AN: Finally finished this darn chapter and am posting while the dang thunderstorms are taking a break for a change. Stupid storms. If I don't post my chapters quite as often as usual I apologize because I had some fantastic ideas for a couple of new stories so I am going to try to work on those as well as this story.


Nikola had been at the Sanctuary for several weeks during which time he had managed to finish off everything in the wine cellar in almost record time and make himself an almost permanent residence in the library. It was becoming oddly normal to see him in the library for hours, if not days at a time, surrounded by stacks of books and empty bottles of wine. He was quite obviously still feeling the loss of his home and book collection.

Thankfully for everyone, it was actually Henry who seemed to be quite good at distracting him from his depression. There were always things that needed to be done around the Sanctuary and Henry had become good at finding things to peak Nikola's interest enough that he wouldn't think of anything else except solving the puzzle in front of him. Of course the little puzzles would never last too long if you considered how intelligent Nikola was, but they seemed to help distract him and Henry was learning quite a bit from the vampire in the process.

The vampire and werewolf were arguing over a piece of equipment when Helen walked into the lab with a look of amusement on her face at the pair arguing like children.

"Something wrong here gentlemen?" She asked as they turned to her as though surprised to see her in the room.

"Wolf boy here seems to disagree with me on the finer points of electrical engineering…"

"Because you're wrong and you know it Vlad."

"My puppy protégé does not seem to realize that when it comes to matters of an electrical nature, I am the master and he is the student." Nikola continued as though he hadn't been interrupted and dropped a screwdriver on the table before facing Helen.

"Since when is Henry your protégé?" Helen asked with a slight smile.

"You have one so why can't I? And it isn't as though he has anything better to do with his spare time. So I figured why let all that potential talent go to waste?" Nikola motioned to the werewolf absently.

"Hey, I am in the room and don't I get a say in this?" Henry asked even though he didn't really mind Nikola calling him his protégé and he wasn't even about to mention the fact that the vampire had just complimented him, despite the fact it was backhanded praise. It had just become a habit to complain about such things where Nikola was concerned. Plus they both enjoyed the back and forth banter that ensued from such comments.

"No. Now hush puppy, the grown ups are talking." Nikola said though his tone was slightly playful to let Henry know he wasn't being serious. Henry rolled his eyes in mock annoyance and shook his head before going back to his work.

"Jackass." Henry mumbled causing Nikola to toss something at him.

"Shh or I will muzzle you pup."

"Just try it Fang."

"Don't tempt me Heinrich."

"Well its good to see the two of you getting along so well. I guess I will just leave you to your problem. Do try not to blow anything up this time Nikola." Helen said interrupting the banter.

"It was an accident last time. Science often involves certain risks and failures…and how was I supposed to know that was going to happen?" Nikola said slightly sheepishly as he really had caused quite the explosion the other day. Luckily for everyone involved, it was mostly black smoke, a little fire and noise as opposed to actual destruction. Apart from the small fire that was easily put out before becoming serious, nothing was actually harmed. The most damage done was a little black singeing on the walls.

"I know. Though I do still wonder how you manage to cause things that could never possibly explode to do so in such a spectacular fashion."

"It was pretty impressive if I do say so myself." Henry said.

"What can I say? I'm talented like that." Nikola grinned slightly causing Helen to smile in fondness at the pair.

"Well if you could keep explosions to a minimum this week I would most appreciate it."

"I shall endeavor to do so my dear Helen. But you know I can't promise anything." She rolled her eyes and left the room muttering something about cheeky vampires, paperwork and wine.

"You know she's going to find out." Henry said once Helen had gotten out of hearing range.

"Eventually."

"She's going to shoot you."

"Probably."

"Then she'll shoot me."

"Doubtful. She'll probably just lecture you about how you should not be listening to my ideas."

"You mean schemes."

"Ideas, schemes. Same difference." Nikola waved a hand absently.

"Yeah but…" Nikola just put a hand over Henry's mouth before shushing him again.

"Quiet. Stop worrying yourself Wolfgang. It's getting rather annoying." Nikola said before pulling away and turning back to his work. "Besides, its not like I'm planning world domination…again."

"Oh like those plots ever go well for you anyway. Or do I need to bring up the trust fund vamps again?"

"…Shut up."

Henry grinned to himself as the vampire turned away looking slightly embarrassed and he knew he temporarily won this round.

"Trust fund vamps though?"

"Heinrich!" Nikola yelled causing the wolf to laugh and duck to avoid the object thrown at his head.


It was several hours later that Nikola and Henry found themselves headed for Helens office while discussing a new power source for the stunners that Nikola wanted to try out.

"That could work." Henry said as they entered the office. Nikola just smirked at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Of course it will. I do actually consider these things quite thoroughly despite what people seem to think."

"I believe you. What do you think about…" Henry didn't get a chance to finish as Kate and Will entered the room followed closely by Helen who was looking particularly serious.

"I didn't do it." Nikola said quickly when he saw the look on Helen's face. Henry just turned to him with a slightly amused look. "What? When she has that face on either I did something or something really serious is going on. I'm just covering my bases."

"There are reports of a creature resembling a Coleanthropus loose in the warehouse district." Helen said causing Henry to frown.

"One of those big lizard wasp things?" Helen nodded and Henry winced in remembrance of the creature they had only managed to contain by pure luck.

"I take it by everyone's wincing this is a bad thing?" Nikola asked.

"Imagine a T-Rex with armor, longer arms, a wasps head and standing about 20 feet tall and you'll pretty much have it." Henry said and Nikola shuddered at the image.

"Oh."

"There have also been sightings of Jessopeds. Reports say they are incredibly aggressive which is unusual as they are usually docile unless they are cornered or feel threatened." Will said.

"We have teams headed out now but we are going to need your help if it is a Coleanthropus." Helen finished up and Henry was already headed out to grab his gear.

"Exactly where were the Jessopeds spotted?" Nikola asked Will all of a sudden with a worried look on his face. Will answered and Nikola turned deathly pale.

"Abby. She's in that area." He whispered and ran out of the room quickly followed by Kate and then Helen who told Will to take care of the Coleanthropus.


The car screeched to a halt in front of the building and Nikola was out before Helen and Kate could even blink. They got out quickly and followed the vampire as best they could.

"Can we agree to never let him drive again? I don't think I've ever been so scared for my life after having been in a car with him driving." Kate said still looking slightly pale.

"Agreed." Helen said shaking her head slightly at the memory of the terrifying ride.

A loud growl filled the air and the women rushed towards the sound. Nikola was standing over Abby snarling protectively with several quills embedded in his flesh, his vampire features out in full force. The Jessoped let loose something that sounded like a cross between a hiss and a growl. Luckily for Abby, none of the poisonous quills had hit her, unfortunately the four-inch claws had sliced deep wounds into her abdomen and the blood was driving the beast even wilder then it already seemed to be.

Helen immediately started to make her way over to Abby while Kate covered her. Abby was still conscious, barely, and crimson liquid was covering the floor and kept pouring freely from her injuries. She whimpered softly as Helen tried to stem the bleeding as best she could and Nikola twitched at the sound but kept his eyes on the animal in front of him.

The creature was large, almost twice the size of an African Lion with a very similarly large feline like body to match. Instead of just having fur, it had a mixture of fur and a deadly collection of sharp poison quills running from the base of its skull along its back to the tip of its wolf like tail. Its fur was a thick, shaggy mixture of yellow orange with the occasional black stripe and its eyes were an entirely lime green color with a pupil so small it was almost unseen. It bared its six-inch fangs and attempted to slash its long claws at Nikola again.

Nikola ducked the claws and followed up with his own set flying towards the face of the creature only to miss by millimeters as it backed away trying to find another point of attack.

"Nikola down!" Kate yelled as she finally managed to get a decent shot without Nikola being in the way. The vampire hit the ground as Kate fired the stunner at full power several times before the Jessoped finally fell to the ground unconscious. Nikola immediately moved to Abby and noticed she had passed out while Helen had been trying to stop her bleeding.

"We need to get her to the Sanctuary immediately." Helen said while turning to Kate.

"I already called the Big Guy when I saw Abby, he's getting everything ready now and a team is about five minutes away to pick up Spike here." Kate said motioning to the Jessoped on the floor. Nikola lifted Abby up as quickly and gently as possible so he could carry her to the car.

Both Kate and Helen noticed despite the fact he still had his vampire features out, he was being incredibly delicate with the bleeding woman, taking care not to harm her with his claws. Though from the look on his face it seemed harder to ignore the intense scent of blood that was swiftly soaking into his shirt. Helen followed with Kate who slipped into the drivers seat and drove them back to the Sanctuary as quickly as possible.