Chapter Text
Running, that's all there was, just running. She had to get the girl somewhere safe.
Safe, she laughed to herself as her lungs began to ache, there was nowhere in this complex, in the whole world, where she and the girl would be safe.
There was a body coming up, his face was torn from what looked like a grizzly's claw marks, his blood pooled around the flooring beside and around him, and the blonde curtly jumped over it as she extended her hand for the girl to run around it. She wondered if she should have cut around it as well, show respect or something, but she was in the battlefield, and she knew there was no type of courtesy any longer for the dead.
The blonde's eyes had to keep pinned in front of her, her ears tuned only toward her running breath, or else she would stop and help the wounded but yet to die fae warriors around her.
She had to get the girl to safety. That was the only mission.
The human knew the girl trailing behind her would never forget that odor that was invading their nostrils, the wash of red liquid and darkness as they passed by the fae on the cold stone and linoleum ground. She forgot for a moment that the brunette beside her had lived for centuries, had waged battles the blonde could not even fathom, and it was all hidden behind her child-like features.
The different rooms, their double paned doors, blurring as the two women ran by, huffing out long streams of air to only drink in more; futile attempts to stop the burn in their lungs from the deprivation of air.
“The commander couldn't have done this,” the girl said raggedly behind her. Probably only to fill the stale air with something other than their strained breathing. “No way could the commander do all this.”
“Whatever is traveling down these halls is not the commander,” Lauren said furiously, out of breath as she tried not to trip on a smear of blood which she had not seen. With little less fury and a little more compassion she said, “It's not Tamsin.”
“Then what is it?”
“Shh, shh,” Lauren hushed, instead of having to dredge up what she thought could have made her lover turn into such a ravenous beast, dropping down into a corner which wasn't easily discovered. The human had found it almost four years ago after looking around the light fae complex on her own. It was down a long hallway that no one usually frequented, even though the murderous valkyrie had come down there herself only moments before to kill escaping guards, and the corner was in the deepest part of the area. There would be no way someone could find them if they just stayed quite!
“We can't just stay here,” the girl whispered, looking frantically into the eyes of the doctor. “We have to get out; get to the Dal, that's where your friends are, right?”
“If we leave this place, we'll be dead. If she's on a rampage... no one is safe.” Lauren wiped her bloodied hands onto her dark jeans, her fingers leaving nasty marks on her newly bought garments, and she kept frantically brushing them down her thighs. She had to get the blood off.
“But she didn't kill us,” the girl almost yelled, and stopped as a hand clamped tightly across her mouth. Even as old as the girl was, she was still frightened by the way the doctor- no, she was a warrior now- glared at her.
Lauren looked daggers at her and said, “She still killed, and is still killing, everyone else in this facility. What does that say?” Without taking her hand from the girl's mouth, after thinking for some time, she said, “We've got to get to Trick after all of this has died down; and only when it's over. He'll know what to do to help her, he always-”
The blonde suddenly stopped as a freshly decapitated head rolled down into the crevice the two women were hiding. A blood spurt from the neck splattering the young girls' face, taking all of her power to not scream bloody murder from the sudden surprise. Not that it would have helped if she did stay quite, as just as Lauren perceived the severed head, it's eyes rolled into the back of it's head, a callused hand reached down into the small space they encompassed.
Picking Lauren up by the collar, the assailant quickly lifted her the few inches from the crevice and threw her back behind her soon grabbing for the girl as well. The doctor hit the wall harshly and she slid to her ass as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to stop her head from spinning from the pain as her ears began to ring.
Where once was almost transparent green eyes now burned violet, and the valkyrie that had grabbed Lauren looked back towards her as she put the girl down beside her gently. She didn't look angry, or upset, or anything resembling someone who had just taken the lives of over thirty sum people. They looked almost... sad.
A hand reached out towards her, Tamsin's eyes burned a brighter shade of purple, and suddenly everything dimmed around Lauren's eyes, until everything went dark.
+++
The blonde doctor, lost in memory, barely realized when the black converted SUV she sat in rolled slowly in front of her apartment complex. The sun was just about to set behind it, it had already reached mid-day and she had no idea or memory of the day waning, and she looked up towards the orange sunlight slowly. Her brown eyes flitted across the sky and she wondered briefly how something so beautiful could happen on a day like this.
A day of fear and blood.
Shaking her head slightly, so slightly that the female driver that had pulled the car into park couldn't tell with her heightened eyesight, and she smiled humorlessly towards herself. Her eyes moved away from the window slowly and the woman looked into her lap where she slowly knitted then pulled her fingers apart. She wanted to roll her eyes at the nervous habit she had picked up so long ago, a long time ago and far away the blonde thought, and instead looked up toward the dash of the car.
The cars interior was just like the outside, black and shining, and she wondered if Carol her neighbor that was just coming out of the complex could see through the tinted glass. No, the woman thought mildly, even with Carol's superior fae eyesight, she wouldn't be able to see glass that was tinted and one way. Because that's what it was, she thought as her brown orbs slowly watched Carol her fairy neighbor walk in front of the car, looking at it suspiciously. The woman would not be able to see inside even if she tried, and the blonde had to stop her snort of disdain from reaching up her throat and cascading from her mouth.
Carol probably knew it was a fae vehicle if she really tried, her fairy ability could sense another of her kind in the vicinity, and instead of poking her nose into business that didn't have anything to do with her- which was a very hard thing for the dark haired woman to do- she simply walked to her ordinary looking gray car, got inside, and drove away without a second glance. She probably knew if a fae drove the tinted car, it meant they didn't want any company, and the fairy was already frightened from all the late night visits the blonde had gotten since she moved to the apartment in the first place.
Looking over towards her driver, the doctor saw a very pretty fiery red haired female, her hair cut short and she had freckles spanning across her nose. In any other circumstance, the blonde would think she was beautiful, but not now.
God, not now.
The red head was still staring up at the apartment complex, probably compiling in her large brain how many exits and tenants would be living in a place that size, and it gave the blonde enough time to look at the driver and study her like the woman could do so easily. Her whiskey orbs traveled from the woman's face, which held cobalt colored eyes, and down to what she was wearing.
The fae driver was a warrior, there was no doubt about that, as she had a tight fitting black vest across her chest, presumably to hold her ammo clips and grenades she would most likely be carrying. Speaking of ammo, the blonde thought as her eyes traveled down to the side of the driver, where a compact looking black gun sat idly on her likewise black pant thigh. Her days in the military told the blonde it was a sleek M1911, which was basically a glorified .45 caliber handgun, and she wondered why the fae didn't use something that was more for assassinations that packed a punch but didn't leave much of a sound like the 9mm. Then again, the woman corrected herself, the fae beside her wasn't there for an assassination job and the gun she carried was excellent and light weight to pull out quickly if danger were to present itself.
Like what, the blonde snorted as she looked back towards her apartment complex. Like if I ran away? If I just... ran away.
And oh did the blonde which she could just run far from that place. Because that would be real danger, she thought as she looked down and tried to think of how long it'd take her to open the SUV door, actually get out of the car, and begin to sprint down the street. The fae beside her was no doubt ordered to keep her alive, what else could she do really, and knew if she killed the blonde things would get... messy. Or messier, the blonde thought as she rolled her eyes slightly as she cocked her head to the side. So there was really no danger posed to her, but that didn't mean the fae wasn't allowed to show bruit force if she needed to; God knew the new owner of the light fae compound would do as much.
Shaking her head from the thought of receiving bodily injury from someone she cared for, the blonde sat there silently in the passenger side of the car and looked out in front of her. She remembered Christmas time like it was yesterday, the snow and the way the lighter blonde had almost jumped onto her bed to get her awake; one of the first and only times the detective had not left in the night. How they had gone outside, how the lighter blonde had looked up into the sky and stuck out her tongue as if it was her first time in the snow. The doctor had smiled and laughed, pulled down her black beanie she had worn to keep her ears from freezing, took the woman's hand, and led her to a very special place, one of the doctor's secret places, and had skated on the frozen over pond there.
Looking up to the wooden area now, however, showed nothing but light ferns and grown trees that stood barring the hidden path towards the pond. The woman tried not to smile at the memory of their first snowball fight, of the blonde's first Christmas with her, and of how she had gotten the woman to get out onto the ice in her first ice skating event.
It was a day of firsts, Christmas, and it seemed so far away from her mind in that moment.
Instead, she shook that memory off as well- there was no room for happiness and laughter- and she looked down towards her hands as they trembled slightly. She had to get away, maybe get to the Dal or run far away from the city entirely, she had to or she was going to be made to go back to that fearful place.
The doctor had been about to consider a fool proof plan to really try to escape, her eyes darting toward the driver and back towards the door, but the red head next to her finally spoke for the first time that car ride, her Irish drawl dripping from her lips like sweet melodies.
“Dr. Lewis, I think it's time to go inside.”
+++
It wasn't difficult getting to Lauren's apartment door. The red headed fae beside her had allowed the woman to walk in front of her without any such restraint, and the doctor took it with stride. However, Lauren thought as she rolled her eyes as she sauntered in front of the woman, the fae knew she could capture the blonde with little effort if she chose to run anyways; and they wouldn't want to cause a scene amongst a random fae coming out of their respective apartment. However, it wasn't as though the fae in the building wouldn't see the sidearm strapped to the woman's thigh in passing and stand clear immediately for fear of getting involved in authoritative fae business.
Placing her key into the locking mechanism after digging it out of a blood encrusted pocket, Lauren slowly unlocked her door and walked inside. Without a word from her, the fae stood outside of the domain and watched the doctor with sapphire eyes.
Turning, Lauren gasped slightly and said, “Oh, I apologize. Would you please come inside?”
The fae nodded curtly, her only thanks, and passed the threshold of the establishment. Her hands were behind her back and her torso out a ways, the standard stance when approaching a senior officer or standing at the ready, and Lauren briefly wondered if the woman was prior military. Did she know of Lauren's rank, or was she simply lost in habitual behavior?
Shaking her head, the doctor moved toward her research desk slowly, looked down, and flicked her eyes back toward the fae.
“May I get something to drink?” Lauren asked curtly, her mind dredging up buried memories of when she first entered the fae; of how she had to ask every time she wanted to do something so small for fear of doing the wrong thing and being executed.
Blue eyes turned on her, the fae had been scouting around the room slightly, and when the question was addressed to her, she immediately snapped back to the doctor. Looking toward the kitchen, all she could see from the doorway anyway, and assessing that the human wouldn't dare retrieve a knife to attack, the Irish fae nodded and gave Lauren her permission.
The doctor nodded back, hoping the red head wouldn't see her anxiety at being back in her apartment, and she turned and walked into her kitchen. Reaching for a glass out of the cupboard, Lauren slowly placed it onto the counter and then under the faucet. As she drank, her eyes would dart back toward the fae still standing in the middle of the doorway, looking around the doctor's home, and she gulped down the first liquid she had been able to down since two days prior.
Closing her eyes, and thinking of the last few days, seemed to be a strategic mishap, and Lauren had to open them almost immediately. Crimson liquid, death, screams, and more blood washed over her vision and if she hadn't been so accustomed to the first day of those events, she would have dropped her glass and heard it break apart in the sink. With a shaking hand, Lauren slowly placed the empty cup back down onto the counter, and cleared her throat.
Drinking in a long stream of air seemed to calm her nerves and the doctor moved back toward her research desk; expelling the thoughts that threatened to cascade over her vision again. Sweeping her hands across most of the papers, she quickly got them into format and placed them at the side of the desk. Looking up she shakily said, “These will need to go with us. It'll take some time to retrieve everything from the computer.”
The fae's right arm swept in front of her and she slightly pulled the shirt away from her wrist; checking her watch. “How long?” she asked, her blue eyes coming back to rest on Lauren again.
The human gulped and said, “I don't know. It'll take more time than I originally planned.” Lauren looked up at the fae and saw she wasn't making any headway. Clearing her throat she said, “I-I mean I found more information before your... master-”
“She is not my master, she is the Sovereign,” the fae interrupted, looking daggers at the doctor.
“-your sovereign,” Lauren reprimanded, “pulled me away two days ago. It will take more time to download onto the flash drive. Is that... acceptable?”
The Irish fae looked down at her watch again and said, “We still have time before the Sovereign has us due back. Continue.”
With a nod, Lauren looked back toward her open laptop and thanked God she still had it running from the previous days, and it had not lost power. Typing furiously, Lauren's whiskey eyes kept flicking back and forth from compiling the data and towards the fae who was moving around her apartment now, her curiosity getting the better of her as all types of her kind did.
Trying to start up some type of conversation, as the doctor's cell phone had been taken from her immediately and she couldn't very well email for help, Lauren said, “Your species is elves, right?” When the woman looked back at her, she tried to smile after she faltered.
“Yes,” the fae said, turning away from Lauren again to examine a small round placement table that looked like a tree stump.
“I worked on a elven child in the past,” Lauren continued, her eyes flying back and forth, “she was a very kind little girl; very bright.”
“As all elven children are.”
“Yes.” Lauren gulped as she bore a hole in the computer screen. If the report was accurate... “I-I have compiled all of the information, but it will take some time to download.”
“How long?” the fae said, coming over, almost leaning on the doctor's shoulder as she bent, and checking if Lauren was lying or not. She had put down a very expensive vase the doctor had bought when she first moved into the house, and thankfully the fae set it back where it had belonged.
“Ten to twenty minutes, at most.”
The red head checked her watch and looked back toward the computer, where the download rate had just begun. “We cannot bring the laptop back with us?”
“Not unless you want me to go through all of this again,” Lauren said, her brown orbs flying across the screen, “and some of the data may be lost since I can't save any of this. Besides,” Lauren knew there was no need to add any technical mumbo jumbo, as Bo would call it, to her speech even though she knew it was habit, and simply added, “your sovereign told you to bring the data back with us. If we make her wait any longer, she might get angry.”
Lauren saw the fae gulp slightly, oh so slightly but it was there, and she looked down to hide her half smile of victory.
“This is acceptable.” The fae looked back toward her watch and said, “But we must leave immediately when it is finished.”
“I wouldn't dream of anything else.” Lauren smiled and watched the fae look her up and down wearily. Dirty human, Lauren thought with a smile still on her lips, she thinks I'm a dirty human.
Passing across the room, the woman began playing with the vase again and Lauren moved from around her desk. Tapping her fingers behind her on the edge of the desk, she said, “Would it be alright if I went to take a shower?” When the fae turned she added quickly, “I haven't showered in two days. I would think your sovereign would want me smelling nice, don't you?”
“It was difficult arriving here in the inclosed space...” The fae looked over toward the doctor and the latter tried to hide her smile of disdain. She was tired of every fae in her life thinking they were better than her just because of their superior genes. “This is allowed, but be quick about it.”
“I will,” Lauren said, her hands flying up as her fingers slid through the air, “thank you. I won't be long.”
+++
The scruffy blond man shut his door swiftly and walked around his vehicle. Looking toward the compound he served in as he passed the nose of his car, he quickly got to the door and opened it with a smile.
“Milady.”
“You do this to all your girls?” the gypsy girl asked.
“Only the ones who have a thing for the boss.” The man smiled and looked over as the girl's face turned beet red, “Say, do you think you can get my hours lessened.” Before he reached the end of his sentence he began to laugh and hold up his arm to absorb the slaps his friend gave him from such an inquiry.
“Hale and I, psh, we're just... you know, friends,” Kenzi said aggressively, looking up at the wolf shifter and back towards the compound.
“Oh right, right,” Dyson whispered, falling into step beside the gypsy girl, “so there's a good reason for wanting to come suddenly after mentioning Hale, and not before.”
Kenzi looked up at his smiling and nodding face. “Gross, I'll vom,” she said, the only comeback she could say without giving away her true intentions. She was so not going to admit the wolf was totally right, and instead she simply walked beside him without a word.
It had been only a few days after they had freed the trapped slaves from the compound that Dyson had witnessed Hale and Kenzi sneaking off more “randomly” from the Dal Riata. Where once was simple teasing amongst friends, it was replaced with more longing stares and sweet smiles. It didn't take a genius to know what was happening between the two and Dyson wanted to ask how Hale's ascension to Ash went and the after party he had surely had. He smirked when he thought of his two friends finally accepting their attraction toward each other and finally becoming mates. He continued to smile, which drew some attention from the gypsy girl, as he continued to walk toward the building.
Before they reached the compound Dyson looked down and said, “How is Bo doing?”
Kenzi, who would have said some type of quip to accommodate for earlier, looked up at her friend and sighed as she reached up a hand to pat his back. “She's taking her mom doing a Houdini again pretty hard. You think Hale has any news?”
Dyson shook his head. “If he did he would have asked me here himself.”
The gypsy girl looked down as she nodded and said, “Yeah, why's the Trickster having us come here anyways; what are we picking up?”
Shrugging, Dyson sniffed the air and furrowed his brow. “He just wants me to ask if Lauren has the blue print worked out,” he said, looking down at Kenzi and smiling, “to become fae.”
“Oh that,” replied Kenzi, “the specs to become an all powerful fae-bot. What I'd kill for those.”
Dyson laughed, “I bet it'd make Hale so happy!”
“Keep that up and I'll skin you into a rug!” Kenzi yelled playfully, punching her friend in the arm as they came around the corner the doorway to where the building was housed.
Just as they got to the doors, where no fae guard stood the friends found, the wind picked up suddenly and blew straight towards them. Dyson sniffed slightly, uncaring but a little concerned that there was no guard, and just as he began to retrieve the remnants of smells from the air, he quickly grabbed Kenzi's arm and stood deathly still.
“Something's wrong,” the wolf-shifter whispered, sniffing the air again as his eyes devolved into yellow and black.
“What do you smell, D-Man?” Kenzi asked, her hand instantly retrieving the hilt of her small katana from her ever present backpack of endless supplies.
“Blood... death...” Dyson stopped to look down towards his friend, eyes slowly turning back to blue and white. “Get back to the car and stay there while I see what's happened.”
Kenzi scoffed, “I'm not letting you go in there alone! We're partners and for better or for worse, which by the way it can only be better, you're stuck with me.”
“Kenzi,” Dyson growled, “when I tell you to leave, you listen to me, understand?”
“Yeah, I got it. Now it's time to go Kenzi-Cop on whoever thought it was a good idea to attack the light fae compound.”
With a nod, the detective and the collector of rare wallets walked slowly into the stone hallways of the compound, hoping with their very last breath Hale would still be alive.
+++
Walking down the pristine stone hallways seemed to be a less lucrative business, as the partners in crime had been walking for five minutes with diminishing hearts and cloudy thoughts. It had been only the first few meters they had walked into the strangely heated compound when the familiar hallways turned into that of a battlefield. Dead bodies, blood, and internal organs and gore marked almost every crevice of the place as the two walked slowly down, trying to reach the heart of the complex, and it took all Kenzi had to not begin to run for fear of her newly ordained boyfriend's demise.
“Everything's going to be fine, right Dyson?” Kenzi whispered, trying to stop her erratic heartbeat. There had been a lot she had witnessed on the streets, when she lived in sewer systems, but the carnage that wrought the light fae compound was too much even for a wizened woman like herself. “Hale's going to be sitting pretty in the throne room and it's all going to be okay.”
“We've got to get to Lauren's lab,” Dyson replied, trying to not look back towards the girl and her fear. He had to have one mission, to find out what had happened at the compound, and everything else: keeping Kenzi safe, seeing if Lauren was alright, and finding Hale, was on secondary. If whatever had done the compound in was still inside, he would be sure to get Kenzi out immediately, sacrificing his own life for hers. The wolf wished the gypsy girl had gotten back to the car, they could have called Trick, Bo, anybody that could possibly help them, as the thick stone walls of the compound, even with many a window in sight, let little signal inside to be of much use if the tower was destroyed to keep everyone silent. If they at least got to Lauren's lab, they could find a landline to call out on, or use their cell phones as her lab had it's own landline running under it- so if the tower was cut from the rest of the compound, they would still be able to dial out-, and possibly find the doctor alive and safe trying to stabilize a few stragglers before they died.
And maybe even answers, Dyson thought as he went into a soft jog down the halls, making sure Kenzi kept up just behind him and none of them slipped in the rivers of blood marking the stones.
Finally getting to the lab, Dyson slowly placed his back a few inches away from the paned door, making sure Kenzi stopped just behind him as he had slowed, and tried to muster the courage to peek around the far right opened door. If whatever had taken out the guards were in the lab for some reason, he would most likely die instantly. Though, if he didn't look inside, there could be a chance he would miss a wounded Lauren and she would die without his help.
Taking in a whiff of air from the room, the wolf-shifter slowly recognized the newly acquired scent and turned his head to Kenzi. Looking into likewise blue eyes, the detective slowly nodded and waited for the girl to do the same. After she did, Dyson's courage crept up his chest with warmth and he elongated his fingers on his right hand into claws.
As the two entered the room, one with nails like razors, the other with a wicked “hi-yah” and her sword raised to her side, the friends witnessed the spotless lab; as if it was the only one that was untouched by the carnage outside, and saw a brunette girl they had met in passing sitting on the farthermost medical bed facing away from them. Dyson could barely pick up that she had been humming a few moments before, but when Kenzi had made her daring entrance, the brunette valkyrie had begun to whimper with fear.
“Keep an eye on the door,” Dyson huffed, his claws shrinking back into themselves as they became slight again. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the gypsy girl nod with determination written across her face and she raised her sword menacingly above her as she peered through the open door.
Turning back his main focus to the valkyrie he had met only two weeks prior, Dyson inched his way closer and reached out a hand. “Ætta, it's me,” Dyson said softly, only after speaking did he put his hand onto the girl's back. The brunette still flinched but she did not let out a scream. Coming around to face her fully, Dyson whispered, “Can you tell me what happened here?”
The girl's gray eyes slowly met blue. “You have to get out or she'll kill you.” It was spoken in no more than a rasping whisper and it effectively raised the hairs on the shifter's neck.
“Who did all of this?” Dyson pressed, “All the guards, is everyone in this facility dead? What about Hale?”
At the Ash's name, Kenzi stepped a few feet back from the door to hear the valkyrie's answer.
“I... I have to wait here for Lauren to get back. She's the only one that can stop her.” The girl looked up again, “You have to leave or she'll kill you next.”
Before Dyson could say a word, it was the gypsy girl that spoke, “I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but isn't this sounding an awful lot like a certain centuries old valkyrie's doing?”
Dyson looked up, “Kenzi, she wouldn't do something like this. There's no way Tamsin could do this much destruction.”
“If you don't take me away from here,” Ætta whimpered, clutching onto Dyson's shirt and balling it into a fist, “she'll destroy me and then Lauren.” The girl leaned in close and harshly whispered, “She'll kill.. everything.”
The fear in the girl's gray eyes was real and actual and Dyson had to backtrack at the pure intensity. “Kenzi,” he said, finally coming back into his bones, “get her out of here and to the car.”
“No way! I'm not leaving you in here with whacked out Tamsin; if she's on a rampage, I can calm her down.” Kenzi looked into the shifter's eyes, tried to convey the kinship the human and valkyrie shared together- if only slightly-, and knew she wasn't making any headway. “I can't just leave you, dude.”
“You're not leaving me, Kenzi.” Dyson moved through the small space between them and grabbed her shoulders slightly. “I'll find Hale, but I can't go on if I have to also protect you. Get to the car, and I'll be right behind you.”
“...You better not be lying, wolf breath.” Kenzi punched her close friend slightly in the arm, then after blinking rapidly she moved to Ætta's side. “Time to go, princess.”
Dyson watched solemnly as the human moved the valkyrie out of the lab without a second look back, for fear of coming back to the wolf or to not break whatever resolve she had come to, the girl did not look back. Instead of dwelling on it, Dyson took a deep breath, more than usual, and he put the smell of death, blood, and Tamsin out of his mind as he walked out of the lab and started to jog silently down the long hallway.
It wasn't a long way from the lab to the throne room, and Dyson pressed himself into the wall to not let a soul inside see him through the broken frosted glass paned doors. The blood accumulation and bodies were piled to the brim in the waiting room, and Dyson had to cover his nose slightly from the stench; they had all been sitting there for at least two days and their bodies reeked. Some of the bodies that were more recognizable had forming blisters on their skin, their bodies bloated. Dyson, before looking away, saw small streams of liquid leaking grotesquely out of the mouth, nose, and ears of the dead and he had to stop himself from retching. It had been a long time since he had seen these conditions, probably brought on so quickly by the strong heat wave running through the compound, and he wasn't fond of revisiting his past.
Looking around, he saw the two benches on either side of the doors were knocked over, presumably into the heads of two of the guards, as they came at a rest in their remains. The guard's misfortune helped the wolf shifter with much disdain, and he pressed against the wall tighter as he tried to peak into the room.
A small cut in the framed glass gave him ample vision into the throne room, and the first thing he witnessed made his heart skip a beat.
“You were her friend,” the violet eyed valkyrie was saying, her strength she was exuding just by speaking was extraordinary and it made the hairs on Dyson's neck stand on end, “and yet you did not give her freedom.”
“If I gave her the freedom you speak of,” the well spoken Ash said, his brown eyes staring defiantly upwards into purple, his cheeks slightly swollen from repeated abuse, his right eye black and blue, “she would have been dead before two days were up.”
“Protection could have been given to her, and yet you keep her your pet.” The valkyrie's foot came up to cross harshly into the Ash's face, his body falling to the floor as he could not stop himself for his hands were tied behind his back.
As he fell, Hale's eyes looked straight forward, into the broken glass of the doors, and saw none other than his former partner, no doubt there to rescue him. His brown orbs flicked back up to the valkyrie, who had looked up towards the ceiling with disdain, and his eyes rested back onto Dyson's. Shaking his head slightly, his face taught with fear, he got back onto his knees and looked at the valkyrie's lower torso in submission after groaning playfully and licking the thin line of blood from the corner of his lip.
“So what's your plan?” Hale asked sarcastically, understanding his fate better than his former partner did. “You're going to kill me, take over the light, so the people you care for won't be subjected to servitude?” He bit his bottom lip as he nodded, the valkyrie looking back down at him with what could have been sadness. “Guess what, when you go on this power trip, everyone you care for is going to die. I know you, Tamsin, that isn't what you want.”
The valkyrie quickly squatted down to eye level with the Ash, her hand falling to the hilt of the sword-Dyson wondered where she had gotten it as it was crafted metal from even before his birth- that was sheathed on her right side so it wouldn't scratch across the ground, she was so close to him that their noses almost touched and her face pulled up into a slight sneer in outrage. “Don't you ever speak to me as if you know me, Siren. I am not the one who keeps humans as slaves!”
“But you are the one that didn't care the fae have done it for centuries!” He challenged, his eyes never leaving the valkyrie's. “You found something so precious in this world that not many people ever find,” he became calm as he spoke, “I understand why this changed you. But you've gotta see that what you're doing here is wrong.”
“I'm trying to save them,” the valkyrie whispered, her eyes turning downcast as she moved slightly away from the Ash.
Dyson ducked back from the panel of broken glass and took a beat before looking back inward. He needed to get back to Kenzi soon, for fear the girl would follow his footsteps back inside and give away his position without meaning to.
His suspicions were correct, something had happened to Tamsin to turn her into this, something so primal that it shook the valkyrie out of her own foundation she had built for herself. Whatever was happening, it was directly linked to Lauren as the valkyrie girl had said, and Dyson wondered briefly if taking Ætta with them would prove certain and quick death for all those in the Dal. But no, he reprimanded, he could not leave the girl in this gore invested facility. She had probably been around longer than the wolf shifter himself, but there was still some things you did not allow individuals to witness.
The valkyrie came back over to stand in front of the Ash, her eyes dim violet now, her delicate fingers running through her hair. “Once I change the fae to deny human involvement as slaves, when the ones I care for are safe, then my plight will be over.”
Hale shook his head, trying not to groan at the total destruction of the road he was trying to pave in the valkyrie's mind. “If you do this, Tamsin, there won't be any change. The dark and light will rise up and they will kill you and take everything you love. Lauren, the valkyrie girl- Ætta, Kenzi, Dyson.” His eyes flicked toward the glass when he said the wolf's name, and the detective's ears perked up. “Just take me to my office at the Dal, Tamsin. There's a parchment in there that I've been drawing up already. It relents to the slavery of humans amongst the light, we will ask them to stay with us but if they don't, we will offer them protection. I haven't done it for Lauren yet because she's just too...” The siren stopped and bit down on his lip, afraid he had just destroyed, yet again, his argument.
The valkyrie's eyes burned a brighter shade of violet and she said, “Valuable?” Her nostrils flared and she paced around the Siren, making the wolf shifter have to press himself into the wall again.
There was no way to help Hale now. If Dyson went in there, guns blazing- or claws, he thought bitterly- Hale would be dead in moments, most likely along with the wolf. There must have been a reason he had not used his siren whistle the entire time he had been taken prisoner by the valkyrie, it had been at least two days since this catastrophe started, and he knew if not even Hale could take her down, the wolf had little chance himself. Kenzi would hate him, he knew, but whatever the woman standing in front of him had become, there was just no way she would hurt Hale.
Wasn't that right?
+++
Huffing, Dyson got back to his car with ease, jogging slightly faster than he had before, trying increasingly less to stay silent to get away from those violet eyes. Puffing out a stream of air as Kenzi moved over quickly to the passenger seat, the valkyrie girl in the back, he turned the keys that were already in the ignition.
“Whoa, wait, where's Hale?” Kenzi asked, her blue eyes flicking back toward the compound then to Dyson. “Yo, D-Man, where's Hale?”
“Tamsin's got him,” he said simply, turning the car in the parking lot and screaming out of the compounds vicinity. The valkyrie must have been so focused on the siren, she did not sense another set of people inside the light fae compound, and instead of seeing that as a fortuitous event, Dyson simply didn't want to keep up the running of his luck.
“What the shit does that mean?” The gypsy girl fumed, her body pivoted to stare at the wolf, seemingly to turn the wheel to drive back to the compound.
“He told me there's something that could possibly help us at the Dal. Whatever it is, he risked his life trying to get the message to me.” Dyson looked over to his friend, “Something's wrong with her, Kenzi. Her eyes... aren't normal. She smells, the air around her is... wrong.”
“Whatever this secret message is better be worth Hale's life,” Kenzi mumbled, sitting down in the seat properly as she looked out of the window, effectively ignoring any words the wolf would say to her.
Dyson couldn't attempt to feel miserable at the misfortune that had plagued the group, Hale, and now Tamsin. He just had to keep driving and hope Trick knew how to fix his partner. For if he didn't, Dyson thought he would have to do something... drastic.
+++
Lauren bent down slowly in her shower, her delicate fingers coming to rest along the curvature of her lips, silencing her effectively from the sobs that racked her body. Hot tears streamed from her eyes, falling and mixed as they washed down the drain with the steaming water that pattered on the curvature of her back. The sponge that had been secure in her hand fell uselessly onto the soft linoleum of the shower flooring, it's vanilla smelling contents washing down the drain without her noticing, and she was slightly aware of how happy she was that she had gotten to wash herself before wasting the nicely smelling body wash.
Happy, Lauren would think if she could at the time, what was happiness in the last three days of her existence? It had been the worst, more brutal than any day she had lived with the fae, and it was all because of her own doing; the woman she came to love's doing.
She barely noticed when her hair unmat, the thick coats of blood trailing down the drain as well as she wept. The woman had effectively placed shampoo, and then conditioner, in the rain of curls minutes before and she was still surprised that the dark liquid was still entrapped there.
Combing her now freshly fallen hair behind her ears, she placed her outstretched hands together to collect the warm water, and washed it over her face for clarity. Closing her eyes was not a good thing, Lauren thought as she stood slowly in the shower, standing under the rain of water without moving. She had been washing herself slowly, closing her eyes to bask in the moment as she had not taken a shower- and had been covered in dried blood- for two and a half days, and immediately when she had shut her eyes, death, blood, and pain had washed over her.
Tamsin had made it a point at keeping Lauren, and sometimes Ætta, near her at all times. She had housed Lauren in one of the many chambers of the light fae compound with a magnificent bed, most likely Hale's, and had ordered the blonde to stay there. For the girl valkyrie, she was housed in the room right next door, an intercom set up one way so Tamsin would always be able to hear inside the room, just in case something happened.
Lauren had already been covered in blood, her jeans and shirt soaked through with it from Tamsin's attack on the guards that had wanted to drag the doctor out of her lab the first day. She had been forced to wear her attire for the next two days, except of course, while in bed. When she was above the sheets with Tamsin, it was a completely different story. The valkyrie's eyes would glow a dim violet, making it known that she was closer to who she really was than ever, and she would caress Lauren as if she had not gone on a murdering spree; the valkyrie would even begin to say small sarcastic quips here or there, making Lauren's heart sing with familiarity as the purple eyed valkyrie never spoke without definite means to her words as the green eyed fae had.
It was the only few peaceful hours the doctor had gotten for those days of violence and death. Every morning, however, the valkyrie would be gone and Lauren would awaken groggily in bed alone. She wouldn't lift her head, she didn't need to, as she heard the deathly screams of scavenger fae guards that were dying at the hands of the all powerful valkyrie. Lauren would simply lay there in bed, strands of hair cascading down her face, naked and warm, trying to forget the past few hours and simply remembering Tamsin's touch, the way it seemed softer, so much softer, than it had ever felt; as if the valkyrie was trying her hardest to not hurt the human.
Instead she would wait until Tamsin came back to her, usually at night after she had slain all of the guards that opposed her that she could find, but sometimes in the middle of the days, seeing if Lauren was still safe and comfortable. Tamsin wouldn't take anything from the human, but Lauren could see what she wanted, craved, and silently ordered from her; and she gave it willingly, though she barely participated herself. It was always Tamsin digging farther inside the doctor as the latter moaned and roiled with ecstasy, always Tamsin biting every spot the blonde loved on her neck and body, always Tamsin massaging Lauren's scalp as she felt her coming for the third time that night. It was always Tamsin.
For two days straight it was all Lauren knew, all she could think about: the screams of pain and death, then sudden release as she was with the woman she loved. Or the woman she thought she loved, Lauren reprimanded as she looked towards the drain. The Tamsin that was sauntering around may look like her, even talk like her on some occasions, but Lauren knew for a fact the thing she had been sharing a bed with was not the Tamsin she knew, nor was it anything the doctor had ever witnessed before in her life.
If only she could simply pull her out of it somehow before a real war started...
“Time is up, Dr. Lewis. We must leave.” The Irish drawl came immediately before the curtain was pulled back and the fae bodyguard was standing outside of the tub, looking up at the doctor with little interest.
Lauren almost let out a yelp at the surprise, and tried to cover her unmentionables. “Fine, alright, I mean... okay. Thank you.” The doctor's solemn brown eyes watched as cobalt left her wearily, not caring that the female was naked in front of her, and she left the bathroom slowly after checking the soap cabinet with interest. Raising an eyebrow, she left without another word.
The doctor sighed after she had been interrupted and got out of the shower slowly, grabbing her towel and turning off the water, she walked to her closet and pulled out a few pairs of clothing to pack into her bag; she would not be caught without a shower for the next two days no matter what Tamsin would do to her.
Coming down the stairs, her hair still wet from the shower, in a light and ruffled white shirt, a dark jacket strewn across her shoulders, and tight fitting jeans, Lauren took the flashdrive from the computer and put it in her pocket. Eying her apartment one last time, for fear it would be her final time there, Lauren allowed the fae to walk her back to the unmarked SUV, and drive her back to the compound faster than anticipated for fear of being late.
+++
Lauren was dropped off quickly at the compounds front door, the fae leaving her to park the SUV in the parking lot- where Tamsin's truck was most likely parked-, and without waiting for her, the doctor simply walked inside. The putrid stink of decomposing bodies filled her nostrils immediately and she flared them out, putting the back of her hand to her nose to try to cancel out some of the smell. She would have to retrieve some type of sandalwood or chemical to work through the stench, Lauren thought as she walked down the bloodied halls to get to her lab.
She wondered how Ætta was getting along, if Tamsin had come to her during the doctor's absence, and tried to put on a face of happiness as she entered her lab, hopeful to find and continue her workup on the valkyrie girl as she wasn't permitted to leave the lab without Lauren by her side, until she had run appropriate tests.
That was, however, until she realized she wasn't there.
Raising an eyebrow in question, Lauren simply put the flashdrive into her pocket, and backtracked out of the room. If the girl wasn't there, she thought, she must have been in the throne room with Tamsin- which Lauren hated going into for the dead bodies were more piled there- or in her chambers asleep. The doctor knew it could not have been the latter as she had just come from her own chambers to put down her bag of clothes, and did not see Ætta's door closed in occupation.
Slowly walking toward the throne room, Lauren began to walk faster, almost a jog, when she heard someone yell out in pain from the end of the hallway. Making her way past the dead bodies without thinking much of the stench, she burst through the double paned doors and looked at the surrounding situation.
The bright violet eyed valkyrie stood over a very well dressed Hale, the man on his side and his teeth bared in pain. Looking down, it took Lauren a moment to connect what had actually happened. Quickly running to the Ash's side, she tried to cover the profusely bleeding wound with her hands, her right hand leaving only for a moment to catch Hale's attention and point her bloodied index and middle fingers to her eyes; making sure he knew to watch her and her alone.
“Tamsin,” Lauren said breathlessly, “what have you done!”
“What are you doing here?” the valkyrie asked instead, her eyes leaving Hale's bloodied stomach and dropping her soiled sword; it clattered on the ground, filling the room with sharp tones. “You were given orders to see to Ætta.”
“She- she wasn't in the lab, I thought you took her.” Lauren looked down at how much blood seeped through her fingers no matter how tightly she pressed around the wound. “Tamsin, I need to get him to my lab. He's going to die!”
“What do you mean Ætta was not there?” Tamsin asked, an edge Lauren had never heard in the undertones of her voice. It was like she didn't even care about the siren and the doctor noticed it immediately. The valkyrie looked at the Ash, her eyes burning brighter from their darkness and she gritted out, “You know something. I can feel it.”
Hale coughed, “What does it matter if I do? I'm going to die with the secret anyways.”
“You're not going to die,” Lauren cooed, her hands pressing harder onto the wound, wishing she had her medical bag with her.
The doctor was suddenly pushed away, her shoulder skidding a little on the floor, as Tamsin moved in on the siren. “You will tell me where she is,” she breathed, her hand coming to rest on the Ash's throat.
“You've got to stop this, Tamsin. It isn't going to end well if you-” Hale was shushed as the valkyrie immediately threw him into the farthermost wall of the room. Lauren heard a sickening crunch as he fell, his body going limp, his blood pooling slightly around his body and the doctor tried to get to her feet to run to him. He wasn't dead yet, she could still save him!
Her arm was harshly caught in a tight squeeze. “We are going to find the girl,” Tamsin said, her eyes falling onto Lauren's. “Dyson was here,” she suddenly said, her head falling into the air as she gathered her surroundings, “I was too involved with the Ash, I did not see him. Ætta is most likely at the Dal.”
Bo, Kenzi, Dyson, Trick, they would all be caught unawares. “No, Tamsin, please,” Lauren begged suddenly as the valkyrie dragged her out of the room and through the long hallways. “They didn't know, we can just take Ætta and come back. There doesn't have to be-”
“If they do not give her back willingly, they will be taught.”
“Taught what, Tamsin?” Lauren asked before being ushered into the parking lot where the SUV she was made to ride in just that morning sat in. The doctor wondered briefly where the valkyrie's truck was if not there.
Tamsin stood a ways away, in the middle of the lot, as she looked at Lauren. “The reason why nobody messes with valkyries.”
+++
Lauren immediately went to her knees, trying not to retch. Her stomach felt as if it were churning in a washing machine and her head felt like it was on fire. She felt something pulling her upwards, or what she thought was upward, and she felt her back being pushed into scratchy resistance. Out of the corner of her eye, Lauren saw the slight swirling vortex disappear with a strange noise. She tried to speak, tried to see clearly, but all she could comprehend from the vicinity was a cork or a flask opening with a pop. She felt her stomach twisting itself into knots and she would have put her head down, trying to fall back onto her hands and knees in submission of the pain, but a gently callused hand held her jaw firm; opening it slightly.
“Wha-” Lauren tried to ask, but a hard mouth was pressed into hers, her head tilted back a ways, and she felt warm liquid washing down her throat from the opposing lips on hers. Swallowing it immediately, it burned down her throat in such a way that it felt surprisingly good, and she closed her eyes after the mouth left hers.
Opening them slowly, Lauren looked up at her valkyrie wiping a pointed finger down the sides of her lips, pressing off the liquid she had forced the doctor to drink, and stuck them in her mouth with the droplets.
“What was that?” Lauren asked slowly, still groggy, her head finally clearing as she looked up at Tamsin, her back resting nicely against the surface of the hard brick behind her.
“Mead from Valhalla,” the valkyrie said, her purple eyes looking her lover up and down for injury and the doctor saw her put the flask on her belt loop, just out of sight for prying eyes. Where had she gotten it? “Portals are the fastest way around in this world, and the ethereal, but humans rarely survive them. Giving you food or drink of the Kingdom usually helps.”
“I could have died?” Lauren's mind seemed to be working faster, her heart racing and her lips humming.
Tamsin looked down and simply said, “I would not have let that happen.”
“Then why put me in the situation to begin with, Tamsin?”
The valkyrie faltered, her eyes going dim. Instead of answering, the woman moved in on the doctor, her fingers coming up to brush away the strands of liquid that had escaped from the woman's mouth from the transfer. Doing as she did before, the valkyrie placed her index finger in her mouth, swirling her tongue around the finger, all the while looking into Lauren's brown eyes.
Lauren felt the valkyrie's left hand slide down her side and come to rest on the apex of her thigh, her fingers just reaching around to slightly grip her ass. Her other hand was outstretched and slowly Tamsin slid her index finger across the human's lips, tracing the curvature with care. Lauren could feel the heat, the want, as well as her own body hummed with expectations. Was it the mead that did this to them? There were many questions on the doctor's mind but all meant nothing in that moment.
Tamsin would have gone in to bite the doctor's neck, her right thigh already brushing into the middle of Lauren's legs; God did Lauren want it, for the life of her she wanted it so badly, but the valkyrie stopped as her eyes became bright again.
“Come, we must free Ætta from her entrapment.”
“She isn't trapped, Tamsin,” Lauren almost whined, placing her hands on the valkyrie's face as she was still pinned to the wall. “She was not taken prisoner. You have to stop this before someone gets hurt.” Someone else, Lauren thought sadly, thinking of Hale's crumpled body to the side of the throne room. She knew he would cauterize the wound with his siren whistle, maybe even get himself to the lab, but it was still a sharp pain in her heart.
“What would you have me do?” the valkyrie asked, coming in close again to the human, her lips barely brushing Lauren's. “They would keep you as a slave, they would do to the girl as they have done before: torture, mutilation. I cannot allow that to happen.” Their noses brushed past. “You are too important to me.”
“Tamsin,” Lauren whispered, trying to convey one final time to the woman, but before she could continue a sharp scream came from inside the establishment.
The valkyrie's eyes flared immediately and she detached herself from Lauren, the human's arms falling uselessly to her side, her chest rising and falling harshly in the cold of the afternoon, as she watched the Icelandic blonde run into the Dal Riata before she could stop her. Getting a hold of herself, Lauren ran into the bar before the door closed, and down the small hallway to get to the main opening. Turning the slight corner, into the archway of the door, Lauren gasped at how Tamsin seemed to be standing just inches in front of her, but the sheer force she was exuding could kill everyone in the room if she so chose.
“They hurt Ætta,” Tamsin whispered, addressing Lauren and no one else in the room. “I promised no one would hurt either of you again.”
“Tamsin, stop! Please, just stop,” Lauren pleaded, her eyes on the back of the valkyrie's head, fear in her heart from how many of the group she would kill to prove her misguided point. “It's a misunderstanding, that's all.”
The valkyrie cocked her head to the side, looking in turn to all of the startled fae, and human, in the bar. “This is what happens.”
Lauren screamed her lover's name, trying to shut down her mind from what was going to come next. Without looking into the eyes of anyone else in the room, their fear and misunderstanding would get the better of her, the doctor immediately shut her own brown orbs from the carnage that she knew would cascade over the room once again; screaming her lovers name for one last time, anything to get her to stop.
If only for the last time.