Author's Note: So, adding chapters early didn't really work out, so you'll get two pretty close together instead.

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

Sanctum

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Questioning

Helen's POV-

The man tied to the chair rolled his head weakly, trying to wake.

Helen wasn't surprise it was a little hard for him. She had almost broken her hand knocking him out. So she waited patiently for him to rouse, standing not far in front of him with her head tilted to the side in order to see his face properly. When his eyes finally squinted open and slid up her body to meet her eyes, she smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile and it wasn't meant to be. After a careful examination of her feelings, she'd found that she was still royally pissed off. Not so much at Nikola any more; no, her anger had been redirected to the proper outlet. She might have been killed by the bomb this man had set if not for her Nikola. On top of that, he had caused Nikola pain too. Whatever her oldest friend tried to say, she knew it still hurt him when he was injured. Without his medicine, every time he healed increased his need and slowed his abilities to do so again. She had seen the shrapnel he'd pulled from his body; had even bandaged one of the slow-healing bullet holes herself. Right at the moment, it was taking all her control not to shoot this man where he sat for what he had done. "You're awake. Good." She pulled a chair in front of him carelessly and sat, trying not to wince as her leg protested. "You've caused quite a lot of mischief, Mr..."

He didn't fill in the blank. Instead, his eyes darted around, looking over at Nikola who was leaning at the counter watching them and then over to the maid who still sat in the corner without looking up. Then his eyes trailed her up and down.

Despite her continuing cool exterior, Helen felt her skin crawl as his gaze licked over her. A steely grip formed around her stomach but she spoke through it, keeping her tone light. "Frankly, you're lucky you're still alive. I had half a mind to feed you to my friend over there for trying so ardently to do us in." She jerked her head back at Nikola. Right on cue, she saw out of the corner of her eye him giving that threatening little snarl of a smile. Without even turning to see it properly, she shivered slightly, though not so that the man before her would notice.

"Yeah... right." The man murmured, looking at her as though he wasn't convinced.

"You don't believe me capable?" She questioned with a small smile. "Perhaps you aren't aware of the reality of your situation. Let me enlighten you." Shifting slightly, she leaned forward a bit. "You currently find yourself a prisoner of two people who are slightly on edge because of an army outside just waiting for a single sign of weakness to come barreling in here, 'guns blazing' as they say. People who have narrowly missed dying at your hands on several occasions in just the past few hours. While one is a doctor, the other is a vampire who hasn't had his medicine, or food if you like, in quite some time. Being hungry is not the best thing to be during such times as these. He also happens to be my friend and therefore quite a bit more important to me than you are. And as you are the cause of both the throbbing in my ribs, and also the pain in my shoulder, I haven't much of an inclination to be kind to you. So you see, you find yourself locked away under the unfortunate circumstance of being the most appetizing thing in this room."

The man's eyes widened as she spoke and at the last sentence flicked over to the maid in the corner.

"She works for said vampire." Helen said dryly without looking round. "He may be hungry, but he's not going to feed on his employee. I'm afraid that just leaves you."

The man turned sullen, glaring at her.

"Now that you understand, I'd like to ask you why you have been trying to kill us."

His lips thinned.

She shrugged. "I suppose it matters little. What do you think?" She asked the question over her shoulder at Nikola.

"I don't see how it matters at all." Nikola answered flippantly with one raised eyebrow. "Whatever the reason, we should just kill him and be done with it."

"Screw you." The man bit out in the vampires direction.

Nikola barely started forward before her hand raised to stall him.

"Now you're just trying to get yourself killed." She stated in a low voice. "Why is that, I wonder? Could it be that you know something? Something you are aware would get you into a situation where our company would be pleasant by comparison?"

Though his eyes fixated on the floor, she saw them flicker and knew she was right.

"Care to share? Perhaps we can offer you some protection."

He said nothing, dark eyes angry as he looked up at her again.

"Very well." She stood. "Since you have such an unfortunate vocabulary when you decide to speak, I'm afraid you'll have to be gagged while we make sure you have left no more surprises for us."

Before she even finished speaking, Nikola was applying the gag, being none to gentle as he tightened it. When the vampire moved back to her side, she turned from the man toward the maid. "We'll be right back." She left the kitchen with Nikola, drawing her gun as she went.

Outside, they slid seamlessly beside each other, though each had a handicap now that stilted their movements. Hers may still be more debilitating than his, but damn if she didn't stay as close to him as humanly possible in case he faltered. It was all she could do not to sigh in frustration at herself. Only Nikola could get her in a state from wanting to shoot him to worrying over him in a matter of seconds.

It didn't take them long to check the remainder of the first floor. It was the basement supply room that consumed their time like a child after a pile of sweets. Just as it had been when she had gone down into it for supplies, the room was dark, with tall ceilings and far-away walls. It was huge and filled to the brim with so much brick-a-brack it was a wonder she had been able to find anything at all within it. But even amongst the dusty contents and long stairway into the depths, they moved cautiously. They parted to either side of the room. It was pitch black, the beam of her torch the only thing disrupting the gloom. Her heartbeat sped up as she tried to pay attention to every sound, every movement that met her senses. A single click could mean life or death down here. She was listening so intensely that she started in surprise when a loud crashing sound met her ears, swinging her gun in it's direction and advancing quickly. Practically running as she rounded a corner, she found Nikola on the other end, holding up his hands with his feet buried in refuse.

He gave her a apologetic smile.

She finally breathed a somewhat shaky sigh of relief, holstering her weapon. "He must really be the only one."

"Lot of damage for just one little bastard." Nikola mumbled, rolling a shoulder and trying to surreptitiously rub at his chest.

"Granted." She inclined her head and shone her light back toward the stairs they had come down. "Perhaps we best get back. I hate to think of that smarmy little toad in the same room as poor Cornelia even if he is tied up and gagged."

"Was that the maid's name?" He asked in surprise.

Not paying attention to his comment, she jerked her head toward the stairs. "Come on then." She set off down the jagged aisle cut in the middle of the debris. Her eyes squinted when they got back into the main hall, the light coming through the windows overly bright after the darkness. "So, what do you suppose we should do with him? We need to be leaving soon."

"Honestly? Leave him where he is. I'll bet he was just working in advance of the thugs outside anyway."

"Probably." She walked up to the door to the kitchen, relieved they were finally finished moving around so much. As restive as she had found it, her 'few hours' nap on Nikola was too long ago. She had a pounding headache and her leg ached down to the bone. At least her shoulder had settled down a little. "But what if he isn't? They might kill him."

"It's gonna be hard enough with the space case." Nikola growled behind her. "Don't go getting attached to the potential killer. We can't bring all of your adopted strays along for the trip."

Giving him a reproachful look over her shoulder, she reached forward, and pulled on the door.

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