Summary: Helen heals John when he turns up at her new Sanctuary.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sanctuary.

Pairing: Helen and John

Rating: K+

ANOTHER CHANCE:

Helen Magnus sat in her office day dreaming when there was work to do. She knew better, but she could get her mind to engage, to focus on the tasks at hand. Her mind wandered down many roads, many paths that led absolutely nowhere but to John. He was weighing on her thoughts more and more as the days slipped by. Something inside her told her that he was near, but she could hold tight to the feeling long enough to track John down. Helen would have to wait for him to reveal himself. Shaking her head, Helen stood up from her desk to leave her office. She wasn't going to get any work accomplished with her thoughts running back to the fate of Montague John Druitt.

Turning the corner, she saw Nikola at the end of the hall. A fake smile appeared on her lips disguising the fact she wasn't in the mood to be flirted with by him. Helen took another step and then stopped. Her left hand shot out to brace against the wall as her right touched the expanse of her left side. There was the ghosting sensation of terrible pain. "John…" Helen hadn't meant for his name to fall from her lips, but she knew he was in pain. This had to be from him. She hadn't been injured lately. None of the excursions had been dangerous.

"Helen…"

The ghost of her name reached her. Helen turned and there he was. John was bloody, gripping his side and the wall just as she was. Her phantom pains vanished instantly. She made a move to go to him when hands grabbed her shoulder's; Nikola's hands. "Get off." Helen snarled breaking free of his hold. Rushing to John, Helen wrapped her arms around him just as he lost his balance taking them both to the floor. His right side pressed into her chest with her left knee bent to brace against his back. Helen was better able to see that the blood that covered him was his own due to the fragment of pipe protruding from his abdomen. "Oh, John…" She cupped his face. "I'm here. I'm right here."

"Helen…" John could barely say her name through the blood loss and the encroaching blackness. "I had to see you one last time…" He brought his bloody hand up to touch her face leaving her cheek smeared with his blood.

"No, no…" Helen shook her head taking his bloody hand in his. "I won't let you go. Not now. Not ever." Pressing a kiss to his temple, she turned her attention to Nikola. "In the lab, there's a syringe on the top shelf of the cold storage unit. Bring it to me." She could see that in his eyes that he wanted to protest, to argue with her and waste precious time that John didn't have. "Nikola, if you were ever my friend… do this for me." Helen pleaded, desperation pushing her to such tactics. Nikola left without so much as a word or sarcastic remark.

John coughed, groaning in pain when the shard of pipe in his side jarred from such movement. "Helen, you were… right… We should never have…" He tried to say, tried to tell her that she was right about them, that they didn't belong together, that they never have. All the trouble had come from his trying to force them back together. If he was to die here in her arms, then he wanted her to know that she was right; she would always be right about them and about him.

"No, John, I wasn't…" Helen replied holding him close, letting his hand fall from her so she could grip the protruding pipe. When the time came she was going to pull the object free and given John what he needed to get better. Until then she had to keep him talking. "I never stop loving you, but it hurt too much as you were. My heart was always yours. We were always meant to be together through the dark and the light." Once more she pressed her lips to his temple, over and over she gave him small kisses to let him know she wanted him here with her.

"I… never… thought…." John struggled to talk. Movement caught his attention then and much to his distaste, it was Nikola. If he was to die then he wanted to be alone with Helen. "Helen… I…."

Nikola couldn't speak from the sight before him. Helen was cradling john, his blood on her face, and still she cared for the monster he was and like the whipped vampire he was he did as she asked even though he knew he shouldn't. "Here." He handed the syringe to Helen and turned to leave. There was no way he could watch as John's life was one more saved.

Helen set the vial of vampire blood mixed with hers aside and gripped the piece of pipe once more. "This is going to hurt." She informed him. John turned his face up to look at her and in that moment she couldn't imagine not kissing him. Sealing her lips to his distracted him long enough, allowing her to yank the pipe from his side. John howled in pain and started to bleed faster. Helen stripped out of the light sweater she wore to hold pressure to his wound. "You're not going anywhere." She stressed urging him to hold pressure for a few minutes. He did so, freeing her hands to take the vial and open it. Taking the sweater from his wound, she emptied the contents of the vial on his wound and then quickly covered it with her hands.

John felt fire race through his body starting from his wound. It reminded him of the night they all injected the Sanguine Vampiris into their bodies. He convulsed, clenched his teeth to keep from roaring in pain. John made sure to keep his eyes on Helen, to keep her sweet face as a beacon in the dark that was threatening him. All too quickly the fire died leaving him to draw in a ragged breath after breath. "Helen… what… did you do?" His words slurred together as he spoke quickly.

"I gave you pure vampire blood mixed with my own. I knew this would work as I had already done it on Nikola." Helen tried to banish he tears, but they did not heed her. John was saved and he was with her. It was almost too much for her. "I will never let you go." She spoke quickly, her words slurring together as she spoke too fast.

John didn't want to move from the warmth that was Helen. "I feel worn out and renewed all at the same time." He muttered taking her hand so he could place a gentle kiss to her knuckles. She was forever his angel of mercy, putting her life at risk to help him, to save him. Why did he deserve her? "I love you…" John said in between light kisses to her hand.

Helen rested her cheek against his head, "I love you too. For all eternity," She replied without hesitation. John was always the one she was meant to be with. The last time they had been together, she had been angry, she had wanted to hurt him, and she did. Helen had regretted it when everything finally sank in. She'd left John to die. This time wouldn't be the case. Helen held him close, perfectly content to remain on the floor with him for as long as he pleased.

"Those words sound so good falling from your lips." John's heart clenched in his chest as emotions threated to overwhelm him. If he had the strength to move, he would. He would turn to him, pull her into his arms, and never let her go. "I'm just sorry for… everything." John once more angled his head so he could gaze up at her.

Helen said nothing. She just smiled at him seconds before taking his lips once more in a gentle kiss. The kiss was as she remembered it, passion always simmering beneath the surface, but this time it was tinged with copper; John's blood. Pulling back she whispered, "That's over and done with. We have a chance to start fresh, to start again." She honestly believed they could build that future they had wanted; together.

Some of John's strength returned to him allowing him to sit up. Helen didn't let him however. Her arms wrapped around him pulling his back against her chest. Who was he to fight her? This was where he wanted to be. "Do you believe we can start over?" he asked not daring to get his hopes up.

"We can do anything in this new era." Helen said with confidence. "I want any life that has you in it."

"As do I," John replied bringing his bloodied hand up to rest over both of hers that were pressed over his heart; a heart that had always beaten only for her.