Chapter 12

~~~~One Month Later~~~~

Life had gone back to normal for the Ingolls since they brought Peter home. After a week without any relapses or odd behavior they decided it was best he go back to school and pick up where he left off, at least for half days. By the Wednesday of that week it was hard to remember there had been anything wrong with their sweet Peter before. Life went on.

"Peter!" his mother called from downstairs. "Peter sweetie."

"Upstairs!" he called back.

"What are you doing?"

The bedroom door opened.

"Sally is going to be here any moment..."

Sandra smiled upon seeing her eight year old's smiling face. He was sitting by the window looking outside with anticipation.

"Is she here yet?" Peter turned and looked at her with big twinkling eyes.

Sandra leaned down and kissed his head.

"Not yet, sweetheart, but soon. Why don't you come down and help me make lemonade for your friend?" Sandra smiled, grasping her son's hand gently. The boy gently pried his hand out of hers to her surprise.

"In a moment Mom," he sighed and looked over at the mirror hanging off his closet door, checking his appearance.

Sandra snickered; just like his father.

"Ok, but hurry up, you can't hide in here standing in front of the mirror forever."

Sandra chuckled to herself and left the room. For an eight year old Peter had always been mature, even before his..."incident". At least now it was over his play date and not over his identity.

Peter waited until Sandra was completely out of the room and almost fully down the stairs before relaxing his arms and shutting his door behind her. His innocent smile dropping to an annoyed scowl. Mother's were such priers.

He went over to the window seat and lifted up the cushions hiding a secret storage compartment underneath meant for spare blankets, pillows and sheets. Peter reached in and snuck a hand between the folds of a blanket and pulled out a strange little device, it looked like a suped-up USB memory drive. He reached under the blanket into a pillowcase and pulled out his mother's laptop. He quickly plugged the USB into the drive and lifted the screen, clicking on the drive and running the program inside. The screen blinked, flashed, went dark then blinked back to life with a very high tech program. A small screen in the corner of the program flashed and a face came into view.

"Dr. Coates," Peter greeted in a hushed whisper.

The woman smiled back. "Nikki."

~~~~One Month Ago~~~~

Nikola gasped awake.

He was still in the white make-shift operating room. What had happened? He was still himself, granted still in the body of an eight year old; did the operation not take?

"Nikola?" Dr. Coates came from somewhere beyond his vision.

"Beverly?" he gasped out. "What happened? Am I?"

"Shhh," she was suddenly very close to him, a single finger near his mouth. "Close your eyes, try not to speak."

"What are you doing?" he asked. He was supposed to be lost inside the mind of an eight year old by now, Addison had made that perfectly clear. Obviously Coates had something else on her mind. Anyhow, he complied with her wishes, closing his eyes warily.

"I don't have a lot of time to explain this," she whispered, adjusting a few nodes that had been placed on his temples. "The truth is...whatever Addison has in mind...it terrifies me. It goes beyond everything this operation stands for, or at least, what I thought it stood for when I took this job. There are lines even I believe we shouldn't cross and this is one of them. You'll know soon."

"So you're..."

"Still going to put you under," she left him for a second to type something into the computer. He could hear the clicks of the keyboard under her fingers. "But, I have figure out a way to essentially put a time-lock on the barriers keeping you out of Peter's mind. Three weeks from now those walls will go down, and you will take over."

"And then what?" Nikola hissed, unsure of her intentions.

"Then you and Dr. Magnus will stop him," Coates answered simply.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I already told you why," he felt a hand on his face suddenly. "I cannot let him finish this experiment. Three weeks from now, you will wake, and when you do I will find a way to contact you, and then we will end this operation once and for all from the inside out."

"What's the catch?" Nikola murmured.

"No catch Nikola, my only price for this...the only thing I want...is Sanctuary. For this betrayal I will need to be protected from Addison's wrath. That is all I ask."

Nikola considered her proposal.

"How do I know you aren't lying to me?"

As soon as the question left his mouth his lips were enveloped by a soft, sweet kiss.

"Because...I know with someone who is kind, honest, and the most intelligent mind I had ever met. He would've never justified using science in this manner, and though we've had our differences in the past I happen to agree with him on this topic."

Nikola smiled slightly.

"Three weeks from now, remember," she kissed his forehead one last time, before the sweet tug of drug-induced sleep pulled him out of the realm of consciousness and into a dark but hopeful slumber.

~~~~Now~~~~

Nikola looked warily from the screen to the door, to the window before continuing.

"Sorry, I had to break the connection, my mother was being nosy," he clicked some keys on the computer, inputting data and code into the program. "I haven't much time, my play date is about to arrive."

"You always did have a way with the ladies," Beverly teased.

"I tell you, courting a fully grown intelligent woman is a far cry easier task than it is to court the attentions of a wild and whimsical eight year old. You have to be courteous and sweet; if they want to play house you have to be the husband, or the mailman, whatever their whim. There must be cookies at tea parties. And you must always be the gentleman otherwise you are playing it wrong and you might as well hate them," he sighed, exacerbated. "Not to mention your mother slyly watching the affair with this grin on her face as if she can already see the two of you getting married and she couldn't be more proud that her eight year old son has the ability to please a girl without assaulting her. Honestly, the expectations of these women. Makes me miss the bawdy street harlots in London. At least they would give you cheap alcohol for your troubles."

Dr. Coates tried to hide a snicker.

"Did you ever play house when you were young?" Nikola fixed her with an accusatory stare.

Beverly blushed slightly. "Yes, my dolls were my children, I tried to homeschool them, like my mother did my sister and I."

"Adorable," Nikola muttered sarcastically. "When I was actually eight years old, I managed to invent a power source using a potato and a hundred beetles. Granted, it was weak, but that's still more than Marconi ever did in his entire lifetime."

Beverly smirked and nodded, then looked down momentarily. "Are these the equations?"

Nikola nodded. "These should help with the extraction process. Once I can contact Helen safely we can confirm, she's good with medical stuff."

"Alright, I'll run the simulations."

Nikola heard the doorbell ring and sighed.

"I have to go, I will contact you later."

Beverly nodded and the screen turned to black. Nikola shut down the program and quickly stuffed the laptop and the device back into it's hiding place. Smoothing his hand down his pants to eradicate wrinkles and adjusting his sweater vest before leaving his room and descending down the stairs. He ran excitedly, letting Peter's own excitement fuel his.

His mother had beaten him to the door and was already conversing with the other mother. Standing at the threshold was a little girl in a little blue skirt and pale pink top, with long dark curly hair, held together by a blue ribbon. He smiled at her.

"Hi Sally," he waved, she waved back, pink coloring his cheeks.

Sandra turned and looked at Peter. "Sweetie, why don't you take your guest to the kitchen, I have some snacks laid out for you there."

Nikola nodded, holding out his hand to the girl.

She shyly gave him his hand and let him lead her like a gentleman into the next room while the mothers continued talking.

Nikola, always the Victorian gentleman, pulled out her chair for her and helped her climb up and sit. She had a large grin on her face.

"Would you like some lemonade?" he asked.

Sally nodded.

"He grabbed a two step stool from behind the counter and brought it to the table so he could easily serve his guest.

This was ridiculous. He was a one hundred and fifty-eight year old genius and here he was trying to woo an eight year old. If he wasn't trapped in an eight year old body himself he would feel skeezy, but luckily for Sally he had no intentions other than to keep up appearances.

He poured the girl a small glass and handed her a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies as if he were the world's youngest maître'd.

He heard the door shut and the click of Sandra's heels on the hardwood, slowly approaching them.

She smiled widely as she entered, seeing her son already politely attending to his guest.

"Well Sally, your mom says she'll be back to pick you up at 5. But if you want to go home earlier than that just let me know, I have her number, ok sweetie?"

Sally nodded, though Nikola could tell she had no intention of that. He could recognize that look anywhere. The one where he might as well be made of chocolate cake and she's just been given a fork. He's seen it many times during his adult life, usually from girls and women who thought the idea of having a secret tryst with the magical genius would bring some sort of romantic whimsy to their otherwise dull existence. There was a reason he claimed to be celibate back in the turn of the century.

Nikola smiled awkwardly at the girl and drank his lemonade, wishing some divine intervention would swoop in and turn it into wine.

The phone rang, jarring him out of his prayers for decent libation. Sandra was quick to pick it up, her voice sing-songing a melodic "Hello!" as she brought it to her ear.

Nikola tried not to roll his eyes.

Suddenly Sandra's whole demeanor seemed to darken; her back tensed and her shoulders dropped.

"One second," she turned around, a smile plastered on her face.

"Peter, why don't you and Sally go out and enjoy your snack in the garden."

"Like a picnic!" Sally gasped with a smile.

"Yes, a picnic. Peter, take the blanket from the closet by the door and set up a spot in the yard. I will be out in just a moment. I have to take this."

Sandra left, a look of worry etched on her face.

Nikola was curious.

Sally was already climbing out of her chair.

He stepped down off his stool and went and grabbed the picnic blanket from the closet by the back door, gently putting it in Sally's arms.

"You pick a spot, I'll bring out the cookies," he said with a smile. She nodded shyly. He opened the door for her and she ran out into the garden excitedly, looking for the perfect spot to unfold the blanket. That should keep her occupied for a minute.

Nikola returned to the kitchen and quietly crept to the door leading to the hallway. He could just hear Sandra's voice through the wood. Damn his lack of vampire hearing!

He turned the knob on the door slowly and carefully, opening the door just a crack, and craning his head so he could hear.

"No, he doesn't seem to remember a thing...he hasn't asked about it, no...he seems to be just a normal eight year old."

Nikola craned his head further. Who was she talking to? Addison? Was he doing a check up?

"Agent Russler is not here, he's at work."

Who is Agent Russler?

"Is there anything else, sir?"

Sir?

"Check in next week, I'll keep you informed on any odd behavior I see in the boy...I'm with the little brat everyday, I'm sure if he starts acting out again I'll know."

Nikola sneered; he is not a brat!

"K. Carrie out."

Carrie?

The woman hung up the phone and turned around.

Nikola panicked and ran to the table trying to grab the cookies and pitcher of lemonade as Sandra entered.

"Peter!" she gasped, surprised at him still being there.

"What are you doing?"

"We need it for the picnic," he said with the matter-of-factness of a child.

"Alright! Alright, here you take the cookies out and I'll bring the lemonade, you aren't Superboy you know," Sandra teased.

"Yes I am!"

Sandra laughed. "Maybe you are, but that makes me Supermom, and even the greatest superheroes need help from their mothers."

Except for Batman. Nikola thought to himself.

Damn these weak human child muscles, reminded him of when he was little trying to help his older brother with his chores. Dane just laughed and lifted the hay bales high over his head, showing off an smiling his handsome dark smile while teasing the younger Tesla straining to pick up the water bucket to water the horses.

Nikola grumbled. He missed his vampiric strengths and abilities, bring human was downright depressing sometimes.

He finally made it outside where his "date" had found a nice corner in thee garden, under the shade of a hefty elm, to place their picnic. She sat primly, waiting patiently. She reminded him of Helen in the aspect, well, what he imagined Helen would've been like at that age.

He placed the plate of cookies in front of her and she patted the spot beside her, and he willfully sat where she had indicated. Sandra arrived shortly after with the jug of lemonade, gently placing it in a divot in the grass, keeping it steady.

"If you two need anything I'll just be inside," Sandra smiled and left.

Nikola watched her warily. That phone call was oddly suspicious, and it had started a low sinking feeling in the pit of his gut. He needed to figure this out, but how could he? He had to cater to this girl's whims and wonders until five, unless...

"Do you want to play house? We could be wild cave people, the blanket is our home, the rock over there can be the room for our kids," Sally leaned over affectionately and nudged his arm. "Or we could play doctor?"

Nikola tried not to shudder. Anything but doctor, he knew what playing doctor meant, and the whole situation was all too "Lolita" for his liking.

"I have a new game," he stated quickly. "We are spies, and we have to gather intel from our dreaded enemies. Mom-corp!"

Sally looked at him quizzically.

"What's intel?"

"Data?"

"What?"

Nikola sighed. "Secrets."

"Oh, like bad secrets?"

"Very bad secrets."

"And we have to know these secrets or the world will die?"

"Yes, it's up to us, we're spy partners you see, we've been commissioned by our boss, the leader of the spy network!" Nikola bolted to his feet and went over to the rock, pressing his ear against the stone and grinning widely. "This is out special communicator!"

Sally looked at him skeptically. "The rock?"

He nodded. "We have to use codes to communicate with our superiors."

"How about we play house, and I'm your wife and you're my husband?"

"Ok, I'm you're husband, but I'm also a spy!"

"Ok!" Sally got up and came over to him with a cookie. "Good morning husband!"

"Morning, uh, wife..."

Sally came up to him and started brushing off the dust and bits of grass from his vest and shoulders, trying to pretend to be grown up. "I've made you breakfast. Pancakes!"

She presented him with the cookie.

"Oh, my favorite!" he tried to sound like he was into the game. He wasn't but Sally was almost as perceptive as Helen was. She could see immediately if he wasn't into it and then he would've ruined the game.

"I hope you have a good day at work, ok husband?"

"Umm..."

"And when you get home, we'll have dinner and then we can take the kids to the zoo!"

"I love the zoo."

"So does Junior!"

Sally picked up a pine come and began cradling it in her arms like a child.

Nikola took a bite of the cookie and swallowed it down with a gulp of lemonade and then gently put it down on the plate again.

"Thank you wife! I'm going off to work at the firm!"

"What's a firm?"

"A place of work."

"Oh. Ok."

Nikola resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Have a good day," he leant in, without really thinking about it and kissed her cheek. The little girl made a startled gasp, and blushed and grasped the spot he had kissed with her hand.

Nikola instantly felt a little regret at his actions.

"Uh, bye!"

He scrambled away, pretending that the watch on his wrist was some sort of special device. "Uh, this is agent double "0" seven-eleven. I am departing. No my wife doesn't know, bye!"

He scrambled away trying to look like he was pretending to spy around. He ran until he was around the corner of the house and then dropped the act. Letting out a sigh. Pretend was stupid, the only game of pretend he ever wanted to play was the one where Helen was an innocent milkmaid and himself a very robust and alluring stable boy, and that was it! None of this "house" bullshit, god it was like a fifties tv show, complete with pancake cookies and pinecone children. The Brady Bunch would have a field day.

Nikola stealthily crept alongside the house to the window of the study, which he knew was always at least partially open in the spring and summertime. Inside he could hear Sandra…or Carrie, whatever her name was taking very low on the phone.

Now, to play spy, a game he was much more suited to.