Chapter Eight - Pen And Paper (You Know, Something Typical)

It took time. It seemed like hours before both Kate and Anjaka woke up. Neither were completely healed, there was no way that her team could do it. They had those powers but not the time to make it work for them. They had managed to make the bleeding stop at the source, healing blood vessels and damaged muscle. They even managed to knit some of the skin together but they were not completely healed. The first thing that Kate did was offer Helen a small smile.

"Sorry we got ambushed Doc. They knew that we were coming somehow"

"Alkima isn't as stupid as the other Darkers. He knew that this was going to happen"

Helen pulled Kate into a hug gently, relief, heavy and sweet washed over her.

"You almost died Kate. I actually felt your death"

"I didn't mean to do that Doc. The pain was incredible, it invaded every part of me."

"It's fine. You're fine and so is Anjaka"

Kate smiled up at Will and Henry but it faded quickly as she looked around here.

"Where is Druitt?"

Helen frowned.

"Alkima wanted to kill him for protecting me"

"And where exactly are we?"

"In a cell"

Helen left Kate to mull over the information before turning her attention to Anjaka. The young woman was sitting straight, her face pulled into a deep frown.

"We need to get out of here. Alkima is still alive"

"We know. He challenged John"

Anjaka nodded slightly, closing her eyes, only to open them a moment later.

"I can't feel him"

"Neither can I and I don't know why"

"He did that on purpose. He cut you off."

"How did he do that to you?"

"I'm not sure. He was doing it to save you, Helen Magnus. So you would not watch him die"

Helen sat on the ground, the reality of the situation sinking in more completely. John had cut her off so that she would not be a witness to his death. He knew what his actions would mean, what he was going to give just to protect her. She had sacrificed him, her one and only love. The only man who had understood her on every level. The man who would die just to protect her, even though he knew that she didn't need it. Now that Kate and Anjaka were doing ok they needed to regroup. Helen needed to do something that was productive. She couldn't afford to lose herself in grief just yet. There would be time to lick her wounds later. She was trying to figure out what there next move would be when there was a thundering bang, followed closely by another and another. A Darker, it's body twisted and broken came flying across the door of the cell. Helen stood, Kate, Will and Henry coming stand next to her, ready for the fight, ready for the battle that they were certain was still going on. Perhaps that was why Helen needed to lean slightly on Will when John appeared. It took her a moment to grasp that he was really there, that this was not some new torture.

"John"

She put everything that she was into that one word, the sweetest name on earth. He said nothing as he tugged the door open, almost taking it off its hinges. She studied him as his eyes took in Kate and Anjaka. He passed a hand over Kate's shoulder, a movement so casual yet loaded with relief. He touched hands briefly with Anjaka as they offered small smiles to each other. His eyes finally arrived on hers and she felt so relieved to see him, her knees knocked weakly beneath her. She moved forward on shaky legs and rested a hand on his chest, just over his heart. It pounded viciously under her palm and the small vibrations travelled over her skin. He raised a hand and covered her own. His skin was smeared with the green blood of the Darkers. He had his own wounds but Helen it wasn't all that serious. He was standing tall and from what she saw, walking fine.

"Stop being a docter for a moment, would you? I'm fine"

Helen smiled as his sweet words washed over her. She had missed him. In all the decades and centuries that she had been hit with that feeling, she could brush it off. She had perfected that routine many years ago. But she couldn't brush this off. She had missed him more terribly in the last few hours then she ever had before. She took a second more for their reunion, one which she knew would be horribly brief. She pressed her face onto his chest and inhaled deeply. Despite the blood and the fighting, he still smelt oddly clean and she wished she could lock that scent in her nostrils forever. He placed a hand on her head, his fingertips playing in her hair. He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. And for that moment, she felt herself slide into that place where she felt complete. She had always known the truth. She was reminded of it over and over again. John was her other half. Helen had spent her years reading history and learning myths and legends of other cultures. She knew all the tales of love and romance that the world had to offer. She knew what it meant and she always felt uncertain of it. But in every moment like this with John, when the scent of reunion in the air, when the passion and love was at its greatest heights, she lost that uncertainty. In that moment John was part of her and it changed the shape of her heart and soul. Every time she tried to change that shape to something else, it always came back. Because John was part of her. She could never change that. And sometimes she was glad that she couldn't.

"I thought you were dead"

"And I am sorry for that. If I was to die, you were not about to see it."

"I thought I had lost you. Anjaka couldn't even feel you"

"I don't know how I did that. I think my need to protect you made my inherited powers more."

"It does not matter now. You are safe. You are alive."

Helen felt a gaze on them and turned to find Kate watching them, small waves of regret, marked a pretty indigo, washed over her.

"Sorry guys but Anjaka needs us"

Helen pulled away slowly, sighing. He followed her out of the cell, his hand occasionally brushing her back, sending sweet shivers down her spine. They walked into the large room and Helen took a second to take in the scene before her. Alkima was still alive. John had left him that way obviously for Anjaka. He was pressed into a far corner, breathing heavily, his dead guards gathered around him in bloody, twisted heaps. Anjaka was in front of him, her breathing matching his, a sword level with his chest.

"I have lived years wanting to kill you Alkima. Now that the moment has arrived, I find that I cannot. All I see is the little boy that used to tug at my robes and mock me for not being able to make it up a tree."

Alkima smiled at her.

"That boy died a long time ago Anjaka. You know what releasing me would mean. I am not that boy anymore. I am King."

"A king that has done no good for anyone."

"I have done good things for the Darkers."

"You are going to destroy two races with one selfish whim"

Helen could feel the need to fight, the need to end this flooding through her. Kate wanted to jump in, to finish the battle and to protect Anjaka. Henry was trying to control the beast - all he wanted to do was kill Alkima. Helen frowned and sent a calming message to her team.

"She needs to do this - just Anjaka. If she needs us, we will step in"

Helen felt Anjaka's gratefulness and she knew that she had made the right move. Like the times she went after John, when the moments came where she could stop him, she needed to do it herself.

"Do you remember, big sister, when Lily was first born? You were so proud of her and what she would mean for our future"

"She is our future. A Queen who will give us so much more. Who can protect and teach"

"She is a threat to our ways - old and new. A cross-breed as a Queen? Never"

"It was decided the day that she was born. The Fates have marked her as their own. She will be Queen"

"Only if you kill me. If you don't, I will find her"

Anjaka pushed aside the panic and fear that he words had purchased in her mind.

"What made you this way brother? How could you reject our ways?"

"Just as you have - for survival. You used your powers to kill, to get you here. I used mine to find my true self. I am a Darker, I always have been. I just could not believe how blind you all where. Father saw it. He died before he could tell anyone. Otherwise my plan would have come to naught"

"Your plan to destroy us all"

Helen could feel Anjaka slipping. It didn't matter that this man was threatening his daughter or her people, this was still her brother. She wanted answers but Helen knew from personal experience that that was never going to be enough. No answer he gave would be enough for her. It would just give her more to think about, more to be confused over. Helen moved forward, slipping behind Anjaka. She extended her arm to cover Anjaka's, her hand over hers until they both had control of the blade.

"He won't give any answers that you will be satisfied with. This needs to end."

Anjaka nodded and leaned into Helen slightly, so that when they moved, they moved as one. Anjaka looked at Alkima again.

"I missed you for years brother and I would do what I could to save you."

"There is no saving me"

"I know this now"

Helen and Anjaka moved as one and in a quick move, the blade was pressed through Alkima's heart. He sighed and then died. It was undramatic and quick but Helen still felt the pain coming from Anjaka. Then before their eyes, Alkima changed again. His body shifted and within seconds a young boy lay in front of them, the innocent child that had existed before he had become a Darker. Anjaka folded into Helen, for the first time showing what this had done to her, what this mission had cost her. Helen pushed the sword aside and held the young woman tightly. In many ways the war was over but this was a battle that Anjaka would have to fight on her own. It had to be done, Alkima had to die. It was the only way to save humans and the Khardsians themselves. There were no good choices in this situation. But the grief, the pain that came with that choice was one that Helen was all too familiar with.

"It had to be done Anjaka. There was no alternative

"I know this, Helen Magnus. But my heart still hurts."

Helen let the woman cry and grieve, her small team, safe and tired around her. Now was the time for reflection and she could feel her team doing just that. In this battle for abnormals, in this battle for their own race, they had all taken lives and had watched Lighters die. It had been worth it, Helen knew that. Lives traded for a greater need, for a greater good. But even with the justification of scales and balance, this was still a sad time.