The clock stroke one o'clock in the morning as two couples left a bar in Vienna. A brown-haired woman accompanied by a tall man with nearly black hair said their goodbyes to the other couple. The blond woman hugged both of them and walked over to her car which was parked just nearby. But she had had a great evening and lots of cocktails so she let her lover drive them home. The man, who was with the dark-haired woman, told them to drive safe and waved goodbye.
The first couple waited until the car was gone, then the man took the hand of the dark-haired woman and they walked together in the opposite direction.
The woman shivered because of the cold wind, so the man offered her his jacket which she took gratefully. A few hours ago they had met with their friends but hadn't had any time alone yet, so he asked her about her day at work. The woman told him about her day at one of the hospitals in Vienna. She was working in the children's department and was actually worried about a little girl.
But the man answered with a smile on his lips that the girl will be just fine with a doctor like her on its side.
He also told the dark-haired woman about his day at the public school where he was teaching.
They had to stop at a traffic light. The man hugged her to keep her warm and kissed her hair. She was smiling and leaned into him.
The man behind the couple was trying not to draw any attention on him. But it had been a long working day for the couple and the alcohol made them way too tired to even notice him.
He stood a few meters away from them and observed. They looked so happy, settled.
The man behind them was Will Zimmerman and the woman he was watching was Helen Magnus but she was with a guy whose face Will couldn't see. It was hidden in the shadows.
Finally he had found Magnus. After Ashley's death the Cabal had kidnapped her but when John Druitt and Nikola Tesla had destroyed the remnants of the Cabal Helen wasn't there anymore. She was just gone. The only possible reason for this was that she managed to flee. But the problem was that she didn't come back to the Sanctuary. Something must have happened to her. Will figured that Helen was either hurt and couldn't make it back on her own or that somehow she must have lost her memory. He didn't believe for a second that Helen Magnus was dead and so he formed a theory that something must have happened to her to let her loose her memory. At least this was what he kept telling everyone in the Sanctuary-Network.
But at the end of the day they couldn't know for sure what had happened to Helen or if the Cabal had messed with her mind.
Anyway it was their duty to find her. All the Sanctuaries all over the world were looking for her. Hundreds of people had been mobilized but they couldn't find her. There was not the slightest trace of her. But just a few days ago Henry found Helen randomly on the tape of a security camera in a shop in Vienna. Without hesitating Will packed his things and flew to Vienna immediately.
Finally they had found her. But she wasn't alone as Will had expected. The man who was with her turned his face for just a second but Will recognized his face immediately. He stopped and starred at him open-mouthed.
It was James Watson – the same James Watson who died nearly nine months ago.
They had all been there, in the great city of the vampires and saw how the machines, which kept him alive, stopped working. But now he was standing there right beside Magnus!
After so many months of searching they had finally found Helen but also James who had been one of Will's greatest idols. He had to speak to her. He had hundreds of questions which needed to be answered.
Where has she been for the last six months?
What has she done?
Why the hell was she in Vienna?
And how was Watson alive again?
But Will didn't know if he should speak to them right away or wait until the morning? Should he talk to them together or to each one separately?
Finally he decided that he should talk to them now. He was too excited anyway. They had nearly crossed the street so Will ran towards them: "Excuse me, please, wait a moment!"
The couple stopped at the other side of the street and turned around to the young man who was running towards them. James had still one hand on Helen's shoulder to keep her warm.
"Can we help you?" It was James who answered Will.
For a moment Will just stood there in front of them with no clue where he should begin. Magnus was starring at him too. Finally she asked: "Excuse me, but do we know each other?"
"Yes, we were friends" Will answered breathlessly.
"So you know who I am?" the woman with the chocolate coloured curls smiled excitedly at him, "we must talk! Please, what happened to me? What's my real name? From where do you know me?"
"Yes, we definitely need to talk – but not here. Do you mind if I come with you and explain everything to you off from the streets?"
"Naturally you must come with us. We live just one street further", James answered him.
They walked the last hundreds of meters in silence but Will could see how excited Magnus was. Her eyes flickered every few moments in his direction. She didn't seem like the Great Helen Magnus he used to know. There was nothing left from the emotional controlled woman he used to know.
Will started to think: People are the way they are because of their past. So it could be possible that Helen forgot everything that had happened in the last years of her life.
Was everything she had been through, everything that made her to the person Will knew, gone? Was it possible that she was like an empty page, ready to write her story again?
But this was also the possibility for Will to get to know Helen Magnus like she had been when the others of the Five got to know her. Will had often wondered how Magnus had been in her days at Oxford over hundred years ago. Before the whole Ripper case started or even both World Wars began. What kind of a person had she been before the source blood?
Soon they reached the house where Helen and James were living. It was a very big residential building with over five levels as far as Will could count in the darkness.
James informed him that the elevator was defect so they had to take the stairs. Helen hurried ahead and stopped at the third floor. She opened the wooden door which was coloured in a very dark shade of grey.
Will was excited about how they had decorated their apartment, especially compared to the Sanctuary in Old City.
It was only a little apartment with a small corridor which led to a big living room with a small cooking area. Another door led to a second room which Will guessed must be the bedroom.
The rooms weren't very huge but perfect for a couple. Everything was decorated in lively colours and the whole room conveyed happiness.
Will set down on a light grey couch and Helen took her place opposite him while James was preparing some tea for them.
"So, you know who I am?" Helen asked, coming straight to the point.
Will hesitated for a short moment, wondering about the look in her eyes: "Yes, I know who you are. But before I tell you your story, you have to tell me everything you can remember that happened to you. And by the way my name is Will, Will Zimmermann." Will turned to James who was offering him a cup of hot tea.
Helen took hers thankfully and James set down next to her. She was holding her cup with the steaming tea with both hands which gave her a look of an innocent child and leaned slightly into James who took his arm around her.
The two looked so sweet together that Will just had to smile. He was confused and overwhelmed by the whole situation but happy for them. Never had he thought that they could end up together.
"I don't remember much", Helen started her story "I woke up half a year ago in a hospital in Vienna. I really have no clue how I have gotten there or what had happened to me. The doctors said that I could be happy to be still alive. I had lots of broken bones and internal bleedings. They meant that I nearly died but they knew neither what had happened to me. They just found me in front of the emergency entrance. I had to stay a few weeks in hospital and one day I met Charles in the garden of the hospital."
"Charles? Who's Charles?" Will asked irritated.
"That's me", James answered, "I also woke up in hospital without any memory of what had happened to me. A guy had brought me there. But truth be told, the police thought that he was mental. He meant that I've fallen from the sky – whatever that means. But I can't remember anything. Finally, as we left the hospital the police gave us new identities because they couldn't find out who we really are. And so I ended up as Charles."
"And I as Lilyan", explained Helen.
"No, you aren't" Will laughed. Lilyan was a name which didn't fit Magnus at all, "You are Helen Magnus and you are James Watson. So, you met in the hospital and what happened next?"
"Helen and James", the chocolate haired woman echoed and fell in deep thoughts so it was James who answered Will: "We got to know each other and I don't know how I can explain it. It was as if there was a link between us."
"We decided to stay together", he went on with the story, "From our position we thought that nobody was looking for us and that we were alone in the world. We decided to stay in Vienna. I don't really know why. It's just as good as any other city, but it seemed right."
"Actually you two have a lot of friends. Many people care about you. We were looking everywhere but we just couldn't find you! Henry found you a few days ago randomly. What I am going to tell you is not easy to understand so please listen to me carefully: To start at the very beginning, you both were born in England and met at Oxford. You built up a worldwide complex to help people – people with special gifts. Magnus, you moved to the US but Watson stayed in England. You have to come back with me – back to Old City. I have to show you everything..."
"But we are building a life up here. I just got a job at a hospital and Charles or James just started teaching at a local school", Helen interrupted him. She put down her still steaming cup and stood up. Nervously she crossed the room a few times.
"We built up a life here. We got good jobs and friends. It's not much but still too much to leave it all behind" meant James.
"What if you come with me to the Sanctuary. Maybe you remember anything. Then you can decide if you want to stay there or if you want to come back", Will tried to convince them, "but please come back with me. The people there need you. They need you both!"
James glanced at Helen who was leaning at the kitchen table. A few moments they just looked into each other's eyes and Will imagined that they could hold full conversations only with their looks.
Finally Helen answered: "Alright, we'll come with you. I want to know who I am. But I don't say that we will stay!"
But that was all Will was hoping for at the moment.