I know this has been an anticipated chapter… my muse left me for a little while, while I was dealing with some.. we'll say issues.. BUT I'm back now… and my updates will be more regular..

As for the disclaimer… Do you really think I own Sanctuary?


Ice

Chapter 9


Will looked around at everything with childlike amazement. He honestly felt like he'd walked right in to a page of one of Henry's comic books. There were structures made of ice everywhere. They were in some kind of ice cavern. The ice had to be thick to protect them from the outside conditions, but the light filtered through, illuminating the entire cavern so they could see. It reminded him of lying at the bottom of the pool looking up at the bright sky.

There were smaller dwellings for the younger Amarok, and house-like lodgings for the Ancient Ones. There was no separation from the Ancient Ones and the young, suggesting that they lived a comfortable existence in close proximity to one another. He really wished that he had his camera so that he could document this. He tried to convince himself in many ways the need to do such a thing, but he knew that he just really wanted to take pictures.

He didn't know what the Ancient One did to him, but he was now able to communicate telepathically at will with them. It no longer meant they had to be in constant contact.

"What did you do? How am I still able to communicate with you telepathically?"

"When I heal someone, there is an imprint of myself left behind. You will find that you can only communicate with me and those of my lineage."

"Is it permanent?"

"I do not know. No one that has been healed has stayed longer than 14 cycles of light."

"Any idea what the distance is that you can reach?"

"There is no limit to the distance, you need only to see who you are trying to contact in your mind, and say their name."

"That's amazing."

The Ancient One tensed for a moment and closed its eyes. A look of sadness took over its face.

"Some of our younglings have come across one of your traveling companions. He is being held by a strange reptilian man."


Nikola watched everything that was happening around him. None of it felt real. He couldn't feel the rest of his body, he knew he had broken bones, but for some reason being dragged and shifted around like he were a ragdoll didn't cause him any pain. He couldn't remember why he should be concerned, he couldn't focus. His thoughts and vision were clouded and he was fighting just to keep his eyes open. Helen's face would appear in front of his, her hands on his cheeks, she was trying to say something to him, but he couldn't understand what it was. So, he just smiled at her. Helen was so beautiful, even with her mask of worry.

Helen moved her hands to his leg, looking down at it Nikola realized that there was something off about it. His leg was lying at an angle that was…wrong. Nikola was only vaguely aware of Helen pulling off his external layer. Helen's face appeared in front of his once more, he still couldn't quite make out what she was saying, she's sorry? What was she sorry for?

A blast of pain brought Nikola back in full force to his surroundings. He screamed as Helen set his broken leg. She'd already made a splint for his leg and was tying it to him. His breathing was fast and ragged. Gone was the serene half asleep look from his face. Helen moved near his head again.

"You back with us now?" she asked as she cupped his cheek again.

Nikola tried to say something, but either the cold or the pain made his words unintelligible. So he slowly and jerkily nodded.

"Ok, Nikola, there is one more bone that I need to set, I know it hurts, and you most likely have a concussion, just bear with me while I do this ok? Try to stay awake."

Nikola looked at her and she could see the fear creeping into his face where there was already a shroud of pain.

"Niko, you're going to be ok, don't forget that I'm a doctor, we will beat this." After saying what she did to Nikola, she moved her hands to his arm, leaned over, kissed his forehead, when she pulled away Nikola was wearing a slight pained smile and his eyes were closed. She pulled his arm forcing the bone back into its proper place. He let out a loud gasp followed by a groan. Darkness was stealing into the edges of his vision and his eyes were beginning to feel very heavy.

Helen had just finished splinting his arm and was about to wrap his ribs when she noticed he was struggling to keep his eyes open. She gently put his arm down and grasped his temples tilting his head up to look at her.

"Nikola, don't you give up.. stay with me.."

Nikola was bewildered, he wasn't giving up, his eyes were just so heavy. He tried to convey this to her, but his vision gave out as he succumbed to his exhaustion. The hand he had been trying to reach out with fell back down to his side.

"Nikola…Nikola!"

Helen watched his eyes roll back and sighed. She knew that his body had been through a traumatic ordeal, he just simply didn't have any strength left. His chest was still rising and falling, though even in his sleep his breathing was labored. His pulse was weak but steady. She wrapped his ribs and immobilized his arm against his torso. She could only hope that his concussion wasn't as bad as she feared and that he would in fact wake up.

"Kate, help me lift him." Helen said moving to his upper torso. "Be careful you don't pull on his leg too much, I won't be able to tell how good a set that was until we get him back."

Helen thanked the powers that be that Kate was able to find a sled that was built for carrying cargo. They were able to sit him upright and wrap him as though he were in a cocoon with both blankets. Helen hated to turn the heat up full blast on the blankets, but she needed to get him warmed up, and simple body heat wasn't going to be enough this time. There were already ice crystals clinging to his wet hair.


"You!" Henry exclaimed.

"Yes, me." A reptilian face leered at him from the shadows.

"Why are you doing this Wexford?"

"Tisk, tisk.. did you forget what happened after I was stripped of my title? As if the sheer humiliation of losing my position wasn't enough, all of my assets were frozen and I was, for lack of a better phrase, abandoned by my fellow abnormals."

"That wasn't the Doc's fault. It was your own!" Henry said struggling against his bindings.

"I'm sure you recognize the bindings Mr. Foss. Titanium webbing, vampire proof, remember? I doubt you'll be able to break your way out of those."

"You won't get away with this Wexford." Henry growled.

"Sticks and stones I'm afraid. For the most part, I already have."


"I .. am.. so glad… he's unconscious … right now." Kate said between huffs.

Helen only laughed, "Yes, the situation we've all found ourselves in would most definitely add fuel to his ever growing ego."

"We're almost there, right?" Kate asked.

"Should be just beyond that tree line." Helen said pointing.

"Whoa! Doc.. hands back on the rope!" Kate wheezed almost slipping, "This would be a piece of cake if we weren't going uphill."

"Sorry," Helen said smiling, "I must say that it is quite unusual for you to show such concern for Nikola."

"It's not just about him right now… but back there.. he wasn't ..HIM… Doc." Kate sighed in relief as they reached the top of the slope. "I saw it in his eyes.. it…it was a moment of unabated clarity. He looked absolutely terrified like he didn't know how he'd gotten there, or how he was falling. It's like his eyes were screaming at me, 'Oh my God, help me!'."

Kate paused in her explanation to close her eyes. Helen understood how she felt, being forced to watch helplessly as something happens you are unable to control. She reached out her hand and placed it on Kate's shoulder.

"You don't have to re-live it Kate. It's ok."

Kate opened her eyes and allowed a single tear to fall. "It was just….. so very unnerving to see. Tesla's never really shown any true emotion around me before, so, I guess I just assumed he didn't have anything but an on switch for getting pissed." She paused again. "It made me realize just how human he is, especially now."

Helen smiled, "You should have seen him back in Oxford." she walked over to Nikola and crouched down next to him. "He was brilliant, of course, the problem was that he knew it. Boys will be boys though, even the intelligent ones," Helen ran her fingers through Nikola's hair, "When they realized that they really couldn't beat or match Nikola intellectually, they resorted to violence. He didn't show up for classes for two days, it was very unlike him, so I went to his dormitory to check on him. I found him, door unlocked, curled up in the window, sobbing. He'd been badly beaten, one of his eyes was nearly swollen shut, and he was cradling a broken arm. He was ready to quit. He refused to leave the dormitory even to see a doctor. I had to beg my father to come to him. I'd never seen my father so furious before as he was when he assessed Nikola's condition. 'All because of a superior intellect' he kept saying."

Helen moved over to his upper torso, "Get his feet, let's get him into the tent."

When they walked in, everything was just as she'd left it. They gingerly set him down, and Helen worked on unwinding the blankets from his body.

"Nikola's no stranger to pain, emotional or otherwise. He wears his arrogance as a shield, trying not to let anyone too close. It's enough to make me want to throttle him at times. I learned that I was the one to give him strength in those early days. He was so full of self-doubt, though you'd never know it to be around him. I had to tell all of the instructors that he was very ill, and I needed to take his assignments to him. He wouldn't leave that room until at the very least his eye looked somewhat normal. It took a while before he stopped flinching at human contact. He was very sickly the first week I was there with him. I ended up staying there nursing him through his fever, he was so weak he could barely stand. Complications from waiting too long to see a doctor with his broken arm and not eating properly. He always was one to test the boundaries of his body's endurance. Not thinking to take care of himself until he very nearly passed out from exhaustion or lack of food. It's one of the reasons that I've insisted on him staying at the Sanctuary since he's mortal now."

Helen looked up at Kate a little shocked that she'd gone on so long.

"You really do care a lot for him don't you Doc?"

Helen sighed, "I do…"

She stopped mid sentence as she heard what sounded like voices coming from the far end of the tent. She heard the familiar crackle of a walkie.

"That wasn't the Doc's fault. It was your own!"

"I'm sure you recognize the bindings Mr. Foss. Titanium webbing, vampire proof, remember? I doubt you'll be able to break your way out of those."

"You won't get away with this Wexford."

"Sticks and stones I'm afraid. For the most part, I already have."

"Bloody Hell!" Helen said looking at the GPS. "I just want this day, this trip, over!"