A/N: This story and this chapter, inparticular, is dedicated to three awesome women who have been totally supportive of Emma and love her. So to Anita, Rachel, and Chloe. Thanks girls! and here you go!

Also... any donations to this story made in the next week, by Sunday September 16, will have a double donation. The regular $0.50 to Sanctuary for Kids BUT also $2 to Boys with Bigger Hearts kickstarter.

So please read and please REVIEW even if only for the donations, all you have to say is that you read it! You can go to all my posting webistes and say the same thing even if you only read it once!

The Death of God

Helen's boots were silent on the cement floor as she took steps into the old warehouse. It seemed there were warehouses like these on every continent and in just about every country. The wonders for globalization and colonization still astounded her. Will and Henry were following quietly and quickly behind her. All had weapons drawn as they scattered throughout the building. She'd opted to not wait for Declan's backup, knowing that the longer they waited the more chance that Mihovil would have moved.

The air was stifling, hot and humid and threatening to decrease her breathing as she drew it into her lungs. Her eyes swished around to check on Will and Henry who were still following her. She had utmost trust in their abilities, but this was not their expertise, although Will was far better at field work now than when he had started. She jerked her head to the side when Will's blue eyes locked on her; they turned a corner. She was secretly wishing Kate had been able to get there sooner so that they would have one more person for back up.

She turned to face front and walked straight into the man standing there. Taking a step back and gathering her bearings, Helen raised her weapon in front of her and turned her head to the side examining the man. He was tall, black leather covering his lithe form and it sent shivers down her spine. His eyes were staring at her curiously at her and while she imperceptibly relaxed, her back and shoulders also tensed. "John?" Eyebrows rose as she waited for an answer.

"Helen, darling, so good to see you." He looked around and saw other two standing behind her, Henry with weapon down, Will still with his drawn.

"What are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are." He bowed his head slightly and his eyes crinkled in the corners. "Looking for the would-be murderer of a dear friend's child."

"None sense, why are you really here?" Her gun was still tightly in her hands, the barrel pointed straight at his chest.

John gripped the metal and twisted it away from him. "Always so violent, no wonder our own daughter never understood your true work."

Helen didn't answer. She wanted him to respond to her question, not goad her into an argument. "Why are you here?" She asked him once more.

"I knew you would be here, I thought I could be of service." He wanted to reach up and press a thumb to her cheek, to trail it across her skin. But he would never do that. Keeping his hands at his sides, John watched her carefully. "I have as much a quarry with Mihovil as you do. I deserve the right to be here."

Debating quietly, Helen observed him, judging him before she made her decision. She answered him with a nod. Turning to Will, she spoke, "Take Henry down that way. We'll meet back here."

"He's not here." John answered. Helen turned back to him with wide eyes. "I've been here for hours, he has not returned and it does not seem as though he will be."

"Well look at you, just full of pertinent information." Will scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest when Helen lowered her gun. "I don't believe you, why are you really here? It doesn't seem like Jack the Ripper to suddenly just pop in to help with a case."

John would have stepped closer to Will, but Helen was blocking him. "Do not think that I have no interest in seeing the end of this man. I'm here to make sure he dies." The menacing tone echoed throughout the warehouse.

"All right, John." Helen started with a hand on his chest until he brought his eyes back to her face. "You said he's not here?" At his nod, she continued, "Where was the office of sorts?"

"This way." John scowled once more at Will before he led the way to the end of the warehouse and up some stairs. The further they moved up the thicker the air became and Helen was gasping for breath but they time they reached the top of the three flights of stairs. Will set a hand against her back, when she bent over drawing as much of the hot air into her lungs as possible. John didn't stop and Henry followed him, but the other two remained back.

"Magnus, you okay?"

She shook her head and grasped his shoulder. "Can't… breathe…" She was to the point where she was hyperventilating, her head spinning up back and forth in swirls and twirls. Her eyesight faded and came back so she could see Will's worried look. "I'm… fine…" She made out the words, trying hard to slow her breathing.

"You don't look fine." Will pressed a hand to her cheek, feeling the clammy and sweaty skin. "What's going on?"

She shook her head and locked eyes on his face. "Nothing, it's going away now." Her gasps were further and fewer between as she started to gain her balance. John had returned and was watching her carefully, with curious eyes. Henry was fiddling around in his back looking for water, by the time he reached for it, Helen was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall and her eyes closed. She thanked the man as she took the plastic bottle and drank half its contents.

"Magnus?"

"Helen?"

Both John and Will spoke simultaneously and she looked from one to the other. "I'm much better now, thank you." Helen pushed herself up to stand and took a step away from the over-crowding men. She needed room. Walking into the office she started to look over the papers that were left on the desks.

They worked their way through the papers looking for other locations that could be where Mihovil was hiding out. She was finding little in the way of information and the renewed energy from the water was quickly waning. Sitting in a chair she fiddled with more files that Will and Henry were bringing her. John was pacing back and forth by the window, and his movements were starting to grate on her nerves.

An hour later, she had a list of possible locations that he could be holed up in. She would contact Declan and see if there were any she could rule out, but first they had to meet up with Kate. She would be coming out of the caldera near the tip of Chile within a few hours and they needed to get out of the Argentina. They were close enough to where they had to go, just north of the Strait of Magellan; it would only take them a few hours to arrive, although with John there, perhaps less.

Helen leaned back in the chair, effectively giving up on her search for Mihovil for the time being. John moved over to her and stood close. Helen glanced up at him, finally asking the question that had been on her mind, "Where's Nikola?"

His eyes didn't move to meet hers. "He's around."

"Around?"

John sneered and didn't give any more of an answer. Helen ignored him and spoke to Will, who leaned against the desk she was seated at. "So, we have a few more stops before we get home."

"Seems like it." He glanced at John. "Will we be taking the usual means of transportation or the faster route?"

Helen shook her hand and started to rise, ignoring the slight pain that was working up her side from her groin to her chest. It was sharp, but not enough to deter her movements. Will was standing as close to her as possible as they made their way out of the warehouse and down the steps. She would have become annoyed with him except that she feared she would fall within seconds. She had absolutely no energy. She let Will drive the jeep they rented, while she slipped into the back seat and rested her head against the window, giving into the pull of slumber.

Emma was leaning against the headboard and groaning. She was confined to bed. Had Magnus been there she was sure she could have escaped sooner, but with the Big Guy there was no way she was able to leave. He managed to check in on her every hour or so. She'd made it down to her room and back with her basket of yarn and hook in tow. She was weaving the thin strand, when Biggie entered again.

He had food with him. It was all set beautifully on a bed tray that he laid over her legs. "What is it?"

"Left overs."

Emma smiled at him softly. "Thank you." She pulled the lid off and smelled the simple chicken and rice that was plated. It was not leftovers like he claimed. She smiled up at him as he awkwardly stood at the end of the bed. "Well are you joining me?"

Biggie gave her an odd look before turning his head to the side and grunting. "No, eat."

"Well, why not?" Emma was giggling and rested back before eating anything. She watched him carefully. "Come on, join me." It didn't take much more prodding for him to sit on the bed and join her.

Helen was slow to wake; her body hot and warm not only from the air, but from sleep. There were fingers, fiddling through her hair and her face was pressed into something warm. Opening her eyes slowly, she felt the fingers stop. Turning her eyes and head, she saw John staring down at her. Drawing in a deep breath of air, she pushed herself up to sit. Looking around, Helen noticed that she was no longer in the back seat of the car.

Pushing her bangs away from her face, she leaned against the couch. "Where are we?"

"Amsterdam." John didn't move to touch her again; he knew she wouldn't want it.

Clearing her eyes of the sleep filled corners, she saw Will sitting in the corner of whatever building they were in. "What happened?"

"You slept."

Helen turned to him fully, her eyes wide. "I slept? Did you teleport us?"

"Only after we retrieved Kate."

As soon as the young Indian's name was spoken, she entered Helen's line of sight. She sashayed over to the coffee table and plopped down to stare at Magnus. "What's up, Doc?" She was grinning. "Get knocked for a loop or what?"

"Or what, it seems." Helen answered, while gathering her bearings. "When are we checking out the next site?"

"In the morning." Will called from over his shoulder and Kate wrinkled her nose at him.

"Good." Helen answered and searched around the safe house. She recognized it as one that the Sanctuary owned and was grateful that Will had remembered it. "Hear from Declan?" She felt like she was catching up after being gone for an entire week, like time was playing a trick on her.

"Yeah, he's got some kids coming in the middle of the night to help us tomorrow." Kate turned her head to the side and was studying her boss. "So, what happened?"

"I don't know, but all seems to be resolved."

"Riiiiight…" Kate answered and would have glanced at Will, but she knew what look he would have on his face. "Come on, Doc, we have to share in this lovely little house." Kate held out her hand to help pull Magnus to her feet. She led the way to the back bedroom, glaring at John as she left. It wasn't two seconds later before she went back out into the main room. "Hey, Baldy! Doc-lady's hungry, let's get us some grub." She pointed her thumb at the door and John rose to follow her after giving Will a pointed look.

Will waited no more than two seconds after the door was shut before stepping into the bedroom. Helen was halfway undressed and sitting on the edge of the mattress with her eyes closed and her hands cradling her head. "Magnus, what's going on?"

She shook her head solemnly and looked up at him, ignoring her state of undress. "I have a headache."

"This isn't like you."

"I know." She turned on her side and curled on the bed, holding her shirt close to her body. "I know, but I can't make it stop."

Will moved in next to her and ran hand over her shoulder and arm. "So, it's shortness of breath, headache and what else?"

"Nausea, dizziness, sharp abdominal pains…" Helen took a deep breath. "I'm not going back."

"John, Kate and I can easily do this without you."

"I'm not going back, Will." She glared at him, her eyes desperate. "I have to find him."

"For revenge?"

Helen didn't answer his question. She took a deep breath, "I'll be fine tomorrow."

"Of course you will be." Will squeezed her arm lightly, "I'll have Kate sleep in the other room tonight."

"It's fine."

Nodding, Will left the room and settled back at the desk going through the papers they had kept from the warehouse. Worrying over Magnus never resulted in anything other than anger and annoyance from either of them. He would give her one more day before insisting that she return to the Sanctuary. Kate and John returned with a smattering of Thai food. They laid it out over the coffee table and dug in all three ignoring that Helen hadn't emerged from the room.

Moving her feet under the covers, Emma was feeling restless. She had convinced her keeper to let her out of the room, to help with the feedings that morning, but only under the agreement that she would spend the rest of the day in bed. Her eyes were staring at the ceiling as she tried to think of something to do, but boredom was reigning. She turned over to stare at the door when she heard the footsteps outside. She was sincerely hoping it was the Big Guy coming to entertain her.

It was dark in the hallway when the door swung open, and she couldn't make out the figure as it entered. "Biggie?" Her voice rang through the room, but there was no answer. Emma sat up, her heart starting to race and her muscles tensed. "Biggie? Is that you?" She called again. "I really hope—" Her words were cut off but a hand filled with a damp cloth covering her mouth. Emma gripped the wrist and struggled against it as it held her down and shoved her into the mattress. Her legs were flailing and her heart pounding, but she couldn't transform into her vampiric form. She tried, again and again to change, but with each passing moment her head began to spin and her body lost the ability to fight.

The last thing she heard was the thickly accented voice in her ear. "Your God's not dead."

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