I'm back from my mini vacation and I'm feeling very relaxed! I also got a lot of writing done. Not as much as I'd like, but still a good bit. Enjoy this new chapter courtesy of my vacation!

Chapter 20

"So Bo is pissed." Kenzi said. Dyson smirked and shook his head.

"She'll be ok. I don't think she's pissed as much as she is worried. And anyway, she's not mad at you, she's mad at me."

"She's always mad at you." Kenzi said. Dyson chuckled and lifted his hand.

"Don't make me laugh, I'll mess up." he said. Kenzi smiled and looked down at her skin. He was using a permanent marker to draw small lines where Kenzi's black marks stopped, so that they could monitor how far each one was moving day to day. Bo had offered but Trick thought her skills were better used for tracking down a few leads on Lauren. Tamsin and gone with her, and Hale was upstairs with Trick.

"You know I've been around you Fae for such a short time, and in that short time I've nearly died a number of times. I might want to look into some new friends." She said as Dyson leaned back down close to her stomach to keep marking her skin.

"You could never be yourself with normal people Kenz. Face it, you're just as weird as us."

"That may be true, but at least your bodies are stronger than mine." She said. Dyson looked up at her from his position and he sighed.

"Being human makes you special Kenzi."

"How?"

"Fae live so long that we barely care about day to day activities, or dreams, or lifetimes goals. But humans have a limited lifespan, you only live a short time, so you make everyday count."

"That's what everyone says, but trust me, if you were me right now, you'd be wishing you were Fae too."

"You're going to be fine." He said. The way he said it made Kenzi close her mouth and not want to argue back. From him it was a definite answer, there was no arguing it, and that was exactly what it sounded like. Kenzi decided to drop it, all she was going to do was stress herself out and bum everyone around out. Dyson was focusing on his line drawing, and when he moved up to her shoulders Kenzi couldn't help but clench her teeth to keep herself drawn back. He was so close to her, so close she could feel his breath come out and tickle her shoulder and across her neck, gently moving over her skin. She didn't know if it was on purpose, but it sure felt like something someone did to get a reaction out of another person. Kenzi's hands balled into fists on her pants. When her hands drew up, her knuckled scraped against his leather vest and she wanted to pull back even more, but she stayed still. The last thing she needed was Bo coming down the stairs and seeing them together in the way that Kenzi wanted to be right now. Because if she had her way, she'd already be undressed and so would he. His hands moved meticulously across her shoulders and down over her collar bone.

"I think I've got them all." He said.

"Yeah, I don't have any on my back…yet." She said. Dyson moved back and put the cap on the marker.

"Now you're just being cynical."

"I'm always cynical, it's how I get through the day." she smirked.

"We're going to find Lauren, and you're going to get better." He said.

"I'll hold my breath."

"Kenzi." He gave her a worried look.

"Hey, only one of us has time to worry. Let it be me and that'll take some of the weight off your shoulders."

"You're not just weight on my shoulders." He looked into her eyes for a few moments and Kenzi had to say something or she knew where this was going.

"If I'm not mistaken, we're having a moment aren't we?"

"We were until you ruined it." Dyson said, laughing a little bit.

"We should probably hold off on the moments, at least until Bo cools down."

"I'm sure she'll cool down soon." He shrugged.

"By the way, how did Bo know we had sex?"

"She tasted you." he answered

"She tasted me?" Kenzi asked with a weird look.

"When I pulled your energy it became mine, except it still carried traces of you. So when I helped Bo heal, she tasted you in my chi"

"You healed Bo?" Kenzi didn't even know why she was asking, she already knew the answer to that question. Of course he helped Bo heal, he always helped her heal. It was Bo after all, and Dyson was apparently the only Fae that could ever help her heal. Kenzi mentally scolded herself. Here she was getting mad at them, when she had no claim to Dyson. He wasn't her boyfriend, hell he wasn't even her lover. Bo was her best friend and she needed to heal, so she used the only person available to her, which was Dyson. Kenzi tried to rationalize it and be logical about the situation, but it didn't keep that small frustration out. Because the heart was not logical or rational. It did what it wanted to do and the rest of your body just had to deal with it.

"Can I ask you something?" Kenzi asked.

"Anything." Dyson said. He was sitting on the couch, facing her and they were alone. Kenzi had to ask, she just had to.

"Why did you kiss me, twice?" Dyson stared at her as the words rolled from her mouth and then he took a deep breath.

"The only answer I can give you is because I wanted to. I felt like I should kiss you so I did. When we were getting Trick back, I didn't know if I'd ever see you again, and I thought then was as good a time as any. And then when we were down here alone, I just needed to see if the feelings I was having were being reciprocated…or not." He said. Kenzi's eyes locked onto his and she didn't look away.

"And what feelings are you having?" she asked.

"I like you, a lot, and right now all I know is that I feel for you. I feel so protective of you, the same protectiveness I felt for Bo. I owe you my life, but that's not why I want to keep you safe. I want to keep you safe because I care for you. You're so bright and funny. I can't help but feel for you Kenzi." He said. Kenzi bit her lip. She really wanted to hug him, but so much was uncertain right now. They were in the middle of conflict and there was so much more that needed to be talked about. Bo would be furious and Kenzi could not lose her friendship with Bo, she just couldn't risk that. There was something she needed to know though.

"Do you care for me like you care for Bo?" she couldn't even consider taking this further if he still wanted a relationship with Bo. She wasn't going to be a second choice, she wasn't going to be something to hold him over until Bo decided to filter back into his life. He looked down at the floor and then back up at her, his eyes scanning her face. His hands twisted together, playing mindlessly. He was thinking and Kenzi wanted him to think, he needed to think. Dyson set his jaw and his eyes locked back onto hers. Kenzi knew he'd found his answer.

"Kenzi I – " but his sentence was cut off. Kenzi jumped as something slammed heavily into the walls of the Dal and the building rattled around them.