"Doc, my thing is guns and computers, not...ancient vampire script!" Henry complained with his eyes trained on the journal in front of him, Helen's fingers tracing the obscure dialect lightly. She cast him a look and sat down on a stool, clasping her hands together in her lap, waiting for him to do the same. He hesitated and then climbed up, clutching to the bench to help him up.
"I really hate being this short again," he muttered and Helen gave him a sympathetic smile.
There was a pause. Henry shifted to get comfortable. Helen sat completely still.
"Henry," she finally said, speaking carefully, "you know I don't often ask for you to use your powers but this is a rare occasion where I am."
"You want me to change?" he looked frightened as he said this but it faded quickly. He trusted Magnus completely, even if she did want him to change into his HAP form.
"No," she said quickly, "that is far too dangerous. You told me that changing while in that body is painful and I won't put you through that." Henry sighed gratefully but said nothing, waiting for her to continue. "I need you to follow Nikola's scent if you can. I understand that the rain will be a factor to consider," she added when he opened his mouth to speak. "Can you do that for me?"
Without hesitation, Henry hopped off his seat and picked up a coat of the vampire's that was lying over the desk.
"Let's do this," he smiled.
::Sanctuary::
Will looked up from his MacBook that was balancing precariously on his lap and rolled his eyes at his friend who lay on her stomach, her tongue poked out of her mouth thoughtfully as she coloured in a Winnie the Pooh picture.
"Kate, could you help please?" He snapped shortly, and the girl barely looked up as she replied.
"With what?"
"Uh, with finding Tesla so we can figure out this device and get back into our normal bodies? Or don't you care about that?"
He wasn't meaning to be testy but the fact that Tesla was missing while he was stuck as a four year old body and he as getting nowhere with the profile was starting to get to him.
Kate paused before she answered.
"There is an abandoned warehouse on the other side of the docks, one down on Grafton Street, two that line the road over near the old factory district and one next to the train station off Landon road."
Will said nothing for a minute and then shook his head. "And how the hell do you know that?"
She grinned as she dropped the red pencil she had been colouring Winney's shirt with. "I Googled it when you went to the toilet. Look," she stood and crossed the office to him, dragging her teddy by the arm as it followed, "Assuming mini-vamp can't run as fast as he'd like as a child, especially with his tiny legs, then we can rule out the warehouse on the other side of the docks and the two in the factory district. So now we have two left."
Will nodded, glancing at his Mac.
"I think we can agree that he's not going to want any noise while he's tampering with the device and since the old station is under construction now, that only leaves the old warehouse on Grafton Street."
"Look at you, Sherlock Holmes." Kate laughed and Will grimaced. "Hang on, how do we know he hasn't predicted that we would do this and gone somewhere completely different?" Kate asked, sitting on the soft carpet beside her friend.
"It's possible," Will mumbled. He cast a look at the fire that was raging warmth from the hearth, the orange light dancing across his face. "But if I know Tesla like I think I do, then he would be wanting for us to find him. He wants attention."
The pair fell into silence after that and Will typed a few things into the file on his computer. Finishing, he saved it and shut the lid, jumping to his feet. He snatched the paper from his printer and pushed a hand through his blonde hair. Kate looked up.
"I'm going to let Magnus know what we've figured out," Will said, offering the younger girl a hand, "Want to come?"
Kate took it and leapt to her feet, hugging her teddy to her chest as they made their way downstairs to the lab, neither talking. The lights glowed above them and as they turned into the corridor of the lab, Kate stopped and tapped Will's shoulder. He turned to her with a small frown that softened as he saw his friend biting her lips and scuffing her foot across the floor lightly.
"What's the matter, Katie?"
The girl blinked and looked up at him.
"Do you think we'll ever get back to normal? Or will we have to grow up again, cos I'm really not looking forward to that if we do."
Will sighed and shrugged. "I dunno Kate. I really don't want to either…I mean, what about Abby? I haven't spoken to her since before India…Sure; she knows I get caught up with work sometimes, but what if we do stay like this? She'll be twice my age by the time we're back to how we're so supposed to be." The boy ran a hand through his hair and Kate squeezed his arm. "We really need Tesla back to fix this," he concluded and she nodded, moving towards the lab door as Henry was coming out, a jacket clutched in his hands as he sniffed the air. Helen was behind him and touched the young HAP's shoulder gently as she smiled at the other two.
"You have something?" She asked and the pair nodded in unison, Will holding the paper out to her. Helen took it and her blue grey eyes scanned over the information, a small crease forming between her eyebrows. "Very well done you two," She smiled over the paper, her eyes roaming over it once more. Finally she turned to Henry who looked as if he was getting ready to leap out of the Sanctuary to find Nikola, the jacket clutched tight between his fingers. "Henry, I have some idea of where he is going now. I'd like for you to come with me on my endeavour to find him, if you'll join me. I know that this may be dangerous, after all this is Nikola we are searching for, however I trust you can handle it?"
Henry grinned and nodded, bouncing from foot to foot.
"What about us, Doc?" Kate asked quickly. Helen's eyes flickered from her to Will who was standing beside her, his eyes crinkled in the same silent question. She sighed.
"I need you to stay here." The pair started voicing their arguments but Helen ploughed on, her voice louder than theirs. "I know that you would prefer to come with me but I need you two back here to look after things here, just in case things get nasty."
"This is so not fair!" Kate protested grumpily, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Yeah, why can't Druitt stay back and look after the Sanctuary while we go and kick some ass like we always do?" Will added.
Helen closed her eyes for a moment; she knew this would happen. Of course the rest of her team would be determined to tag along, especially since it was dangerous. Kate loved danger and Will was almost just as bad.
"John will be coming with us. I need him to teleport us there and therefore you two must stay here. It's not up for argument."
It was obvious that they didn't get a say in it but Will kept on, determined not to give in.
"Magnus, what happens if by the time you get there, Tesla has figured out how the device works and is successful in turning himself back into a grown up. Shouldn't we be there too so you can use it on us?"
Helen glowered at the boy.
"William, my decision is made. I trust you two to look after the Sanctuary in my absence and I'm sure that if Nikola does activate the device while at the warehouse, then I will be able to also get it working when I get back. I'm sorry but that is my final word."
With that, she stalked away with Henry on her heels, Will and Kate grumbling after them.
::Sanctuary::
There was a red flash of light as three people appeared in front of the crumbling foundation of what used to be a warehouse and Henry shivered as the cold rain splashed on his face. Helen held her stunner high and glanced towards the boy that was sniffing the air excitedly. John stood beside her, his eyes scoping into the darkness for any sign of the missing vampire but the rain seemed like a thick blanket of ink, shrouding everything in black.
"Anything Henry?" Helen called over the rain and the boy's face looked strained.
"The rain is too strong! I can't…" he moved towards the deserted road and then his eyes flashed open. His HAP twitched inside of him as a scent that he had been familiarising himself with floated into his nostrils. "It's weak but I think I've got something, Doc!"
Helen smiled and followed Henry as he began running through the cold rain, wind slapping against their faces. John was behind them, water sliding down his bald head and into his black shirt, causing him to shiver and yet somehow it wasn't because of the cold. As he stepped off the road, a van roared past him, seemingly out of nowhere and the shiver ran up his spine again, harder this time. When he looked, the van was gone and he turned back to the two in front of him. Henry had stopped in front of an old building, the windows smashed in and a sign hanging lopsided above the no longer existent door.
"It's here but then…Doc, I can't figure out which way it went. It's like it stops here."
Helen nodded and cast a long look inside of the building before aiming her gun high again and stepping into the shop.
::Sanctuary::
Nikola Tesla couldn't see anything and that, despite what his captors might have thought, wasn't such a bother for him. His other senses, although usually keen, were extra alert, his ears picking up every sound and smell that others would have missed; like the cheap aftershave the goon driving was wearing, or the way the gorilla in the back was wheezing with each breath he took (he must have been hit while Nikola was trying to escape, the vampire decided smugly).
There was one major thing that his senses were picking up loud and clear, despite the fact that it was completely impossible, or at least, should have been completely impossible. His senses were telling him that Dana Whitcomb, Cabal leader and over-all-bitch was still alive, despite John's promises that he had killed her. He could smell her perfume, hear her heart beating beneath her perfectly pressed clothes and he could almost taste the bile that threatened to rise to his throat as he thought of her and the things she did, especially to Helen. Oh yes, she was most definitely real and that was something Nikola would have to fix.
There were just two little problems.
The first one was the obvious one; he was tied up and unable to move. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't just rope they had used; somehow they got their hands on the stuff that Helen had used when they were trying to stop the Trust Fund vamps.
The second problem that was also very obvious was that, he had the body of a four year old and that could prove to be a problem against so many over steroidal goons who were probably bottle fed with drugs when they were babies.
Nikola writhed uncomfortably in his seat, growling as his bounds rubbed into his wrists and he heard Dana chuckle coldly.
"Oh no need to worry, Mr Tesla. We don't want to hurt you, just use you."
"Use me for what?" He sneered but the silence was back and he leant his head against the wall, feeling an irritating thud start in his skull. The van lurched to a stop and Nikola was yanked roughly from the vehicle, the sudden smell of rain and mould invading his nostrils.
"Take him inside and tie him up." Dana instructed and the echo of her heels moved through what seemed to be an empty building. Muscular arms secured themselves around Nikola as he writhed and snarled, head lolling against the goon's shoulder.
The bonds he wore were secured to a cold metal chair that was bolted to the concrete floor and as he opened his mouth to sink his teeth into the arm that passed his face, his blindfold fell away from his eyes. He blinked, eyes adjusting quickly and the sight that he was greeted with made him shiver. They were in a hoary boarding school, the desks shoved to the sides of the vast meal hall and one of Dana's men stood at a light switch, flicking it in hopes of sparking some electricity into the dangling chandeliers. Set up in front of him was a laboratory, a stainless steel table situated in the center of the floor, various tools laid out on top; torture tools and although pain didn't scare him, one of the objects did.
His DeVamper. If they were to use anything on him right now, it would hurt for a brief moment before it healed, one of the perks of being a vampire. However, if Dana was to 'DeVamp' him he wouldn't be able to beat the pain that would come with the torture.
"What do you want?" He asked, drawing his eyes away from the tools. Dana strode towards him as men bumbled around her and she stopped a foot away, hands on her hips.
"I might as well tell you now Mr Tesla, it was so nice of you to run away from Magnus when you did or we would have had to take things into our own hands." She smiled a cold smile and circled the chair, the young vampire staring straight ahead. "As to what I want…I want you, Nikola. Imagine what I could do with your intellect, your brilliance." Dana's eyes sparkled as she thought about it.
"Like I'm going to just help you." Nikola laughed, rolling his eyes and that earned a sound of mirth from the woman walking around him.
"Well of course you won't; not consciously anyway. You see, you won't even know that you're helping us by the time I'm through with you and your little…friends."
At that, Nikola frowned.
"Oh yes, you're not the only one to be joining us. Magnus and her adorable little posse of children will be here soon, no doubt and then the games will begin."
With that, she turned away and began talking with one her men, leaving Nikola to count the minutes to Helen arrived.
A/N: Hey guys! So I know it's been ages since I updated and I'm really sorry! I was trying to make this the last chapter but I just couldn't so there'll be a few more until the end! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are welcome :)