Tesla immediately began forcing rearrangement of his quarters upon his arrival. He fussed, ordered, and insulted everyone until the cell was exactly the way he wanted it. Prisca was the only one who seemed to think Tesla's obsessive specifications were reasonable. At one point she even put herself between Henry and Tesla to prevent bloodshed.
"Well, he's got to be in there for so long and it's not as if anyone can go in and rearrange things for him once he goes off his medicine." She said, defending Tesla. The Serbian genius stood behind her with his hands on his hips, scowling ferociously. Henry's eyes were flashing between his usual quiet blue and bright green, but he closed his eyes tight and took a deep breath and smiled down at Prisca.
"That's true." He agreed tightly, and helped Bigfoot move the heavy wooden desk across the room again.
Helen was exasperated by Nikola's behavior, but could see the underlying panic that was fueling his already obsessive compulsive personality. Will bit his tongue, too. Perhaps he couldn't understand Tesla generally, but he was a psychiatrist and he certainly could understand fear. Henry, Kate, and even the Big Guy, however, had no such tolerance. Kate was all but breathing fire by the time the last items had been shifted for the last time. By this time it was nearly midnight and all of the Sanctuary's staff was more than ready to call it a day.
"I'm too wound up to sleep." Prisca announced when the group entered the elevator to go up to the residential levels of the Sanctuary. "Does anyone want to join me for a glass of wine?"
The group glanced among themselves and everyone nodded.
"I think that's a lovely idea, Prisca." Helen said, looking very tired but smiling. "Will you and Nikola choose the bottles? He can show you were the cellars are. Why don't we all meet in the library?"
A glass of wine in the library was a calm and relaxing end to such a whirlwind of a day. Nikola and Prisca, given carte blanche in the wine cellar, rejoined the group quickly with seven excellent, rare bottles and identical manic grins on their faces.
"Seven bottles? There are only seven of us here." Helen chided with a smile.
"Then we'd better get to work." Nikola returned with a gentler version of his usual obnoxious grin. The group all caught the soft look in the scientist's eyes when he said this to Magnus, only Will remained skeptical. Prisca set about expertly corking bottles and decanting the contents into a collection of crystal decanters she had produced from heaven-knew-where. She even had glass wine strainers for the older vintages with high sediment and aerators for the reds.
"Where did you find all this?" Henry said, mystified. He had lived in the Sanctuary nearly his entire life and spent more than his share of time in the kitchens and had never seen any of these devices anywhere on the premises before.
"I brought it from home." Prisca shrugged as she poured small amounts of wine into appropriate stemware.
"Oh, essentials." Will grinned with a sidelong glance at Henry. Henry smothered a smile.
Prisca frowned at Will. "Of course they're essentials. I'm not a farmer." She said in disgust. "I suppose you drink boxed wine from plastic tumblers."
Nikola raised his glass as if toasting Prisca, looking fatuously pleased with her for scathing one of his own favorite targets. Will just rolled his eyes and grinned, always a better man than stooping to swap insults.
Wine glasses were passed, Prisca gave brief instructions on how to taste the wine and the group relaxed, talking and drinking until finally falling asleep just before the rosy fingers of dawn reached through the library windows and touched the faces of the group of colleagues, friends, adversaries, and lovers gathered together for the last time for a long time.
Tesla and Kate alone were awake when the soft rays of the dawning sun began to lighten the fire-lit solitude of the library. Tesla squinted into the soft light and sighed. He was gracefully draped over one side of a leather couch with a sleeping Helen cuddled against him, her head resting on his chest. Will sat on the other side of the sofa, dozing. Prisca and Henry were sprawled in a large chair together like a pile of sleeping puppies. Bigfoot was stretched out on the floor on his back, snoring softly.
Kate was curled on her side on a loveseat, staring into the fireplace embers. At Tesla's soft sigh, she glanced up at him questioningly. He put a finger to his lips and mouthed. "It's time." Kate was silent as Tesla gently lifted Helen's head and turned her to lean against Will's shoulder. Tesla met Kate's gaze and she drew in a quick breath at the unmasked emotions she saw on his face. Naked fear, sadness, and resolve showed in his silver eyes without any of his customary pretenses. He nodded at Kate, bent and pressed a gentle kiss to Helen's temple, brushing back her dark curls with a worshipful hand. He approached Kate and bent his face down to hers. Kate stiffened instinctively, wary of this vulnerable, real Tesla even more than the usual annoying and bombastic Tesla. He looked at her intensely and said, almost without sound. "Don't let Helen let me out until it's over. No matter what. She's too soft." His mouth twisted in a semblance of his usual mocking smile.
Kate nodded, her eyes round. Tesla straightened, turned, and glided silently from the library without looking back.
The first month was the worst. Although anyone might have predicted it, it was true. The Sanctuary hummed and rattled and Prisca temporarily moved a cot into Tesla's cell so she would have to get up fewer times during the night to calm his electromagnetic storms. The rages returned and Prisca stoically bore the bruises. Tesla stoically bore the agony of guilt for creating them. Henry and Helen stoically bore the feelings of impotence and helplessness. Will, Bigfoot, and Kate stoically bore the emotional brunt of everyone else's torment. Tempers were short, emotions were high, and new information about Cabal movement caused daily concerns about security.
Tesla alternately raged and begged to be given a dose of the medication or to be set free from the confines of the small cell. Helen wept. A dark cloud hung over the Sanctuary and its occupants.
The second month brought more challenges. The rages became less frequent, the energy cascades more frequent. The replacement costs for fried electrical components mounted and the EM shield began to have almost daily shorts. Tesla was nearly bedridden from the changes and abuse his body was enduring and was barely able to continue his analysis of his condition. His calculations became more accurate with each episode and his prison term increased from a predicted six months to a predicted eight months. No one ever saw or heard him weep, but his eyes were often red and swollen.
The mutations in his body that had previously been arrested now rampaged through him. The external changes were subtle. His skin took on a bluish glow; his eyes seemed lit from within. The changes to his DNA were extraordinary. Helen monitored blood samples taken daily and was shocked to see that his cells were not only able to withstand the electromagnetic cascades, but that they were actually now regenerating more quickly and each new generation was stronger, more impervious to damage, and more efficient. "It seems you really are turning into Superman." She told Tesla through the clear wall as he lay, wan and exhausted, on his bed in the cell. "It also seems that you are your own fountain of youth." She smiled encouragingly.
"I feel like the fountain of death." He complained bitterly. "I need a shower but I'm afraid I'll faint. Faint." He made a disgusted sound. He turned his head with effort and a ghost of his old smirk crossed his face. "Did you wear that for me?" He said with interest.
Helen blushed, looking down at the brief red dress and ridiculous heels she wore. "This old thing?" She teased. "I wear it every Thursday."
Tesla chuckled and the effort made him cough violently and then lay still, panting. He recovered enough to say in a flippant tone. "If I die, wear that to my funeral."
"Nikola!" Helen censured, but she smiled at him.
Tesla sighed, a depressed sigh. "I hate it in here. I have panic attacks. It's degrading."
Helen's face softened in sympathy. "The whole thing is degrading. I…I'm proud of you, Nikola."
Nikola turned his face so she wouldn't see how her words affected him. He made a scoffing sound but it lacked authenticity.
The third month was much like the second, to everyone's frustration. The rages nearly ceased to exist. Only the overwhelming surges of power remained, which continued to cause havoc and worry about the Sanctuary's security. Tesla remained bedridden except during his episodes. It was fitting, therefore, that John Druitt returned to the Sanctuary during this time.
The EM shields, which normally prevented Druitt from popping in and out of the Sanctuary like a homicidal genie, were again out of commission due to burned out circuitry. Druitt flashed into existence right beside Helen as she brought lunch to Prisca and Tesla in the Shoe. She nearly dropped the wooden tray, but recovered herself and said coldly. "Hello John, the EM shields must be down again."
"With some frequency these days, I understand." Druitt replied callously. He followed her to the cells holding Prisca and Tesla. Prisca came out to take her lunch and Tesla's lunch. She eyed Druitt with a look that said she had judged him and found him deficient. Druitt looked at her in suspicion, then realization, then alarm. "Good God, you've found a nest of them." He said in disgust.
"John, this is Prisca Ferko. Prisca, John Druitt." Helen said. The two people nodded to one another and Prisca turned regally and glided back into her cell with the laden tray. Helen took her own lunch and placed it on a small table beside Tesla's cell. "What are you doing here, John?"
"Oh, I heard the old boy was having a bit of trouble." Druitt said with cold pleasure. He looked into the cell where Nikola lay motionless. Prisca entered the cell and set out Nikola's lunch, then retreated into her own room to eat. "Something serious?" Druitt asked hopefully.
"He'll be fine." Helen said shortly.
"That's not what I heard. Electromagnetic storms? Homicidal rages?" Druitt said smoothly. "Sounds as if he's quite out of control of himself. I suppose you do have a type." The last was said with a smirk.
"If you're suggesting that he's like you, you're wrong." Helen said, turning on Druitt. "He is seeking a cure. He doesn't embrace the violence and destruction the way that you do. You may not have chosen your burden, John, but you've chosen your path."
Druitt's face changed, becoming empty and deadly. Helen continued. "At the first test, you failed me, John. You betrayed me and everyone else who once loved you. You never asked for help, you've never wanted help. Nikola has every opportunity and inclination to be as twisted and evil as you have become, John. In fact, he has a greater capacity for it, and yet he can conquer it. Is that what always made you jealous? That he was not only smarter and more gifted, but that he was also better than you?"
Druitt's nostrils flared and he stiffened. "Watch your mouth, Helen." He said in a low voice and a half-smile.
"I won't." Helen said softly. "You've come to gloat while he's weak. But he's strong, John, stronger than you chose to be…stronger than you ever could be." She turned away from Druitt to look into Tesla's cell at his motionless form. "And he's the better man, John. He always was." Helen said, allowing her voice to be cruel.
Druitt's hand flashed out and grabbed the back of Helen's neck, forcing her to face him. His features were twisted with rage. "I told you to watch your mouth." He ground out through his teeth. His hands circled her neck. Tightened.
In a blur, a knife appeared from Druitt's pant leg and hurled itself at his throat, hovering in the air with the tip just breaking the skin over his jugular. Druitt froze and dropped his hands from Helen's neck. She stumbled back, wide-eyed and gasping. The knife stayed suspended against Druitt's skin. A trickle of blood slid down his collar. He tried to move it, but the metal charged and delivered a brisk electrical shock.
Helen whirled to look at Nikola. He was still lying in bed, but one hand was now held out. With effort, he shifted on the bed and sat up. He stood and walked on shaky legs to the clear partition where he steadied himself with one hand flat against the window. "Don't you touch her." He said in a raspy voice, his face ghostly pale but full of lethal promise. Sweat was beaded on his forehead.
Druitt glared at him. "Just dropping in to check on an old friend." He said, barely moving his lips. Tesla snorted.
"Nikola…" Helen said softly, her voice full of concern. The knife wavered slightly in the air as Nikola met her eyes, then it steadied again. Nikola turned to Druitt.
"The difference between you and me, Jack, is that I love her enough to try to be worthy of her. You never really gave a damn." Nikola said, summoning some of his usual coolness and self-possession. "If I were really like you, we wouldn't be talking right now. You'd already be dead."
The knife dropped to the floor with a loud clatter. Druitt breathed, relaxing gratefully. Helen quickly picked up the knife and held it at her side. "I think you'd better go now, John." She said without inflection.
Druitt glanced between Helen and Tesla with angry eyes and abruptly vanished in a flash of red sparks. Helen swiftly grabbed her walkie and spoke into it. "Henry, please get the EM shield up now."
"Almost there." Henry's voice crackled back. A pause. "Okay."
Helen exhaled with relief and set the knife on the table as if she couldn't bear to touch it. She turned to Nikola. He smirked at her weakly. "You meant all that, didn't you? Better man…all that?"
Helen laughed softly and nodded. "I did. You are." She approached the window and pressed her hand against his. "You frightened me for a moment."
"Ohw! Have a little faith, Helen." Nikola chided. He was short of breath from his efforts. He slowly straightened and took the few steps over to collapse gracelessly into the chair set by the desk where his lunch was laid out. He panted for a few seconds, resting his face in his hands, then sat up and eyed his lunch with a little interest. "Lobster bisque." He said approvingly. He glanced at Helen's tray. "You're staying?" He said with a hopeful look.
"Of course." She said. She sat and uncovered her tray.
"Why do you have a sandwich?" Nikola asked with a frown.
"Bigfoot knows you don't like to eat with your hands. He's gotten rather soft about you." Helen smiled.
Tesla squirmed, unable to quell the slight pleasure he felt about that. "Hmph." He said. "I don't need that creature's pity." But his statement lacked his usual acid tone. Wearily, he picked up his spoon to eat.
"Do you feel up to telling me your latest calculations?" Helen asked, starting her own meal.
"You just can't wait to have me back, is that it?" Nikola said smugly. He gently swirled a spoonful of soup to cool it.
"Exactly." Helen said with a smile.