There's no weirder feeling than having a gun pointed at your back, at least that's how Bo felt at that moment. To say she felt tense about it would be a huge understatement. The loss of control was the most unsettling part.

She stayed knelt down, unmoving, considering her next move. She didn't only have her own safety to think about, but those trapped under her feet.

"Well," She said, keeping her voice as neutral and unthreatening as possible, "what's your plan here…um I'm a detective just so you know."

"Drop your weapon," a voice behind her muttered.

Relief bloomed within her, and she steadied her thoughts and body. The person behind her didn't sound very confident. Doubt, uncertainty, she could work with that.

She remained quiet, for a second, trying to let him think he still had the upper hand. And then, carefully she spoke. "Sorry, no, can't do that. Why don't you drop your weapon and save us all some time and trouble."

"Shoot her." Another voice said. She silently sighed, a partner had joined, that complicated things.

Her legs started to stiffen from her position. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you. My partner's on route, he should be here any second." She said with as much confidence as she could push into her voice. She needed them to believe that was true. She silently cursed herself for not calling Dyson, when she had the chance.

"She's lying." The second voice said, in a disdainful tone.

"Maybe not." The first voice said, in a restrained tone.

Bo stayed where she was, not moving, letting the pair bicker back and forth. She had to be cautious. The second person had escalated the danger of the situation.

They continued to debate back and forth, and she realized she needed to take control of the situation before one of them did something unexpected.

After a moment, once they had stopped quarreling, she spoke, "Come on boys. Imagine the heat that will be on you if you kill a cop or two. That would get the attention of the FBI for sure. My car that's parked outside was a GPS in it; they would easily track down my location."

The bickering started up again, and she took the chance to ease herself up into a standing position. Every muscle in her body tensed as she waited for them react to her changed stance. She, slowly, brought her hand back onto her gun, resting it on the handle. She breathed deliberately slow to calm her heart that was beating hard in her chest. She needed to have complete control over her nerves to get out of this. Her fingers slid down the side of her gun, but she stopped abruptly when one of them shouted at her: "Stop that!" He screeched hysterically.

"Ok." She held her hands out at her sides. "Ok."

"Fuck this," was all she heard before the gunshot ripped through the air, and an explosion of pain shot through her body. Her vision blurred as she crashed forward to the ground, landing hard on her knees.

She felt warm blood oozing down her back and loud footsteps running away from her. Weakly, she pulled her gun out. A muffled groan escaped her lips from the pain of the motion. She had no real plan, only that she needed to chase after them. She knew she couldn't let them escape. She eased up slowly. As soon as, she was standing, dizziness and queasiness swept over her body. She blinked and tried to steady herself and stop her swaying body. She knew that she was losing a lot of blood and didn't have a lot of time.

She tried to take a step but her weak body failed her, and she sank back to the ground. She rubbed her palms into her eyes, trying to clear her vision. She glanced down at herself, for the first time, and a dark, shiny stain was spreading out over her shirt. She clutched her shoulder. Blood was gushing steadily out of the wound. With her other hand, she pulled out her cell, her hand shaking. Blood was everywhere now. Her head was spinning, and she laid down on the cool concrete with the phone pressed against her ear. She noticed that she was laying in a pool of her own blood. Dyson answered and she quickly gasped out a message before the loss of blood and pain was too much and she slipped into unconsciousness.

XXXX

Lauren refused to say anything else about her plans, or rather her thoughts, about pursuing research as a career, as Evony drove her to the restaurant. Evony had cleared the schedule early, much to Lauren's surprise and was taking Lauren out for a quick meal.

"Lauren," Evony said after several minutes of silence. "Are you going to order something?"

Lauren looked up abruptly and shook her head. "Why are we here?"

Evony arched her eyebrow giving her a suspicious look. She held up her glass and swirled the wine in her glass. "You need to loosen up. Relax." She sipped her drink. "You're talking nonsense." Her eyes peered up at Lauren over the glass. "Giving up on surgery. That's crazy. Clearly, you are having a mental break."

Slouching down in her chair, Lauren glared at her. "You know nothing about me. How can you judge my career choices or temperament?"

"Oh please, Lauren you are so easy to read it's ridiculous. Whether you realize it, or not your face gives you away every time." She brought her glass up to her full rosy lips, and Lauren's eyes settled there briefly.

Lauren down casted her eyes away from Evony's lips, sighed and absently flipped through her menu. She wasn't going to order any food, but she needed something to do with her hands and mind.

"Lauren, you have skills as a surgeon but what you seem to lack is a real desire to put that first, prioritize it over everything else," Evony said bluntly after a brief pause.

Lauren scoffed. "You see you don't know anything about me because that's not true. My relationships have suffered because of my residency and education. Precisely, because becoming a surgeon is, or was, my first priority." She crossed her arms and glared at Evony sternly. "I'm been a driven student since kindergarten. Pursued my dream of becoming a doctor since middle school."

Evony shook her head. "And what will giving all that up do for you? Give you time with your girlfriend and friends? Then what? What happens in five years when you're pregnant and married and miserable from boredom."

Lauren paused and considered her words before speaking, again. "Well, actually, I don't find research boring and I don't plan on getting pregnant." She paused and studied Evony's face. "Bo's great in bed, but I don't think that's something she could do, anyways."

Evony shot her an amused look and grinned slyly. "Maybe not. But you have to admit to herself, that there's a chance this is a huge mistake, to give up everything you've worked for. Once you make this decision, it may not be easily undone."

Lauren scowled and tapped her foot impatiently under the table. "People change career paths, all the time." She forced herself up and left the table and headed straight to the restroom. And Evony watched her go with a smirk.

Lauren was distracted leaving the restroom, and she didn't notice Ryan standing at the bar near her talking with another guy. They were laughing loudly, and that got her attention. She totally forgot where she was and stood gawking at them, and listening to their rowdy conversation. Her whole body tensed staring at Ryan's smug, self-satisfied expression and gestures.

They were loud and overly animated, Ryan talking over the other guy, laughing with exaggeration at his own jokes. Lauren, briefly, thought he looked more like a caricature than a man he was so ludicrous.

"Well, have you seen her body and the tight clothes she wears?" Lauren overheard Ryan saying. She went rigid, a lump of discomfort building within her at his words.

"She's obnoxious but that body…" Lauren glanced down and saw him lick his lips. "Dennis will come around for another round…if she wants a promotion that is." He laughed and tapped his glass against the other guy's glass.

In a blind rage, Lauren walked quickly up to the two men. Ryan looked her up and down. "Can I help you, honey?" The gaze he gave her made her stomach sick, he didn't remember her. They met once, at a Christmas party years before, but based on the look on his face he had no idea who she was.

Her eyes flashed with loathing. "You don't remember me, I guess?" She asked through a tightened jaw.

An unnerving smile crept across his features. "Hmm." His eyes lingered on her breasts, and she cringed. "I think I'd remember that body."

Her fist shot out without warning hitting him hard in the nose. She felt a crack under the impact, and pain shot through her hand and up her arm. She barely had time to think or catch her breath before his hand caught her wrist and he stared into her eyes with a wild fury. "Now, I remember you. You're Dennis' girlfriend."

Reflexively, Lauren jerked her arm away from him and glared matching his angry expression. Her chest was moving up and down quickly from adrenaline.

The other man grabbed her arm tight. "Do you want to press charges? I can take her in."

A callous grin crossed Ryan's face. "Nah. It's punishment enough for her to know her girlfriend rode me all night, moaning and crying out my name in pleasure." He leaned in and she flinched away repulsed. "Very eager and responsive that one." Her mind clouded over, and she lunged at him again. But Evony grabbed her other arm, having noticed the interaction, and pulled her away from the pair.

Outside, Lauren fell to her knees and vomited on the ground. Her entire body was shaking as she retched up the contents of her stomach. When she was done, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

Evony left her alone, for a moment, then pulled her up and led her back to the car.

XXXX

In Evony's apartment, she made up two drinks for them, and they drank in silence. Lauren ignored Evony and trailed her finger along the rim of her glass, her mind a million miles away.

"So," Evony started and Lauren rolled her eyes. "Who was that?"

Lauren shrugged and took a long drink. "Why are you being nice to me?" She asked curtly.

Evony ignored her question. "That's quite the right hook you have there. But how's your hand? We surgeon's need to take care of our hands."

"I don't give a shit about my hand right now." Lauren snapped and stood up to pace around the room. "It's so stupid, this whole thing. That's the person she would sleep with?" She shook her head quickly. "What does that say about me, that that's her type?" She resisted the urge to throw her glass against the wall. "He's disgusting. How could she let him touch her…let alone…" She stopped herself, feeling sick again. "Does she have no respect for her body? Is that what she thinks she deserves?" She collapsed back onto the sofa and buried her head between her knees. She pressed her eyes closed tight to keep from crying. She refused to shed another tear for Bo Dennis.

Evony shook her head and walked away. When she returned, she was carrying a pile of bandages. She laid her hand over Lauren's, her fingers gently brushing the skin.

Lauren looked up at her as Evony took her hand into her hand and wrapped it in the bandage. Evony gave her a reassuring smile. "There." She said simply, in a surprisingly tender tone.

They lapsed into silence, and Lauren studied Evony's features. Confused. Angry. Sad. Heartbroken. Lauren felt so many things at once. She couldn't make sense of her emotions. Ryan's words had triggered something inside her, the part of her that did want to get Bo back, show her what it felt like to be cheated on. To be haunted by the images of the person she loved naked with other, enjoying the pleasure of someone else's touch. It was petty and immature but, at the moment, it's how she felt.

And then Evony made the decision for her and kissed her. She was so surprised, she couldn't move away. Her heart raced, but mostly from shock. She tried to relax into the kiss, but her lips remained stiff. Truthfully, a secret part of her was disappointed that she wasn't really enjoying it. Bo was so imprinted on her that she couldn't even enjoy kissing another person. Which just made her temper flare that Bo was able to so easily enjoy the body of another.

Finally, Lauren pulled back from the kiss and veered her eyes away from Evony's lust filled eyes. "I can't." She sighed deeply. "I have a…girlfriend. Who, apparently, no matter what, I want more than anyone else."

An awkward silence filled the space between them as Evony continued to stare at her.

"She just has a hold on me…I can't break free." She swallowed back her tears. "No matter how hurt I am I don't want to hurt her." She stopped abruptly when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She scanned the text over and over, trying to understand it. Her heart almost stopped. "I have to go." She ran to the door and left the apartment as quickly as her legs would carry her. Evony watched her go with a confused expression.

XXXXX

Lauren wasn't sure how her legs were moving. They were so unsteady, as she crossed the waiting room to where Dyson sat. Her body hardened, her heart hammered hard in her chest the second she saw the tormented expression on his face. His shirt was stained with blood…Bo's blood and Lauren felt her limbs go numb at the sight; there was so much blood.

Her body was weighted down; she couldn't move. "Dyson…what-" She stammered weakly. She struggled with her words, to think, and Dyson pulled her into a hug and she didn't need to finish. She simply wept into his shoulder for a moment.

"I'm so sorry. She went there without me. I should have been there." His voice was low as he held Lauren tight.

It's funny how a tragic event can wash anger away. Whatever Lauren felt before was overridden at that moment. The unresolved issues between her and Bo didn't matter, not now. It was all white noise, all she thought about was Bo and their love, and Bo's safety.

Lauren didn't even ask the nurse if she could enter. She merely went in on her own. The sliding glass door opened in a smooth motion, and she entered the dark room cautiously. The room was quiet, save the beeps of various machines. She approached Bo slowly willing her body forward. Lauren had seen hundreds…maybe thousands of patients in their hospital beds after major injuries, but never someone she cared about and she never wanted to see the woman she loved that way. There's a detachment, a mask a doctor has to wear when dealing with patients, mostly to protect the doctor's own mental health. It helps keep them objective, alert. But this wasn't that, she wasn't a doctor only a terrified girlfriend. There was no mask for her to wear.

Lauren hovered over the bed. Bo's eyes were closed, and her breathing was even, steady. She looked peaceful, calm. Her hand rested at her side, the IV tubes sticking from it with clear tape spread across her knuckles. She studied Bo's face listening to the soft beeps of the machines, recording her vitals.

"Bo," She whispered, sitting by her side. She took Bo's limp hand and kissed each of her fingers gently. The color in Bo's face was washed out, pale. She brushed her fingers over Bo's face. She was surprisingly soft and warm. She surveyed her wound, under the bandage and gauze, and her chest tightened at the dark stitches, surrounded by black and purple bruises.

She glanced at the machines and Bo's chart. Bo had been shot in the shoulder and lost a lot of blood, but she was stable, her vitals were good. She felt helpless, looking down at Bo's sleeping body. She was numb, feeling nothing but despair staring at the woman she loved looking so frail. Bo was always so strong it was more than a little upsetting to see her so vulnerable. She suddenly wanted Bo to sit up and give her one of her bright, carefree smiles, or tell a lame joke to offset the tension.

She pulled up a chair and sat beside Bo holding her hand, stroking her skin soothingly.

A nurse entered the room, a moment later, a stern-faced woman, that Lauren had worked with a few times. She made it clear she didn't approve of Lauren staying in the room. But if they wanted her to leave, they would have to drag her out by force.

The nurse cleared her throat and subtly hinted that Lauren should wait outside. Lauren accepted all her reproaching comments with a dismissive face. She wasn't leaving, no nurse or doctor could guilt her into leaving Bo's side. She thought, briefly, how annoyed she'd be if she were the doctor on Bo's case but she was no longer a doctor only a concerned girlfriend. The nurse, in a huff, briskly left the room.

Lauren rested her head on the bed by Bo's side and waited for her to wake up.

XXXX

Tamsin arrived at the hospital and sat next to Dyson without a word. She could see he was upset, and she decided just to sit with him until he was ready to talk.

After a long silence, he spoke. "My partner is so stupid. What was she thinking going there alone?" He shook his head. "It's not right, I should have been there."

Tamsin opened her mouth to speak but stopped when he got up quickly. "You never, never go to a lead without backup. That's one-day stuff. She knows that." He sighed staring at the wall. "And if she wouldn't have gotten herself killed? How would I ever look Lauren in the eye again or myself?"

"It's not your fault," Tamsin reassured. "You didn't know she was there."

Kenzi and Hale walked up carrying coffee and overheard the conversation. "Bo's impulsive. You know that Dyson, there's nothing you could have done." Kenzi said sitting next to him, handing him a fresh cup of coffee.

He slumped back into the chair. "Doesn't matter I'm her partner. I should have been there."

Tamsin patted his shoulder, then squeezed it.

Hale looked at the group. "She's probably going to face disciplinary action for this. She could get fired."

Kenzi hugged Hale's shoulder and they all sat in silence.

XXXX

"Hey, gorgeous."

Lauren's head rose as Bo's voice pulled her from a light sleep. Bo was smiling lethargically at her as if it was hard to smile through her tight facial muscles. Her face was still pale and her voice hoarse.

Lauren took one finger and brushed Bo's hair back off her face. "What were you thinking, huh?" She gently kissed Bo's forehead and leaned down to read her eyes. "Safety first, remember?"

"I'm a lone wolf, what can I say." Bo tried to joke, but Lauren's expression made her want to take it back. "I'm sorry. I dunno…I just wanted to solve this case." The slur of words came out sluggishly. She stopped her mouth was too dry from thirst to continue.

Lauren scowled down at her and gently rubbed an ice chip over her lips to moisten them. And Bo sighed out 'thanks'. "What would I do if something happened to you?" She held in her breath. "Did you even think about that when you went there alone? Think about us at all?"

Bo winced, and her expression melted into a scowl. "I'm sorry." She said raspy, her voice still laced with weariness.

Lauren's features softened, and she bit back another chastisement and simply regarded Bo with care and love, stroking her cheek. "Bo, I just love you and want you safe." She sat down and held her eyes on Bo, a sinking feeling in her stomach. "You should get some sleep."

Bo's brow drew together, and she seemed to be struggling to remember, piece together what happened through her hazing mind. "Did those people get saved?"

Lauren kissed her forehead. "They're safe, Bo. You saved them."

"Good." Bo smiled weakly and closed her eyes drifting off to sleep again.

Lauren hovered over her studying her, taking in every inch she could see. Her heart hammered at the thought of how upset she'd been at Bo a few hours ago, probably at the same time Bo was bleeding and fighting for her life. She rubbed her hands down her face at another thought, if things had gone further with Evony, the guilt would have killed her.

Out of instinct, Lauren lifted Bo's wrist, finding her pulse and counting the beats, she caressed her thumb over the bottom of her hand before she gently rested it back on the bed. Her mind was racing, so she read Bo's chart again and sat by her side, her eyes glancing at Bo, every few seconds.

AN

Next update, we'll meet Bo's dad and Lauren makes a decision about her relationship.

Not sure if the reviewer from my other story reads this one, but no 'fit throwing' here, I'll be finishing all my stories no matter what happens in the show. Actually, I'm hoping to finish most before the show even airs.

Thanks for reading!