Hello lovelies, and thank you for all your reviews. I've enjoyed reading your comments – some of you have ideas so good I wish I'd thought of them myself . . .

Here's another two for one chapter deal. Thanks for reading.

Chapter Three

"Where have you been?" Dyson asked as Ava finally walked into the station. His new partner had excellent investigative skills, but you couldn't say the same thing about her ability to be punctual. He'd been waiting for her to come on shift so they could head out to follow up a lead and he'd been about five minutes from going it alone.

"At the Ash's compound actually," Ava said, strapping on her kit belt. It goaded him that there was no tone of apology in her voice; she was the sort of person who took it for granted that she was worth waiting for.

"Does he have something he wants us to do?" Dyson said, annoyed that she'd consulted the Ash without him.

"Nope. I was with Dr Lewis. That study she's doing for the Ash, thought I might score some brownie points with the big guy and participate. Have you done it?"

Dyson grunted. "Not likely. I dodged my physical for a long time, I'm hardly going to be doing anything extra for her."

"Do you know much about her?" Ava prodded.

"Just that she's a pain in the ass, has ideas above her station, that sort of thing," Dyson said, leaning back in his chair and shoving his thumbs into his jeans pockets. It still beggared belief that the Ash was allowing a human behind the curtain so to speak, and that some of his kind actually went along with it. He'd seen nothing in Lauren to indicate that she deserved that kind of trust. "Why?"

Ava shrugged. "She's interesting. Is she seeing anyone? Claimed, by anyone other than the Ash I mean?"

Dyson closed his eyes and put his head back. Jesus, not her too. Lauren must have some kind of magic dog whistle only some women could hear. He was never going to understand the appeal. "No, she's not. I'd stay away from her if I were you if you want my advice. Too much hassle, she's too close to the Ash."

"Well, we'll see. I can trust you not to be a snitch, right?" Ava said, her eyebrows lifting as she looked at him, pausing to take stock of how he'd reacted. She'd chosen Dyson to ask about Lauren for good reason. He had an interesting attitude towards authority – seemed to fancy himself as a bit of a rogue - and she couldn't imagine that he'd be very close to the elders.

"Your secret is safe with me. Girl's gotta eat I suppose," he said sarcastically, picking up his jacket.

X X X

"Did you go and see a doctor about that cut?" Dyson said, moving to lift Bo's shirt with his fingers.

"Yep, it's all better. It had glass in it, that's why it wasn't healing," Bo said, pushing Dyson's fingers away. She was cooking them dinner and had just laid a couple of steaks into the pan. The smell of cooking meat rose up around them and she checked the potatoes to check if they were soft, mainly so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Where did you go?" Dyson asked, already sure he knew the answer to his question.

"Where do you think?" Bo replied distractedly. The last thing she felt like doing was getting into this.

"Well. She was a busy girl today. What else did you guys talk about?"

"Nothing. She's a doctor, she fixed my cut. And what are you talking about?" Bo said irritation. Sometimes with the way he acted he might as well pee on her leg. He always wanted to know every detail of her interactions with other people, especially when those 'other people' were Lauren.

"Ava was over there at the compound today too, visiting Lauren. I gather they're spending a bit of time together. Did she tell you that?" Dyson asked.

Bo didn't offer any reaction, especially seeing as Dyson was so clearly was looking for one. Lauren used to tell her a lot about her other patients and what she was doing with them. Bo had always liked to hear it; it gave her another window into a world that she was only just beginning to understand.

"Why would she tell me?"

"No reason," Dyson said cryptically. He had turned and was walking towards the bathroom. Bo looked at his retreating back. She doubted very much that there was any truth to what he was implying. He was just trying to needle her like he always had about Lauren.

"Shit," she hadn't turned down the heat on the pan and the meat was starting to burn. She pulled it off, the pan clattering off the hotplate.

Ava was a beautiful woman. Bo knew that intellectually even if she didn't find her attractive. Ava was self-assured and seemed smart and experienced. She wondered if Lauren was into that whole diva thing she had going on. The thought of Ava and Lauren together just didn't make sense. She couldn't honestly be Lauren's type, could she?

X X X

Lauren stood apprehensively at Ava's door. After three sessions of 'study' - which mainly just consisted of them talking and flirting in various settings at the compound - Ava had invited her over.

She didn't know what the hell she was doing. Everything pointed to the fact that it was a bad idea to cross any lines with Ava. It was with good reason that Bo was the first fae Lauren had ever become close to. Of course Trick and Hale had been good to her, had treated her with respect, but they didn't hang out unless they were in a group and it was work-related. She felt unprotected coming here all on her own. Her only comfort was that Ava was light fae and she was certain that she wasn't going to get hurt. Being the Ash's ward meant that anyone who hurt her would be taking a great risk.

All that she wanted was some respite from the boredom and loneliness. In five long years, Bo was the only person who'd ever had her around for a glass of wine or anything at all. She'd forgotten how to be sociable, how to carry out all those niceties that had once been second nature to her.

Hell, even if she hadn't felt safe with Ava she'd gladly put herself in harm's way for a nice meal and a little conversation.

"Hello. Wow, you look beautiful," Ava said when she opened the door. Lauren looked down at herself, bemused. She hadn't dressed up.

"All that's different is the lack of a lab coat. Didn't go with my outfit," Lauren laughed.

"Well, you still look great," Ava said, smiling at her. Lauren noticed that Ava was dressed up as usual, wearing a skirt and silk blouse. She even had heels on even though they weren't going anywhere that she knew of.

Ava had cooked up a feast and matched it with good wine. It had been a long time since she'd felt so pampered. She found herself loosening up as the night progressed. There was that slight superiority about Ava that she noticed from most fae, but she at least tried to conceal it and acted interested in Lauren's history and life.

"There's something I've been wanting to ask you since we met," Ava said.

"Shoot," Lauren said. The wine had made her a little bit tipsy. She was enjoying herself to the point where she had to remind herself to keep her wits about her like she'd planned.

"Who are you pining for?" she said, her eyes boring into Lauren.

Lauren broke eye contact and stared straight ahead, running her finger around the top of her wine glass. So this was what she was really here for. She'd never fooled herself that Ava had just invited her around for dinner and a chat. Everyone had their agenda. It could be said of humans and applied equally if not more so to the fae. "Nobody."

"We both know that's not the case. It's very strong and if I'm not mistaken, quite recent. And I'm never mistaken by the way," Ava stated.

"Well, then I'd rather not say," Lauren said. She guessed that Ava would have met Bo by now. Even if she hadn't everyone knew Bo at least by reputation. There was no reason to trust Ava with that kind of information, not when she worked with Dyson and could most likely tell him every word without a second thought.

And it was unnerving to hear that she was sending out those kind of signals – it made her feel pathetic. She wondered what it must look like to Ava. Could she read her pain? Could she see the longing coming off in waves, did it make her look desperate?

"I understand," Ava said. "I'm sorry," she put her hand on Lauren's knee. Lauren could feel the warmth of it through the fabric. She sounded so compassionate, and to her surprise she thought she could feel sincerity. If it wasn't genuine then Ava was very good at faking it.

"Just for the record, I was pretty sure that this was why you were spending time with me. I'm not that naïve," Lauren said.

"Yes. But it's not the only reason. Finding humans who are longing for someone isn't hard, believe me. There's more to it than that. I find you intriguing, I think you're beautiful. I think we could help one another," Ava said.

"How do you mean?" Lauren said, reassured by the frankness in Ava's tone. At least she was being direct. It made it feel like less of a trap.

"I can feed off people without their permission, all I really have to do is be in close proximity to them. I'd bet good money you already know that. You seem lonely and I want to help. I could be a good for you," Ava said. She was now stroking Lauren's knee, half comfort and half seduction.

Lauren looked down at Ava's hand on her leg. It did make her feel something, even if that something was a poor cousin to what she felt when Bo touched her. Perhaps being with Ava would begin to heal her. At this point she would do anything to set herself on the road to moving on.

Ava was right. She'd done her research shortly after their first meeting and found that there was no hidden catch – it did no harm to a human to be fed off in the way that she would do it. It didn't deplete the capacity for more love, and true to her word it wouldn't make her fall in love with Ava. She could see no reason why this shouldn't happen.

"We'd have to keep it a secret, obviously," Lauren said.

"Obviously," Ava agreed. She leaned forward, and they kissed.

X X X

Lauren woke up and stretched. Ava had kissed her goodbye in the middle of the night and slipped away, and she found that she didn't mind waking up alone. She couldn't envision them cuddling or going to breakfast.

It had felt strange being with someone else, more than she had been prepared for. She'd expected it with Bo – Bo being the first woman she'd slept with since Nadia - but that had just felt right. This was very different. Ava had been attentive and she knew what she was doing physically, but there was so much missing. Lauren had never been a prude but she'd never been much for meaningless sex. They were using one another no matter how nicely it was discussed, or how considerate they each were of the other.

Going to bed with someone else just made her miss Bo even more. She missed Bo's warmth, her sense of humour. There was something special about having sex with Bo that had nothing to do with her being a succubus.

With Bo she'd found something she'd wanted very badly, and then had it ripped away from her. The unfairness of that had just struck her all over again. She wondered how long she was going to feel like this.

She sighed and rolled over. What she'd just done was not a good idea. Still, she couldn't promise herself that she wouldn't do it again.