Disclaimer: I do not own Sanctuary nor its characters that are featured within this work. Sanctuary belongs to it's rightful owners and creators which include: Damian Kindler, Martin Wood, and Amanda Tapping.

Author's note: I've had this story for many years now. The only date I could find to age the piece was May 30th, 2020, however that's not it's true creation date, just the date on the file when I had transferred the Word file off of my computer onto an external hard-drive. This story is an alternate to "Unintended But Wanted" where David and Ashley settled and had kids.

I took inspiration from dystopian works such as "Children of Men" (2006 film) and "The Lottery" (2014 TV series).

Werewolves and Grapes

It's mid-march in the year 2124, just over exactly 113 years since Helen had gone back in time in early 2011. Since then, the world has had many ups and downs. About half a century ago, a man-made pathogen had been released by an eco-warrior group that targeted human reproduction, male reproduction specifically, making them unable to produce gametes. It was a lot easier for their scientists to target the functions of cell meiosis in males than it was to try to isolate and stop the entire hormonal process of menstruation in women. The goal of the virus was to help rid the planet of human overpopulation, and it was very successful. No scientist or doctor, including Helen herself, could find a way to reverse-engineer the effects as it had taken too long to notice the infection, which the longer it remained in the body, the more permanent the effects became. The pathogen was a silent communicable spreader transmissible through the air. All you had to do was simply breath the odorless colorless gaseous vapor lingering around in the air to be affected. Unlike other infectious diseases with outward symptoms, this didn't have any unless a couple were trying to conceive a child.

It wasn't until a few months after deployment that doctors noticed an increasing trend in male infertility and a simultaneous drop in naturally conceived pregnancies. Unfortunately after several more years of research, scientists also found that the virus had spread to all human males who were alive at the time when the virus spread, even to those that were gestating within the womb, not just affecting men of reproductive age. While that was the mass majority of the male human population, affecting several billions, rendering them infertile, it didn't spell disaster for the human species entirely. Though this problem overall would place the human population on a path of severe decline, putting humans on the endangered species list, it wasn't a sentence to extinction. For a limited time, regular human males who were currently affected could still reproduce by using stored embryos and sperm banks until they eventually ran out. The resulting male children from those procedures who were conceived or implanted at least three months after the virus had been deployed were eventually found to be able to breed. All the meanwhile, there was some 'good' news in Helen's line of work as all of her patients were unaffected from the start, both above and below ground. In her own research, she found that any human male who possessed abnormal DNA, even in the slightest, could still produce offspring among their own species as well as by crossbreeding with any and all normal human females. While the overall global human birthrate had drastically dropped, there luckily was never a point in time where there were no naturally conceived babies being born at all.

By the time 2124 came around, Helen had a good handful of great-grand and great-great-grandchildren descended through Henry roaming around that she kept a careful watch over. Another 'good' thing to happen from the dwindling of the normal human population, whose considered the last "true" remaining generation were now primarily in their 50's and 60's, was the ability for abnormals to come out of hiding and to flourish. Helen was able to move the Sanctuary Network back above ground and while it wasn't practically needed anymore as a safe house to harbor abnormals away from humans, it was still a medical facility abnormals went to for care.

With less of a demand on Helen, she found more freedom to just enjoy life, especially with her daughter Ashley and Ashley's new little family, finally giving Helen genetic grandbabies. Ashley and her husband David Laurentius, age 45, had been together for the past twelve years and married for that last eight. They had three children together, a girl followed by two boys. Their daughter Kacey Helen was 6, their son Derek James was 4, and their newest child Justin Henry was only 2 weeks old.

David is a descendant from a once rare line of Italian werewolves that are a different species from Henry's lycanthropes. While both HAPs, unlike Henry's species who were very ape-like and little wolf, David's species appeared the opposite, where their features had more wolf like characteristics. When transformed, David's species didn't change in overall size and mass of their body like Henry's did and the shape of their face stayed primarily human outside of their ears morphing from human to wolf and shifting upwards to rest more towards the top of the skull rather than on the sides of the head like normal. Wolf features included a nice soft and thick furry coat all around their entire bodies with wolf like coat patterns, even replacing their head hair with short fur; primary fur color was determined by the person's human hair color. The only part of the body not covered by any fur was the front of the face that normally never grows any type of hair other than vellus, which was really one of the only distinctions between males and females, where adult males grew fur where they would normally have a beard and females did not. Their feet became paw-like, fingernails sharpened, their canine teeth enlarged a bit but not too much, they had a fluffy tail, and their eyes became luminescent, enhancing their natural human color. Reproductive anatomy stayed the exact same of a human except that males now had a protective furry sheath covering their genitalia. Personality wise, they were still human though more ruled by their instincts, including the instinct to hunt prey, such as animals roaming the forests. What wasn't human was their two fold increase in physical abilities such as strength, speed, overall reflexes, enhanced senses and healing. They also physically aged slower than a normal human, typically having a lifespan of at least 190 years. David, though 45 years old, was still considered by their kind to be a "youngling" even though he was a physically mature adult.

David and his pack (consisting of his parents and his three older sisters and their grown families) lived relatively close to each other in the fertile wine making lands of Italy. For generations their family has been vintners cultivating delicious grapes, which was good news for them as once the virus hit, with billions of regular people holding on to the knowledge that there wouldn't really be a 'next' generation to replace them to continue their work on into the future, the majority of people around the globe had stopped pushing technological innovations, stagnating growth, making the world now not too much different from when it was then, outside of Tesla's continued experiments. Over the last several decades with the human species dying off faster than it was being replaced, the global economy had eventually collapsed, causing it to revert primarily back to being a rudimentary barter system based on farming trade; a practice that so far was working out quite well for the werewolves.

Currently at one of their properties, Ashley and Helen were lounging out on the veranda overlooking the grape vine fields and the forest nearby. They chatted as the two older kids played in the yard nearby in their wolf forms. Ashley had just finished breastfeeding their youngest who was currently resting against her chest. As she softly caressed his head, running her fingers lightly through his brown hair, she looked over at her mother enjoying the sight of her maternal affection.

"You know, you can always have more kids yourself if you want them, you just have to find a virile man first," Ashley smirked.

Helen gave a small chuckle and shook her head. "Finding a decent man to raise kids with these days isn't very easy."

"I did it," came Ashley's nonchalant reply.

Helen rolled her eyes. "Did you suddenly forget that it took you a century to finally find a decent man that you liked enough to want to settle down with?"

"No, I just saw time as non-factor considering our extremely long lifespans. You'll still naturally have plenty of opportunities come by you to eventually find yourself a suitable mate," Ashley shrugged. Ashley knew her mother inwardly struggled off and on with her longevity, especially in the case of starting a long-term romance; which is why her mother typically just had small flings every few years that never amounted to anything. Ashley currently didn't have that problem. Because David's species already had similar genes for slowed aging, it was very simple for Helen to transfer copies of her longevity genes over to him and to the rest of his pack, granting them practical immortality too, outside of succumbing to fatal injury of course; allowing Ashley and her children the comfort of not losing her mate and their father through the passage of time. His family were included to help combat eternal loneliness for everyone's sake. However, unlike in Ashley's case, there was no guarantee that Helen would be able to do the same procedure and pass longevity on to any of her future lovers as well, if they even deserved it. Partly because of this, Helen still continued to very rarely bring new people into her heart out of fear of eventually losing them. It was easier for her to just 'have a great time' then move on.

Helen sighed. "That's another issue, finding someone who I'd want to be with for almost eternity. You should count yourself lucky. While in your life you may have ventured out and dated a lot more compared to myself, I've honestly haven't come across anyone with whom I'd want to be that close with since your father. Currently, my only real option for any type of long lasting parental partnership would have to be with Nikola; whom, while I do love the man and he's my best friend, would be a disastrous choice to breed with. If we reproduced, can you imagine just how much more insufferable his gloating would be resulting from him finally being able to knock-up the 'Great Helen Magnus'? It'd be a never-ending bloody nightmare," she huffed and turned to gaze out at the property.

At her mother's comedic behavior, Ashley laughed. "I can definitely see that!" She then changed the subject a bit. "I'm just glad that he hasn't come around here lately to deplete our wine stock. Last time he showed up, he got into some of the reserved vintages. David's mom wasn't happy."

"She certainly was not. I remember seeing her chase Nikola down the driveway off the property with a broom," Helen chuckled.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, the change in her children's behavior caught Ashley's attention. Knowing the surrounding land, the kids were allowed to wander just within the outskirts of the wooded area just next to the house. She could hear them rustle about the foliage and when they came back out five minutes later, they each had something in their hands. "Kacey, Derek, come over here please and show me what you have!" she called out. Both little blonde wolf pups came bounding across the grass with their catches. When they stopped next to their mother and excitedly exhibited their prizes, both elder women were surprised by what they saw.

Derek clutched a wriggling garter snake just behind its head in his left hand. "Mummy, I gots snaaake!" he said as he proudly dangled the creature in front of her.

"I see that. How about you go put it back in the grass so you can catch it again another day? Hmm," Ashley said as she pointed a few feet away just before giving him a light pat on the butt to send him on his way.

Standing to the left of where Derek had been was his older sister who held a rabbit. Unfortunately, it was clear that the animal had been hunted by the child, its neck snapped; body limp. There was obviously no returning of this creature to the forest for later. Ashley contemplated for a bit about what to do with the fresh carcass, but then came to the conclusion not to waste it. "Kacey, why don't you take this to your father inside the house; tell him we'll have it for dinner tonight." At the mention of food, the young child moved to put the animal in her mouth to try to eat it and Ashley stopped her. "Ah, not just yet. We have to clean and cook it properly first. Your daddy can show you how." Kacey smiled happily that she got to keep her prize unlike her brother. She said "Okay" then made her way into the house carrying the small dead animal.

Just after she disappeared from Ashley's view through the doorway, Derek came running back up from the yard onto the porch. With his current playmate nowhere in sight, he reached out to his baby brother to be his new playmate instead. Ashley however blocked the rush attempt. "He's still too little for you to play with right now, however if you go inside and wash your hands, afterwards when you come back out you can hold him," she said directionally. Derek looked up at her, cheerfully said "Okay" and then ran off leaving his mother shaking her head at the antics of her children.

"They are getting to be such a handful, but I love it," Ashley said to her mother with a smile as she shifted the infant in her arms to her rest on her shoulder, rubbing up and down his tiny back. "You sure you don't want in on the action yourself?" she asked, then swung her legs over the edge of the sun chair, sitting up. After a few light pats, the infant gurgled a little burp, easing the pressure in his little tummy.

Helen warmly smiled, and shook her head as she mirrored Ashley, sitting up as well. "I'm content to vicariously live through you for now." Helen reached forward, wanting to hold the baby.

Ashley happily obliged, standing up to walk a couple steps and gently transferred the baby over to her mother.

Helen graciously accepted the newborn, glee on her face as the baby snuggled into her chest, yawning with eyes slowly blinking closed, drifting off to sleep. Helen's heart melted.

Ashley left her mother to follow after her other two children inside to help them redress. There was not necessarily a rule per say but an expectation that David's family held that when inside the house that one should retain human form (babies were exempt, of course). When Ashley returned, she found her mother in the middle of a phone call with a disbelieving / shocked look on her face.

As the call ended, Helen stood and transferred her grandson back into his mother's awaiting arms.

"What's going on?" Ashley asked while adjusting her hold of the newborn.

"That was Jaime, Declan's grandson at the London Sanctuary. He called to inform me that there's currently a man in the foyer claiming to be John Druitt demanding to see me," Helen answered.

Ashley's facial expression changed to mirror that of her mother's. "There's no way. You said he died in the energy blast from Adam Worth's machine over a century ago. He hasn't been seen since."

Helen's cell phone alerted the pair a text message. Jaime sent an attached short video file of the intruding man agitatedly pacing back and forth in the foyer. At the visual recognition, both women's jaws dropped.

"Bloody hell," replied Ashley.

"That's most definitely him, all right," Helen confirmed.

Ashley was almost breathless, "How?"

Helen shook her head and shrugged, "I honestly can't say." Helen looked closer at a frame of the paused video. "That shouldn't be possible," she commented.

"What shouldn't be possible?" Ashley questioned.

Helen let Ashley see the image. "Look at his clothing. Notice the marks? Those are burns that can only be caused by massive amounts of electricity. Right before I went through the time portal, John used the energy creature within him to syphon power away from the rift field Adam placed around it. He's wearing the same clothes."

Ashley smiled at the absurdity of it all. "Wait a minute. Does this mean he somehow didn't die during the blast and instead got sent 113 years into the future?"

"It would answer many questions as to why he's suddenly appeared now; explaining his absence," spoke Helen.

Ashley didn't see how that could have been possible. "But shouldn't forward time travel be impossible? I know reverse time travel into the past should also not be possible, though you're proof otherwise, however theoretically forward travel is even more impossible than reverse travel because the future doesn't yet exist."

"That is true, however it's also based on our perspective of the present. Maybe this moment always existed, but we hadn't reached it yet until now," Helen countered.

"Wouldn't that prove predetermination?" Ashley pointed out.

Helen tilted her head back and forth, weighing the statement. "Potentially. Philosophers and physicists have endlessly theorized and debated about the concept of time; if the future is 'written' so to speak, our actions being of assumed free will or already planned out. I'm not fully convinced this moment isn't more than just a one off though."

"How do you mean?" Ashley asked for clarification.

Helen hypothesised. "One of the laws of the conservation of energy states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Seeing as how I got sent 113 years into the past, it does makes sense that John would get sent 113 years into the future. That any 'predetermination' is strictly isolated to this set of 226 years spanning between 1898 and 2124, not actually being a reflection of how all of time is. Think about it. When I went back in time from 2011 to 1898, my 1898 self hadn't experienced any of those 113 years yet. For my younger self, history wasn't written yet at that time, the year 2011 nor did any of those years in between exist yet. But from the perspective of my older self they did, as I had already lived them as time unfolded. What if this moment today is just like that? That these past 113 years between 2011 to 2124 already 'happened', but we didn't know it until now? That at the moment of the portal collapse and subsequent blast in 2011 that it instantly caused 113 future years to be created all at once instead of a gradual moment by moment forward progression that we perceive time to be?"

"That's a plausibility. Unfortunately, no matter what truly happened we'll never be sure of it, as it's all just wrapped around in the uncertainty of the concept of time." While Ashley was interested in the subject matter, she knew continuing to contemplate scenarios was ultimately frivolous as time itself is a paradoxical conflict.

Helen nodded her agreement."What is certain though is that we need to go to London."

"And this little boy is ready for his nap," Ashley added, looking down towards the tiny sleepy baby cradled against her chest.

Both women made their way inside the house. Helen waited by the door as Ashley placed Justin in his bassinet in the living room before making her way over to her husband who was in the kitchen by the sink, giving him both a quick explanation that she had to take her mother to the London Sanctuary and a kiss goodbye, before rejoining her mother and teleporting away.

Author's note: I had this story 85% complete except for the very end in wanting Druitt to suddenly reappear 113 years into the future. It's been over 2-3 years since I touched this piece of work. I finally finished it on October 4th, 2023. I had been wanting to post this story for months now since then, however I held off until I continued working on "Unintended But Wanted" as I didn't want to expose the name of Ashley's daughter in that story ahead of time as it's the same name used in this story.

Originally I thought about Druitt teleporting right next to them out-of-the-blue, making both Ashley and Helen go "oh my god" with Ashley calling David over, causing him to run out of the house to help out. However logically that revelation would be too random and I wouldn't be able to explain how Druitt knew exactly where to go without having seen, known about, or having been to the property before, not to mention the fact that Druitt wouldn't even know where Helen was either.

What's brand new is the addition of Helen getting a phone call and the conversation Helen and Ashley had about the topic of time. I needed to create some sort of segway where the characters processed the surprise reappearance of Druitt and the characters eventually going back into the house.

Disclaimer: I am not physicist/scientific theorist so I potentially may have erred somewhere in the way of my thinking. If I did, I apologize.

Also, David is this flexible OC I have in my head that I like pairing with Ashley in different iterations. In this story I envisioned him as a werewolf.