News of Tesla's newly found family member spread over the Sanctuary at a speed only gossip can achieve. Nikola found the whole matter incredibly irritating, in spite of extremely positive results from his first doses of Prisca-based medication. He stood in his lab, fussing over a new prototype of a weapon charged by electromagnetic currents and muttering to himself when Kate burst in with Henry in tow.
"So where's Granny Tesla?" Kate said, a little nastily. "We heard she was here."
"I just came with her." Henry pointed at Kate, firmly choosing to be a coward while Tesla held what appeared to be a phaser from Star Trek.
Nikola scowled at the two intruders, then, ignoring them, returned to his muttering and puttering. Kate crossed her arms and stood her ground stubbornly. After two minutes ticked past, Tesla stopped what he was doing and looked at Kate and Henry mildly. "Oh, are you still here?" He asked with an air of disgust.
"We just want a chance to meet Grandma, that's all." Kate said, her tone challenging.
"I presume she's with Helen somewhere." Nikola waved a vague hand, as if shooing them out of the door.
Henry frowned, his expression somewhat sad. "You aren't spending any time with her?" He asked.
"I saw her yesterday." Tesla said with a shrug.
"That's cold, man." Kate said, shaking her head. "Will said she's been searching for her family for, like, five hundred years and you're not even going to hang out with her?"
"Two immortal beings hardly need to rush through introductions." Said Prisca, coming abruptly through the door. She gave Tesla a grin and a nod, indicating whose side she was on. Nikola, surprised, grinned back.
Kate and Henry turned and saw Prisca for the first time. Kate looked surprised at Prisca's appearance and age. Henry looked stunned. Prisca smirked at Kate then looked at Henry. The smirk vanished.
"Hey." Said Henry, his eyes round. He held out his hand
"Hi." She replied, taking his offered hand. "I'm Prisca."
"Yeah, Tesla's…uh…"
"Great, great, great…great…grandmother." Prisca finished.
"Great." Henry breathed. Then they noticed they were still holding hands at the same moment and jumped apart. Prisca blushed. Kate and Tesla met one another's gazes with, for once, shared consternation and alarm.
"I'm Henry." Henry said, recovering himself and giving Prisca a charming male smile. "Nice to meet you."
"You too." She said, dipping her eyelashes and smiling.
"Hey. Tiny." Tesla snarled. "Stop flirting with my…my grandmother." He finished with a sputter. He swept around the lab table and whisked by Henry and Kate to stand in front of Prisca. "What do you want?" He asked her briskly.
"Oh, I don't know." Prisca rolled her eyes at him and pretended to ponder the question. "To spend time with my only living family member and offspring? Whom I've spent many, many lifetimes searching for?" Prisca said, raising one eyebrow at him.
"Well, you must be a female relative. I've known you exactly forty-eight hours and you are already trying to make me feel guilty." Tesla said drily. "Well, come on then, Nana. Let's catch up on all those missed Christmases and birthdays." He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her out of the lab and away.
"Holy crap." Kate said.
"Seriously." Henry agreed. His lips curved into a smile.
"What kind of girl are you?" Tesla lectured in an irritated tone, still hauling her by the arm into the Sanctuary gardens. "You married a vampire and now you're flirting with a werewolf? Do you have any common sense at all?"
"Doctor Magnus tells me that you were lately a vampire." Prisca said pointedly.
"I was one, I didn't marry one." Tesla distinguished haughtily, letting her arm go. "How on earth have you managed the last few centuries? You dress like a hobo, flirt with mangy puppies, and generally have the worst taste in everything…except wine."
"And relatives?" Prisca said, raising her eyebrows at him.
"I suspect you're withholding judgment on that one." Tesla said wryly.
"If I had any common sense, I would." Prisca said with a smirk. Tesla scoffed then laughed, surprising himself. He blinked.
"I like you." He said, pointing at her with a measuring look.
"I like you, too." Prisca said, smiling at him. "I…I've lived so many years hoping for this moment, but, you know…it's pretty weird."
"Yes, weird, indeed." Nikola echoed. He cleared his throat. "I had, of course, traced my vampire genealogy as far back as possible but never considered the human side."
"Which isn't as human as you thought." Prisca finished.
"True." Nikola said. He frowned in thought. "I'm sure I'll see you later." He said, and abruptly left her standing alone in absolute surprise on the lawn.
"I have a theory!" Nikola announced, barging smoothly into Helen Magnus's office and walking to stand facing her with his back to Bigfoot, with whom she had obviously been in conversation.
"Nikola! Manners." Helen said with an exasperated look.
Nikola sighed and rolled his eyes. He looked up over his shoulder at the ape man. "Beat it, Fluffy. I'll send a note of apology later." He said. The Big Guy growled and shook his head in disbelief at the smaller man's arrogance, but left the room. Tesla turned back to Helen. "Happy?"
"No." She replied. "You really are such an obnoxious prima donna sometimes, Nikola."
"Only sometimes? You really are in love with me, aren't you?" Nikola smirked. Helen sighed, defeated by logic.
"So what's this theory that's so important that common courtesy had to be crucified?" She asked.
Tesla grinned like a maniac. "I am an abnormal." He said holding his hands out as if presenting this news on a platter.
"Honestly, Nikola." Helen said in vexation. "There had better be more or I'm putting you back in the Shoe to dry out your sauciness."
Nikola's grin broadened. "I knew you had bondage fantasies."
"Focus." Helen ordered. Realizing with a shake of her head that this conversation was a replay of the day she was tied up in a closet by Tesla's teenaged vampire creations.
"I always assumed my abnormalities were a result of the Source blood. I now believe that the Source blood simply brought out my latent vampire traits, but that I was already an abnormal." Tesla was now briskly wandering the office in his excitement.
"Go on." Helen said, leaning back in her chair and listening intently, pondering.
"This ancestor of mine, Bela Ferko, was a vampire. But the girl is also an abnormal." Nikola stated. "Is it not possible that I was already an abnormal when I took the Source, but my abilities hadn't yet emerged?"
Helen's eyes narrowed shrewdly and she said. "That is entirely possible. It would explain so much about your reaction to the Source blood. The changes you experienced and the abilities you developed were…"
"Better than everyone else's?" Nikola said merrily. He grinned. "Yes, I think so too."
"You are impossible." Helen said, shaking her head and smiling. Nikola gazed at her smiling face. Her eyes were smiling at him, Nikola Tesla. He was suddenly and utterly humbled by this woman's love.
"I'm not impossible. I'm actually incredibly easy when it comes to you. You are so…distractingly lovely." Nikola said in a husky tone, his eyes now shining and intent. He glided around her desk and sat on the edge of it, facing her. His eyes searched her wide-eyed face. Then he leaned in and kissed her with a passionate hunger that stole her breath.
When he drew back, she blinked owlishly and said breathlessly. "Well, what has gotten into you?"
"You've gotten into me." He murmured against her mouth. "But I'd vastly prefer it if we reversed that."
Helen blushed and glanced at the still-open office door. She whispered brokenly between his kisses. "It's the middle of the day. This door doesn't lock."
"My little prude." Nikola accused playfully. He straightened away from her with a cocky grin. "Your room's closer than mine." He said simply.
"I don't…I can't…" Helen said, mesmerized by his burning gaze. Then she cleared her throat and said the word she'd always withheld from this man. "Yes."
Nikola's smile widened and he looked…relieved? As if he were still afraid she would reject him. He leaned forward, kissed the tender spot under her ear and whispered. "I'll race you."
A surprising giggle burst out of Helen's mouth and she smothered a smile. She stood up slowly and pulled him against her, winding her arms around his neck, sliding her fingers into his hair. She kissed him with every bit of allure she possessed, stroking her body against his. When she drew back, his expression was dazed and he cleared his throat before managing. "Well!" Helen laughed and made a dash for the door and her bedroom. Nikola pursued, calling an irritated "That was cheating."after her.