AN: Set in episode 405, as Lauren and Bo are ready to leave the Morrigan's compound after the Fae party. A little fluffy goodness.
"I don't think I can go back there…with the light. For the first time, Bo, I feel free."
Bo could ride my heart until it crumbled. Her love—as if I could even call it that—could be described as unrepentant, feral, insatiable and, at times, as Bo was now, gentle. I didn't want to turn her down but I willed myself to numbness. I had no choice. If I gave in to her now, I'd be dead by morning.
"We can be free together."
Death by beauty. I could drown from happiness just looking at her: Lauren's fair and elegant face forced my eyes to linger on every feature: brown eyes, alabaster skin, lips eternally blush. Lauren enslaved me; and that is that.
"You're fae, I'm human. I'll always be a prisoner."
I didn't mean to hit her with a brick. To the head. I suppose that's what my words must have felt like. I could feel Bo's heart bleeding. No one ever wonders what it's like on the other side of the shield. Protected, yes; immune to heartbreak, never.
"When you're ready to come back to your real family, just say the word."
I meant to hurt her. I wanted Lauren to share this pain. She rejected me…twice! And that's two times too many. Family. Freedom. Happiness. I could have given her that if she'd just taken my hand and walked away with me.
She turned away too easily.
None of this is real. I am a shadow. My body, my soul—these have always been hers so much so that Bo cannot see how firmly shackled I am to my humanity. Light or Dark, I will never be free but I can pretend. Pretending dulls the sheen of my pain.
She let me go so easily.
This is becoming a terrible habit. When Lauren grazed her fingertips against my arm, her aura glowed like the sun yet her eyes were dark and cold as November. I can sway her with a single touch but what would that make me? A monster.
Their conversation in the Morrigan's office had nearly come to an end but Bo just wouldn't let it go. She should have left Lauren right there, right after she used the family card but the succubus was nothing if not impulsive.
"This isn't the place for you, Lauren." Bo hated the image of herself begging but surely it couldn't be considered begging if she could get Lauren to see how wrong she was to choose Evony.
"Why? Because my family is so much better? What have the light Fae ever done for me to consider them my family?"
"For one, we all care about you. Dyson is out there, somewhere, searching for you."
"Yes," Lauren dropped her head and smirked. "The same Dyson who told me to run. The same Dyson who for years turned his nose down on me. The same Dyson who considered me weak, dirty, human, and who came between us any chance he could."
"He's not like that. Not anymore."
"It's so easy for you to take his side, isn't it?"
"Lauren…I'm not—"
"It's okay, Bo. I don't have the energy to dislike him. And I don't want to fight with you. The reality is I don't have a family, not since the Fae enslaved me. You gave me hope for awhile but all that ever was, was false hope." Lauren's cheek flushed and her voice fell like rose petals. "I'll always be grateful."
Bo stepped closer into Lauren. "What is wrong with us? Why don't you want us to be together?"
Lauren had to laugh. "From a claw foot tub to wanting us to be together. Together for the night? Or in a relationship? That's quite a leap, Bo, even for you."
Bo stood there, stunned. "Watch out, doctor, that's quite the emotional outburst."
Lauren shook her head, her corn silk hair brushing against soft, bare shoulders. Bo shuddered and for a moment ignored the anger rising in her chest. She wanted Lauren even as the woman frustrated her. Lauren stepped back a pace.
"Bo, you could have me with a touch, you know that, right? Me? If I went with you, I'd be happy for what—an hour, a night? I'd still be someone's slave in the morning but you—you lose nothing! Sacrifice nothing by being with me. Not Dyson. Not Tamsin, and yes, I remember her."
"What do you mean you remember her?"
"Right before I left for Taft's, she came to see me and told me about your kiss, how you didn't need to feed from her."
"It wasn't that type of kiss." Bo folded her arms. It was her turn to look away, and rather shamefully.
"Which proves my point, Bo. You may have a side now with the Dark Fae but your heart will always be unaligned. You can't help yourself. You're a succubus. It may be me tonight. Tomorrow, it'll be Dyson in your tub. The next night—who knows?"
"You're saying that because I'm a succubus that I'm incapable of love? That I never loved you?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, Bo." Lauren had been swift, unsheathing her words, plunging them into Bo's heart like a broad sword. She bit down on her tears.
"That's unkind and untrue." Bo seemed to shrink by the second, her earlier bravado at facing down the Morrigan all but gone.
"Then prove it." Lauren stood as firm as an oak. Bo had never found her sexier.
"Prove what?"
"That you can love." Lauren stepped within inches of Bo. She stroked her thumb on Bo's chin and, without blinking, moved close enough for Lauren to feel the heat of Bo's breath on her lips. "That you can love me."
"Anything," Bo whispered, closing her eyes and expecting a kiss. She wrapped her arms around Lauren's waist, pulling her even closer. "Tell me what you want."
Lauren brought her lips to Bo's ear. "Forget me, Bo. Leave and don't look back."
"Well that's a rotten tomato!" To-may-tuh. Kenzi had taken to speaking like a gum snapping broad from a gangster movie, the kind of movie that floats an insomniac from the middle of the night until the first grey glow of morning.
Bo stewed in the middle of the couch saying nothing even as Kenzi buzzed around her as relentless as a mosquito in the dark.
"A kick in da groin."
"A chink in the armor."
"A slam in the dunk."
"Okay!" Bo threw her hands up in surrender. "You're not making sense anymore."
"Just like you and Dr. HotPants."
Bo dropped her chin and sneered.
"You want to tell Auntie Kenz exactly what else went down in Chinatown?"
"If you'd zip it for a minute, maybe I could."
"No need to get testy." Kenzi sat down and sucked on an enormous Popsicle before waving it to Bo, a signal that she yielded the floor to the Succubus.
"I asked Lauren to come home with me, you know, soak in a hot bath. But she turned me down.
"Succubus kicked to the curb!" Kenzi exhaled. "Unexpected."
Bo surveyed the emptiness of her palms. "I had her right in my arms."
Kenzi offered a reassuring hand to Bo's shoulder. "Only the strong survive."
"Maybe I've lost my touch."
"Maybe she's lost her mind…Lauren was a guest of Evony. Nice party, be-tee-dubs, except for the dead bride and groom part. Could've done without that."
"Apparently Lauren's more than just a guest. Evony sort hinted that they're sleeping together."
"What?"
"'I have new toys to play with,' Evony said just before leaving me alone with Lauren. If anyone knows how to kill a mood, it's the Morrigan. I tell you, Kenzi, she's begging for a fist to the face."
Bo contemplated the black screen of the television in front of the couch. "There's something different about Lauren…something's going on."
"Yeah, lap dances Morrigan style?"
Bo looked at Kenzi with her eyes narrowed. "So not funny."
Bo went back to her thoughts, her chin perched on one of her hands. Kenzi looked at her friend, studying the stillness in Bo's face, and the look that came upon her when she was close to cracking a case wide open, all the pieces coming together like white on rice, bread on butter, salt and pepper. Kenzi's stomach growled so loudly she placed her hand on her middle in an unconscious attempt to quell the noise. The Popsicle was the only real food Kenzi had had all day and if Bo's love life didn't resolve itself soon, then three triple large meat-meat pizzas would be necessary for her to survive another chapter in the Bo/Lauren drama fest. The past few months had also been a blur for Kenzi. Her memories trickled in slowly and, unlike before, she found herself actually liking Lauren and on a deeper level, even recalling a sense that she missed the only other human in their little family. She nudged Bo with her elbow. "I wouldn't be myself if I didn't meddle a little here, Bo…but what else did HotPants say?"
"That the light never came for her, you know, during the whole Una Mens scare."
"Not a scare, a real thing. I'm human, remember? Pitch forks. Angry mob. My head on a stick. Very real."
"I'll protect you."
"Please don't tell me you said that to Lauren, too."
Bo dropped her head into her hands and gave her own head a squeeze.
"You did not!"
"But I would," she said looking up at Kenzi. "Only she accused me of wanting to own her."
"Still owning. Not exactly what a slave wants to hear."
Bo shook her head. "It's too late, anyway. Lauren works for Evony."
"Super BadAss! That girl's got a big ball sack to want to work for Witchie-Poo. "
"Free to come and go as she pleases." Bo walked over to the kitchen to snatch a beer from the commercial fridge. "And she practically shoved me out the door."
Kenzi turned around on the couch to face the kitchen. "You know something doesn't smell right. It's not like it's Lauren's first time off the tuna boat."
Bo's brow was turned down into a scowl. "You don't kiss someone like it's your last kiss on earth and then dismiss me."
"Are those details necessary?"
"I can sway anyone!"
"Except your lady with the big brain…"
"Big brain, big heart," Bo sighed.
"Did she say anything else?"
"I had a feeling that she wanted to."
Kenzi sunk back into the couch.
Bo stripped the edges off the label on the beer bottle, leaving it frayed, just like her feelings. "So little of this makes sense. There are big gaping holes in my memory, I know it, but Lauren – Lauren has always been clear as day for me."
Kenzi coughed, "Bullshit."
Bo glared at her best friend.
"You may not remember but I do. You strung her and Dyson around your finger like twin yo-yos for years. Ever think that the big brain got tired of it and decided to cut the string at last?"
Bo pouted. "Maybe…"
"Uh-huh. Not maybe."
"But to all of us? And being tied to the dark—"
"—was as far away from you Lauren thought she could get."
Bo scowled. "Seriously? The Morrigan? Her boss? And whatever the hell they may be..." Bo couldn't bring herself to say lovers but the meaning was there and Kenzi understood it.
"And Dyson's yours. So no judging there, green eyes. Or blue eyes. You had your chance, succubum, but then…" Kenzi placed her hands firmly together and ripped them apart suddenly, crossing her eyes while making an exploding sound.
Bo slumped against the kitchen counter top, dropping her head to the flat surface and repeatedly thumping it there, slowly. She raised her head after some time and rubbed a spot on her forehead that was slowly turning red.
Kenzi snickered. "Earth to Bo. You're over thinking. Do as she asked and let her go, Bo-bo…" Kenzi noticed stillness return to Bo's eyes, as if her friend were watching the last best thing she'd ever known recede from her grasp.
Bo caught Kenzi staring at her. "What?!"
"You love her," Kenzi said plainly.
"Of course. I love you, too." She attempted to hide her hurt with a playful tone.
"No, no, no. You can't con a con that easily." Kenzi eased herself off the couch and began a slow approach to the kitchen until she was only a few steps away from Bo. "Do. You. Love her? Love, love her?
Bo nodded, a pout emerging on her lips. "I screwed up, huh?"
"Just like a wine opener."
"I drove her to the Morrigan, that slimy, beautiful bitch. They're probably doing dark things to each other even as I speak." In that moment, jealousy trumped self pity.
Kenzi grabbed Bo's neglected beer and sipped from the bottle. "Here's a thought. Why would she willingly work for The Dark?"
"To be safe? You said it yourself. Una Mens means humans dead."
"She's the smartest person we both know, besides moi. Think hard, Bo. There's more than one way for a genius to find safety. Of all the gin joints in the world, why would she pick Evony's? And why the brush off?"
"Health insurance? I don't know and what's with the 20 questions! I'm kinda hurting right now, Kenz."
Kenzi slammed down the beer causing it to foam and gush out of the bottle. "What if she's doing this for you, you big Succuidiot! Nothing Lauren does is an accident…well, except maybe one thing. But let's not dwell on that…"
"She chose the dark!"
"Yeah, so? So did you, toots. Card-carrying Dark Fae. That's you Bo-Bo."
"Again, Kenzi, you're speaking in tongues."
"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer? Hello? You've got big boobs, figure it out."
"Don't you mean brains?"
"See? Big Boobs." Kenzi waved her hands in the air as if they were engaged in a strange game of charades, urging Bo on to think harder. "Think about it. Why would Lauren stay with the most reprehensible woman in the history of ever?"
"What's your point, Kenz?"
"She loves you." Kenzi poked Bo hard with her finger.
"Turning down a bubble bath with me? I'd hardly call that love—"
"—No, I'd call that brave. And hard. I mean, let's think about this for a sec. Besides the Una Mens, who is your sworn enemy, Bo?"
"Evony."
"Yup."
"She's protecting me."
Kenzi crossed her arms and nodded. "Double yup."
"But how?"
"You need to ask her that yourself."
"I made a mistake. Leaving her there." Bo's voice trailed away to a wisp, the frustration dimming to be a growing sense of worry.
"Uh-huh."
"Lauren knows how to keep a secret. And she's hiding something."
"Ding-ding-ding you win the luggage!" Kenzi tapped the tip of her nose with her index finger. "If she's hatching a plan, you may want to be in on it." Bo stood in front of Kenzi, nearly frozen.
"Hey!" Kenzi waved her hand in front of Bo. "Do you want to get your girl back?"
Bo blinked rapidly before resting her stare squarely back on Kenzi. "More than anything."
"Then you better start talking or else the Morrigan might find herself the permanent owner of one very smart, very sexy doctor."
"I gotta go." Bo suddenly had a hustle in her step and clumsily grabbed for her keys and jacket as she tripped toward the front door of the clubhouse.
"Don't come home without vodka…" Kenzi called out just as the door slammed. "Or a really hot doctor."
Bo took the turns and narrows of her drive from the clubhouse to the light compound at an uncharacteristic conservative pace. This gave her time to think—to rehearse what she'd say to Lauren, that is, if she was even still living with the Light. Her heart pounded like a drum and the last thing Bo wanted was for her feelings to take on a life of their own in front of Lauren. Dr. Lewis could put on quite a show in the messiest of circumstances; maybe Bo could, too. She imagined the serenity of a Buddha, like the giant, reclining Buddhas she and Kenzi had seen a couple of times on the travel channel. Who was she kidding? Bo operated more like a hurricane and it suited her just fine. Lauren and Kenzi were her Red Cross, cleaning up after the destruction. This time, however, Bo feared that the only cleanup crew she could expect sat behind the wheel of her beloved Camaro, a driver of not-so-gentle things in which she had little faith.
I can be calm. I can be rational.
The possibility existed that Kenzi had been on to something, that perhaps Lauren turning her down for an evening together to reconnect was part of an elaborate plan. Or maybe she really just didn't want me, anymore. So many things I didn't get right—what could I promise her besides, well, the best sex ever.
Bo hadn't really been concentrating on where she was driving; the car seemed to move on its own, leading Bo solely on instinct. Somehow, it sputtered to a stop, the old muscle car coughing out a grey cloud of exhaust once in park. Bo rubbed the palms of her hands against her leggings to wipe off the clamminess. Saving the world from doom had become routine for the unaligned succubus. Saving her heart from its own foolishness—now that was staring down real danger, the kind that triggers restless twitching and panic sweating.
Okay, Succubus. Look on the bright side. Wait? What's the bright side of this? Kissing. Kissing ass. My kissing Lauren's ass, figuratively and literally. Oh, shit; mind out of the gutter. Think like a grown-up, not like an adolescent succubus.
Bo took several deep breaths and forcefully blew them out through her lips to help calm her nerves. She laughed at herself, mildly amused and aware of the gutlessness clinging to her like a vine. Do you love her, Kenzi's accusation echoed through her mind. Yes, I do.
Then prove it, Lauren's challenge rang out just as strongly.
I will, my hardheaded doctor, I will.
If all went well, Lauren would have the loft and all her belongings including her home laboratory, cleared out and moved into the Dark's glass tower high-rise in two days. It would be simple to slip away, what with all the back and forth that was typical in the flurry of moving day. By the time Evony realized she'd not arrived with the last of her boxes, she'd be on a plane to Budapest and Istanbul and Tokyo and at least 15 other destinations by air, sea, and land. It hadn't been that difficult to hack several transportation systems and create dummy manifests that had one Dr. Lauren Lewis scattering like stars across the heavens—but better. Like her memories had been, she would vanish in plain sight and without a trace taking with her the Fae-robbing serum she had just completed, a change of clothes, and one photograph. She wanted to travel light even if it meant leaving everything behind, including Bo. When she had said that she could never go back there, Lauren knew Bo thought she meant to the light; in reality, Lauren could never go back to slavery even if it meant death. At least she'd die free and go down fighting when it came down to it. The serum offered some protection, if and when, the minions of the Fae came looking for her. They'd find her, she believed that; and with Evony searching for a renegade human who held secrets of the Fae, maybe that could buy Bo enough time to figure out how to undark herself without interference by The Morrigan.
Evony had stopped in earlier with an offering of pizza and beer. She'd been a little too liberal with her flattery and gifts. Lauren accepted both but stopped short of the invitation for Evony to stay later to help with the remaining boxes.
Wouldn't want these surgeon's hands to wear themselves out, she had cooed while brushing her lips the length of her slender fingertips. Lauren's flesh tingled. Her cheeks warmed at Evony's touch. The corners of her smile rose like a slow erection.
Thank you, Evony, but it's been a long day really. I'll probably go to bed soon and begin again early in the morning. Lauren slipped her hands out of Evony's grasp and, with little fanfare and instead of withdrawing completely, she stroked the Morrigan's cheek coquettishly, letting her fingertips linger a tad too long. Her thumb wandered across her lips, inviting a kiss from the Morrigan. The Morrigan chuckled and nibbled at the offering; Lauren's eyes flared with desire seconds before she stepped back.
Well, I'll let you get to it, the Morrigan leaned in and whispered. Have a good evening, Doctor. If you need help with anything, anything at all—
—you'll be the first number to call, Lauren blushed.
The Morrigan left her with a cock of her brow and a conspiratorial grin. Lauren rooted herself to the spot where Evony had said goodbye until she felt that sufficient minutes had passed for Evony to have reached her car and driven away; only then did she let her chest and shoulders collapse in relief. She stepped over to her lab and retrieved a petri dish and a pair of tweezers from a drawer. Gingerly, she nicked at her fingertips and one by one, stripped a thin-as-skin layer of film that she had applied onto the pad of each digit, leaving her thumb for last. She placed each film into the petri dish, marked it with Evony's name, and then stored it in a velvet-lined mahogany box that already housed a collection of similarly labeled containers. There, she thought to herself, join your friends.
Bo noticed the door to Lauren's apartment was open, as it typically was; strange, she thought, why Lauren would live in such an exposed way. Maybe it was the idea that as a slave she never had the entitlement of privacy and that a door was a sham of an idea. We've got to change that…and soon. Bo strode into the loft not expecting to see the forest of boxes that crowded the living room, some sealed, some others open like gaping mouths waiting to be fed. A fresh puff of perfume greeted her next, familiar, a garden of gardenias and definitely not hers or Lauren's. The Morrigan. Her heart tightened and her jaw clenched. Her eyes scanned the first floor for signs of Evony, Lauren, or both. Then she heard a thud from upstairs. All alarms sounded from within: don't go up there, Bo. You won't like what you'll see.
But Bo was nothing but rebellious to the should's and shouldn'ts that life constantly presented. With slow steps she climbed the stairs, her left hand softly grazing against the dagger strapped to her thigh. The scent of perfume faded as the stink of her hatred for the Morrigan filled her throat to the point of choking. The door leading to Lauren's bedroom was slightly ajar and she eased it open, expecting to see the two lovers romping on the bed only she was supposed to share with Lauren. Instead, she saw Lauren sitting on the side of the bed with her back to the door, a litter of passports and stacks of paper currency fanned out in the center of it.
"Lauren? What are you doing?"
Lauren raised her head but didn't turn around. "Bo, please don't come any closer."
"You're…leaving?"
Lauren stood at last and turned toward the center of her bedroom. She shrugged.
"But your friends. Your fam—"
"Please, Bo," she held up her palm. "Don't even use that word. It will never have the same meaning for me as it does you."
"So this is why you didn't want to go home with me. You're going away with the Morrigan."
"Is that what you think?" Lauren scowled.
"She's been here. Her scent is all over the place." Bo's eyes were luminous and dark, her tone dismissive and derisive as if she'd just swallowed something unexpectedly sour.
"There's no need for you to be ugly, Bo. You and I are no longer together. Who comes and goes here is none of your—"
"—comes, right. None of my business. Clearly, your affairs are also none of my business anymore." Bo dropped her eyes. Her jealousy trumped the contrition she'd intended to deliver when she sat in the Camaro. Which felt worse, she wondered, the worry that stewed in her belly or the jealousy that threatened to make her sick and spew thorns and daggers at her ex-lover?. Maybe Lauren's memories hadn't fully returned, just like Bo, and she'd forgotten anything they had once meant to each other. Suddenly Bo felt adrift, clinging to the debris of a ship sinking in a vast dark ocean, encircled by flame and the terror of being lost forever.
I can't be here. She ran her eyes around Lauren's room as if for the last time, taking in the last details of their good-bye and purposefully avoiding looking at the woman before her. This is how it ended, then. Wads of cash and stolen identities. Wait. Who carries a stack of passports?
"It's not the Morrigan…you're running away?"
Lauren moved toward Bo, slowly making her way to her side of the room.
"I don't want to be owned," she said. "And sooner or later the Una Mens will come for me even if I stay with the Dark. Gods, Bo, I just want to have a life, my life back…even if it's for a short while…even if it's not for much longer. At least I can say I died a free human."
"Don't say that word, Lauren."
"What? Die? It's inevitable. May as well go out in a blaze of glory!" She raised her eyebrows and smiled, though the sun of it never quite reached her eyes.
"Not yet, Lauren." Bo stepped in closer. "I just got you back." Lauren stood close enough for Bo to reach for her and entwine their fingers together.
Lauren dropped her chin and smiled with her lips pressed together. "You could give me a hundred reasons to stay, Bo—and they'd all probably be true and I'd be foolish enough to believe you. But you're forgetting something."
"Don't say it."
"I don't belong here."
Bo cupped Lauren's hand between hers and placed them over her heart. "You belong here. You always have."
Lauren let her fingers slip through Bo's, dropping her head as she backed away.
"I'll just follow you, you know that."
Lauren ran her fingers through blonde hair. "Yeah, and what about Kenzi. Would she follow you, too? Lest we forget, she sorta hates me. Hates me with you."
"Would it surprise you to know that she doesn't?"
"And what about your family? What about them?"
"Why does everyone want to make me choose between things? As if picking a side makes things instantly better. Well, it doesn't."
"Bo, you could never choose me...over anyone, or anything. You take what you want. I know that now. I accept that's who you are but I'm sorry—"
"No, I'm sorry. But just answer one question for me, Lauren. Answer it truthfully and I swear I'll leave you to whatever crazy, messed up plan you got going for yourself."
Lauren let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. "Okay."
"Are you doing this for me or for yourself? Because if you're doing it for me, then don't."
Lauren turned and reached for a large leather duffel bag that had been sitting on the floor beside her bed, the one that she'd been stuffing with cash and the myriad of identities she'd hope to use on the next chapter of her human life. She swallowed hard and hurriedly shoveled the items on the bed into the bag. Bo noticed a slight tremble in her hands. Quickly, she grabbed at Lauren's wrist.
"Stop, just stop it Lauren."
"Let me go, Bo."
"And then what?" Bo loosened her grip, "You're right about me, Lauren. I only took from you."
Lauren shook her head, loose strands of golden hair falling across her face and acting as a curtain to her emotions.
"Look at me, please," Bo touched a finger to Lauren's chin and lifted it.
"There you are," Bo smiled, hoping to ignite the light that used to shine behind Lauren's eyes whenever they were together. "You may not remember me, but I'm Bo. The unaligned succubus?" Bo dropped her head, and swallowed as if she were gulping down a whole chestnut. "I love you, and it's time I started behaving like I do…because I do, more than anything."
Bo's radiance was palpable and threatened to melt the resistance that Lauren had fortified for weeks to form a callous around her heart. Bo still held onto her cleft chin and while Lauren didn't turn away she didn't return Bo's gaze.
"Don't say things you don't mean…" Lauren whimpered.
Bo brought her lips to Lauren's and kissed her softly. "I love you." She kissed her again, letting her lips linger, waiting for Lauren to greet her with her own. "I love you," she repeated her words and then again, the kiss. "And just to be clear," Lauren felt the smile form on Bo's mouth as their lips met again, "I love you Lauren Lewis."
Lauren grabbed a fistful of Bo's hair and smashed her mouth into hers, inhaling her scent, her breath, and welcoming Bo's tongue until her mouth was flooded with the taste of her. Somehow, and not without great struggle, Lauren pushed Bo back to arm's length. "I've been on my own for years. I can take care of myself. I'm used to it."
Bo's eyes drifted from Lauren's lips to her eyes, to the slender, kissable neck, to the delicious form of her body that she needed to press against hers. "Get unused to it. You have me now."
"That'll make us an even bigger target. A sexy succubus is hard to hide," Lauren smirked, pushing Bo away slightly with a palm to her chest.
"You're a genius, Lauren Lewis…between you and Kenzi, I'm sure we can figure something out." Bo pulled her into another kiss. "And Lauren, you don't have to do this alone. Not anymore."
Lauren pulled back from their embrace and fingered stray strands of hair away from Bo's cheek. "Let me inject a little dose of reality, Bo. A succubus and two humans trekking around the world would hardly go unnoticed by the Fae."
Bo shrugged as if she'd just been told to run to the store to buy bread and milk. "Good times," she buried her lips into the crook of Lauren's neck.
"You, me, Kenzi? What will that make us?"
"A reunion tour? I've been dying to get the band back together!"
"Fugitives," Lauren looked suddenly solemn. "This is serious, Bo."
Bo stepped backwards, plopping herself onto the bed. She picked up and flipped through the pages of one of the passports. "Karen Beattie? Not a good hairstyle on you, love."
The word caught them both off guard, as if they'd suddenly been doused with a barrel of ice.
"Look," Bo began, tossing the passport back onto the pile. "I know we have a lot to talk about…" She reached for Lauren's hand and pulled her to sit beside her. "And as far as I'm concerned, it's long overdue. Do you remember the night before we fought the Garuda, when you came to see me?"
"I asked if I could sleep with you…in your arms."
Bo nodded, her cheeks reddening at the memory of it. She focused on Lauren's hand in her own, caressing it as she'd just found a treasure, her treasure. "It's my turn to ask the same of you."
"Look at me, Bo." As soon as their eyes met, she answered plainly. "Yes."
Then she added, softly, "And Bo?"
"Yes?"
"We can do more than sleep…if that's what you want."
"I want," Bo bit her bottom lip and pulled Lauren fully onto her lap.
"And tomorrow? What will you want then?" Lauren's body stiffened.
"I want all of you, everywhere, anywhere. Here or there, tomorrow and the day after that and the days after that…Lauren, I choose you. We're in this together now." Bo shifted back a little in order to get a full view of Lauren's beautiful face. "Do you believe me?"
Bo seemed to hold her breath, waiting for some acknowledgement that she wasn't alone.
There, it had been said, the bait, the sacrifice Lauren longed to hear and yet to see. This is a mistake, the notion crossed her mind. Lauren tightened her arms around Bo, her resolve cascading out of her like snow riding the wave of an avalanche. Their hearts beat in time, thunderous and free and reckless. And I'm such a fool. For an escaped slave, there would be no corner on earth that would ever be fully safe, no ground sturdy enough to plant roots and call home. A million ideas flooded her consciousness and then, the most important one rising to the top. The tiny needles of hope she hid in a mahogany box: syringes filled with a serum derived of the most powerful DNA she ever encountered, strong enough to strip any Fae of their immortality and omnipotence over humans, her insurance policy against a hostile world.
Do you believe me, the question circled her mind and tickled her conscience. Let Bo believe she can be my savior. My faith still rests in science. And if that were wholly true, then why couldn't she let the succubus go? It occurred to her: humbly and without any need for elaboration, Lauren simply wanted to love Bo and regardless of the inventions or breakthroughs she might uncover, they would never eclipse this desire, one that would follow her for the rest of her days. She finally accepted this as the plain truth; and everything from this moment on would stem from that.
"I believe you," she answered at last and took her first leap of faith.
Tonight, their bodies entwined and sealed their fate. They would flee together, tethered to the one true thing that ever mattered: love.
fin