Five Hours in Ye Old London

Chapter 12: There and Back Again Part 1

Nikola looked around as he rubbed his hands together and faced James and the younger Helen. "Well, I hate long goodbyes… which in our case is completely redundant anyway since we're all still together on the other side… so I will just say to you to have fun, play well with one another and don't bite."

Behind him he heard the older version of Helen give an incredulous laugh. "Rules I learned from Kindergarten?" she asked as she gave him a look of surprise. He did amaze her at times with the things he came up with out of the blue.

"Seems apropos given how young they are right now. I would advise her not to run with scissors but given your penchant for weaponry it would be pointless now, wouldn't it?" he said to the brunette and grinned at her. Turning back to the younger pair, he nodded at the man and said "James" as way of parting and stepped up to the blonde. "My dearest Helen," he murmured and then, before anyone could stop him, swept her into his arms and leaned her over as he planted a deep kiss onto her astonished lips.

"Tesla!" a loud raspy voice growled from behind him.

Beside him, James sniffed angrily, "Tesla, what do you think you're doing?"

"Whoa, Uncle Nikola's kissing cousin Helen just like you kiss mommy, daddy," Ashley giggled from her father's arms, causing him to growl, "Dismemberment, Tesla… slowly and painfully."

"Really, Nikola!" the older version of Helen cried as he continued to kiss his unprepared victim and whacked him upside the head, thus causing him to break the kiss with her sweeter version. Her outrage at his planting a kiss on her younger self was contradicted by the half smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. He was persistent, she'd give him that.

Grinning impishly at her, he innocently claimed "I was just bidding young Miss Magnus goodbye. No need to get violent, Helen. You really need to do something about that temper of yours." He released the blonde from his arms, bowed ceremoniously to her as he said "Helen" and then cheekily winked at her before strolling away towards the continuum device.

Tesla's strutting away like a peacock further annoyed the other two men. "I'll show you temper, you little…" John muttered as he took a step toward the vampire only to be blocked by Helen. "Language," she reminded him.

"You just said you hate long goodbyes," James stiffly reminded his former classmate with a scowl. He briefly thought of punching Tesla in the face but held his temper in check in deference to the stunned blonde standing beside him who couldn't think of how to respond other than "I…" and press her hands to her chest.

"Goodbyes, yes," the smug vampire tossed over his shoulder. "Kissing beautiful women I never tire of." He didn't have to turn around to know that Watson and Druitt were exchanging dark looks and wishing to throttle him but with Helen in the room it was nothing but wishful thinking. She'd never allow that to happen, no matter how much she might protest otherwise. She was fond of him and he knew it. She had all but admitted it with her concern for his safety when he was completing his task in the electrified tunnel at Bhalasaam. "Let's not dawdle, children. The clock's ticking," he ordered as he stepped through the shimmering circle to return to home. "Tick tock," were the last words he uttered before disappearing from view.

The four remaining adults looked at one another and shook their heads. "He's as incorrigible as ever," Helen stated and stepped up to take one of James' hands into hers. "Thank you so much for everything, James," she gratefully said as she leaned in to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "You're a wonderful friend."

Giving her hand a squeeze, James softly kissed her back on her cheek. "For you, anything. Always."

They exchanged smiles and she then turned to her younger counterpart. With a sad smile, she offered words of encouragement to the stricken woman standing before her. "I won't lie to you that there will be many trying times ahead of you… but there will also be times of great joy. It will be worth it. She will be worth it." Helen stepped away as John lowered the "she" in question down to the ground and instructed her to quickly say goodbye to their new friends.

"Goodbye," Ashley bid the sleuth as she hugged his knees and received a soft pat on the head as he returned with "Goodbye, little one. I have most enjoyed meeting you." Releasing him, the child turned to the blonde and gave her hug as well. "Goodbye, Cousin Helen," she smiled up to the elegant lady. "Thank you for playing dress up and tea party with me."

"You are most welcome," the blonde answered in a choked up voice as a tear made its way down her cheek. A second later she dropped to her knees and flung her arms tightly around Ashley. "My sweet baby," she whispered as more tears fell onto her porcelain cheeks.

"I'm sorry but we need to go now," the brunette interrupted and extricated the confused child from the distraught woman's embrace. Bending down to her, John grasped one of her hands and bowed his head over it. "Goodbye, my beloved Helen," he quietly whispered so that only she could hear him. "I will take good care of my family, I promise you. You make sure to follow your instincts. You'll know when it is time to have our child and when it is time to forgive me." As he was said these words he pressed the small item from his hand into the palm of her hand and gave the top of that same hand a light kiss before quickly standing upright again.

She blinked up at him, unsure of what to do but somehow knowing that the object he'd given her was to remain private between them. Pressing her hand against her stomach, she slowly regained her upright stance and slid her palm over to the side where she could pocket the item unseen by the others.

John, meanwhile, clapped James on the shoulder. "See you in a minute, mate. We have a vampire to plot our next move against," he confided and grinned as Watson snorted a laugh. "Make sure it's green," James grinned. "Most definitely," John agreed.

Striding quickly towards the portal, the older version of Helen yelled "John!" and an instant later he was by her side. Both parents took one of their daughter's hands as they moved forward with Ashley protectively sandwiched between them.

"I'm hungry, mommy," Ashley declared. "I want a pizza."

"Hungry again? You're stomach is a bottomless pit," her mother teased.

"And I want chocolate milk!" the child continued as they stepped through the shimmering circle.

"Of course you do," John's faint chuckle could be heard as the trio vanished from view.

A moment later Winston came skidding back through the circle and John could be heard faintly calling, "No hitchhikers allowed!" followed by an even fainter cry of "But daddy!" by Ashley. The shimmering circle then began to flicker in and out before finally disappearing.

Silence ensued as the two remaining adults continued to stare at the spot. James wrapped his arm around his silently crying partner and pulled her tight to him. The darker Helen had been worried about him being tormented by knowing technology he would not have access to for a long time but it was going to be blonde Helen that would be tormented with the memories of her child for a century until she could finally carry Ashley to term. Winston came waddling up to sit next to his owner and gave him a mournful look. He was going to miss the loud little human that played with him. After a bit, James sighed. "I better get rid of the evidence," he said, remembering to fulfill his promise to the older Helen to destroy any evidence of their visit. To the depressed woman in his arms, he assured her that he could complete the task on his own and wasn't surprised when she just nodded her agreement and left the room with slumped shoulders.

"Oh, Helen," James muttered mournfully to himself after the heartbroken lady was gone and set about dismantling the continuum device, which was now empty of its liquid, and the device's support. He pitched the support parts into the furnace but not the glass container of the device, which he suspected would explode if heated. This part he would smash into pieces before pitching into the bottom of the sea. Giving one final sweep with his eagle-sharp eyes around the room to make sure everything was back to normal Watson's eyes landed upon the pudgy bulldog still wearing the pink tutu and colored ribbons around his collar. "Those definitely have to go," he groaned with a shake of his head and reached down to pull them off. Winston had other ideas, skipping to the side to dodge his owner's hand. "Winston," James sternly reprimanded and stepped closer to grab the dog, which jumped away again and turned back to his human with tail wagging. This was fun. "You cannot actually like wearing that frill," James grumbled and went after his dog. As he gave chase to the excited dog around the wide open space John's words of "Yeah, that dog will probably never be quite right in the head again by the time we leave" came back to haunt him. Druitt might have been correct. Winston might have become fond of cross dressing now. Drat James thought as he finally caught the panting pudge of a dog and wrestled with him to remove the clothing. The fabrics were modern and had to be destroyed before someone else noticed them.

Upstairs, Helen had closed herself off into her bedroom and was curled up on her bed. Her sobbing had run its course and she finally forced herself to get up and wash her hot, tear stained face in the wash basin. As she dried her reddened face gently with a towel she stopped to stare at her reflection. The blonde haired, blue eyed woman staring back at her was so different from the dark haired, blue eyed woman who had left with her child. The other was older, more cynical and frankly bossier than her. She was also a mother and had the companionship of the man both loved.

The thought of John reminded her of the object he had secretly pressed into her hand. Her hand slipped into her pocket to retrieve the item and moving closer to the window she finally looked upon it. In the fading late afternoon light Helen's eyes widened as she took in the small photograph. She had never seen such a smooth textured, colored image like the one she held. The image was of herself with her arms around a small child, both laughing, and before them was a cake with two candles burning on it. Balloons could be seen behind the pair. It must have been taken at Ashley's second birthday celebration she thought. Flipping the image over, she found the words "My girls" scrawled across the back in ink in John fluid handwriting. Helen's heart caught in her throat. This was the family she had dreamed about for so long. Flipping the image back around, Helen sat down in the cushioned wing chair by the window and memorized every detail in the photo. As her finger traced around Ashley's face a little smile graced Helen's face. Everything was going to be okay in the end. She would eventually have her precious baby and John would eventually be cured of his madness. Hope flickered deep inside her. Everything would be okay. She just would have to be patient and wait for the right time. And she would.