Ten minutes on and Rose was still muttering furiously about deceptions and inconceivable betrayals. She was furious, her anger shining through in each muttered syllable and every harsh turn about the room. In truth, Helen was close to furious too. Part of her was in shock, still convinced that John was long dead, his sacrifice in Hollow Earth meaning more to her than she'd ever imagined but part of her was fuming. So much for redemption, she thought bitterly.
Nikola, on the other hand, had remained absolutely passive while Rose continued her vitriolic spray. He was the picture of ease, sitting comfortably in his arm chair, regarding the two women with nothing more than a passing interest. Helen flicked her eyes to him, annoyance rising in her chest. How could he be so calm when it was apparent that their old friend was alive and once more killing innocent people? Sure he and John had never been the best of friends but there was a time when they cared for one another, she was sure of it. Before love or lust or this stupid game of possession came into the picture they were all good friends, capable of caring for each other.
"Oh don't worry," Rose spat, turning to wave a dismissive hand at Nikola. "He's freaking out too. You're not the only one."
At that, Nikola turned to Helen, arching an eyebrow and she sighed before sinking into the nearest seat.
"Are you sure Rose?" she asked, half hoping this was all some elaborate hoax. Not that she'd ever known Rose to be wrong when it came to her abilities but still a small part of her hoped her friend had failed miserably.
"It's him," she hissed, jaw set. "It is most certainly him and they are most certainly hiding out in Egypt."
"Egypt?" Nikola echoed in question.
"I saw it all," Rose said, her voice dropping to a near whisper as she stood by the great window, looking out over the drizzly morning. "They're hiding just outside of Alexandria, as far from the Cairo Sanctuary as they dare."
"Yes but why Egypt?" Nikola continued. "If she truly wants to piss you off like you said, wouldn't she base herself at least on this continent?"
"She was born in Egypt," Rose continued. "It was always where she felt most at home. If you were planning an ambush, wouldn't you plan it in the one place you felt most comfortable?"
"But she hasn't been there in literally a thousand or so years," Helen chimed in.
"But she knows how much I despise the country," Rose countered smoothly. "Don't you remember how hesitant I was to come visit when you were out digging in the back of beyond for that ridiculous tomb?"
"I thought it was simply because of your aversion to hard work," Nikola replied, lips twitching into a smirk as Rose rolled her eyes.
"Regardless," she said, lips lilting into a semblance of a smile before determination filled her face once more. "She is in Egypt with John, fully awaiting my arrival."
"So what do we do?" Helen asked. As much as she'd had the conversation with Nikola already, taking point from Rose in a situation like this seemed the intelligent thing to do.
"First, I'd recommend you bring the others up here so that we can brief them all at once but then we'll need to formulate a back plan in case I fail."
"In case you should fail at what?" Helen asked, not liking where this was going.
"At killing her," Rose said softly, brow furrowing as if astounded that Helen had not realised that already.
It took only a few minutes to get Henry and Will up to speed on the situation, both of them staring wide eyed in shock at the revelation that Druitt wasn't dead. She'd never fully discussed with that what had occurred down in Hollow Earth as she stepped through the portal but Helen had made it perfectly clear that they'd not be receiving any more unsolicited visits from John.
"So he's not..." Henry trailed off, looking to Helen in askance and she shook her head.
"It seems not," she replied tightly. It wasn't so much that she wished for him to die but, considering the pain and suffering his continued existence was causing not only herself but him too, Helen had been a little happy at his demise. She'd hoped that perhaps now they'd all know a little more peace but apparently, she had been very much wrong.
"So how do we stop this Kree person?" Will asked, brows knitting together. "From the sounds of it she's gotta be our first priority."
"Correct William," Rose said tightly, not meeting the younger man's gaze. "But killing her won't be terribly easy. She'll allow me to travel to Egypt safely but, once I find her she'll no doubt have a thousand different ways she intends to kill me."
"But can't you see all of them?" Henry asked, puzzled. "Like, you can see that she's with Druitt in Egypt, can't you see what she plans on doing to you?"
"I wish it were so easy," she said with a heavy sigh. "Kre'anta can block my mind, what I saw of Egypt was either deliberate on her part or a momentary lapse in her concen-."
Her words died abruptly, eyes glazing over for a second before she started back to life once more, blinking rapidly as she shook her head.
"Deliberate," Rose said bitterly. "She wants me to find her."
"How do you know that?" Will asked, sounding sceptical.
"She just told me," Rose added, eyes flashing with anger. "She's taunting me now, giving my glimpses of what she's 'got in store for me'." She raised her hands for the air quotations before dropping her balled fists back to her sides.
"You mean you're talking with her now?" Helen asked, surprised.
"Oh we've been chatting for the past hour or so," Rose replied darkly. "In fact she won't leave me alone."
She was silent for a beat before letting out a humourless chuckle.
"She'd like me to inform you all that, regardless of my attempts on her life, she'll not harm you unless you give her good cause."
Helen almost gasped at that but the Rose snorted with dark laughter.
"You have her word," she drawled, disgust etched onto her face.
"She knows you're with us?" Helen asked, suddenly worried. Surely if Rose could see snippets of the other woman's world, the reverse would be true as well.
"I've kept the majority of our conversations private and blocked your faces from her but yes, she's aware of this," Rose allowed. "I see no point keeping her locked out. She already knows I won't allow her to keep killing like this so where's the harm in her knowing I intend to kill her for it."
"Can't you reason with her?" Helen asked, feeling a little desperate.
"No more than you could ever reason with John," she countered sadly.
There was another pause before Rose snarled at something the rest of them had not heard.
"What is it, what did you see?" Will prompted.
"Simply confirmation that she is a vindictive bitch," Rose growled, not looking at any of them.
"So," Nikola interjected smoothly after a beat. "How do we do it?"
"Do what?" Will asked, shooting the other man a confused look.
"Kill her," Nikola replied condescendingly.
"Your blood," Helen answered, looking to Rose for confirmation. Rose smiled and nodded.
"You remember how Helen's blood nearly killed me and it had been stripped of most of the source blood components?" Rose asked, arching an eyebrow. "Well just think how toxic Nikola's will be in comparison."
"Hey!"
"Oh you know what I mean," Rose said, waving away his complaint with the closest thing to a smile any of them had seen on her face in some time. "But if you wouldn't mind Helen, do you think you could get me perhaps two or three vials before I leave?"
"You can't be thinking to go alone," Helen chastised.
"That's suicide," Henry agreed, looking startled.
"That's Rose," Nikola drawled, winking at her but Rose only smiled, her lips drawn tight over her teeth.
"There's no other way," she declared. "I can't risk any of your lives like this, I know she'll probably kill me which leaves you all as the second line of defence. If someone came with me she'd kill us both without a second thought."
"I'm coming with you," Helen said firmly.
"Be reasonable," Rose countered, tone coloured with anger.
"Only if you are," Helen countered smoothly. There was no way she'd allow Rose to traipse off on her own, not after the number of times the other woman had almost given her life for Helen. Despite the fact that they'd had only had sporadic contact during Helen's second life, Rose had been instrumental in ensuring she wasn't discovered by the other Helen.
She'd run interference between the two whenever it got too close for Helen's liking and not once insisted Helen properly explain her long term plan. She knew most of it though, hiding one's thoughts from someone with telepathic abilities was a little difficult. She had tried so very hard to keep it under wraps but, once it turned out that Rose refused to ask the questions Helen knew must be burning a hole through her tongue, did she decide it wasn't worth the headache. And Rose hadn't pushed, not once, not about anything.
"I owe you this," Helen said softly, hoping that Rose would relent. "Do you remember that day in Nepal?"
"That was different," Rose barked. "A mudslide is hardly comparable to an insane distant relative hell bent on destroying everything I've ever held dear because I threw her into a bloody volcano."
"The principle remains the same," Helen replied. "I owe you one."
So fingers crossed that explained a little more of the whole secret timewarp thing. Next up we'll get to the good stuff (see: verbal abuse and kissing). Hugs and love and eternal gratitude to those reading and reviewing :)
xx