"I knew this was a bad idea!" Bo burst out, "There's got to be another-"

"Wait," Tamsin put a hand on Bo's shoulder, "just hold on a second," She turned to the Hecate, "Can we help him?"

The old woman shrugged.

Tamsin pushed Bo back gently as she murmured, "It's different with the Dark." Lowering herself to one knee, the Valkyrie studied Vex. In a soft voice, she said, "Love can be dangerous,".

Eyeing her uncertainly, he nodded.

"Especially, for someone like you. Someone so high up has enemies. Enemies who look for any weakness to strike at."

"It's easier not to give them any openings," he glanced away, tapping a finger on the table, "I survived this long by caring for nothing and nobody but myself."

"And to love a human-" Tamsin reached out and touched him on the hand, bringing his eyes back to her face, "You were protecting Kenzi, weren't you?"

He nodded. His jaw worked and he studied his boots for a moment, "Her and myself," He admitted, "She deserved better. And she got it," He looked over at Dyson, "Hale was an infinitely better man than I'll ever be."

"Weren't you jealous?" Dyson asked, "Watching them together?"

Tamsin slid into the chair next to Vex.

His old sneer returned, and the rage under his pale skin burned, turning him incandescent for a moment, "I wanted to drag them apart and make him cut himself to fishbait starting with this toes," He hissed, his hand on the table twitched. His head snapped around to glare at the flowered wallpaper, "But she wouldn't have forgiven me for that, would she? And it was better that she was with him. He didn't put her in so much danger."

"That's why you weren't around all of a sudden," Bo pointed a finger at him, "Kenzi told me it was weird how you disappeared when they started dating. She was worried about you."

He shrugged, "It was easier to avoid seeing them, all plastered to each other," He made a disgusted face.

"How did it start?" Dyson asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"I don't know."

"Was it love at first sight?" Tamsin smiled and Bo made a noise.

He shook his head, "No. She shoved me. The first time I met her, this fragile little human girl. Put two hands on me and gave me a shove. Me!" He was smiling, "Titanium balls."

They all smiled.

The Hecate pushed herself to her feet, "I must gather a few things," She looked at the Mesmer, "Keep talking." The old woman disappeared into the hallway.

Bo frowned, "Was it when you stayed at the loft?"

He shrugged, "Maybe. Did she tell you?" He asked Bo, "Did she tell you what she said to me? I was holding an axe, ready to split her like a log and she looked at me-" He took a shuddering breath, "She looked at me like she could see right down to the bottom of me." Frowning down at his hands, Vex said softly, "And she said I had a choice. That I could choose to be better."

A soft glow was beginning to form in the air behind Vex's left shoulder. They stared as he continued, his voice low and uncertain, "No one ever told me that before. That's when I knew I couldn't- that I could never hurt her."

He seemed lost, staring into the distance. The light faded incrementally and Tamsin prompted, "Is that when you realized you loved her?"

"Love," Vex rubbed his hands over his face and tugged at his hair, "What do I know about love? I just knew she was special. But all that time I spent, trying to get my Mesmer back, running all over the bloody world. . . I could hear her voice in my head, telling me I was better than all of it. Better than all of the dark, shitty things I had done. I actually felt guilty. How did she do that?" He asked, sounding genuinely confused, "How did she get in my head?"

Behind him, the light was coalescing in a shimmering curtain. The ugly wallpaper behind the shimmer blurred, and seemed to grow thin. . .

Dyson's voice rumbled softly, "She told me once that she saw more than anyone knew because no one saw her, no one looked at her."

"I looked at her," Vex said, "I watched. It was all I could do. And there was Hale," his lip curled, "lurking in the wings just waiting for his chance."

"You could have tried," Tamsin told him, "You chose not to pursue her."

His voice bitter as day old coffee, he answered, "It wouldn't have mattered anyway. I know what I am."

He looked up, pinning them all in turn with his gaze, "I'll go in and get her. But you have to do something for me. Swear-"

"I'm not bartering while Kenzi-" Bo snarled.

Vex plowed over her "-swear to me you won't tell Kenzi what I said here, today."

Bo blinked and nodded slowly.

"Give me your blood oath," Vex insisted.

"I swear," Bo promised and the other two echoed her.

The Hecate came back through the door and tossed Vex a small pouch he barely caught in time.

"What's this?"

She made a sound of disgust, "Does no one listen to the old stories? It's payment for the ferryman."

"The ferryman?" The Succubus asked.

"To get to the underworld you have to cross the river Styx," Tamsin explained, "Charon, the ferryman, will take you but only if you have payment. It's why they used to put coins on the eyes of the dead."

The old woman nodded in agreement and studied the golden haze critically, "An acceptable start- but it needs more."

"More?" Vex sounded uncertain.

"Tell me the scent of your beloved!" The Hecate barked.

"Pizza," Vex answered automatically, "and vanilla. . . and lillies."

The glow gained strength.

"How does she smile?"

"Like a knife or a madwoman. Sometimes," He smiled, "like the sun- like everything bright and warm in the world."

Brighter, but the wallpaper was still visible.

"More! We need more details! What does she fear?"

"Nothing!" He snapped and then shook his head, "No. No, she afraid of losing the people she loves. She's afraid of failing them."

"More!" The Hecate roared.

"She walks like she's nine feet tall. She has no respect for anyone's rules. She's never lied to me. When Kenzi eats, she eats like a half-starved troll, like she might never eat again. She carries that piece of crap sword and she has no idea how to use it." He looked at the other's, "I'm old. So much older than you know and in my whole, long, shitty life no one has looked at me the way she did. She's. . . she's the bravest, strongest, best person I've ever known."

The glow constricted down to a single point of brilliant light and expanded out in an eyeblink. The Hecate threw one hand up and a perfect circle of light hung in the air. The wall, the room behind it had disappeared. Instead, through the portal only darkness and mist was visible and a single golden thread that stretched out from Vex's feet into the unknown. Vex stood and turned toward the gate.

"That is your road," The Hecate nodded to the thread, "It should connect you to her. When you reach your lover-"

Vex's head jerked at the word, "No. She's not my- she's not mine." He said simply.

"And still you would do this? Knowing the danger?"

He nodded.

"Your love is purer than most." The Hecate gazed at him for a moment then nodded, "I will give you a gift,". Fast as a cat, she raked her nails over his chest, as though she was trying to scratch her way to his heart.

"Ah! You crazy bit-"

She grabbed his outstretched hand before he could use his mezmer, and pressed it against the bloody gashes, "When the voices become too much. When you think you can go no further, feel this," she ground his palm into the wound and he hissed, "Tell yourself, this is nothing. Nothing compared to the pain of losing her."

He stared back at the old woman.

"Say it! This is nothing!"

"This is nothing," he echoed.

She studied him for a moment, "You're as ready as you will be. I will hold the door as long as I can. Remember- don't look back and don't let go."

He nodded once. Then his gaze landed on Bo's strained face and he shrugged, "I'm off." and he plunged through the portal.