I bought a bed today. Not sure why that's appropriate fodder for an AN but anyway... Though it does fit with the title XD

There are a bunch of reviews and messages sitting in my inbox and I will get to them ASAP, promise. I'm just a bit behind in other stuff at the moment.

Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, I'm really pleased you enjoyed or could at least sort of understand where Rose was coming from :P Y'all are gems and between the lovely reviews and Adam Hills FINALLY winning a Logie, today has been a good day!

xx

PS: EVERYONE HAS TO GO BERATE EMMY1512 AFTER READING THIS. SHE OWES ME SOMETHING BECAUSE IT IS THE LAST DAY OF THE WEEK! DO IT! COOKIES (and maybe a quicker update if she complains about the berating) IF YOU DO!

The next morning Helen woke up still clutching Nikola's hand. It seemed, sometime during the night Rose had left the bed and, quite unintentionally, Helen and Nikola had drifted closer together. They were both on their sides and while nothing more than their hands were touching, as Helen opened her eyes, she was able to count Nikola's eyelashes. Fighting the urge to jerk away, Helen forced herself to move slowly, shuffling back from him and detangling their fingers as she looked around the room, unsurprised to find Rosie standing by the window, wings out stretched as she soaked up the early morning sunlight.

He's already awake, there's no need to be so careful, Rose remarked casually, not turning from the window.

Did you have to tell her? I was quite enjoying that.

Helen, while having had much experience with the three way version of this communication, started slightly at Nikola's unexpected comment.

"We've both been up for hours Helen, he's trying to trick you," Rose said, turning to face the bed with a wide smirk in place.

"You're no fun," Nikola pouted before rolling off the bed, stretching out his shoulders. "Where was the harm in a little snuggling?" he joked before heading to the small ensuite bathroom, grabbing his duffle bag as he went.

"The poor woman's never been the brightest first thing in the morning, you have to go easy on her," Rosie called with a smile and Nikola chuckled before partially shutting the door.

"It's because she refuses to drink coffee," he advised before the sound of running water filled the air.

"Would you two stop ganging up on me?" Helen grumbled, trying to shake the sleep from her bones. Normally she was quick to rise but after Rosie's mental lullaby (because there was no other way to describe the sensation) she was still feeling groggy.

"Now see, if you hadn't stopped sleeping with me, you might have been used to it by now," Rose joked, shaking her finger at Helen in mock scold. Helen rolled her eyes and tried to clear her head.

"Try the coffee," Nikola called. "It's the only thing that helps."

"Firstly, shut up," Rose sang back, "and secondly, we already know there's more tea in her veins than blood, coffee might give her a heart attack."

"Can you please be quiet?" Helen said with a sigh, trudging over to her duffle bag as Rose strained her shoulders to retract her wings.

"Aw, ickle Helen's got a headache," Rosie taunted with a fake lisp. She concluded the statement with a dramatic pout but, as Helen rolled her eyes at the woman's antics, she couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing.

"Are you going to get dressed?" Helen asked, raising an eyebrow as she raked her eyes up and down Rose's thin singlet and tight combat pants. She was still barefoot despite the cool morning and the amount of skin she had left uncovered made Helen feel cold just looking at her.

"Well if that isn't an offer I'll eat my hat," Rose said darkly, lips curling in a tiny smirk. Helen said nothing, simply shooting her a look of pure annoyance and Rose chuckled. "Oh you're too easy some days," she commented with a wink. "And I am dressed. Don't you like it?" With a lazy grin spreading across her face, Rose slowly turned around, arms thrown wide in invitation of perusal.

"Oh you two have all the fun," Nikola complained from where he leant against the bathroom doorway. Helen turned to berate him for playing Rosie's childish games but, for the first time in her life, the sight of him took her breath away. His hair was wet and slicked back from his face in a manner reminiscent of the way he used to wear it only now a few wet strands were fighting their confines, instead flopping over his forehead and Helen's hands itched to push the errant locks back into place.

His skin was practically luminescent, faintly red from the heat of his shower and his cheeks didn't wear the dark stubble they had when he'd rolled out of bed, leaving the creamy skin looking as soft as silk. The top few buttons of the dress shirt he wore were undone, allowing her gaze to drop from his smirk down the length of his thin neck to the bulge of his Adam's apple and on to the almost shining skin of his chest. Long, dexterous fingers were quickly doing up the last few buttons, obscuring her oh so lovely view and it was only Rosie's mental cough that stopped her from letting out a disappointed mewl.

You haven't seen anything, Rose promised, her mental voice growing husky as scattered and heady memories flittered into Helen's mind. The pictures were indistinct and rushed but the general idea was clear and it had Helen all but salivating.

"I suppose you want a shower now?" Nikola queried blandly, buttoning his cuffs before grabbing the elegant yet sturdy black jacket he'd chosen for the mission.

"Thank you," Helen said, hoping her voice didn't sound as strained as she smiled.

He hasn't a clue, Rose supplied with an evil mental chuckle. I suspect if he did you wouldn't be having that shower alone.

Rolling her eyes, Helen grabbed some clothes before heading to the bathroom, being terribly careful to lock the door behind her. With Rosie in her mind and Nikola's own thoughts always in the gutter, Helen wasn't going to be taking any chances. Those two were trouble alone and it had been years since she'd had to deal with their combined forces. To be honest, she didn't know if she'd be able to handle it quite as well as she had in the past.

Then she realised something. Rose. And Nikola. Alone.

Rose? Helen sent feeling tentative for the first time in a long while.

Don't worry, I won't tell him what you were thinking, Rose said with a small chuckle. Though she was kidding around, Helen felt relatively certain that none of her more embarrassing moments would be on display for a certain cocky vampire.

But if you don't hurry up, I may require another shower.

Helen shuddered.

Have you lost your sense of humour Helen? You used to be able to tell when I was pulling your leg.

Shaking her head, Helen tried to tune out Rose's mental chatter as she went about her shower.

By the time Helen had emerged not ten minutes later, Rose and Nikola were nowhere to be found, only a small piece of paper on the dishevelled bed to guide her.

Pack your bags and meet us by the car. We'll get the children.

Chuckling, Helen tossed the note back to the bed before gathering up the last of her things. In less than a minute she was heading down the corridor, bag over her shoulder. She was just about to start down the stairs when she heard someone calling her name.

"Magnus? Hey, wait up," Will called as he jogged sleepily towards her.

"Will," she greeted with a smile, noting that while he did have his bag slung over his shoulder, he'd missed a few buttons and, as such, his top was rather lopsided.

"Sleep well?" he asked with a yawn.

"Surprisingly enough, I did," she said with another smile and he raised an eyebrow.

"Rosie's little sleeping trick?" he guessed dryly and Helen chuckled.

"It's quite something," she admitted and Will made a pained face.

"That's one way to describe it," he allowed before yawning once more.

"I take it you didn't get much sleep then," she said, eyeing her obviously exhausted protégé apprehensively.

"My roommate wasn't nearly as fun as yours."

She snorted at that.

"Really?" Rose interrupted from a few steps below them. "I always found John's company to be inexplicably tiring. And I don't even need sleep." The small woman chuckled before winking and gesturing for the pair to follow her downstairs. "We've been waiting on you two," she chastised as they reached the small group of sleepy travellers standing by the door. Kate and Henry gave bleary smiles but Nikola and John were standing off to the side, deep in conversation.

"Boys," Rose called. "Tactics need to be discuss but it's pointless to do so before we've actually found them." With an unreadable look, John and Nikola broke apart, coming back to stand with the rest of the group.

"Right, team huddle," Rose joked, gesturing for everyone to step forward. "Kate, Henry and Helen, you go pack the van. Nikola, take Will and head down the main street. There's a bakery about a hundred metres down the road. Grab some breakfast for everyone and, if possible, lunch as well. We've got quite a drive ahead of us and I'd rather stop as infrequently as possible."

"Does this mean you know where they are?" John asked quietly.

Rose nodded, smiling tightly. "They're closer than I originally thought but it's still a fair distance from here. But we can discuss that later," she said, glancing around nervously. "Meet in the van in ten minutes." Everyone nodded, albeit tiredly before splitting up.

When finally only Rose and John were left standing in the sparsely decorated room, she smiled at him uncomfortably.

"We need to talk."

"That sounds ominous," he quipped as they walked towards the little old woman who was finalising their bills.

"It is," she answered firmly after handing over a small stack of bills. Grabbing his elbow lightly, she led him over to the corner where a pair of old sofas sat. "From what I can tell of their fortifications, you won't be able to teleport in," she muttered quietly. "I can't give you an accurate picture of what the cave system they're using looks like so I think it would be foolish to try such an action but, if worst comes to worst, you should be able to teleport out."

Her small face was creased with concern but she seemed unable to meet his eye.

"Rose?" he asked warily. "What aren't you telling us?"

"No matter what happens today John," she said looking up at him boldly. "No matter what you have to do exactly as I say. I hope it won't come to it but, if I tell you to take any of the others and leave, you need to do so, don't ask questions and don't argue with me."

John cocked his head, staring down at her for a second but, as he opened his mouth, Will popped his head through the door.

"You two just about ready to go?" he asked grumpily.

"Dr. Expendable get back here and get into the damn van!" Nikola called loudly from outside and Will rolled his eyes before moving back outside.

"Just get in the car Tesla. I'm not buying into that whole 'car sick' thing," Will replied and Rose chuckled, standing up and straightening the heavy duty jacket she'd thrown over her thin tank top.

"Those two are worse than us," Rose muttered and John chuckled from behind her.

"They haven't tried to kill each other," he offered.

"Yet," Rosie replied with a cheeky grin over her shoulder. "There's still time."