The Secret Wars.

At Henry's side, she followed after the two, nervously fidgeting to make sure they weren't being followed or trailed.
Then the explosion hit.
Kropp adjusted the wounded Hailey as to act as somewhat of a shield. He leaned over her and when his shoulder hit the wall, he crumpled to the ground in somewhat of a cocoon over her.
Helena, being of lighter weight and not as far down, was blasted easily off her feet and carried down the hall at an alarming rate. Having been slightly behind the group of three she smashed into them last. Driving her elbow into the back of her sergeant and her knee into Henry's, regrettably, pained side. She was in a collapsed, exhausted heap; and her once again feeble limbs trying to right her.
"Bloody hell boy genius..." Kropp coughed, having had the wind knocked from him. "What did you do?!" He sat up, running bloody fingers through his mussed hair.

Henry went flying down the hall with the explosion, hitting the wall hard and groaning as Helena's knee slammed into his side. He lay for a moment, unmoving.

"Mother of..." he muttered, trying to push himself up. He could hear them talking over Hailey, before Alfredo shot the healing gun at her, and he tried to turn to look at the others. "So everyone's alive?"

Henry followed after Alfie and Lucia to the elevator, getting inside along with Kropp and Helena. He leaned back against the wall, breathing hard. His shirt had been torn to shreds. And he'd liked that one. It had been nice.

Besides that, there was no way someone like Lucia could avoid seeing his damn scars now. That's not important, everyone's alive, bloody hell everyone is alive. Even he himself was alive, and he was certain back there that Death had come to collect his payment.

Kropp dragged himself to his feet, replacing his ax in his holster.
"Nah, I've got 'er, I've got 'er.." He took Hailey into his arms with ease. "Helen, come on."
The girl herself was currently shell-shocked on the ground, her eyes as wide as saucers. She looked up at him owlishly, slowly and jerkily coming to her feet and walking, almost like a zombie, to the elevator. Once inside, she leaned into the corner, and began to stare at her feet.
"Welp..she's gone.." Kropp muttered under his breath and sighed, stepping into the elevator as well.

Upon entering the Wonter house, the group looked reasonably shabby. Kropp, looking as though he had been run over by a carriage or three, was eager to drop Hailey off in her room and head to the healing module. He was currently limping, the effects of adrenaline having worn off leaving his body wracked with soreness and pain. Helena followed after, seemingly caring little for her injuries. She walked towards the stairs, making it up a few steps before capsizing against the railing and sliding to the ground; sitting a few steps from the first floor.
Kropp groaned. "Helen, get your ass either to bed or to the healing modu-whatsit because there is no way in hell I am carrying you, too!"
This prompted no response.
He sighed. "Fuck it...Henry, I just finished the weirdest week of my life, Hailey's unconscious and Alfredo hates her- I leave talking the midget out of it to you..." He dragged himself up the stairs, disappearing around the corner.

Henry had followed them inside, stumbling, and was already on his was to healing module when Kropp called him out. "Alright," he said, running a hand through his hair and letting out a sigh. "Healing module, Helena," he said, starting over to her. "You need it."

Helena didn't look up, preferring to keep her hands pressed to the side of her head, and drawing her knees in tighter to her chest. Normally such a request would have either been greeted with a 'No' or a 'fuck you, but it was instead greeted by silence.

Henry sighed, stopping in front of her on the stairs. "I will carry you there if I have to," he said gently. "Come on."

Helena slowly turned her lifted her gaze to meet him. Meeting him with a look that wasn't quite the same as a glare, but the anger was still quite noticeable. She opened her mouth slightly as if to respond, but quickly closed it- thinking the look she gave him was answer enough.

"Helena," he said. "You'll feel better in the module and we can talk there, okay?" He really didn't want to have to carry her down there, being injured, so maybe he could talk her into it...

"Go away.." Helena finally spoke up. She didn't appear to want to move, or talk, or do anything for that matter. She felt as though the throbbing in her head and the stinging in her legs were the only things keeping her grounded, at the moment.

He leaned against the wall, looking down at her for a moment before he turned, sitting down slowly next to her. "Nah," he said. "Talk to me, Helena," he said, after a moment.

Helena looked up at him, looking somewhat surprised. "Oh? And now you're interested in talking to me?" She replied bitterly. "You and everyone else seemed pretty damned adamant about avoiding me earlier."

He sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his eyes with his palms. "We were kind of in the middle of a battle, Helena," he said, tired. "There's time now. Just talk to me."

"Not talking about the damn battle, I'm talking about ever since I got here. None of you wanted to fucking associate with me- other than maybe Hailey." She glared at him.

He looked back over at her steadily. "I figured it was best not to get attached," he said, glancing away. "I didn't expect you to stay long."

"After how obvious I made it that I wanted to stay? You just didn't want me around- you didn't think I was capable, and now that it turns out I am you're all suddenly sunshine and rainbows."

"Do I look like sunshine?" he asked flatly, staring at her. He rubbed at his eyes again. "I didn't want you staying around and getting hurt," he said. "Which you did."

"Yeah, I kinda did. I tried to incredibly hard to please you, impress you- and what did I get for it? Tortured, tormented, and oh, what was that other thing? Possessed. A vile, disgusting creature invaded my mind and used it as it wished." She subconsciously cringed.

He sighed. "Trying to impress me is a horrible reason to do anything," he said flatly. "And it's over now. It won't happen again," he said, more firmly.

"And can you promise that? No, you can't. The thing is; it happened. And an experience like that doesn't go away. It's horrible, you can't imagine- someone in your mind, having access to everything, being able to pretend to be you...everything you thought was undeniably yours suddenly being used by someone else for evil..evil..." She relapsed into her former position, hunched over, her hands pressed against either side of her head.

Henry nodded. "Yeah," he said awkwardly. Of course he could imagine. He cleared his throat, awkwardly leaning over to hug her. "You're okay. You'll be okay."

"No. It. Won't." As much as she glared at him, she couldn't say the hug was unappreciated or unneeded. "You've never felt it, Henry. Something else being inside you- your mind- your head."

He didn't let her go, looking back at her as she glared at him. He grimaced, thinking, and then sighed. "Yes I have," he finally said. His gaze darted away for a moment, before he forced himself to look at her. "So don't start with that."

"You...what?" Helena looked up at him, shock registering on her face. "You were...When?"

He let her go, turning to sit back next to her again. "Two years ago?" he said.

"Two years...." She leaned her head against the railing. "Is that why you can...you know...exorcise people?" She paused for a moment. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Can you exorcise people now?" he said, smirking. "It's not just the possession or everyone would be able to do it."

"And it wasn't relevant," he said dismissively. "And isn't now. What's important now is you," he said quickly.

"Oh, no no no- we're not brushing passed this." Helena replied sternly. "How can you? You're not a mage, you're a normal person."

Damn it. Well he'd gotten her to stop thinking about what happened, and that had been his goal. "I don't know," he said, which was partly true. "I can guess but I'm not sure."

Helena raised an eyebrow at him. "Well what's your guess? It's not like one day the exorcism fairly tapped you on the head with your wand and you could suddenly do all this shit." She shook her head. "I'll but you about it another time...for now could you help me down to the healing module? Walking is painful...running through fire was a really fucking dumb idea..."

He sighed in relief. "Yeah, sure," he said. His wounds were paining him as well. He stood up, offering her his hand.

Henry leaned back in the module with a grateful sigh, closing his eyes as the pain melted away. Maybe he could take a nap or something...

"You still haven't answered my question, Henry." Helene stared at him, her knees tucked into her chest in the corner of the healing module.

He groaned. "Didn't you say later?"

"And now is later." She replied firmly.

"Not enough later," he said, opening one eye to glare at her.

She glared right back. "Later is later."

"Maybe I don't feel like discussing it," he said, closing his eyes and shifting to make himself more comfortable.

"Well maybe I do." She pressed, scooching closer to him.

A smirk flickered on his face. "Well, actually, I feel like talking about you. Can't we talk about that?"

She frowned, raising her eyebrows." Huh..?" A smile then appeared on her face. "Sure, if you answer my question."

He sighed. "I was trying to make a point," he said. "It didn't work, clearly."

"It most assuredly did not. And I'm not the one with the crazy exorcism ability for reasons I won't reveal."

"Look," he said, "it's just not something I care to think about. Alright?" He grimaced, feeling that old fear run down his spine yet again, and he opened his eyes, scanning her aura. She wasn't backing down. But he didn't need her aura to tell him that.

"You seem to not enjoy talking about a lot of things. Makes conversing with you rather difficult, if you ask me." Helena tilted her head.

"Come on, there's nothing you could tell me that would surprise me in the least. Besides, you heard an awful lot about me from that demon- it's only fair that I know some things about you."

He cringed. "I'm sorry," he said. He wished he could forget what the demon had said, he had no right to know it. He sighed, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees. "It's just not a pleasant memory is all," he said.

Helena as now sitting right next to him, eyeing him curiously. "Okay, now I have to know. What exactly happened, Henry?" It wasn't just pestering on her part, she was...concerned?

He raised an eyebrow as her aura softened. Helena, I'm supposed to be the one worrying about you right now. She was the one who'd just been possessed. But whatever took her mind off of it...

"I'm not sure how long he had me," he said. "Maybe a couple of weeks. I'd pass out and wake up several days later for only a few minutes, don't know why. Maybe that sort of thing is normal, maybe I was fighting him subconsciously or something."

"I wouldn't be surprised. You're more stubborn than I am..." Her reply was awkward, as if she was trying to lighten his mood, or maybe just the mood in general. "Uh...Who finally exorcised...got him out of you?"

He shook his head. "No one did." He grimaced, looking away. "I... I regained consciousness long enough to get home and tie myself down. And I fought him for three days before I pushed him out and shot him."

Helena's eyes widened. "Holy shit..Henry that's....wow." She was taken aback, she had no idea. "How-" She shook her head. "That is something..I don't think anyone else could manage."

"Yes, well," he said with a dry laugh. "I wouldn't recommend it." He ran a hand through his hair. "And I think that's where I got my exorcism thing. That's the only unique thing about my possession."

"I know it must have been...terrible." She bit her lip, awkwardly wrapping her arms around Henry. "And..er...sorry...about earlier."

He blinked, awkwardly patting one of her arms wrapped around him. "It's fine. I get it," he said, shaking his head and suppressing a shudder at the memory. It seemed he couldn't let a damn day go by without thinking about that again, if not dreaming about it. "You'll want to stay in here tonight, I think," he said, glancing over at her aura again. It was wispy and tattered, unhealthy. Probably what his looked like after the broker was through with it. "You'll have dreams otherwise."

"I don't want to stay in here...I know Alfredo's coming in here sometime tonight and I don't want to have him criticize me...." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Besides, ever since I got to this house I've been..too afraid to sleep on my own." She admitted, embarrassed.

"Hm?" he said. "What for?"

"I uh...I'm sorta scared..of the dark..." She bit her lip." A-and my room creeps me out."

He chuckled. "That's normal," he said. "Most of the rooms in this madhouse are screwed up somehow. That's just practicality."

"Yeah but...I'm a grown woman...and I have my own ship. And even in my ship I'm too scared to sleep alone. There's a reason Kropp and I have bunk beds, you know." She cringes, wow, she was pathetic.

"That's only practical," he reassured her. "Your subconscious mind knows there's safety in numbers. I mean, what if a crew member came in while you slept with mutiny on his mind? Or what if Alfredo finally got fed up with you?" he added, smirking.

"They did once...actually more than once. Men aren't too fond of the idea of being led by a female...Kropp's basically the only member of my crew that doesn't want to wedge a knife in my back." She sighed. "But honestly I've been afraid of the dark since I was little-" She frowned. "Oh, I wouldn't be too surprised if he did. Which is the exact reason why I don't want to sleep in here."

He smiled, amused at that. "Look," he said. "There's no shame in it. Everyone has some stupid fear like that."

"Oh really? What's your fear, then?" A smirk comes to her face. "Women? Or has meeting me instilled you with a newfound fear of teenage girls?"

"I have no problems with women," he insisted, glaring at her. He let out a breath, leaning back. "Scared of fire," he said. An airship he was on once had caught fire. "And I'm not scared of heights but I'm scared of falling," he said, giving a short laugh.

"Hm, I'll keep it in mind to trip you next time I see you, then." She laughed. "And fire is a reasonable fear. In fact, it's common sense. Especially with all the engine fires I've seen- because no one in my crew knows how to do their damn job."

"Now that's not nice," he said, smiling. He rubbed his eyes. "I think I might end up sleeping in here," he said, leaning back against the wall. "You're welcome to join me. I'll scream if Alfredo comes with a machete."

"Oh I'm mean but you love me, anyway." She replied smugly. "Might take you up on that, considering if he's not here I can only assume Kropp is bleeding to death in his room...Oh, wait, hold on." She unsteadily got to her feet and shakily left the room. She returned a few minutes later, a big swath of material in her arms. She dropped in on the bench, tossing a pillow to Henry and pulling out a blanket.

He raised his eyebrows as she came back. "I thought you'd gone to get Kropp," he said, catching the pillow.

"Well, I did- but the poor lamb was passed out in agony on his bed. I did manage to get his weapons off him, though. Not overly fond of the idea of waking up and finding up he has ax wedged in his hip." She wraps half of the blanket around her and takes a seat, raising up the other half for Henry to take.

He smiled, and as she held up the blanket for him, he hesitated. Inappropriate for a man of my age to share blankets with a young lady...

To hell with it. She was more of a kid than a lady - though she'd probably try to claw his eyes out if he said that. He sighed, scooting next to her and propping his head up on the pillow. "Thanks," he said.

Helena leaned against Henry, almost cuddling up against him. She didn't really see him as a 'threat' per se. He wasn't like Kropp, either. He was akin to a big brother, or a father- but like hell she'd ever tell him that. She tucked her knees into her chest and wrapped her half of the blanket around her.

Henry went downstairs to see Alfredo hard at work packing up his equipment.

"Alfredo?" he asked, confused. "What's this? Do we have another lead somewhere?"

Henry raised an eyebrow, his eyes passing over the flyer on the table. "Wishful thinking," he said. "There will be demons again soon, you know it."

He crossed his arms. "So where are we going then?"

Henry's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really?" he said dryly. "What happened to finding a way for people to see demonic auras? You seemed to care about that."

He leaned over and snatched up the flier as he set about packing, seeing the airship painted across it. He ignored the harpy comment. "And if you count useless as 'eliminating all demons from the region for a time' then yes, it certainly was useless wasn't it."

Henry stood there speechless for a moment, staring down at the flier. "Well then," he said, as he started to leave. "What the hell was your goal in the first?" he asked shortly.

Henry watched the exchange in silence, folding up the flier carefully and sticking it in his jacket pocket. "You realize, Alfredo," he said, "the demon world - at least, any demons of importance - are going to think you're still with me. There will be no avoiding them."

Henry watched him go in silence, finally reaching into his pocket and unfolding the flier again as he made a decision. He had nowhere to go in the city, and for now, the city was safe. Not even Etrigan had been unaffected by the holy blast. He stared down at the airship on the flier in silence. And Alfie would certainly be a target.

"This the 'fair' he's going to?" he asked Lucia, shaking out the flier and showing it to her.

His jaw tightened. "Demons you'll find everywhere," he said. "Especially among the smart and powerful. And pirates..."

He trailed off. "I don't suppose there's a way you could get me on board?"

There was a large thud and a cry of pain from upstairs. The thud appeared to have enough force behind it to rattle a majority of things within earshot. A moment later, Kropp and Helena walked downstairs, with Kropp rubbing his through.
"Thou art becoming very slow, master Kropp."
"I'm not getting slow, you're just getting mean. You've been taking the cheap shots, lately." He croaked.
"Well, is everyone I fight going to be a perfect gentlemen and not take any cheapshots whatsoever? I doubt it."
"Oh and who would you have to fight?"
"Demons, pirates, drunkards, street thugs- the list goes on and on."
"Oooh, yes, pirates- which you and your docked ship will assuredly come across soon."
Helena flipped in the finger as they both walked into the room.
Kropp was, as expected, shirtless. While Helena was in a rather frilly, lacey nightgown that reached mid-thigh.
"'Ey, what're you two up to?" He smiled at Lucia and Henry.
Helena, having noticed the paper, chimed in. "Oooh, it's that floating fair. Either of you going, then? Because my dad thought it a lovely idea to put me aboard an airship with a bunch of scientists. Think it'd be a lovely wakeup call for me to start doing something worthwhile with my life." Her tone was rather bland, as if the idea of her father was offputting to her.