A quick update for today, but I probably won't get back to this until the weekend when I'll be back traveling. I hope you enjoy where this is heading, it's clear in my head but you never know when others are reading it so feel free to let me know. Thanks for the feedback and warm support. You guys are really awesome.
Lauren had not realized that Bo was in the Dal. She had not hesitated at all in kissing the Valkyrie when she arrived at the bar or in allowing herself to be kissed back. Her mind for the entire day had been on Tamsin and so it had been a relief to be finally stood in front of her again. When the women had parted from their kiss Lauren followed the Valkyrie's eyes to the pool table and immediately felt her stomach drop. She had not wanted this to become a scene and in truth probably would have preferred the nature of her relationship with Tamsin to be a little clearer before putting it on show but she found the tall blonde and the intensity of whatever was going on between them incredibly difficult to resist.
All eyes were now on the Succubus. With the blue blazing from her face it was impossible not to be drawn to what was about to unfold. As she stood up from the table where she was seated and moved towards the bar a hush fell over the crowded room. Dyson and Kenzi had both missed the kiss between Tamsin and Lauren and were startled by Bo's sudden shift. Dyson reached out to grab the Succubus by the arm but his grip was quickly disposed of as she continued towards her former lover.
Lauren felt the Valkyrie move to the front of her, gently pushing the human behind her. Although concerned by the clear reaction in Bo's eyes Lauren was not afraid for herself, she knew instinctively that Bo, dark or otherwise, would never hurt her. She was less sure of Tamsin's welfare in this scenario. With that thought playing on her mind she stepped out from behind the Valkyrie. When Bo arrived at the bar she looked at both woman briefly before setting her eyes on the Doctor.
"Lauren? Do you need me to deal with Tamsin for you?"
The human looked at the Succubus slowly shaking her head. "Deal with her? No Bo, it's fine, there's no problem here."
"That's funny because from where I was sitting it looked like Tamsin just tried to kiss you"
The Valkyrie couldn't resist the opportunity, "tried? I think your Succueyes might need to be checked, I did kiss her"
Lauren watched as Bo's eyes narrowed in on her, a look of disgust across her face. When the Succubus turned towards the Valkyrie the Doctor felt compelled to step between the two woman.
Not removing her eyes from the Valkyrie the Succubus could only bark, "You need to move Lauren". The Valkyrie held firm, ready to defend herself.
"Bo, stop please", the Doctor reached out her hand and took hold of the brunette's arm. As the Succubus looked to Lauren the Doctor could see, even through the blaze of blue that Bo was hurting. Pleading now, wanting to avoid the situation escalating any further Lauren moved her hand into Bo's and held it tightly, "please stop this, let's go somewhere to talk".
With anger dripping from every syllable the Succubus could not maintain her composure, "I saw what they did to you physically in that place Lauren, I've wanted to help and be there for you but you wouldn't let me. I can see now that whatever happened broke something in you because there is no other possible explanation for why you would let her anywhere near you"
Tamsin feigned offence "What? You don't think I'm a dish Bo?".
Neither the Valkyrie or the Succubus had noticed the human between them shaking with a rage. Bo was the first to see it. When she returned herself to the Doctor's attention she felt Lauren push her chest with two flat palms. Startled, not by the power of it but by the act itself, the Succubus stumbled backwards.
With snarling lips the human released a tirade of words on the Succubus that was meant for the whole world. The whole Fae world. "Don't you dare try to tell me what happened to me over those weeks and months. You saw nothing of what they did to me, what they tried to do to me. I'm not broken Bo, I've had years of the Fae trying to break me, Light and Dark and guess what, I'm still here, none of you can break me."
The room went quiet, hushed by the emotion in the voice of this human. Many of those in the room knew who the Doctor was. They had been healed by her and cared for by her. They knew that she had spent years in involuntary servitude to the Ash. A human and a slave and yet there had been whispers about how she had sustained the brutality of the Dark's punishment. The Fae world is filled with mythologies but so rarely does the human play the part of the hero.
The Succubus held her gaze on the human and as she did Lauren watched as her eyes turn back to their chocolate brown. She could see that Bo was defeated by her words. Not saying anything further Bo simply shook her head and walked away, past a pleading Kenzi and concerned Dyson, away from them all and out of the Dal.
Lauren woke in darkness, still struggling to sleep through the night when the Valkyrie was not with her. She was still learning to fight the anxiety that came in the evenings when she was alone. Checking her alarm clock she saw it was 4:30am. Shower, coffee, lab. It was more often than not the first thought rousing her from her bed in the morning. All three things made her happy. Dragging herself from the bed she began the process of putting each of those things into action.
Showered and caffeinated, the Doctor felt better ready for the day. Arriving at her lab she could see the subtle and warm lines of light rising from the horizon. The first sight of daylight often brought with it relief. In the quiet of those early hours Lauren went back to Bo's samples the most recent of which was nearly a week old. This sample had been the most interesting yet, with the toxin more clearly evident in the Succubus's blood. The toxin was beginning to stage a resistance to Bo's natural healing processes. It was now more aggressive in it's attack of her blood cells.
Not all was lost however. It had been over six weeks since Lauren had begun working on the antivenin and she too was making headway. The Doctor had devised a synthetic toxin similar to the Drakkon venom infiltrating Bo's system. It did not have the resistance levels of the real venom but it was close. Using it, Lauren was able to develop a serum that when injected into the Succubus acted in much the same way as sexual healing did and when the two were combined Bo's toxin levels could be reduce to their lowest levels since the bite occurred.
Lauren would have liked to have had Bo come to see her more regularly in order to assess the efficacy of the treatment but in the three weeks since the confrontation at the Dal the Succubus had only come to the lab once. In that instance their interaction was brief and without warmth. Neither knew how to have the next conversation, how to take the next step in their relationship. In order to avoid further contact Bo had since sent Dyson to pick up the injections. While Lauren had given Dyson a heavy supply of the serum she was concerned that she had not seen a blood sample from the Succubus in nearly a week.
Picking up her phone, Lauren typed a message to Dyson to call her when he had a chance. She needed to stress to him the importance of another sample. When she did she noticed a message waiting for her from Tamsin.
Morning Doc. You're already in the lab aren't you. No reason to stay in bed without me there? Let's fix that tonight. I've got no food, so you better be cooking.
The message brought a smile to Doctor's face. Everything with Tamsin was sweet with a sour edge. Lauren was enjoying watching the Valkyrie struggle with how to play this emerging relationship. While Tamsin's attempts at intimacy were often clouded with subterfuge, Lauren knew she couldn't play the same game. In order to allow the Valkyrie the confidence to move forward she needed to be honest. She'd been honest with her about everything since their time captured together, for her that was the source of her feelings. The first genuinely honest thing in her life in such a long time. Whether it was text message or a conversation the Doctor attempted to keep play it straight and true with Valkyrie.
Morning you. Yes, in the lab. I missed you last night. 7pm tonight, don't be late, I need to see you. x
Tamsin sat at her desk looking over the file of a young woman who had been reported missing by her parents three months earlier. The girl could not have been older than 20 with warm brown eyes and soft flowing auburn hair. She was an Albtraum, a sleep elf, of a clan almost always aligned with the Light. This girl however had chosen the Dark, the Morrigan had seen something in her and groomed her from a young age. Before her parents could intervene she had made her choice, leaving her expelled from their lives.
The family had however secretly kept in touch, even the girl despite her allegiances, had struggled to severe the ties completely. She loved her parents, but had been wooed by the power of the Dark and the promises of the Morrigan. When the family had not heard from her in a month they reported her missing and appealed for support from the Ash. While sympathetic, a missing girl, aligned with the Dark, was simply not a priority. At the time of the report Tamsin was being held on a sentence of death, then Lauren was found and Bo bitten, there was too much else that needed attention.
Now with Tamsin back and she and Dyson working together again the Ash handed over the missing girl's file. The crossover of the case between the Light and the Dark meant that they could use it's cover to continue the search for the Drakkon too.
"Tamsin, I've got the pictures from the gas station that the girl's car was last seen at, look at these...", Dyson handed over a folder with a shocked look on his face.
As Tamsin flicked through the pictures she noticed someone familiar in the grainy images in front of her. For a moment she thought she must be seeing things but as she sorted her way through the pictures she was convinced, it was Lauren.
"Is that the Doc?" she looked up to Dyson and a shake of his head confirmed.
"These pictures are from around the time she went missing, this girl must have handed her over to the Morrigan, what's Lauren told you about how she was captured?"
Tamsin knew that Lauren had shared precious little of her experience with her friends, a part of her did not want to betray any part of her trust even if it was important in helping them to track down this girl.
"All she said was that she hitched a ride and next thing she knew she'd woken up tied to a chair, if the Doc had fallen asleep in the presence of an Albtraum then she could have been knocked out cold, they can send people to sleep for however long they want"
Dyson was trying to piece together the events in his head. When Lauren had first gone missing and Bo on a rampage to find her the Morrigan had denied knowing of her whereabouts or caring for it. Everyone had agreed at the time that Evony would not risk the ire of the Light over the human Doctor. Lauren was to face treason charges with the Light elders and the Morrigan had no interest at that time in interfering.
"This girl must be working for the Drakkon, she must have delivered Lauren to the Morrigan for them, it was the Drakkon protector that was seeking revenge for the testing that Taft had done, if we can find this girl we find the Drakkon"
Looking back down at the file and the picture of Lauren getting into the girl's car Tamsin's eyes burned "Lynn Munch, I'm coming to get you".
Tamsin offered Dyson a lift to the Crack Shack where he was heading to see Bo. There was little else they could do that evening to find Lynn and after two heavy days of work both were keen to have an evening away from the precinct.
"So how's the Succubitch, the Doc tells me her toxin levels last week were off the chart?"
Dyson looked pensively out the window of the truck before letting out a sigh "yeah, but the injections seem to work for the most part but to be honest Bo hasn't wanted to see me at all this past week, tonight is the first night she's agreed to have me come around"
"I don't think I've ever seen a man on his way to a booty call look so goddam sad, what's wrong, performance anxiety?"
Dyson gave a weak smile and shook his head, "She's just been distracted since..." Dyson turned to face the Valkyrie who briefly took her eyes from the road "...since what wolfman? Since the Dal?", Dyson nodded and speaking with a voice filled with regret he muttered "yeah, the Dal".
Looking quickly to move the conversation along Dyson gave the Valkyrie a cheeky look, "So you and the good Doctor, what's going on when you two aren't attempting to start bar fights?"
"None of your business wolfbreath"
"oh come on Tamsin, I'm not blind, if I didn't know any better I'd almost say you were in…"
"don't even think it D-man or you'll find yourself with another heavy hit to the head"
Tamsin was relieved to end the conversation when the two arrived at the Crack Shack, pulling the truck up she waited for Dyson to make his exit but he sat in the passenger seat and waited for the Valkyrie to look at him.
"Tamsin, you know how to be happy right? I mean you know how to be happy with someone else?"
She could see the earnestness of her friend's eyes and felt she owed him a similar response, "No, but I'm going try".
It was a moment of honesty that surprised them both. It made the wolf smile, "that's where you start Slamsin, that's all you can do".
Tamsin returned the wolf's smile and then caught herself doing so, "urrrrgg, ok that's enough wolf breath, get out of the truck this is all getting a little to seventh heaven"
Getting out the truck the two said their goodbyes. Before Tamsin could turn the truck around and before Dyson could make it to Bo's front door both of them saw a chair smash through one of the few functioning windows left at the front of the house.
Tamsin stopped the truck and watched Dyson run for the front door. She quickly jumped out and followed behind him. As the two detectives entered the house Dyson called out to Bo first and then Kenzi. As they made it to the kitchen they saw the small goth hunched over, tied to a chair. Dyson ran to her immediately not hearing Tamsin's call for him to slowly enter. Before the wolf made it to the young woman Bo was upon him, striking him down with blow to face that immediately rendered him unconscious.
Shocked Tamsin sprung into action charging at the Succubus who stood over her partner. The two woman grabbed at each other but Tamsin could feel immediately that Bo's strength was greater than hers, infused with the power of the Succubus but something else too. With the easiest of actions Bo had the Valkyrie forced up against the wall, forearm under her throat. Tamsin struggled for breath desperately attempting to kick at the Succubus and to free herself of the woman's laconic grasp. But the Succubus just watched her struggle and laughed.
As the blackness washed across the Valkyrie she noticed in her last moments of consciousness Bo's eyes. They were not blue, they were not brown but they were yellow like a snake. The Succubus was gone. Dyson and Tamsin had now found their Drakkon.