Chapter 10
Kate kept her eyes downcast as she walked through the halls, every step felt hesitant and wary. She was nervous, unsure of what she was going to say. Her fingers twiddled together as she walked into the lab.
There he was, so small, so unknowing. Two big sad eyes set into a fluffy brown face.
She walked up to the window and watched him silently for a few minutes before rapping on the glass.
"Hey Tesla," she started nervously. "Magnus just came out of surgery…the Nubbins, they all came out fine but…she's not doing so well, I'm sorry, we're keeping an eye on her condition, but we almost lost her during the operation, at this point we might have to scan her, see what damage they may have done, I wish I had better news for you Nikola."
Nikola looked up with his big sad grey orbs and whimpered and long sad sigh. Kate bit her lip.
"Is there anything I can do, anything to help?" Kate sighed
Nikola shook his head in response.
He let out a sorrowful squeak, she couldn't tell if it was for Helen or for himself, but he was not a happy Nubbin either way.
"I wish I could help you but we still don't know what you and the Doc were working on, Henry has examined that stunner inside and out and can't make heads or tails of it and we won't know until Magnus wakes up. Even then, we don't know if we can even finish what you started, I'm sorry it seems your stuck like this for the moment."
Kate noticed the TV had been turned off, neither the soap opera channel nor the home and garden network being adequate distraction for the downcast Nikola.
"I wish there was a way to communicate with you," she sighed.
He looked up and started to squeak rapidly, as if he was trying to speak to her.
"Tesla, I don't speak Nubbin," Kate bit her lip, this was hard to watch even for her.
He bounced up and down shrieking loudly.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're trying to say," she sighed and turned on her heel, not able to watch him anymore.
He squeaked after her.
Once the door had shut behind her Nikola let out a slightly frustrated huff and stomped on the ground in anger for not being heard.
He went over to the wall and leant forward enough for his head to smack into the cement wall. It was as good of a face plant as he could manage.
A little puff of dust emanated off the wall and he immediately leaned back. Letting out an interested squeak.
He looked up and saw the entry way to a vent. He looked over at the angled gurney and a small hint of a smile played on his face.
Despite his Nubbin appearance he still had the same powers he had before. Since the gurney was able to rotate and was made mostly out of metal he had an advantage. He sat and concentrated; using his powers to angle the gurney is such a way that he could use it as a launch pad. In his head he calculated trajectory and the amount of speed, plus approximate weight.
When he was ready he stood on one end of the gurney, looked towards the vent and with a single thought, released one side of the gurney to send him flying straight towards the…wall.
He shrieked before splatting face first against the concrete.
He made a groan before falling back on to the floor.
He landed with a squeak.
In a moment he shook off the shock and managed to roll himself upright again. He shook out his dizzy head then looked back at the gurney with a determined glare.
He was just off by a few factors, a mistake he would not make again.
Once again he positioned the gurney, hopping on top of it then, with a thought, sprung his end up wards. In the air he angled himself so he would crash into the vent bottom first.
He let out a long shrill squeak as he went flying through the vent, bouncing against all four walls as he kept flying through like a tennis ball, till he bounced bum first, head first, bum first, then face planted against the cool metal floor of the vent.
He groaned, his eyes rolling around in their sockets, both dizzy and a little dazed.
It was not long though till he was back on his feet…well sort of.
His ear twitched slightly and he sniffed the air, deciding which way to go. He didn't escape for the heck of it; he had escaped for a reason.
With one last twitch of the ear he made himself down the vent.
~~~~Elsewhere~~~~
Will sighed passing Kate in the hall.
"Hey, what's going on?" he nudged her shoulder.
She let out a long sigh.
"It's hard, you know, well you do know, you've experienced that feeling of being trapped inside a creature like that, it was hard for me when it was you and it's still hard for me now, it sucks because I know he's in there, and I know he understands what I'm saying but he can't tell me anything in return."
Will ran a hand through his hair.
"I'd say it's harder for him, for me, I don't know, it felt like a bad dream, it was like waivering in and out of conscious, for him."
"You can't compare it really, they're two very different experiences and in the end you're still watching someone you care, or in Tesla's case you tolerate, fade away, and with Magnus being out of it I just feel…so useless," she put her hands on her hips and let out a tired sigh.
"I know how you feel, this Nubbin excursion has caught us all by surprise," he smiled softly.
"Yah, you know, I used to love surprises, now not so much," she rolled her eyes.
"How is he by the way?" asked Will.
"He's fine, even though it's like watching the most melancholy Nubbin in history, even the soap operas don't cheer him up any more," she sighed.
"Maybe another blood sample will lift his spirits?" smirked Will as he lifted up a needle.
"What's this for?" asked Kate.
"Paternity test," chuckled Will. "Big Guy wants to cheer up Magnus when she recovers, we figured that another shooting session with Nikola as the target would perk her right up."
Kate shook her head and laughed.
"Oh I'm sure he will comply willingly," she teased.
"Well, I won't tell him that," shrugged Will.
"But shouldn't it be obvious by now?" she asked.
"Yeah, but Biggie wants to run the tests anyways, just to be sure," he sighed.
"Here, I'll come with you, in case you need someone to hold him down or something," she sighed and followed him.
"That's probably a good idea," he smirked.
They got to the lab with relative ease.
"He's in there, you just can't see him," sighed Kate.
They walked up to the window, their faces dropping as they approached.
"No, I'm pretty sure he's not in there," said Kate.
"How the hell did he?" she looked up at the Nubbin sized hold in the vent. "That sneaky bastard conned me!"
Will groaned.
"Even when he's a Nubbin he's still got a hidden agenda! You can't trust him!" cried Will.
"Where's he going?" cried Kate.
"I don't know, but he better not be off to free his clan members," groaned Will, pushing the emergency button on the wall. "He got out!"
Will cried over the intercom.
He picked up the wall phone and called Henry.
"Yah, you heard me…the furry little cretin busted himself out of isolation…I don't know how he did it, just lock down the Nubbin areas…which won't help much because he's in the vents! Nevermind! Just head down there and shoot anything fluffy and squeaky that you see, ok!"
He hung up the phone.
"I swear I'm going to shoot him myself!" he cursed, growling at Kate.
"Like that will do any good, he'll just heel and bite you," groaned Kate.
"I know, but I really, really want to," whined Will.
"First, let's find him before we make plans to cause him harm," she sighed. "And before he causes trouble."
~~~~In the Vents~~~~
Nikola bounced through the vents, letting out a small squeak every few bounces. He felt like a dog's squeaky toy, but it really couldn't be helped.
He stopped, and sniffed again, his ear twitching.
He turned a corner and hopped a bit more before coming to another vent opening. He peered through it, recognizing the hall. With a small disgusted squeak he tentatively took a bite out of the metal, choking it down until there was a hole big enough for him to crawl through.
"EEEEEEEEK!" he screeched as he dropped to the hardwood floor.
He landed on his bottom and bounced slightly.
A vase fell of its perch and crashed to the floor beside him, making him squeak and jump in surprise.
He shook his head and kept going; he was very close to his destination.
He hopped along until he came to the doors of the infirmary. He was just about to enter into it when it swung open harshly carrying him with it. He squeaked slightly.
The Big Guy ran out of the infirmary with a loud growl, booking it down the hall.
Nikola peeked his head from behind the door, resenting being treated like a doorstop.
He moved into the infirmary, the door swinging shut behind him.
His big blue-grey eyes searched the huge room until they found what they were searching for.
At the back of the infirmary, lying still in the hospital bed was Helen. Why he felt compelled to come here to see her was beyond him, but he had to do it.
He hopped over to the bed. It was a mountain from his height, but luckily there was a chair sitting right next to it. He jumped up high enough to latch himself onto the seat with his teeth and flipped himself on to it, topside. From the he was at a close enough distance to hope over to the edge of Helen's bed.
She was incredibly pale and he whimpered softly seeing her. He had never meant to hurt her like this.
He bounced carefully over to her, nuzzling her with his head, to she if she would stir. When she didn't he pushed her arm over to make room for himself to snuggled down beside her. He squeaked sadly, resting in the crook of her arm, looking up at her face with a flash of hope.
Suddenly the infirmary doors swung open and Big Guy, Will and Kate barged in.
"We've got him!" cried Will.
Kate dropped her weapon, seeing the patch of fur lying next to Helen.
"Nope, we've got squat," she sighed.
Nikola squeaked at them, snuggling closer to Helen, to signify he didn't want to be taken away from her.
"Just when you think he's going to throw the whole place into an uproar, he goes a does something like this," muttered Will.
"He must've wanted to see her when I told him about her condition," sighed Kate.
Helen stirred slightly and Nikola chirped.
"Well, that's the first sign of movement we've had from her," Kate sighed in relief.
The walkie-talkie in Will's hand bleeped and Will answered it.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Uhh, we have a problem with our new intakes," said Henry over the device.
"What?" cried Will.
"You might want to get down here," he signed off and Will groaned.
"This day just never ends!" he cried.
"You guys go, I'll stay here and watch over these two," said Kate.
Big Guy and Will nodded leaving the infirmary quickly.
Kate looked over at Nikola and smirked.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" she chuckled, taking a seat.
If she never saw a Nubbin again it would be too soon.