Bo knew what she was getting into when she signed on for this Back to the Future trip. Everyone chosen had gotten the rundown from Caleb and Essek, and they knew what to expect. They knew there was some evil, magic-siphoning overlord ruling over a wasteland that had once been Vallo and that, inevitably, the use of magic big enough to support time travel was going to attract his forces.
They were exactly right.
She knew the second they had to stand up and fight that, even with support troops from the current time backing them, there was no winning. They gave it their all, anyway, pushed back as hard as they could until they were forced to call it and retreat back to the Outpost.
All in all, she made it through in pretty good shape. She had your standard, garden-variety scrapes and bruises, but it was nothing concerning, definitely not life-threatening. She’d have to hope the trend continued without an immediate source for feeding and healing; with magic and powers drained around here, she knew it wouldn’t be easy to come by. But it was fine. She’d rest up for a few hours, get through the aches, and she’d be no worse for the wear in no time.
All of that would wait a little longer, though – because, among the waiting gathered in the Outpost’s main room, her eyes fell on the one person that mattered most to her.
It took a little maneuvering as old friends reunited around then, but she managed to squeeze her way in front of Kenzi and instantly, wordlessly engulf her in her arms. She didn’t consider for a second whether it was wanted or not – this was her Kenzi, her person, her best friend, her heart, and in any timeline, she was Bo’s first priority.
Kenzi hated the Outpost sometimes.
It was… a lot. Cluttered and crowded, people stuffed together like sardines. It had proven to be a reliable safe-haven, and she and Morpheus did have a corner here to themselves when they were in the area, but her patience overall with the general public had dwindled. Popping up every now and again was necessary, though – she’d catch some rumors to report back to Evie, Morpheus had the little library he put together, there were a few friends (that were alive, what a feat) to catch up with.
Then there was a ruckus, and people were antsy and restless about the whole time traveling thing which – listen, she’ll believe it when she sees it. But she got curious to investigate, so she gave Morpheus a quick kiss to the cheek and slipped away. People were running and bumping into one another – rude – so maybe that means… something actually happened?
“Holy balls, the wizards did it,” Kenzi mumbled to herself, a little lost in the insanity, until she saw what she was pretty sure was a ghost slithering out towards her. A hot, scuffed up ghost that wore the face of her dead best friend. A hot, scuffed up ghost that came up to her, and hugged her, with what were distinctly not ghost arms.
She was stiff in Bo’s embrace, unbelieving. She couldn’t move, much less breathe. Was she high? Did she inhale something she wasn’t supposed to? Breakfast included some pretty suspicious looking berries – tripping balls was totally possible.
Cautious, she lifted her hands and slid them up Bo’s back, putting them in her hair. “You’re…” She narrowed her eyes, and pulled back a smidge to scrutinize her. These past few years had changed Kenzi - she didn’t have the luxury to be dolled up, or to have immaculate hair and killer shoes. She wanted to smile and tear up at the sight of the best friend she hadn’t seen since the day she died in her arms.
But she didn’t. Not yet. Maybe that was the most startling change. “You’re real? Are you, like – for real, real?”
Well, that wasn’t quite the reaction Bo had been expecting. The stiffness was the first sign something was wrong; she was used to Kenzi melting into her, practically molding the two of them into one being at every opportunity, and this wasn’t that. But it wasn’t bad. Now that she was in closer proximity and could read Kenzi’s face, her best guess was that she wasn’t in the loop on what was happening here. And she was different – no older, not even a day, but there was a weariness about her that the Kenzi she’d told her plans to last night hadn’t possessed.
She’d known to expect that she was gone here (though the definition of ‘gone’ for each of them hadn’t been really expanded on). She wasn’t thrown by the disbelief and uncertainty, and she reeled back in her approach appropriately – but not physically, keeping her hands anchored on Kenzi’s waist while they looked at each other.
“Real real, sweetie,” she assured her, soft and patient, the smile she wore ever-gentle and just for her bestie. “Not…your Bo, though.” Yet. Ever, if they could help it. “I’m guessing the whole ‘let’s-time-travel-back-to-2023-and-pick-up-some-Outlanders’ plan wasn’t announced to the class?”
Kenzi didn’t say much for a few moments. She drank in the details of her face, shameless with how her eyes tracked every feature – like she was searching for a flaw in her design, something that let her know this was a scam, a trap. In the background she could hear hushed murmurs, and sobs and heartfelt reunions that made it all more convincing.
Okay. Fine. She could believe it. She could believe this was real. The spell worked. Bo was real, standing before her, alive and breathing. Bo from ten years ago who made the list, and Kenzi kicked herself for not looking at it before.
But like she had said – she wasn’t her Bo. It was the nicest twist of the knife her heart had ever received.
“Oh babycakes,” she huffed out a short, sad laugh. “Look around you – do you think this is the kind of place that has much faith in a plan that relies on magic? I didn’t think it would…” Kenzi trailed off as she cupped her best friend’s cheek. She heard talks about it but, god, did she have any hopes it would work? Hell no. They were on a side that had been steadily losing throughout the years, and it was only a matter of time before there was a skeleton crew.
Finally, there was the most minute wobble of her bottom lip. “You weren’t supposed to die, Bobo.”
You weren’t supposed to die. Okay, well, that answered that question. There was a touch of a sting, of course; hearing she had died and left her best friend behind wasn’t the news she wanted, but it wasn’t completely unexpected either. The word ‘gone’ could only mean so many things. This wasn’t the result Bo wanted, especially not for Kenzi, but she could take it.
What was harder to take was hearing Kenzi laugh like that, seeing the subtle shift in her expression, the lip.
“I’m sorry, Kenz,” she said softly, lifting her hand to press against Kenzi’s on her cheek. She hated this. She hated seeing Kenzi hurting, knowing she hadn’t been able to stay and fight by her side. “I don’t know what happened”–and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know–“but I know the last thing I would’ve ever wanted was to leave you.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” she clarified quickly, desperately, not wanting to expand on the details beyond that. It had been Kenzi’s fault. She should have gotten up. She should have moved and not sat there like some pathetic little duckling, waiting for someone to swoop in and save her.
That someone was Bo.
There was a lot more vulnerability that began to seep through. Her mouth began to tremble, and there was a sting in her eyes that let her know she was on the verge of tears. “I really wish I could keep you,” Kenzi forced out, right before giving in and hugging her tight.
She never thought she’d have a chance to do this again, and likely the future where she could keep doing this was limited - Bo belonged to a Vallo ten years before this. She didn’t belong here but it felt like a dream to have her again.
Bo’s heart ached, but she squeezed Kenzi back just as tightly, fingers digging into her back as she clutched her close. She couldn’t leave her present Kenzi permanently, couldn’t bear the idea of it. In all the madness of the fae world, Kenzi was who had kept her grounded. Kenzi was who had told her fuck this place, let’s get out. Kenzi was the one who’d told her she deserved more, who she’d come to Vallo with. Her Kenzi, the crazy girl who had fallen into her life and made it so much fuller, in a way no romantic entanglement ever could.
The hard part was – this was Kenzi, too, the same girl. Ten years down the road, worn and defeated, missing her – but still her Kenzi. The idea of leaving her when this was all said and done (if they managed to set things right, if it was possible to go back in the end) was no more palatable. She was strong, and she had kept moving forward, even with a future Bo gone, but if Bo could grant her wish to stay, she would.
If she could exist in two times at once, she would, for Kenzi.
“I know,” she breathed. “I’m here now.” Her hand tightened between Kenzi’s shoulder blades and her eyes squeezed closed. Emotion welled up in her chest, and she swallowed against the lump that had formed in her throat. She had deeply underestimated the weight of coming to a world like this and the effect it would have. “Love you, Kenzikins.”
Yeah, now. Kenzi didn’t want to let her go – she held tight, blocked out the other voices around them, and let the tears finally fall. They seared down her cheeks, and it’s a good thing she didn’t have to worry about messing up mascara or eyeliner. That shit was hard to come by these days.
“Love you too, Bodacious,” she whispered fiercely. After one last solid squeeze, she pulled back to look at her. “Gonna steal you away to our room, okay? There’s a lot to catch you up on.”
Bo reluctantly allowed Kenzi to pull back, frowning just a bit at the sight of tears falling. She brushed her fingers gently across her best friend’s face to help clear them away. “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she agreed. She got the feeling Kenzi’s life here wasn’t as glamorous as the Kenzi she’d left back in 2023 would have hoped, but she wanted to know every detail.
Most importantly –
“That catch up better include some more details on who the ‘our’ in ‘our room’ is,” she grinned, looping her arm through Kenzi’s and twining their fingers together. She had her suspicions, given things happening in her current-day Vallo, but she would let Kenzi confirm it.
“Hah, hah.” Kenzi clutched that hand like she had no plans to let Bo escape her orbit any time soon. The whole thing with Morpheus was – right, one of those things. She led the way through the Outpost first, pushing past the throng of people and through the tunnels. There were various makeshift rooms for groups, for individuals; salvaged rugs, old pillows, partition curtains.
She and Morpheus didn’t need anything spacious. They had a corner to themselves, privacy given to them through hanging blankets and some planks. There was a single full-sized bed, and the frame wasn’t in the worst shape.
Kenzi had a makeshift closet of clothes, and boots that were nowhere near as glamorous as what she once wore. Spare weapons were sheathed and leaning against the wall, and there were a few neat stacks of books piled up next to them.
“It’s the worst, I know,” she laughed more sincerely now, drying her damp cheeks with a sleeve. “Morpheus and I aren’t always here – we go in between the Barns a lot, but he made a little library here for everyone so he’s doing his nerd thing.”
Morpheus, just what she’d figured. Bo smirked, but there was a softness in her eyes. She’d been teasing Kenzi about her thing with Dream consistently back home, only to be met with stubborn refusal to admit to anything. It was cute, but she was glad to see future Kenzi had grown out of that. She deserved to be happy, even if the situation did inspire a few concerns from Bo.
“It’s no worse than the clubhouse,” she chuckled, brushing her fingers over a book’s cover while she took the place in. It was small, just a corner, but with what seemed to be a good chunk of remaining Outlanders and sympathizers living here, it made sense that space was limited. Maybe if they got this right, some semblance of normalcy would come back and get them out of here.
“Tell me more.” She squeezed the hand still in her grasp and tugged Kenzi toward the bed. “I want to know everything I can.” That would probably entail some omissions, with this being time travel and all, but she was fine with that. She wanted to be up-to-date on everything she’d missed and make sure that Kenzi was okay – well, as okay as she could be in these severely shitty circumstances.
Kenzi dropped onto the edge of the bed with a light bounce, the spring of the mattress squeaking. Beggars can’t be choosers – they were lucky to have some kind of bed in the Outpost anyway. “I don’t even know where to start,” she sighed, tucking some hair behind her ears. “The city went to hell in a basket… four years ago? It’s swarmed with Interidouche’s posse. Monsters. People that got put under his thrall. People with big magic mojo are some obvious targets for that. Rory’s one of them, you know. Lucy’s had a rough time.”
Magic and powers were sapped right now but if Interitus got them, they’d be unleashed. There were already a few powerhouses under his command that caused some serious problems to their side.
“So – we stay low a lot, to keep Morpheus from getting pulled into his ranks,” she continued, rubbing her lips together. “I help around sometimes by getting intel and scouting for items to trade.”
The occasional knife to the throat, too.
Bo pressed her lips together at that news. Lucifer must be heartbroken, losing his kid like that. She was glad it sounded like Interitus hadn’t gotten ahold of him – Rory was powerful enough in her own right, but the Devil Himself would be too much. This Vallo had already suffered so much loss, so much destruction. It was better to have Lucifer sapped of his powers than under Interitus’ control.
As ‘better’ as anything could be claimed to be in this situation.
“I’m glad you’re being careful,” she said, thumb brushing along Kenzi’s. “I know you’re a badass, but I like the idea of you keeping low. For your sake as much as his.” She could see why they didn’t want Interitus getting their hands on Dream – same sort of reasons as Lucifer – but her main concern would always be Kenzi.
“He’s treating you right?”
“Bo,” Kenzi sighed out, and the way she breathed out her name almost sounded like a warning but it wasn’t – just some adoring exasperation, if that. Her relationship status was hardly a cause of concern considering, you know, the whole stupid world, though it tracks that she’d be invested.
Hell, if the roles were flipped, she would be all up in that business sniffing out Bo’s new partner and bestowing some unfair judgment upon them. No one was ever good enough for her bestie (and you can’t change her mind). “He’s perfect,” she assured her, lips tilting into a soft smile. “If I’m somewhere away from him then he makes sure one of the ravens are tailing me, and… it’s good. It’s really good. He makes dealing with all of this not seem so… pointless.”
Kenzi didn’t dwell much on the angsty side of things; that had never been her vibe, but the years had worn her down. So many friends had died or been taken away. Losing Bo had been the most devastating one – and she still wasn’t over it.
She was pretty sure she’d never be over it.
Bo knew Kenzi’s relationship should be the least of her concerns. In most ways, it was – she knew they were here in the hopes of being able to save what was left of this future. But they were here to recover and catch up, hardly the only ones reunited with family a decade older. She had to make sure Kenzi was okay, as much as she possibly could be in these circumstances.
It sounded like she was, too. Bo was glad for that; despite her hesitations, she thought it was pretty clear even in her time that Morpheus really cared about Kenzi, and she was glad that had held through. She was glad Kenzi had someone in her corner. Her bestie was a very social creature, very capable of forging and keeping up connections, but it was supposed to be the two of them against the world.
“Good,” she murmured, free hand raising to cup Kenzi’s cheek and smile softly at her. “Because I’d happily kick another immortal being’s ass for you, baby girl.”
“Hot,” Kenzi smirked, a more familiar sharpness to it. It was that banter again. That security she missed. Morpheus made her feel safe, but Bo was this other layer that had made her feel invincible. Soul-sister shit. Platonic soulmate energy. “I love you, Succubutt. I might velcro myself to you while you’re here – and you’re not allowed to do any of that super overrated hero stuff, okay?”
That little bit of mischief was gone again, replaced by an earnest, fearful look as she cradled Bo’s face. “I lost you to that kind of thing before. You do it to me a second time and I’m punching you in the tits and knocking them off their alignment. Try getting cooch in the afterlife with crooked boobs.”
“Pretty sure I could un-crooked my boobs in the afterlife, but alright, deal,” Bo laughed. It was a promise she was hoping to keep. The whole reason they’d been brought here was for the ‘overrated hero stuff’, but she was counting on there being enough of a plan in place to prevent further deaths, for the sake of the people here who’d already lost so much, if nothing else.
She raised her free arm, wrapping it around her best friend’s shoulder and pulling her in close, lifting her head to kiss the top of her head. “Get the velcro out, Kenz. I’m yours.”