Fitzpatrick "Trick" McCorrigan, the Ash, leader of the Light Fae looked down at his desk and took in the piles of administrative paperwork that had accumulated after this latest and greatest battle against yet another contingent of Under Fae, outlaws of Fae society that attempted to rise up and challenge the new world order in the County. After the demise of the Una Mens nearly ten years ago many Under Fae believed there was a gap in authority that could be exploited to their advantage only to find themselves repelled by the combined forces of the Light and Dark Fae. Why is it, he thought, that his County, of all counties, had become the magnet for apocalyptic battles pitched for all of Fae kind? He did not understand it. What was driving this madness? Nevertheless, these odd clashes reflected a larger concern; it meant a lack of respect, or more precisely a lack of fear of both the Light and Dark Fae authority, and that had to change.
The Blood Laws Trick established fell apart to the point they were regarded as hardly enforceable. Trick could blame a lot of things but the bottom line he could only blame himself; he ran away from his past actions and his past self. No more. Once he assumed the role of The Ash he realized a new overall strategy was needed to protect the County and its future. Trick knew what he needed to do; and had placed each building block carefully into its place. He also knew that for his strategy to work would require sacrifice, not just of himself, but of his forged family. He also knew that to convince his forged family of the need for radical change they already had to be invested, and unaware their investments were part of a larger strategy, so for the last ten years he worked tirelessly to employ measures to coordinate the County's resources, and stabilize its security.
One of the first steps he took was to relinquish control of the Dal Riata. There were two reasons for this: one, he realized he could not run the Dal Riata and run the County as Ash and be effective at both. One had to relent, and so he passed the management of the Dal to both Bo and Kenzi. He was amazed at how well they had come into their own as warriors and decided it was far time they had settled into stable and steady employment.
At first, reception to this news was looked upon with trepidation within both the Light and Dark Fae communities. Granted, Bo and Kenzi had proven themselves as warriors, but to prove themselves as responsible stewards of the Dal would take convincing. Trick was proud of what the Dal came to represent: safety, freedom, sanctuary. By handing over its management to Bo and Kenzi he entrusted them not simply with the sustainment of the Light Fae community, but with its security, but he had faith Bo and Kenzi could rise to the challenge. And they did.
When Trick first approached Bo and Kenzi with the offer they jumped at the opportunity and quickly developed and surprised Trick with a business plan. When Trick read it he was astounded. Apparently, all those years Bo and Kenzi sat on the bar stoop drinking their nights away were not in vain; they had also observed and had ideas.
They proposed to transform the Dal Riata into a central hub for all Fae, both Light and Dark within the County beyond the simple registration and sanctuary; they argued the Dal could serve as a real resource for the Fae such as provide general orientation to the Fae world, coordination of job employment, and housing. And just as important the Dal could provide the same for claimed humans. In return, current and newly registered Fae would agree to leverage their Fae powers, skills, and connections to preserve and protect the security and sanctuary of the County, both Light and Dark. In effect, it placed the entire Fae Community at the fingertips of Bo and Kenzi to be called upon at a moment's notice.
It was an ambitious proposal that elevated and expanded the purpose of Dal Riata beyond even what Trick thought was possible, and most certainly reflected Bo and Kenzi's experiences in the Fae world. It was clear they wanted to shore up some of the gaps they saw in the County and wanted to use the Dal Riata as a staging point. But even more so Trick thought, it played directly into his long-term plan. Once Trick had approved the plan, Bo and Kenzi got to work. They pulled in every Fae resource they knew, both Light and Dark that could help make their plan a reality. They stumbled at first, even had to take a few formalized classes on the business structure side of things, but once they secured a steady handle on their plan, everything started to fall into place. Trick was most impressed with the response to the "quid pro quo" agreement; Both the Light and Dark Fae readily offered up their skills, abilities and resources if it provided them with mutual protection and defense. Self-protection proved to be a great motivator if it could be guaranteed through mutual interest.
Trick was not at all surprised by The Morrigan's reaction to the proposed business model for the Dal; as far as the leader of the Dark Fae was concerned, it was one less detail off her plate, but she wanted to remain in the loop and so assigned Ryan Lambert, Liam Kavanaugh, and Vex as liaisons to the Dal. Because of their business acumen, they calculated that, between Kenzi's diverse entrepreneurial skills coupled with Bo's interpersonal skills all the potential money-making opportunities that could be reaped with the right matrix of Fae and human business partnerships. Together they formed a business committee and their combined efforts to bring together resources and leverage partnerships proved so surprisingly successful that it made the Dal Riata, and Bo and Kenzi, themselves, rich.
Trick was at the Dal when Kenzi and Bo were presented with their first positive balance sheet by Liam, which showed their first hundred thousand dollar profit. They were floored. When he showed them their first million, Kenzi actually cried. When they saw their first ten million, they thought Liam cooked the books. They could not believe their work would reap so much, but it did. Their hard work had paid off and such profits helped Bo and Kenzi further develop and fund programs and projects to improve the welfare of the Fae and their claimed humans. Their work was impressive, but what was most impressive about their work was it reduced the perception of a divide between the Light and Dark Fae, and because of which their County became a magnet for settlement for all Fae from all six Counties as a way station of hope. So long as the right people, principally The Morrigan, received their cut, life was good. After all, The Morrigan was a successful businesswoman herself, Trick reminded himself. No matter. In any respect, Trick could not have asked for a better response.
The second reason was for Bo herself. While Bo had accepted her role as a warrior, she still found it difficult to come to grips with her destiny. Trick knew that was largely his fault. He had built up Bo's expectations rooted in ancient Fae lore and mythology that foretold of Bo being "The One" but in practical reality, her destiny still remained elusive. Trick had long suspected the signs and portents that lead up to her destiny pointed to one thing, and one thing only, and concluded the only way for sure to prove to Bo whether she was "the One" was for her to meet her destiny head on.
Which reminded him, "Beverly!" he called out for his Personal Assistant.
"Yes, Your Excellency?" she responded as she entered the room from a side door.
"Find Bo and Kenzi and have them join me here at the Compound this afternoon, please."
"Yes, Your Excellency" and she walked out.
He shook his head as he refocused his thoughts on the piles of paper and wished for the days of yesteryear where access to his person was less accessible. "You're The Ash, Gramps! Roll with it!" Kenzi said whenever she heard him complain.
In his capacity as The Ash he directed Dyson Thornwood to remain with the 39th Police Division. His role there was still critical to ensure the Fae remained obscured from human eyes. But Trick realized that if his overall strategy were to work he needed Dyson to become more than just an over-glorified bodyguard, and more so motivate Dyson from his contentment in that role. Trick also blamed himself for that; in the hundreds of years he and Dyson had been friends and allies, Trick never challenged or encouraged Dyson to become more than just a simple task runner. Trick needed that to change for his plan to work.
Trick created the role of County Regent soon after he relinquished control of the Dal Riata to prepare Dyson so he might one day assume the role of County Ash. Trick believed the role of County Regent warranted itself years ago after his daughter, Aoife sent a suicide bomber to kill the then Ash and Elder Light Fae Council, and plunged the entire Light Fae community into panic and disarray. If it were not for Dr. Lauren Lewis who coordinated the entire disaster response: evacuation of both the injured Fae and remaining Elders, and the deployment of both Fae Security and the Fae Army, the impact could have been a great deal worse. Trick chuckled to himself. For all the squabbles about humans in the Fae world, during that crisis, and for all practical purposes, Dr. Lewis, a human, was the Acting Ash.
Notwithstanding Dr. Lewis's demonstration of her leadership capabilities, that event is what made Trick establish the Regency position, so if there was a vacuum in leadership the County Regent could readily assume power, and restore order quickly. He made it known to all the Fae, though, that if anything happened to Dyson Dr. Lewis was next in line. Given Dr. Lewis's history with both the Light and the Dark Fae no one argued. That last thought also reminded Trick to have LoAnn contact Dyson as well to meet with him at the Compound and promptly shouted out the additional tasker to Beverly in the next room to her acknowledgement.
Instead of Tamsin resuming her partnership with Dyson, and in continued deference to Hale's efforts to create joint partnerships between the Light and Dark Trick secured the agreement of The Morrigan and tapped Tamsin to become Head of the Joint Light/Dark Fae Operational Security arm. Over the course of time, Tamsin had proven time and again that she was capable of so much more, so Trick leveraged her as much as he could. He needed her role to serve a two-prong purpose, with the first being to monitor the activities of law enforcement as it related to any encroachment or exposure of the Fae community. This was to anticipate any more Dr. Issac Taft-like predators on the Fae community and monitor all new Fae that entered or exited the County. The second prong was to develop an intelligence arm so the Fae could anticipate attacks and coordinate a response under a single, operational wing, rather than every Fae for themselves. Since Tamsin had claim on Bruce she decided to tap him as head of Operational Security at the Dal to help support Kenzi and Bo in their efforts. This triangulation strategy proved itself key in the synchronization of Fae defenses against attacks by errant Under Fae. Trick realized that while the strategy proved itself as needed it still needed one more element of support.
After his inauguration as The Ash, he asked Dr. Lauren Lewis to return to her role as Head Scientist and Lead Physician for the Fae, but in the spirit of continued joint collaboration Trick asked Dr. Lewis to retain her role with the Dark Fae as well, under her own terms. He sympathized with the reasons why Dr. Lewis had left the Light Fae and joined Dr. Issac Taft's staff: she wanted to serve a purpose, she wanted to contribute. When Trick brought up joint medical partnership with The Morrigan she readily agreed; neither Fae leader wished to miss an opportunity to leverage the good Doctor's intellect to the advantage of their respective factions.
Trick's offer for Dr. Lewis to return to her responsibilities came with one simple condition: If she accepted his offer, she was there to stay, through thick and thin. While Trick considered Lauren family she was too much of an unpredictable quantity that had to be addressed. Trick said that her years with the Fae, however, tempestuous, had already provided her with a sense if she wanted to stay or not. She had to remember she also had a relationship with the Fae, and they relied on that relationship as well, and thus could not just walk in and out of it every time she got frustrated. Trick also informed her she needed to make her decision regardless of her feelings or her status with Bo because his response would be what it would be regardless.
If she rejected his offer, she would be released from both the Light and Dark Fae, but never again allowed to step foot inside the Fae world. If she violated that agreement she was on her own with no help or protection from either side. If Bo attempted to protect her they were both on their own. But if she remained she could structure the JFM in whatever manner she felt best and pursue special projects she felt were important to her so long as the medical needs of the Fae were met. Lauren asked if Bo knew about this offer. Trick said no, but that he didn't care either. Lauren would need to decide regardless of her relationship with Bo. He recalled Lauren's look when she walked out the door, saying she needed time to make her decision. It was fateful.
Now ten years later after all the changes were in place, Trick knew he still needed one more piece to secure it all: he needed Bo. It was time for her to face her own fears about her destiny and take the lead. Trick took another deep breath. If everything went as planned everything would change forever. No one would be able to return to the lives they have led thus far. One last blood-letting, eh Blood King? Trick quipped to himself.
Trick shook his head and was about to refocus his attention back to his papers when he heard the pitter patter of small feet enter his office. He jerked his head up and smiled broadly at the four children toddling towards him. He rose out of his seat, stepped around his desk, and kneeled to greet them with open arms. The birth of his 14-month old quadruplet great-grandchildren instilled a love and a pride in him he had not felt since he took Isabaeu's hand in marriage. He looked up and saw that Tamsin was smiling back at the sight of the four children overwhelming their great-grandfather. He looked back down at the children and kissed each of them on the cheek.
