Could this be a second chance? (Chapter 1)
"Ah what the hell is keeping him?" Helen said with fear in her voice. Not even John could withstand that much smoke and fire.
Suddenly John appears with two more survivors.
"The fire's spreading, smoke everywhere!" John tries to get out, but his coughing overwhelms him.
Helen took the woman from John as Will put out a fire on John's coat. They escorted the survivors to a gurney near by.
"The rest of the crew?" Helen ask, hoping for a miracle.
"Dead" John stated.
Suddenly a women rushed up to Helen. She is telling her (in Zulu) that there is a young girl on board, a stow away. She had seen her stealing food. She knew she was still on the ship. She too was an empath, but not like the others. There was something different about her.
"One of the empaths is still missing. Did you check the sleeping quarters?"
Helen said.
"Without detailed knowledge of the vessel, arrivals can be tricky. I need a known destination..." John said as he positioned himself to teleport back to the ship.
"Just..." before Helen could get a another word out…he was gone.
Helen began to direct her staff in getting quarters ready. Extra beds were definitely going to be needed that night.
Suddenly John appeared. In his arms lay a young girl. But she wasn't alone. A small child lay lifeless as well.
"Found them unconscious" John said choking on the smoke he had just inhaled.
"Dear God" Helen yells.
"Quickly, get them to the O.R." Helen yells. Will brought a gurney over and John placeed the girl and child on it.
"John?" Helen says making sure he is ok. John seemed to be lost in thought and struggled to answer her.
"Quite a day" John said as he stared at the gurney with the lifeless child being wisked away to the O.R.
Helen studied John as he seemed a bit off.
"Thank you for answering my call." Helen said, trying to show him her gratitude.
"It seems business is never finished with us despite our losses" John said with much sadness, referring to Ashley.
"I'm just saying, I couldn't have done it without you." Thanking him just didn't seem like enough.
"Well, all hands on deck, hmm? Besides, I've missed this place. You know, vengeful killing sprees are good for the soul, but... there's no place like home." He stated with a malicious tone in his voice.
"Quite a lot of teleportation for one day, you feeling any worse for wear?" Helen asked. Knowing that teleporting was having a reverse reaction on John.
"I'm fine" John said, "Go tend to the girl and child. The lose of 1 child is not something anyone should go through".
They both paused. The anguish on Helen's face was evident. But she couldn't think of Ashley right now. She had to tend to the people before her.
SANCTUARY OPERATING ROOM
Helen began to assess the young girl and child. Smoke inhalation had gotten into their lungs. She was immediately assisting them with oxygen. There vitals were weak, but there. She hoped that was enough to stabilize them. The child was small. She seemed about 1 ½ if that. She was very thin and malnourished. Her mother was in the same state. Till she knew differently she could only assume that the young girl they brought in was her parent. But she herself looked very young. Young and frail.
"I can't imagine what would have happened to them had John not answered my call. There was no rescue craft close enough to have saved any of them." She said to Biggie.
"Lucky." Biggie stated, as he assisted Helen.
"That they are. Any longer on the ship and neither of them would have made it"
Suddenly the alarm rings on the medical equipment.
"Cardiac arrest." Biggie yelled
The child's heart stopped beating.
"Dammit! Get the cart" Helen yells.
Biggie begins to assist Helen in the best way he can.
Helen works quickly. She begins to do what she was trained to do. She works quickly to stabilize the child. Finally.
"Alive." Biggie stated with relief.
"For now; she's not out of the woods yet" Helen stated, as she stroked the child's forehead.
This was all to close to home. But she had to remain focused.
Suddenly a shout came through the intercom.
"Magnus" it was Will.
He sounded panicked and out of breathe.
"It's Druitt. He's collapsed"
"What?" Helen yelled.
"I'll be right there". She looked at Biggie.
He could take it from there, now that the child had been stabilized.
She arrived in the lab. Henry and Will had already placed Druitt on a gurney.
"Dear God" …Helen said, as she immediately ran to his side.
" John..John…can you hear me…John" she begged. But nothing.
They immediately rushed him to the O.R. Helen ran close to maintain a check on his vitals. Suddenly, she felt nothing.
"Damitt..get the cart…quickly…" she yelled. She ripped his shirt open and placed the paddles against his chest.
"Clear" she yelled and shocked him once. Nothing.
"Again" she yelled in desperation.
Suddenly sparks begin to fly from all over the room. The sparks stop and Helen looks down to see the paddle still sending a charge. They stop and Helen removes them.
"We took a power surge". Helen stated.
Helen checks John's pulse, "He's breathing again. Thank God" .
Henry chimes in from the intercom.
"Doc, I need to do a major system reboot. Can you live without your med servers for a few nanoseconds?"
"Do it." Helen says as she stares at John.
"Helen" John barely gets out.
"John..it's alright" she said as she helped him with his oxygen.
"What happened" he asked. Trying to get up.
"Shh…lie still please John..please" she begged as she gently pushed him back on to the gurney.
"I don't know why... I feel so strange." He stated.
"You've been through quite an ordeal today John. Please just rest now" She said.
He laid back down. And closed his eyes. Helen just looked at him. Oh how she still loved this man. So many years, decades gone by, yet her love for him was as strong as the first day he made love to her.
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
John had recovered. The source blood always had that affect on him. He healed a lot faster than most. He felt strange, different but he couldn't explain it. The Sanctuary still had no power and Henry was no closer to figuring out what happened. The telepaths, however were recovering a lot slower. They didn't have enough rooms for all of them so they decided to utilize the shu, and make it a makeshift dormitory for the time being.
John was assisting with moving beds and other items into the shu, while Helen assisted with the other materials trying to make it as comfortable as possible. Suddenly the lights began to flicker and the doors closed. The emergency lighting came and Helen rushed to the door but wasn't able to reach it in time. They were trapped.
Helen tried communications but it wasn't working. Nothing! they were cut from all human contact. Except each others contact. That already was making Helen uneasy.
IN THE SANCTUARY SHU …
They sat in the SHU. So many hours had passed they had lost track of time.
"You said you feel... different. What do you mean by that?" she asked him. Her guard still up, she couldn't risk letting it down. The repo cautions of it all were to great.
"The darkness within me is gone... completely. Far more than when Tesla shocked me, that was appeasement, but this... this is... so peaceful." John said.
He was confused at the emotions he was feeling. He couldn't explain it. It scared him.
She looked at him. Trying to see if he was toying with her emotions. But she couldn't tell. Her mind started to think a mile a minute. Suddenly she looked at him, as if she had found the answer to quantum physics,
"It must have happened when I restarted your heart. The creature jumped from you into the facility itself." She said, realizing what this might possibly mean.
"So are you telling me then," John paused, he couldn't understand how this could of happened.
"But how did it end up inside me in the first place? I have no recollection of ever encountering it before." John stated. Still trying to absorb this new intel.
Helen began to pace the small area of the shu. She started to realize Jon could possible be freed from the monster that was within him.
"You wouldn't have to...God, it actually makes sense. Every time you teleport, you convert your molecular structure to pure energy."
John just watched her. She was babbling again. Oh how he loved this woman. He just looked at her. In continued awe of her beauty, her intelligence, her strength. This women had gone through so much, and yet she remained so strong. He envied her strength.
"The creature could have latched onto you during one of your jumps, integrated into your being when you re-materialized." She said, almost with a smile on her face, knowing what this meant.
"And now...that its influence is gone...Is it not possible this entity was the sole cause of my bloodlust? That it's been polluting my soul since I began using my power?" John realizing exactly what the meaning of her results meant, started to contemplate that he could now be free of this horrific torment.
She looked at him. Oh how she wanted to believe him. How she wanted to wrap her arms around him, and hold him. To have the John she fell in love with once again, would only be fate granting them a chance. But her guard still remained. She had been hurt to many times. But her heart was another story. She looked at him, and slowly walked towards him. Her mind telling her something but her heart telling her something else. She was losing the battle.
"I want to believe you, John, but it's far too easy to blame everything you've done on something else." Helen said trying to remain focused in all that was unraveling.
"Yeah, right. My mind is so... clear. As it was when we first met. That thing was my rage. I'm sure of it." John was elated.
He felt freed, released from prison.
"Helen" he walked towards her. He touched her cheek.
Everything in her said "no" but how her heart ached "yes". She turned her face, s that her lips were now in the palm of his hand. And their she left a kiss. He smiled. Knowing how he was affecting her. Everything in her being struggled with her actions. But Helen couldn't fight it. For she was a women and as much as she wanted to deny it, she had needs, that the man who stood before her, could easily fulfill.
"John…please" she begged him, hoping he would see her turmoil and stop his actions.
"Helen..there hasn't been a day that I haven't wanted to touch you, hold you and caress you the way I used too" he said as he began to push his body against hers.
She gasped. It had been to long since she had felt a man they way she was feeling John's body against hers. She could feel him against her, and his bodies reaction was growing stronger.
"John..I…We…." she stumbled over her words.
"Shhh….." he said as he slowly began to kiss her. She lost the battle. The first few seconds she refused, but she couldn't resist. She began to kiss him back. The kiss lasted what seemed like hours. They only stopped to come up for air.
The kiss became more passionate. They caressed each others bodies. Slowly removing their clothing. Everything in him wanted to take her quickly, but he knew that this might be the last and only time they were together, so he took his time. He teased her. Every bit of her body was wanting him, and he can sense it. Kissing touching, the foreplay began. Helen's mind was screaming NO….but her body stifled it, by saying Yes. The beds were already there for the telepaths, so John took advantage of it. He slowly lifted her, while still kissing her and laid her on one of the beds. He laid against her, and whispered in her "I love Helen Magnus" and began to make sweet passionate love to her.
BACK AT THE INFIRMARY
Hours had gone by, Henry wasn't any closer to figuring out what was going on. He was in the lab trying to work as fast as he possible could. Suddenly the monitors began functioning on there own. Henry could see certain rooms of the Sanctuary. He tried to see if audio was up and running as well, but no luck.
"hey…we got visual" Henry shouted. Will had gotten trapped in one of the tech rooms, so he was close by.
"really..great..what about audio?" he immediately asked, hoping he could get a hold of Magnus.
"Seriously Will..I'm working as fast I can" Henry stated, tired of being asked if there were functional yet.
Suddenly the Shu camera came into focus. What was on the screen was something that Will and Henry couldn't absorb. They were in shock. There they were watching John and their boss, who they loved and respected making love. Henry didn't know what to do first. He looked at Will.
"Just cover it….grab something and cover it..shut it off" Will said frantically, trying to give Magnus her privacy.
Henry grabbed the first thing he could and laid it over the monitor.
"Ok how bout we just say we never saw that huh" he says to Will.
"agreed" they said at the same time.
Henry worked tediously. He couldn't figure out what was happening. All he knew was that he had to get the Sanctuary back online.