A/N Boo, Sanctuary is cancelled - how many of you cried? *blows into hanky* Despite that tragedy, this fic is definitely NOT abandoned as it has had a clear ending since day one, and I'm also glad for the fact that it has veered off into AU territory as many things that are canon in the show happened after it was planned out. Thanks for the patience, as I know it's been a long wait for this update. Keep trucking on fans! Let's not let all of Sanctuary die out. :)
TWELVE
"Coffee run." Raymond tentatively knocked at the door, pushing it open with his shoulder. Katie looked up to see who it was, brushing away a stray tear from her face, embarrassed. Raymond smiled encouragingly at her, striding over and pretending as if he hadn't seen, setting a cup of coffee down in front of her.
"I thought you were relieved from assistant duties," she said with a small smirk, picking up the coffee more for something warm to hold in her hands than to drink.
Raymond shrugged. "Old habits die hard. Besides, you've been working in here all night."
Katie let out a big sigh, shaking her head slightly. "I'm just trying to get my things organized and packed."
Raymond tried to hide his alarm, but he wasn't very good at hiding his feelings and Katie noticed. Swiping a hand through his hair to try and distract himself he asked, "Are you leaving?"
"Well, I can't really work for the network at the moment, so I was thinking of going to stay at my aunt's for a while in Long Island."
Raymond felt his heart sink a little and hoped it hadn't shown on his face. "Oh...that's not too far away." He brightened a little and said, "I could drive you there if you wanted. Save you having to sit on a bus."
Katie laughed. "That'd be nice, actually. Thank you."
"Are you leaving because of Doc?" The look Katie gave him made him blush and turn his eyes to the ground. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.
Katie gave him a coy look. "You think there's something serious between me and Doctor Tesla?"
Raymond snorted, still unable to meet her gaze. "Well...yeah."
Katie considered him for a long moment, this poor awkward guy who wore his heart on his sleeve and felt that twinge of guilt again. She was still trying to find a way to word her next reply when the door to the lab swung open and the devil himself walked in.
"I need a word with you." Tesla looked at Raymond and dismissively jerked his head over his shoulder. "You're on Underground duty, Edison, get to it."
Raymond shrugged and waved goodbye to her before skipping off, but Katie could see the heavy heart on his face despite his attempt at casual cheer. Tesla didn't seem to notice, or more likely he didn't care, and deftly seated himself in the chair Raymond had just vacated.
"Getting cozy with the help?"
Katie gave him a look, before dignifying that with a reply. "He's sweet."
Tesla pulled a face before passing his tablet over to her. "I have a job offer for you. Completely separate from the network, a private contract with my own personal company."
Katie's eyes widened as her eyes scanned the tablet screen. When she looked up to Tesla with a thousand questions ready to spill forth from her lips he held up a stern finger.
"You are not allowed to tell anyone about this. Absolutely no one."
"Hey. Hey."
Sherman looked over, annoyed, to see who had been flinging dirt at his back to see Raymond hacking furiously away at a section of crumbled wall with his shovel as if he were stabbing someone he really hated in the face. Raymond hadn't even heard him. Rolling up his sleeves, Sherman walked over and grabbed the shovel out of his hands. Raymond looked up, panting slightly, and Sherman saw a flash of anger there he hadn't ever seen on the new kid before. It made all of his irritation melt away.
"What's the matter, kid?"
"Nothing." Raymond tugged on the shovel to get back to work but Sherman held fast. He raised an eyebrow, dug into his vest pockets and brought out a chocolate bar, waving it in Raymond's face.
"Come on, break time. Gnaw on this." At the annoyed look on Raymond's face he threw his arms out. "What? You don't like candy bars?"
Sighing, Raymond took the bar from Sherman and sat down. "It's nothing."
Sherman looked at the deep gouges in the beaten earth and whistled lowly. "That's one hell of a nothing."
Raymond tore the wrapper off the bar, wrinkled his nose at the half-melted chocolate coating but bit into it anyway. He chewed in silence for a bit before finally muttering, "I think I like Katie."
"Who?"
Raymond glared at him, and Sherman slapped the side of his head. "Oh...intern. Oh."
"I think I really like her."
Sherman took of his baseball cap, running a hand through his sweat-drenched hair, unsure of what to say. Finally he just whistled again. "Having a thing for the boss' squeeze...yup, that's tough breaks, kiddo."
Raymond looked miserable. "What the hell do I do?"
Sherman snapped his fingers at one of the mole men passing by. "Amigo – bring some beer will ya?" When the underground dweller ignored him and shuffled off Sherman kept shouting, "What? You don't understand B-E-E-R?"
Raymond kicked his foot, shaking his head at Sherman. "Is that you answer to everything? Drink?"
Sherman looked at him incredulously. "You think of a better way to deal with being cock-blocked by your boss?"
Raymond stared long and hard at him before finally shaking his head. "Let's go find a bar." He helped haul Sherman to his feet and they made their way to the path that would lead them above ground.
"So what's your excuse for Kelly?"
Sherman slapped him upside the head. "Shut up."
The dark-haired woman tapped her foot impatiently as she sat at the workbench in the warehouse. She had an idea that there were probably eyes on her, making sure she wasn't going to get up to any sort of trouble, but she didn't know it was Nikola himself monitoring her in the car outside. Aureliano sniffed, his nose wrinkling; he was one of the few beings who didn't appreciate new car smell.
"She's pretty."
Aureliano gave him a look through his dark sunglasses before pointing to her waistline. "She has a stun gun hidden in that skirt."
That made a grin spread on Nikola's face. Smart…for a human. Too bad if she ever decided to use it on him it would just make him angry, and also give him a sudden boost of a power source to use against her.
"Let's go meet our mystery woman."
Nikola turned off his tablet as Aureliano got out of the car first and immediately started scaling the fire exit of the warehouse. As always he would keep his perch up high in the beams to keep an eye on everything. Nikola took one quick glance in the mirror to make sure his appearance was in order and walked into the warehouse.
"Gloomy settings for a business meeting," the dark-haired woman said immediately upon seeing him. She shrugged her shoulders, as if pretending to find the right word for what she was feeling. "Very...criminal."
"Rebellious, perhaps." Nikola flicked his wrists to straighten cuffs before sitting down. Immediately she turned her laptop screen in his direction and he could see the files she had opened. He couldn't help the grin spread on his face. There was something he liked very, very much about this woman and he didn't even know her name yet. She was bold, direct, to the point...and judging by all of his personal information on her screen, incredibly intelligent and ruthless.
The brunette thing didn't hurt. He kept the amused look on is face and slanted an eyebrow at her, redirecting the screen back towards her. "So you have some talent for hacking. What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Doctor Tesla, or whatever other nom de plume you enjoy, my associates like to keep a close eye on all operations happening within their lines of interest and my, you have stirred up quite a bit of trouble. We're at a point right now where we could work harmoniously together and both benefit from each other, or you can decide to keep your enterprises completely exclusive and you become a threat."
Nikola laughed a little inwardly at her intimation that he was using 'Nikola Tesla' in his identification as some poor alias. That already told him her 'associates' had no abnormal agenda and didn't know anything about that part of the world. Her veiled threats were something he usually dealt with every day and didn't do anything to impress him, but he let her talk just enjoying the view of a sexy and dangerous woman.
"Miss...you know, it isn't very conducive to a healthy relationship if I don't even know the name of your 'associates' representative." He gave her what he thought was a coy look and it succeeded in surprising a grudging smirk from her.
"Well, Tesla, you could call me Ms. Elizabeth Bathory if you so chose."
Nikola wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Bathory, really? When is this whole vampire craze going to die out." He looked her up and down. "Though your skin is amazing enough that if you said you moisturized with the blood of virgins I'd believe you."
She had a serene smile on her face, though Nikola was sure he had been an inch away from making her laugh out loud. Good, good. She fiddled around on her computer for a little bit before addressing him again. "I'm assuming that whatever connections you have to help grease the wheels for those zoning regulations are probably similar to the ones we have. We can help speed along the process surely, but of course you're looking for a bigger slice of pie than that."
She finished whatever she was doing on her laptop and turned it back to face him. Nikola was greeted with the sight of 3D schematics and shipping records. She had that icy, "I know I've got you" smile back on her face. "Perimeter defense systems like you've never seen within your pay grade...turrets, missiles, laser fences, full-spectrum sensors, remote controllable – all fully customizable and programmable from the host console."
Nikola hated to admit it, but that did make his insides ache a little. He hid the hunger on his face and pulled a haughty look instead. "You know I can design better in my sleep."
"But you don't have the production facilities to bring your creations to life, whereas I can offer you enough materiel to fortify a city."
Nikola sighed a little grudgingly, he was going to have to play ball with the big boys now and there was no use trying to act coy anymore. "What kind of premiums are you looking for?"
She snapped her computer close, drumming the tips of her fingernails on the table. "We've made a cursory check of your finances to know contacting you wouldn't be a waste of our time. I'm not going to lie, it will hurt your pockets a bit, but trust me when I say everyone involved knows you can afford it."
Nikola felt simultaneously enraged at the audacity they had to flaunt their invasion of his privacy, and yet couldn't help but admire just how audacious they were being. Rather like him. They were smart to set up this gorgeous woman as the bearer of bad news, it took enough of the sting out of it.
"Obviously, you'll need time to consider. I'll leave you this." She handed him a memory stick with all the schematics and data she had just shown him. "If you're interested I'll be in town for the next few nights. Come to Delmonico's and ask for the chef's table upstairs."
Nikola rose with her and offered her his arm, escorting her to the exit. She placed a pair of designer sunglasses delicately on her face before looking imperiously over her shoulder. A black car with what Nikola guessed was a private driver rolled up and she got inside. He blew her a kiss and watched as the car pulled away. Once it was out of sight Aureliano dropped to the ground from twenty feet and straightened up, limber as a cat.
"What do you think of her?"
Aureliano shrugged, tapping his nose lightly, meaning he couldn't get close enough to smell her let alone extract any memories from her. Nikola sighed, smoothing the sleeves of his jacket. "I don't have anything nice to wear to Delmonico's."
"Yes, I will let you know." John heard a movement some fifteen feet away from him. "Druitt out." He closed his phone quietly, thumbing the button the side to turn it to silent mode and slid it into his pocket. As suspected, Aureliano stepped forward into the sunlight, his dark glasses shielding his sensitive eyes from the bright glare. John's senses were good, but he knew that as a Sybarite Aureliano's were much sharper than his and wasn't sure if he had been heard on the phone with Kate.
If Aureliano had noticed he made no mention of it and instead gave a curt, "Come", and already began to head for the marina. John fell in step with him and to any passer by they looked like two leather jacket aficionados out for a stroll.
"So why are we at Staten Island?"
Aureliano must have looked in some direction or other, but John wasn't able to tell because of the dark glasses his companion was wearing. This was what was frustrating about working with the Sybarite sometimes...he forgot he had the better senses of anyone he encountered and they couldn't always keep up with his subtle hints. John just took a good look around instead and tried to find the one part to all of this that damn vampire would find most interesting.
"The port?"
Aureliano shook his head very slightly. "The industrial shipping docks. The White Hand has been making their way across here to New York over the course of the past three months. Now all they have left to ferry and smuggle over is their major hardware. In theory...some of it is already here, in those shipping containers. But which ones?"
John nodded and sat down on a bench, the stiff breeze from the water ripping through his trench coat. "So...you're here to sniff out those crates..."
Aureliano nodded, a sage smile on his lips. "Yes...but no man can get near them, there is a lot of security around. So you..."
"...have to get inside the containers discreetly."
Aureliano sipped from a coffee cup as they waited for the winds to die down. He wasn't drinking coffee, it had a flavour and aroma that was overpowering and temporarily deadened his sense of smell, but he made great pains to blend in with other people. John tapped his foot impatiently, sometimes annoyed at how serene his companion could be when they had to wait.
The winds finally died down enough that when Aureliano strolled to within twenty feet of the shipping containers he was beginning to pick up some scents. John watched him anxiously, knowing that if anything went wrong he would have to get them out quickly. After a few minutes of Aureliano exploring the fenced perimeter, John noticed some other men apart from the neon-vest dock workers and his spine tingled. They were watching Aureliano...unconcerned, but attentive. That was a red flag.
Five more agonizing minutes and Aureliano finally strayed too close and one of the dock workers came by to shoo him politely, but firmly, away. He just gave the man his odd, serene grin and made his way back to John. With his thick accent people just naturally assumed he was another tourist...which was true in a sense.
"3, 17, 28, 31." John nodded to let Aureliano know he had heard and strolled off to the portable toilet nearby. Once inside the stall he disappeared in a flash of orange light before his nose could even be assaulted by the foul smell of a public restroom, and he was inside shipping container number 3.
His knife was already out of its hiding place within the inner lining of his trench coat, but he was in luck and there was no security within the container as well as without. The possibility of that had put him on edge all morning. But he was in luck, and in lucky door number three there were boxes full of...assault rifles. Hand grenades. Kevlar vests and other assorted body armour.
"What on earth..."
John quickly sealed up the boxes again and went to the door of the shipping container. He stared through the crack of it until he had container 17 within sight and then teleported.
Jewels...no, mineral ore. Praxian mineral ore. John looked about the enormous container about him in wonder. Where on earth, or Hollow earth more appropriately, did they find so much of it. John felt his insides slick with ice. And what were they planning on doing with so much of it?
Container 28 held his answer: anti-abnormal weaponry. All in parts to be assembled at a separate location. Some were designs John recognized from the few espionage trips he had taken with Aureliano. Some were completely foreign to him. Either way it wasn't good news. Shipping container 31 held much of the same with one nasty surprise that looked like the parts to a very large field containment or elimination system.
When he made it back to the portable toilet, he stumbled out of it, choking and gasping. Aureliano caught up with him quickly and took him by the arm.
"What?" John spluttered, and then realized the phone in his pocket was gone and there was silver mist escaping his nose. Alarmed, he tried to shrug Aureliano's hand from his arm but the abnormal's grip remained firm. He drank in John's thoughts and memories and then a look twisted his face, almost like a school matron catching a rule breaker.
"It's as blood demon suspected..." Aureliano sighed heavily. "Damn. I am not good at this whole 'betting' humans do. Go talk to him. He told me he has something to say to you."
John shook a little, pulling away from Aureliano a little more aggressively than was necessary. Being caught as a sort of bizarre double agent was disturbing enough without the realization that Nikola had anticipated and accounted for it.
Kelly shifted the folders in her arm as she made her way down the hallway. The team was going a little stir crazy at New York as everyone felt a building tension – like something big was about to happen. And, worst of all, they were all stuck inside with the CIA on their tail. Ubuntu had said it was normal back in Lagos with so much political turmoil in the country, but she could tell even he was started to grow irritated with nothing to do except for the rebuild of the Underground.
"Damnit."
Kelly heard someone curse in the lobby and saw Katie struggling with some boxes. One slipped from the pile in her arms and crashed to the ground in an explosion of paper. Feeling guilty, Kelly ran over, dumping her folders onto the lobby bench and helped collect the papers.
"Oh, thanks." Katie avoided her eyes and Kelly felt guilty all over again. She hadn't quite made her dislike of the new girl discreet...it probably went with having two blondes clash. Still, especially after that stern talk with Mike, there was nothing about the new girl for her to actually dislike...
"Where are you taking these? I'll give you a hand." Kelly hefted the box into her arms and opened the door with her free hand. She then noticed the moving truck outside. "Oh, are you leaving?"
Katie worried at her bottom lip, trying to remain casual. "Yeah, just...transferring. Again." She gave an embarrassed laugh.
Kelly helped her with the boxes in the truck, the big elephant in the room weighing over the both of them. Whatever Doc had done to chase away the intern was...well, Kelly hadn't been too pleased with their scientist hotshot getting a free ride into New York because the Doc had a thing for her, but in Katie's shoes – he was a hard person to deal with.
"Are you okay?" Kelly asked as she slammed the truck's back doors shut. They shared a knowing look that made it clear to Katie what she meant.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It isn't what you think. Umm..." Katie dug into the back pocket of her jeans and passed Kelly a scrap of paper. "Could you give this to Raymond?"
Kelly looked stunned as she took the paper from her. That was the last name she expected to hear.
Katie looked embarrassed as she fished the truck keys out of her pocket. "It's my number. Just...yeah, just pass it along to him. I'd appreciate it."
With that she climbed into the driver's seat of the truck, gave Kelly another bashful smile, and drove out of New York Sanctuary. Kelly held the piece of paper, took a quick peep at it to see it was indeed a phone number, and wondered if she had gotten it all wrong. Nothing at New York was ever as simple as it looked, it seemed.
"Leaving without goodbye's...very dramatic, wouldn't you say?"
Katie nearly jumped out of her skin as Nikola seemed to materialize from the shadows beside her, and she glared at him as she tried to massage her beating chest. This whole cloak and daggers business had already made her edgy.
"Haha, very funny. You're the one who suggested it."
"I know." He walked smoothly over to her, grasping her arm and pulling her towards him. She tried to stay annoyed, but the buckets of charm he was dousing her with was contagious. He had the faint hint of cologne about him and she noticed the suit he was wearing was crisp and fresh from a tailor.
"Fancy duds."
He smirked. "I have a few engagements after this." He placed a finger under her chin and kissed her lightly. When he pulled his face away he noticed she looked sad.
"What is it?"
"This..." she struggled with how to phrase herself diplomatically and a small laugh escaped her. "This was a very pleasant mistake."
"Truer words." She looked relieved that he seemed to be just as accepting of this as she had been. He knew, of course he knew, that this wasn't what she wanted for any length of time. She had a life to live that didn't involve all the trappings of eternity. It would have been worse if this weren't the case. Because he, himself, didn't have the time for that with someone who was trapped by finality.
"It has been special."
She laughed freely now at his clunky choice of words. "Special? Don't go Hallmark on me, Nikola."
He sighed and twirled her around once before staring into her eyes again. "When you're immortal the chance to make a mistake is a very rare sort of luxury."
The water by the bridge lapped against the dock and they saw the distant lights of an approaching ship. Nikola looked back to her again, to that marvelous flaw in her eyes and said, "Now kiss me and get on that boat."
"You always reek of sex whenever I run into you privately."
Nikola arched an eyebrow at Druitt, who looked pissy and miserable as always. He flicked invisible lint off his shoulder and bared his teeth for a second. "I promise you, I've been perfectly chaste all evening."
John raised himself to his full, formidable height, his favourite trick, and glared down at Nikola. "What is it this time, old boy?"
"You seem unhappy, John, like your present position isn't fulfilling enough for you. I am here to help facilitate your needs." Nikola chuckled inwardly at the sneer on John's face. Knowing he couldn't push bald, bad and homicidal much longer, Nikola gave him back the smart phone. "I have something special I need doing."
"When don't you?" John drawled.
Nikola held up a finger. "Wait, you'll want to hear this. This is the last thing I need from you. Honestly," he insisted when he saw the skeptical look on John's face. "And this is my offer."
John turned on the phone and looked at it suspiciously. Whatever he saw made his eyes widen and stunned him enough that he couldn't hide his reaction. Then his eyebrows knitted together in a frown, worry and dread gnawing at his stomach. "Aureliano warned me you were playing in deep waters."
"Your part in it is simple. You two visited some shipping containers today." Nikola saw the hesitation on John's face, his old nemesis staring down at the phone screen and thumbing through it over and over as if this would somehow make his decision easier. "You can walk away, John. I'm sure Old City wouldn't mind having you around."
John swallowed, turned the phone off, and slipped it into his pocket. "What, and when?"
"The upstairs chef room."
"Right this way, sir."
Cute. Nikola knew there was no chef's room upstairs Delmonico's, he had eaten here over the century enough times that he knew the famous restaurant inside and out. So he wasn't alarmed when the restaurant manager lead him to the basement instead. A large man stopped them and waved a scanning wand over his person to ensure he wasn't carrying any weapons before letting him in.
Nikola flicked out his wrists, straightening his cuffs in an old habit, and opened the door.
"Hullo, Nikola."
Helen sat demurely at the table inside, a dark grin on her face and a gun pointed at his heart.
