Sorry for the delay! I didn't have much fun trying to rewrite this. The only ideas I managed to come up with involved writing Nikola out of the script. And so this was born. It's set after the events of the episode and, as always, will get steamy. Not promising frequent updates because I have a pile of stuff that is steadily growing but, as you all know, reviews are often rewarded :P

xx

Slumping her shoulders, Helen let out a heavy, if not clichéd sigh as she dragged her sore and rather tired body through the halls of her Sanctuary. It had been, not to put too fine of a point on it, a shit day. Despite the fact that Nikola hadn't lost his marbles and morals completely, nothing had really gone to plan the way she had hoped. Hell, finding Nikola there (and not in a cell) was more than enough to give her a headache to last for days but now, after having to deal with his very personal brand of insanity, she was certain the rest of the month was a bit of a write-off.

Running a hand through her hair, she did her best to stand a little straighter. It was an old habit but, having grown up in a house with a nanny who was unafraid to take a stick to the back of her slouching pupil, what else could she expect? There were even some moments when she found herself standing ramrod straight after hearing a too familiar swish of fabric. Though she was never sure if the sound was in her head or not.

It was too early for her to properly consider going to bed; barely past midnight but, between filling William in on everything that had occurred and, in turn, finding out the extent of what was going on with the abnormal factions, even those she had taken in, had taken far too much out of her. On top of that, she'd been working on the data Henry had taken from the tablet, trying to catalogue and digest what Nikola had gifted them with. Of course, it had only been half there, still in fragments that Henry hadn't managed to entirely piece together for her. It was her fault, for pushing him to get her the information as quick as possible but, as per usual, her own impatience had been her own downfall.

She had been moving half out of instinct, not paying much attention to the route she was taking. Her feet, thankfully, seemed to know where to go though and, before she could think about it, her hand was closing around the cool metal of her door knob.

Smiling, she twisted it, thinking about the scalding hot bath she could run. Perhaps it was time to break out the very lovely bath salts Henry had given her last Mother's Day. And light a few candles. Oooh, and her most favourite pyjamas were just this morning freshly laundered and sitting atop her dresser. It was going to be a most relaxing evening indeed, she decided, feeling her spirits lift a little. Maybe, after she scrubbed herself raw, she could grab her tablet and flick through a few of the recent files Henry had managed to compile for her, too. After all, no evening for Helen Magnus could ever be all pleasure and no work.

As Helen stepped through the door, she could almost feel the warm water relaxing her muscles but, after not even two whole steps into her room, she could tell something was wrong.

She was not alone.

In half a second, she had her gun out, pointed into the darkness, finger poised on the trigger, waiting for another indicator of where her intruder was. She knew it could not be one of her team, they knew better than to ambush her in her private rooms and would at least have had the good sense to turn on the light if they had.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she scanned the room and, though she heard nothing, Helen knew, beyond a doubt, that there was something else in her room. Henry had once called it her 'spidey sense', laughing at how accurate she was. More than once, he and Ashley had made a game of hiding in her room with the hopes of catching her unawares.

They had never succeeded. And she didn't think Henry was now making another attempt at it.

Cursing herself for leaving the curtains closed and providing her with even less light, Helen reached over carefully for the light switch, flicking it on as her entire body tensed, prepared for attack.

"You took longer than I had anticipated."

"Nikola?"

She stared at him in disbelief but did not drop the gun still trained on him.

"I would have brought wine if I had known I would have to wait so long."

"What are you doing in my room?"

He gave her an almost serious look, not a smirk to be seen and Helen frowned. She watched as he pushed off the wall he'd been leaning against, unconsciously straightening his already immaculate suit.

"We need to talk," he said, tucking one hand into his pocket. "It wasn't safe back there."

Shaking her head, Helen let the arm holding her weapon drop back to her side.

"How did you even get in here?"

At that, he did smirk. But Helen ignored him as she moved further into her room, carefully closing the door behind her before placing her gun on the table by her hip.

"The passage beneath the East Wing," he murmured.

At that, Helen couldn't help but smile. Part of her wanted answers and she had half a mind to demand them then and there but the stronger and far more tired part of her wanted to pretend like Nikola was no where to be seen and go about her standard bedtime routine.

"I... I am sorry about today, Helen."

He sounded almost timid enough to be sincere.

"It's why I came, I wanted to talk."

She almost scoffed at that. Now he really was making an attempt at being sincere. She watched him in silence as his face creased into a frown and he took another stilted step towards her.

"Things... did not happen how I had planned," he admitted.

The silence fell between them thick and fast, almost stifling in the totality of it. It seemed to Helen that Nikola was even holding his breath as he waited for her to say something, anything. Helen licked her lips, trying her best to steady herself.

"Is that all?"

"No."

She was surprised at his tone, at the sheer lack of exuberance. There was still a passion there but... it was hidden, almost.

"Then what?"

He opened his mouth once, twice, then sighed heavily, cocking a hip and running a hand through his hair.

"It's just."

He glanced to the ceiling.

"Helen."

Helen turned away from him, the ache between her shoulder blades returning with a vengeance. Her bath was now forgotten, discarded as a bad fantasy she'd never get to live out and all she wanted was peace. To not have to look at Nikola and think about what he'd done.

"Go back to SCIU, Nikola."

She slipped out of her shoes, flexing her toes against the plush rug beneath her feet before rolling one ankle and then the other, all the while listening to hear Nikola leave through the tiny passage she thought she'd closed up. Well, closed from the outside, that is. It was her escape tunnel, after all.

"Don't I even get a thank you?"

His arrogant tone was back but she didn't miss the waver in his voice. It was small and something she hadn't heard since 1923, at least, back when he still kissed the tips of her fingers every time the parted.

"Thank you, Nikola," she said dutifully. It was as hollow as his apology for breaking in but she wasn't sure he'd mind.

"You still don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

He sighed again but she refused to rise to the bait. She turned slowly, making sure her gaze rested on the door to her ensuite, rather than on the peculiar expression on his face. She couldn't speak with him now, no matter what he'd tried to do to make up for his behaviour. She was too angry, too upset with him. Whatever shred of a friendship they had left, she refused to destroy.

"Helen."

He drew out her name as she walked past him though, to his credit, he did not reach for her. In some ways, it surprised her that he didn't. Since his re-emergence into her life, he'd become far more physical with her than ever before. He used to wait for her to say yes, wait for her to lean towards him that little bit closer before his hand wandered up her side to let his thumb rest against the underside of her breast.

Now he would step towards her before she could think on it one way or the other.

"Not now, Nikola. Not tonight," she said.

"But you don't understand," he argued.

Helen turned back to face him, not sure if she could keep her eyes open much longer. She knew she ought to be on her toes with Nikola in the room, after all he was 'the enemy', in a manner of speaking.

"I understand enough," she replied. There was an edge to her tone she hadn't intended to be there and she saw a flash of something in his eyes though it disappeared quickly.

He took a step towards her, closing just enough distance that part of Helen argued it was not enough.

"This is not how I wanted it all to come out."

His lips quirked into a smile and he ran a hand through his hair once more.

"Honestly."

He held both hands out to her, palms up and Helen realised he was nervous.

"Do we have to do this now, Nikola?"

"After I broke into your room?"

She huffed a small laugh and closed her eyes, nodding and giving him the point.

"We can move to a more comfortable location," he offered, his voice dripping with suggestion.

"Just say your piece, Niko," she countered though there was no venom in her tone.

He hesitated for a moment, his tongue stealing out to wet his lips. His eyes raked over her body quickly, his appraisal nothing but cursory. For once, she couldn't feel him undressing her with his eyes.

"You're tired," he finally said, his voice little more than a whisper.

"It's been a long day."

"That's my fault."

He smiled uncomfortably at her.

"I am sorry. I should have said that before."

"It's fine, Nikola," she said, waving a hand in his direction. "You don't have to keep apologising."

"But I do."

He said it urgently, taking a hurried step towards her.

"I do, Helen. I… You shouldn't have had to find out they way you did. It wasn't my intention."

"Look, Nikola, I'm exhausted. Today has not been what I could call pleasant and while I appreciate what you're trying to say, it is far too la-."

"It was for you," he blurted out. "I wanted… I saw the way things were spiralling out of control, the way they were coming after you and the Sanctuary. I knew it wouldn't be long until they considered abnormals to be a threat and I wanted to help. To help you.

"When they came to me I did say no to start with, I mean, my first instinct was to rat them out to you but when they came back to me…"

"You caved for a jet," she finished, unable to help the note of displeasure in her voice.

"Of course not," he scoffed. "I just… I thought this was my best bet, Helen. Honestly, who in their right mind would give me free reign over a multi-million dollar facility with minimal supervision, let alone over abnormals who need specialised medical and scientific training which, God knows, I do not have."

"You could have jus-"

"Called. Yes. I know. And maybe I should have but, at the time, I didn't want to risk it. It was my in."

"Nikola, just… Just stop it," she bit back. "I don't care. I don't want to know."

"You have to understand."

He crossed what distance remained between them, one of his hands hovering around her elbow before he grew confident and slipped his fingers into her hand.

"Helen. I had a plan."

"You always have a plan, Nikola," she scoffed, tugging her hand free. "Only this one I didn't get to foil."

He chuckled and followed her as she moved away from him.

"I wanted to be your lackey," he confessed, sounding too enthusiastic. "Well, not quite but you understand. I was to be your man on the inside."

"The man on the inside I didn't know I had or even wanted?" she snapped.

He sucked in a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"You shouldn't presume to know what I want from you, Nikola."