Hey, People! I'll be traveling again next week. I'm hoping I'll get to post the next chapter during it. Anyhow, I guess this one is long enough to make you all happy :P

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter XIV

March 21st, 2004

Underground Sanctuary.

He found her curled up in one of the sofas in the seating area outside the room. Her eyes were scanning slowly, but surely the pages of one of the many albums that existed in Helen's library. The captivated way she caressed the pages before turning them wasn't something unexpected. He had a chance to go through them, with the same expression a mix of awe, admiration, and disbelief.

Many of the pictures by themselves weren't NatGeo front pages by far nor Museum worth, but they were quite astounding due to the history they recounted. Yes, Helen had a lot of history in her life, and she had somehow made sure to keep a memento of it.

There were pictures of many talented people, people who got to be recognized everywhere, and they're plenty of individuals unknown to anyone except her. They were happy memories, memories of distant places, and other times. And they were some awful memories of sites now long gone. Moreover, it collected not only the history of the places and people she got to know from afar. True to her personality, all of them were people she knew and cared. People she called by their names and who called Helen by hers. People who would be there for her whenever she needed them as she was there for them. And hidden among several tomes of one picture after another, there was the painful truth that not only had she lost them all. But she was going to continue losing them.

He gulped because the idea alone made him incredibly weary, not only for the amount of pain she was able to handle but because at some point, he wouldn't be more than one photograph hidden in her room.

He shook his head to focus and get away from the despair, which threatened his mind. Collecting himself, he cleared his throat to gain her attention.

"It's quite amazing, isn't it?" He asked with a smile.

"Well, to tell you the truth," she closed the album and sat straight, "if I didn't know better, I could try and convince myself they are photoshopped by a professional. Alas," she waved, "did she meet all of them?" She asked, returning the album to its rightful place.

"Oh, she knew and still knows way too many people." He waved and pointed her towards the door

"Jealous?" She asked jokingly, getting out of the room.

"Sometimes, yes. Have you seen Helen?" He asked pointedly, with a mischievous smile, "Reality is that we are like a million of us running around, and she knows each of us by name." He pointed to the right side of the corridor, and they started walking.

"I believe that's what a good leader should do."

"Perhaps. I think it is something an exceptional person does."

"Millions, you said? She can't possibly know everyone," Sam chuckled at the silliness of the idea.

"I'm not exaggerating; she knows names, birthdates. She knows entire health histories from some of them. It's incredible! It must be hell to keep all that stuff in your brain." He joked, making her chuckle. They entered an elevator, and he marked back to floor -1. "Truth to be told, I wouldn't want to trade places with her, even if knowing all those people means I'll have them all if I need them."

"What? Why not?" Sam frowned.

"It's quite simple, take for example the album you were watching, it's thick with all those people she knew. Great people, yes. But you know what they all have in common?"

"I'll assume they weren't all abnormals. I'll go with knowing Helen?" Sam settled.

"They weren't all abnormals, and there's something besides knowing Helen."

"I have absolutely no idea."

"They are dead, all of them. That's why I don't want to be in Helen's shoes. I can't imagine what it is like to deal with the passing of loved ones. I've lost someone I loved, and bury her, that was one of the hardest things I've done. I can't start to understand what it must feel bury everyone you loved, or see them slowly wither away while you remain exactly like the first day they met you," he gulped. Sam frowned

"It must be difficult."

"Yeah, I think so. I try not to think of it; Helen doesn't delve much into it either; she goes on. It's not like she has much of a chance either." He sighed, "You know? Sometimes, I look at her and wonder if she will remember me when I'm gone," he added with a sad smile.

"So, you and her?" She wriggled her eyebrows.

"Ah, I was hoping to avoid that conversation, but I guess I walked right into it," he chuckled. "What do you want to know?"

"How? Why?"

"Like most of the people in her albums: she saved me. Not in a romantic way, but she saved me, you know?" she stopped. "I killed her too," he waved, signaling her to keep walking, "I had to. Then she asked me to die, and I did. And then she blew herself, and after all that, we found each other"

"If you don't want to answer, that's okay," Sam rolled her eyes.

"No, for real. I swear all I've said is true. Explaining our relationship is complicated." They took a couple of steps in silence. "When I was a kid, my mom and I went camping; we didn't know it then, but there was a creature on the loose. Helen saved me. My mom acted instead of waiting," he sighed. "She told me to walk towards 'the lady' when she started to run. And I stood rooted to my spot when she did, the creature saw me as the easy prey. Helen made a choice, and she pushed me out of the way. I remember my mother's scream and a couple of shots. I didn't see anything; Helen was holding me tightly in her arms. The next thing I remember is standing at my dad's front door, and she was telling me to be kind and wait. Then she rung the bell and disappeared."

"I know she stood behind until my dad opened the door, and that, she would have picked me again if he didn't only to try later. But he opened the door quickly, and I forgot all about her until I saw her. Her face brought out the memories, and I pressured her to tell me the truth about herself." He shrugged, "She also shed some light into my memories. Anyhow, your mother, biological mother; she's the kind of person who can't stop worrying about things and individuals. I didn't know back then, but she followed my career from afar and made sure I wouldn't waste my life because of my encounter with abnormals."

"She told you that?"

"Ashley did. I didn't know to which extent until a few months ago when I was trying to figure out some accounts; I learned that the company which funded my entire education is one of the companies she placed out there to help us with the expenses. I owe her my life and education. I'm sure she suspects I know, although, she never brought the subject up, nor did I."

"How did you get here?"

"It was back in 1999; I was called over for a crime scene. I left and saw a kid walking halfway up the building, and I ended up in between the alleyway and her car. Later, she offered me a chance to see this world, the real world not many people get to see. She showed me the Sanctuary and offered me a job."

"And you never left," She commented with a smile.

"I did for a while, not because I wanted to. For almost four years, I worked with Helen side by side. She needed someone to trust. Someone to keep an eye on things if she wasn't around, she said, and I laughed. But I became her protégé."

"And the killing her?"

"Sally asked us to check her people when we got there; we found only the remains of all of them. We picked one to study it, and the parasite which caused them to kill each other entered her. We ended up taking the submarine lower. At some point, she understood she needed to die and asked me to kill her. I locked her in the pressuring room and took the oxygen away. It was awful, she regained consciousness by the end, and I had to watch her die. The creature left her the moment she collapsed, I froze the thing, and I brought her back. The study of the case showed her body was killing the creature. However, we wouldn't survive long enough for it to die on time since the tin can was too close to collapse due to pressure."

"Holy Hannah! And then you died?"

"Yes. There's a long and complicated history in between. But to make it short, I needed to have an out of body experience to find an abnormal. Helen explained the risk of the situation, both if I did it or if I didn't do it. She swore she wouldn't let me go for long, and I trusted her, she kept that one. I guess we are even in that department now." He joked.

"Is that when you knew you love her?"

"You sure like to stick to the big guns," he chuckled, "the first time I saw her, I liked her, I felt attracted to her, how couldn't I? She is beautiful and way out of my league. She's entertaining, funny, witty and has a weird sense of humor. She cares deeply, even if she tries not to. And before I knew it, the attraction I felt wasn't only physical.

"And you asked her out," she grinned.

"God, no! As far as I knew, she wasn't interested. Helen never hinted a thing. Then, here I was, a puppy dog following her around. Then I observed her interact with John, her former fiancé. Watson appeared, he understood Helen in ways I couldn't, and he was a doted mind. And then Tesla, who can't stop from flirting with her, and she does flirt back. I saw her candidates, men she trusted and cared for, and I certainly didn't fill the bill."

"But you do."

"Now," he huffed. "But now there's no Druitt nor Watson. I only get Tesla annoying me." He grinned, "don't get me wrong; I know they love each other. I might lose her to him in a blink of an eye. I understand that, and I will be forever grateful for she allowed me to see how deeply she feels, how vulnerable she can be. She showed me a side of her that not many have seen"

"Like?"

"Well, there are moments when she opened to me out of sheer pressure. I saw her crumble when she lost Watson and Ashley. And again when Druitt was sick. I saw her beat, bruised; I saw her sick, death sick."

"You didn't explain why you left?"

"It wasn't willingly; she kicked me out of the Sanctuary and sent me into the hands of her enemies. Having me there for them meant an insight I wasn't giving. For her, meant not telling me a lot of things. Back then, I was dating Abby, to keep Helen out of my mind mostly, so when it happened, I thought it was a way of punishing me for having a life. I almost made the mistake of marrying Abby."

"I'm, I'm dating a cop. Not the man I'm in love with, but the next best thing."

"Don't do it; trust me. It isn't worth it. It is not fair for either of you if you are not in love with him. It's or will become painful for you because he won't ever be the person you want. And it will be a lot of pain for him because no matter how much you try, they know, they know they aren't the one. It's not a nice feeling. I know that even if Helen does love me, I will never be Nikola."

"Hum, I'll think about it."

"We are almost there," he said, and it was the first time she realized they were out of the building and walking around a grassy area, she looked up, and she didn't see not even one star, but the moon was shining brightly. "That's not the real moon, in case you were wondering"

"I was. How is that possible?"

"That's a question for Magnus, Henry or Tesla. I know it works, during the night is white light and gives us, the outsiders, a belief that we are indeed under the moonlight. During the days, the orange light and the warmth it produces, makes you believe that, if you look up, the sky will be blue. The clouds are real, something about the ecosystem that I can't remember."

"That's awesome!" She looked up. "I'll guess I need another conversation with Nikola," Will huffed.

"Sadly, I can't help you with that one." He winked, "Nah, really, Nikola is a good guy, a very annoying good guy. You have something of him in you, so he will be less annoying to you that he's to me. You know, I've been talking non-stop, since you woke me up, and not once you mentioned what's been keeping you up?"

"I," she sighed. "It's a bunch of different things."

"Like your Colonel," Will pointed. "He's the man you are in love with; he does love you back, I've noticed." She blushed.

"It's complicated."

"No, it's not. We make it complicated; love is quite simple. You can talk to me; it will be between us. Medical and Patient confidentiality and all that crap." he winked, making her snort.

"You are right. But simple or not, it just can't be." She told him as he came to a stop.

"Military policies?" She nodded.

"Will, can you stop harassing the girl?" Magnus' voice came over the faraway noise of a cascade.

"I'm not harassing anyone, Darling," he laughed.

"Samantha?" She asked pointedly.

"He's not, I swear," Sam grinned, and Helen squinted, looking from one to the other. "So, this is the pond?" Sam asked to change subjects.

"The pond?" Helen looked at Will with her eyebrow raised.

"See! That's what I've told you," he pointed to the expression making Sam laugh. Helen rolled her eyes.

"What are you both doing here at this time of the day?"

"This time of the day? Really?" He gave her a pointed look, and she shrugged with a smirk, "Well, Samantha came looking for you, scared the bejesus out of me. Are you planning on getting out of there?" Helen was comfortably floating in the water.

"You should join me; the water is perfect."

"Join you in your secret place?" Will asked.

"It's far from secret if you both are standing in here."

"There's that too. Nah, I'm going back to bed, some of us do need to sleep to survive, and coffee can only help so much."

"You and your caffeine addiction, William. Go, you have at least another three hours, before you have to make an appearance."

"Unless you need me now?" He offered, wiggling his eyebrows. Helen shook her head, laughing.

"You are incorrigible, William. Off you go!" He grinned and turned around.

"Goodnight, Samantha!"

"Night and thanks, Will," Sam added, before waving him off.

She saw Helen swimming to the other end of the natural pool and disappeared in what looked like a cavern. Sam used the moment to notice how breathtaking the outside was. There were brown mountains around, contrasting with the green of the grass. There were flowers everywhere, ranging from the typical white to fluorescent ones; such colors would have surprised her if she hadn't seen them in other worlds.

There was a small river which started in the natural pool, the water was clear, and she could see the floor bed, and the fish or water creatures moving along it. The sounds of the cascade she had heard before were louder towards the direction Helen had followed, and out of curiosity, she walked towards it.

Inside of the cavern, the pond started under the stream of a 12-foot waterfall and it was dimly illuminated by low human-made lights, enough to see, but not enough to be considered bright. Helen chose that moment to emerge from the water, using a set of rocks which served her as stairs, smiling at the open-mouthed woman standing close to the entrance.

"Come on in, and sit here." Sam nodded and walked towards the boulder Magnus pointed to her. It looked almost like one of those chaise longs one would expect to find next to a pool, but twice as wide. The cold temperature of the boulder told her it was, in fact, natural rock. She opened the mouth to speak when Helen's voice startled her. "I'm going to get changed, sit for a while, and you'll see why I come here to think." Helen whispered to her, "Oh! And look up," she added, walking behind a rock while patting herself dry.

The lights diminished, and the place became darker than before. Sam could hear the water and her breathing, smiling at how peaceful it was. She understood why anyone would choose the place to relax. And then, she saw a yellow flash, and another and another. They were like tiny dancing lights.

"Fireflies," she whispered. Helen came out from behind the rock fully dressed, but barefooted, and stealthily sat beside Sam. Her smile was contagious.

"Just wait," she told her, looking up in delight. And then, the ceiling started to shine in purple, red, green, and blue and so did the pool. "They shine when they don't feel threatened."

"I've never seen a firefly glowing in anything but yellow."

"Well, of course, that's because these aren't fireflies. The lights you saw flying by are the abnormal cousins if you wish, although, they are genetically closer to dragonflies. The purple shade, it's an unusual kind of moss, it reacts to the exchange of electrons produced by the flying. The red ones are abnormal bacteria; they live in a symbiotic relationship with the rock. When shining, the moss, warms the rock and then, the bacteria glow. When the rock shines, the scarabs which live in here shine, that's the blue. The green is nocturnal butterflies. And once they all shine, the water creatures know it is safe. By now, they are used to me and glow when I'm on the water."

"This is unbelievable, Helen," she whispered in awe.

"I know," Helen grinned almost childishly. "It is almost as having the universe for yourself, and this is part of the reason why I love what I do. How could I not protect them?" She smiled, then looked at Sam from the corner of her eye. "Although, I don't quite believe you are awake at this time just for the fun of it, nor that you woke up Will to know the pond or the various inhabitants of this cavern." She pointed.

"No, not really," she made an apologetic face.

"Don't even try to apologize. Will is quite used to my sleeping schedule, and he is a light sleeper unless he is exhausted. He's also worried about the current situation. But again, you are not here to talk about him. What's worrying you?"

"I'm not too sure," she sighed and bit her lower lip. "There are several things in my mind right now."

"Ah! That happens, a lot." Helen sat and turned to face her and observed her in the dim light. "Stop me whenever you want to, you are overwhelmed by the idea of having parents whom you know nothing. You are also concerned about what your friends are going to say when they figure it. And to make all worse, the moment they know you are related to us, they will know you are one of us, and it scares you. The one reaction is bothering you the most is the one of Colonel O'Neill. You love him, and you are worried that, after what he said, he stops loving you because of what you are."

"How on Earth you do that?" She asked, amazed. "Do you have the same skill Will has?"

"No," she chuckled, "Will has this incredible mind which allows him to see things in a way we don't. What I have is enough days roaming this Earth to read people like open books. And your Colonel, behind all his walls, is transparent for me." Sam snorted.

"He is. He seems reserved and overly cautious. But I've read his file; I understand why he is like that. I can also see through him since we are very much alike."

"You and him alike? Yeah, right."

"Yet, we are. For years, I closed myself to the world, believing that keeping people at arm's length would keep me from developing feelings. It didn't. I thought I had enough walls; I figured they were enough; they weren't. I still cared, and I found out it was easier to let go of them than try to keep them up and not enjoying what was available on the other side for me."

"You found Will."

"No, Samantha," she smiled sadly, "I had you," Sam gulped. "Bringing you into my life brought joy, hope, and love, in a way I had never felt before. And losing you made me utterly miserable. But as my days progressed and I was still there, the Sanctuary needed me; people needed me. I started to move like a ghost of myself until I understood I was affecting all those around me. I never forgot the pain of losing you, but I was busy enough to move past it. And in those days I wasn't, I found myself making a little ritual of remembering you. I started to accept the way my cards were dealt, and at that point, my hand was awful. And when I did, I realized not only how much I was hurting people, but how much I was missing out. I lost a close friend, and I wasted my time not visiting him on his deathbed. The silly thing is that out of my grief, I took people for granted. I lost you and somehow forgot that most people around me have a limited amount of days." Helen sighed and turned to look at Sam.

"It doesn't matter how cliche it might sound, no matter how broken you are, happiness still lies in your hands," she smiled. "But back to your Colonel, yes, I know how much he lost. His child, his friends in the war, I know he spent some days as a POW. But since I've experienced that all, I can easily notice he's at a point in which won't take much to bring him out of his cocoon. Love will do it."

"I can't. We can't. There are rules."

"I know. There always are. Humanity couldn't thrive without rules in place. However, it is our prerogative to keep them, break them, or overlook them. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you feel at peace with your choices, and hopefully, that also be the one that makes you the happiest and the one that gives you fewer regrets. Of all the things one must live with, regret is the most damaging. Trust me; I have tons of those."

"Still. We can't."

"You will, at some point."

"Like you and Will? Or like you and Nikola?" Helen raised her eyebrow, "Will told me he loved you for months after he started working for you, but he also told me you didn't." Helen sighed

"He told you that Nikola and I are in love but denial?" she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yes," Helen sighed.

"Well, hopefully, yours is closer to my history with Will than the one with Nikola," Helen smiled sadly, "There's a difference between the Colonel, you, and Nikola and I. I have an extended life; Nikola, well, your father is immortal. There is a way to revert it, and I know at some point, he will use it. Just like he knows, at some point, I will break beyond repair."

"So, Will is right; you do love him?" Helen smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Nikola, among other things, is the first man I've loved, and we are bond to each other in ways most people will never get to understand. He knows me too well; he is my best friend. It might sound strange, but he is a part of me, and I'm part of him, but we've never," she chewed her inner cheek searching for a word. "It is different with him, I know he is there, he knows I'm here, but we've never managed to consider each other as a couple." She shook her head. "No, it's not like a couple, we've never managed to consider each other the sole exclusive bond we need to live. I'll guess someday when we get too tired of people dying around us; we will finally give up and find a way to continue what we started a long time ago." Sam frowned.

"You are telling me not to wait, so why do you? Why don't you give him a chance?"

"Don't let him get this out of you: I'm in love with Nikola; I always was, and I will always be. However, he is not the only person I'm in love with or that I will ever love."

"Will."

"Yes. I know it doesn't sound like in the movies or books where you only get one chance in love. I also suppose it has to do with the extent of my life and his. I've loved and have been in love with a lot of people over the years. What I feel for Nikola has never wavered. Or what I felt for John, and so on and so forth. Now, curiously enough, Nikola is often the one who pushes me towards other people he knows I love."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's the beautiful thing about loving someone, you want them to be as happy as they can. Nikola wants that, and he knows Will makes me happy, and so did John at some point."

"While he is all alone?" Sam asked, making Helen chuckle.

"Nikola is far from the celibatarian white dove books point him to be, pun intended. He was in love with that dove," Helen rolled her eyes. "He has been in many relationships over the years. However, they are not his priority. It is his genius what keeps him moving, and so far, I'm the only person who understood that part of him. If he has an idea, he will forget anything until he develops it, most people won't give him the space to do it."

"I see."

"Despite how simple it is for us to live it, it's highly complex to explain the intricacies of how we relate. Let's say we've learned to couple with the fact we've known each other since we were eighteen, and we've both been in other relationships that haven't changed what we feel for each other. Truth to be told, we are terrified by the idea of losing each other. Even when he was in hiding or when he didn't know I wasn't the Helen he thought I was, he was there for me, no questions, no complaints. And I was there too."

"You visited him during your, um, second lifetime?"

"Yes. Nikola has figured out the points in which he met my 'past-me' and the current me. Pestered me about it for weeks," she rolled her eyes.

"So, if you can't think of a life without him, why is it that you hope my situation to be more like Will and you?"

"The difference between those two is an abyss, Samantha. Nikola and I, well, we work without falling into the definition of a couple. And if it is like that, then you might never know the kind of happiness and fulfillment that a loving relationship can give. Now, with William, it took us almost six years to get to this point, but here we are. And his doubts about not being Nikola aside, we have a deep connection and a fulfilling relationship which makes us both happy."

"I see."

"Trust me; it wasn't a piece of cake. I knew Will's past, qualifications, and how he looked in a picture. And knowing all of that, I didn't expect to feel attracted to him; he is terribly young in comparison. I knew he liked me; it was obvious since he started to work for me. But, he was my protege, and I couldn't possibly make a move on him without falling into possible harassment. And there was another huge issue that also stopped me," she sighed.

"What?"

"I thought he liked Ashley." Sam raised her eyebrow. "Ashley was smitten," Helen confessed. "I know it, you could see it in her eyes. So, I held myself. Then, she lost interests, and Will started flirting with me. It was endearing, and as time passed, I found him to be different; he was the first one in a long time who dared to challenge me. And I decided I was going to give us a chance."

"What happened?"

"Things got utterly complex. He met Clara a few days before Ashley disappeared. I lost James, and the Cabal killed Clara, and then we lost Ashley for good. He was mourning, so was I. When things went calmer I kept him at arm's length. He knows I was scared. It's not a wonderful history, so forgive me if I sum it up."

"As I've told Will, I'll take anything you want to share." Sam smiled, and Helen observed her for a while, making her blush, "And it might help me with my issue, I hope."

"I trust you are wrong; yours seems a little easier."

"I don't care," Sam whispered, and Helen sighed, chewing her lower lip.

"We all know what happened, so I never told this to anyone. After Ashley's disappearance, they changed her DNA resulting in what she is now. And her DNA was multiplied into super soldiers. And the attacks against the Sanctuary started."

"And Ashley knew all the security situation, I suppose?"

"Yes, they destroyed several Sanctuaries, and killed a lot of friends, and there was nothing we could do about it. And then they got to my house, to her home."

"I don't even know what to say," Helen smiled tiredly. But when she started again, her voice was lifeless as if she was taking herself out of the picture and just recounting something it happened to someone else.

"That wasn't the worst; I had to decide whether I wanted to save my daughter or my life work. And I knew," she sighed. "I wanted it to be a hard choice, but there was none. We worked day and night to find something, anything to point for a possible way to control what they became, but we found nothing." Sam gulped, "We made plans to control them knowing they would likely attack the UK Sanctuary first, we tried to control them, and ended up freeing an elemental in a closed condition. They killed Will's girlfriend that day. By then, I knew without a shade of doubt that I should kill Ashley or die trying. I almost died. They invaded my home, and at some point, it was just her, another soldier and me and I couldn't. I don't know how or what made her surface and take control of her body for enough time to blow herself and the remaining soldier against our EM field. But she did, she killed herself to save me," Sam's eyes widened, and her hand covered her mouth.

"I pushed Henry to try and find if she somehow got stuck in the EM, but we found nothing, I went insane with pain. By then, John's rage and bloodlust reached a new peak, and he went against them. I, somehow, pushed Nikola to go with him. I wanted revenge as much as they did. I couldn't do it myself. I had to pick the mess they did on the Sanctuaries, and I didn't have time, not even to mourn. Through that, I had Will. He kept pushing me, helping me, anchoring me, picking myself up. But I was terrified and pushed him away. I knew I loved him, but it was then, when the thought of losing him was petrifying, that I understood exactly how much. I couldn't lose anyone else I loved at that point and convinced myself that keep him as a friend would keep him safer. We went back to our friendship, and catastrophically, when I was ready to move forward, more issues raised. We lost the public support of the Governments due to an unprecedented uprising of abnormals. And, while we tried to sort it out, he met with a former co-worker. The time I used to try and save everything I've done, I pushed him to her. He had Abby, and I had lost him again."

"He mentioned Abby; he said it was a mistake to kept you out of his mind."

"I know now," Helen said. "Nikola noticed what I felt, almost at the same time I did, he didn't tell me a thing, until he got tired of my attitude, and he started to push me to get the nerve to tell Will," she chuckled. "And Will thought Nikola was courting me, or something along those lines. Anyhow, that's when I got to time travel. I spend the following hundred thirteen years trying not to change the future. Dear Lord! It sounds like an awful penny dreadful," she whispered. "When I was reliving my life, I understood things which on my first turn hadn't made any sense to me."

"Like?"

"I was on the Titanic," she trailed. "You don't seem surprised."

"Nikola told me."

"Ah, did he tell you why I was coming?"

"You had something to do that couldn't wait," Sam trailed.

"Yes, when I decided to partake on that trip, I found trails of movements inside the network, money, and abnormals, signed off by me. I came to undercover who was using my name," Helen chuckled. "Turns out, I was using my name."

"You did things you remember you lived but didn't do on the first timeline in which you existed, but on the second time, you altered this same timeline with what you knew you did but didn't do? Did I make any sense?" Sam wondered out loud.

"That's what happened. With the knowledge of what was going to happen, I found the holes; I was the one who created them in the first place. Among those, I found a way to develop the tech level to keep Ashley contained until I managed to make a body for her conscience."

"Then, when?"

"Me and Will? I mentioned I had to blow up my home? "

"You what?"

"I had to make my death believable, so I blew up my home."

"At least I know from where the blowing things up come from," Sam muttered.

"That's from Nikola; he adores exploding things. I needed his help, so I told him my plans, and we figured that after all, I shouldn't try to get into a relationship with Will, because of them. To be free to move and continue with my work, I had to die. And for that to be believable, people who knew me well enough would have to believe it without a shade of doubt or 'die' with me. I pushed Will out of the building and into the hands of the Government, then with him out, I blew myself with the house, and we moved here. I had to wait eight months to bring Will until there was no one else checking him."

"How did you know he wasn't under surveillance anymore? How you know he was under surveillance to start?" Sam wondered.

"We used the cameras they placed to check on him and placed some of our own. He was such a mess; I wanted nothing more than telling him the truth and bring him down."

"You couldn't, because bringing him before time could expose the whole thing to those who had him under surveillance."

"Exactly. Will resigned from his position a couple of weeks after the explosion. He wasn't needed anymore, there was no relationship with me to be used, so they allowed him to go. They kept an eye on him for six months after that and I had to make sure they weren't around, so I had to add another two months two that."

"Ouch," The cavern went dark. Helen smiled.

"Mom?"

"Over here. Do you need anything? Everything is alright?"

"Yup, just using energy. Will told me you were at the pond," Ashley trailed.

"See… they all know how to find me." Helen smiled, "Do you have enough strength to take us back to my room?"

"Sure thing!"

"Care to try a bit of teleportation, Samantha?"

"I … I don't know."

"We can walk, if you wish, it will be somewhat stealthy, considering my no makeup status."

"That one is a hard one to explain, believe me," Ashley commented. "Oh! Come on; it's super cool, I swear I won't miss any part of you in the process."

"Ashley! That's not helpful," Helen added.

"Ah, and here I was about to ask you if you could rearm me with more stuff in the boobs."

"So you are in! Let's go! I'll have to find Dracula later; I will need to spar with him"

"Probably at the lab."

"I'll check the cameras. Shall we?"

"What should I do?"

"Just click your heels together twice," Ashley grinned

"Oh no, not another Wizard of Oz fan," she muttered, making Ashley laugh.

"Just grab me."

Ashley offered her and to Sam, and Helen grabbed Ashley's arm. The moment Samantha placed her hand dubiously on her half sister's, they disappeared in a blue electrical cloud.