Dear Readers,

I've gotten this ficlet up just in time for the end of January, because it's for the GW monthly Teslen (Helen/Nikola) fic challenge, of course. The prompt is "snowed in." I had several ideas, but the random one that came at the last minute ended up winning out; go figure. Ironically, it actually snowed today... Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Best regards from a bookworm (and obsessive Tesla fan),

Miss Pookamonga ;p

Lost and Found

Helen watched silently as the snowflakes drifted down from the heavens, blanketing the Sanctuary grounds and the entirety of Old City in a soft veil of white. The feathery specks had been falling steadily since early that morning, and now that it was about three in the afternoon, the ground was well-hidden beneath a substantially thick layer of snow. Not that Helen minded, though. She had always loved the beauty of a snowfall—the crispness of the clear air, the angelic flight of each broad flake from the clouded sky, the pure taste of the cold snow upon her tongue, the hush that fell upon the earth as it was silenced by folds of white. There was something breathtakingly magical about snow, even to an experienced scientist like Helen Magnus. She couldn't put her finger on just what it was, but she knew that for some reason the event of a snowfall always captivated her and filled her with a sense of childlike awe at the splendor of the particular phenomenon of nature.

Everyone else had naturally been excited about the first snowfall of the year as well. Will, Henry, Kate, a few of the Sanctuary's free-roaming abnormals, and even Bigfoot had spent the better part of the morning engaging in a wild snowball fight outside, while Helen had observed from her office window, chuckling amusedly at their ridiculous display. After that, they had decided to attempt building a giant snow fort with a rather plump snowman as the guard, but hunger and exhaustion had finally overcome them and they had abandoned their project to rush inside, warm up, dry off, and settle down for some lunch. Kate had then invited Helen to join her, "the boys," and Bigfoot for some hot chocolate and a movie, but Helen had politely declined, preferring to spend her time alone watching the snowstorm from her window perch.

It had been a welcome surprise, the snow, for it had provided a well-needed day off from the daily hustle-and-bustle that was life at the Sanctuary. Helen especially was grateful for the opportunity to just sit down and relax and clear her mind of any work responsibilities for the time being. She was rarely one to set aside leisure time for herself, but there were rare occasions when she did so, and a snow day was always one of those. As she sat quietly on her window seat, curled up in a warm blanket and sipping a cup of hot tea, Helen replayed the events of that morning in her head, laughing once again when the image of the rambunctious snowball fight came to mind. It was amusing just how fitting Nikola's nickname for the young members of her team had been that morning, when they had been romping around in the snow like "children," as the physicist frequently enjoyed calling them.

And then suddenly, her train of thought halted.

Where was Nikola?

Helen suddenly realized that she hadn't seen him once that entire day. True, he usually spent the majority of his time cooped up in the security of the lab she had given him, but he still ventured out a few times every day to get food or wine, read in the library, talk to her briefly, or go up to the north tower to feed his beloved pigeons. Nikola's sudden lack of appearance instinctively triggered a surprisingly intense feeling of concern in Helen, and she quickly cast her blanket and teacup aside and abandoned her window perch to embark on a fervent search for him.

She immediately made her way to his lab first, as that would be the most likely place for him to be. But when Helen failed to find him there, the fear hitched in her chest, strangling her already palpitating heart. She frantically checked all the usual spots—the library, the kitchen, the wine cellar, the north tower—she even ventured to inspect his bedroom twice. But after a good hour of diligent searching, Helen had come up empty, and now her anxiety was wreaking havoc on her nerves. The Sanctuary was no doubt enormous, with plenty of places to hide, but Nikola was a man of routine. Helen knew with certainty that it was highly unlikely for him to alter his daily schedule for no reason, and it was even more unlikely that he would spontaneously decide to hide from her. So where was he? He couldn't have possibly gotten…hurt somehow, could he? Was he stuck somewhere, waiting for someone to find him but unable to call for help? What if he'd gone out for a walk in the snow and was caught in a ditch, or a snow bank? Or worse…what if he'd gone for a walk by the river, slipped on a patch of ice, and—

No.

It would do no good for her to allow this nonsense to overwhelm her brain if she was ever going to find him. She quickly drew in a deep breath to calm herself, then decided that it would probably be wise to pay the "children" a visit and ask if any of them had spotted the elusive scientist.

It wasn't long before Helen found herself at Kate's room, knocking on the door. She heard some shuffling and giggling inside before it swung open to reveal Kate dressed in a robe and pajamas, with similarly-dressed Will and Henry sprawled out on the floor behind her. Bigfoot was lounging in a chair off to the side, fully engrossed in whatever movie the group was watching.

"Hey, doc!" Kate exclaimed the minute she set eyes on her boss in the doorway. "Come to finally join us?"

"The movie sucks, but the popcorn is good!" added Henry in a voice louder than was necessary.

"Shut up!" shot Kate, rolling her eyes at Henry and snorting at the sight of Will trying to hit the werewolf in the nose with popcorn kernels. She turned back to Helen. "Come in; there's plenty of food left, and we've got more movies to watch after this one. Your pick."

Helen smiled at Kate's warm offer, but shook her head, feeling slightly guilty for declining. "I hate to turn you down again, but I just wanted to ask if any of you have seen Nikola lately—he's not in his lab and he doesn't seem to be anywhere else."

Kate furrowed her eyebrows, intrigued. "Well, I saw him in his lab earlier, but he's not there anymore, so…I'm not sure…"

"I saw him in the library this morning," Bigfoot suddenly grunted, his gaze flickering momentarily to Helen's face before quickly returning to the television.

"Henry and I passed him in the hallway on the way to lunch," piped Will. "We thought he was going back to his lab."

Helen's stomach plummeted. She had been hoping that at least one of her team had an idea of Nikola's whereabouts.

"Do you want us to help you look for him?" Kate offered.

Helen quickly shook her head again, trying to conceal just how terrified she was about Nikola's sudden disappearance. "Thank you, but I'm sure he's around. I was just…wondering."

"All right, if you're sure," said Kate. "Sorry we couldn't help you out more."

"It's fine," Helen replied, pretending to shrug the matter off. "Enjoy the rest of your movie."

"Okay, see ya," Helen heard Kate call as she briskly walked back down the hallway.

Now at a loss to determine what course of action to take next, Helen could only return to her office and try to come up with a possible explanation for why Nikola had suddenly vanished. She made her way straight to the window seat without pausing once, and plopped dejectedly down upon the cushion. Maybe she would be able to think more clearly here. Leaning her head against the cold windowpane, Helen let out a sigh and was about to begin thinking of all the logical scenarios she had not yet considered, when something outside suddenly caught her eye.

Curiously, she lifted her head up and turned to examine what had abruptly interrupted her thoughts.

The minute she did so, her breath caught in her throat and she couldn't decide whether she wanted to burst out in tears or burst out laughing.

There, etched in the snow in enormous letters, were the words, "YOU LOOK HOT," with a large heart drawn beneath them. And standing in the middle of the heart, waving enthusiastically, was none other than the very man she had spent the last hour obsessively searching for.

"You bloody devil," she chuckled, unable to resist the urge to smile.

Nevertheless, he was going to have hell to pay when he came back inside.