A/N: This was a plot that jumped into my head unbidden in response to a question I kept asking myself while watching the series: does Tesla know that his historical self is a much-beloved hero of an entire subculture? The resulting fic is probably a little gimmick-y and self indulgent, but I had fun writing it and I hope you'll enjoy the read. New chapters to be posted every day or two as I get them edited into readability. Comments and constructive critique on my writing style are always appreciated.

"Ebay. Really, Helen, you know I still can't get over it."

"So you keep saying."

"An entire Sanctuary network, a crack team of archaeologists, and the most important historical find of the decade gets bought and sold on Ebay."

"Hardly the most important-"

"Perhaps we should start perusing yardsales next, it's really hard to say what else you might have missed. Mesopotamian electronics in thrift stores? Abnormals popping up in pet shops?"

"Can you-" Magnus started off tense, but forced herself to relax her voice. He had been bothering her about this for a good hour and a half since she'd explained exactly how they'd gotten this tip-off, but she needed to stay calm. "Can you just shut up for a few minutes, Nikola? We're here, anyways."

They'd stopped in front of a plain looking suburban house, a far cry from the usual abandoned warehouse or secret underground research facilities. In hindsight, Magnus considered that she probably shouldn't have invited Tesla along. The online auction had listed the artifact as a curiosity, and it had sold for a fraction of its real value. Chances were she'd ring the doorbell, give her cover story, have the artifact handed over and be back on a plane home before dinner. But it wasn't just any piece of technology, a few hours pouring over the grainy digital photos had convinced the scientist that this was a very literal time bomb, albeit one that probably hadn't worked for decades. Probably. As irritating as her oldest friend could be, if anything went wrong there was no one else Magnus would rather have around to... diffuse the situation.

By some miracle, Tesla actually did close his mouth for a few moments, long enough for them to walk up and ring the doorbell. It was answered by a woman in an apron and a white dress, well into her sixties at least and definitely not the person they were here looking for.

"Good afternoon, madam" said Magnus, forcing her aggravation to take a back seat as she got down to business with a friendly smile. "We're looking for Benjamin Pennell, is he in?"

"Oh, goodness no, I'm afraid you've just missed him dear." The woman smiled, evidently more than happy to see them. "I'm his mother, just here housesitting for the weekend. He's got a hotel room for the convention, didn't he tell you?" She looked over at Tesla, who was standing in merciful silence. "The convention paid for it, even though he lives so close by, because of all the work he's been doing in setting it up."

"I'm afraid we never got that message, no." Though she had no idea what the woman was talking about, Magnus played along.

"Well then, I'll go get you his room number and the address. He told me all about his friends visiting from England, the convention gets quite a lot of international visitors you know." Mrs. Pennell gestured for them to come in, and kept chatting away while she walked over to the laptop in the sitting room. "It's the third biggest in the country this year, and still growing. Benjamin helped start the whole thing, but I'm sure he's told you all about that. Ah, here we are. Are you driving? I'll just jot down the directions for you too. Goodness, driving after a long flight like that."

Magnus tried to examine her surroundings while the friendly woman chatted away. They were in a fairly ordinary suburban home in a fairly ordinary suburban neighbourhood, furnished with fairly ordinary furniture. His bookshelf, she noted, was mostly stacked with old science fiction novels, the complete works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne amongst a few other names she recognized and a few others she, surprisingly, didn't. Some of the knickknacks on his shelf looked as though they might have been other artifacts of importance, but a second glance revealed that they were all just sculptures of glue and metal made in a similar sort of aesthetic. Benjamin Pennell had one large poster framed and mounted on the far wall, in it a woman wearing a Victorian riding jacket stared out at a sky filled with what looked almost like Praxian zeppelins, but the style and construction was just a little bit wrong.

"There you are, dear" said Mrs. Pennell, handing Magnus a slip of paper. "It's only ten minutes from here by car, I hope it's not too much of a drive. Can I get you anything before you go? You'll have to get Benjamin to send me some pictures once you're both in costume, yours already looks so lovely" she smiled at Tesla, who looked down with some concern at his three piece suit, "and I'm sure yours will be just as nice. I'm half tempted to go one year myself, just for the beautiful costumes. Ah, it really was a more elegant time, don't you think?"

"I'll be sure to let him know" replied Magnus quickly, afraid that if she kept this up much longer Mrs. Pennell would figure out that they had no idea what was going on. "But we really must be on our way, I don't want to be any later than we already are."

"Of course, of course" she walked them back to the door, and Magnus had to decline one more offer of refreshments before they left. "Have fun, you two, and do send pictures!"

Once the door was closed behind them, and they were on their way back to the car, Tesla was the first to break the silence. "Well, that was odd."

"Indeed. But I think we'd best try and find Mr. Pennell at this convention, we can't know for sure that artifact will remain inert and I'd rather see it back in our hands as quickly as possible." Costumes and pictures, this was starting to sound vaguely familiar to Magnus, and she knew just who to call for details.