Lauren moaned at the hot water against her body. She had worked all night and into early morning before she finally left her new job. Once again, she had to use another fake name. She couldn't take the chance of the Fae finding her. Such bullshit, really. She had given years of her life to them. Given her blood, sweat and literal tears. Hale had freed her, but she will never be free of two specific Fae, Bo and Dyson. Bo because she feels entitled to Lauren. Dyson because he feels entitled just being a man and Fae. Something Lauren will never be.
She slapped the back of her own head. She should have been smarter than that. Left when she had the chance to. Her only hang up was that she had fallen in love again. Only her gf could walk and talk and live. Nothing like Nadia's last years had been like.
She shut the water off and scrubbed her body dry. She dressed in her pajamas and climbed into bed. Even her night attire was different. She used to sleep half naked, now she slept for any eventuality. The imminent moment, she would need to run out into the night to escape. She would be on the run for the rest of her life.
She almost equated it to Bo being on the run, but Bo didn't know what she was. She only knew what she was running from, the guilt of killing people. Lauren is running from the guilt of being stupid. Every Doctor's instinct was never to fall in love with their patient. But she had. That's how she should look at Bo now, as her patient. But that patient doesn't always need a doctor. She just needs to fuck Dyson to heal. Thousands of Fae in the colony and Bo always turned to Mr. reliable. Probably because he will never turn her down. If he didn't have to go out in public, he'd probably never zip his pants up.
She dressed and walked into her kitchen. She put together a quick breakfast and sat down to eat.
The Dal
"Dyson, you look like hell". Hale laughed as he walked into the bar.
"Not today, okay Hale? Dyson lifted his head.
"Bo, huh? Hale asked.
"Isn't it always Bo? Dyson huffed as he took another drink.
"It's your own fault man. You should have never mated with her, when you weren't sure she was the one". Hale shook his head. He almost felt bad for the wolf, but Dyson had gone through hundreds of women before they ever met Bo.
"She is the one." Dyson shook his head. Hale had rarely backed him up in his relationships.
"Anyway, I'm still the Acting Ash, and I'm telling you to leave Lauren alone in your conquest to get Bo back. We've destroyed the Doctor's life more than any Fae's life". Hale squinted after taking a shot of Whiskey.
"As long as I am mated to Bo, she is my only focus". Dyson growled.
"There will always be Lauren in Bo's life. I know deep down you don't like it, but that's a fact my friend. In the meantime, I'm out of here. An Ash work is never done". Hale nodded to Dyson and waved bye to Trick. The old barkeep had been staying far away from them.
"Make Lauren come back, Hale". Dyson whispered.
"I will not. Lauren is no longer my ward. She is no longer my responsibility. Leave the woman be". Hale spoke over his shoulder. When Dyson tried to run after him, the guards pushed him back.
"Trick. Stop hiding and come and help". Dyson stared into the guards' eyes.
"They work for the Ash, Dyson. I have no say in what they can or can't do". Trick spoke from behind the bar.
Dyson sighed, hard, and walked back to the bar. He had waited hundreds of years for someone like Bo. In one night, he mated with her. In another night, he lost his mate because of the Norn. By the time he got his love back, Bo was already in another relationship. But a trash one as far as he could see. Lauren is never going to be able to keep Bo happy. It's not in her nature. She is never going to be patient with Bo's need to feed, because being monogamous is not in Bo's nature. That's why she should accept Dyson. Accept their relationship again. He feels stronger since getting his love back. He feels stronger since Bo brought him back from death. He knew he would die and trusted Bo to save him. She did.
Bo is out there chasing someone when Dyson is right here waiting for her to come to her senses. Humans and Fae relationships cannot work. Is he a bastard? Yes. But everything he knows and has witnessed is factual.
Bo
The brunette had fallen asleep in her car, again. She has to stay in it, to try and stay in it with Lauren's movements. She stretched and opened her eyes. She gasped at what she saw. Nothing but darkness. This wasn't a natural dark, this was a structural dark.
"Hello?! Bo called out after she climbed out of her car. There was nothing to see. She opened her car door again and pulled a flashlight out. She turned it on. The light was dim, but she was able to see a small red button. She had been moved in her sleep. Probably at Lauren's doing or request but this was not where she had fallen asleep at.
She swallowed and pushed the button on the wall. She shook when the ground shook. An opening appeared in front of her car, exposing the early morning sunlight. She jumped back into her car and sped up the ramp. She kept going until she was sure he had driven a good mile down the road. She wanted to be away from wherever she just was. She pulled over and put her head in her hands. She sobbed into them. Lauren is gone. Gone from Bo's life. To the extreme that she has some newly discovered technology to hide her whereabouts. She knew that entrapment had to be Lauren's doing because she was easily let out and there was nobody there to stop her after she emerged.
What the fuck is going on between them now? Bo is not claustrophobic but that was scary for a minute. She had been on the run for years and had never been in a literal hole like that. Lauren is probably on a beach somewhere. Long gone from Toronto and from them. Bo had read Lauren's aura for years. But never told her she was doing it. She always looked afraid of losing Bo at any minute. Either to death or to the Fae. One Fae.
Lauren is broken. Which means Bo feeling sorry for herself is not going to mend the Doctor. The blonde doesn't need a girlfriend right now, she needs a friend. Bo wiped her eyes and lifted her head. Her eyes momentarily flashed blue. She hopes that meant her Succubus understands what Bo has to do now. She has to keep her wants out of the equation and focus on helping Lauren heal. First, she needs to find her again. If she can.
The Dal
"You have got to be kidding, Trick. She is your granddaughter. You have to want to find her. Seek her out. Don't leave her out there in the world, unsupervised or looked after". Dyson paced back and forth.
"Dyson, Bo is out there on her own free will. I won't call her back like she's broken curfew." Trick rolled his eyes. Dyson has it bad. It's embarrassing to watch and worse to listen to.
"Get Hale to force Lauren to come back. If he freed her recently, he hasn't had time to present her case to the High Council". Dyson spat.
"Don't even think about that". Bo appeared behind them.
"Bo! Are you okay? Dyson smiled as he nearly ran to her. But her eyes pushed him backwards.
"Get out Dyson. I need to talk to Trick, alone". Bo spoke softly.
"Bo I can help. You know that". Dyson scrunched his eyes at her.
"You can, by leaving". Bo pulled a chair out and gestured for Trick to walk over and sit with her.
Bo heard Dyson's boots as he walked out of the diner. She closed her eyes and took some time to make sure he and his presences was gone before she spoke to Trick again. This is new to her. She needs to change a lot of things if she is going to move forward. Not only with Lauren, but with herself and friends. She knows she recently fucked up by calling Dyson to bring her gas to refuel her car, but knowing Lauren predicted her to do that, was and is embarrassing.
Trick stood in astonishment. Bo was quiet, and that was never like her. She wasn't looking at him. It was as if she was lost in herself. Aife used to do that too, but he could always get a read on her. He wasn't getting anything from Bo.
The brunette raised her head and her eyes flashed blue as she was in front of Trick in a matter of seconds. "Tell me everything you know about Lauren's life just as she was forced to join the Fae". Bo's arm was nearly on fire as she pulsed her grandfather.
Trick started rambling off a lot of stuff. Nadia. The Ash. The plot to trick Lauren into signing her Light Fae contract. Lachlan coming to see him about the newest contract, but the catch was he could never tell Bo that they met like that.
She was the Ash's bitch and it pissed her off as she let go of Trick. Her eyes returned to normal as she felt him hit the floor, hard.
"The Blood King is an asshole. Once I am back with Lauren, you will be dealt with. Severely". A dark voice vibrated around the room. Trick shook when the building did. The next thing he knew, he was alone in his bar. Bottles had been broken and tables had been turned over. The Succubus must have done it with her voice. He had heard Aife's succubus talk before, but it was nothing like hearing Bo's in that tone. Not even after her Dawning when she brought Dyson back. He doubted she would ever touch Dyson again, now. He shook his head and went to look for a broom and dustpan.
Bo sat in her car. Her Succubus was still riled up. It was a long shot, but she had to try. She needed to know as much about Lauren as she could find. Trick's answers weren't much she didn't know already. She pulsed him knowing he had to tell her the truth. The real Trick is still hiding things. But she wasn't going to worry about that right now. She needs her better half back, and she doesn't mean her Succubus. She felt a kick on the inside, but it calmed down once she figured out that her better half is the Doctor.
She sighed and started her car. It was still a piece of junk, but it's the only car she has right now. She will get a new one, eventually. But it's not an immediate need and she doesn't have time to find a car dealership.
For years she spent running from everything and everyone in her old life that was chasing her, now she is chasing her whole life, and she doesn't have a clue where Lauren could be living. She's not hiding. Hiding would mean, she is running from Bo. She's trying to build a life for herself. She didn't feel safe with Bo. Why should she? The last time they were in the Dal, Bo was taking her life. She slammed her eyes shut.
She knew Kenzi has always been close with Dyson, she would understand Bo taking her chi to bring him back. But Dyson to Lauren was and is a rival. One that Bo hadn't publicly denounced as a lover. Dyson is a friend a healer to Bo. That is all he could and would be forever. As long as she breathes, Bo will always love the Doctor. She loves her enough to free Nadia and stepped back as her own heart broke. Something Lauren will never know because she doesn't want to use that gesture as a means to get Lauren back.
The Doctor had been slipping away from Bo for weeks, but the Succubus just ignored it. Or wasn't concerned enough that it would cause their breakup. That last word shook her as deeply as she shook the Dal back there. Everything in her shattered.
She tapped her fingertips on the steering wheel. Lauren might not be a Light Fae ward anymore, but she has people. She is brilliant. Covering her tracks and her scent will make it nearly impossible for anyone to find her. There is only one part of Bo that is capable of finding her, her heart. But it's not a compass. It doesn't know which direction to turn next. The only thing Bo could think to do is to wait for Lauren to find her.
She probably already has. Her people are probably watching Bo at this very moment. She rolled her eyes. She wants to dump her car, but it's a way for Lauren to know where she is. That she isn't trying to ambush her new life. She just wants to be a part of it, desperately. But first, she needs to make things right with Lauren.
Life right now is fucked up. Lauren thinks Bo slept with Dyson, so casually, in her Dawning. She didn't. She did allow a kiss, that is all it was. All of this, over that. But it wasn't just that and Bo knows it. She feels it.
Lauren
The Doctor had gone for a late afternoon jog. She had changed locations overnight, so the terrain is new to her. She knew she was safe because she had a crew far ahead and behind her, taking in the sights.
She didn't need them, really. But knowing the politics of the Fae world, there are assuredly Light Fae Elders upset about her recent release. All dogs have probably been given her old scent.
They don't need Lauren anymore. They didn't since the moment Nadia took her last breath. Since the minute, Lauren cured the ones dying off from the Fae plague. But they kept her gf for years for her brain. Had she used her brain to think outside of human medicine, she may have figured out the curse was Fae related.
She shook her head and started running faster. Sweat trickled down her front and back as she sped up even more. Every step felt like a stomp to every Fae's face. Even Bo's, if she was being honest. She feels humiliated that she was in a relationship with a liar. She promised she wouldn't sleep with Dyson but emerged from her Dawning with his scent all over her. She is starting to wonder if Bo finally mated with him as he had long ago done with her. They surely looked chummy after he was revived. The blonde felt dismissed when she kept doting on Dyson after Kenzi and Lauren had been attended to. That is why she left. She can't be in a relationship with someone that openly makes out and flirts with her ex in front of her. The cold part about it is, that Bo will deny it. Even though Trick has newly installed security cameras covering every nook and corner of the bar. She gritted her teeth and turned down another path.
She finally stopped in the middle of nowhere. She bent over as she held onto her knees. Finally, catching her breath, she turned and ran back to the main path and back to her latest condo.
Her guards held the doors for her as she ran in and stripped her way to the shower. She stood under the shower and let the water soak every inch of her. It burned but it was working. It was working to wash the shit the Fae had put on and spat on her for years. It was working to calm her down from the anger that coated her like the sweat that drained down with the shower water. It was working to give her new insights, a new purpose and focus.
She stepped out into a large towel and stared at her own reflection in the mirror. She looked different. It wasn't just her natural hair color that looked different. It was her eyes.
For years she could fake not caring about anything with the Fae. For the most part, she didn't. Not until she walked into Nadia's pod. Then she had to fake not missing the woman's arms around her. Her lips on hers. Her body above and under hers. For years only the Ash knew what was in that room. Others only thought it was hands off to everyone but the blonde human doctor.
She remembered the day she snuck Bo into meet her. How dumb that looked now. Lauren had a gf. A gf she cheated on with a Succubus that cheated on her. She doesn't blame Bo's nature. She just blames her way of thinking that it's fine for her to fuck Dyson whenever the need arises which is probably twenty-four hours a day since Lauren is away. Like they were both away from Lauren in Bo's Dawning. Like Dyson had planned by asking to be Bo's hand in there. Lauren assumed he only wanted to help Bo. He sure helped himself to Bo.
The Fae had always dismissed her outside of needing her help. When they were wounded, she suggested follow-up appointments and treatments and they laughed in her face. She couldn't do or say anything else to them without a reprimand from the Ash. They often snickered at her in public. Some would mock her as being a coward, afraid to stand up to them.
"No more". She bristled into the mirror as she violently dressed. "Get my car and an entourage ready to go". She snapped into her phone. She slammed it down. After a few deep breaths and a real change of clothes, she picked it up again.
"We're going to talk, right now". She bristled into the phone.
"Where? Bo gasped.
"I'll text the coordinates to you. Bring all of your lovers too". Lauren slammed the phone down again.
"Lovers? Bo sighed. "Lauren, I don't have lovers".
"We both know you do and not just the wolf". Lauren slammed the phone down again.
It is time for all the bullshit to be out in the open. It is time for the timid doctor to show them exactly who the fuck they are dealing with. This is going to be good. Good to get her thoughts out there. Good to get Bo to back off. She laughed knowing Dyson wants the woman on her back.
"If he's who she wants, he's who she will have". Lauren stared out the massive window.
TBC.