Chapter 2

In Helen's office she looked around at those gathered. Will was leaning against her couch, Bigfoot was standing over her like the guard he was, Kate had her arms folded looking extremely cross, she wasn't the only one, and Henry was running a complete scan of everything that had happened. The last person in the room was doing what he always did, drank wine.

"So can ANY one explain what just happened? What WAS that creature?"

"I don't know, Doc, but it didn't look too happy that Nikola turned on the lights. It looked to be terrified of the light."

Will coughed a bit, "Or it could have been like me when I was an underground abnormal and allergic to the light."

Helen nodded, "We can't rule anything out. Henry, work with Nikola on a way to bring this creature down. Will and Kate will track down the creature once Henry and Nikola are finished and then they will herd the creature to where we will capture it. Big Guy will be there waiting to close the door behind the creature so it doesn't escape. Any questions?"

Nikola raised a hand, "Do I REALLY have to work with wolf-boy?"

Helen growled dangerously at Nikola who threw his hands up in defense and stood up. Together he and Henry left the room. Helen turned to Will who was still there.

"What is it Will?"

"I still can't help, but feel that Tesla is behind this. I-"

"Will he hasn't had anything to do with this. He may have a hidden agenda, but this one is not related to the problems we have been having though they ARE highly convenient."

"What are his plans?"

"Will, just go alright? These plans have nothing to do with you."

Will sighed and left the room with Kate right behind him. That left Big Guy and Helen. The woman placed her head in her hands. Big Guy was the only one she could absolutely trust with most situations. With a sigh she turned to him and saw that he was looking at her with concern. Helen's brown hair hung over her shoulders like a wave. Big Guy reached over and gave her a hug. It certainly cheered her up considerably.

"Thank you. I can handle myself. You should go prepare for your part in this."

"Why IS Nikola here?"

"As I said to Will it has nothing to do with him or you. It's a thing between Nikola and myself only. No danger to anyone… at least none that I can see."

"He likes you?"

"I'm afraid so. I'll be fine. Oh and if you could find a way to bring John in that would be great. It seems Nikola told him what happened with our old home."

Big Guy winced. That was not a pretty picture. Normally Big Guy was a laid back guy, but on occasions such as this he erred on the side of caution and with good reason. However, he did not question her orders and left the room. Once the big guy was gone Helen laid her head on the desk and wept. She had hoped that her new Sanctuary would turn out better but so far Nikola had arrived, some kind of creature caused havoc to the electricity, and then tried to kill her. Helen found herself breaking down. She was getting way too old for these things. The woman knew that she couldn't go one without some kind of vacation. Once the tears were out she straightened herself up and left the room. She kept a flashlight with her and a gun in case the creature came back.

Suddenly she was held close. Helen shoved whoever it was away from her and held the gun up. Once the light was shining ahead of her she narrowed her eyes and saw John. With a sigh of relief she lowered the gun, but not the light.

"Well it seems Big Guy contacted you alright."

"Hello, Helen. Don't you EVER do that to me again."

"Are you done now? I've already had that speech from Nikola. Come on. You can help figure what this thing is."

She eyed John. She hadn't realized that it hadn't been John killing those women all those years ago. Well it was, but mostly not by his choice. About a year ago John died and Helen tried to bring him back. In the process something left him and wreaked havoc with the Sanctuary. After she figured out what it was she realized that John had never been in his right mind since he had been injected with the Source Blood. However, it didn't change what had happened. Helen still cared for John, but she no longer wanted him.

Her brown eyes looked him over. The scar on John's right cheek was still there, but he also had some additional scares that hadn't been there before. They had to have happened sometime between her going into the past and now.

"John?" She indicated the burn scars.

"I got them after you disappeared through that portal thing after Adam."

So it WAS when she went into the past. Helen felt a bit sorry for the man in front of her. Deep inside she shook herself to clear her mind of any thoughts of John. She had to move on. Her feelings were turned towards Nikola now, not her former lover. Helen stepped back.

"You simply vanished. How was I supposed to know if you were alive or not? You could have made an effort to contact me."

Helen turned on her heels and walked away. She had work to do. Her brown hair swished behind her and her heels clacked on the floor. The woman heard her name being called, but she ignored John. Turning the corner she ran into the creature yet again. Yanking her gun up she began firing. The snake hissed and lunged forward. Helen kept firing, but quickly backed up. Then John's arms were around her and she was safely in the lab.

Nikola and Henry looked up from their task. Henry had been trying to get the systems back up so they could find the creature and contain it. Nikola had to leave a few areas without light so they could keep it in a general area.

"Helen ran into the creature."

"Are you alright?" Henry and Nikola asked at the same time.

"I'm fine. Will you just return to your work?"

Helen felt like she was a school girl surrounded by boys who liked her. She out the gun down and asked for reports.

"I have it trapped in a general area that is of low priority and won't be able to tear apart any more electric boxes."

"I think I have a plan to capture it. We know that it doesn't like light and its similar to that snake thing when I first went HAP."

Henry pushed the tablet towards Helen. The woman looked it over and was deeply impressed. She was glad that Henry was on her side. It would not due if the man was working for the enemy or something along those lines.

"Walk me through it?"

"I plan on modifying the stunners to shoot out small bursts of electrical pain. We herd the creature through the areas that we have trapped off. If it goes in a direction we don't want it to go we just shoot ahead of it to make it think twice. Once we get the creature to the intake area we have the Big Guy ready to capture it in a cage. Once inside one of us changes the setting of our stunners into tranq mode and put it to sleep. Once asleep we put it in a safe area and study it from there."

Helen nodded. The idea seemed good though she knew there was a but coming and she looked at Henry and Nikola curiously.

"But. If we fail the creature won't take it lightly and there will be injuries. We don't know what will happen if that thing hurts one of us. We don't know if it's poisonous or if it's just a dangerous creature. Either way we can't afford to make any mistakes. Right now we have no idea what this creature is and if we don't have the proper equipment…"

"And it was poisonous then one of us would most likely die. I get it. We just have to make sure we don't fail don't we? Get to it."

Helen turned on her heel and walked out. Footsteps came from behind her. The brunette turned to see Nikola. Worry was visible on his face.

"Nikola what is it?"

"In case I don't have the chance later…"

Nikola broke off and pulled Helen close. The vampire's lips found Helen's and a fire grew within the woman's chest. Being with Nikola like this was very different from being with John. Helen broke the kiss and stared into Nikola's worry filled blue eyes.

"You DO love me. I thought-"

"Thought what? That I meant it wouldn't work out? Helen you know me."

The vampire kissed her again. Helen thought she did, but now she wasn't so sure.