Hey, everyone. Sorry I missed the upload yesterday, I was in court all day and it was a day. Hope you enjoy this one. Here we go.

Dyson was behind the bar, working, when Bo walked in. He took in her disheveled appearance, her hair hastily pulled back, her sweatshirt hanging loosely off her, and paused. She walked up to the bar and he put an empty shot glass down in front of her. "Need one?" he asked.

She shook her head no. "I need to work."

"Bo –"

She put her hand up in a 'stop' gesture. "Dyson, you've known me since I was 10. How good am I at sitting still and doing nothing?"

Dyson surveyed her. She knew he didn't want to give into this request, but she also knew that he knew her. Dyson nodded, relenting. "You can bus some tables. I think there are dishes in the back."

"Thank you," Bo said back, quietly, standing and heading towards the back to find an apron to begin working.

About an hour and a half later Lauren walked into the bar. She sat down in front of Dyson. He didn't say anything, taking in her jeans and loose tee shirt, her hair in similar style to Bo's. He didn't make a comment, just waited for Lauren to speak.

"Is she here?"

"In the kitchen," he affirmed. "So, I'm guessing Operation Day Off didn't help?"

"At this point I'm just trying to figure out if I've made it worse." The lapsed into a moment of silence. "How's Ciara holding up?" Lauren asked, remembering that on the children's medical information Ciara's school had been listed for them.

Dyson looked down, wiping a bottle. "The boy was in her class. She's…dealing, I guess. She went to a friend's tonight. I think she was tired of me hovering."

"A lot of that going around, it seems."

Dyson nodded. "Yeah, I guess." He sighed. "I know she'll talk to me, eventually. But I know she's taking it harder than she's admitting."

Lauren shook her head. "Bo won't talk to me at all. It's like her body is there but she isn't." She took a deep breath. "You've known her forever. What do I do? Have you seen her like this before?"

Dyson laughed, replacing a bottle he had been wiping on the shelf. "What, stressed to the max, not taking care of herself, literally working at anything she can find until she collapses? Yeah, I've seen her like this before."

"Alright, so what do I do?"

Dyson sighed, turning back to Lauren. "Honestly? I don't know. She's been like this forever. We've never known how to fix it, really. Kenzi and I have tried."

"But this…this is bad, Dyson. I've never seen her like…this."

Dyson gave a nod. "She's gotten like this at least a few times before. Different circumstances, of course, but we've seen her this bad."

"So, I just have to wait it out? I mean, she's crumbling. It's like she's caving in on herself in front of me."

"I wish I knew. I mean, we all know it's bad for her, but…well, you know Bo. She's like a freight train. We don't really know how to stop her most of the time. Hell, you got her to stay home today. We've never managed that even."

"She's just so…" Lauren shook her head, trying to find the words. "Before she left tonight she was talking like she thought I was going to leave her or something. I don't know, she's never been so…far away from me before."

"She may have thought you were leaving, in truth. I think she's lost a lot of relationships over this kind of thing. I mean, she's talked to Kenzi about that way more than me, but it's the sense I've gotten. Rainer was the one, ironically, who seemed to put up with it the best. By the end I almost felt like she was seeing how far she could push him away before he splintered."

Lauren felt defeated. "I don't know what to do. Should I go get her and take her home? Should I give her space?"

Dyson shrugged. "If you want to try to talk to her again, there's no one in the back office. She can always crash with me or Kenzi if you all need space."

Lauren nodded. "Thank you, Dyson."

He smiled. "Bo drives me crazy, but I love her. I hate what she does to herself too. But I can't reach her. I'm glad you're getting to her."

"I don't know if I am," Lauren said, biting her lip.

Dyson reached out and surprised Lauren by squeezing her hand. "You are," he said, before turning back to clean more bottles.

Lauren blew a quick breath and pushed up from the bar, moving towards where she knew Bo was working in the kitchen.

She walked back to the sinks and saw Bo leaned over them, scrubbing something. Her arms were moving forcefully, purposefully, and Lauren could see her muscles tense and flex with the intensity of her work, like she wanted to strip the ceramic away from itself. She set the dish aside and immediately moved on to the next one, identically repeating the task.

Lauren cleared her throat, but Bo didn't hear her, continuing to scrub, lost in her own world. Finally, Lauren approached her, laying a gentle hand on her back. Bo jumped and turned to look at her. Her eyes looked haunted, tired. Wordlessly, Lauren reached up and pushed a stray hair off her forehead. Then Lauren took the dish from her hands, set it aside, turned off the sink, and took Bo by the hand, leading her to the back office.

When they walked in, Bo walked over to the desk while Lauren closed the door.

"Listen, Lauren, if you came here to try to –"

Lauren crossed the room as Bo started speaking and cut her off with a kiss. She rested her hands on Bo's hips, pulling her close. Bo felt tentative against her, guarded. Lauren slid her right hand up, reaching for the side of Bo's face, cradling her jaw, and opened her mouth under Bo's. Slowly, she slid her tongue into Bo's mouth. She felt a soft sigh from Bo and it felt like…relief. She felt Bo's resolve slipping as she started to kiss Lauren back, some of her life returning. Lauren pulled up her other hand, pulling Bo's face closer, and felt Bo's hands come to her ribs. She kissed Bo harder, her body moving unconsciously to feel Bo everywhere she could, to reassure both of them that this was real. She felt tension radiating off Bo like a beacon, and as the kiss continued she felt Bo softening, her muscles loosening, like her soul was drifting back to her body.

Lauren breathed deeply, desperate for Bo to fill her senses, seeking the warmth, the coffee, the leather…it drifted up to her, surfacing through the dish soap, the restaurant chemical cleaner smells, and Lauren absorbed it greedily, like an addict finally finding a bottle. Her teeth grazed Bo's lip and she distantly became aware that she had pushed Bo into the wall, forcing them as close together as she could. She felt Bo's arms fully wrapped around her, like Lauren was keeping her afloat, small sounds escaping her faintly.

She knew they needed to talk. She knew that she needed pull back, to start working on this, but…damn, for the moment, this felt too right. The feeling of Bo in her arms was intoxicating. She knew there was no fight she wouldn't undertake, as long as this was waiting on the other side. As long as they could do this forever.

Before Lauren was ready, Bo pulled back, keeping her arms wrapped around Lauren, their foreheads resting against one another. "God, I'm so in love with you," Lauren whispered. She opened her eyes slightly and saw the tears trailing down Bo's cheeks. She kissed one gently and returned her forehead to Bo's. "Tell me what to do."

She felt Bo shudder, like she felt a chill. "I don't know. I just…I feel so…" Bo hesitated, the words not finding her, her shoulders sagging.

Lauren pulled back a fraction of an inch and wiped the tear away. "Powerless?" she offered.

Bo slumped further, leaning into Lauren's shoulder. "Yes."

Lauren pulled Bo into a hug, her hand on the back of Bo's neck, lightly rubbing the tense muscles she found there. She turned her face to Bo's hair, pulling in another lungful of her favorite drug. Gently, she slid Bo down until they were both sitting on the floor. Once there, she put her hand under Bo's chin and lifted, so she could look into her eyes.

"If I ask questions to try to understand, will you try to answer them?"

Bo's eyes shifted away. "Lauren…"

She moved Bo's chin back. "Please," she implored, softly.

Bo looked her for a moment and sighed. "I'll try."

"Why can't you stop working?"

"I…I don't know. I just…I need to be doing something. I need to be moving."

"What will happen if you stop?"

Bo shook her head. "I can't."

The phrase can't or won't flashed through Lauren's mind, but she pushed it back, realizing it was the wrong question. "Why can't you?"

"Because if I do, if I stop…then I have to…then it just…" Bo spread her hands, searching for words.

"Then you have to deal with it?"

Bo flinched, but when no further reproach from Lauren came, she sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Then I'll just…be run over by it."

Lauren contemplated pushing this further, realizing it could be a mistake, but figured she'd try it anyway. "When you were a kid –"

"I don't want to talk about that," Bo immediately cut her off.

"Bo…"

Bo looked up her, her gaze steady, a brick wall of resistance solid behind them. "Lauren."

Lauren sighed, conceding. "Will you come home with me tonight?"

"Do you want me to come home?"

Lauren was taken aback, and reached forward to hold Bo's face again. "Of course I do."

"I can't stay at home tomorrow."

"You can't go to your office," Lauren volleyed back.

Bo sighed. "Okay. Can I come here, then?"

Lauren ran her fingers through Bo's hair. "Okay."

Bo looked up, relief washing over her. "Okay."

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