A/N: This is the first part of a two-part story for Christmas. I was inspired by a friend who used this idea for her own fanfiction so I asked if I could use it if I wouldn't publish it and here it is.
I'm sure you know the story behind the title and although it's based on the book I used the images I have left from the cartoon. So if it's not the same then because it's from the cartoon.

Summary part 1: It's the 24th of December, the day before Christmas Eve but when an old friend appears as a ghost nothing is the same anymore. What is going to happen to Helen? What will she see on her journey through the time?

Genre: Drama/ Family/ Fantasy/ Friendship/ Romance/ Hurt/ Comfort

Disclaimer: Nothing's mine besides the mistakes because I didn't have a beta this time. Mistakes are my own if you find some I'd like to have them back...or you can keep them if you want to. However, I keep trying to make it mine... probably not gonna happen at all.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

It was the 24th of December at the Sanctuary. Everything was covered in snow. The huge building was white, the trees were decorated and lights could be seen from far away. The whole Sanctuary and its inhabitants were in Christmas mood...almost all of them. There were two persons who weren't. One of them was Dr. Helen Magnus, the head of the Sanctuary Network. The 160 year old woman missed her daughter too much to be in Christmas mood. She had lost her only child in the fight against the Cabal. Ashley had sacrificed herself to save her mother. Helen couldn't get herself to be in a better holiday mood so she worked instead. She kept working the whole day to forget that Ashley wouldn't come to celebrate with them.

The other one was Nikola Tesla, the ex-vampire genius who had decided to stay over Christmas at the Sanctuary. He had lost his vampirism and with this his immortality. Besides that he had never been the type of man who loved Christmas that much. Nikola had always spent these days alone- especially when he faked his death in 1943.

Will, Henry, Kate and the BigGuy were still decorating the Sanctuary. Some of the other abnormals were helping them- the one who were allowed to walk free through the building. It was too huge to get the decorating done in a day. They had spent days on it.

"Anyone seen Magnus today?" Will asked the others.

"She was in the library this morning. I suppose she's still there but now that you mentioned it I haven't seen her again." Kate answered thinking.

BigGuy just growled that Helen had left the building two hours ago.

"Do you know where she went?"

"Outside."

BigGuy never talked much but sometimes something more specific would be appreciated. Something more than the obvious.

"Maybe she left to buy presents?" Henry threw in but soon improved himself when he saw the looks from the others. "Nevermind..."

They went silent wondering where their boss had left and why. Not that she wouldn't go and buy Christmas presents but they knew better- Helen always had everything without obviously leaving the house. It was incredible but then it was Helen Magnus. If someone knew she was gone than she probably wasn't going to get presents not that it wasn't too late already anyway. No, Helen had left the Sanctuary for another reason. Not because she wanted to enjoy Old City but to think. The only thing Helen couldn't stop for a minute.

Tesla was on the tower watching Helen coming back through the snow. Crossing the yard she didn't gave much away of what she did. Nikola was looking down at her. He wasn't able to see much of her. Just her hair and the way she was walking which showed the sadness she felt. He was feeling with her not because he was a generous man but because he really cared about Helen Magnus. Nikola decided to stay on the tower. If Helen would want to see him she would know where to find him and if not- for once he didn't want to push or bother her.

Helen was back. When she had gone all the way to the door she had seen Nikola standing on the tower. She had felt him watching her. Helen was out for almost three hours doing nothing more than walking through the city. She had seen something Ashley would have loved so she stopped there for a minute thinking of her daughter.

Magnus went to the library the instant she was back at the Sanctuary. BigGuy and the others had decorated it quite good. It looked more beautiful with every year. It made her smile. Sitting down and grabbing a book she sighed.

"A Christmas Carol..." Helen read thinking of just how much her daughter had loved the book when she was little.

Helen opened it and started reading.

She couldn't say when she fell asleep but she woke up at midnight seeing a strange green light that didn't belong there. BigGuy had turned off the lights and had covered her with a blanket when he had found her sleeping. He had also informed Tesla who was more or less waiting for her in the dining room. Nikola didn't really think she would come but he was still waiting for her. He always had.

"What?" Helen asked opening her eyes completely. "Nigel...Is that you?"

It had been over a century since she had literally seen him the last time. The invisible man, Nigel Griffin- a member of The Five and her friend.

"Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it, Helen?"

"What are you doing here?"

Nigel just smiled pointing at the book she held in her hands.

"You're...here to tell me...what exactly?" She had gotten the hint.

Although Nigel weren't tied up in chains or had been a bad person he was glowing green and he had a message for her. She wanted to know what message.

"You have to see for yourself. I just came to inform you that there will appear three Christmas ghosts at each hour. They will show you everything... It was good to see you again, Helen. I have to go now. The first ghost will be here with the beginning of the next hour." With that Nigel Griffin was gone.

Helen couldn't quite believe what just happened. Nigel died years ago and she didn't believe in ghosts. She had seen abnormals mankind couldn't even think of- some of them dangerous as hell, others as peaceful as a flower in spring. Helen had seen mutants, vampires, teleporters and invisible men- as far as one could see them. She knew what was going to happen now. Helen did know the book by heart after all but believing in it was another point. She wasn't prepared for what was about to happen. Without meaning to Helen feel back asleep. She woke up an hour later.

"John? How did you...!"

John smiled at Helen's reaction. Then it hit her.

"You're not really John, are you?" She smiled almost sadly inspecting him closer.

The long tied up black hair made him look like his old Victorian self not like the bald present John. The first ghost was there and it was Victorian John.

"The Ghost of Christmas Past..." She whispered to herself.

Who could have been more perfect? Maybe her father but he hadn't been there- he had been frozen.

"So? What now?"

"I will show you Christmas Past."

Helen closed her eyes. She was hesitating if to take the offered hand from John or not. She did seconds later and felt how time passed them. Helen wasn't sure if she liked the feeling of it. She had lived for over 150 years, she had felt time passing already but this felt different. Faster, more sudden and somehow like a rollercoaster. In a split of a second she was back in Oxford in 1887.

"Oxford?"

"1887."

"The Christmas before the Source Blood...When we were still together."

Helen looked through the window they stood in front of. She saw herself when she was younger and Victorian John her fiancé next to a Christmas tree. They were holding hands when John gave her a little gift. Everything had been fine that day. Helen had been happy with the- so it seemed- perfect man on her side and a perfect life. That was before the Source Blood happened and changed everything.

"You look happy." John said tearing her out of her thoughts.

"I was, John. Everything seemed perfect."

"It was perfect, Helen. We were happy, we were engaged and the Source Blood wasn't there yet- nothing was. We were normal."

Helen laughed silently at the statement. Normal. If they would have been normal the Source Blood never would have taken place in their lives. The pure vampire blood Helen obtained.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you, John. I should never have-"

"Helen. Look at you. Look through that window. You were happy- we were happy. You couldn't possible know what the Source Blood would do to us. No one knew how the vampire blood would affect us. Remember the Christmas you're seeing here..."

She looked through the window again. She saw herself smiling and being happy.

"That is what you wanted to show me?"

"You need to remember what your life used to be like. Before you started locking yourself away because of me. Before you forgot what's love like. When you weren't working yourself to exhaustion." He nodded.

They looked at each other, John almost as if he would regret something before Helen threw one last look at her former self. She grabbed Victorian Johns hand again and they were back in the Sanctuary within a second.

Helen found herself alone in the library and broke down crying. Why did it have to be John? It brang back memories. Memories like the second she found out her fiancé had gone crazy and had become Jack The Ripper, the moment she shot him when he had sliced off another throat, the moment he came back and the second he told her he loved her- always had and always will. Helen kept crying and although she didn't want to she fell back asleep.

Helen woke up an hour later breathing hard.

"It was just a dream." She said to herself.

"Mum." Helen heard from behind her.

She turned around and saw her daughter standing there covered in a green light.

"Ashley! ... Are you another one of my hallucinations?" Helen asked smiling sadly.

She had had them after Ashley's death. She kept seeing her daughter when there was no one until she was able to let got of her and accept the fact that Ashley was dead and would never come back.

"No, not this time, mum. I'm here to show you the Present Christmas."

Helen didn't reply but tried to smile instead. Ashley wasn't supposed to show her the present Christmas as a ghost- she was supposed to still be there to celebrate it with them.

"Shall we?" Ashley asked smiling.

Helen simply nodded.

Instantly she grabbed her daughters hand and became invisible for everyone else. They went through the library and the tons of hallways until they arrived in one of the labs.

"My lab?"

"Yes but not today." Was all Ashley said and Helen understood.

She saw a person and stepped closer to see who it was.

"Will?" She frowned.

"Look closer, mum. He's not alone."

Indeed, there was another person in her lab. Helen did as her daughter told her and found another friend next to her protégé.

"Nikola? What is he doing my lab? He looks upset..."

"He is, mum. It's Christmas and he's here with everyone but the one he wanted to be with. You're not there, mum."

"That's why he is upset? Because I am not there? That's-" Helen interrupted herself watching Nikola.

Ashley was right. He wasn't there for anyone else but for her. The only one he cared for.

"Do you want to see the others?"

Still focused on Nikola she nodded. Helen didn't look away until she couldn't see him anymore. She had only seen him once upset like this- when he lost his vampirism.

"Henry, Kate and BigGuy..."

"And Will, look."

Will just entered the library and shook his head.

"He's not coming unless Magnus is."

"If she comes." Henry threw in.

Helen frowned again. What was that supposed to mean? Kate asked the same question out loud.

"She's working. Whether she comes later or she isn't coming at all." BigGuy growled.

"I doubt she's coming this year. The only one who was able to get the Doc away from work was Ashley..." Henry said and all of them looked down. They were sad about the loss of Ashley but they also knew the words Henry had just spoken were true.

"So we start without them?"

"Yeah." Kate said throwing the first present to BigGuy.

Helen was upset.

"They are not waiting for me? Or even trying to get me there?"

"No. They are right, mum. The only one who was ever able to drag you away from work were I. You've locked yourself away. We're a family- all of us... them but you still have all of those walls around you. You have to let go of them in order to get happy and you deserve that mum."

"That's the second time I hear that tonight."

Helen knew her daughter was right but there was something within her that wouldn't allow to admit it.

"My time's over. I've showed you everything you need to see-"

"Wait! You can't go yet. What's...what's with Nikola?"

In a blink of an eye they were back in Helen's lab where Nikola was still sitting on the couch drinking red wine.

"Nikola..."

He looked up as if he had heard Helen's voice. But there was no one else in the room. No one at all. Nikola Tesla had always been there for Helen and she for him but she was blind when it came to him. He loved her just as much as John did when they were younger and normal. After John she didn't fell in love with anyone ever again. She simply couldn't. Helen was too afraid of getting hurt once again.

"Merry Christmas, my love." Nikola whispered drinking another glass of wine.

Helen couldn't help herself but cry again. The tears just rolled down her cheeks. She believed him back in Rome when he had told her he'd love her and she knew she had feelings for him too but besides the fact that she was unsure of what exactly she was feeling, she was too afraid to say anything- or even admitting anything close to her real feelings. Although Nikola had been the one who had confessed his love for her she was afraid of being rejected.

"Nikola...I'm so sorry."

The last thing Helen saw was the picture of her old friend drinking in loneliness.

Ashley was gone and Helen found herself once again back in the library on the Sanctuary.

"One more, what Charles..." She said looking at the book she had been reading before. The books she lived this night.

Helen had met Charles Dickens a few weeks before he had passed away. They had come along quite well and she had been a huge fan of his works. It was a shame that he died so young. Helens mind drifted back to that time. It had been good times back in the Victorian Era. Without noticing Helen fell back asleep minutes later.

For the last time that night she woke up seeing a green light around another friend of hers.

"Henry?"

The ghost nodded.

"You're the Christmas Yet to Come?" She smiled almost regretting.

Another nod was the only answer she got from her friend and co-worker. Besides the green light he was covered in like all the others before he was dressed in black. Christmas Yet to Come. Death. At least after Dickens. Helen was hoping this part of wouldn't work like in the book. Henry led her to a future Christmas. She was wondering if she would find herself dead or not. Although she was 160 years old and her longevity made her age slower she wasn't completely immortal. And she already died once in order to live.

"Which year is it?"

"2030" Henry answered shortly.

He was never speaking much when Magnus was around at least not when it wasn't related to work.

"Am I dead?"

"See for yourself, Doc." Henry pointed to the yard in front of the Sanctuary where she was able to see a single person standing under a tree. Helen looked at Henry but he didn't say anything. It was her part to find out what was going on. She stepped closer to the figure in front of her while Henry stayed where he was as if he were glued on the ground- if that was anyhow possible with a ghost. When Helen was only inches away she saw a single grave stone. The person who stood in front of it was female and after Helen took another step forward to see better what was written on the stone she recognized her own self standing under that tree. She stumbled back a bit.

"Nikola Tesla. A great man of history and science. A true friend. You will be unforgotten. R.I.P... 25th December 2015... This is Nikola's grave... How did he...?" Helen read and asked confused.

"Tesla died protecting you. Although he was mortal and knew he could or most likely would die he did everything to protect you. He paid with his life but he didn't care. He loved you, Doc. He took the risk of losing his life if you would be able to survive."

Helens future self cried at Nikolas grave.

"I'm so sorry, Nikola. You had saved me again back then and I just... I couldn't do anything to help you. If you wouldn't have been so stubborn you would still be alive...You were always there to help me, to save me and I never even thanked you once for all of those times. When I knew that I lost you for good I realized how much I loved you and still do. I'm sorry it took me too long to see and admit..."

Both Helens were looking at the grave now. One shocked with tears in her eyes the other one crying her heart out finally being able to admit her feelings. But it was too late for her.

"What's...What's with you and the others?" Helen asked still unable to believe Nikola would be dead.

He had always been selfish and arrogant but when it came to her he tried to step back. It still was him who mattered most but when it really mattered it was her who suddenly got most important. Back in Rome he had saved her in those catacombs and got stabbed in the chest. When they had fought against Ashley and the Cabal it was him who stepped forward first to protect Helen. He got hurt pretty badly but Helen had been fine. Back at Oxford it was him who was there for her when she needed a friend, someone who wouldn't tell her she should go home because she was a woman. Helen never thanked him for any of those incidents. She didn't ask for his help or anything.

Helen simply couldn't believe Nikola had to die to make her realize her feelings.

Henry didn't respond with an answer but offered her his hand. After a second Helen grabbed it and they went inside the Sanctuary.

"You got different after Tesla's death. You locked yourself away even more and we celebrated Christmas alone but somehow everything went kinda outta control. We stopped celebrating- all of us. We didn't even decorate the Sanctuary anymore. There simply wasn't space for Christmas mood. You kept us busy with work as well as yourself. You didn't force us to work over the Christmas holidays but we wouldn't leave you alone so we kept working to check up on you then and there. The walls you were building were too thick for all of us. We couldn't break through them at all."

"I'm sorry...You all look so much more...grown up and way more serious."

"It's 2030, Doc. Stuff happened. Everything got darker in general. New threats and new abnormals. We had to fight a lot to survive."

Helen sighed heavily looking at her four friends again. They just sat there in the library talking. It looked all dark. No decoration not even a little Christmas tree- there was nothing at all. The faces of her co-workers were more serious which made her think of another future she had seen before. It was a terrible one and although this one seemed to be...normal it was different from what she may had expected.

"Can we go back?" Helen asked.

She sounded sad. Sad for the way this time looked like and because she was blaming herself for it.

Henry nodded and took her back home. He had seen the sadness lingering in her eyes. The second they got back he disappeared again.

When Helen was back in her library she took some deep breaths and tried to get her heart rate back to normal before running out of the room half crying. She wasn't tired and wouldn't allow herself to fall back asleep unless she finished what she was up to. There was something she simply had to do before going back to sleep which she doubt she'd be able to. She ran through the hallways of the Sanctuary to get to the only room she wanted to be in right now...

Tbc...