Faevor For A Faevor

By SeraFaerosa

Chapter 1

Bo scanned the interior of the dimly lit café. The sour smells of burnt food and stale coffee assaulted her nose. The fluorescent lights flickered sporadically, highlighting the grime that caked the walls. The floor under her black leather boots was sticky, and she wondered when a health inspector had come by the establishment last. Regardless of the dirt and inedible quality of the food, however, the incessant chatter of customers assaulted her ears, the language of the speakers often broken and dirty.

After the faded, feral image she'd seen on the Weaver's spindle, Bo had hardly been able to suppress the nightmares, and had been left with more questions than ever. Unable to voice her fears to any of her friends, she'd gotten back in touch with Mayer, the Dark Fae Luck-Eater that had proven time and again to be a valuable contact. He, in turn, sent her here.

The Succubus shrugged deeper into her jacket, brows knit as she gave the café another sweep, almost wishing she'd brought Kenzi along. But her sharp-tongued friend knew nothing of Bo's nightmares, of her fears, and Bo would not tell her. Kenzi had her own problems to deal with.

A girl with short-cropped mousey curls and bright green glasses glanced up at the door and caught Bo's eyes. With an uncertain squint, she half-rose out of her seat and raised a hand. Bo strode toward her purposefully and slipped into the chair opposite her. If she stood in the entrance much longer, she was likely to bring too much attention to herself, which she just didn't want.

"Seth?" Bo fixed the woman across the small, filthy table from her with an evaluating stare. Mayer had indicated to her that the person she was looking for would be older. That she had come from old money, old wisdom and old fashion. Truth be told, Bo was surprised at the address she'd been given for the meeting, but hadn't much questioned it. Now, she was even more taken aback to find the scrappy younger girl she was meeting with. Dressed in a tattered and torn leather jacket, a tight cotton shirt that had obviously seen better days and worn jeans that at least fit right, the Fae that greeted her was anything but old, wise, rich, or fashionable. She just looked like an ordinary, somewhat intimidated girl.

"Maia, actually." She offered a clean, surprisingly soft hand to shake. Her skin was cold to the touch. "I guess that makes you Bo?" Freckles dusted her face and small brown eyes searched hesitantly for an affirmative.

"I thought I was meeting Seth?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that. And sorry about the last minute location change. I can explain." Maia pursed her lips, looking nervous. She tucked her hands under her and hunched over. Bo noticed how pale her cheeks were, her skin looked almost yellow under those damn flickering lights.

A minute passed in silence. The Succubus raised an eyebrow impatiently and shifted in her seat.

"So?" She prompted.

Just as Maia opened her mouth, a bored-looking waitress stepped over, tapping the nub of her pencil against her order pad.

"What'll it be, folks?"

"Oh, coffee, for me. Thanks." Maia rushed in with her request, looking relieved at the interruption.

"Make it two." Bo didn't even look up, only stared intently at the girl across from her. Both her arms crossed over the table. The waitress looked lazily from one to the other, rolled her eyes and turned away.

"So?" Bo repeated once the waitress was out of earshot.

Maia gulped and pressed her lips together again.

"Seth's missing." She chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully, then, seeming to gain some small amount of courage, tilted her head and looked at Bo in a way the Succubus could only describe as 'critically'. "I'm not Fae. I can't help you with your problem." Bo shifted almost to leave, but cold hands darted out to grasp at Bo's from across the table. "But maybe you could help me. And Seth."

Bo's brows drew together in a frown, and she settled back into her seat. The waitress came around again and plunked a pair of mugs on their table, oblivious to the exchange. Greasy brown liquid spilled onto the stained surface and Bo looked down at the so-called 'coffee' in disgust.

"I thought Seth was coming to help me." She wrinkled her nose as she drew the mug closer to her. The liquid inside swirled brown and tan, and she could swear there was the sheen of oil across the top.

Maia tipped her own mug and took a sip, then suppressed a grimace and shrugged.

"At least it's hot…" She mumbled. Brown eyes met brown eyes again over their steaming drinks, and Maia sighed. "Like I said: Seth's gone missing. She was kidnapped this morning. I didn't know who else to go to."

"So you changed the meeting place and decided to come yourself?"

"Well, she never told me where you were supposed to meet. I knew it wasn't here, this place isn't her style..." Maia trailed off, giving the café a cursory glance before settling her attention back on the Succubus. "Look. Seth's a talented Seer. I don't know what the deal is, but I know you'd called her with a problem. I need to find her, and word is, you're a pretty good P.I." Maia took another gulp of her coffee. Bo wondered how she could possibly drink this slop. "So. Help me find her and she'll pay you with solving your issue."

Sometime in the ten minutes between catching Bo's attention from across the café and this moment, Maia had lost her timidity. She spoke earnestly, relating her fears to the stranger across the table like a trusted friend. Bo considered her proposal for a moment.

"If you're human, I guess that makes you Seth's…" Bo winced and spat out the word, "… pet." Maia didn't even blink. Bo took that for agreement. With a resigned sigh, she nodded. "Tell me what you know."

The human scooted closer, but before she had a chance to speak, Bo raised a hand to stop her. "Not here. This place stinks, and I think there's a roach in my coffee. Come on."

Apprehension flitted across Maia's face for an instant, but she shrugged and dropped a ten on the table before rising and trotting obediently after Bo.

"Kenzi!" Bo called, shutting the door to her home with a light click. Maia stood just inside, holding her arms and looking around wordlessly.

"Hey Bo-balicious. Where ya been all day?" Kenzi came bouncing down the steps into the kitchen, impossibly high stilettos clicking against the floor sharply. She was wearing her favorite red jeans again, with the crosshairs on one back pocket, and her signature corset over a tight, lacy black tank top. Her straight black hair fell into her eyes, cut short and in a slant parallel to her jaw. The human hopped around the doorway from the stairs, going straight for the cookies Lauren had baked fresh for them the day before, grinning infectiously, and stopped mid-bounce at the sight of their visitor. "We picking up strays now, sweetmeat?" The little punk-lolita gave the other human an appraising look, noting the slightly unkempt appearance and the shy smile she offered in greeting.

"She's our next client." Bo explained, leading the way into the kitchen.

"Hi. I'm Maia." Her voice was soft, hesitant. Pale fingers fluttered an echo to her greeting. "Bo said ya'll would find my owner." She offered in explanation. Bo winced, and Kenzi stared wide eyed at the newcomer.

"Your… owner?" Kenzi squeaked, her face a mask of incredulity. The cookies remained untouched.

"Maia's human." Bo frowned and maneuvered herself around the island in the kitchen, trailing a hand companionably across Kenzi's shoulders. "Her…"

"Owner." Maia supplied with indifference.

"Right. She was kidnapped." Bo finished, still frowning, and turned to grab a glass from the cupboard behind her and began filling it with water.

"So… shouldn't that be something the powers that be deal with?" Kenzi looked from Bo to Maia, a little confused and more than a little wary and suspicious.

"The Morrigan doesn't know." Maia stepped back defensively and bit her lip, eyes growing wide with her anxiety, "and she can't know. Ok? The Dark don't care about humans or pets."

"Woah, back up there Nelly. You're Dark?!" Kenzi barked, her hands raising defensively in return. "Bo, did you know about this?"

Bo sighed and passed the glass of water over to Maia, who was wincing visibly at Kenzi's alarm. But she accepted the offering gratefully.

"Wait!" A dark, leather clad figure in a striking hair cut flipped onto the back of the couch, "I do know you!" He cried and stared at the startled girl.

"Vex!" Maia's mouth suddenly went dry, the blood drained from her face.

"You're the Seer's pet! Ooohoohooh!" The Mesmer cooed in delight, clapped his hands and rose from his position on the couch. Lying there, buried under pillows and discarded clothes, he'd been completely hidden from view. Maia shook her head and took another step back, bumping into the island in her panic.

"No. Oh no. Nonononono…" She muttered, dark eyes darting back and forth. The only exit she could clearly see was past the Mesmer, through the door she'd entered from.

"He won't say a word." Bo's voice was steel. She stared pointedly at the Dark Fae grinning gleefully at the scene and stepped back around to stand between Vex and Maia. "Not that the Morrigan will even see him." She glared daggers at Vex and raised a hand at Maia to steady the human.

"What's the big deal anyway?" Kenzi piped up again, "Shouldn't it be the Morrigan's problem if one of her peeps was Fae-napped?"

Maia licked her lips, her mouth dry, and shuffled her feet.

"Like I said. The Dark don't care about pets. With Seth missing, I'm a loose end. A human who knows too much and has too little sense not to blab to the first person I meet about the Fae world. I'm under no one's protection until Seth comes back." Her voice came at a croak, and she gulped the cold water in her hands greedily, trying to dampen her lips and throat and dispel her nerves.

"You're under my protection until Seth comes back. You got that?" Bo's eyes never left the Mesmer's as she drove the point home, more concerned that he understood that than Maia did.

"Oh now, darling, no need to get testy." Vex fell backward into the couch. His legs dangled over the shabby furniture. "I'm sure it won't take the Morrigan long to discover her favorite Seer's disappearance, with or without anyone volunteering information."

Bo strode over, forever annoyed by the squatter that lived on her couch, and bodily threw his feet to the floor. The wide grin on Vex's heavily mascaraed face disappeared in a flash, and the now sulky Mesmer got up to lean instead against one of the more solidly boarded walls. At Bo's beckon, Maia crept hesitantly to the couch and sat on the edge, obviously nervous and uncomfortable. She held her empty glass of water in a death grip without seeming to realize it and stared down into it, as if trying to divine answers from the cool, colorless glass. Bo sat beside her. She slid a hand into Maia's lap, warm, calming power radiating from the Succubus' skin to the human's.

"Tell me what happened."

The couch dipped on Bo's other side as Kenzi joined them, leaning over to watch the girl tell her story.

Golden afternoon sunlight filtered through the slats across the clubhouse's grimy windows, turning the otherwise dull purple nail polish on Maia's fingers a bright violet luster. She fiddled with her fingers, picking at nothing while she considered her explanation.

"Seth's a Seer. One of the oldest, and one of the best. She sees truths and receives visions, which she communicates to the Morrigan." Maia took a deep breath. The Morrigan, leader of the Dark Fae, clearly frightened and unnerved her. "This morning, Seth went to see an old client of hers. A shifter. Dolph."

"I thought Seth was retired?" Vex interjected. All his attention was on the human sitting before him. Black hair fell in a curtain across half his face and he brushed it away carefully.

"I thought Seth was a boy's name." Kenzi quipped, playing with her hair and feigning disinterest. "Or was that not important back in the dinosaur age?"

"Nobody calls her Sethria anymore." The acid in Maia's tone took Kenzi by surprise, and the pixie-esque punk raised her hands apologetically. "And she never retired. Just got more selective, more careful, about who she saw. Who she worked for."

"Workin' with Dolph is hardly selective. He's a bloody beast." The Mesmer interrupted again, his tone suspicious. "Likes to play with his food, and not in a sweet, sexy, succubus-ty way."

"And you don't?" Maia snapped.

Bo squeezed Maia's knee, bringing her attention back to the Succubus.

"Tell us about her last appointment, before she disappeared." Bo prompted, voice quiet, but insistent.

An almost hurt expression seemed to cross the girl's face, but vanished as quickly as it came. Her nerves were noticeably frayed. Kenzi wondered when she'd slept last, if she'd eaten at all in the past couple of days. Maia pulled long, thin fingers through her hair, brushing out the tight curls fretfully.

"She never tells me details. Just that she has an appointment. Sometimes she'll tell me with whom, but not where or why. She never lets me come with her either." There was a note of bitterness in her voice, barely detectible. "She left early this morning. When she came back, she was shaking. I don't know if she was angry, or if she was scared…" she trailed off, her gaze going far away, remembering the last time she'd seen her. "She wouldn't say anything. Wouldn't tell me what was wrong. And then- " her voice trembled for a moment, and she sucked in a deep, stabilizing breath, "I could hear tires screeching. People were shouting outside. She grabbed my arm, threw me to the stairs… She told me to hide. So I did." Shame crept into her voice. "It didn't sound like much of a struggle. They were laughing. They didn't think – or didn't bother – to look for me." Maia stared blankly at the hands in her lap, fingers curled gently inward. She tilted her digits, watching the polish turn from dull purple to hot violet and back again emotionlessly.

Maia raised her face, glasses flashing in the bright sunlight. They were speckled with dust. "I didn't know who else to go to. I can't go to the Morrigan. The Light won't care. But you're unaligned. And they say you treat your human well." She bit her lip and wiped her damp hands against her jeans. She looked desperate.

Bo sighed. It wasn't much to go on.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"

Maia shook her head, exhaling heavily and dropping her face into her hands.

"That's all well and good, but I still don't see why you didn't go to the Morrigan with this." Vex glowered, distrustful of her motivations for seeking out the unaligned Succubus over her owner's own people. "I'm sure there are plenty of Dark Fae that would have gone on your behalf. Isn't Ryan a favorite of the Seer's?" He leered.

"You really have been gone a while, haven't you?" Maia let out a breathy, unconvincing laugh. "Seth's been working with both Dark and Light. Ever since the Garuda came. The Morrigan's furious with her. I can't be sure she isn't the one behind the whole thing." Her jaw clenched. "She'd help Seth about as much as she'd help you."

"We'll find her, Maia. Just… try to relax." Bo put an arm across disheveled shoulders, and Maia nodded, head back in her hands once again. "What do you know about this Shifter, Dolph?"

Maia sniffed and pulled her glasses off. They skittered across the coffee table and she massaged her temples, trying to hold off her panic.

"Just that his name's Adolphus. And he's vicious. Seth really doesn't like him dropping in at the apartment, she was furious with him for coming by unannounced a couple of days ago."

"He's a Bear. Quite literally." Vex supplied. "He's freelanced as a bouncer at Carpe Noctum a few times. Usually hires himself out as muscle to anyone that asks for his services. Nasty fellow."

"When did he drop by?" Bo caught on to her first lead, and leaned back to grab her jacket and stood to throw it on.

"The day before yesterday. I tried not to let him in, but he bowled right past me. Seth practically threw me out of the room." Maia drew in a deep breath. Her voice was beginning to tremble, despite her efforts to keep calm. "I thought she was mad at me, but she came for me after he left. She wouldn't tell me why he came. But she was afraid. She was trying not to let me see it, but I know her better than she thinks. I could see how scared she was."

Vex straightened.

"I think I know where we can find him."

The mousey-haired human jumped up, eager to move into action.

"Good. Let's go." Determination squared her shoulders, her mouth pressed into a thin, grim line.

Bo pressed a hand onto Maia's shoulder, pressuring her to sit back down.

"No. You stay. Eat something, get some rest. If we find anything, we'll call." Bo's voice was firm, but not unkind, and she turned her attention to Vex.

"Feel like going on a field trip, then?"

"I have to come. I have to help you find her!" Maia shrugged off Bo's hand and looked from Bo to Vex and back again. Anger and determination were written plainly on her small face. Her shoulders were squared defiantly and her hands clenched into tight fists. Maia hated feeling useless.

"It's too risky. Vex and I can handle this." Bo's words were final, and, with a little help from her Succubus touch, eventually succeeded in pushing the human back into the couch. "I'll call you as soon as I know something. Okay?" Kenzi scooted in closer to the girl and wrapped a thin arm protectively around her shoulders.

"Go do your Scooby thing. I got this." She nodded for Bo to go on ahead, who, with a worried glance back at Maia, followed Vex down the hall and out the door.

Author's Note: Well, this is my first fanfic in a decade. Constructive criticism is more than welcome, kindness is greatly appreciated. I began this story shortly after watching 'Confaegion', and completed the storyline just before 'Fae-ge Against the Machine', so there are some parallels to the TV episodes, and variations as the story unravels. The story is complete, and I will be posting at least one chapter a week, two if one or both are particularly short. Also, this is unbeta-ed, so all mistakes are mine alone.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost Girl; no copyright infringement is intended.