AN: still don't own anything.

Now to answer some questions:

yes this is going to go in the Faith/Lauren direction.

Yes there is a good chance that Bo will come back into the picture.

Yes I do want more reviews.

Yes I am grateful for all the reviews I have gotten.

So I hope you are liking where this is going. I'm going to do I think one more flash back then it's going to keep in the present.

Im too tired to really write a proper note. Thanks Cmiller, theoutlier, cheekymadom, and lgbish for your faithful reviews. I do truly appreciate them.

Thanks also to all of you who have favorited and follow this story. goodnight all.

Entering the library Faith wasn't surprised to see Lauren pouring over several books. It had been a common sight over the last couple of days. Lauren's appetite for knowledge was truly insatiable. "Find out anything interesting?" Faith asked knowing that Lauren loved sharing knowledge.

"I doubt there is anything in here you don't already know." Lauren replied with a smirk.

"I may have read over the majority of the books in here but I don't have a photographic memory. I've been around way too long to actually remember everything I've read, heard, or even written." Faith said with a smile walking towards the table and looking over at Lauren's reading selection. "I see you have taken out your family tree."

"Yes, I'm rather impressed at how detailed it actually is." Lauren said deep in thought over the questions that had been rattling through her brain over the last couple of days. "I do have a couple of questions though." She started looking at Faith.

"I knew you would and I will answer to the best of my ability." Faith said taking a seat fully aware that she wouldn't enjoy the line of questioning.

"Why me?" Lauren asked simply.

"Beatrice I would give anything not to have to answer that question." Faith released a frustrated sigh. "No matter how I answer that question I doubt you will believe or understand my reasons. I can make it sound clinical and practical or I can be overly emotional in my response but I still know you won't like it."

"I would still like to know, all the reasons." Lauren said earnestly.

"You know I have avoided delving to deeply into my life in our little talks for a variety of reasons. One of course is that I am a lot older than you. I have lived several lifetimes. I have experienced the whole spectrum of human emotion and I am still surprised when I have to experience them all over again" Faith said shaking her head in frustration. "The reasons I chose you are varied but the main one is to fulfill a promise I made a long time ago."

"What promise?" Lauren asked confused at the strange turn in their conversation.

"We are not related but there is a connection between our families that goes back centuries. You are a descendant of someone I loved very much. I promised to take care of her family and overall I have succeeded. I cannot be blamed for the random deaths or the ravages of disease or the lack of children over the centuries but I have ensured each member lived a happy and fulfilled life. I have ensured that each child was educated, loved, and protected. No harm from vampire or Fae has come to any of the line until you. You were as wild as your father in your own way. You broke away from the mold and reached for more and found yourself a slave." Faith said telling only a partial truth.

"So you promised to take care of my family. It still doesn't explain all this?" Lauren said looking around the library. "It doesn't explain finding a body and getting someone to help me fake my own death. It doesn't explain all those times you found me and helped me, all our talks. I doubt you have been this involved in every member of my family's life." Lauren said with disbelief.

Moving towards the window Faith looked out and cursed how logical Lauren actually was. "No I haven't been this involved in every members life. I've taken the time to meet each one but my help, my guidance has always been from the sidelines." Faith responded refusing to look at Lauren.

"Then what makes me different?" Lauren asked moving towards Faith.

"You look just like her." Faith said simply turning around and starring at Lauren. "I don't know if you are her, if you are a reincarnation of her soul, or just a fluke in genetics. I can't explain it but when I first saw you I knew I wanted you." Faith said honestly.

"Who? The woman you made the promise too?" Lauren asked entranced by the look of longing Faith was giving her. Faith who always controlled her emotions looked raw with love and need.

"Yes, and I know you are not her. I am not crazy yet. I met you when you were twenty years old. I had expected you to finish your residency and then move on to a specialty. Instead you changed your name and went off to Iraq and then Afghanistan. When you returned you changed you name again and moved on to the Congo on that stupid grant, then you disappeared. It took years to find traces of you in the Congo. The Fae are rather reluctant to speak about their involvement with humans. I got bogged down for years in politics trying to find you, trying to negotiate for bits of information as to where you were. Then I found you. It was serendipitous really. The Fae had given me nothing and I came back to the states angry and dispirited. Then a political issue cropped up in my territory." Faith said looking back to the window, avoiding Lauren's gaze. "A female Fae had sought sanctuary in my territory and was attacked by her clan. I couldn't get her off of death row because it would breach too many human laws and trying to cover it up wasn't worth it. Instead I made a couple of calls and had a friend fake her death. While I was visiting the Morrigan to warn her if she ever sent her people into my territory again it would be a declaration of war, I heard of you. I spent the next year weaseling information out of both sides to be sure it was you."

"Why didn't you just go to the Light compound and see for yourself?" Lauren asked unsure of the politics between vampire and Fae. She had always assumed they were one and the same.

"I could have and it would have been within my rights considering you are Dhampir. However, I don't enjoy poking the Fae unnecessarily. The peace we have with them is secure and I enjoy it since it is one less thing for me to worry about. I have a clan of more than twenty thousand, not including human children, spouses, and Dhampir's to worry about. I am more than happy not to have to deal with the Fae as well." Faith said giving Lauren a slight smirk. "I also have human politics which I deal with on a regular basis. As long as the Fae keep themselves under the radar and don't expose us then they are allowed to govern themselves as they wish. "

"Alright" Lauren said interrupting Faith's explanation. "When you found out about me and you knew who I was why didn't you just get me?"

"I wanted you to come with us willingly." Faith paused weighing how much to tell Lauren. "If things had worked out differently. If you had wanted to stay with the Fae I would have let you. I would have also ensured your freedom. You are Dhampir and I would have claimed your heritage to the Ash. You would have been forced to make a choice though; you could either have come with us or you could have chosen a side among the Fae."

"But I am not Fae why would I have to chose a side?"

"Because you would be free. The Fae could not have a free human walking and working among them. You would have had to declare a side and you would be treated as Fae." Faith paused. "Some members of our clan have chosen to live among the Fae. You could say they are the bad seeds of the family. They wish to live a life without all of our restrictions so they take on the restrictions of the Dark Fae." Faith said knowing Lauren understood that the Dark Fae had very few restrictions.

Moving away from Faith, Lauren shook her head a little before returning to her seat. Looking at Faith she wished she hadn't asked her question since it left her with only more questions. "So you picked me because I am a descendent of someone you clearly loved. I look like her so you are infatuated with me. However, you claim that even if I hadn't decided to go with you, that you would have freed me and given me a choice of how to live my life." Lauren stated though the last part came out with just enough of a lilt to sound like a question.

"If you had wanted, if you still want you can return to the Fae." Faith said before turning around and looking Lauren in eyes. "I may have desired you because of who you look like but I fell in love with you for who you are."

Looking down Lauren felt herself flush. Pushing herself up from the chair she looked briefly at Faith before walking out of the library. Her emotions were in a whirlwind from Faith's declaration and from everything that had come before it.

Walking down the halls of the mansion towards the lab she wondered what had made her decide to go with Faith? She wasn't sure. She had made so many of her decisions without thinking too deeply about it. She never questioned what Faith really wanted. She never asked about Faith's life, or about what Faith actually was. She entered a new life with new expectations without thought or real consideration. She accepted Faith's offer of marriage and children in exchange for protection from the Fae and now she wondered why. She tried to blame her hormones. She tried to blame her desperation for freedom. She tried to blame anything except for the fact that she felt more for Faith than she wanted to. She started this new life with Faith because Faith had changed her life. Faith had been there for her emotionally when no one else was.

Lauren felt drained. The last week had been tumultuous at best and despondent at its worst. Secrets had been revealed and relationships had ended and futures had been decided all within a week. She never expected so much could happen in a week. She never expected that everything she would learn in that one week would change the whole outlook of her life.

"Again with the deep thoughts." Faith said taking a seat next to Lauren inside the small gazebo.

"It seems to be the only thing I do huh?" She asked her eyes unwilling or unable to look away from the roses.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Faith asked unsure of the pensive mood Lauren was in.

"I'm not sure where to begin...so much has happened I feel a little lost." Lauren said her voice sounding far away.

"Clearly something has happened." Faith said hoping it was enough to prompt Lauren into explaining her current mood.

"A lot has happened. I broke up with Bo and I'm pregnant." Lauren said simply. She was internally impressed that the whole week could in fact be compressed into a simple sentence.

Starring at Lauren, Faith wondered how to respond. She wasn't sure how to consol considering she was unsure as to how Lauren felt about either topic. "Are congratulations or condolences in order?"

"Honestly I'm not sure yet. It all happened so fast."

"Do you want to talk about it?"Faith asked getting into a comfortable position in preparation for a long conversation.

"No, I want to go for a walk." Lauren said getting up and moving away from Faith.

Obligingly Faith stood and began to follow. Knowing Lauren as well as she did, Faith let silence fill the space between them. She wasn't sure how Lauren was feeling about the pregnancy and she didn't know how much to reveal about the topic. What she did know was that Lauren would talk about whatever was bothering her when she was ready and not a moment before. Sliding her shades further up her nose to block out the sun Faith silently glided along the path next to Lauren. She let her eyes wander over the flowers in the garden and thought of her own homes and her own gardens. She picked out the flowers she recognized and tried to recall which had medicinal properties and which were used as ingredients in perfumes.

It surprised her at times how much the world had changed and how much was still the same. Lost in the past and in her own mind Faith almost missed Lauren's intake of breath. "Did you learn anything about Taft?" Lauren asked her in a soft wounded voice.

Looking over at beautiful woman at her side Faith released a breath and inhaled before speaking. "I did and I think you are right to be suspicious. He is a genius of the first order but something of a sociopath I think. He was institutionalized as a kid under the suspicion of murdering his brother. I took the liberty of looking into the case and the autopsy photos and I am pretty sure it was a Fae. Once released from the institution Isaac made his fortune rather quickly and soon invested a good portion of it into pharmaceutical companies. He did it at the right time too considering humanity's sudden desire to live as long as possible. Every person over the age of fifty is on at least two prescriptions now a days. The older they get the more prescriptions they're on. His resources are nearly as expansive as mine. If he is looking into you it has to be for a reason. The man has never acquired anything he didn't know how to use and exploit. Whatever secrets you have in your past he will find them and he will use them to get to you." Faith said looking at Lauren for some type of reaction. Seeing only a slight frown Faith began to worry.

"I suppose I expected something along those lines." Lauren said coming to a stop in the middle of a small bridge. Mildly she wondered why Botanical gardens seemed to find it necessary to put in a bridge. Leaning over the railing she considered what she had learned and what had happened over the last week.

Knowing that there was no point in trying to pull information out of Lauren, Faith just leaned against the railing and waited. Looking over the railing at the muddy waters below she admired the large fish swimming languidly. Their size alone said they were well fed by the tourists and the local visitors. Their flashing colors of orange, white, red, and yellow created an alluring image within to get lost.

"I told Bo we need to take a break but I think, no I'm sure, that we are actually over. I've come to some startling revelations over the last week. The main one is that I can't trust Bo anymore. I love her deeply to the point where it almost hurts but I can't trust her. She keeps putting herself into dangerous situations; situations that will require her to heal through sex. I can't spend the rest of my life watching her take one person after another into her bed. I can't stand on the sidelines and pretend it isn't happening. I especially can't involve a child in that kind of relationship." Lauren paused shifting her attention from the horizon to Faith. "I can't think of a way to explain to my child that it is acceptable that my significant other takes stranger to her bed. At this moment I can't even explain to myself how I conceived this child. I don't know how it happened. I don't even know who the father is and I am a little flabbergasted on how it all happened." She paused again to catch her breath and think of how to broach her next topic. "I need a way out Faith. I need to be free of the Fae. I won't raise my child among them. I won't let my child grow up thinking it is less because it is human." She looked imploringly at Faith hoping for some kind of salvation.

Looking away from Lauren, Faith released a pent up sigh. She didn't want things to come about this way. She wanted Lauren to turn to her willingly, not because she was desperate. Yet she was unwilling to let the opportunity to have Lauren pass her by. Turning her attention back to Lauren she tried to work out in her mind how to phrase her proposal. "How free do you want to be Lauren?" She asked softly, knowingly.

"My name isn't Lauren Lewis." Lauren admitted, seeing no shocked reaction from Faith she continued. "I'm guessing you already knew that. Should I suppose that you did a background check on me while you were looking for Isaac?" She asked feeling a touch of annoyance flare deep in her belly.

"No, I've known who you were for a long time already and I didn't have to do any research to find out." Faith said keeping her voice and face emotionless. "What would you give to be free of the Fae?" Faith asked hating the direction the conversation was going in.

"I don't have much to give. I've already given my freedom to the Fae. What do I have left?" Lauren asked disliking the question.

"Would you give your life?" Faith asked softly.

Taking a step away from Faith, Lauren wished there were a couple of people walking through the gardens. Instead there was no one around and it didn't look like anyone was coming around a bend any time soon.

"Stop." Faith said softly. "I have no intention of killing you. You are not Lauren Lewis so the only way to be free of the Fae is to kill Lauren Lewis. You can return to your original identity. The only problem becomes how to go about killing Lauren." Faith said keeping her body relaxed and nonaggressive.

Looking at Faith, Lauren considered the idea. A part of her hated leaving the identity she had taken on. Killing Lauren Lewis meant leaving behind everything in a very final way. There would be no returning to Bo. There would be no Fae and no research. The main deterrent in the idea was losing Bo. If she killed Lauren Lewis it would mean never seeing Bo again. It would also mean hurting Bo with her death. It would mean forcing everyone she cared about and everyone who cared about her to feel the grief and pain of losing her.

However, the idea of being free of the Fae for the rest of her life was appealing. She had no desire to live out her existence as a slave, nor did she intend that lifestyle for her child. Thinking over her options she realized that she would rather cause temporary grief to her few 'friends' then give her unborn child a life of servitude. "What would I have to give you in exchange for this? For my life back?" She asked knowing everything had a price.

"What I want you would have to give willingly. I will give you your freedom Lauren. I will give you your life back if you ask it of me." Faith said hesitating over the topic.

"What would you want?" Lauren asked feeling a twinge of anxiety.

"I would want you as my wife." Faith said simply hoping she was able to keep her composure calm and collected.

"What?" Lauren asked feeling as if someone had just given her proof that the world was flat and that god existed.

"I will offer you my protection if you become a member of my family. As my wife you will have all the protection of my name and of my title. You will want for nothing, no shall your child. As my wife you will never have to worry about the Fae and what they might do to you. You will be free in all ways." Faith said smoothly.

"You want me to marry you?" Lauren asked baffled by the request. "Why would you want to marry me? I'm in love with Bo. I'm having a child who is not yours. I'm a slave to the Fae." Lauren said her voice raising with each question.

"I've come to care for you very deeply Lauren and I would offer you your freedom regardless of your agreement to marry me. I would like you to consider it though. I can give you a good life." Faith paused hoping Lauren would really consider her proposal of marriage regardless of how unromantic it had been. "If you want to be free of the Fae I can arrange it."

"How?" Lauren asked deciding to put the impromptu proposal in the back of her mind to be dealt with later and focus on the objective. "How would you free me?"

"As I said I would have Lauren Lewis killed. It is the easiest way to get you off the Fae's radar. The how would be through Taft. If he is looking at you there is a reason and I think we can use that reason to our advantage." Faith said accepting Lauren's unspoken desire not to address the proposal.

"Okay." Lauren said simply moving off the bridge and continuing doing the path. She had a lot of questions but they could all wait until after she was free. When she was free of the Fae she would ask Faith about the real reasons behind her marriage proposal. She would ask how and why all of this had really come about.