Thank you for all the reviews already. I appreciate the love. :) I tried not to keep you waiting too long for this chapter. So without further ado, here's the next episode!
Lauren, Bo, and all other Lost Girl characters belong to the incredible people over at Prodigy Pictures. I just borrowed them for a bit.
XXXXXXXXX
Bo was on her way back to pick up Lauren when her phone rang. She could hear the frantic blonde on the other end. "Lauren! Slow down! Talk to me! What happened?!" Bo sped the car up to get to the lab a little faster. She didn't like the sound of this. Lauren hardly ever panicked.
Lauren took a breath and tried to focus. Her eyes continued to scan the room every three seconds. "He was here, Bo! The killer left me a note here at work. He's going to come after me! Please hurry!" The normally clear headed doctor didn't know how to calm herself down. How had that note been left? Hadn't anyone noticed? How was she going to protect herself? The questions flowed through her head in a steady stream. She just needed to calm down. Bo would be here soon. "I'm in the lab. I'll see you soon."
She fussed around turning things off and gathering up paperwork, but Lauren's eyes shot to the door at the slightest noise. Finally, one of those noises was the stunning brunette. Lauren's breath hitched as she saw Bo and she felt like she was safer. There were tears in her eyes as Bo swept her into a hug. "Are you ok, Laur? The guards are checking tapes. We're going to get him. I promise. Please tell me you're ok." When Bo found the person threatening Lauren, she was going to seriously fuck up their world.
Lauren stayed wrapped up in Bo's arms longer than she probably needed to, but she was just enjoying the feeling. She knew they should get going, but she just wanted to enjoy it for another second. The brunette was pressed up against her, and Lauren wanted so badly to tell her how she felt. She just couldn't. Now was definitely not the time or place. "Let's get you home." Bo's breath on her ear sent a shiver down her spine. Lauren looked up into Bo's eyes and asked softly, "Will you stay with me? I just don't want to be alone right now." Bo smiled at the blonde and put an arm around her shoulder. "Of course I'll stay."
XXXXXXXXX
Bo left Lauren in the car so she could talk to the officers parked in front of the house. "I want eyes on this house until we find the killer. Extra patrols through the whole neighborhood at least every hour. No one is getting near her, got me? I'm staying in the house with her. Radio if you need anything. Thanks guys." The officers nodded. This person had threatened one of their own. No one was taking it lightly.
As the ladies headed into the house, Bo armed the security system and conducted a sweep of every room. Lauren tagged along behind her, afraid to get too far away. She was scared. She had worked some messed up cases, but no one had ever directly threatened her before. It wasn't fair that she had to be afraid in her own home. At least she had Bo here to protect her.
"Is everything ok? I'm so tired. Can we go to bed?" Lauren thought about what might happen if she were to really take Bo to bed, and it caused a blush to rise up her neck. She hoped the detective was too focused to see it, but Bo was always paying attention. "It's all clear. Are you ok, Laur?" She was trying to read the look in Lauren's eyes, but it wasn't one she'd seen directed toward her before. She felt so much emotion coming from them, but she didn't want to assume that it meant what she hoped it did. Lauren nodded and headed back to her room. "I'm just going to get changed. I'll grab some clothes for you too. Uhm... I only have the one bed. You're welcome to sleep in there with me, I mean, if you don't want to have to sleep on the couch. It may be more comfortable if you have to stay a few days. It's up to you." Bo smiled at how cute Lauren was when she seemed nervous. It may be hard for her, but she would be more than happy to share the doctor's bed. "Maybe I should sleep with you. In your bed, I mean. Just to keep you safe, of course." What was going on with her right now? She laughed at how awkward she felt at this moment. Lauren smiled at the brunette, feeling just as awkward. "Ok then. I'll be right back." She spun around and left the kitchen.
Bo poked around the house while she was waiting, looking for any weak spots where the killer could hide outside the house. She jumped when she heard Lauren say her name, not realizing how tightly she had been wound. "Here you go." Lauren handed her a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. "I remembered that you said you get hot when you sleep, so I went with this. I hope it's ok." Bo smirked at her and said, "I usually just sleep naked, but I'm sure this will be fine." Lauren swallowed hard at the thought of Bo laying in the bed naked. Was she flirting with her? Maybe she was reading too much into things. Just because she wanted her to be naked didn't mean Bo wanted the same thing. She smiled back at the brunette. "Well ok then. I'll be in bed." She walked quickly back to the bedroom, looking back at Bo as she reached the doorway.
Bo let out the breath she'd been holding as Lauren walked away. What was this woman doing to her? There was a possible serial killer on the loose. She had to keep her head clear in order to protect her, but damn if that woman didn't make it hard to do. She had watched Lauren's reaction to the naked comment very closely. Maybe she shouldn't be so worried about telling Lauren how she felt after all. She chuckled to herself, changed clothes, and headed to bed. Lauren was already curled up on her side, so Bo slipped in next to her. She whispered good night, closed her eyes, and hoped that sleep would wash away the day.
XXXXXXXXX
Through the binoculars, it was possible to see in through the side window. Watching the two women flirting was painful. "Nice try, Bo, but Doctor Lewis will be mine." A smile appeared as Lauren walked down the hallway. Time to go home and get some sleep. There was so much to prepare.
XXXXXXXXX
Bo awoke as the morning sun shone through the window. Looking down at the woman curled into her, she smiled. Her fingers ran lightly through the soft blonde hair, stirring Lauren gently. When their eyes met, both women smiled softly. "Good morning," Bo whispered softly. "Good morning, yourself." She watched wide eyed as Lauren crawled on top of her, eyes full of desire. "Let's stop playing around, Bo. We both know what we want." She lowered herself onto the brunette and brought their lips together softly. The kiss was electric. Bo could feel every cell in her body coming to life. She plunged her fingers into Lauren's hair and pulled her body tightly against her own. The kiss had grown heated, tongues dancing like they had known each other forever. Lauren moaned into the kiss as her hips rolled down against Bo's, the heat coming off them both in waves. Bo's head was spinning as she felt Lauren's hand gliding down her stomach toward the one place she wanted it most. She nipped at Lauren's lower lip and groaned slightly as she felt her shorts being moved. She couldn't believe this was happening. Lauren pulled back a little and watched her lover close her eyes in anticipation. "Bo..."
"Bo? Is everything ok?" She opened her eyes to see Lauren looking at her intently. "You were groaning. Was it a nightmare?" It took Bo a second or two to realize it had been a dream. How was that possible? It had felt so real. In fact, she could still feel how wet she was for the blonde that she had been kissing moments ago. This was not fair. "Uhm... No. Not a nightmare. I'm good. I just have to use the restroom." She hopped out of bed, leaving the blonde with a puzzled look on her face. Lauren had woken early curled up into Bo's arms. When Bo didn't wake up right away, she had been content to stay there. Soon, however, the brunette had started twitching and groaning. She had been afraid Bo was having a bad dream, and she wanted to help ease her mind. She hoped that waking her up had been the right choice. She hadn't really expected her to bolt from the room.
A few minutes later, Bo came out of the bathroom. She had splashed some cold water on her face, hoping that would help cool down her raging libido. She had to face Lauren, after all. When she came back into the bedroom, Lauren was standing at her closet in pants and a bra. She appeared to be looking for a shirt to wear. "Sorry, Bo. I was going to make breakfast. I'll be out of your way soon." She smiled and turned back to the closet, pulling on the very next shirt she touched. She felt the brunette's eyes on her, and she didn't want to deal with what it was making her feel. "Get dressed. I'll see you in a few." Bo watched her walk out of the bedroom and fell back onto the bed with a sigh.
XXXXXXXXX
After breakfast and coffee, the women made it into the precinct. Bo left Lauren safely in the lab and headed off to find Hale. They needed to get a look at the evidence from yesterday. She found him looking at the tapes from Evony's building. "Morning, Hale. Any luck yet?" He looked up at Bo and gratefully took the offered coffee cup. "Morning. No luck yet, but I'm only looking at Monday afternoon so far. I'm guessing she should be home from work soon." They looked back to the screen and continued to fast forward, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
It took a little while, but they eventually found what they were looking for. The killer arrived on Monday night, approximately two hours after Evony got home. The figure was dressed in black, head to toe. Between the baseball cap and the hood on the jacket being up, the detectives weren't able to see the face. Also, it appears that this killer knew where the cameras were so there were no good angles. "Damn it!" Bo slammed her fist down on the table. "I was hoping we'd get something from the tapes." They watched as the killer pulled out a pair of black latex gloves and put them on before touching the door. That's where the powder came from. Bo sighed as the killer silently entered the apartment carrying a duffel bag. Fast forward to twenty-seven hours later. The killer leaves the same way they entered, head down, closing the door behind them. They appear to be wearing another pair of gloves. "So much for getting prints," Hale sighs. "Maybe CSU found something."
XXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, down in the lab, Lauren is trying to focus. She's upset that they won't let her do the autopsy, but it's understandable. CSU has the letter to look for prints, but she knows they won't find anything. This killer is too smart. She finally decides to go over Rainer's file again and see if she missed something earlier. She heads up to the squad room to check out the board with the detectives. Maybe if they brainstorm together, something will pop out at them.
"Hey, Bo. Hale." Lauren smiled tightly as she walked toward the frowning detectives. "Not having much luck?" She pulled a chair up to the table across from the pair. "Not yet." Hale shook his head gently. "We're going to find something though. We just have to keep looking." Lauren picked up the folder with Rainer's information and started flipping through it. Bo noticed that her hands looked a little shaky. "How's it going downstairs, Doc? Have they found anything on the bodies?" Maybe they would have better luck.
Lauren shook her head. "Not much. The cuts are all superficial and peri-mortem. Cause of death on Rainer was exsanguination. The carotid artery was partially transected. Once the cut was made, it likely took about a minute for him to bleed out." Bo looked at Lauren as she described the autopsy results. She was so clinical about it, and Bo hoped it wasn't because she didn't want to think about this psycho coming after her. Bo was certainly thinking about it enough for the both of them. Lauren continued on. "The killer knew what they were doing. I think we're looking for someone with medical experience. None of the cuts came close to hitting anything major. The burns are mostly first and second degree. None of them were serious enough to send him into shock. If they had cut too deep or too close to any other major arteries or veins, he would have died before they were ready. This was very deliberate." Lauren took a second to close her eyes and take a deep breath before moving on. "The bruising appears to have happened early in the day. We did find evidence on his wrists that prove he was restrained at some point. Looking at everything together, this is what I see. He was attacked and knocked out with a blow to the head. There's a knot at the base of his skull. Then he was tied up to the bed. The majority of the small cuts were made there. Much of the bleeding was stopped by cauterizing the wounds. I believe that the intent was to inflict large amounts of pain rather than to cause blood loss. The amount of blood found on the bed indicates that the bleeding was mostly superficial. I believe he was beaten, cut, and burned all while tied to that bed. I don't know what the killer wanted, but it seems as if Rainer had something he wanted. Information, some kind of item... I don't know. But this type of torture usually has a purpose other than sport. If it was for sport, this guy is sicker than we think."
Bo had been looking at the photos from the crime scene as Lauren described what had happened. There was no way in hell she was letting this guy near the doctor. She closed her eyes briefly, making a silent vow to do whatever was necessary to catch him. "So, you said there were drugs found in his system. What about those?" She looked up to meet Lauren's eyes, and she could see the fear lurking in them. "Yes. The tox screen showed evidence of atropine and epinephrine in his blood. Hospitals use these drugs to kickstart the heart when it's not beating regularly. It's possible that he had experienced too much trauma and was going into shock at some point. The drugs would have brought him screaming back to consciousness. It would have allowed the killer to continue playing his sick game longer." Lauren closed her eyes and sighed. "What else do we know about him that might help?" She hoped there was something that might help lead them in the right direction.
Hale took the lead. "He was a chef at a place called Churchill's. Odd little restaurant around the corner from his house. Turns out he had been dating the manager. She seems harmless. The thing is, it didn't sound like he had any enemies. She said he was sweet and mostly kept to himself. We haven't found anything yet to link him with the other victims." Lauren smiled slightly as she ventured through her memories. "I know that place, actually. I used to go there quite often. They serve the most amazing crepes. When we would get off a case late and I was hungry, I'd go there to unwind a little. He was the chef? I don't remember him. But I guess I didn't really see the chef much..." She shook her head slightly to clear it. "Do we have any other evidence?"
Bo sighed as she glanced at the folder. "Not really. There is no clear sign of what someone would want from him. He's not rich. There's nothing of extreme value in his place and no sign of anything like that missing. If the killer was trying to get something from him, it must have been information. We just don't know what kind of information it would be." She looked at Hale, and his eyes reflected the fear she had too. What if this was just for fun? If they don't know what the killer is looking for, they don't know how to find him or even where to look.
Lauren set down the last photo she had been looking at and stood up. "Ok. Well, I think I'm going to let you guys get back to work. I'll look over the autopsy report when I get it and let you know if I find anything else." She smiled softly and walked out of the room. Bo shook her head in frustration. She had to figure out how to stop this guy before he got close to Lauren, and she had to keep her feelings under control. There was no need to complicate things further.
XXXXXXXXX
It had been two days, and there were no new leads. There were also no new bodies, so Bo figured maybe it wasn't all bad. The officers had been working on Evony's background. She had been a barista at a coffee shop downtown. The detectives found out that she had a serious girlfriend who was on a month long missionary trip in Africa. She was due to come back next week. There was no sign of anything valuable missing in her apartment and no signs of anything the killer might have wanted from her. The detectives were starting to think that this guy really did just enjoy the game. CSU had done what they could, but there wasn't much to work with. The blood spatter patterns showed that she was tortured while tied to the bed, but the cut that eventually killed her took place in the living room. Over half of the bones in her body had been broken. The burns were slightly more serious than on the other victim, but there wasn't anything to indicate that this was intentional. The same drugs were also found in this victim. They had run out of leads on where the drugs might have come from. Every hospital, trauma center, and EMT vehicle had these drugs. There had been two thefts reported in the last six months, but neither of them had any leads. The burglars had stolen atropine, epinephrine, pain medications, and other miscellaneous supplies. They couldn't say for sure that this was the killer. In both instances, the video cameras were turned off or not working on the night of the theft, and the police hadn't been able to track down any serious suspects.
Yesterday, a florist had delivered a dozen roses to Lauren at the lab. The note was handwritten in the same script as the first letter had been. "My dear Doctor Lewis, I will be seeing you again soon. xo" The team had been unable to find anything. The flowers had been ordered online from an untraceable IP address. Payment had been wired from an account that they traced back to the Cayman Islands and then it disappeared. It was getting incredibly frustrating to run into one dead end after another.
Bo looked over the file again and sighed deeply. There must be something that they were missing. She had to find it. She had continued staying at Lauren's place, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could do that without talking to the beautiful doctor. She invaded Bo's every waking thought. Sometimes it was related to her protection, but more often, the brunette was eating dinner and wondering what those soft lips would feel like against hers. Would Lauren taste as delicious as she imagined? Bo felt herself blush every time their eyes met at the house as she imagined saying all of the things she wanted so badly to tell Lauren. She wanted to be open about her feelings, but she knew that there was too much going on already. As soon as they caught this guy, she was going to come clean to Lauren. She couldn't keep it bottled up inside any longer.
Hale's voice brought the brunette out of her daydream. "I'm heading home, Bo. There's nothing else we can do today, and it's late. I hate how quiet it's been. It feels like something is coming, but I don't know what or when, so I can't stop it." He sighed deeply. "Take Lauren home. Try to get some rest. We'll look things over with fresh eyes tomorrow." He patted her on the shoulder and walked toward the door. "Good night, Hale. I'll see you tomorrow." Bo picked up her phone and texted Lauren to let her know she was on the way. Maybe they could grab a bite to eat on the way home. It felt so nice to think of Lauren's house as home, even if she hoped it wouldn't be too much longer. She wanted this ordeal to be over, even if she was enjoying the extra time with her best friend. She grabbed her jacket and headed down to the lab.
XXXXXXXXX
Dinner was a little quieter than usual tonight. Bo knew that Lauren was worried, but tonight she seemed a little different. Every time their eyes met, she looked back at her food. Bo couldn't tell if she wanted to talk or to be left alone. "Lauren, you have to eat. You barely touched your sesame chicken. Do you want me to make you something else?" The blonde met Bo's eyes, and the tears started to fall. "No, thank you. I'm not really hungry tonight. I think maybe I'll just have a glass of wine and go take a bath." Bo's heart skipped a beat at the mention of a bath. Lauren was going to the other room and getting naked. She could handle this, right? "That sounds like a good idea. Uhm... Holler if you need me, ok? I'll clean up dinner and do a security sweep." Bo rose from the table and picked up the plates. She smiled softly at Lauren and walked to the sink. After she heard Lauren walk out of the room, she let her shoulders fall and her eyes close. She couldn't keep watching the effect this guy was having on Lauren. How was she going to find him?
Bo was halfway back across the kitchen when Lauren came padding into the room. She had on a robe and apparently nothing else. Bo's eyes roamed up the beautiful legs that went on for days. She noticed the way the robe was tied loosely and barely covered the breasts she so longed to touch. She followed the curve of Lauren's neck up to her sculpted jaw. What she wouldn't give to kiss her way along that jawline... To those beautiful, pouty lips. Just then, Bo realized that Lauren was smirking at her. Shit! How long have I been staring at her?! Bo wanted to crawl into a hole. Lauren walked toward her slowly. "See something you like?" Oh my god! Did she seriously just say that? Lauren chuckled slightly. "Uhm... Just kidding. I forgot my glass of wine. Is everything ok?"
Bo swallowed hard. Did those words seriously just come out of her mouth? Lauren was looking at her. Say something, Bo! "Lauren, I think maybe I should go. I don't know if I can really protect you anymore. It might be better to get someone else to stay here. I'm too distracted, and if I slip up, you could be killed. I don't know if I can keep doing this." She closed her eyes as the shorter blonde woman moved directly in front of her. The smell of Lauren's lavender and vanilla bubble bath invaded Bo's senses. She felt Lauren's hand on her arm, and something inside her just snapped. "What? No! Bo, no one can protect me like you. You know me better than anyone. And you're a great detective. I need you, Bo!" Her voice broke at the thought of the brunette leaving tonight. "Please don't go. I need you here with me. What makes you think you can't protect me?"
Bo looked up to meet Lauren's soft amber eyes and took a deep breath. "Because, Lauren... I'm in love with you." She held her breath and waited for the doctor's reaction.
XXXXXXXXX
Well, there you have it! As always, please let me know what you think! :)