A/N: Hello! New story. Wow, I hear you say. It's been a long time since I've posted anything in this fandom and I've missed it if I'm being honest! This story has been lurking on my laptop for well over a year! In that time I've been to a few conventions and had a fantastic time, I've lived in America for 6 months with my work and as a result had little time to write. That, however, didn't stop me from bring a notebook with me on my travels. What did stop me was a little thing known as writer's block! I'm still suffering with this but I'm hopeful that by posting this it will encourage my muse to come back! This hasn't been beta'd so all mistakes are my own!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Sanctuary related, I just like to play with the characters for a while!
Discovery of a Lifetime
17 February 1923
Somewhere in the Valley of the Kings…
"Helen, remember when I said that searching for this tomb would be an adventure?"
"Yes?" Helen couldn't help but smile at the hint of boredom and frustration in Nikola's voice as they trekked along the sands behind Howard Carter's team. The heat felt like a living entity washing over them in waves, rising from the sand under their feet and it hung on the wind like a blanket. Helen longed to stop for water and a chance to breathe but discovery was imminent, she could feel it in the air and the animated way with which Carter was conversing with Carnarvon made it very clear, they were close. Or at least Carter seemed confident of discovery, Helen was still unsure they would find anything on this day as there was nothing to see but sand dunes as far as the eye could see.
"Next time I make a suggestion that doesn't include even the remotest chance of drinking a glass of wine feel free to shoot me down, alright?"
"Is that an invitation, Nikola?"
"Would you like it to be, Helen?"
Helen laughed aloud at Nikola's not so vague flirtatious hint. "You do realise, don't you Nikola, you've just given me permission to shoot you."
"Now Helen, that's not what I said at all and you know it!"
"That's what I heard, Nikola and as you're a man of your word, you'd never back down, now would you?!" Helen smirked as Nikola tried to think of a witty comeback and seeing his pout she smiled wider.
"Stop twisting my words, Helen. It's not ladylike."
"Don't pout like a schoolboy then Nikola and I'll consider it!"
"Now you're laughing at me!"
"Of course I am, Nikola! Take a look around you and see where we are, we're on the cusp of making history. Don't you feel it?"
"Helen, all I can see is sand and what I feel is bored and I'm in desperate need of a glass of wine!"
"Has your sense of adventure fled with your lack of enthusiasm, Nikola?"
Suddenly Helen felt a pull and a slight pain as Nikola grabbed her around the waist and the next time she looked around she was in a closed off corner of what looked like the sand dune they'd been approaching not a moment before.
"Nikola, what on earth are you…" Helen's protest was cut short as Nikola leaned in and gave her a bruising kiss.
"How's that for lack of enthusiasm, Helen?"
"Well…I…um…" Helen was at a loss for words for a brief moment and then anger at Nikola's audacity bubbled over and she pushed him away.
"What do you think you are doing?!"
Nikola had the good grace to look ashamed but only for the briefest of moments as a cheeky look crossed over his face and he replied, "Showing you what enthusiasm looks like Helen."
"Nikola Tesla! Urgh! You are unbelievable! Of all the arrogant, conceited, self-absorbed…" Helen's rant was cut off once again but not by Nikola, this time it was shouts heard in the distance and as she swung around to glance at Nikola, Helen saw his face fall and heard him whisper, "ooops."
"What…what is it? What's happened? Nikola?"
"Helen, just remember not to shoot me, alright?"
"Nikola?!"
"Promise me, Helen."
In the distance the shouts grew louder and Helen could make out a few words, "…found…tomb…Carter!"
"I don't believe this! Five years we've searched Nikola and now because of your mindless games we've missed it! How could you?! Oh to think of the secrets they could destroy just by attempting to open the doorway…"
"Helen, I know you're mad but could you please point the gun in the other direction?" Nikola almost pleaded with her, it wouldn't wound him for too long but a gunshot wound hurt like hell!
"Nikola, I have every reason to shoot you but right now it is more important that we prevent any possible damage to the tomb before I get a chance to look at the engravings. Can you get us there on time?"
"Do you really want an answer to your question?"
Helen rolled her eyes at Nikola in exasperation and said, "Just get us there, Nikola!"
"As my lady wishes…"
"Oh for heaven's sake, Nikola! Don't be so…" Once again Helen's response was cut short as she was now standing in the once unopened tomb of Tutankhamen. Gazing around her in awe at the glorious splendour on display from the statues to the copious amount of gold, Helen couldn't help but feel the weight of history on her shoulders and a certain sense of responsibility. And then she felt Nikola freeze beside her.
"We need to get out of here, Helen. NOW!"
Nikola grabbed Helen forcibly around her waist and unceremoniously hurled her out of the entranceway. His heart was pounding and in a blind panic he almost snapped at Helen.
"There is no need for that kind of display, Nikola." Helen glared at her friend as she wiped the sand from her hair and clothing. "All you had to do was tell me there was a problem and I would have followed you outside willingly. Now, will you kindly explain what all that was about?"
"Fine… be all high and mighty. I may have just saved your life, Helen. No big deal."
"Oh Nikola will you please stop sulk… wait a second what did you mean by "…may have…"?"
"Oh that got your attention, didn't it?"
"Nikola, please!"
"There is something not right about the air in that cavern, Helen. I can feel it. It has permeated the walls and hangs in the air almost like it is waiting to pounce. It has lain dormant for so long and now we have released it." Nikola raked his hands through his hair in that distracted way that told Helen more than his words ever could do that he was very worried. She still did not comprehend what he meant when he said they had released whatever it was in that cavern and so she told him, "whatever do you mean, we've released it Nikola? What have we released?"
"I don't know! It feels heavy, if that makes any sense, like a pestilence of some sort. We have to get you as far away from here as possible, Helen. You may already be infected!"
"Shouldn't we take samples for test…?"
"Helen! This is serious, we have no idea how potent this could potentially be and you want to stop and take samples?! For once in your life can you stop being so damn calm and collected?!"
"There are other people's lives at stake here too, Nikola or do you need reminding that if this is as bad as you seem to think then this could be catastrophic? If the air feels 'heavy' then it could very well be airborne."
"Helen, please?!" Nikola pleaded with Helen and when he saw it was futile he threw his hands up in the air and with a resigned sigh he muttered, "I don't even know why I bother arguing with you!"
Once she had reasoned with Nikola, Helen took charge of the situation. "Nikola, take a vial from my backpack and collect a sample of the sand in the tomb, we may need it later. I'm going to take a sample of my blood and when we get back home I'll compare it to a sample I've stored away. Tell Carter and Carnarvon that no one is to enter that tomb until we have assessed the danger to the public."
"Eh…Helen? That last order of yours is a little on the late side."
"What? Oh bloody Hell!"
Helen watched askance as Carter was animatedly talking to Carnarvon as they entered the tomb. Glancing around at the local workers surrounding the entranceway Helen felt a shiver run up her spine. They looked terrified. Something was very wrong…
Back in Cairo…
Nikola was helping Helen set up a makeshift lab in her hotel room. Every now and then he would look to Helen with a worried expression on his face and Helen had finally had enough. She hated when anyone fussed over her.
"Nikola, what in Heaven's name is the matter?" The tension was coming off Nikola in waves, it was almost tangible and it made the room's atmosphere oppressive. The room felt unusually hot and Helen put it down to the unseasonable weather – or so she told herself. There was no need to worry Nikola unnecessarily, he was sensitive to her every movement since they had been in Tutankhamen's tomb the previous day and encountered its 'heavy' air.
"How are you feeling, Helen?"
Helen resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her friend because she knew he was worried about her. But really he was being ridiculous. She felt fine.
"I'm quite alright, Nikola. I've felt the same as when you last asked me an hour ago. Although I do feel a tad bit faint but I think it is best not to say anything as you worry enough and it'll pass I'm sure, I probably just need to stop to eat something. She saw him bristle at the slight reprimand in her voice and expected a sarcastic remark in return but she was surprised to find none was forthcoming. She glanced over at Nikola and saw his shoulders slumped in defeat; she felt sorry for him and decided a rest was in order. "Would you like a glass of wine, Nikola? I think one is in order, don't you?"
A little while later, they were resting on the sofa in front of the open fire after eating a fine dinner of the local cuisine. Nikola smiled down at the top of Helen's head as she dozed on his shoulder. He felt happy, the happiest he'd felt in a long time and he had Helen to thank. He had a lot to thank Helen for; getting him through those first few months in Oxford when he had felt alienated from his classmates until Helen decided he should become part of her group of friends and generally getting him from one day to the next. There wasn't a day that went by that he did not think of her when they were separated for whatever reason. She simply made him happy and it was about time he told her.
"Helen…" Nikola gently shook Helen to try and wake her. When she didn't respond he shook her harder and still there was no response. Panic was setting in as Nikola felt Helen's forehead – she was burning up! What should he do?! Helen usually took control in situations such as these. What would she do? Think Nikola think! Unbeknownst to himself he had started pacing and raking his hands through his hands he turned to look at Helen once more. What would you do? Nikola started counting the symptoms Helen had in his head and realised she had a fever but she wasn't shivering yet. He couldn't remember if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He lifted her gently off the sofa and carried her into her bedroom and laid her on the bed. Slowly he began undressing her in a bid to keep her warm he knew she had to be placed in warm clothes. As he was doing so he whispered, "Forgive me Helen. This was not the way I'd envisioned undressing you." Nikola let out a bitter laugh. "If you knew what I was doing right now you'd shoot me for my audacity, wouldn't you Helen?" Nikola continued to speak to Helen as he mopped down her forehead with a cold damp cloth. If he didn't he was sure he'd go insane with worry. This was no ordinary fever after all; he'd just seen their preliminary report. This one was a mutated strain of something, he wasn't sure but he suspected Malaria and it was aggressive if Helen had succumbed to its effects so quickly and that alone worried him. Helen was one of healthiest and strongest people he knew. She had to pull out of this. If anything he needed her to make sense of this new batch of information he was compiling about this disease to help him find a cure for the others who had entered the tomb, he hadn't ventured out of Helen's apartment save to replenish the water jug but he did hear on his travels that Carnarvon had succumbed to the sickness too and it wasn't looking good for the man. And all from a mosquito bite. Nikola had found a bite mark on Helen's neck as he searched for a reason for her sudden spike in temperature. She had aggravated it by scratching and now it was infected. Why on earth didn't you tell me, Helen?!
After three agonising nights of pacing Helen's bedroom watching her slip from fitful sleep to half consciousness, trying to make sense of her desperate murmurs and mopping Helen's forehead in the vain hope that her fever would go down by itself, Nikola finally admitted defeat and called in a doctor. Helen's condition had not improved, if anything it was getting worse and seeing her so restless and in obvious discomfort was driving Nikola to distraction. He'd even lost his temper with the poor doctor when he had suggested bleeding her to see if that alleviated her symptoms. Was the man crazy?! Didn't he know that was an archaic method in medicine and that Helen wouldn't stand for it? What sort of quack was he?
Helen was now alternating between being extremely hot and extremely cold and it seemed impossible for Nikola to regulate her temperature. Besides which she had now begun to talk in her delirium and for the most part Nikola felt uncomfortable listening to Helen's innermost thoughts and fears begin to surface. He felt like he was intruding on her privacy because a lot of what she was repeating was her worry and hurt over John. It was not for anyone's ears and certainly not Nikola's.
By the end of the seventh night, exhaustion had finally hit Nikola. Helen had finally stopped mumbling and moving restlessly and had settled into an eerie sleep. She looked like death and more than once did she stop breathing and this broke Nikola and he pleaded with her to survive. Wiping yet another sheen of sweat from her brow, Nikola let a hot tear fall in desperation onto Helen's face. "Please, please fight Helen! You must fight this. Please don't leave me to face this world alone. I don't know what I'd do if you left me here, Helen! Please fight! Oh Helen… Nikola laid his head down on the covers of Helen's bed still holding her hand and after a short while he fell into a fitful sleep; his emotions having worn him out.
Helen woke slowly. She first became aware of the light. It was so bright! Next she felt a pressure beside her and looking to her right side – oh it hurt to move! – She saw Nikola. Reaching out, she ran her hand over his head and tried to call his name but she found her mouth was too dry to make a sound above a whisper but it was enough to rouse Nikola.
"Helen! Oh thank God! I thought I'd lost you…" Nikola felt his emotions choke him and he couldn't do any more than gather Helen in his arms. She was alive. She had come back to him!
Helen smiled and in an effort to comfort Nikola she placed a hand on his cheek and turned his head to make him look her in the eye as she told him, "You'll never lose me, Nikola. Not as long as there is a breath left in my body." Helen gently laughed at the irony in that statement.
"That's not even remotely funny, Helen! You have no idea how many times in the last week you've come back from the brink! Don't you ever worry me like that again? Do you hear me?"
"I shall try, Nikola. I shall try." Helen said as she gave him a gentle kiss. The look of complete happiness on Nikola's face gladdened her heart. I promise you, Nikola I shall try very hard.