My Sanctuary, My Home

Getting Answers

I looked up when I saw Nikola walking into the room.

"Are you done bugging Will about the wine issue?" I asked him.

"I'll have you know not having enough wine is a very important issue," he told me with a small smirk and I gave him a look.

"I'm sure we can find something else for you to drink other than wine," I told him.

"I don't think so," he scoffed and I shook my head while typing in my report from my latest fact-finding mission.

"I m surprised you allowed Helen to go to Egypt with John alone."

"Helen is a big girl and can take care of herself. Besides, Ashley is as much John's daughter as she is Helen's," I reminded him.

"Do you ever wish you had any children?" He asked me and I looked up at him confused. I just stared for a moment before answering.

"I'm glad we never had any children," I told him. "It's already annoying enough to be hunted by my own people. I'd never force that on a child."

"And if none of that had been an issue?"

"I've never seen myself as a mother, Nikola. I'm not about to start now." Lie. There was a time in my life when that was all I'd thought about.

"You never mothered Ashley. Not even a little?" he asked finally turning to me.

"I was her only Aunt, and I was extremely happy with that title," I told him. "And you? Did you ever picture yourself as a father?"

"Thousands of times when I was human," he told me and I stared at him, waiting for the rest of the answer. "But that was a long time ago."

"Yes, I suppose it was," I mumbled going back to my work.

"You really never thought about having a family?" he asked and I sighed.

"As you said, that was a long time ago, and I already told you I never saw myself as a mother," Nikola said nothing before going back to his own work.

"I need a sample of your blood," he told me and I went to him and held my arm out for him to do what he needed to do.

"I always hated this part," I mumbled as he picked up the needle and placed it against my skin.

"Well, there are ways I could distract you. If you'd let me," he told me and I gave him a look

"I'm surprised you're actually asking permission."

"Yes, that doesn't sound like me at all." He pulled me closer to him and kissed me passionately. I used my free hand to pull his head closer to mine. For a brief moment, I'd forgotten where we were and what was happening in the world. When it all came back to me, I pushed him off me and moved to the other side of the room.

"What the hell was that?" I asked him.

"You kissed me back," he pointed out with a smirk and I felt my cheeks burn.

"No one said I always did the smart thing," I told him, but he continued to smirk at me.

"I knew you cared about me."

"A moment of weakness shouldn't be described as caring," I told him, but we both knew I was lying.

"You can't lie to me, Eliza," he told me before holding up the syringe with my blood in it. "We both know you too well for that."

"You haven't known me that well in a long time, Nikola." I walked out of the lab.

A few hours later I walked into Henry's lab with Will right behind me.