Helena pulls a disappearing act, Myka meets some new vampires, and finds out what's so special about her blood.

Helena didn't show up that night. She sent a brief text message explaining that she had some business to take care of, but Myka was uneasy. Helena had always been so… well, clingy wasn't really a word you could apply to a vampire, exactly. But she'd been present, and it had always been clear that she had wanted, almost craved, Myka's company. Myka didn't know what had changed. She knew that it had something to do with David, with her own blood and his, but she wasn't sure what it could possibly be. Or why it was such a problem.

Thankfully, it was a quiet night. David played with his toys, and they all joined him on the living room floor to play cars and superheroes. Amanda played video games with him until it was time for him to go to bed. She'd stayed when Pete went to work, because she wanted to make sure that Tracy didn't turn early, which was a possibility for new weres, apparently. And she wanted to keep them both safe – it was her responsibility, she said. Myka was getting used to having people around professing their desire to keep her safe, so she just shrugged. As long as they were okay on the couch, she was fine.

When Helena didn't turn up for a second night, Myka began to worry. The station was quiet and there was no sign of MacPherson or Christina. She didn't hear from Helena after sundown, not even a text. So she decided to go over, just to make sure nothing was awry. She told her new housemates where she was going, and Pete threw her a look of concern, but after she glared at him, he backed off. She didn't have to listen in to know he was concerned about her safety, especially with Helena being out of contact. But Helena was her… well, they hadn't really defined things. But Helena was her something, and she wasn't intending to just let her away with disappearing for no reason.

She knocked on the door and was surprised when a well-dressed, dark-haired woman answered the door, looking at her with disdain.

"Yes?" she said, one eyebrow raised. She was English. Myka started to feel concerned.

"I'm Myka. Is… is Helena here?" she asked, trying to sound brave. Something about this woman was setting her on edge. She tentatively dropped her shields, hearing… nothing.

"You're a vampire," she blurted, and immediately regretted it as the woman's lips drew back in a snarl, and fangs popped out.

"Who is it?" called someone behind her. A male voice – also English. "Charlotte?"

"We have a human guest," the vampire said, over her shoulder, while taking Myka by the upper arm and pulling her inside. Myka didn't bother resisting. She might be stronger than a human but she wasn't stronger than a vampire. Especially not this vampire.

"Myka? What are you doing here?" Helena asked. She was standing behind the owner of the other voice, a man Myka judged to be in his mid-forties. He was probably more like 500.

"I came to see you," Myka said simply. Helena looked… frightened. That was not a look that Myka was used to seeing on her face. It was deeply unsettling.

"This human. Why is she at your door, Helena?" Charlotte asked.

"I… she is the local sheriff. I assume she came to ask me about a case," Helena said, rather hurriedly.

"Really?" the man asked. He came to stand next to Myka, blurring across the room. She couldn't help but jump at his sudden appearance, his face inches from hers. The other vampire – Charlotte - had let her go for now. The male vampire grasped her chin in firm fingers, turning her face to look at her in profile and straight on. She pulled back from his grip, glaring.

"I don't know where you're from, but in this universe, we don't just grab people without asking permission," Myka said, her teeth gritted.

"In this universe, love, I do whatever I damn well please," he said, showing his fangs. She didn't change expression.

"Ah! A feisty one. I do like a challenge. You don't mind, do you, Helena? If she's just the Sheriff. I am terribly thirsty," he said, grabbing Myka and exposing her neck to his teeth. She couldn't move an inch. He had pulled her to his body and had one hand around the back of her neck. She might as well wrestle with a marble statue. She closed her eyes. Helena was really going to let this asshole bite her? What the hell was going on?

"Myka is mine," was the next thing she heard, Helena's voice coming out in a growl. It made Myka's hair stand on end. And it made her bristle. She wasn't anybody's. But given that the male vampire had released her immediately upon hearing those words, she wasn't going to complain, just yet.

He stepped back, staring at Helena incredulously.

"Really, Helena? After all these years, you've chosen a human? Aren't you the same woman who referred to them as cattle? And you were supposed to come here to search for your daughter, and for this half-fairy we've heard about, not to consort with humans!" he said, his face twisted in disgust.

"Mind you, she does… she smells…" the male turned to Myka again and sniffed at her, this time without touching.

"Helena Wells, did you manage to find yourself a fairy and you didn't tell anyone else? Is that why you called us! I knew it, you sly fox…The King will be extremely displeased…" he said, his mouth wide in a pleased grin. Helena blurred, pushing him away, and she stood in front of Myka, clearly protecting her.

"Enough! Myka is mine. You can challenge me for her if you wish, Bennett. But I would not be so sure, if I were you, that you will win such a contest," Helena said, in a growl. "I have been drinking her blood for weeks. I assure you, I will be no easy meat, not even for you."

"Fine, Helena. Keep your fairy. But we will tell Russell. And you will certainly not survive a fight with him. Come along, Bennett," Charlotte said, her head high and her nose practically in the air. "You'll be seeing us soon enough," she said, before she and Bennett blurred away.

"I'm sorry, Myka," Helena said, her head dropping. She turned to face Myka. "I didn't mean for you to find out that way."

"Which part?" Myka asked coolly. "That I'm some sort of half-fairy, or that you were hunting me from the start. What for? Because my blood makes you stronger? Is that all this was? You were just… you were just fucking me, so you could take my blood and what? Be stronger than the other vampires?"

"No, Myka. That wasn't it at all," Helena said, her eyes pleading. "I didn't know you were the human with the fairy blood. I knew there was one in the area – it was mentioned to me before I came here, searching for Christina. But honestly, Myka. I had no interest in that. I came here looking for Christina. I had no idea the fairy that I was told about was you. Not until I met your nephew, and I realised that he had your telepathy – and that his blood smelled like yours. I didn't mean for Charlotte and Bennett to come here. I only called them asking if this fairy had been found or not."

"Sure, Helena. You only just realised, after you'd been drinking my blood for weeks, and getting stronger. Right?" Myka said sceptically, withdrawing into herself as she realised how she'd been used.

"I did notice that I was stronger. I didn't put two and two together, Myka. I realised I could fly further and faster. And my glamour is stronger now. But I didn't think, Myka. I didn't realise. I knew you were special, but I just didn't think. I was too busy falling in love with you to think about any of that!" Helena said, in a rush. Myka stared at her.

"You… you're in love with me?" Myka asked, after a moment of stunned silence.

"Yes," Helena said, in a whisper. "Yes, I'm in love with you. Which is why I bought a house, why I glamoured a realtor into letting me move in right away instead of doing this escrow business. But I paid the full price for the house, Myka, I swear to you. I just wanted to settle in sooner, so that you knew… so that you knew I was serious about you. I swear to you, on my daughter's life, that I did not know you were the fairy the King of Mississippi told me about. I swear it," she said, sinking to her knees and looking up at Myka, adoration written on every line of her face.

Myka stood there, looking down at the powerful creature in front of her. This woman could rip her limbs off, could pull down buildings with her bare hands. And she was kneeling in front of Myka, telling her that she loved her.

"I will never drink from you again, Myka, if you do not wish it. This is not about blood for me, nor power. This is only about you, and I, and love. I love you," Helena said again, her eyes filling with bloody tears that then left trails on the skin of her pale cheeks.

"I love you too," Myka said quietly. "I hope you're not lying to me, Helena Wells, because if you are, you're going to break my heart."

Helena stared up at her.

"I love you, Myka. I swear, it is not a lie. I swear I would meet the sun tomorrow if it meant keeping you safe. I know you cannot hear my thoughts, as you can hear other humans' but if you could, you would hear only that I love you. I bought a home here because I could not bear the idea of leaving you, Myka. Please, believe me, my love," Helena said, her face a mess of blood.

Myka pulled her to her feet gently, pulling a tissue from her pocket and wiping Helena's face with it carefully.

"Okay, Helena. I trust you. You didn't know, and now you do. The question is, what are you going to do with the information? And what are Charlotte and Bennett going to do, about this fairy business? Because I don't know who the King of Mississippi is, but I'm gonna assume that not telling him about me will get you in a lot of trouble. Right?"

Helena nodded. She still looked guilty and miserable. Myka kissed her.

"We'll figure it out," she murmured, and Helena relaxed against her. "We'll figure it out."

She sent Pete a text to say she was staying there that night, and after ordering in some food and making sure Helena had enough Tru Blood, they went to bed. She was woken at 5am by a phone call from Leena.

"Sheriff. There's been a fire. Some vampires – they made some noise last night at the local bar, and after everything that has happened with the kids… some of the locals didn't like it. They followed them to where they were sleeping, Myka. They burned them out. They're dead," Leena said, her voice sounding concerned. Myka wondered why, for a moment, before realising that Helena wasn't beside her.

"How many, Leena?"

"Three, we think," Leena said, her voice compassionate.

"Oh my God," Myka said, her hand going to her mouth. "Where?"

Leena gave her an address at the north edge of town. It was an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. Myka drove like a maniac, reaching the address within a few minutes. The volunteer fire department were there along with Pete, who saw her coming with a grimace.

"Myka," he said, stopping her before she could get any closer to the scene. "Don't look, Myka."

"Is she – was it her, Pete?" she managed.

"I don't know, Mykes. I went to the bar last night to tell them to leave – they were riling people up, laughing about the dead kids. Helena wasn't there. It was two other English vampires."

"But there's three bodies, Pete?"

She could see from his expression that whatever he was going to say next wasn't good. She dropped her shields, only to be overwhelmed by the negativity of the thoughts around her.

Fucking vampires. Serves them right. I woulda done it myself if I'd been there.

That was from the burly fireman/carpenter to her right.

They been killing our kids. They got theirs…

That laughter-tinged thought was from a firefighter who worked on the local road crew. He was poking his buddy in the side joking about crispy grilled vampires.

We didn't find any bodies, how can I even tell her? That it was just ash? And some gross stuff?

She saw the pictures in her head. She didn't need to see it for herself. She turned and threw up, a few feet from the remains. Pete led her back to her car. She drove back to work, her mind numb. Leena came in to see her after a few minutes.

"Sheriff?"

"Yes, Leena?" Myka replied, without looking up. She was surprised when her chin was gripped firmly and her head tilted up to meet Leena's grey-green eyes.

"Sheriff. I know you're thinking the worst right now. Hell, we all are. But I think I might be able to help. You have a partly-established blood bond with Helena. I think that if she was dead, you would know."

"How do you… never mind," Myka said, cutting herself off. She didn't want to know how Leena knew the things she did.

"If you concentrate, Myka, it's possible that you might sense her. Do you want to try?" Leena asked, her voice quiet.

"I… yeah. I guess. It can't hurt, right?" Myka said.

"Exactly. Now. Take my hands."

Myka did as she was told.

"Close your eyes, and think about Helena. How do you feel when she's around? What does she feel like when she's nearby? I know that you can feel her mind, when she's near. Just try to think about it. She's asleep, somewhere quiet. You can feel it. You can find her," Leena said, her voice taking on a hypnotic quality. Myka concentrated, remembering how Helena smelled, how she looked, how her presence calmed Myka. She suddenly felt coolness surrounding her, and the smell of damp earth was filling her nostrils. She was suddenly lethargic, the brightness of the sun, the heat of it, sucking the life from her. She couldn't wake. She began to slump forward on her desk.

"Myka," Leena said, quietly, shaking her shoulder gently. Myka took a deep breath, looking around her in surprise. She had been resting somewhere quiet, cool, damp.

"What did you feel, Myka?" Leena asked, looking at her intently.

"I felt cool. Like I was somewhere away from the sun, somewhere damp. I could smell earth, and I was tired. Then I fell asleep," Myka said, her puzzlement evident.

"You found her, Myka. She's safe."

"Do you think that's what I was sensing, Leena?" Myka said doubtfully.

"Myka, I'm sure of it. If I thought for a moment that it wasn't her, Myka, I wouldn't give you false hope. I promise you. It was your link with her. Wherever she is, she's safe, resting away from the sun. Whoever that was with those vamps, it wasn't her."

Myka looked at her for a long moment, and Leena held her eyes. She trusted Leena, of course she did. You couldn't not trust Leena. She let it sink in. Helena was safe. Helena was sleeping, and she'd see her at nightfall.

"Thank you, Leena. I… thank you."

"Sure thing, Sheriff," Leena said, getting up suddenly and smiling. "I'm gonna get you some coffee and breakfast."

"Thanks," Myka said, her eyes filling. Thankfully, Leena had turned around and couldn't see her tears. Myka wiped her tears away and smiled. Helena was fine.

Before sundown, Tracy and Pete sat with her on the porch swing. She had told them about Leena, about what she'd said, but she could tell that neither of them really believed her. They thought it was wishful thinking, that she was just trying to will Helena to be okay. That wasn't what this was; she believed that Helena was fine. But there was still, always, a tiny bit of doubt. Because this was becoming… the norm. Horrifying things were happening so often that they were just running together in her mind. She didn't have time to react to one before the next one was upon her. What if Helena really was dead, and she was just kidding herself? She would have to move on. Make a plan. Deal with the rogue vampires in her town and make it safer for everyone. Help David to deal with his abilities. Help Tracy to transition into the half-were she was going to be from now on. Focusing on those things helped her. There was no point in trying to deal with these crises, having counselling with Dr Cho or whatever, if they just kept on fucking happening, was there? She might as well just stagger from disaster to disaster and take things as they come.

It was when she was thinking about disaster that she felt a whisper. She didn't look up. She wasn't sure it was Helena; she couldn't be sure until she saw her. She waited until Pete exhaled beside her and Tracy's arm tightened around her, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"Myka? What's the matter, love?" Helena asked, kneeling in front of her on the porch. She looked up, met Helena's eyes, and took a deep breath. She couldn't speak, so she just looked at the vampire, the woman that she loved.

"Some vampires were burned out last night, Helena," Pete said. "Three of them. Myka said two of them were at your house last night, and there were three bodies. Or remains. Whatever. We thought you were dead," Pete explained.

"Charlotte and Bennett? They were killed? And… it must have been Nicholas, their son, who died with them. How did this happen?" Helena asked, directing her question at Pete, but stroking Myka's face gently to soothe her.

"They went to the local bar and made some remarks about the kids that have been murdered. They made a joke out of it. Some people took exception to it."

"Yes, I'd imagine they would have," Helena said, her face bleak. "They brought it on themselves. The American Vampire League will likely step in if the King tries to make an issue of it; they won't want the bad press."

"The what with the who now?" Pete asked, his brow furrowed.

"Never mind," Myka said. "They got themselves killed. If I find out who was involved, I'll prosecute them. But make sure and tell anyone who asks, Pete. Helena is here to help, and if any other vampires come round making jokes, then they call the Sheriff's office. They don't call up a posse and take it into their own hands. Okay?"

"Of course," he said, nodding seriously. He left shortly afterwards. It was his shift. He'd probably been there all night, then covered her during the day, and now he was heading back to work. She would have felt bad, normally, but she was still numb from everything that had happened.

"Are you all right, Myka?" Helena asked softly.

"I'm fine, Helena. I knew you were okay. Leena helped me to sense you. She says we have a partial bond because of the blood thing." Myka said.

"I know, love," Helena said. "I felt you, while I slept."

"You did?" Myka asked, surprised.

"I did," Helena said, smiling. "I'm glad you can sense me. Even if it is because I had to give you my blood. I will, however, give you a list of my sleeping places, so that you have no cause for worry, should anything happen in future. It is not fair on you, to worry."

"You're right, it's not," Tracy said, suddenly. "She spent all day waiting for you to wake up, wondering if you were even alive to wake up. I don't know her very well, Helena, but she's a good person. You should trust her."

"I do," Helena said, looking at Tracy solemnly. "I will share it with her. I promise. This will not happen again."

"Thank you," Myka said quietly. Helena carried her inside, wrapping her up in a soft blanket before making her some soup. It reminded Myka of another night, a night that felt like aeons ago. The night when they'd slept together for the first time. Tracy sat on the other sofa, watching them quietly.

"She cares about you," she said quietly.

"Yeah," Myka said. "She said she loves me. Last night. And then… I thought she was dead."

"I'm sorry, Myka. At least now you'll know where to look, at least. If something happens again."

"Yeah," Myka said again.

"Is your life always like this?" Tracy asked.

"Lately? Yeah. I feel like I've been stumbling from one disaster to another," she said, taking a deep breath.

"Like me getting bitten?" Tracy asked.

"Yes. Like you getting bitten. I honestly never thought I'd see you again, and when I do, it's because someone bit you and turned you into a half-were. That's kind of how my life has been recently."

"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to deal with all this, Myka. That woman, the one who did all this to you? I don't know what the hell was wrong with her, but you didn't deserve any of it. And you don't deserve the blame for what happened to me. You might have changed my life for the better, Myka. Even with all this were business. Finding out David has this ability, and that your friend Artie will help – it's been a little crazy, but what the hell would I have done if I found out when I was with Kevin, and with Dad around? He probably would have pressured me to give David up, the way he did to you. You saved me from that, Myka. So don't blame yourself, okay?" she said, kneeling in front of Myka for a moment, squeezing her leg.

"Thanks, Trace," Myka said, feeling confused and grateful. Helena returned just then, and Tracy smiled and went upstairs.

"She seems nice," Helena said.

"She is," Myka said. "She was a little timid at first, but she's – she's surprised me. She was kind of amazing, about the whole were thing. I thought she'd be going crazy. I mean, because of me, she basically gets a communicable disease where she's going to have to hide out, at least for a couple of days a month. And now this thing with David, too? She's taking it all in her stride. I think I would have been furious, in her position."

"I think you would have been just as gracious, Myka," Helena said, urging Myka to eat the hot soup. "You would have realised, as she has, that the fault did not lie with her. None of this was your fault, my love."

"Thank you for saying that. I'm not so sure," Myka said, smiling a little as she blew on the hot liquid. It was soup from a can, but it was still soup. Helena was a terrifying monster from a story, but when she thought Myka was sad, she made soup. It was adorable.

Helena wrapped Myka up in her arms, and Myka finished her soup. It was quiet. Her shields were working well; the other minds in the house weren't bothering her. She was in silence, she was safe, and Helena loved her. She took the moment for what it was; a moment of calm in the middle of the turmoil that had been her life for the last while. It was something beautiful to hold on to, and she determined to do just that. She didn't know what the future held. They had to get David's ability under control, and get Tracy through her first full moon, her first transition. And then? She had to figure out how to catch two insane vampires without getting anyone else in her town killed.

Helena stayed at the house with her that night, wrapping Myka up in her arms. They spoke little, and each time Myka woke, Helena was still there, right until dawn. She left a note in the breast pocket of Myka's uniform shirt.

My love

Should you need me. Today, I rest in my home. In my bedroom, lift the telephone receiver off the base. Turn the bedroom light off. Dial 6952 and press 'enter' on the phone. Should you need to find me, enter through the door that appears and close it behind you. You will need a torch. The trapdoor is in the floor, under the rug.

The room is made from metal, sealed from oxygen. Therefore, no fire can reach me. You need not concern yourself with any attempts.

At the risk of sounding like a cheap spy novel, please destroy this note immediately. I know my secret is safe with you. I cannot be so sure of others.

Until tonight

Helena

Myka took the note into her bathroom, ran it under water until the ink was illegible. Then she ripped it into pieces and flushed it. Helena's secret hidey-hole would not become common knowledge because of her.