Disclaimer: Lost Girl belongs to Showcase or SYFY and I am only playing in their universe.
A/N: I think I should take you all dancing more often. Thanks for the fun comments. As always thanks to the readers and reviewers. So we carry on... Enjoy :)
"Get out of the club! Get out of the club!" Vex was yelling and giggling at the same time. He had a huge smile on his face. "Rules, remember the rules." He pushed everyone outside then turned at the main doors to face the stunned crowd inside. He yelled, "Now it's a party. Play some music." With a huge cheer the music began thumping and the crowd was back to its celebration. It was just another thing to add to their incredible night of partying. Vex slammed the door with satisfaction. He truly was the fae party king.
The group had exited the building in time to see Lauren's old pick-up truck round the corner and move out of sight. The good doctor pushed her breath out in relief. Hale had been the one with Kenzi over his shoulder as she screamed for help. The plan was to use Bo's protective nature as motivation. It had worked like a charm. The team had counted on Bo's need to help her friends, especially Kenzi, to overcome any hesitation to stay with her father. Vex's men had the truck waiting outside and when Bo burst through the doors Hale stunned the succubus with his siren's whistle. Kenzi took the wheel as Hale pulled Bo into the cab for their getaway. They were rounding the corner just as the rest of the group cleared the doors.
As she stood on the sidewalk, Lauren could feel the others move around her. She could not have predicted the intensity of her encounter with Bo. For two years Lauren had known that Bo hated her. She didn't. Bo did not hate her, in fact Bo was more torn about leaving her than the dark mage. The feel of Bo's touch and the sound of her words rang in Lauren's mind and body. She had known Lauren even after all she had been through. The doctor in her wanted to know how. The lover in her was too overwhelmed to think at all.
With a shutter Lauren focused on the here and now, she ran to the street looking for the Wanderer. There was the roar of engines and two black sedans pulled out in pursuit of the truck. One swerved violently aiming to run over the doctor and all the others. Lauren had to dive to the side to avoid getting hit. Rage hit her hard, they were going after Bo. Lauren took off running and shifted in seconds. She was in time to leap and latch onto the roof of the second car. Slamming her fist through the driver's side window, Lauren located the steering wheel and cranked it hard to the side. The motion was enough to slam the front of the car into rear side of the sedan in front. The impact was just enough to send both cars out of control. As the spinning cars collided with other vehicles lining the road, the feline shifter sprang away to safety.
The vehicles screeched and stopped moving, the Wanderer and his entourage crawled out of the twisted metal. Being fae they were barely scratch, if they had been humans they would have been on their way to the hospital. With a scream Lauren was on the attack. To her surprise she was not alone, the snarl of Dyson in manwolf form sounded next to her, Vex's insane giggle was just to the other side and Tamsin was right on her shoulder. Their advances were met with a more than effective defense.
The first set of hexes flew from the magical fae. The Wanderer, witch and warlock had lost their party garb and looked more than ready for a fight. Lauren's feline eyes caught sight of the distorted air as the magical attacks flew in their direction. Like invisible masses of razor wire, they cut like throwing knives as they passed by even if they didn't hit full on. Lauren jumped and twisted in the air as she detected the attacks heading her way. Two were close enough to slice into her fur and draw blood. Dyson let out a hiss of pain but keep moving at her side. Vex was the one taken down. A powerful hex caught him full on and dropped him to the ground. Blood covered his face and it was obvious that his nose was broken and one of his legs was setting at an odd angle. It was as if the air solidified when Vex was hit by the hex. The mesmer slammed backwards like he had hit a solid wall. The Morrigan was in pain as he rolled on the ground finding a way to get to a seated position. The goth was good and pissed.
"You want to be the Morrigan, you stupid wanker." Vex wiped at the blood that was flowing freely from his nose. "It takes more than a broken nose and busted leg to take my job." Throwing an arm out, Vex took aim at the Wanderer, and in a distorted voice he yelled, "Stop breathing." The Wanderer's eyes opened wide and a hand flew to his throat. He placed his second hand up and in a pushing motion used his power to back Vex's command away from his mind. The two men were now locked in a battle of wills unable to concentrate on anything else.
Lauren made to circle around to protect the mesmer, but Tamsin stepped up and was standing over Vex's body with her weapons drawn. A redcap charged her and was cut down and tossed to the side in seconds. Dyson had shared that Tamsin's powers as a Valkyrie were limited, but her talents as a fighter had not been touched. Vex would be okay but Tamsin would have to remain to protect him. Lauren just had to hope that Vex could overcome his injuries long enough keep the powerful dark mage from joining the fray.
Lauren turned back to the fight just in time to see two hulking forms rushing her position. She ducked and rolled underneath the arms of the closest redcap. Pushing out with powerful legs, Lauren sprang to a light pole and used it as a pivot. Grabbing it with her hands and spinning quickly around the cool metal. She landed directly behind the two redcaps. They spun to regain a fighting position. It was too late. The first one was met with razor sharp slashing claws. Clasping his neck he dropped to the ground as blood ran freely from deep cuts on either side of his neck. They looked small but the cuts across the arteries were deadly.
The second of the redcaps had better luck and grabbed a hold of Lauren's leg. Jerking it violently, the pain was sharp and Lauren snarled as she was slammed to the ground. She rotated to fight the man off as he struck at her with a knife. The blade stuck home in her upper arm and she kicked out causing the attacker to fall back pulling the metal out fast. Lauren scrambled to get away, but the man's big hand caught her again. Twisting in his grip, she caught sight of the warlock near the Wanderer aiming a hex at her. Cranking her body to the side, the redcap's grip on Lauren's leg forced him to change potion as she moved. He grinned a dark smile raising his knife to stab her again. The warlock's hex hit the redcap square in the back and the man froze, literally, and then exploded in a shower of bloody ice. The knife dropped to towards the ground as the scarlet crystals rained down. Lauren caught it and with a quick throw redirected it deep into the warlock's chest. Scrambling to her feet Lauren looked to the side to see Dyson taking out the last of the redcap body guards.
Looking for their main target, Lauren and Dyson found the Wanderer standing behind the witch who looked to be out of hexing power. Lauren and Dyson ran at the pair. There was a battle scream and the shifter pair whirled in time to see four fae running at Tamsin's position with swords drawn. Neither Dyson nor Lauren were in a position to help fast enough. "Tamsin, NO!" roared Vex and he swung his arm from the Wanderer to hit two of the approaching hit men with his mesmer powers. "Kill one another," he directed them into their fellow attackers causing them to fight each other. Lauren and Dyson began running at the dark mage again. Vex had the situation totally in control.
The Wanderer's laugh sang in the night air. A swirl of smoke appeared between the shifters. Vex pulling his powers to help Tamsin had freed the dark mage. He was now open to attack with his powers. The magician's familiar, the enfield smoke creature, formed and immediately stretched to lash out with its talons. Lauren steeled herself as she was too close and a talon was headed right for her midsection. The clawed foot struck her middle and immediately lost its form, the smoke distorting upon hitting solid flesh. Lauren was stunned but not as much as the Wanderer. Vex's attack had drained the dark mage's power. Lauren let out a primal scream. She had been right, without Bo's chi he was nothing more than a power magician.
There was alarm on the dark mage's face. He refocused on the smoke, it reformed but when Dyson jumped to attack the beast he moved through the dark mist destroying the shape of the animal. The mage could only mimic a smoke demons power now. The Wanderer screamed in frustration and launched a series of lightning fast hexes in Lauren and Dyson's direction. The shifters dove to the side easily avoiding the attack. They smiled at each other and then stood charging the pair of magic fae, but came up short as they saw the wanderer holding the witch in a deadly embrace. Her eyes were milking over in that all too familiar signature of a succubus kill. He had used his remaining power as a succubus to feed on the witch's chi.
Dropping the woman to the ground the man smiled, he turned and looked at Dyson who was closest to his position. "Protect me, kill the feline shifter!" he yelled with so much power that Dyson staggered and fell to his knees. Lauren, not a victim of the vocal attack, did not stop running at the man and reached the Wanderer before he could turn in her direction. She had landed two slashing blows to his chest and throat. The mage fell to the ground with a sick gurgling sound as if his life was oozing away through the deep cuts. Standing over the man who had held Bo captive, Lauren bent to end his life when a howling scream echoed across the battle zone. Lauren whipped around in time to see Dyson running in her direction. She looked back down at the Wanderer, he smiled an evil grin and dissolved into smoke escaping her final blow.
Death was in his eyes as Dyson launched a vicious attack at Lauren who had only turned around in time to dive to the side. She threw herself away from where the Wanderer's body had been and rolled to flatten herself against the wall of a nearby building. She watched the wolf's body fly by her and caught the black magic scent of the hex. Dyson landed and stilled on the ground. He rolled looking straight at Lauren. Her breath caught as she watched an inky blackness over take her friend's eyes. It had been more than a mesmer voice to hit Dyson. The black mage had wrapped the command around a hex worthy of an ancient magic fae.
Dyson roared in rage and pounded his fists into the ground. Gathering his wits, Dyson rolled his head on his neck as he stood and stared at his target. He snarled and bared his teeth. The man was swaying back and forth in an eerie sort of way as if waiting for feline shifter to make a move. Lauren was quite sure that he was not seeing reality, but instead an illusion created from the spell.
"Cat!" yelled Tamsin still standing over the injured Vex who had now passed out due to his injuries, "You need to run or kill him. That was a mesmer command with a huge amount of power behind it. We all felt a piece of it. From what I know of a mesmer's powers, Dyson will not stop until he had fulfilled his charge. That means you dead." Lauren bared her teeth and bent low; she inhaled and picked her path. With a snarl she was off. Dyson took two steps and shifted fully to his wolf form and was after his prey.
Lauren was fast but Dyson was just below flying speed. A flat out race would be out of the question. Moving totally out of Dyson's reach was also out of the question. Lauren could lose the wolf easily by going to the roof tops but she wanted to keep him on the trail. A wolf could track forever and never lose focus. She had no want to live her life running from Dyson. No, she would be ending this tonight.
Counting her blessings that it was very late and she had little human factor to deal with. Lauren began weaving her way towards the shack using cars and other objects to interfere with Dyson's pursuit. She needed to get to the shack where she could shift and use her contact with the soil to trap Dyson. Kenzi or Hilde could do something to break the magic spell. She dodged a close lunge by the big wolf. Lauren snarled she would try not to hurt Dyson if she could help it but there was no guarantee.
As they ran, Dyson was not without his instincts and picked out Lauren's final destination within a couple of minutes. He used that information to predict Lauren's path. Dyson would pace her and then when a turn was necessary he would press his attack. Those were the times when the shifters truly did battle. It was claws against teeth at those times. Several times Dyson had caught Lauren's legs in his jaws. She had the power to break free by raking his face with her claws. With each encounter they increased the damage they did to one another.
As they left the city scape and moved into the industrial part of town, there were more and more open areas. Lauren growled in dismay as they all were covered in concrete or asphalt giving Dyson the advantage. On a particularly long stretch, he charged and leapt slamming his body into Lauren. She tumbled to the hard surface and rolled just in time to escape his snapping jaws. She made him pay for it. She slashed with her claws and cut deep gashes into his chest area. She could smell the blood she had drawn and was shaken to think that she had hurt the wolf badly. As she watched, Dyson stood on shaky legs. Lauren fought the urge to go to him, to help him somehow. The thought died as the wolf growled coldly. He crouched down and sprang at her stubbornly continuing his attack.
They were only a few blocks away from the shack. Lauren had no choice but to make a straight out run for it. She felt weak from blood loss and needed to make contact with the Earth soon. Dyson was in bad shape himself. He would need medical attention as soon as they had him under control. They rounded the corner and Lauren saw her destination. The shack was directly in front of her. Hitting the open ground of the lot, Lauren let go her cat's scream as she slid to the side. Dyson tried to stop but skidded then tumbled in his attempt to adjust to the cat's quick change in direction. He could not get himself into fighting position fast enough. Lauren was on him. She attacked the wolf, ramming his body and causing him to roll over several times. Before he could regain his feet she had jumped on top of him to land a flurry of solid blows. She needed him to stay down for several seconds to allow her to change form. The strikes she landed were such that Dyson was stunned. Jumping back she focused her mind and felt the shift come upon her. In moments she was standing over the wolf in her human form. She jumped back and prepared to capture the wolf with help from the plants and soil.
The wolf stood shaking its head and roaring in fury. Dyson bared his massive teeth. She felt the power grow around her and she readied for the springing attack of the wolf. "Don't do it Dyson. You have no reason to attack me. It's a spell. You have to fight it!" she said calmly.
"Lauren? Dyson? What's going on?" yelled Kenzi from the porch and it was just enough catch Lauren's attention.
With a vicious snarl Dyson jumped, Lauren moved to counter when a gunshot rang out. Lauren dove to the side with the sound. In the back of Lauren's mind she knew that she would be dead if the shooter was after her. She also knew that she should be looking for the source of the gunfire. Instead Lauren was much more concerned with Dyson. He had fallen to the ground with a terrible thud. The wolf rolled to a stop and lay very still. Lauren dashed forward and Kenzi ran from the porch. "Dyson!" they both yelled each reaching the big wolf with seconds of one another. Hale ran from the house, he stood on alert as the women worked on his injured friend.
"I can't help him while he's in wolf form." cried Lauren in despair.
"Move," came a familiar voice. Bo knelt down between the two women. She grabbed the wolf by his scruff and pulled the muzzle close to her face. Holding her face close she pulled hard and Dyson's chi began to flow into her. It was delicate work, if she took too much he would die. Kenzi went to protest but Lauren held up her hand. She knew from their exchanges on the dance floor that the succubus had control of her feeding even as starved as she was.
Slowly the wolf form began to fade and Dyson's human form returned. The blood was flowing freely down his chest. There were marks where Lauren's claws had cut him, but that was not the source of the massive flow. The bullet had not made it through Dyson's body. It had lodged in his shoulder area near his heart.
Lauren wasted no time she yelled at Hale, "I need you."
"Doc that's not a good idea," said Hale doing his best to be a good lookout. He could not see where the shot had come from but with the group out in the open they were sitting ducks if someone started shooting again.
"Don't argue damn it. When I slice in and remove the bullet you need to cauterize the wound fast, or Dyson will die." Lauren's tone was that of the practiced doctor. "Kenzi you need get inside and make up your cure all and get it in him quick. Then someone needs to call Trick." That was all she had to say as she shifted and used a claw she cut deep into Dyson's chest. Pulling the wound wider she found the bullet and as she had suspected it had nicked an artery. She picked the bullet out and then leaned to the side holding Dyson's flesh to allow Hale to cauterize the wound, sealing it closed.
Within seconds the wound had been closed. Lauren then pinched the slice she had made in Dyson's body closed and held it tight as Hale's whistle again cauterizing and closing the opening. She had not even seen Kenzi leave but the girl was at her side with the now familiar tea. They forced it down Dyson's throat and then they all sat back and watched their friend.
Lauren changed back to human and accepted the mug Kenzi offered her. The doctor drank the foul mixture down in one gulp. There was nothing, Dyson showed no signs of life. Bo leaned over and pushed a small amount of chi back into Dyson. What seemed to be an eternity later, the man's chest began to rise and fall in a steady rhythm. Hale pulled out his phone while everyone else was sitting in stunned silence as they caught their breath.
"Nice work doctor," Bo said in a terribly weak voice. Lauren didn't move as the succubus reached over and pulled the mask from her eyes. Bo adjusted her hand and traced the doctor's face with a gentle touch. Lauren opened her mouth to say something but the sound of clapping broke the tense silence.
"Doctor Lewis you never cease to amaze me. By the way you're welcome, mad dogs like that one should always be put down before they do any serious harm." snapped a snarly female voice. Lauren turned and watched a sexy brunette hand a rifle off to one of the men standing behind her. Evony, the former dark fae Morrigan and an overall pain in the ass, was standing with a group of dark fae enforcers. Lauren recognized most of them as bounty hunters. The group surrounding Dyson saw that at more than one of men had a gun trained on them. "I like the little cat outfit by the way," Evony wiggled her fingers towards Lauren, "but your nasty mutant blood is getting all over it. Pity." Bo stood and her eyes flashed blue as she struggled trying to place herself in front of her friends. Mostly she was trying to protect Lauren.
Evony laughed, "Succubitch welcome back. Did you know your girlfriend here tried to kill your daddy?" Bo glanced back at Lauren and saw that she could not deny it. Evony saw the shared look and laughed, "That's could be a real deal breaker, that and the fact that she betrayed all fae kind by making human hybrids." The former Morrigan chuckled low, "Nice little show on the dance floor." Evony licked her lips suggestively, "We all saw the good doctor push chi into you Bo. Then she shifted into a half cat thing. Just look at the freak she has become." The former dark fae leader shivered in disgust. "Time to trade up and find someone a little more upper fae, don't you think?"
Lauren sat quietly. As powerful as she was there were too many variables here for her to risk an open attack on Evony and her group. No one had seen her nature fae powers yet and Lauren reasoned it was better for her to keep those under wraps for now. She did close her eyes to hide the green flash as she pulled some energy from the ground to help her recovery. Kenzi's tonic was also doing its thing. Health wise she would be okay very shortly. As far as her freedom, Lauren knew coming to the city she risked being captured for her crimes. Looking across and seeing Bo free, she figured it had been well worth it.
There were screeching tires and multiple vehicles pulled up. Trick and several of the elders from the dark and the light fae moved out of the cars. Out of two vans, fae Lauren recognized from the light fae hospital also arrived. Trick was livid, "What is going on here?" He motioned his people to Dyson's side. Many of them went wide eyed as they saw and recognized Lauren. Trick only had eyes for the guns and the fact that they were point at his granddaughter.
Evony smiled as she turned to the gathered assembly, "Elders of the light and dark fae, I present to you Lauren Lewis, enemy of all the fae. I claim credit for her capture. I petition for my position of Morrigan to be reinstated when this…disgusting mutation of our blood is found guilty at her trial." With a motion of her hands the men behind Evony rushed forward and grabbed Lauren ripping her from her friends and pulling her away. As they threw her into the back of an SUV, the fae elders all began taking at once, some crying out in fear, others crying out in anger. None of them were on Lauren's side. Trick was yelling for order for all the good it did.
"NO!" screamed Bo. That quieted the crowd. Her eyes flashed but she faltered in her weakened state. Trick had to step in front of his granddaughter. With gentle hands he held her steady. Quickly he grabbed her hand and she looked at him. It was the first time in two years those eyes held any amount of feeling towards the man. He realized just how wrong he had been in not doing more to get her away from the Wanderer.
"Bo please, I will do what I can, do not attack. I have to go now if I am going to be able to do anything to save Lauren." said Trick. "Kenzi take her inside and Hale stay with them. You are not safe, but I am in no position to help here." He motioned to the others to follow him. "Take Dyson to the light compound and care for him." One of the medics mumbled something about how the wolf was almost fully recovered, but with the look on Trick's face no one was stupid enough to argue with him.
Fighting Kenzi to follow after the men that had Lauren, Bo soon collapsed due to weakness. She allowed Kenzi to take her into the shack to wait for Trick's call. Hale and Kenzi had both noticed that not all the cars on the street were driving away. The look they shared communicated that they both knew they were in for a fight.