I hope you enjoyed ch 1!
Nikola Tesla stepped through the doorway, his face covered in his usual suave smile before kissing Helen lavishly on her cheek.
"My beautiful lady. You look stunning as always".
Helen smiled. As much as Nikola was annoying and childishly selfish, he was also one of her oldest friends although friend could be a strong word.
"How are you Nikola? To what do I owe the pleasure".
Nikola sighed, the smile still plastered across his face.
"Only so you can have the pleasure of my company my beautiful siren".
Helen sighed. Nikola will never change, no matter how many years pass.
"Nikola".
An exasperated sigh came from Tesla but his smile stayed plastered to his face.
"Very well my beautiful. I am here with an interesting gift just for you. Well, not just for you. Well not really a gift but you get my meaning".
"Not really Nikola. Please be a little more precise".
Another sigh came from her old friend.
"You really have become dull over the last century my lovely. On its way here as we speak is a very strange abnormal that will peak your interest. One that has connections to our previous mutual enemy".
Helen closed her eyes. Nikola obviously didn't realise that there was more than just her and the big guy present and the last thing she wanted to do was continue this conversation with Danny around. She glanced at the doorway where the girl was still standing, her eyes nervous. Nikola followed her gaze and smiled.
"Well, well, a new face. Helen, you shouldn't have".
Nikola strode over to Danny and stopped a couple of metres away from her. It's as if he could sense her anxiety and didn't want to spook her.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nikola Tesla. At your service".
Nikola bowed in a very gentlemen like manner but didn't extend his hand for Danny to shake which surprised Helen even more. Normally he would kiss the girls hand and say something cheeky but this time he was being incredibly restrained which Helen was thankful for as well as confused. She watched Danny's face soften and her body relax slightly.
"Tesla. Nikola Tesla, the famous inventor".
Nikola straightened with a smile.
"The one and only".
"But that's not possible", Danny continued, her face confused. "He's been dead for decades".
Nikola shrugged.
"Not dead. More…on sabbatical for a while".
Helen saw Danny glance in her direction and decided to step in.
"I will explain it all later but this is that Nikola Tesla. He's alright".
For a moment Danny just stared at them then nodded.
"Nice to meet you. Excuse me".
The girl quickly turned away and disappeared down the hall. Helen watched the girl go before turning back to Nikola but the look on his face made her stop. Her friend looked concerned.
"Nikola", she began carefully. "What is it"?
It took a moment before Nikola turned back to her, the smile still on his face.
"Nothing my dear. Nothing".
Helen wouldn't take no for an answer.
"No lies Nikola. Why are you looking like that at her"?
Nikola sighed as he turned to her, is eyes sad.
"She doesn't remember does she? How she got away"?
"What do you mean? Got away from where"?
"The Kabal my dear Helen".
Helen was confused.
"How do you know she was kept by the Kabal? No one outside me and my people know that".
Nikola sighed.
"I know because I was the one who got her out".
Helen paced beside her desk, knowing she would wear a hole in the floor if she kept going but she couldn't sit still. Nikola always brought interesting things with him but this was so far beyond that.
"Helen, would you please sit down. You are making me dizzy".
Nikola was lounging on her chairs with a glass of wine already in his hand. Typical.
"Well I would Nikola but you really should start explaining things first".
She heard a sigh come from him before he sat up, placing the glass on her table.
"After what happened with the Kabal and Ashley, John and I…well…we went on a bit of a spree".
Helen nodded. She had known that the two of them had gone after the Kabal with extreme prejudice which she had actually been thankful for. They had the strength to do what she couldn't.
"Yes I am aware of that. What does Danny have to do with it"?
"She was in one of the places we…took down".
Helen closed her eyes. She was afraid her friend was going to say that. She waited for him to continue.
"We went into this one place where the scientists were in a frenzy. They were destroying everything in the lab and that included…specimens they had been using".
"Danny".
Nikola nodded and took another drink.
"They were shutting everything down, including whatever was keeping that girl alive. We got there just after they had shut down her life support. It was…not very nice. John went ballistic when he saw her. He…let's just say nothing and no one was safe once he got going".
Helen could hear the uncertainty in Nikola's voice, something she never heard from him. She watched his face fall before he took control of himself and continued.
"The girl was in a tank with tubes coming out of her all over the place. John got her out and we revived her but she had been dead for over twenty minutes before we got her back. John got her away from there to what we thought was safety while we…finished up. When we went back to where John had taken her, she was gone. We couldn't find her. We just figured she had woken up and run although we're not sure how. I sure as hell didn't expect her to be here of all places".
Helen nodded. Now it made sense on how Danny got away and how she doesn't remember how that happened. If the girl had been dead for as long as Nikola says, the strain on her neural functions could have been huge. Put that together with her extraordinary gifts and there was no saying what state her mind could have been in when she had woken up. Helen had no doubt that Danny would have been terrified.
"Helen my dear, your silence is unnerving".
Nikola was watching her intently, obviously impatient with having to wait. She tried to smile.
"Apologies Nikola. I was just putting more of the puzzle that is Danny together".
Nikola nodded.
"Has she remembered anything since being here"?
Helen sighed before coming over to the lounge to join her old friend.
"Not that she is telling us. All we know is that the Kabal took her when she was a teenager, just when her abilities would have been going through major changes. She says it's all pretty much a blur after that, only ever really feeling some things. I think she does remember you".
Nikola stopped short, his glass hovering just near his face. Helen would have found the expression on her friend's face funny had it not been a rather serious conversation.
"Not you personally", she continued, trying to hide her smile. "She did tell us that she felt a change. People around her became frenzied and she was able to sense clearer than she had in a long time. The next thing she woke up in some alley I believe and couldn't remember anything".
A small sigh came from Nikola, one that seemed a little like relief.
"Well, let's hope it stays that way".
That surprised her.
"What do you mean? It will be good for her to remember the people who rescued her".
Nikola was already shaking his head.
"No it wouldn't my dear Helen. The way John and I were…it is not something anyone would want to remember".
It took Helen a moment to realise what Nikola was talking about. He and John must have been brutal. She tried not to think about it and stood.
"Perhaps you could ease her into it. She is extremely resilient and maybe knowing that the people who got her out are good people, she may relax some more".
"What…tarnish my reputation? I'd do anything for you my lovely Helen but not that".
She gave him a look that meant 'don't be an ass'. It had the desired result as Nikola gave an exasperated sigh, downed what was left in his glass and stood.
"Very well my beautiful soulmate. I will do as you ask. Where will I find her"?
Helen smiled.
"In the same place she is always in at this time of the day. The library".
Nikola nodded and headed for the door but she stopped him before he left.
"Please Nikola, go gently. She is still very raw when it comes to what she has been through and still very nervous of people. Even us who she has been around for weeks now. Try not to terrify her any more than what she already is. You…you know what they did to Ashley and she was in their hands for less than two months. Danny suffered their control for years. Please be careful".
Nikola nodded, glancing at her before he left. She could have sworn she saw sadness all over his face.
Please read and review. I'd love to hear what you think so far.