"The Dal."

"Yeah."

"The DAL," the doctor repeated with more than a hint of sarcasm.

Tamsin held her tongue. It was now apparent that something was horribly wrong, and she wanted to investigate the issue as delicately as possible. If there were clues to be found as to the nature of the dilemma, they were nowhere to be found — her lover was suddenly tight-lipped and distant.

The detective took a stab in the dark, "So, uh, The Dal is hardly ideal but.."

"Hardly ideal?" Lauren snapped back. Her tone was shocking even to herself, and prompted the doctor to place her hands on either side of her face and take a deep breath.

"Maybe you know something I don't," she began in a calm and deliberate voice, " —but isn't The Dal the very first place Evony will come looking for me? And besides that — besides that — doesn't everyone at the Dal think I betrayed them?"

"Well you see — the thing is — I thought long and hard about this. I really agonized over it, okay? I'll just be straight with you. The thing is there's nowhere we can go where the Dark won't catch up with us eventually. There really isn't, Lewis. You just need to trust me on this.

"The Dal is honestly our best bet. It's a bureaucratic clusterfuck that Fae in deeper shit than you or me have used for centuries. Evony might figure out it's where we're hiding, but she won't be able to do much about it. Unless she wants to expose herself in the process."

"But I'm still a traitor."

Tamsin inhaled sharply, "I had a conversation with Trick about that. He's willing to hear you out I think."

"Isn't that generous of him?!" Lauren's lip was quivering as she said this, angry and on the verge of tears.

"It's a start, isn't it?"

The doctor rolled her eyes.

During the protracted silence that followed, Tamsin searched for the magical words that would somehow make everything better. She thought about saying that the opinions of others didn't matter, about how her 'real' friends would still be her friends no matter what. But Tamsin knew it wasn't the nebulous opinions of strangers that mattered to Lauren.

"I think I get it," the valkyrie began.

Lauren was unmoved. She was just as still and as silent.

"You know, I used to be pretty god damned perfect, like all the time. And you know, it was a lot of work — you gotta remember I have a bunch of sisters. Competition was fierce. But I had a knack for staying on top. And what did it get me in the end? A whole lot of nothing, that's what.

"I really thought that being so perfect for so long would get me special status, you know? Not even special, just — deserved. I felt that after being held up as the picture perfect model soldier for other valkyries to aspire to — that I'd earned the privilege of being beyond reproach. But I was wrong. I was really, really wrong.

"I wanted to be immune from criticism — which is sort of crazy, really. And you wanted to belong to a group that otherwise you are in no way a part of. Instead of being their property — you wanted their respect, you wanted to be accepted as an equal.

"The thing about that, Lewis — is that we, fae I mean — don't view ourselves as equals. We've had a bit longer than you guys to get our shit together, and the best we could come up with in terms of unity is Light or Dark. I mean — how stupid is that?"

Lauren was massaging her brow in frustration, "Tamsin…"

"Yeah yeah, I know I'm wandering off course here. But you get where I'm coming from don't you? I'm asking you to cut your friends some slack. You've been out of the picture a long time, and they've filled in a lot of the blanks on their own. Sure, in a perfect world they woulda been like 'noooo Dr. Lewis would never betray us, we should reserve judgment' — but the world isn't perfect. And neither are your friends.

"I'm still pretty close, though."

The doctor released an involuntary snort in response, and while she allowed herself to smile she marveled at whether Tamsin's ego was genuinely this inflated or if it was all an act.

Lauren sighed exhaustively, "Okay, okay. You've worn me down."

"That's what I like to hear!"

"You are right, I did want to be their equal, not an accessory — not a sidekick. Not an after-thought. Part of me understands how they may have arrived at their conclusions - but to be honest, a big part of that understanding is knowing that at some point - Bo just gave up on me. And since when does she ever give up on anything? So...even though I have no doubt I'll convince them of my innocence - there's still that invisible line that Bo's drawn in the sand."

She broke eye contact just then, and turned away to stare into the emptiness of the forest surrounding them. Tamsin's heart abruptly sunk in her chest - and the Valkyrie was startled to discover someone else's heartache could hurt as if it were her own.

She searched for words to console her lover but found nothing. "I'm sorry," was the best she could muster. The detective noticed Lauren smile a half-smile in acknowledgment, the kind of smile one makes when something is so sad it's practically laughable.

"I've had a lot of time to face that fact," she said when she next spoke, "When Evony first captured me - I spent every second of every day expecting Bo to burst through the doors and take me away, off into the sunset."

Lauren started shaking her head, "What a fool I was."

The detective grabbed her hand, "No, come on Lewis, no..."

"I gave her everything I had, even when I thought there was nothing left, and somehow it was never enough to keep her. The point I'm struggling to make here is that I accepted this truth about Bo a while ago. It still stings - but I'm over it."

Tamsin was somewhat puzzled. If it wasn't disappointment over being so harshly judged by her friends and former lover, than surely there must be something else-

"There's something else," the doctor explained, "-and now that I'm about to tell you, it seems almost silly."

Wide-eyed and eager - Tamsin begged her to continue.

"Intellectually, I understand why we're going to The Dal. I know why you feel we don't have any choice. It's just that part of what has sustained me this whole time is this ...crazy fantasy of running away with you, running away to the ends of the earth far away from everything and everyone, just the two of us. It's been my sole sustenance, my lifeline, my sanity."

The Valkyrie planted her forehead on the steering wheel, overcome with dizzying emotion. When the butterflies in her stomach at last allowed her to speak, she wove a slightly incoherent tapestry of promises, the least of which involved some seafaring adventure.

"I swear it Lewis, when this is settled I'll take you sailing - there's no greater peace in this world than on the open ocean.. it'll be like the whole world belongs to just us.."

Lauren smiled sweetly, "I hope I don't get seasick.."

"You seem to tolerate rocking motion pretty well. You survived the gurney."

"Again with the gurney. You're pretty fixated on that thing."

"As a matter of fact, fixation is one treatment for mal de mer. I'll be sure to take you below deck, where you can fixate on a steady object.."

"I am a doctor you know.."

"...like the ceiling. You can fixate on the ceiling."

"I get it, yes, you're a top, I know, I get it.."

The two women laughed together until they cried, and when Tamsin finally turned the key in the ignition - they were both prepared to face anything that came their way.