Hi there! Thank you for the awesome reviews for the last chapter! Have become less bored with this, but I shall be ending this in either the next chapter, or the following one. :) This Part is dedicated to AlannaSilverwolf, who apparently IS the song Sail! :)

Enjoy, and please review and tell me what you think.

xxx

Sail - Part 9

"Magnus? Magnus... hello?" Will was waving his hand in front of his boss's face as she gazed off into space. She was seated at her desk, her fingers absently fiddling with a pen. She blinked slowly before turning to her protégé.

"What is it Will?"

He gave her a worried look before handing her a file. She took it without so much as a glance at it before resuming her twirling of the pen and gazing off into space. Will hesitated, wondering if there was anything he could say to help. It had been a month since both Helen and Nikola had survived the severing of their entwined consciousnesses. She'd been distracted and depressed ever since they'd gotten back to the Sanctuary and neither he nor Henry had been able to help her.

Deciding, as he always did, to leave her to work it out alone, Will exited her office.

Helen chewed on her lower lip as she sat, her mind swirling with memories of fleeting touches and passionate kisses. She'd felt lost when she'd arrived back at her home. It felt empty. They'd been together for less than two days before he was so heartbreakingly wrenched from her, but she was aching inside. For him. She'd left him at SCIU only two days after she'd regained consciousness, not being able to stand the heartbreak of the way he looked at her - like she was some stranger.

The time that they had spent together was clawing away at her heart. She had remembered every little detail about those two days. The way he smiled at her, the way he touched her hand gently to reassure her. The way her body moved with his, the way her laughed at her, the way he cried with her, the way Nikola Tesla could be when he opened up to someone. These thoughts hurt her, they did. They were ripping her apart inside, but what was worse was that she was beginning to forget. The scent of him was fading from her mind and the way his gentle touches caressed her skin was slipping away from her.

She'd tried to hold on to him, she really had... but it was killing her and she'd started to let it happen. She would never get back to what she was, she'd never be able to not think about him. She'd never be the same Helen Magnus, but she could give it a really good try.

And she was trying. It just wasn't working all that well. She'd still catch herself staring off into the distance and wondering whether he was alright. Whether he was thinking of her, if he could even remember a few moments of their time together.

Helen sighed and forced the thoughts away. She had to pull it together, for her own sanity and for the good of her team. She just couldn't seem to stop opening her desk drawer and staring at the guns which lay there, wondering if it was more painful to live with the heartache than to pull the trigger with the barrel pressed against her own skull.

She slammed the drawer shut hastily as she heard a distressed knock on her door.

"Yes?" She cleared her throat.

William entered, his face a shade paler than usual.

"Magnus... there's... there's someone here to see you."

Helen swallowed hard and stood up, her eyes darting to where he pulled aside the door. She faltered at the person who stood before her.

"Doctor Coates?" She managed, gesturing for her to enter and take a seat. William raised his eyebrows at her before leaving the two women alone.

Dr. Coates smiled tersely at her and took a seat, sitting stiffly and staring hard at the woman in front of her. Helen took a seat and managed a forced smile.

"What can I do for you?"

Helen's eyes were met by a momentary glare before she got an answer.

"What have you done to Nikki?"

Helen's eyebrows shot upwards.

"I'm sorry?"

"Nikki...Nikola. What the hell did you do to him?"

Helen scoffed.

"I bloody well saved his life! That's what I did!" Helen couldn't keep the scorn from her voice.

"Oh, really? Then why is he acting like a complete maniac?"

Helen frowned.

"What?"

"All he does is stare off into space. He won't work, he won't talk to anyone. All he does is look at that bloody picture of the two of you. The one where you're wearing those olden-day clothes. He keeps mumbling unintelligible sentences and flying off the handle at the stupidest things. Now, what have you done to him?"

Helen blinked a few times at the irate woman in front of her.

"Unintelligible sentences?"

"Yes, he keeps mentioning Sailing. God, knows why. He mumbles about it to himself all day."

Helen's heart leapt into her throat and her eyes grew wide. Doctor Coates softened then,

"Doctor Magnus, look, I'm grateful that you saved his life, I truly am, but there is something seriously wrong with him. We've had to sedate him just so that we could bring him here... all he wanted to do was sit in his office and stare at nothing..."

Helen held up her hand to stop her.

"He... he's here?"

"Yes. Your team is helping to move him now. Look, he's not well..."

Helen was already up and out of her office and she did not hear the end of the woman's sentence. She hurried along the numerous corridors to the new intake facilities, coming to a screeching halt as Will and Henry helped a SCIU employee to wheel in a gurney onto which was strapped an unconscious Nikola Tesla.

The two men stopped abruptly at her entrance.

"No. Not here," She demanded, "Take him up to his room."

Henry ventured cautiously, "But Doc, the guys here say he's lost it, that he injured one of..."

"I don't care, Henry. Move him up to the residential level. Now." Helen snapped, her eyes glued to the limp form of her best friend. She dragged her gaze away from him and glared at everyone in the room before hurrying away, breezing past a bewildered Dr. Coates before locking herself in her bedroom and sinking down onto the bed, her heart hammering inside her chest and her eyes filling with tears.

Nikola Tesla woke up to the gentle drumming of rain on a window. He stretched out and his hand was dragged backwards. Frowning he glanced at it - handcuffed to a bed.

He tried to sit up then, his handcuffed arm holding him to the bedpost. He squinted as his drug-addled senses returned to their usual sharp selves.

"Dude. Just be cool." He heard a tremulous voice and he turned to see Henry standing in his doorway. He blinked. His room. Wolf-boy. He was at the Sanctuary?

"Henry? Why the hell am I chained to the bed?" He growled and Henry shuffled closer to him to inspect the machines that he was hooked up to.

"Whoa. OK, there really is something wrong with you. I'm not Wolf-boy anymore? Heinrich?"

Nikola rolled his eyes and tugged at his restraints. They appeared to be made of titanium since he could not free himself.

"Untie me. Now."

Henry flicked a few buttons before sighing.

"Can't do that. Doc's orders."

Nikola swallowed hard.

"Helen? Where is she? Is she here? Has she been in to see me? Where the hell is she?"

"Whoa! Dude. Calm down," Henry looked at the vampire incredulously, "She's busy. She'll be in later." He lied, Helen had not been into to see him once since he'd arrived. She'd been holed up in her room for the past day, speaking to no-one and not eating anything.

Nikola sighed and lay back in the bed, looking to the ceiling.

"Henry?" He questioned as he was about to exit. Henry's apprehensive stare caused him to grumble, "Fine... Wolf-boy," He said and Henry seemed to relax a little, "What... what happened to me? When all of you were at SCIU?"

Henry's eyes immediately clouded over in worry and he backed out of the room.

"Uhm... I... the Doc will... explain... I... shouldn't..." He darted from the awkward situation and Nikola growled, tugging at the restraints.

It wasn't until hours later, after Henry had begged at her door, that Helen vacated her bed and threw on a robe, heading down to Nikola's room. Creaking the door open she poked her head into the room, going rigid at the scene in front of her. Nikola was sitting up in bed, staring at the rain-soaked window. His hand was still tied to his bed and the machines beside him beeped rapidly, signifying that, at least in body, he was alright. He was far away, his eyes swirling in thought. Her brow furrowed at the sight of him and she bit down hard on her bottom lip. Gathering all her courage she cleared her throat, striding into the room and shutting the door.

Nikola's head snapped around to look at her, his eyes searing into her own when they found hers. She stood for a few moments, willing him to remember, hoping desperately that the sight of her would bring it all back to him, that he'd hold out his arms and tell her that he loved her.

He did no such thing and her heart sank.

"Helen." He said harshly, lifting up his restrained hand as far as it would go and glaring at it.

She edged towards him, not sure where to stand or what to do. The man she loved was sitting in front of her, and he remembered nothing of their confessions or their wondrous nights. He looked at her like he used to. He was closed off and distant once again.

"Helen," He said again, rattling his restraints, "What the hell is this?"

She swallowed hard.

"SCIU said that you've been acting... strangely." She said softly.

He glared at her still.

"Helen. Untie me. Now."

"Nikola, you're not... well."

"The only thing that is wrong with me is whatever the hell you did to me!"

She recoiled, looking to her shoes.

"Niko..." She began timidly.

"What happened, Helen? What is wrong with me? All I can think of is..." He stopped abruptly and her eyes caught his, "Did you just call me Niko?" He asked, shocked.

Her lip quivered for a moment before she could not help herself. Her heart was begging her to do it, it had been since she'd first laid eyes on him. She had to.

She almost ran to him as he continued to look at her in absolute shock. She practically climbed on to the bed as she reached for his face, cupping his cheeks in her hands before leaning forwards and crushing her lips against his in a desperate kiss. She felt him stiffen under her for a second before his free hand snaked its way around her waist and pulled her more firmly against him. She gasped into his mouth at the action - she could at least pretend he remembered. She could at least, for a few moments, surrender to his touch again. With her eyes clenched closed she threaded her fingers through his hair, tugging gently on the soft, short spikes and groaning against him.

Nikola was losing his mind. That is what was wrong with him - he'd officially gone insane. After more than 150 years alive though, he shouldn't have been surprised, he was bound to go round-the-bend at some point. It didn't seem to matter though, because Helen was kissing him and it wasn't a friendly kiss. It was a desperate, needy and all-consuming meeting of lips. He surrendered to his insanity, hoping he'd stay mad forever. If this is what going insane meant, he wanted it.

He lost control of his vampirism as she forced his lips apart and her tongue dove into his mouth, rubbing in a shockingly familiar way against his own. Miraculously, he was able to explore her mouth also, his addled senses even more confused by the delicious taste of her. He could feel his eyes turn pitch black and his claws unsheathe themselves, barely missing injuring the woman in his arms. He fought against the transformation of his teeth, knowing that it would end the glorious sensation of her invading his mouth.

He was shocked as she growled into him and bit down on his lip, forcing him to lose all shreds of control he currently had. He tried desperately to free his restrained hand, wanting to run his fingers through her hair, to caress her every curve, to slip his hands under her robe.

She pulled away breathlessly as she felt him fight against the restraint. Staring at him with deep, lustful eyes she leaned over to untie him, working quickly lest he start asking questions. When she'd eventually gotten him loose she turned back to him, her eyes still dark with need. She was surprised to see her own desperation mirrored in his solid black eyes. As she turned to him he gripped her hard with both arms, spinning her so that he was atop of her, straddling her hips. She gulped hard and stared up at him, her hand reaching up to sweep lovingly over his cheek. He shuddered at this and stared wide-eyed down at her, his chest rising and falling in time with her own.

"Nikola." She breathed, clasping her hand around his neck and trying to drag his lips back to hers. He didn't hesitate and brought his lips to meet hers, this time caressing her mouth lovingly with his own, holding in his desperation, wanting to taste her delicately. She moaned at his gentle treatment and clutched his head forcefully, digging her fingers into his skin. He snarled and involuntarily ripped his mouth away from hers, burying his nose against the side of her neck, inexplicably drawn to it. Helen gasped beneath him and writhed in pleasure at the sense memory of his teeth sinking into her flesh as he drove her to climax. He opened his mouth to her skin, tracing faint lines with his jagged teeth down the alabaster column of her neck. How could he know exactly what would drive her mad with pleasure? How did he instinctively know where to touch her to make her moan like she was? Why did it feel as though they'd always been this way?

Calling on all of his restraint, Nikola pulled away from Helen, willing himself into human form once again. She could only stare up at him, her body yearning for his touch once more.

"Helen," He gasped, searching her cloudy eyes for answers, "Am I going insane?"

Her face contorted onto a grimace before she smiled softly and cupped his cheek with her hand.

"No, darling."

"This is happening?" He glanced to her lips.

"Yes, Niko. Yes." She stroked his heated skin lightly, revelling in the scent of him all around her once more. He frowned down at the goddess beneath him.

"Why does this feel so right?" He choked out. Helen could not answer him as tears began to well up in her eyes.

Nikola steadied himself as he was hit by a wave of light-headedness, his world swirling vaguely around the edges. Helen saw him falter and immediately gripped onto him tighter, preventing him from falling off his own bed.

"Nikola!"