(no subject)

Now that Helen had hidden herself away from the world, she finally had time to do things that weren't balancing a half dozen governments on her shoulders. Will was more than capable of handling the day-to-day running of the Sanctuary and it left her with more available time than she'd had in recent decades.

It was, in a word, unbearable.

Without something to fill up every waking moment of every day, Helen found herself dwelling on those she'd lost. This time of year, it fell toward Ashley, because her birthday would be in a few weeks and it was a day that always felt empty without her bounding around. Ashley was everything that Helen was not - impetuous, brave, brash and daring. Helen had ever been cautious about her life and had left nothing to chance. Ashley played everything for a lark.

So this particular evening, she wound up deep in the labs and saw only a few tufts of spiked brown hair bent over an unknown project. Nikola. Clearly that was the way to go, for distraction.

"Oi, what are you doing up so late, then? Burning the candle from both ends?" she teased, wanting to get a rise out of him.