Author's note: We are firmly ensconced in season two plot now. This part takes place between 2x05 and 2x06. Please remember, I am trying to "fill in the blanks' not change the story arc. My goal is to stay true to the story the LG writers created and expand on it. I hope I will have done it justice by the time I've exhausted this idea. I encourage re-watches with the new parts. The way they join up is kinda neat!
5. On The Run
"FEAR stands for fuck everything and run." | Stephen King
She was in the lab toiling away on a project Lachlan insisted was more important that any of the other work Lauren had on her plate. She was resentful. She has experiments that were time sensitive and soon she'd have to do them all again. She was also irritated because it had been a week since Lachlan took away her phone privileges. She had no way to reach Bo. Granted she had nothing pressing to say to Bo except that she missed her, but she could never say that to Bo. Not without giving too much up.
Her colleagues began to congregate by the workbench in the center of the room, a hushed din filling the lab and Lauren moved to join them.
"How much longer are they going to guard us?"
"I heard they are going to lock us in tonight," a colleague said.
"Who told you that?" Lauren interrupted.
"The guards were talking about it."
"He can't do this," another interjected.
"It's worse than that. Unless we are working, we are going to be locked in our quarters. No one comes or goes anymore."
A wave of panic flooded her system-her skin was cold, the numb rush that pulsed through the fire in her veins. "We have to get out of here."
"When? How? The guards are on us twenty-four-seven."
"So we take them down."
"No way. That guy has two-hundred pounds on us. We wouldn't stand a chance."
"Not on our own," Lauren said. "But together, with the aid of some pharmaceuticals, we are getting out of here." Lauren returned to her work area and reached into the refrigerator for a vial she may or may not have been planning to use for some time. She drew out three syringes with and passed them to the other scientists. As she pulled the plunger on the fourth, she heard the tell-tale jingle of keys, so she pocketed the syringe and tossed the empty vial in the garbage. The door opened and the scientists scattered.
"Get back to work," the guard bellowed.
Lauren leaned into her microscope, eyes darting between her startled compatriots. It would be three long hours before they would surround the lone guard and shoot him with enough barbiturates to take down an elephant. There was no time to retrieve things from their quarters, Lauren led the other Humans to the side door. "The alarm will sound when we go through this door. Run." Their collective anxiety hung heavily in the hallway. The longer they waited, the closer the other guard would be on his rounds. "Ready?" Her eyes went from face to face and waited for reluctant nods before she drew in a deep breath and burst through the fire door.
Sirens blared from a nearby speaker and the Humans scattered. Lauren put her head down and dug in, running a blazing pace into the woods. She ran full-tilt over bramble patches that nipped at her ankles with their thorns, leaping over fallen trees, branches whipping against her arms as she ran through. When the whirr of traffic could be heard, she slowed and as she made her way to the roadway, on her second to last step, her toe got caught up with a jumble of roots and she tripped headlong into a mass of leaves.
She grunted and rolled onto her back. Shaking her head, Lauren stood, brushing herself off. She climbed out of the brush and emerged on the sidewalk beside a busy road. It was a risk to be on a main roadway, but she was hoping the fact that they had scattered when they ran would work in all of their favors. She kept walking briskly in Bo's direction, looking over her shoulder for cabs-if she could just flag one down, she could get to the clubhouse and she would be safe.
Lauren didn't have to walk far before a kind cabbie pulled up alongside her. Gratefully, she accepted the assistance and Lauren slid into the back seat, checking behind her all the while. She sunk into the seat and slipped out of sight from behind. The driver was not naïve and noticed Lauren's tactic straight away.
"Where to?" He put on his blinker to reenter traffic as Lauren spouted Bo's address from memory. She waited until they were halfway there to knock on the partition.
"I can't pay you."
"What?" He frowned.
"I can't pay you," she hollered.
He stared at her in the rearview mirror. "I know."
"What?" Lauren's attempt at cluelessness just made her seem more guilty.
"They're looking for you," the driver said, humorlessly. "They searched my cab," he said, still irritated. "Tossed my fare. Because they were looking for you."
"I'm sorry." Lauren fell back against the seat. "You're going to tell them where you took me, aren't you?"
The silence was actually painful. He cleared his throat. "I don't know what they want with you, lady, but I know enough to know it ain't good. And as to whether I'm going to give you up, I'd never leave someone in such a dire way."
He flicked the blinker and turned down Bo's street. Freedom, or the feeling of it, was hers. As the cab rocked into the driveway, Lauren exhaled. "Thank you." She squeezed his shoulder as she left the car.
"Good luck," he called as she climbed the steps of the clubhouse and pushed inside. She stood in the mud room, her heart beating faster than she could ever remember it beating before. She knocked on the door and called out for Bo, no answer. She needed to call her, to tell her what the past week had brought for her, and what she had done to return to her. Opening the door to Bo's lair, Lauren's racing heart led the pace to the phone. She picked it up and dialed desperately.
"Bo, I'm at the clubhouse. Lachlan was going to lock us in so we escaped. Not together, We did escape together but… I mean, I'm alone. It's not like I'm sitting in your living room with four of my Human colleagues. I'm alone and I'm really spooked." Lauren took a breath. Bo had told her to stay put, so she did just that. She returned the phone to its base and backed away from it. Lauren sat on the couch, surrounded by her scents, and waited.
Bo had rushed back to the clubhouse to check on her. They reassured each other and Bo had called her space a "safe haven" for Lauren-that probably left the biggest impact on Lauren. She did feel safe with Bo, no matter what the circumstance, and Bo had made a point to offer her space to her. It was the trust that was oddly implicit at this stage in their situation. To call it a relationship seemed far too presumptuous, even if what Lauren felt could only be called love. She cringed internally when she told Bo that she didn't want to complicate things. Always putting other's needs ahead of hers, even now, Lauren offered her an out. But she didn't take it and theirs was the bitterest of stalemates.
Even as she brushed past Bo intentionally close, Lauren was surprised to not incur the interest of the Succubus. However, a few short hours later, Bo came clumsily calling as she padded down the stairs, tiptoeing to the refrigerator. She stared into the icebox, bathed in its glow and waves of cool air. She reached inside, grabbing a soda and cracking the top. Spinning around she leaned her back into the refrigerator. The motor kicked in noisily and Bo was reticent to close the door, but she pried herself away from the old appliance.
Bo reached into the freezer, her hand landing on her goal-the ice cube tray. She peered into the tray. Empty. Dammit. Shoving the empty tray back into the freezer, she turned to find Lauren staring at her over the back of the couch, darkness obscuring her face.
"Hey," Bo said, sheepishly. "Did I wake you?"
She shook her head. "Hot?"
"It's like New Dehli up there." She treaded carefully to the sofa and sat at the opposite end as Lauren. Bo smiled at her. "How're you?"
"A little out of sorts."
"I can imagine."
"I incapacitated one of the Ash's most-trusted security men. I know how this ends, Bo."
Bo sat up. "Don't say that."
Lauren grew still. "My time is up."
Bo inched her way down the couch until she was beside Lauren. "Lachlan isn't going to hurt you. He needs you too much even if he can't admit it because he's a self-righteous asshat."
Lauren laughedandBo moved her hair away from her face. She looked up. "You weren't hot upstairs, were you?"
"Maybe, I was." Her mouth quirked. "I thought you could use a friend."
"You don't need to worry about me."
"I know, I just hate to see you so hell bent on going it alone."
"When you've accepted your life as one way, it's hard to change."
"It starts with a decision you make," her voice low, haunting. "To let me in." Her lips brushed against Lauren's and she felt short of breath. Bo retreated an inch, hovering so close that Lauren could taste her lip gloss.
The fizz of electronics filled the room and the television roared to life. Bo pulled away and looked behind her to find Kenzi in her footed pajamas, holding the remote.
"I Love Lucy marathon." She plopped down on the end of the sofa and pulled on Lauren's blanket. "You guys just going canoodle all night or are you gonna watch this shiz with me?"
Bo dropped back into the couch beside Lauren and smiled. "I love Lucy."
"Me too." Lauren smiled into the hem of her shirt and hugged her knees to her chest. This was a complete and utter mess, but Lauren felt comfortable, like the warm glow of fifties television in the middle of the night. She was safe.
TBC