Being around him again, something long-frozen in Mina is starting to thaw -- and that's a terrifying concept, it really is. It's been a very long time since she has changed her plans for anything less than an impending apocalypse... and there's the fact that London is ill-defended in her absence...

"There's no active van Helsing right now," she explains. "Jay died and his son is only fourteen. I know we used to start training them young, but his godfather wants Luke to have a little bit of a normal life at first. It's kind, really."

She closes her unseeing eyes to just savor his touch. In all the years she has believed herself a widow, there's never been anyone else. Not really. A flirtation here and there, and she and Rupert are, on occasion, very close... but there's never been anyone to take Jonathan's place. Her hands move from his face to rest on his chest -- she can feel his heartbeat and it makes her smile.

"I suppose I can make a phone call, see if I can stay a few more days. I just worry about leaving London unguarded."