Wow over 100 reviews? That is amazing. As for being more excited about reading this than watching the show that does say a lot about the quality of the show right now . . . at least we know Lauren's back next episode though right?
So this is the last two chapters. I'm posting them at the same time rather than teasing you with cliffhangers, although I think you secretly like it. Thanks for coming along for the ride & appreciating this. It was always planned to finish here even though with the positive reviews I was tempted to drag it out so I could get more ;) However I don't think I'm finished with Doccubus, I think there will at least be one shots in my future.
Chapter Thirteen
Bo dismissed the idea of having Kenzi talk to Lauren, although it had been something that she had always assumed she'd do at some point. Kenzi was the only person that she could be sure would help out. However in light of how resistant Lauren was, she realized that it would be too easy for Lauren to think that it was some kind of trick and that she'd put Kenzi up to it. They would need to take things to the next level – she decided to take Lauren to The Dal.
She drove Lauren there, both of them silent. Bo could see Lauren out of the corner of her eyes, staring out of the window. Lauren regretted their making love and it cut her to the bone. After Lauren had helped her put herself back together - handing Bo her underwear and pointedly looking away – Bo had moved forward to kiss her one more time. Lauren had cleared her throat and moved backwards, quietly apologizing. Bo wasn't sure whether it was for the rejection or for what they'd just done. Either way Lauren probably thought she'd just encouraged a psycho and was scared she was going to have a stalker on her case now.
When they arrived she led Lauren in by the hand, a thrill going through her when Lauren let her take it. It was quiet in the bar – not yet happy hour – but a hush fell over the small crowd. Then there was the sound of audible whispers. Bo looked at Lauren's face and was relieved to see that Lauren hadn't missed it. She was looking around curiously, noticing the stares from strangers. Bo wondered what it looked like through Lauren's eyes. It did just look like a regular bar; only human-shaped fae were visible.
"Why are they all looking at me?" Lauren asked Bo quietly, a note of fear in her voice.
"Some of them would know you from before, and word has been spread that you're not supposed to know about the fae any more. They're wondering why you're here," Bo said, clutching Lauren's hand to comfort her.
It was spooky the way everything had frozen and she hoped like hell nobody was going to give her any trouble. Thankfully this was supposed to be a place of sanctuary, another reason why she had chosen to come here. One of the options she'd considered was going to the compound, but that would be asking for the kind of trouble they didn't need. She could only imagine how Locklyn would react.
"Are they going to do anything to me?"
Bo shook her head. "You're with me, that means you're protected here." At least Lauren seemed to be buying into it a little. It would be difficult not to, given the strength of the weird vibes in here. It gave her some hope.
As they approached the bar Bo looked at Trick waiting to see what his reaction was going to be. He'd dropped the rag he was holding and was staring at her with as much fury as a kindly person was able to. She winced inwardly. She needed Trick, but she was bracing herself for a lecture or much worse. If he refused to help them she might never forgive him. He glanced at Lauren, looking her up and down. His eyes returned to Bo and he shook his head disapprovingly.
"Hi Trick," Bo said as though she couldn't imagine what the problem could be. "Can we speak to you for a few minutes in the back?"
"I'm busy," he spat out and pointed to the door. "I think you had better take your friend and leave right now."
"Trick, please? There's been a problem with the wipe and I need your help. I'm begging you," Bo said. She flicked her eyes anxiously towards Lauren. Without realizing it she'd started to grip Lauren's hand very hard in an effort to make sure she didn't try to run. She willed herself to relax it knowing that they didn't need Lauren to get even more freaked out.
Trick's eyes moved across to Lauren again as though trying to read her expression. "What kind of a problem?" He sighed off her look of fear, aware that he'd already begun to give the game away. "I don't even need to ask. I knew you wouldn't be able to leave well enough alone. Come in the back."
Lauren's head snapped to stare at Bo, alarmed by Trick's words. She had finally yanked her hand back from Bo's grip and now she was hugging her arms around herself. Bo reached out to rub her shoulder. "Just try to go with it Lauren, I'll keep you safe I promise. This is all going to be okay."
They filed into Trick's office and he shut the door behind them, looking warily out at the staring patrons as he did so.
"You could at least have waited until I was closed Bo, this is going to be all over town before you even leave," he said wearily. Trick sank into the chair behind his desk and then propped his hand on his chin, waiting for them both to sit down. He was looking at Bo with annoyance and just the tiniest trace of admiration. "You really have no respect for our laws at all, do you?"
"You know the answer to that," Bo said. "Can you tell Lauren that you know her, and that I'm telling her the truth?" She glanced over at Lauren, who was still staring intently at Trick, her chest rising and falling quickly in panic. Bo wondered if being here in such a familiar fae setting was giving her that deja vu feeling again.
"I'm not going to do that," Trick said, tenting his fingers and leaning his elbows on the desk. "I'm not going to show such flagrant disregard for the rules." His eyes were twinkling.
Bo nodded, ready to play along. She leaned forward. "Oooookay. Well then can you just tell me theoretically, if someone were to get her memory wiped, why would they still have traces left behind?"
"Well. Hypothetically, and I say that because no fae has ever been stupid enough to violate the rules in such a reckless fashion," he said pointedly. "Traces are always left behind. It's just that the person who has had their memory wiped would have those traces stay entirely in the subconscious. They might just see fragments in their dreams, for example. However, if a person were to come directly into contact again and again with the source of their memories then it stands to reason that those traces would come to the surface. There's not much literature about this because like I said, it's probably never happened just like this. And if it had they'd try to keep it off the books. It's a little bit of an embarrassment."
He leaned towards Lauren, speaking to her gently and dropping all the pretence. "And Bo is what I tried to warn you about in the first place, but I guess you underestimated how stubborn Bo is, and how much she cares. I wish I'd done more to warn you about that."
Lauren was staring at him, jogging her legs up and down where she sat. Abruptly she pushed her chair back, almost knocking it over.
"Lauren -" Bo reached out towards her.
"I don't – this is so screwed up -" Lauren said. She gave Bo one last hard look and then made a run for it, headed for the door. Bo moved to follow her and Trick stopped her. He'd risen from his chair and had a hand held out in warning.
"Wait a second, wait. Bo, get her to The Handmaidens as fast as you can. She's a liability now, especially because you've come here. If you really want to protect her you need to get her back to normal. You need to clean up the mess you've made," he said. She nodded at him to show that she understood.
"Thank you, Trick. I know how much you just put yourself on the line for us," she said, then turned for the door and bolted.
When she caught up to her on the street Lauren was walking with her head down, and she barely glanced at Bo when she became aware of her presence. She started walking faster.
"Lauren, I know this is all a shock to you, but please slow down. We need to talk, we need to get this thing reversed or there's going to be trouble," Bo said. She tried to take Lauren's arm but Lauren pulled it away. Looking at the side of Lauren's face, she realised that there were tears running down her face. It broke her heart to see her cry. She kept pace with Lauren for a few more steps, just waiting.
Finally Lauren stopped and turned to her. "This whole time, you've known everything and I've known nothing. I don't understand what you've been trying to do with me."
"I've been trying to help you," Bo said. She took Lauren by the shoulders. "Please believe me. We cared about each other a lot. We went through a lot together. Can you feel any of that with me?"
Lauren looked everywhere but at her face. "I thought I was just really infatuated with you – I mean, you're a beautiful woman, and I've been lonely . . ."
Bo put her hands to Lauren's face, making sure that they were looking into one another's eyes. "Listen to me. We loved one another – I mean I still do. . . I'm so in love with you. Can you trust me? To get your memory back you have to want it, and we need to do it soon."
"This is so fucking crazy," Lauren said. She put her hands on Bo's wrists, put she didn't pull them away.
Bo leaned in slowly, giving Lauren time to stop it if that were what she wanted, and when their lips touched she felt like she might cry with the relief of it. They melted into one another, not noticing as people walked around them.
"Do you promise me? Do you promise that what you're saying is real, and that you didn't tell him what to say?" Lauren said, pulling away briefly and holding Bo's face in her hands.
"I promise," Bo whispered. And when she felt Lauren's soft lips moving against her again, her heart felt like it were bursting.
X X X
"This is almost a first for me," the Mnemosyne said, reclining in her arm chair.
"Almost?" Lauren asked shakily. Bo put her hand lightly on Lauren's back. The look of fear had been fixed on her face for most of the night now; the only small comfort for Bo was that it wouldn't be much longer before that look would be taken away. When they'd entered the room she'd looked around at the expensive looking furniture and carpets and the weird artifacts everywhere – the place Bo had brought her did look kind of like something out of a fairytale.
"Almost. I'm quite disappointed I must say – it's draining for me to give it back. For a human it would be like regurgitating a particularly delicious meal. But I play by the rules, and you've earned it back. Where is your lover, Nadia, the other woman?"
"We broke up," Lauren replied after a stunned silence. Bo could see that she was mesmerised by the Mnemosyne. She was staring at her as though it were for one of her all important research projects. There was nothing outwardly strange-looking about her, but she did have a strange way of talking and of carrying herself.
The Mnemosyne nodded, looking satisfied with herself. "Good. That was our intention. We could see that your heart didn't lie with her. We try to not interfere with fate too much, although that must sound silly to you both. I'm just glad that there's not two batches of memories I have to give back. I'm exhausted by the thought," she said.
"Why didn't you give them the memories you were supposed to plant?" Bo blurted out, although she at least tried to keep the anger from her voice. She was less afraid now that Lauren had already convinced them of the genuine nature of her claim. All that the Mnemosyne had done was ask her a few questions and then put her hand over Lauren's heart. Bo was relieved at how quickly she had been satisfied, sure up until the last moment that they might find some way to screw them out of this.
The Mnemosyne stared at her. "So impertinent. I just told you why. People always ask for the most ridiculous fantasies. We supply something closer to real life, and these two were pretending that they could be happy together. They were trying to use us to do so. It wasn't the truth."
She put her hand in the air and clicked her fingers, which apparently summoned the Handmaidens. They came into the room looking at Lauren and Bo curiously, and the Mnemosyne turned to address them.
"We must return her memories, and I'll need your assistance."
"It's been centuries!" one of the Handmaidens' voices chimed in surprise.
"Wait a minute – so do you take back the memories since the wipe?" Bo asked in confusion. Lauren was obviously too stunned to ask such questions, and was struggling to keep up with it all. Bo didn't blame her. She couldn't keep track of what was what and which parts Lauren was supposed to be able to remember, and she at least had the whole picture in front of her.
"No, there is no need for that. False memories don't taste right to me. And besides, they can co-exist with her real memory once we restore it. You'll see. Lauren, you can return to your home now, and this traitor to her kind can accompany you if she likes," the Mnemosyne said, gesturing towards Bo. She said it in a neutral tone, as though any passion were beneath her. "What's your address now?"
After Lauren gave it all of the Handmaidens nodded in unison. "We'll come to your dwelling before dawn once again, and when you wake up you'll have your memories back."
X X X
Lauren lay down on the bed, her house full of strange people bustling around. She was looking at the Handmaidens fearfully.
"I feel like I'm going to wake up without my kidneys, or with all my electronics stolen or something. Please promise me again that this is not some really strange scheme to do something to me?" Lauren pleaded. She was lying as stiff as a board, and Bo leaned down to kiss her forehead, brushing her hair back from her head.
"I promise you can trust me," Bo replied.
Lauren looked up at her and after a beat she nodded. Bo moved to lay at her side, taking her hand firmly. Bo watched as Lauren's eyes fluttered closed and the Mnemosyne approached.