Kate strode into Will's office and began talking without preamble. "Did you hear the latest from Magnus?"
Will held up a finger and then pointed with a frown at the phone he held to his ear. "Uh huh. Well how long will that take? Hmm. Let me think about it and call you back. Thank you for your help." He hung up the phone and said, "I'm looking to having some Tesla-proof backup systems installed in the Shoe for Magnus. Even the backup to the backup generator is made of metal that can be magnetized."
"Maybe we won't need it. Maybe he'll leave." Kate suggested. She dropped into a chair facing Will.
"Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen." Will said with a very male smirk. Kate narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "So what's the latest from Magnus?" Will asked.
"The girl they found?" She replied.
"What girl?" Will asked.
"She absorbs electric, or electromagnetic, energy. She took down Tesla in full Mister Hyde mode last night. She has to wear gloves so she doesn't steal people's lives." Kate rolled her eyes. "So, it's official now. We're the freaking X-men."
Will rubbed a hand over his face, smothering a laugh. "Is the girl here?"
Kate shrugged. "In the lab with Magnus and Doctor Jekyll."
"I'm going to go check on them." Will rose and nodded his head toward Kate. "Want to come?"
"Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I think I'll give it a miss until the sutures come out." Kate said drily.
Will raised his eyebrows thoughtfully and nodded. "I get that." He said. "I'll let you know what I find out."
"Yeah, pay the gossip forward, Zimmerman." Kate said. She gave him a grin and followed him out the door of his office where they went opposite directions, Will to the lab and Kate to anywhere else.
Nikola was competently running a hospital gown clad Prisca through a series of medical tests while Magnus examined samples of the girl's blood and observed the reaction of Nikola's cells with Prisca's.
Helen was surprised by how quickly Nikola had taken to the girl. Of course, wine was a mutually adored subject, but he seemed to be treating Prisca with none of his usual contempt and indifference. He was actually telling humorous anecdotes and listening to the girl's stories. He was being...charming. They were even speaking in an extinct Hungarian dialect and Helen could only understand pieces of their conversation. Helen felt a pang of jealousy and gave herself a firm mental shake. "She's seventeen for all intents and purposes, get a grip, Helen." She muttered herself and went back to her tests. The computer had finished creating a genetic map of Prisca's DNA and it beeped to alert her. Helen scanned the results and frowned. She double checked the data. "Curious." She murmured.
"Just finished. She's dressing. What's curious?" Tesla had approached so silently that she hadn't noticed and she jumped slightly.
"Look." Helen gestured at the computer screen. Tesla gracefully circled the desk and stood behind her chair, absently toying with the ends of her hair. He looked at the monitor and immediately frowned.
"That's not right. You made a mistake." He said in an annoyed and arrogant tone. He scooted her, in the rolling office chair, out of his way and rapidly re-analyzed the data and results. Helen pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting. He muttered to himself in irritation until finally turning to her. "These results are correct." He said it like an accusation.
"Mm." Helen said, allowing herself smile smugly to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Tesla ran an agitated hand through his hair until it stood completely on end. "This can't be accurate!" He said vehemently, gesturing at the monitor.
"What can't be accurate?" Prisca asked, entering the room still pulling on her jacket. Tesla gestured to the computer screen and Prisca looked at the lines of information blankly. "Why, what does that mean?" She said.
"It's good news." Helen said firmly. "It should be quite easy to find a solution to Nikola's problem using your genes." Helen paused, watching the girl. "Because you're close matrilineal blood relatives of one another."
Prisca's eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth. She looked at Tesla, burst into tears, and launched herself into his arms.
"Helen!" Nikola said, turning to Helen with a panicked look. He held his arms away from the girl, who clung to him in tears. Helen sat with an amused and fascinated expression on her face.
At that fraught and awkward moment, Will Zimmerman walked into the lab. He glanced around, smiled politely, and said. "I'll come back later." He spun on his heel and left the way he had come without anyone acknowledging him.
"You're here." Prisca whispered, sniffling. She pulled her face away from Nikola's chest and stroked his cheeks gently with her gloved hands. She hiccupped a laugh. "Look at you." She said, beaming through her tears at him. "Look at you!"
Nikola's eyebrows seemed to be stuck in the 'up' position, baffled by Prisca's outburst. He gently removed her hands from his face and took a measured step away from her. He cleared his throat, glanced at Helen with a still-alarmed look on his face, and said. "Please explain, Miss Ferko."
She clasped his hands, smiling at him with shining eyes. He shifted uncomfortably and guided her to a chair across from Helen. She sat and he swiftly straightened his appearance, looking askance at the tear-dampened spot on his silk necktie. He stepped behind Helen's chair putting her between himself and Prisca and eyed the girl warily. He snatched Helen's hand and gripped it like a security blanket. Helen smothered a smile at him, never having seen him so very ruffled before, and said. "We don't understand, Prisca, please do explain."
Prisca was still weeping happily, but she nodded, taking several deep breaths to steady herself. "I'd be glad to explain, Doctor Magnus. I'm just…very happy. And I'm very happy I can help Nikola."
Nikola looked freshly alarmed at her use of his first name, but collected himself and smoothed his expression into his trademark aloof smirk. "I gather you don't think we're seventh cousins fifteen times removed?" He said drily.
Prisca shook her head and beamed. "I do know what 'matrilineal' means." She said. "It means I'm your grandmother, Nikola, it means she lived." With these last words, she dissolved into happy hysterical tears again.
Nikola finally sighed testily, removed a clean handkerchief from his breast pocket and approached Prisca only close enough to hold it out to her. She took it and blotted her face, taking several deep shuddering breaths into the silk. "Thank you." She whispered and gazed up at Nikola with that same expression of love that so unsettled him moments before.
He retreated quickly behind Helen again. He placed a hand on her shoulder as if needing the connection and bent to hiss in her ear. "That girl is unbalanced."
Helen shook her head and patted Nikola's hand on her shoulder. "I hate to say it, but I'm afraid she's probably right. She certainly isn't your grandmother, but she may be your grandmother seventeen or eighteen generations removed, Nikola. At any rate, she's family."
"Family." Nikola repeated as if the word tasted bad. He was still warily watching Prisca and stroking his fingers over Helen's shoulder.
"Family." Helen smiled. "And I think she's the solution to your problem. So you'd better be polite."