Chapter 13
The black cars drove in a frenzy up the street.
Helen and Wilson could hear them coming from the living room of the house.
"Here they are. This is it," said Agent Dan Wilson, nicknamed Warnsworth.
"Yes. Remember, just play your part like you've always done, me and Nik-uh Frank will take care of the rest," Helen instructed.
"Are you sure it will work? He's not quite convinced that you are as sweet and innocent as you once were," said Wilson with a small amount of concern in his tone.
"Don't worry, I've got a story for him that will convince him enough, and even so, Frank is a good at his job, make no jokes about that," Helen smirked slightly.
"You two have been partners long?" asked Wilson.
"Yes, on and off," shrugged Helen.
"No, uh, I meant work partners, sorry," he blushed slightly.
Helen blinked slightly confused, then it dawned on her.
"Oh no, him and I, we aren't together, at all," Helen shook her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he chuckled awkwardly.
"No, its okay, we have known each other a long time, we're a lot more comfortable around each other than most, it's easy to think we've..." she decided to stop there. "Do you have a partner?"
"What? No, they thought it'd be safer if I went alone on this one," shrugged Wilson. "Easier to stay in character and all that."
"How do you report to your superiors?" she asked.
"Stuff the report in an envelope labeled "Mom" and let them pickpocket me when I'm on my watch," he chuckled. "Very Oliver Twist, but with such moden technology we can't risk a face to face meeting."
"I understand, Frank prefers the old fashioned letter way as well," she chuckled. "Of course he uses it as an excuse to hit on me in public."
"Did he really hit you, that night?" asked Wilson.
"Yes, he did, I asked him to," she smirked slightly.
"And he really did it?" asked Wilson.
"He wasn't happy about it but I convinced him otherwise," she sighed. She remembered the way Nikola gently cupped her face and placed a gentle kiss to her bruised cheek.
Then her mind flashed to him and her in the kitchen during their escapade.
He rolled them, off his back from their small tumble off the table. Kissing her neck gently. She swatted him off, pulling him by the belt loops through the swinging door into the kitchen.
She fell against the stove and accidentally ignited the oven.
The sound distracted her and she pushed him away. Amazed by the sight of it. She pressed her face up to the glass, looking in awe at the inside of the gas stove.
Nikola picked up a cloth and wetted it, trying vainly to wipe her neck clean of the wine. The sensation was exciting but she swatted him away to keep looking at the fire.
She saw his shoes and immediately grasped them and yanked them off his feet. He landed on his back with a thump. Before he could protest she had thrown them inside watching as they slowly absorbed the heat and then wondrously burst into flames. She cried in delight.
Nikola sat up watching as she clapped and giggled. He grasped her chin and turned her head towards him. They could both feel the heat off the oven on their faces as they sat on the kitchen floor. He kissed her tenderly, the only thing that fascinated him was her, and the way the heat played off her facial features and warmed her skin making it taste soft and comforting. She giggled and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around him as he nibbled on her lip slightly.
She moved her legs so she was sitting more on his lap. He grasped her waist slightly and toppled them over so that he was lying on top over her.
He broke the kiss looking at her with dilated pupils.
"I..." he gasped. Momentarily out of breath. "I love you, always have, always will."
"Shhh," she smiled up at him. Not interested in words, more interested in the way the light of the flames highlighted the bare skin of his back and shoulders.
He kissed her neck.
"I love you," he stated again, and began peppering kisses all the way down to her legs.
All she had on was her underwear. He stopped and rested his face on her abdomen. His vampire sense of smell and taste even more heightened and strange than normal.
He bit down on the tender flesh of her stomach and she giggled and sprang up, capturing him in a playful embrace.
With a wisp of her red hair she rolled off him and began running out of the kitchen.
He followed after her grasping her hips and pushing her against the wall right before the stairs.
She had managed to grab another bottle of wine before he had caught her and she offered it to him to open. He gripped the cork with his teeth and pulled it out in one swift movement.
He allowed her to dump a healthy amount of it into his mouth and swallowed it. He tugged her up the stairs as she tried to take a swig and ended up spilling wine all over the floor of the staircase. She laughed as he picked her up. More wine spilling across the floor.
They got to the nearest bedroom, hers, and he plopped her on the bed. The bottle abandoned.
It was so unlike anything she'd ever experienced. The walls shook with the force of it.
She felt as if windows could've smashed from the sound of her cries. And at the end of it she had slipped into a half conscious haze. Hearing Nikola get up and grumble something about getting more wine.
He walked out on stumbling feet. Somehow managing to put on his briefs. Through her hazy vision she saw him collapse on the landing, his foot kicking the door closed as he grumbled incoherently.
Helen blinked. She felt a bit flushed. That gas was...awful.
"It's show time," Wilson's voice broke through her memory.
Helen nodded and sat down.
"Lend me your handkerchief,"she ordered.
"Uh, of course," he pulled it out of his breast pocket.
She sniffed and began letting the tears fall.
Wilson literally jumped in surprise at the sudden onslaught of tears.
Before he could ask if she was alright Neil and the rest of his goons burst in.
"Where is she?" he barked.
Wilson stood up.
"There," he pointed to Helen sitting in the settee in tears. "She showed up almost an hour ago. Asking for you."
"Helena," Neil pushed past Wilson.
"Oh Neil!" she looked up at him. "Oh I'm so sorry. He made me do it, I never wanted to. You're not hurt are you?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked her.
"Basil, my husband, the man you're after," she sniffed. "He's been playing you from the start. He's a genius, a mad genius."
"Why would he want to do that?" he asked.
"To steal secrets. He's determined when this thing with Russia gets out of hand he wants to have a stake in the winning side."
"And he's been using you to do it?" he asked.
"It's not like I had any choice in the matter, I tried to tell you, but he...he's every where and he's always listening. I meant everything I said to you."
She took his hands.
"Everything," she looked up at him innocently and earnestly.
"Tell me everything," he sat her down and then sat beside her. "If I'm to trust you, you need to tell me everything from the beginning."
"Basil and I were married...are married. I separated from him about a year ago. It turned out he had plans to use me later," she sniffed slightly. "Suddenly he returned telling me he was being hunted...by you guys. And he said I had no choice but to help him. So I packed a bag and I followed him here. This isn't the first time he's made me do this, you know. He's made me his accomplice in dozens of crimes. "
Helen began to cry again,
"Keep going," Neil took her handkerchief and dabbed her eyes gently.
"I asked if this would be the last time and he promised it would be the very last. I don't believe it. I want to get away from him so badly. And when I met you...it was perfect, he'd finally be locked up and I'd be free. When I met you, I saw my way out. But he...he threatened me, told me if I didn't help him escape he would hurt you...he knows..."
"Knows what?" asked Neil.
"How much I care for you," she batted her eyelashes at him.
"Where is he now?" asked Neil, smiling softly at her.
"I don't know, he thinks I've gone for a walk, he'll be looking for me now, I hope he doesn't come back here," she shivered.
"Did he hurt you?" Neil asked, grasping her hand.
"No," she shook her head.
"We'll wait for him, Warnsworth take her up to the upstairs bedroom, keep her there. Helena do you need anything? Water? Something to eat?" Neil helped her stand up and put a hand at the small of her back.
She hissed. Damn that Nikola.
He removed his hand.
" What is it?" Neil asked with concern.
"It's nothing," she waved it off. It was just sore muscles.
"Helena, come with me please," he led her to the small bathroom downstairs.
"Neil, it's nothing," she said.
He closed the door and turned her around and began undoing her blouse.
"What are you doing?" she cried.
He pulled open the back of her shirt and gasped.
"Oh Helena," he revealed the long yellow and black bruise down her back.
He turned her to the mirror to see.
Helen had to bite her lip to keep from saying "Holy Shit!" at the sight.
Thank you so much Nikola, she grumbled in her head. Would've been nice to know that you did this to me.
"Helena, what did he do to you?" he asked.
"What he always does?" she quickly turned to hide the bruise. "Basil doesn't see women as beautiful things he sees them as tools. When they don't do what he wants he makes them."
She vainly attempted to button the blouse back up.
"He's going to kill me. He told me of I ever went back to you he'd kill me. He's incredibly possessive, and very jealous. Even our separation was on his terms. But I ran away...if he finds me he's going to kill me."
Neil generously helped her do up her blouse.
"I won't let him near you ever again," Neil kissed her neck gently.
Helen's mind briefly flashed to Nikola and his lips and his hands and couldn't help the shudder.
Helen opened her eyes. She would have none of that.
"Please Neil, I'm tired," she pulled away from him.
"Yes, you probably are," he sighed and stepped away, opening the bathroom door and letting her out.
"Warnsworth! Escort the lady upstairs, attend to anything she needs," ordered Neil.
"Yes sir," he nodded and followed Helen up the staircase.
Neil began instructing the rest of his goons as they reached the first bedroom.
He shut the door behind them.
"What the hell was all that about?" he whispered.
"It's alright, I used it to our advantage," Helen sat on the bed. "Frank knows his cue, it's up to him now."
"What was it?" asked Wilson.
"Just a bruise," shrugged Helen. "Albeit a nasty looking one which I will be sure to bring up with Frank when all is said and done."
"Can I see it?" Wilson asked curiously.
Helen smirked and shrugged.
"Alright," she stood up and pointed to the buttons of her blouse.
Wilson crossed over and undid the buttons carefully. Helen saw in the mirror on the vanity how his eyes widened.
"Holy crap!" he nearly cried. "How did this happen?"
He buttoned her back up.
"It's a long story," Helen rolled her eyes.
"Did Frank do this to you?" he asked.
"Yes and no," Helen said matter-of-factly. "Yes he did, but it was an accident."
"How do you accidentally do that?" he gawked slightly.
"Some jackassery and general clumsiness," Helen smirked. "Comes with the job."
"This happens regularly?" asked Wilson.
"With Frank, you'd be surprised," she growled slightly. She was going to kill Nikola later.
"Would you ever consider leaving the BBS and coming to America?" asked Wilson. He sat down on the edge of the bed.
Helen smirked.
If she was any other woman she'd have found all this attention very flattering.
"Whatever do you mean, Agent Wilson?" she asked turning to him.
"I don't know. I've just never met a woman quite like you before. Ever. I mean you're smart, beautiful, you're incredibly resilient and resourceful, I can't help but wonder..."
"What I'm like in bed?" she teased him with a smirk.
"I mean in general, off the job, in bed, however you want to put it," he smiled back at her. "I'd kind of like to find out you know."
"Trust me, Daniel," Helen said with a soft smile. "I'm not that fascinating."
"Well you must be, people keep falling in love with you," he grinned like a boy.
"Are you saying you're in love with Agent Wilson?" she teased.
"No, but I'm saying I could be," he flirted slightly.
Helen chuckled.
"I'm sorry to break your heart but, I'm a bit too old for you," she patted his shoulder.
"Not that old," he grasped her hand. "Only by a few years."
Helen chuckled.
"I don't think so, Frank would disapprove," she released her hand.
"It's Frank, isn't it? I should've known. You guys were too convincing as lovers," he shook his head. "You put up with him because you love him."
"I put up with him because it is my job to...I love him because he has been there for me more than any other man has," Helen felt something in her twinge slightly. It wasn't untrue, in fact, it was exactly the reason why she loved Nikola. He was her oldest and best friend.
"So you and he..."
"It's not that kind of love Dan, he and I...we aren't going to stroll off into the sunset holding hands, but he's there for me and I for him. It's a partnership."
She sat down next to Wilson.
"I won't leave him for you though," she smirked.
"I see," he looked down at his hands. "I'd kill to have a partner like you though."
"Ah, don't say that," Helen joked. "You'll make me fear for Frank's life."
Wilson chuckled.
"Don't worry, I'll get over it," he smirked and got up. "I should probably pretend I'm on duty, you know, in case someone comes in."
"That would be the wise thing to do, I suppose," she chuckled and kicked off her shoes. She lay back on the bed and lounged against the pillows. "I'm going to pretend to have a nap. I trust you with my safety."
Wilson smirked.
"You've got it ma'am," he grinned and stood next to the door.
~~~~Elsewhere~~~~
Nikola watched through the crack in the drapes at all the commotion going on outside. It was a good thing he and Helen evacuated the entire area for the next 48 hours. Tell anyone you're fumigating the entire neighborhood they will willingly leave without question.
He smirked to himself. Sometimes he really was clever.
He pulled his pocket watch out of his vest pocket and checked the time. Plenty of time to wait.
He sighed and sat down, hoping all was well with Helen and Wilson.
He lifted up a glass of red wine and took a small sip. The memory of licking off a similar red vintage off of Helen briefly flashing through his mind.
He stared into the red liquid.
It reminded him of the blood smeared in the bathroom upstairs. His blood.
Then he remembered biting her. Not even this fine a vintage could match that taste.
He took another sip.
Though it was putting up a fair fight.
He snickered and sat back in the chair he had angled towards the window so he could watch and wait in comfort, but just far enough so he wouldn't be seen through the window by any of Parson's goons.
He could still smell her on him, that and the smoke from the oven, but deeper and more embedded was the smell of her and the feel of her, a sensation he'd almost forgotten but fantasized about greatly. He rested his chin in his hands and bit on the nail of his forefinger slightly as he let his mind wander. It wandered to the grace of her smile, the feel of her hands, the softness of her thighs, the curvature of her ass and the swell of her breasts. All carefully catalogued and memorized and sorted in his brain in categories of taste and smell and feel. He took another sip of wine.
If only she had been his without the use of heavy narcotics.
He sighed letting the thought drift away as he ran through his plan again.
He stopped.
Did he tell her he loved her? Through all of this did he manage to say those words to her. A feeling of dread washed over him suddenly.
He ran to the kitchen and looked down at the floor.
"Oh you drugged out idiot!" he muttered.
Either way, Helen won't remember it or she won't take it seriously.
He groaned and went back to his seat.
She wasn't going to let him touch her for another twenty years after this. At least he'd made it count.
He checked his pocket watch again.
Only three more hours to go.
~~~~Author's Notes~~~~
:) Here it is. Hope you like it.