Prologue:
Sometimes life is too much work. Your working as hard as you can so that you can live. For many it's an endless stream of complicated steps to fumble and fall upon. Sometimes it's as easy as walking down the street; you don't need to think about it or worry that your feet will touch the ground, bringing you to your goal.
Don't think I was the latter. By far I was the former. At least until my life ended; then it truly began. My life... My human life had been filled with trials and work, lots of work. School life was a hassle of emotional and mental torture; the kind only girl bullies could perfect and play on. I never really felt that I fit in anywhere. Then I became an adult and had to deal with the complexity of being a member of a society that is innately corrupt and sucks the life out of living.
Respite came in the form of evil acts. Perhaps evil is a strong word, but it makes the point. But it was the road to my release, my transformation. To my death.
Then my rebirth. Literally.
Since then my life has definitely been easier and much more exciting. I have the Sanctuary to thank for that. Where people like me, Abnormals, may go to find a place to perhaps call home, or just be ourselves around those who are also different and accepting.
There I found purpose. Meaning to my life.
How arrogant was I to think the bliss could last...
~.
Half the world was in the grips of winter. The northern most getting the usual snow, blanketing the ground in pristine white, at least for a little while. There was no snow underground, but the air seemed cooler. Several residences even had seasonal decor in their quarters; all varied depending on their own traditions.
Though as Henry entered, he saw that Jenna had not decorated, despite the fact that he knew she liked to celebrate her own wheel of the year. As always, it was clean and orderly, but there seemed to be something missing. It took him until he spotted Jenna on her balcony to place what it was. It didn't feel like her room. It looked exactly how it did when Will and he showed it to her when she first arrived. He joined her on the balcony, leaning his forearms on the balcony fence. "So, you've made your decision."
Jenna grimaced. "Actually... no. But I may be leaving anyway."
Henry straightened abruptly. "You can't! You've made a life here with us, are you just going to abandon the Sanctuary... us... are you?" the words burst out of him, characteristically without filter.
Turning to face him, Jenna gave him an odd look. "What are you talking about?" she asked, though there was an undercurrent of amusement. "I said nothing about leaving the Sanctuary. I was talking about this room."
"Oh." Henry pushed his hands into the pockets of his dark faded jeans. He seemed to blush as some sort of revelation hit him. "Ooh. Gotcha." He said with a knowing smile.
Jenna rolled her eyes and turned back to her view. "What do you think I should do?"
"Well, as I want you to stay here, I would say stay..."
"Of course." She sighed and closed her eyes for a long quiet moment. Jenna let her mind open slightly so she could catch the undercurrents of life within the Sanctuaries vast area, looking for the essence that hers seemed to be undeniably tied to. It was habit now, but then again, it was because a distance had cropped up between them. One which she kept trying to find the courage to broach.
Henry watched her struggle with whatever was going through her mind. Since Tesla and she had come back from Russia, he felt the tension right away. It was soon after that he found out why it was there; Jenna could be leaving the Sanctuary… at least the American location, to Head the underground Sanctuary currently under construction in the middle of Asia.
He honestly had mixed feelings about the whole thing. With this peculiar woman, he had found a piece of family he had been missing since Ashley's death. Jenna challenged him by pushing him like only a sister could; but she was profoundly loyal, also like family.
Though the thing about families… eventually they must go their own ways. Find their own experiences and build their own families.
The thing was, he didn't feel like he was ready to see her go yet. In the near year that they had known Jenna, her roots dug fast and deep into each and every one of the team; some more deeply than others. She helped him come to terms with his soon approaching fatherhood and encouraged him to be as involved as Erika wanted him to be. His relationship with his mate was stronger than ever and Erika even seemed to warm to her even with her hormones making her more territorial.
On the other hand… Jenna was a powerful creature. Her mind rivaled his and even Nikola's; she expressed surprising charisma and leadership. Jenna needed freedom to be able to grow into her full potential. Here she would always be limited by Helen's superiority. Having her own Sanctuary would be the best use of her talents as well as keep her involved with the Sanctuary Network.
Henry also gave off a slow, thoughtful sigh. "You should go talk to him. He's with the Doc in the holoroom looking over that map you found." He suggested.
Jenna opened her eyes. "I'm not sure he even wants to talk to me."
"Sure he does." Henry assured. "Tesla just doesn't know how to deal with things out of his control. It's why he has been working nonstop since you came back."
A small subterranean avian abnormal fluttered to the far end of the balcony fence. Its feathers appeared white, but were actually more opal in that it shined in a multitude of colors, and in some lights, appeared purple or blue. Its beak was small and sharp; used to get meals of insects from the underground terrain. Its eyes were small and entirely black. What made this bird particularly odd was it had ears. They were like a small feather version of bat ears and were used to hunt as well as flight. It "chirped" curiously and peaked at the metal railing.
Watching it for a moment, Jenna chirped back and held out a hand to it. After a moment it hopped onto the offered finger and sang a short contented song. It seemed to sense the HAP beside her, so didn't stay long before flying off towards one of the cave walls and disappearing into one of the many small holes that made up its colony.
She seemed to shake herself before suddenly turning and walking back inside her room. "I guess I can't afford to beat around the bush any longer… the other Heads need to know my answer right away so the paper work can get started." Jenna sighed and grimaced at the mention of paperwork.
"Good luck." Henry offered and received a warm smile in return.
~. ~. ~.
Helen moved to one of the shorter though larger structures on the other side of the metro-rail of the Praxis map. "Here, Nikola, I think I found it." She called, looking over the symbol that seemed to be built onto the architecture. "This symbol in Samarian dialects means to store, to protect." When the inventor got to her, Helen showed him the page in her journal where the symbol was displayed with its connotations and history.
Looking from the journal to the building, Nikola confirmed her findings. "I believe you're right, Helen. This could be where they have all their history and advancement."
"Now just to get in without triggering alarms…" Helen muttered to herself, looking from the building to her book.
Nikola turned to her. "We could just do what Worth did and open the doors."
Grimacing, Helen closed her book with an audible thump. "I'm not so sure that is a good idea. It could have just been the way to get into the keystone archive."
"Come now, Helen. Where's your sense of adventure?" He asked, and without any further ado, knelt down and with his usual gusto, opened the small doors to the building. They came open easily, but then everything disappeared for a moment before the holo-tumblers appeared in front of them, demanding a pass code. Nikola turned to Helen with a grin. "See, no accelerators."
Helen gave him a narrow-eyes look. "No, but please don't just start pressing buttons, Nikola. Lets figure out each symbol and try to find the right combination logically." She had no compulsion to replay the fiasco of Nikola's blunder in her last Sanctuary-where he'd completely blacked out her house. Fortunately the SHU operated on its own generators, so nothing dangerous got loose.
Nikola sighed. "Fine." He started to turn back towards the screen when the corner of his eye caught movement near the entrance. Instead, he turned towards the movement and his mirth faded.
Noticing his sudden distraction, Helen looked in the direction of his gaze. "Uh…" She caught herself and took a few steps towards the newcomer. "Jenna, you must be good with these sort of things, perhaps you can help." She suggested.
Timidly, Jenna strode towards them. She noticed Nikola's expression before he turned away and gave an inward sigh. "I can try, but if you don't mind, I would like to speak with Nikola." May as well as get it over with; these butterflies in her stomach will just get more frantic if she held off.
Helen pursed her lips and turned to Nikola; who was looking over the tumbler system as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "Well, I have been neglecting a few things. I'll just go and let you two have some privacy." She said lightly. She gave Jenna a reassuring smile before quickly walking out of the room; shutting the door on her way out.
Jenna stepped up beside Nikola. While she tried to find the words to say, she watched him put each circled symbol on the holo-tumbler into his mind. "Do you think we can stop avoiding each other now?" she asked.
The question was a bit unexpected, making Nikola glance over at her. "I take it you've made your decision then?"
"Yes. I've made a decision." She confirmed. Jenna took another step, closing the distance between them and reached for his hand. When he didn't seem to mind, she smiled. Taking a deep breath, she let out in a rush, "I want you to come with me."
Nikola blinked. "But I have work here."
"Bring it."
"And I've got everything the way I want it in my lab…"
"You can build your very own lab to your exact specifications. And it will be equipped with every tool, every database… everything you want and need. Will be there." Jenna took a breath. "The transportation line between here and Asia is almost complete. We'll be just a quick tunnel trip away from here, in retrospect." She gripped the hand she held in both her own. "Please think about it, Nikola."
There was a pause before he spoke. "Either way, you're going." Nikola stated.
Jenna shrugged. "I have to. While I love it here and I love the people, I need autonomy. Besides, I can visit once the tunnels are done." She grimaced. "Whenever I have time. It's a chance of a lifetime, Nikola. I can't turn away from it." Jenna stepped closer, holding his hand to her clavicle. "Nor will I turn away from you." She added with fervor.
After a moment, Nikola realized she was right. Jenna had to go. His other hand braced on his hip while he took a second to think. The new Sanctuary would literally be a fresh start for her. And for him if he decided to go. There were also advantages of working with Jenna as opposed to Helen. Jenna may not feel the need to restrict him as often; and she had the means to get whatever he could need for anything he wanted to do. She was also an adept mind as well; with more brains than many scientist could even dream of.
The only thing was that the holo-map would be staying here.
Nikola sighed and looked Jenna in the eyes as he brought her closer. "Helen is not going to solve this map without me." He said dejectedly.
It took a second, then Jenna smiled widely and launched herself at him; wrapping her arms around his neck as Nikola held her off the ground. "You can commute!" she declared with a laugh; releasing the rest of the nervous energy that had been inside. "Oh, thank you Nikola!"
Smiling, Nikola set her down and after a kiss to seal the deal, they began to make plans.
If he was being honest with himself, Nikola realized that even if she hadn't asked, he would have followed her to the Russian underground installment. He would follow her anywhere.