A/N Tesla bites off more than he can chew. The rating has gone up to M for this chapter for some scenes of blood and violence.

FIVE

For once, Tesla had finally fallen asleep. He normally needed very few hours to function, but with the past few days of excitement over the scrolls and the Sybarites he had neglected the exercise altogether. The Sandman had finally caught him in his dark embrace and, exhausted, he lay prone in one of Helen's comfier chairs.

All but dead to the world, he didn't notice the figure of a pale man creep out from the shadows of the room. It was late at night and the moon hung fat in the sky. Crouched, the pale man lifted his head towards the stream of silver light, as if comforted by its touch, before returning his gaze to Tesla. Cold fury shone from his near black eyes, his long fingers tensing into claws. He stood, naked so as to be silent, for ten minutes in front of the sleeping Tesla, observing him closely and patiently waiting to strike.

Moving sinuously, he finally crept right up to Tesla. With a gentle touch he encouraged Tesla's lips to part. The sleeping man did not even stir under the gentle ministrations and the Sybarite smiled cruelly.

The Sybarite parted his own mouth and moved it close to Tesla's. A silvery fog began to unfurl from Tesla's mouth, the Sybarite twirling a finger through it as if to coax it out further. When a steady stream began to flow, the Sybarite's body tensed and it gripped Tesla's head, latching his mouth over the sleeping man's.

Tesla woke suddenly with the feeling that an iron fist had his lungs in a vice-grip and he was being torn apart. He felt a heavy presence crushing him, and with adrenaline kicking into high gear, he transformed in an instant and with superhuman effort pushed the malevolent force away from him.

Black blossoms threatened to fill his vision and snarling he tried to shake them away. His chest still felt collapsed, and he saw the male Sybarite crumpled on the floor, struggling to get up. Tesla saw red at the audacity the whelp had to attack him, and over the genuine fear he had felt.

"You're really going to regret that." Tesla's claws gleamed in the moonlight, and his fully black eyes were blazing. His voice was human no longer. "Let's get something straight, buddy. She kissed me first."

The Sybarite had gotten to his knees and snarled back at the incredibly pissed off vampire ready to wring his neck. Nikola bolted over to him with incredible speed and slashed him with his claws. His chest screamed in protest, still injured, and to his dismay Nikola staggered. The Sybarite had ugly gashes opened on his face and was obviously in a lot of pain as well, but with grim determination he pushed Tesla back. Nikola felt an acidic chuckle rise in the back of his throat, but it stabbed in his chest. His blood was pumping hotly through him and he was blinded with kill-rage, but his chest still felt like it was cracked in two and he was finding it hard to breathe.

He reached for the Sybarite, his claws closing tight around its throat. The Sybarite struggled, he was still weaker than Nikola, but he was coaxing more of the silver fog from Tesla's mouth and sucking it in. Furious, feeling like something was being stolen from him and that his chest was tightening more, Tesla slammed the Sybarite's head against the wall. The Sybarite's teeth rattled in his head and he spat out pink spittle. Nikola grinned savagely, closing in for the kill, when he noticed the Sybarite's arms lunge forward and felt something impact his gut.

His surprise allowed the Sybarite to claw his way out of Nikola's grip. The little bastard had grabbed an iron poker from the fireplace and shoved it through Tesla's stomach.

"Ow."

But before Tesla could react, the Sybarite had planted a foot on his stomach and shoved him off the poker. The Sybarite swung with the poker and Tesla parried a few blows, but received a crippling hit to his chest. Falling to his knees, Tesla choked out a strangled scream of fury. What had that little bastard done to him? It was as if Tesla was being suffocated and couldn't catch his breath back.

The poker slammed into his head and he fell to the floor. The Sybarite viciously stabbed the poker into his chest again and again. Weakened, each blow sent massive waves of pain through him and blood bubbled up from his throat. The Sybarite glared down at him, his pale naked body sprayed with dark red, and then planted the poker into Nikola's throat, pinning him to the floor.

Nikola slipped into true darkness and was suddenly gripped with a long forgotten fear…that he was dying.

Henry woke up with a start, wincing as he felt an indent in his forehead. Bemused, he saw a string of "kkkkkkk"s on the screen in front of him and rubbed his sore brow.

He glanced over, bored, at the security feed and nearly fell out of his chair. Panicked, he dialed Magnus and found he could only stammer, "I think Tesla's dead."

Helen appeared in front of he Sanctuary doors in a flash of orange light. Druitt could only take them so far as Henry had the EM shields active. Helen, Druitt and Kate burst through the doors and ran up the stairs, catching up to Big Guy along the way.

When they came into her office, the first thing Helen noticed was the suffocating smell of blood. It nearly covered her entire floor and she had to walk across a pool of it. She had seen many grisly things in her life, but the sight of Nikola pinned through the throat made her gag.

"Come on, John. Over here." She immediately assumed command, instructing John to hold down Nikola's shoulders and head, as Big Guy gripped the poker and grimly tried to pull it free. She winced when he had to wriggle it around a little, but finally it came loose.

"Oh Nikola…" She was shocked at the extensive amount of trauma he had received.

A grave, slightly sick look was on John's face. Despite their rivalry and frequent hatred for each other, they still shared a deep bond as did all in the Five. "Is he dead?"

Kate's voice was hushed. "But can't he just … heal himself? I've seen him take a full automatic clip to the head and shake it off."

Helen was doing her best to inspect him through all the blood and mangled flesh. His eyes were closed and he was icy to the touch. His vampiric features had faded and he just looked small and still. She inspected his chest and saw a flicker of hope. The outer ring of his entry wounds were very mildly beginning to scar.

"He's alive. But I think he's too weak to heal fast enough. We may still lose him. Big Guy, I need you to grab me a stretcher and as many packs of plasma you can carry." The Big Guy nodded sharply and ran quickly out of the room. He grabbed Kate's wrist and with a quick "you'll help" they vanished.

Helen quickly started rolling up her left sleeve and fished around for a knife. John's eyes widened in alarm. "What are you doing?"

"He's a vampire, he needs blood. I don't think our packs of synthesized animal plasma are going to do the trick. And I have traces of the original source blood."

"As do I." Druitt spoke in a tone that sounded almost offended that she hadn't considered him, and he began to roll up his sleeve as well.

"John, it's fine. I'll do it."

"Helen, I—"

"It's better if I do it, John," Helen snapped, instantly regretting that she had done so. John's face hardened, though his anger was not directed at her. "You don't trust me."

Helen bowed her head, pleading. "John, no…"

"You think I'll taint him." Druitt rose to his feet, and stalked out of the room. "He's already tainted."

Blinking back angry tears and a frustrated scream, Helen concentrated on the task at hand. She bound Nikola's throat in some makeshift bandages as tightly as she could, and then with a swift movement of her knife, opened her wrist.

"Please let this work" she thought as she held her wrist above his mouth and watched fat drops of her blood fall into his mouth. How was he supposed to swallow? Would it seep through? For good measure she dripped some blood over his wounds as well.

Big Guy and Kate soon arrived with a stretcher and a large box of supplies. Helen motioned for them to wait a moment, and thoughtfully Big Guy positioned some cushions around her.

After what seemed like an eternity of silent praying, Nikola began to stir. His mouth opened in a silent scream and Helen bit back hot, unshed tears. She coaxed more drops of blood into his mouth. His throat moved painfully, but he was stirring more. She lifted him gently and cradled him against her, holding her wrist to his mouth. Weak, he burned with hunger and she had to tell herself not to wince when the points of his fangs closed around her. He seemed to sense who she was though, and the fangs retracted. He sucked as gently on the life-giving source as he could, somehow aware enough to not want to harm her even on the brink of death.

She checked the wounds on his chest and saw that they were beginning to close up. With soothing tones she gently pulled her wrist away from him. He hesitated at first, but let go without a struggle. The Big Guy was instantly ready and wrapped her wrist before carrying Nikola in his arms and lying him down on the stretcher.

"Use two IV's and stick some packs in him now. Have the operation table on standby. I'll see you in ten minutes." The Big Guy nodded and quickly prepared Tesla before wheeling him away.

Helen tried to stand up but felt dizzy. Kate shook her head at her sternly and gently pushed her back onto the cushions. "You just gave blood, doc. You're supposed to get cookies and juice now." Helen smiled wryly and gratefully accepted the bottle of orange juice Kate pressed into her hand.

Now, finally having a moment to think and not react, one question burned in her mind. Just what the hell had happened?

It was touch and go throughout the night. Helen actually had to stitch up some of the torn muscles in his throat because they weren't healing fast enough. They kept two plasmas in him at all times, and desperate, Helen injected him with a vial of her blood again. Eventually, his skin began to knit back together and he was regaining his hold on lucidity.

The first thing he croaked was, "I'm going to kill that sonofabitch," before falling back onto the hospital bed.

Helen felt a tired giggle rise in her throat and knew they were finally in the clear. It truly was astonishingly difficult to kill Nikola Tesla.