Lauren stared at the warehouse ceiling inside her lab. The familiar signs of morning were sneaking into the lab, and she could see the light coming from the windows at the top. She didn't really ever pay attention to the ceiling, but she needed something to focus on as she came out of her sex coma first. Bo was entangled beside her on the cold ground, not faring much better at getting her breathing or motor functions back in normal working order.

She had stopped taking the injections, so she instinctively worried about the constant sex energy exchange in almost every single one of their times, but she wasn't as nervous as previous encounters. Lauren had only seemed to care about Bo in those moments; it felt refreshing not to worry about the things that usually worried her, even during sex. Her muscles were sore; even muscles she had obviously never worked before, or at least not worked in some time. She could no longer say that position was impossible, and it was quite enjoyable despite the awkward beginning and fumbling to find balance. She didn't even know how to explain it; all she knew was that she was happy to be wrong. She needed to learn to completely trust that Bo knew what she was talking about when it came to sex, even if it sounded impossible in her rational mind.

Dinner with her parents was exactly as she expected. However, the reveal that her mother and father were bound was one reason she detoured them here instead of home. Lauren wanted to grab the files again from the cabin. She wanted to completely take the time to dissect everything. She was even going to pull the files on Bo's family, as well. It was time they learned all of their family's secrets. The need to know basis approach they were taking was not working well for them anymore. Not when they were near such great resources.

"Oh my god, you have to stop doing this to me. I really can't move my body." Bo brought Lauren out of her thoughts. Lauren smiled as she rolled her body over so that she was straddling the woman below her. She pushed her long blonde hair, which had come unpinned throughout the evening's more primal activities inside the lab, out of the way so that she could kiss Bo in appreciation. "Down, woman." Bo still accepted the extra kiss despite her protest. Lauren smiled, loving that she could turn an extremely powerful succubus into putty like this. "How do you have the energy to move right now?"

"Unlike you, I've had to build a tolerance to high-powered sex being with you these past two years. You'll be able to keep up one day." Lauren smirked as she rested on Bo's side, her hands running through still sweat-soaked brown curls. "I love your hair down like this. You're so beautiful."

"So are you." Bo moved her hand to cup Lauren's cheek before pulling her down for a soft, loving kiss. "Do you have patients today?"

"Just a few blood fever treatments this afternoon." Lauren smoothed Bo's hair back again, staring at the sparks inside her girlfriend's eyes. They had returned to their natural brown pigment, but the sparks were still jolting. This reminded Lauren of the blood work she had done recently. "Hey, Bo, do you think I could take some blood samples from you while we're here?"

"Is that why we're here?" Bo sounded defensive, as she went to grab for something to cover herself, but they had divested of all clothing before they made it in here so there was no place to hide.

"No. We're here because it was the closest safe space." Lauren ran her fingertip across Bo's forehead and felt and watched her relax. "I just have some theories on the blood fever, and I want to check your blood."

"You think I have it?" Bo sounded panicked, and Lauren knew it was a warranted panic. There was no cure yet, and it had killed several people already. The treatment worked to subdue the fever, but a solution and cure would be better. As a doctor, she knew she had to keep trying despite how well the treatment worked.

"Not exactly." Lauren remembered seeing the sparks in her own blood. "I think I might be carrying it, though. I doubt it's from exposure to it from my patients or research; it only seems to happen after we've…"

"Don't get shy on me after what you just did to me all night." Bo chuckled slightly, though her worry was still evident on her face. "Do you think you have it?"

"I'm not sure yet. It appears to react differently with my blood than it does with the fae. If I'm carrying it, though, I want to be sure that you're not infected or that you're not infecting me." Lauren tried to be more sensitive about the subject, but she seemed to go into doctor mode out of habit. "I'm not saying you gave me something. You couldn't give me anything; diseases, not just the sexually transmitted kind, can't pass from fae to human. You couldn't get human ones, either. Not in the contagious sense, though there are certain underfae who can affect both human and fae. I've told you this. It's why a succubus can have an active and multi-partnered sex life without fear of exposure to any number of threats outside of pregnancy."

"Still, I hate the thought of you having this thing in your system. What if it is me giving this to you?" Bo cupped Lauren's face between both of her hands and refused to break eye contact. She looked so serious and worried. "You have a long life, but you're still human. You can still die like any other human. If I'm the cause, then…"

"Bo, relax. If it were a problem, you would see me acting a little more immediately. I have no guarantees it's even related; it's just a hunch." Lauren adjusted her positioning enough so that she could roll over and sit up. The floor was getting colder and a lot more uncomfortable. "I just want to make sure, okay?"

"Okay." Bo looked skeptical still, but she did sit up beside her. "Do you wanna talk about last night? With your parents?"

"No…but yes." Lauren knew it was better to get their talk out of the way now. If they didn't, there was more possibility that they would go back to letting things fester. "I had no idea they were bound."

"I sensed something in their bond. It was more territorial than anything, but I think it makes sense." Bo scooted closer until she was sitting across from her but close enough to touch. The lab was kept cold for a reason, but it was not helping the goosebumps on her body. Bo naturally ran hot, so she wasn't as affected by the cold in the large open room. Lauren suspected this is why her wife moved until they were entangled together and some of Bo's body heat resonated between them. "Your mom's a Hestian, so her big thing is family. You know how we had to have sex to become bound because I'm a succubus?"

"You think she had to have a child with someone to be bound to them." Lauren smiled, surprised at just how intelligent Bo was sometimes. She did not give herself enough credit. "You're sexy when you're smart."

"What do you mean 'when,' brainiac?" Bo's playful smile made Lauren relax a bit. "It makes sense, right? She said it was tequila, but I have a feeling it was a political move, to make sure that she had control over your dad. You were right; I didn't sense any love between them. There was negative sexual energy going on there. You were born so she could control him more."

"I want to be bothered by it, Bo, but I'm just so tired of the crap." Lauren knew it was true, though she did now wonder exactly what Gram meant when she said that she was born out of love. Was it love for the mission perhaps? She reacted last night, but now that she had time to think about it, she realized how much she wasn't bothered by the fact. A few years ago, she would have reacted so differently. Lauren had long ago learned not to be surprised at how manipulative or underhanded the fae could be. "If it hadn't happened, then I wouldn't be here…with you…right now. I don't care how it happened. I just care that I'm alive."

"I tend to agree with you there." Bo smiled as she moved to pull the last pin hanging from Lauren's hair, releasing her wild, sex-mussed hair completely. "You looked so amazing last night. I'm surprised at how well I was able to keep my control when every part of me was saying, 'take this woman in the bathroom now and have your way with her.' I'm sure the bathroom attendant would have loved that. Thank you, for letting me meet your parents."

"I should be the one thanking you." Lauren moved her hands to rub Bo's thighs, which were entangled with hers. "I know how hard control is for you right now, and I want you to know I'm ready. Whenever it happens, it happens, and I'm ready."

"Really?" Bo's body relaxed and stopped fighting. Lauren could sense the inner turmoil release slightly, as well, so she knew she had said the right thing. "What about those injections you were taking? What about mine?"

"You can still take yours, if you think they'll help with your hunger, but I just don't know enough about mine yet, and I want to make sure that we do at least have children before something happens. We'll have to be careful because I don't imagine having a child who is one and one who is one hundred is the smartest parental move, but I want to know more about those injections before I start taking them again. Meanwhile, if it happens, it happens. I'm ready."

"Oh, Lauren. If I could baby you up right here, I totally would." Bo was serious, but Lauren couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"You tried pretty hard last night, as I recall. I'm surprised I'm still standing from all the chi sucking you did."

"I know your mom mentioned I could be a danger to you, but I don't think I could be, even if I wanted to. I sense it; it's part of me. There's no way I could ever hurt you, intentionally or not." Bo took a deep breath, and Lauren had a feeling she knew they were going to talk about their angry sex. "Did I hurt you the other day?"

"Marks, yes. Sore, yes. It wasn't something I want to do again, but you didn't hurt me. Not really. Some of it was painful, but you have to remember that I gave you just as much. If you didn't have that nifty sexual healing thing, you would understand what I felt." Lauren knew some of her bruises were still visible on her body, but they had dulled enough that they were just marks now. She had managed to conceal the one hickey that was still present below her left ear.

"I'm sorry; I liked it." Bo looked apologetic, and Lauren just sighed and rolled her eyes in amusement. "What? I did. Lauren, I don't care how I get to have sex with you. I don't think you get just how much of a delicious treat you are."

"You've said as much several times." Lauren chuckled again. "I remember the very vivid ice cream metaphor you used to explain it once. I still can't eat Cherry Garcia, and there is no way I'm ever touching nuts on a sundae again. Not that I could because of allergies, but you get my meaning."

"Got my point across, though, didn't it?" Bo smirked that evil smirk that Lauren loved. The sun was too bright outside, which meant they wouldn't have time to fulfill what that smirk promised. "What's next on the ridiculously long list of things we need to talk about?"

"Might as well talk about sex while we're on the subject."

"Oh, if that were only a subject in school, I would've aced those tests. Especially if they were hands on." Bo had barely passed health in high school; she mentioned it was ironically because of the reproductive and sexuality sections. She had been so invested in upholding her adopted parents' ideals about sex being the devil that she really did ignore all of her own biology. Lauren just smiled; the thought of a succubus failing sex ed classes was kind of endearing and extremely Bo. Bo's smirk stayed where it was, and Lauren decided this would be an interesting topic to get through. She knew how to sober her up, though.

"We need to be realistic about you wanting to just feed from me." Lauren watched the smirk fall slightly and regretted her decision to take it away. "I'm okay with being your one and only, and I have every faith that you can actually do it. I can give it, too. I know that now, as long as it's in moderation like we've been doing and you continue with your injections. It's not unlike someone with a heart disease or blood pressure problems having to take medicine and sticking to a strict diet the rest of their lives."

"Okay, so you agree that I can do it. What's the problem, then?" Bo let out a huffy breath; she never liked being reminded that she had something bigger inside of her that she couldn't control.

"When you're away or I'm not around, if you need to heal, then I am okay with that. We just keep the same arrangement; you stay honest with me. Even if, god forbid, it's with Dyson or someone you don't want me to know about. You stay honest, Bo. Promise." Lauren was more than happy that Bo had refused Dyson's help on several occasions this past year.

Even though Lauren had come to terms with Dyson's role in Bo's life, she still had trouble not seeing the man who antagonized her for all those years. Bo had fed from Hale once when she was possessed by a djieiene spider, but Hale reported that it was more that she licked his face than anything. He assured Lauren there were no grabby paws, and Lauren just teased him about it since then. She actually found she enjoyed Hale's company immensely, even if he was a big Dyson fan. The young Siren had proven on many occasions that he had Kenzi's back when no one was paying attention to her, so Lauren respected him for protecting Bo's best friend.

"I promise." Bo took longer to respond than Lauren expected, but she believed her. "As long as you know I'm going to be stubborn about it."

"I know you, Bo. I would expect nothing less." Lauren loved that the smirk returned, along with a determined look. Bo was definitely serious about trying this. Lauren loved that she wanted to, and she knew it would be one hell of a try.

"What else is on the agenda?" Bo rubbed her hands up Lauren's bare thighs. She had to gasp at the pleasure she felt just from a simple touch.

"We should talk about what happened last year…with Roger and my sisters." Lauren knew they had talked on the subject, but they had never really talked about it. She knew the logistics; she knew the guilt Bo felt. She had forgiven her wholeheartedly and understood why she did it. Still, they didn't really talk about what it meant for them. "My mother made a good point last night. When I do get my freedom, the fae aren't going to just let me live and let live."

"I won't let them touch you."

"I know you'll try, but I'm putting you in more danger than necessary, Bo. I can't ask you to do that." Lauren took a deep breath, knowing that what she was about to say could make or break their relationship. It was pretty much why they hadn't talked about this before. "You did something major without consulting me first. If you want this marriage thing to work, you can't do that."

"You would have told me no."

"Yes, I would have told you no. You're not wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that you didn't ask me first. You just did something that affected my entire life, all while preaching to me about making my own choices. What if Lachlan had found out? What do you think would happen if he knew you had de-faed three Light faes? What if he found out about the formula?" Lauren closed her eyes, not wanting to see the hurt she saw and felt from her girlfriend. "I know this is hard, and I love you for doing it, but we could have found another way together if you had just told me what you were doing. I want my freedom just as much as you want to get it for me, but you know me well enough to know I don't want that at the cost of others, regardless of who they are.."

"I wouldn't change anything I did." Bo sounded so sure, even after all of the struggle she had coping with it after the events and aftermath had settled. "If being bound to you makes me a hypocrite, then so be it. They treated you like crap all of your life and showed no respect for you. To me, that was more malice than somebody stabbing you directly in the back. It was years of built up attacks, so I'm going to stop apologizing for what I did."

"I didn't say you need to apologize, Bo. I'm not kidding when I say I love you for it, but that's really selfish of me."

"You are the least selfish person I know, hon."

"Exactly my point." Lauren took a deep breath again, feeling like all she could do was take deep breaths. It didn't make these conversations any easier, but the feeling of Bo's skin pressed against hers, despite the cold in the lab, made her feel stronger. "You know how you've been trying to get me pregnant lately?"

"I'm sorry I've been so insensitive, Lauren. I just…I'm trying to control it. I'm losing myself." Bo's honest sadness made Lauren pull her into a kiss.

"You're not losing yourself. It's who you are. Well, the part of me in you that's driving who you are."

"What do you mean?" Bo cocked her head to the side in the cutest, geekiest way. Lauren couldn't help but chuckle at how much she had influenced this woman. "Should I be worried? Is this going back to me possibly giving you a fae STD?"

"No. Just…" Lauren had to take yet another deep breath; this time, it was to calm her giggles. "You really are adorable."

"Thanks?" Bo relaxed again, and Lauren felt her confidence return.

"Gram mentioned something about our bond that makes sense, actually." Lauren ran her fingers through Bo's hair, apologizing with her eyes when she pulled at a tangle. "We exchanged our persons when we bound each other. That's why I've been…"

"Hyper sexual? I knew I wasn't losing my stamina." Bo looked proud again. Lauren rolled her eyes in amusement.

"As I was saying, there are certain elements that get exchanged when two people bind together. It's apparently not just personality wise, like we know about. It's also biologically, which introduces the question of whether every aspect is affected." Lauren looked off into the lab without really noticing anything. Her mind started to develop ideas, her mind clear and focused to fully establish reasonable routes to pursue.

"As much as I find your geekiness charming, you were saying?" Bo brought her out of her inner outlining.

"Right." Lauren leaned forward. "You're seriously trying to get me pregnant. We've been bound together for a while now, and we have no children. That's not common for a Hestian, especially one that has been bound. Remember you said that my parents had me to become bound? Well, we are already bound, so the part of me that is in you is interacting with the succubus parts of you. It's like...a fae-bound biological clock that's driving you insane."

"Oh." Bo's facial expressions were interesting to watch as Lauren gave her time to process what she meant. When she did, Lauren couldn't help but chuckle again. "Oh! So…I'm Hestian now, too, because it's running through your bloodline."

"Yes and no. You're not technically Hestian. You just have those innate desires for family now. It wasn't really that bad until after that last pregnancy scare. Gram swears up and down I was pregnant. She even subtly implied that something had happened to the baby, and you naturally sensed it was gone, so you had this void to fill that was suddenly missing." Lauren had looked back at her old blood tests from that time and noticed very similar patterns to what she was seeing now. She traced the pattern all the way back to when Bo had first fed from her, except the blood anomalies that were present during that last scare indicated that she really was pregnant one day and not the next. Could this be how the blood fever affected her?

"I sensed you, Lauren. I just…knew you were. I can't explain how I knew; I just did." Bo looked up at her, eyes almost misty. Lauren knew that Bo had cried about this long enough when she thought Lauren was asleep; there was no need for tears now. "What would do that, though? What would make me think you were pregnant if you weren't?"

"I'm not sure yet." Lauren cleared her throat. She suddenly felt extremely exposed. Bo calmed her by entwining both of their hands together and bringing them between them. Lauren looked down to notice the bands on both of their hands, and she smiled in relaxation. "I'm afraid we'll need to get up. The staff will start showing up soon, and I still need to move Gram's car."

"Speaking of…last night…that was…" Bo blushed a little, and Lauren understood why. Her neediness was unlike anything she had felt before; it was as though stopping the injections had increased her hunger, just like Bo's hunger increased when she stopped taking hers. The amazing things that she was experiencing sharing a life being bound to Bo was nothing like the succubus book or previous accounts could begin to describe. Malorie had a child with a succubus, but she was purely human and was not bound to Frankie. Michael was just a pure hybrid. Lauren still wasn't sure what would happen when they had children. Gram had alleviated some of her fears, but that didn't mean they disappeared completely.

"I told you I stopped taking the injections. Just like I've had a little more practice getting used to having sex with a high-energy succubus, you've had more practice getting used to your...needs." Lauren felt her cheeks flush, which caused Bo to smile in response. "Was it too much?"

"Are you seriously asking a succubus if initiating some wildly amazing sex was too much?" Bo chuckled lightly, which caused Lauren to blush in response. "Last night was already intense, so I wasn't surprised with the welcome sexual advances. I was a little surprised at the return of dirty talk Lauren, though. You've been practicing, I see."

"Well, you and Kenzi do enough dirty talk that I was bound to pick it up eventually." Lauren smirked again, as she looked up at the clock on the wall. The dim lights that were kept on when everything was shut down and the light peeking in from the ceiling window gave the room enough glow for last night's activities and just enough light for Lauren to read that it was definitely time to get moving. "Shit. We have about ten minutes to get everything cleaned up; Janelle is probably already on her way here."

"What happened to that 'let 'em see' attitude from last night?" Bo teased her, but Lauren still removed herself from their embrace to run upstairs and grab two sets of emergency sweats and tees that she kept there in case of lock down and/or other potential emergency cleaning situations. Bo appeared more reluctant when Lauren put on her own clothes than she did about dressing herself. Lauren felt the same way. Then, they walked back the path they had followed to get here last night. The keys along with various items of clothing were scattered down the hallway to the side door that they had entered through last night. There was even a slight dent in the wall beside exam room 3 where Lauren had slammed Bo into between kisses, definitely not controlling her needs.

When they had all of their items gathered, Lauren took the lead at going into the house. There was no doubt Gram would be awake; they needed to get some rest before she had to see patients this afternoon, but there would be no sneaking past her grandmother. Lauren could move the car later. Her exhaustion from the past 24 hours started to run through every inch of her body.

They only managed to blush mildly while enjoying a light breakfast with Gram. The woman obviously sensed why they were there so early, dressed in sweats from the lab, and carrying their clothes from last night. Lauren hugged her grandmother and was surprised when Bo did the same. She actually hadn't initiated contact with the woman since last year, so it was good to see Bo finally release her guilt and move on. Gram had noticed their rings, too, but had only said they would talk about that later after everyone was better rested. They retreated upstairs to that familiar room; the one where they had first made love. The one where they had first been together. Even though it was only for a few hours, it was the best sleep Lauren had in days.