Chapter 59 – Forever and Always (Part 3)
~~~~Portsmouth, 1944~~~~
The wine glass still sat on the desk, untouched. Nikola had finished off the rest of the bottle and had now moved on to tea, it was truly piss water, but he had a dire need for something warm.
A full year and his body still wasn't used to the cold, at least now it had reduced itself to brief periods of feeling chilled.
When he was in France it had been different. The cool air complimented his low temperture, and the constant distraction and lovemaking had kept him busy enough. That and Jeannette constantly made him coffee, and provided him with cigarettes. Luxuries they did not afford him in England.
It was about that time that Helen waltzed into his lab with a triumphant arm gesture.
"Don't look so smug," he scoffed. "You were not the sole savior of the day, in fact without me you'd be in some Nazi prison being interrogated by the Gestapo."
"We almost were," Helen laughed, going over to the desk and picking up the glass of wine Nikola had poured for her.
"Yes, but because of me this whole D-Day operation would've been a complete bust…no thanks to you," he growled, sitting in his chair and crossing his legs. "If you would've kept your nose out of my affairs you wouldn't have put a traitor between me and Eisenhower."
"You're seriously blaming me," Helen scoffed. "Because of your secretary."
"Yes, you could've left well enough alone but instead you let your jealousy get the best of you and almost cost us the war, nice going Dr. Magnus," he teased.
"Jealousy!" Helen chirped.
"Yes, frankly you've been jealous of me since I rejected you in the back of that cargo plane, let it go Helen," joked with a wide grin.
Oh, he was infuriating.
"You were working weren't you?" Helen tried to shift the conversation back a bit.
"Yes, with a Nazi sympathizer, jeesh Helen you'd think these people would have better background checks on the people they trust with important information, now Hitler may know that I'm alive and working for you, my life could be in danger."
"Oh please," Helen rolled her eyes.
"Seriously, there will be Nazi's at my window any day now!
"You're being paranoid," Helen groaned and chugged back more of her wine.
"Not to mention Druitt, I'm sure he'd love to hear that news. What's the genocidal maniac up to now, eating children?"
"That's completely out of line!"
"What do you expect me to think Helen? I'm stuck here with traitors all around and I get the message that Druitt is playing "Mein Herr" up there with you, and you expect me not to be uspet. He could've easily have hurt as help you. The man has tried to kill you before, what do you think has changed?"
Helen was silenced by his rant, but not for the reasons he would think. For the first time in a long time she was hearing what he was saying in between the lines.
"At least I could've protected you and James instead of having to sit here, confessing all my inner thoughts to a Nazi in red, white, and blue!" Nikola grabbed her wine and finished off the rest of it. "There! I've said it!"
Helen's lips curled into a smile.
"What?" Nikola scowled at her, thinking she was about to tease him with some sort of quip. She just stepped up to him and took the empty glass out of his hand.
"You know, John thought James and I were together," she teased.
"Oh, well isn't that just the cherry on top of the crap cake," he groaned.
"Which is ridiculous, as you know…but James did note that there was something…odd going on," she was close now, and his face had dropped slightly at the look in her eyes.
Nikola's hands slid up her arms to hold her firmly. He was fighting with himself, on one hand he wanted nothing more to pull her to him and kiss the life out of her for being safe, for scaring him, for returning; on the other hand…
Helen leaned closer but he immediately stiffened and pushed her away slightly, his hands not leaving her arms.
"Helen," he sighed. She was toying with his mind again, and since the last time he was not eager to relive the experience. "This never ends well."
Helen smiled softly.
"Who says it has to mean anything?" she asked, her eyes dark and unreadable.
"Because…it's us," he chuckled and finally dropped his arms. "We're…complicated."
Helen nodded and sighed.
"You're probably right," she leaned up and kissed his cheek before maneuvering around him to sit on his desk.
Without hesitation he pulled another bottle of wine from his collection and popped the cork, refilling the empty glass and taking another sip.
"I'm flattered that you were worried though," she smirked, watching him drink down the wine as a way to distract himself from yet again rejecting her advances.
"Druitt is a Nazi. Not always the most comforting news to ever hear," he shrugged and handed her the glass.
She took a sip as well.
"I would've come for you…if all didn't work out. To hell with Eisenhower!" he gestured grandly with his hand as he turned and sat on the edge of the desk with her. "I'm trapped here."
Helen watched him carefully; he was in a mood.
"Even with the war practically won they'll never just let me go. I'm a liability; a vampire, I reek of national security. They probably have some cage deep in some bunker somewhere they plan to keep me in after all of this is done."
"Nikola, what are you thinking?" Helen put the glass down.
"Doing what I do best, as always," he grinned at her. "Running."
Helen put a hand on his shoulder.
"You can't!" she lowered her voice to a whisper.
"I can still help the war effort but I can't stay here and wait for them to carter me off to my own personal Alcatraz, except without the view," groaned Nikola. "Helen, do me this one favor, help me get out of Portsmouth."
~~~~New York, 1943~~~~
Midnight. The streets were dark and quiet near the harbor as compared to the ever-awake inner city.
The car rolled over the paved streets of Manhattan, on it's way to the river's edge. It slowed and stopped by the curb and the door opened.
"This is where we stop," Helen muttered looking over at Nikola. He was thoroughly wrapped up in his warmest clothes. It was January but even then the temperatures were mild, but Nikola's body still seemed to be on the fritz and even in this minor weather he felt chilled to the bone.
"We can't drive the rest of the way," Nikola grimaced.
"Oh, right, why didn't I think of that," Helen muttered sarcastically. "No, we can't."
"Where are we going?" he muttered.
"I have a friend, owns a ship, he specializes in smuggling in rather illegal goods. Alcohol, tea, monsters," Helen said nonchalantly. "Tonight he is smuggling you…to England, from there you can go anywhere you please and be anyone you want."
"That's great and all, but I still don't understand why we are walking," Nikola muttered against the cold.
"Discretion Nikola, he doesn't really have a docking permit," she stopped and pulled the cover off a manhole. "This should get us there without being seen."
Nikola flinched at the wonderful smell wafting up from the manhole cover.
"You have got to be kidding me," he groaned.
"Do you want to get out of here or not?" she snapped.
"If it means going through there I'd much rather stay in the autopsy," he hissed.
"That can be arranged," Helen bit through clenched teeth. "Just get d0wn there," she huffed.
He sneered but made his way down the grimy ladder none-the-less.
After a few minutes they were traversing in the tunnels underneath the city. Nikola held his handkerchief to his face with a grimace. Helen did near the same with her jacket sleeve.
"This is intolerable," her muttered through gritted teeth.
"Wasn't my idea," Helen growled in response.
"The morgue was more pleasant than this," he complained.
"One more word and I'll happily put you back there for good," Helen threatened.
"I'm starting to think you orchestrated this just to torture me!" Nikola stopped and glared at her.
"For what purpose?" Helen cried.
"Spite!" Nikola barked.
"Oh yes, because I love trudging through dank sewers for a good old laugh," Helen glared at him.
"Who was going to notice a car driving to the harbor? Wouldn't the big ass ship be more obvious?" Nikola's arms flailed wildly as he spoke.
"He has a boat! The ship is anchored off-shore!" she spat.
"Oh really? Or perhaps you'll just have me swim there!" he growled stepping up nose to nose with her.
"The thought had crossed my mind," her words were biting and her eyes never left his.
Suddenly they both met in a ferocious kiss that lasted no more than a few seconds as they pulled away so fast it was impossible to know if she had pushed him or away or if he had backed off himself.
"What was that?" Helen gasped breathlessly.
"I don't know," Nikola shook his head, running his hand through his hair.
Without another word they met again, this time more purposefully as arms wound around each other, grabbing clothing to bring them as close.
"You infuriate me," Helen growled, jumping into his arms and wounding her legs about his wait.
"No, you infuriate me," he growled half-heartedly, resting her back against the sewer wall. It was a relatively new system so the walls weren't nearly as grimy as they could've been, and this one was connected to the water, so the smell wasn't nearly what it could've been. Neither of these seemed to come to mind though, as they ferociously kissed each other in the dank darkness.
Finally the need for air overcame them and they pulled apart, both inhaling the foul air of the sewer.
It burned their nostrils and clogged their lungs.
"Helen," Nikola coughed. "We're in a sewer," he said as if he just noticed.
"We are," Helen said tensely.
They once again pulled away from each other quickly. Helen regaining her footing as Nikola sought to straighten his frumpled clothing.
"What are we doing?" Helen sighed.
"I don't know," Nikola chuckled. "I guess…"
"You guess what?" Helen said more sharply than she'd intended.
"All I'm saying is…we both know that when I get on that boat we're probably never going to see each other again," he looked at her with a sense of bleak honesty. "Maybe I just want you to have something to remember me by."
Helen chuckled slightly.
"I will have plenty more than having a quickie with you in a sewer," she sighed, straightening her jacket.
"You have to admit though, it's pretty original," he smirked widely. "Reminds me of our little excursion in London back at Christmas."
Helen glared and tried to hide her smile.
"The spies were a pleasant surprise," she laughed.
"I know, and so were the temporal adjustments," Nikola snickered. "Never doubt my genius."
"I never do," she shook her head.
"So…shall we continue along," he cleared his throat slightly as he straightened to full height and continued walking.
"Vampire's first," Helen sighed.
~~~~Portsmouth, 1944~~~~
It was quiet tonight, deathly quiet. First one in many nights. Nothing was in the sky, no clouds, no moon, no bomber planes. It was peaceful.
The young soldier marched from one end of his post to the other at the front gates, whistling a faint but familiar tune with his hands shoved deep inside his pockets to protect him from the cold.
It was November now, it meant the nights were chillier and the days were shorter.
Suddenly a sound broke the soldier out of his concentration, coming from just behind the doors.
"Psst!" it whispered again.
He looked over at it with confusion.
"Psst!" it whispered even more loudly.
"Who's there?" asked the soldier.
"I brought you some brandy for the cold," whispered the voice.
"Who are you?" asked the soldier.
"Corporal O'Brien, East Corridor, day shift," said the voice. "Come on, a sip of brandy will warm you right up."
The soldier looked around cautiously before slowly stalking over to the door.
"We shouldn't be drinking on duty," he whispered.
"Come on, one sip won't kill you, just to reawaken the senses, makes you sharper, more alert," whispered the voice. "Kneel down! Do you want somebody to see you?"
The soldier shook his head and kneeled down towards the door, his head at eye level to the doorknob.
A hand came from behind the door with a flask.
"Sure is cold tonight," he whispered conversationally.
"You're telling me, and it's getting colder every day," the soldier took the flask appreciatively in his cold shaky fingers.
"What's you're name there son?" asked the voice.
"Corporal Sean Dannings, sir," the young man said.
"Nice to meet you, Sean Dannings. Sorry for having to do this," said the voice.
"What?"
Before he could register the door shot out quickly colliding the knob with the side of his head and knocking him unconscious. The mysterious hand reached out and pulled him inside.
A few minutes later Nikola and Helen emerged. Nikola was dressed in the young soldier's uniform.
"Well, that was easy," Nikola muttered.
"A little unnecessary," Helen added.
"But it worked," Nikola shrugged.
"That poor kid, he'll probably be reneged to kitchen duty for this," Helen shook her head.
"It was your idea," Nikola muttered.
In his hand he held his one suitcase and in the other his autotype.
They went to the small car lot and climbed inside the nearest car.
"This should take us past the border," said Helen, she handed him some forged papers.
"Us? Oh no no no, it's just me from this point on," Nikola said firmly.
"Nikola, I'm coming with you," Helen said firmly.
"You can't," he said just as stern. "If you come with me then they'll know you helped me escape...at least this way they'll just think I made the get away on my own. Helen, do not throw away your reputation and standing for me."
He cupped her face to give her the best kiss he could manage under the circumstances.
"Now get out," he whispered, pushing her out of the car.
"Nikola!" Helen cried.
"I will message you with my location once it's safe, but for now just trust me on this Helen, it's best if we split up."
Helen growled and grabbed him by his tie and yanked him to her one last time to kiss him. It was much stronger than his had been, laced with the understanding that she was probably going to screw him the next time she saw him.
"You better or so help me…"
He chuckled.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he winked and pecked her one last time. "No go, before someone sees you helping me and you get court marshaled."
Helen frowned but got out of the car and began to walk back inside the building.
She looked back once to see him smiling and waving through the window of the car before driving, quite maniacally, right out into the night.
She was so going to make him pay for this.
~~~~Author's Notes~~~~
One more chapter to go, it's rather frightening isn't it. I think i've come up with a good little ending. A lot of you want something to do with the ring and I think I can deliver but it won't be anything you'd expect. Muahaha! But of course it will involve some Tesleny goodness.
Enjoy!