Helen Magnus tilted her head as she looked at herself in the mirror in her room. She didn’t usually have an issue choosing an outfit, but today seemed like she should take extra care. The black, long dress flowing down to her ankles was accentuated by a pair of rather ornate earrings; her mothers. She cherished them dearly, and only brought them out for special occasions. This was one. Leaving aside the fact that it was her first date in several years. It also happened to be a moment of quite in her Sanctuary’s mission. She knew those didn’t happen often and she was feeling happy that she could take a moment.
It had been a year since Helen had revealed the Hollow Earth Sanctuary to William and the others. A year that had been busy. Henry had been flat out trying to get the new security system in place, and complaining like he does about the location Helen chose. William had taken a great deal of responsibilities from Helen after she was declared dead during the explosion of the Old City Sanctuary. While Helen did not like to give up so much of that control, doing it had been quite the weight off. For the first time in many many years she had been able to move around without anyone knowing, or seeing.
An afforded freedom.
Which in turn lead her to tonights importance. The very rare date night.
“This will work,” She told herself with a smile with one last look to the full length mirror in front of her. She moved over to her dressing table. It was an original Victorian 19th Century desk she had acquired during her time travel Sanctuary hiatus. Something she had managed to sneak away from her father when he moved his stuff to a new building. Originally, Helen had always wondered what happened to it. Had it been stolen by thieves? Destroyed in transit? Until Adam Worth’s time machine Helen didn’t have a clue. It was only when she realised that she could make small changes to the timeline that she knew that it was her that had taken it.
She loved this dresser for the same reason she loved her earrings. It felt as if her mother was near to her.
A flash of light made Helen turn around as John Druitt teleported into her room, “Hello, Helen,” He said in that soft, strong tone that always drew her to him.
“John,” Helen said firmly, placing the lipstick she had picked up back on the dresser, “I thought I had asked that you make use of the doors this once.”
“You did, my love,” He replied with a slightly devilish smile, “However, I thought with the EM shielding currently inactive you had changed your mind,”
“John, you know very well that Henry is having issues with the stability of the shielding,” She said almost scolding him but smiling as she did so, “Now, if you don’t mind,”
“Very well,” John Druitt said and disappeared in a flash of light smiling.
Helen started to apply her lipstick, a nice deep red. It was a few minutes before she heard a knock at her door. She finished and put the lipstick down again. This couldn’t be John, She thought to herself. He would have only been a second for that teleport. She wondered what was about to happen as she reached for the door and opened it.
John Druitt was standing behind the door. A bouquet of Lilies in hand. Helen smiled.
“For you my lovely Helen,”
Helen Magnus took the flowers from him and breathed in the aroma. The sweet flower smell hit her nose and she smiled. He remembered, She thought moving to a vase on the window sill. She placed the flowers in, and made a note to herself to arrange them properly later before moving back to him.
“You certainly have changed, John,”
“All thanks to you, my lovely,” He replied.
Both of them smiled. It was true. In the construction of her Hollow Earth Sanctuary, Helen had discovered a battered and bruised John in one of the tunnels. Keeping his location secret, she tested his blood with some of the Praxian technology that she had found that had survived. It lead to the control of the hunger that John had felt since gaining his abilities, and worked so much more than her giving him her own blood.
“Now, if you’ll pardon my lady,” John said holding out his hand, “If we don’t head off now we shall be late,”
Helen took his hand and the two of them disappeared, only to re-appear in an alleyway. Helen knew the street, of course, it was her favourite restaurant. The owner always kept a table in the back ready for her should she need to stop by. Several times Will and Henry had tried to co-opt her table, only to have work thrust upon them suddenly. Something she wouldn’t admit was her doing because it would also mean admitting that the owner called her whenever someone tried to use her name.
John held out his elbow, and Helen slid her arm in. The two of them walked in sync into the restaurant. The front of house staff guided the pair to their table. As they walked through the restaurant other couples were showing their feelings for each other, both humans and abnormals alike. A surprised persons face in the corner attracted her eye for a moment as they’re partner got down and proposed. Very quickly a lot of hugging occurred before Helen and John reached their table. She assumed the person had said yes.
They reached their table, and John drew Helen’s chair away gesturing for her to sit down. She accepted. Then he took his place opposite. The waiter approached holding a bottle of wine, and presented it to the pair. Helen nodded, and he began to pour the glasses starting with Helen’s.
“To what should we toast?” Helen asked with a smile at John.
“How about, to a night of finally being free to enjoy ourselves.” John said raising his glass.
Helen clinked her glass against his.
“I’ll drink to that,” They both took a sip.
The pair picked up their menus.
“Would you like more time,” the waiter asked not long after he saw them reading.
“I think I’ll have the house special,” Helen replied while closing her menu and passing it to the waiter.
“And I will have the same,” John told him.
“Very good. May we provide you with some complimentary rolls while you wait?”
“Not this time, Argensio,” Helen replied with a smile.
The waiter nodded, and stepped away to put their order in with the kitchen. Helen took another sip of her wine, and smiled, “This really is nice to get a break,”
“Very much so, Helen,” John replied, “And Happy Valentines Day to you, Helen,”
Helen did a quick think in her head. Was it Valentines? She had barely remembered with so much on. She didn’t like Valentines. It wasn’t really her day. Everyone getting excited about things that should be spread across the year.
“How about, just Happy day off?” Helen countered with a gentle smile.
John nodded, and the pair clinked glasses again.
A commotion came from the front of the restaurant as their food arrived. From her table, Helen could hear the unmistakable sound of gunfire. She was about to tell John to ignore it, when her handbag buzzed with a radio call.
“Doc, You there?” Henry called out in distress, “Don’t mean to interrupt anything, but we could really use some patented Magnus Charm about now,”
“Yeah, This could get out of hand,” She heard William say in the background.
Helen sighed.
“You brought a radio, Helen?” John asked, more amused than anything.
“For ‘emergencies’, Helen replied stressing the word, emergencies.
“I’d guess this applies then. Shall we go?” John asked.
“Well, It looks like a day off was too much to ask for,” Helen told him.
“What kind of date would it be with Helen Magnus if an abnormal capture wasn’t involved?” John replied with his big beaming smile.
Helen knew he was joking, but once she wished a date would go quietly. Maybe she should not have brought the radio. Perhaps she had brought it as a safety net. A way of getting too close.
“Shall we go?” John asked standing and holding out his hand.
Helen stood, “Let’s get this mess cleaned up,” She took his hand and the two vanished into nothing as the waiter came out of the kitchen with their meals.
Helen felt a wave come over her as she stood side by side with John shooting at a large abnormal blocking the street. This might not have been a perfect date, but it felt right for them.
Dreaming Screenwriter 