"When you're ready to go back to your real family… just say the word," Bo said as she gently lowered Lauren's arm from her shoulder. She started to walk past the doctor, trying not to show her how much her heart was breaking.
"Family, Bo? Really?" Lauren asked, her voice calm, but the fingers that had touched the succubus gently flexed and tightened into a fist.
The human doctor swallowed the fresh memories of fear and loneliness. And yet, nothing new, she thought.
"I don't have a family," Lauren said. "I don't belong anywhere, Bo."
"You don't believe that," Bo argued, her back to Lauren. She blinked back her tears as she slowly turned around to face her former lover.
Lauren's gaze never wavered. "I know so," she said, pressing her lips together in a thin line. She ran a shaky hand over her hair, "I keep putting myself where I don't belong."
She smiled wryly at Bo. "I may not fit here but I have the assurance that I am wanted here."
"Wanted?" Bo asked, the strength leaving her voice as she stood in front of Lauren. "Wanted? Lauren, look around you." Bo gestured wildly around the office, at Evony's face hanging on the wall. "The Dark, they are just going to use you."
The doctor scoffed. "Was the Light any different? Was Hale? Was Kenzi? Trick? How about Dyson?" Lauren asked. "And you?"
Their eyes met.
Neither blinked.
"I loved you," Bo raised her voice, angry. "I love you, Lauren. Wanted you? I needed you."
"No, Bo," Lauren shook her head, looking away. She shifted her stance, her black dress rusting softly. "You only thought you did."
"Do you want me to beg?" Bo asked, throwing her arms up in the air. "Because I will," she dared, stepping closer to Lauren who seemed to curl into herself.
Lauren's breath hitched as her molten brown eyes widened in surprise as Bo moved to lower herself on the Morrigan's carpet, ready to sink to her knees before the human slave.
It broke Lauren's heart and her resolve.
"Get up!" Lauren tugged on Bo's arm. "Get up!"
But she was no match to succubus strength. Bo kept her head bent and cast her eyes to the floor. Lauren grasped her shoulders.
"Bo, please," she pleaded softly, "get up." Desperation and heartache bled into her voice, shattering the façade of aloofness.
When the succubus remained on the floor, the doctor fell on her knees as well. "Get up," Lauren whispered desperately. "Bo."
Bo's shoulders shook. She could barely hold back a sob but the tears were already beyond her control.
"Bo, please," Lauren said again, her own eyes getting moist as her knees scrapped on the carpet.
Bo only cried silently.
Lauren cradled the succubus's face in her hands.
"Why did you leave, Lauren?" Bo asked, looking into Lauren's tearful face. "I loved you. I still love you… so much."
Lauren choked on sob, "You were never mine to keep." Her thumbs brushed the tears from Bo's face, "You have to let me go, Bo. You have to let go." She placed a lingering kiss on the succubus's forehead. "You deserve better than any of this." She paused and breathed her in.
But it couldn't last.
She sobered up and let her own hands fall to her sides, breaking her gaze from Bo's. She stood.
"Never kneel in front of me again," she requested in a quiet voice. The doctor was back to her cool, detached persona; only her tears belied the moments that occurred just seconds prior.
"You should leave now." This time, it was her turn to walk past Bo.
Before she could blink, however, she was caught up in Bo's arms. Her were lips captured in a deep kiss, stealing her breath as always. Lauren wanted to give in, Bo could feel it. Lauren's body leaning into her like the only thing she wanted was to fall into Bo's arms. Bo ached to hold her.
"You still love me," Bo claimed, her breath ghosting across Lauren's lips. "I can see it."
Lauren pulled away but Bo's hand held her wrists while the other wrapped around her waist and clutched the cloth of her dress. "You only see lust," she said, recalling a distant memory of their earliest conversations.
"I don't need succubus powers to see how you really feel," Bo murmured. "Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you don't love me."
"No," Lauren's lip quivered but her tearful eyes screamed, I have always loved you.
Bo's eyes narrowed, hurt clouding her ability to understand what Lauren was really saying. "Even if you don't… even if you don't love me, you can't stay here."
"This is my decision, Bo," Lauren said, steeling herself. She wrapped her arms around herself. "Or are you going to force me, too?"
"She WHAT!?" Kenzi asked as she fussed with adjusting Tamsin's Jacket. Bo had found them dancing in the ballroom even though the party was starting to die down. If she was surprised to see Bruce, she gave no indication.
"She joined the dark," Bo said, blowing out a breath.
"Who's Lauren again?" Tamsin asked as she held still for Kenzi, who was every bit as frazzled as a mother hen. They kept talking about finding Lauren and she knew Dyson left to look for her. She kinda missed the scruffy wolf dude.
"Lauren's…" Kenzi hesitated. Her blue eyes flickered to Bo's pinched face. She sighed and faked a smile for the reincarnated valkyrie, "Lauren's our quirky quack doctor. She's part of the gang."
"Is she pretty?" Tamsin asked, blinking innocently down at Kenzi.
Kenzi nodded, tugging on the ties of Tamsin's jacket until they were even. "And super smart, too."
"She's very nice," Bruce piped up, his deep voice rumbling. "She bandaged up my wounds and was really gentle." He gave Tamsin a reassuring grin.
Tamsin looked at Bo's face curiously. She looks mad, the blonde thought. "Will I get to meet her?" she asked hesitantly.
"Probably not anytime soon," Bo said as she strode out the door, boots clicking on the expensive tile. The trio stared after her.
"She's mad," Tamsin said worriedly. She looked to Kenzi for reassurance but the Russian-speaking girl was nonplussed given her years of experience as Bo's Official Best Friend. It had perks, too, she supposed as she watched Bo slam the Camaro's door.
"If it isn't the world ending, it's her love life," Kenzi said dryly. "Sometimes, they seem kind of synonymous." She scratched the back of her head.
"Sounds tough," Bruce commented as he adjusted the table cloth around his hips.
The short thief shrugged, "You kind of get used to it after a while."
"Bravo, Dr. Lewis," Evony smirked as Lauren stood in front of her. The Morrigan looked every bit like the cat who got the cream as she sat in her executive chair in her gold dress. "I'm only just a little surprised the little succubus didn't Bo-smash my office or that you're not picking up your panties from my carpet."
"I am a professional," Lauren said, leveling her gaze with the Morrigan as she stood across the desk.
The Dark leader chuckled. "Oh, is that what they call it now, sweetie?" Her tone condescending.
"Do you have any other tasks?" Lauren asked, this time without deference. She was no longer a slave, she didn't have to act pathetic and the Dark wasn't a stickler for protocol.
Evony's eyes crawled appreciatively up the doctor's body and Lauren hid the disgust that curled up in her belly. "No, that's it for now." The Morrigan leaned back in her chair. "Seeing your succubus weepy eyed has given me enough satisfaction for today. She's probably crying into her pillow, all 80's teens style, as we speak." She laughed with little sympathy, "Poor baby."
"I'll take my leave," Lauren said, through clenched teeth. "I still need to pack my things."
"Tut, tut," Evony said patronizingly, "Don't pout. It's unbecoming." Then her face broke into a wide grin. "I'll be sure to let Bo know that I appreciate the company of someone with your… talents. I take it that you're not averse to working with the Succubitch again?"
"You said I could refuse assignments," Lauren pointed out, daring the leader of the Dark fae to take her word back.
"That I did," Evony conceded but her lips curled in satisfaction, "But let's be real here, doctor, you can't control yourself around her."
"Bo looked really upset," Tamsin said as she let Kenzi tuck her in. She didn't really fit in Kenzi's bed because her legs were too long but the small human took good care of her. More than anyone ever did, Tamsin thought, but how do I know that? Memories were elusive but she knew she was home and safe here.
Kenzi smoothed out the blanket on Tamsin's legs and sat next to her, the soft mattress dipping a little. "She'll be okay, eventually. It's just that they have a lot of history together. Bo loves Lauren very much."
Bruce agreed, "Almost everyone who knows about the Unaligned Succubus, knows about her human doctor." Quietly, he added, "The elders will not approve but a lot of fae are secretly supporting it –if only for the drama." The fae liked to find juicy gossip where they could.
Tamsin looked up at Kenzi, "Does Lauren love Bo?"
"She does," Kenzi said. She was a little surprised about the conviction of her answer. "She loves her very much."
"Then how come Lauren didn't want to come home with Bo?"
"Maybe she's scared," Kenzi said. "No one was with her when Bo went missing. Dyson told her not to come home because it wasn't safe." But we could have protected her.
"But Bo could keep her safe now," Tamsin reasoned.
"Well, sometimes, people also feel the need to get away, especially when they're confused or scared," Kenzi said giving Tamsin's shoulder a squeeze. "Sleep tight." She stood up and walked over to the corner were Bruce sat and plopped herself across from him.
"Now that you're free, Bruce, why don't you go to Bora-Bora?" she asked the muscular poetry expert. "Or, wherever. Just take off. Find yourself."
"I don't know," he sighed despondently, "I've always been the Morrigan's man. A killer, protector." He avoided her gaze, "I can't really do anything else."
"Well, maybe not but you'll never really know until you give it a shot, big guy," she told him supportively knowing he needed the pep talk. "Find your wings, Brushi." She shrugged, "Fly, you know?
Tamsin, curled up on the bed, listened to their exchange. Between what Kenzi told her about Bo and Lauren and what Kenzi was saying to Bruce, she was beginning to think that the simple resolution to it all was to be brave and find out who she was inside.
Maybe that's why Lauren didn't want to go home, she thought to herself. She's spreading her wings to fly, too.
Bo came back from the Dal and dragged her feet wearily to her room before falling on to her messy pink sheets, the day's events finally dragging her down. Reaching into her pocket, she clutched the box that held the necklace Lauren had given her.
Despite the anger and hurt she felt, she opened it and fingered the pendant inside. She had kept it with her, running her fingers over it every night but she was afraid to wear it because she didn't know what it meant and how she stood with Lauren.
Everything was fragmented and confusing and she had felt so much relief in seeing Lauren so beautiful and unharmed. She clutched onto the hope that everything would be alright because the doctor was finally there in her arms. Instead, she found that Lauren had left her again, leaving her more confused and broken.
"Some kind of forever," Bo scoffed, thinking of the words Lauren had written.
For giving me the freedom to love. And, I do. Forever.
She nearly pitched the box across the room but couldn't actually do it. Once upon a time, the unaligned succubus was loved by a human doctor and all she had to show for it was a gift she stole. No, that's not right, she thought. Lauren loved her, not because of what she was but because Lauren saw her as who she was.
She stood up and walked to her dresser. One of the drawers contained some of Lauren's things that she never had the heart to return after they had that break. It was a break-up, Bo, she told herself. It's time for you to accept that she broke up with you. She stared at the Light necklace Lauren had left when she ran away. She settled on pulling out a grey knit sweater she had found mixed in with her clean laundry. It was soft and she breathed it in, trying to find traces of Lauren's scent. Unable to find that connection, she shoved it back inside and pushed the drawer shut.
She wiped away errant tears with the back of her hand. Not for the first time did she curse her biology, her destiny, her life – this time, not because she couldn't live a normal human life but because being the unaligned succubus had cost her yet another chance of being loved.
More than that, it broke her heart to think that Lauren didn't feel like she belonged. Did she not fight for Lauren to become part of their family? A family composed of her ex-boyfriend, her ex-boyfriend's best friend and partner, and her best friend who preferred her ex-boyfriend over Lauren?
No wonder.
She swallowed the guilt down but worse yet, a niggling thought in the back of her mind told her she was happy that she had Lauren mostly to herself. It was then that she realized that she was not angry at Lauren about this, she was angry at herself.
And, anger, she found, was easier.
Lauren carefully looked around the loft the Light had provided for her, the cage she called home for the past five years. She carefully assessed the things she needed to pack. She noticed that someone had recently watered her plants.
She paused by her desk.
Her fingers hesitated but she eventually opened one of the drawers. By touch alone, she knew the box was gone. She held her breath.
Did Bo keep it? She wondered, pulling the drawer fully open and staring at the empty space that the box occupied. She clenched her eyes shut.
Bo, the name echoed in her mind and she savored the ache in her chest. Even if things were not meant to be, she had to do this. Bo needed to be safe and Bo needed to be free. If that meant that Bo would never be hers again, it was still worth it.
She breathed deeply, keeping an image of Bo in her mind to draw strength from.
For love, for Bo, she will sacrifice.