A/N A huge thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter, and offered their opinions on how it should proceed too. When I started this story, I honestly had no idea how I wanted it to all play out. Now that I do, I have decided on a Lenzi endgame so if it's not your cup of tea then please read elsewhere. Ever since I read "Displacement" I became fascinated by this ship. No, it will never be cannon but that's the neat thing about fan fiction.
2 Weeks Later
Hale had kept Lauren confined to her lab and apartment for the last two weeks, and wouldn't even take a meeting with her until he saw fit. It wasn't the dungeon but it was still a reminder that she was owned.
She had no contact with anyone outside of those that she worked with in the lab, which only intensified the loneliness especially after having spent the last six months with Kenzi. She was surprised that she wanted to still try to be with her after their memories returned, but she believed that had more to do with it just having happened. Now though, with a little bit of time having passed she was sure the younger woman had a change of heart. Lauren didn't blame her but after everything with Bo last year, and now this she didn't know how much more she could possibly take. In those moments when she didn't have her science to distract her, it hurt to even breathe.
She thought of how the fae had robbed her of a life with Nadia and freedom. It felt like a repeat except Kenzi wasn't in a pod, but out there getting to live her life. While that made her happy, it stung because she wished that she could be out there living it with her.
Pouring herself another glass of wine, she was surprised to hear a quiet knock on the door.
"Bo? How did you get by the guards?"
"Really Lauren? You have to ask after at this time?" She smiled.
Nodding her head "Fair enough. So what are you doing here?" She asked as she walked back to the couch.
"It's been two weeks and I wanted to see how you were doing? You were gone for so long...and...how are you doing?" Bo was nervous. It had been a long time since it was just the two of them alone.
Lauren watched as Bo sat beside her on the couch. "I'm alive Bo but not much else."
Bo took in the circles under eyes and even noticed some weight loss. She looked so fit and healthy when she saw her last time, but could only imagine with everything that she had been through that eating wasn't high on her priorities.
"I also have another reason to be here. When you were gone, I thought of everything that I could have done differently. I love you Lauren and your happiness is important to me. I know that I was selfish and I'm so sorry for the hurt..."
"I love you too Bo, but we can't be together." Lauren knew that this talk needed to happen for both of them. "At the end of the day, your nature demands that you feed elsewhere. Don't you see? I can't give you what you need, just as you can't give me all that I need. You're going to live for centuries, and if we were together your need to feed elsewhere would only increase. There will always be something that comes up..."
"What is it that I can't give you? Being fae means I can be there for the rest of your life."
"Someone to grow old with me, Bo. Someone that understands what it means. As a fae, my time will be just a blink of an eye for you. I want someone who wants to spend the rest of their life with me, not just the remainder of mine." She looked away for a moment to collect her thoughts. "There will always be a part of me that loves you, and remain grateful for all the times you fought for me. It reminded me to fight for myself again. But to try to rekindle a relationship, why hurt ourselves all over again? We had our moment and now it's time to move on...the love that we still feel...it's time to let it evolve into something else." It was hard to say this without wanting to take Bo in her arms and saying to hell with it all. She did love her but it was a love with limits, and she wanted more.
"Why not turn yourself fae then it wouldn't be an issue of me having to feed elsewhere, and time would be on our side?" Bo knew that it wasn't a fair question but after the Taft incident she had to ask.
"Why do I keep being the one who needs to make sacrifices in order for us to be together?" She didn't mean for this to sound cruel in any way, but believed in the old adage of it's better to be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie. Besides hadn't there been enough secrets already between them. "One thing I've always admired about you is your humanity, but to live for centuries I see how easy it is for fae to lose their sense of it."
"I understand what you're saying, I don't like it. If this is the right decision, why does it hurt?" She said with tears in her eyes as she looked at Lauren with matching tears of her own. She had a feeling even before she arrived at Lauren's apartment that this would be the end result, but she felt that she still needed this talk to happen. Things had been difficult before the break and she could either fight the issue, and lose Lauren completely or reluctantly accept it.
Reaching out to hold one of Bo's hands with her own, she brought it to her lips placing a gentle kiss on it. "Because this is the hardest part, letting go. I still want you in my life and I'll be here for you always, Bo. It's just time for us both to move on from this part of our story."
Nodding her head in agreement, Bo continued to stare at her for a moment longer. Leaning forward to where their foreheads rested against each other. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to let me know. I may have been the first one to fight for you in a long time, but know that I won't ever stop having your back either." Placing the faintest of kisses against the doctor's lips one last time, Bo stood up from the couch and quietly left as she had entered.
Finishing the rest of her wine, Lauren knew she had done the right thing before making her way upstairs. She decided that enough was enough, and she needed rest to put a new plan into place.
Next Day at The Dal
"You're awfully quiet, Kenzi." Dyson observed as he sat next to her.
"Oh you know the usual story, girl has her memory wiped, falls unknowingly in love with her best friend's girl, memories returned only to have the woman she spent half a year with arrested by a species that predates humans, oh hey still in love with said woman and so is her best friend...ya know...typical movie of the week stuff." She grumbled before slamming her shot back down on the bar.
"Ah, that same old story." He chuckled. "So what are you going to do about it?"
She looked at him as though he had lost his mind. "You act as though I can do something about it, Dyson. It's been two weeks and I'm sure that's left her more than enough time to realize that she'd rather be with Bo. Besides, who am I to stand in her way?" She finished sadly.
"I have to say I was surprised at first but seeing you two together, it makes sense."
"Natasha and Olivia made sense. Kenzi and Lauren...yeah not so much. She's this brainiac doctor and I'm..."
"A remarkable human being who always finds a way out of a bad situation, extremely loyal, and who loves deeply. Someone who saved my life, returned my love to me..."
"Who knew wolves could be so sentimental?" She asks slapping him on the arm.
"I also see someone willing to forsake her happiness so that Bo can be happy." He added looking directly at her.
"That's what best friends do, Dyson. You step aside..."
"...and make sure that your best friend gets the girl because you realize it would make them both happy." Bo said as she joined them at the bar.
"Bo?" Kenzi asked confused.
Raising her hand to silence Kenzi she said "I admit that this is difficult for me, but I'm not going to be the reason you two aren't together. You left Nate to stay with me, Kenz. I know that you would do the same again, but I don't want you too this time."
Tearfully she said "I appreciate that Bo and I love you all the more for it, but I don't think that's even a possibility. Besides, it's been two weeks..."
"Kenzi," Bo said reaching out to grip the younger girl's shoulders "shut up before I change my mind."
Looking at her for a good long moment, she accepted it. "Deal Bobolicious. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to run to the little girl's room for a moment." All of the alcohol that she had consumed in the last hour, now making itself known.
Watching Kenzi walk away, Dyson poured a shot for Bo.
"That was awfully big of you, Bo. I must say I'm a little impressed."
"We all have to grow up sometime, right? Besides, I wouldn't be the first person here to accept friendship once a relationship was over.' She said looking at him directly.
Raising his shot glass to hers he said "It's not so bad once you get used to it."
Walking into the Ash's chambers, Lauren did all that she could to suppress an eye roll with all of the pomp & circumstance. The same fae who spent his time being Dyson's shadow and ladies man, now looking sternly at her from his desk.
"Take a seat Dr. Lewis, we have much to discuss."
Giving him a look as she sat down. "By all means, proceed Ash."
"I hardly think you having an attitude is called for Doctor."
"Oh cut the crap, Hale..I'm sorry Ash." This time she didn't bother to suppress her eye roll. "The only reason I'm here is because of your fragile ego."
"Fragile ego? I'd be careful if I were you. You disobeyed a direct order..."
"Or what? What could you possibly do that hasn't been done to me? Hmm...yeah I disobeyed a direct order and saved the fae yet again as a result of it. The human doctor saving the fae and your ass yet again."
"Save my ass? You have any idea how the Elders have been on it to see you punished?"
"The Elders who always call on me when they can't figure out what's wrong."
"Lauren, you weren't there. The fae were calling for blood once it was discovered that it was your name on the vial. Evony had them whipped into a frenzy." He said it as Hale her friend and not the Ash this time.
"Tell them that you sent me there. It will be no different then when you sent me undercover at Hecubua. Make them suspicious of Evony too."
"Go on..."
"Think about it, Hale. You don't have to prove anything, you just have to cast enough doubt. You invited her to show goodwill. She flashed the vial around with my name on it, and then later had my memories altered. It almost looks as though she has something to hide."
"That might actually work. I forget how smart you are sometimes, Lauren." He smiled as he came around to sit on the edge of his desk.
"Mmm...consider this then before you decide to revoke my privileges next time. I cured the fae virus in the Congo, I am the go to source next to Trick when it comes to all things fae, I created a chemical compound that took out fae without even trying, and turned a human into a hybrid. Think of what I could do if I actually tried, Hale." She watched as his smile disappeared quickly. "So here's what's going to happen. I am now a ward of the Ash in name only. I expect back pay for my years of service, and an all expense paid month vacation once a year."
Standing up fully now, he asked "Anything else?"
"Yes, I intend fully to make Evony pay and it would be a mistake for anyone to get in my way. Oh and here" she handed him a piece of paper "I would like these items returned to me. You can find them in the apartment I had in Montreal."
"You can't just go after the leader of the dark. I'm not saying that as the Ash..."
"I appreciate the concern, but it's not necessary. Now unless you have anything else in mind, I have a medical lab to run." She said standing up to meet him eye to eye before turning to walk out of his chambers.
There haven't been many times in his life that he has felt afraid, but for the first time in a long time the woman that had stood before him frightened him. He was many things, but a fool wasn't one of them. Looking down at her list he saw browsed the listed items, but the last one he didn't understand. He wondered aloud "What's wrong with the coffee table she has now?"
A/N: So there you have it. I love doccubus as much as the next person (also copdoc & levony too), but there are already so many wonderfully done stories about them. I wanted this one to be different.