A/N: So this was a fast update, enjoy it bc im going to be swamped the rest of this week and during the weekend so the next update might not be for awhile. Hopefully, this chapter should hold you over for awhile. as always enjoy =] 3
Helen had tended to Henry's wounds and left him in Big Guy's more than capable care. She was in her office and was joined by Nikola, who took a seat in an arm chair, and a few moments later Will and Kate strolled in. As Kate choose to sit on the couch with Will standing before the fireplace Helen had a flash back to when everybody had gathered the first around they went after the Source Blood and a tiny pang tugged at her heart at James' absence as well as her daughters. Pushing it away Helen perched herself on the edge of her desk, crossed her arms and said,
"Alright Kate, fill us in."
Kate took a deep breath and rapidly explained what Poseidon had told her. As soon as she finished Nikola tapped his finger tips together, pursed his lips, looked at Helen and said,
"Well, it seems the Cabal are going to be an annoyance in our lives for just a little while longer." He sighed, "Though not much longer if I have anything to say about it."
"But what are we going to do about it?" Will jumped in, "If they have super-abnormal's we are completely out matched this time, all of us."
"Are you actually suggesting we hunt these guys down immediately?" Kate asked a little incredulous, "I mean, it isn't like they could ever try and take down the Sanctuary Network, let alone even just one Sanctuary. Normally I'd say 'yeah let's go kick some bad guy ass!' but they don't have any real power. Why not just let them flounder around for awhile?"
Nikola shifted in his chair, slightly irritated, and sighed
"Kids these days," He exhaled and stated, "We have to go after them now because they have the Source Blood. For now yes, they don't have a genius or even semi-smart person working for them who can do anything more than create more super-abnormal's. But with time and a few unconscionable coercive methods, they could do much more with it."
"Nikola is right," Helen agreed, "We don't have a choice. We must do something about this immediately. Will, Kate, I want both of you to coordinate and reach out to the community and see what you can find out about this new sect of the Cabal."
Will and Kate nodded and went off to do just that as Nikola rose from his chair and walked over to stand in front of Helen. He watched the way her eyes moved and noted the tension that covered her body. This was hard for her, talking about the Cabal and their super-abnormal's, and he knew it. Standing barely a foot away he tilted his head so his eyes caught hers.
"Helen, are you all-right?"
Looking into the deep pools that were Nikola's eyes Helen could see he already knew the answer to his question. She gave a small sigh and replied,
"I will be fine Nikola, Thank you."
Nikola knew better than to press the issue, when Helen wanted to talk she would, so instead he put his hands on his hips and said,
"So, what can your resident genius do to help in the hunt?" and gave her an impish smile.
Helen felt the grin creep onto her face at his stance and his words, and replied,
"Nothing ever deters your ego does it?"
"Ego?" Nikola replied, "No ego, just pure facts."
Helen rolled her eyes,
"Oh right, of course my mistake."
They shared a moment of smiles before Nikola said,
"So, what can I do?"
"Will said we are out matched but that isn't entirely true. As much as I hate to feed your ego, the weapon you made is the only thing that can combat the super-abnormal's. But that is the problem, we have a weapon."
Nikola raised an eyebrow at her,
"You want me to make more…"
"We don't really have any other choice. One weapon won't be enough."
"Very well, that shouldn't be a problem. What are you going to be doing?"
"I'm going see if those darts Kate pulled from the super abnormal have any traces of the drug left and see if I can create counteractive drugs."
And that was how everybody spent the next week and a half. Will, Kate, and Henry, who was quickly back on his feet, were doing all they could to find any kind of lead. Nikola, after about a day's worth of work, realized he could make the weapon more portable through a series of small adjustments. After another a day and a half he had his first prototype that, after a test on yet another Nubbin injected with some preserved blood from the super-abnormal, proved to be as efficient as the original weapon. Except now instead of carrying around the bulky old version, the new one was about the size of a Bordeaux wine bottle. Helen in the meantime had found a few drops left in the darts and spent a day or so analyzing it and then proceeded to synthesize a few small amounts of it. After which, she began to try to find a way to counteract their effects. When she was starting this, Nikola had already perfected his weapon and he began to split time between making more of his weapon and aiding Helen in lab.
Then Will's connections in the police department paid off. He had been keeping an extra close on reports that came into the police department and a report came up from the industrial district in Old City that a few workers had been taking a short cut and passed a building and they claimed to have seen a "thing appear from nowhere outside one of the buildings to be greeted by a guy in a lab coat" who had ordered the thing after the two workers. They had escaped by sheer dumb luck and when the cops arrived mere hours later, the place was abandoned.
"They cannot have gone far." Will theorized as they had all gathered in Helen's office again.
"Dr. Expendable has a point, surprisingly." Nikola concurred, "If they picked up and moved in a matter of hours they had to have a beta-site somewhere close by."
"You don't really think they'd stay in Old City," Kate questioned, "I mean it's our backyard. It was pretty bold of them to have a base here to begin with."
"That's how the Cabal has always functioned though," Helen pointed out.
"You know, I bet they need a lot of power to be doing all this," Nikola mused aloud.
"I can scan the power outputs from buildings in the industrial districts," Henry said.
"Good. Start with New City's industrial district." Helen told him.
Henry took off to do so, and Kate soon followed but Will lingered in the door a moment.
"What is it Will?" Helen asked.
"Ah, I was just wondering how you're doing, with all of this? I know that this must be kind of difficult on you…"
Nikola carefully watched Helen's reaction to Will's question from where he sat in a chair before her desk. He saw the hurt flash momentarily in her eyes, and how she shifted almost unnoticeably, as if to adjust her weight but knew it was really just uneasiness. But Helen's only reply was,
"No, I'm just fine."
Will turned and left then as Helen went and sat in the chair next to Nikola. They remained silent for a long while.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Nikola almost whispered breaking the silence.
Helen looked up sharply and stared at Nikola, perplexed.
"I should have been there, after everything with the Cabal and Ashley. Druitt and I, well, you know we do not, ah, get along. But I should not have let that…I could have…I should have been there." He finished lamely.
A warmth crept over Helen's heart that spurred her to reach out and take Nikola's hand. She felt his hand warm in her own for the first time in a hundred or so years. Startled Nikola, heart thumping wildly, looked at her hand clasping his own where it rested on his knee and lifted his eyes to her deep blue ones.
"Thank you Nikola. But you are here now, that is all that matters to me." She smiled slightly and gave his hand squeeze, "Now come on. Let's get back to work shall we?"
He returned her smile and they went back to her lab which is where Henry found them, working shoulder to shoulder, when he came to announce he had found a likely location for the Cabal sect, and based on satellite imagery, it was still active.