Hello, there! This story is another of my little experiments, dedicated to the great Nikola Tesla and all the lovely folks at the Sanctuary. I have great plans for this one though it is, at the moment, a simple oneshot. I'd greatly appreciate your reviews because, if I get the sense that people are enjoying the story, I'll post much, much more! Thanks for reading! :D

"If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search.
I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor."

-Nikola Tesla

"Come now, Helen, let's be reasonable." Nikola Tesla was pacing the Sanctuary study, gesticulating wildly, looking not unlike a particularly manic caged tiger. Helen Magnus watched from her seat on the couch, eyebrow raised in a gesture of slightly entertained bemusement.

"Nikola, you've proven yourself to be many things in the past, but 'reasonable' is rarely one of them."

Nikola stopped his pacing, eyeing Helen critically with a look that suggested intellectual superiority. "It's perfectly logical. I have formulated a hypothesis and now need to test it."

"I am familiar with the scientific method, Nikola," Helen interjected. "I will admit that you are a technical genius, but your grasp of the English language is decidedly more questionable. 'Dangerous' and 'logical' are not synonymous, whatever you might think!" Looking entirely nonplussed, Nikola began to scribble feverishly on a piece of yellowing paper.

Helen knew that Nikola intended to conduct a series of electromagnetic experiments, in her lab and on her time. The simplest ones would involve Nikola physically touching different magnetic materials. The most complicated ones involved Tesla running an electrical current through his body and attempting to reach out telekinetically to the subatomic particles of the materials. Helen wondered if Nikola would have the stamina or the control to complete his proposed experiments.

"Perhaps you could start with an experiment that is a bit less… reckless," Helen continued. "Now that you're most likely mortal again, you can't afford this type of careless behavior."

"Helen, I'm a scientist. I am not a child."

"Your actions seem to indicate the contrary!"

Nikola heaved a dramatic sigh, deciding to appeal to Helen's humanitarian instincts. He spoke with the measured tones of someone explaining something to a child, or an imbecile. "It would be far more dangerous to leave my new abilities untested. If I don't completely understand what I am capable of, there could be serious consequences, not only for myself, but for countless others."

"Nikola, I understand your desire to explain every aspect of your physiology but…" she trailed off as Nikola shot her a look that stopped her in her tracks. It was a look she had only seen once before, so many years ago when they were all but children. It was a look of sheer desperation. Nikola did not only want to know about his new abilities, he needed to know with every fiber of his being.

Helen knew that, as a scientist, the man was not fond of unanswered questions, but she could not, in good conscience, allow him to put himself- and quite possibly her Sanctuary- in danger.

So she continued, "What you're proposing is ludicrous! You're talking about subatomic manipulation! You have no idea how your body will react to the stress nor how the metal will hold up when you jeopardize its structural integrity."

"Oh, Helen, don't be such a wet blanket," the scientist griped. "You've seen how metal reacts to me now; I'll hardly need to charge the particles at all. And I'd thank you to remember that I've been dealing with electromagnetism for over one hundred and fifty years."

While he sensed that Helen was still uncomfortable with the idea of him turning himself into a supercharged electric current, Nikola could tell that Helen was as curious about his powers as he was. She had, after all, spent the better part of a week locked up in her laboratory, attempting to create a way to Re-vamp Nikola. When it had seemed hopeless, Nikola had practically stumbled upon a realization that would change the course of his life. Now he knew he was magnetic, but the question was, just how much?

Whatever part of Helen that still thought of Nikola as an insolent, impetuous jackass, a bigger part of her felt a strong positive connection to the Serbian scientist. She loved the man- in a strange way that was unclear to her- but she was undeniably, inexplicably bound to him. She was reluctant to let him do something potentially life threatening, but she couldn't deny him the chance to learn more about himself. At the moment, curiosity about his new condition was the only thing keeping Nikola sane.

Sensing Helen's hesitance to let him proceed with his experiments, he pushed further. "I'll even sign a waiver if it will make you feel better. And I'll only need the use of your lab for a short time."

Sighing, Helen slowly nodded her head. "All right. But Nikola…"

"Yes?"

Helen watched the joy in Nikola's eyes. They twinkled with the same mischievous glint she had seen many times before in Nikola's lab at Oxford. She hesitated for a moment and, after a long pause whispered, "Be careful."

Nikola flashed her a cocky grin and retreated to the depths of the Sanctuary to begin his experiments and to reclaim his life.