Helen's eyes went wide. "Erika! Nikola! This is a surprise. I didn't even know you two were acquainted."

"We weren't until about five minutes ago." Erika stepped inside with a suitcase rolling behind her. She wore a light navy jacket with jeans and black flats. Her long black hair was straight and fell to just above her waistline. "Hello, all. Sorry to intrude."

"Helen, it's been too long." Nikola Tesla followed Erika in. He was wearing one of his suits with his hair spiked up, as always. He was grinning at the attention from his conversation with Erika, but when his eyes met Helen's, he forgot all about Erika. Here was his flower, delicate-looking but potent in reality. She was wearing one of her black semi-formal dresses and black high-heels. Was it just him, or did she seem to wear a lot of black most of the recent times he'd seen her? Of course, it's been over a century since she last saw him, so she could be wearing all black for entirely different reasons, but he somehow doubted it.

It's funny to think that now even I'm a kid compared to her age.

Of course, she looked the same age as before.

Erika went to greet Will and Helen's Bigfoot friend with a hug, and then Henry with a hug and a shy kiss. Then they engaged in conversation.

"Nikola, it's only been two weeks for you."

"Yes, but for you, it's been a hundred years. I can tell you missed me." Nope, Helen hadn't changed much with another century under her belt. She was still easy to read. At his last statement, he heard her heartbeat rate slightly increase and was glad for the hundredth time in the past two weeks that he was once again a vampire. Nikola grinned triumphantly and turned his cheek towards her. "Just plant one on me already."

"You should know that I don't fall for the same trick twice."

"Alright, you got me." He faced her again. "Just a hug, then?"

Helen hoped he wouldn't try anything this time as she leaned in for a hug. To her surprise, he didn't try anything. Instead, he put his arms around her and gently kissed her forehead in a filial way, like her father used to. This gesture made her realize how much she missed the Serb, and, by extension, her father and their days at Oxford.

Nikola had noticed Helen hesitated before the hug, so he didn't want to spoil it by using it to flirt. Instead he simply basked in it: her presence, her familiar smell, her gentle touch. She needed a hug from an old friend, not from a lover. When she let go, it was too soon for him but he released her.

By this time, Erika was getting to her reason for visiting. There was some silence as she chose her words. Not sure if she should make her announcement in front of someone she just met, she turned toward Nikola.

He picked up on her unspoken question. "It's okay, I already know." This made her more confused. Nikola smirked a little. "Apparently a vampire's sense of hearing is better than a HAP's." Erika hesitantly turned back to Henry.

She began, "I wanted to tell you in person…"

"Great, good. It's just that we have this U.N. inspection team due in an hour, and I'm installing this whole new mirror array…"

Nikola could not believe what he was hearing. Henry was completely oblivious.

And I'm supposed to be the one who's terrible with women.

Helen's old friend was trying to make silent eye-contact from behind Erika while shaking his head. Helen and Will were fidgeting and looking at the floor. Nikola had to say something before he started laughing out loud and the others demonized him not ten minutes after his arrival.

"…so that they can access our system without actually—"

"Wolfgang."

Henry rolled his eyes. He'd never liked that nickname. "…Yes, Tesla?"

"Shut up."

Henry then noticed everyone else's discomfort. "…Stopping." He faced Erika. "Listening."

Erika took Henry's hand. "You're going to be a father."

He nodded. Then it sank in.

"…Oh."

While the others centered on Erika, Helen decided it was Nikola's turn. "So Nikola, why are you here? And don't say it's just to see me."

Nikola brought his face a little too close to hers. This was his chance to test the waters. "And what if it was just to see you?" For Pete's sake, you had to go through the entire twentieth century since I last saw you! Again! And alone this time! Does she really not think about herself or do I just come across as that shallow these days?

Helen didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. Nikola had made sure that this couldn't be mistaken for a joke. Her emotions were all over her face, just like when he'd confessed himself to her in Rome.

All evening, Nikola had tried to steer the conversation toward his work and why he'd come to her after sixty long years of silence: he missed her and he still loved her.

Oh yes, he had tried to get over her. He'd tried everything. He hadn't even planned on staying at the conference; originally he was going to watch her lecture for five minutes, then leave to get the Cabal agents off his trail. Yet, as soon as he saw her sparkling blue eyes, he was instantly drowning in them again. The feeling was overwhelming. He had to speak to her. Now. It was all he could do to not simply run up to her in front of her lecture audience like a lost puppy, so it was only natural that, when she leaned in to peck his cheek, he couldn't keep from turning his head to catch her kiss on his lips. In that instant before she realized what he'd done, sixty years of trying to stop loving her were lost forever. He felt a renewed vigor to make her understand the depths of his feelings.

Now, with them covered in dirt, dust and sweat from running around Roman catacombs, Helen was irritated. At last there was a break in their run from the Cabal. He had a chance, and this might be his last chance for a long time. Of course, Helen decided to get upset just as he made up his mind.

"Do you think this is funny?" She spat after he'd made a joke about Edison, "tricking me into helping you with whatever game you're playing with the Cabal? I don't appreciate being put in the line of fire!"

No, you're getting it all wrong! Why can't you understand? "Helen—"

"You've always been like this, haven't you? Selfish and arrogant, putting your own desires before everyone else's."

Helen! "I brought you here for two reasons: Because only you can help me finish what I'm working on, and because I love you." He was bearing himself to her, laying everything on the line. His first reason wasn't exactly true, but if she rejected him, she would still have a reason to listen to him.

"Yes, so you keep…What?" She wa complete loss for words.

Nikola took advantage of her silence. "I always have, more than that lunatic Druitt ever did." He slowly lifted his hand towards her neck as he spoke, but he stopped when he was faced with the faint, but ever-present scars just above her left jugular, still there after all this time. At the same time, she slightly flinched away (old instincts die hard), so he brought his hand back to his side. Once again, he was losing the battle. "I misled you, and I deeply apologize for that, but I had to see you." His eyes bored into hers, begging her to understand.

"…You're serious, aren't you?"

He'd lost.

He threw his mask back up. He let a chuckle escape, but it never reached his eyes. In so many of those romantic classical novels women loved, the man was blind to the woman's feelings until something drastic and life-altering happened; then the man and woman would realize their mutual feelings and live together happily ever after. In Nikola's world, it was the woman who was ignorant. She pursued a different man and those two grew closer after their first life-changing experience. When said other man turned out to be a serial killer, the woman abandoned relationships altogether, effectively leaving Nikola and his feelings out in the cold. His life thus far had become an ironic joke!

So he'd left. He had asked her to fake his death and then left. Why should he continue to entertain this fantasy when she so obviously wanted nothing to do with it? He'd been the underdog his whole life! He deserved better than this!

And yet…he couldn't stop. He couldn't blame her or be angry with her. How easy it had been for him to lose himself in her presence once again after sixty years of no contact! It was as if his love for her hadn't missed a beat. In fact it was stronger than ever…Loving her felt so natural. He would always love her and there was nothing he could do about it. He loved her, despite his best efforts, and he knew he'd continue to feel the same way for the rest of his life, regardless of the way she treated him.

Sighing inwardly, he withdrew and gave his cop-out answer: "Seeing as I'm not as hunky-dory about reviving the master race as I used to, I'm a bit bored. I came to find new inspiration." It was obviously a lie. Anyone who knew him knew that he was always writing new ideas on any scraps of paper he could find. He hoped she wouldn't question it. She didn't.

"So…I'll probably be in a lab, the library or the wine cellar." He sauntered off, not sure of what else to say.

Helen was still rooted to her position by the front door as she watched Nikola go. It wasn't very often that he gave her that look. His smoky-blue eyes had pierced through her, though not as powerfully as that time in Rome. Rome…In the catacombs, Nikola had told her he loved her, and she'd responded with, "You're serious, aren't you?" like a blithering idiot. At least this time, she'd had enough control to keep her mouth shut.

Was he serious? It was so hard to tell, what with his attitude changes between the cynical, flirty vampire and the vulnerable man buried underneath. Nikola's aptitude for sarcasm had not existed before the Source Blood transformed him into a vampire, and ever since his transformation, this darker side has become more prevalent over the years. That's why her response to Nikola 'confession' of love had been disbelief and annoyance. She'd assumed he was still playing games with her. What if, that night, he'd bared his soul to her and she'd thrown in his face?

She went to her room for a quiet place to think, all hope of focusing on Addison's arrival long gone.