Helen Magnus woke with a lurch and a strangled gasp. She sat up and frantically looked around, finding herself in unfamiliar surroundings. She was on a rather large and comfortable bed in a vast studio suite filled with books and papers. A lazy fire burned in a hearth at the opposite end of the room.
"Relax, Helen." Came an all too familiar voice from somewhere in the shadowy recesses. Nikola Tesla rose from a wing-backed chair that sat in front of the fire. "You got a little bump on the head, but I managed to get us out. Safe and sound." He grinned at her cheerfully and cocked his head. "How many of me do you see?" He asked.
"Always too many." Helen replied dryly. "Where are we?"
"Still in Amsterdam. A little pied-à-terre I keep, mostly as an investment, but also for sentimental reasons." Nikola said lazily, he reached behind the chair in which he had been sitting and produced a tray of food and wine. "Hungry?"
Helen began to refuse, she was so used to saying 'no' to this man, but her stomach grumbled. "Please." She nodded. She began to scramble off the bed, but splinters of pain shot through her head when she moved. Nikola crossed the room and put the tray on the bed. He picked up a wine glass and poured a generous amount of red wine into it. He handed it to her. "Thank you." She said, taking a sip.
"Mm." He replied. He picked up his own, partially finished, glass and drank. Then he took a fork off the tray and speared an olive and a bit of cheese for himself. Helen reached over and plucked up some cheese with her fingers, silently amused that Nikola even ate finger food with a utensil, such was his fastidious nature and distaste for soiling his hands.
"Were we followed?" Helen asked as she ate.
Nikola scoffed. "If we were followed would we be sitting here having a picnic waiting for the Cabal to knock on the door?" He asked with a derisive twist of his mouth.
"Would you? Maybe." Helen replied mildly.
Nikola considered that for a moment. "We weren't followed but they are looking for us." He said finally. He pointed his fork at another piece of cheese, inspected it briefly, and then put the fork down. "What I want to know is what you were doing at that rendezvous point in the first place."
Helen raised one eyebrow and replied. "I might ask you the same thing."
Nikola eyed her. "I asked first." He said with a smirk.
Helen sighed. "I had heard rumors that there was going to be a transfer of several very rare abnormals tonight. I went to see if I could discover what kind of creatures were being transported and to where. Now you."
Nikola shrugged. "Just keeping an eye on the local color." He said nonchalantly.
"The truth please." Helen ordered in a mild tone.
"Scout's honor." Nikola said innocently. She sighed and shook her head. Nikola relented. "I heard similar rumors. Possibly a sentient abnormal with EM abilities."
"Someone like you?" Helen breathed. "Held captive?"
Nikola held up his hands, without an answer. He took a sip of wine. "Probably just a ruse to get me there." He mused. "They were certainly prepared for me. They weren't, however, prepared for you, my dear." He toasted her with his wine glass.
"How did I hit my head?" Helen asked, she probed her head gingerly. Nikola set down his glass and approached her to examine her injury.
"You fight like a savage." He said in an intrigued and velvety tone as he gently brushed her hair away from the knot that was forming on the back of her head. "You slammed your head backward into the face of the man who grabbed you from behind. It was quite surprising for everyone. Even me. Surprising enough that we were able to run. Then you just collapsed in a heap." He stepped away from her and grinned. "You're heavier than you look."
Helen gave him an exasperated look. "How does the injury look?" She asked.
"You'll survive." Nikola said dismissively. "You're immortal, aren't you?"
Helen chuckled. "Something like that."
"Two aspirin and call me in the morning." He said, retrieving his wine and perching on the edge of the bed beside her. "So, the city is crawling with Cabal agents. What was your exit strategy?"
"Exit strategy? I was just doing reconnaissance. What was your exit strategy?" Helen said.
Nikola gestured around the room. "You're looking at it." He said. "I wasn't expecting trouble either."
"What a couple of geniuses." Helen said ironically. She pressed a hand to the back of her head and winced.
Nikola grinned. "So? Hole up here and wait out the storm?" He suggested. "What will we do all alone with all this wine and no chaperone?"
Helen rolled her eyes and ignored his sauce. "I need to get in touch with my people. Let them know I'm okay." She said.
"Be my guest." Nikola said, waving a hand toward a computer terminal in the corner.
"Thank you, Nikola." Helen said, rising slowly from the bed to avoid jostling herself. "And thank you for getting me out safely."
Nikola made a dismissive gesture. "Think nothing of it. It was a mutual act anyway." He said with uncharacteristic modesty. Helen narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. He looked back at her with a face as guileless as a saint's. She pointed at him.
"If you're up to something, I will find it out." She warned him sternly.
"My dear Helen, I don't know what you mean." Nikola said with a toothy grin. "More wine?"
"No, I think I'd better keep my wits about me, thank you." Helen said briskly and seated herself at the computer to send a brief message to Will Zimmerman that she was safe and would be in touch soon. The moment the email was sent the power shut off. "Nikola?" Helen said.
He was already standing, alert. He spread his hands and closed his eyes briefly. "It's the whole block, possibly the whole quarter." He said, opening his eyes again.
"New trick?" Helen said, impressed.
Nikola grinned smugly, then began rapidly collecting papers and packing them into a black leather briefcase. "Come on." He said, as if to a slow-witted child. "Get your things. Let's go."
"What...?" Helen stood up too quickly, causing a jab of pain and a wave of nausea.
Nikola stopped what he was doing and eyed her with a wary expression. "The restroom is in there." He said, pointing to his left and taking a careful step away from her.
"I'm fine." Helen said, breathing through her nose. "I just stood up too quickly. Why are you in a hurry to leave?"
"I'm a giant electromagnetic beacon. With the power off, the Cabal can find me with a simple electric field detector. I should know, I used to own the patent." He lost his temper momentarily and swept a small stack of books onto the floor. Then he put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath. "Well?" He said. "Are you going to stand there and wait for them to ring the doorbell? We need to get out of here."
Helen moved swiftly but carefully to the door and peeked out the peephole. Seeing nothing, she opened it soundlessly and scanned the corridors. "Clear." She whispered.
Nikola picked up the briefcase and retrieved Helen's satchel from beside the bed. He slung the satchel over his own head and carried both items out of the apartment and into the corridor. He beckoned Helen out with his free hand and quietly locked the door behind them. They silently moved toward the building's exit, but abruptly halted when they saw a small group of men clad in black standing watch outside. Nikola leaned in close to Helen's ear and whispered. "This way. There's a passage to the street from the basement."
She nodded and followed him.