Author's Note: I'm a bad human. I forgot to thank my beta-readers. SGAConvert and Rabastan04 have graciously donated their time to make this story better. Much appreciated!

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"Don't touch anything."

Kenzi—oblivious to the disapproving looks of the fae Lauren employed—flitted around the lab blatantly snooping with her hands purposely clasped together behind her back. She cheekily waggled her eyebrows at Bo when the woman frowned at her. Bo shook her head and left the young woman to her own devices.

A nurse directed Bo to a conference room down the hall where she would likely find Lauren. She strolled like she owned the place, peering into various rooms through windows and open doors as she went. Most of the rooms held medical equipment that seemed pretty cut and dry. A few things were exotic looking, sparking her interest enough to make mental notes to ask Lauren about them later.

Seeing Lauren in "work mode" was a delightful perk of being the Ash's champion given that she now enjoyed pretty much free run of the compound. Bo intended to take full advantage of it. She paused outside a partially closed door when she heard Lauren's distinctive timbre.

"Biological transmutation is impossible. The theory blatantly disregards basic physical laws," Lauren was saying. She had the sound of someone who was exercising vast amounts of patience, making Bo that much more curious as to whom she was speaking. Normally Lauren reserved that tone for when she spoke to Bo and Kenzi about some scientific something or other.

Poking her head around the door to glance surreptitiously into the room, Bo saw Lauren perched on the end of a long conference table; one foot was planted firmly on the floor and the other on a chair in front of her. In her lap she cradled a text book, which she rapidly flipped through, shaking her head.

But it wasn't Lauren who caught Bo's attention, it was the young man seated at the other end of the table. Or rather the syrupy force of nervous, geeky libido he exuded. It permeated the room, surrounding Lauren like a cocoon before sluggishly leaking out the door. Even if Bo hadn't already switched her senses into high gear in anticipation of seeing Lauren, she still would have noticed the fog. It hit her with a force akin to that of an F5 tornado. Her mouth flooded in anticipation. Then, as quickly, her lips were pulling back from her teeth in a silent, possessive snarl as the reality of the situation sank in: the young man was lusting after Lauren in a huge way.

"This stuff is too new, James. It's not what I'm looking for," she said, snapping the book shut while sliding gracefully off the table. "Look at the older books. If the paper looks yellow and the pages smell musty, that's what you want."

Lauren handed the book back to him and their fingers touched, causing a wave of desire to roll off the kid and crash full force into Bo, who had to stumble back into the hallway to escape. She caught the jamb and swung so that her back slammed against the wall beside the door. She pressed a hand to her heaving chest, trying to calm herself down. She screwed her eyes shut. It was an unusual sensation to have her emotions waging battle with one another. The need to fuck, to rip out throats: it was all very overwhelming. The latter was startlingly uncharacteristic.

"Bo? Everything okay?" Lauren, having stepped into the hallway to see what the commotion was about, sounded concerned. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi," Bo said. Her voice didn't break on the tiny word. She was off to a good start. "I, uh, just need a minute here." She could smell Lauren now, the scent of Japanese cherry blossoms. Her struggle intensified. Bo opened her eyes. To Lauren's credit she didn't flinch as azure pinned her.

"Do we need to go somewhere?" Lauren's tone was even, unaffected. Bo had forgotten how different Lauren was here; how rigid. It didn't jive with what Bo thought Lauren was suggesting.

Processing seemed beyond Bo's capabilities at that moment, so the doctor merely took the succubus' arm and dragged her down the hall. She directed Bo through a door into a small, sparse lab that had one microscope and a rather monstrous computer. Locking the door behind them, Lauren leaned against it, stuffed her hands into her lab coat and waited.

In the space of a heartbeat Bo had closed the distance between them. Hands on Lauren's hips, Bo dragged the doctor firmly against her. A bruising kiss that stole Lauren's breath set her trembling. Then Bo pushed her back against the door, holding her firmly while her fingers attempted to gain access to Lauren's pants.

Lauren broke the kiss, gasping. "Bo. Stop."

The brunette ignored her. Lauren's zipper was no match for the questing succubus. Normally, Lauren herself was no match. Today she would have to be. Lauren couldn't do this. She wanted to; God, how she wanted to but her needs would have to wait. There was too much at stake.

Bo's fingers found their mark making the doctor moan in desire—and regret. She wrapped remorseful fingers around Bo's wrist and yanked the succubus' hand clear.

Stunned, Bo looked up, her teeth clenched in affront. Tendons ridged along her neck at the strain of reigning emotions. Blue daggers stabbed into Lauren and for a moment she thought the succubus might use her abilities to bend her to her will. Then Bo blinked. And blinked again.

One more blink brought Bo's breathing under tenuous control. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this, Bo," Lauren said. Bo looked at her glistening fingers as if to say she thought otherwise. The doctor moistened parched lips and shook her head. "Not here. Not right now."

Bo's features became stony, the blue bleeding from her eyes. "This has to do with that guy." She spat the last word as though it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Lauren jerked her head, a rapid quiver of confusion crossing her face.

Bo regarded Lauren and believed the other woman's uncertainty, but she couldn't break the resentful wave now that it had begun to crest. "I saw how he looks at you, Lauren." She held up her fingers. "He wants this. He wants you."

Incredulity crashed over Lauren and she began to shake her head in denial. "Do you mean James?" Giggles burbled up from her belly at the preposterous thought. She laughed until she couldn't breathe. At Bo's less than impressed expression, the doctor struggled to stop. "You're serious?"

"His chi was cloying." Bo crossed her arms. That would explain the succubus' sudden carnal reaction. She was responding to her involuntarily fired up libido while attempting to stake her claim on Lauren.

"Oh," Lauren said, failing miserably to articulate a more serious response.

"Who is he?"

"He's just an intern, Bo. A human—probably one of the many the Ash 'saved' from a life of poverty on the street. I asked him to help me with a research project I'm working on. Is this… is it going to be a problem, Bo?"

The succubus looked like she thought it might be, but said, "No, of course not."

"Bo, look at me." When the succubus' eyes met hers, Lauren reassured, "That scrawny kid's got nothing on you."

Lauren moved, wrapping her arms around Bo's waist and resting her head on the succubus' shoulder. She breathed deeply. Bo gave off a faint, unfamiliar scent. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, making Lauren smile. "Can I make it up to you tonight?"

Bo's stiffness seemed to ease a little. "I guess so."

"Good." Stretching up, Lauren placed a kiss on the frustrated succubus' brow. "I really need to get back to work. I assume Dyson sent you here, right? I haven't had a chance to start my workup on the sprites yet. I can't get blood samples because of the petrification and…" Lauren trailed off and backed away from Bo, holding her at arm's length. The brunette's eyes had glazed over. "Never mind, I'll explain later. Are you going to be all right?"

Bo made a vague movement that Lauren took to be affirmation.

"I'll meet you back in the lab, okay?"

"Sure," Bo said.

Placing another chaste kiss on Bo's forehead, Lauren rearranged her clothing, unlocked the door and let herself into the hallway. Bo stood at the door and watched her lover's form retreat.

She waited.

Strung tight as a bow, the succubus bit her lip. Fire burned through her veins. Her eyes teemed blue.

She waited.

Eventually an unsuspecting male fae carrying an armload of charts had the misfortune of walking past the door where Bo lingered.

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