A/N: So this should be part 2.1 as it picks up straight after the last part, because that one went on for way longer than it should. Thanks for the reviews, I'm reading and taking on board what you all say, seeing what you're all feeling. The song used in this part is You're Not the One, it kinda hurts.
x-x-x
Tamsin found herself at another bar in the Dark part of town, she couldn't go swanning into Valhalla without a soul, so she couldn't talk to Freyja. She tracked down the next best thing.
"Well don't you look like a goddamn emotional disaster waiting to happen." A voice said from behind her.
"Acacia..." Tamsin said with a smile, turning around to face her former mentor.
"What's up kid?" Acacia asked, pouring Tamsin a drink out of the bottle she had in front of her.
"Why does it still hurt?" Tamsin asked quietly, "I mean I thought she took the pain, it wasn't supposed to hurt anymore... Seeing Bo... I wasn't supposed to care... It still hurts Acacia..."
"I thought it might..." the older Valkyrie said, "some things are even more powerful than Freyja."
"What do you mean? I've seen her do it before to other people, it works," Tamsin said, "it always works."
"Most of the time," Acacia said with a nod, "it's failed once or twice... Some things are just meant to be, and we can't stop them."
"So I'm supposed to feel this pain? What, is this payback for the shit I've done, or something?" Tamsin asked, pouring herself another drink.
"She's your other half Tamsin..." Acacia replied, with a sigh, "you'll never be complete without her."
"I know..." Tamsin said, looking down at her hands, thankful for the lack of light in the bar, "shame I'm not her other half..."
"But you are, she just doesn't know it yet." Acacia said, "what is the one thing that Bo puts above everything else?"
"Lauren..." Tamsin replied with a sigh.
"And Lauren is a..." Acacia said.
"Bitch... Terrorist... Liar..." Tamsin said, reeling off everything she could think of, "a bad cook... An infuriating..."
"I was thinking more along the lines of Lauren is a human." Acacia said, interrupting her.
"Oh..." Tamsin said, looking at Acacia and shrugging a little, "that too."
"You really hate her don't you." Acacia said with a laugh.
"Hate is a... Strong term," Tamsin replied with a laugh of her own, "I just... She's human, Bo's a Succubus, that's like a bear spending years making friends with a salmon before it eats it..."
"That's... One way of looking at it," Acacia said, refilling both their glasses, "the Succubus was raised human, for 18 years of her life that is all that she knew... You've gotta remember Tams, she's a baby, she's only 33... When we were young we made some bad choices, but those choices were right at the time. They were what we needed at the time."
"So you're saying I have to hang around until she makes the right choice?" Tamsin asked, the alcohol now nicely numbing her mind.
"Yes, that's what I'm saying." Acacia replied, "Pretty much."
"It could take years..." Tamsin said, "and I'm expected to sit back and wait? Watch her with Lauren, being happy, until she decides that... This pain is hard enough to deal with thinking short term, I can't even begin to imagine 100 years of..."
"So don't," Acacia said, "don't watch her being with Lauren. Put up your walls Tamsin, block it out... Leave, let her find you when the time is right."
"I can't... What if I'm not here and..." Tamsin started to say, "I couldn't live with that. She's got this big thing with her father..."
"So she found out who he is..." Acacia said with a nod.
"Yeah," Tamsin replied, "Hades..."
"The storm..." Acacia said.
"End of the world, I know..." Tamsin replied, "I can't leave her to face that alone. If we live through it..."
"Where will you go?" Acacia asked.
Tamsin let out a sigh, shaking her head a little.
"The mountains, Iceland maybe..." she said, "I may even go with Kenzi..."
"Be sure to let me know, okay?" Acacia said.
Tamsin smiled and stood up, she downed her drink before looking at Acacia.
"Bitch, you find me even when I don't tell you." she said.
"True dat..." Acacia replied as Tamsin left the bar.
x-x-x
Acacia had been right, Tamsin had to put her walls back up, block everything out. Freyja had lessened the pain for her, it no longer felt like someone was jumping all over her heart in Succubus sized heels, it was more of a constant throbbing. It was broken, that much was for sure, but she could deal with that, in the short term. Alcohol would help. She had to build up that cold impenetrable shell, what was left of her heart needed protecting.
"Back to not giving a shit..." she said, drinking from the bottle as she turned the corner towards the Dal.
It was 3 in the morning, Trick would just be closing up. She hoped if she asked nicely he'd let her stay there a little while longer before she went back to the Clubhouse. She decided to talk to Dyson at some point, to ask him if she could crash there. Being around Bo would be a lot easier if they didn't live together, plus she knew she could do without listening to her and Lauren.
As she walked into the Dal she saw Trick putting the chairs on the tables. He turned and looked at her.
"There you are," Trick said with a little smile, "Dyson and Kenzi were here looking for you."
"Needed some time to myself," Tamsin replied, "and a slight change of scenery, no offence..."
"None taken." Trick said with a laugh.
"Can I... I mean..." she started to say.
"Of course you can," Trick replied, putting the last chair up on the table, "lock up when you leave."
"Thanks Trick..." Tamsin said as the Blood King went downstairs, turning the lights off, leaving Tamsin in candlelight.
She jumped up on the bar, putting her feet up on the stool.
x-x-x
Bo must have dosed off on the sofa because the sound of the front door woke her up.
"Tamsin?" she said.
"No..." Kenzi said, "she's still not back?"
"No," Bo replied with a sigh, "and she's not answering the phone either... Though that might be just because it's me..."
"She's not answering it to me either," Kenzi said, "it's not just you..."
Kenzi's phone started ringing. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID.
"It's Trick," she said answering it, "Yes Trickster."
"You'll never guess who just walked into the Dal..." he replied.
"Thanks God..." Kenzi said with a sigh, "Is she okay?"
"She's a little worse for wear," he said, "but she seems to be physically okay."
"Thank you Trick." Kenzi said "I'll be right there."
"No problem..." he laughed a little, "I think she's playing the piano."
Kenzi laughed a little as she hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket.
"Well?" Bo asked.
"She's playing the piano at the Dal." the human replied, "I'm going to go down there."
"I'll come with you." Bo said, grabbing her car keys.
"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Kenzi asked.
"I still care about her Kenzi..." Bo replied.
x-x-x
When Bo and Kenzi arrived at the Dal the walked in quietly, they could hear the piano before they saw Tamsin. She was sitting on the piano stool, bottle in one hand, while the other one played the keys. They both stopped and just stood there. They listened as she played a few keys and started humming a melody.
Tamsin put the bottle down on the floor, using both hands to play the piano. When she had been in her first life music had played a big part of her down time. She found that music effected her in ways that words couldn't, songs say everything you want to say when you don't know how to. It can make you laugh, it can make you cry, it can make everything in your life suddenly make sense. In that moment Tamsin decided that the bitch side of herself would be back with a vengeance first thing in the morning.
"Did you teach her to play?" Bo asked Kenzi quietly.
"The extent of my musical ability is bashing the shit out of a drum kit," Kenzi replied, "I certainly didn't teach her to play like that."
Both of their mouths dropped open as Tamsin quietly started to sing.
"I've never been so sure of anything, when you're next to me, I finally feel complete," she sang, "I know for sure, that you're all I'll ever need, and I'll never stop..."
Bo's breath caught in her throat as she listened to Tamsin sing, Kenzi felt like her heart was breaking all over again.
"Loving you more with each breath that you take, this promise I never will break for you," she continued, "You're not the one, cause you don't wanna be, I might have chosen you, but you chose differently, you might make me feel whole, but I don't make you complete, I would grow old with you, but you've grown tired of me, you're not the one... Cause you don't wanna be..."
Tamsin closed her eyes and let the music wash over her, losing herself in the music, she caught a familiar scent behind her. She figured it was all in her head, Bo was probably at home, tucked up in bed with Lauren or Dyson, or anybody that wasn't her.
"So I'll let you go, as hard as it is for me," she sang, images of the Succubus smiling and laughing filled her head, "I'll never know, what this was supposed to be, if you're ever alone, I hope that you think of me, cause I'll never stop..."
A breeze blew in from outside the Dal, catching Bo's scent and carrying it towards Tamsin. Kenzi noticed the Valkyrie tense up slightly as she continued to play. With tears in her eyes she turned to leave, she'd wait in the car. Tamsin needed to get this out, and Bo needed to hear it.
"Loving you more with each breath that I take, these feelings inside never change for you," Tamsin sang, as her voice started to crack with emotion, "but you're not the one, cause you don't wanna be, I might have chosen you, but you chose differently, you might make me feel whole, but I don't make you complete, I will grow old with you, but you've grown tired of me, you're not the one, cause you don't wanna be..."
Bo didn't even notice that Kenzi had left as she stood there completely hypnotised by Tamsin's words. It wasn't just the words, it was the meaning behind the words.
"If you ever feel the way that I do, I hope that it feels the same way too," Tamsin sang, closing her eyes as the years started to build, "cause I only ever want what's best for you, and I hope, when she gets down on one knee, just wishing it could've been me, but you're not the one, cause you don't wanna, I might have chosen you, but you chose differently, you might make me feel whole, but I don't make you complete, I would grow old with you, but you've grown tired of me, you're not the one, cause you don't wanna be..."
The final notes of the song finished as Tamsin heard a sniff coming from the doorway. She stopped and wiped her eyes, as Bo did the same.
Tamsin picked up her drink from the floor and stood up, closing the piano lid she walked towards the door, not looking at Bo. She stopped next to the Succubus, her eyes trained on the door.
"I can't be around you Bo," she said, "it's killing me. I'm going to talk to Dyson about crashing there. I'll help you fight your father, but if we live through it, I'm gone."
With that Tamsin walked out of the Dal, bottle in hand, leaving Bo alone.