Lost Girl 1. Forever Beginning

**A/N:** **A friend has asked for it, and I have delivered! Hopefully they like it, along with you, and stay tuned for the unraveling of their adventure. (So I may have made that sound more epic than it'll probably be.) Thank you for reading and let's get started!**

* * *

There's a brush of blonde locks that catches her attention first. Second, it would had to have been the way she held herself: hard yet soft. Angry yet gentle. Wicked yet saintly. Third, and the most important, it was her eyes. Colorful and transparent green, understanding, yet immediately untouched and above the hideous sight in front of her.

The grimy human, she hadn't had time to clean herself after being indoctrinated, was walking with her head raised high and her eyes darting from one side of the grand room to the other. She had never seen something so spacious, so luxurious, and it surprised her. That, however, was what the blonde must have thought anyways. She heard her named called, a soft 'Lauren' from the man in front of her for she had stopped from such a beautiful woman despite herself, and she briefly wondered if the blonde had caught on.

They were walking in completely different directions, and that seemed to be among the long list of things that were completely different about the women. The blonde was coming from what looked like a room into a white sterilizing lab, her eyes pinned on the little rag doll that walked behind the powerful man who was also dressed in all white attire. The blonde was in such nice clothes, it took the human a moment to comprehend how dirty she must look to her. While the blonde wore a very attractive black suit with dress slacks, boots that were only for fashion and not to add height, Lauren wore a dark brown shirt, that of which was made darker and more unattractive by the dirt stains fastened to it, and stained blue jeans with sneakers. Her blonde hair was tarnished and frizzled around her face and she wondered briefly if the blonde walking towards them could tell she was a slightly darker shade from her own locks. The blonde wore an entwining silver pendant connected to a lace around her neck, and the human wondered if it meant anything as her new golden necklace that was wrapped around her own neck meant, or if it was just for show, she thought with a self-loathing smile.

It takes the human a moment to realize that the she has stopped, her face almost hit the man in front of her, and the blonde smirks.

Another moment is taken by the human to comprehend that there was someone in front of the blonde all along, also exuding power, that was now talking to the man in white. She heard words and phrases like, "King returns at last to his crumbling castle" and "Pretty little thing". There were more, a lot more detail, but she wasn't listening. Her attention was on the way the blonde would shift her feet and roll her eyes in boredom as she crossed her arms so she wouldn't play with her fingers. It made Lauren think of the reason why she was there, and then her thoughts would lurch to her research. The research that gave her acceptance into this new world.

That was right, she had thought, by all means the people in front of her were all genetically superior than herself. She began to think of what type of... fae- the word felt strange on her lips and mind- were in front of her, and the human wondered what kind of such strange creatures were there in the world. The blonde in front of her was no doubt a warrior, her closed black suit was slightly bulged as if she held a weapon there, and it did not go unnoticed by the human like it did on the other participants in the room. The woman in front of her, however, was not so much a warrior but a sly toothed devil. Wearing too much make-up with fine attire fit for a queen, it was easy for the human to formulate an opinion on the woman in front of her.

The brunette gave a eyebrow raised look towards the human that made her shiver, as if she were live bait she would think later, and she went back to talking with the man.

Lauren was distracted again by the blonde's sudden attention she gave her. Her eyes scavenged her body as if she were a delicacy, looking over the dirt and filth that marked her face, and she had a slight crescent smile playing on her lips. Her head was tilted slightly to the right as she looked, her finger tapping her arm in an unconscious habit while they were crossed. Crawling up her body, an undertone of something that could resemble deprivation for the human was seen in her eyes, and she swept over the human's lips with a tug of her eyes.

Looking into her eyes, the human could suddenly see, as if she had not guessed, the greed in the blonde's gaze and she understood immediately how far the emotion encompassed her.

It would have been a lie to say the thought had not passed through her own mind, but it was a ludicrous one at that seeing as the reason for her indoctrination was lying deathly still in the white room she itched to walk into. She would have done it, she could have done it, but the immobilizing fear for her superior stopped her in her tracks.

"Todaloo!" the brunette said, wagging her fingers and walking out of the doors the man and human had just come from.

A moment passed and the blonde, after giving another smirk towards Lauren and completely disregarding the man, gave her a wink and began to follow the devil.

Crimson would have brushed onto the human's face, but for the man turning and shaking his head, his eyes pinned on the doors the two women had just walked out of. He said something resembling a language the human was rusty in, she knew over ten languages, and their variations but couldn't remember what the usage meant when it was uttered out of the man's lips, and he said, "Come" as he led her to the white room.

Any thought of the blonde was wiped from her mind as she stared at the reason for her servitude as she put her hands on the cold metal of the pod, and her tears threatened to wash with her stained flesh.

"I'm sorry," she had whispered, and didn't flinch as a hard hand connected with her back in some type of comfort. Turning her gaze to the man in white, she let out an utterance of words that sounded foreign to her own ears with her tone, "Where do we begin?"

* * *

The blonde she had met weeks prior, she learned immediately, was named Tamsin. The blonde seemed to be the Morrigan's, the leader of the dark fae, favorite toy and she compared with Lauren only on the level that the human was the Ash's favorite pet. Everything else was completely different with the women. One was a doctor, one who sought life, and who was a servant with little rights or speech in counsel. The other was a warrior, a skilled one at that, that extinguished life faster than she could drink; which was a lot the human was further noticing.

The blonde seemed to get wounded often and would come to the human for more than a few patch jobs even though, as she understood the doctrines that governed the fae, it was completely taboo for her to be doing so. The doctor, however, couldn't very well turn her away bleeding and almost dead on her doorstep- the doorstep the light fae had so graciously given her, a prison she would come to call it- and she would let her in every time. However even with the extensive medical procedures she had commenced on the woman, she still did not know what type of fae she was.

Not that she much cared as her fingers curled around those blonde locks, something the warrior hated her doing but still allowed, while the other scratched down the brown leather jacket Tamsin wore. The fae seemed to never remove her garments, which made their activities more one sided than naught, and the human wasn't wholly against it. A hand was on her unclothed lower back and another was in between her thighs moving skillfully back and forth. A low moan escaped the human's mouth even as simultaneously she was trying to keep it forcibly inward, and she stopped such an impudent sound from cascading out of her throat again with a strong kiss between them.

The doctor had felt a smile growing on the blonde's lips and she quickly disengaged. "What?" she asked aggravatingly, her thighs tightening around the hand that ceased their gyrations.

"Well Dr. Lewis, it's just funny that's all." Before the human could ask why, a sudden jolt of pleasure ripped through her as the blonde thrust her fingers deeper inside and said, "A pet of the Ash consorting with the toy of the Morrigan. Seems like a deadly combination, don't you think?"

A hand slipped over the table they were banging against and the human gasped as something shattered on the ground.

"Stop!" Lauren exclaimed as she had enough energy to look at what had fallen. "Serum, concoctions, antidotes for Nadia."

"Nadia," Tamsin sang as she moved the human backwards so her eyes could only see Tamsin's leather clad shoulder. "Your comatose girlfriend. Wonder what she would think of this."

"Stop, Tamsin." It was the usual plea the human gave during such exercises, but this time it was for a completely different reason. A more serious one that would break the rocky foundation the two women were atop.

"You are so fun to play with. I've learned during my long life that only a few humans are," Tamsin purred into her ear.

Claws dug deep into leather as fingers curled inside of her and a thumb brushed over her sex. Another moan rang into Lauren's apartment as she felt the edge of her sanity slipping away as Tamsin made her cum again, the count was somewhere above two and she wondered how long they had been going.

Her temper flared when she heard yet another sealed capsule, that Lauren was supposed to take to the light fae compound later that day, clash upon the floor.

"Get off," she commanded after a few more moments of Tamsin almost laying on her. The fae didn't usually stay in close proximity to the human and it made her more angry given the recent development.

"Whatever," Tamsin had said, wiping her fingers on her skin tight jeans. A wave and waggle of hands and fingers before, "Tell Nadia I said hi for me." And like that, the fae was gone out the door without a second glance back. She had moved so fast out of the apartment, not even the doctor saw her move until she was already out of the door, blonde locks waving in the wind.

The slap the door gave as it was closed harder than necessarily needed left an empty feeling in the pit of the human's stomach and she sighed as she peeled herself from the table and made sure her bare feet didn't touch the shattered glass. Picking up the shards slowly, her eyes scavenging the liquid that spilled across the floor, she felt the back of her eyes sting with unshed tears and she stood and placed the glass back onto the counter.

The last words the fae had said still echoed through her mind and she wiped a hand across her face, only realizing after that she felt something warm and wet wash across her flesh and the realization dawned that her finger had been sliced open from the glass. Quickly half running around the counter, the wind hitting her naked body and making her shiver, Lauren pushed on the tap and ran her fingers under it. Hissing slightly, she made sure the water warmed her skin and staunched the bleeding long enough for her to get her medical supply bag from the closet that was on the adjacent wall that her kitchen was established in. Pulling out gauze, rubbing alcohol, and every other item she needed, she returned to the island and placed them on the counter with care.

It hadn't taken her long to place the small band aid on her flesh, making sure her flesh didn't split apart again, and covered it with a sterilizing roll of gauze.

As she looked upon the floor again, this time with a clouded mind with what she had just done with the fae, her tears finally began to fall.

* * *

"Are you breaking up with me, Tamsin?" Lauren had asked with conviction while the valkyrie- she had learned her fae title only after two years- shifted from side to side as her arms were crossed firmly.

"I'm not breaking _up_ with you," Tamsin seethed as she watched everything but the human's eyes. "I'm breaking it _off_ with you. And yeah, there's a difference."

The human's eyes squinted slightly with confusion and she retorted, "We've been doing this for three years! What changed?"

"Uh, maybe I don't find your cheep tricks entertaining anymore?"

It was like a verbal slap to the doctor's cheek and it stung harshly. Brilliant anger coated her words, something she did not think she had left when talking to a fae, and she exclaimed, "You weren't saying that two nights ago when all I needed was my tongue to turn you into a pile of fae-soup."

A laugh had ripped through the valkyrie's lips that caught the doctor off guard, but she was secretly relieved Tamsin would not harm her from her sudden explosion. "Feisty little doctor, are we! Where was that three years ago when your precious Nadia fell into a coma? Did you tell her about me yet? Or was I the dirty mistress."

"Stop it, Tamsin." Tears had begun to well in the human's eyes and she tried to force them back with no avail.

"I'm sure once she's woken up from her curse she'd just love to hear about how you were screwing someone so much better than something like her!"

A hard crack resounded in the room when Lauren's pent up rage was finally let loose upon the valkyrie. The blonde's face was turned to the side, her eyes closed from the recent slap to her cheek, and she opened them slowly and turned her head back more slowly still. Looking into Lauren's eyes showed fear and uncertainty, and it made the valkyrie's stomach roll with how little the human knew she could pay if Tamsin so wanted her to.

A gulp then a definite question, "What do you mean curse?"

Tamsin stood erect from the counter she was leaning on and it made the height difference between the two more substantial. Towering over Lauren always had made her feel insignificant and small and Tamsin was taking the advantage. "Time for me to step out, doc."

"Don't you leave!" Lauren called as the valkyrie had made it to the door, opening it slightly. "Not like this."

"We won't see each other again."

And with that, Lauren was left in her apartment again, her eyes streaming with tears as her throat constricted. She would not find out until four years later that the valkyrie had left her there, alone and emotionally bruised, because she was assigned on a mission of little importance to the Morrigan. Lauren had not found out the gravity of the situation until after she read a report the Ash had asked her to deliver to a wolf detective in one of the fae owned precincts, one that was still owned by humans, that Tamsin had left the city entirely that night.

But the one thing Lauren would never know, is that the sole reason Tamsin had left that night was not because of the valkyrie's own wishes, but for if she didn't, the Morrigan would maim the human for interactions with the dark owned toy. To Tamsin, someone who had been with lovers that spanned one hand, that was something that just couldn't be permitted. So she allowed Lauren to cry there after she heard a heart wrenching sob escaping the human while she walked down the hallway of the complex. And she didn't look back.

* * *

"Kenzi, could you get us another beer," Lauren asked the girl as she sauntered up to herself and her brunette girlfriend on the couch.

The girl clicked her tongue as she cocked her finger and smiled in the attempt at shooting the doctor with a play gun, and Lauren smiled as her companion sitting beside her gave a laugh and a head shake at such antics.

"That's, uh-"

"Kenz," Lauren finished for the woman. Both smiled knowingly and finished off the beers that were sitting opposite them on the table.

"About this case, Bo," Lauren began, but was cut off as another laugh cascaded out of the woman.

"Lauren, relax. We can do the case later, it's not like someone's died."

"Yet," the doctor corrected as she looked back toward the brown envelope she had been reaching for. There was already one human male in the hospital from the poisonous fae, and though he didn't have a chance of dying as he hadn't been injected with no more than a milliliter, it still perturbed the doctor on what kind of fae could have done it. Biting her lip she looked back towards her partner after letting go of the envelope.

"Okay Miss. Bossy, we can do it after another drink." After a few moments Bo Dennis inquired out loud, "I wonder where Dyson is."

"The D-Man said he's got a new partner since Hale's the new Ash," Kenzi chimed in as she walked over to the couch carrying two beers and a bottle of vodka. When an inquiring eye was turned to the clear bottle, the girl said, "What? I haven't even started yet and you've got me beat by one!"

Lauren shook her head with a slight smile on her lips. "I didn't know Dyson was getting a new partner. Who is it?"

"Beats me," Kenzi shrugged as she took a swig from her drink. "Hale hasn't said much about it, but he did mention something about an exchange program with the dark."

"Whoa," Bo cut in, "you mean Dyson will be working with someone from the dark?"

"Hey, _Unaligned _Succubus, I don't see the problem with it unless they try to fry your brains, or vajayjay, out on a secret mission from the Morrigan. Oh my god, would that really happen?" Wild eyes turned to both women separately.

Lauren shook her head. "I'm sure Hale had a say in who was chosen to be Dyson's partner."

"Better be," Bo seethed, taking a longer intake of her beverage. When the thought passed her mind, she swallowed her beer quickly and spoke it, "Why would Hale even be trying this?"

"Bo, there is political unrest between the lines," Lauren said thoughtfully. "It isn't much of a surprise that Hale would be wanting to try to merge and eradicate those aggressions towards one another. It's only a matter of time until the dark and light attack each other again. I think it's a very educated move on his part."

"Thank you, Hotpants," Kenzi said, raising her glass into the air.

Lauren smiled back and said, "Well if we're not working on the case until he arrives, I'll get you another bottle, Kenzi."

"Budem!" Kenzi replied with mirth, her glass lifted to the sky.

"Russian term for good health shortened from the more common term 'budem zdorovy'," Lauren whispered to herself as she walked over to the bar. She slightly smiled as she flicked her eyes to the ceiling as she thought she had controlled her nasty habit of explaining the things she had just heard or read.

While she stood at the bar, it didn't take long for the barkeep, who happened to be Bo's grandfather, walked over and smiled. "What will you have?"

"Just a bottle of your best vodka please, Trick."

The man smiled again, his eyes crinkling with real hilarity, and reached below him, appearing with a bottle of freshly opened alcohol.

"Do you know when Dyson will be here?" Lauren asked, her hands firmly around the bottle as she lifted it off the shining expanse of wood.

"He's walking through the door now as we speak," Trick replied as his eyes darted to the doorway arch.

Smiling, Lauren looked over to Dyson and nodded as she slightly raised the vodka to him. He nodded, and turned back, supposedly talking, or chastising it seemed, someone behind him. Shrugging, it was none of her business if the new partner couldn't take a hint, she said a quick 'thanks' to Trick before walking back to her companions.

"Now can we get started on the case, Bo? Dyson just walked through the door."

"Fine, fine, where's the case file?"

Sighing with happiness that she could put her doctoring to use, Lauren turned her head to grab the brown envelope and her head was slightly lowered when she turned back.

A surprise kiss was waiting for her, and a slight hand caressed her neck just where her shoulder met, and she smiled into the kiss as she made a small noise.

"Where's that coming from?" Lauren asked, her voice low and sultry.

"Just wanted you to know I was thinking about you," Bo responded. She turned her head to Kenzi and exclaimed, "Hey!" when the girl placed a finger in her mouth and faked as if she were gagging.

"PDA for the grown-ups, like can I not get an extra helping of gross factor," she replied with a smile as Bo swatted her leg slightly.

They did not see Dyson and his new partner come up to the couch before Bo brought her lover in for a delicious kiss again. Their mouths connected, tongues darting and tasting, and they were kissing passionately until something ripped the succubus away from the doctor with such force, it took even the warrior that Bo was to comprehend what had just happened.

"What the hell?" Bo said furiously, along with Dyson who had said it in such a tone it was as if he were scolding a small child.

Blonde locks suddenly filled the succubus' vision and green eyes were boring into her brown ones, "What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing with the human?"

Bo scoffed and said, "What is this? The dark police force arresting me for kissing my girlfriend!"

"You're _girlfriend_," the blonde said in confusion and anger, locking eyes with the doctor who had stood with the commotion.

"T-Tamsin?" Lauren asked, her eyes never having left the valkyrie's form.

"That's your girlfriend," Tamsin seethed as she looked at Lauren, directing the question to her and her alone.

Any answer the doctor would have given, _yes, no, why do you care,_ was cut short as Dyson took his new partner by the arm and forcefully, and quickly, dragged her out of the neutral owned bar, with little to no protest as she was still glaring deathly at the succubus, and out of sight before Lauren, Kenzi, or Bo had any time at all to react. The slight scuffle was over and the few fae that were in the bar, whether it be at the pool tables or on the wooden tables on the other side, went back to their business without a second glance. Trick was looking at the trio with a glare that would send a banshee running for the hills, and Bo's gaze toward her girlfriend wasn't any better.

The situation was only lessened when Kenzi, who was still seated, gave a slight whistle and a huff of breath. She sang, "Guess there's a new fae in town."

"Or an old one," Bo retorted as she glared at Lauren after the doctor had helped her to her feet. "Mind explaining for once?"

Lauren bit her lip as her eyes darting back from Bo to the space Tamsin had just previously occupied. The valkyrie was back in town in seemed, and that didn't bode well for anyone seeing as that was how she reacted after five years of breaking it off with the good doctor. Whistling in a breath, Lauren sat Bo down with a small tug of the hand, and simply said, "It's complicated, Bo."

Snatching her hand away, the succubus exclaimed, "Then uncomplicate it!"

"Bo..." Lauren soothed out her temple as she tried to formulate an accurate thought. Maybe if she switched the subject... "That can come later, okay? The case-"

"Are you freaking kidding me," Bo said aggressively as she stood.

"Bo," Lauren called as her girlfriend grabbed her coat swiftly and walked out of the archway of the building as she put it on. Groaning, Lauren settled back down onto the couch and only looked up when Kenzi spoke.

"Guess letting the fun times roll have come to an end, huh?"

Lauren clapped her hands together inaudibly, "Yeah, Kenzi. I think they are."

The human put her head in her hands and sighed again. Oh yes, she thought, the fun times were definitely over. She shook the thought off as she grabbed her coat. Saying goodbye to Kenzi, the blonde doctor walked out of the safe haven after her girlfriend.

* * *

Determination spread across the human's face as she got out into the nippy air of the city. It was warmer than it had been, but every time the breeze hit, it'd send a soft shimmer down the doctor's back. Hooking a left just as she got out the old rusty door that led out of the bar, symbols and letters above and on the appliance, Lauren quickly found she didn't have far to walk to look for her girlfriend.

That was, her _former_ girlfriend, anyways.

Tamsin regarded her with cold deliberation and she smiled with as much entertainment as a cat got out of playing with a half-dead mouse. She peeled herself off of the scratchy bricks and stood facing the doctor.

"Looking for the succuslut?" she called to her as she approached.

"Don't call her that," Lauren said, her mouth hardening as she gave a disapproving look. "Where did Bo go?"

Leather clad shoulders shrugged and Lauren was reminded of the day those shoulders were the only thing she could see while she laid out on her apartment table. "My new wolf buddy, horny cop I will forever deem him, was taken by your little..."

"You already know Dyson's title?" _And Bo's_, she wanted to ask.

Tamsin shrugged again and gave a sarcastic smile. "Girl's gotta know these things."

Shaking her head, it was difficult to comprehend that she would know such a title- a title every fae held close to their chests- by only being near him for a short time, unless the Morrigan had given her information on her targets, she returned to the conversation at hand, "She's my girlfriend, Tamsin."

"Right... that," a sneer passed over the valkyrie's beautiful features, making her look cold and exact but still so damn beautiful, and she shrugged her shoulders again. "So it seems you've moved on pretty well."

"It's been five years. What happened to never seeing you again? You couldn't have expected me to-"

"How's your coma fried girlfriend doing?"

It was meant to hurt her, as if Nadia was still in that pod, but all it did was remind her of the long dead memory of Bo the strong Succubus putting a knife through the brown haired beauties stomach. Swallowing hard, Lauren squared off with the valkyrie. "She's dead, Tamsin," was delivered in a low and dangerous whisper.

Tamsin's eyes seemed to widen only a few inches, but she quickly got in control of her emotions and kept fishing for a reaction, "How'd she die, doc?"

Lauren didn't know if it was a genuine question or if the woman was still trying to hurt her. Disregarding either notion, the human tried to step past the blonde instead. It was a futile attempt for just as she tried to step past her and find Bo, the valkyrie hooked a leg between both of hers and pinned her to the wall. Lauren knew the back of her head would have cracked against the hard surface but for Tamsin's hand outstretched against the wall, making the two bodies settle inches away from it.

She was so close and Lauren couldn't help but whimper. With want, or fear, the human didn't know and neither did the valkyrie as the woman smiled slyly yet confusion spread across her features.

"Why are you with her?" Tamsin asked, her tone light but her meaning so serious.

"I love her," Lauren whispered back, her nose brushing with the fae's as she moved around her with a predatory gaze.

A small shrug. "You used to love me."

"And then you left."

"But now I'm back."

A soft hand reached and wiggled into Lauren's pants and the human gasped. "No, Tamsin. Let me go so I can find Bo."

"It'll be like old times," Tamsin purred, her hand reaching a soft, warm, and very wet spot between the doctor's legs. She held Lauren's hands firmly above her as she whispered small encouragements into her ear. To her mind, the human really did want this. What could a succubus give that a valkyrie could not? Well a whole damn lot, Tamsin thought sarcastically as she pushed into Lauren, but she would be damned if she didn't try.

It hadn't occurred to Lauren before, but Tamsin was stronger than her. She didn't mean almost-beat-in-an-arm-wrestling-match strong, but a seriously huge disadvantage, the fae could take whatever she wanted from her strong. She had said no countless times, had once pushed the valkyrie away from her sweating and disheveled form more than one occasion, even if then the human wanted it. The valkyrie had been gone for five years, and for all Lauren knew, she could have completely changed for the worse than when she actually, laughingly, cared for the human.

A tongue was pushed into Lauren's mouth and licked and smoothed over her lips. It was invasive, overpowering and wrong. But the sad part was: the human allowed the so familiar taste of the valkyrie on her lips. She allowed the woman to press her body further into the wall, one side hurting from the resistance, the other feeling soft yet hard and taught flesh on hers.

It was too much to bare when a moan escaped the doctor's lips and her eyes flew open. A grunt escaped her as she yelled, "Stop!" and pushed the valkyrie away from her. It was satisfactory for the doctor when she saw she was not the only one drinking in the cool air in between huffs of breath.

"Go," Lauren commanded as the valkyrie finally looked around, making sure no one had seen their interaction.

The fae scoffed and said, "_You_ go. I'm going inside and getting wasted. That was the plan before you came along," she reiterated as the human raised an eye in disbelief.

So without another word, Lauren turned away from the wild-eyed valkyrie and began walking, trying to find Bo. It wasn't until she had reached the turn of the alley, away from Tamsin's watchful gaze that she completely forgot about the succubus and instead walked the familiar main roads back to her apartment complex. She did not have a car, there wasn't one in the budget, and by the time she reached her expensive housing, her feet were sore yet unbroken by blisters and her mind was buzzing with recent developments.

Tamsin was back.

Tamsin _wanted_ Lauren back.

No, the human reprimanded as she got into her home and closed the door at the swelling cold. Tamsin just wanted a free, and good, fuck. She didn't care about the human nor anything she worked on if it didn't have something to do with the Morrigan's plan of action. However, Lauren backtracked, the valkyrie had come in on her own volition, had yanked Bo away from her just because she saw them kissing, and had tried to screw the human outside of the bar. There would be no way, or use, for the Morrigan to order her to do such a thing.

So what was the endgame?

Lauren Lewis sighed as she ran a hot bath and disrobed slowly. She would think about it later, she promised herself as she stepped into the warm water and sat down, trails of hair running behind her in the water as she bent.

It would appear the human thought a lot about it that night as she would twist and turn in her bed, her hand down below, and the next morning her mind frayed and confused of what had really happened the night before in the alleyway. Only to find that her undergarments were slicked wet and her heart clenched with every breath she took away from the valkyrie.

What in the world, she would begin to think, was she going to do?


	2. Forever Secret

Most people would think it would have been the body. The finely toned ass that looked delectable in those jeans. The voluptuous yet modest breasts hidden underneath the dirty attire. Her head was high and unafraid, yet foolishly ignorant and self-assured, and her eyes had been scavenging the huge hall in which she walked into- it must have been a nice change from the heat and sweat from wherever she had come from- but on seeing the fae, she looked only at her which is the only reason such fallacy ridden thoughts were floating into the valkyrie's mind. And she continued to list the reasons why she thought the human walking toward her was developmentally attractive.

Or even how, though grimy and filled with grease from sweat, the beautiful golden locks of hair would curl around the woman's neck and defined collar bones.

But no, the fae thought, it was the eyes. Eyes that were brown but even from where she stood she could see the soft speckles of gold. If she were any other, the fae would think she witnessed a goddess in disguise before her. But no, the aura did not read as that of higher colors only certain could see, of such colors that did not exist, and brightness like any other elder and ancient fae, it still read muddy and diluted much like the human's wardrobe.

But those eyes shone brightly even through the grime on the human's skin and it made the fae turn her head in admiration- for the human lifted her head with curiosity as if she did not know what she had gotten herself into even with the Light- and her green orbs were pinned on the woman since her exit of the brilliant white room. She wondered briefly if the woman in the pod that was shone to her was the human's girlfriend and a devilish smile arose on her features.

The Morrigan _was_ talking about a new pet of the Light and she instantly knew the woman walking towards them was that human. The fae wondered if this was the woman, though sickeningly and aggravatingly human, could be her toy much like how she was to the Morrigan. It entertained her at least, as she looked the human up and down again.

Most people would think it was the body for her. But, if Tamsin was being wholly honest, it was the eyes.

* * *

And it was those eyes, those damn eyes, that burned with intensity as Tamsin had backed away from the human. Those eyes, the gold seeming to brim and twist across the iris with rage, that peered down into the very soul of the valkyrie. It was a sobering experience, but that was what the bar Tamsin had just walked into was for. She didn't much care where Dyson had gone with the brunette succubus that had, thankfully, concluded her scolding talk from the wolf, and she smiled to herself upon entering.

The wave of heat hit her full force and she did not know how cold it must have been outside as the wind was picking up. A sudden thought passed through her of when the human, who wore almost nothing, would be back inside for she would freeze out in the cold if she wasn't careful.

Shaking her head, Tamsin continued her journey into the establishment. It was not her business on what the human did with her own time, but if she didn't get back into her good graces, all hope of what she was trying to accomplish would be all for naught. She needed the human more than the doctor could fathom, and although it pissed her off, she needed to start up communications soon.

That could come after dinner, she thought as she eyed the selection of alcoholic beverages across the top of the bar.

Tamsin did not look around, there was no reason for it wasn't like she would know anyone anyways- nor did she care about the wooden exterior for it was absolutely nothing special about the place- and she stalked swiftly to the bar. Rapping her knuckles across the heavily polyurethane-coated wood of the bar got the attention of the barkeep, and if she was not mistaken he seemed a little less smiley and a little more brutal and on edge. Tamsin smiled to herself, she always had that effect on people upon first entering a town, and she wondered if the man had some type of affiliation with the group of people that she had made leave.

"What will you have?" His voice was soft but the undertones, which he made no attempt to hide, were dangerous.

A predatory smile crept onto her features and her eyes glinted. "Bottle of your best vodka." There was a quick shrug and she said, "Or your worst, surprise me."

The stubbly man gave an eyebrow raised look of disdain and a huff of breath before he walked away from the valkyrie to retrieve her order. By the time he was gone, only a short moment, there was a raven haired beauty making herself suddenly comfortable next to the fae.

"So what's your angle?" the woman asked beside her, taking in a gulp of her own clear shot glass.

Tamsin wondered if the best vodka had gone to this little brat and she raised an inquisitive eye. Green orbs flitted around the woman's body where a waving aura lapped against, looked into her dull eyes, and she snorted with disdain as she wrinkled her nose and scoffed. "Goddess save me, what is it with all these humans?"

She had to hand it to the woman, she took the insult pretty well. There was no spitting out of alcohol or a slap to the temple in outrage for the insult someone, a more advanced species than her own, gave her. All the human did was smile without any humor behind it and look deathly crystal eyes into that of the valkyrie's. Before she could say anything, however, the barkeep was back with a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses.

Tamsin realized quickly that while the girl had a pricy brand, she wondered if the human could even buy it without using up all of her income, yet the best- Ketel One, the old man had given the powerful valkyrie the shit-stain that was Seagrams.

"This human is claimed," he said, cutting off her next insult that would have been thrown at him.

"Oh," Tamsin feigned surprise and interest that she knew the people across the world could decipher. "And by whom?"

"By the bodacious babe you got the jump on ten minutes ago," the girl said hotly.

"I'm sensing a chain of events here," Tamsin mumbled into her glass as she choked down the first shot of her drink.

The barkeeps eyes narrowed and he moved next to the woman from across the wood. "I'll be right over there, Kenzi," he whispered as he leaned in closer.

"I think she can take care of herself, barkeep," Tamsin said nonchalantly. Her smile didn't come close to dimming when they both gave her a deathly glance.

"It's cool, Trick." The girl, Kenzi, nodded her head and the man walked away slowly with one last glance at the valkyrie.

"Got to be a-hell-of-a-thing to have someone care about you," Tamsin almost sang as she tilted her head and swallowed her second shot.

Kenzi's body turned toward her and she sneered, "More than anyone can say for you?"

"You've got me all figured out!"

The woman snapped right into her next topic without giving Tamsin anytime to breath. Repeating her previous question she asked with more detail again, "So what's your angle with the doc? You know that's my besties girl and if you try to come in between them, archeologist in the near future will find you in a hole with-"

"Oh cut the shit," Tamsin said, her gaze running over Kenzi's. "That could work on another human, but you don't know jackshit about me. I could tear you apart with my bare hands." That made the human gulp but she still stood her ground and Tamsin continued, "Now why don't we try again."

"You're Dyson's partner," Kenzi said with a little less anger riddling her words. "So you're Dark."

"Give the kid a star!"

Kenzi chose to overlook this and said, "So what do you want with Lauren? She's part of the Light."

"What makes you think I would care about a human?" Tamsin shouldn't have been talking so much with the woman, but she did love to know her enemy's mind and she wondered if Lauren held some interest in her. If she did, then it was almost a duty for the valkyrie to get to know her. It would have been strange for this human to not have any affiliation with Lauren as she was trying to protect her, or the succubus Tamsin thought suddenly, and her mind was trying to override her mouth from snapping at the human that Lauren was not just part of the Light but a slave of it.

"Because I know people who've got ulterior motives." There was a pause so the raven haired beauty could horn down her shot. She made a face and continued, "And dude, you've got motives up the ass."

It was intrusive, but brave and Tamsin had to give the little human credit. Taking a drink from her own glass she placed it down and played with the condensation on the glass. "The human and I have business."

Kenzi snorted and said, "That didn't look like business when you found out Bo-Bo was dating the Doc."

The valkyrie shrugged. "What do you care?"

"Well because, like I said, that's my besties girl. I would do anything for her."

"Even die?" the valkyrie inquired.

Crystal orbs turned on her and she didn't even miss a beat. "_Anything._"

A laugh escaped the valkyrie and she changed the subject quickly, "Seems like you can drink, little human."

Kenzi looked back at her bottle and realized it was almost half gone with little effects on her. "Yeah. What of it?"

Tamsin raised her glass and clanked it against the human's. "Skál,"* she cheered brightly as she downed her shot.

It took her a moment of contemplation, probably thinking if she could get the valkyrie drunk off her rocker she could get some actual info, but the Russian smiled just as brightly and stated, "Donizu!"**

* * *

Electricity ran though the air when the succubus stormed out of the doors of the alley. She tasted blood and she wanted it to coat her lips with her rage. But not just anyone's, oh no, the damn fae who had torn her off of Lauren.

Turning away from the door, she had backtracked at the way Dyson was actually scolding his partner quietly next to the brick lining, but the fae just seemed bored and had crossed her hands in front of her chest in exasperation. That made Bo even more pissed and she made a b-line toward the pair.

"What the hell was that!" she screamed as she got close enough.

"Bo, I got this," Dyson spoke calmly as he raised a hand to slightly push the succubus away from the valkyrie.

"You come into my home and-"

"My mistake, succubus," Tamsin suddenly said. Her voice could rival Dyson's in how calm it was, and she didn't miss a beat before she rolled her eyes as she looked down, making sure Bo wouldn't have seen the disrespect. "I didn't know the human was yours."

"Yeah, well she is," Bo said furiously. No, she did not believe Lauren belonged to her in any right, the doctor was her own person, but her anger broke free and she had to make it clear to the other fae of her and Lauren's bond. It was a detriment, always having to look after the humans she loved and cared for, to make it known to other fae that they were protected, and if Bo had to be inhuman for a few more moments when talking to another species such as herself, she would.

"Bo-" the wolf tried to begin.

"Can we talk?" Bo asked without really asking, but ordering.

Mouth shut immediately, Dyson nodded his head solemnly and walked behind an already walking succubus. His eyes trailed back to his new partner's and he shook his head in disdain as she shrugged her shoulders with a sudden smile radiating her lips. Turning his head, he realized Bo was leading him out of the alleyway and down the street after the corner. Before he could inquire upon where they were going, the succubus turned another corner, which would have been only one building over than the alley in which the Dal was housed in, and his nose flared with the stink of the alleyway. It was not cleaned as that of the bar in the next block over, and his senses flared with the rotting food and the unappetizing smell of mice and roaches. Before he could think all of this through, thankfully, Bo turned on him.

"Who the hell is she, Dyson!"

"Bo..." Hands were to his temples and he squeezed down. He had not thought it would be so early into his partnership with the fae that he would have to explain her brash actions to the woman he loved. "Her name is Tamsin and she's part of the Dark. Hand chosen by the Morrigan herself."

"What kind of fae is she? Why the hell did she think she had the right to attack me?"

"You're still unaligned, Bo. Besides, if Tamsin wanted to kill you, I think she would have done it. Her attention was more tuned to Lauren..."

"Yeah, something else that really pisses me off," Bo said with gritted teeth.

Dyson laughed without humor. "Yet another secret girlfriend. How many do you think she has?"

Brown eyes suddenly flared blue as she glared at Dyson. He put up his hands and apologized quickly, as that was the first time Bo had been incredibly upset that he had said such a thing about Lauren to her. Her eyes only flashed such a color when she either was calling upon her succubus, or if she was seriously angry and it perturbed him only slightly. The woman before him could not scare him, he loved her, and he would do anything for her. If that meant telling her the hard truth of her girlfriend, then he would. If only for the greater good...

"I'm just guessing here," he reprimanded.

"The way this..." the name sounded funny on her tongue and it took the succubus a moment to say it as she crossed her arms, "...Tamsin treats her, I wouldn't be surprised that Lauren kept it a secret. I mean she finally told me about Nadia!... How long do you think they were seeing each other for?"

"That's something you would need to ask Lauren, if you see her again."

Bo turned an inquisitive eye to the wolf and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Dyson began, "this is the second time she's lied to you about something so big and-"

"She didn't lie!" Bo cut in before the man could finish. "She just hadn't gotten around to telling me..."

Dyson nodded. "Sorry again."

There was a pause before Bo extended her hand and placed a gentle weight onto the man's arm. "It's okay. Thanks for listening."

Dyson softly grabbed the succubus' hand and squeezed. "I'm always here for you, Bo."

"And that's why you're amazing." A pause cut through them both. "I just wish Lauren would have told me instead of going on about the case."

Dyson, unsurprisingly, defended the doctor's actions, "She's really perturbed by what could have done that to the boy."

"The poison, yeah," Bo agreed. "Are there any leads to what could have caused it?"

"Now look who's going on about the case." Dyson smiled, along with Bo, and he nodded his head, "The doctors said the poison was introduced to his system via a cut on the back of his arm. Defensive wound," he elaborated.

"As if he was running away and someone attacked him," Bo finished. Her brow furrowed and she asked, "Then are we even positive that it's a fae who's doing it? If it was a knife wound-"

"There isn't any record of this poison on a global scale. It has to be fae orientated."

Bo groaned and walked further into the alley, only to turn back and come close to Dyson again. "Maybe it's-"

"I'm all for talking of the case, Bo," Dyson cut in, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But maybe this time should be taken to go after Lauren."

"I never would have thought you'd be the one telling me that," Bo said, her eyes dimming as talking of information that could lead to a potential battle thrilled her to the very core. She felt her muscles ache with battle, as if they wanted, craved, needed the exertion, and her mind screamed for blood. Maybe she was just hungry... If that was so, Bo thought, then she shouldn't see Lauren in such a condition.

"I didn't think I was either," Dyson agreed. "But she needs you just as much as you need her. You love her," he concluded.

Bo nodded her head and, without noticing, the glint in Dyson's eyes faded. "Maybe I should give her time," she finally said.

"That sounds like a good idea. But tomorrow you-"

"Yeah, yeah," Bo waved her hand in front of her, effectively cutting off whatever Dyson was going to say next. "Don't tell me what to do, jeez."

A smile appeared on the wolf's lips. "We can go back into the bar. I'm sure Kenzi is drinking Trick out of house and home."

That made a melodious laugh escape Bo's throat. "Is that _all_ she's drinking him out of? She's losing her game!"

The two fae clasped hands, as Bo gently rested her head on his upper arm, and walked together back to the Dal Riata. All the while, unbeknown to them, they were being watched the entire time.

* * *

Tamsin was impassive, if not somewhat elated, as she carried the young Russian girl out of the Dal Riata without the barkeep noticing. The girl was shouting drinking songs in another language and if not for Tamsin's sudden actions- making a strange face and singing 'oooo' seemed to stop such an inclement- the girl's head would have cracked deathly into the side of the alleyway wall. It didn't matter to Tamsin if the girl died or not, even on her watch, but she wasn't in such a killing mood to someone, though human, who had done nothing to her in the long run.

So what if the valkyrie knew the human had been trying to get her hammered to see if Tamsin would let something slip. It was an enjoyment to see the Russian hit back shot after shot and get more wasted than the valkyrie in two times the amount she drank right next to her. She made her ancestors proud, Tamsin thought as her muscles bulged slightly when she lifted Kenzi into a sitting position inside of her truck. She had taken hers, as her new partner had taken his car, he still didn't trust her in the same car unless it was the dispatch cruiser from the precinct, and she rolled her eyes as she put the girl's hands in her lap so she wouldn't get it crushed when the valkyrie closed the door.

Tamsin was woozy, she had out drank the Russian by three bottles, but she wobbled to her door after shaking her head and got behind the wheel. If not for her many years of drinking and driving, or simply drinking- totally drinking-, Tamsin knew she would be able to sober herself enough to be a competent driver.

Driving the girl to the crack shack of a house they called the Clubhouse, Tamsin's index finger smoothed across her bottom lip as she thought. She was glad Kenzi was too drunk to notice that the valkyrie knew exactly where she was going without any directions, and it would have been a pain to explain- or not as the case may be- to the human why she knew the location of their home if she had just gotten back in town. She was also glad the human stopped asking questions about what her affiliation with Lauren was after the second bottle of vodka had been devoured. Tamsin didn't understand why Kenzi had a sudden interest in the doctor as it didn't seem as if they were particularly good friends, but she tallied it up to wanting to keep Bo safe. The human girl seemed to care for the succubus more than Tamsin had previously thought upon hearing the report by the Morrigan, and she wondered if the same spell had been cast on her wolf partner and the good doctor.

If it was, she thought solemnly as she drove down the poorly lit streets, then it would be more of a test to get Lauren on her side. She may have to even show her...

Shaking her head Tamsin began to chastise herself for thinking such a thing, especially about a lowly human. She would get Lauren on her side some other way. Getting close to the succubus was on secondary. If she had to work this silly case, she would. If only to get into Lauren's good graces.

Enough of that, Tamsin thought as she drove down the black sea of roads silently. She wouldn't entertain the thought any longer. She would have to act. Eventually.

The sound of the exhaust of the old truck was soothing to Tamsin's ears, and it reminded her of all of her travels across the small earth- which did an excellent job of changing the roiling thoughts in her mind. She had been through battles, small ones and large ones. Countless leaders and fewer equals. Sure time had changed. The battles became that of mind warfare instead of with steel and flame. Even her enjoyable truck was an invention of time. She had been there for the first construction of such a vehicle, and it was time that gave her the truck she rode in for years. Time had a way of changing things, but the old car and the valkyrie's thoughts were the only things that kept her sane; unchanging in a world that was forever moving forward. Like clockwork, Tamsin thought. Exactly like clockwork.

Her thoughts kept her company for the mildly long ride it took from the neutral owned bar to the Club House. Her truck's rusty noises calmed her. She was thinking too much of the human drunkenly riding next to her, and of the other who was most likely home and in a hot bath to warm herself after walking such a distance. Her mind was never on the succubus or her partner, and Tamsin's face turned into one of disdain when she finally witnessed the old crack shack the human and fae laughingly called home.

"Guess it's better than living in a truck," Tamsin murmured as she slammed said truck door closed.

Moving to the other side, she nimbly pulled the human out and slung her over her shoulder. Her stomach was on Tamsin's shoulder and her hands swung loosely adjacent to the valkyrie's thighs.

"No more pasta in my bowl, Mr. Jingles," the girl was muttering incoherently.

Tamsin rolled her eyes and walked into the house. She was surprised there was no wards in place, she _was_ Dark after all and she had just walked into an unaligned fae's house, and she wondered how stupid these women were. Unless they thought they were completely safe, Tamsin thought as she found the couch quite easily and dumped the human on it like a sack of potatoes. That would make them even _more _stupid.

Kenzi grunted with the sudden force to her backside, but quickly moved onto her side and moaned in slumber. She said more of the character that was Mr. Jingles, which allowed Tamsin yet another eye roll.

Sighing and looking around, her nose crinkled at the abuse the kitchen table seemed to go through with that many pizza boxes stacked onto it, and she wondered where they put their laundry if not in their actual rooms. Taking the time, as Kenzi was completely knocked out now, Tamsin slowly ascended the stairs. It didn't take her long to find the succubus' room, or so she thought was her room, and upon walking in, the valkyrie saw a luxurious bed. Satin sheets covered the piece of furniture, and her green orbs scanned the room quickly.

"Weapons box, definitely the succusluts room," Tamsin pondered to herself as she looked around.

Her hand was on the weapons case, a finger around warm pink panties as she lifted it _off_ the case, when her phone rang lowly in her pocket. Looking at the memorized number forced a sigh from her lips and she quickly answered the phone.

"What?" Her voice was not polite, and she liked it that way. She closed her eyes tightly and opened them to look at such luscious panties and she took her other hand and held onto the side that was hanging loosely in the air. "I really am more drunk than I thought..."

A hard voice rang across the phone, one that knew Tamsin had done some type of wrong, and she immediately recognized her partner's voice. "Where are you?"

_And just like that I'm sober!_ "Only been together for a day and you're already ordering me for my whereabouts. Seems a little early for that, lover wolf."

If possible, his voice hardened ten fold, "Don't play games. Trick turned his back for a moment and when he turned around, you were gone and so was Kenzi. Where. Are. You?"

Tamsin sighed and nonchalantly said, "I dropped the girl back at her house after she told me the directions. Sorry for looking out for the succubus' human."

"You know you weren't."

"You don't even know me," Tamsin defended, though she didn't know why. Her voice was less defensive than amused and she knew the wolf picked up on it. She didn't care much, she wondered how the panties would look on the good doctor, or even worse, the succubus as she moved it around in the light on her fingertip.

"Whatever. Get out before Bo finds you there."

The line disconnected before Tamsin could respond. Exhaling disgustedly, Tamsin responded into the still air, "As if I'd stay any longer."

Putting down the pair of panties in the exact spot she found them in, Tamsin walked back down the stairs just as swiftly and didn't even look back to see if the human had accidentally vomited in her sleep. She knew if the girl was such a hard drinker on a normal bases that wouldn't be the case, and since Tamsin could just tell these things from all the years of- well- being her, she left the premises without a second glance.

She didn't understand why she had cared to go into the succubus' room, it wasn't like she was really trying to go along with what the Morrigan wanted her to do- kill the fae-, but she seemed compelled to see what in the world the good doctor saw in the woman. If she left her panties around all the time, Tamsin could see why.

She smirked after getting back into her truck and driving off quickly. She still needed to get into Lauren's favor, if not for her own personal needs, and she wondered if she first had to get into... Bo's. Tamsin rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that night as she drove.

She would have to find a way, she thought. She just had to find a way.

* * *

***"Skál!" is Icelandic for "Cheers!"**

****"Donizu!" is Russian for "To the Bottom!"**


	3. Forever Wounded

**A/N: It's finally here! Hope you enjoy because this is my favorite chapter thus far- even though it doesn't mean much as the entire story is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Enjoy! And comments of what you enjoy, or not so much, would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

Lauren's mind had slowly, like molasses, moved away from the valkyrie and onto better things. Better things primarily being what kind of poison could have possibly infected the boy. He had been sliced on the back of his arm, just along the radius, as if he had been running away. And she doubted he even felt the wound until he was safely back in his neighborhood. The poison had acted quickly, probably the cause of his rapidly beating heart and pumping blood, and the sixteen year old barely could make it back to the confines of his home before passing out on the street. It was lucky for them, Lauren thought sadly, for if he had gotten into his home she doubted they would ever know of him. From what she could decipher from the other part of the case file, the mother was never home- working herself to the bone- while the father was completely out of the picture. She briefly wondered how long it would take the mother, or the police force being called in from the smell, to find the dead boy in his bed; vomit and urine beside and on him from his slow and painful death.

Shaking such a thought away, Lauren's actions were further hurried by the call from the light fae facility the patient was housed in. It seemed that the poison had a built in chemical agent, similar to hemotoxins, and the boy's red blood cell count had gone through the floor over night. Did that mean the poison was not poison at all, but a venom dipped in some type of reptile saliva or gland and not fae synthesized? It puzzled the good doctor and she had been working on sampling the destroyed blood cells that she had cultivated upon visiting the patient.

When she had arrived, the boy's foot and part of his leg were blackened by dead tissue, along with black grotesque lines following that of his veins marking his skin, and she knew even if they saved his life, the boy would have to have multiple amputations. However, being a double amputee would be more useful than being dead, and Lauren ceased to think of it and had gotten back to her apartment in little time after receiving the sample. She knew if she did not hurry, there would be a chance the poison would spread to other parts of his system. If it was a reptile based venom, there could be a chance of neurotoxic properties in the wound sight and while that would kill the boy slower than the hemotoxin, it still did not bode well for the him.

Extreme pain, muscle tissue break down, possible suffocation and thrombogenesis. None of them was a nice way to go, and Lauren would do anything in her power to stop it. She just had to find out what the damn poison was made out of. Maybe then she could synthesize an antivenom.

She had just been looking over and taking notes of the blood cells when a flutter of knocks resounded on her apartment door. Looking up slowly, after tearing her eyes away from the microscope, her brown orbs flitted across the door in wonderment. It took a lot to knock on her door instead of just barging in, and she wondered who would give her such an honor. She was a human after all, who worked for the Light- a slave of it, she thought. They never gave her the right to knock, just barged in, and the thought was refreshing.

Making sure her cultivation wouldn't suddenly show new test results, Lauren excused herself from her steel table and medical supplies, and sauntered to the door. Without looking at who it could have been, she opened the door slowly and was relieved when she saw a wave of brunette locks falling over partially revealed collarbones.

"Hey there, my doctor," Bo's sultry voice rang through the room.

A sigh of content escaped Lauren's mouth and she ushered the succubus inside. "Bo, how are-" she was cut off by a rumbling growl escaping her belly. Placing a hand on the taught muscles, Lauren smiled apologetically.

"I thought you might be hungry," the succubus said as she winked.

Brown eyes widened with happiness as, the reason for her growling stomach, Bo raised her hand and a delicious smelling brown bag came into view. There was a smiling face that was associated with many a Chinese restaurant and Lauren's lips curled with mirth.

"Come on, sit down," Lauren urged, lightly touching her girlfriend's wrist as she moved past her.

"Thought you'd never ask."

While Bo made her way to the island, placing the Chinese food onto the marble counter, Lauren detoured from the route and eyed her samples before she walked into the kitchen. "Would you like a plate?"

"No, we won't need them," Bo whispered, directly behind Lauren.

The succubus had moved so fast that the doctor didn't even hear her coming, and her warm breath was on the nape of her neck. Closing her eyes and sighing with content, Lauren slowly turned around and looked into her girlfriend's eyes.

"Bo..." Lauren started, "I'm sorry about-"

"Hey, it's okay," Bo cut her off and placed a hand on her cheek. It slid down slowly to the woman's collarbones, and then dropped entirely until they picked up the woman's hands in hers. "I trust you and if you didn't tell me about Tamsin, there had to have been a reason. I mean," Bo continued, "it's not like we have to go through all our exes because I think that'd take little under five seconds to explain on my side."

The desired reaction was brought forth from Lauren by Bo's joke, a smile and an eye flick to the ceiling, and the succubus grinned.

Lauren still owed it to Bo. Still wanted to tell the woman that she loved why they had to be thrown from one another by a random blonde fae. "I didn't think she would do that... I mean, I never thought she would come back. She left a long time ago, and I'm different now."

"We don't have to talk about this," Bo whispered, her eyes darting down to Lauren's lips and back to her eyes.

"Just let me, okay?"

There was a pause before the succubus nodded her head and stepped away from the blonde. She slowly sat onto the stool that was placed by the island and her undivided attention was on her girlfriend.

Lauren wrung her fingers together before she spoke, "I was a slave, Bo. I was indoctrinated into this," there was a laugh that escaped her throat, "insanity. After Nadia fell into her coma, I was always trying to find a cure. Trying to do anything to get her out of it. It was so hard by myself in this new world, Bo. But I could deal with it. Tamsin... she made it slightly better for me; on occasion. She'd use her connections as the Morrigan's right hand to put pressure on the Ash at the time; to help me whenever I needed to get out of the compound and away for awhile. She did so much for me. In a sick way she even made me feel like I was..." There was another feigned smile and she looked into brown eyes. "I love you, Bo. You know that, right, baby?"

"Hey, I know. I know, Lauren." Bo immediately stood from her seat and walked the small space to her girlfriend. "I'm glad you had someone back then; to help you," Bo reiterated as she looked into brown eyes.

There was a soft smile, that turned into warm lips crashing together, and Lauren sighed with content as she parted her lips for the succubus' tongue languid access inside. A warm feeling encompassed her, the fact Bo had been okay with her explanation of Tamsin, that she was holding her waist like that, pressing them further together... Lauren knew she had been right to tell her girlfriend about the valkyrie and she smiled, her eyes closed, when Bo pulled away from her and she licked her lips, tasting her lover.

Opening her eyes slowly, oh so slowly, Lauren's heart skipped a beat when she looked straight into electric blue eyes and not their chocolate brown abode. A wicked smile was playing on the succubus' lips as she looked down toward her girlfriend's body, and she looked back into Lauren's eyes with a seductive glance. Her hands, that were still holding the doctor close to her, keeping their pelvises connected, were trying to get under the blonde's shirt to scramble across skin.

Why would she try to touch her skin?

Eyes blue...

She would try to get her clothes off first, not try to run her fingers under clothes.

Yes she would, the doctor challenged her mind, she did it before.

Were her eyes blue before?

"Bo?" Lauren hesitantly asked, a chill going through her body at the realization that had just dawned on her.

"Mmm-" Bo hummed, her eyes slightly closed in that so familiar seductive look, her lips pulled into a grin. Her hands still tried to come in contact with flesh, slowly pulling up the doctor's pink cardigan.

She had to stop her before she reached warm skin. For some reason Lauren could not fathom, she had to stop her girlfriend before those delicate fingers brushed up her spine.

"I'm busy, Bo," Lauren said more definitely. Her hands went up and pressed down the succubus' and she smiled kindly.

Bo's voice was deathly, "Is there a problem here?"

Taken aback, Lauren replied, "No, babe. I'm just really busy with my science. The boy is dying and-"

"Oh," a sudden gasp escaped her girlfriend as blue eyes disappeared into brown, "yeah, the boy." A soft hand left Lauren's back, that had just reached skin, and it went to her lips as she swallowed hard. "I need to find Dyson and-" cutting over the valkyrie's name, Bo continued, "he thinks we've found some leads on the case."

"That's great," Lauren pressed, her hands going down to her wardrobe to straighten it out. "Just be careful, okay?"

Bo smiled and gave a peck on the doctor's lips, "I'm always careful.

It took a moment for the succubus to leave after that, her head was not held low but Lauren could feel a certain energy coming off of her. As the doctor sat back down on her stool, facing her microscope but not looking into it, her emotions roiled inside of her along with her rapid thoughts.

Was there something wrong with Bo? Is that why Tamsin, the damn protective Tamsin, had pulled Bo away and said such profane questions? Was she still, after all these years, trying to protect her?

No, she decided. There would be no reason. She trusted Bo, there was nothing _wrong_ with Bo, and if there was someone- if not Bo herself- would tell her.

Her standing in the fae crept up into her mind and she placed a hand on her forehead in thought.

_Would they?_

* * *

Across town, maybe forty-five minutes or an hour- the amount of time it took from the creaking warehouse back to the doctor's establishment was still up for debate- two new partners were sitting in their police cruiser looking out to the wood and steel of the storehouse. The silence that descended upon them was not unexpected, more like thankfully gracious, and the valkyrie had no intention of interrupting it.

_They_ had gotten a lead from the nurses at the light fae compound, when she thought _we_, Tamsin meant Dyson, saying the boy was mumbling about a warehouse off of Mulberry and Pike in the business section of the pier. Deciding to check it out, Dyson had called Tamsin the moment he found out the news and there they were. Sitting in an uncomfortable silence while they scanned the perimeter. Dyson no doubt thinking of why Bo was at Lauren's, and Tamsin thinking about solely the doctor.

She looked out the window after she had looked down to a vibrating phone, saw the succubus' name, and heard her partner pick up and speak. They were talking about the case, something Tamsin didn't think the succubus need know as she wasn't a real detective anyways- not like the valkyrie had really taken a full course on it, but rather had it given to her since the higher ups thought she had the standing for it. She _was _a detective in the 19th century looking for Jack the Ripper for gods' sake, and she was still looking out the window when her partner's irritating grumbling voice broke through the car.

"Bo will be here in thirty."

"Guess there's no longer a reason to debate," Tamsin sighed as she mentally scratched out the forty minutes it would take to get to the warehouse in her mind. So the doctor's was thirty minutes away from there...

"What?"

Tamsin shook her head and said, "Nothing," before continuing her scan of outside. It wasn't like she was really looking for any disruption of the vicinity, the people that had killed the boy were far more intelligent than that, and she was more so making a show of it so her partner wouldn't continue the conversation that had been shut down quickly on the ride over here.

It did not work, however.

"You can't take Kenzi like that again," the man said gruffly, his voice low and threatening.

It annoyed her. "She was drunk off her ass and she needed to get out of there," Tamsin defended herself, if not for the first time that day. It was one thing to care enough, and it was another to simply not want further argument. "It was a halfway bar on neutral territory. Did you think a human would be safe even there?"

"Trick knew to take care of her when Bo isn't around. You're Dark and-"

"And how would I have known, wolf? I'm new in town, remember."

Dyson's cornflower blue eyes turned on pale green. "We all know you would have gotten intel off the Morrigan before being put with us. So what's her endgame?"

Tamsin sighed and looked back outside. "Contrary to popular believe, Dyson, I don't care what the Morrigan wants me to do."

The detective's voice was hesitant but he still pressed, "Thought you were all for pledging fealty to someone."

"Like you, wolf?"

Silence enveloped the car again and Dyson smiled halfheartedly. "I still don't trust you."

Tamsin shrugged and said, "You never will. But we can still be partners."

"You won't try to stab me in the back when I'm not looking?"

"Not part of the plan," Tamsin confirmed.

A chuckle escaped him and he looked out the driver's side window. A moment passed until he asked, "Did the Morrigan put you here to harm Bo?"

_What is it with them and the succubus! _"Yes," Tamsin spoke calmly, "but you haven't been listening."

"What are you-" Dyson cut off when he saw something moving in his peripheral. "A man moving at ten o' clock into the warehouse. Doesn't seem to be carrying anything."

Tamsin saw his eyes turn back to normal from their black and gold abode, and she straightened up in her seat. "We gonna wait or move in now?"

"If there's something going down and this guy was stupid enough to come to the front, we'll miss the meeting if we wait. But Bo..."

"So we go now," Tamsin confirmed as she got out of the car, her holstered glock strapped to her hip. It was a different issue than she was naturally supposed to have, but no one in the precinct really cared about it to ask- it wasn't like they would have enough courage to step up to Tamsin anyways.

Dyson sighed, he would have rather waited for backup being in the form of a voluptuous brunette, but he softly closed his car door along with Tamsin and walked to the building.

They did not pull out their weapons, they rarely needed to, and the new partners cautiously made their way to the warehouse door they had watched the man walk through. It was more like a sheet of jagged metal in front of a gaping hole than a door, and Dyson carefully moved it slightly to the side so that they could squeeze inside.

A wave of warm air hit them upon entering, and they wondered how hot it had to be in such a place without all of the heavy machinery they could see on and creating friction. It looked as if the suspended giant brown bowls, that would pour out molten hot liquid it seemed, had been in disuse for centuries and Tamsin briefly wondered what they could have been building in that place. Forgetting about it, she watched her partner's hand raise up in a halting gesture, and she stood behind him as he listened. She wondered if he focused hard enough if he could hear her rolling her eyes.

When he moved his hand to the side, Tamsin knew he was motioning to get her moving. The warehouse opened into a large room with conveyer belts and large spaces in between the lanes. It was not easy to hide behind anything, but there were large crates that were unmarked and out of place of the olden and rusted building, and Tamsin instantly knew that they could be used for hiding purposes. She wondered what could have been inside them, maybe the objects the man was here to buy, and she briefly thought of the one thing that had not crossed her mind since starting the case.

The kid could have been in on it.

It would have been simple, something so minute that they wouldn't pick up on until this very moment. The man could have been there to buy something- anything, really. And that left conjecture for the kid to have been as well.

I mean, Tamsin thought, what good would it be to come to a warehouse at night with no one else around? A secret evil henchman club?

She heard faint whispers from across the large room, decidedly away and out of sight of the containers, and she took the opportunity to begin to find a loose crevice to dig her fingers into and pry.

She had to know what was inside the crates. If not for the opinion she had formed of the kid with her spinning thoughts, for at least herself and the item she was made to find.

Tamsin had to know if what she was in the right place. If what she had been looking for for years was in her vicinity.

As she tried to pry open the crate, as she had found a loosened plank to begin to pull at, the hair on the back of Tamsin's neck began to raise along with the ones on her arm. She didn't have to turn, she didn't need to, for her long training and days as a warrior already told her that she had been spotted by some type of patrol- and that the thing behind her wasn't quite human. She felt it's stinking breath on the nape of her neck and she looked to her left, even if she wouldn't see the creature as it was directly behind her.

She had no weapon, no _real_ weapon Tamsin thought as her gun was not there for using, but because the humans required every detective to wear one. She was still too weak to use her valkyrie powers, and Dyson was on the other side of the room, most likely closer to the whispering voices and away from Tamsin to do any good.

Regardless, she had to act now, or it would first.

Spinning around, Tamsin's left arm swinging behind her more to distract her enemy than to really wound him, and her plan worked perfectly when a rough hand clamped down on the flesh before her elbow. Quickly achieving her circle, her left foot planted firmly in the ground as the ball of her right foot left the cement and she was standing on her toes. The usable momentum from the spin was cultivated firmly into her right arm, and Tamsin knew her swing was fast and sound.

If it were a cartoon, air would have displaced around them at how hard the valkyrie hit her mark- the left cheek- and she would have smiled for the man's eyes were closed and his head tilted to the side. But there was no room for such antics as the man's face was not contorted into that of pain, but annoyance. Opening his brown eyes slowly, he turned his head much faster, knocking Tamsin's hand aside with the movement, and his forehead came bolting into the valkyrie's.

Before she could curse at the blunt force, she felt herself being picked off of the ground and her body soaring through the air. Tamsin's right shoulder hit the ground hard and her teeth clenched as she skidded with still unused momentum. Finally coming to a stop, she got to her feet instantly and looked back at her attacker.

Her heart almost stopped in her chest when she realized what kind of aura she was seeing around him.

"So you're a troll," she said, trying to make her voice sound nonchalant and somewhat succeeding. "Seem a bit big though. Half giant parents?"

Instead of answering, the troll moved much more quickly than Tamsin would have thought, his giant's blood having the more prominent genes. That was impossible, the valkyrie knew, but it was being defied right in front of her eyes.

Blocking the hit was much harder than Tamsin initially thought. She had raised both of her hands in a cross like fashion in front of her face, making sure her left would take the hit more than her right, and when the troll punched her, she felt her feet skidding in the cement. Tamsin knew if they fought on the hard packed earth, her feet would go straight through and into the dirt with the force.

Letting her left arm take more of the damage, Tamsin quickly sidestepped with her right as the troll was still not able to dodge quickly enough from his own move, and she reacquainted her right fist back into the troll's cheek. This time, however, Tamsin did not stop there and she removed her left arm from underneath the man's fist and brought it firmly into his stomach. He was stunned, she saw as she moved her face back into view of his, and she quickly grabbed his shoulders and kneed him just below his ribs.

If she was going to lose, she wasn't going down without a fight.

She cursed herself for not bringing along some type of knife, or spinning blades she had acquired over the centuries, and she wondered how she had been so stupid as to not. Tamsin was always ready for a fight, a battle, this just so happened to be the moment that she was not.

Tamsin was doing well, her darting movements getting the better of her opponent, but the initial shock had worn off just as fast as it was enacted.

The troll caught her fist with ease. It had been about to connect with his face, it would have broken his nose and one of his eye sockets, but a hand went up just as quickly and encompassed the fist. He moved it to his right, so that his eyes could bore into Tamsin's, and he must have been satisfied when he put his left hand to the valkyrie's ball socket of her arm and pushed hard, for he smiled in amusement at the woman's brief cry of pain.

Tamsin tried to step away from her opponent, her left arm hanging uselessly and dislocated by her side- it was most likely broken or a hair-line fracture from her block earlier as she felt resonating pain all along it- but the troll quickly grabbed her throat and kneed _her _in the stomach. Revenge, she thought as she sputtered out a cough, her right hand going to his wrist in protest. She would have tried to kick him, maybe even a punch with her good arm, but going against a troll with no weapon to speak of was almost assuredly death.

And that death was fast approaching her.

When he brought her back to face him fully, his yellow smile had not left his lips, and the hand that the valkyrie clutched released itself from her throat. The troll's right hand held the valkyrie's face as his left began to mercilessly punch the woman over and over in varying spots across her body.

But most importantly- her face.

With more and more wailing punches, the less heat the valkyrie felt coursing through her body to the areas of the assault. Her cheek was cut and bleeding, the only wound that would most likely be on her face even though for a human it would swell up with tissue fluid or whatever science mumbo jumbo she wasn't thinking about at the moment. She was more worried about her stomach and her ribs as she felt most of them bruised or on their way to being broken already and some type of internal bleed that could have been caused.

Tamsin wasn't a wilting flower, but damn was her body going through the abuse for the century. If she didn't stop it soon, there would be real damage to her, rather than something she could heal from in a little over a weeks time.

Weakness pushed against the valkyrie's shoulders like an old familiar and tattered cloak. Her translucent green eyes sunk into her skull and was replaced with blackness, her full lips giving way to cracked lines that of which an old doll would sport.

"You weren't ordered to be in this area," she breathed, her right cheek hurting and stinging against the trickling blood.

All too quickly the man stopped. His balled fist was near his face as he had reared it back to deliver another punch. His eyes were wide and they were visibly trying to tear themselves away from the valkyrie's. Tamsin knew if she wanted to, blood would trickle from his nose as his brain tried to override the doubt and misconceptions the valkyrie was seeping into that meaty gray matter. She wouldn't be so cruel... would she?

"I wasn't ordered to be here," the man repeated dumbly. His voice sounded like nails against chalkboard and it was gruff and scared.

"You were going to jump off the pier when you got into work."

"I was..."

"Yeah, and you were going to let yourself sink to the very bottom. The little fishies will get their fill."

A tear rolled down the muscular man's face. "Get their fill."

The moral line of right and wrong blurred before her as she looked into the troll's eyes. She was telling him to kill himself. Telling him to die. She was a valkyrie. A Maiden of Death. But not this kind.

The troll slowly released her, and if it was not for her dwindling strength, she would have face planted straight into the ground. The man slowly turned, beginning to walk out of the door as her doubt fully took hold of him.

No. Not like this.

"Hey," Tamsin called as he was only mere inches from the door; knowing all too well that the group of people in the far room wouldn't hear her. When the man turned, his eyes filled with tears, she spoke more kindly, "You weren't supposed to come to work today; or ever. Go home."

The man's voice sounded relieved, his stricken voice-box scratching against unshed tears, "Go... home."

He left the building.

And Tamsin collapsed.


End file.
