It had been hours since she had sent the Succubus off to face her destiny and minutes since Dyson called to tell her what had happened on the battlefield. Lauren blinked and suddenly found herself in the car, speeding towards the clubhouse.

The Camaro was in the laneway, engine still ticking with effort. She opened the big wooden door and marched into the mud room. Flipping the corner of the welcome mat up with her foot, she palmed the key. Sliding the key into the lock, she stepped into the pitch dark of the shack Bo and Kenzi had called home. Lauren’s fingers fumbled for the light switch. “Bo, are you here?“ She threw her keys onto the counter and ascended the stairs, following the light coming from a lamp in Bo‘s empty bedroom. “Bo?” Her leather jacket was laying on the bed. Lauren’s fingers caressed the black leather before the floorboards creaked from above the bathroom and dust showered the tile floor. Abandoning the jacket, she climbed another set of steps. She called out for Bo once again, her tone softening as she poked her head into Kenzi’s bedroom.

Bo sat motionless on Kenzi’s bed, her hunched back to Lauren. “Bo.” Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. She sat beside Bo as quietly as she could manage and she waited a long minute before turning to look at her. It was dark in Kenzi’s bedroom save some Christmas lights that hung festively around the perimeter of the room. “Are you okay?” She cringed at her own question. She was sure that Bo was exactly the opposite but she was also sure that any of the clinical questions her medical training had given her would be all wrong here, too. Bo either needed to be left alone or she needed Lauren’s comfort and never the two shall meet.

Lauren reached out a hand to brush a stray hair from her face.

“Kenzi’s gone.” She sniffed.

“Bo, I’m sorry.”

“Why are you here?”

“I didn’t want you to be alone.” Lauren reached into Bo’s lap to retrieve her hand. She squeezed it between her own. Bo’s hands were clammy, something Lauren could say she had never felt from Bo before. “Shit.” She reached out and touched Bo’s forehead, also clammy. She held two fingers against her wrist and took Bo’s pulse. It was sluggish.