Any inference that Henry and Nikola have a bit of a... special relationship was accidental. I swear. But their love is so canon :P

Updates should be a little more frequent for a time. I've got the next few planned if not written entirely so it's a matter of filling in the gaps...

Thank you for the reviews, they keep me going when I have to clean up spilt cream at work. On my hands and knees, no less! You are all golden and I'm trying very hard to reply to each of you, let me know if I've missed you previously and I'll make you Tesla-stache cookies in apology...

xx


He was struggling against something. Something physical and something in his mind. He couldn't quite move his hands or his feet and there was a faint pressure across his abdomen. How did that get there? That's not right... Or is it? He wasn't su- No! No! NO! There was a needle. Another needle. Or at least he thought it was another? Maybe it was the same one as the first though that thought made shivers of disgust rack his body which was silly because they had a needle and cleanliness was the last thing he should be worrying about. Oh. They'd done it. Whatever it was. The needle was going away now. Goodbye needle...


"It's bigger than I thought," Nikola muttered, face pressed against the window as they drove through the imposing front gates.

"Why did you think it'd be big?" Will asked from his seat in the back.

"I dunno," Nikola replied with a shrug, not looking away from the window. "I just... the word 'sanctuary' made me think of... you know, a cathedral or something. Like this only it's... bigger."

"You mean you remember?" Helen asked quickly, hands tightening on the steering wheel as she crept up the gravel drive. If Nikola was remembering something and not in excruciating pain then she was most certainly going to give him the chance to recall it all. Hurrying would solve nothing.

"No," he said, drawing the word out as he sat back, scrubbing a hand over his face. "It's just an association. Like I associate you with guns."

"Oh," Helen said, trying not to sound defeated.

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Nikola rushed, turning to face her with an apologetic pout. "There are plenty of other things I associate with you, and the guns aren't exactly a bad thing!"

Helen remained silent.

"Like gerberas!" he exclaimed, a note of panic in his voice.

"Gerberas?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow as they travelled around to the hidden garages at the back of the property.

"Yesterday, when you came to the hospital. There were gerberas sitting on the windowsill and I was watching them just as you came into the room."

"That's... sweet," Helen choked out, fighting a little blush. The Nikola she knew wouldn't, probably couldn't be that sweet. It was alarming and slightly soothing at the same time.

"It's just one of those things..." he replied with a shrug, turning back to watch the building.

From behind them, Helen heard Will's barely contained snort of amusement. She'd have to have a talk with him about biting his tongue around Nikola. There was no point in belittling the man when he couldn't even remember why such words had no place coming from his mouth.

"When we get inside, Nikola, I'll give you a bit of a tour," Helen said, pulling into the garage. "And explain a bit of what we do here. Then we'll have some lunch and I can show you to the rooms we've set up for you."

"Will you explain what I've got to do with all of this?" he asked softly, looking at her with curious eyes.

"Sort of," she replied, grimacing slightly.

"I think you'd better explain that too," he said with a sigh as they all clambered from the car.

"I'll do my best," she offered, gesturing for him to follow Will towards the imposing structure. Nikola took a deep breath, as if steeling himself before doing as she requested.

"You know you live in a castle, right?" he muttered as they walked up the stairs and Helen laughed.

"Dragon included."

His eyebrows shot up and she chuckled again.

"Don't worry, I'm something of an expert when it comes to slaying them," she joked, pleased when the tension left his frame.

"So long as you don't put me to the rack in the dungeons," he quipped back.

Shaking her head Helen stepped through the door, making sure to close it behind them only to run straight into the back of a very frozen Nikola.

"What... what is... what is he?" he whimpered, clutching Helen's arm as he started up at the rather gruff appearance of her long standing friend and manservant.

"He is my friend, and not someone to be scared of," she said soothingly, shooting Will a look that clearly said to get her old friend out of here. "He's just one of the many beings with whom I share my house."

"But what is he?" Nikola asked again, his hold on her arm rather alarming as he looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Are you familiar with the concept of 'Bigfoot'?" Henry interjected, crossing the room as Will ushered a rather peeved looking Biggie from the room.

Nikola's brow furrowed.

"For real?" he asked the young man.

"For real," Henry replied with a grin.

Shaking slightly, Nikola detangled himself from Helen's side, shooting her an apologetic look as he straightened out his borrowed clothes.

"From weird to weirder," he muttered, shaking his head before offering a hand to Henry. "Apparently I'm Nikola," he said with a small smile. "I assume we already know each other but... you know..."

"Henry," the young HAP said cautiously, smirking ever so slightly. "You really don't remember a thing?"

"Nothing until the hospital and even then it's all a little hazy at times," he confirmed before making a face. "We know each other quite well, don't we?" he asked, looking confused and Helen wondered if he was about to have another head explosion.

"What makes you say that?" Henry asked nervously, clutching his tablet to his chest as if it would protect him from the vitriolic statement he expected Nikola to make.

"I'm not sure," Nikola replied cautiously, cocking his head and regarding the other man with critical eyes. "It's more of a feeling than anything else."

"What kind of feeling?" Helen cut in, placing a hand on Nikola's back as his look of concentration deepened. Scratching his chin absently, he narrowed his eyes further and Henry's gaze began to dart around.

"I think I... like you. You're... good. It's like I feel... protective."

Henry's jaw dropped and Helen had to stifle a laugh. How Nikola's admiration for Henry's work had escaped her adopted son's notice she couldn't fathom. Nikola was only truly nasty to those he respected.

"That's not what I was expecting," Henry admitted with hesitant look at the still puzzled vampire.

"Why?" Nikola queried immediately. "Are we not close at all?"

"Well, actually, I kinda thought you hated my guts," Henry offered, running his hand through his hair.

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it too much Nikola," Helen said soothingly, squeezing his shoulder softly. "You two have a rather... unique working relationship."

"Add that to the explanations list," Nikola said with a sigh, shoulders slumping slightly.

"After the tour," she responded, a little nervous. How would he react to this world? Her world?

"I'll leave you guys to it then," Henry said, seeming grateful for the chance to get away.

"It was nice to meet you," Nikola called to his retreating back before turning to face Helen, smiling warmly. "Tour time," he exclaimed with a grin and she couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Tour time," she agreed, gesturing for him to head out the door.


"That was not what I was expecting," Nikola said softly, eyes still wide as he sat on Helen's sofa. They'd spent a good hour touring the lower levels, Helen explaining exactly who and what her Sanctuary cared for. "And so these, abnormals, how many of them are there?"

"Now that we don't know," she said, slipping into her own chair and kicking off the heels she'd been suffering in. "Many can live peacefully within the community, just as Henry does but there are some, like those we have here, that are too dangerous either to the public or to themselves to be allowed to roam free."

"Henry's an... an... an abnormal?" he asked, amazement showing in his eyes.

"He is."

"What does he... what is it about him that's so... special?" he asked, struggling for the words.

"Henry is a hyper-accelerated protean," she explained carefully though he'd shown absolutely no inability to process any of her information, however out there it may have seemed. "HAP for short."

"But what does he..."

"Do?" she asked with a small smile. "I'll leave that to Henry to explain."

"Abnormals," he said again weakly, shaking his head as a faint smile ghosted across his lips and she smiled. Not once during his entire introduction to the crazy world in which they both belonged had he used the word 'monster', something she was inordinately proud of. Even missing most of his memory, he wasn't so much frightened by the creatures as he was awed. The average level of apprehension was present but, unlike when Will had first come into her home, there had been very little disbelief. Whether that had to do with Nikola's lack of memory making him desperate to latch onto what his eyes told him were reality or whether it stemmed from something within his soul that remained out of reach to whatever had robbed his mind, she wasn't sure.

"And you've been doing this how long?" he asked softly, his gaze probing and curious.

"Most of my life," she said, carefully edging around the potentially messy question. "It was originally my father's work but, when I was young he brought me into the fold, so to speak."

"And I knew about all of it?"

"Very much so," Helen replied, smiling at him. She'd debated telling him about SCIU when she'd explained briefly the Hollow Earth situation but seeing his brow furrow at the words, she'd resisted, unwilling to push his memory too far. She already had one bombshell to drop on him today and it was certain to be more than enough.

"It's all so..." he trailed off, biting his lip as he thought it all through. She could see his mind whirring away and briefly wondered if she should try and stop him but she had the distinct feeling that his mind was actually wandering down the very path she wanted. Her plan, as sketchy as it was, was to feed him small bits of information slowly, hoping that he could fill it out with his own mind. The first piece she'd chosen was, in her opinion, a rather important chunk that was going to present itself eventually. Better he hear it from her than discover his true nature by accident. He needed something, some kind of big and juicy prompt and while she had no intentions of going into detail, perhaps just a gentle explanation of who he really as would give him the prod he needed without causing him inexplicable pain.

"Doctor Mag-" he started, trailing off as she levelled a steely glare at him. "Helen," he corrected, rolling his eyes at her insistence. "How am I involved with all this? And no dodging the question. You promised me answers."

"Because Nikola, you, much like myself and Henry, are an abnormal."

Then several things happened almost at once. Nikola's jaw dropped, his eyes staring at her in disbelief just as the heavy door to her office swung open to loud and distressed calls of "MAGNUS!" Turning in his seat Nikola watched as Will and Henry began firing stunners at the large lizard like creature that was bounding towards them, the newest of the Hollow Earth abnormals they'd brought in. In the same second that the creature collapsed to the floor under the sheer number of times it had been stunned, Nikola double over in pain, clutching his head as he let out a bone curdling scream.

"Nikola!" Helen cried, dashing to his side, cradling him to her chest as he began to sob and shake.

"Helen... I... I... I rememb-."

And with that, his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed against her chest, unconscious.


*insert evil chuckle*