-Disclaimer: I do not own Sanctuary nor its Characters

-Hello. I know, I know. I SHOULD be working on my Naruto fics, but my current obsession with Sanctuary is killing me. I usually post any other fandom related fics in Tumblr, but I found that it would probably be taking unnecessary space. So, here it is. Don't worry, still working on Naruto fics. Of course, Naruto fics are much more tedious to do. xD

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Prelude

It was within the crevices of her mind that she sought a comfort to everything. The years had not been kind to her at all. Despite being called the fountain of youth, the stress imposed on her person was taking a toll on her just as it had on a normal human being. Dark circles marked her eyes as she attempted to stay awake, lukewarm tea seated inches from her. She stifled a yawn, constantly checking and rechecking the time on the wall clock fixed at the far end of the room. Damn it all. Was it that late already? The night was growing old with each passing second.

She had been working on a case that day; a never before seen abnormal from hollow earth had come up on their Sanctuary radar. Tracking it down, her team had managed to recover a few scales from it, one that was being processed thoroughly—the main reason she had been perched on her seat for hours. A small smile graced her face as she hit the last keys on her keyboard to, finally, process the collated data. She stretched, much like a cat, feeling the muscles on her back ease from the strain. She moaned in content, slowing rising from her seat and headed over to the loveseat near the fireplace.

Helen sat amongst the darkness of her room, waiting for the soft chime of the computer's "Processing Complete" notification. Within the ticking of the clock, she suddenly found herself torn between sleep and complete boredom. This was one of those rare moments when she actually hated being British. It was either Do Something or Do Something. Thinking of being British only reminded her of her conversation with Will when he had asked her if she took vacations. Oh vacations. She could only stand doing nothing for so long. She remembered responding with a "British, remember?" to appease the poor lad.

The brunette lay her head back, her arms folded across her chest as she felt an oncoming yawn. She shook her head in an attempt to stay awake. Just a little more. The results would come out soon, so she thought to herself. Really, she needed an antidote to her boredom: STAT.

As if on cue, the door slammed open with a thud. She jumped, turning her upper half to find herself scoffing at who it was at the door. "Nikola," She hissed his name. "Wha—," She trailed off, straightening herself properly, "How goes the, um, tracking?"

"Well," He had an obvious scowl on his face, "How do you think it's going?" She scrutinized him, taking note of the bottle of wine he held by the neck. He had approached her, taking a seat next to her and placing the bottle neatly against the coffee table before them. He let out a soft 'ah' as he noticed the two empty wine glasses on one side of the table-a cue for him to invite Helen for another drink.

"Still no luck, I presume."

He scoffed, one side of his nose rising into a sneer, "Helen, I don't know if you know this but I'm a genius."

"And yet still no abnormal?" She had a grin on, obviously playfully mocking at Nikola's already battered ego.

"Look, our scaly friend here is equipped with electromagnetic waves similar to your friend, Big Beth or whatever her name was."

She gave him another teasing look, "What ever happened to genius?"

"You know, you really aren't of any help here." He glared at her before motioning to the computer monitor at her desk, "Well what about you?" He was obviously changing the subject.

"Results will come out in a while," She glanced at the empty wine glasses, "In the mean time, I suppose we can only wait."

"To wait it is" He poured her a glass, taking the hint from her curt gaze at the glasses, "Wine, m'dear?"

Helen grinned, taking the recently filled wine glass with her first three fingers-a manner the male next to her found quite fetching.

"Ah, you always had a unique refinement about you." He quirked his eyebrows at her, suggesting that he was flirting with her-again.

With a soft chuckle, she kept her politeness by not responding and simply taking a sip from her wineglass. Nikola had always been good company. Ever since their days in oxford, he had always been a good friend. Even with John and her developing into something...more, he had always been there to lend...a snarky round of humorous bantering to cheer her up.

He had taken a sip of his red wine, swirling the content afterwards and watching it in awe. "A nice red-refined, beautiful, graceful, and yet so..." He had turned his gaze towards her once again, "Sensual."

It was her turn to scoff, rolling her eyes as she often did. Even as he leaned forward, she could only place a hand on his chest to push him away. That grin in place, he held onto her hand as he voluntarily pulled away. "You know, Helen, you have to stop denying...us." He took one last sip before he set his glass onto the table, his hand still atop her hand, "It's really not proper for a lady to keep a man waiting for so long. And," He looked her up and down, "in our case, I think it's a tad too long, don't you think?"

Helen had reeled away, sensing the change in atmosphere. "Nikola, just how many glasses of wine have you had before you came in here?"

"Vampire. Not affected by alcohol," He leaned in closer in response to her pulling away, "You can't deny the attraction between us, Helen." He purred her name, letting it roll off sweetly-much like sticky honey.

"Stop, Nikola," She pushed him away, standing away to evade his advances. She swallowed as she stood a foot apart from him. She watched him relax onto the couch, taking the glass again by the hand, and grinning like a sneaky creature of a thing from ear to ear.

"Oh Helen," He took a hurried sip from the wine to finish it, "you never fail to...well do whatever you do to me." He cocked his head to the side, widening his grin even more before placing the wineglass onto the table. Empty. He stood, dusting off his clothes before turning tail and heading for the door. "Well, you should probably check your monitor. I believe it's done processing the data. If you need me," He briefly turned to meet her eyes, "I'll be in the lab."

When he had mentioned the monitor, she had turned to glance at it. When she had attempted to respond to his coaxing, he was already out the door. With a sigh, she sat back down at her desk, and, just as he had said, found the "Processing Complete" notification. Dismissing their earlier encounter, she went over the data and found her mind keeling from the information she was receiving.

She sighed, not because of the data, but because of what the data told her she was to do: See Nikola.

With a heavy weight on her shoulders, she grasped the piece of paper in her hands before summoning every once of courage-and decency-to see Nikola. Marching down the hall, it would be mere minutes before she came face to face with Nikola...again.

"My Helen, already can't wait to see me?"

"Save it, Nikola." She walked over to him and dropped the piece of paper before him. "What do you make of this?"

"Titanium." He made a face that practically screamed his vexation for the whole matter. Of course! No wonder his ingenious Lizard-Tracker (named by his truly) couldn't pick up the abnormal. With his blatant albeit irate Eureka moment, he went off to turn some knobs at his all-so-brilliant Lizard Tracker. "Found it." He said moments later.

"Good work, Nikola. I'll go tell Will and the others."

"Hm," he could only revel in his genius before nodding to Helen's quick departure. He watched her head for the door with that determined gleam in her eye. The Five's precious female, oh how she managed to stir them so. He awaited for the soft click of the lab door. When he had heard none, he lifted to see a frazzled Helen inches from it. She had her eyes fixed on him, a quivering flare of emotions seeping from her. He could feel the heaviness in her gaze. "…Helen?"

"It—You're right. It's been a long time, and it isn't right for me to keep denying my feelings." She muttered with slow, heavy breathing.

"So you've finally come to your senses, Helen."

She nodded, sucking in a deep breath before letting the words out, "I still love John."

Nikola reeled, his eyes widening in heart sinking shock. "I…I see." His flamboyant flare had dissipated into mush as he lowered his head to meet the lab desk. "Well, that—" He cleared his throat before turning to meet her gaze, "I've always said love was a…" His voice was shaky despite the demeanor he kept up, "self-destructive." He had said this directed towards himself more than it was to her. He grinned briefly, a failed attempt to reassure her that it was alright.

Helen could see the hurt in his eyes. However, what could she do? It was true. She still had lingering feelings for John. Could she lie to him, of all people? NO she couldn't. Wordlessly, she left the shattered soul of Nikola to mend itself as she busied herself with saving the world.

Silence encased Nikola as he stood, his arms spread across the lab desk to keep himself from falling over. He had gotten what he had asked for. He had asked her to stop denying her feelings, and she had stopped. Only, it didn't work as he had initially expected. John, was it? It was always John. He let his vampiric qualities reveal themselves for a split second before containing himself. "Calm down, Nikola," He shook his head in an attempt to cool himself down.

"No need to feel so dismayed. Acceptance is the first step to everything." He dusted himself off, straightening his sleeves and himself. "Keep a clear mind."

He grinned in his usual every so sly manner, "Oh Helen, this is only the beginning"

XxxxxX

-So yes, a simple one-shot. This is actually a reference to a little rant I put up on Tumblr (link on my page) This is technically Teslen with little Magnitt.

-"Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more." – Nikola Tesla