"Dana Whitcomb's dead? You're sure?"
"Positive." The timbre in his voice grew higher with the pleasure he obviously received from the memory.
"Is that where you went?" Helen was standing nose to nose with him, the tension in her body thick and hard as steel. John only shook his head in response, his eyes hardened against her and the joy faded from his person. "Then when?"
"Right after Ashley; the day of her funeral."
Helen's eyes flicked from one of his to the other: gaging him, calculating. Suddenly she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, expecting and waiting for him to follow her, which he did. Her voice was low and threatening when she spoke. "You're telling me this now. God John, this is ridiculous. I've been looking for the woman for eight bloody months and you're telling me now that you killed her years ago!" He had shut the door in time to muffle their voices from the other room and the sleeping child. He didn't answer her. "Where were you?"
He didn't move an inch, "Out."
Turning fiercely to face him she spoke, "Not good enough." She had put enough distance between them so if he attacked she would have time to react: a decisive, well planned and unchanging reaction on her part. The gun rested firmly in her hand.
John stood perfectly still, not responding to her outburst; his body was unwavering as he looked her over, his eyes flickered up and down her body. "Who has been keeping your bed warm, darling? I know that look, you're in love."
Her eyes narrowed, "I am not a piece of property for you to stake your claim on, John. Nor am I committed to you in any way."
His voice rose in anger and he stepped towards her, "Our daughter—"
"Has done perfectly fine without her father these past few weeks." Her quick retort forced him to fall silent. She softened her voice to try and gain the information she was seeking. "Where have you been, John?"
"Russia, England, New York, Buenos Aires and a few other places: does that satisfy your question?"
"More than you know." Her voice was soft as if she was speaking only to herself. "How is it John, that every time you tell me you have killed someone they turn up alive? Am I really to believe that Dana Whitcomb is truly dead?" She stared him down.
"She is. I would not have let her live under any circumstances. Not after what she did to Ashley."
"Oh, I want to believe you John, really I do."
"You trusted me once."
"That was different." She waited for him to take over the conversation, but he didn't so she continued all the while not letting her grasp on the weapon falter. "If you killed her years ago, what are you doing here now?"
"I couldn't very well search for the threat with the child in my care, now could I?" She could be patient; she could wait for him to stop avoiding her questions and actually answer one of them. "You're not going to like what I have discovered."
"Which is what exactly?"
"This is not a Cabal remnant driven project, Helen. It's coming from within."
She glared at him, "Impossible."
"Is it really?" His voice boomed and she heard Sara in the room call out her name.
"Get out, John. Don't bother coming back again."
He waited to speak, instead assessing her conviction in that last statement. He heard the girl call out again before he finally responded. "You have the cure to her rapid growth. I found some medical logs in my travels; you've had it all along."
"Leave now or so help me, I will kill you this time." He paused only a second before he bowed down to her with arms outstretched and left the hallway. He shut the front door to the Sanctuary and walked out of the gates without so much as glancing back.
As soon as Henry was up Helen made her way to his lab. "Henry, I need you to finish those traces on the emails immediately. I need to know exactly where they all came from and when exactly they were sent."
"Ok, Doc." He turned to his computer readying the system to begin his work.
She took a moment to contemplate whether or not to inform him of the rest. Deciding it would do no harm, she voiced. "Also, I had a visit from John last night. Make sure everyone knows that he is not allowed back in and that the EM shield is raised at all times. I'll contact the other Head's to tell them." She was walking up to her office from spending a few hours in the lab when Sara came in from outside crying and clutching her arm.
The girl couldn't stop sobbing long enough to tell Magnus what had happened, but luckily Kate came trailing in behind her. "I think it's broken, Doc. She fell out of the tree."
"Alright, come along, love, we'll get you all fixed up." Sara curled into her mother's side asking, as only a child can, to be picked up and coddled. Helen obliged and carried her daughter down to the infirmary. She started an IV right away and gave the girl some pain meds after having a preliminary look over the arm and determining that it was in fact broken. Straight through if she was correct.
The girl was loopy with drugs by the time Helen had her under the X-ray machine. She developed the film while keeping an eye on the girl via a monitor. Yes, definitely broken, luckily it wouldn't require surgery, only a reset and a cast. Sara would not be happy about the amount of time the cast would be on after it lost its appeal.
The next morning Sara was still in the infirmary, her arm in a bright pink cast that just about the entire staff and half the abnormals who lived in the Sanctuary had signed. Ashley had always refused to let others sign a cast that was only going to be replaced shortly with another one. Helen was glad in some ways that Sara was so different from Ashley; it reminded her that she wasn't reliving a very interesting and terrifying period of her life, but only experiencing another.
"I brought you some breakfast, love." Helen set the bowl of fruit loops onto the hospital tray and swung it over so Sara could eat. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Picking it up, she saw Declan's name, but ignored the call. He, no doubt, had just returned from the mission and wanted to fill her in on the details. Helen ran her hand over Sara's hair, "When you're finished, come up to my office. I think my old friend is going to teach you the times tables today." Helen left the room and Sara who was trying very hard to eat with her non-dominant hand. A task that was not easy to accomplish.
Declan had sent her an email and a text message asking her to call immediately. Sighing she picked up the landline to dial. Really, this man needed to learn how to work on his own sometimes; she would read the report when he finished it, it was not necessary to call her for every detail. "Magnus?" He answered, his prim accent betraying anxiety.
"Yes, how was the trip?"
"Cold, but that's not why I called. Will didn't wait longer than thirty minutes after we landed before catching another flight out to you. Kate stayed to help with the creation of the new environment for the abnormal, though. Magnus," he paused, trying to find the best way to bring this topic up, "There has been a new development and Will is particularly angry at the moment about it so please remember that when he arrives."
"Alright," she placated him, "What's this new development?"
"It's a threat, actually, with a detailed timeline. I have contacted the others Head's and we will have a teleconference in a few hours to discuss how to proceed, but you needed to know." He hadn't exactly told her anything specific, a threat was a threat, they received a lot of them—but who was it against? "You."
Had she spoken out loud? She must have for him to answer, "The threat was for me? Did it say anything about Sara?"
"Yeah: three days Magnus. It says 'The whore and her daughter will die within three days' time. Nothing you attempt will stop it from happening.'" He read it verbatim. "Got it in an email while we were out, sent yesterday. I've already talked to Henry and he's running his trace, he said the last email you got came from Buenos Aires."
"Yeah, I'm reading his email now. Is that all it said?" He hummed an affirmative response. "Well at least in three days this should all be over." Her stomach was doing flip flops, but Declan would have been none the wiser.
"That wasn't the only thing in the email, though. And I will have to take this to the Heads of House just so that they are aware of the situation and some complications it might entail." She waited for him to continue as she flipped through emails she had received in the night. "There was some questionable footage of you and Will."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Actually, there was quite a bit of footage."
"I'm sorry we didn't inform you, Declan, but there have been a lot of other events that have taken precedence."
"Yeah, I'm sure. The teleconference with the executive committee will be taking place this afternoon." He knew she never would have told him. She was fastidiously private and hardly gave any personal information away. The fact that there was video footage of it that was now going to be public knowledge in the network most likely didn't bode well for her professionalism or private tendencies.
"Right, well email me what the outcome of the conference is." She ended the call and began her own work for the day, only stopping when Sara and her old friend came in to begin her daughter's studies.
Sara was slowly falling asleep on the floor in front of the fireplace with one of her new favorite books in her lap which she was reading aloud to her dolly. Helen was still doing paperwork at her desk, she would have to leave it behind soon as it was past Sara's bedtime and the girl obviously needed to go to sleep. Helen was just leaning over Sara to pick her up when the door to her office slammed open, actually causing her to jump slightly.
"I should have stayed, I told you; I should have stayed." Will's voice was deep with hurt and anger, his eyes wide and accusing towards her. Sara had woken up full force with the reverberating bang that the wood against stone caused.
Helen glared at him as she ushered the now awake and frightened Sara to stand and out of the door he had just entered. She whispered harshly before moving completely passed him, "You will wait here and will have this discussion, but not in front of Sara."
She returned thirty minutes later to find Will staring out her office window. "I'm sorry," he said as she waited a moment and then wrapped her arms around his waist and settled her chin on his shoulder. He grabbed hold of her hands and held them to him. "I didn't know she was in the room; I figured she'd be asleep already."
"It's ok, I explained it to her. We just have to be careful, especially around her."
"Meaning?"
Helen took a deep breath and turned him to face her. She leaned in a kissed his lips, "Glad you're home. No worse for wear I see?"
He shook his head in response. "In and out; easy as pie."
She nodded and waited a few seconds before continuing. She had meant to tell him this before he left, but there had been little time and high emotions. "I think Sara is telepathic."
"But Ashley—"
"Wasn't." She finished for him. "I know, but she did become that…after the Cabal. She also could teleport, had vampiric tendencies, rapid healing: who knows what they did to her but I think Sara was cloned after Ashley was changed. That would mean that Sara would also have these qualities."
"What makes you think she's telepathic, I haven't seen any signs of that."
"I don't think she knows yet," her fingers curled with his and she sat on the cushions in front of the view of New City. "Her dream she had the other night, her nightmare. I had that dream a few weeks ago."
"How do you know she didn't pick that up in a book somewhere or one of Biggie's horror stories that he tells her?"
Helen scoffed as he joined her. She lifted her feet and placed them over his lap. Will pulled off her heels and began to rub the arches. Leaning back she answered him, "Because it's a memory."
"It's…what?" He concentrated more on what his hands were doing so he wouldn't hurt her with his surprise and to help him calm his features.
"A few years ago, when I went to Central America on my 'jungle hunt for the tomb of the Mayan King' I believe is what you called it, I did find the tomb. It's just what I found there was rather unexpected. I experienced an alternative timeline of sorts. Needless to say, her dream is exactly what happened."
Will didn't move, his hands pausing in their actions and he slowly and carefully turned his face to meet hers. "Ok, well the fact that you lied to me does disturb me slightly, but we'll get back to that later. You're saying that you had that dream weeks before Sara did. Correct?" She nodded. "So the only way she could have seen that was because it came from you."
"Yes, Will. I don't think she can control the telepathy at this point, or if she even realizes that that is what's been happening, but for a child of such a young age and little experience she has a great deal of nightmares with many vivid and realistic components of our lives in them. I thought it was just from all the talk she hears, until that night."
"Well, we'll have to be more careful what we say around her, and think for that matter. We'll all have to watch her closely to see if any other powers develop." Helen agreed with him and tucked her legs under her body, swiveling on her bottom until her back was planted against his chest. She grabbed hold of his hand and wrapped his arm around her front so she could play and stare at his fingers, further avoiding the topic he had so angrily come to her with. "We're going to have to talk about it sometime." He prodded lightly.
"I know." That was all she gave him, her face was complacent and with her back to him, he couldn't see her reactions.
"It scared me, Helen."
She nodded and he felt a tear drip onto his forearm. She was crying, well at least she wasn't able to hold back all of the tears that were threatening a fantastic show. "It scared me, too. I never dealt with something like this with Ashley. It's so very different."
He pressed a kiss to her temple, "We'll figure it out. We always do."
"Yeah, but at what cost?"
"I don't know." He paused for minutes on end and let his words sink in before he continued, "Hey, what did Declan say was the outcome of the conference?"
She turned to face him, "Oh, that's right, he was supposed to email me. Henry was playing around with the server and it was down most of the day. He's probably finished by now." She slid off him and gracefully walked to her desk where she pulled up her email. Finding several messages from Heads of Houses and from Declan himself she opened his first, knowing he would be the most concise and relevant.
Magnus,
The network wants to have as much protection around you and Sara as possible. Jephthah will be arriving from New York around 11 tonight and I will be joining you as soon as possible. My flight arrangements are yet unknown. They have also requested that as soon as both of us arrive, we place the Sanctuary in lockdown mode until the allotted time has passed.
Declan
"This is ridiculous!" Her voice rang through the office as Will finished reading the email over her shoulder. "I do not need protection like I'm some damsel in distress. Not to mention the dangers of having three Heads of House and the two current Network leaders in the same volatile situation. What are they thinking?"
He placed a calming hand on her shoulder and rubbed gently up and down. "They are thinking that you are someone they can't lose." She only glared at him in response. Quickly, she scrolled through the rest of her emails finding the exactly flight times of Jephthah and Declan. The first was due in an hour and a half. Declan wouldn't be in until late morning with Kate in tow, having caught the last flight out of London and the first into New City.
"I can take care of myself." She mumbled still scoffing at the idea of all of this being for her.
"That is not what is in question, Helen. They just want to make sure that you are okay and that you have all the support you need."
"But this is a little bit over the top, you must admit."
"It does seem a bit excessive. However, it is what has been decided and you're just going to have to deal."
She finished reading her other emails, "Would you mind asking Henry to make up the guest rooms? I'll arrange for transport from the airport."
"I can fix up the rooms, give Henry more time to run his traces, he must have been desperate to tinker with the server."
"I thought that we—never mind, you're right." He leaned in and kissed her on her lips shortly.
"I'll only be twenty minutes, I promise." She nodded and deepened the embrace. He was the first to pull away and he rested his forehead against hers. "Don't ever make me leave in the middle of a situation like this again, Magnus. I'm serious; I will resort to insubordination next time."
She looked him in the eye; he was unwavering and worried for her wellbeing. "Alright, I promise."
"Twenty minutes," he kissed her one last time with a smile gracing his face before leaving the room, "and I expect you naked and in bed by the time I get back, woman!" Helen only rolled her eyes and gave him a fake salute when he walked out the door. The man was filled to the brim with absurdity sometimes.
The next day could not have been more tension filled. For most of it Magnus, Will, Declan and Jephthah were all seated in her office in the midst of a stare off. Will believed Magnus was winning since she hadn't spoken and the other two were beginning to twiddle their thumbs. Realizing that she wasn't going to be rid of them, she let them sit in awkward silence, if only to prove a point. Yes, it was childish, but this entire situation was not a reflection of the best choices the network had made, starting from the beginning of the entire fiasco.
Helen had barely seen her daughter that day, which was probably a good thing because apparently Jephthah was not good with children. Sara had come in to fetch Helen and Will for a late snack and the man had simply glowered at her the entire time. Upon Helen's return the man lit into her like she was some twenty-something with her first child and he was the all-knowing experienced man. "It is entirely inappropriate to have children wandering the hallways in a place like this." His green eyes were glowering as he towered above the sitting woman.
"I beg your pardon, but this is my house and my daughter is free to roam as she pleases. She knows where to and where not to go and I trust her learn her lesson if she does wander off."
The man wisely remained silent after that and turned back to his files in hand. Helen retreated and spent the rest of the day in the lab actively avoiding her office like it was plague. No one was in a pleasant mood because of lack of sleep and stressing factors. To keep the stress level down for the rest of the staff she kept Sara close. The girl was still trying to vie attention for her broken arm after Will had coddled her all morning, but she was doing her lessons nonetheless. Helen moved to the massive fridge and pulled out a vial of Sara's blood. She had a few more tests to run on it because of an idea that she had.
Sara had put up little fight in getting her to sleep that night, but Helen had, after all, insisted that the girl stay in her rooms. It had been three days come midnight and she wasn't going to let Sara leave her side the next day. She put little stock in the threat, there was no way anyone was getting into the Sanctuary, but still, that nagging maternal fear had come and hit her full force.
Will had convinced her to have a glass of wine to try and relax, but he could tell she was still tensed. Her body language stated she was on high alert, every sound she picked up she didn't overtly respond to but he saw her brain analyzing and categorizing each one. She had told him where just about every weapon she had hidden in her rooms were, and was expecting him to respond if she were incapacitated. The Cabal and whoever was now leading them, or perhaps even Whitcomb herself who John had no doubt not actually killed, were not after only Sara, but herself as well.
She was surprised when the bout of sleepiness hit her, it was only just after midnight, and she had been sure with all the excitement she wouldn't want to sleep. She climbed into the bed careful to not disturb the deep sleeping child and letting Will settle in behind her and wrap his arm around her stomach. He kissed the back of her neck and she strained her neck in order to face him, pressing lips against his lovingly. Deciding to turn fully around to face him, she opened her mouth under his ministrations and let her tongue slide and entangle with his.
She pulled away with one last chaste embrace and snuggled her face into his neck. Will encircled her body tightly and squeezed as he whispered into her hair, "What was that for?"
Looking into his eyes she trailed a finger over the side of his cheek. "I don't know what I would do without you, Will. You've become such an integral part of my life."
There was a beat before he answered. "Alright." His arms tightened again and he closed his eyes to attempt sleep.
Her voice was soft and slow when she spoke next. Her lips brushing against the tender flesh of his neck with each word she formed. "I love you."
"Yeah, I love you, too." He pressed one last kiss into her hair before he fell into slumber.
It was like he was swimming through half melted caramel with no snorkel to help him breathe. He couldn't see anything, at least he hoped his eyes were actually opening and looking around the room, not that it mattered if he couldn't see anything. There was a static sound rushing through his ears, quieting one moment only to drown out everything in seconds flat. He groaned, but could barely make out his own voice. Blinking his eyes rapidly he began to make out shades of color. The sun was obviously high in the sky otherwise he wouldn't be able to see anything—they hadn't turned any lights on.
He felt a hand on his cheek just as his world started to spin out of control. He could make out Kate's face, or rather her olive skin surrounded by a mass of dark hair. Her voice was shouting at him, something that he couldn't quite make out with the static raging through his ear canals. He was turned on his side as his body began to convulse and the vomit erupted from his stomach and onto the floor below.
By the time he was finished heaving, his body was rolled again onto his back and wet cloth clung to his neck and forehead. Licking his lips, he tried to make out words, but only managed one. "Helen?" Even through the blurriness he could make out the panic in the young woman's face. Managing to pull himself up, he hung onto her shoulders to prevent his body from falling back onto the infirmary cot. Wait, not Magnus' bed, how long had he been out of it? His body tilted forward and back as he spoke, "Where is she?"
"We don't know, Will."
The static came back full force and slammed into him. Will leaned over Kate's body and the railing on the bed dry heaving. Drawing in a deep breath, he managed to ask one last question, "Sara?"
"We don't know." Her voice softened as the news began to sink in.
A/N: Ok, hope you enjoyed it and "so sorry" to leave it on such a cliffhanger. lol I've got two tests this week so I won't be writing much until they're complete. Hope you enjoy this and please review as I love reading them and it helps with motivation to finish this.