A/N Thanks for reading! I hope you guys are still enjoying it! Let me know what you think =]
Bo walked into the apartment and stopped dead.
"What the – "
The living room and kitchen were trashed, more so than usual. It looked like a tornado had torn through the room. There were papers scattered, broken dishes, and feathers from torn pillows all over the floor. The couch was tipped on its side and the cushions were thrown in one corner, a sword sticking, point down, into the pile. Bo felt her heart begin to race.
"Kenzi? Tamsin?" She yelled into the apartment. A burst of laughing floated down the stairs.
"We're up here!"
Bo charged up the stairs and into her bedroom. Tamsin and Kenzi were sprawled on her bed, giggling. She raised her eyebrows.
"Giggling? Really?" This was directed at Tamsin. She rolled over and looked up at the Succubus.
"You tell anyone, you die," she snarled playfully.
"You know, that threat might be more effective if I hadn't just caught you giggling in my bed with a human."
Tamsin smiled up at her and shrugged.
"What the hell happened down there?"
Kenzi looked a little guilty. "We may have gotten a bit carried away dueling."
"Dueling?" Bo asked incredulously.
"We'll clean it up," Kenzi promised before quickly changing the subject. "How's the doc?"
Bo rolled her eyes and decided to let it drop. "She's got a fun new theory about us."
The Valkyrie felt her pulse spike for a moment. "Hmm?"
"She thinks you might be perfectly Bo-flavored."
Kenzi looked nauseous. "Excuse me?"
Bo laughed. "Her chi. Lauren thinks that since Tamsin's heart was made just for me, so is her chi. It's why I've been feeling so strong since I started feeding off of her." She looked at Tamsin. "And why, even though I haven't fed in over three days, I'm just now starting to get a little hungry."
Tamsin looked at her, eyes wide. "Three days?" She counted backwards in her head and realized that between flying, fighting, and sleeping, Bo hadn't actually fed off of her. She smirked. "Jeez. I'm slacking."
"You'll have to make it up to me," Bo suggested coyly.
Kenzi looked back and forth between the two women. With a meaningful glance at the Valkyrie, she interrupted the flirting. "Sorry to bust your horny bubble, but I'm claiming bestie rights for the night. Bo-Bo, you'll have to just settle for a quick snack."
Bo looked at the human and then turned towards Tamsin. "Sorry, my love. BFF gets first dibs. You going to be ok for the night?"
Tamsin felt the words send a thrill through her body. My love. She nodded quickly. "Sure. I've got some work to catch up on. I'll crash early. You guys have fun."
Bo walked over to the bed and threw a leg over Tamsin, straddling her. Kenzi protested lightly, but neither woman even heard her as Bo leaned in and kissed the blonde. Tamsin responded immediately, reaching up and grabbing her back tightly. Bo began to pull chi from deep inside her and Tamsin felt arousal pool between her legs. She forced her tongue to Bo's, cutting off the flow of chi. Bo pulled back slightly.
"This is supposed to be a snack, remember?" she whispered. Tamsin just stared up at her with lust-filled eyes. Bo laughed. "Kenz, can you give us just a minute?"
Kenzi had been watching the exchange warily, but Bo could see that she was pleased at the affection between them. She had a small smile at the corner of her mouth. She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling too.
"Yeah, yeah. You can have ten minutes. Then I'm coming back in, clothes or no clothes." She walked to the door before turning around and glaring at them. "There better be clothes, Bo-Bo!" She walked out, wiggling her hips in a little dance as she disappeared.
The second she was out of the room, Tamsin rolled Bo over, climbing on top of the Succubus and pinning her arms to her sides. She stared down at the brunette, who gazed back at her with deep brown eyes.
"You're so beautiful, Bo," Tamsin whispered before pressing their lips together. She ground her hips into Bo as the Succubus pulled her closer. Bo began pulling chi again, this time coupling it with hands pressing powerful waves into the lithe body on top of her. Tamsin moaned into her mouth, realizing that she was about to come and Bo hadn't even touched her. She pulled back, staring hungrily at the Succubus. Bo smiled at her, seeing the aura shimmering around the Valkyrie burning a hole in the air around them. She dug her nails into the small of Tamsin's back and smiled with pleasure as she watched the blonde throw her head back, crying out as Bo's power pushed her over the edge.
Bo let her head fall backwards onto the bed, pulling Tamsin down on top of her. They shifted so that they were lying fully on the bed, with Tamsin's head nestled in the crook of Bo's neck. She wrapped her arms tightly around the brunette, squeezing her waist as she tried to catch her breath. Bo kissed the top of her head lightly.
"I love you," she whispered.
Tamsin responded by tilting her head and kissing Bo gently. She closed her eyes and curled her body, cuddling closer. Bo ran her fingers up and down Tamsin's muscular arm, smiling as she felt goosebumps rise along the skin. They lay there quietly for a few minutes before they heard footsteps bounding towards the bedroom. Kenzi appeared in the doorway and stopped, staring at the pair with a satisfied smile on her face.
"You two are at maximum levels of adorable right now. I'm going to need you to throw a punch or scowl or something or I'll suspect that you've been possessed by some kind of weird Fae bug again."
Bo smiled up at her angelically while Tamsin rolled off the bed, standing up and straightening her clothes. She refused to make eye contact with Kenzi, who laughed.
"Relax, Tammy. This is the most innocent pose I've ever walked in on." She looked at Bo. "Good snack?"
She nodded before standing up and stretching. She pulled Tamsin in for a last kiss. When they broke away, Bo touched her cheek lightly. "You'll be ok tonight?"
Tamsin kissed her again. "I'll be fine. You guys have fun." She turned and headed towards the door.
"Hey!" Bo called. The Valkyrie looked back. "I love you," Bo reminded her.
Tamsin gave her a small smile and nodded before leaving the apartment.
Kenzi immediately turned to Bo. "Ok, Bobolicious. We've got some talking to do."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The two women sat side by side at the Dal.
"I'm just saying, Bo-Bo, you sort of have a habit of being indecisive and breaking hearts. I know you're all lovey dovey and happy now, but…"
"I knowwww!" Bo replied. "But it's never been like this!"
Kenzi rolled her eyes. "You kinda say that every time."
"Kenzi!"
"Listen, I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I told you, I believe it. I see that you guys are good together. But I want you to make me believe it. This is a big deal."
Bo sighed. "Ok. I get that."
"So, why is this different? Why is Tamsin different?"
"She's…we're made for each other, Kenz. Literally. And I feel it."
Kenzi shook her head. "Not good enough. Would you still feel this way even if you didn't know that part?"
"Hey," Bo protested, "I told her that I loved her before I knew anything, remember? I fell in love with her completely on my own, which is really kind of the point. She gave up her love so that I got to make that choice on my own, and I've made it. I choose her."
"You've never actually chosen anything in your life, Bo-Bo. Except yours truly, of course."
"Well I've got to start sometime, right?"
Trick wandered over to where they sat. "Start what?"
"Tamsin sacrificed some kind of sacred bond so that Bo could choose who to love, and my Bo-Bo here is insisting that she chooses Tammy. For real this time," Kenzi quickly summarized.
Trick looked aghast. "The bond? The Valkyrie bond? Bo, are you Tamsin's warrior?"
Bo couldn't help the smile that crept over her face as she nodded gently.
"And she…she gave up her love? After she had already met you?"
Bo nodded again. "Why?"
Trick shook his head, incredulous. "Bo…as far as I know…that's never been done. Once a Valkyrie meets her warrior, it's basically impossible for them to choose to leave them. This is…unbelievable."
Kenzi and Bo glanced at each other. "What do you mean, Gramps?" Kenzi asked.
"Bo, I'm not sure you understand the power of the bond. I'm not sure you understand just exactly what Tamsin sacrificed, just to make sure you didn't have to make a choice." He disappeared into the back room for a moment and reappeared with a large, dusty volume. He flipped through it for a moment before finding the page he was searching for. He pointed to a particular passage. "Look. This is one of the best descriptions of the moment a Valkyrie meets her warrior."
Bo and Kenzi leaned forward to read.
She leaned backwards, blinded. Through millennia, the sun had beat down relentlessly, always reliable in its light. But, for the first time, it had dimmed, only to be replaced with a burning haze of radiance in human form. It was as though her eyes had never been open and were now wide, taking in each individual strand of hair on the person in front of her. She saw a golden energy, rivaling the person in luminosity, streaming from her body. She felt a gentle tug begin, building to an uncontrollable gushing waterfall of emotion as she stepped closer. Without speaking a word, she reached into her chest, pulling out her heart and offering it to the figure in front of her. As their hands touched and the exchange was complete, she smiled, feeling her heart finally resting where it belonged.
Trick shrugged. "Obviously, it gets a little metaphorical at the end. But the meaning is clear. A Valkyrie is not truly at peace until she bonds. Even just meeting her warrior, before the bond is complete, is a life-changing and powerful event. That Tamsin was able to give up her love, knowing full well what she was going to be losing, demonstrates her incredible strength. And the purity of her love for you, Bo." He looked at her carefully. "And you two are…involved? Still?"
Bo stared at Trick, her voice low and intense. "I love her, Trick. I love her so much."
He sighed. "This is a very unique situation, Bo. I've never heard of a warrior falling in love with her Valkyrie after the Valkyrie has given up her love."
"Yeah," Bo agreed, "that's what Tamsin said." She paused. "But it can still work, right? I mean, there's nothing actually stopping us from being together, right?"
"No," Trick replied, "not technically. But she won't be able to love you back, Bo. You're a Succubus. You need love."
"No," Bo said, shaking her head vehemently, "I need sex. Which I'm getting plenty of, thank you very much." Her voice softened. "In all my relationships, I've never felt cared for the way I feel with Tamsin. I've never felt as safe, and I've never been happier. If this is Tamsin not loving me, then I'll take it. I'll take it for the rest of my life." She looked at her hands. "I've always been selfish. I broke hearts, I hurt people. All because I needed to feel loved. I am not going to be that person anymore. People keep doing these incredibly selfless things for me." She looked up at Trick and Kenzi. "For the first time, I'm going to be worthy of their selflessness. I don't need to hear Tamsin tell me she loves me. If what you're telling me is true, Trick, then she loved me enough to give up her one chance at true happiness. I will try, forever, to be worth of her love. I will do everything I can to make sure she knows how much I love her. And I will be lucky that she's willing to stand by my side."
Kenzi and Trick looked at her with awe all over their faces.
"Wow, Bo-Bo," Kenzi finally said. "You really do love her."
Bo looked at her fiercely. "Yeah. I do."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tamsin strolled into Lauren's lab, glancing around the room for the doctor. "Hey. Doc. You here?"
Lauren walked into the room and started. "Tamsin! You scared me!"
She shrugged. "Sorry. Kenzi's keeping Bo busy. You said I could come by."
Lauren looked a little flustered. "Of course. I'm just in the middle of something. Do you mind waiting for just a few minutes?"
"Yeah, no prob," Tamsin agreed. She made her way over to the sitting area and flopped down into an armchair. "I've got all night."
Lauren glanced her way. "What are Bo and Kenzi up to?"
Tamsin shrugged again. "Drinking. Girl talk. Whatever."
Lauren laughed lightly. "Not your thing?"
"Drinking, yes. Girl talk, not so much."
"Unless it's with Bo."
This wasn't a question. Tamsin turned her head and glared at the human. "I don't do girl talk."
"Ok," she hummed. "Whatever you say."
Tamsin narrowed her eyes as she continued to stare at Lauren. "What are you doing over there anyway?"
Lauren glanced her way. "I'm working on modifying James' DNA with Bo's. It's a pretty complex process; I'm attempting to swap a few crucial nucleotides that I'm hoping with stabilize the degradation I'm seeing."
"James? You're on a first name basis?"
Lauren rolled her eyes. "I'm taking his blood every few hours. We've established a certain familiarity. To be fair, he's much more pleasant now that he's not starving. I have you to thank for that."
"What can I say?" Tamsin responded. "I'm delicious."
"So I hear," Lauren muttered, her expression slightly pained.
Tamsin sat up straight. "Did that creepy Incubus talk about me?"
Lauren sighed. "I hate to break it to you, but you're pretty much all he talks about."
"Ugh," Tamsin groaned. "Why do I always attract the crazies?"
"Are you including Bo in that count?" Lauren asked, her tone surprisingly playful.
Tamsin looked at Lauren, a little surprised. "No," she responded slowly and seriously. "Bo's something else."
"Yeah," Lauren agreed quietly. "She is."
Tamsin narrowed her eyes again. "Listen, Doc. I'll never repeat this and if you tell anyone I'll deny, but I actually like you. I think you're pretty impressive, for a human. But if you try to steal Bo from me - "
"Oh, come on, Tamsin," Lauren interrupted impatiently. "We both know that Bo doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do. And, right now, she wants you." She sighed. "I'll always love Bo. But we weren't right. We are never going to be right." She turned so that she was facing the Valkyrie. "I'm not doing this just to be selfless, Tamsin. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do. And because you and Bo are meant to be. You both deserve happiness." She turned back to her vials. "I will do whatever I can."
Tamsin was quiet for a minute before she finally spoke. "Thank you, Lauren."
Lauren raised her eyebrows, surprised by Tamsin's genuine tone. She finished preparing the samples, took off her gloves, and threw them in the trash. She reached for a new pair and pulled them on. "Come here."
Tamsin walked over a little hesitantly. "You gonna kill me?"
Lauren smiled. "If I was going to kill you, I'd come up with a much better plan than a human with a syringe vs. a newly reborn Valkyrie."
Tamsin shrugged. "Good point." She stopped in front of Lauren. "So, what's the plan?"
Lauren rolled up her sleeve and wiped at her skin with antiseptic. She quickly stuck the needle in her arm and pulled on the plunger. Tamsin winced, but it was over quickly. Lauren filled a few small vials with bright red blood before pulling the needle out and quickly pressing gauze to the small hole.
"I'm going to take some time to look at your blood. Really look at it. I've done small comparisons between all of your samples and determined that they were different, but I've never done a deep dive into your DNA. That's going to be my first step. I'll have to go from there."
"That's it? That's all you've got?"
Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a better plan?"
Tamsin sighed. "Not really."
"Ok then," Lauren continued, sticking a band-aid to Tamsin's arm. "I also want to do a full physical, while you're here. I want to see how your vitals changed before and after giving up your love." She gestured towards the table. "Can you have a seat?"
Tamsin complied, and Lauren began running through a full battery of tests. She looked at her eyes, her ears, and her mouth. She tested all of her reflexes and reaction times. She hooked her up to various machines that measured her brain waves, heart patterns, and strength. Lauren had developed a machine that measures Fae powers on an objective scale, and she used this on Tamsin now.
"Huh."
"What?" Tamsin asked.
"You're strong, obviously. So strong. But you're definitely weaker than you should be this soon after a rebirth, and especially because you're on your last life."
Tamsin shrugged. "Yeah. That's par for the course. When I gave up my love, I gave up something pretty fundamental to my Valkyrie biology. I assumed I would lose some of the strength that I got back during the rebirth process." She glanced over at Lauren, who was scribbling furiously in her notebook. "What are you writing?"
"All data is good data," she responded absentmindedly. She finished a few sentences and flipped back several pages. "Ok," she started, "it looks like, overall, you're physically inferior to where you were before your rebirth, when you still had your love." She frowned. "You were dying of old age. You were extremely weak. And you're actually weaker now." She looked up at Tamsin. "Tamsin, I can't even imagine how powerful you would be if you still had your love."
Tamsin nodded. "Yeah. I know."
Lauren continued reading her notes, shaking her head. "Ok. I'm going to do some tests. I'll call you as soon as I know anything, ok?"
"Sure," Tamsin said, hopping off the table. "Thanks, Doc."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bo and Kenzi got home safe from the Dal a few hours later. Kenzi kissed Bo on the head, wishing her a good night before flouncing off to her own bedroom. Bo lay down in her bed, tossing and turning for almost an hour before grabbing her phone.
Hey. What are you doing?
The response came quickly.
Nothing, really. Just having a beer before bed.
I can't fall asleep. Will you come over?
From her couch, Tamsin pictured Bo, sprawled out in her bed, and she smiled.
Of course. I'll be there soon.
She drove to the apartment and let herself in. Creeping quietly through the living room, she ascended the stairs and crawled into bed next to Bo.
"Hey there," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around the Succubus, pulling her close.
"Mmm," Bo hummed, smiling as she cuddled into Tamsin's body and inhaled her scent. "Thanks for coming."
Tamsin kissed her forehead lightly. "Anytime, Succubus."
"I love you, Tamsin," Bo whispered, before drifting off into a deep sleep.