"There's still a Cabal here?" Jon asked.
That got Helen's attention. "Your show has the Cabal in it too?"
"It did." Jon didn't want to bring up Ashley; if she had been real here and killed as she had been on Sanctuary, it would be a painful topic. He skipped over the bulk of the story about the evil organization that had killed her. "We had a story arc with the Cabal as the bad guys, but at the end Druitt and Tesla went on an off-screen rampage and decimated them."
"That would be handy, but I haven't seen John in decades and Nikola isn't a violent man. We'd best keep moving, if you're quite recovered?" Helen asked while slipping her shoes back on; her gun had already disappeared back into her clothing somewhere when she had climbed the fence.
Jon nodded and they walked quickly out of the maze of alleys onto a city street. It was late and the shops were closed. Helen guided them through mostly deserted streets with only the occasional passing car for company.
"It's just a few blocks to Main Street" she said. "We might be able to get a cab there."
"Or you could call someone."
Helen reached into her purse as they walked, pulled out her phone and showed him the cracked screen. "Already tried it, it's broken I'm afraid. But someone will come looking for us eventually."
"I hope they get to us before the Cabal finds us. Do you think they're still in the area?"
"Undoubtedly. They won't give up easily; I've inconvenienced them too many times." They walked quickly without seeming to hurry, the sharp tapping of Helen's heels echoing off of the silent buildings.
Main Street was more brightly lit, street lights glowed glaringly white and stop lights flashed their colors every block or two. A quick glance showed a distinct lack of people to the left, but to the right several blocks down it appeared a theater was letting out. There were numerous people on the street, parked cars pulling out, and several open businesses that looked to be restaurants of some sort. They headed right.
Jon was starting to think they were safe when he heard an engine rev behind them. He and Helen both turned to look and a large black sedan with the windows open surged toward them.
Helen pulled him down, falling beneath him and basically using his body to protect her own. Jon was so surprised he just let her do as she wanted as the cough of silenced guns filled the air with bullets above them, ricocheting off of the concrete building behind them and shattering a plate glass window.
Helen pushed him off to the building side muttering "Sorry, automatic reaction, I forgot you're not my vampire for a moment."
But by then the car had passed. They both saw the back lights brighten as the brakes were applied and Helen and Jon leapt for a nearby alley in back of them. They sprinted down it, flattening behind a dumpster as the car appeared in the bright light across the mouth of the alley, the open windows facing them.
Another round of gunfire pinged off of the walls and street and they heard swearing behind them down the alley somewhere. The car backed until only the front end was visible and they knew it was coming after them. They ran again, seeing a disgruntled homeless man in a doorway. As they passed, Helen grabbed his shopping cart full of his belongings and swung it out into the middle of the narrow road, hearing more swearing behind them as they ran on and skittered around a corner, heading in the direction of the theater.
Unfortunately the alleys were wide enough here for garbage trucks and a sedan had no problem following them. They heard the crash as it went through the shopping cart and the headlights appeared behind them. Helen spotted a narrow opening between two buildings and veered into it with Jon on her heels. The car couldn't follow them there, but there were no dumpsters or places to hide either; they needed to get through it before the Cabal hoods behind them reached the end.
They almost made it. They were lucky, the bullets missed them but the spall off of the buildings didn't, peppering them with sharp bits of concrete as they emerged into a smaller, quiet street. Jon tried to turn toward the theater again, but Helen pulled him across the street and dived into another alley. There was a stairway leading down below ground level to a door; it was locked, but they huddled in a small space behind the stairs with a trash can and a broom.
Tesla's Armani suit had been sliced behind Jon's right shoulder and he had a couple of small cuts. Helen's left earring was mostly gone and she had cuts on her neck and cheek, but nothing serious. They waited in silence, listening to the occasional car go by.
The two of them slid down to sit together next to the trash can. They were going to be there a long time.
/
Henry stared at the data on his computer. Magnus hadn't been able to tell him anything about the teardrop field; it was completely new to her too. He compared it to the data from the field generated by the Praxian artifact and the commutator together; the two fields didn't seem to have any real relationship to each other.
Maybe if he turned the commutator back on he could try to send something else through to the other universe and get readings of the field actually transporting some object. He got his pipe pole and looked around for something innocuous. He went into the broom closet and pulled out a well-used mop and bucket. Tesla liked his lab to be spotless, and he did clean up his own messes.
Henry smiled at the mop as he stood it up in the bucket. It was a little too short, but other than that wasn't a bad representation of the vampire, although Tesla's hair wasn't quite as long as the mop head strings and his body quite as skinny, but still.
Henry took his piece of pipe, stood as far back as he could, and flipped the toggle switch on the commutator. It hummed to life and he went back to his computer to watch the data feed on his laptop.
/
Nikola paced in his motel room. The Alternative Remote Discontinuance in Synchronization sat on a table where he could glance at it at one end of his path. TARDIS seemed like a good name for it, but it seemed vaguely familiar somehow. He rejected the name and kept pacing.
The name of his device was the least of his worries. He knew it worked, it had to work, so why was he still here? His reasoning kept leading back to the commutator. That had to be the problem, but what if Helen forbade it being turned on again to prevent anyone else going between universes? What if she decided the Praxian device was too dangerous and had it destroyed? Neither of those things would happen immediately he was sure, but how long did he have?
And if he got stuck here- the possibility made him shudder. He was already antsy from lack of work. Acting was all right as a diversion, but he didn't particularly enjoy it and couldn't imagine himself doing it full time. If he suddenly gave it up and opened a lab and began experimenting everyone would think he'd lost his mind. But he couldn't live his life just entertaining people, not when he should be creating inventions that changed the world.
At least the actor on the other end wouldn't have that problem. Very few people knew Nikola Tesla well, and most of those who did were in the Sanctuary and undoubtedly knew exactly what had happened even if they didn't understand the science like he did. When- if they gave up trying to get him back, Young could just leave the Sanctuary, get an agent, go on with his chosen profession, and live a reasonably normal life. Giving up their own world wouldn't be easy on either of them, but his twin could build a life, unlike Nikola, who was already frustrated with inaction.
And this universe didn't seem to have any Abnormals at all. Nikola's universe had human beings, so the actor could be with his own species at least. Nikola had no hope of finding any vampires in this one, although if there was no one to stop him, perhaps he could make some. No, bad idea, he also had no one to help him stop his potential creations from taking over this world. Sasquatch was a myth here, the invisible man just a story, and werewolves and vampires were Halloween black-and-white movies that youngsters laughed at.
The vampire poured himself another glass from his $200 bottle of wine. It was the most expensive vintage the little liquor store had, and it was pretty good, although he'd had better. That was another problem. The actor's funds wouldn't last forever either; eventually Nikola would have to earn some money. He was getting by in the movie, but he would never be a great actor and he knew it; he didn't really want the job. And he would not settle for being a second-rate anything.
As a scientist he had no credentials here. There had been a Nikola Tesla in this world, he'd looked himself up on the computer, but no one would believe his real identity and he couldn't reveal it anyway. If anyone believed it he would be a freak to be examined by medical science which would require escaping and hiding his identity, so he might as well just deny his real name and skip the unpleasant part, if he had to stay.
Which left him with no occupation, unless he went back to school under an assumed name so he would qualify for a job in science. What a waste of time; but he might have to do it. But that was in the future somewhere, right now he had nothing to do and it was driving him batty. He drank some more wine and paced.
Then he grabbed his remote, car keys and the remainder of the wine and drove back to the warehouse. If he was going to pace, he should pace where he might be able to contact the field that transported him here. There was no one around so if he looked crazy, so what?
/
Jon and Helen sat reasonably comfortably under the stairs. Aside from the concrete under them being hard, having nothing to ease their thirst after all that running, and not being able to converse for fear of being overheard, it wasn't too bad. Then they heard voices coming closer.
"They have to be here somewhere. Mac saw them cross this street and go down here but they never came out the other side. Check down that stairway."
Helen and Jon got up silently and Helen produced her gun and pushed him behind her, this time remembering he wasn't bullet-proof. Jon was a gentleman, but she had the gun so he let her do it. Besides, if he got killed, could Tesla ever get back? No one knew, so staying alive might mean giving the vampire a chance to get home too, and he knew Helen wanted that badly. This was her area of expertise, not his.
There was a slight metallic sound from above; someone leaning over the iron railing next to the stairs? There was a scrape of feet moving away, but neither of them relaxed since the feet didn't move very far. Then there was silence for a few seconds; suddenly they heard a rush of steps coming down the stairs.
Helen stepped out, her gun raised and she fired. The first man fell into the wall, his gun firing over their heads, but the man behind him fired at the same time as Helen's second shot. He staggered and she went down, losing her gun.
Jon saw in an instant the blood on her arm and thought she wasn't badly hurt. He scooped up her fallen weapon and raised it. One of the men on the stairs was crumpled, sitting and leaning against the wall, his gun two stairs down. But the other was aiming at him.
The actor squeezed the trigger, but the little silver automatic jammed. Time seemed to slow down; the actor saw the anger in the man's eyes, the blood on his lower chest, the round black end of the barrel, and the man's hand tightening on the trigger.
Then Jon was in a parking lot, his body moving but his feet weren't. He stumbled and fell to his knees, the gun still in his hand. No one else was around, the night was quiet. Jon felt a little dizzy but that quickly passed. He looked around and saw a bottle of wine on the blacktop and beyond it his rental car. Staggering a little, he got up and went to the car and was relieved to see the key laying on the passenger seat.
He looked around and realized he was in the lot next to the warehouse where they were shooting. The platforms were gone, but Jon was sure he recognized the place. He was home. But if he was here, where was Tesla? Had he gone back to his lab? Jon looked at the gun in his hand; Helen was alone, unarmed, wounded, and about to be killed. But there was nothing he could do about it.
/
Henry was both excited and confused. There had been a huge spike in the readings, but the mop was still there. Unless it had exchanged with another mop that looked just like it? How could anyone tell? Well at least he had a lot more data now. He picked up his length of pipe and turned off the commutator. It was late, time for bed.
/
Nikola stepped forward and his foot hit the bottom stair; he fell just as a gun went off above him. His wine glass broke on the stairs as he vamped and lunged upward. Another shot hit him mid-body from close range but he didn't hesitate. He had no idea who was shooting at him but it wasn't Helen and nobody shot him with impunity except her.
He grabbed the man's gun with one hand and his head with the other. There was a resounding "thunk" as he used the convenient brick wall to knock the man unconscious. Below him he heard Helen say his name and he turned to see her sitting up, blood on her arm, her face. He hurried back down the stairs.
She was sitting up. Nikola asked quietly "Can you walk and is everyone else a bad guy?"
"Yes, and yes. It is you, isn't it? Are you all right?"
"Nobody else and I'm good enough; a bitch of a welcome home though."
Nikola collected both guns and handed her one; the other he stuck in the waistband of his jeans; he didn't like guns but he wasn't going to leave one behind for the enemy. He led the way up the stairs, pausing with his head above ground level to look around. They were near the mouth of an alley and there was a black car parked across the end of it. They ran for the car.
Thankfully the keys were in it. Nikola slid into the driver's seat, tossing his gun into the back, and Helen got in the passenger side. She grimaced a little as she had to use her injured right arm to close the door. Nikola peeled away from the curb to the sound of shouts and shots behind them. He swerved around a couple of corners and left whoever was after them behind.
When they were well clear he pulled over and shut off the engine. Nikola devamped and got out, coming around the car to check and bandage her arm. The bullet had passed through, missing the bone and major blood vessels and he just used a claw to cut a piece off of the bottom of his shirt and wrapped her arm with it.
She didn't bother checking his injury; it would be closed up by now anyway. But their heads were close together when he finished bandaging her, and she kissed him lightly. "I'm so glad you're back. You'll tell me all about the other universe?"
He shrugged a little. "Not that much to tell. Bo-oring. And I had to perform."
/
Jon drove to the motel. In the morning he would turn in the gun to the police and just say he found it. He was glad to get out of Tesla's damaged suit and into his own clothes. He hoped the vampire hadn't done too badly while he was gone; the final performance unfortunately would likely be a bit uneven with two different people portraying Tesla. But he could only smile at the thought that tomorrow he was going to get to go back to the set and perform.
A/N: Thank you, Lorienleaf and dicopebisuteria for the reviews. Hope everyone enjoyed the story. In case you were wondering, the Praxian teardrop biological component was just a tiny bit of fangirl, so of course it kept Jonathon Young safe.
