FF: Twice in a Lifetime | Sanctuary | Helen/Charlotte | R 5/7
Downstairs Henry and Nikola are finishing up the last bits of code and programming needed to thwart SCIU's deadly efforts. She walks in just as they confirm shut down of the grid and the death fence, but before she can leave to meet Will at the evacuation, Henry calls her back.
"Someone's at the front gate."
Would they dare, she wonders. Would SCIU come to her home and try to arrest her?
She eases out the front door, gun drawn as she cautiously looks out past the gates. There are no lights, no armored vehicles, nothing but the darkness and a body lying crumpled just beyond the gate. The gates open automatically and she starts to run, kneeling beside the broken and bloodied body of the Big Guy.
"Oh, God, no…"
She searches for a pulse, any sign of life, but there is no response. Tears threaten even as she hears the footsteps approach. Not SCIU then, but Caleb. A far more dangerous megalomaniacal maniac than Addison has proven to be.
"Mind if we drop by?"
"By all means," she sneers, barely keeping her rage in check. "Welcome to my home."
She levels the gun, firing off a series of shots into Caleb's chest as much to judge his strength and recovery as to piss him off, then runs for the house. "Henry, Nikola, we have guests!"
She puts another hail of bullets into one of Caleb's goons, watching him drop as the others storm through the door.
"I'm going into lock down mode," Henry radios back. "I'm gonna seal them off on the main level."
"No, seal off the armory only," she orders, replenishing her ammunition clips with ruthless efficiency. "We need to bring them into the sanctuary proper."
"Say what now?"
"We fight them in close quarters, lure them into the main lab." This isn't how she planned for her night of fighting and gunfire to begin, but she's always been good at thinking on her feet.
"Of all the very bad ideas..."
"Just do it," she snaps, the short trip down the hallway giving her enough time to work the odds of her plan's success out in her mind. No matter what, they are all in serious trouble. She waits behind a doorway, staying low to catch a glimpse of the elevator doors opening in the mirror. When it does she pops out, riddling the first goon full of bullets until he is yanked back into the elevator by the others. She hopes none of them saw that it was only her behind the barrage of bullets; a little fear of her ultimate numbers would be helpful. "Caleb's on the move," she radios to Henry and Nikola, rolling deftly back to her feet before charging down one of the back hallways.
"Copy that. Shunting access. Trying to draw them into the main lab."
"Good. I'll meet you there. One stop to make."
She races for her study, hoping Henry and Nikola can keep the intruders busy while she wipes the computer hard drives. Everything important has been backed up remotely, as always, through protocols Henry put in place. A standard security feature. Her own personal files she made certain to link directly with the new Sanctuary around Henry's protocols. More than a decade of practicing her computer programming coming in handy.
She gets most of the drives wiped when she hears the footsteps. Nearly a full clip is fired into the first assailant, a second in the next, but there is not enough left when Caleb walks in. She manages one solid, jaw busting punch, her eyes going wide when he merely shrugs it off in anger. And then she is flying, physically tossed across the room to land in a heap against the furniture. Helen struggles to her feet a moment after the goons regain their footing, a half dozen bullets not enough to keep them down for long.
Outnumbered, she runs.
"Henry, close off all the exits. Total lockdown. Omega protocol."
"What?"
"You heard me," Helen yells breathlessly, her ribs aching as she sprints through corridors, taking Caleb and his men on a wild hunt through the labyrinthine Sanctuary. "I managed to wipe most of the hard drives but Caleb cannot get access to the Praxian virus or technology. He cannot be allowed to leave this building. Do you understand?"
"But boss…"
"Do it Henry!"
She hears the radio click, feels the weight of his judgment. "Initiating Omega protocol."
A few more turns and sprints and then she ducks into an access panel hidden behind a 16th century tapestry. She didn't want it to end like this but it has always been an option. Sitting in a Buddhist temple in Nepal she meditated on life as suffering, on the loss of all she loved, on what it would take, what she would be willing to give, to get it all back. It wasn't a difficult epiphany to come by - she'd already been willing to sacrifice herself for the integrity of the timeline. But what she realized that death was an easy escape with no certainty for success. And so she had begun to plan.
She had made mistakes the first time around. She admitted them. Learned from them.
If the governments of the world were going to so easily turn on her then she needed to work outside those governments in her own way. Not as a rogue Sanctuary scraping and clawing to survive in the cold winter of bureaucratic lockout. She had to make the Sanctuary stronger, independent, beyond the reaches of governments and nations. Like a phoenix reborn, it would become something even greater than her father imagined.
But before she could rise from the ashes, first there had to be fire.
The Omega protocol. The end of everything.
She'd made so many plans in the beginning, so many options, and one by one she had whittled them down, adjusting the pieces on her chess board to accommodate her opponents moves. The problem was they'd been in check for decades before they even knew they were playing the game. Now, it was time for her last move.
A queen's sacrifice.
Once done, it will clear the board for everything else. An entirely new game: New rules, new players, new stakes. No, this isn't how she wanted it to end, but she is ready for it. Ready for the new world that lies beyond.
Nikola is waiting for her when she comes out into the main lab. "Helen!"
"I'm fine. Are they coming?"
"So, I notice all the residents are gone-"
"Caleb," she demands again. "Is he close?"
"He's on his way, he's not alone."
"Where's Henry?"
"He's securing the last sector," Nikola answers. They both look to the lab doors, to the battle that is raging toward them.
Helen turns back, her eyes locking on Nikola's. This man, this vampire, with his questionable moral code and practically nonexistent ethics, has become one of her terrible few, true friends. He was with her at the beginning, and now he is yet again standing here beside her at the end. But this is not his fight, not this time. "Go," she orders softly, leaning in to kiss him as much for luck as for goodbye. "Go. Quickly."
Nikola stares back silently, instincts battling better angels and Helen's own orders, until he finally hurries beyond the blast door threshold. They stare at one another, an unspoken goodbye lingering in Helen's tearful gaze. And then he shuts the door.
She lurches to the worktable, bringing up the Omega protocol and entering in her access code for the self-destruct sequence. In the corner of the monitor she watches Caleb round the corner on the in-house security feed
"You seem mentally unstable, taking us on alone," Caleb growls, flanked by his two surviving lackeys.
"I'm a chronic micro-manager," she quips, grabbing her data pad and punching in the security attack codes. Mechanical arms come to life, firing off rapid shots that take down Caleb's men instantly, the large caliber blasts far more effective than normal bullets. She tries to adjust the range of the guns but Caleb moves too quickly, punching her viciously and once more sending her through the air, this time to land on the lab table with a crash and sickening crunch of bones.
"It's a shame, Helen," Caleb smirks, clearing the debris to stalk after her as she struggles away from him, "We could have been friends. Standing shoulder to shoulder, watching the dawn of a new age. It's too bad you're gonna miss all the fun."
She shakes her head, eyes darting toward the self-destruct counting down on the computer screen. "So will you."
Caleb turns, realizing too late what she has done. "Make it stop!"
But there is no stopping it, not now; there is only stopping him. She grabs her tablet, firing in the last command as he reaches for her. "My house. My rules." The mechanical arm spins forward, driving through Caleb with ruthless precision. The arm lifts up, hanging him over the lab as his last breath drains weakly from his lips.
Helen looks at the clock, the mere twenty seconds not nearly enough time for her to clear the sanctuary, much less get into the escape tunnels. She grabs Henry's energy suit, grateful at his persistence and Nikola's inspiration. She slings it on, looking once more at the clock as it continues its countdown. "Bloody hell."
She zips the suit closed and runs for the nearest escape tunnel as the world shakes and explodes around her. One last thought claiming her before the darkness: Charlotte is going to kick her ass.
*
"Mom… Mom… come on…"
Helen blinks, her eyes opening slowly, the brightness washing everything out around her as she struggles to sit up. The light fades from blinding to a steady glow and she focuses, finding herself oddly enough in the empty and pristine food court at the mall.
A hand comes into view, taking hers and helping her stand.
"Ash… Ashley…?"
"Hi, Mom."
Relief floods through her. She never wanted to speculate on death much, preferring to concentrate her efforts on the living, but she had always hoped that there was more to life than the few tangible years spent in the mortal plane. And she'd hoped that should she ever get the chance, she would find Ashley in the place beyond.
She sighs happily, shoulders dropping as the weight of life, of responsibility and duty slide away. Ashley is here and that is all that matters.
Ashley smiles, and in it Helen can see the precocious child, the remarkable woman, everything she so loved and admired about her daughter. She reaches out, pulling Ashley into a crushing embrace, and there is nothing more. No past, no present, no future. Nothing but her daughter safe in her arms.
"I missed you too," Ashley whispers softly against her shoulder, squeezing tighter. "But you can't stay."
Helen pulls back. "What? No. I can stay. I want to stay."
"You can't Mom… you're not really here. Whatever here is," Ashley shrugs, looking around at the empty food court, a place Helen finally recognizes from their last trip to the mall. "This is a midway point… a way station. Neither of us can stay. It's only here as long as we are."
"Where will you go," Helen asks softly, memories of Ashley as a child walking to school passing before her. "Will you be safe?"
"There's so much more out there Mom, more than you could possibly know or understand. More than I could ever describe."
"But will you be safe," Helen presses.
"Was I ever safe," her daughter asks with a smirk. "There's no such thing here. But I will be free."
Helen nods even though she doesn't understand. "Will I see you again?"
"Every day. In everything around you." She places her hands over Helen's, drawing them up to her heart. "As long as you remember me, I will always be with you."
"I could never forget you."
"You saved the world, Mom... now go enjoy it. Take a vacation for god's sake. Take Charlotte with you," Ashley laughs knowingly, eyes glinting deviously. "She makes you smile like I've never seen."
"She makes me happy," Helen says, admitting for the first time, "I love her."
"Then tell her," Ashley chides. "You've worked for two centuries to save the world. It's okay to be happy now. I want you to have a life worth living every day."
Around Helen the brightness increases, blurring the edges of her vision, washing everything out. She feels Ashley start to pull away. "No, please, not yet..."
"Live, Mom. And when you're done, I'll see you on the other side."
"Ashley, I love you."
She feels one last tug on her hands, hears her daughter laugh even as the light blinds her completely. "I know, Mom... I love you too."
The blinding white light plunges to black, Ashley's voice echoing in her mind as she drifts into the glorious abyss: Live.
Part Six