A/N: Yes, yes, it has been almost a month since I updated this. I've been a bit crazy. I will do better. Chartreuseian was kind enough to let me borrow a reference from her story How to Tame Your Genius, which you should go read after you finish reading this!

"So what were you looking for, anyway?"

They were back in the Catacombs sorting through crates. Nikola looked up at her, confused.

"When you were rifling through my closet. What were you looking for?"

An abashed look flashed across his face and was quickly replaced with smooth innocence.

"I just wanted to see if there are any juicy pieces you've been holding back from me," he leered.

Helen sighed. "Yes. And you would never make up an inappropriate comment to deflect the truth."

He grinned. "But what if the truth IS the inappropriate comment?"

"Then you wouldn't have beat around the bush about it. Now stop deflecting. What were you looking for?"

He carefully studied the crate he was sorting and muttered, "My things."

"What…things…of yours do you think I have?"

He gathered his nerve and stared her down. "I know you have them. All the things you've confiscated from me over the years—plans and gadgets and such."

"Tell me you weren't trying to steal them back again?" Helen asked with a laugh. "I'm sure you remember how badly that went for you."

"Yes, it was a trying experience, but it did end very well." He cocked his eyebrow with a grin.

"Cheeky bastard," she smiled, shaking her head.

"And anyway, I wasn't going to steal them, as such. I just wanted to make sure they got moved to the new Sanctuary. Even if you won't let me follow through on my plans, they are a testament to my genius and part of my life's work and I think they deserve better than to be blown up in one of you crazy-" Helen clamped her hand over his mouth by way of interruption.

"That's quite enough lecture, thank you." He yanked her hand away, but she quickly pressed the index finger of her free hand to his lips in a shushing motion. "Let me talk. It's my turn now." He nodded and she pulled her finger away.

"I have every intention of moving your "things" to the new Sanctuary. That being said, I find it incredibly amusing that you thought they would be hiding in my closet."

"Well, you never wanted me going through it…"

"It was nothing so complicated as stolen plans—I didn't want you to dig through my underthings, Nikola!"

"Oh. So, where are the plans?"

Helen rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. When she looked back, Nikola was still standing there, staring. "Well, are you coming or not?" He hurried after her.

She led him to the library.

"Hey, who moved all the boxes?" Nikola looked around, amazed. Aside from the mostly empty shelves, there was no sign that they had been packing. Helen grinned.

"I think I will keep some secrets to myself a little longer." She walked over to a shelf that had some old hardcover romance novels on it. Helen knew that they were so beneath Nikola that he never would have gone near them. She pulled all the books off the shelf at once, revealing that they were merely the spines of the books glued together to give the appearance of a shelf of books. Behind the false cover was a box. Nikola stilled, afraid to make any sudden movements as Helen pulled the box down from the shelf and set it on one of the tables.

"It doesn't just have your old plans in it," Helen admitted as she opened the box. It contained a few sets of rolled up blueprints, the devamper, an ancient set of diaries, and a pile of what appeared to be travel souvenirs.

Nikola smirked. "First the drawer of letters and now this. Helen, if I didn't know any better, I would think you have been in love with me for quite some time." She smacked him for that. "But where did all of this come from?"

This time Helen looked embarrassed. "Its souvenirs…from any time we travelled or went on a mission together."

"You've been keeping a 'boyfriend box' for me for quite awhile," he observed. "And it has so much more in it then that…other box," he added, distastefully.

"Now you see why your jealousy was so amusing…" Nikola was rifling through the box, far more interested in all the memorabilia then his plans. Helen knew that he didn't really need the plans, anyway. All of his inventions were stored away in his brain; the drawings were purely nostalgic. It was a sign of how much they had both changed that he was more interested in revisiting the memories of all their trips.

"Some of this stuff belongs in a museum somewhere." Nikola held up a small stone carving. "Wasn't this from Tut's tomb?"

"Yes. Those were wonderful days, weren't they?" Helen's eyes brightened at the memories of the group of explorers digging their way through Egypt.

Nikola held up a pair of opera glasses quizzically.

"I can't believe you don't remember!" Helen accused. "You wanted to see what opera was like, and we went to-"

"The London premiere of Pirates of Penzance-" Nikola finished. "That was in…1880, right?" Helen nodded. "God, I hated that so much."

Helen giggled. "I know. That was what made it so much fun!"

Nikola snorted, pulling a little wooden sign out of the box. It was pure Americana—the stuff of small town craft fairs and childhood art projects. "Speaking of experiences that one of us hated."

"Oh, good Lord. Now you know why I hid the box." Helen Magnus did not blush, but if anything could get her to, this might.

The sign was shaped like a U.S. Route marker shield and had an 84 carved into it. Painted on the sign in large letters were the words "I found the fastest way to reach Climax…" Added at the bottom of the sign like an afterthought were the letters "GA."

"You made up reports of that abnormal sighting just so you could drag me to that damn town," Helen accused.

"Well, yes…but you have to admit the people there were pretty abnormal."

"They're small town Southerners, Nikola. I'm sure they thought you were pretty abnormal, as well."

"But they were in the middle of a Swine Time Festival. They have a festival celebrating pigs. Those creatures are so filthy. Do you have any idea what they eat?" he said, voice laced with horror.

"Says the vampire…"

"Still. The entire thing was so barbaric. And all the food had been outside for hours collecting bacteria, and all those people crushed together…" he shuddered. "Still, it was worth it, just to see the look on your face."

"Nikola, we are lost."

"Are not."

"We are so. I never should have let you drive."

"If you are about to tell me to pull over and ask for directions, you can forget it!" He grinned at Helen as they drove through the Georgia countryside.

"Are you sure you took the exit for Chattahoochee?"

"What-a-hoochee? Where do people come up with these names? The exit was labeled Lake Seminole, and since that's where the reports of the crazy freshwater shark that likes to munch on humans are coming from, that's the direction I'm driving."

"Chattahoochee," Helen repeated, ignoring the rest of his speech. "It's a Muskogean word that means Painted Rocks. And you really are the pot calling the kettle black, since you hail from the town of Smiljan."

"Touche," he admitted. They continued to drive down windy country roads for another fifteen or twenty minutes.

"Nikola,"

"Yes?"

"We just drove past a sign with a picture of a large peach that said Georgia Welcomes You."

"And?"

"We aren't going to Georgia. Lake Seminole is in Florida."

"Technically it is split between Georgia and Florida."

"Were you planning on taking the longest route possible to get there in order to maximize our time in the car? It's Thanksgiving weekend, I have other things I could be doing."

"Like what? Working? Hunting abnormal? That's what you're doing, Helen."

"Fine. But would you please either get a map or get us back on track?"

They were driving into a small town, but there was an unreasonable amount of traffic. Eventually they could see that there was some kind of festival or street fair going on.

"Maybe someone in this crowd could give us directions," Helen suggested cheerfully. Nikola scowled, then his face brightened.

"Helen! Speaking of towns with crazy names, look at the sign!"

"Climax, Georgia. Population 297." Helen paused. "You orchestrated this!" she accused.

"What makes you think I would drag you halfway across the country and deliberately get us lost all in an attempt to get you to stay the night at a cozy B&B in the quaint town of Climax?" He smirked at her.

Helen dropped her head into her hands. "Because you bloody well just admitted to it. And, the answer is no."

"I'm kidding, Helen. I don't think this town is even big enough to have a B&B. Care to settle for a photo-op in front of the sign? Ouch! Must you hit so hard?"

"Yes!"

"I bet you wish now we had taken the photo in front of the sign."

"I think I'll live. I've heard rumors that the town is still there, should I ever change my mind."

"When did you even buy that silly sign?"

"Probably while you were off trying to track down a B&B," Helen smirked.

"It was so disappointing. A town like that just needs one. So, how did the sign make the cut for your box of souvenirs?"

"Well…because I knew what you were really up to, and it was sweet."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. It was my first holiday without Ashley. You knew how difficult it would be, so you found the most ridiculous way possible to distract me."

"You'll never get me to admit it," he said, stubbornly. "I was just being my usual inappropriate, inconsiderate self."

"Yes, Nikola, keep telling yourself that…"