Hero

It’s said that time slows down in times of crisis. Pepper never gave it much thought before a blinding flash of white hot light flared. A deafening boom followed like thunder after lightening, ripping through both ground and air with enough violence to send her flying across what was left of the Oracle dome. She hit the ground hard, sliding through shards of glass that rained down mere minutes before. The sting of a thousand tiny cuts tore through her thoughts until Pepper slammed into the remnants of wall. Air rushed from her lungs and pain lanced through chest leaving her gasping for breath.

The world swam slowly back into view, her head throbbing as her eyes strained to focus. A ringing in her ears muffled the on-going sounds of the raging battle and the distant pop of fireworks. She was almost thankful for that, her head hurt so badly. Her lashes fluttered and Pepper tried to push herself up, but a blinding pain shot up her spine. Stars flashed before her eyes and her hand slipped in bloody glass, causing more of it to bite into her side and face.

The short fall back to the floor sparked a new hurt stabbing through her. It was all she could do to stay still and breathe. Helpless, Pepper watched in seeming slow motion the people around her trying to recover. Some were bruised and bloodied, groaning in pain on the ground. Some were trying to pull themselves to their feet. Some were still fleeing, trampling those who couldn’t move underfoot while others stared back at her with blank, dead eyes. The muted roar of repulsors sounded closer and an ominous rumble shook the ground beneath her. Pepper strained to look skyward in time to see what was left of the building tumbling down.

Her heart raced and every sensation heightened, just like it had when she’d stared down Obadiah’s weaponised suit two years before. Just like in Monaco when the car in which she sat was being thrashed to shreds. Tony had been her hero then. In the nick of time, he’d swooped in and drawn Stane’s fire from her. Just in time, he’d stopped Vanko from delivering another blow that would’ve cut her and Happy apart. He’d saved her, then. Even now as Pepper watched the rubble plummeting toward her, she found herself thinking Tony would be her hero. Just like before, just like he always was. She knew he would be with an unwavering faith rooted in her bones.

She didn’t know how much concrete and steel buried her or for how long she screamed, if she even screamed at all. Pepper thought there would be more pain. For a single, maddening moment it was unbearable. Then warmth radiated through her broken frame followed by a chilling cold and then… nothing. Absolutely nothing. There should have been more pain. She watched with a numb detachment as her hands scrabbled, trying in vain to free herself from the rubble. A thousand questions assaulted her mind: Why was there blood on her hands? Whose was it? Hers? When did she… Oh, yes, from the glass. Why didn’t it hurt? God, was she going to die like this?

The familiar sound of repulsors drew Pepper from her mind. A blur of red and gold touched down heavily just as tears spilled from her eyes. Did he stagger or was it just her teary vision that made him wobble. The visor of his helmet opened and he stared down at her for what seemed like hours. He looked so… Pepper couldn’t recall him ever looking so sad. She tried to smile and finally he dropped beside her. She reached out a hand, blood bathing the bright glow of the arc reactor red. It was so hard to move, so exhausting.

It hurt so much to breathe. At least something felt like it should. Pepper reached up higher to press he hand to Tony’s cheek. Why did he have to look at her like that? Darkness closed in around her, fading her vision quickly. “Tony… Knew you’d find me,” she rasped. “You’re my hero…” Before the words even died on her lips, Pepper’s eyes fluttered closed, the faint smile vanished, and her hand fell listlessly to the floor.

Under-appreciated

Pepper Potts was more than just a secretary. A secretary answers phone calls, takes dictation and does filing. She wasn’t even an executive assistant who provided administrative support to Stark Industries’ most senior staff member. No, Pepper was a personal assistant. She managed Tony’s entire life, from his business meetings and finances to maintenance of his cars, jet and house to planning his parties and seeing out his numerous one-night stands the next day.

It wasn’t a bad job. Pepper was handsomely rewarded for her work. She had a room in Tony’s fabulous house with a closet in which she could easily fit her old apartment full of designer clothes. Only the best when working for Tony Stark: over-priced hair and skin-care products, high-end salons and travel to the most exciting places. Oh, the travel! Paris, Milan, Dubai, Bangkok, Tokyo. All the places someone could ever dream to go, Pepper had been.

From the outside, it seemed as if Tony controlled her life. From the inside, it was pretty much the same. Even when he was travelling without her, she always kept her phone for his inevitable calls. She didn’t go out often with the few people she knew as he always called with some ‘emergency’ or other that required her immediate attention. Of course, she’d rush home to find him unable to find a screwdriver or indecisive over which watch to wear. Quite the emergency, indeed.

Every now and then it got to her. Like today, when she simply asked for a day off. Oh, he didn’t like her to turn her phone off, what-if he need this or that or some other completely asinine thing. Yes, he paid her well and yes, it was the job of a lifetime, but honestly was it worth it? Was it worth being so vital and so unnoticed as the air he breathed? Every now and then, a simple thank you would mean more than a year’s salary.

Previous chapters: When in Rome | On the Run

Rome, 2007

Helen guided them through the alleyways to Hamish’s shop. Much like Rome, it seemed a place out of time, always dusty and smelt of old paper and leather. Little bells on the door chimed to announce them and, after a few moments, the portly gentleman came a-toddling out. His face lit up to see Helen, jowls flopping as he smiled.

“Helen!” He greeted with outstretched arms.

In turn, Helen smiled and embraced the round man, pressing a kiss to each of his cheeks. “So good to see you again, Hamish,” she crooned.

“As always, I imagine you’re in bit of a pinch, hm?”

Clearly, he knew her far too well. Helen smiled, looking appropriately abashed as she nods to Tesla. Hamish nods as if understanding the trouble all too well. “We need to store this case for a few days.”

Nikola and Hamish exchanged appropriate glares. The fact that Nikola didn’t look a day older since the last time they’d been forced into each others’ company didn’t seem to help matters.

Instead of speaking, Nikola offered up the box which Hamish took, turning it over in his hands. “No, no – don’t do that!” He went to say something snippish and inappropriate but Helen shot him a cautionary glance. “Please, don’t do that…” he said quietly, extreme dislike bubbling under his voice.

“It’s fragile,” Helen advised.

Hamish nodded and looked (with disapproval) from Tesla to Helen. “Trouble’s following this?”

“I’m afraid so,” Helen affirmed. “We just need a place to keep it until we can secure safe passage out of Rome.”

“It’s one of those fate of the world things…” Tesla tried to press the severity of the matter. Though Hamish did not look enthused at the prospect of minding dangerous goods, he had never refused Helen a favour and for that, Nikola had to admit he was useful. “Helen…” Nikola whispered. “To delay here would be unwise…”

She shushes Nikola with a look, turning back to Hamish with a charming smile. “I’m afraid we can’t stay long,” she muses with a genuine note of regret in her voice. That said, Hamish bustles off to hide the box. Helen nods toward the door, slipping out with another tinkling of bells. “I need to get to my hotel for my things. In the meantime, what’s your plan for escape?”

“Train, I thought. It has the least security and is reasonably fast. The Cabal tend to overlook it as a form of transport since the invention of flight.” Nikola never missed an opportunity to take a dig at the Cabal’s weakness for high-tech – it often led to their downfall. “Unless, of course, you object?”

She hardly gives the matter much thought. Nikola’s words rang true. The Cabal is heavily reliant on technology and would think them to make a quick escape by air. Train or boat would be less likely to be thought of promptly, thus buying Helen and Nikola time.

“Knowing you as I do you’ve already made the arrangements?” Nikola Tesla was nothing if not brilliant and often two steps ahead of everyone else.

“Before we even met…” he assures her, with the slightest bow.

Helen glanced over to Nikola, a look of playful disbelief on her face. “Since before we met? My, what a long-standing reservation. We certainly cannot miss this train as we’ve been waiting a century to take it.”

They were walking through one of the older sections of Rome where the new hotels had nestled themselves amongst the bricks of ancient ruins. To their left was an old library, stripped of its marble centuries ago and riddled with bullet holes from recent wars. In front, was one of Rome’s famous courtyards of restaurants, flooded with tourists and merchants. More than suitable cover for them.

She turned her gave ahead, nodding forward. “My hotel is just a few blocks this way.”

“Why Helen, this is almost a respectable part of town…” he gives her one of those looks. “Moving up in the world, are we? Or did you seduce another banker…”

“Charm and smiles alone aren’t the only way to get what one needs,” Helen teased. “A past relationship with the hotel’s owner may or may not have factored in to my standing reservations for the penthouse.”

“Yes, I am aware of your charms and smiles…” Nikola said quietly, following her into the old building.

Helen gives him a wan smile. “I am not that sort of woman, Nikola, you know that. I have worked hard for everything I have and am not inclined to lie on back to get ahead. There’s no respect in that.”

“I should hope not,” Nikola replied, “You’re always talented enough to achieve greatness with a simple flick of your eyes.”

Helen chuckled. “Flirtation is a dying art, I’m afraid,” she mused. At the hotel, she ducked inside, scanning the lobby for anything out of place. “Wait here, I’ll just be a moment.” As promised, in less than five minutes time, Helen strode across the lobby once more, valise in hand.

It wasn’t long until they were on a train, being whisked north away from Rome – through the golden wheat fields before winding up into the mountains. Nikola, who out of some latent gentlemanly sentiments, had taken the top bunk of their very small shared compartment. These arrangements could not be helped. He had spent the last of his money on this ticket and was once again penniless but with one distinct advantage: Helen Magnus. With a sigh, he sat in the seat beside the train window, sipping a cup of tea that was fast growing cold as the train’s altitude increased.

Helen bore no complaints about the accommodations. In fact, they took her back to a simpler time. Sipping at her own tea, she turned her attention from the breathtaking view to Nikola. “I’ve forgotten how cold trains can get in these colder parts,” she mused, though with now note of complaint in her voice. “You’ve yet to say to where I’m being spirited.”

Nikola was mildly distracted by her first comment as he mind ran through all the possibly answers to it – most of which would probably land him through the train window, left for dead on a Roman mountain.

“India…” he finally answered her question. Nikola has a base there – admittedly one he has not visited in a long time. More than that though, it is nearby an ancient city housing secrets he needs to use.

He paused for a moment, taking another sip of tea before setting the cup down and unbuttoning his jacket. Nikola intends to let her borrow it as it is really his fault they left in such a hurry.

Oh, she’s not cold just yet, though the jacket will definitely be a nice addition to her blankets when time comes for sleep. Helen blinked slowly at him, her brain reaching for potential answers to her thousand unvoiced questions. Then, her lips parted in awe.

“You’ve found Bhalasaam…” It was more a statement than a question. Her eyes widened. She remembered that her father told her stories about the ancient site, the last retreat of the vampires. He’d been there a handful of times in her lifetime. Her father raised her on stories of the advances Sanguine vampiris made in science and art. As a child she had nightmares of the purges and as she grew to loathe the forced sterilisation of the race. More importantly, her father, while not justifying the actions, reminded her that Sanguine vampiris was a dangerous species possessed of cunning intellect and ferocious power.

Nikola shrugged out of his jacket and instantly felt the cool snap in the air. His eyes flicked up at her correct assumption. They – the five – had spent time in their youth searching for the ancient city – the last stronghold of the Vampire race but they had always come back empty handed.

“I have,” Nikola replied, standing up to walk behind her and drape his jacket over her shoulders. “Half a century ago — not long after you gave up hope of finding it. I must admit, the finding of it was nearly by accident. The city itself, lies in ruins but its vaults are untapped.”

Helen tilted her head, a mixture of fascination and disappointment on her face. “Nikola… You know my father hid the Source there to keep it safe. From all of us.” Helen quickly drained the last of her tea, sliding to the edge of her seat and leaning forward, clear signs of interest in the topic at hand. “Is… anyone there?”

She’d heard from a father a century ago that the last remnants of the formerly great species were there, hidden away in self-imposed exile from the world. She’d heard of its beauty and the peace they maintained in Bhalasaam and often been inspired by it.

“The city is abandoned…” Nikola replied, moving back to his seat with the slightest brush of his hand against her shoulder as he went. “And it has been for sometime. I can only assume that all its original inhabitants are dead or in hiding far away. As to your father’s ingenious plan – you can rest assured – the source blood is safe unless we all pitch in. It seems Gregory Magnus guards his secrets well.”

Helen blinked slowly, looking down to his hand in distraction. “That’s very sad,” Helen murmured. She hadn’t known any pure-blood vampires, however, the loss of any intelligent race completely and certainly is to be mourned. At length she looked over to him, setting her empty cup aside. “What work have you been doing in India.” She wanted details, not his usually vague zealotry.

“Oh, this and that…” he dismissed her off-hand as he had grown accustomed to doing. It was a moment more before he realised that this was Helen and he both needed and wanted her help.

“I have set up a lair, of sorts, inside the ancient city. There is so much knowledge left there, Helen. The blood your father hid there is only a small part of my interest.” It also happened to be a suitably beautiful location – something that Nikola seemed to seek out in his haunts.

“I agreed to help you, Nikola, but I can’t do that without the details of your work. If you can’t trust me, I’m of no use to you.”

“Your presence here,” he said softly, “is proof that I trust you.” Helen Magnus is the only person Nikola trusts – the only one he has ever trusted. He just has to be careful exactly what he reveals to her.

“I am just – not sure how to explain what I have seen without showing you. Their – the ancient ones, their legacy is a sight to behold.”

“You can start,” she pressed, already beginning to wonder if she’d made the right decision. “By telling me what progress you’ve made in your research. Surely in five decades you’ve had some success in your work. I’ll be at a disadvantage without that information.”

“Not as much progress as you might imagine. It is slow going – unlike the secrets of the universe – I can not simply puzzle them out. These are far darker secrets.” He said softly. “The ancient ones were born with the gift of life and did not spend much time understanding it. There was one scientist among them whose research I have been trying to find, but it is locked deep underground inside the heart of their lost libraries.”

“Go on,” Helen pressed.

“The doctor was an equivalent of a geneticist. Without his work Sanguine vampiris re-imagined will not reach beyond the lifeless shells I have created.”

“You’ve some idea where we may find his work?” It would, at least, give them a place to begin the hunt.

“In the ruins of the great city itself. Oh Helen, you will love it – the skeleton of an ancient race hanging between the mountains…” He knew that she adored such things as much as him. Indeed, he was betting everything on her curiosity getting the better of her.

Helen blinked. “Skeleton? A hundred years isn’t enough time to turn an ancient city to ruin.”

“From the looks of things, it has had a rough few centuries…” Nikola admits. “Most of its walls have crumbled and the jungle encroaches every day.”

Helen shakes her head. “That’s not possible. My father was there through the 1870s. He went back to hide the Source in 1886 after we changed. He made no mention of the city being in ruin.”

“Then whatever happened to it has happened since. If you come with me, you will be able to see for yourself how might empires can crumble in such swift time. A reminder, perhaps, of the fragility of our existence. Even the immortal fall…”

Nikola has often thought of his and Helen’s fates – how of the five, one day it will be only them left, facing eternity. The thought sends him into a brief quietness – the steady rattling of the train suddenly rising to prominence.

“So few knew of the existence of Bhalasaam, fewer still its location. The last exiles of the medieval purges were of no danger to anyone.” Her brows furrowed. If Bhalasaam had been destroyed, it was likely the last of the vampires were truly wiped out with intent. “You know that this isn’t something to be taken lightly.”

“Someone must have thought them dangerous – and had the ability to locate them. I would be willing to put my – admittedly small – amount of finance on our dear friends the Cabal.”

Helen frowned, though nodded in agreement. “No one else has reason to massacre an otherwise peaceful species.”

Nikola resists the urge to grin at the thought of Vampires being a benign species. He is, after all, trying to sell their benevolence to Helen… “It is difficult to tell whether they were after them or their knowledge or even an act of revenge.”

Whether or not the species as a whole were benevolent was unimportant. What was important in this discussion was that the remaining few members of the species were essentially harmless and merely trying to retain what was left of their culture. “Perhaps they felt if they couldn’t have it, no one could.”

“Very Cabal…” Nikola returned to his tea. “In any case, they were lazy in their conquest – foolishly believing that destroying the city’s walls would be enough to end them. Their knowledge survives – as does your father’s sample of vampire blood. No…” he says, before the inevitable question. “I have not touched it…” Not that he could – Nikola had to hand it to Gregory Magnus – he knew how to protect things. Getting his hands on that vial was going to require some serious effort.

More effort than Helen was willing to expend. “You’ve been there a good long while, I presume. Learnt the lay of the land in that time. I could do to have some maps before we arrive.” Yes, Nikola, she’s asking you to commit some of your wealth of knowledge to paper.

The sigh was audible on Nikola’s lips. “If I must…” he bent over the small desk to the complimentary stack of stationary – carefully choosing a pen and leaf of paper. “I must admit – these maps will not be of much use. By the time we arrive I suspect more of the tunnels will have collapsed. It is all terribly fragile.”

“Father told me of a labyrinth under the Hall of Records. I’ve no doubt you’ve explored it.” Looking for ways to get to the Source, she’s certain. “What you know will help those of us without eidetic memory.”

“You say that as if you’re surprised…” he half grins. “Once I discovered the city, I naturally was curious about the sample your father hid there. Well – not so much hid as stored in a safe that requires five very particular Abnormals to unlock it.” Nikola pauses. “Or two especially gifted ones…”

Helen shook her head. “I’m not helping you unlock the source, Nikola. We’ve seen what it can do. It’s not safe.” Clearly, Helen was more open to such things as injecting vampire blood into others in college.

“Oh Helen…” Nikola teases, “and here I was thinking that you were a scientist who liked a little risk…” He is purposely goading her – Helen always like a challenge – rarely backing down from them.

Helen shook her head. “If that’s all you wanted, we’ll be parting ways when the train stops. My father hid the Source away with my blessing.” By all rights, they should have destroyed it, but the pure scientists in them wouldn’t allow for the destruction of what could be the last sample of pure vampire blood in the world.

Nikola considers her for a moment. “All right…” he eventually agrees. “My word: I will not go after the Source…” Nikola lifts his eyes up to her. He cannot afford to lose her now – he is willing to sacrifice a good deal to bring her to India.

She took her turn to consider him. Silently, she weighed his words, scanned his body language. Nikola wasn’t above manipulating others, though he’d never been terribly good at deceiving her. At length, Helen nodded.

“It far too dangerous, Nikola,” she mused, reaching over to put a hand on his. “You understand. We can’t look for it except at the very end of need. As to the rest of your project, I will help with that.”

Well, it wasn’t a ‘no’… His eyes fell to her hand – which was resting warmly atop his ever-cool skin. The action probably meant nothing to her, but to him it was a spark at the end of a period of darkness.

“Are you ready to push the boundaries of science?” he tried to disguise his demeanour with a light tone. “Just like old times.”

It wasn’t ‘nothing.’ It just wasn’t some huge to-do either. Helen wasn’t the sort to be open with any sort of affection, so the gesture is much more than nothing. She smiled at Nikola words, a spark lighting in her pale eyes. “It’s been too long.”

“Look on the bright side,” he grinned up at her, “it can’t be any worse to the mess you coaxed us into. Vampire blood indeed…” Nikola shook his head theatrically.

She gave him an incredulous look and laughed. “I coaxed you into…?” She’s horribly amused by the insinuation that the Magnus fanboys needed any coaxing. “I dare say you’d have done anything I asked of you back then.”

“Some things never change – it is a most unfair advantage you own.” Nikola broke a smile that was very nearly human.

“How many women would envy my position: to be loved for my mind above all else?” She grinned in kind, feeling almost giddy about this work they’d be doing.

“There she is…” Nikola pointed an elegant finger at her. “The Helen of legend.” The one that could not resist a good mystery and would walk the earth in search of answers. She had merely been sleeping.

“Where is our stop?” Helen inquired. “Surely we’re not taking a train all the way to India?”

“Would you put such a notion past me?” Nikola grinned in such a manner it was impossible to tell whether or not he was in jest.

“It’s impractical. As soon as the Cabal realises we’re not travelling by plane, they’ll look to boats and trains. We’ve a few days head start at best. It will be longer than that to India.” She’s not buying that a train to India is the whole plan.

Nikola was going to have to admit the following: “The train finishes at the Italian border…” Nikola replied. “And so does my purse.” In other words, Nikola was once again penniless and in need of a wealthy benefactor in the form of Helen Magnus.

Helen smiled. “You mentioned that before we got on the train. I’ve taken the liberty of planning the next leg of our trip. At the border, we’ll be boarding another train which will take us on a quite a tour of Europe. I’ve made arrangements through my Sanctuary in Bucharest. We’ll be catching a plane in Montenegro that will take us to Pakistan. By the time we reach Montenegro, you’ll give me a location in India for our transfer. From Pakistan we’ll cross the border by car.”

Nikola’s grin spread ever wider with every word from her mouth. “I knew I brought you along for a reason…”

Previous chapters: When in Rome

Rome, 2007

A brow lofted, though Helen’s gaze fixed on the way the crimson line sparkled and shone in the dim light. It wasn’t like human blood, there was some mysterious, almost ethereal quality to it. Helen’s mind went back to a distant day when a phial of that same blood sat under a small oil lamp in a gas-lit Victorian room…

She blinked back to reality with a shake of her head. “You alone are not enough to make the Cabal this angry. What’s really going on?”

“It’s not what I am Helen, it’s what I can recreate. This,” his other hand settled underneath the stream of blood, catching its red flow, “is more than enough to bring pure blood vampires back from the sands of history. Living, breathing, thinking Sanguine vampiris — not some dried out husk of a body.”

It took a moment for the weight of his words to settle over her. Helen stared at him, disbelieving. “…That’s what you’ve been working on all these years, isn’t it? Reviving the species…”

“…Working…succeeding…” he rolled the words over. “The truth is Helen, I am a hair’s breadth from it.” The Cabal agents are regrouping – trying to navigate their way through the labyrinth of tunnels but they are still safely lost.

If anyone could… No, even he couldn’t manage that. Helen shook her head in disbelief. “What you’re saying, it isn’t possible, Nikola. Vampires are essentially extinct.”

“Please… have you ever known the word ‘impossible’ to hold true around me?” Nikola cocked an eyebrow playfully at her as he withdrew a slip of silk from his pocket and began wiping the blood from his hands. “I have found a way Helen – and its results will prove to be of mutual benefit to us.”

He dropped the ruined fabric to the ground and when his eyes returned to her they were more serious. Helen simply gaped at him, unsure whether or not she believed him. Her brows furrowed and she crouched to retrieve his discarded handkerchief.

“No need to leave them a trail of breadcrumbs,” Helen hissed. She glanced back again, frowning deeply. “Why would you even try such a thing?”

To return the balance… Nikola wanted to say – but knew that it would only bring him scorn. “To recover thousands of years of lost knowledge and to even the playing field. The way things are heading Helen, your Sanctuaries, noble as they are, will tumble and die. With the ancient’s knowledge and help – the peace that you so long for might finally be found.”

“Lost knowledge won’t be revived with a new birth of the species,” she pointed out. Though, chances are high that it could be reclaimed… However, it wasn’t like Nikola to work with such vague uncertainties. “Vampires will be a danger to humans, they could easily rise up against the Abnormals more quickly because of them.”

“Their memory is genetic…” Nikola offers. There is method to his madness – her point about the dangers of Vampires was valid to a point. “One or two vampires, groomed by us would surely work for our causes.” The wound on his hand had healed completely. She, though, seems distracted by the shuffle of Cabal feet closing in on their position.

“Helen…” he finally drops his voice, playing his final card as she turns away from him, eying the corridor warily. “I brought you here for two reasons; because only you can help me finish what I’m working on and because I love you.”

“Even with a genetic memory they’ll only be ha….” Helen stopped dead in mid-thought, the rest of Nikola’s words sinking in. She turned to face him, wide-eyed and utterly baffled. “What?”

She had definitely heard him then. He’s practiced that particular confession many times but never thought about what he would do if he actually survived it.

“I always have…” he continued, his hand gently lifting towards her face, his fingers hopefully outstretched, “far more than that lunatic Druitt ever did.”

Helen continues to stare at him, completely speechless. He must be joking, trying to trick her, but why? What would it gain him other than this one moment of throwing her off balance… “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Nikola’s great wit failed him. His hand mimicked the line of her cheek in the air, gradually falling away. He could think of nothing to say in response so instead his eyes drifted down to her lips – lingered there – before returning to her eyes.

The silence hangs like a drapery as thick and heavy as velvet between them. Helen continues to stare at him, shocked by the confession. “My God, you are serious…”

“I mislead you and I deeply apologise for that but I had to see you.” Nikola was surprised at the strength of the confession. He could not escape its truth — even if he was using it for his own means.

Her eyes flick from his then back again, brows knit in utter… confusion? Even Helen wasn’t sure. It all came rushing back, cast in warm soft light, those memories of times spent together before the Source, of that fateful day and the look in his eyes…

“Back at Oxford…” he elaborated, “the others used the source for power and for greed but you -” again his wandering eyes lost focus, “you altered yourself out of a pure desire for knowledge…”

Yes, she remembered it all too well, that fateful day. She could almost feel it again, that agonising, gut-wrenching pain that lanced through her, burning as the vampiric blood mixed with her own. She felt that so keenly, she winced to recall it, that day that stopped time for her.

“You’re the only scientist, perhaps the only person I’ve ever really admired…” Nikola seemed to be a step closer – or maybe it was just the slight tilt toward her as his eyes drifted to her lips of their own accord.

She swallowed hard and her tongue swept over her lips. Her eyes flicked up to meet his quiet suddenly and she breathed in. “You want my help with w-what, exactly?”

It was a good think Nikola was immortal – because as Helen’s tongue skimmed over her lips he entirely forgot to breathe. When he opened his mouth to speak the first time, nothing came out. So he tried again. “To restore the balance. I want your help, Helen, to resurrect an ancient race.”

She swallowed hard once more, moved by his speechlessness. “Balance?” she repeated. That could mean so many things. Balance of power, balance back to nature…

In a show of daring, he risked taking a step closer to her. She was hovering both toward and from his proposition. “Will you help me…”

The air felt too thick, making it hard to breathe. Helen focused her gaze on Nikola, clearly weighing the options. “Swear to me this isn’t some game you’re play at, Nikola. That you really want peace with this…”

“You’ve known me for over a hundred years – I know that you can read my eyes by now.” He took a breath and thought – not of his bid to revive the vampire species as he should have – but of his first declaration to her. “I swear it.”

It felt like something more, something deeper just happened with his oath. Helen shivered slightly, pulling in a sharp breath at his words. Her only answer was a nod before a sound down the corridor tore her attention away. “Bloody hell,” she grumbled.

“Shall we lose the kiddies?” Nikola started backing away down a very narrow corridor with a door just visible at its end. Helen’s usual resolve settles back into place and she gives a decisive nod. She followed his lead, keeping her gun poised should to become necessary.

The door led exactly where it was supposed to. So far so good for his concierge – threatening their lives always seemed to work a charm. “After you…” he closed the door behind them and motioned to the rather large stone staircase. Presumably they would come out in his hotel lobby. Unlike Magnus, it was no cheap hotel. Nikola was more than content to burn through the last of his stolen wealth.

Hey, she was actually at a nice hotel this time. Someone else was putting her up. Helen padded quickly up the stairs, holding her gun more discreetly against her leg. She scans the area as they emerge in a dark corner of the hotel lobby, thankfully mostly deserted. “Nikola?” Helen looked back to ensure he was still behind her.

“We’re not staying here,” he informed her. “The Cabal may not be the sharpest evil organisation on the planet, but it would be wise to assume that they’ll find us here.”

“Where do you plan to go?” she demanded, pivoting to face him. Surely his master plan entailed more than fleeing the Cabal like startled deer.

Oh she was not going to like his plan. “We have to steal something first. We’re going to the Cabal headquarters…”

Somehow… this isn’t surprising. Trouble always followed Nikola, it seemed. “You? Stealing? I’m appalled,” she mimicked from their earlier exchange in the catacombs. “What?”

“I think you’re not surprised…” he observed. “We must steal some of their research — research that they stole from both of us I might add, so do not feel too bad.

Helen gives Nikola an incredulous look. Did he really expect her to be surprised by this? Hijacking her conference, then dragging her off with Cabal trackers set on their trail, only to turn around and pull her into an admittedly morally ambiguous theft?

“Make if fast, Nikola. It won’t be long before they realise I’m with you and then my hotel will be ransacked. There are some things there that I need to remain out of their hands.”

“Another young protégé no doubt – you are fond of collecting those.” Her sudden silence made him pause and turn back. “Oh Helen… old habits hard to break I see.”

Helen lofts a brow at him, refusing to take his bait. Whatever blurred lines the past hold between her personal and professional relationships are her business not his. “Fifteen minutes, Nikola. Get what you need quickly.”

“Art cannot be rushed,” he insisted, ducking into an unassuming roman doorway without her. Nikola re-appeared a good ten minutes later, slightly the worse for wear. He was carting a rather heavy metal box under his wing. “Probably shouldn’t linger,” he said, leaning on the door for a moment. “They’re pretty pissed.”

Helen rolled her eyes, heaving a sigh when he reappeared. Despite it all, she’d kept a dutiful watch, prepared to make more than enough commotion to alert Nikola had the need arisen. “My hotel is only a few blocks from the conference.” At this rate, lugging that box around might make it hard to travel. “I know where we can leave that for safe-keeping until we find a way out of Rome,” Helen offered. In all her long years, no one was better at hiding things of value than Hamish.

“Lead the way…” Nikola grinned, stroking the box as if it were a pet. “You always did have useful nooks around the world.”

Helen shook her head, moving into the afternoon crowd on the street. “With as old as you are, one would think you’d made a few contacts and safe havens for yourself, Nikola.” She crossed the street then ducked into a narrow alleyway. “You remember Hamish, do you not? He helped us in London in ’42.”

Nikola felt like protesting. He had made contacts and safe havens; just because they all fell under the heading ‘Helen Magnus’…

“…Hamish…” Nikola looked far from pleased. “The librarian … he hates me.”

Because they all fell under the heading of ‘Helen Magnus’ gave Nikola no room for protest at all. “Likely because of the implications you make about his relationships with others,” Helen pointed out. “You should keep such commentary to yourself.”

“My best behaviour…” he promised dryly. Nikola may not be good at acquiring friends, but he was good at surviving. Mind you, the odds were in his favour, being immortal.

ELLY:
Hmmm. I think there another word in there – I can look it up. Homo is a very large branch

MARIE:
It is. Like we are Homo sapiens sapiens.

ELLY:
So maybe Homo sapiens sanguine vampiris?

MARIE:
Can there be a SUB subspecies?

ELLY:
Possibly, there are a lot of extinct species of modern human

MARIE:
Yes

ELLY:
I wonder how they classify those. *opens wiki*

MARIE:
H. habilis, H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis.

ELLY:
But vampires seem reasonably closely related to H. sapiens sapiens.

MARIE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_(genus)

I read this really interesting study when I took physical anthropology at college; a theory stating that H. neanderthalensis probably didn’t go extinct because they were “stupid” but rather, for the survival of their species interbred with a another Homo species and basically bred themselves out.

ELLY:
I’ve read that too – but there was a side discussion about the problem of interbreeding as H. neanderthalensis have twenty-four chromosomes.

MARIE:
Yeah, I just thought it was an interesting theory. If I recall correctly, didn’t H. neanderthalensis move into some of the (then) colder parts of Europe and essentially isolate themselves from other Homo populations?

ELLY:
(I just finished reading an excellent trilogy of books by Robert J Sawyer called Hominids, Humans and Hybrids which is all about H. neanderthalensis and humans).

Um, I remember something about them being more advanced but more ‘peaceful’ and that they were a small population living somewhere north. I think Homo neanderthalensis are to Homo sapiens like horses to donkeys.

MARIE:
Yeah, they were a rather bottle-necked population.

ELLY:
If vampires are breeding with humans then they must be very closely related.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subspecies)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subspecies

“Note that the distinction between a species and a subspecies depends only on the likelihood that in the absence of external barriers the two populations would merge back into a single, genetically unified population. It has nothing to do with ‘how different’ the two groups appear to be to the human observer.”

^ I thought that was interesting

MARIE:
*nod*

ELLY:
What was the original question? LMFAO I’m wiki-surfing.

MARIE:
The strange thing about it is we really have no first-hand information on vampire society. I mean, we know OBVIOUSLY they could breed with humans else Tesla wouldn’t have had vampiric heritage. The question was how often did they and if it was smiled or frowned upon by the respective societies. Did the vampires hold themselves separate or were the humans keeping themselves apart?

ELLY:
Well it’s all fictional so I guess you can make it up. Considering their tendency to feed off humans I’d say mostly apart.

MARIE:
Helen makes the comments about vampires enslaving humans, but if you reconcile it with real history, many ancient cultures had caste systems and slaves were usually foreigners, not native peoples.

I told you my theory about medieval peoples emulating the vampiric social structures after their demise, yes?

ELLY:
And then there are the newly discovered employee logs in ancient Egypt – that they didn’t have ‘slaves’ but rather a large paid work force.

No.

MARIE:
I DIDN’T?

ELLY:
FAIL LOL

MARIE:
Medieval life is sort of a pet hobby of mine.

ELLY:
It’s a good hobby – ancient history is mine

MARIE:
So, you’re familiar with the basic social structures, yes? Royalty, nobility, gentry, peasantry, rabble and the merchant class technically peasants but slightly higher, not quite the gentry.

ELLY:
Yep.

MARIE:
Anyway, the social structures of medieval periods mimic many ancient ones. You have your upper, and lower classes and never the twain shall meet. A growing middle class because of the merchant class which started throwing the system out of order, etc etc. My theory is that the people who ruled in the middle ages were encouraged / manipulated by the Cabal to usurp power from the vampires after they were driven nearly to extinction. My theory is that they basically stepped up to replace the vampire masters but being humans (short-sighted and short-lived) they really didn’t have the power to back it up.

ELLY:
You don’t think it’s related to our tribal history? But then – I can see how one powerful organisation replaces another.

MARIE:
Oh, realistically I think it’s completely from our tribal heritage.

ELLY:
And thus began the dark ages – centuries of power struggles. We’re a hive species and vampires are queen bees. :D

MARIE:
What did we decide the full designation for sanguine vampiris would be?

ELLY:
Sanguine vampiris must be the same species as human or they can’t interbreed therefore they must be a sub-species

MARIE:
So Homo sapiens sanguine vampiris?

ELLY:
Yep: Homo sapiens sanguine vampiris.

MARIE:
H. s. sanguine vampiris.

ELLY:
(I suspect we’ve thought this through more than the writers of the show)

MARIE:
PROBABLY

Rome, 2007

The third day of her lecture schedule in Rome begins as any other. Helen shares a small breakfast with an old contact, the book keeper Hamish. As ever, he brings some coveted tome along with the basket of breads and jams that start her day. The venue for her week-long conference of Abnormal researchers is only a few blocks from her hotel, easily in walking distance.

At the lectern, Helen expounds on the importance of detailed brain scanning as a means of detecting Abnormal abilities. The late entrance of an attendee caught Helen’s attention, pausing her speech. Pale eyes widened slightly as they fell on the man in the back of the room. It couldn’t be… Any doubts she had are laid quickly to rest by the curt note and its overly flirtatious post-script.

After sixty years, for him to show up unannounced warning her of impending danger? Helen couldn’t ignore it. She made a quick excuse of an urgent matter coming to her attention and makes a clean escape into the hallway. Though she’s curious and a little distressed about his note, she finds herself drawn across the space of corridor. Helen stubbornly keeps her silence, waiting some explanation from Nikola.

Nikola bides his time, waiting as Helen Magnus crosses the floor, her heals clicking rather impatiently in a manner that told him this better be good. He still can’t quite believe it. It has been over sixty years and she looks exactly the same. Well, almost. The burgundy hair is new.

“Helen Magnus…” he drawls at length. His voice has a slight echo under the high, elaborately decorated ceilings. Nikola teeters in, summoning the best of his charm. He has planned this for a long time, rehearsed all his lines. “Kiss me and I’ll save your life…”

Helen’s eyes widen, her head canting in surprise. Such audacity, even from him especially after such a dire note. Helen’s feelings are mixed as she sees him. Of course she’s glad to see her old friend well, a little grumpy that he hasn’t kept in touch all these years, plus he just dragged her out of a conference she’s hosting… “And if I don’t?”

Nikola’s head fell back in a sigh. “Oooh, come on…” he very nearly pleads. He’s clearly going to have to work harder to earn her approval. Nikola will admit that not answering her letters may have been a poor move. This time, he flashed his most disarming of smiles, leaning in close and pointing should Helen be directionally challenged. “It’s been over sixty years,” he pauses briefly, eyes twinkling mischievously, “just plant one on me already…”

He makes a good point and it isn’t as if she isn’t glad to see him. Perhaps, also mildly entertained by his dramatics. A resigned look flashes through her eyes as she lets out a long breath. Helen leans to press a friendly kiss to his cheek, her eyes falling closed.

Tesla is way ahead and far too quick. He waits as she predictably cants in and then, at the last second as her eyes flutter closed he turns his head and captures her lips.

The moment their lips meet, Helen tenses. She wasn’t quite expecting that. Her hands shoot out, gripping his arms and she pulls back. She’s not angry for the little stunt as much as relieved to see that Nikola is still up to the usual antics. She takes in a deep breath, shoulders rising and falling as her composure resettles. “Nikola Tesla,” she sighs. “You always did know how to get attention.”

She didn’t kill him outright – Nikola takes that as a good sign. His eyes are the last to open, savouring the stolen moment. So far so good, his plan is working just fine. “And you’re still boring as ever when it comes to giving a lecture…” He says it because it’s true. “But – to business,” Nikola takes a firm hold of her arm, leading her by the elbow as the start to walk away. “Cabal agents are all over the building. If we don’t leave now things are going to get rather bullet ridden…”

He likely isn’t paying enough attention to notice the slight roll of her eyes at being pulled away. They narrow slightly at mention of The Cabal, but Helen shows no outward sign of distress. Just as Nikola rounds the corner, Helen stops short, pulling her arm free of his grasp with a subtle move. “And why should I believe you?”

The wrap of suspicious footsteps behind them arrived just in time to prove his point. They both turned – even Nikola was impressed at how predictable the Cabal’s proved to be. It was like playing with the world, holding all the strings aloft for his amusement.

Well, if that isn’t good timing… Helen steps around in front of Nikola, rounding the corner. “I assume you have a plan other than kissing me?” He cocked an eyebrow – giving chase.

“Genius, remember?”

Helen didn’t maintain her lead for long. Soon Nikola found a set of stone stairs ending in a rather sinister looking door. He fumbled in his pocket for a matching key, withdrawing it and holding it up for her inspection. They didn’t really have that much time to loiter on his genius, so Nikola inserted it into the lock, jiggled it about and opened the door for her. “Beauty before brains…”

Helen sighs inwardly, stepping around Nikola and through the doorway. Underground catacombs, how fitting for Nikola to be traipsing through them. “Charming.”

“I thought you’d approve…” they begin their trek down the poorly lit catacombs lined with Rome’s ancient dead. “You used to be fond of cliché’s…”

“You used to disdain them,” Helen points out, glancing back toward the door. “Where do these tunnels lead?”

“Haven’t the faintest…” he mimicked her British accent but decided to answer properly when he saw her scornful look. Nikola cleared his throat. “Many places. They surface here and there – all over Rome.”

If it wasn’t scornful before, it is now. “The Cabal is likely minutes behind us. I thought you had a plan!”

Oh, he does. He has lots of plans. Plans piled atop plans; all he has to do is filter out the relevant one. Nikola swung a left, picking up the pace to a light jog. The Cabal may not be smart, but they were quick. The footsteps behind them were catching up fast and Nikola didn’t quite make it to the next door when a single agent tracked his laser-sighted gun down the corridor.

He pulled Helen behind a convenient wall just in time. Time for a distraction. “They’re really pissed at you…” Nikola turned his head to look at her; she didn’t look particularly thrilled with the situation. “What did you do?”

Helen kept up easily, falling into step beside him. Once pulled out of the line of fire, she reached behind for the gun in her waistband. She flicked the safety off and moved back against the wall. “I stole three witches from a crypt in Scotland,” Helen hissed in a low voice.

“Stealing?” Nikola eyed her incredulously. “You… I’m appalled!” He relaxed onto the wall as if out for an evening stroll in the moonlight.

She breathed out a sigh and rolled her eyes before peeking out around the corner. “Shut up and help me!”

Nikola loomed in, hovering right at her ear as he spoke. “God, you look sexy with a gun…” He wasn’t exactly being helpful…

Not. Helping. Helen huffed, straining to listen as the agents drew closer. The first was greeted by the butt of her handgun with enough force to knock him unconscious. The next, close behind managed to catch only a glancing blow and grabbed at Helen’s arms.

He snuck a whiff of her perfume before pulling back. There was killing to be done and so far Helen was doing quite well on her own. Still, it wouldn’t do to look surplus so Nikola reached out and grabbed one of the pesky Cabal agents by the neck, lifting him off the ground as Nikola shed his human look.

Vampire claws, skin and teeth all rippled to the surface, transforming him into something that even the Cabal agent had to pause to gasp at. “Leave her alone!” Nikola squeezed the creature’s neck.

“Nikola!” Helen cried out, her voice both surprised and relieved. Her gun moved from the agent in his gasp to Nikola. “That’s enough!”

Nikola squeezed the human just a bit more, enough to knock him out so that when he let go the body fell harmlessly to the ground. He’d be lying if he didn’t admit to the excitement. This was a step up from his years of isolation. Nikola stalked towards her with a definite swagger as he withdrew a silk handkerchief from his jacket pocket.

“That was exciting…” he said, walking into the end of her gun, pushing forward into it, testing her resolve. He’d rather know now if she was going to shoot him.

“A little too much so,” she panted. She kept her gun trained on him, eyes glancing quickly to the crumpled agent before returning to him. It’s been some long while since she’s seen Nikola all vamped out. Mildly distressing to see, in all honesty. “You haven’t stopped taking your medication, have you?”

Nikola just grins. Of course he hasn’t, but it amuses him to let her wonder. “Careful Helen…” his eyes fall down to the gun. “I’m an endangered species.”

“Is that supposed to move me? Surely you’re aware of Sanctuary policy on deadly Abnormals.” This is to say if he proves a threat she’d be more than willing to attempt to dispatch him.

“Nearly two centuries has to endear me somewhat…” he backs toward the wall, resting against it casually though the gun is still pressing into his chest.

“This is neither the time nor place for this discussion, Nikola,” Helen snapped, looking back in the direction the agents had come. She lowered the gun with hesitance. “Get us out of here.”

“As the lady wishes…” Nikola leered forward, then diverted to the centre of the tunnel where a power socket hung loose. He extended his elegant hand up to it, stretching a finger directly into its heart. Raw current ripped through it, sending all the lights in the tunnel into violent flickers as they came to life.

Satisfied that their way forward was sufficiently illuminated, Tesla reclaimed his hand and spun around to Helen, summoning the best of the gentleman in him. This was just like those elaborate parties he used to hold. “This way, my lady…”

Helen shook her head. Very little had changed about him over the years. his style adapted to those garments reminiscent of their time that were readily available. His hair better suited the times. The core of him, though, remained untouched and unchanged. She walked by, her eyes drifting to him with mild trepidation. “Your favourite parlour trick,” commented she as she moved down the corridor.

“You love it…” he snipped, quickly catching up. “I remember you at my parties, lurking at the back.” Every year she said she was busy yet every year she had come. Nikola’s entire plan rested on a fragile assumption. He hoped that he wasn’t mistaken.

“You haven’t lost your touch,” she muses. “Though, this isn’t really the time for reminiscing.” Helen looked back over her shoulder as they moved down the corridor. Slowly, questions began to formulate in her mind. “How did you know the Cabal were after me?”

He kept walking, using this as an excuse not to look at her as he continued to weave his subterfuge. “I watch them since they started hunting me…”

Helen lofts a brow, staring intently at him now. She’s suspicious, yes. Nikola has a way of manipulating facts. “They didn’t show up until after you arrived. They’re not after me, are they?” Helen presses, quickening her pace as she hears distant commotion behind them. “They want you. Why?”

Nikola takes them swiftly through four sharp turns until they find a relatively safe corner. Time to sprinkle some charm. “My good looks and enormous wealth…”

Helen turned the last corner, pressing herself to the wall. “One out of two you may have, but I doubt that’s of any interest to the Cabal,” Helen pointed out. “Consider telling me the truth just this once a way to pay off past debts, Nikola.” Yes, she meant that time back in ’43.

He couldn’t hide the smirk. “Let’s face it Helen,” he drawled playfully, “those debts will never be paid … and even if they were, I’d only find ever more inventive ways to acquire more” Did he just avoid answering the question?

Helen arched a brow at him. “I’d like an explanation as to why you’ve involved me in this, Nikola.” No, he did not.

“Isn’t it obvious?” He turned to face her properly so that she could read the truth in his clear eyes. “I need your help…”

She let out a sigh and fixed a glare on him. “The whole truth, Nikola, else I’ll take my chances with them.”

He had to give it to her, it was a well played bluff, but a bluff all the same. Still, he would have to come clean eventually, better it be while she is under the threat of impending death. It had a habit of making her more agreeable to his suggestions. “If you’re going to insist…”

That triggering finger was getting itchy.

“I insist!” She snapped. Truly, delaying and hiding his purpose was only going to make her less inclined to hear him out. However, it was in his nature to be this way. Perhaps the imminent threat of death or worse was making her short and cranky.

“The Cabal are …” his voice trailed off. There were many things that he would like to fill into that blank — most of them in Serbian — but he eventually settled on “… redoubling their efforts to rid the world of Abnormals like you and me and all your precious pets back at the Sanctuary.”

Helen’s interest is piqued. “My contacts have been buzzing with some news on that front.” The question now was what did Tesla know that Helen didn’t. “That’s hardly news worthy of breaking up my conference.”

“Helen…” he drawled. “I have run out of places to run. The Cabal have been actively attempting my capture since they learnt that I had a way to bring them to their knees, eliminate them from the stage, keep them busy.” Nikola couldn’t help his eyes roaming to her gun, still much too easily reached for his liking.

“Imagine,” Nikola said, in that voice he used to speak of the universe and all its wonder, “the return of the most prized Abnormal to this world.”

It was the combination of his tone and his words that sparked not only curiosity, but a healthy dose of wariness in Helen. Jumping from the Cabal to prized Abnormals, Nikola’s exuberance made her skin crawl. “Speak plainly, Nikola, before our pursuers find us,” she urged impatiently.

“Sanguine vampiris…” he all but whispered, as if the very word itself should be revered. “All their knowledge… thousands of years of lost secrets, I can bring it all back.”

The words were so startling she almost dropped her gun. The surprise that came to her features was fleeting before a stoic mask replaced it. “I don’t need to remind you that sanguine vampiris are extinct.”

“Maybe not quite…” he shifted on his feet as if to draw her attention to his existence. Nikola was right: the prospect had Helen’s attention. He knew it would. She shamelessly collected the rarest of the rare, thriving off her array of Abnormals. Sanguine vampiris would be nothing short of the crowning glory.

For dramatic effect, Nikola withdrew a sharp knife from his jacket pocket, holding it to the wavering light before running his other hand along leaving a red line. Nikola’s blood quickly pooled on his skin and began to drip down his wrist and onto the dirt floor.

“Sanguine vampiris is in here…”