Kenzi did not like the outdoors and hated every minute she was here, which really was only three minutes. The 'Concrete Jungle' was the only acceptable form of outdoors to the former street urchin. She knew she was supposed to be looking for something, but she honestly couldn't get into the spirit of things when they had virtually nothing to go on. Instead she stood in place and slipped into her old habit of people watching. While people watching, Kenzi thought back to what Bo had told her in the car; that someone else was looking into their case and that they should keep their guard up. Several things bothered her about this revelation: Who exactly is this person or persons? Are they fae? What is their goal in all of this? There was one couple in particular about fifty feet away that caught her eye; for reasons she couldn't name she had a feeling that they were bad news. That was another problem; her instincts were typically never wrong.
Bo was walking a couple of feet behind Lauren, wondering how best to apologize to her. She had a perfect moment in the lab until Hale ruined it with his ill-timed phone call. Bo couldn't fault him for it as he had relayed important information, which brought her to her other, equally important train of thought: They might be facing some competition. She didn't dwell on it too much as it was still recent news with nothing that could be accomplished at this point in time. Again, her thoughts went back to Lauren and when she realized she was staring a little too intently at her backside, she looked over her shoulder at Kenzi, who was standing and staring at a couple in the distance.
"You know, I actually find it disturbing how quiet you are." Bo walked up to Kenzi and stood beside her. She saw the way Kenzi was looking at the couple walking nearly fifty feet away and it made her feel a little uneasy. "What's wrong?"
"You know how you can just look at a person and immediately tell that you're going to hate their guts?" Kenzi glanced at Bo before looking back at the couple. She really hoped that nothing would come of this, that she was merely being paranoid.
Bo knew better than to question Kenzi's instincts, seeing as how the girl's intuition had saved her on more than one occasion, as well as pointing her in the right direction. Her faith in Kenzi's intuition was further cemented when she watched the man turn to face the woman and started shouting.
"You're asking me to sniff out -I don't even know what- in a highly commuted area with at least three different restaurants nearby! There are just too many distractions!"
Lauren was enjoying her reprieve from the lab. She didn't even realize how much she needed this until she started walking around and was thankful that Bo brought her along. The same couldn't be said for Kenzi though; during the whole ride to Olmos Park she could feel her staring holes into the back of her head while she sat up front. As much as she needed to get out of the lab, Lauren couldn't help but feel guilty doing so, The Ash was still in a coma and the doctor in her could not accept that she had just left a patient. To take her mind off it, Lauren chose to think about how she would go about telling Bo the truth about what happened that night. All Lauren knew was that she would have to choose her words carefully, lest she incur Bo's anger again. As she began to decide what direction to take that conversation, Kenzi brought her back to reality. Lauren turned around and saw that Kenzi was chasing after Bo saying her name repeatedly. She wasn't sure what she could do to help but Lauren ran up to them anyway.
"Bo, wait!" Kenzi managed to stop her about thirty feet from the couple.
"What's going on?" Lauren caught up to them and stood beside Kenzi.
Kenzi merely ignored her. "Look, there's got to be a perfectly good reason for this." Bo wasn't exactly known for thinking ahead, let alone straight, when she loses her temper and Kenzi hoped that with a logical argument, she could placate Bo's anger and get her to think clearly. "Hale, probably called in some cracked Scooby Doo to help and forgot to give us a shout." Kenzi had to admit she wasn't sure that was the case but she didn't let it show.
"No, Hale would have called us, he wouldn't let something like that slip his mind. It's seems more like they lost their prized fighting dog and they're trying to get it before they get in trouble and someone puts it down. Unless you've got something better, tell me I'm wrong." Bo glanced over her shoulder at Kenzi and Lauren.
Kenzi was about to say something but spit her hair out of her mouth instead when the wind blew. She was disappointed that Lauren didn't have anything to add to the argument and could only huff in defeat.
"Do you have a plan before you rip them a new one?" Who was she kidding, 'Bo' and 'plan' didn't belong in the same sentence except in rare cases. Kenzi was sure, as hell today wasn't that day. Bo's response was to take off again. "Oh tits. Bitch thinks she's Wonder Woman."
As Bo got closer to the couple she was able to make them out more clearly. The woman was a brunette with long, wavy hair, fair skinned, in her thirties, wearing a gray cardigan, a white t-shirt, black riding boots on top of dark blue jeans, and stood roughly 5'9". She was reading a three in her aura, while the man next to her was a solid five as they looked at her slightly confused. He was about an inch taller, had short, dark brown hair, his skin a little darker than the woman, in his late twenties, and of average build. He was wearing a light blue polo, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, that was buttoned up halfway, a gray shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, and charcoal gray boots.
She stood directly in front of them, with Kenzi and Lauren flanking her sides, and stared at the man. Looking into his eyes she saw that not only were they sea foam green, but as she continued to stand in his presence, she was overcome by a sudden overwhelming feeling of safety, that she couldn't explain which made her falter slightly.
"Your fae." Bo stated simply, hoping that it would get them to open up, knowing that they were in the presence of their own and tell her whom they were and if she was lucky, what they were up to.
"I don't think I've ever been called that before." He looked genuinely confused and turned to the woman next to him, who was just as equally perplexed. Oddly enough, it didn't sound like he was accepting or denying the accusation.
Bo was taken aback and hit with the hard reality that planning ahead was not her strong suit. She wasn't sure what to do and in her silence the brunette chimed in.
"Is that what you call yourselves?" She spoke with a light British accent and held a rather inquisitive look on her face that made her think of the blonde standing next to her. "I suppose that does sound better than 'abnormal'. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?' She looked at her partner.
"Whoa there Mary Poppins, there is nothing wrong with us. Just who the hell do you think you are anyway?" Kenzi piped up. She didn't feel threatened in their presence like she thought she would have, instead she felt safe, which only served to creep her out a little. Glancing at Bo and Lauren, she saw that they felt it too as she realized that the three of them shared the same relaxed posture. The two in front of her, on the other hand, stood straight with a slightly defensive stance
She smiled at that, as though it brought back pleasant memories. The brunette woman, seemed to think about it and turned to her partner, who was studying the three women carefully with a faint smile on his lips, at the young woman's comment. The woman looked as though she was waiting for his approval of them, even though she already seemed to have done just that. When she appeared satisfied with what she saw, she pulled out a business card and handed it to Bo.
"I'm Dr. Helen Magnus."
"I'm Axel. I didn't think you actually carried those around, wherever you go." He held out his hand and put it back down when no one accepted the gesture. "You know, it's only polite to give your name after someone has already introduced themselves." Axel stated in soft non-accusatory tone.
"'Sanctuary for all'?" Bo said looking rather confused; underneath Helen's name was 'M.D. D.T.C.X.B.'.
"Teratology, Cryptozoology, Xenobiology…what exactly do you do?" Lauren had a fairly good idea, as she too was intimately familiar with Cryptozoology: the study of extinct and otherwise nonexistent animals, and Xenobiology: the study of extraterrestrial life, which is to say things that, practically speaking, don't exist. She just needed to hear it for herself.
Helen looked at Axel again. She may be a bold and straightforward woman, but she still wasn't sure she should just share this information with them. As good a judge of character she may be, she wanted to see what Axel thought of them, as he is a very guarded individual and an excellent judge of character, as well as reading people. Helen was surprised to see that though he stood straight, he was relaxed with an unmistakable softness in his eyes; this obvious comfort near them was all she needed to continue.
"I run a network of safe havens for the extraordinary and paranormal creatures of this world. We call them abnormals. Some come to us of their own volition seeking help as patients, others we track and bring them to the Sanctuary as they have become a danger to humans and subsequently themselves. They are well cared for and given sanctuary from the cruelty of this world, those who don't understand them, and those that would do them harm."
"In exchange for what? Their fealty?" Bo huffed. It sounded too good to be true, but if it was anything like Helen said, she only wished she had heard of this place when she was on the run.
"Nothing of the sort. I merely give them the help they seek."
"As badly as I want to call bullshit, I can't." Kenzi just couldn't believe the sincerity in which Helen spoke but knew that every word she said was true.
Bo pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I need a drink."
"I could use a drink as well, and someplace else to discuss this." Axel finally spoke.
"Agreed. I know the perfect place."
A/N: Based on the fact that not everyone watches Sanctuary, that and some of the comments I've seen, I feel the need to reiterate the fact that Axel is an original character. Also, I apologize to any Sanctuary fans if you feel Helen is not 100% in character. Please, don't hesitate to PM me on the matter so that I can fix that.