Nikola hadn't lost count of how many loops he'd been through, but he was trying not to remember.
He was exhausted.
Somehow, even though he knew that the exact same amount of time passed in each loop, it seemed like he was getting less and less breathing room between waking up in Helen's office and being in the warehouse district with her.
It was impossible, but then when nothing was real, impossible started looking pretty damn normal. Nikola was certain he had Adam to thank for this. Little bastard. And he couldn't even rip his throat out, since it was Nikola's throat now too, and he was rather attached to it.
Even the consolation of knowing everything that happened to Helen here wasn't real was only temporary, if Nikola was any judge. There was a constant aching pressure in the back of his mind that was more than just a headache. He could feel it trying to creep over his memory of what was happening to him, to destroy his already thin connection to reality. Adam again, no doubt.
Nikola had kept him occupied as long as he could, earlier. He'd seen Helen make it safely away, but he had no idea what happened after that. The flashes he'd been having, which he realized now were of reality and not the future as he'd first thought, had all but disappeared once he'd been forced back here.
There had been only one since then, and Nikola hadn't been able to see or hear anything – that one had been nothing but intense, white-hot pain. He was hoping it had been some kind of plan on Helen's part to subdue Adam, but he was assuming since he was still in here that either it hadn't worked or it was only stage one of a larger scheme. (If it had been Adam messing with his body, there was going to be hell to pay.)
Whatever the case, Helen would win eventually. For Nikola, that wasn't speculation so much as certainty. She'd come get him; she always did. In the meantime, he could stop Adam from taking complete control.
And get through this damn time loop. One thing was for sure, Adam had managed to come up with a hell of a way to torment him. Even though he knew it was quite literally all in his head and there was no way to save Helen, he kept trying regardless. Part of it was his hope that with each new loop he might gain some piece of information that could help him find a way out of this thing. But mostly, Nikola just couldn't bear to leave her, any version of her, to die alone.
Of course, he'd kept failing too. Adam hadn't set up this scenario intending to let him succeed. He might have known now it wasn't real, but that didn't bring him a whole lot of comfort when Helen was dying in his arms.
Nikola sighed and downed the last bit of the bottle he'd worked his way through this loop. He checked the time. Pretty soon, Helen would come through the door asking him if he was ready to leave, and he would be off for another exciting trip through the warehouse district. Though if he hurried, he might be able to make it through at least half of another bottle. Instead, he sank deeper into bed, rolling over to Helen's side with another sigh.
Closing his eyes, Nikola inhaled as deeply as he could. Now that he'd gotten rid of the obscuring influence of Adam in his head, he could tell that the details in here were off. The wine, for example, was awful. Helen would never have betrayed him by stocking something so inferior. But the scent of her lingering here on her pillow, that was perfect. He kept his eyes shut, letting it comfort him a little.
The door to their room opened and Helen's boots sounded on the wooden floor.
"Hey, Helen," he said, voice muffled in her pillows. He rolled over to find her looking at him with a strange expression.
"I suppose you want to go check out those killings in the warehouse district now?" he asked dully.
"Nikola," she breathed. She crossed the distance between them in a few strides and wrapped her arms around him so tightly he could hardly breathe.
"Ow. Wasn't expecting that," he wheezed, but not before seizing the opportunity to lean into her, his arm snaking around her waist.
"Are you alright?" she asked, pulling back and resting a hand on his cheek, stroking it absently while she peered at him.
Nikola blinked, staring at her. A tiny hope flickered somewhere in his chest – surely, it couldn't be…
"I'm fine. Helen, are you – "
"Yes, it's really me," she said. "Be honest, Nikola."
He stayed frozen to the spot, still looking at her with numb disbelief. He wanted to believe her, so very badly; he'd known she would come, but… it was so hard to tell what was real anymore.
Helen was watching him closely, concerned. She reached down to take his hand, pressing it between hers.
"Nikola," she said. "I had Henry upload us all back into the computer, but you should still have your electromagnetism. Use it. You should be able to tell the difference between my brain and a computer program, I hope," she added with a wry smile.
Nikola passed up the multitude of comments he would usually make at that and looked down, concentrating on Helen's hand in his. She was right. They were back in the computer – he could feel a change in the environment now that he was looking for it.
Their entwined hands faded out of focus as Nikola poked around a little more. Beyond the smoothly running background computer operations, he could feel an infinitely more complex stream of data, that he had only seen once before.
He looked back up at Helen. "You know, I was kinda hoping you were going to go the 'tell me something only the two of us know' route. Like how much you lo-"
Helen silenced him in the most efficient way possible: by pressing her lips to his.
The kiss didn't last very long – not as long as Nikola would have liked – but when they separated, he felt a small smile struggle to the surface. It was probably a little pathetic, but it was the first one he'd managed for some time.
"You're here," he said softly.
Helen studied his face, moving one hand back up to cradle his cheek. He hadn't thought it possible, but her grip on him got even tighter.
"Tell me everything." Her voice was calm, but there was an undercurrent running through it that told Nikola someone was going to get shot before the day was out, and for once it wasn't going to be him.
"A time loop," Helen repeated after he had relayed the whole story. She was sitting next to him, one arm clasped firmly around his shoulders.
"A crappy time loop, but sure." Nikola closed his eyes, resting his cheek against her hand.
"Why do you say that?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Details are different every time. Anything that would save you changes from one loop to the next. Timing of events, or – or where the second vampire comes from, that kind of thing. Adam obviously wasn't too concerned with winning time loop of the year when he created it."
She chuckled and Nikola took a moment to savor it, turning his head to kiss her fingers. "The point is," he said, opening his eyes and sitting up, "you die, every time, and there's nothing I can do to stop it because he's made the damn thing impossible to beat."
Helen's free hand drummed against her leg. "Perhaps," she said. "Or perhaps you just haven't been looking at it the right way."
"Oh, and what way would you suggest I look at it?" Nikola asked, rather offended.
"You've been concentrating entirely on preventing my death," Helen said, completely unruffled by both the subject matter and Nikola's now dented pride. "What if that's not what's resetting events?"
"It is," he said, his exhaustion creeping into his voice. "Just trust me on this."
Helen shot him a worried look, but let the matter drop. "Well, there has to be a way to break the loop somehow."
"Does there?" he asked bitterly. "It's not like Adam feels an overabundance of generosity towards us. And even if we do, what happens then?"
"One step at a time," she said. "Think about this. Adam has access to your mind. What's worse: a puzzle that has no solution, or one with a solution that's continuously being pulled just out of your reach?"
She watched his expression changing for a moment. "Exactly," she said. "He knows it'll be harder on you if there really is a way to break it and he's preventing you from doing so."
"You have an evil mind," Nikola said with admiration.
"I try. Besides, we're in the computer now. Even if we're still in the program he constructed for you, he no longer has control over the outcome." She paused. "Hopefully."
"I feel so inspired."
Despite his sarcastic tone, Helen's mere presence was sending warmth curling through Nikola. It was only a dull, tired sort of contentment at the moment, but she had given him hope, for the first time in a while. He closed his eyes again and leaned against her.
Before he could get too relaxed, there was a rattling at the doorknob. Helen let go of him immediately and had a gun out covering the door faster than he could start complaining at the lack of contact.
The door opened, and Helen walked in.
"Oh," said the Helen next to him, lowering her gun. She cleared her throat. "Hello."
"I had a dream like this once," Nikola said. Helen elbowed him in the ribs.
The other Helen stared at the two of them for a full five seconds before speaking. "Bloody hell."
As he watched his Helen and virtual Helen deep in conversation about the situation, Nikola had a surreal sense that he should be enjoying this more than he was.
"Fascinating," they said in unison, peering at the other.
"A perfect simulation," Helen added.
"So you say," said the other Helen. "But how do I know I can trust you?"
"Nikola's word isn't good enough for you?"
They both snorted.
"Hey!" Nikola protested.
"Sorry, Nikola," they both said, unapologetically. Helen – his Helen – gave him a reassuring hand squeeze before rising.
"Let's go to my office," she told the other Helen. "There's something I need to get. We can have a talk on the way."
Whatever they talked about, virtual Helen was completely convinced by the time they came back. Nikola had a few guesses, but he knew he would never find out if he was right. She led the way to where Henry and Kate were waiting, while Helen and Nikola trailed behind.
Nikola looked over at the slender box that Helen was carrying. "What's that?" he asked, nodding at it.
She gave him a long look before opening it. Inside lay a silvery cylindrical object that Nikola was a little too familiar with.
"The De-Vamper," he said, surprised. "I wondered if you'd brought that to Hollow Earth with you."
"Actually, I didn't. But since this whole simulation is built on your memories, I suspected I might find it where you thought it was," Helen said.
Nikola glanced at her, his curiosity piqued. "So where is it, really?"
Helen looked away, waiting just a little too long before responding. "I destroyed it. In any case, this should be quite effective against your vampires."
She was right, but that wasn't the most interesting part of what she'd just said. "Why?" he asked.
"With the regularity that my Sanctuary gets broken into?" she said, giving him a look. "I didn't want to take any chances. Now, can you charge this for me?"
Her brisk tone left no doubt that she wanted to change the subject, but Nikola had heard enough – she had wanted to keep him immortal. She'd protected him, and he hadn't even known about it until now. He nodded, smiling slightly. "I might not be quite as electro as I once was, but I can give you a few ex-vampires."
"You know, Nikola, I always thought you had more of an imagination than this," Helen said, sweeping her flashlight across dark corridors that were by now very familiar to Nikola.
"Hey, Adam was the one who dreamed this up, not me," he said.
The other Helen turned around. "Excuses, Nikola."
He raised his eyebrows with a wounded look. This was just weird.
She turned back, and Nikola found himself still staring at her back, his mind wandering into less pleasant territory. Helen was too confident about breaking this loop, he was sure of it. He was going to have to watch it all happen again very soon.
"Nikola," Helen said from beside him, and took his hand, giving him an encouraging nod.
It probably would have been more comforting if it didn't give Nikola such a disturbing sense of déjà vu. He smiled weakly at her.
She squeezed his hand; she had always been able to tell when he was lying. "We'll find a way," she told him quietly.
"Optimist," Nikola accused.
"There's no need to be insulting, my dear."
A thrill ran through Nikola; it was so unfair when she called him that.
"I'm simply stating a fact," she continued. "After all, there's something in this loop that ensures our success."
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
She smiled. "I'm here."
Nikola stopped, but before he could say anything, the distant rumbling he had gotten so used to emanated from up ahead. Virtual Helen turned back to Nikola.
"Do you hear that?" she asked.
"The Cabal's weapon," Helen said.
"Get over," Nikola warned the other Helen, grabbing the real version and pulling her with him over to the side of the wall.
He'd been through this so many times he hardly even noticed the blast of heat anymore, but he looked over to Helen, squinting through the wave of light and pressure. She'd gotten out of the way in time and was hanging onto the wall, her eyes shut.
When it was over, virtual Helen stepped out into the corridor, looking after the blast. "I know that weapon," she said.
"Yeah," Nikola said, resigned to playing out the usual script. "That's cause I – " He stopped. "I built it," he said. He looked back at the real Helen.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Don't keep me in suspense."
He started pacing in circles around her. "The weapon. The energy wave it sends out reaches across this entire facility. The direction the vampires come from – wherever they are, it changes every time. But with that – "
"It doesn't matter," Helen finished.
"That thing packs a nasty punch," Nikola said. "I should know. If we can set if off in time, it should take them out long enough for us to get out of here." He glanced at the other Helen. "Safe and sound."
"Well done, Nikola," Helen said, beaming. "Can you find the weapon in time?"
Nikola held up his hand, letting a few sparks dance across his fingers. "Electromagnetic, remember? I can find it."
"Then go," Helen said. "I'll stay with her and fight off the first vampire. Just get to that weapon before the second one shows up and – ah – "
"Right." Nikola took a few steps away, then hesitated, looking back at her. "Good luck, Helen." His eyes shifted to the other Helen. "Both of you," he added.
She nodded. "You too."
Then he took off and didn't look back.
"Go for its head!" Helen shouted. Her grip on the vampire's wrists was slipping, its claws inching closer to her face.
She was rewarded with the crack of her own gun firing from a few meters away. The vampire flinched back, its hands going slack. It recovered quickly, hissing, but not before she had drawn the De-Vamper from her jacket and plunged it deep into the vampire's chest.
Its light was enough to illuminate the dark hallway, reflecting back from the vampire's black eyes. Helen pushed it over and rolled on top of it, driving the De-Vamper even further in. The eyes turned gradually from black to brown, and Helen could see the shock and disorientation in them that she had once seen in Nikola's. Another blow from Helen was enough to incapacitate it.
She got to her feet, breathing rather heavily. "Good shooting," she said.
The other Helen nodded, grinning, and Helen found herself grinning back. She retrieved her gun from where she had dropped it and reloaded.
It was up to Nikola now, but that didn't mean she couldn't be prepared.
Nikola could feel the power the weapon was drawing to itself pulsing gently in a corner of his head, pulling him towards it. Sometimes it faded into the background, lost underneath the other, stronger pressure on his mind, but he could tell he was almost there.
The guttural hiss coming from behind him was the only warning he had that he was no longer alone. Nikola dared a glance behind him to see another vampire hot on his trail. So all three of his former creations were present. This one must be a guard, left behind to make sure nobody messed with the weapon.
"Guess that means I'm close," Nikola muttered, glad that his enhanced strength and speed allowed for witty remarks while running for his life. Still, he increased his pace, even at the cost of lost breath. He didn't feel like making witty remarks anyway – that last one had been kind of pathetic.
He rounded a corner and suddenly the weapon was on him – or he was on it, rather; he almost tripped over it, stumbling and losing his momentum. The other vampire had nearly caught up to him and he dived for the weapon's control, lying on top of its boxy shell. He managed to snatch it just as claws dug into his back, dragging him away from the weapon as teeth sank into his neck.
Nikola should have been used to it by now, as many times as he'd had to deal with these damned things, but the pain still made him give a cry. He kept his hands tight on the control though, fingers flying in an old remembered sequence. He was on the wrong side of the weapon, but Helen's time was running out – for all he knew, it might already be too late. It had taken him longer to find the weapon than he'd anticipated. He couldn't afford to wait.
The second after he pressed the final button, there was a roaring like thunder in Nikola's ears and he was flung off his feet, the energy wave throwing him far down the corridor and into a wall. Its force was enough to keep him suspended in mid-air for a moment, then the wave passed down another hall, back the way he'd come, and Nikola tumbled to the floor.
He stayed there for a moment, too exhausted to move, as he let his regenerative powers take care of the worst damage. Then he tilted his head, wincing as he felt a few bones snap back into place. Hearing a similar noise from off to the side, he glanced over. The other vampire had been caught by the wave too, and it was picking itself up.
Helen, Nikola thought. Had he set the weapon off in time? Surely even if he hadn't, the combined force of two Helen Magnuses would have been enough to stop anything they faced.
Snarling, the other vampire staggered up and towards him.
"Oh, come on," Nikola groaned. "I made you guys way too dedicated to your job." Bracing himself against the wall, he managed to get to his feet.
"Ok then," he said, his eyes turning black. "You know what? I'm tired. I've been locked inside my own head, had my body stolen by a psycho computer program – " and been forced to watch his adored Helen die more times than he cared to count – "and you wanna know what the worst part is?" He hissed. "The wine doesn't even taste right. So if you – "
His words were cut off by two gunshots firing simultaneously. The other vampire went limp and collapsed. Nikola's eyes were drawn to the source of the sound.
Helen stood in the center of the hall, breathing hard. Blood dripped through the fingers of the hand she had pressed to her neck, the other one steady on her gun. Next to her with her own gun raised stood her virtual doppelganger, very much unharmed.
"Helen," he whispered. She'd done it – they'd all done it. They'd broken the loop.
The force pressing against his mind disappeared like it had never been there. He hadn't even realized how strong it had been until it was gone; the relief left him feeling dizzy.
"Nikola, are you alright?" Helen asked, hurrying forward.
He fell back against the wall. "Just peachy." He closed his eyes, opening them again when Helen reached him.
"You're alright," he said softly. "You both are."
Helen smiled. "Of course." She stretched her hand out to him, and he took it and pulled her against him. Just for a second, he buried his face in her neck and breathed her in.
For those few moments, everything seemed quiet and still; for the first time in what felt like weeks, Nikola felt his racing heart finally start to slow. He took a shuddering relieved breath, ending in a kind of strangled sob that he muffled in Helen's shoulder. Tears pricked at his eyes behind his closed lids when her arms came up to encircle him. Adam was still a lingering threat on the horizon, but this, this long nightmare, was finally over.
And then, too suddenly for Nikola to react, the world seemed to shatter like glass. Helen, the other vampire, and even the hallway went spinning away from him as he fell backwards into nothing.
