"Why am I unsurprised?" John growled, gritting his teeth in an attempt to stifle his urge to kill the blasted vampire.

"It's not my fault!" Nikola repeated emphatically. "I swear!"

"Just... just tell us what happened," William put in, massaging the bridge of his nose. John wanted nothing more than to throttle both men and it was only by the skin of his teeth that he refrained. Briefly, he was shocked that Rose had not stepped in to mediate but she was focused completely on Nikola instead, looking rather perplexed. Which unsettled John just enough for him to temporarily forget about his need to strangle the life from both the vampire and the overly devoted, yet just not quite with it protégé.

"She lost her shoes in Vienna," Nikola said, as if it was the only required answer.

John growled outright.

"Yeah, we're gonna need more mate," James' ex-protégé offered, just a touch too calm for John's liking.

"It was..." Nikola trailed off, looking to John bitterly. "It was just after you left. 1889. We were in Paris when James sent us a message about reports of abnormals rampaging through Vienna. Helen asked me to accompany her and... and we got into some trouble."

"What were you doing in Paris to begin with?" John snarled, leaning forward. The protectiveness he felt towards Helen and her person always flared up when the flirty Serb made trouble. It really wasn't his fault if he ended up having to kill the smirking man, was it?

"I invited her to see the Eiffel Tower being unveiled," Nikola snapped. "After the mess you had left it took nothing short of a miracle to get her out of the house, most days. Forgive me for trying to help her forget about the heartache you caused!"

John opened his mouth to continue, more than willing to show Nikola just why he was known as 'The Ripper' but the young HAP stepped forwards, putting himself between the two men in what John could only call a risky move.

But it worked, both men backed down slightly though John was sure he could still see the fury lurking in Nikola's eye.

"What kind of trouble?" Henry asked, bringing them all back to the real question at hand.

"We were being chased by an elemental, an electric one we believe. Something akin to Johnny's house guest, I suppose, only it never managed to take a host. We sort of... Well we sort of jumped into the Wein."

Silence fell as eye brows shot up.

"Accidentally!" he cried again, holding his hands up in defence.

No one bought it and so he continued with a sigh.

"We managed to get out of the water before the elemental realised it could fry us alive but Helen lost her shoes in the process. I had to carry her home. We always suspected that there had been some kind of... organisation behind it all but we couldn't prove it. I'd bet good money, this is them."

Again, no one spoke.

"They were blue satin. The shoes I mean," he added softly, looking past everyone to the discarded pumps. His entire demeanour changed in a second, shoulder softening and he shoved his hands into his pockets. A new found silence fell, this time it was of contemplation rather than shock. No one was making eye contact, instead focused solely on the shoes.

It really was a magnificent colour, John decided. And one that would have suited Helen perfectly. For so long she'd dressed in provocative reds and lush purples, interspersed with the practical and dower colours of her working wardrobe but blue, the rich, royal blue before them, was not a colour he'd seen her in often despite how it set off her complexion

He could picture the colour next to her skin, the satin opulent enough for her tastes while still demure. The colour would bring out the deeper shades of her eyes and with the dark curls, she'd look absolutely exquisite.

Only she's dead John. Focus.

The order was short, sharp and direct, tinged with only the faintest trace of sadness. It was delivered by a woman who was here to do a job and more than prepared to kill whomever it took to complete it. The only emotion she was feeling was anger, white hot and scalding. It was something John understood.

He turned, giving her a sadistic grin but she only glared back. Even in the face of a mutual enemy they were to be enemies themselves, he supposed. Some things truly never changed.

"We need to find out how she disappeared," Rose ground out, spinning to once again face the table of Heads. 10 sets of guarded eyes met her, glancing between her stormy expression and those flanking her. Declan stood to her left, eyes fixed on her face with concern in his gaze. Next to him was Nikola who had yet to take his eyes from the shoes. Henry, Kate and William stood just behind her, leaving John alone on her right.

Then he remembered the protégé's young blonde friend and turned, scanning until he found her scowling at the group from one corner. There was such animosity in her gaze that John was taken aback. Her arms were crossed tight under her ample bosom as if trying to highlight the feature and her dark brows were pulled so close that he could have thought them joined. The pink, full lips that had smiled sweetly at him earlier were now drawn into a sweet little pout that reminded John of Helen after being told she couldn't have her way. Though he knew this young woman could not hold a torch to Helen in any respect, there was something about her that John was finding more and more intriguing.

Suddenly she caught his gaze and looked straight at him, eye brows shooting up as the pout relaxed slightly. John inclined his head ever so slightly and let one corner of his lips quirk. It would have been enough back in Victorian England to signal to the woman that he had his eye on her but this blonde simply blinked at him in surprise.

Smirking, he turned away from her only to be met by Rose's icy glare.

Don't go there John. It will not end well for you or her.

Rolling his eyes, he ignored her and turned his attention back to the now bickering heads. One of them, he couldn't remember the man's name was arguing vehemently with another about... well, John didn't speak Afrikaans but he recognised it much as he did the German response. That one he could make out but it was spoken with such speed and ferocity the he only managed to comprehend every second word.

"Enough!" Declan bellowed, bring the two furious heads to silence. Both sank back down into the chairs with little more than a vitriolic look at one another. "I haven't the foggiest what that was about but just can it boys, we have bigger fish to fry."

"Declan is right," Rosie threw out. "Right now fighting about who should have known about whatever it was happened back in Vienna is pointless. What we need to do know is figure out how the hell she disappeared and died without a single one of you realising what had happened."

"Now that's not fair," a young woman put in, her gills flaring in anger. Rose merely rolled her eyes, brushing her off.

"Something has gone wrong here. This shouldn't have been able occur and I want answers."

Several muttered grumbles echoed around the room but before anyone could speak up properly a terrifying growl seemed to shake the air before a clawed hand came down into the table, nails gouging out chunks until a handful of the polish surface came away with the hand.

John turned just in time to watch a fully vamped out Nikola bring his hand down into the table once more, this time his fist chipping away at the table. Frightened heads scrambled backwards, grabbing files and coffee mugs as they went and Nikola continued venting his anger on the furniture, menacing snarls slipping through his lips as he tore at the table. The protégé stepped back, pulling Henry and Kate with him and John moved away on instinct to watch the man continue to tear apart the hardwood table.

Typically, John thought, Rose stayed by the vampire's side, allowing him a few moments on unrelenting rage before she stepped closer, sliding an arm around his midsection and guiding him back a few steps. Nikola continued to snarl and hiss as she held him, eyes rooted to the blue heels still sitting calmly on the table.

"It's my fault!" the vampire roared, breaking free of Rose's grip and slashing at Helen's leather chair at the head of the table. His talons tore through the stiff leather as if it were no more sturdy than tissue paper before he imbedded one set of claws in what was left with the head rest. He curled his fingers, holding to the head rest as he kicked out with one leg, sending the rest of the chair skittering across the ground only to bump and skid into the large window that made up one of the walls, sun streaming through and highlighting the red undertones of the rich leather.

The artificial sun was too cheery to suit this particular meeting John decided. Too peppy and hopeful when reality was stark and bleak.

With a vampiric grunt, Nikola tossed the head rest still gripped tightly in his claws down the table, narrowly missing the poor woman sitting at the very end. She shoved herself to the side just in time to avoid being hit, her yelp as she flew into another Head's arms unmistakable.

Nikola raised his hands once again, clearly intent on returning his aggression to the table but again Rose darted forwards, wrapping herself around his middle as she tried to force him back. John briefly heard her whisper something into Nikola's chest and while he couldn't make out the words, the effect was almost instantaneous.

Panting heavily, Nikola dropped his arms suddenly, wrapping them around Rose. He morphed back into his human visage slowly as she continued shuffling him backwards. The claws upon her back slowly disappeared but it was the eyes that were the last to go, black swirling back into blue as he blinked.

His grip on Rose never faltered, nor hers on him, and John watched as a multitude of emotions rushed over the other man's face. Most prominent was the fear in his eyes that John knew, under any other circumstance, would never be displayed so openly.

Declan watched them for a second before snapping back around to face the now slightly scattered and very surprised Heads.

"You heard her," he barked. "Use whatever you've got and find out how the hell they managed to get in and out and nab Magnus without any of our security protocols going off."

"Technically ve do not have to follow your orderz Declan," Anya drawled, pushing herself up from her chair and running a hand over her hair. "Zat one is in charge wizout Magnus around."

She pointed one long, manicured finger and everyone followed the line.

William's eyes bulged and he nodded, accepting the position of responsibility with far too much ease for John's liking.

"What Declan said," he said, voice wavering a little. He swallowed heavily and stepped forwards. "We have to find out who is behind this and how they did it. It has something to do with the power problems we're having. Start there and see where it takes you. Report back the second you think you have something of use."

There was a beat before they all began to rise, gathering their belongings in silence.

And then the lights flickered.

Everyone froze.

Just as they all let out a collective sigh of relief, they went again, this time for a fraction longer.

But it wasn't long enough nor was it dark enough to truly hide what had occurred.

In the middle of the conference table now sat a single envelope, resting atop a small metal cylinder.

And it arrived in a very familiar puff of red smoke.

John swallowed.