A/N: Set post-canon, roughly six months or so. Also contains temporary character death - it doesn't stick, but I just wanted to give a warning!


"Nikola?"

Nikola was currently deep in thought about two things: how much power he needed to wheedle Helen into letting him divert from the abnormal levels for his latest experiment, and what he was going to get her for her upcoming birthday. One of the downsides to being immortal, he had learned, was that after a while you just ran out of gift ideas.

What he was not deep in thought about – what wasn't even crossing his mind in the slightest way at all, for that matter – was the conversation going on around him.

Helen's voice snapped him back to attention, and he glanced up at where she stood behind her desk. "Yes, my dearest?" he said, smiling innocently.

Helen rolled her eyes, giving that tiny exhale that meant she was having none of it at the moment. She gestured at Henry and Kate, who stood opposite her.

"Perhaps you'd care to go over the mission details again, for all of our benefit," she said pointedly.

"Sure." He got up, his hand automatically going to his hip as he grinned at the room at large. He was about to take a sip of wine from the glass in his other hand, but realized it was empty. He must have finished it off during his reverie earlier. Damn. He must be distracted, if the consumption of a fine vintage like that had gone unnoticed.

The conversation he wasn't paying attention to had been less a conversation and more Helen going over the specifics of tonight's mission with them all. Fortunately, he hadn't needed to listen, because Helen had told him most of the details already.

Two bodies had been found in as many days, torn to shreds in the city's warehouse district. It was always the warehouse district, Nikola mused – why didn't this stuff ever happen on a sunny beach?

At the same time, rumors had begun to spring up around Helen's contacts that there was a rare and dangerous abnormal (or a few dozen, depending on the reliability of the contact) that was hunting near there. They were vague about exactly where it was supposed to be, but the reports seemed to center around one of the larger buildings in the middle of the district.

They were off to investigate tonight. So Nikola knew everything he needed to know, and the rest of the Sanctuary did too. There was no reason to bore everyone by reciting repetitive information.

Nikola put the empty glass down on Helen's desk. "We're going to go in there," he told Henry and Kate very seriously, "and we're gonna kick ass."

Kate snickered and Henry gave a suspiciously timed cough as Helen sighed off to Nikola's side.

"Very helpful, Nikola, thank you," she said, though not without amusement. "Now, perhaps we should get going. None of my contacts have said exactly when this creature, if it exists, comes out to hunt, but I don't want to miss it."

Nikola leaned across her desk, catching her eyes in his. "What are we waiting for?"


"Henry, Kate, you head around back," Helen ordered, her voice barely a whisper. "We'll see if we can box it in before it realizes we're here."

"Sure thing, doc," Henry said. He and Kate hurried off. To their credit, they made hardly enough noise for even Nikola's hearing to pick up.

"You sure have them well-trained," Nikola muttered.

"Quiet," Helen said. "Whatever this creature is, it's most likely killed at least two people so far. I'd rather you didn't become the next."

He smiled. "Oh Helen, be careful. You don't want to embarrass the children with your passionate declarations of love for me."

Helen's lips twitched, but all she said was, "Follow me."

If whatever they were looking for really hunted here, Nikola didn't know where it was finding its prey. The place was deserted, and from the looks of things had been that way for a long time. A layer of dust several inches thick coated the sides of the halls, and every door they opened creaked like they were on an episode of Operation Paranormal, swinging forward on rusty hinges.

Every so often, a metallic clang sounded, bouncing off the walls so they couldn't determine its point of origin. It was probably just the old building making noise, as old buildings had a tendency to.

But these noises were getting closer.

Even Nikola was starting to get creeped out. "Nice place," he whispered. "Want to vacation here?"

Helen turned around to give him a look. Just then, there was a metallic screech from further down the corridor, as if somebody was dragging a particularly vicious set of nails down a chalkboard.

They halted abruptly and Helen raised her stunner, but a minute or two passed with no sign of movement anywhere around them. The noise stopped.

"Are you two alright?" Helen asked into her com, sounding unnaturally loud in the sudden silence.

Henry's voice crackled into their ears. "We're good, how about you guys?"

"We're fine. Have you found anything yet?"

"Not yet," he said. "What was that, anyway?"

"I don't know," Helen said, frowning.

"Ok, I'll say it. This place is spooky." Nikola stuck his hand out as Helen lowered her stunner. "Hold my hand?"

She shook her head, giving him another impressive eye roll. "Really, Nikola," she muttered.

He grinned as they started on their way again. As they walked, Helen extended her free hand behind her, wrapping her fingers around his. She looked behind her and gave him a little encouraging smile. Nikola blinked in surprise before squeezing her hand and nodding back.

That sound had rung a bell in Nikola's head, but he couldn't quite place it. He was still racking his brains when there was another faint but familiar noise, a distant rumbling, from one of the endless corridors ahead of them.

He stopped, taking Helen's arm. "Do you hear that?" he asked in a low voice.

Helen tilted her head, listening for a moment, but in the second she took to listen Nikola remembered what it was. He grabbed her waist and pulled them both as far to the side as he could before curling himself around Helen.

A wave of energy rippled past them almost as soon as they hit the side of the hallway. It missed them by a hair, but its force was still enough to press them both against the wall painfully hard. With it came a blast of heat that seared across Nikola's back. He held onto Helen tighter, trying to shield her.

In another moment, it was gone, and they both took a deep breath. Nikola let go of Helen, turning to face her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Helen nodded, stepping away from him. "I know that weapon," she said sharply.

"Yeah, so do I," Nikola said. "'Cause I built it."

Helen's eyes widened slightly before she shook her head. "Nikola, tell me the creature here isn't what I think it is."

He grimaced. "Sorry."

She slapped a hand up to her earpiece. "Henry, Kate, listen to me. You need to be careful – it's a vampire." She glanced at Nikola. "At least one. Not as strong as Nikola, but be on your guard."

There was no answer.

"Henry, Kate, can either of you hear me? Please respond." Helen's voice was growing louder as her worry set in. "Henry? Kate?"

After another few seconds of silence, Helen fixed Nikola with a blistering look. "You told me they were dead."

"I thought they were!" His heart rate had picked up, an uncomfortable certainty settling in the pit of his stomach. Even Henry didn't stand a chance against one of his vampires.

"It doesn't matter," she bit out. "Go find Henry and Kate, now."

Nikola stared at her for a moment. "No, I – I'm not leaving you."

"Nikola," Helen said dangerously. "Go. I'll be fine." She holstered her stunner, taking out her guns instead. "You're faster by yourself."

Before Nikola could argue any more, a figure hurtled at them out of a side passage, tackling him to the ground. Nikola threw his arms up to cover his face instinctively, his claws and fangs extending as he kicked up. He only hit thin air as the creature – the vampire – dodged him without a second thought, and Nikola dropped his arms, swiping his claws across its chest and digging in, about to twist it off of him.

But he'd left his head exposed, and before he could do anything more the vampire had its own claws buried in Nikola's neck. Nikola choked as it dragged its hand down his throat, cutting deep into his chest, and the burning pain made him lose his grip on it.

"Nikola!" Helen shouted, and he only had time to turn his head towards her before she fired both guns into the creature on top of him. Her shots sent it reeling off him, giving Nikola a chance to scramble to his feet. His neck was already healing.

She had redirected the vampire's attention to her, and it snarled, turning away from Nikola and flinging itself across the hall at her. Helen fired more rounds into it and shouted something that couldn't be heard over the sound of her gunfire, though Nikola knew Helen well enough to guess. It halted in its tracks for a moment, but her bullets weren't going to last forever.

Hissing, Nikola threw himself at it and went for its throat. His fangs were only millimeters away when it managed to wrench away from him, heaving him to the side. Nikola hit the wall with such force that he could feel a few bones break in the arm he'd flung out to take the impact, and the wall buckled slightly.

What the hell was going on with this thing? There was no way it should have been this strong. Nikola knew its limits, or had thought he did; he had created it. This was one of the vampires he had turned years ago underneath Rome as Helen watched. He had thought they were all dead – they should have been dead. John had killed the rest of them after he had teleported Helen away, and John wasn't one to leave something like that unfinished.

But he had left Nikola for dead too, and Nikola was still alive and kicking. John had really done a number on him, and Nikola could only vaguely remember his recovery. It was possible that one of the other vampires had escaped his notice.

It shouldn't have attacked him, either. It was hardwired to obey him – the thought of hurting him shouldn't have even entered its mind. But somehow, his control over it had been broken, and now he had no way short of killing it to stop it from giving into its ravenous blood lust.

For that matter, it shouldn't have been intelligent enough to salvage the Cabal's weapon and use it, which it most definitely had if earlier was anything to go by. And why had it taken so long to come out of the woodwork?

But however any of this had happened, the vampire was here now, and it was springing towards Helen again. Helen emptied the clip into it, giving Nikola enough time to grab it from behind, seizing it around the chest with both hands.

He hissed again and sent as strong an electrical current as he dared through both of them, his eyes turning black as the other vampire gave a cry of pain. After centuries of experiments, if there was one thing Nikola knew he was more resistant to than any other living thing on the planet, it was electricity.

Helen had reloaded, and she fired a single shot with pinpoint accuracy into the vampire's head. Its eyes went blank and it stopped struggling against him, and Nikola stepped back as it sank to the ground.

He took a deep gulp of breath, feeling the last of his wounds close up, and looked at Helen. She was uninjured – the vampire had never made it to her.

"That was hot," he said, and Helen rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the help, by the way."

She nodded back. "Likewise."

"Thank you, Helen. I've always thought I looked quite handsome as a vampire. It's these, I think," Nikola said, twirling one of his claws.

Helen sighed. "Is it going to stay down?"

Nikola looked at it, pursing his lips. "Huh. You know, I'm really not sure. I've never been shot in the head, so I don't really have a frame of reference. I suppose you don't happen to have any of your fun vampire-proof restraints on you, do you?"

"I, ah, didn't think to bring them," Helen said, a hard edge in her voice, and he knew they were about to start arguing about how he'd gotten them into this mess.

"Helen," he said. "I didn't know any of them had survived. I'm sorry, alright?"

"Just…go find the others," Helen said, sounding weary. Nikola felt his heart sink. He'd managed it yet again: he had disappointed her.

"Not without you," he insisted. The fight had driven them to a crossroads in the hall, with several passages opening up to each side, and he could hear their voices echoing through them.

"I'll slow you down. I'm not having this conversation with you again, Nikola, just go alre-" Her words were cut off as something collided with her, blurring out of the shadowed hallway so quickly and quietly Nikola hadn't seen it coming.

Before either of them had time to react, the second vampire's claws had slashed through Helen's neck, drawing a strangled cry of pain from her as it bent its head closer to the flow of blood.

Nikola's eyes went wide, her name tearing from his throat as he threw himself at the other vampire, heedless of anything other than getting it away from her.

He dragged it off her even as she lifted one shaking hand to her neck, the other grasping her gun and firing. Her shot went wide and hit it in the shoulder, and Nikola felt the bullet graze him on its way through. But it was enough to distract the vampire long enough for Nikola to pull it farther away from Helen.

There was a guttural kind of cry coming from him that Nikola was barely aware he was making, and he gripped the vampire's neck, his claws driving into its skin, and poured a stronger current than even he could handle for very long through it. It stunned Nikola, but it accomplished its purpose: the other vampire fell to the floor, convulsing, before it lay still. Nikola swayed, blinking to clear his head.

Helen. He darted over to her, nearly slipping in the pool of blood already forming on the ground. Falling to his knees beside her, he slid an arm under her back and lifted her, cradling her against him. Her hand had fallen away from her neck, lying limply off to the side and allowing the blood to flow unchecked. Nikola covered the wound himself, his unsteady hands barely working. Her eyes were closed.

"Helen." His voice trembled. "Helen. Wake up, Helen – please – "

Her eyes opened a little and she gave him a small, flickering smile.

"Helen." Relief flooded over him and he clutched her a little tighter. "Ok, just hold on," he said, his words spilling out in a rush. "I'll get you back to the Sanctuary, that great lug of a butler of yours can fix you up, you'll be fine. Just – just hold on."

He got his feet under him, preparing to lift Helen up, but she motioned him to stop, giving him a look.

"Nikola," she said gently.

All his relief dropped out from underneath him, his eyes widening in horror. The world seemed to tilt suddenly and violently on its axis.

"No," he choked. "No. No, no, please – You can't – you can't…" The rest of his words died in his throat.

"Find Henry and Kate," she told him, her voice barely audible. She touched Nikola's cheek, her hand slick with blood. "Look after them."

Nikola was shaking his head. His mind should have been racing to find a solution, to save her, but he was numb with terror. "No," he managed again, his voice breaking. He had to take a shuddering breath before he could speak. "Helen, please, Helen – Helen – "

Helen's eyes unfocused, looking off somewhere behind him, a new expression on her face: fear.

Nikola stared at her before swallowing. If there was nothing else he could do for her, at least he could make sure she wasn't alone. He willed his voice to stop quavering.

"It's alright, Helen." The lie came to him with startling ease, and he took her hand, entwining her cold fingers with his. "It's alright. I – I'll take care of the kids, I swear."

Helen nodded, her eyes closing again.

"Helen." Nikola stroked her hand with his thumb, tears filling his eyes. Not yet. "Helen, wake up."

She didn't answer.


Nikola lost track of how long he knelt there, still holding Helen's hand in his. His head was bowed, his forehead touching hers as he sobbed, tears sliding down his face onto her.

He should go find the kids. He'd promised Helen to keep them safe.

The force of his determination to keep that promise surprised him; it filled him with enough strength to scoop Helen up in his arms and stand, his legs trembling under him. He started walking, stumbling along blindly in the direction Henry and Kate should be. Only a few steps down the hall, he nearly tripped over one of the vampires' corpses.

His vampires. He had caused this – it was his fault, and his alone. Helen was gone because of his carelessness. Helen, extraordinary Helen, was dead, all because of him.

It struck Nikola like a physical blow, and he sank to his knees again, curling around Helen. The dark corridors around them were eerily silent now, the only audible sounds the apologies he choked out to Helen over and over again.


"Nikola?"

"Uh, yes, my dearest?" The words came out automatically. Nikola didn't even know where he had gotten the breath for them, since he felt like he'd just landed from a fall off a thirty-story building.

His eyes were fixed on Helen, standing behind her desk and giving him an annoyed look, and very much alive.