Peace
Nikola rounded the corner and watched as Helen marched from the lab, hand held under her nose, stopping the blood from running any further down her face.
"Magnus! Magnus, wait a sec… Magnus!"
William stood leaning against the lab table and sighed.
"You know better than to follow an angry woman out of the room. Just let her go. She's not exactly herself. It's spread." Will glared at Nikola but quickly gave up. Nikola handed him the file and Will snatched it from him. He flipped through the file and sighed again.
"Lymph nodes, kidneys…" Nikola pointed to a section of the file.
"Upper spine…"
"She needs to see this."
"No, I don't think you understand. With this much damage…"
"We'll find a treatment…"
"And if we don't she dies, Adam dies, we don't get into the city, and all of its secrets are lost."
"That's what happens. We deal with it."
"I don't think so." And with that, Nikola walked away.
Nikola had told Will never to follow an angry woman out of a room. He never said anything after following said woman after five minutes.
Nikola searched high and low for Helen. She wasn't in her office. Or her room. Or the kitchen. Or any of the labs or enclosures.
He finally found her, sitting up on the north tower that overlooked the city.
Coming up behind her, Nikola pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"You're going to get sick sitting out here in the cold." Helen laughed bitterly.
"I can't get sick; I'm dying." Nikola manoeuvred himself to sit beside her on the ledge.
"No you're not."
"Am I. You've seen the test results."
"That doesn't mean anything. We'll find a cure."
"Not unless we show Adam the map, and that is not happening."
"Helen…"
"Nikola, please. Stop. I'm tired of listening to everyone's optimism."
"But…"
"Has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe my dying isn't a bad thing?"
"What?" Nikola found that statement hard to believe.
"Think about it; I've lived longer than any human has the right to. I've watched as the world has grown. I've been through both World Wars, fought for and won my rights as a woman, acted as a doctor for both the Halifax and Pearl Harbour explosions, helped Orville and Wilbur fly, proved that Kit Marlowe didn't write William's plays, was a consultant on the first moon landing, and I was there on November twenty second when John. F. Kennedy was assassinated. And that's just the beginning."
Nikola sat there beside her for a minute, taking the time to realize what she had said. It had never occurred to him how much she had lived through.
"I have seen so many die. And buried so many more. Friends, family, lovers…" Helen looked down and wrapped her hands together on her lap. It was then that Nikola truly realized how much Helen had been through. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close.
"But if you go," he whispered. "I'll be all alone."
Helen turned her face from his shoulder and looked at Nikola in the eyes. There she found a sadness she had never seen before. It shook her to her core. She had never seen Nikola upset. Well, of course she had seen him angry, but never sad. It never occurred to Helen that Nikola would feel alone. She herself quite often felt alone, but never did she think Nikola could feel alone.
"Oh, Nikola…" Helen enveloped Nikola in a hug. "I didn't realize you felt like this…" The vampire and scientist sat on the rooftop for the longest time before Helen leaned back and looked deeply into Nikola's eyes.
"I'm not going to give up." Nikola smiled brightly and kissed the top of her head.
"Thank you." He whispered. Helen propped herself up and place a tender kiss on Nikola's lips. He kissed her back and when they separated Helen leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I'm never going to leave you Nikola."
"I will never leave you either Helen."