Disclaimer...don't own it, wish I did, read and review if you think that Nikola is a bit of a sexy bastard :D

It was me, Amelia Sharpe. Weapons expert and a fair fighter on my own right, I was taken down by a manipulative abnormal with a needle. As I woke up, I found myself seething with a rage I had previously not known, mostly mad at myself for being so damned stupid. I had been in trouble before, but mostly in dark places where I still had the chance for salvation by backup. Here in this place, there was no hope besides the fact that if I was gone too long, Aunt Helen would form a lynch mob and attack Tesla. Not that it was going to do any good, I realized, looking around. I was in a rather cold and sterile basement like room, tied securely to a chair, alone. I chuckled to myself, trying to find humor in the situation, at least I was keeping it chair in place, it wasn't going anywhere. I blinked a little, still dizzy and fuzzy and noticed a pulling at my arm. I looked up and slightly behind me and saw an IV pole with something red dripping down...down...down...into me! I started to rock the chair back and forth, trying to move away from the pole, trying to dislodge the IV from my arm. "Nikola!" I yelled, straining at whatever he had tied me with. "Nikola, get down here, what are you doing? You son of a bitch!" I raged. I managed to tip the chair down onto its side, slamming my injured shoulder into the ground and groaning with the pain I could hear footsteps on what I assumed was stairs and I tried to scoot sideways, dragging the IV tube along the ground, pulling it loose.

My whole body burned, but I assumed it was from anger and fear, I could honestly barely feel it. I looked at the IV bag on the pole and noted there was only a little bit left in the bag, but the line on the bag said it was only filled up a little bit. The footsteps got louder as I rubbed my forearm against the concrete floor.

"Now, Amelia..." Nikola scolded, easily picking me back up off the floor and righting the chair. "You know better than that." he smoothed my hair out of my face. "I really am sorry I wasn't honest with you...I didn't exactly need your blood, well...I did, but more importantly I needed you to have my blood. All of my previous experiments have failed horribly, but I believe that I have found the correct method of splicing my DNA into a hosts DNA." Nikola paused for a moment. "I needed your genes because you are related to Magnus and she survived the injection with sanguine vampiris."

I was lost for words for a moment, my fear and grief were palpable. "You do not know if this will work...You chose me because I am of her blood...you could only end up making me immortal." I chose my words most carefully, not wanting to make him angry with me and further complicate my current predicament.

"I thought of that, but all in all, I think it is work the risk. I don't believe it will harm you in any way, or I would have never done it. I don't want to hurt you at all, Amelia, but I need to figure out a way to recreate my race." Nikola looked wistful for a moment. "You and I, leaders of the new vampire race...Can't you see it?" he busied himself working with the IV for a moment, making sure everything was flowing correctly. "I made this serum to be less...harmful to humans. Your DNA should be as susceptible to it as Magnus's, but it may be a little uncomfortable for a little while...I can sedate you again if you wish."

Again at a loss for words, I looked at Nikola, trying to understand this betrayal. I knew I was screwed as the burning in my body began to actually hurt. I hung my head and my hair fell into my face. "I don't want to lead anything with you...I know how things were when vampires ruled...you were the masters of everything, kings and queens. You oppressed humans and used them. I refuse to be part of anything like that." I swallowed my pain for a moment and raised my head to look at Nikola, my tears visible. "Let me go, Nikola, please...you know what is going to happen when Helen finds you..."

Nikola looked taken back by my tears and he knelt down beside me, folding his elbows in my lap. "Why did you follow me here, why did you get in my car, why did you come to dinner with me?" he asked, his eyes searing into mine. His thumb traced the path the tears had taken down my cheek and I turned my head away. His palm fit the opposite side of my face and turn it back to him. "I need this question answered, Amy. I need you to tell me before this goes any further."

My heart stalled and my throat went dry as I formulated my answer, I knew the answer to the question but I didn't want to tell him that I came because I wanted another chance to be near him, to see him again and analyze why he gave me chills and made my breath stop for a moment every time he touched me. It was just an infatuation, I told myself, nothing to pay any attention to. It would never be reciprocated and I knew that. "Because I wanted to learn more about you, I wanted to know if Helen was wrong about you. You said you needed me, unlike you, I have a conscience"

Nikola tilted his head sideways just a little bit and smiled "Not the answer you meant but I will take it." he whispered, his face nearing mine. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe at all with him that close to me. It was like all of my muscles seized and I couldn't make them move. Nikola's lips touched mine ever so slightly and he whispered against my lips "Why won't you tell me the truth, Amelia?"

I wanted to scream, I wanted to rage and hit things, that this man knew me so well after only such a short time was infuriating. Instead, I said the only thing that I could, "Nikola, I can't do this. I can't be like you. I don't have it in me."

"You have more inside you than you think." Nikola said gently as he backed away and stood up again. "That's why I chose you for this. I need someone strong enough to survive and my choices were slim." He brought back his haughty and arrogant demeanor as he started some work on a nearby table filling up a syringe and tapping it with his finger. "Now's your chance...sedation or my company. Either way, I'm not leaving you down here alone. You have a way of wiggling yourself out of things."

I remained silent as he moved towards me with the needle filled with a red serum. He reached for the port on the IV tubing and paused for a moment, watching my face for something. I thought about the situation for a moment and realized there was no way of getting out of here now, and no use in mourning past choices, screaming and ranting would do nothing now but deplete my remaining energy. I nodded slightly an affirmative and Nikola plunged the needle into the port and injected the serum.

At first it was an unpleasant pins and needles feeling, then a wave of agony as his blood mixed with mine and mine fought. I gasped for a moment, leaning forward against the bindings that Nikola had placed me in. The pain was something I could not describe and I found myself unable to scream, just sit there with my mouth open, half panting and trying to breathe through it. I felt the bonds that held me upright let go and I sank forward, Nikola catching me before I hit the ground. He sat down on the cement, holding me for a moment as I tried to breathe. He pushed my hair away from my face again and whispered to me, I couldn't hear what he said, words at that meant nothing. There were no colors, only gray tones. After a few moments though, I could put a color to the pain, a dark rich violet that came in waves and faded to lilac when it was receding. As the pain faded, I could breathe again and I realized that what had felt like hours was only minutes laying there on the cold concrete floor. I could feel Nikola stir behind me, gripping my wrist and feeling my pulse. "How are you feeling now?"

"Like I could seriously kill you, Nikola. Even by your standards, this is awful...Aunt Helen was right about you..." I sighed, leaning back against him, lacking the strength to sit on my own at that moment. I felt his hand rubbing my arm, comforting. There were two Teslas I realized, the one he wanted to show everyone else and the one that he was when he was with me. Even then, what he had just done blurred the boundaries between the possible and impossible, he had been able to replicate the experiment that my aunt had preformed a century plus before. I tugged the IV out of my arm and held it up to stop the bleeding. My mind was swimming as I leaned back on Nikola, could I allow Aunt Helen to actually harm him? Despite the fact that it had been done against my will, he had done something amazing, and at least that should stand for something. No, I would stand for him against her, I would say it was my idea and this whole thing would be our little secret. My resolve melted slightly as I thought about the situation, either I was going to thirst for human blood or I was going to live a very, very, very long time. Each on it's own was a justified reason to beat the holy God out of him, but I knew very well I would never be able to raise a hand to him.

I sat up on my own and leaned over to bring myself to my knees and turn to face Nikola who was sitting on the floor, beautiful, evil and amazing. My anger made my blood boil over for a moment and I struck out and hit him soundly on the jaw, barely making a dent in his perfect composure. Alright, I lied, hitting him felt good. It made me even angrier that I couldn't get a reaction from him so I launched myself at him with a growl and tackled him over, both of us rolling on the cement floor, knocking things off tables and breaking glass. My fury would not be spent so easily and I pummeled every inch of him I could reach, marveling slightly at my power as he grunted a little each time I hit him. Finally he rolled out from under me and stood, his abnormal side very apparent as his finger nails grew and his teeth got sharper. "Alright sweetheart, lets play," he growled back at me, smiling. I got to one knee and launched myself at Nikola again but this time he easily grabbed hold of me and tossed me aside. "Come on, Amy, I made you stronger than that."

From the other side of the room, I stood and glared at Nikola. "You have no idea how badly I want to rip you to pieces right now..." I said, leaning down on a desk with my arms and smiling. "And aren't you taking a bit of a risk on whether you made me like Magnus or like you? We still don't know..." I smiled wider and leaned down on the desk till my elbows touched it.

"We will find out soon enough, now why don't you come finish what you started?" Nikola laughed and spread his arms, taunting me. "I'm certainly not going to fall for your charms, Amy. I'm not the one that usually does that, isn't that your expertise?"

I laughed for a moment and stood up, "If you call those charms, Nikola, you need to read a self help book or something because you seriously are awful...You just happened to catch me on the wrong day." I smiled. "It's been a while."

"Seemed to work well enough...Can't actually say you were hellbent on fighting me off..." Nikola retorted.

I could feel my anger turning to ice with our banter and I steeled myself to walk closer. "Well, Nikola, when it's been a while, a girl just might pick up any bloodsucker off the streets.." I said, coming within ten feet, close enough I could still maintain composure and far enough away to evade attacks. "Remember, you came to me, not the other way around." I watched the reaction on his face turn from humor to a bit of irritation and smiled. He loosened his red cravat and pushed his sleeves up a bit further, I could feel the heat coming off of him like I had on the sofa but this time from further away, the reaction was nearly the same, chills running down my spine, but diluted by distance. It was like one predator stalking another, the heat in our eyes meeting, the tension was delicious, waiting for the inevitable. I was baiting him into going for me, meaning to dispose of him quickly when he thought I was off guard. "My, my Tesla, you surely didn't think I cared, did you? You were an interesting distraction for the moment. You imagined me pining away in the Sanctuary didn't you?" I smiled wider as I saw my words hit him harder than I ever could have. For a moment I felt awful about saying that, but he deserved it. His lip turned up at the corner as he nearly snarled at me. I shivered a little with anticipation as he shifted his weight ever so slightly, thinking I wouldn't notice. I prepared for his attack switching my weight from my weaker left leg to my stronger back leg and nodded enticingly at Nikola as if to say 'bring it on'.

Nikola growled and threw himself at me in what looked like a half hearted attempt to throw me off balance. I used the same move he had used on me earlier, gripping his upper arms moving myself to the side while using his weight against him and tossing him aside. He landed atop a table and knocked a mass of books and papers aside. I stood again and instead of waiting for him to make a move, I launched myself at him with a fury, going for his legs as he came around the table, trying to compose himself. I knew he wasn't ready for my attack and I easily brought him down to the floor once again. Our wordless exchange of blows grew heated as he fell to the ground and I straddled him, pummeling his face. His hands reached up to grab my wrists and he pulled me off him, tossing me aside to hit the wall hard. Nikola wasn't playing anymore, I think he understood that I knew how to fight and I was angry enough to keep it going all night. Stars bloomed in front of my eyes and the back of my head throbbed from the impact with the cement wall. Before I knew it, I was back on the ground, pinned, Nikola's fingernails digging into my wrist. As the stars cleared out, I could see Nikola's face, turned red by my hands and his dark eyes staring into mine. His human side returned, putting the vampire away. For a second, it took my breath away, his seriousness, surrounded by the damage I had caused. We just looked at each other for a while, trying to read the others mind. Finally Nikola spoke, "Tell me you did...tell me you waited for me...you thought of me." his eyes were frantic, fearful and serious. "I have to know...because I thought of you."

My heart stopped, completely, my lungs stalling and my jaw went slightly slack. I stared back at him and smiled a little. He released my wrists but still pinned me with his weight. "Of course I did, Nikola." I raised my hand and touched his face where it had been red and broken near his right eye. "I couldn't think of anything else, honestly. I knew what Aunt Helen, Will, Henry even the Big Guy, told me about you, but I thought maybe you had changed. I thought it was worth a try to see what you needed... I thought of you and nothing else for nearly a week." I ran my hand through his hair, soft and silky brown. "I am sorry I said that... I was angry..."

For another moment, all I could feel was the rage and passion between us as Nikola tried to find my soul through my eyes, seeking the truth. His thumb traced my jawline to my ear and he slid his hand behind my neck. I suppressed a shiver and returned his intensity in kind, letting my hand slide down his neck to the collar of his shirt, touching the little 'V' that was visible just inside his collar now that it hung open, one or two buttons torn off in our fight. "I think I need a drink...will you join me?" he asked finally, not moving form the position we were currently in, but his mood lightening considerably.

"As long as this drink doesn't involve making out with me and then drugging me into submission..." I replied playfully. Nikola let me up and we sat on the cement for a moment. I smoothed my hair down, wishing I had worn it up like I usually did.

"I can promise the second part." Nikola smiled, and for a moment I could see the predator I had been warned against, the Nikola Tesla of famed reputation, the mad scientist, the centuries old vampire who wanted nothing more than to recreate his race.

"Good enough for me."I laughed and stood up. "So...how do we figure out what I am now?" I asked, leaning back on a table,one of the many in the room.

Nikola smiled at me and took my hand, holding it palm up in his hand. "Concentrate on your hand, imagine mine isn't there, only yours."

I stared at my hand, concentrating on it and trying to make claws come out of my fingernails like Nikola's, trying to make anything at all happen. The exercise was fruitless, my hand was still just my hand, my nails painted in a pretty bright blue. I didn't even want to meet Nikola's eyes, knowing that if I did I would find disappointment and pain, maybe even anger with me that I was not what he wanted. He reached under my chin, pulling my face up to look at him, his hand wrapped around mine, warm and gentle. "I'm sorry, Nikola..." I murmured.

"You are still stronger, faster and you will live a whole lot longer...my experiment was not all for naught." He stopped for a second and looked at me. "My God, what have I done to you...it should have never been you. Amelia, I am so sorry..." It seemed like the extent of what his 'experiment' had done had just set in, and he was suffering.

"Nikola, lets get that drink, hmm? I think we both need it." I took his hand in mine and pulled him gently, getting him to move. "Come on...we will clean this up later." I motioned to the broken glass all around us.

"If you were smart, Amy...you'd run now, you realize that..." Nikola's sad eyes burned me like ice, the extent of his pain making my pain seem insignificant.

"Never much been a smart girl...always fell for the bad ones...And now you." I admitted, gripping his hand a little harder. I wanted my Nikola back, the arrogant, smooth talking vampire that I had grown used to.

He smiled a little and it slowly turned into the smile I knew, he squeezed my hand back and stepped forward to wrap his arms around my shoulders, burying his face in my hair. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I had left it down, I thought to myself. "You forgive me?" he asked, his lips touching my neck.

I sighed a little, allowing him to lean into me though he was so much taller than me. "Yes, Nikola, I forgive you. I could never not."

"I lied to you, I brought you here under false pretenses, I drugged you and tried to make you like me. I could have killed you...I could have killed you..."

"Nikola, stop...you didn't lie completely...just stretched the truth a whole lot." I chuckled. "You said you meant the kiss..."

"And I did...I and I will mean the next one if you allow me..." he smiled, pulling his head back to look at me, his hands sliding down my sides to rest at my hips.

"Seeing as this relationship has been mostly built on things that you did not allow me and were beyond my control...why don't you let me mean one.." I grinned a little and closed the distance between his lips and mine quickly so he had nothing to say about it. I leaned forward, pushing him backwards till his back hit the wall, kissing him with enough passion to say everything that I didn't have words to say. He wrapped his arms around me and flipped us around quickly, pressing my back to the wall and kissing me back just as passionately. My world swam as I felt everything at once, Nikola, elation, fear, ecstasy, all warring for first place in my head. I felt his hands tracing down my arms to my hands and interlacing my fingers with his, all the while the kiss was deepening, Nikola was wordlessly coaxing my lips to open and finding new ways to make my pulse race. I felt like I couldn't breathe, his heat was stealing my air. He finally pulled away, even though I never wanted him to.

"How about that drink, " Nikola smiled, pushing my hair out of my face. I straightened my sweater, noticing that the arm and stomach were ripped from our fight showing the blue tank top under it. "I will find you something else to wear."

"Agreed..I am parched...Can't imagine why..." I smirked at him, pulling my sweater over my head and leaving it on a table. Nikola turned and headed for the stairs, I followed. My mind was going a mile a minute and I knew that this was the beginning of something amazing. Something that could last a very long time...if Aunt Helen didn't kill us both. But as things were, she would have a hell of a time killing me now.