"But it's a trap!" one of the Head's (Nikola had forgotten the man's name, let alone his sector) yelled, slamming his fist against the table. "How can you think of risking yourselves when we're already compromised?"
"Oh please, being without power is not compromised," a woman argued scathingly. "I think it's noble."
"If a little reckless," the one with the shaggy hair put in. Now Nikola knew he really should have remembered her name considering the number of times she'd hit on him in the past month. Sally maybe? No, that was the mermaid. Perhaps Sam...
Rose rolled her eyes in Nikola's direction.
Oh, right, Sandra.
"We cannot send off the rest of the matching set," the New York Head said, sounding remarkably even. He was much more likable than that Wexford creature, Nikola decided. They'd come to blows on more than once occasion.
"We don't even know if they're after the others," one of the rational sounding ones added.
"Could you stop speaking of us as if we are particularly valuable sacks of meat?" John cut in smoothly from where he stood by the window, picking at his fingernails.
"But this has all the markings of a trap," Mandy put in, swivelling her chair about to regard John curiously. "Can you say you don't want to rush after Helen?"
"Are you saying I shouldn't want to?"
"So you want to play right into their hands?"
"So you want to let Helen die?" John roared, lurching forwards with fists curled.
Nikola was on his feet a second before everyone else though he sneered at himself for the action.
"No one is saying that," young William cut in, looking around nervously.
"I am just pointing out that there is no easy solution here," Mandy said reasonably. "I'd be the first to dive before a bullet for Helen, trust me but we have to keep our wits, yeah? This is a trap, we know that, so think before you jump in head first and force us to do this without our only remaining assets."
John glared malevolently at the young woman but stepped back without another word and Nikola smirked. Seeing John put in his place always held a strange kind of pleasure for him.
"So then what do you recommend?" the blonde who was supposedly with William asked, startling Nikola. She was a strange young woman, there was no doubting that but her frosty tone that almost seemed to be in defence of Druitt was even more startling.
Mandy quirked an eyebrow and pursed her lips but, other than giving off a distinct air of amusement, said and did nothing.
"I'm all for Rose's plan," MacRae put in tersely. He stood beside where Helen's chair would normally be, the damaged remains of the chair Nikola had torn apart having been moved out of sight for the time being.
A pang of embarrassment flashed through Nikola at the glaring reminder of his earlier behaviour but really, he couldn't be held responsible for outbursts at a time like this. The anger that had caused it was still bubbling away within him, to be perfectly honest. This lot of bumbling fools clearly didn't understand how impeditive it was that they get Helen back sooner rather than later. Yes, it may have been only a few short hours since she disappeared without a trace but they'd yet to really do anything other than shut off all the power.
Nikola had fumed for a few minutes at the way Henry had instigated the shut down but even her was man enough to admit it had less to do with the indelicate method and more about the uselessness he couldn't shake.
It was almost like being back with the Five in the early days. He'd been the odd one out then, unable to participate in the biological discussions the others revelled in and often he'd been forced to sit on the sidelines. It had driven him to learn more and more and more of the science but the sleepless nights studying genetic inheritance and the way in which a mutation could be fatal had bored him to the point of tears despite the beaming smile he got from Helen whenever he could jump into such a conversation.
This was different though, he couldn't brush up on his least favourite strand of science to fix this problem and, in a lot of ways, there was little he could offer. His specialty was hiding, not retrieving.
Part of him ached to think that he could have spoken to her one last time if only he'd called a little earlier. He'd been so engrossed in his work that it was only three hours after the time they'd nominated that he'd looked up and realised he'd missed her entirely. Of course, he'd tried to call but he'd assumed that the fact that her phone was off spoke more to the fact that she was busy than anything else.
He'd even taken a break earlier in the day and contemplated calling her then. It was only a stubborn desire to not seem overly interested that had led him back to his workstation and the conundrum that was their power issues.
Or, apparently, not. No power issues, he mused angrily. No power issues, just a crazed, ancient organisation who were trying to kidnap the love of his life. No power issues, which meant he hadn't needed to be on the surface, looking into every available tech that was compatible with the Praxian pieces they had on hand.
He could have been with her.
It was only when all the eyes in the room were on him that Nikola realised he'd let out his growl of frustration.
He merely glared, unapologetic.
They could think whatever they wanted, he'd put up with enough ridicule in his life to deal with their curious glances as they wondered about the true nature of Helen's relationship with 'the pet vampire'.
What is the nature of your relationship? Rose asked softly, her eyes carefully trained to the map of Old City spread out over the polished table.
None of your business, he snapped back mentally. She let out a verbal sigh and her shoulders slumped but made no response, mental or otherwise.
Instantly Nikola felt a little ashamed. Rose was, despite the crazy woman exterior at times, the only one who'd stuck by him properly. Helen had, in the early years, wavered in her affections for him and though he didn't blame her for it, Rose had been there when Helen wasn't and for that he would always be grateful.
Even if he couldn't bring himself to term what he had with Helen as a proper relationship, Rose didn't deserve his anger and self loathing.
Suddenly he felt a calming sensation wash over him and he watched as Rose shot him a small smile of understanding and instantly he felt better. The guilt and anger wasn't gone or even buried, just pushed around enough to make room for a calmer frame of mind.
"Got something to add, Vlad?" the Freelander girl asked, for once her tone not cutting and derogatory. Nikola could really get to like this girl.
"I don't want to wait," he stated plainly. "But we cannot risk Helen being hurt by blundering in."
No one spoke for a moment.
"Sooooo?" William asked, drawing out the word expectantly.
"So there is no easy answer, Protégé," he snarled in response.
"How about we take a vote?" one of the more timid Head's asked.
Which, of course, resulted in another bout of yelling and screaming and fists thumping on the desk. With a sigh, Nikola turned away from the infantile Head's and looked out the large window.
The artificial sun was setting for the day, dimming through various shades of red and pink to cast a surprisingly realistic glow across the grounds. It seemed strange to think that all this was here, still working as per usual (well, almost) yet Helen was gone. Nikola half expected to see her strolling up the path with a serene smile on her face as if she'd merely escaped for a few hours without telling anyone.
In a lot of respects, it would make more sense than everything that was going on.
Actually, this made her jaunt back in time sound like the most average of occurrences. Helen had always been one for the overly dramatic and often highly improbably but Nikola thought this may very well take the cake. It was certainly the most terrifying in many ways.
The thought that she may not come back could only be dwarfed by the feelings that had coursed through his body when he'd thought her dead. Of course, he'd never really believed Rose but, in the same breath, he had. How could he not? Until now, they'd all believed her abilities somewhat infallible. Between that fact and the bond Helen and Rose seemed to share, doubts seemed unfounded.
"Your faith in me is astounding," a soft voice said by Nikola's elbow. He looked down to see Rose, smiling up at him with still sad eyes.
"It's well founded," he said, shrugging and turning back to face the window. Rose rested her head against his shoulder with a little sigh but made no other move to touch him for which Nikola was glad. Since starting whatever he'd started with Helen the thought of anyone else invading his personal space had become almost as abhorrent as it had been in the early days. Well, with one huge, glaring exception that was Helen Patricia Magnus.
It turned out she had the softest hands in the entire world.
Only when Rose hummed happily against his shoulder did he remember that he wasn't alone and free to let his thoughts wander.
"Don't stop," she whispered. "I like your happiness, it's... warm."
Chuckling, Nikola shifted, pulling her closer despite his aversion.
"Will we get her back?" he asked softly after a beat. Rose hummed again and pressed herself further into his side.
"I hope so," she whispered, voice wavering.
Swallowing heavily, Nikola brought forth every ounce of inner strength he'd accumulated over his very long life and turned, Rose still tucked beneath his arm.
Those at the table were still talking but much more softly and he didn't miss the way their eyes darted away, guilty at being caught staring.
"I still say we wait until the ball," Declan put in tiredly, his voice wavering as his gaze drifted to Rose for a moment. "It's a trap but at least we can try and level the playing field. If we go now, there's no telling how it'd play out."
"We cannot wait," the boy from New York retorted in strangely calm voice. "What if they get bored and kill her now?"
"Well, firstly, bored is just not the right word," Mandy put in darkly. "And more to the point, we don't have a clue as to where they actually are keeping her. We can't burst in, guns blazing even if we wanted to."
Nikola felt Rose shift uncomfortably by his side but said nothing. So apparently that wasn't entire true but, at this stage, he wasn't about to point that out to this particular bunch of trigger-happy, freaked out children with too much power.
He could always force it out of Rose later.
"So we wait?" Kate asked, looking around the room. Another bout of yelling erupted but William, much to Nikola's surprise, silenced them all simply by holding his arms up.
"We wait," he said evenly though Nikola saw the apprehension in his eyes. "We have to wait."
"And in one week, we walk into the lion's waiting mouth," John said softly.
Sorry if anyone got an email for another chapter, I made a teensy mistake! But from tomorrow onwards, you'll actually be getting an update every single day for seven days because Helen's trusty team have to wait seven long and painful days before they can do anything :P
Prod me if (when) I forget!
xx
