Chapter 49 – The Giving of Rings (1)
~~~~March 1923~~~~
Helen Magnus stepped out of the car and on to the cobbled streets of London. She breathed in the damp musky air of London's brisk spring air, and felt it move around her like an old friend. She was finally home. It had been awhile.
She stepped further, past the gate, to the steps of her home. The Sanctuary. It was just like she had left it.
She had telegrammed ahead, telling James and Nigel of her imminent arrival, she could just imagine them waiting excitingly behind the door, like children.
The door was unlocked and swung open lazily. Helen walked in carefully, hoping they hadn't planned some kind of surprise welcoming for her.
"Hello," she called out.
There was no answer. There was no one.
She sighed and entered into the foyer, taking off her hat and gloves and placing them on the little table.
This was the price you paid for living with workaholics.
She heard frantic footsteps and James came running down the steps.
"Helen!" he waved. "I'm so sorry, I had meant to greet you, but..."
"I understand, I didn't want a welcome party anyway, I'm just glad to be home," she sighed.
"And we're glad to have you home. Was it successful? You didn't give much detail in your letter," James kisses her cheek gently in friendly greeting.
"Whatever my father theorized was there, well, wasn't, Carter though was immensely happy with his discovery," Helen sighed.
"Certainly that can't be all?" James sighed. "You must've picked up something."
"Well, I did, actually, but it's not what you'd expect," she smirked slightly.
"Try me," James crossed his arms.
The pair was interrupted by a loud thunk and a Serbian curse.
"Why must you make these doorways so unbelievably narrow, you can barely fit me through here, and that's saying a lot," Nikola barged in carrying all of Helen's luggage.
"Ah, the prodigal scientist," sighed James.
"James, aren't you looking...old, how is it going?" Nikola smirked.
"We're faring well, why are you here?" James quirked his eyebrows at him.
"Oh...I'll let Helen tell you, I'll get the rest of those bags, my darling," Nikola gave her a quick chaste kiss before strolling out back to the car.
James was stunned.
"He's what you picked up in Egypt?" he whispered emphatically to Helen.
"I told you, you wouldn't expect it," Helen shrugged sheepishly.
"Nor do I understand it. Tell me you're not sleeping with him again, oh Helen, not again," James groaned.
"Well, yes and no," Helen sighed.
"What does that mean?" sighed James.
"Nikola has asked me to marry him and I have accepted," Helen said sternly.
"What? You're...you two are..." James mouth flapped open and shut.
"Nikola said he'd give up everything so I'm putting him to the test," Helen sighed at James. "I think this time he really means it."
"What do you mean he gave up everything?" James looked at her funny.
"I gave him an ultimatum: me or his inventions; he chose me. If he sticks to it I will marry him, and of course let him go back to his inventing, but I needed to know, needed some way he could prove that he loved me enough for me to be his wife."
"Helen, the last time you and he...well, it was a disaster," James warned.
"Yes, well, this time it's different, very different in fact. Then we made the mistake of thinking both of us were ready. But now, we've been at each other's sides for 5 years in the desert, that deserves some merit," she reasoned.
"But...it's Nikola, are you really saying you...yourself...love him?" asked James skeptically.
"In all honesty...yes, I think I do," Helen looked out the open door way to the childish excitement that was Nikola, running around all sides of the car to make sure he got everything.
James watched her reaction.
"You're serious?" he gasped.
"Why wouldn't I be?" she snapped towards him.
"Just...tread carefully, please Helen. I still don't trust him with your heart," sighed James.
Helen smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Yes father," she teased.
"Please, if I was your father I would forbid you from seeing that man," James teased back.
"I would rebel," she laughed going to help Nikola.
"I would ground you," James replied.
"I'd runaway," she stuck her tongue out.
"I'd shoot him in the back," James stated, thinking he'd won this game of wits.
"He'd live," she finished triumphantly, leaving James at a loss.
He grumbled; he'd get her next time.
Helen ran out to her fiancé, it was so weird to think of him like that.
"So, how did James take the news?" asked Nikola.
"Well, he's not in love with the idea, but he can't argue with me," she kissed his cheek and took a bag off him to help.
"So, he took it better than we thought he would," Nikola smirked.
"Be wary though, I saw that look in his eyes I know that means he's going to interrogate you later," she teased.
"I can handle it, I might as well prove that I am worthy of your hand sooner rather than later," he smiled at her before leaning over to kiss her.
She moved at the last second and he caught her cheek.
He chuckled slightly as he pulled back.
"Where do you want your bags, my love?" he smiled widely with an inner joy at being able to call her that.
"Just take it up to our room, I'll take care of it later," Helen sighed absentmindedly, her thought already on getting back to work as she began rifling through a pile of letters that James had left for her on the small stand.
"Our bedroom?" Nikola perked up.
Helen halted and laughed slightly.
"Yes, if you can keep your hands to yourself," she teased.
"Can I cuddle?" he asked, looking like a young boy, and it almost melted her right there.
"Yes, but only if the hands stay in my middle section and don't move," she warned. Truth be told, the last few nights she had missed his company next to her at night tremendously. She had rather gotten used to sleeping with his arms around her, and she also trusted that he didn't sleep at all unless having her as his own personal teddy bear.
Nikola dropped the bags he was holding gently and stepped up to her, his hands coming to her waist.
"You'll have to give me a list so that I can keep track of all these rules," he grinned and kissed her cheek again.
Helen smirked and kissed him on the lips.
"I will have it for you tomorrow," she adjusted a stray piece of hair, out of habit, and then stepped back. "Now, do as you're told."
"Yes, ma'am," Nikola grinned and picked up the bags again.
Hw scooted up the stairs with their luggage with such a boyish spring in his step, that Helen couldn't help but laugh.
She shook her head and collected the letters before heading to her office. It was just like she left it, with barely a paper out of place. On her desk was a little card, on it said "Welcome Back," she recognized Nigel's handwriting.
She smiled and placed the card to the side as she plopped the letters on the desk, most of the letters were bills and postcards from her contacts; she sorted through each of them with a tender curiosity.
It was only until the door swung open that she looked up from them.
"Did you realize that you've got a warped step on your staircase?" Nikola entered. "Two hours with some nails and a hammer would fix it right up."
Helen laughed.
"You promised, no inventing," she smirked.
"It's hardly an invention, it's a repair, I would hate to think of old Jamesy boy running down that staircase and twisting his ankle," Nikola teased coming up to her. "All I need is a hammer."
"I'll take your inquiry to Nigel, he can fix it up, it's his job," Helen sighed putting her letters down.
"So what's my job then?" Nikola leaned on the desk, looking her straight on in the eye.
"To pleasure me," Helen said with a husky tone that crawled all the way up Nikola's spine.
"How so?" he grinned.
"By making me some tea, I'm practically parched," Helen smirked, loving the way he visibly deflated.
"Some I'm your little waiting boy, is that it?" he sighed.
"Think of it as a vacation Nikola, go read some poetry, learn something new, distract yourself in new ways," Helen suggested.
Nikola smirked and walked around the desk, he lowered himself to his knees in front of her and sighed.
"You already took away my two favorite distractions: my genius and you. You mean I'd have to find more?" he groaned, burying his head in her lap.
"You can cook?" Helen shrugged.
"So I'm a housewife now?" he groaned again.
"If you ever want to be a husband you're going to have to try. Come on, Nikola, it's hardly been an hour since we've gotten back and you're bored," she ruffled his hair.
"Fine, I'll make you some tea and I'll read," he sighed. "Can I at least occupy this chair when I do it?"
He pointed to the large chair in the corner of her office.
"As long as you don't disturb me, you are most welcome," Helen returned to her letters.
After about a minute she felt distinct presence hovering by her ear.
She put the letters down with a huff.
"What do you want?" she peered at him through the corner of her eye.
"Don't I get a kiss?" he looked at her with big blue eyes and a cheeky smile.
Helen relented slightly and turned to peck his cheek but he turned his head in the nick of time to capture her lips. Helen squeaked slightly and brought her hands up to push him away.
"You sneaky bugger," she grumbled.
"I thought you'd like that," Nikola grinned boyishly.
"I thought you were going to be on your best behavior," Helen glared at him.
"I am being on my best behavior, if I wasn't I'd do this," he spun her chair to face him and jerked it forward so that her knees pressed against his stomach. He parted them slightly and fit his lithe body in the space between. He did it so fast that Helen barely had time to catch her breath.
His face hovered just above her and he grinned widely with amusement.
"Nikola, this is my office," she admonished.
"All the more exciting," he slid his hands up to her waist.
"All the more inappropriate," she warned.
"All the more fun," he chuckled and leant in to kiss her gently.
Helen couldn't help a small giggle from escaping her.
"You are such a brat," she sighed before wrapping her arms around his head and kissing him languidly.
A cough brought reality crashing down on top of them and Helen cracked an eye open to see James standing in her office with a les than amused expression on his face.
Helen pushed Nikola away and he let go easily.
"Am I disrupting anything?" asked James with a skeptical eye.
"No, no, Nikola was just leaving," Helen said giving a side glance to Nikola.
He smirked and nodded his head.
"Right, it was cream and sugar with your tea, right darling?" asked Nikola as he got to his feet.
"If it's not too much trouble," Helen smirked at him.
"No, James you want a cup?" asked Nikola.
"No, I'm fine," James said coolly.
"Great then, now to see if I remember where the kitchen is," Nikola sauntered over to the door and gave one last amused look over to Helen before leaving.
"It's down the hall and-" Helen started.
"I know, I know!" Nikola waved her off as he walked away.
Helen sighed with a small smile.
"You two are children," James said humorlessly.
"He's just excited, you know how he is," Helen ignored James' tone and continued to sift through her letters.
"No, I don't, not when it comes to you and him," James came up to her. "I don't approve of this engagement."
"I know you don't, but it's been all of two hours since you learned of it, I swear James he's grown up, we're both not the idiots we were the first time, stop going by your damn precedent and just be happy for me, for once!" Helen grumbled. "I deserve as much."
"Yes, but with him, he's about as loyal as a hamster, Helen," James scoffed.
"That is not true, he has always been loyal to us and our cause, he just chose not to devote his life to someone else's work, but he has always been loyal, and this time I think he's truly willing to stay," Helen said firmly. "At least willing to try."
"What happened in those five years that has changed your opinion of him so drastically?" James growled.
"He was the only one I could depend on in that desert, James, and he didn't leave me then. He deserves some consideration," Helen sighed.
"He's the same man he ever was, Helen. You ask enough of him he will run like the wind back into his controllable little world where he's comfortable. The afterglow of Egypt is going to fade and with it will go all his devotion. He will begin to fall into old habits and he will hurt you in the process," James said firmly.
"Well, here's hoping you're wrong," Helen bit coldly. "Please leave, James."
"Helen, I…"
"Leave James!" Helen barked.
James bit his lip and dropped the files in his hands on her desk with a resounding slam before turning sharply and leaving.
Helen glared at the back of his head as he left, barely flinching when the door slammed closed.
She sat down with a huff.
Lifting her hand to gaze at the small delicate ring on her left ring finger.
"You need a ring," Nikola lifted up her bare hand.
"In London we said we'd worry about those things," sighed Helen.
"We're in Cairo now, our boat doesn't leave until tomorrow, why not here? It's perfect," he led her through the streets of the bustling city.
Helen smiled slightly, squeezing his fingers in hers.
"The ring is not the point," she sighed again.
"Come on, Helen, let me buy you a ring," he tugged her over to the nearest stall. "How about this?"
He held up a gold ring with an onyx scarab jewel fixed on it.
"Oh no, too tacky," she laughed.
"Agreed," he put the ring down.
"This one is interesting," Helen held up a gold ring with hints of blue in it.
"It's hardly an engagement ring," he scrunched his face up at it. "But if you like it…"
"I don't," Helen smirked and put it down.
They moved away from the stall and perused by other stalls until Nikola stopped.
"Wait here," he turned to her.
"What?"
"Just do it, and close your eyes," he said with a hint of a smile on his lips.
"I'm not closing my eyes in the middle of the marketplace, I could be robbed blind, literally blind," she laughed.
"I'll only be a second, just do it for me," he held her hand tightly. "I'll be right back."
Helen sighed but closed her eyes. He let go of her hand and for a brief moment she felt lost in a sea of sounds. She tried to make him out from the rest of the crowd, but he was nowhere to be found until she felt his hand grasp hers.
"Hold your hand out," he whispered into her ear, his warmth brushing her face.
She did as she was told, holding her hand out palm up. He took her hand and turned it palm down, interlacing his fingers with hers.
"When I say when open your eyes," he whispered again, pressing a small kiss to the side of her head. "Open your eyes."
Helen laughed.
"You are so pretentious," she teased and she heard him chuckle.
"I'm romantic, now stop ruining the moment," he smirked, using his free hand to slip a small ring on her finger, she felt the brush of metal as it slid smoothly over her knuckle. "Alright, open."
Helen opened her eyes carefully, wondering what they were going to see on her hand. The sight took her breath away momentarily. Nikola had found a ring, gold and silver interlaced together almost like their hands were with a small sparkling gem that reminded her of the twinkle in Nikola's eyes whenever he was truly happy. She usually only saw that twinkle when he had discovered something so fascinating he couldn't put it into words. That twinkle was in his eye right now.
Helen smiled.
"I love it," she managed to say.
"I thought you might," he smirked. "It caught my eye instantly, just like you."
Helen laughed.
"It was my cleavage that caught your eye instantly," she teased.
"Same difference, it was the best cleavage in the room," he smirked.
"It was the only cleavage in the room," she shoved him playfully. "It wasn't even in a room, we met in the park."
"Officially, you went to three of my classes before we knew each other by name," he pointed out.
"And you ogled me all three times?" she gave him a look and he scoffed.
"No, just the once," he shrugged and Helen laughed.
"Why did I agree to this again?" she sighed.
"Because you needed a ring and I wanted to buy one for you, we're officially engaged now!" he took her hand again and they began walking through the market again.
"No, I'm talking the engagement, why'd I agree to it?" she joked and he visibly deflated.
"Because you love me," he gave her puppy dog eyes.
Helen paused and looked at him.
"Yes, I suppose I do," she cupped his cheek gently then pinched it. His face screwed up with dislike for the gesture and she laughed again.
"Ow," Nikola rubbed his cheek.
"Thank you, I love it," she kissed him tenderly and then took his hand.
"Now, to find you a pair of cufflinks," she grinned.
"Oh yes, you broke mine," Nikola grinned deviously.
The pair continued through the market place hand-in-hand.
Helen smiled fondly at the memory, staring at the ring. It truly was a beautiful ring, even more so than the ring John had given her. She still had it locked away as a memento of happier times, but maybe it was time to replace it with a new memento.
She sighed looking at the place James had vacated. He didn't agree with it now but he'd come to see, Nikola had shown her a new side to him during their time in the desert and she wasn't ready to give up on him yet.
The door swung open and interrupted her thoughts; Nikola came in carrying a tea tray and she smiled warmly at him.
"Here you are my love," he lowered the tray on her desk.
"Thank you, darling," she smiled and patted his hand.
"I found a book of poetry, Whitman of course, but it should be a pleasant distraction for a few hours," he sighed and Helen relented.
"I was thinking, Nikola, that I could use your skills to help do a few fix ups around the Sanctuary. I mean, we've been wanting to repair all kinds of things around here but we never have time, so…" she watched his whole face light up.
"Really?" he said excitedly.
"It's unfair to expect you to do nothing for 6 months except read and fetch me tea," Helen smirked. "Though you're very good at it."
Nikola leant over and kissed her cheek.
"What do you need me to do first? The stair? That will take a few hours but it will be hours well spent," she could see the wheels of his mind turn and she laughed.
"As long as you promise me that if I need you for anything, despite how trivial, you will drop whatever you're doing and be by my side," she took his hand with her ringed hand.
"Of course," he took her hand and kissed it. "You know I will."
"And no inventing, just repairs," she said pointedly.
"Understood, just repairs, good old hammer and nail work, I know," he put the book down and made his way to the door. "Where does James keep the old toolkit?"
"In his lab, I believe," she grinned.
"Excellent, I'll just have that stair fixed up then I'll be right back to read that book," he blew her a kiss then sauntered of the office to the elevator. It wasn't that he couldn't handle not being an inventor or a scientist; it was because he hated being useless, and he knew that Helen only wanted to be sure of his devotion and he was determined not to let it slip through his hands.
He reached James' office, a certain spring in his step. James was there and he visibly tensed when he recognized the certain tune Nikola was whistling, only one man would be whistling old Serbian lullabies.
"James, old friend, where do you keep the toolkit?" Nikola asked with a smile.
James couldn't keep it contained anymore. In a second his hands gripped Nikola's collar and slammed him against the wall. Nikola gasped, the air knocked right out of his lungs.
"Who do you think you're playing?" he growled. "I stayed idly by the first time you and Helen played this disgusting game, and I saw you too eat at each other and I don't know what you've done or said to convince her that this time will be any different but I know you. You are a coward, Nikola, you will run once the romance wears off, you haven't got it in you to stick to anything, and you are going to hurt Helen in the process."
James slammed Nikola forward and back and Nikola's head smacked the wall with a hard thud.
"Of all of us, Nikola, including John, you are the one I trust the least with Helen's affections," James growled. "If you hurt her…so help me, I'll…I won't watch her get hurt again. I was the one who stayed, Nikola, me! Not you, not John, not Nigel. I was the one who had to pick up the pieces when John shunned her because you keep running away!"
"She told me to!" Nikola shouted, his blood boiling. "If you recall Helen was not the only one shaken by the experience!"
"Yes, and you were the only one who ran away from it," James felt like shaking him.
"I did not run away! At the time it was what Helen wanted, I thought I was doing the best thing, is that such a crime?" Nikola growled.
"Then when you came back you were professing love and promising affections and a physical romance, and god I hate you!" James brought his fist back and punched Nikola hard in the face.
Nikola's head snapped back and bumped the wall again. He brought his hand to cup his nose. James released him and stepped away.
"And now, just when I think you two have learned your lesson you come back, more lies and false promises, and it scares me Nikola, because she's falling for it. She really believes that you are a changed man while I see the same old scared bastard you've always been."
Nikola grabbed James and punched him. James nearly fell to the floor but caught himself on the workbench. He got back to his feet and grabbed Nikola around the waist and tackled him to the floor. Nikola gasped and used his legs to spin them around and pin James to the floor and give him a good hit, he brought his knees in sharply to jab James' sides. James growled and punched Nikola hard enough to send him flying backwards. James scrambled to grab Nikola in a headlock and cut off his air circulation.
"Tell me. Tell me, Nikola! One thing! Do you love her at all? Or is this just some idiotic scheme of yours?" James growled. "Tell me the truth!"
"I…I love her!" Nikola gurgled and gasped through his choking throat.
James relaxed and released him.
"I've always loved her!" he threw James off him. "I loved her since we met in Oxford. I loved her before John even set eyes on her, before you came along, and before the Five. I loved her during those bloody years she was engaged to that madman, I loved her even though I thought she believed I was the Ripper, I loved her after she rejected me time and time again and I love her now. It's because of her I have made every decision in my life, good or bad, and yes I was a coward before, but now…now I've realized I don't want that anymore. Nikola Tesla is dying, he's getting old, it's time for a change, and my time in Egypt made me realize that I want that change to be with Helen, for Helen. I've never felt so alive like when I'm with Helen."
Nikola coughed to clear his throat and rubbed it slightly.
James breathed heavily and grasped his chest slightly, feeling around for the machinery that was keeping him alive.
"You're serious?" James gasped.
"Would I give up my life's work for a joke?" asked Nikola. "I could be inventing a new device, anything I wanted, but I chose Helen," Nikola stood up warily. "I forgot how strong you were."
James chuckled and stood up.
"Not bad for a boring old human," James opened his shirt and fixed the settings on the chest plate. Nikola was transfixed with both awe and horror.
"What's it like?" asked Nikola.
"This? Hell," James groaned. "I can feel my age being held back, it's rather exhausting."
Nikola gently rant his pointer finger across the metal.
"Why?" he asked.
"Someone has to look after this place when you and Helen go gallivanting off to god knows where," James sighed again. "I have to pace myself though, I should've thought of that before hitting you."
Nikola chuckled.
"I guess you had good reason, I've done some things that probably deserved it but this time it's different," Nikola said as confidently as he could manage. "Helen has allowed me to do household repairs as long as I don't go overboard with it."
James chuckled slightly.
"Welcome to the old ball and chain Nikola," James buttoned up his shirt and wiped his face.
"Did hitting me help?" asked Nikola
"Surprisingly yes," smirked James. "Very."
"Oh good," Nikola rubbed. "I forget how much of a hard hitter you are."
James chuckled.
"I've been waiting a long time to do that," James shook out his fist. "You said you needed tools?"
Nikola nodded.
"Yah," Nikola nodded.
James went and grabbed the toolkit off one of the further workbenches.
"I expect it back when you're done," said James.
"Of course," nodded Nikola, he took the toolkit from James. "You're sure you're ok?"
"I'll be fine, just a small tweak and I'll be as right as rain," James said dismissively.
"Because I can-"
"Nikola," James warned.
"Sorry, force of habit, it's going to take me a bit to get used to it," Nikola scrubbed a hand over his face. "Nice chatting with you James."
"Any time," James nodded going back to work.
Nikola left with the toolkit to begin fixing the stair feeling the spring return to his step slightly, though it wasn't as light as it was before.
~~~~Later~~~~
Helen, James and Nikola ate dinner in relative silence.
Helen looked between the two men suspiciously. James had a shiner under his left eye and slight bruising around his knuckles, and Nikola looked no worse for ware except the small line of red on his shirtsleeve. They said nothing except for the elementary pleasantries such as "Could you pass the salt?" "Certainly." "Thank you."
Helen knew they were hiding something but she was hoping that one of them would break before she did.
"More wine, James?" asked Nikola.
"Yes, please," James said curtly.
"What the hell is up with you two?" Helen cried, knowing her plan had come crashing down around her. Neither of them was going to break. "James, where did you get that shiner?" she asked him pointedly.
"A small mishap in my lab," James shrugged cryptically.
"And the blood on your sleeve?" she turned to Nikola.
"Nosebleed," Nikola answered like James.
"And what about your knuckles?" she turned back to James.
"I hit them against something," James answered, not even batting an eyelash.
"You two are awful," she growled.
The two simultaneously burst in into laughter.
"You two are ruddy bloody awful," she tried not to laugh as well.
"It's nothing Helen, James and I just had a heart to heart," Nikola smiled and grasped her hand.
"More like a fist to fist," Helen smirked.
"I had to make sure he was worthy of your hand," James clarified.
"By having him beat you into a pulp?" Helen gave him a look.
"Hey, he threw in some good wallops, it wasn't just me," Nikola defended James.
"Thank you, Nikola," said James.
"Oh you're welcome," said Nikola.
Helen laughed.
"You two are children," she rolled her eyes.
Nikola leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"Only with each other," he grinned and squeezed her hand as his eyes darted back to James with a knowing glance.
"Whatever needs to happen for you two to come to some kind of understanding," Helen sighed, she patted James' shoulder.
"And we did," James smiled at her appreciatively. "It's a guy thing."
Helen laughed and sat up.
"Well, I'm going to go do a girl thing and fetch dessert," Helen grasped her near-empty plate.
"No, let me," Nikola stood up. "You've been working all day, just sit and let me take care of it."
Helen looked at him oddly.
"Are you sure?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Positive," he took her plate from her. "I need to start somewhere."
Helen smiled and sat down.
"Very well then," she hand James' plate to him as well. "We'll be waiting."
"I'll only be a short minute," Nikola took the dirty dishes through the dining room to the kitchen. Once he was there he set them down as if they weighed a ton. He wasn't going to admit it to James or Helen, but something about what James said to him was beginning to settle, he'd been stewing over it as he was fixing the stairs.
Would the romance fade? Would he and Helen end up hurting each other more than they had the last time? He remembered their parting that first time; it had nearly destroyed him, and almost ruined his relationship with his best and most loyal friend. What would he do if it happened again?
His mind flashed to John Druitt, his blade; the vial of black liquid that could have been his executioner, and the bloody handwriting sliced into Helen's skin. Then the blade was replaced by his claws, his fangs, the black of his eyes reflecting the black of liquid on the hypodermic that had been held Helen's hands.
He shook the image out of his head.
He wasn't going to think like that because it wasn't ever going to come to that, he loved Helen and he was confident she loved him as well, they survived five years together without incident, they could survive now, even thrive.
He ran his hand through his hair and found the small dessert that Helen had already prepared and ready for serving. He took it and the small plates out to the dining room and placed it on the table.
"Thank you, darling," Helen smiled to him and continued her discussion with James as Nikola served the small brownie type dessert.
He looked at Helen and something in him twinged.
"This was going to work," he told himself.
It had to, for his sake.
~~~~Author's Notes~~~~
*gasp* What's going to happen?
Don't answer that, I'll answer that for you when I get there.
Ambiguous, yes, but for a reason, you know how I love ambiguous cliffhangers :) It will all be resolved in no time :)
