A/N: Wow, I can't believe I actually managed to not spend two weeks writing this next chapter. Thanks again for the reviews, they're like chocolate to my soul. :D

Part V

"Nice to see you too, Helen." Nikola replied sarcastically, then asked. "Are you here alone tonight?"

"No. Not that it's any of your business."

"Ahhh. Let me guess you've brought one of your young hangers-on with you. What's the matter Helen, couldn't find a babysitter?" At Helen's obvious discomfort, Nikola let his leery smile grow. "Which it is this time...Henry?" Then he asked more pointedly and with more than just a hint of jealousy. "Will?

"Like I said, it's none of your business and I thought I asked you what you were doing here?"

"What? Can't a guy attend a performance?" Tesla came back, still wearing that irritating grin. "You know I've always been a fan of Dvorák."

"You know what I mean."

"Truly, I just happened to be in town and heard about the concert tonight and thought it would be a delight and then I saw you and that has made the evening all the better. It's purely kismet that we both decided to come tonight. By the way, love your hair when it's up like that, brings out the fire in your eyes."

Helen cocked her head to the side, unaffected by his flattery and folded her arms across her chest, not believing a single word that escaped from his lips.

"I find that astonishingly hard to believe."

"What do you want me to say, that I hacked into your e-mail account to find out what you've been up to lately?"

Helen's eyebrows rose and her face gave way to anger. "That is what you did, isn't it?" Nikola smugly held out his hands as a reply. "How did you get past our security or more importantly, why?"

"Well, the 'how' was easy. Henry really should work on improving his firewalls, I mean they're good enough for most, but not for me. The 'why' is more interesting since you never call or write-"

"Just tell me." She demanded, cutting him off.

"Alright. Alright." He sighed. "If you must know, things haven't exactly been peachy for me lately. After the fiasco that was Mexico, I've had to sell off many of my assetts to recoup the losses I suffered there."

"And this concerns me how?" She asked, torn between feeling sympathy for a man that had once been a good friend and vindication for the trouble he not only caused her, but the young people he tried to turn into vampires.

"Let me finish, Helen." He continued. "Since then, it's not only financial difficulties that have plagued me, but being a human magnet has had many drawbacks as well."

"Such as?"

"Such as, being unable to work with small electronic components when they become attracted to my hands, depolarizing magnetic fields that I'm researching, I even had to have my personal computer modified so I could use it without frying the hardrive whenever I came near it. It's been very frustrating for a man in my field of expertise."

"None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for your foolhardy experiment. As far as I'm concerned, you've brought much of this hardship on yourself." She retorted, any sympathy she had felt for him at first beginning to fade.

"That's not the worst of it. Look at me!" He demanded, pointing to himself.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" She asked, her patience wearing thinner by the second.

"Right here." He pointed to the hair near his sideburns. She still couldn't see what he was pointing to until he said it for her. "Grey hair....I have grey hair now. It's only been a few weeks since my vampirism was taken from me and I'm already beginning to age. At this rate, I'll be an old and feeble man soon."

"I'd say you still look pretty good for a man of over 150 years."

"I'm not ready to face my mortality just yet, Helen. I need your help."

"My help?" She stared at him incredulously. "I searched all avenues to restore your vampire traits to you already, you know that there is little I can do."

"See, that's where you're wrong. I've been working on a project of my own design that I'm almost certain can reverse my situation and once again restore me to my proper state, the problem is that...well with my funds lacking and much of my equipment now hocked to pay the bills, I need an advanced and well stocked lab to see my ideas come to fruition."

"Why exactly should I help you? If anything, you proved that you are reckless in your science, you experiment on unwitting children and even tried to kill me." Helen hadn't realized how much her voice had risen until several people turned to look in her direction and she reigned in her anger, dropping her voice low and menacing. "I will not help you on your insane desire to repopulate the world with vampires, not now, not ever."

She turned to walk away, but Tesla grabbed her arm."Wait." He pleaded.

Spinning around angrily, she snatched her arm back. "Keep you hands off of me."

He raised his hands in a gesture of acceptance and mock apology. "What if I told you that what I've been working on could not only benefit me, but your young protege Will as well." At the sight of her change in facial expression, he knew that he had her attention and continued. "Yes. I know about Will's accident. Read your e-mails, remember?" He suddenly changed, dropping his haughty attitude for the briefest of seconds, reminding Helen of the friend she once had many years ago. "Just give me a chance....please. That's all I'm asking for right now. I'll send you all of my research and you can decide if it's worthy or not."

Helen stood indecisively. He was notoriously hard to refuse, but she had been fooled by him many times before. He pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to her before she could respond either way.

"Here's my new number while I'm in town. Call me after you've looked it all over."

He walked off after that without giving her the benefit of a response. She huffed and sighed before turning the card over in her fingers and reading the new pseudonym he had chosen for himself.

"Dr. Douglas Howser." She read out loud to herself, shaking her head and tsking. "Nikola, Nikola, Nikola."

Her next order of business was to pull out her phone and dial. She barely waited for an answer before she started speaking urgently. "Henry, we need to talk about your firewalls...."

XXXXXX

After the concert was over, Helen drove back with Will in the passenger seat wondering what was keeping her so quiet. She had barely said two words to him since she came back from the intermission and he was picking up on some very strong vibes that something was wrong and unsettling to her.

"So, that was a good performance. I liked it more than I thought I would." He tried to pick up a conversation.

"Uh huh." Was all she replied distractedly. Now he knew for sure that her mind was preoccupied.

"You know...I was thinking about rollerskating across the Grand Canyon or maybe doing one of those cool jump things over twenty buses on a dirt bike. What do you think?" He asked.

"Mm hmm" She agreed absently, not paying a lick of attention to him, it was like he wasn't even there.

"Hello? Earth to Magnus." He asked, almost getting annoyed.

"Huh?" She finally snapped out of her reverie.

"What's going on? You mad about something?"

"No...I'm sorry. My mind was elsewhere. What were you saying?"

"It wasn't anything important." Concerned at her unusual reticence, he had to ask "What's wrong?" .

"It's nothing. We had a security breach in our computer network, but Henry's working on it." She wasn't about to tell him yet about her run-in with Nikola. She could just imagine how furious he would be if she told him that she was actually considering examining his work to see if there was indeed any potential for it to be of any real help for Will. To say that Will and Nikola didn't get along congenially would be an understatement, so she kept the fact that she had seen him to herself.

Once they arrived back at the sanctuary, Bigfoot met them at the door and took their coats. "Would you please see Will to his room, I have some important work to attend to." Without any further explanation, Magnus took off for her lab, leaving Will and the Big-guy in her wake.

"What did you do?" Bigfoot asked, not bothering to hide the accusation in his voice.

"Me?" Will asked with incredulity.

"She's obviously upset."

"I don't know what's going on." Will countered, throwing his hands up. "We were having a good time and then suddenly she's like she is now. She mentioned something about a computer breach and said Henry was fixing it. You know anything about that?"

"I do not. We could go to see Henry and find out." Bigfoot suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Will agreed, wanting to find out what might have set Magnus off.. "Lead the way, Big-guy."

They wound through the long corridors of the manor until they reached Henry's lab. Hearing shouts coming from behind the closed door, Will could make out Kate and Henry bickering once again. Bigfoot grumbled at the noise and pushed his way through the door, so engrossed in their argument were the two of them that neither of them noticed their visitors.

"You only won because you totally cheated." Henry whined, but Will could hear the laughter in his voice.

"I so did not. It's called superior fight skills. I got them and you don't." Kate shot back. "You're just mad that I beat you at your own video game. You're such a baby."

"I am not. And when I'm done with this, I'm so gonna kick you ass in a rematch."

"The only ass that's gonna get kicked is yours."

Will shuffled into the lab after Bigfoot and at the grunt from his guide, Kate and Henry looked up to finally notice the two of them.

"Oh hey, guys." Henry greeted them. "You're back early, Will."

"Yeah, well I guess Magnus is pretty mad about whatever went wrong with the computer security."

Henry drew in a quick draw of breath with a hiss. "Damn...ya know, I spent weeks creating the new firewalls for the computer systems, they should have been hack-proof."

"But someone got in anyway?"

"Yeah...I didn't even notice until Magnus called to let me know."

"Magnus called you to tell you that someone hacked into the system?"

"Yeah, while you guys were at the concert."

Will frowned in confusion. Except for the few minutes she had been gone during the intermission, Magnus had been with him the whole time. "But how did Magnus know that someone broke into the system if even you didn't know?"

"You got me. All I know is that I had to do some digging just to find where they broke in from. Turns out they covered their tracks pretty well, I probably would have never noticed if she hadn't said anything. At least now I know where the weakness in the program was and I can fix it. I tell you what though, whoever it was that hacked us had to be some kind of damned genius."

"A genius, huh?" That got Will to thinking. How many technological geniuses did he know that would be able to bypass even Henry's complex computer security? To his mind one he could only think of one.

XXXXX

Helen poured through the research that Nikola had already sent to her. The more she read and the more she examined his technical schematics, the more she became interested. It was truly inspired work, inspired no doubt by his own selfish desires, but is was brilliant nonetheless.

A knock at the door jerked her from her work her and she quickly minimized the program before answering with a quick "Come-in"

She was surprised to see Will enter and walk in, hesitating a little before coming in further. While she was at once pleased to see that Will had made it to her office unaided, she wasn't happy by the look on his face. Though he was still wearing the sunglasses he had put on earlier in the evening, she could make out the anger and concern marked there.

"Will? I thought you had gone to your room."

"We decided to see Henry first and see what was wrong with the computers. It was interesting to find out that it was you that called him to let him know there was a problem."

Helen sighed and leaned back in her chair resting her head against the headrest.

"How did you find out about the problem before he did?" Will asked pointedly.

"Will..."

"Henry seems to think that whomever broke into the system had to be some kind of super-technological mastermind and when I think of anyone we might know that fits the bill, only one name comes to mind."

Helen knew the jig was up then and she decided to come clean about her run-in with Nikola.

"Alright. I wasn't going to say anything because I knew how upset you would be, but Nikola was at the concert and we spoke. He admitted to hacking into my emails."

Will dropped his head and shook it. "I knew it...that damn bastard..." Will muttered angrily.

"Please, Will. He had his reasons." Seeing him agitated, she stood and crossed the room to stand in front of him.

"What reasons could he have for that other than to rub in the fact that he could break in here with impunity."

"It's not like that." She grabbed Will's elbow and led him over to a chair. "Please have seat and I'll explain it to you."

Will sat, crossing his arms, waiting for her to begin.

"He was asking for my help."

"Your help? What kind of help?"

"He has an experiment he wants to use the lab here for."

"An experiment? You know that any experiment he has floating around in his head is one where he can somehow find a way towards global domination. I mean c'mon Magnus, the guy is the basis for all of the cliched mad scientist movies out there. Don't tell me you're actually thinking about letting him in here?"

At her silence, Will became even more worried. "You're not, are you?

"He sent me the bulk of his research, but he doesn't have the money or the equipment to follow through with it. To be honest, this is why I didn't want to say anything about to you, because I knew how much you distrust him, but the research is solid and if it is applicable, it could have a significant benefit to all of mankind."

"What kind of experiment are we talking about here? Oh, let me guess...it has something to do with turning the world into vampires?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"Nanotechnology."

"You mean tiny robots?"

"Sort of. He believes that he can create these nano-bots from organic materials, making them as powerful and as fast as a silicon microchip with over 40 million transistors yet the entire thing would only be the size of a single-celled organism. They could self-replicate and be programed to perform specific functions, repair damaged tissue, kill cancer cells, even regenrate damaged nerve cells. Granted, he wants to use them to help regain the vampire traits he lost, but the medical implications for such a technology could far outweigh the risks. Imagine a world with no cancer, a cure for paralysis." She took a deep breath before mentioning the last bit. "Even a cure for you."

At that Will was silent for a few heartbeats before he had to ask the obvious. "And you trust him to do this? Why do I get the feeling that he's playing you somehow. It all sounds a little too good to be true. Believe me, I want to get my sight back...more than anything. But trusting Tesla? I'm not sure I can buy into that."

"I know. I'm having difficulty with that myself. And for all of the benefits that this technology might have, if it were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be used in terrible ways as well. Imagine a programmable virus that could attack specific people or worse, a bio-weapon that could kill millions. Indeed, I still have much I need to research before I reach any sort of decision."

"I don't know Magnus." Will sighed, running a hand through his hair as he tried to process all that he had just learned. "I'm not sure I like this much."

"Me either, but if there is a chance that this technology could help you to see again, I feel I owe it to you to thoroughly examine it and give Nikola the benefit of the doubt."

"Owe it to me? You don't owe me anything, Magnus. It's not like any of this is your fault."

Helen felt her stomach drop and suddenly wished that she had chosen her words more carefully. She felt a tightness in her chest, but she knew she had to tell Will the truth, maybe then he would understand why this was so important to her and why she was so desperate to find a way to help him.

"Will-" She started as she fought to find the right way of putting things. "That's not entirely true."

"W-what?. That's crazy. I was attacked by a creature. That's not your fault"

"No. You don't understand. I have been less than forthcoming about all that happened in Brazil. I thought it was for the best that you didn't recall what had occured, but I am just as responsible for your blindness as that creature."

"How?"

"That day...we had an argument. I said things that were totally uncalled for and I hurt your feelings. You went off into the forest on your own to get away from me, no doubt. That's when the runner attacked you. If I had only been with you, I could have neutralized it sooner and none of this would have happened. That's why I have vowed to myself and now to you that I will find a way to right this for you and why I am even considering allowing Nikola to use the lab for his experiment."

Will shook his head in disbelief, he couldn't believe what she was telling him. "So..." He gulped back a wave of emotion, feeling his anger bubbling up. "I don't understand why you just couldn't tell me all of this before. I thought you trusted me, but now I see that you just wanted to help me because you feel guilty about what happened. Is that it?"

"No, Will. Of course not."

"I just- I don't know...." He stood up from the chair and turned his back on her, he hated the that she had kept this from him more than the fact that she must have made him angry enough that day for him to storm off. It was the lack of trust in his capability to handle that information that hurt the most. He may be blind, that much was true, but he was no delicate flower that was would break if handled improperly.

"Will, please. Let's talk about this. At least let me help-"

"I don't need any help." He shot back. "I need some time to think." He moved across the room to make a quick escape, not bothering to count his steps and holding his hands out until he found the door and opened it.

"Where are you going?"

"To my room. Where else can I go?" With that he walked out, slamming the door shut behind him.

TBC.....