Author's Note: If this feels disjointed at the end, then I have done my job well. I thought Helen and Nikola needed a few moments.

Disclaimer: I sort of wish I owned the characters and show, but I don't and they seem to be in capable hands.

Sanctum

-((-))-

Playing

-Helen's POV-

"Bloody maid, I knew she couldn't be trusted." Nikola growled, looking around them furtively.

Helen shook her head, fighting off a chuckle. He could be so dramatic. They had no way of knowing if it was the young woman that had planted the explosive device. After all, they had locked the maid in a room upstairs so that she wouldn't wander into something unwittingly and get herself killed. How then had she gotten out to set such a trap? On the other hand, if it wasn't her, than that meant there was someone else here with them. Judging by the devastated state of this entry hall now, someone who wanted one or both of them dead. Frowning, she shifted. Her leg was starting to burn like fire. She knew she didn't have long before the shock completely wore off and her body would demand precedence over all else, so she tried to stay on point. "We need to be more careful from now on. Keep our eyes open. And taking a defensive position would be wise."

"Agreed." He sighed. "Really, is there no good help these days? Your band of merry elves deserts you, while I'm stuck with some murderous cleaning lady from hell."

She opened her mouth to protest on her team's behalf, but at the same time she shifted to the side to face him properly. Her leg refused to take her weight properly so that she was suddenly lurching sideways in a stumble.

Nikola caught her with a single arm, then his other arm snaked around her midsection and his lips settled near her ear. "Liar! I knew it." The last was said in a sing-song and cocky tone.

"Didn't either." She leered at him over her shoulder. There was no point in trying to lie if she couldn't even keep her feet under her but he didn't have to act as though he had just been waiting for her frailty to catch up with her. This sucked enough as it was. Sometimes, she really hated how much stronger he was than she could be. Although, with the feel of his arms around her, she could think of worse situations to be in. "It's not bad."

"Still, we're vulnerable here. Come on, there should be a medical kit in the kitchen and it's more easily defended."

Rather than waste her energy protesting the move, she came, leaning on his arm for support as she limped. He seemed none the worse for wear.

The kitchen was well appointed. Bland, but serving its purpose. Dark stone counter tops were the only real feature of note. After they entered, Nikola turned to lock and bar the door, easily dragging the fridge in front of it. Then he swung back and lifted her up onto the kitchen counter with gentle strength.

"I'm not the one that got blown up, I don't know why you're fussing."

He scowled at her. "I've just been blown up; I don't enjoy the thought of having to carry you out of here."

She scoffed, sure that with his inappropriate mind he probably very much did enjoy the thought of carrying her and just about anywhere at that. Maybe not while they were being shot at... but still.

After a quick rummage in a drawer, he brought out the med kit and opened it up.

For the first time, she looked at the limb that was causing her so much pain. There was a long gash up her leg, ending in the still healing slashes of her previous injury. Which would explain why it hurt so much more than was normal. It had aggravated the lingering poison and redistributed the traces back into her blood stream. Razor Sill poison was clingy like that.

"Not too big, not too deep." Nikola commented. He had obviously been looking too. "You won't even need stitches this time."

"Thanks to you." She answered faintly, giving him a fleeting smile of gratitude before looking back down. It wasn't something she particularly wanted to talk about. He may be able to brush it off, but she would never get used to seeing him bloodied and broken like that. "Butterfly bandages, some antiseptic and a patch or two of gauze should do it."

He held some out to her. "After I clean it out- you get the top, I'll get the bottom?"

She nodded and tried to reach for the bandages, but her right arm wouldn't cooperate.

Obviously perturbed as he watched her struggle, Nikola set the bandages down and took her arm.

Her pain tripled. The air left her lungs forcibly as white and red stars exploded on the edges of her vision. She looked down at the way he was slowly moving her arm, noticing the other bump and the odd angle of her shoulder joint. "Shoulder's dislocated." She observed through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, I noticed." He murmured, shooting her an uneasy look. "I'm going to have to put it back in, Helen."

She just nodded her understanding and swallowed her displeasure at once again being in the position of the patient. Role reversal may be an interesting concept, but honestly she despised its real world complications. She was the one with the medical degree, after all.

He made it quick, thankfully; nimble hands snapping the offending bone back into the socket before she could blink.

Her vision went white, then black, and finally fizzled back into focus even as he wrapped her shoulder up and then secured her arm in a sling. How he was working that out with her head lulled into the crease of his neck and her upper body weight leaning on him heavily, she had no clue. "Y-our the one that... got h-hurt." She slurred out, head still muddled. Maybe the poison was effecting her again more than she'd thought.

"Vampire, remember?" He answered back. "Besides, you weren't recovered enough to go through this kind of bang-up with your usual gusto. Now shut-up, this takes more concentration than I would have thought."

Now she was really getting woozy. Had he just told her to shut-up? Well, two could play at that. On a strange, yet well-known impulse she usually ignored, she turned her face into his neck, her lips ghosting over his skin as she spoke. "Am I distracting you again, Mr. Tesla?" Oh. That came out a bit throatier than her mind had first intended, but she was pleased it came out without being slurred. Since she felt him shiver in response, she decided to fully chalk it up to a win. Unable to hold it in, she smirked against his flesh and he drew in a sharp breath. Her expression broadened into a grin.

Hey, she was good at this game.

"Ooo-kay." He said, shifting away slightly as he drew the word out. She immediately missed the contact. "Helen, why don't you take this pain medicine? It should help take the edge off."

She did as told, dry-swallowing the pills he handed her quickly so he wouldn't try to move so far away as to get her some water. There wasn't a doubt in her addled mind she'd fall over right now if he did. Her leg started stinging terribly. When she looked down, she could see Nikola examining and cleaning the gash there, already having torn her pants open wider to get at it. It seemed harder for Helen to focus for some reason.

He pressed on the upper portion, making her whimper. Then he cursed. "Damned poison."

The feeling of pain intensified measurably. Clutching at one of his arms, she bunched his torn shirt in her fist tightly.

"Okay, that's as good as its going to get, unless you know something I don't." He sounded displeased.

Her? Oh yes, she knew a great many things that he did not, but the same could be said vise-versa she supposed. For instance, she never could wrap her mind around his apparent need to tick off everyone he met, not when he could show such compassion when no one was looking. But then he had never gone along with her notion that she needed to risk her life for creatures she didn't know. She knew he looked damn sexy in those suits of his, which he would never learn from her if she could help it. However, she had no idea how he truly felt toward her. That remained a secret he kept too well disguised. Every time, just when she thought she had figured it out, he turned around and tried to kill her.

Nikola was packing some gauze back into its proper box. She watched the white squares disappear in confusion. Didn't he need to do something with those? Something to do with her leg and slow, sluggish bleeding she was sure. Bending over a little, she looked at her leg, satisfied when she saw matching white squares up the side. Sitting up straight again gave her a head rush. She blinked, closing one eye and idly wondering why the room had tilted off axis. Even when she bent her head to try and straighten it, all it did was make everything blur a little.

Suddenly, Nikola was speaking to her again. "-and block our getaway. We have to catch her before she does more damage." He paused, giving her a frown. "Helen?"

She smiled blearily at him. "Hmm?"

"Did you hear what I just said?"

Drat. She'd missed most of it. "Catch... something. Right?"

His hand pressed against her forehead and she leaned into his touch. Why didn't he ever just touch her like that? "You're running a bit of a fever again. Can you lie down for me? Give your head some time to clear and the medicine time to start working?"

What was he talking about? Wasn't she already laying down?

He guided her body with care, but her shoulder started hurting the second her weight shifted, so she protested faintly. He sat her back up immediately. "Alright. We won't do that."

Yes, let's not.

He started looking around as though searching for something.

All she could think to do was smile and try to catch his eye. Was he looking for her? If so, she was right here. Wasn't she? For a moment, she wondered. It wouldn't be the first time she thought she was somewhere she wasn't. Damned hallucinogenic...

Finally, he just picked her up again, angling her in his arms so that it didn't hurt her shoulder. With his support the room stopped spinning.

Nope, this was here. She would never be able to imagine this so well. He somehow made her feel safe, challenged, steady, comforted, and annoyed all at the same time. So for now, she buried her face in his chest and let the darkness take her.

-((-))-