-2013-

Not wanting to say goodbye so soon after finding her, HG invited Lucy back to the Bed and Breakfast with the rest of the team. Fortunately, Lucy tended to travel light and it wasn't a problem. Introductions had been made and Helena sent a request to the Regents to allow Lucy to be her one person. No one seemed to care that Lucy was a vampire. Well, except for Pete, who had a million questions regarding his horror movie collection. It turned out that Lucy preferred the old black and white movies best, Vincent Pryce being one of her favorite actors.
Myka had noticed a simple silver ring on Lucy's hand. It turned out that Lucy was in possession of not one but two artifacts. The ring helped Lucy control her bloodlust and a leather cord tied into a band around Lucy's ankle allowed her to be in the sunlight. Artie's only concern had been how it was that Lucy was feeding, but due to the movie industries fascination with vampires, she had people willing to supply her at blood banks.

While Myka and Claudia went to research the artifacts, Lucy was left alone with Helena on the patio.
"I remember that" remarked Lucy as she pointed towards Helena's locket. Pulling the necklace from around her neck, Helena passed it her. Upon seeing Christina's picture inside, a heavy sense of guilt filled her chest.
"He's dead, just so you know. Grayson. I'm so sorry about Christina. I hope it comes as some comfort though knowing that the one responsible is dead" said Lucy with a heavy sigh. Helena carefully set down her tea cup and placed her hand under Lucy's chin to turn her face up again. Neither noticed Myka and Claudia's return.
"Lucy, I caught the men who hurt her and disposed of them myself." Claudia and Myka both winced at the word "disposed". Helena was a woman of words and the fact that she didn't simply used the word "killed" didn't go unnoticed.
"Hey um, HG? The Regents approved your request. To have Lucy be your one person, I mean." Helena waved at them to sit and gave Lucy a quick explanation as to what the Warehouse did. Her focus though was on the shimmer of tears that had gathered in Lucy's eyes.
"Lucy, what were you talking about" asked Helena very carefully.
"I'm guessing that you worked for the Warehouse back then too?" Helena nodded. There had always been a suspicion that Grayson had come into possession of an artifact to get his machine to work. She and Willy were tasked with finding it for quite sometime. Lucy drew a deep breath.
"Christina's death was more than a simple robbery gone wrong."

Grayson had noticed Lucy's distrust of him and seeing as how she had Mina's ear, had to do something about it. At one of his engagements he had taken note that Lucy was missing from her usual spot at Mina's side. He found her talking to Helena Wells in a far corner. Normally, this would have been a good thing but Grayson recognized her.
There had been a number of people trying to get the upper hand and discover the secrets to his wireless energy. He recognized Miss Wells as one of the people that had been snooping. What he couldn't be sure of was whether or not she was simply from a competitor or the Order. Either way, was not taking any chances and upon hearing how close Miss Wells was with Miss Westenra, he was hoping to kill two birds with one stone. Renfield had reported that apparently Wells was leaving for Paris soon. Lucy stayed in London during the trip, but he figured he could deal with her later. He was growing tired of being hunted and decided to not only stop it, but send a message as well.

What he didn't know was viciousness of the thugs he had hired and that Helena would not be there.
A child.
Grayson destroyed a number of glasses and other things that night in his anger. He watched the funeral from the rooftops, his sense of shame keeping him from approaching Helena. He also couldn't bear to see her in so much pain, knowing that he was the cause. The usually vibrant mother had turned in on herself. Her skin had taken on a pale shade that he normally only saw on those he had at least half drained them and her eyes seemed distant and hollow.
But what was done was done. Wells left soon after which rid him of that problem. His troubles with Lucy however, were far from over.

Helena sat still, her mind still trying to wrap around everything. She slowly turned towards Myka and Claudia.
"If you two can tell Artie what we've learned, I think I need some time." They nodded and left. Lucy rose and tried to leave Helena with her thoughts only to have her grab her wrist and pull Lucy down next to her.
"Helena, I am so very sorry." It wasn't until now that she looked and saw the tears streaming down Lucy's face. "If I had left you alone or at least had the decency not to drag you into my problems..." Helena gently placed her fingers on Lucy's lips to quiet her.
"It was never your fault, dearest. We were investigating the presence of any artifacts. It turns out that one of the power gauges was one. I looked it up once I was de bronzed. The gauge had been turned into an artifact due to all the love Grayson had for his long dead wife. Not Mina Murray, his wife of ages before." If nothing else she wanted Lucy to know that her friend was innocent of being an unknowing trigger. "He couldn't separate his past from what was happening then, and all that got transferred into the gauge. It appears to be why his machine was so tempermental, never quiet working without exploding. Much like himself. But let me make this clear" whispered Helena as she gently rubbed the tears from Lucy's cheeks, "You were never at fault. Whether or not I had met you I still worked for the Warehouse and still would have been looking for that artifact." Lucy nodded and then wrapped her arms around Helena as she broke down into sobs. Helena clutched at her and rested her head against Lucy's shoulder. Lucy simply held on, like she had all those years before.

Claudia and Myka returned eventually only to be stopped by Jinx who motioned towards the closed doors to the patio. Myka could see HG and hear her sobs and it broke her heart. Helena had told them all about her daughter and she'd talked with Myka about her a few times, but in all that time she'd never seen HG completely breakdown like this. This...this pain was still so raw and it hurt to be in the presence of it. Claudia had wrapped her arms around herself as tight as she could but couldn't keep her tears back either. The only thing she could think to do was to keep her new family close to her, and maybe that would help HG too.

"You're sure he's dead?" asked Helena once she'd managed to stop sobbing. She was still leaning on Lucy and couldn't see her face, but she felt her nod.
"Yes, I'm sure. I was there when he was beheaded. By Lady Jayne I'm afraid, I did wish to do it myself. It was rather chaotic. Mina had ended her engagement and had been told of her past with Grayson, or at least who he used to be. She admitted to him that she did feel a connection, but it wasn't to her. To Mina Murray. Mina told him that despite any feelings, she was not Ilona and that there had simply been too much violence and death for her to not associate that with him as well. Grayson seemed to be coming undone right before us. He pleaded and told Mina that he had done it all to get back to her. Mina pointed out that he had turned me into a vampire, and he said it was because I had hurt her. I had. I had allowed myself to become Lady Jayne's unwilling pawn again somehow, and that led me to sleeping with Harker while they were still engaged." Thankfully, Helena said nothing. Lucy's own shame at her betrayal was more than enough to still cause her pain when she thought about all these hundreds of years later.
"Mina said it wasn't the first time. That we had grown up together and girls hurt each other all the time. We were never actually that bad, but Mina was making a point. Yes, I had something awful but I was still her oldest and dearest friend and he had taken that from her. Frankly, I think Mina was only so forgiving because she wasn't in love with Jonathan anymore. Jonathan had shown his true self and he was embarrassed by Mina's ambition and still really wanted a proper wife not a doctor. Anyway, Mina said that I was still her friend and her biggest supporter and he had turned me into something deadly at most and someone who Mina could only see at night. Grayson went on about how I was no longer needed as a support system since she had him, and that he would see to her becoming a doctor, that he'd buy the hospital if it came to it. He might as well have slapped Mina. Mina was smart and she only wanted to become a doctor on her own merit. It also didn't help that the entire time he was pleading with her he continued to call her Ilona. Mina snapped and screamed that her name was Mina Murray and that she did not love him. He then lost it and lunged for her. I had been in the shadows after telling Mina that she could face him alone, but that I had to be there. Sweet Mina didn't think he would harm her, seeing how much he loved her, but I knew. Still, he was the one sired me and I was still only a fledgling, not as used to my new abilities of strength and speed like he was. I managed to keep him from Mina but then he focused his attack on me, and I was no match. However Lady Jayne had persuaded us to allow her to come as well and sliced his head clean off before he could kill me. We burned the body in one place and the head far across town to make sure he could never manage to heal and somehow come back. After everything Mina needed time and I understood. I could see how trying to move past it all would be hard with a constant reminder like a vampire present. So, I used the time to search for you. To let you know." Helena squeezed Lucy's hands and gently kissed her.
"Thank you for that."