This fanfic takes place immediately after the events of season 1 and the start of season 2. It's my idea of how season 2 could start. There are spoilers for season 1 and one photo I saw of season 2. Other than that, it's all speculation.

A/N: Thanks so much for my Awesome Beat readers (Jan, Suse, Mandy and Scifithinker) they have corrected my mistakes and encouraged me to finish this fic before season 2 started!! There are 11 chapters in all and the last three or four chapters are being edited. Please let me know what you think. :)

Helen has lost Ashley to the Cabal and John has returned to help, but can she trust him? Can they rescue Ashley or will the Cabal finally put an end to the Sanctuary?

Helen's Greatest Fear

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.

~ Ambrose Redmoon.

Dr. Helen Magnus stood at the window transfixed on the darkened world outside. The others in the room all stood in stunned silence. She felt the coolness of the window pane when she reached out her hand to touch it as if to bring back the person that had just fled the Sanctuary. She slowly brought her hand back and closed it into a tight fist, her knuckles turning white as the anger replaced her shock.

The powerful source blood that had altered five lives over a century earlier had just been stolen by the Cabal's latest victim, her daughter.

There was movement behind Helen reminding her she wasn't alone. Slowly focusing on the window's reflection she noticed John's piercing dark eyes staring back at her, a stinging reminder of her past failures. It was his gift Ashley now possessed and that troubled her more than the Cabal using the Source.

She remembered when John first learned he had the gift back in the 1800s after the five injected themselves with the source. His excitement was astounding as he tested the limits of his new abilities. However, little by little Helen began to notice the changes until his entire being was taken over by madness.

Now the Cabal may have sentenced her daughter to the same fate. Helen slammed her fist against the table in a rare outburst of emotions. She knew the signs, the anger and hatred that would consume Ashley. Even before she carried her to term, she feared this day would come, but she never fathomed it would come at the hands of an enemy. She had to save her … she just needed to find her first.

Will cleared his throat giving Helen the subtle reminder of his presence.

Helen took a deep breath and turned toward the group.

Will was the first to speak. "Shouldn't we go after her?"

John's smooth voice responded with a hint of agitation. "If she is responsible… she would not return to the Cabal warehouse. Where would you have us look?"

"I don't know; somewhere. Isn't there some way we can track her?"

"I am afraid not, and with her new found ability," Helen couldn't resist the look toward John, "She could be anywhere."

John realized someone else was missing. "Where is Tesla?" He asked angrily, turning toward Helen, "Are you certain Ashley was the one that took the vile? It is more likely Tesla has staged the entire event."

"You think I would accuse my own daughter, were I not completely certain?" Helen asked, returning the anger. She wished a thousand times anyone else were responsible, even him. His betrayal she had come to expect. Her daughter's had pierced her heart.

John took several angry steps toward Helen. Tesla was the most likely culprit, he was sure of it, because otherwise their daughter's future had taken a dark turn. A darkness he knew all to well. He stepped within inches of Helen, close enough she could feel his breath on her cheek and the heat of his anger, neither backing away.

Helen's anger clashed with his and together they stood daring the other to say it. Say how she had failed to save him a century earlier. How their quest to expand their knowledge and better themselves may have cost them once again. They had been friends and lovers, until his gift turned them into enemies. It was a burden he was never meant to carry and now their daughter could succumb to the same darkness.

She saw the flicker of truth in John's eyes as he begrudgingly accepted that their daughter was on a destructive path. "Then time …" he drew out the words as his voice reverberated in a low hum, "is of the essence."

Helen's eyes clouded with the intensity of her memories of everything she had lost in the past and was on the verge of losing again. She shook free of the memories and stepped away from him.

Henry rushed into the study to see somber faces. Will quickly explained to him how Ashley had stolen the source blood and teleported out of the Sanctuary.

"Teleported!" Henry's eye grew wide and then he leaned toward Will to whisper, "When did she become like daddy dearest?" He looked toward John and then to Helen.

Helen sadly nodded, "I'm afraid the Cabal has activated a dormant gene that now allows Ashley to teleport."

Henry suddenly felt uneasy in his own skin. If they had altered Ash's DNA what had they done to him? He knew all the meds they pumped into him was to bring his alter ego out, but they hadn't been successful. Were there more surprises waiting for him?

Helen made her way over to Henry, "In light of recent events I am afraid you will need to be subjected to further tests, Henry."

"Not the way I had planned on spending my evening, but I guess it will have to do." He didn't like needles but if they allowed Magnus to prove he was still … well him, werewolf and all, then he would endure the discomfort tonight.

"OK so if the Cabal is responsible for Ashley's sudden change, then why did Tesla leave and where would he go?" Will asked. "He is the last person I would suspect of working with the Cabal."

"No doubt he has left to find the source blood on his own." Helen said from years of experience in dealing with her old friend.

"I'm guessing that's not good?" Will said a little uneasy.

"I would prefer we found Ashley and the source blood first." Helen didn't think Tesla would do anything to harm Ashley, but then he did try to kill her not so long ago. Surely he of all people knew the dire circumstances they were in with the Cabal now in control of the powerful substance. They needed to work together to find it.

"Henry, begin searching for the locations of all the known Cabal facilities in the world, and then meet me in my lab. Will, you and Clara check on Bigfoot, his antidote is nearly complete." Helen would now have to rely solely on her own blood to create an antidote.

As they left for their assignments, Helen took one last look out the window vowing to find and save Ashley. Turning to leave the room, she nearly ran into John.

"Helen, I wish to offer my assistance."

She looked at him trying to gage his sincerity. "At what cost?" Helen couldn't risk losing Ashley or the source blood. She had spent more than a century trying to keep Ashley safe from him …Trying to keep herself safe from him. Now he came back into her life with a tall tale of being cured just when she is about to lose everything she holds the most dear. What if this was his greatest revenge? He had claimed to be cured when they were engaged and the betrayal nearly destroyed her. She could not risk Ashley's life on his word. She would not! "I am sorry John, the risk is too great."

"I know I have caused you much suffering, but I assure you my sincerity is genuine. The force that drove me is gone. Perhaps in time you will come to accept me." He took one last long look toward Helen and then teleported out of the Sanctuary.

Helen saw him disappear like she had so many times before. "I have great hopes you have changed John, now more than ever." Helen said to an empty room.