Disclaimer: Don't own Sanctuary, wish I did, only playing with the characters. Only own my own characters and the plot.
AN: Finally managed to get this uploaded. First there was coffee on the keyboard which fried that so I had to wait to get another, then a windstorm knocked out the power for a bit, then my internet stopped working and then my computer decided it really hated me and kept kicking me offline. I think my computer is possessed by a demon or I really pissed off someone in a past life.
Nikola squinted slightly as he strode outside into the bright light of mid-day, putting on a pair of dark sunglasses as he walked. He had a slight smile on his face as he strode barefoot towards the gardens of the Sanctuary, enjoying the heat of the sun on his skin and the tickling of cool grass on his bare feet. It was one of the rare days when he was left to himself as everyone else was out and about.
Kate, Will and Henry were sent out to fetch a new Abnormal, which would take most of their day up so he needn't worry about being bothered by them. Helen and Druitt were currently following up a lead about a rare type of Were-Jaguar in the rainforests of Brazil (though he was almost certain that it was a plot by Druitt to get Helen alone for a few days). And the Big Guy was off doing who knows what with his spare time, which left Nikola mostly alone apart from the residents who mostly stayed downstairs.
It also meant he could wear what he preferred and not get gawked at by anyone. And what he currently was wearing was a slightly worn ACDC t-shirt and faded blue jeans that had a few tears in them. This was a far cry from his usual well-pressed suit. Admittedly he only wore the suits as part of his public persona as they fit the character he played to everyone. The truth of the matter was that he did not like the suits, the playing to everyone's expectations of how he should act, the constant pretending to be unaffected by the harsh words said in his direction. It was grating to play act all of the time, so the rare moments of peace when he could be alone and drop the mask was always a relief. It was during these times that he could drop his act and just pretend for a little while to be a normal 30-year-old male instead of a 155-year-old vampire scientist.
Nikola sat beneath one of the trees in the garden and pulled out his iPod, put it on shuffle before he opened his book to where he had stuck his bookmark inside and started to read.
A few hours later Nikola felt his cell phone vibrate as he received a text message. He pulled it out and read the message, rolling his eyes before texting back and returning to his book.
'I wonder what the children would think if they saw me like this.' Nikola thought absently as his iPod started playing Led Zeppelin. 'As if I would spend 150+ years on this world and not keep up with technology and culture as it advances and changes.'
"Though it might be worth it to see the look on their faces at my appearance." He muttered softly. His phone started vibrating again and he paused his music and pulled off the headphones once he saw the number.
"Hello Luc. What did you need?" Nikola asked pleasantly.
"Hey Nicky. Some of us were going to go to Eden tonight and we were wondering if you wanted to come with."
"And by 'some of us' you mean the girls are dragging you with them because they wanted to go clubbing and are forcing you to pay."
"Pretty much…" There was a pause from the male voice before he continued. "Plus we haven't seen you in a while and have been a bit worried."
"Why would you be worried?" Nikola asked, frowning slightly.
A sudden angry female voice came over the phone. "Maybe because you're part of our family and that Helen woman you told us about treats you more like a stray dog then a friend."
"Hello Samantha." Nikola said in annoyance. "Still sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong I see."
"Don't call me Samantha Nicky. You can just bite me vamp boy. I swear you are such a masochist when it comes to her and…dammit Lucifer Raziel Blackwood give me back that phone!"
"Why do you always have to break out the full name when you don't get your way Samantha? And why did I have parents insane enough to name me Lucifer?" He grumbled loudly before a loud smack was heard over the line. Obviously somewhere in the ruckus someone had put the phone on speaker allowing the vampire to hear everything going on. "Ow, that is spousal abuse right there. Why do you always go for the right side? Why can't you switch things up when trying to get your way?"
"Give me the phone or so help me I will make your life a living hell." Samantha said coolly. Nikola tried not to laugh as he listened to yet another of their arguments. They fought with each other all the time. It was often difficult for people who didn't know them to believe they were actually quite happy with one another and that this type of fighting was their kind of foreplay. He knew after the conversation they would avoid each other for maybe an hour or so before enjoying a quick make up sex session and things would be fine until their next pointless argument.
"Too late for that now kitten. I am already in hell just having you in the same room as me right now." There was a crash of something breaking and some choice words from Luc that will not be repeated. There was a brief pause from the couple on the phone before Luc spoke again.
"Well at least you got rid of that ugly vase your mother gave us. And just so you know, I am still not going to give you back the phone. I dare you to try it. I dare your crazy ass to try cause you know I will win." There was a loud growl, closely followed by a loud hiss and a long string of cursing and another loud crash that was cut off as the phone was taken off speaker.
"Sorry Nick, my wonderful, dearest and most caring wife grabbed the phone from me." The sarcasm was quite evident in Luc voice as he spoke.
"Its fine Luc." Nikola was really trying not to laugh at how flustered his friend actually sounded.
"But she does have a point…your friend Helen does not always treat you like much of a friend."
"It is a complicated relationship we have. It can only be expected after 150 years."
"I suppose. I don't like it and neither do the girls but you are more then capable of making your own decisions. Anyway, back to the original topic…Eden…you in or out? And yes I am well aware of the irony of my name being Lucifer and going to a club named Eden so don't even bother with the jokes. I've been getting them all day."
Nikola thought about it for moment, remembering the harsh accusations that had been thrown at him earlier that day by Will and Henry about something that had exploded in one of the labs near his causing a decent amount of damage. He hadn't even been near the labs at the time of the explosion but they thought it was his fault anyway as he had mentioned leaving an experiment running in his lab last night. There had also been an unnecessarily large amount of harsh words from an obviously stressed and annoyed Helen about said incident. He wouldn't hold those words against her, though it had hurt that she would think he wouldn't take proper safety precautions to avoid such things happening. That wasn't even mentioning the smug looks from Druitt as he stood by Helen as she chewed him out in front of the children. He shook his head to clear out the memories before answering his friend.
"In. I could use a night off to just have fun."
"Wow, Nikola Tesla actually wanting to have fun instead of being dragged off from his work." Luc said playfully causing Nikola to smile.
"Bite me."
"Oh you wish pretty boy. Besides I thought biting was your thing."
"Depends on the day." Nikola quipped.
"What about today?"
"What's today?"
"Tuesday."
"I don't do Tuesdays. Tuesdays are reserved for annoying things like the end of the world or kidnappings."
"The girls always kidnap you on Tuesdays don't they?"
"No comment. I should probably get going. The children will be back soon and I don't want to deal with them right now."
"Why not?"
"They're pissed off about something I didn't even do. So I really don't feel like dealing with glares and insults right now."
"Alright then I will see you at 8 sharp?"
"I'll be there. Might end up being later if I can't sneak out."
"Okey dokey. Better be there by 8:30 at the latest cause the girls probably will come and kidnap you if you refuse."
"I don't doubt it. I'll call if I can't make it because some annoying end of the world thing pops up. See you later Luc." Nikola hung up the phone with a slight smile before tucking it away in his pocket. Talking to Luc and Sam always cheered him up because of the crazy arguments they usually had. He stood up with his book, tucked his iPod into his pocket and stretched in a catlike manner before heading inside to change before the annoying ones came back home.
Nikola unfortunately ran into the Three Stooges just as he was on his way to his lab to see if anything was salvageable. Luckily he had already changed back into his suit. He sighed softly to himself before putting on his irritated, uncaring façade as they came into view. They stopped their laughing at whatever story they had been telling and fell silent when they say him.
"What are you doing here Tesla?" Kate snapped out harshly to the vampire that apparently she didn't like today.
Nikola just gave her a cool look before answering. "I fail to see how that is any concern of yours Freelander."
"Actually it is, since you almost blew up the lower levels this morning." Will said in annoyance.
"Didn't Magnus lock you out of the lab area anyway?" Henry asked curiously.
"She did, although it isn't exactly difficult to get down there. The security system is no challenge at all. I also find it a complete overreaction on her part as I had nothing to do with what happened." Nikola grumbled irritably causing the others to look incredulously at him.
"Dude, the entire section is toast. It is going to take weeks to get things running again." Henry said in disbelief.
"And maybe Helen will actually use some her money to get some equipment that isn't of substandard quality so some decent work can be done without having to scavenge for scraps."
"Maybe you should go back upstairs and let us do our work." Will said quickly trying to avoid an argument between the werewolf and vampire, not realizing just how condescending he sounded.
"Don't take that tone with me. I don't need to be spoken to as though I am a child." Nikola snapped, his irritation growing.
"Maybe you shouldn't act like one." Kate quipped with a smirk. Nikola just pursed his lips and walked off before he gave in to the rising urge to rip them to shreds.
"He really needs a girlfriend or something." Kate said with a shake of the head. Will and Henry nodded in agreement before continuing on their way.
"I fucking hate them. As if I actually did anything wrong. My experiment wasn't even capable of exploding, it wasn't even charged. That would be why I left it in the lab, so isn't as though it would have done anything anyway. God, I really do need to get out of here before I go completely insane." Nikola ranted to himself, running a hand through his hair as he paced back and forth in his rarely used room. He paused in his pacing long enough to glance at his watch, as he realized he should get ready to meet his friends.
He stripped out of his suit before pulling on a pair of form fitting jeans, a plain black t-shirt and a pair of motorcycle boots. He grabbed a leather jacket and stuffed his wallet and cell phone in one of the pockets before leaving. Over the years he had become an expert at sneaking in and out of the Sanctuary, so it was easy for him to get past the security and everyone inside without being seen. He walked about two blocks to some storage lockers where he opened one and went inside.
He smiled and ran a hand almost lovingly over the tarp-covered object before pulling it off to reveal a sleek black motorcycle. He grabbed the helmet next to it, before rolling the vehicle out of the locker and relocking it. He pulled on his helmet, zipped up his jacket and started it up. He flipped down the visor before riding off towards the other side of town to meet his friends.