7A/N: I've been re-watching Lost Girl and I got inspired to write this little oneshot.
I DO NOT OWN LOST GIRL OR THE CHARACTERS.
Music Inspiration/Song Suggestion: "Just Tonight" – The Pretty Reckless
Background: Set during Food for Thought season 1, episode 6.
Kenzi is in the graveyard sitting on the bench, when Dyson finds her. She's shivering and his words from earlier are echoing loudly in his mind. He promised her that she wouldn't be alone.
"Big ups for finding me." She coughed and cleared her throat. Kenzi knew that she didn't look good. Hell, she didn't feel good. She knew that she was dying. Dyson sat down, as she looked away. She just felt so bitter.
"It's a rather morbid choice for a resting place." Dyson admitted, trying to ease his guilty conscience.
"I came here a lot, when I was a kid. Sometimes, you just need a place to think, you know? You promised you wouldn't leave." Kenzi explained, as she shivered and pulls her knees to chest tighter. Everything hurt. She didn't know if Bo and Lauren would be able to find anything on time.
"I'm sorry about that. Bo needed help. Came back as soon as I could." Dyson apologized, as he turned toward her. It hurt to see her like this.
"I'm not going back to that place, period. It's way too 'Cuckoo's Nest.' I'd rather die in a ditch." She admitted, as she shook next to him. Why was it so cold?
"Kenzi, you're not gonna die. But I'll take you somewhere else – somewhere safe." He promised, as he put an arm around her. Kenzi looked up at him and nodded, afraid to get her hopes up.
"Okay. But can we stay here a bit longer? It's nice." Kenzi asked, quietly. She cleared her throat and continued to shiver. "Unless you have... somewhere to be."
"No, I'm good." Dyson promised as he wrapped his arms around her and she burrowed into his embrace. He didn't know how Kenzi was going to survive this, but he knew that she had to.
Kenzi was in and out of consciousness, as Dyson carried her. He got to the Dal and Trick led him the backroom.
"Thanks for closing early." Dyson said, as he carried Kenzi down the stairs and over to the couch.
"Yeah, the fewer who about this, the better. You know... they're gonna be expecting her back at the lab. The Ash could come after you for insubordination." Trick warned him, as he helped get Kenzi comfortable.
"Yeah, I don't always take my orders from the Ash." Dyson replied, as he peered at Kenzi.
"True, but he's not supposed to know that." Trick reminded him. Kenzi stirred and looked even worse than she had before. She was so pale.
"Is there anything you can do for her?" Dyson asked Trick.
"I can buy her time, but the rest is up to Bo and Lauren." Trick said, as he placed a damp cloth on Kenzi's forehead. She opened her eyes, confused.
"Did I just wake up in Narnia? Or is that the fever talking?" She asked. Dyson smiled at Kenzi's attempt at humor, even though she was dying.
"Shh. Rest." Trick told her, as she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep. She didn't look good. Trick and Dyson both knew that she didn't have much time. If Bo and Lauren were going to do something, it needed to be soon.
Trick carried the tusk away. As much as she could aggravate him, he had grown to care for the human. He found Kenzi awake and looking at supplies from his days at the Blood King.
"Don't," he warned her.
"Sorry," she apologized. "What is it?"
"It's something I no longer use. Come. Have some tea. This should improve your strength, slow the bleeding for a little while. I had to guess the human dosage." He said, as he made her tea. Kenzi offered him a weak smile as she sat down.
"For a cranky old bartender, you do pretty good with the nurturing, huh?"
"I've had experience. There you go." Trick smiled, as he gave Kenzi the tea. He just hoped it would be enough to give her enough time for Bo to find out whatever was killing her.
"What is it? Eye of newt?" Kenzi asked, as her teeth chattered. She accepted the cup, and took a sip.
"Something like that. It's a... Abath horn." Trick admitted.
"Oh, thanks. And thanks for letting me crash here. I'm feeling better already. I think this is just one of those, like, twenty-four hour plagues. You know?" Kenzi lied and finished her cup.
Trick looked over at the stairwell, as Dyson came walking down. He wished that he had good news to share.
"I'm frickin' freezing, dude. Can you, like, wolf out and lie on my feet?" Kenzi asked Dyson, as he covered her with another blanket.
"Maybe later." He declined with a smile. "Hey. Bo's gonna come through. She always does."
"Then why do you all look so freaked out, huh? It's not polite to lie to the dying girl. You know? It's bad juju." Kenzi barely got the words out, before she sat up in a coughing fit. Dyson held her. It's all he could do.
"Just lay back." He told her, when he saw the blood from her coughing. He helped her lie back and she looked so tired. So weak. Just tired of fighting. It made him more scared than he could admit. Kenzi wasn't weak. She was a fighter. Some plague couldn't kill her. It couldn't.
"Look. I need you to, um, to fill-up, deathbed-promise me something." She told him.
"Kenzi," he breathed. He wasn't going to let her give up. Not yet. It wasn't her time.
"I see more than anyone thinks, and that's because no one's watching me. Everyone's always watching Bo. And what I see is you helping her, even though it hurts you." She told him. Dyson looked away. Why is she so damned perceptive?
"So?" He asked, as he distracted himself by wiping at the teapot.
"So how can you protect her, if being with her makes you weak?" She pressed. Dyson started making her more tea. Kenzi sat up, to get closer to him.
"I'm working on that."
"Look... What I'm asking is, if I'm not here someday, can I count on you to have her back, even if it means cutting her loose?" She started coughing, before she could say more.
"Will you just please drink your tea?" Dyson deflected, as he helped her hold the cup to her mouth.
Kenzi slowly came to. She still look too pale. Much paler than her usual porcelain complexion.
"Bo," she called out. Everyone crowded around her, as Bo sat next to her.
"Hey. Hey. I'm right here. I'm right here." Bo promised.
"Hey," Kenzi replied, softly. "I'm hungry." She mused, as Lauren shined a light in her eyes to check her pupils.
"Any special requests?" Trick asked her with a grin.
"Yeah. No more feet." Kenzi told him. Lauren looked at Bo.
"Healing will be slow, so she's gonna need to take it easy for a while." Lauren warned her, before giving Kenzi a knowing look.
"Yeah. Good luck convincing her of that." Bo teased.
"Mm. Meaty goodness. Come to mama." Kenzi purred, as Trick placed a burger, fries, and a chocolate shake down in front of her at the bar. She ate her food, as Dyson and Bo talked. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she was too tired to care.
"Kenzi, can we talk?" Dyson asked, sitting down next to her. She nodded, as she nursed her chocolate shake. Bo left earlier and Trick promised that Kenzi would be safe at the Dal.
"Of course, Wolfman." She agreed, still far from her usual, sassy self.
"You can trust me to have Bo's back. But you can trust me to have yours, too. I know that whatever she and I had wasn't working. I can't help her, if I'm too depleted. In an emergency, maybe, but Trick helped me find someone better suited to help her. She understands. We talked. We're just friends now." Dyson explained. Kenzi's eyes widened and she stopped sucking down her milkshake.
"I didn't mean for you to break things off with her, Dyson." Kenzi breathed, suddenly afraid that she had a hand in her friend's heartbreak.
"You didn't cause me to do anything, Kenz. If anything, you just told me what I already knew. Bo and I aren't destined. And I just... I can't stand watching you almost die. If anyone needs protecting, it's you." He told her. She huffed with an eye roll.
"Why? Because I'm a measly human?" She quipped.
"Because physically, fae are stronger. You said earlier that no one sees you. That's not true. I did. I do. I have your back. Just like you have Bo's. I can't stand seeing you hurt like that. My wolf can't take it." He admitted.
"What does that even mean? Is that a euphemism?" She joked, trying to lighten the awkwardly heavy mood.
"I'm protective. That's not new. I'm a wolf, Kenzi. Even when I'm not in my wolf form, I can't change that. My wolf didn't like seeing you dying."
"Is it like that for Bo, too?" She asked, quietly. He shook his head.
"I feel protective over everyone I care about, but no, it's not the same, as it with you. I didn't understand why, until you were on your deathbed." He was saying things that he couldn't take back. Kenzi was so overwhelmed.
"Dyson..."
"I care about you. I'm not asking you to decide anything. I'm saying that you're my mate and we don't have to do anything about it. We don't even have to talk more about it today. I just... please stay with me tonight. I need to know that you're alright and see for myself. I just need to hold you, just for tonight." His confession changed everything. God. Bo was gonna hate her.
"Just tonight?" She echoed. He nodded. "Yeah. Okay. But you owe me curly fries, since you're getting snuggles. I don't even know how we're gonna tell Bo. We're gonna have such a long talk about this tomorrow. I'm just so tired. Can you carry me to your car?" Kenzi lamented, losing steam considerably fast. Dyson chuckled and held out his arms. He bent down so she could put her arms around him and he lifted her up.
"Anything you want, Kenz." He promised. His wolf hummed in contentment, as he carried her in his arms. For tonight, things were as they should be. The rest can wait until tomorrow.
