"Helen."
The voice was intoxicating, filling her mind with hazy memories of the distant past almost like jumbled scenes from a movie.
"Helen. Wake up." The husky voice invited.
She opened her eyes to find herself lying in the comfort of her bed. She smiled softly as she saw John watching protectively over her. "John."
He leaned in and kissed her gently as he ran his fingers through her carefully curled hair.
"My Helen." He said, affectionately, as he pulled away.
"I had the most terrible dream." She admitted as she sat up.
"That I was dead?" He asked, touching her hand gently.
She nodded. "It was awful. I was all alone. You were gone. Ashley was gone...I'd lost everyone I'd ever cared for."
"You're not alone, Helen." He said, shaking her head. "Lonely, perhaps, but never alone."
She looked down at her stomach as his words washed over her. She looked back at him after a moment. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" She asked, sadly.
"No, Helen." He said, shaking his head. "It wasn't a dream. This...this is the dream."
She closed her eyes as tears welled up in her eyes. "Why, John?" She managed, emotionally. "Why are you here?"
"Because you called to me, Helen." He said, touching her rounded belly. "You called to me and asked if I could hear you."
She placed her own hand on top of his with a faint smile.
"I can hear you, Helen." He said as he touched his finger to her chin and forced her to look up at him. "I may be dead, but I'm not gone."
"Will asked me after Ashley's death what I thought of death." She said, looking at him. "I told him that it wasn't something you were supposed to understand..."
"You want to know what it's like." He said, looking over at her. "The scientist in you is curious."
She shook her head. "I just want to know that you and Ashley are all right."
"We are." He assured. "And I'm watching out for her just like you would if you were here."
"I know." She said, gratefully.
He was silent for a moment, looking at her rounded belly, before he looked back up at her. "Twins, Helen." He said, shaking his head.
She nodded somewhat nervously.
"I never could have hoped to have even one child," He said, overcome with joy at the prospect of his impending fatherhood. "Not after all that I put you through."
She closed her eyes in pain at the memory of the lonely nights she'd endured during her pregnancy without these apparitions to give her comfort.
"Yet after all of that, you have given me three of the most wondrous children I could ever have hoped for."
"Not yet." She said, looking down at her stomach again. "We still have to wait several months for these two."
"I wish I could help you, Helen." He said with a sigh. "I wish I could be here to support you."
She swallowed as she closed her eyes. "Please, John..."
"I may not be here physically, but I am watching you, Helen. I will not leave you alone, and I will protect you the way I should have for the entirety of your life."
She teared up and took his hand into her own. "I miss you, John." She whispered softly.
"I know, Helen. And I miss you desperately."
"I wish I hadn't injected myself with the source blood." She whispered as tears of regret fell down her cheeks. "I wish I wasn't cursed with this longevity. I wish we'd lived out our days in England as we'd planned, ignorant of the fate which might have befallen us if we'd taken that final risk."
"You have a mission, Helen." He said, gently wiping the tears from her cheeks. "And your abilities are a large part of it."
She looked at him, feeling lost and afraid. He offered her a reassuring smile. "I promise that I will be waiting when God wills it your time to go."
"You're going to stay with me?" She asked, looking over at him.
He nodded. "You may not be able to see me, but I will never be far."
"Do you swear it?"
He nodded. "I vow with the depth of my affection for you, Helen." He assured.
A tiny part of her wondered how reliable his vow was. After all, he'd made a promise once...and then all hell had broken loose.
"I once promised to make you happy, Helen." He said, looking deeply into her eyes. "For all of eternity."
She tensed as the memory of his proposal washed over her. Not long after that night, he'd become the Ripper who had despised everything to do with her and who had later plotted murderously to use their daughter as a hostage for a vial of her blood.
"It's about time I kept that promise, don't you agree?" He asked, sensing the depths of her thoughts.
Tears welled up in her eyes. "John." She whispered, emotionally.
He wrapped his arms around her and offered the comfort she so desperately required as she cried for her lost innocence and the pain of utter devastation.
