(no subject)

[daredtobelieve]

Helen can't sleep. Between checking defenses at her own facility and the news about the attempted attack on the Kashtta... It's no wonder that it's been keeping her up. She knows that all reports point towards a complete lack of casualties, but that doesn't put her mind at ease as it should. It's to be expected. Senseless violence has begun and it is knocking at her doorstep. There will likely be no true rest for Helen until she feels her loved ones are safe- which could be months from now, at this rate.

Back home, the roof of her Sanctuary was the place that helped her collect her thoughts. She's hoping that the roof of her newest Sanctuary will serve the same purpose. A note was left on her office door prior to her departure for the night air. She's not running from any of her residents, after all. She just needs a new perspective.

Much like in Old City, Helen has no fear of heights or falling. She stands on the ledge, looking out over the city- or at least what she can see of it. She's not as far from the ground as she's used to. She doesn't have the vantage point she wants. So many things about this are wrong, but she can only work with what she has built for herself. Taking a deep breath, she tries to push aside her worry, for even the briefest moment to focus on the problem and finding a solution.

Comments

[darkgathersin]

Theta finds his way to the roof of the Sanctuary easily enough. It's comfortable being high, being closer to the sky. He knows about the attack on the tower, knows that this is partially his fault, knows a lot of things really, but he tries not to think of it.

He sees Helen and wanders up to her, smiling a little, though his expression is not that of a man who looks like he believes what he's projection.

"You look thoughtful," he comments. It's said in a way that indicates that, if she doesn't want to answer him, if she doesn't even want to >see him, he'll back off but if she wants someone to talk to, someone to be around. He's around.

[daredtobelieve]

Helen hasn't blamed Theta for any of the events unfolding. The CLF could have been set off by anyone. Ruby only expedited the inevitable. Most of her anger at Ruby's actions have worn off by now, but she's not running to make friends any time soon either.

"There is much to think about." She responds, smiling a little, even though she doesn't turn to look at him.

[kalicatastrophe]

It's not uncommon to see Kali roaming about the Sanctuary at all hours of the day. Helen let it be her home for a while, so she wants to protect it. She's good at it, it makes sense. Apparently though, all the residents were good at it because the defenses had held. But it didn't make Kali feel any better about being attacked.

She's on her circuit that includes the rooftop (it's a surprisingly easy access point, she's up there a lot) when she notices Helen. Part of her wants to leave her be, but the other part, the more insistent part with the never ending need for the type of affection Helen supplies, wins out. As always.

She walks over to where Helen is standing, near silent, and rests her elbows on the edge, dropping her chin in her hands. She likes it up here. Cats and heights. "Do you want to be alone?"

[daredtobelieve]

Helen turns her gaze just slightly, letting Kali fall into her peripheral line of sight. The corners of her mouth turn up and she shakes her head lightly.

"No. I just needed some fresh air." It's not true. She did come up to be alone, but Kali has been a wonder of help during all of this, so Helen will never turn her away for any reason. Carefully, she comes down from the ledge to stand beside the young woman.

"I take it you can't sleep either?"

[kalicatastrophe]

Kali shakes her head, looking out at the city. At night it seems so peaceful, even during the day it doesn't seem like a powder keg about to explode, really. She's not sure how that much violence can just disappear at night.

"Not really." It's a pity too. Kali doesn't have the gene that inhibits sleep, she adores sleeping. In the sun. Like a cat. "I was just doing a patrol to keep me busy. I didn't really mean to interrupt you."

[daredtobelieve]

"You're not interrupting, dear. I was just taking a moment away. You're always welcome to join me." Given the fact that Kali has been so kind as to move into the Sanctuary to help keep it safe? Helen isn't about to begrudge her a little face time.

"It's a quiet night." She remarks, though she doesn't seem pleased about it. There's some eerie about the quiet now. She feels as though she's waiting for the other shoe to drop. Or the other bomb to go off, as it were.

[cyberromantic]

"You know, usually standing on ledges means something bad," Izzy says, the hiss of her knees and the clomp of her feet almost masking her words. "But in your case, it seems like it's actually doing something."

Izzy has managed to wrest herself from the den of science and was thinking about spending some time alone, outdoors, not trapped, but apparently alone wasn't an option. It never seems like it is, anymore. Oh, when her faithful companions were all robots.

[daredtobelieve]

The sounds are strange, but Helen on casts a curious look over her shoulder at the one approaching.

"Usually, but not always." She calls back in response. Helen's curiosity wins out and she steps down from the ledge to find out just who has joined her. "I don't think we've met."

[visiongirl]

The upsides to being made a slayer by the Rift is that Cordelia doesn't need to sleep the way she used to. But it's left her restless. There's too much to try to navigate. The city's at war, and innocent people are going to get hurt. People she thought she'd never get a chance to see again -- like Doyle. Like Fred.

She's supposed to be dead, ascended and working for the higher powers but she's here now, and she can't just let that go to waste. She could disappear any day. Angel had.

Since the most recent attacks, Cordelia's taken to patrolling the Sanctuary as much as she can. It's her home here, the only one she has. She told Fred it would safe here -- she's going to make sure it is.

But even she needs breaks sometimes, and much like Helen, she's made her way up to the roof to try to clear her head, clear her thoughts. Too much has been going on in there. She's felt raw, exposed having someone here who knows what happened to her (not that Fred knows the whole story, she'd like to keep that a secret) and while the patrolling has been a distraction, it's not enough.

When she makes her way towards the edge, she notices a familiar face and offers the other woman a small, weak smile.

"Seems we had the same idea tonight."

[daredtobelieve]

"Great minds." Helen muses, not needing to turn to know who it is, but doing it all the same and returning Cordelia's smile with her own. She's noticed the way the young woman has put in so much for the Sanctuary in its time of need. Helen only wishes she could properly show her gratitude for all that Cordelia has done and continues to do. Alas, there's simply not enough time or enough words to say or show it.

It's strange how this reminds her a great deal of when Will first came to work for her- standing on the rooftop of the Sanctuary, waiting on the precipice of change. Cordelia and Will were extremely different in many ways, but the similarities of the circumstance struck her. Somewhere in all the chaos, she had not only found herself with residents, but those that she considered employees, colleagues, friends.

"Care to join me? The view is breathtaking."

[visiongirl]

Cordelia likes having something to throw herself into, feeling like she's actually helping. So she's more than willing to throw herself into doing what she can around the Sanctuary. When times get tough, people have to be tougher. It's a lesson she learned a long time ago.

During one of the early cases in Los Angeles she had met up with Angel on the roof top afterwards, talking to him about whether he could really change or not -- and how she promised to stake him dead if he ever went psycho on them all again. It feels like a lifetime ago in a lot of ways, but she briefly thinks of that as she lingers on the roof top here.

She smiles at Helen's offer, nodding a little. "Sure. It's almost as good as the view of Los Angeles was."

[daredtobelieve]

She's quiet for a moment, collecting her thoughts and trying to push away some of her worries. She knows that nearly everyone shares her same fears and concerns on some level. They're all lingering in the same high-tension environment, after all.

"I've been meaning to thank you. You've been so helpful in all of this. You all have." It's the smallest way that she can show her gratitude, but for now, it's the best she can do.

[creidim]

Luna's been up and about constantly since the attacks on Kashtta and Sanctuary. There's been magical wards that need strengthening after the bombardments and close checking to make sure they're still working properly. She's also been helping Harry with patrols around the Santuary when she can, which is what she's been doing tonight.

Going to check the roof, she's surprised to find Helen there, but in a way, she's not. She takes a few steps toward her before stopping and staring off into the city.

"It feels quiet." she says, "Only for a moment."

[daredtobelieve]

The soft little voice pulls Helen away from her thoughts. She knows that there are patrols set up for the entire residence, which includes the roof, but she hadn't expected company so soon. Luna isn't really disturbing her, though. In reality, Helen feels more put together when she has someone to help focus her thoughts. Conversations allow her to keep herself composed. There's nothing she dislikes more than falling apart.

"A moment too soon fled, I should think." She says with a tired smile. "They'll come again, and likely soon." It's only then that she remembers how young Luna is and regrets her candor. But she can't take back the words back, so instead, she just let silence carry them away. "Thank you, for all your help."

[creidim]

Luna's had to grow up quick, both in her own world and here. She doesn't mind the honesty. In fact, she prefers it. She spent six years in Narnia, the fact she returned to her seventeen year old self's body doesn't make her any less of an adult.

Well, not in her eyes, anyway.

"We'll be ready for it, Dr. Magnus." she says gently with a nod, smiling a little at her next choice of words. "We're made of sturdy stuff."

She tilts her head to the side, rolling her shoulders in an easy shrug. "The Sanctuary and Kashtta are our homes. We will do anything to protect them, you don't need to thank us."

[daredtobelieve]

"More than sturdy." She replies with a smile of her own. It's actually the ways in which all the children are adults that hurts Helen the most. Chicago makes everyone grow up, but war ages a person faster than anything else ever could.

"It still amazes me, to see this community come together. So many people from so many different beginnings. And yet we're all the same in this cause."

[somanyadjectives]

Getting firebombed really isn't Stefan's idea of a good time.

After checking on both Bonnie and Lexi, but before checking on everyone else, unsure of the bridges he may have burned recently with Klaus, he looks for Helen. From what he could tell, most of his friends didn't live in the Sanctuary or the Kashtta, so checking on them could wait a little longer. Besides, as far as he knew there were no casualties.

Score one for magic.

That didn't make this easier, however. The vampire in Stefan is telling him to make the next move first. That you don't stay alive if you don't get ahead of the game, and Stefan is very much itching to do just that. Because underneath it all, he knows how to kill and he knows the statement it sends, and better him, the one who already has blood on his hands, than someone who isn't ready to fight the war.

At the same time, the human side reasons that that will only make things worse. That's the cost of being two things -- you're never sure which side is actually right.

He finds Helen on the roof, and for a long time he doesn't say anything. He's simply there, trying to figure out what to say. It doesn't come easily, but in the end it does come.

"The perimeter seems to be intact. There doesn't seem to be any lasting damage, aside from where the bomb hit."

[daredtobelieve]

Truthfully, Helen is just as antsy to go on the offensive, but with so many young people in her care, she knows that remaining defensive is her best bet. It makes her anxious, the waiting. It feels like she's waiting for them to break through, to start the chaos, to make the Sanctuary a battleground.

She doesn't notice Stefan up there with her until he speaks. Vampires and their soft steps... it's all too unfair. When he does speak, she turns her head and nods from her perch on the ledge.

"Good. We'll tend to the blast site tomorrow morning. I wanted to give everyone the change to gather their wits before we worried to tend to the building."

[somanyadjectives]

He nods. It's a smart choice, and he can't blame her for giving them time to calm down. He takes his time to move closer to her, looking out over the city.

"This is going to get worse before it gets better."

[geniusforgotten]

She isn't difficult to find. He's known her long enough to know exactly where to look. There are other important matters for him to be looking into, like their defenses and their potential for upgrade. But she is more important. His work will wait; Helen is his priority.

He doesn't bother to announce himself, trusting she'll know it's him, expecting her to talk when she's ready. Instead, glass of wine in hand, he silently moves to stand beside her.

[daredtobelieve]

She knows he's there long before she turns. Having Nikola nearby and quiet is enough to give her a little comfort. Their banter is something she sorely missed before he arrived in Chicago, but this isn't the time for sarcasm. Lives are at stake.

Eventually, she knows that she must face him and the rest of the world. But she doesn't move her body. Instead, she keeps her gaze on the skyline while she speaks.

"We were lucky." It's the only time she's admitted it and likely the only time she will. "They'll be back and with more firepower next time."

[geniusforgotten]

No. Now isn't the time for flirting or bickering. Contrary to popular belief, he is capable of caring about something other than himself. He's far from being a saint, but he has always found destruction without purpose unforgivable.

"We'll be ready."

[comhar]

John is uncharacteristically somber as he makes his way to the Sanctuary.

It didn't take long for news to travel, and once he found out what had happened at both key wanderer places, he decided to risk it and make the trek. There's not much that stops him, after all. His ward lives in the Tower, and Helen runs the Sanctuary. That means both places are important to him for their own sets of reasons.

Helen isn't found in her office, so he hunts her down. In a nice manner of speaking. Once he finds her up on the roof, he remains quiet at first, not sure if he wants to impose on her or not.

He moves until he's standing almost beside her, the worry quite apparent in his features.

[daredtobelieve]

Helen is acutely aware of her surroundings, and as John approaches, she turns her head slightly to catch sight of him. She only wants to know who is joining her to know how best to greet them. With an old friend like John, Helen simply stays still. Once he's settled near her, she actually breathes a little easier. Of all the people she's known in Chicago, John has always been one that she felt most comfortable around.

"I wondered if I'd see you soon." She says quietly. Her tone is gentle, but all the usual humor is gone. "The city seems impossibly quiet now. It almost worries me more."

[comhar]

"Couldn't say away," is John's answer. The usual playfulness that would normall be attached to such a greeting is gone, as well. It is tempered by something far more somber than what people are likely used to when it comes to John, but he feels the heaviness of it all rest squarely at his shoulders. Just standing next to the woman he cares for so much and admires so greatly helps center him.

It is a feeling he has come to associate with her.

"We've got some time," he says to Helen softly when she speaks of the quiet. It's not exactly reassuring, he knows, but he'll always be honest first and foremost. Having lived in the city as long as he has, one learns of the CLF and its history all too well. "They'll retreat to lick their wounds, having been arrogant enough to believe they wouldn't be met with a challenge." They'll want to regroup. But they will strike again, yes. They're angry and they want blood, and they'll come back.