Chapter 36 – Pasts, Presents, and Possible Futures

Lauren awoke to the distinct song of a macaw. It was now day three of their Congo trek. She smiled as she felt Bo's arms wrapped around her in their shared sleeping bag. Lauren did her best to ignore the early morning 'call of the wild', and snuggled in deeper. Big spoon, little spoon, top or bottom, none of it seemed to make a difference – no matter how they came together, the simple fact was that Bo and Lauren always fit.

Lauren closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Now that she was up, there was very little chance of falling asleep again. Instead, she allowed her brain to do what it did best – think.

She had known Bo for barely a few months. That alone came as somewhat of a shock. It felt to Lauren like they'd been together for years. Decades, even. The day they'd met was the same day that Lauren, Dyson, Ciara, and Hale had come across the first stone of power – the Llangareth. Lauren remembered the first glance she'd had of Bo – on poor-quality, black and white security camera footage – sucking the chi from a defenseless human security guard. She remembered making the decision to try and help the guard out…a fateful choice that had changed her life in countless ways. Lauren chuckled silently at the memory of Bo, decked out in her leathery best, all confidence and swagger and strut.

Lauren rolled over, and looked at her still sleeping girlfriend. Bo let out the faintest of snores.

My, how the mighty had fallen.

Bo had won that round. She and Kenzi had managed to swindle the Llangareth away from the Doc Squad, and hand it over to the Morrigan for a hefty pile of cash. In the end it was all for naught, as the Morrigan had the stone stolen out from under her meticulously manicured fingernails. Stolen on the orders of a powerful Fae they hadn't yet been able to track down. Lauren had spent weeks trying to figure out what kind of Fae was responsible for the heist, and for charbroiling Arthur Naia and stealing the Orsedd stone at the Clan Zamora Ball. Much to her chagrin, she hadn't learned anything at all.

Lauren's ears perked up at the sound of the tent zipper being lowered, just enough so that a certain dark haired Russian could poke her head through. "Rise and shine, Clementine." Kenzi grinned and popped her bubble gum. "The day's a wastin' and we've got ourselves a stone to snatch." Lauren glanced up from the comfort of the sleeping back to give Kenzi a subtle nod. Bo just snored. Kenzi rolled her eyes and vacated the tent flap, leaving Lauren and Bo alone again.

Lauren wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, grinning as her fingers grazed the front of Bo's shorts, and the button at the waist. Buttons. Oh, the power of buttons. Lauren's memory machine continued its trek backwards to the night in the JM Tower – the night the Doc Squad was searching for the Necklace of Harmonia. Lauren had been attacked by two goblins, Bo came running to the rescue, and it somehow ended in Bo tearing Lauren's shirt apart and scattering buttons all over the polished marble floors. A few days after that, Lauren had some fun of her own with the buttons on Bo's shirt.

Ah yes, buttons. Nature's most erotic clothing accessory.

And yet, even after all that, it still took way too long for the two women to get together. Lauren brushed a stray hair from Bo's forehead, and chuckled at the ridiculousness of it. The whole idea of 'winning by losing', and two stubborn people literally butting heads and driving each other crazy until that one moment of mutual surrender. 'I lose.' Those two words were all it took to send Lauren on the ride of her life…quite literally. She grinned at the realization that she hadn't been fighting Bo at all. She'd been fighting the inevitable. Lauren and Bo. The Doctor and the Succubus. From those first words from Bo to Lauren – "Hey, hair porn! Your gay is showing.' It was just meant to be.

It had taken quite a lot of convincing to get the buy in of the rest of the Doc Squad, however. Dyson, in particular, had been skeptical of opening up two more spots on their team of artefact hunters. Ciara suggested Bo and Kenzi should join them on a trip to Barcelona, as a trial run, to find a pair of handcuffs dating back to the Spanish Inquisition – handcuffs that forced the wearer to tell the truth. It took Bo actually wearing the handcuffs, and undergoing an interrogation, to gain the trust of the team – although it nearly cost Lauren her budding relationship.

Lauren ran her thumb along the back of Bo's hand, considering what she had almost lost. Bo stirred, but didn't wake up. The confrontation in the handcuffs had forced Lauren to come clean about her feelings for the Succubus. How much easier it was now, than it was back then, to tell Bo how she felt. She'd only said the words, 'I love you', the previous night. But the feelings had been building for quite some time.

Lauren grinned. When it came to love – real, absolute, overpowering love – she could pinpoint the exact moment when it happened. They were on the plane to Africa, after meeting with Trick, Val, and the Morrigan, and receiving the assignment to locate the final and most powerful stone, the Siancyn, in the jungles of the Congo. Lauren had just spilled her guts to Bo, about a past that she was desperately ashamed of. She'd never told the story to another soul. Bo hugged her, and kissed her, and didn't think less of her for it. But the exact second Lauren fell irretrievably was during the recitation of 'If You Give a Succubus a Hot Blonde'.

So here they were. In the Congo, sharing a tent, sharing a sleeping bag, sharing a mission, and maybe even sharing a future. Possibly. If it weren't for the weirdness of Lauren suddenly developing superhuman hearing and speed, and literally explosive orgasms, things could almost be described as perfect. Lauren thought about what Bo had said last night…that Lauren was becoming Fae. Immortal. Lauren sighed. She was undoubtedly a badass, but she wasn't Fae. If only Bo was right. But things couldn't be that easy. They couldn't be that neat. Surely, Lauren wasn't about to get a hundred human lifetimes with the most wonderful, beautiful, amazing woman that the world had ever produced.

She leaned in, touching her cheek to Bo's. She whispered softly in her ear – "I love you." Lauren felt Bo smile underneath her.

"Mmmm," Bo purred. "I'm never gonna get tired of hearing you say that." She rolled over, taking all of Lauren's weight on hers. She smiled even wider – Lauren's hair, usually so meticulously groomed, was all over the place. Bed head. Bo smoothed it down with the palm of her hand. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Lauren bent over and gave Bo a peck on the lips. "How did you sleep?"

"Like a sexually satisfied log."

Lauren grinned. "You do realize that the transfer of gametes to ovules in plant pollination is entirely asexual? Not to mention that the trunk of a tree has no part in reproduction, rather it's the flowers or cones that…." Lauren was interrupted by a giggling Bo. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Bo bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I just love you, that's all."

"Okay beotches, I hear laughing and that means SOMEONE is awake!" Kenzi poked her pith-helmeted head back into the tent, with her eyes closed. "Is anyone naked? Can I open my eyes without getting a face full of boobage?"

"It's safe, Kenz." Bo struggled to squirm out from the sleeping bag, as Lauren did the same. It was a tight fit, as the sleeping back was only designed for one person.

"Oh good. I mean, I'm sure y'all have sexy tatas, but I don't need to see 'em." Kenzi sat cross legged on one side of the tent. "So." Kenzi grinned slyly. "I thought maybe you guys decided to play panther and spend the night in a tree or something."

"Yeah, we got back pretty late." Lauren shrugged. "Everyone was already asleep."

"Ya know…the craziest thing happened while you were gone. We were all just sitting around the fire, minding our biz, and all of a sudden it was like the wind decided to punch me in the face. It was like Twister dude – I thought I was gonna see a cow fly past. It knocked Hale clear out of his seat."

"You don't say?" Lauren replied, trying not to laugh.

"But that's not even the weird part!" Kenzi exclaimed. "The weird part is that when it blew past, I coulda sworn it sounded like moaning. You guys didn't hear it or feel it or anything?"

"Nope." Bo shook her head, finally extricating herself from the sleeping bag's death grip. She glanced at Lauren, the corners of her lips upturned. "Did you feel anything?"

"We didn't feel a thing," Lauren confirmed.

"Weird!" Kenzi shook her head. "We gotta get out of this jungle, dude. Giant spiders and Fae bats and disembodied moaning mini-tornadoes…pith helmets don't protect a gal from disembodied moaning mini-tornadoes."

"They don't protect you from much else either." Bo knocked her fist against the helmet. "Why are you even wearing that thing?"

Kenzi mumbled something unintelligible, and her cheeks turned red.

"What was that?" Bo teased, poking Kenzi in the stomach. "I didn't catch it the first time."

Kenzi rolled her eyes skyward. "Hale told me I look cute in it."

"Oh, Kenz." Bo put her hand on her friends shoulder. "Those abs have blinded you completely."

"But they're just so…defined…and hard…and there are so many of them…and they're so hard…"

"Did someone say hard?" Hale poked his upper body into the tent, and made a muscle.

"Oh please, do come in," Bo snarked. "It's not like this is a private two person tent or anything, there's plenty of room."

"A'ight." Hale missed the sarcasm completely, and plopped down next to Kenzi. He pushed her helmet down so that it covered her eyes. "You know who you look like with that thing, li'l mama? Ever seen Jungle Jeeves?"

Kenzi's jaw dropped. "You've seen Jungle Jeeves?"

"Pip pip my Serengeti Sallies!" Hale replied, in his terrible British accent.

Kenzi turned to Bo, mouth agape. "The man has a twenty-four pack, and he watches Jungle Jeeves."

"It's a match made in heaven." Lauren rolled her eyes.

Kenzi stuck her tongue out at Lauren, and said nothing.

"Helloooo?" Ciara poked her head in to the tent. "Everyone awake?"

"Hi Ciara." Bo and Lauren said in unison.

Ciara smiled, as she joined the rest of the group in the tiny tent and squeezed in between Kenzi and Hale. Kenzi shot her a nasty look, but Ciara didn't notice. "You're looking much better this morning. You look…full." She winked at Bo. "I take it you had a pleasant evening?"

Lauren flicked her friend in thigh, and shot her a warning look. Ciara laughed her tinkling-bell laugh. "You missed the funniest thing, Lauren…we were commiserating by the fire last night, and I could have sworn I heard your voice carried on a very strong gust of wind…you seemed to be saying 'oooooh'. Or was it 'aaaaah'?"

"Good, you're all awake." Dyson unzipped the tent the rest of the way, and forced his tall frame into the tiny tent.

"For crying out loud," Bo growled, as she was shoved unceremoniously into the corner.

"We need to talk." He gave Lauren his best serious face. "The rest of us were hanging out around the fire last night…and by the way did you two feel that weird breeze come through?"

"Breeze?" Lauren asked.

"What breeze?" Bo played innocent.

"Hm. Nevermind. Must have been a localized thing. Or maybe something Fae related. I've heard rumors of giants in these jungles. But if we had a giant breathing down our necks you'd think we would have seen…"

"Dyson?" Lauren interrupted. "It's a little crowded in here with six people, did you have something you wanted to talk about?"

"Right." Dyson cleared his throat. "The team discussed it last night, and before we go any further we NEED to talk about what's going on with you, Lauren." He crossed his arms and skidded himself in front of the open flap. "I'm not letting anyone out of this tent until you tell us what's happening. No more dodging the question."

"Well, now that you mention it, I think I have a hangnail on my pinky finger…"

"Lauren!" Ciara, Dyson, and Hale shouted in unison.

Lauren sighed. "The short version is, I'm not sure. The long version is that five years ago, I was in the Congo jungle and I met a Khassu tribal elder who stuck the Siancyn stone in my hand, started chanting and did…something. I don't know what. There was a bright blue light everywhere, and that was it, and I didn't feel any different. And now here I am, back in the Congo, a day's walk from the Okahange Temple, and all of a sudden I'm Wonder Woman."

"Wait, blue light?" Kenzi grinned. "Does that mean I get you for half off at K-Mart?" Kenzi cupped her hands over her mouth to imitate a megaphone. "Attention K-Mart shoppers, attention K-Mart shoppers, we have a Blue Light Special on our selection of Sexy Lady Docs, get 'em while they last. Free stethoscope with every purchase."

Lauren sighed, and turned back to Dyson. "I don't know what it means. If I knew I would tell you, I swear. Does that answer your question?"

"Not really. But I guess it's better than nothing." Dyson scratched his beard, and looked to Lauren. "So, Wonder Woman. What now?"

"Wait." Kenzi scotched forward, grinning. "Wait wait wait. Before we do anything else, I just gotta see something. Dyson, give me your hand."

"You're not proposing, are you?"

"Shut it, Wolf Boy. Lauren, give me your hand."

"Kenzi, what on earth…?" Lauren protested as Kenzi placed the doctor's hand in Dyson's. Dyson looked at her and shrugged, as Kenzi bent his arm at the elbow and placed it on the ground.

"Y'all are gonna arm wrestle." She pulled out a wad of ones. "I have five dollars on Blue Light Special, any takers?"

Lauren shook her head. "Kenzi, don't be ridiculous."

"You're just throwing your money away." Dyson laughed.

"Actually it's Hale's money. I swiped it out of his wallet at the airport." Kenzi snatched her arm away as the Siren made a grab for the cash.

"What do you mean she's 'throwing her money away'?" Lauren stared Dyson down, an incredulous tone in her voice. "You think I can't take you?"

"Lauren…come on. Yeah your muscles are toned, but they're still tiny and human." Dyson grinned as Lauren gripped his hand tightly, crunching his knuckles. "Even if you got juiced by a Khassu elder…I'm the wolf."

"Oh, you're the wolf, are you?" She raised her eyebrows. "Okay. I bet five hundred dollars on myself. If you're so confident, what do you say to that?"

"Five hundred. Done. Bring it, Doc." He grinned, and adjusted his grip. They faced off against each other, elbows on the floor, heads almost touching. Kenzi, appointing herself the referee, placed her palm on top of the combatants' fist.

"Okay bitches I want a clean fight. On three, let er' rip. Ready?" Lauren and Dyson nodded. "One. Two. Three!"

Mumphert the Brownie had been sharing his tree with a flock of toucans, until a primal roar and a howl of pain from the camp below caused them all to take flight with a collective 'squawk'. The howling continued. It sounded like the last, dying sounds of a horribly injured animal. Mumphert grinned. If there was one thing he adored, it was seeing his fellow Fae in pain. He lifted the binoculars to his eyes and licked his lips at the delicious sound of physical agony.

"Dyson I'm SO sorry!" Lauren covered her mouth with her hand and surveyed the damage…Dyson's hand had been pushed through the bottom of the tent and was now lodged six inches deep in the jungle floor. "I didn't mean to go that hard…"

"Dammit Lauren you broke my hand!"

Kenzi bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Don't you mean your paw?"

Dyson turned and snarled, his eyes a glowing yellow and his canine teeth elongated and sharp as nails.

"Down boy." Bo flicked his nose, diverting his attention from Kenzi. "Can you get it out?"

"I'm trying." He growled, yanking his arm to no avail.

"Skinny human, huh?" Kenzi popped her gum and grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "I think you owe that skinny human five hundred big ones."

"Yeah well I can't pay anybody until I get my damn hand out of the floor, can I?"

Lauren rolled up her sleeves, and wrapped her hands around Dyson's forearm. "Brace yourself. This is probably going to hurt."

"What are you going to…."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Came the roar from the tent below. Mumphert chuckled to himself. He knew the wolf wouldn't remember, but the two of them had crossed paths before. Mumphert was working for another Shifter, at a castle in the Scottish Highlands in the late 1500s. He had, in point of fact, just finished meticulously scrubbing the floors of the front hall. And in came Dyson and his band of hooligans, tracking mud and horseshit and blood and the stench of the road inside, before flinging themselves all over the furniture and proceeding to get so drunk that by the end of the night they were pissing in corners and fornicating on the imported French rug.

That was the day that Dyson's name was placed on Mumphert's 'Kill List'. What started out as scrawlings on a single napkin had since grown into six humungous volumes of almost eight hundred pages each, comprising Fae and human names from all corners of the world.

All he needed to finish them off was the Siancyn stone.

Dyson whimpered, clutching the bloody stump of his broken hand, and his more recently dislocated wrist.

"Dyson I really am sorry, if you'd just let me look at it…"

"Back. Off." Dyson growled at Lauren.

"But I'm going to have to set it…"

"No way. The last thing I need is crushed bones to go along with the broken and dislocated ones."

Bo rolled her eyes. "We'll fix you up in no time, stop being a baby." She bent her head over Dyson's, and an almost invisible stream of chi slipped from her mouth into his. Dyson's eyes shot open and he sighed contentedly, as his wrist, tarsals, and finally his metatarsals all slid back into place. Bits of rock were expelled from his skin, and the cuts closed up.

"Ahhhhhh." He lay back on the tent floor, staring up at the ceiling. He wriggled his fingers and rolled his wrist, the memory of the pain already beginning to dissipate along with the last of the bruises. "Now I see why Lauren likes you so much."

Lauren's head appeared in his field of vision, and she was wearing a gigantic grin. "I accept cash only. No personal checks without references, and no Pay Pal. Now get up and get moving, we have a full day of hiking ahead of us."

Mumphert spat on the ground in disgust, as the Doc Squad filed out of Bo and Lauren's tent. The wolf seemed to have made a full recovery. Disappointing, to say the least. He narrowed his eyes. These six creatures were all who stood between him and absolute power.

Mumphert had two of the three stones of power already – the Llangareth, with its promise of strength, the Orsedd, with its gift of longevity. He reached into the pocket of his crisp, clean suit, and twirled the stones between his fingers. All he needed was the Siancyn. Just one more stone, and he would turn all the Fae into humans. Just one more stone, and he would rule over them all. The gods knew he deserved it, putting up with Fae bullshit over all those years.

Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

One of the toucans had decided that the threat of the howling animal had passed, and it was safe to return to his perch. The rather unfortunate creature made the mistake of squawking at Mumphert from a neighboring tree. Mumphert turned his neck slowly to look at the offending bird. He opened his mouth, and a jet of white hot fire erupted from deep in his larynx, engulfing the entire tree and the toucan along with it. Flora and fauna were reduced to a pile of ash on the ground within seconds. Mumphert coughed daintily, and lifted the binoculars to his eyes once more. It was quite the trick he'd learned from his days spent with the Garuda, being able to shoot fire from his throat. It was almost worth putting up with his former roommate's overpowering stench and heavy mouth-breathing.

Morbid obesity. That was the price you paid for the convenience of feeding off humans.

Speaking of humans…Mumphert focused his binoculars on the blonde doctor. Serena and Vex had insisted she was human, but Mumphert's own eyes told him a different story. He'd seen the doctor face off against the Fae vampire bats the day prior. And centuries of catering to the every whim of his Fae masters had left him the ability to 'read' people in a way that most Fae were incapable of. And there was something about this doctor that was 'off'. Ugh. The Fae couldn't be trusted, even if they worked for you. Serena and Vex would be made to pay for their incompetence.

After he got the stone.

Mumphert casually brushed toucan ash from his sleeve.

The stone was all that mattered.

A/N – Sorry about the recap-heavy chapter. I had to remind myself where the story left off.