The Shadow Men: Chapters 4-5 (Complete!)

[nocleversig]

Title: The Shadow Men
Summary: When Druitt begins seeing shadow figures that no one else can see, the Sanctuary Team wonders if he's going insane...or worse... returning to his Ripper ways.( No. 13 in my  "No Destination in Mind" series or Stands Alone)
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action Adventure, Angst, Romance, Suspense, AU
Characters: ALL!!! Helen and John but also Will, Henry, Kate, Big Guy, Tesla, Original, and Other
Spoilers: Definitely through Eulogy and most of season 2.
Disclaimer:  I own nothing of Sanctuary or its characters. My words, however, are my own.
Word Count: 5 chapters, 20,489 words
Author's Note:  COMPLETE! In this series, John is cured of his energy demon and Helen and he are reunited. Thanks as always for reading! And thanks to my fabulous beta, MajorSam. Peace. NCS  

The Shadow Men
Chapter 4: Revelations

Nikola Tesla sat in the wing chair of Helen Magnus' office with his hands clasped, index fingers pointed to the sky, and his face in rapt contemplation.

"Blood work? Physiological tests?" he demanded.

"All normal," Helen answered, leaning against the front of her desk, her navy blue skirt and jacket perfectly pressed. Her long, dark hair was pulled back with a silver clasp.

"Neurological exams?"

Will Zimmerman slumped on the couch looking discouraged, head resting on his hand.

"Nothing."

"Interviews with other inmates?" Tesla queried.

"Residents," Magnus corrected him.

"Whatever. Well?"

She shook her head. "No one has seen or felt anything abnormal. Well, anything that shouldn't be here, that is," she clarified.

"Hmmm…," Tesla murmured. "What about damage to the optical nerve? Glaucoma? Some other kind of eye disease? Maybe he's literally seeing things?"

Helen shook her head again. "His eyes are fine. There are no anomalies of any kind."

Tesla paused, thinking. "Well, he is Johnny. Perhaps he's simply insane?" Nikola looked up and grinned, his eyes twinkling.

Helen sighed.

"No," Will answered. "I don't believe that. I worked with him before the onset of this and again now. He's not delusional. Not yet," he added quietly.

"Then what about already possessed? Maybe there was more than one abnormal hitchhiking a ride aboard John before we even started the drug therapy? Hell, maybe there were several? Did you think of that?" Tesla looked at Helen.

"Yes, we thought of that," she replied, shifting her weight, crossing her arms and legs. "He's not possessed, Nikola. I know it. Will agrees."

"No offense, Helen, but you were never very good at spotting Jack in John. You had a bit of a, shall we say, blind spot in that regard?"

Helen shot him a searing look. Nikola shrugged and turned to Will.

"You don't believe he's possessed either, William?"

Will shook his head.

Tesla sighed. "So, you've ruled out the obvious. What's left?" he asked, arms open wide in question, the sleeves of his crisp, white shirt riding up his wrists.

Helen stared at him. "The drug. The drug we created to prevent abnormals from latching onto John during teleportation. The shadow he's seeing…"

"He's still seeing it a week after the incident with Heinrich? He's still the only one who has seen it?" Nikola interrupted.

"Yes," Helen replied. "He's afraid it's a creature stalking him, wanting to possess him. I'm fearful of that as well. I'm worried, Nikola, that the drug is starting to fail and is now attracting creatures or a creature to him during his teleportations."

Nikola nodded his head, considered her theory, and then arrived at a conclusion. "Well that's ridiculous. It's obviously not the drug," he announced.

Will and Helen both looked at him. "Why?" they asked simultaneously.

"Because I created it, and the things I create work."

Magnus laughed derisively. Will shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm not joking here, kids. We tested the drug, Helen, you and I. It worked. I have no reason to believe its efficacy should deteriorate over time. Nothing in our tests indicated that."

"No, but then again no one has ever used this drug except for John. It's not like we have a significant data set to rely on, Nikola. Really," Helen shot back.

"Fine," Tesla agreed. "Let's pretend, just for a moment, that you're right, preposterous though it might be, that the drug has lost its effectiveness…and I'm seriously stretching my imagination here…."

Helen rolled her eyes.

"What's your approach? Last time we tested it using the electromagnetic frequencies emitted by the creature to see if they affected John's cellular structure. Are you suggesting we do the same again?"

"Not exactly," Will mumbled looking warily at Magnus.

The tension in the room ratcheted up a notch.

"Okay, what is it you two aren't telling me?" Tesla demanded, pointing his finger at Will then Helen.

"You still have the energy creature?" Helen inquired.

Nikola dipped his head. "I do, although I haven't learned a damned thing from it. Kind of a bad trade on my part. In that regard it's utterly like John. All bluster and no substance. Why?"

"Because I want to release it, in a test environment with John, to see if it can reattach itself to him physically," she answered.

Nikola paused for a moment and then laughed out loud, his head thrown back in the air, hands clapping. "Oh, Helen, that is rich. And here I thought I was the one who detested John! You're supposed to be in love with him. Things not going well between you two?" he joked.

"She's serious," Will remarked, looking grim.

Tesla whipped his head around and stared at Helen. "You're serious?" he repeated.

She clenched the desk, her knuckles white. "I can't think of any other way to be completely, one hundred percent sure a creature is not trying to repossess him, turn him back into…a monster."

Tesla stood up and walked over to Magnus, flinging his dark jacket behind his back and placing his hands on his hips, his face grave.

"And I can think of at least a dozen, Helen. What the hell are you thinking?"

He stood right in front of her, staring into her wide, blue eyes. He could see it clear as day. He didn't need her to answer. Helen Magnus was scared. Terrified, in fact. Frightened beyond imagining that John was on the verge of slipping back into Jack, if he hadn't done so already, and she'd do anything to stop it.

Nikola sighed, reached out, and put a hand on her arm. "That's one approach, Helen," he suggested softly. "Why don't we try a few others first, shall we? You always had a tendency to go for broke. It's part of your charm. But really, there's no need to be quite so drastic out of the gate, don't you agree?"

Will watched as Tesla talked Magnus down from the ledge. She was so scared, so frightened that she might lose the man she loved, she was willing to risk losing the man she loved to prevent it.

Helen nodded.

"Good," Nikola smiled, shooting a quick, understanding glance toward Will.

"Like it or not, I think it's time I say hello to Johnny."

Helen led them to a secured section of rooms on the second floor of the Sanctuary. Not quite prison cells, but not exactly guest quarters either. The area could only be accessed with a pass card, and the rooms, six of them, were locked with individual keypads.

Tesla turned to Will and asked, "He's still under lock and key?"

Will nodded. "Magnus insisted."

"Interesting," Nikola said to himself, eyeing Helen a bit closer as she walked a few steps ahead of them. "Nothing like attempted murder to put a strain on a relationship."

Magnus knocked on the door, heard a soft, "Come in," and then punched in the key code. When she opened it, she found John stretched out on the bed, hands folded behind his head, talking to Kate Freelander who was sitting in a chair beside him, her jean clad legs resting on the edge of the mattress.

Druitt glanced at Helen, a forlorn look in his eye, then turned to Tesla and quickly smiled. "Well, well, Nikola Tesla. I see the Calvary has arrived. Tell me Nikola, did you enjoy your stay in the Magic Kingdom?"

"John…" Helen warned.

Nikola flipped his coat back and put a hand on his hip, wrapping his other hand around John's mahogany bed post.

"Oh, who doesn't enjoy being teleported and tied up in the world's most excruciating amusement park ride for 72 hours. Let's just say that whenever I hear, 'It's A Small World,' and I hear it often in my nightmares now, I think of you."

Druitt laughed. "Serves you right old boy for putting Helen in harm's way with that vampire Kulkukan. To think you had the nerve to lure her there under false pretenses…"

"Gentlemen!" Magnus interrupted. "We can discuss what happened in Guatemala later. Right now, Nikola is here to help." She turned and looked at Kate, a serious expression on her face. "And while you two get reacquainted, I'd like a word with Kate. Can you join me outside for a moment please?"

"Sure." Kate responded warily. She turned to Druitt and patted him on the knee. "Hang in there, Johnny. I'll come check on you later. Maybe I'll even let you try and win back the money you lost in our poker game," she winked.

"Always a pleasure losing my hard earned money to you, Miss Freelander," John waved goodbye.

Kate followed Helen out into the hallway. When the door closed, Helen turned.

"What the hell were you thinking being alone in there with him?" Helen asked, hands on her hips, her voice scolding.

"He's not going to hurt me, Doc. He's not going to hurt anyone," Kate countered. Yeah, the boss had told her she didn't want anyone being alone with Druitt until they knew what was going on, but damn it! It was like he had the plague or something. It just wasn't right, and it wasn't helping him to get any better, that was for sure.

"He hurt Henry, and I'll be damned if I let him touch another member of my staff. Your safety is MY responsibility!"

"Biggie is watching!" Kate threw her hands up in the air pointing at a security camera in the corner of the hall. "The whole place is monitored 24/7. If anything happened, which it's not, he'd be right here to help."

"And he would be too late!" Helen yelled.

Kate stepped back, folded her arms across her chest, and stared at Magnus. "It was an accident, what happened. Even Hank believes that. Something is happening to John. He's not possessed, he's not insane, and he's NOT the Ripper, no matter what you think!"

Helen jerked her head up at that.

"He's seeing something we can't see. Why? I don't have a clue. But you of all people should believe in him. You're supposed to love him, for God's sake! And hey, I've never been in love, so I can't talk, but I thought when someone loved someone they tried to help them work through their problems, not lock them up in a room and forget about them."

Magnus' eyes flashed with anger.

"What do you think I've been doing this past week, Kate? Twiddling my thumbs? No! I've been running every test imaginable to find out what's wrong with him!" she shouted.

"Exactly!" Kate yelled back.

Magnus drew up at that, confused.

"What do you mean?"

Kate took a deep breath. "You're so busy running tests to prove that something's wrong. Why does anything have to be wrong with him? John's unique, right? He's like nobody else, right? Nobody except for maybe…." she hesitated, "Ashley."

Helen flinched at her dead daughter's name.

"Maybe his ability makes him the only one that can see…whatever it is that he's seeing, because somehow it operates on his plane? You're so scared that whatever is happening to him is going to turn him into a monster, has turned him into a monster, that he's going insane just worrying about it. What if what he's seeing isn't harmful? What if it just wants to talk? What if John's the only one it can talk to?"

Helen paused at that. Was Kate right? The moment she saw John standing over Henry, knife in hand, she had assumed the worst, assumed that the monster that had stolen him away from her a century ago was back. Was she trying to prove his innocence or prove his guilt?

Before she could answer herself, a crash erupted from John's room. Helen rushed to the door, punched in the code, and yanked it open. She raced in, Kate on her heels.

John cowered in the corner, hands clawing the wall behind him. His eyes were wild, his face full of fear. The end table and lamp by his bedside lay broken on the floor. Will was bent down, talking to him, trying to calm him. John pointed toward the other side of the room, yelling, "Don't you see it? Can't you see it?"

Magnus turned. They all did. There was nothing there.

"Nikola, what happened?"

"We were talking and then he just…" Tesla shrugged, turning to look in the direction that John was staring.

"Can you sense anything? Anything at all?" she asked. Nikola could hear the desperation in Helen's voice.

He shook his head. "No. Nothing."

Magnus walked over to John and bent down next to Will.

"I can't get him to respond to me, Magnus." Then Will leaned over and whispered in her ear so that only she could hear him. "Magnus, if he's not insane, he's going to get there soon. We have to do something."

Magnus looked at her protégé and nodded, then turned back to her lover. She reached her hand out and gently laid it on his leg. He started at her touch, but wouldn't tear his eyes away from whatever monster he saw or thought he saw.

"John? Can you hear me? It's Helen," she said softly.

Her voice, her name, brought him back to himself. He tilted his head to look at her, the fear in his face diminishing.

"Helen?"

"Yes," she smiled.

"Help me….Please."

John's voice cracked. He closed his eyes and sank against the wall, and Helen's heart sank with him.

Nikola Tesla flipped through the chart in his hand, shaking his head in disgust. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing!" he rumbled, voice raised, tossing the papers onto Helen's desk.

"We've run every diagnostic test on John we can think of. We've ruled out Pareidolia, Hypnagogia, the drug, the environment, etcetera, etcetera," Tesla said ticking the possibilities off on his fingers one by one. He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Helen, there's nothing there. I'm afraid he's simply…"

"John is not delusional! Or insane. Or whatever other word you were going to use, Nikola. We have to try my idea. The only way we can know with any certainty that the drug is working properly is to set the energy creature free in a controlled environment where we can…"

Tesla threw his hands up into the air. "We can what? Infect John again? Your Sanctuary? You enjoyed having Jack the Ripper around so much you want him back?"

Helen wanted to smack him. "Of course not! I'm only suggesting…."

"I've got another idea," said a female voice from across the room.

Magnus and Tesla turned to see Kate Freelander standing in the doorway, the Big Guy by her side. Tesla folded his arms across his chest and sneered. "What could Beauty and the Beast come up with that great minds haven't already thought of?"

Kate turned to Biggie. "Come on, Big Guy, let's show 'em." They walked into Magnus' office, and Biggie handed Helen a stack of DVDs.

"Operational Paranormal?" she asked, bewildered.

"This one," Biggie said, tapping the back of the DVD case. "Episode 18."

Magnus turned the case over and read the description, then looked up at him and down at Kate. "The Shadow Men?" She frowned. "You can't be serious."

"Shadow Men are dark, humanoid figures that are mostly seen in peripheral vision. That's exactly what's happening to Johnny. This episode is exactly what he's seeing!" Kate argued.

Tesla laughed.

"Kate," Magnus said indulgently. "I know you want to help John, but these Shadow People, Men, Folk, whatever you want to call them are just popular paranormal mythology not…," she glanced down at the episode description and quoted it, "Ghosts, aliens, time travelers, or possibly interdimensional beings."

Tesla was holding his stomach, cackling behind them.

"This phenomenon is easily explained by overactive imaginations and neurological science," Magnus concluded.

"Really?" Kate countered, tilting her head. "Then what explains what Johnny's seeing? Because it looks to me like you guys haven't figured that out yet."

Nikola stopped laughing.

"Look, boss, you may think this is utter crap, and maybe it is, but before you go and zap Johnny with the energy creature, can you at least give it a shot?"

"I don't believe in ghosts, Kate," Magnus replied, stone faced.

"Yeah, and I didn't believe in Sasquatch once either, but here he is!" she said, slapping Biggie on the back. "No offense."

"None taken," Biggie replied.

Helen looked back and forth between the two of them, then down at the DVD, tapping it with her fingernail. What did she have to lose?

"What do you propose?" she asked Kate.

"Helen, you can't be serious!" Tesla butted in.

Magnus held up her hand to quiet him. Nikola sighed dramatically and made a little zipper motion with his fingers over his lips.

"I have a friend. She's…sensitive," Kate said sheepishly.

"A psychic, you mean?" Helen asked, playing along.

"Yeah…," Kate paused, reading Magnus' skepticism. "She's not a flake or anything, honest. She just…sees stuff, feels stuff other people can't. She doesn't know why. I'd like her to visit John. See if she can pick up on anything we haven't."

Magnus folded her arms over her chest, took a deep breath, and nodded. "Fine. Call your friend. We'll give it a go."

Kate smiled wildly. "All right!" She turned on her heel with Biggie in tow. "See, I told you she'd buy it," Magnus heard her saying as they hurried out into the hallway.

Tesla sauntered up to Magnus and put his arm around her shoulder. "Ghostbusters, Helen?"

"Desperate times, desperate measures, Nikola," she sighed. "Desperate measures, indeed," she muttered to herself.

Cynthia Groesbeck didn't look like a psychic. She looked like a model. Five foot ten, late twenties, with light brown hair down to her shoulders. She was dressed professionally in fashionable slacks and a light blue blouse and wasn't at all the kind of woman Helen Magnus would pick as one of Kate's friends.

"Where did you say you met her again?" Magnus asked.

"Karate class a few years back," Kate answered.

"Hmm," was all Magnus managed.

"Look, boss, I know you think this is a lame idea, but Cindy's not a scammer. Trust me. I should know."

Magnus turned to her. "And what have you told her about us? Our work? John?"

Kate shook her head, her dark locks bobbing. "Not much. Only that we were a scientific research institute and that one of our employees has been seeing things he can't explain. Hey, I know the drill; The more you tell them, the more they can put you on, but she's not…"

"A scammer," Magnus interrupted. "Yes, I know."

Kate and Magnus watched as Cindy wandered the library. Nikola and Will were bringing John to meet them there.

"There's a lot of energy in this place," Cindy commented, stopping and turning around.

Magnus turned and rolled her eyes at her younger companion.

Cindy smiled. "I know, it sounds cliché. But it's true. There's a tremendous amount of energy here. I don't necessarily mean paranormal. In fact…I can't exactly place what kind of energy it is. It's just, abnormal."

Kate grinned at Magnus. "Didn't tell her a word."

Magnus frowned.

"Dr. Magnus? Did I get that right?" Cindy asked, walking back to the two of them.

"Yes."

"I don't need to be a psychic to read people. I can tell you're skeptical about me, and I don't blame you," she said, pointing to herself, her hazel eyes shining. "This…gift…ability, whatever you want to call it, isn't something I asked for or talk to many people about, but if it helps people, then I don't think it's such a bad thing. That's all I want to do, help."

Magnus smiled at her. Her manservant was Big Foot, her boyfriend was Jack the Ripper, and her oldest friend was a former vampire. Honestly, who was she to judge?

"I appreciate that Ms. Groesbeck, and I apologize for any doubts you may have…sensed."

Cindy nodded. "Apology accepted."

The door to the library opened and Will Zimmerman, John Druitt, and Nikola Tesla walked in.

John was dressed in jeans and a loose fitting blue shirt that accentuated his eyes, Helen thought. He looked handsome, trim, and fit. Since his episode three days ago, Magnus had spent as much time with him as she could, not to run tests, just to be near him. Her presence grounded John, kept him settled. Today she had put back on the ring he'd given her. Kate had been right. She'd been hiding from him, scared of what he might turn back into. But if she loved him, and she did, this was an unknown they had to face together. "In sickness and in health," she mused. That was the promise she had been prepared to make so many years ago, and it was a vow she intended to keep now.

John turned and looked at Helen as he entered. She never failed to take his breath away. She could be dressed in her most expensive cocktail dress or nothing at all, make up perfect or covered in mud, her hair tossed back or in a pony tail. It didn't matter. She was the most beautiful woman in the world to him and always would be. Her mere presence calmed him.

Just as he thought this he caught a glint of light reflecting from her hand. She wore his ring. She hadn't last night when she'd come to visit him. They'd eaten dinner together, then talked for a while. It had become late, she was tired, so was he, so they laid together in his bed, just to rest, just to be near one another, when one thing led to another, and they made love.

How easily one thing led to another for them it seemed…

He slept, restfully, for the first time in weeks. All because of her.

Helen was introducing them to the psychic, the woman Kate had asked to bring in. He was dubious of her plan, but Miss Freelander wanted so much to help him. He didn't have the heart to refuse, and at this point, he had nothing to lose.

Cindy finished meeting with Will and Nikola then reached out to shake John's hand but froze, her brow furrowed.

"You're the one I'm here about, aren't you?" she asked.

John nodded. "I am."

She took his hand and held it, closing her eyes, her face in pain.

"You've seen darkness in your life…tremendous darkness."

John started to wrench his hand free, when she reached up and pulled him back.

"No, please," Cindy reassured him. "It's all right. There's no darkness in you now, although that's what you fear. You fear it will return."

John nodded. "Yes," was all he could manage.

"Come sit with me," she said.

She led John over to a small couch and sat next to him, holding his hand gently in hers. Helen, Will, Nikola, and Kate stood at a table a few feet away, watching.

Cindy took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was silent for a long time, John thought. Or maybe it only seemed long. Could she really sense the evil that had been in him? Was that what was haunting him now?

"It wants to speak to you...It can only speak to you," she said, her eyes closed.

John looked up at Helen, unsure how to respond. "What?" Helen answered for him, stepping forward. "What wants to speak to him?"

"The shadow that haunts you. You're afraid of it, but I sense no hate, no evil, only…fear, confusion and…." She stopped suddenly, opening her eyes, realization dawning. "She's lost," she told him.

Helen's heart began pounding in her chest.

She? It was impossible… Helen thought.

Helen looked at John and he at her, both of them thinking the same thing, both of them knowing what they were thinking was impossible. John looked back at Cindy, gripping her hand tight.

"Who? Who's lost? Who is trying to speak to me? Tell me."

Cindy closed her eyes again, concentrating, and then nodded.

"The girl... Ashley," she answered him.

(To be continued)


The Shadow Men
Chapter 5: Death Shall Have No Dominion

AUTHOR'S NOTE: There are two movie quotes buried in this chapter. Can you name what they are? Put it in your review, and if you're the first to get it right, you'll win…uh…my unending thanks for your review AND, if you'd like, a story of your choosing from me. Just send me a prompt. (Hoo-boy…). Thanks for reading!

"Mom?"

Helen Magnus looked up over the top of her lap top and smiled.

Ashley Magnus' long, blonde hair swung from side to side like a pendulum as she crossed the room to Helen's desk. Her daughter's black leather pants and jacket were dusty from the evening's hunt. Her blue eyes bubbled with amusement. When she reached the table, she put her hands on her hips, gazed down at her mother, and grinned.

"You should have seen me bag that ghoul tonight, Mom, it was classic! And Henry said I had lost my touch. Ha!"

Helen sat back in the chair and laughed. Henry would say such a thing. They'd been needling each other like brother and sister since they were small. Why should that change now? She was glad it hadn't.

"And John? Did he go with you?" Helen tried to hide the nervousness she felt. She wanted so much for her daughter to like him, to see in John what she saw in him, an intelligent, strong, passionate man, not the ruthless killer he once was. Truth was she didn't know what Ashley thought of him or of them being together. Everything had happened so fast, her daughter's return so sudden, that they hadn't had a chance to talk about it. Not yet.

"Yeah, he came along. John's…," Ashley paused and looked at Helen, her expression softening as her blue eyes met her mothers. "Dad's good. Really good."

Dad.

The simple word caught Helen off guard and a sudden lump lodged in her throat. Tears formed in her eyes. She closed them. It was too much. Having Ashley back again, having them together like this, like a family, was a dream come true. It was a…

Magnus' eyes flashed open to see Ashley staring down at her. Her bright blue eyes now an eerie, unnatural yellow. Her smile had vanished. In its place was a malicious sneer. She stood still and lifeless. When she opened her mouth to speak, Dana Whitcomb, director of Cabal operations and the woman who had transformed her daughter into the Superabnormal monster she had become, spoke, her voice echoing throughout the room and in Magnus' head.

"Sometimes dead is better," she laughed.

"Helen… Helen!"

John Druitt leaned over Magnus' trembling body, shaking her shoulders until she woke up, her skin drenched in sweat. She opened her eyes and stared at him, working to pull herself back into consciousness. Her heart raced. Her breathing was ragged and uneven.

"John?" She reached her arm out to touch his bare chest, to ensure he was real. She could barely make out his lean form in the moonlight that streamed in from their bedroom window. He put his hand over hers. With the other he brushed the hair out of her eyes, stroking her long, dark locks.

"You were having a nightmare, Helen," he said softly. "You were yelling in your sleep," he trailed off. She nodded, took a moment to compose herself, and then pushed herself up to a sitting position. She reached across the mattress and switched on the small lamp on her nightstand. Her eyes blinked as they adjusted to the dim light.

John put his hand out and wiped her cheeks. She touched her hands to her face and realized she'd been crying.

"Was it the same dream?" he asked gently.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She smiled inside at that. He'd become a very modern man in the past century or so. She shook her head. "No. Not really." She leaned back against the mahogany headboard, the pillows lodged unevenly against her back.

John sat up alongside her. The strap of Helen's nightgown had slipped down onto her arm. He reached out with his finger and eased the lavender ribbon back up over her shoulder, settling his hand on her smooth skin.

"Helen, we don't have to do this. There's a very real possibility, probability in fact, that Miss Grosbeck was wrong, lying even."

"Is that what you think?"

John paused and took a breath. "I don't know. I don't know what to think. I haven't seen the shadow in three days, since she was here." He saw Helen's face sink at that. "I want to believe as much as you that it is Ashley. That somehow a part of her still exists, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know if I'm prepared to suffer the disappointment if it isn't," he said quietly. "More than that, I don't know if I could bear seeing you suffer it."

She looked down at her hands. He was right. The probability that this was all some elaborate hoax, coincidence, whatever, seemed high. But what if it wasn't?

"Cindy said she could sense Ashley's presence, her emotions, her intentions, but that for some reason she was unable to communicate with her. What if that's because Ashley isn't dead? What if I was right all along, John, and she escaped the EM field? Nikola said it's possible that something happened to her in transit that left her in a permanent state of limbo, a kind of energy mass, unable to transform back into matter. What if after all this time she's finally found her way home?"

John bit his lip. He could hear the desperation, the hope building in Helen's voice.

"Then why would she try to communicate with me and not you, Helen?" he argued, trying to get her to stop and think logically about the situation. "She barely knows me. And what she does know of me is not good." It pained him to say it, but it was true.

Helen swallowed hard. "I've thought about that. You and Ashley are far more alike than either one of you cared to recognize. Kate was the one who saw it. What if you're the only one shecan talk to? Because of the unique physiology she shares with you? You both have the ability to teleport, to transform from matter into pure energy. John, you may be the only one she can communicate with!"

He knew how much this meant to her, but they had worked so hard to push past Ashley's death. Losing a child was hard enough. Losing that child twice would be unbearable.

He sighed. "You want me to approach it, the shadow, and try to communicate with it."

Helen nodded. "Cindy said that's what it wanted."

John took a deep breath. "What if she's wrong, Helen? What if it isn't Ashley at all. What if it's…something else?"

They both knew exactly what he meant.

Helen paused. "I know. It's a risk, and ultimately it's your choice. But if there's a chance, even a remote chance that it's our daughter…"

John nodded. "Then there is no choice. I agree."

Henry Foss looked down with a teacher's sense of pride as his pupil, John Druitt, confidently tapped the computer tablet, completing a scan of the Sanctuary's security settings.

"Excellent!" Henry smiled when he'd finished. "You're really getting the hang of this. Are you sure you weren't a techie geek in a former life?" Foss teased.

Druitt laughed. "If by 'techie geek' you mean adept at cricket and weaponry? Then yes, I was and am a techie geek."

Henry snorted. John took the moment to consider him. Three weeks ago the young man had been lying in the infirmary mistakenly stabbed by him in his terror over the shadow creature. Today, he was sitting by his side as though nothing had happened, teaching him the intricacies of the Sanctuary's software systems.

"Mr. Foss…Henry," John started.

"Yeah," he answered absently, frowning at something on the monitor.

"I want to apologize again for what happened. I can assure you that I would never intentionally harm you. I was distraught and so intent on apprehending the creature that when I came around the corner that night…"

Henry put his hand on John's shoulder. "John, we've been over this a hundred times. It was an accident. I know that. You were scared. I get it. Really, I'm okay. We're okay."

Druitt let go of a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "You are a most forgiving man, Mr. Foss."

Henry tilted his head. "Eh, life's short. There is one thing you could do for me though…"

John nodded. "Certainly. What is it?"

"Call me Henry. Mr. Foss is, I dunno," Henry shook himself like he'd just been doused with ice water. "Just makes me itchy, ya know?"

John grinned. "Sorry, old habits. Henry it is."

"And how are you two getting along?"

The men turned to see Magnus walk in, her dark hair hung loose around her shoulders cascading down her blue blouse. She smiled at them, but there was a heaviness in her eyes that was unmistakable. The more she wanted John to see the shadow figure again, the more it seemed to stay away. It was one more thing he felt guilty about.

"John's getting his geek on. Next thing you know he'll be beating me at Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood," Henry quipped, trying to lighten the mood.

John stared at him blankly. "Assassins' what?"

Magnus grinned and walked over to them. John and Henry. In another life they could have been like father and son. If only….She stopped herself. Her obsession over the shadow creature somehow being Ashley was becoming just that, an obsession. Even Will had expressed concern over it. John hadn't seen the figure in over a week now, and for his sake, she was glad it had disappeared. Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination after all. A physical manifestation of stress, as Will referred to it. But part of her, the selfish part, the part that hoped beyond hope for a miracle, wished it would return. Her love for her child superseded all, even her love for John.

It was then she noticed it, the change in John's expression. Druitt was no longer looking at her or Henry but at a corner of the room, his eyes mixed with fear and expectation.

"John?"

"It's here," he answered quietly.

Magnus' heart sped up. She glanced at Henry who sat perfectly still, holding his breath.

"Do you see anything?" she whispered.

Henry shook his head.

She resisted the urge to turn around and look at whatever John saw, scared she might frighten it away. But if it was her daughter…

"John…"

"I know," he nodded. He rose slowly, handing Henry the tablet in one swift, silent motion as he did so.

"Where is it?" Magnus asked, still keeping her eyes locked with his.

"The far corner of the room."

"Can you look at it straight on?" In most of his encounters with the entity he could only see it fleetingly, out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes," he said softly. He glanced down at Helen. "I'm going to try."

She nodded, reached out, and squeezed his arm. He smiled briefly at her. She knew how much he feared this. She did as well. If the psychic was wrong, if it wasn't Ashley…. She closed her eyes, saying a silent prayer to whatever gods might be listening that it was.

John walked slowly, cautiously, toward the edge of the room. If this was somehow his daughter, her energized body, even her soul, he needed to know. More importantly, Helen needed to know. If it wasn't, if it was what he feared the most, an energy creature returned to possess him...He stopped, shutting that thought out of his mind. He'd been thinking he needed to do this for Helen, but as he walked toward the mysterious entity he realized with sudden clarity that he needed to do this for himself as well. Until he faced the creature, whatever it was, he would never be free of its darkness.

Druitt moved toward the murky shape hovering like a black void in the recesses of the room. He heard a faint rustle of clothes behind him and knew that Helen had turned around and was watching him as was Henry. The shadow didn't move, didn't waver. It stood motionless, absorbing all light.

He approached it slowly, step by step. When he was within a few feet of it, he stopped. Should he say something? Talk to it? Try to communicate? Or should he physically approach it, touch it?

He started to reach out his hand when the figure shimmered as though it might flee.

"No, stay! Please." he called out anxiously. It seemed to hesitate a moment. "I don't mean you any harm. I need to know who you are, what you are. What it is that you want." It remained motionless, vaguely humanoid now in shape. "Ashley?" John finally whispered his voice cracking. "Is it you?"

Suddenly the figure rushed toward him. He instinctively stepped back but not before it moved through his body. The surge of energy that hit him was like a gust of wind. As quickly as it passed into him, it moved out. The sensation caught him so off guard, left him so overwhelmed, he didn't have a chance to turn and warn her. As he did, all he could see was the shadowy figure moving on, heading straight toward Helen. She couldn't see it. Wouldn't know what was about to happen.

"Helen!" was all he could manage before the wall of blackness hit her.

Magnus watched as John walked cautiously toward the corner of Henry's lab and stopped, speaking in a hushed tone to what looked like empty space. Suddenly he jumped back, as though something had threatened him. She darted toward him, afraid that the entity had attacked him, possessed him, when he turned and called her name, the oddest expression on his face.

Suddenly a wave of unseen energy passed through her, a wash of warmth and light so achingly familiar her body trembled from the touch. As quickly as it moved into her, it moved out, and she was left with an emptiness that brought her to her knees with joy and grief.

"Doc!"

Henry jumped down from his stool and rushed to Magnus' side. John ran over and dropped to his knees in front of her holding her by the shoulders to keep her from completely collapsing.

"Helen?"

She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide.

"She moved through me, John! My God, I felt her. I can smell her!" She reached down and caressed the sleeve of her shirt like she was stroking a child's hair. "It was her! Ashley! Smell my clothes, John," Helen said, tugging at her white blouse, tears streaming down her cheeks. "She's on me…She's all over me. I felt her. It's my baby!"

John looked over at Henry. He knelt beside Magnus but was staring at Druitt.

"John?" he whispered, his voice choked, his eyes red with tears.

Druitt pulled Helen into his arms and nodded, struggling to keep his own tears at bay.

"It's her, Henry. It's our daughter."

Nikola Tesla tapped the end of his pencil against his right hand, thinking. He didn't believe in ghosts or souls or any other superstitious nonsense. He did, however, believe in science. If what Helen and John had experienced was indeed Ashley Magnus, there was a reasonable, if not abnormal, explanation for it. One which did not include it being Ashley's 'aura' or her 'life force' floating about the Sanctuary halls like that overly dramatic Cindy Grosbeck had suggested. God forbid!

"You said you felt something like an energy wave pass through you, but you were unable to communicate with it?" Nikola asked John.

"Yes," he nodded in agreement. Helen sat on the couch beside him. Will, Henry, Kate, and Big Guy stood or sat quietly nearby. They had all gathered in Helen's office to listen to what had happened and help, if they could, solve the mystery of the Shadow Men once and for all.

"Heinrich, did you see anything?" Tesla shot at him.

"No," Henry shook his head. "Not a thing but…" he stopped.

"What?" Tesla asked, urging him on.

Henry looked over at Magnus. "The look on Doc's face…I just knew."

Tesla sighed. Knowing, sensing, feeling were all rather intangible. Usually he could count on Helen to help him ferret out the truth, be the objective one, but in her current, emotional state, she was of little to no help at all. It appeared that he would have to lead this investigation. Why the burden always fell on him to pick up the pieces and develop a solution he didn't know. The yoke of genius, he surmised.

"Helen," he turned to her again. He wasn't a medical doctor, so he couldn't be sure, but he was almost positive she was in some kind of shock.

After a moment, she looked up at him. Her eyes were red, presumably from crying, and oddly distant. She clung tightly to Druitt, their hands interlaced together in a desperate lock. There were many things Nikola Tesla understood, but love, especially this bizarre, unnatural attraction Helen had for John, was an enigma he would never solve. Druitt was tall. That was all he had ever concluded. She seemed to be attracted to tall.

"You said you felt her? What did you mean?"

"I'm sorry, Nikola, what did you say?" Helen mumbled.

Tesla took a deep breath. He didn't have a child. Had no urge to procreate. Yet he was intelligent enough to fathom what the loss of a child would mean to a parent. And he knew Helen well enough to know how deeply it had affected her despite her valiant efforts to hide it. She'd never gotten over it. If anyone thought otherwise they were a fool.

He walked over to her and knelt down by her side so he could look her in the eye and make sure she understood.

"I need you to focus, Helen. If you're right, if what you and John experienced is indeed Ashley, I need your help in bringing her back. Help me, Helen."

That was all it took. Magnus' eyes cleared and her back straightened. She took a deep breath and exhaled, expulsing whatever thoughts and regrets she had been contemplating for the past hour.

"Right," she replied, her voice strong. She untangled her hand from John's . "What do you need to know?"

Nikola smiled. This was the Helen Magnus he knew and loved. All business and ready to conquer the world. He stood up and walked back over to Magnus' desk, picking up his file.

"You said you could feel her. What did you mean?"

Helen stood up and followed him, her hands clasped tightly together in thought.

"I don't know exactly. I'm not sure how to explain it, Nikola. She didn't communicate with me, not verbally, but when she passed through me I could feel her presence, for lack of a better term. It was almost like an electronic vibration or echo of her physical being. John?"

Druitt nodded. "I agree. I can't think of any other way to describe it."

"Yeah, but how do we get her back?" Kate asked, sitting on the arm of the sofa next to Henry. "If it is her, what exactly is she?"

"She's matter converted to pure energy. Just like Johnny here is when he…" Tesla stopped suddenly, his eyes wide.

Magnus squinted at him. "Nikola?"

Tesla smiled. "That's it! My God. Why is everything so incredibly simple?"

Kate leaned over and whispered to Biggie. "Mad scientist speak or what?"

The Big Guy shrugged.

Tesla pointed at Druitt. "She's like you when you convert to energy to teleport, John. Problem is she's in stasis, she can't convert back. But you can."

Helen looked from Nikola to John and back again comprehension spreading across her face.

"Of course! That's why she's been trying to contact you. You can pull her out!"

John stood up. "How?

"By teleporting with her. Just like you do when you teleport with one of us. If you can transform us into energy and back into matter, you can do it with Ashley," Helen said excitedly.

"Precisely," Tesla smiled, leaning back against Helen's desk, his arms folded triumphantly across his chest.

Henry shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. "She needs to hitch a ride. Wow. Amazing!"

"I would have phrased it more eloquently, Heinrich, but essentially, yes," Tesla frowned.

John stared at Helen. "Do you really think so? Could it be that easy? Ashley somehow trapped? Unable to rematerialize?"

Helen nodded. "I think so, yes."

"But why can't she?" Kate asked. "She was able to do it before? Why not now?"

Tesla rubbed his chin and looked from Kate to Helen.

"That is actually a very good question from the tattered jean section of our studio audience."

Kate frowned.

"There's only one way to find out," Tesla told Helen.

"Pull her out."

"Precisely."

"But how do we find her?" Helen asked, talking to herself as much as she was to her team. "If we're right, she's existing as pure energy operating on instinct more than conscious thought, correct?"

"Instinct that led her back home," Henry chimed in.

"Exactly," Tesla agreed. "We can use that instinct, her inherent knowledge that this is where she needs to be, that John is the one who can help her, to lure her to him and when she does..."

"I dematerialize with her energy form and rematerialize with Ashley intact?" John finished.

Helen nodded. "That's the theory."

"I believe your energy, your ability is what she needs to transform her back into a physical state," Tesla explained.

John rubbed his hands together. "All right. When do we start?"

"Now," Magnus answered. "Nikola, you, John, and Henry work on setting up an area where the materialization can take place. I need you to think about any risks we may be missing, to Ashley or John, in doing this. I want them both back, alive and well."

"Of course," Nikola nodded. "Gentlemen?"

The three men walked out of the room and Magnus turned to Kate.

"Kate, I need you two to prep the infirmary. We have no way of knowing what being in stasis for so long has done to Ashley physically. If this succeeds, she may need medical attention. I want the O.R. and everything in the medical area ready for any eventuality."

"You got it. C'mon Big Guy." They left.

Helen turned to Will. He'd been silent during the entire conversation. It wasn't like him. Not like him at all.

"What can I do to help?" he asked softly.

Magnus walked over to him, her high heels clicking on the floor until she stood face to face with him, taking in his bleak demeanor. "First, you can tell me what's wrong. You didn't say a word just now. That's not like you, Will."

He shrugged. "You and Tesla seemed to have it pretty much covered. There wasn't much else I could offer, can offer."

"That's where you're wrong," Magnus corrected him. "If we're right, if this succeeds, I'm going to need your help. Ashley will need your help."

Will tilted his head in query.

Magnus took a deep breath and continued, her arms folded across her chest. "I don't know which Ashley Magnus we're going to be pulling out of the ether, Will. My daughter or the monster the Cabal made her. The thought of that scares me to death. Either way, she's going to need your help. So may I, depending upon what happens."

He nodded, understanding her meaning now. "You got it."

"Good," she smiled. "Now, are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"

He stood still for a moment, looking down, hands buried in his pockets, his blue shirt billowing over his white tee.

"You were right, Magnus. You were right all along."

She tilted her head. "About?"

"About Ashley. You were sure she'd gotten through the EM field. That she'd made it through somehow. You wanted to believe she was alive, search for her, and I…"

"And you supported me every step of the way in what anyone else would have thought of as a hopeless endeavor," Magnus walked closer to him and rested her hand on Will's arm. "You helped me look when even I knew I was grasping at straws. We did everything we could. If I was ultimately right, it was pure chance, Will, nothing more."

He nodded.

"I want you with me on this. I need you with me. If Ashley comes through," she stopped and corrected herself. "When Ashley comes through, I need you there."

"You can count on me," Will promised.

Helen smiled. "I know I can."

"So what's going on?" Will Zimmerman whispered to Henry as he unloaded the computer equipment outside the infirmary.

"We're going to make a call to Ash, at least, that's the plan."

Will looked at him, puzzled. "How?" he asked, automatically reaching over to help Henry lift the CPU off the cart and onto the table.

"When Druitt teleports, he emits an electrical signal unique only to him," he said, reaching behind the unit to hook it into the monitor. "Tesla and I think that Ashley, Energy Ashley, somehow locked onto John's signal, and since John is living here now at the Sanctuary…."

Will nodded. "It led her home. Wow."

Henry smiled. "Yeah. Wow is one word for it. Frak'n unbelievable is another," he paused and frowned. "Are two others. Anyway, we're going to replicate John's energy signature and boost it. See if it flushes her out."

"And then?"

Henry took a deep breath and sighed. "The rest is up to Druitt."

The door opened and Magnus walked in, Tesla and Druitt following closely behind.

"Are we ready?" she asked, her voice anxious.

"Just about," Henry replied. "Just need to boot her up." He flipped a switch, waited for the system to come up, and entered his password. "Okay," he turned to Magnus. "We're good to go."

Tesla stepped forward. "Turn on the frequency generator and set it to the preprogrammed coordinates."

Henry entered in the commands. "Done."

"Now, boost the signal 50 percent above normal."

"Boosting."

Henry looked up at Tesla. "It's ready."

"What now?" Will asked.

Tesla pulled up a chair, sat down, and opened the bottle of wine he'd packed with the computer equipment.

"We sip and we wait."

It had been over an hour since they'd started. Tesla sat in a corner drinking the last of his Chablis. Henry and Will remained at the desk monitoring the equipment and playing a game of cards. Helen and John sat off to the side, talking quietly.

"Helen…"

She was lost in thought once again. Had been since the moment she'd felt Ashley move through her.

Since then the memories of her daughter had washed over her like a waterfall. Ashley's birth in the Sanctuary with her good friend Jennifer, a mid wife, and James Watson by her side, holding her hand through each contraction….taking her first steps in Helen's office as she cruised around the furniture and suddenly let go, surprising herself almost as much as she'd surprised Helen….playing hide and seek with the Big Guy as he cleaned their home, her incessant giggles giving her away….and lying in bed together with a story, Helen stroking her daughter's hair so lightly they soon both fell asleep.

"Helen," John repeated.

She looked up at him. "Yes?"

He tilted his head, regarding her. "What are you thinking?"

She took a deep breath and exhaled. "How much I miss her," she said quietly.

John reached out and squeezed Helen's hand. "I'll bring her back."

Magnus looked up at him and smiled. "I know you'll try, John. That's all I can ask."

It was then he felt his daughter's presence. Knew she was nearby. John turned toward the door of the infirmary and saw her standing inside, a dark, vaguely humanoid mass. He let go of Helen's hand and gradually stood up, moving slowly toward the room. Carefully, he opened the door…

Helen, Will, Henry and Nikola all moved toward the observation window, watching as John methodically crossed the room moving toward one of the sick beds. He stopped, spoke so softly they couldn't hear what he said, and then slowly reached out his hand to what looked like empty air. In an instant, he transformed, vanishing as he did so.

At that moment, Nikola felt Helen slip her hand into his. He wrapped his fingers around hers and squeezed it tight in return.

Suddenly, a flash of bluish light sparkled in the air. Druitt rematerialized alone. Helen's grasp on Nikola's hand tightened. Then John turned around.

In his arms was their daughter.

Helen let go of Nikola and ran through the infirmary door, her heart pounding. John was on the floor now holding Ashley in his arms, crying.

Magnus sank to her knees beside them and looked up at John, tears streaming down his face.

"Is she alive? Helen? Is she alive?"

She reached out, her hand trembling, and felt Ashley's neck, searching for a pulse. After a moment, she found it. The heartbeat was slow but strong. "Yes…" she managed, her voice shaking. "She's alive, John. Our baby girl is alive!"

"Ashley!" she called to her daughter, holding her face in her hands. "Ashley, can you hear me?"

The young woman's eyes fluttered and Helen held her breath. Memories of her nightmare, the terrible nightmare, flooded over her. Ashley's yellow eyes, the eyes of a Cabal monster, and the voice of Dana Whitcomb echoed in her head.

"Ashley?" she called to her again. "Can you hear me? It's me. It's mom."

Suddenly, her daughter opened her eyes. When she did so, all Magnus saw were bright blue eyes staring up at her own.

"Mom?" Ashley replied weakly.

Helen wrapped her arms around her daughter and cried.

Epilogue

"How is she?" Nikola asked his bags in tow ready to depart the Sanctuary once more.

"She's doing well. Growing stronger every day," Helen smiled. "Will is working with her, but so far, she remembers nothing about her time with the Cabal, the attack on the Sanctuaries, her experience in stasis. She may never."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Nikola remarked.

Helen nodded. "No, not a bad thing at all."

"And there's still no trace of the changes they made to her DNA?"

"None whatsoever. I think you may have been right, Nikola. The weapon you made to stop the Superabnormals initiated a molecular change in Ashley. Her DNA began rejecting, throwing off, the Superabnormal DNA. It explains why she stopped them from killing me. Why she changed at the very last moment."

Nikola pursed his lips. "Unfortunately with that change came the loss of her powers. So once she teleported…"

"She was unable to transform back. She was left in limbo as pure energy," Helen finished. "It's a miracle we found her."

Tesla rolled his eyes. "I don't believe in miracles, Helen. Genius, now that's something I can get my mind wrapped around."

Helen smiled, reached up, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Nikola. For everything."

"So this makes us even on the Kulkukan business?" he grinned.

"Not quite, old boy," John Druitt said walking into Helen's office. "But close."

Nikola lifted his hand and shook his finger at Druitt, glaring as his former colleague approached. "Nothing, I repeat, nothing will make up for the 72 hours I spent trapped in that amusement park Hell you put me in! If I ever hear 'It's a Small World' again I swear I will…"

Druitt laughed. "Fine. Point taken. We're even." He walked up to Tesla, towering over him and reached out his hand.

"I owe you one, Tesla. You brought back my daughter, and for that, well, I owe you everything really."

Nikola looked at John then took his old friend's hand and shook it. "We'll call it even, Johnny."

Druitt nodded.

"Well then," he clasped his hands together. "I'm off."

"And where are you going? Out of curiosity." Helen inquired.

"Oh, here and there," Tesla replied, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I hear there's been a vampire sighting in my old homeland of Serbia. I may just drop by and, you know, pay a visit to the Motherland."

Helen smiled. "You'll never change, will you?"

Tesla grinned. "I doubt it. It keeps you on your toes doesn't it?"

She laughed. "Indeed it does, Nikola."

"Until next time," Tesla announced loudly, grabbing his bag and bowing ceremoniously before he left.

Helen shook her head and leaned back against her desk. Druitt nodded his goodbye to Nikola then walked up to his lover, wrapping his arms around her waist. She smiled up at him and weaved her arms around him in kind, resting her body against his solid chest.

"What are you thinking?" he whispered moving his arms to Helen's back, caressing her body in light, wide strokes.

She sighed at the touch. "How blessed I am. How blessed we are."

"Blessed?" John repeated, surprised. He stepped back so he could look at her. "That's not a word I've heard you use often."

"No. It's not," she replied thoughtfully. "But it's the only word I can think of that describes this…us…Ashley."

John smiled, put a hand to her cheek, then leaned in and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Blessed." He agreed.

She smiled up at him and took his hands in hers.

"Let's go see our daughter, shall we?"

He nodded, letting Helen lead him through the door.

END