A/N: I've written Lauren crying more times than Copdoc love scenes, something's wrong T_T. As usual, the flashbacks are in italic. Thank you for the always awesome and extremely helpful reviews, keep 'em comin', loves.
The trouble twos were leaning against the railing of the small, New York-esque balcony which had a decent outlook over the city, yet a much better one of the dirty alleys behind the building of his apartment. Dyson had gotten a small, round, Venetian style table to decorate the otherwise bland area. It was almost like they were in Italy, except not. Though the air was clean, it would have been quiet, if not for the occasional cat mewls and almost constant sirens.
"I never figured the all mighty Odin for the sentimental type."
"He's not. He's logical, and it's the perfect chance to get rid of Itchy and Scratchy."
"What's in it for you?"
"Other than getting my youth and strength back? Getting to see your face when I save the world," Taking an exaggerate breath through her nostrils, she wore a tight smile as she finished: "Priceless."
Chuckling softly, head cast down as he watched the dark amber liquid swirl in his glass. "I know you Valkyrie," After an almost endless, death-grip hug, that was definitely one-sided, Tamsin explained the impending war situation, though not fully (or so the Detective though). "There's something you're not telling me." He remarked, his blue eyes scrutinizing Tamsin's facial expression. Dyson already knew a sarcastic remark was about to fly out of her mouth.
"You're right. That," Tamsin took a pause as she pointed her finger at the Wolf. "Chest hair you have…is a turn off." She said with a nod and a smile.
"As is your sarcasm, dear friend." Lifting his glass towards his partner, Dyson's elbow brushed against Tamsins'.
"Skal."
"Skal." Though the Wolf had been born far from Iceland, he honored the return of his comrade with her native toast. Their glasses clinked and reflected the quickly fading rays of the setting sun; a bright orange hue bouncing off of their skin as if they were glowing.
"Will you stop staring at me like that?"
Lips wrapped around the glass' edge, head dipped down, both of his eyebrows rose up. His gazed was fixated on bright, green eyes. "Like what?"
"You know what; like you're a prying, curly-haired-" Clenching her jaw, the Icelandic blonde got quickly enthralled in by the adorable expression on his face – of course choosing to blame the slight buzz that had settled in- and pouted slightly as she said: "Cute douche."
Knowing exactly what he was doing, the cheeky Wolf held his drink farther away from him as he rested his chin down onto the Valkyrie's arm. Cocking his head sideways, he flashed her a toothy grin and asked innocently: "Am I?"
Rolling her eyes, Tamsin shrugged him off and abruptly admitted to her secret, not-gonna-be-so-secret-in-a-few-seconds. "FINE! I made a deal with The Great Odini." Though the God's 'magic' was never just a simple trick that could be thought to any knucklehead whom wanted to impress their dates.
Lifting his head up, Dyson slid across the railing to lean his shoulder against hers. His voice took a high pitched tone as he spoke the next few words, the same grin lighting up his face: "Juicy! What kind of deal?"
"For the love of saint peter's fuck! If you don't stop acting like a fourteen year old with breasts way too large for her IQ, I will-"
"Tell me your dirty secret?" The Wolf cut in.
Completely deflating her shoulders Tamsin's head slumped forward on her forearms. "I kinda sorta might have…" Lifting her head up suddenly, she avoided the Wolf's gaze at all costs as she cleared her throat and spoke the next sentence faster than an auctioneer: "ConvincedOdintograntLaurenimmortality. Maybe."
In another time perhaps, the Detective would have found this request foolish and deemed humans not worthy of such a gift. Though he knew Lauren's brilliance and vitality should be everlasting. Throwing his arm around Tamsin he pulled her in for a side hug. "You. Are so. In love!" The Wolf gushed as he continued his surprisingly accurate depiction of a fourteen year old teenager.
Flaring her nostrils, she leaned back and punched his shoulder with such force that it made the unsuspecting bruise victim cringe. "Yeah, well, suck my dick, bub." Though there was harsh venom dripping from her tongue, Tamsin leaned into the warm and taut body and wrapped both of her arms around his midsection.
"You're an ass." She said through a long exhale as she settled her head right under the slightly taller man's bearded chin.
"I love you too, T-sin."
The woman frowned at the odd sense of familiarity that struck her at the use of the nickname, like waking up in the morning and finding a misplaced scratch or mark on your skin, not knowing where it came from. Alien abduction, it must be.
Even though the pair was comfortably happy, both of them couldn't help but let dark thoughts cloud their mind. Dyson couldn't stop seeing his partner, his best friend, lying in a casket, cold as ice. The image haunted him, haunted him for months. So much that he actually consulted the psychologist all members of the police force were provided with.
Tamsin for her part, let guilt douse her until she was drenched. It was her fault that they felt pain, it was her fault that they mourned. How could she even begin to heal those wounds, if such gashes could even be stitched back together like nothing ever happened? Perhaps coming to the realization that her death was inevitable and that however tragic it is, it's the harsh reality of life.
As the casket was laid below ground in the freshly dug grave, Lauren turned around and crossed the field of evenly cut grass. No words were spoken, she hadn't even made eye contact with anyone. Why bother? There was emptiness in her eyes, the glint that shone or the love of living and loving had all but ceased glowing. The now void whiskey orbs reflected the state of her soul; empty and cold.
Head dipped down slightly, her dark blonde hair blew in the wind in front of her wet and reddened eyes. Her shaking hands were hidden in the pocket of her long, black coat. Her eyes had never left sight of the slowly descending wooden casket; burying the hopes of a bright future.
Dreams of a white picket fence surrounding a suburban house and happy blonde by her side vanished into the wind like they had never been there, never existed. Somewhere down the road, someone else would hopefully pick them up and find solace in her sorrow.
The Sunshine Gang had all been huddled around, attempting to comfort each other, yet when Bo reached out for Lauren she had immediately shrugged her off like she was avoiding the plague. Her eyes never met the Succubus', though she could clearly picture the look of hurt on Bo's face: eyebrows drawn together, pout on her lips and questions in her eyes as she slowly withdrew her hand away.
The seductress wore an apprehensive expression, though sadness was painted upon her face as she took back her rightful place next to Kenzi, whom was – for the first time in her life- not caring that her mascara left dark trails on her cheeks as she clutched tightly to the bottle of century old whiskey the Valkyrie had left for her.
The Blood King stood in front of the casket, reciting a departing prayer in Icelandic:
Sofðu ungakappi
getursál þínlosasigafmóðuraðgerðirallraveraldlegtilfinningar
geturþúfundiðhugguní öðrulífi
hvílaá vellíðanvitandiað viðvoru vistuðafhetjuleguraðgerðiroggöfugteðli
Sofðu ungakappi *
Hale, now seen as royalty by most, was simply a best friend in this moment; a comforting hand had been laid on the grieving wolf's shoulder as both of their heads remained dipped down low, eyes closed as they remembered the good, and the bad (which was also part of the good) about the valiant warrior.
For a moment, the Detective snuck out of his pain and self-pity as he looked over at the Doctor and studied her face. Dyson watched as the woman subtlety wiped the tears that had escaped with the side of her thumb before she turned and walked away, lost in the same robotic trance she couldn't seem to pull herself out of.
Nodding at Hale, whom returned the gesture, the Wolf jogged to catch up with the woman and reached out to grab her wrist. "Lauren…"
With a bitter laugh, the blonde turned around and gave the blue-eyed blonde a tight smile. "You're going to tell me that you understand my pain ad that you can help me through it; that we can help each other. Am I right, Dyson?"
Sighing, he repeated words Lauren had spoken to him just a year ago. Words which, even if he would never admit, made him see that not all pain should be shoved back deep down and forgotten like it had never happened. It only causes conflicts with yourself and should be resolved instead of ignored. "It takes strength to express your pain."
"I'm not that strong."
"Yes you are,"
Looking down at her boots, a small smile tugged her lips upwards. "Sounds like something she would say."
Laughing softly, his soft gaze caught Lauren's adamant, chocolate orbs. "She would have been right." After a few moment of silence where both parties recalled two different instances in which Tamsin had said those words, Dyson threw out a simple offer: "Coffee?"
"Sure." Taking the invitation to hook her arm through Dyson's, the pair walked away knowing neither of them could ever fully reconcile the hole Tamsin left as she passed way; never will find someone to fill it.
They'll find it even harder to accept that she's truly gone, but when they finally do, it won't mean they've forgotten about her or all that she's done for them. In the meantime, however, the two blondes could lean on each other and not have to walk the rugged road alone.
A limousine with dark tinted windows had been parked on the other side of the road, overlooking the funeral. Inside, the well-known Dark leader cringed in disgust and rolled her eyes at the pathetic display before her. The Morrigan had her sight, and smirk, set on Dr. Lewis. She had learned, not too long ago, that her Valkryie had not only been helping Bo, but had been involved with the Light Fae Doctor.
"It is rather unfortunate that Tamsin won't be alive to see her lover suffer." Her smirk widened as a dark wickedness settled in her eyes. Turning to her chauffer, her expression now neutral, she commanded firmly: "Take me home. Their weakness to human emotions is giving me split ends."
"So what do you think this 'urgent' meeting is all about?" Two pairs of boots: the knee highs exuding stripper-chic and the other coming off as punk-rock goddess clacked in perfect harmony as the two best friends crossed the alleyway behind the Dal Riata.
"I don't know Kenz, let's walk in and find out." The slight edge to her tone wasn't sarcasm as much as nervousness. "With our luck, I'm sure it falls within the 'end of the world' category."
This perked the young Goth woman like a kid in a candy store; not the usual reaction you'd expect from such news, though Kenzi wasn't your usual young woman. Eyes lighting up like there was a large blow-out sale at Trivium, her excitement dripped from her voice as she used exaggerated hand motions, "Oh! What if robot zombie hookers are taking over the world? We'll take them out like Sarah Connor in T-2."
Holding her hands up at chest height, as if she was holding a shotgun, Kenzi closed one eye and pretended to blast away zombie hookers – even going as far as mimicking the sounds of the firearm with her mouth as she did so.
"Right, come on Rambo." Chuckling, the Succubus grabbed her forearm as she pulled a pouting Kenzi into the Fae bar with her. Both women froze like their feet had been encased in cement as they saw the figure of the Icelandic blonde sitting at the bar between the Detective and the Doctor; Hale was leaning against the bar next to Dyson as Trick occupied is usual spot behind it.
"Woah…" Mouth slightly agape, Kenzi started a familiar quote: "Who you gonna-"
"Why does everybody-" Tamsin sharply cut in. Closing both her eyes and her mouth in mid sentence; nostrils flared slightly as she took a deep breath. The reference was funny the first time, smile-worthy the second, but the third time was just irritating. Lifting a hand up, fingers wiggling, Tamsin brought it back down on Lauren's backside, causing the unexpected woman to yelp out in surprise. "Not a ghost."
Clearing her throat as a blush colored her cheeks with a soft pink; Lauren echoed her girlfriend's words with a slight laugh. "Not a ghost."
In a blur, a flying ball of purple corset and black leather skirt combination landed into a wide-eyed Tamsin's arms. Their bodies smacked together, hard enough to cause the Valkyrie to be backed up into the edge of the bar. Kenzi spewed out how much she had missed Tamsin, and something about Bo being bad drinking buddy and choosing to succuride incoming studs instead of succu-getting-drunk-with-her-best-friend.
As the taller woman was about to reciprocate the action, the human pushed herself back and folded her arms over her chest; attempting to look calm and nonchalant. If this truly was Tamsin, then she would know the exact answer, word for word, of this next question: "You wouldn't kill me in cold blood would ya?"
That's my girl. "No, I'll let your warm up a little." A completed quote to their favorite gangster movie.
With her best poker face, Kenzi nodded at the Valkyrie as they shared their usual handshake. "Had to make sure."
"Not gonna blame ya, half-pint." With a wink, Tamsin ruffled the disgruntled woman's hair and received a light punch on the shoulder in return. She rubbed her hand over the material of her white, semi-transparent long sleeved shirt – which she usually wore with her pink jacket – today, though, she wore it with simple dark jeans and had rolled the sleeves up to her elbow.
Bo took a step forward, a soft smile on her lips and just as she opened her mouth to speak, Trick cut the welcome home party rather short: "We are all happy to have her back, but there are more pressing matters we must discuss." Behind his bar, the Blood King gave Dyson the go-ahead with a hand motion.
"Crime shot up by eighty percent this week alone, the station is swamped with calls."
Nodding, Trick deepened: "The epidemic is getting worse; war is just on the verge of breaking out."
Shaking her head, Bo's brow furrowed as she questioned her grandfather: "Wait a minute, Trick, a war?"
The barkeep saw the ball coming his way, and redirected it at the newly revived member of the Happy Sunshine Gang, "Tamsin,"
"Right, long story short: Loki and Hades got bored of playing with themselves and now they're trying to destroy the world."
Crossing her arms over her ample chest, a slight pout to her lips, the Succubus grumbled. "I knew this was an end of the world meeting."
"Yup, she called it." The Russian thief retorted, as she hopped on the counter, ignored the glare she received from Trick and snatched a bottle of Vodka from behind the counter.
"What does this have to do with street crime?" The still confused brunette wondered.
Kenzi held the bottle in the air. "Anyone wanna-" She chose not to finish her sentence at the series of glares she received.
Tamsin had begun lifting her hand, but Lauren had caught it midway, and brought it back down. From the corner of her eye, the Valkyrie shot an apologetic look at the blue-eyed Russian. She moved her mouth to the left and let her awkward stare fall onto the human Doctor, whom was explaining their situation to her former lover.
"Hades can't cross over to our earthly plane unless there is enough chaos to spark a war. It starts with simple crime, and then escalades to murder, looting, riots, and soon, the whole world will be at war."
"And that's why you're back?" Bo asked, her brown eyes peering into bright, emerald ones.
Tamsin simply nodded her head in response.
Trick directed his attention to the Ash, leaning forward on his forearms. "Hale, I presume you spoke with The Morrigan?"
"She refused the arrangements and said I was out of my mind." The leader spoke like could not understand how Evony had managed to muster up the nerve to completely negate his authority and credibility over such important threats.
Chuckling, Tamsin leaned backed onto the bar. "Oh yeah, did her eyebrows tell you that?"
Motioning to his face with his index, Hale frowned and continued: "They do seem to take control of her whole face, don't they?"
"And soon they shall rule the world!" Kenzi chimed in, causing laughter to erupt from every party in the room except from the owner of the Fae bar.
"Can we please focus on the matter at hand?" Trick cut into the pleasantries, his patience wearing down to nothing.
"How exactly are we going to take down two Gods?" The Succubus pointed out.
Scoffing, Tamsin pointed to herself. "Hello."
Kenzi leaned forward, fingers wrapped around her third shot. "You're going to hulk smash an entire army?"
"You can say that. If you've ever seen a newly reborn Valkyrie, well, let's just say you wouldn't be here to tell the tale."
Biting her lip, Bo shifted her weight from her left to her right leg. "Do we have a plan, other than Tamsin going big, green monster?"
"We'll put together an army of our own to fight them off long enough to corner both Loki and Hades." Hale offered somewhat vaguely, as he too wasn't completely aware of the extent of Tamsin's power.
"Simple." The brunette replied skeptically with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Babe, seeing me in action will make a believer out of you." The Valkyrie replied with a smirk.
As the group began discussing how they should recruit soldiers, Kenzi helpfully suggesting a 'The Fae Need You!' poster, Tamsin and Bo strayed away from the chatter and gravitated towards the pool tables.
"I can't thank you enough for what you did for Lauren, for keeping her safe. I-I had no idea that the Dawning would-"
Tamsin quickly interrupted her, understanding the guilt Bo was probably feeling. Though none of it was her fault, no one could have predicted or prevented what happened. "Hey, it's not your fault. It could have taken anyone." Shrugging, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under the Succubus' intense stare, she stuffed both of her hands in her pack pockets as not to be seen fidgeting. "I did what you would have done."
Taking a step close, Bo looked up at the Icelandic blonde. "I was wrong about you, Tamsin. You're one of the good ones."
Smirking, her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she lifted an eyebrow. "You're not so bad yourself Succubus. Less murder-y than I thought." The taller woman admitted, cocking her head sideways and crunching her face as she spoke.
Laughing softly, Bo placed her hand down on the edge of the pool table, palm flat against the varnished wood. Her other hand rested on the dip of her hip. "I guess that's as close to an apology as I'll get from you."
"You're right about that."
"So, we're good?" The brunette extended her hand towards the Valkyrie.
"We're good." Tamsin spoke in her ear as she balanced herself on one leg, leaned in close as she walked passed her.
Both women joined the group once more, hearing Kenzi speak out loud: "All I'm saying is that if we're going to fight to save the world, we might as well do it fashionably. I could tots see the Doc in a Xena, Princess Warrior outfit."
Tamsin and Bo looked at each other before bursting out laughing. The only person in the world who could lighten the mood of a possible apocalypse was a five foot three katana enthusiast with a love for metal, and not the kind you build things with.
Sofðu ungakappi,
Getursál þínlosasigafmóðuraðgerðirallraveraldlegtilfinningar,
Geturþúfundiðhugguní öðrulífi,
Hvílaá vellíðanvitandiað viðvoru vistuðafhetjuleguraðgerðiroggöfugteðli,
Sofðu ungakappi.
A direct translation would be:
Sleep young warrior,
May your soul rid itself of the weary actions of all earthly emotions,
May you find solace in another life,
Rest at ease knowing we were saved by your heroic actions and noble nature,
Sleep young warrior.