Vindication
Vindication
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters; too bad, so sad.
Pairings/Characters: Helen/Nikola, Henry Ford
Spoilers: Through S2
Summary: Nikola expects history to vindicate him; he just hopes that his enemies will be around to see it.
A/N: Written for sanctuary_bingo , and the prompt “Henry Ford”
“Maybe you shouldn’t come,” Nikola suggests. “You’ll probably be bored.”
Helen’s glare would make a lesser man tremble. “Don’t be ridiculous, Nikola. I haven’t had the chance to meet Mr. Ford yet, and I’m not going to pass up the opportunity.”
“You won’t like him,” Nikola feels compelled to warn her. He had to talk fast just to get Ford to agree to meet with him about his new turbine, which is certain to revolutionize the car industry.
Not that Ford is likely to listen; Nikola knows that he’s in bed with that bastard Edison. Nikola mostly wants to have this meeting so that he can later gloat about Ford having turned him down.
It’s the little things that make immortality sweet.
The first time Nikola had been introduced to Ford, he’d overheard the man go on about a woman’s work being at home, insinuating that his car was a man’s car. Nikola knows that Helen is capable of taking care of herself, but he’s rather hoping to talk her into bed, and it’s even odds that she’ll agree to a seduction if she’s angry.
Which is really too bad, because Nikola has always been wildly attracted to an angry Helen, when her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are bright and flashing.
It’s no use arguing with Helen when she uses that tone, however, and so he lets her drive to sweeten her mood.
By the time they reach Ford’s factory, she’s looking deliciously windswept, and Nikola briefly considers calling off the meeting and talking her into a long drive, preferably ending someplace private.
He sternly reminds himself that this is for posterity and a feeling of superiority, and offers his arm to Helen. “Shall we?”
Nikola isn’t surprised when they’re kept waiting outside Ford’s office for just long enough to ensure Nikola knows he’s the supplicant. Nikola is more amused than anything else. He can afford to wait.
“Mr. Ford will see you now,” Ford’s secretary informs them finally, nearly twenty minutes after their meeting should have started.
Nikola leads the way, and Ford pointedly doesn’t rise until Helen enters the room. Nikola is amused that Helen’s presence is what has Ford recalling his manners. He wonders what the man might say if he knew half the things that Helen had done.
“Mr. Ford, this is my associate, Dr. Helen Magnus,” Nikola says smoothly, pointedly using her title just to see the reaction.
He’s not disappointed; Ford’s lip curls just slightly, although his expression quickly becomes one of polite interest. “A pleasure to meet you,” he says.
“I hope you don’t mind me tagging along,” Helen says, holding out a hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
Ford preens a bit under Helen’s not inconsiderable charm, and Nikola has to work to hide a smile. When Helen puts her mind to it, she can charm a miser out of his last coin. Ford actually begins to warm a bit, and Nikola thinks that bringing Helen along might have tipped circumstances in his favor.
And, while he’d planned on Ford flatly refusing a partnership and the chance to gloat years down the road, Nikola likes the idea of making a lot of money.
Assuming, of course, that Ford doesn’t try to cheat him the way Edison had.
At least, Nikola has hope that Ford will actually listen to what he has to say until Nikola tries to bring the conversation around from “Fordism” to Nikola’s new turbine.
“I’ve heard all about you, Mr. Tesla,” Ford announces, cutting off Nikola’s explanation before he could properly display his brilliance. “Mr. Edison said you were full of wild theories.”
Nikola just manages to keep from showing his claws, mostly because Helen has placed a warning hand on his arm. “Alternating current is not a wild theory,” he says stiffly. “It’s been proven to work.”
Ford smiles and shakes his head. “You’ll pardon me for not taking your word for it.”
His tone insinuates a multitude of insults, and Nikola feels Helen take his arm in a firmer grip as he stands. Nikola can’t keep the snarl from his lips. “If you’re implying-”
“Let’s go, Nikola,” Helen says firmly. “There’s no use trying to reason with him.”
She tugs him out the door, and the only reason Nikola doesn’t issue a parting challenge like, “You’ll be sorry!” is that it’s far too common. And whatever else he might be, he’s not common.
“I hate that man,” he mutters as they climb back into the car. Nikola lets Helen drive again, because he’s not in the mood, and he wants to sulk instead of paying attention to the road.
“Ford or Edison?” Helen asks, and there’s a gratifying amount of sympathy in her voice.
Nikola leans against the passenger door. “Both. It’s really not fair that Edison cheated me, and then persists on spreading vicious rumors, rumors that continue to persist even after I’ve proven my theories!”
“Just think,” Helen begins. “In another hundred years, they’ll be dead, and you’ll still be a brilliant scientist.”
“You think I’m brilliant?” he asks, his mood lifting a bit. He knows she thinks highly of him, when she’s not amused or annoyed by his latest scheme, but Nikola has never been above fishing for compliments.
Helen rolls her eyes, as he knew she would. “Nikola.”
“Fine, fine,” he replies. “I just can’t believe there are still people who buy his story, that’s all. I would have had a Nobel Prize by now if it weren’t for that cheap son of a bitch.”
Helen’s lips twitch, but she doesn’t laugh at him, something for which Nikola is grateful. “You knew he and Ford were old friends, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did,” he replies. “I went to see him so that I could say ‘I told you so’ at some later date.”
Now Helen does laugh, but she’s not laughing at him. Nikola knows the difference. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you know me too well?” Nikola suggests. “I fully expected to be disappointed, but you were so charming I began to have hope that he’d see reason-or at least dollar signs.”
“I’m flattered that you think I have that kind of power,” Helen says with a smile.
Nikola grins at her. “And where will flattery take me?”
Helen takes her eyes off the road for a moment to give him a long, steady look. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure we can think of something.”
“I can think of many things,” Nikola replies and has the pleasure of seeing a flush stain her cheeks. He leans back in the passenger seat, his good humor mostly restored by the open road before them, the pleasure of Helen’s company, and the prospect of future vindication.
Nikola just hopes that his enemies will still be around to see his eventual, inevitable, triumph.