Gettin' a little more angsty in this chapter... The next one will be similar in that respect but we shall return to lighthearted city :)

Thanks for the reviews!

Enjoy

xx

4

He was terrified. Absolutely and completely terrified. It was a new feeing, granted, but one he wasn't enjoying. He'd never been particularly attached to life until someone threatened to take it away. Normally he could handle it, destroy the threat without more than a little exertion on his part. Only tonight was different. Tonight he really could die and, it seemed, very likely would. His breathing was heavy and laboured as he ran, actually ran towards the hulking entry gates.

They couldn't be more than a few minutes behind him. He'd always liked to play dangerous games but somehow, he'd forgotten that he was no longer dangerous. Well, that wasn't completely true. He did know how he'd forgotten about being mortal again. It had been a while since he'd felt the effects of alcohol and tonight he'd forgotten about that glorious fact. Alcohol washed away everything it seemed, including the rather painful memory of some insolent children and a rather foolish gap in his otherwise flawless invention.

He reached the gates and fumbled for the key pad, desperately hoping she hadn't changed his emergency access code. He sighed in relief as the gates began to swing open and just in time too. Behind him he could hear the sound of… of goons, it seemed. Of course that lecherous liar would have other people to do his dirty work.

Using all his weight, Nikola pushed against the gate until it closed with a clunk. His heart stopped pounding and he relaxed a little.

Well, until a bullet scrapped past the flesh on his arm. He scurried to the side, hiding unceremoniously behind a pillar, one hand clamped to the wound on his arm. He hissed out a breath as he heard more bullets whizzing past him. The goons may not be able to aim but clearly they chose quantity over quality. He shuffled around the pillar further, confident that he'd be safe there. Taking a deep breath, he removed his hand and glanced down at the ruined sleeve of his shirt. He watched, oddly fascinated as the blood pulsed out of his arm, warm and sticky in the tepid night air.

More bullets. He sighed, there was a reason he'd never used mindless goons unless he absolutely had to. Ah well, he thought, placing his hand back over the wound, at least Helen would be here soon. If the use of his emergency code to get in hadn't set off some old alarm in that bloody church, then surely the bullets whizzing over her front lawn would get someone's attention.

Nikola settled down against the stone behind him, stretching out his aching legs. With a cry he realised that was a mistake.

"Son of a bitch!"

He rolled away, trying to keep his hand on his arm whilst also clamping down on the fresh blood coming from his thigh. He gritted his teeth, almost praying for Helen to come out.

He was about to start cursing when there was movement. The front door swung open and light came streaming out from behind whoever he had just dubbed as his saviour. There was a growl and Nikola knew his angel wasn't quite the person he had in mind. There were a few more shots fired, mostly from the house before everything fell quiet. He could hear the deep breathing of the mindless goons and he felt a twinge of annoyance that they hadn't used real weapons, instead opting for the more humane but less satisfying option of stunners.

"A little help," Nikola called out. The pain was starting to get worse and he was fairly sure he was about to pass out. He watched as the light from the doorway flickered, his heart tightening. Perhaps they hadn't heard him. Perhaps they were about to leave him out here to die. He was about to call out again when he noticed the figures moving towards him.

"Nikola," she breathed as she moved to cradle his head.

"Helen," he forced out between the burning pain in his arm and leg. He could feel the silk of her nightgown against his hand when he reached out to her. The moon was high in the sky so he could see she dressed, head to two in white. White silk, he let out a strained chuckle at that.

"Perfect," he growled, not looking at her.

"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked, worried but that note of authority still in her voice.

"Aside from being shot?" he asked, managing to smirk at her through the pain. "You, dressed all in white coming to my aide is rather poetic," he continued with a knowing smile. Helen seemed to flounder for a minute before anger crossed over her face. He thought for a moment she might kill him but concern filled her features once again.

He let out a groan as something hit his open wound. He opened his eyes wide to find one of the children (he couldn't be sure which one with his vision swimming the way it was) pouring a bottle of something over his leg. Then onto his arm. He let out another loud cry before looking at Helen, her eyes wide and terrified as she held him tightly.

"It'll be O.K," he promised her tightly. "Tis but a scratch." She let out a weak chuckle and opened her mouth to say something but it was too late, the blackness had swallowed him up.

Someone was saying his name. Softly and from not too far away from his ear. Helen, he decided happily. He let her scent wash over him, enjoying the fact that he could feel the heat from her body, she was that close.

"Nikola, I know you're awake," she chastised, her voice tired.

Nikola chuckled softly before struggling to open his eyes.

"Helen, my love. Wonderful to see you as always," he joked, wincing slightly as he tried to sit up further.

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and Nikola chuckled again.

"As always, I am astounded to see that you actually care about me," he said, trying for a smirk that he was fairly certain turned out like more of a grimace.

"Of course I care about you," she said angrily. Evidently she'd decided that he was no longer on the brink of death and could berate him thus. He opened his mouth to reply but he'd tried to move his arm. He let out a groan and sank back against the bed. She stood up and flittered over him nervous.

Through the haze of pain, Nikola managed to appreciate Helen Magnus, the nervous edition. Her hair was hanging loose around her shoulders, slightly frizzy, maybe a tad larger than normal and Nikola decided he liked it, the messiness of it just so totally in juxtaposition to her normal manner. She was still wearing that ineffectual but heart stopping white silk nightgown except now it was spotted with blood. His blood, he realised uneasily. Her face was paler than he'd seen it in a while and Nikola found himself feeling guilty that he'd woken her on one of the rare occasions she'd actually been sleeping.

"Don't do this again," Helen said quietly, stopping his train of thought.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, rolling his eyes. She chuckled tiredly before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"What did you do?" she asked, a note of amusement in her voice.

"I defended someone's honour," he fudged and she made a face. "Lost a bet." Another face. "Called someone an insolent fool with little understanding of the consequences of annoying me." She laughed and he made a face.

"Oh Nikola," she said fondly, laying a hand on his face. "Will you ever learn?"

"I was drunk," he admitted. "I forgot I'd been…. de-vamped," he said the words with barely concealed distaste. She said nothing, simply running a hand through his hair. Nikola watched her, now even more angry about the current state of affairs. Here she was, sitting not a foot from him, stroking him gently with a smile on her face and he could do nothing. All it would take would be for him to lean forwards and he could have captured her lips. But no, he was incapacitated and she was enjoying it. He realised unhappily she was probably only being this affectionate because he couldn't do anything about it. Or so she thought.

"Helen," he said, his voice soft but wary. Her eyes flicked to his eyes and her smile faltered for a moment, her hand stilling in his hair. They sat for a moment, the tension thick in the air between them. Slowly, she leaned in pausing only when she was millimetres from his lips.

"Helen," he breathed, allowing his eyes to close. He was savouring the moment, fully expecting her to pull away with an apology. After a moment, he opened one eye. She was still very close to him, her eyes beginning to blur in his vision. He moved forward as far as he could and they were only a hairsbreadth apart. She let out a soft sight before finally moving even closer to him, her lips brushing over his softly.

Now it was his turn to sigh. Before he could open his mouth again, her lips were on his again, this time a little firmer. The kiss was soft, gentle and exploratory, her lips moving tentatively across his, her hand still in his hair, holding him to her. She ran her tongue along the line of his lip and a small breath escaped him. She took the chance, letting just the tip of her tongue dart into his mouth as he did the same. Her hand tightened on him and his free hand moved to her neck. Their tongues began to dance together, exploring the taste of each other. Helen let out another sigh before deepening the kiss, her body arching towards him. Nikola was about to try moving his other arm when a startled yelp came from somewhere to their left.

Suddenly Helen pulled back and looked away, her cheeks pink, eyes wide as she took in whichever of the children had interrupted them.

"We need some help with the goons," Will said uncertainly. Helen looked between her protégé and Nikola. Nikola's heart jumped when he realised she was actually contemplating staying here with him. She wouldn't but it was nice to know she wanted to.

"Go," Nikola urged quietly. Her eyes grew wide at his words and she opened her mouth to say something. "Just come back later," he said with a wink and she smiled at that.

"I'd hit you if you weren't injured," she told him jovially, standing up. With one last smile for Nikola, Helen walked away, grabbing a nearby robe to throw over her shoulders.

Nikola listened to their footsteps as they retreated down the corridor. Despite the two bullets, tonight had been a good night, he decided. She may have to work now, but she'd be back.

He fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

The next day she avoided him.

The day after there was an emergency.

The day after that she was pulled away on business.

The day after that he gave up hope.

He left the very same day.