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Fandom: Sanctuary
Story is set after 2×11 Haunted, although not straight after. It’s dealing with what happened in Haunted, only a couple of months later. Don’t be afraid for season 3 spoiler. I started writing it before it aired, so no spoilers beyond Haunted. I had chosen to ingore Kali as well since I didn’t know how that would end. ;P
Summary: While working on a way to remove the creature that resides inside John, the team meets a girl with a special ability she shouldn’t have. On the brink of loosing it all, Helen is faced with difficult choices. Family is questionned and answers are burried deeply into one’s past.
Chapter Index:
Chapter 1: Inherited Gift
Chapter 2: Hope
Chapter 3: Simple Reminiscence
Characters: There will be good moments for most of them, but this is mostly a Helen/John related story.
Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort –and a little adventure I might add, but do not expect to read big action scenes.
Raiting: PG-13, just to be safe.
Disclaimer: Sanctuary is not mine, never was and never will be. I’m only playing with it.
Special thanks to: Oparu, my Beta Reader for chapters 1 and 2.
Sparra-music, my current Beta reader – chapter 3 and up.
Reviews are welcomed and immensely appreciated. :)
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FAMILY TIES
Chapter 1: Inherited Gift
“Emily, would you PLEASE come and clean the mess you made in the living room? I don’t mind you throwing parties, but I expect you to at least help me put everything away afterwards!” Laura almost yelled at her teenage daughter, picking up some leftovers. Not getting any answer, she added, “Meaning, you need to come downstairs right now, Emily!” She could hear loud noises coming from above her head, a sign that her message had reached its destination. It was confirmed when her now furious daughter appeared before her.
“Mom, why do you have to do this?” she shouted. “Eric and Joe are still here and you know it! Why do you always have to yell at me in front of my friends?” she asked, angrily, her arms crossed.
Laura walked toward her. “Emily, you can’t just invite friends over and expect me to play housemaid for you. You have responsibilities child, and it’s about damn time you pay attention to them!”
Emily huffed furiously, taking the last steps separating her from her mother. “You don’t know how much I wish I could be with dad right now!” she said, two inches from her mothers’ face, thinking about her father and his almost heavenly house in Texas.
Before Laura had time to answer, her only daughter vanished before her eyes.
Meanwhile, on that sunny Sunday afternoon, Daniel Peterson was in his garden, relaxing under the sun, reading a novel his father-in-law had lent him; a Martini on the table next to him. The day couldn’t be better. He sensed a hand on his chest and opened his eyes slowly only to see his wife Catherine lowering her mouth to his. He let himself be drawn into that kiss and words escaped his mouth only when she released him, “You’re back early.”
She smiled devilishly. “I figured we could use some time alone before Florence comes back. Besides,” she said sitting into his lap, her intention clear “it’s been a while since we’ve had time to ourselves…”
“Well then, I’ll try and not disa…” his reply was cut short by Catherine’s sudden shriek and the appearance of his sixteen-years-old daughter Emily in a red shimmer.
Emily lost her balance the moment she rematerialized and fell to the ground. She looked up at her father and his wife, afraid to move. She just had enough time to see their fear and her own reflected in their eyes, before a sudden wave of dizziness drew her into unconsciousness.
The ringing of the phone came from inside the house. Daniel was the one to answer it. “Yes Laura, she’s here,” hetold his ex-wife. “No she’s unconscious. Catherine is taking care of her. … Yeah, yeah. … See you later.” He hung up and made his way to the guest room where Emily now lay on the bed.
Seeing him, his wife stood up to let him take her place at his daughter’s side. “She’s still unconscious, but other than that, she seems fine. No fever, her heart rate is normal. She should be awake by now.”
“Maybe she’s sleeping. Using a power like that without knowing about it must pull some strains on you.” He sighed and felt Catherine’s hands massaging his shoulders. He continued, “Laura and I had prayed so much for her to be normal. We thought she was. She never did something like that when she was younger. It seems as though we were wrong all along…”
“Is Laura coming?”
“Yeah, she was in her car on her way to the airport. She already booked a place on the next plane to Texas. She should be here some time tonight. … Honestly, I wish Emily would sleep until then because I can’t explain what happened by myself. Laura needs be here, deserves to be here,” he said, sadly.
Catherine felt his sadness, having known him for as long as she had, and didn’t know whether to be worried or not. He was simply worried about his daughter or so she hoped. She risked asking, “Is my being here a problem for you and Laura? Because I can call Robert and Denise and arrange for…”
“No, you should stay,” he said before she was able to finish, facing her and taking her hands. “And don’t worry. It’s over between Laura and I, has been for a long time. We’ll always share a bond because of Emily. Nothing can change that,” he smiled, “but you are the one I love.” Kissing her confirmed that he meant it.
A couple of hours later, the door chime echoed in the house as Daniel walked to the door. When he opened it, Laura stepped inside asking immediately for her daughter’s whereabouts.
“Calm down Laura, she’s fine. She woke up an hour and a half ago. Catherine made her a bowl of soup and she’s eating in the kitchen.” His ex-wife almost knocked him out of the way trying to slip between his tall figure and the wall. He took her arm. “Laura, we need to talk.”
She shook her arm free. “No, we don’t. Look, we knew this could happen one day. Now, let me take her home. This is my fault, my mistake. I don’t want to put your new family through this.”
Daniel put his hands on her shoulders to stop her babbling and said calmly, “Look, she’s my daughter too Laura. We agreed if this were to happen, we’d go through it together. Now, we may not be together as a couple anymore, but I still intend to hold that promise. Besides, this house is large enough for you to stay with us for a couple of days. Catherine and Florence don’t mind and they understand completely. They told me to take as much time as needed and I want to do just that.”
Her face previously tensed with worry softened and he felt her shoulders relax under his hands. Her tension level had drop considerably and he smiled at her.
“Thanks,” she simply said with a smile of her own.
He took her in his arms, as he had done when she had found out she was pregnant. This was something that had always worried her. Even her pregnancy – which was usually something to be happy about – had not been good news until he had convinced her that it didn’t matter – whether the child had a “gift” or not.
Here, in his arms, Laura felt safe, so she allowed herself to be cared for and enjoyed the feel of his strong protecting arms once again.
When she entered the kitchen, Emily jumped from her seat and ran into her mother’s arms. Laura stroked her hair softly, but moved her away after a few minutes.
She looked her straight in the eyes. “Emy, we need to talk,” she whispered.
‘Emy…’ her mother hadn’t called her like that for a long time now. Something had to be wrong – well she knew something was because there’s no way she could have found herself in her dad’s house otherwise, but she didn’t think it had something to do with her mother. She looked at her dad, who stood not far behind, and the three of them sat around the kitchen table.
The silence was becoming unbearable, but what could she do? Her parents acted like they had lost their voices and all she could do was sit down and look at them. They were exchanging glances which proved to her there was something important she didn’t know.
“What is it?” she asked, not able to wait any longer. “Tell me. It can’t be that bad.”
Laura and Daniel exchanged another brief look – which made her worry that it was indeed that bad – before her mother cleared her throat and joined her hands on the table. She usually adopted that position when she was about to reprimand her. Emily straightened in her chair.
“It’s a long story Emy”, she said with a quiet sigh, “I need you to promise me you won’t interrupt until the end.”
“I promise.”
“Good.” She took a deep breath and began her story, “It starts in 1939, just after the beginning of the war. Your Grandmother Amy and Grandfather George were separated when he was sent to the front. My mom was eighteen at that time and was very much in love. Before leaving, he gave her a letter, saying that if she were to find someone else during his absence, he wouldn’t mind, as he didn’t know if he was coming back. At that moment, she swore to herself she wouldn’t replace him, and she didn’t… Well, not at first.
“In 1942, she met a man. His name was John Druitt. He was a bit older than she was, but he was also torn up by some love affair. That’s what he had told her anyway. They didn’t fell in love at first, but they began spending more and more time together. One day, Amy admitted having developed feelings that didn’t belong to the friendship they shared, and he responded, telling her that he cared for her more than a friend usually would.
“It started as any normal relationship would. Months, than years passed. By the beginning of 1945, they couldn’t live without each other, or at least, that’s what she believed. One day, John was late from work and she let herself in to his house. They didn’t live together, but he had given her his keys. She wanted to surprise him, but found herself surprised when she saw the interior of his house. She had never set foot inside before. He always said every room was untidy and he didn’t want her to see that.
“Only, that wasn’t the case. In fact, his apartment was spotless and the decoration was… absolutely remarkable. Everything reminded her of Victorian England. She didn’t know he loved that era, he had never mentioned it, but seeing his house, she knew it was more than a passing obsession. It was something he lived with everyday. She visited every room and found flawless decor. He was a meticulous person.
“The last room she entered was his bedroom. That’s where her heart broke. There, on his dresser, stood many picture of a woman, a beautiful one I might add, but it wasn’t your grandmother. There also was a large painting of her, John’s mystery woman, on the wall and, next to the pictures, a box overflowing with too many letters for her to count. Whoever that woman was, she certainly was important to him. So, taking this rare opportunity for a glimpse of his life which he never talked about, she took the box and sat on the bed.
“Her eyes went wide when she opened the first letter. The fact that it dated from 1886 was startling. She read a little, found out that they were in love, had been at least. Once she grew tired of reading love letters – he had never written such beautiful things to her – she rummaged through the box and found newspaper articles under all the letters from about the same date. She didn’t understand it, but didn’t question it. The fact that those articles were all about Jack the Ripper frightened her. She thought the guy was some kind of maniac or something.
“So my mom left everything on the bed and immediately made her way to the door. When she arrived in the kitchen, she saw him. He materialized from thin air, in a kind of dark red shimmering light. She instantly froze. He didn’t seem happy when he saw her, but most of all, she didn’t recognize the look in his eyes. She gasped his name as he walked toward her with a deadly look.
“She tried to escape, but he was in front of her the moment she turned away and he had a knife in his hand. She begged and prayed, but the knife was dangerously close to her. His hand stopped in mid air, and John’s expression changed a little. While they stood there, he explained, in a dangerously dark tone, what he was, surely with the purpose of scaring her before attacking.
“You see Emy… John was what we would call an abnormal. He had the ability to teleport and he was immortal, thanks the experiments of a certain woman. He told her about those nights, where The Ripper haunted the streets of Whitechapel… You see, John Druitt was actually Jack the Ripper.
“My mother, she was a brilliant person, supposed that the woman she had seen was someone dear to him from those days, someone that had known his secret. She was right and saw Jack the Ripper hesitate to strike. He yelled at her to go away, to go as far away as possible, which she gladly did. But she never understood what she had seen in his eyes. It was as though there were two people were inside of him.
“She never saw him again. Some months later, when the war was over, George came back. He found Amy nine months pregnant upon his return, but he wasn’t angry. They were married, and he took care of me as if I was his own flesh and blood,” Laura finished darkly. She had hoped that she never would have to tell her daughter that story. She had hoped that, since she didn’t have the same powers as her father, they had somehow not been transferred genetically to her and that Emily would be safe, but she had been wrong.
Emily was… astonished didn’t really describe it. She was shocked! Terribly shocked! The fact that she was part… what? Abnormal? That’s what her mother had called it. She looked from her mother to her father, for a corner smile or any small movement that could indicate this was a joke, but she found none. “Okay…” was the only word her lips managed to form after a long silence.
Present day…
Emily Peterson, now twenty-five years old, awoke abruptly and looked at her alarm clock. A big 7:50 was flashing. She had to be at work in ten minutes. ‘Damn,’ she thought, ‘I’m late.’ She ran across her house – getting dressed, putting on a minimum of make-up to look presentable, and collecting her things. She was ready in eight minutes. She stopped in her bathroom and brushed her teeth. When she was done, she looked at herself one last time in the mirror, clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and wished…
When she opened them, she was in her office. ‘Thank God,’ she thought, ‘it worked.’ She sat down at her desk and began to relax. She rarely used her power. In fact, she had made it a rule to live a normal life, but sometimes, like this morning, she just couldn’t live without it. She wasn’t really good though. It didn’t always work properly, and, sometimes, it didn’t work at all. It’s not as if there were classes on how to teleport. Everything she knew, she had learned from Harry Potter.
But she was glad it worked this morning. She would have to use it to get back home though – she didn’t have her car. Last time, she had bumped her living room table and fell to the floor with such a noise that her neighbour had come to see if everything was all right. To avoid a repeat of that, she thought about the dark alley besides her apartment. ‘Yes, that would do perfectly.’
With that in mind, she opened her computer and prepared for her day.
Chapter 2: Hope
“It’s not working Nikola!” Helen Magnus shouted at the scientist before her. She had asked for Tesla’s help in trying to find a way to separate John from the energy being inside of him. Their last try had made half of her desk explode and now, thousands of wood shavings were sprawled on the floor.
Nikola removed his goggles and made his way to Helen, who was ten feet away from him, on the other side of the Sanctuary’s main lab. “It will work Helen. I’m sure there’s a way we can configure the de-vamper so it can capture whatever is in Johnny-dear,” he said with a smile only he could have.
Helen wasn’t smiling. It had been months. She had had little time after the whole incident with John to gain her composure and had found refuge in her work. Sooner rather than later, she had started running from one crisis to the other again, with no time to spend on finding a solution to help him. Was he even still alive? She smiled as a thought crossed her mind. It was funny how much her life had changed in two years.
Two years ago, the idea of having John near the Sanctuary was unthinkable. Now, she would give anything to know that he was all right. Oh, she wasn’t ready to have him completely back in her life yet, but she would gladly accept having him around more often.
So much had happened, with Ashley being the catalyst. There always was a connection between her and her father, one she had denied and one they only had found out about too late. Sometimes, Helen wished she could have done things differently. Deep down inside, although she wouldn’t admit it, she would have loved to see John Druitt – the one she fell in love with all those years ago at Oxford – raise their child…
Then, there had been the revelation that he was not in complete control. Of course, Helen knew that John wasn’t all pure and gentle, but still… That thing had taken the one man she ever truly loved away from her, away from his family. Why hadn’t she thought about it sooner? Why had the four of them turned their backs on Druitt? They were The Five. They were a family, a dysfunctional one perhaps, but they used to be there for each other. She missed the days of London, where all she had to worry about was her future, perhaps as John’s wife or as a female doctor ahead of her time. She didn’t have her past to worry about back then.
She looked at Nikola. She had been lost in thought a while and he remained there, looking at her. “What?” she asked.
“That look. I’d recognise it anywhere. You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”
“How could I not?”
Tesla closed his eyes and lowered his head. He had always felt something for Helen Magnus, something that went way beyond how she saw him. So, what could he say now? He usually had some acerbic remark on the tip of his tongue, but now, the emotion was so raw in her eyes that he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Helen looked away, composing herself. “Let’s go back to work. Maybe if we try connecting it to a more powerful element, the results will be worth considering.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about getting results. I’m confident in my work Helen.” That last sentence got him a raised eyebrow from the Victorian doctor. “It’s a genius thing, you can’t understand,” he replied, “Anyhow, I’m more worried about how we’ll be able to convince that creature to trust us.”
“Let’s focus on the task at hand. We’ll worry about that later,” she said, not believing what she was saying since that was exactly what worried her the most.
“As you wish,” he reluctantly agreed and followed her to the desk, well, the remains of the desk.
While Magnus was busy driving Tesla crazy, Will was studying in the library when his cell phone rang. He looked up from his book and immediately answered it. The only person who could be calling at this hour was Kate. She was in Toronto with Henry to pay a visit to a guy Magnus had known… A long story… He answered, “Hello?”
“Will! It’s Kate,” the voice on the other side responded.
He loved the sound of her voice, though he had to admit she now sounded a bit worried. “How are things in Toronto?” he asked.
“Good.” He could tell by her tone that she wasn’t totally there.
“Kate, what’s wrong?”
There was a long silence on the other side before an answer came. “Nothing much really. Henry assured me it was okay.” She was talking really fast, as if to clear her mind of something that was bothering her. “He just had a little problem with the… uhm… werewolf side of him. He told me it must me a chemical in the air or something like that, but it’s okay really.”
“Kate, slow down a second. What’s happening?” He pushed his books aside to concentrate on his conversation.
“It’s nothing, I assure you. He’s all right. We stopped in an alley. I’m guarding the entrance while he’s in the back. You see, nothing to worry about! Please, don’t tell Magnus. Henry doesn’t want her to worry about him. She has a lot on her mind recently.”
“Kate, you know I have to tell her. She wouldn’t want it otherwise,” he said. “Besides, she’ll found out sooner or later.” He knew why Henry didn’t want Magnus to know, but he also knew that he didn’t want to be the one who hadn’t told her.
When Kate didn’t protest, he tried calling her name, but no answer came. He could hear whispers coming from the other end. She was talking to someone, a woman, it seemed. He tried concentrating, but he couldn’t understand what Kate was saying. “Kate, what’s happening? … Kate, please answer me.” He sat back in his chair with a sigh as he waited, his other hand fiddling with a pencil.
When she finally came back and told him what was happening, he immediately started making his way to the lab to find Magnus.
“Follow her and try to learn everything you can. We can’t let her go,” Helen said a couple of minutes later, closing Will’s cell phone and giving it back to him.
“So what’s happening?” he asked as he tried to follow her – that woman could walk fast in high heels – through the corridors of the Sanctuary.
They stopped in Helen’s office, where she immediately went behind her desk to gather some essential things as she explained, “Kate and Henry saw a girl in her twenties with John’s ability. I don’t know how that’s even possible, given the fact that he, as myself, drew his power directly from the Source Blood, but we need to find out who she is and exactly why she can teleport. You’re in charge of the Sanctuary.”
“Where are you going?”
“Toronto,” she answered, taking her bag and leaving her office. “Nikola is coming with me. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
As she disappeared in the hallways, Will stayed in her office and looked around him. “Great, just great,” he said to himself. Being in charge of the Sanctuary wasn’t something he looked forward to, as everything seemed to go astray while Helen Magnus was gone.
Chapter 3: Simple Reminiscence
The moon was up high in the sky when the rented black car turned abruptly the corner of the street. They had been waiting for many hours and it was a relief to finally see it. Kate got up from the cement stairs where she had been sitting, followed closely by Henry, who was back to normal after being able to control whatever had been happening to him. The car stopped right in front of them on the side of the road. Magnus was the first one to come out, immediately imitated by Tesla.
She made sure Henry was all right with a look in his direction. Will had told her what had happened despite Henry’s objection for him to do so.
The technician quickly nodded. He hadn’t wanted to draw Magnus’ attention. She had had a lot on her mind recently and his problems seemed pale in comparison.
His thoughts were cut short by Kate’s inquiry. “Who invited him?” she asked indicating Tesla.
Helen sighed. They didn’t have time for this. “He’s here because I asked him to come. The fact is, this woman,” she indicated the apartment behind them, “whoever she is, has a link to John. She may be our only hope in finding him. I need Nikola here and not back at the Sanctuary working on some senseless experiment when we don’t have the prime subject. Now, is there another question?” she asked harshly.
“No,” Henry answered rapidly before Kate could say anything else that would anger Magnus even more.
A quick nod from Helen and seconds later, they were all near the door. “Henry, Kate, stay here. Make sure no one comes in before we’ve entered her apartment. Nikola,” Helen called him with a wave from the hand, showing him the lock on the door. He understood immediately and moved his hand near the object. At last, they heard a click coming from the mechanism. Helen opened the door and they entered the building.
“Her name is Emily Peterson. She’s twenty-five years old, works as a secretary in a big place downtown. She lives in number eight. She’s still in there, unless if she used her power to get out,” Henry explained, based on the intel Kate and him had collected.
“At least, you should be able to look through her things,” Kate added.
Nikola smiled. “This is exciting. I understand why you’ve done it all those years.”
“Well don’t grow accustomed to it”, she said as she started her way up the stairs. “You came solely because I need your help. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”
“And I thought you liked me.” He waited for her response, but when none came, he started after her as the door closed behind him.
They found the door marked number 8 on the fourth floor of the building. When they climbed the last step, Helen motioned for Nikola to open it the same way he had the first one. “On my mark,” she whispered. He stretched his arm over the handle. “One… two… three…”
Standing rather close too Helen, perhaps a little more than needed, he used his magnetic ability to remove the locking mechanism and turned the door knob without touching it. “I could really get use to this,” he murmured in Helen’s ear.
“Don’t take your own make-beliefs for reality Nikola. You’ll be terribly disappointed.”
It made him crack a smile in her direction. “I love it when you play hard to get.”
“Stop it,” she quickly said before stepping inside the woman’s apartment.
They found themselves in the living room. One couch and one armchair faced a flat screen television. A half-empty cup of coffee and an opened newspaper rested on top of a wooden coffee table between the TV and the seats. A red and purple rug covered three quarters of the floor and the lights were dimmed.
They could hear the shower running, so Helen turned to Nikola and indicated him to follow her. They sat on the couch to wait for the occupant’s return. She raised her radio, “Henry?”
“Yes Doc?” came the reply.
“We’re safely inside her apartment. Wait in the car. We don’t want to raise suspicion.”
Emily Peterson was in the bathroom finishing her shower, so she didn’t hear the door when it opened. She put a towel around her damp hair and fetched her pajamas. When she made her way to the living room to take her cup of coffee, she let out a brief scream which made Magnus and Tesla aware of her presence. Helen stood up, far more used to this than Nikola. “Good evening Miss Peterson. It wasn’t in our intention to startle you. We mean you no harm.”
Emily had already adopted a defensive position. “How did you get in?” she asked, not trusting her visitors one second. The woman’s face seemed familiar though. ‘Must be your imagination again Emmy,’ she told herself.
“Please, join us,” Helen said motioning for her to take a seat on the armchair. “We have a lot to discuss and very little time I’m afraid. Please, it’ll be all clearer very soon and I promise we’ll leave you to rest when were finished.”
‘You have nothing to lose,’ her inner voice told her. Besides, that intriguing woman had picked her interest. She seemed so self-confident, it was intimidating, and her clothes and British accent had a curious antique feeling. She followed her directives and sat while the woman took the vacant seat next to a man also unknown to her. Emily relaxed a little. “You know how to get someone’s attention Mrs…”
“Magnus, Doctor Helen Magnus. And this is Nikola Tesla.” No one missed the short silence that followed that statement.
“Tesla? That’s really funny ma’am,” Emily said half-jokingly.
“It wasn’t intended as something to laugh about Miss Peterson,” Tesla said, looking straight into her eyes. “The fact that I am Nikola Tesla shouldn’t be surprising to you of all people. After all, you’re the abnormal who’s able to teleport from one place to another,” he finished bluntly.
Emily gasped. What could she say to this? Most of all, how could they know something she hadn’t told anybody except her parents? ‘Best to act innocent,’ she decided. “I have no idea wh-”
“Excuse my colleague Miss Peterson,” Helen interrupted, looking reproachfully at Nikola. “He sometimes can be extremely direct, but he speaks the truth. We know about you Miss Peterson. You do not need to be afraid. Your secret is well guarded. We’re here because we need your help. Our presence in this town is not a coincidence. Do you know of a man named John Druitt?”
Emily sat upright. That surely wasn’t a coincidence. She immediately knew why that woman had looked familiar. Her family had kept pictures of John Druitt and Grandma Amy. Amongst those pictures, they had found one of the woman who had broken her grandmother’s heart. She was blond on the photograph, but Emily was sure she had found her in the woman before her. It didn’t make sense, she knew that. How old could someone like her be? It was crazy and impossible, but she also knew that Dr. Helen Magnus was the one. So, not caring about her visitors’ surprised looks, she stood and ran to her room. After a glance at each other, Magnus and Tesla quickly followed.
Emily rummaged through the lowest drawer of her dresser and took out a box where she kept everything that had belonged to her grandmother. When she finally found the object she had been looking for, she got up and handed the picture to her visitors. “You’re her, aren’t you?” she asked hopefully.
Intrigued, Magnus extended her hand and took what Emily was offering. She could sense Nikola behind her, looking over her shoulder. The moment she laid her eyes the picture, her mind was sent back in time.
Sitting in Oxford’s library, reading a book on human evolution, Helen Magnus considered herself to be the luckiest person in the world. Not many women were allowed inside these walls and here she was, enjoying a book in the University’s library.
The sensation of to strong hands on her shoulders made that feeling even greater as she turned to see the face of the man who had imprisoned her heart in his. “John,” she simply said, acknowledging his presence.
“My dear, I told you not to wait for me,” he reproached her, placing a fallen lock of her hair behind her ear.
“I wanted to,” she answered innocently. “Besides, you promised me a surprise tonight.”
“Oh that…” He bowed gently before her, a smile imposing himself on his lips, and offered his hand, “If you would follow me.”
She took his hand with a bow of her own and he led her down the hall. “Where are we going?” When no answer came, she raised an eyebrow, but knew better than to insist. It was supposed to be a surprise after all.
As soon as there was no one in sight, he grabbed her two arms and turned her to face him. “I have no destination in mind,” he said, smiling, as he teleported both of them away from the rest of the world.
They rematerialized in a clearing. Huge trees rose up into the air around them and a stream flowed not too far away. Birds were singing, as if to welcome them.
Helen was shining with happiness as she looked at the remarkable scenery. “John Druitt, I like it when you have no destination in mind.” She felt his arms wrap around her waist and leaned onto him. “Thank you,” she added.
“Anything for you, my love,” he whispered in her ear as he kissed her hair softly. “Now, wait here.”
He vanished in front of her eyes with a mischievous grin on his face. She didn’t even have time to question his whereabouts before he came back, a camera in his hands.
“Oh John, I’m hardly dressed for a photograph.”
He came close to her, took her hand and kissed it softly. “Helen, you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever met. No matter how you think you look, you’re radiant,” he said with so much sincerity, it made her heart ache even more for this man. She hadn’t thought it possible.
He kissed her hand again, with sparkles in his eyes that were always there when he looked at her. She couldn’t do anything else but smile back at him and nod.
“Helen.” The voice seemed distant, yet so close. “Helen!” This one was even closer. “Helen, are you okay?” The last question brought her back to her senses. She shook her head. Emily was looking strangely at her and Nikola seemed concerned.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
“I asked you if you were all right,” he repeated.
“Yes, I feel fine thank you.” She gave back Emily her photograph. “Miss Peterson, if you’d come back with us please. I believe we could answer many of your questions.”
The young woman didn’t have time to respond because Tesla came between the two of them. “That’s it?” he asked. “No ‘Why do you have a picture of me in your drawer?’ or more questions about what she knows? We’re just leaving, like that?”
Helen breathed, “I know where he is.” In her eyes, a flame of determination had appeared and even Nikola knew better than to challenge it.
TBC.
