The Dal
"This is bad, Trick. Aife is free and out there." Dyson pounded his hand on the counter.
"I am handling it, Dyson." Trick looked up at him.
"You were the one that went and got her, you should be the one that puts her back." Dyson took his beer and a seat.
"I can't. Bo knows now. If I put her back, last night will look like a fireworks display compared to the explosions of doing that." Trick rubbed the back of his head.
"You're not handling this. You're just as worried as I am. You know she should be put down for all of our sake." Dyson growled.
"I won't do that, Dyson. If you don't like how I'm handling things, you are free to leave. Leave Toronto." Trick pointed towards the doors and Dyson looked at them like he was expecting an ambush.
"I should. I pledged fealty to Bo, you can't hold a candle to that power." Dyson shrugged.
"You pledge fealty as easily as you try to stick a woman." Trick countered. "Either way, I'm tired of you. Get out of my bar." He turned and walked to the other end of the bar.
Dyson gritted his teeth and finished his beer. "What's the matter, champ? The succubus won't come out and foreplay?." Tamsin laughed from behind him.
"Go away, Tamsin." Dyson looked over his shoulder.
"I can go away. I can walk down the street and my balls wouldn't go stiff at the thought of the succubus. The succubus that you're mated to and can do nothing about." Tamsin rocked from side to side, mocking him.
"At least I know I'm last in Bo's life. You thought you would skip to first place in line. How did that work out for you? Did she cuddle with you? Did she kiss you on the cheek? Spoon you? No? Poor Tamsin." Dyson turned and smiled. "She did all of that with the doctor. A hundred women could all line up and all that she will see and want is Lauren. Rookie."
"Lauren will die one day. Then we will see which one of us Bo wants." Tamsin popped her lips and walked away from him. "Shot of whiskey."
Dyson smiled as he grabbed his jacket. That woman will wait for Bo as long as he will. But she will never have her. Not after what they all saw last night. Banking on Lauren to die was something he thought would happen. The woman literally went into a portal with Bo and Hades. She will never be the same again.
Aife
The old Succubus walked into the penthouse. She took a deep breath and walked into the bedroom. She walked over to the bed and stared at it. It was still completely dark. Absolutely nothing was on it.
Hades. Hades was here. That bastard was never supposed to surface. But he had. She had been locked up but these idiots made it possible for him to break free from Tartarus. How did that happen? How can she prevent it again? She bit her lip and walked to the kitchen, once she found what she was looking for, she entered the elevator. Down she went. She walked outside and turned around. She poured a line of gasoline and lit it. "Burn bitch burn." She threw the can into the flames and turned to run away. She dusted herself off and waited for the next car to pass. She needs a ride. A Queen never walks.
Lauren and Bo
Lauren sat in a chair. Bo sat on her bed. "Lauren."
"No." Lauren replied.
"I just want you, Lauren. That's it. That's the plan." Bo leaned forward.
"I am not going to sleep with you, Bo. I won't be a one night stand. Not again." Lauren shook her head.
"I never said you were. You thought that because of me and my non-talking ass. But you need to talk too Lauren. That's how we failed. We don't talk." Bo rubbed her face and let go. Lauren smiled and dropped it. "What?." Bo asked.
"You talking about talking. You don't listen for answers, you listen for what you want to hear and roll with that." Lauren waved her nurse out of the room. "We need the bed, Bo."
"I will get dressed. But we are not done, Lauren." Bo pulled the blanket from her legs.
Lauren stood and left the room. She looked left. She looked right. She walked down the middle to the nurse's desk. "What do we have?."
"We're doing well for right now. Every patient has a room and every Doctor is accounted for." The nurse replied.
"Bo Dennis will be leaving. That room needs to be cleaned and the next patient that enters can be treated." Lauren pulled her gloves off and sighed. Her shift is done. She walked to the doctor's rest room and scrubbed her face and arms. She leaned forward to look in the mirror. Her hair looked different. Her face looked different. "You're a doctor, Lewis. You went in to save your patient." She mouthed silently. "Where is Dr. Lewis?!." She heard Bo screaming.
"Bo, calm down, please." Lauren walked out.
"I just...I thought you left." Bo sighed softly.
"Let's go." Lauren spoke softly and didn't wait for Bo to follow her. She needs to get the woman out of the clinic. She will disturb the other patients' treatment and recovery. Lauren pulled her car keys out and pushed a button to turn the alarm off.
Bo climbed in and looked around. Of course it smells like her. But it also looks brand new. She smiled at Lauren and Lauren shrugged as they left the parking lot. "Lauren we are more to me than what we are in bed." Bo whispered. When Lauren shrugged again, Bo scoffed. "How?."
"We fought Hades last night. Is that supposed to make us an instant couple? Make things better? You're a Fae. I'm human. I will never not be one." Lauren made her first turn.
"I have never once cared that you are a human, Lauren. That has never mattered to me." Bo shook her head and blinked hard. Every time they talk, it gets worse.
Lauren didn't say another word as she drove on. She signaled again and made her last turn. She drove down a small path and then parked. When she climbed out, Bo followed her lead. They walked into a huge building and Lauren's hand opened a door. In she walked. She inhaled the room and went to the kitchen leaving Bo behind her.
"You can rest there." Lauren pointed to a fainting couch in the far corner.
"I don't want to sleep. I have slept for too long on this. Slept too long on us. I want to talk. To get it all out." Bo shook her head and found another couch in the middle of the room. Lauren walked over with a few bottles of water and a small bowl of peanuts.
Lauren took her seat and waited. "This is a reason I wish I never knew I was Fae. This is the reason I wish I could live a normal life. But I never thought I would meet another human I would fall in love with. It's not that you're a human, it's that the fae shit is always the pink elephant in the room. There is always something going on. Backstabbing left and right. I'm glad my dawning came and went because that shit happening hundreds of years from now would still piss me off." Bo sat back and took a long drink.
"I know you, Bo. I also know me. People want you. People need you. But I won't be last. I don't deserve to be. That's why I buried myself in my work. In my labs, I come first. My patients come first. Last night, you were my patient. I had to help you. That doesn't mean we are an instant couple again. I am not sure I even want another relationship with you. The fae will always come first. A case. An enemy. I will be left behind. I may as well be in my clinics day and night with a relationship like that. I would not be missed." Lauren took a big handful of peanuts and popped them in her mouth.
"Damn it." Bo sighed.
"We're talking, Bo. That's all we're doing." Lauren shook her head and waved her hands in the air.
"It's not that important to me, Lauren. The fae is not that important to me. I never saw the Dawning coming. I never saw our break coming. I never saw Taft coming. I never saw Evony coming. I never saw Rainer coming. I would blow it all up if it meant saving us." Bo was nearly in tears.
"Well, I never saw Inari coming. I never saw your Dawning coming. I never saw our break coming. I never saw Tamsin coming. I knew someone from the human world would someday find me, and he did. He had my wrap sheet. If I didn't go with him, he would have brought humans into that world. You know the Fae would have killed them. I'm not just a doctor. I'm a thinker. I think far ahead of every eventuality. Add that up with Nadia dying and I was a mess. A mess I had to clean up on my own because you were busy cleaning up Dyson's world." Lauren chewed a few more peanuts before leaning back.
"I don't know what to say. Shit." Bo leaned forward and buried her face in her hands.
"I know you love me, Bo. I know that. But love has never been our problem. The other stuff has." Lauren gently rubbed Bo's back and pulled away. "Your stuff. My stuff. It has never been able to level out."
"Your stuff should be my stuff and my stuff should be yours. I can't leave you, Lauren. I won't. Not as long as I know he's still out there." Bo sat up and looked around the room.
"I don't need a babysitter. I can take care of myself." Lauren's temper started to flare.
"Iris got to you last night. She looked like a regular teenage girl. These bastards could be anywhere. In anyone. I won't allow that to happen to you again." Bo's succubus tensed at the thought of another threat on Lauren. Bo's actually happy to have her. She won't stop until something or someone is dead.
"So, I'm supposed to stick to you and never meet anyone new? Make no friends? Make no acquaintances? That won't work for me, Bo. That's not my nature." Lauren stood and walked away.
"I hope you're about to make brunch. I haven't forgotten you haven't eaten today, doctor." Bo looked dead ahead. Lauren met her eyes and turned back around.
Lauren busied herself with making a late brunch for two. Bo sat back on the couch and stared ahead. What is she doing there? Nothing she is saying is mending anything between them. They need to be stronger. They should have talked years ago. Bo was told her Dawning was like a coming of age thing. She ran with that and failed her relationship. She was getting her ass kicked on the teen case camp until Dyson showed up. If he could show up, why couldn't he work that case, alone? That left her girlfriend alone and vulnerable. While Lauren deserves her independence, there will always be a threat out there. Look at Nelson. A human had infiltrated the Light Fae compound. Bo was told he had passed as a pizza delivery guy. It's all fucked, she thought internally.
She stood up and walked with Lauren when the food was finally done. She helped Lauren pour drinks and pulled her chair out for her. "Toast?."
"I'll get it." Lauren stood.
"No. Lauren. Sit. I can work a toaster." Bo smiled as she walked over.
Lauren sat waiting for Bo to return. She closed her eyes. They are never going to be normal. They are never going to trust each other again. Too much has happened. No amount of apologies will seal their wounds.
"Here we are." Bo sat two pieces in front of Lauren and rounded the table to her own seat.
The women ate, sneaking looks at each other but that was all they did while they ate. Bo helped wash the dishes and they walked out to the living room again.
"Lauren. I love you, I do. I just don't know how we will fix this. Fix us. Even our friendship is fucked up." Bo threw an air punch in disgust.
Lauren sat quietly. Even she struggled with words that would fit the conversation. They can keep saying the same things. Point fingers because there's blame on both sides. Lauren thought it was better to lie to Bo to protect her and help her but she was wrong. Bo thought it was better to sleep with Dyson and then commit to Rainer but she was wrong too.
"Deep down, I wonder what we would even be if Rainer was still alive." Lauren spoke softly.
"What?!." Bo turned. "Lauren! You can't think that!."
"You went Dark for him and I went Dark for you but my efforts and reasoning were shredded like I was a jealous teenager." Lauren looked Bo dead in her eyes. The brunette turned away and closed her eyes.
"He wasn't a replacement for you, Lauren. He wasn't. Nobody has ever been or will ever be a replacement for you." Bo turned back and looked at the woman.
"We all spent days looking for ways to help you out of your contract. When you brought him home, those efforts were stomped on like shit too. I should've killed the Morrigan and left. I was close to leaving too but I had left my phone in her room and when I went back for it, she and Massimo were there. My serum should've been strong enough to kill her. She deserved it. I don't know why I can't walk away from you but I do know I have the means and smarts to if I ever want to, again." Lauren moved from the couch and sat on the chair.
"You love me, Lauren. That's why." Bo replied softly. "I wasn't happy with Rainer. I was happy that I had all of my memories back. I never loved him. I even told him that."
"Before or after our talk in your room?." Lauren asked.
"That same night." Bo replied honestly. "What was I going to do, Lauren? I love you and you wouldn't come back to me. Dyson and I were just sex and to be honest, I felt no different than Aife and him. The difference is he and I were consensual. I know he loves me and is mated to me and I used that for sex. That's all it has ever been."
"I wasn't happy, Bo! I'm still not. I thought I could pull one over on Taft and he nearly pulled one over on me. He was another Ash with me under his thumb until I found an advantage. If you hadn't shown up, I would probably still be working for him. So, I stepped into his office and played his game against him. He hated the Fae. I should hate the Fae too. But I can't. I can't hate you.". Lauren took a breath and walked for a bit before stopping again. "Then you showed up at Evony's party. I had just watched her kill an entire wedding party. I knew she would kill me. She had no reason to keep me alive. Then you said you were Dark. Had you not shown up, I would have still been under her thumb. Your life circles back to mine in one way or another. But I will always be coach when you and your friends are in first class. But that will never happen in my clinic. There I'm top dog."
Bo cringed at the thought. Lauren feels like shit in Bo's life. Like she is beneath the woman and her friends. Kenzi was a thief when Bo first met her. Trick and Dyson have always been suspect too. Tamsin slept in her truck. How can a woman of Lauren's intelligence feel inferior to a woman that lives in a house with holes in every wall? How? Because Bo allowed the bullshit to go on for too long. She's the most powerful fae that she knows and couldn't stop her girlfriend from feeling powerless. Bo's inactions said everything her mouth couldn't say. "Lauren, you were never not important to me. I used to come to your clinic when I could have slept those symptoms off. Like that time I had gotten my ass kicked in the ring and Dyson brought me to his apartment. You were there. I could have gone and fed from someone and healed. I didn't want to. I didn't want him but I allowed you to put alcohol on wounds that I simply needed to kiss someone to heal from." Bo turned completely around. She wanted to be looking at the woman when she spoke again. "You can't heal my physical wounds but you heal the rest of me, doctor. Although I shouldn't set out to look for physical fights. How can someone that hates violence get involved in it and love someone like you? I don't know. But I do. I always have."
"Bo, we can do this all day but it's not getting us anywhere." Lauren sighed.
"I know. Dance with me." Bo smiled.
"Bo." Lauren sighed.
"Just dance." Bo stood and gently reached for the doctor. As soon as Lauren's body touched hers, Bo felt her heart drop. This is where it belongs. Right here in the peaceful quiet of them dancing to nothing. Not a single sound but their heels hitting the floor. She inhaled everything about the woman. Her scent. Her hair. Her clothes. If she could stay like this forever, she would. But Lauren can't. She needs to work. She needs to be a doctor. She needs to be everything that Bo loves about her.
The women pulled back and rocked in each other's arms. Their eyes danced with each other. Bo parted her lips and then closed them again just as Lauren leaned forward. "No. Let's finish this dance." Bo shook her head and pulled the woman back to her. She closed her eyes. Everything in her screamed to kiss the woman. To mark her. To make her theirs for good. She needs to be more than her nature. She needs to be the woman Lauren loves too. If she can figure out who that woman is.
TBC