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 4 – "What the Future Looks Like"

Helen was hauled off to a room. It wasn't like the one she had been held in, it was far warmer and obviously farther into the facility. Her wrists and ankles her bound and she had been set down in a chair. Her wrists ached behind her back; the ties holding her wrists together were digging into her flesh. There wasn't anything special about the room. Nothing to give her any ideas as to why they had her there.

The door opened, the sound was much softer than the door to the room she'd been in before. Smith walked through and closed the door behind him. He was alone. "I'm sorry I had to pull you away from your friends, Doctor Magnus, but it seemed necessary. We need to discuss what will happen…"

"You could have just asked me," Helen snapped. "I was ready to tell you."

"I needed this time with you in order to talk to you about what I want," Smith told her. "Maybe it's partially to put your mind at ease." He slowly paced the room, turning to her occasionally. "I want you to be as comfortable as possible with everything."

"I doubt that's possible," she spat.

"I don't want super soldiers, I know you think that's a possibility," Smith told her. "We don't want what the Cabal produced years ago… We simply want to further evolution by bettering the genetic pool." Smith stopped and turned to her. "We've been doing medical studies here…abnormal physiology is far more resilient than the normal human. That's all we want… My scientists think this can help cure disease and in the future, prevent it."

"So, you want me to have a child in order for you to experiment on in order to make the future better?" Helen asked. She was angry, but that was mostly because she'd been dragged off. He hadn't touched her and he hadn't threatened her yet, which was good for him. "Tell me. Do you have children? Would you allow them to be experimented on in such a way?"

"I understand your concern, Doctor Magnus," Smith said as he began to pace again. "Now, you must consider this. Either way, I will have a child of two source blood parents. It's ultimately up to you. Either you cooperate or I'll be forced to have your ovum removed and then select what I need from Druitt or Tesla and find a surrogate. You'd never see that child. If you cooperate, I promise you that you'll be able to not only choose the father but also be close to the child. I won't have it ripped from your arms when it's born."

Helen just stared at him. Her anger was growing. The thought of knowing that somewhere out there was a child, her child, but never to see it or to love it. It was even more heartbreaking… And who would know how many ovum they would extract from her. For all she would know, there would be more than one child of hers out in the world being experimented on.

She closed her eyes as she thought about it. She'd already known that they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Helen had already made the decision and had told herself she'd protect the child no matter what. She'd even decided on the father. She'd already told herself that everything would work out. The Sanctuary teams were already looking for her. They'd find them soon enough.

"I want your word that no experimentation will be done before the child is born," Helen spoke up after a moment. "And that these experimentations are to be as noninvasive as possible." She opened her eyes and looked to him for a response. She needed to hear more than his words; she needed to see his reaction and his body language.

Smith nodded. "That is fair. I know that with you being a doctor…and your age…you know far more about this than my scientists do, but I assure you…we do not wish to bring harm to the child. We will only require samples and scans. Nothing else."

This man couldn't be trusted, she knew that. She also knew that right now there was a strong possibility that she could take him and escape from the room. Honestly, she could probably escape from the building, but she didn't think she'd be able to make it to John and Nikola and take care of their collars. And though she was certain that they'd both understand her escaping and then getting back up, she didn't feel like they'd be treated well if she did so.

Right now, she had to play along. She had to do things that she honestly deep down didn't want to do. She had to put her heart out on the line and have faith. "Then I'll cooperate," she said quite quietly.

This was the only way.

She knew that.

It was still heartbreaking.

"I know what the Cabal did to your daughter, you know…" Smith told her. "I'm sure you and the others must think that those are my plans as well." He closed the distance between them. "That's not the case…I'm sure that is hard for you to believe." He stopped and pulled a picture from his pocket. He showed it to her. "This is my son."

"What is his name?" she asked, it was almost an automatic response. She was sure that he was trying to connect. He wanted her to trust him. He was giving her information that he wouldn't normally give away.

"Kyle," Smith said. She could tell from his reaction and the look on his face that he loved his son, this wasn't just some kid that he'd had his picture printed out. But there was more to the story, she could just tell.

"What happened to him?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"I've lived for some time," Helen pointed out. "And I've lost a child…"

"He died from leukemia," Smith told her. "Two years ago. Right before his eighth birthday."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. She'd lost Ashley, but her death hadn't dragged on for months…or longer. She'd seen such a thing before; she knew how it affected parents. Adam Worth and Imogene were an example of that. Adam Worth had split into Jekyll and Hyde. The loss of his daughter had caused it and he blamed her and Watson even though they'd tried to save the girl.

"His mother took it much harder than I did," Smith explained. "She killed herself. She couldn't live any longer without him." He started to pace again. "All I wanted was to advocate for people to push for cures for these conditions. In some cases they can be cured or put in remission. That wasn't the case for Kyle. There's been promising research done here though, one of the scientists is quite close to perfecting a treatment that could possibly be adjusted for various cancer conditions using abnormal DNA."

"There would be side effects," Helen pointed out. "It might be enough to mutate their DNA enough—"

"That's sort of the point. To keep things like cancer…and HIV from killing so many," Smith told her. "Abnormals are the future. Sort of like how they talk about in 'x' amount of years there will be only one skin color… Everyone will be an abnormal, it will be normal… We're just trying to hurry along the process."

"And your superiors don't want super soldiers?" she asked, somewhat surprised.

"That's not what the research is for, though I'm sure it could be used in such a way," Smith told her. "I'm not working for a specific government, Doctor Magnus. I'm working for the population of this planet… I'm sure yourself already knows that source blood can help in many applications. The information we gather from your child could even help abnormals."

"But the research isn't for abnormals," Helen pointed out.

"Well, that's sort of your corner of the world," Smith told her. "Wouldn't want to take that away from you."

"But I am locked up in here," she pointed out. "I can't do my work here…"

"We won't keep you indefinitely."

Helen looked at him. "And the child?"

"Once we have what we need, you will be free to take the child with you," Smith told her.

"And you don't care who I choose as the father?" Helen asked, making sure that she understood fully.

"I honestly don't care," Smith told her. "The scientists wanted you to conceive two children. One with Tesla and one with Druitt, but one of our doctors explained that allowing you to choose would help to keep the stress down. Can't have that, bad for the baby."

"Right," she said quietly.

"As long as you cooperate, I can promise you that things will be much easier for you. Much more comfortable."

"Will you allow them to go free once you have what you want?" Helen asked. If John and Nikola could get free, they could possibly ascertain the location and pass it on to the Sanctuary if a team didn't find them before.

"You mean once we know you're pregnant?" Smith asked. "No. We will keep them both for as long as we hold onto you and the child. As insurance, if you will. We are well aware of all of your abilities…and what you are capable of. If not for the collars, you three would have been gone long ago…and would have possibly killed many of the men here. I can't have that."

"You won't require both men, though," she argued.

Smith smiled at her. "That's correct, but we can't have your teams finding us before I'm ready to give you up, can we? And I can assure you; we are somewhere where they will never think to look. I can't have us releasing Druitt or Tesla and having them lead anyone back to us…"

Helen honestly hoped that this facility was not as well hidden as Smith made it sound like. The Sanctuaries had resources. She had faith in her people. They would be found. No matter what Smith thought. This would give the Sanctuary at least nine months to find them, she hardly thought they needed that long, but it would keep her, John, and Nikola safe as well for that time. She hoped so anyways.

The thought of bringing another child of two source blood parents into the world scared her. She couldn't be sure that Smith would keep his word or if the child would have the same fate of Ashley. Helen had told herself that she wouldn't allow the child to come to harm and she had already been told by both Nikola and John that they wouldn't allow it either, but there really was no way to be certain.

Would certainty put her mind at ease?

She doubted it, but it didn't make any of this any easier.

"Understand, Doctor Magnus, all I want is a better future…for everyone," he said quite calmly. "Now…who have you chosen?"

Helen closed her eyes and sucked in breath. It had been what had taken her the most to battle with. Who to choose? Was there really a good choice? John or Nikola? Would she possibly hurt the other's feelings for whom she chose? Possible. But would that affect their friendship and their commitment to each other? She highly doubted it. Opening her eyes, she looked up at Smith again and quietly relayed her choice.

She just hoped it was the right one.

. . .

TBC…