Lost Girl 1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I did not officially mark this story as a crossover because I don't think many people actually press that little button**

**Spoilers: Takes place between 1x13 and 2x01**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Lost Girl or Sanctuary, except Axel**

To say that things were lively would be a lie. Yet ironically, it was also a colossal understatement. The atmosphere inside the Dal was _anything _but lively; in fact, it was a ghostly whisper of its typical frivolity. It was empty of its melting pot of patrons save for one unaligned, flustered and exhausted Bo, one equally flustered and exhausted Kenzi, and one weary Trick who, for his part, was serving the two women a well deserved beer and shot of tequila.

What was ironic about all this was despite the Dal being a virtual ghost town, the world outside was in a state complete and utter chaos. It had been almost a week since a deranged Aoife had bombed the council of Light Fae High Elders. During this time Bo and Kenzi had tracked, seen, and captured more underfae than one would consider healthy or sane.

"You fae and your choice of house pets. You'd think there was something wrong with getting _just_ a goldfish or dog or cat even, like the rest of us humans! I mean, who has even heard of let alone _seen_ a dog with hands? _Hands_!" Kenzi appraised after slamming her shot.

"Mm," Bo took a hearty swig of beer "since being 'initiated' into the whole fae community, you people have seemed to taken almost everything I know and just about bastardize it. There is no way in hell I will _ever_ look at a dog the same way again after being dragged by the ankle from a hand on its tail!" She shuddered at the memory and took another swig of her beer.

"Sounds like you had a fortunate run-in with an Ahuizotl," As Bo was opening her mouth to protest, Trick quickly elaborated, "It _is_ because Ahuizotl eat the eyes, teeth, and nails of humans while leaving the rest of the body virtually untouched. It's a good thing no one frequents the lake either as they have a tendency to drown its victims."

Bo and Kenzi shared a meaningful glance; no doubt aware just how fortunate they were that there were no victims and that neither of two ended up as one. Trick looked at the two women and saw how they slumped rather than sat in their barstools and the bags starting to show under their eyes.

"Go home girls, you've more than earned your rest. Come back tomorrow when your ready and we'll go over with Hale what's left and unaccounted for."

With that the duo left the Dal and Trick walked around the bar to mark the most recent catch on the city map posted on a board he had set up. There were four red pins, which marked captured underfae, and numerous white pins, which marked unusual activity. There were several white pins around a park and surrounding establishments, which so far cataloged the odd instances of dead animals turning up in the area. Trick furrowed his brow as he realized that Bo, Kenzi, and Hale would need to look into it before things could take a turn for the worse.

* * *

"Out of respect for your expertise I won't ask how you know what we're looking for and that it's here at this lake, but I _will_ ask as to why you've brought me with you. So, Helen, why, out of everyone that works for you did you bring me with you?"

Dr. Helen Magnus stopped roughly ten feet from the edge of the lake, lowered her weapon and turned around. She appraised the man standing near her and regarded him carefully; he looked unsure of himself and the way his shoulders were squared suggested that he felt uncomfortable and out of place. She couldn't fault him for being skeptical; she had only ever asked him to help her catch an abnormal _once_, the same one that caused them to cross paths. They were hostile towards each other as they had every right to be given the circumstances in which they met, but no matter bitter she was towards him given her lack of trust, he was always respectable and much more graceful in his open hostility. Afterwards, she let him go about his daily life working at the loading docks and only asked that he monitor the traffic there and notify her if any abnormals, red list or otherwise, came in.

"In the spirit of being frank, Will and Kate are in Chile, and I needed Henry to stay behind and watch over the Sanctuary as well as keep an eye out for any activity." Helen turned around and continued her search around the lake "For whatever reason there has been an explosion of abnormals here and I thought it best to investigate myself as to why."

"Again, why me? I know you have other contacts that are far more suited than me to help you."

"Axel," Helen turned around and looked at him again. He was only a little bit taller than her; of average build with short dark brown hair that nearly looked black, and in his late 20's "despite what you may think, you are more than capable. I trust your intuition; you can predict animal behavior, and it takes _more _than quite a bit to bring you down." She gave him a cheeky grin "Given the number of abnormals in this area I thought it best if you were my backup. We will probably end up running ourselves ragged catching all the abnormals in the area and I know you'll be able to keep up."

Axel merely smirked and continued to peruse the shore. Helen stopped and crouched down when she noticed two sets footprints in the dirt as well as what appeared to be drag marks. Axel walked past Helen trying to get a feel for the place; he inhaled deeply and picked up traces of lavender, moist soil, water, and the overwhelming smell of wet dog. There wasn't any lavender growing around so it must be remnants of someone's perfume, shampoo, or body wash, certainly not Helen's, as she always smells like sandalwood.

"The whole area smells like a wet dog." Helen looked up from her find at Axel, who was looking towards the tree line. "I imagine it would, the Ahuizotl we're looking for is nothing more than a dog that lives in or near the water."

"Regardless, it isn't here. I can't see or sense anything that would suggest otherwise." He headed back towards Helen "We weren't the only ones here, and whoever was, got to it before we did. I suggest we call it night look for clues tomorrow."

He was right; it was much too dark out and there wasn't anything else they could possibly do. "Alright." She conceded with a heavy sigh.

* * *

It was around 1:15 in the morning when two men stumbled out of the bar together laughing boisterously; David, who was blonde and wearing a power suit, and Jake, a red head in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. The two walked side by side and sat at a bench that overlooked the park across the street and talked about various topics until David stood up to leave.

"Okay Jake, you make sure you get home safe; call a cab. I'll see you around" And with that David walk off and left Jake sitting in the bench.

Jake sat there for about five minutes before he pulled out his phone to call a cab. As he was about to dial he paused when he thought he heard something.

"Jake"

"David? I thought you went home already." Jake got up off the bench and walked near the pawnshop where he heard his name.

"Jake"

"David? Dave is that you?" He walked down the alley beside the shop but couldn't see anything. He could barely make out the dumpster that he nearly tripped on when he heard his name called again, but this time it didn't sound like David and came from right behind him.

"Dave I swear-" He turned around saw that indeed it was not David and let out a bloodcurdling scream before he was immediately silenced.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Trickster, what up?" Kenzi shouts, as she struts into the Dal with Bo at her side. Trick was currently on the phone and by the look on his face, he wasn't reminiscing with old friend and it certainly wasn't good news he was hearing either. He turned around and gave them a nod acknowledging them and continued with his conversation. Instead, they walked over to a table and sat down across from each other, with Kenzi, as per usual, propping her boots on the tabletop.

Looking Bo square in the eye Kenzi breaks the silence "How you holding up chica? " It was by far the definition of a loaded question, and Bo could tell by the look on Kenzi's face that she knew it, as it was her intention. Bo knew what she meant: _How are you since Dyson took off? Did you have 'the talk' with Lauren yet? Are you sure you're okay with the whole Aoife thing?_There really was no point in lying to her best friend, after all, that spunky little Russian girl knew how to read her.

"Honestly Kenz, my head is a mess with everything that is going on. I mean…I thought after taking on my mother things would get better and that I'd be able to settle some…personal things, not spiral into the seventh layer of hell."

"Babe, the woman was bat shit crazy. She blew in like a hurricane and initiated Rag-mom-rock." She gave a lopsided smile and patted Bo's hand. "And by personal things you mean a certain lone wolf man as it were."

"I told Dyson that when all this was over I'd see where we stand. I was kind of hoping that we'd be able to…" she gave a defeated sigh, "I don't know."

"D-man just needs to cool off and make sure he won't do something or say something stupid when you finally work it out. Now, I know that isn't what _really _has your thong in bunch." Bo merely smirked in response, of course she would know.

It's true, Bo knew she would forgive Dyson in time for what he did but it wasn't the root of her current problem. What was nagging Bo was the last time she saw Lauren and everything she did to help her, but what she thought of most was that kiss. The kiss itself was soft but it spoke of the desperation she felt that may well truly be the last time she would see Bo. It wasn't until she was given the key for the Koushang and kissed like it was her last night on Earth that she truly forgave Lauren and finally understood. Lauren never wanted to see her get or hurt, never wanted to lose her and would do whatever she could, as a human in the fae world to keep her safe. It was this world that not only ruined what they may have had but also made her see what could be. She could only hope that Lauren would forgive her for the things she said; the things she had no right to say.

"We have a problem. Several, actually." The girls looked over at Trick to see him put new pins in the board and got up to take a look. He put a yellow pin on top of a pawnshop at the edge of town near the park that had numerous white pins. Next, he put three blue pins on the abandoned factory, now full of squatters, in the other side of town, which had about two acres of land running behind it.

"Apparently in the last four days three people have suddenly gone missing, simply vanished without a trace near the factory; hence the blue pins." He then moved his hand to point to the yellow pin. "This is our first casualty." There was a collective silence, presumably to mourn, before Trick continued. "Hale most likely won't be able to help us as he'll be pulling double duty; following leads as part of standard police procedure and to make sure the humans don't get involved any of this."

"Shit. That's a lot of ground to cover even if he _was_ able to help us. What do you think we should do first?" Bo was at a loss; should they look into the missing people or the person who died first? On one hand there was the small likelihood that they could still find those three people alive, but on the other hand, whatever killed that person could kill more during their search.

"I'd suggest you go see Lauren first. She should be finished with the autopsy and might be able to give you some insight as to what you may be looking for. I call Hale ask him to handle the missing persons case and send whatever he finds later."

Bo nodded, took out her phone and took a picture of the map before heading out the door with Kenzi. She definitely needed to see Lauren and she had a lot of things to say to her. As she put her phone back in her pocket she felt the Koushang amulet that she left in there. She meant to give it back but with all the running around she had been doing, she never got the chance. Now whenever she felt it, she would constantly think back to that kiss and smile on the inside. Perhaps she could still repair things with Lauren after all.

"So tell me, _oh fearless leader_, how do you plan to go about this? Whatever it is we're looking for is probably in that park and the park is huge! Last time I checked we don't have a super sniffer, that, and my feet will never forgive me if we walk around for hours only to find nothing."

"I don't know Kenzi, hopefully whatever Lauren finds will be able to help us." Bo walked up to her car, or _The Beast,_ as she liked to call it, and got in. Kenzi quickly followed suit.

"I don't do dead bodies so I'll wait in the car while you handle her." It was no secret Kenzi didn't like Lauren and Bo knew nothing she said could change that, it would have to happen on it's own. That and the snarky woman probably didn't ever want to set foot in the lab again after the foot soup incident. So, with that Bo took off for the lab with high hopes: hope that Lauren could point them in the right direction and hope that she could make things right with Lauren.


	3. Chapter 3

Axel found himself sitting at a diner eating scrambled eggs and sausage while waiting for Helen to come back from wherever it is she disappeared to. She walked back into the diner carrying the local paper, sat across from him, and proceeded to read it. Axel just looked at her expectantly.

"I found two sets of footprints and signs of a struggle, if that's what you wondering." Helen didn't look up from the paper.

Axel merely nodded. "That's probably why I was only able to pick up one person." Axel leaned forward slightly and rested his arms on the table. "My biggest question is what we're going to do _when_ we come across the 'competition'."

"Currently, there really is no way we can account for what will happen when the time comes. I suggest we be vigil and wait until we get there." She briefly looked up from the paper before returning to it.

Axel wondered who else could be going after the 'abnormals', as Helen liked to call them. He wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable going after them as well, his only reassurance being that with Helen, he knew they wouldn't be killed unless necessary and would be well cared for. Axel didn't like killing, he believed in the preservation of life. But he knew that if he had to, that if push comes to shove, he _wouldn't_ hesitate to kill, as it was his nature to fiercely guard those near to him and that of which is asked.

"Apparently there has been a significant drop in the deer population at Olmos Park, as well as multiple instances of dead animals turning up in the surrounding area. I think it would be prudent if we took a look into it, how about you?" It may have been a rhetorical question but Helen still looked at him like she was expecting an answer.

"Let me just pay for this. Where is Olmos Park anyway?" Axel pushed his plate aside and signaled the waitress who was tending to a patron.

"It's roughly a ten minute drive from here. In the mean time," Helen pulled out her phone "Henry, I need you to 'look' into any of the recent police reports and send anything that raises any flags."

* * *

Padding with an innate stealth down the hall to the lab, Bo wasn't sure what she was going to find. The last time she walked into the lab, was amidst nurses moving frantically, tending to the injured. Now, as she neared the lab doors, she took tentative steps because if she was honest with herself, she was more than a little nervous to see Lauren. When she finally walked in the lab she saw Lauren sitting at a desk making notes in a folder, presumably the autopsy report, with her left hand at her necklace absentmindedly running her fingers over the pendant. It was a nervous tic that much she knew, but the sight of it made her, in an odd move, put her hands in her pockets; odd, because its considered a defensive posture. Upon doing so she felt the Koushang again. The Koushang: an amulet that binds chi to the wearer. Lauren's necklace: a pendant that binds her to The Ash.

_Don't forget your dog collar._

The words floated unbidden in her head. It may not have seemed like it in her ire, when it dripped like venom from her mouth, but now, she realized that she was out of line. All it did was rub salt in their wounds and Bo saw how Lauren flinched when she said it. It's not like Lauren wore it with pride; she always kept it tucked _inside_ her shirt. Maybe she was wrong to think she could repair the damage.

_If I can't forgive myself for saying it, then how can I ever expect Lauren to do the same?_

Lauren was so engrossed with the autopsy report that it took her awhile to recognize Bo's presence in the lab. When she did, she quickly tucked the pendant back in her shirt and turned around to greet her.

"I presume you're here for the autopsy report." Lauren was pleased to see that Bo was all right considering she hadn't seen her since the bombing. She wasn't really sure _what_ to say to her so she just went for the professional approach. Bo seemed to be slightly taken aback by this, but went along anyway. "I'm afraid I can't tell you much though. Whatever attacked this man ate him alive; most of what was inside the thoracic cavity, and had a very large bite. There weren't any conclusive dental marks to draw from either." Lauren handed Bo the report anyway, so she could see for herself.

Bo visibly flinched at the gruesome photos inside the folder. She had never seen an animal attack like this before. She felt sick just wondering what kind of pain Jake Neil, his name according the report, had endured and only hoped he died quickly. Bo closed the file and looked back at Lauren. She looked a little pale; her brown eyes dull from the lack of sleep. Lauren had probably been cooped up in the lab this entire week and Bo wanted her to get out, even if for a little while.

"Why don't you come with me to the park?" Bo gave her most endearing smile when Lauren furrowed her eyebrows, clearly confused by the sudden change in topic. "I mean… Kenzi and I are going to take a look around Olmos Park and I thought it would be best if you came along since you can identify whatever it is we find. It's only twenty minutes from here and we can pick up something along the way. Besides, I wouldn't want you hanging around here all day." She quickly rushed, hoping she gave Lauren a good enough reason to agree to this, a nervous smile playing on her lips.

Lauren gave Bo a smile of her own, ducking her head a little before looking back at her. She really couldn't argue with Bo seeing as how she had a really good point. Lauren had spent too much time in the lab and there wasn't much she could do in here anyways. "Okay." Lauren took off her lab coat, hung it up, and proceeded to get her leather jacket.

Bo had seen the life return to Lauren's eyes when she invited her and it gave her the hope she needed; so she could properly thank her for everything she helped her with and to apologize for her actions. If ever there was a time to do so, it was now. She was more than a little distracted as she watched as Lauren put on her jacket and pulled her hair out from inside it. Bo shook her head to snap herself out her stupor.

"Listen, Lauren…" Just then Bo's cellphone went off. "Shit." Pulling out her phone Bo looked at the caller id and saw that it was Hale. She gave Lauren an apologetic smile before answering. "What's up?"

Lauren watched Bo's brow furrow in regard to whatever she was being told.

"Alright, call me if you find out anything else." Bo hung up and proceeded to fire off a text message to Kenzi, letting her know that Lauren was coming with them. "That was Hale. Apparently, we're not the only ones looking into this. He said someone hacked into station's server and was looking at the report currently on file."

* * *

Helen and Axel had been at Olmos Park for roughly ten minutes inconspicuously looking for anything to give them some semblance of an idea as to what could be behind this. To a passerby it would _appear_ as if they were enjoying a leisurely stroll through the park. At least, that's what Helen thought until she looked at Axel and realized that was _exactly_ what he was doing.

"Enjoying yourself?" She asked rather sharply as she stopped to give him an incredulous glare.

"Not in the slightest." Axel shot back rather irritably. "In fact, I find this incredibly _frustrating,_ Magnus," Axel only referred to her by her last name when he was trying to make a point or in a bad mood, though it seemed to be a combination of both at the moment. "You're asking me to sniff out -I don't know what- in a _highly_ commuted area with at least three different restaurants nearby! There are just too many distractions!"

He let out a deep sigh, his shoulders visibly relaxing and spoke with a softer tone, "It's not really something I'm used to, I've never _actually_ had to do this before. If it was somewhere else with less traffic, then I could. You've put a lot of trust in me, and I'm grateful, but..." Axel merely shook his head and looked at his feet feeling defeated.

Helen felt guilty for putting so much responsibility on him. Going after abnormals wasn't something he was used to. Axel had said as much the first time she asked for his help and here she was again, pushing him to do something he may not be capable of. At the same time, she felt the need to push him because she was confident he could do it, Axel just needed to see his potential.

"Forgive me, but I know you can do it or I wouldn't have brought you Axel, please try to understand that. Now tell me, what have you seen so far?" Helen figured if she could direct his attention on another sense it may help him calm down and boost his confidence.

"Just what you expect to find in a park: foot prints, paw prints and deer tracks." He looked at her directly now "Actually, just the same set of deer tracks, almost like it's patrolling the area. My guess is a large buck when you take into account how deep the impressions are."

Helen gave a proud smile, as the slight shift in subject seemed to do the trick, but regarded the information carefully. Before she could even begin to think about any of the implications of what he said, she was distracted by her hair blowing across her face with the sudden gust of wind. She was then thrown off kilter by Axel's left field statement.

"Lavender." Axel looked to his left and Helen followed his gaze to three women about thirty feet away. There was a gorgeous brunette with hair that tumbled on her shoulders, curling at the ends, in an all black ensemble that left nothing to the imagination: leather boots that went to her knees, leather pants that seemed to be painted on, a low V-neck that showed her assets and finally, a leather jacket. A beautiful blonde, whose hair fell in waves around her face was wearing a black leather jacket, a red formfitting shirt with a white tank top underneath, black jeans, and black ankle boots. Lastly, there was an equally beautiful, young, raven-haired goth that seemed to be the odd one out of the three. She was wearing, black lace-up boots over black skinny jeans, a semitransparent long sleeve shirt with a black bodice and black lace-up fingerless gloves.

_Boys will be boys._

"See something you like?" Helen gave Axel a cheeky smirk, as he glared at her playfully.

"I might, but that's beside the point. At the lake, I remember smelling lavender around those footprints you found." The brunette was power walking in their direction, while the blonde and young goth were trying to keep up with her. "Helen, why do I feel like we were just made?" Axel casually turned to face Helen, looking slightly confused.

"Henry." Helen said as it dawned on her that he might not have been as discreet as he thought, when looking into the police reports.

"We're officially 'there', now what?" Axel looked thoroughly baffled, as the brunette strutted towards them.

"Now we just wait and see what happens."


	4. Chapter 4

Kenzi did not like the outdoors and hated every minute she was here, which really was only three minutes. The 'Concrete Jungle' was the _only_ acceptable form of outdoors to the former street urchin. She knew she was supposed to be looking for _something_, but she honestly couldn't get into the spirit of things when they had virtually nothing to go on. Instead she stood in place and slipped into her old habit of people watching. While people watching, Kenzi thought back to what Bo had told her in the car; that someone else was looking into their case and that they should keep their guard up. Several things bothered her about this revelation: _Who exactly is this person or persons? Are they fae? What is their goal in all of this?_ There was one couple in particular about fifty feet away that caught her eye; for reasons she couldn't name she had a feeling that they were bad news. That was another problem; her instincts were typically never wrong.

Bo was walking a couple of feet behind Lauren, wondering how best to apologize to her. She had a perfect moment in the lab until Hale ruined it with his ill-timed phone call. Bo couldn't fault him for it as he had relayed important information, which brought her to her other, equally important train of thought: They _might_ be facing some competition. She didn't dwell on it too much as it was still recent news with nothing that could be accomplished at this point in time. Again, her thoughts went back to Lauren and when she realized she was staring a little too intently at her backside, she looked over her shoulder at Kenzi, who was standing and staring at a couple in the distance.

"You know, I actually find it disturbing how quiet you are." Bo walked up to Kenzi and stood beside her. She saw the way Kenzi was looking at the couple walking nearly fifty feet away and it made her feel a little uneasy. "What's wrong?"

"You know how you can just look at a person and immediately tell that you're going to hate their guts?" Kenzi glanced at Bo before looking back at the couple. She really hoped that nothing would come of this, that she was merely being paranoid.

Bo knew better than to question Kenzi's instincts, seeing as how the girl's intuition had saved her on more than one occasion, as well as pointing her in the right direction. Her faith in Kenzi's intuition was further cemented when she watched the man turn to face the woman and started shouting.

"_You're asking me to sniff out -I don't even know what- in a _highly_ commuted area with at least three different restaurants nearby! There are just too many distractions!"_

Lauren was enjoying her reprieve from the lab. She didn't even realize how much she needed this until she started walking around and was thankful that Bo brought her along. The same couldn't be said for Kenzi though; during the whole ride to Olmos Park she could feel her staring holes into the back of her head while she sat up front. As much as she needed to get out of the lab, Lauren couldn't help but feel guilty doing so, The Ash was still in a coma and the doctor in her could not accept that she had just left a patient. To take her mind off it, Lauren chose to think about how she would go about telling Bo the truth about what happened that night. All Lauren knew was that she would have to choose her words carefully, lest she incur Bo's anger again. As she began to decide what direction to take that conversation, Kenzi brought her back to reality. Lauren turned around and saw that Kenzi was chasing after Bo saying her name repeatedly. She wasn't sure what she could do to help but Lauren ran up to them anyway.

"Bo, wait!" Kenzi managed to stop her about thirty feet from the couple.

"What's going on?" Lauren caught up to them and stood beside Kenzi.

Kenzi merely ignored her. "Look, there's got to be a perfectly good reason for this." Bo wasn't exactly known for thinking ahead, let alone straight, when she loses her temper and Kenzi hoped that with a logical argument, she could placate Bo's anger and get her to think clearly. "Hale, probably called in some cracked Scooby Doo to help and forgot to give us a shout." Kenzi had to admit she wasn't sure that was the case but she didn't let it show.

"No, Hale would have called us, he wouldn't let something like that slip his mind. It's seems more like they lost their prized fighting dog and they're trying to get it before they get in trouble and someone puts it down. Unless you've got something better, tell me I'm wrong." Bo glanced over her shoulder at Kenzi and Lauren.

Kenzi was about to say something but spit her hair out of her mouth instead when the wind blew. She was disappointed that Lauren didn't have anything to add to the argument and could only huff in defeat.

"Do you have a _plan_ before you rip them a new one?" Who was she kidding, 'Bo' and 'plan' didn't belong in the same sentence except in rare cases. Kenzi was sure, as hell today wasn't that day. Bo's response was to take off again. "Oh tits. Bitch thinks she's Wonder Woman."

As Bo got closer to the couple she was able to make them out more clearly. The woman was a brunette with long, wavy hair, fair skinned, in her thirties, wearing a gray cardigan, a white t-shirt, black riding boots on top of dark blue jeans, and stood roughly 5'9". She was reading a three in her aura, while the man next to her was a solid five as they looked at her slightly confused. He was about an inch taller, had short, dark brown hair, his skin a little darker than the woman, in his late twenties, and of average build. He was wearing a light blue polo, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, that was buttoned up halfway, a gray shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, and charcoal gray boots.

She stood directly in front of them, with Kenzi and Lauren flanking her sides, and stared at the man. Looking into his eyes she saw that not only were they sea foam green, but as she continued to stand in his presence, she was overcome by a sudden overwhelming feeling of safety, that she couldn't explain which made her falter slightly.

"Your fae." Bo stated simply, hoping that it would get them to open up, knowing that they were in the presence of their own and tell her whom they were and if she was lucky, what they were up to.

"I don't think I've ever been called that before." He looked genuinely confused and turned to the woman next to him, who was just as equally perplexed. Oddly enough, it didn't sound like he was accepting or denying the accusation.

Bo was taken aback and hit with the hard reality that planning ahead was _not_ her strong suit. She wasn't sure what to do and in her silence the brunette chimed in.

"Is that what you call yourselves?" She spoke with a light British accent and held a rather inquisitive look on her face that made her think of the blonde standing next to her. "I suppose that does sound better than 'abnormal'. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?' She looked at her partner.

"Whoa there Mary Poppins, there is _nothing_ wrong with us. Just who the hell do you think you are anyway?" Kenzi piped up. She didn't feel threatened in their presence like she thought she would have, instead she felt safe, which only served to creep her out a little. Glancing at Bo and Lauren, she saw that they felt it too as she realized that the three of them shared the same relaxed posture. The two in front of her, on the other hand, stood straight with a slightly defensive stance

She smiled at that, as though it brought back pleasant memories. The brunette woman, seemed to think about it and turned to her partner, who was studying the three women carefully with a faint smile on his lips, at the young woman's comment. The woman looked as though she was waiting for his approval of them, even though she already seemed to have done just that. When she appeared satisfied with what she saw, she pulled out a business card and handed it to Bo.

"I'm Dr. Helen Magnus."

"I'm Axel. I didn't think you _actually_ carried those around, wherever you go." He held out his hand and put it back down when no one accepted the gesture. "You know, it's only polite to give your name after someone has already introduced themselves." Axel stated in soft non-accusatory tone.

"'Sanctuary for all'?" Bo said looking rather confused; underneath Helen's name was 'M.D. D.T.C.X.B.'.

"Teratology, Cryptozoology, Xenobiology…what exactly do you do?" Lauren had a fairly good idea, as she too was intimately familiar with Cryptozoology: the study of extinct and otherwise nonexistent animals, and Xenobiology: the study of extraterrestrial life, which is to say things that, practically speaking, don't exist. She just needed to hear it for herself.

Helen looked at Axel again. She may be a bold and straightforward woman, but she still wasn't sure she should just share this information with them. As good a judge of character she may be, she wanted to see what Axel thought of them, as he is a very guarded individual and an excellent judge of character, as well as reading people. Helen was surprised to see that though he stood straight, he was relaxed with an unmistakable softness in his eyes; this obvious comfort near them was all she needed to continue.

"I run a network of safe havens for the extraordinary and paranormal creatures of this world. We call them abnormals. Some come to us of their own volition seeking help as patients, others we track and bring them to the Sanctuary as they have become a danger to humans and subsequently themselves. They are well cared for and given sanctuary from the cruelty of this world, those who don't understand them, and those that would do them harm."

"In exchange for what? Their fealty?" Bo huffed. It sounded too good to be true, but if it was anything like Helen said, she only wished she had heard of this place when she was on the run.

"Nothing of the sort. I merely give them the help they seek."

"As badly as I want to call bullshit, I can't." Kenzi just couldn't believe the sincerity in which Helen spoke but knew that every word she said was true.

Bo pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I need a drink."

"I could use a drink as well, and someplace else to discuss this." Axel finally spoke.

"Agreed. I know the perfect place."

* * *

**A/N: Based on the fact that not everyone watches Sanctuary, that and some of the comments I've seen, I feel the need to reiterate the fact that Axel is an original character. Also, I apologize to any Sanctuary fans if you feel Helen is not 100% in character. Please, don't hesitate to PM me on the matter so that I can fix that.**


	5. Author's Note

I know I've been absent for quite awhile now and for that I do apologize. _I heard..._ has not been dropped, nor has it been _intentionally _abandoned. To be completely honest I'm not sure when I'll return to the story. Currently there is a toxic family dynamic taking place. Anybody who has unfortunately been there knows how draining it can be to the creative process.

I know where I want the story to go and have most of it planned out, so don't worry too much about that. Though, I'd love it, and it may help, if you leave a PM or review on what you think, or even an idea you may have.

Also, in an effort to combat this creative block from a previously unknown Circle of Hell, I'm asking that you PM me with any prompt ideas you may have for the following fandoms (_Lost Girl _included):

_Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles - _Sarah/Cameron

_Legend of the Seeker - _Cara/Kahlan

_Warehouse 13 - _Myka/H.G

[Note: I'm a little iffy about making a foray into NC-17 territory]

I truly hope to come back, literally _and _creatively, soon, but it's hard to say. Don't give up hope on the story, or me for that matter, and hang on because come Hell or some crazy happenings, it _will _get finished.

P.S. In the name of whatever omnipotent or omnipresent force you follow, _please, _if you take the time to read a chapter, leave a gorram review. Anything you have to say, constructive or otherwise, and anything you have to offer will help. Feedback creates a bond/understanding between the reader that allows me as an author to give clarity in otherwise muddy areas, properly spice up bland dialog/situations/characters, and, most importantly, correct errors in continuity or characterization.


End file.
