Title: Nova Vita

Author: Shannon – shannyfish

Disclaimer: I do not own "Sanctuary" or its characters, Syfy and other people do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Magnus, Druitt, and Tesla are captured. A group (possibly the Cabal) capture them and attempt to find a way to reproduce a super abnormal from source blood parents. Takes place after "Neutiquam Erro".

Warning: Season 1-3 is fair for sure, if I have spoilers for 4, it's by complete accident.

Author's Note: Reviews make me happy :D And I'll write faster too! So, keep that in mind!

. . .

Chapter 2 – "Things Could Be Worse, Right?"

"How long have we been here?" she asked. She was shivering. The cold had dissipated but another storm had come in the night before. The taller man, Druitt, had tried to help keep her warm. She hadn't wanted to be touched, but then she had to allow him…he was freezing and he'd given her his warmer layers. There was a bit of snow below the opening the ceiling. They'd all been staying huddled near the door and out of the arctic breeze (or at least as best they could do).

"I lost track of time," Druitt admitted.

"At least a day…or two," Tesla spoke up from where he stood on the other side of the door. He'd stayed away from them, but she'd noticed that he'd kept an eye on them. She wasn't sure why.

She tried to control and stop the shivering, but it wouldn't pass. "Do…do…does anyone know where we are?"

"In a cell?"

Druitt sighed. "Tesla…" He pulled her closer and ran his hand along her arm. "There's snow. That does limit it somewhat."

"How does it limit it?" Tesla snapped. "Given the time of year, there are enough places that even if I could put out some kind of bat signal that says we're in a cell and we're cold and there's snow…they'd never find us…"

"You need proper clothing," Druitt told her. "I don't know why they dumped you in here without your clothes…they can't hope that you'll die from exposure, it doesn't make sense."

"You never know, they just might want to see how creative we can get in order to stay warm," Tesla suggested.

Helen felt Druitt's hand leave her arm. She reached out and grabbed his hand and then looked up into his eyes. "Thank you…for trying…"

"I'm not going to let you die, Helen," he said and got to his feet. Druitt approached the door and looked it over for a moment before he started to pound on it. He didn't stop with just a few pounds either, he just kept continuing.

"Johnny…" Tesla spoke up.

She got to her feet and stared at him as Druitt continued to pound. "It's okay…please…" she said quietly. Her arms were tightly wrapped around herself and her hands were kept safely inside the longer sleeve. She was still shivering and she found that she really wasn't sure if her legs could hold her own weight for long. Helen was mainly worried about him. She didn't want him to get into trouble for trying to help her.

He continued to pound and she noticed that blood was on the door. She reached out and grabbed him. "John! Stop!" she yelled as she pulled him back away from the door as best she could.

"They can't just leave us in here to die!" he yelled at the door.

"John, please…" Helen begged as she held onto him. He had tried to get back to the door, but he stopped when she almost fell backwards. Instead, he caught her and held her close. "I'll be okay a while longer…" she promised.

Tesla sighed. "She's lying…we both know that, John. And if anyone can lie to the both of us and get away with it normally it would be her…" Tesla took his turn at the door. He slammed the palm of his hands against it and yelled.

The noise echoed in the cell and John set her down in the front corner of the cell where they had been before. "I hear something," he announced as he turned to Tesla. "They're coming…"

"I am irresistible," Tesla told Druitt with a grin after he stopped slamming his hand against the door.

"Maybe we could overpower them," Druitt suggested.

Helen shook her head even though neither were looking at her. "The collars around your necks… They inhibit your abilities…but they may do more…"

"Are you saying that put shock collars around our necks?" Tesla asked.

"It is possible."

The door was opened and she watched as they both moved back away from it. An armed group entered, guns were pointed at all of them. Another entered behind the group and they made a hole for him to stand in so that he could address him. He was middle-aged and had a hard face. "You've been so quiet the last few days…are you not enjoying your stay with us?"

"Where exactly are we?" Tesla asked far too calmly.

"At my facility," the man responded simply.

"And you are?"

"You can call me Smith."

"Really? Smith?" Tesla scoffed.

Smith looked around and his eyes settled on her. "I'm surprised you both covered her up so quickly… Not what I would have done in your shoes…"

"She needs clothing…and blankets," Druitt spoke up.

"Perhaps," Smith said as he looked back to Druitt. "It depends on you two honestly."

"Us?" Tesla asked. "What do we need to do in order for you to hand over clothing and blankets…and food and water would be good too."

Smith smiled at them all. "We know who you all are. Last of a mutated group. You call it source blood…" Smith paused and looked back to Helen. His eyes made her involuntarily shiver. The look he gave her scared her. "We can make your accommodations much more comfortable but we want something…"

"What. Do. You. Want?" Druitt asked, snapping at each word.

"We want a child…from two source blood parents," Smith told them.

Silence fell.

Helen looked between Smith and where Tesla and Druitt stood. She wasn't entirely sure she knew what that meant…she thought she did, but she was sure that there was a story behind it. Something she didn't remember.

"You don't need a child from us," Tesla told them. "Just talk to the Cabal…they have some process—"

"We don't want their super soldiers," Smith spoke up. "We have different plans for the child. We don't care who the father is, we just want the child." Before anyone else could speak up, Smith turned to one of his men. "Get them what they want. Blankets, clothing, food, and water…for now." He turned back to Druitt and Tesla. "Cooperate and we'll make things more comfortable."

The guards started to disappear in a strategized manner. The door was slammed shut and the sound of the lock could be heard quite loudly. Silence filled the room. She watched as Tesla and Druitt exchanged looks.

"They can't be serious," Tesla said a moment later.

"I think they're quite serious," Druitt said.

"Obviously either one of us would produce a strong offspring with Helen," Tesla said. "Mine would obviously be more powerful." Tesla pointed to himself. "Vampire, remember?"

"You're not touching her," Druitt told him.

"I think it's quite adorable that you two have this on again, off again relationship and that no matter what you're always running after her," Tesla said. "Though I have to say if Helen was in her right mind I don't think she'd pick you in all honestly. We've been getting a lot closer."

Druitt sneered at him. "This whole thing is sick… Even if a child was conceived, we're not letting them take the child…or Helen."

"Agreed."

Helen got to her feet and used the wall as a way to brace herself so she wouldn't fall. Her legs were still shaky and she was starting to lose feeling. "Excuse me, are you two going to even include me in this conversation? I believe it's only right since you're talking about me right in front of me. Or are you two going to try to produce a child between yourselves?"

"Well, you're not exactly you," Tesla pointed out.

She frowned at him. "It's still my uterus."

"You certainly have a point there…"

Druitt turned to her. "Whatever is decided…we all agree not to let them take the child."

"Agreed," Tesla said quickly.

Helen nodded. "Agreed."

The door creaked and moaned as it was pushed open once again. A group of armed guards appeared again. One moved forward and set a stack of clothes and a pair of shoes in front of them. He was handed a stack of blankets, which he set down next to the clothes. "Food will be in soon," he announced before they left.

Druitt didn't wait for the door to close before ushering over the clothing and blankets for her. She gladly accepted them. There wasn't exactly privacy here and though she apparently knew these men, she didn't feel like being naked around them. There were no undergarments, but a simple pair of pants, shirt, socks, coat, and shoes. She pulled on the pants first and then sat down to put on the socks and shoes. She couldn't wait to feel a bit warmer.

She tried to rub some heat into her foot before she pulled the sock on and then the shoe. Helen knew that she was going to remain chilled even with the clothes covering her skin, but she wanted to at least try to give her body a jump-start at warming. Her upper half had remained covered, so she was mostly warm except for her legs and feet.

"Better?" Druitt asked.

Nodding, she got to her feet. "I just need a moment of privacy," she told him as she shrugged off the long coat he'd allowed her to use.

"We're all friends here, Helen," Tesla said.

Rolling her eyes, she held open the jacket and handed it to Druitt. "Can you hold it up but not look?"

Druitt smiled. "Yes."

"He's definitely seen you naked before," Tesla said. "Unless you two reproduced some other way!"

She stopped and stared at Druitt and noticed that his smile fell. "We have a child?" she asked quietly.

"No," Druitt said just as quietly. She could hear sadness in his voice. "We had a child. A daughter. Ashley. People like the ones that are holding us called the Cabal…they took her from us and made her into something else…a super soldier."

Helen tried to take that in and found herself feeling the sorrow. Ashley. She suddenly got flashes of her daughter. She remembered her. Tears formed in her eyes and streamed down her face. She fell a step back and caught herself on the wall. "Ashley…" she breathed, trying to hold in sobs.

Druitt dropped the jacket and moved towards her. "You remember?" he asked, his voice still laced with sadness.

He reached out to touch her and she held out her hand to stop him. When her skin came into contact with his, she remembered his touch. She remembered him. She remembered the past, 1886. She remembered all the happy times and all the dark times. She remembered that she had done a procedure to pull the energy elemental from inside of him. "John," she whispered and looked up into his eyes. This was why he was so familiar. They'd been through so much together…

"There you are," John whispered back to her and caressed her face.

"And look at that! My comment brought all of Helen's memories flooding back!" Tesla gloated from where he'd been standing.

"Not all of them, I'm afraid," she told him. "I remember bits and pieces of my life… I remember Ashley…and I remember John…but not you." Helen looked over at Tesla, who looked absolutely heartbroken at her comment. "I'm sorry…"

"I'll come back to you," Tesla told her. His voice wasn't as confident or arrogant as it had been before. "I'm irresistible and unforgettable…you're probably just saving the best for last is all."

Druitt helped her up and he held up the coat again. "Go on and change…you'll be warmer," Druitt said and looked away.

Helen quickly unbuttoned the shirt that she'd been wearing and let it fall to the floor before pulling on the shirt and then coat she'd been provided. She bent down and retrieved the discarded shirt and tapped John's shoulder. When he turned back to her, she handed him his shirt back. "Thank you for the loan."

"You are quite welcome," Druitt told her as he handed her his jacket and pulled his shirt back on.

She watched as he buttoned up his shirt and she went over what had happened since she'd encountered them both in the cell. John had been a complete gentlemen towards her, which was still a little odd for her. His jacket was returned to him once his shirt was buttoned and re-tucked and his suspenders were back in place.

"You sure you're warm enough?" Druitt asked.

"You need to warm up yourself," Helen told him. He gave her a look that told her that she hadn't actually answered his question "I'll be fine. We have blankets," she pointed out as she motioned towards the blankets.

Tesla let out a rather loud sigh. "Really? We're back to this? Why don't you two just get a room and get it over with?"

Helen looked at John. She didn't think she could do this. Honestly, she didn't think emotionally that she could deal with it. Maybe if she didn't have her memories it would be different, but to remember Ashley… To remember the pain of losing her. The pain of seeing what they'd done to her daughter. She wouldn't lose another child. She wouldn't allow this group that had kidnapped them to do the same kind of experimentation on another child like the Cabal had done to Ashley.

"I can't," she barely could get out calmly.

John stared at her. "We could…have another child."

"No," she argued. "I won't allow a child…let alone an infant…to be experimented on like Ashley was…"

"Do you really think I'd allow an infant to come to harm?"

"They have captured all three of us, John. You and Tesla can't use your abilities… Obviously they're fairly capable." Helen shook her head. "Even IF we attempted to conceive a child to appease them for now, there's no guarantee that we could successfully escape."

"It would give us a good nine months," Tesla offered with a shrug.

"That's if they don't start their experimentation in utero," Helen pointed out.

Druitt sighed and looked around. "There has to be a way out. We're just not giving it enough thought."

Helen shook her head. "We don't know how big this facility is or how many men stand between us and the front door…and we don't even know WHERE in the world we are…"

"Someone's awfully pessimistic today," Tesla complained. "Things could be worse, right? They're going to feed us…and apparently keep us comfortable…and all they want us to do is—"

"We're not going to do that!" Helen argued quickly.

Telsa moved towards where she and John were. He didn't look very pleased. "Fine. If you're not going to cooperate then they'll do it the hard way. It's obvious. They'll come in here and drag you away…John and I won't be able to protect you if they take you away. They erased your memories…even if it was temporary…and threw you in this cell naked…do you really think that's the worse they'll do?"

"Nikola," John scolded.

"No!" Tesla shouted at Druitt. "I'm not going to coddle her! When has she ever needed coddling?" He was definitely pissed at her. He advanced quickly towards her and pushed her hard against the wall behind her, pushing breath from her body. "You may not be one hundred percent our Helen Magnus, but if you want to survive and live another century I suggest you figure things out! We've been in tougher situations and I'm not going to let your naïve current mindset get us all killed!"

Druitt yanked Tesla off of her and pushed him across the room. "I told you not to touch her!" he yelled.

"Are we really going to do this?" Tesla asked.

"I don't think you actually can without your vampire abilities," Druitt antagonized.

"Nikola! John! Enough!" Helen found herself shouting.

Things were coming back to her. Tesla, she knew who he was. She was happy that that hole had filled; it made it easier to deal with him. Helen looked at them both as they stared back at her. "It's coming back to me," she said quietly. "But that doesn't mean that the choice I have to make—"

"We have to make," Tesla corrected.

"No, Nikola," she said quickly. "If we decide that trying to conceive another source blood child is a good idea to buy us more time then the decision is solely mine. Last I checked, I was the only one in this room who could carry a child."

"Good to see you're back," was Tesla's only response.

Helen stared at them both before looking down and sighing. This wasn't easy. She looked back at them. "Now, let's try to see if we can't find a way to remove those collars," she suggested. It was something. Something to keep them all occupied and something that was actually productive to the idea of trying to escape.

. . .

TBC…