Two days later, John's shock treatments were complete. All of the scans and tests that Helen performed showed that he truly – medically – was back to being himself, just like after his encounter with Nikola months earlier. Now it was up to her to find a means of keeping him that way.

"You may stay here," she told him as she led him through the halls of the Sanctuary's living quarters to an empty bedroom. "We got some more clothes for you; if there's anything else you need…"

John nodded as he looked around the room. It was well-appointed, just like every other in the mansion. A fireplace was in the corner and the window afforded a view of the courtyard. "Thank you."

"I should return to the lab," she excused herself, heading toward the door.

"Will you join me for dinner?" John asked.

She sighed lightly. "I have much to get done, John."

"You still need to eat," he countered.

"I'll have something brought to my lab. You may join the others for dinner if you'd like."

He knew that pushing her further would be useless. "As you wish," was all John finally said.

Helen studied him for a moment, surprised that he had actually given in. She nodded her thanks to him for that before disappearing out the door.

~ * ~

She had an internal argument the entire way down to her lab. Her brain knew all of the sensible lines of reasoning – he had done horrible things in the past, both to her and to others; he was currently her patient, which required that she remain objective (although she doubted she'd have any better luck with that than she'd had the first time around); and he hadn't done anything to prove that she could rely on him not to break her heart once more. And yet, her heart didn't care about any of these things. All it knew was that she had another chance with her first true love.

How was it that John Druitt could turn a 158-year-old woman into an adolescent school girl?

~ * ~

Henry and Big Guy had been in the hallway and saw Helen leave John's room. The tech whiz raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Sasquatch. "You think we should be worried yet?" he asked.

Big Guy shrugged. "I do not know…Were you not already worried?"

Henry had to admit he'd gotten him there. "Mmm, good point."

John started helping out around the Sanctuary, since the alternative would be just sitting in his room all day. He continued to attempt to spend time with Helen, inviting her to dinner or for an afternoon walk around the grounds. He always respected her feelings, however, and backed off when she said no. His intention was never to make things more difficult for her.

One afternoon, when Helen returned to her office after finishing rounds with the rest of the team, she was pleasantly surprised to find a flower vase sitting on her desk. The white roses that it contained were in full bloom and Helen gently fingered one of them.

She knew exactly who the flowers had come from. John had given her white roses on their first date, and they had continued to be a favorite gift for any special occasion during their courtship. The night that he proposed to her, they had returned from their play and a ride through Piccadilly to find that her bedroom was absolutely filled with the flowers.

"John…" she'd whispered when she saw what he'd done. With candles strewn about as well, the room had looked magical. He'd just smiled, and she hadn't been able to resist teasing him. "You were so certain I would say yes, were you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him and pretending to be put out.

He'd absolutely frozen. It hadn't ever dawned on him how presumptuous his plans had been. Of course he'd hoped that her answer would be yes, and had been relatively certain that she would agree. However, if he knew anything in life it was that nothing was ever certain. "I…I'm sorry."

Helen had quickly let him off the hook. "Don't worry, John. It's beautiful, thank you."

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Helen set the vase on the corner of her desk where it was out of her way but still in her line of sight. He was starting to wear her down.

What she didn't know was that John was in the hallway outside of her office and had watched as she saw the flowers. After she sat down to start her work, he turned away from the partially open doorway, a slight smile on his face.

He quickly found that Henry was waiting for him around the corner.

"Was there something you needed?" he asked the younger man.

"I know what you're doing," Henry stated, his face an expressionless mask.

"What I'm doing with regards to what?" John inquired.

"The boss. You might think that you're being all sneaky and whatever, but you're not."

John raised an eyebrow. The other members of the team had been relatively good about minding their own business during his stay at the Sanctuary but apparently the time for that had passed. "Are you acting under the incorrect assumption that Helen needs a watchdog?" he shot.

Henry knew that comment had been personal. "She's been through things you don't even know about. And while you're hanging around, playing the bald Prince Charming, just know that if you even think about hurting her again, this isn't anywhere on this planet that you can hide."

John had a cutting remark on the tip of his tongue, but paused for a moment. It was obvious that Henry WAS in fact intimidated by him (likely a result of their first encounter), but he was trying to pretend not to be. The notion that he was putting on this act in Helen's defense was actually kind of cute; it was nice to know she had such a loyal staff.

"I'll keep that in mind," was all John finally said before continuing down the hall.

It took two weeks before Helen devised a working treatment. He would need regular injections of the serum she'd created, but hopefully it would be his long-sought-after cure.

"So, what's the verdict, Doctor?" John asked as Helen finished giving him a CAT scan a week after his first injection. He'd teleported several times over the past few days in order to test the effectiveness of her drug.

She carefully scrutinized the images on her computer as John got up from the scanner and joined her. "I don't see anything of note. Your results are virtually identical to the ones from a week ago. Have you been feeling any side effects?"

"None," he replied with a shake of his head. "I haven't felt this good in a very long time…Thank you, Helen."

She looked away. "You don't have to thank me."

"But I do," he insisted. "I don't suppose you'd like to talk about where we go from here?"

Helen sighed, putting the needle back down. "Please. Let things settle. I can't…I do still love you, John, but I've also had my heart shattered by you. And by other forces." He looked away.

"I'm sorry."

"It's too late to be sorry. Nothing can be changed, and I know it wasn't really you. But I'm not sure if I'm ready yet to open myself up to the possibility of more pain."

"I promise you, Helen, that I will never hurt you again."

"John – "

"I'll give you as much time as you need."

She closed her eyes as she exhaled. "Thank you."

He stayed true to his word. The following morning, Helen awakened to find a single long-stem rose lying on her pillow. There was a note attached to the stem.

I WILL RETURN IN TIME FOR MY NEXT TREATMENT. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, – JOHN.

TBC...

A/N: I'm glad to see a couple people are enjoying the story. Feedback is always appreciated! Thanks to DemonxVampire and melissaadams22 for your reviews.