Helen's fingers were gripping tightly into her left leg as the she drove one handed. The nails were biting into her skin through the denim of her pants but she couldn't blame her. She had fallen off the back of the ATV rather unexpectedly. They rounded the last corner and a large building came into view. Jeci tightened her grip around Helen's middle, and her eyes roved over the yellow walls and massive size as they moved closer.

"Is that where we're going?"

The brunette turned her head and answered. "Yes, we'll be able to look after you there." She pushed the throttle and picked up speed until they came to the garage where they parked. "Don't get off." Helen issued the order sliding off the machine with her hand still on Jeci's thigh making sure she didn't move. Facing the woman her eyes looked her over.

Jeci gave information thinking that she needed to start somewhere with the woman and her welfare seemed to be a good place. "My leg hurts."

"I have no doubt of that." Helen's eyes slid over to her young protégé who was pulling their packs off the back of his ATV.

"What? I said I was sorry. I didn't see her and I so was not expecting her to fall."

Helen helped Jeci off the vehicle by placing her hands under her arms and holding on tightly. "Get a wheelchair, Will. We'll discuss your driving at a later time."

"Wonderful." He muttered and left the room to do his boss' bidding.

Will returned quickly with the wheelchair and helped his boss get Jeci situated. He started to push her. "I'm not sure I want you as my driver."

The comment wasn't a snide one and Will leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I'm a safer driver than Magnus there."

"Could have fooled me."

"Try flying with her sometime." He straightened back up ignoring the cool blue glare from Helen.

"Stop fooling around and take her to the infirmary, please." The last word was added as an after-thought.

Helen glanced at Henry and nodded to him before vacating the room. It didn't take her long to change into clean and more comfortable clothes, but she didn't have time to wash her hair. She needed to check on her patient who would also need a bath. A sponge bath, since that was all that they would be able to do for a time. Pulling her hair into a pony she flipped it over her shoulder and made her way back down to the infirmary. It was well known throughout the Sanctuary network that she did not like other doctors handling her patients, so she was sure that no other doctor had touched Jeci's files or taken care of the woman since she was not in critical condition.

Jeci was in a bed where Helen assumed Will had put her, but she may have refused his help considering how hard headed she was turning out to be. The pouch of the camel bag was lying on the mattress beside her and had a lot of blood and fluid in it. She really needed to get it changed out for a proper chest tube with a correct drainage system so she could track the drainage and be able to gauge when the tube could be removed. But first she needed to get her washed up and checked over; then she would pump her full of pain meds before doing anything else. Of course it might be easier on Jeci if she started with them, but she needed her to be coherent for her questions and she still wasn't sure how bad the concussion was. If it was what had caused her to fall off the ATV then it was worse than Helen originally suspected.

"We need to get you undressed."

"Wha-what?" Jeci swallowed hard, her eyes widening and roving over the woman.

Helen stopped and looked up from the file she'd been holding. "You need to undress, you have bat feces all over you and I will not leave you covered in them. It will also make assessing your injuries easier."

"Right." Staring down at her toes, Jeci drew in a deep breath. "Can I get some help?"

Helen debated telling her she would get Will to help her as she pulled the curtain closed around them giving her some privacy. She pulled a sheet off the foot of the bed realizing she was going to have to put her in a clean bed after washing her up. The last thing she needed was bat guano getting into her chest cavity. She would have to pump her full of antibiotics as it was. She hated having to play field medic, it was never anywhere close to sterile.

She helped Jeci undress and examined her using the sheet to offer her some sense of modesty. She had a tire mark on her leg and it was swelling. She would need to get x-rays to make sure Will hadn't fractured her lower leg. In the very least she had probably sprained her knee from the way it turned when the ATV rolled over it. Luckily it was only the front wheel. She really needed to talk to Will about how closely he had been following them.

"Well there doesn't seem to be too much damage done." Helen sighed and looked over the woman lying on the bed with only a sheet covering her.

Jeci raised an eyebrow and snapped her eyes to Helen's face. "Not that bad? I have plastic coming out of my chest. A massive concussion. A hurt leg from being run over. And you call that not bad?"

"Will didn't mean to run you over."

"Will."

"Ah." Helen caught on. "Yes, Will and Henry. Sorry, forgot proper introductions. I'm Helen Magnus; I run the network that this facility is attached to."

Jeci paused for a moment and clenched her fists. "Which is…?"

"The Sanctuary Network, we conduct private research." Jeci huffed out a breath of air and glanced back. "You'll be getting a bath."

"A bath?" She mocked the way that Helen said the words, her faux British accent actually being quite accurate.

"Yes, a bath." The corners of Helen's eyes crinkled and her body moved forward before she turned to begin the process.

She took a deep breath, if Jeci didn't cool her heels just a bit she was going to be rougher than necessary. She let the breath out knowing she would never intentionally mistreat a patient no matter how obstinate. Besides she was right, Will had run her over; but had they not been there who knows how long she would have laid at the bottom of that cavern before being found. Days? Weeks? Though Helen was pretty sure she didn't buy the adventurer sightseeing story. When she helped her undress she didn't notice the calluses of an avid climber, and the cave they had been in was not for amateurs.

Turning back she moved the table with a basin of hot water and several wash cloths closer to the bed. She didn't want to have to rinse them out and reuse them or the dirty water. She used a clean rag for each body part allowing Jeci the privacy of cleaning her face, torso, and private areas before helping her into a patient gown. As she finished up, she scrubbed her arm a little too hard, but it was only because the guano had dried like cement. "Ouch! Be careful would you?"

"You know," Helen spoke calmly, pressing her glove covered fists into the mattress by Jeci's hip. "This isn't my fault. I didn't invite you into that cave, and I didn't make you let go of the rope."

"That isn't the point."

"It's not?"

Jeci clenched her jaw tightly and thought over what she could say. She growled out the words, "You let little boy wonder run me over."

"I hardly let him run you over, or told him to do so. It was an accident; they have been known to happen. And if you remember it was us who pulled you out of that cave and saved your life."

"It was you pulling me out of that cave that almost cost me my life." She huffed a breath of air and choked back a cough that threatened to rattle through her chest.

Helen bit her lip calming her heart rate that felt as though it had doubled. Drawing in a deep breath she let it out. "I'm tired of this attitude. You have no right to come in here and treat us like this. All we've done is be helpful and caring towards you and all you've done is throw it back in our faces. Either stop with the attitude or I'll have someone take you to a local hospital."

Jeci felt utterly chastised. And she should have felt that way, which only made the weight of guilt sink further into her stomach like a lead magnet that was pulling every unsure and tenuous emotion she had and centering it to overwhelm her. The tears built in her eyes and she shook her head to try and rid them. When that didn't work she threw her head back taking in deep and slow breaths which only caused her chest to hurt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean… I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

"Alright, alright." Helen patted her uninjured leg and changed the subject. "I need to change your chest tube and get an x-ray of your leg. I'm going to give you medication so it won't be as painful." Jeci nodded.

Helen walked back into the infirmary after looking over the x-rays. She had really done a number on her ribs, but her leg was free of any fractures that could be picked up on film. That didn't mean there weren't micro fractures, or that the bone wasn't bruised which often times hurt the same as an actual break. Then there was the swelling in her knee. She would keep a close eye on the girl and do an MRI if the pain persisted. She'd planned to tell her all that, but she was out like a light which couldn't have anything to do with all the Morphine flowing through her veins.

Smiling she covered her with a warm blanket and made her way up to her temporary office where Will and Henry were hiding out waiting for their orders. She shed the white lab coat on her way and stepped into the room. Immediately she scrunched her nose. Although each had showered they had obviously missed a good scrub. "I need you two to go back to the cave, take a few people from here. I need you to find that bat."

"You want us to climb back down there."

"Yes." She stepped up to her desk and shuffled the papers there.

"Now?"

"No, in the morning." She glanced at her watch. "It's far too late now and the bats were startled. Dinner will be in an hour. I suggest you shower, again."

Henry and Will gave each other a look before the former spoke up. "Uh…Doc?"

"Yes, Henry?"

"You're the one that smells."

Helen realized it was her hair she was smelling and not one of them. She cleared her throat. "Right, I haven't had time to get a proper shower."

"You might want to do that." Henry fanned the air in front of his nose. "Like before dinner."

Helen was freshly cleaned and dressed when she walked into the infirmary carrying a tray with two covered dishes stacked on it and glasses: one with water and one empty for the can of cold Coke beside it. She put the tray down and placed one of each of the items and utensils on a table before sliding it over the bed where Jeci was laying. She pulled the lid off revealing roast beef with roasted carrots, potatoes, and homemade gravy covering everything, off to the side was a warm dinner roll. "I hope the food is up to your standards."

Jeci eyed the other woman for a minute as she put her own items on a table and pulled over an adjustable rolling chair to sit in while she ate. Picked up her fork and fiddling with it, Helen took a calculated sip from her glass waiting for Jeci to speak as she obviously had something on her mind. "I'm really sorry about the way I acted earlier. I just..."

Helen nodded; she understood. Pain made people act like jerks sometimes. "Want to tell me where you're from, Jeci?"

"Now?" She speared a piece of the beef that was so tender it was falling apart and shoved it in her mouth. She chewed carefully feeling Helen's patient eyes on her. She swallowed. "A little of everywhere lately, but I uh, I grew up in this little po-dunk town in Kansas."

"Kansas? I've been there a time or two." Blue eyes twinkled before Helen took a bite of her own meal. "Where are you from now?"

Everything in Jeci's head came to a stop. Her mind was yelling curse words and flinging around excuses and places, but when she opened her mouth the wrong words came out. "Old City."

Helen stopped eating then. Her shoulders tensed and her brow rose; she stared at the young woman who had become fascinated with her meal and its arrangement on the plate. "Old City." She repeated calmly. "And how long have you been there?"

"Not long, new job, new digs." She took a bite of the beef to try and stop talking. The woman was like a truth drug. Her stomach flipped and even without looking up she knew Helen was still staring at her, as if trying to read her. Her appetite went from that of a starving lion to a tiny chickadee that had already eaten half a slice of bread in under a second.

"New job? What kind of work do you do?"

She had seen that question coming from a mile away, or maybe ten miles. Why had she said Old City? "Research."

"Really?" Helen grinned letting her eyes fall to her plate as she speared a bite sized potato and put it in her mouth feeling the softness burst from the skin as she clenched it between her back molars.

Jeci nodded and opened her can of Coke, pouring the brown fizzy liquid into her glass she hoped Helen didn't notice the slight tremor in her hand as she did so. She hazarded a glance in her direction; sure enough she was staring right at her shaky hand. "Kinda, sorta? I work for a vet in a low down scum of an office. I… I got fired from my last job and it was all I could get on short notice. Anyway, this research thing came up and I jumped at the opportunity. I took two weeks off and headed down here to check it out." At least she was on a roll with whatever lie she was coming up with. "Where are you from?" She decided to change the subject, knowing that she would have to act surprised when she heard the answer.

"Old City."

"Wow! Really? What a coincidence…" She ate her carrots.

"You said you came down here for a 'research thing'?" Helen made finger quotes around the words before picking up her water and taking a drink as if she was only partially paying attention. Not that she ever paid only half a mind to anything.

"Um-yeah. This guy, well he emailed me about this bat that was spotted down here. I was supposed to come down and observe it."

"A specific kind of bat?"

"Yeah, one that's supposed to be extremely rare, hard to find, and apparently larger than normal." Jeci felt far more on even keel with this woman talking about research and things other than her personal life.

"Did he say how big this bat was?" Helen put her drink down and went back to her food trying to act as though she was only making small talk over dinner.

"He said it could be as big as me, but I didn't believe him."

"And that didn't scare you? Coming down here all by yourself and going in a cave where you might run into a bat as big as you?" Helen bit into her roll and watched Jeci's expression.

"You're kidding right? There's no way there's a bat even half my size out there in that cave. I was just going to check it out, make some shit up and get my five grand. Not to mention all my expenses were paid and it's not like I've never done field research before." She tore her roll in two and used it to sop up some of the gravy and bits of beef left on her plate.

"Hotel?"

"Mosquito net and sleeping bag. But the plane flight was paid for, first class. Which leaves in two days, by the way. Think I'll be out of here then?"

"He didn't give you very long to investigate this claim." Helen lifted a brow.

She grinned, weaving in truth and lies. "I've already been down here a week partying it up."

"What did this man want you to do with the bat?" She took another bite, her eyes flicking over and watching.

"Capture it. Bring it back. Take some of its blood." Jeci chomped her teeth on the inside of her cheek. Whoops, she went too far with that truth. She finished her meal quickly and laid back. "I'm really tired. Do you mind if I catch some z's?"

"No, not at all." Helen took the empty plate and put it back on the tray. Taking a deep breath she turned and leaned against the counter fixating her gaze on the curly haired woman. "Why are you here, Jeci? Tell me the truth this time."

Grinding her molars Jeci locked her eyes on Helen's smooth and curious face. It was rather unnerving for Helen as the color of her eyes was so pale in the harsh light of the infirmary. "I told you. I was paid to come here and capture a bat that doesn't exist. Will I be able to leave in two days?"

Helen shook her head. "No."

"I could leave now if I wanted to." Jeci countered her. She wasn't used to being told no, and the few times in life when she was told no or even that she couldn't do something she had proven whoever it was wrong.

Helen almost told her she would like to see her try, but thought better when she realized Jeci would only see it as a challenge, so she softened her approach. "I really don't think it is wise in your current condition."

"You're probably right. I mean, how far would I get with my rear flapping in the wind?" She motioned with her hands to the patient gown she was wearing.

"Who asked you to come down here, Jeci?" Helen hoped using her name would make her feel more at ease, befriended.

"I don't know." She was lying and they both knew it.

"Do you know why he wanted the bat? What kind of tests were you supposed to run on the blood?"

"I was just supposed to collect the blood." She grimaced in pain and Helen stood up straight. "I really am tired."

Helen nodded. "Can I give you something to make you more comfortable?"

"Can you? I mean with my concussion and all?"

"I can, I'll have to wake you up a couple times tonight to check your neurological responses which I'd have to do anyway."

"Then yes, please, I'd like that."

Helen slipped a mixture of Demerol and Phenergan into her IV knowing it would probably keep her out a little longer than the Morphine and give her time to look into her background some. She wanted to find out exactly what her educational background was, and anything else she could manage to dig up. "I don't think I caught you're last name?"

Jeci swallowed hard and her eyes started to droop. She turned her head to face Helen. "Johan…" She let the last letter linger on her lips as she mumbled the rest.

The doctor stepped closer and touched Jeci's cheek. "What was that?"

"Johansnnn…" Again the last letter was drawn out but at least this time Helen understood what she'd said. "Use-ta… use-ta call me JJ." She licked her lips. "Hate it." Her heavy eyelids were getting harder and harder to lift. Helen waited quietly until she was sure she was sleeping and then removed their dinner tray before returning. She sat in the chair at the desk and picked up her work tablet to start a background search on the woman. It wasn't every day that something like this dropped in her lap. She seemed honest enough, but there was a niggling feeling in the back of throat that told her there was far more beneath the surface.