Bo and all the stress he is under politically and personally with his family, it was easy to lose himself in his drinking. It wasn't something he intentionally did, but since Dagny had the bottle and he didn't want her drinking it he indulged himself in his memories and answered her questions about Trick and the Blood Wars both to satisfy her curiosity about fae history and to reminisce about the past. He also wanted to keep her out of trouble upstairs, but that didn't work out. But Dagny did have the presence of mind to call Mark, unfortunately he didn't make it there before Bo called and the trouble started.

It's not that Dyson is obsessing over Bo, just that he is facing the fact that what he once thought may be possible will most likely never happen and that was the last straw in a stressful day that pushed him into shutting down for awhile when the opportunity fell in his lap, so to speak. But the night is just getting started, and they will need the wolf soon. Everyone has their strengths and weakness, and the family will help each other become stronger.

Dawning of a Valkyrie

Chapter 25: Born Again Hard

"I'm not leaving without Dagny!" Lauren stated with conviction. There was no way she was going to walk out of Valhalla without her.

"Well, well, well…you certainly found your courage, brave little mouse! Good for you! But I'm not done with Tamsin's dying gift to her precious Bo, yet. Don't worry, you have my blood oath: I will send her along shortly, unharmed. And you wanted return to Bo soooo badly!" The cynicism of Acacia's statement was expressed not only in her words, but the narrowing of her eyes.

"I'm not leaving her here alone." Eyes wide, the blonde doctor remained resolute.

Acacia laughed and leaned down to talk loudly into the emotional Valkyrie's ear, "Awwww, did you hear that! Your owner's human wife refuses to leave her helpless, fragile little flower alone in Valhalla with the big, bad Valkyrie! She has bigger balls than you do! No, nothing to say? Like mother like daughter, I guess – long on emotion, short on common sense. Tamsin could take down an entire army but was cut down by words." She whirled back to the doctor, "Human, you are fucking leaving right now, or you will be escorted out in the same manner your pampered pet Valkyrie was escorted in here!" Acacia stepped well into Dr. Lewis' personal space when she issued her threat.

"She stays." Dagny finally spoke, and it broke the tension, or at least diverted the focus of it back to her.

Outside the gates…

Bo had finally stopped pacing and returned to sit in her sister's truck she had parked at the end of the alley. She heard a pulse from a siren and looked up in alarm to see Mark's unmarked police car entire the opposite end of the alley. The Succubus got out of Dagny's truck and walked over to meet the young shifter as he exited his own vehicle. "Mark! What are you doing here?"

"Tracking down your rampaging sister! Where is she?" He looked around the empty alley in futilely.

"I called her here…wait, what do you mean, 'rampaging'?" Bo asked, although she had already seen the evidence something was amiss herself.

"Did you not see her face?" he asked incredulously, then looked behind the brunette at the truck, "Or her vehicle?"

The Valkyrie's pride and joy, her truck, was now indeed dented and deeply scratched. Bo sighed, "Ok, I don't know what happened to her face, but she was driving like crazy because I asked her to help me get Lauren out of Valhalla!"

"Lauren! Is she alright?"

"I don't know, I just don't know…all we can do is wait." Her voice cracked with the helplessness she felt, and Mark stepped forward to wrap her up in a warm hug.

Valhalla…

"So, the cat that got your tongue choked on it and spit it back out, huh. Such a loyal little puppy, aren't you! Doesn't matter – she's leaving!" Acacia lifted her hand and opened her mouth to issue an order before being cut off.

"I may not know who I am, but I know I'm not a person that will stand by and let you do that to her. Not without a fight." The young Valkyrie stated loudly and emphatically with clenched fists, as she slowly raised her head to glare intensely into Acacia's eyes.

The ancient Valkyrie grinned and snapped her fingers, shouting out a single word in the Valkyrie tongue. Dagny braced herself for a combat, but the squad of warriors surrounding them melted away quickly and orderly out of the doors, shutting them closed behind them as best they could with the broken latches.

Once they were alone, Acacia told her blatantly, "You're paying to fix my door, by the way, if you make it through your Dawning. Sit! Let's get this shit over with; I've already wasted too much time on your shenanigans. And you-" she pointed at Lauren, "-are privileged to hear this advice as a non-fae! So keep your mouth shut!"

In the Alley…

"Hey, hey! I's going to be OK! Don't worry, Lauren's smart and resourceful– she'll know what to do! And I'm sure Dagny can help her out of there! She easily doubted me when I tried to stop her from leaving! She took down four Amazons at the Dal, and put one of them in the hospital!" the detective stroked her hair gently.

Bo sniffed, trying to hold back her tears by indulging her curiosity, "Why would she get into a fight? And who did she put in the hospital?"

He pulled away just a bit once she had settled down and grinned at her, "That information wasn't easy to come by, since everyone in the bar apparently was somewhere else when it happened!" He laughed at his companion's expression and explained, "I don't think anyone there wanted to be a witness against Dagny in court. But, the Doppelganger pulled me aside told me what happened."

…..The Fight at the Dal…..

After behind hit with the bottle, Dagny was still bent over and clearing her head as she spit out blood from her mouth. She was dazed, her eyes watered, her opponents were celebrating, and her face throbbed. Breathing heavily, and ignoring the celebratory taunts Dagny lifted her eyes without moving her head and saw the duty belt of the former security guard. There was an asp, an extendable baton, on her belt. She smiled wickedly, and still bent over reached out blindly and apparently helplessly to grasp the bar with her left hand as if she needed it for support. The Amazons jeered and laughed at Devon as he announced that the police were on their way, to which they promised that they would finish their business before the law arrived.

But out of the corner of her eye the Valkyrie saw the half full mug of beer on the bar none of them noticed was dangerously close to her left hand. And while her attackers were distracted talking to Devon, she snapped her body upright and swept the glass up in one smooth movement. It crashed into Nyla's laughing face as she used her right hand to pull the asp out of her belt and extend is as she whirled around and swept it backwards connecting solidly with the face of the Amazon behind her who had unwisely given away her position with her celebratory boasting.

The crowd had moved well away from the brawl by now, some with fright and horror; others simply wanted to stay out of the way and enjoy a good show. If the Valkyrie was paying attention, she would have heard the encouragement many of the bar regulars were shouting to her. But before any of her uninjured and shocked attackers could react, she had already reversed herself and turned back to swing on Nyla. She didn't hit her with the baton as the Amazon's wide eyes and raised arm betrayed she expected that attack. Instead she swept Nyla's legs out cleanly from under her with her left leg and brought her weapon down on the side of the face of the initiator of the fight, a blonde haired tan girl with a ponytail. Just as she had done Dagny, the Amazon never saw it coming as Nyla was blocking her view until she hit the ground a split second before the pony-tailed Amazon followed her. The Valkyrie gave the downed Amazons each a swift kick for good measure.

That only left Ms Cigarette, and she had watched everything unfold swiftly without a chance to move from her position of blocking the door. The Valkyrie heard the moans of her victims on the floor, and realized her remaining opponent was slow, but very strong and probably the most dangerous threat. She couldn't risk getting close and tried using her power of doubt on her, "I think you want to get out of my way right now."

"That don't work on us honey, but nice try!" she moved forward, which was a mistake. Dagny brought the asp down again, which was blocked with a muscular arm and a smirk as the Amazon grasped hold of the weapon. Groans of disappointment and gasps of fright went up from the audience and this time the blonde fae heard them. She had counted on her feint being ineffective, and used the asp to pull the lumbering Amazon off balance towards her as she swung a leg backwards before kicking forward with all she was worth. Her steel-toed work boot connected solidly with the crotch of her attacker and the head on collision, so to speak, was enough to drop her to her knees howling in pain and holding her delicate areas. Just to be sure the fight was out of her, Dagny held her head and brought it down forcefully to meet her lifted knee a few times until blood spewed from her broken nose and the crowd roared their approval. She let the hulk of a woman fall to the ground and heaved in a deep breath as she tossed the asp aside into the celebrating crowd.

Valhalla….

Dagny and Lauren looked at one another and silently took seats in front of Acacia's desk. "The Dawning isn't about who your parents are, how strong you are, or how well you mastered your powers – it's about knowing who you are taking all those elements into consideration. Where you came from, who you are right now, who you want to be, what you are capable of, and how other people see you will all get confusing to you in the illusions of the Temple – and you need to sort that entire mess out in your mind and arrange it the way it should be. Sounds easy, doesn't it? It's not. Certainly not for someone who isn't sure of these things in the real world. Hades might even be there; but remember everything in the Temple is an illusion or a projection of our corporeal bodies and he can't hurt you, physically. He will try to get in your head, though, just like I did, all too easily. Get your shit together, and stop letting people tell you what and who you are! You should already know that by now."

"I…nobody's tried to tell me who I am." Her young pupil denied.

"BULLSHIT! You just let ME tell you who you are! It happens to us all, but if you confident enough in yourself what they believe means nothing to you! And as for you adopted family, withholding information and keeping you from your own kind is in essence saying you can't trust your own judgment, probably because of your adolescent rebellion and childish attempts to run away. You behavior reinforces their belief that you can't handle the hard facts of life. You think you've had a hard life; you ain't seen shit yet, honey! If you want to be Valkyrie, act like one! You started off pretty good today, and then nose dived when I mentioned an unpleasant fact about your mother. Get over it! Now get your scrawny ass out of here before your ever loving sister digs up more Ancient fae to get back at me for using her wife as bait to lure you here. I don't have time to deal with that shit!" She acknowledged Lauren's startled gaze, "That's right; I slammed the portal shut behind you! I had a hunch daddy didn't want Bo paying me a visit, so I stopped you from running back to her when she couldn't make it!" She concluded by bellowing at the doors, and two Valkyrie outside opened them. The rest of the squad had disappeared.

Dagny thanked her quietly for her advice with a nod and stood up to leave, Lauren following suit. They both wondered how the Mistress of Valhalla knew so much about their lives. Then again, Bo is pretty damn famous and Acacia seems to have connections to spies and bounty hunters – not to mention Evony and her gossiping ways. Lauren bitterly thought.

As they reached the doors, Acacia gave her young protégé some encouragement, "Wait, I have something for you." She reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of clear liquor. Walking up to the departing pair, she tried to hand it to Dagny, "Blessings from Valhalla; it will clear your mind and calm your doubts in preparation for your battle…" Dr. Lewis eyed the large ornate bottle suspiciously, and it didn't go unnoticed. "…Oh, for fucks sake…"

The Mistress of Valhalla opened the bottle, and offered it to one of her soldiers. The auburn haired woman's eyes lit up as she was commanded to drink, which she did gratefully and savored the sip of liquor as her fellow at the door watched longingly. Acacia jerked her head towards the jealous soldier, and she, too accepted a drink greedily after she was handed the bottle. The elder Valkyrie snatched it back with harsh words for her soldier's gluttonous act. As the human still looked unconvinced, she frowned and took a sip herself and licked her lips as she corked the bottle and handed it to Dagny with instructions.

"A small taste only, then drink and celebrate tonight, rest tomorrow, and I will provide you with a weapon on the morning of your Dawning. The Dawning is the crucible that will burn all of the doubts out of your character and lay bare your true self. Remember what it is to be Valkyrie: Proud, noble, loyal, honest, fearless and devoted to your righteous duty. You already have those elements within you -nothing else matters."

The young Valkyrie accepted it solemnly, "Thank you, Mistress. I am in your debt."

"Damn right you are – you need to survive to work to pay for my door. It's mahogany, you know!" Acacia seemed to mellow as her pupils dilated slightly and her expression softened. Her posture became less intimidating as her body relaxed. "And Dr. Lewis, I have something for you as well." Lauren looked up at her in surprise; it was the first time she had been addressed by name. Acacia looked into her brown eyes, and with some effort told her, "The Valkyrie bloodline…is strong…always…every time. From mother…to daughter….inevitably…to a daughter." She raised her eyebrows as if to signal there was more meaning to her statement than the sum definition of her words, and Lauren acknowledged her implication with a warm smile.

"Thank you, Mistress Acacia. You have been most gracious." Lauren dipped her head in gratitude, puzzled by her change in demeanor. Even though she hadn't been granted a chance to meet with Stacey, she had been given the confirmation that her hypothesis was true and she would be able to see the Valkyrie again in the future.

"Tamsin's daughter likes you; you must be doing something right if she is willing to risk a beat down to satisfy your whims! Have a drink with her, if you are bold enough. Now, go!" The Mistress of Valhalla pushed them out of the doors, and they made their way down the hall in silence as the Valkyrie escort fell in behind them. As they departed, Acacia called out to their retreating backs, "And tell the Succubus to take her fucking shoes off first the next time she tries to enter my house!"

In the Alley…

"She dished out some serious payback to Nyla for what she did to Lilly, but don't worry – Dagny didn't start it. She was trying to leave. He told me Nyla and her crew wanted to teach your sister a lesson, but it backfired on them. That woman will look like Frankenstein's monster for a while when they finish sewing up her face."

"But…Doppelganger? Who is that? And where was Dyson?" Bo asked in curiosity, grateful for the distraction while they waited.

He pulled away from her completely with that question, and sighed. He was worried about his father. "The young guy that works at the Dal, he's a Doppelganger. And Dyson was passed out drunk in his office. I think something is bothering him, unless…you don't think Dagny did that to him, do you?"

Bo sucked in a breath as she pondered the answer. She wouldn't do that, would she? Doubt him into drinking himself unconscious…..no, no I don't believe that. That isn't like her. But…then what is wrong with Dyson that he would do that to himself? Her thoughts were interrupted by the increasingly tense expression of the shifter, and she gave him his answer, "No, I don't think Dagny did anything to him. But I'll talk to him later, unless you would rather talk to him yourself. He did seem…a little off when I talked to him earlier today."

A loud creaking distracting them, and they looked down the alley where the noise came from. "Bo?" Lauren had stepped into the alley and was looking around, then running towards the pair once she spotted them.

"Lauren!" The Succubus broke into a run and collided with her wife, wrapping both arms around her and spinning her around with joy. She stopped and pulled back slightly to kiss her deeply, bringing her hands up to hold her blonde head with both hands. When their kiss ended, they leaned their foreheads together for a moment and were both oblivious to everything going on around them as they caught their breath and the doctor assured her wife repeatedly in hushed tones that she was unharmed.

"There you are, Miss Thang! You need to come with me; I have some questions for you! And don't try your little tricks on me again; I need to complete my report. Some of us have a job to do!" Mark scolded the Valkyrie who had appeared after the blonde doctor.

"No!" Lauren pulled away from her wife to object, "She's coming with me to the clinic. She needs medical attention, and your report can wait until tomorrow!"

As Mark scoffed indignantly, Bo concurred with the doctor, "You heard the lady! And you know where your suspect lives! Tomorrow, Mark!"

When the shifter reluctantly agreed, Lauren made a suggestion to Bo, "I'll ride with Dagny to the clinic, and Mark can drop you off at the garage so you can get your car. When we're finished, we'll meet you at home. And then we can talk." The doctor gave her wife a cryptic serious look, suggesting something heavy had gone down in Valhalla despite the fact that neither of them were hurt. Or rather, neither of them was hurt anymore than they were when they entered.

The Succubus finally took a good look at her sister, who had remained mute the entire time. She looked physically, mentally and emotionally drained. The drying open wounds on her face had been aggravated somehow, and had oozed fresh blood and clear liquid. She clutched a bottle in her hand and stared off into the distance. Bo moved towards her and grasped both her shoulders, searching out her eyes. Once they locked, she gave her her heartfelt gratitude, "Thank you, Dagny. I never doubted you." The brunette pulled her sister into a brief hug, and then pressed the keys to the truck into one of Lauren's hands. "I think you should drive." She said in a whisper.

Lauren nodded, and kissed her wife again briskly. She took hold of the Valkyrie by the arm, and gestured to the truck with her head. "Let's go, Dagny. I think you might need some stitches."

The Valkyrie went along obediently, and climbed into the passenger seat. She sat silently as the darker blonde drove until she noticed they weren't traveling in the direction of the clinic. "Lauren, I think the clinic is the other way."

"We're going home; just in case Mark tries to meet us at the clinic and grill you about…whatever happened. Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked tentatively.

Her passenger shrugged, "Sure. Not much to tell, I guess. I was downstairs when Bo called, I tried to leave, Nyla and her goons tried to stop me. I didn't let them."

"I think there's more to it, Dagny. Mark seemed very determined to speak to you right now. I'm pretty sure he would just write off a drunken scuffle, especially if you were simply defending yourself." She nervously adjusted her grip on the steering wheel, hoping she hadn't pushed the young woman too far.

As they stopped at a light, Dagny looked out of the window at the people walking on the sidewalk next to the street. She envied how simple she imagined their lives must be as she gnawed on her lower lip before answering. "Earlier, I was talking to Lilly and Vex warned me to stay away from her. Nyla came in and saw us sitting together. I went downstairs, and didn't think anything of it."

"I see." Lauren said, looking at her until a honking behind her told her the red light had turned green. And she paid more diligent attention to the road as her mind processed the new information. "

"There's more…later, I came back upstairs to get a drink to take my medicine. I saw Lilly's face, and she wouldn't even get near me." She looked at Lauren, and saw that the woman knew exactly what she was talking about. "I went back downstairs and called Mark and asked him to come over and talk to Lilly, and then Bo called… I ran upstairs to leave. That's when they jumped me. Afterwards….as I was leaving, Nyla made a vague threat towards Lilly…"

Dagny's story of the Dal…

The Valkyrie looked around for any further attempts at stopping her departure from her attackers, and saw there were none. Nyla, coward that she was, had managed to drag herself up to the bar as Lilly fawned over her. When her eyes met Dagny's she unwisely goaded her, "Go ahead and leave, Valkyrie. There will be a next time, if you know what I mean…" she smiled with blood stained teeth and turned her eyes towards the Nymph ominously. She immediately regretted it.

Dagny was on her like a lioness on an antelope before she could even try to stand up fully to face her. The blonde grabbed one of her wrists and twisted it, pulling the Amazon's arm painfully up her back as she snatched a handful of the dark hair on the back of her head. She forced the abusing fae to face the bar, and slammed her face onto the top of it with all her might repeatedly. It was littered with broken glass from their fight, and she didn't know if the blood that painted the bar top now was from cuts or a broken nose, or both. She didn't care; she was in a righteous rage.

Finally hearing Lilly's pleas, she stopped and forced her captive to face her bruised and crying girlfriend, but the Amazon squeezed her eyes shut. Dagny insisted, "Look at her. LOOK AT HER!" Nyla did as she was told, now ugly crying out of fear and pain. She had a few less teeth, now, than she did just a moment ago. The Valkyrie put her mouth next to her ear and told her, "She loves you. I don't know why, but she does. And the next time she has an 'accident'… so will you. I can't promise you it will be fatal, but I'll do my best. I am born of death and darkness, but I'm trying hard to be a good person!" She concluded with an obviously vitriolic statement in the ancient language of the Norse and releasing the woman, headed straight for the door. And unbeknownst to her, her eyes glowed ever so faintly.

"Wh-what did she say?…I don't understand!" Nyla sniffed out to her lover. Lilly simply sobbed and shook her head. She knew damn well, but wouldn't say. It was Devon who answered her.

"She said: Don't make me show you there are things worse than death." A slight smile touched the corners of his mouth.

Back in the Truck, right now…

"…I just…lost it – I beat her face against the bar until it was a bloody mess and her girlfriend begged me to stop. I don't even know why I did it, but it felt good. I threatened to kill her, or worse, next time, and I meant it. Is that who I am?" she whispered the question, more to herself than her companion. She hadn't really thought about what happened after the fight until now.

Dr. Lewis' first instinct was to tell her no, to explain her violent actions as an aberration born of her concern and adrenaline. But given what Acacia had told them about the looming Dawning Ceremony, she gave her honest answer, "I think that is up to you, sweetie. But don't think your actions are some sort of abnormal reaction given the circumstances or a psychosis– you only did what a lot of people wanted to do for a long time, including Dyson and your sister."

"Yeah, but they didn't see Lilly's face, Lauren. She was crushed; I hurt the person she loves. She looked at me like I was some sort of fucking monster, instead of the person who beat her! It made me feel like shit." She raised a thumb up to her mouth and chewed on the nail. How can she love someone who treats her like that? And when I tried to stop it, she looked at me like I was the vilest person on earth!

Lauren cleared her throat, she hadn't expected this much emotion or honesty out of the Valkyrie. "You can't blame yourself for that; Lilly has been in abusive relationships for centuries, from what Dyson has told us. It's one of the reasons she came to live here. And I talked with Bo; we discussed arranging an intervention to get Lilly some counseling. She needs to get some help or she will just continue to bounce from one unhealthy relationship to another. Now that Nyla is out of commission for awhile, I think we should do it tomorrow. Sooner is better than later."

"Well, good luck with that! Can't help who you love, right?" the Valkyrie dropped her hand and looked out of the window again.

"I think you should be there, too. You need to tell her how you feel sorry for losing control; how she made you feel like you are the one who hurt her. It's important we all let her know she won't be isolated and alone if she leaves her abusing girlfriend." Lauren coaxed her frankly but gently, and like usual – it worked.

"Fine; but I don't want to be there all day, and I don't see what good it will do." Her forgotten phone on the seat chimed and buzzed, and she nearly jumped at the shock. She lifted her leg and picked it up, "Bo texted that she is going to pick up dinner on the way home. Want anything in particular?"

"Chinese? How's that sound to you?" Laruen asked, and when the Valkyrie grunted assent and began texting, she added, "Oh, and tell your sister we are going home so she doesn't come to the clinic to look for us. And then we are all going to have a talk."

"Hurraaayyyyy." The Valkyrie sarcastically commented as she concentrated on relaying the information to Bo in her text.