Hi guys!

Well, I've thankfully now figured out exactly where this story his headed so if you're still with me then buckle up as this is going to be a bumpy ride! As always, thank you to my wonderful reviewers and a warm welcome to those hitting the follow buttons. Also, don't panic, this story is going to get dark but our Bo-Bo isn't!

Ready?

Chapter Four

Once again, Lauren flipped the covers off for what felt like the millionth time that night. The last few evenings had been utter hell as she slept alone with no Bo to hold for the first time in so many years. The bed felt too large and unwelcoming, unused to feeling the patch of cold sheets beside her where her wife should have been slumbering soundly. She huffed and flopped onto her side, haphazardly straightening the rumpled blankets and rubbed exhaustedly at red-rimmed eyes where it felt as though great boulders rumbled around under the eyelids.

For the last three days, since the incident where her Succubus spouse had almost killed her, Lauren had kept Bo under a light sedation in her home lab for observation. Of course, she could have had her looked after perfectly adequately back at the clinic but Bo's care was something she would only ever trust unto herself, knowing full-well that she was also the only one Bo would ever have trusted to see her in such a vulnerable state. In sickness and in health, the words rattled through her mind wryly.

It was no use. Her body was tired but her mind and spirit were wide awake, desperately running one scenario after another through that big brain of hers. With a great puff of air, she finally threw the covers off and padded downstairs to where her love lay in quiet repose. With the twins staying with Saoirse and Dagny in the little apartment above the Dàl, she hadn't bothered leaving the heating on overnight but the house was chilly with a December frost making the grass outside twinkle under the streetlamps so she grabbed a cardigan from a nearby chair and wrapped it tightly about her shoulders.

A welcome warmth greeted her as she entered her personal laboratory. Her one concession to the Winter's cold, she had left the radiators on in the basement area, not wanting Bo's body temperature to drop too far as she held her in false sleep. She smiled despite herself, the cosy heat tickling her cheeks while she turned on one or two cabinet lights, giving herself just enough illumination to not bump into anything and the subtle light cast the perfect glow over Bo's graceful features.

Looking down into the face of the woman she loved, Lauren ran gentle fingers over Bo's nose and cheeks, relishing in this rare moment where the Succubus appeared quite peaceful, with no trace of the seemingly permanent lines of worry normally etched into the other woman's expression.

Unfortunately, Lauren doubted very much that she could say the same. She had been avoiding mirrors at all costs, well aware of the dark circles staining her eyes and the one or two new wrinkles she could have happily lived without. She grinned softly as the corner of Bo's mouth twitched, the woman beginning to stir sleepily.

"Mmm, Lo?"

"Shh sweetie, go back to sleep." She murmured but edged closer until she was part-resting along the side of the bed.

"Missed you." Bo continued drowsily. Lauren knew that medically, such a thing was not possible but she would humour her nonetheless.

"I'm right here honey, I haven't gone anywhere."

"Where did I go?" the Succubus mumbled. "They took me somewhere. It was all dark and scary."

Lauren frowned, not only at Bo's words but at the childlike enunciations in the woman's speech.

"Don't make me go there again" she pleaded helplessly and the doctor's heart cracked just a little. Was this how Bo had spent much of her early years? Being hidden in the shadows? Locked away? It still sometimes hurt Lauren when she compared her mostly happy childhood with Bo's upbringing.

Lauren's parents had been loving, doting and encouraging, believing their daughter could be anything she wanted to be. Admittedly, pipe-bombing several people to their deaths had probably not been exactly what they had in mind but still, they had always been supportive of her dreams. She often wondered what heights Bo could have reached had she been given the same opportunities but then, she never wondered for too long. Bo may not have been conventionally academic, but she was everything that Lauren could find to admire in a person. She was brave, loyal, kind, fierce when she had to be and smart in ways that Lauren couldn't fathom but most importantly of all, she was a loving wife and a wonderful mother. She knew it could never had been Bo, herself, that committed those terrible actions the other day but she was stumped as to how to help her.

The attack had come at random. When she had called Dyson afterward, he described again how off Bo had seemed at the Dàl, recounting every detail of their exchange and yet Bo had seemed perfectly normal when she had left the house that morning. Chipper, even after their explosive night of passion the evening before. It didn't make any sense…and Lauren hated when things didn't make sense. It deeply offended her inner scientist.

Bo began to grow restless, her mutterings becoming more and more incoherent as she shifted around awkwardly on the narrow bed. The doctor was torn, whether to send the Succubus into a deeper sleep and hopefully a better rest, or to rouse her.

She shook her head. Drugging her further could leave her wife trapped into whatever private hell her mind had concocted up for her with no way out. Besides, the selfish part of her had been missing Bo terribly. Even just a few minutes might help ease the ache that had firmly lodged itself in her chest over the last few days.

Forgoing the use of another dose of Propofol, Lauren dragged a chair over to her lover's bedside and made herself comfortable, patiently waiting for Bo to come around in her own good time.

Sometime later, Lauren vaguely became aware of Bo's voice calling for her in the distance.

"Lauren?"

It was groggy and a bit scratchy but yes! But how did…? Lauren's eyes flew open and she blinked in the dim illumination as she tried to focus on the woman in front of her. Damn! How long was I asleep for? Her mind raced.

"Lo?" Bo croaked, "Why am I in the basement? How the hell did I get here? I only left, like an hour ago! Did I get clubbed round the head or something?"

The doctor frowned as she leaned over the other woman, her thumb stroking over Bo's hand that she had clasped in sleep.

"Bo, honey, what do you remember?"

"Uh,"

"Wait, hold that thought while I get you some water!" she said, hurrying over to the mini fridge tucked into one of the benches that was kept well-stocked up with a variety of sports drinks and bottles of water. Well, they had, after all, been caught short before on the odd occasion when Lauren had been working late and the doctor had been determined to never again let her medulla oblongata get in the way of a good time!

"Water? I was going to the bar for a beer, dammit!"

"Well, that was three days ago." Replied Lauren, coming back with cold drinks. "Here, sip." She said, helping Bo raise herself enough to take small steady swallows as she held the bottle to her wife's lips with her free hand.

"Three days? What, did I get like the worst hangover ever or something? I don't even remember getting there!"

"You don't remember making it to the Dàl? Talking to Dyson?"

Bo scrunched up her face, wracking her brains for memories that simply did not seem to exist.

"Nope, I left here…got in the car…then I woke up here."

Lauren remained silent for several moments and Bo watched the changing play of expressions over the blonde's careful features.

"Lo, what happened?"

"You umm…" Lauren swallowed, desperately trying to feel her way around the conversation.

"Oh no…Lauren, what did I do?"

"You weren't yourself Bo." The blonde offered tentatively.

Lauren traced back through her mind to the last time Bo had gone on a spree of acting without consciousness. She tried to keep her expression neutral for Bo's sake but the Succubus had clearly followed the blonde's train of thought.

"Wait, you don't think? Is it happening again?"

But Lauren shook her head vehemently.

"No Bo, it can't be. Even when you were at your darkest, there was still something of you in there I could recognise. You were still you at the core. This was…different. It was like there was something inside of you. You acted in ways that you never could." Her gaze sunk to the floor. She hadn't properly allowed herself to think back on the sequence of events that had taken place earlier in the week, preferring instead to remain focused on the objective of helping Bo. Deliberately losing herself in running tests and theorising, questioning, keeping those dreadful memories safely at bay. But now it threatened just below the surface. How on Earth was she supposed to tell her? How could she hurt Bo in that way?

"Lauren, what did I do?"

The following day saw Bo and Lauren walk hand-in-hand into the Dàl in defiant show of solidarity. They had talked deep into the night with Bo insisting that Lauren leave no detail spared. After both Bo and Lauren had wept their eyes dry and picked up the pieces together, they had decided to try and live life as normally as possible. The next morning, they would arrive at Dyson's, bring their children home and face whatever was coming for them as a family.

The door to the bar swung open with a squeal and both women were immediately enveloped by two bounding monsters.

"Mom! Where've you been?"

"We've missed you Mommy! Uncle Dyson's cool but this place stinks, can we come home now?"

Ethan was turning into a precocious little guy, just like Bo but Lauren couldn't find it in her heart to disagree with him as she spun him in the air, ruffling his head of messy dark curls.

"And what about you sweetpea? Ready to come home?" Bo asked Charlotte who had remained quiet in the succubus' gentle arms. The little girl searched the floor and mumbled something that Bo couldn't quite make out.

"What sweetie?" she asked softly, tucking a stray strand of honey blonde hair back behind her daughter's ear.

"Are you gonna hurt Mommy gain? I don't want you to hurt Mommy no more."

Bo swallowed hard at the lump that had risen sharply in her throat and shook her head firmly.

"No baby girl, I promise. No hurting Mommy. How could I when you two will be there to protect her, huh?"

Lauren, who had been listening intently and knew the horrific weight of guilt that her wife had been carrying like an anvil around her neck since the previous evening lightly stepped in, holding Ethan to her hip.

"Honey, it's okay. Mom was sick. She wasn't really trying to hurt me. Mommy would never hurt any of us. You know that sweetie."

"But we saw!" Interrupted Ethan. They really had to do something about this 'always having to get the last word in' habit. Lauren was never quite sure whether it was inherited from Bo or if he had picked it up from Kenzi somewhere along the way. She really did wonder about the people she entrusted with her children sometimes!

"I know Ethan. Something happened to Mom yesterday, we don't know what but now that it has, we're going to make sure that nothing happens to you or any of us again. Okay?" She said, smoothing a hand over the little man's cheek soothingly before placing a final kiss to his forehead. "Besides, big sister Saoirse and Auntie Dagny will be in the house too so I think that tonight is perfect for family hot chocolate time! What do you think Momma Bo?"

Bo grinned at her wife's incredible ability to soothe away any little hurt and nodded wholeheartedly.

"I think that is an excellent idea Momma Lo!"

Finally, Charlotte lifted her big hazel eyes and looked straight at Bo;

"Can Uncle Mark and Uncle Vex come too?"

Hot chocolate night at the Dennis-Lewis household had originally started as a way for the four of them to check in with each other and talk about anything that was bothering them. Initially it was little things like scraped knees or the annoying boy in class that kept stealing Charlotte's pencils but then when Dagny had moved back into the house she had blabbed to Dyson and Mark. Lauren's chocolate-making skills had since become legendary and now discussion ranged from the latest scores in the football season to entertaining the kids with stories of Bo's derring-do. Lauren liked to believe it was because she had scientifically discovered the perfect ratio of cocoa powder, to milk, to sugar but in reality, she knew it was just an excuse for a faemily get-together that the children could enjoy with the grown-ups.

And now, for the first time an extra setting would be placed for her eldest daughter. Saoirse sat at one end of the table, next to the empty stool that was reserved for Lauren, looking bemused but oddly content surrounded by this hodgepodge of family and friends. But still, there was something sad in her eyes. Nothing that anyone else would likely notice beneath her easy smile and light manner but Lauren knew that gaze so well. She really was the image of her mother and the blonde couldn't help but wonder where the young woman's mind really was.

The Griffin seemed to have inherited her other mother's gift of hiding the things that haunted her and Lauren had hoped that spending time here in this place of loving acceptance would help her to open up. This close-guardedness had been one of Athdara's less desirable traits and Lauren prayed that Saoirse would not become prey to it also as she became more and more of her own woman away from the ever-looming shadow of the Celestials.

Athdara had learned to be the woman she was out of necessity and Lauren understood that, she really and truly did but it didn't mean that their daughter had to suffer the same way.

Saoirse glanced up as Lauren approached her with a large steaming mug of chocolate. As she gratefully accepted the warm, syrupy substance her eyebrows creased in confusion at the white gloopy substance that seemed to have congealed over her drink. Lauren had to bite her lip to stop from giggling as her daughter uncertainly jabbed a finger into the pinkish froth but the twins had no such compunction, bursting into fits of laughter at the expression of consternation on their big sister's face at the sticky mess she was rapidly getting into.

"Honey, they're called marshmallows!" said Lauren, desperately trying to hide the laughter that bubbled up her throat, her face turning ever deeper shades of crimson as she struggled to squeak out the words; "You're supposed to drink the chocolate through it!"

Saoirse eyed her warily, not quite trusting the hilarity edging around her mother's words but nonetheless did as she was told. She took a great glug of the thick, hot liquid, before pulling the mug away to reveal the handful of half-melted marshmallows stuck to her face and nose. The table erupted, including her mother. For a moment, the Griffin looked indignant then began to chuckle herself. When she found she couldn't speak for the sweet treats sticking her lips shut she began to howl even more and the whole kitchen island descended into a bout of hysterics.

Eventually the hilarity died down and Dagny reached across the table and dabbed at Saoirse's nose and chin with a cloth, taking off the worst of it and for just an instant, Lauren thought she caught something there. A brief exchange of glances that lingered just a touch too long. She knew Dagny and Saoirse had been spending a good deal of time together and she made a mental note to ask Bo later if the Valkyrie had confided anything to her. She knew they weren't related. Not by blood anyway but she still felt a bit odd about the possibility of something between her sister-in-law and her own daughter. God, when did I suddenly become the over-protective parent? Erm…always? Her little voice noted snidely.

Conversation flowed freely around the table for the rest of the evening, Vex kept the twins entertained with magic tricks and although it was mostly fairly harmless, Lauren was never quite sure whether or not she entirely approved of her children's fondness for the Mesmer.

Still, the evening was drawing late and it would soon be time for the children to head to bed, they were already flagging but it had been important to both Bo and Lauren to give the twins a sense of safety in their own home again. Judging by the tired smiles on both Charlotte and Ethan's faces, they had made the correct choice.

When it came for everyone to call it a night, Vex and Mark said their goodbyes but the twins had begged Dyson to put them to bed in that special way he had. When Charlotte and Ethan had been little and Bo & Lauren had sometimes found it hard to get them to go to bed when there was company, Dyson would shift into wolf form and lightly grab the kids by their pyjamas and trot them up the stairs. The twins thought this was hilarious and pleaded Dyson to do it whenever he stayed over late.

Bo laughed and shook her head, raising an arm as if to say 'be my guest'. Before he got too far away though, she eased herself into his personal space while Kenzi and Lauren busily argued over the perfect percentage of chocolate in any meal and leaned into his comfortingly solid bulk confidentially;

"I know we all needed tonight but…we do really need to talk about this. I don't know what this guy is doing to me but I can't become a danger to my own family. We have to find out what he's capable of, how many followers he's gathered, what his plans are…The Dàl? Tomorrow?"

The wolf nodded;

"See you at ten."

Dyson turned away and began to crouch as his formed changed into that of a big, hairy, yellow-eyed mutt. He cantered over to Ethan who giggled and allowed Dyson to carry him towards the stairs. Everything was fine until Bo caught a glimpse of the white wolf carting away her precious son and something in her eyes changed. The colour began to drain from the Succubus' irises until they burned white-hot and her face began to shift, that same arrogant expression appearing and a deep growl issued from her throat.

"Dyson!" Lauren screeched, immediately rushing to Bo's side.

"Bo, baby, fight it! I know you can do it! Fight, Bo!"

"Bo-Bo!" Screeched Kenzi, desperately pulling at Lauren to stop her getting to close.

'Bo' hissed a grin and lunged towards Lauren but this time she was held as two solid arms slammed across her chest, pulling her away. Saoirse and Dyson dragged the Succubus back towards the French double doors that opened out onto the back garden and unceremoniously dumped her on her ass. Wails of "Mom" and "Mommy, you promised!" could be heard from inside the house while their mother and Auntie Kenzi tried desperately to shush them.

Whether it was the screams of her children or the Winter wind that whipped around the garden while she fruitlessly battered at Dyson and Saoirse who, between them, deflected each blow, Bo eventually seemed to come back to herself, landing, once again, flat on her backside.

Startled, she looked up between the two stricken figures that hovered over her warily.

"What the hell is happening to me?"

Thought I'd better knock this one out quick to clear up any confusion from the last chapter.

P&L