Secrets and Notes- A Sanctuary story
Characters: Helen Magnus, William Zimmermann, Kate Freelander et al.
Pairings: Helen/Will, Henry/Kate ships Rated M
Disclaimer: All rights belong to the owners as I do not own Sanctuary or the characters the story, however is from my mind. Let me know what you all think please.
Summary: Magnus has a secret, many in fact, but can the boys handle it when she and Kate take them out for a night of fun? Or will they all be caught off guard by hidden talents and desires, whilst Magnus deals with an astounding revelation that could change everything… mostly.
I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to get out of my room. I slipped out of my bed and went to a panel on the far side of my rather large bedroom. I pressed the panel and watched as the secret room slid open. I walked inside unable to sleep. I needed to "purge" myself of the stress of the past week. As I walked into the room I sat down on the ornate bench in front of the polished black grand piano. Lifting up the key cover I just let my fingers roam on the keys for a moment. I started to play Chopin's Nocturne in C sharp Minor. I started to play from memory and as I ended one I started another, letting them blend together. As I let the last note end of a rather solemn Mozart piece I gently recovered the piano and felt as if I could finally sleep. I went back to the bedroom and closed the panel. Back across the room I went and slipped back into the silken covers. The world became one of dreams.
It started with just a dream. Not a nightmare, just a dream. Ashley was small, not quite four months old yet, the day she first smiled a true toothless baby smile. I was so happy to see her like that, I wanted to be a good Mother and I tried my best. The rest of the nights dreams followed along the same lines as her first smile. They weren't the usual nightmares I had grown used to seeing, causing my usual lack of need for sleep. For the first time in fifty years I played my piano and for the first time in a year and a half I slept with good dreams, not the horrors of my daughter dying in front of me.
I woke to see the sun lighting my whole room with blue skies that shared the same blue as Ashley once had. It was late in the morning, but it was Sunday so that didn't really matter. I stretched and rolled over in bed not wanting to get up quite yet. This was a day off and I wanted nothing more than to go back to my music room and play all day long the cello and my piano and everything in the room. I sat up and smiled looking out over the grounds of my massive house, well house was a huge understatement, more like nineteenth century castle or mansion. I was startled out my thoughts by a soft knock on my door. I got up and put on a robe tying it closed tightly around my waist.
"Who is it?" I asked because I was not one to fling my bedroom door open to anyone especially in my night clothes. "Magnus its Will." I heard his voice and decided I could open the door for him. Unlocking it and opening it I looked at him. "What can I do for you this morning William?" I asked him knowing full well he was trying to wrap his young head around the fact that I was not dressed in my usual attire nor was I even remotely embarrassed that he was taking in my figure as he looked quite speechless. I inwardly smiled. "Uh just wondering if you were okay we haven't seen you all day, and it is almost eleven, I didn't wake you did I?" he looked scared almost, it was cute. "No you didn't, I was just getting up." I motioned for him to come into the sitting area just outside my actual bedroom. He sat down and looked around and I remembered he had never been in here before. "Are you nervous about something Will?" I asked heading into my actual bedroom and closing the door most of the way so I could dress while still talking to him. As I waited for an answer I walked to my closet and chose a simple outfit for the day, comfortable black slacks and a cotton button up top that was a soft lavender color. I slipped them on over my undergarments and buttoned the top up as I was walking back into the room. Will looked at me and around the room "Well this is an odd situation as I'm sitting in front of my boss' bedroom." He smiled as I sat down in a chair across from him tucking my feet under me and running a brush through my hair. "Will you live here and I live here I see no reason why this is awkward as we have nothing to hide from one another at all especially since I am your physician." He looked stunned that I was onto him as I smirked at him.
"Magnus you need to go clubbing or something." Will stated as my manservant brought in breakfast for two. "The last time I went clubbing I went with Ashley because she took me out for my birthday. Though you are right, have Henry and Kate clear their night and you as well, we are going to go have some fun, but first, I need your help with something." He looked at me with the 'who are you and what have you done with Helen Magnus?' look. I smiled as I pulled him up and into the actual bedroom. I walked over to the panel in my room and pressed it opening my secret to Will.
I watched as his eyes roamed my room and took in everything. Then he watched as the panel slid open revealing my secret to him. "Wow Magnus, I didn't know that you played anything other than the scalpel or the .45" he said jokingly but looked at the instruments with wonder. "Will I have been around a long time and though yes I do play those instruments as well, I also play these in this room I wanted to get them to a different room, especially the Piano as I'm not the only one should enjoy it." I smiled at his look of absolute wonder, probably at the size of the room that we were in. "What are we moving Magnus?" he asked eyeing the piano with a look that almost made me burst into laughter. "The heavy objects are on wheels Will; I only need your help maneuvering them down the hallways." I said and he looked relieved. I moved into the room and stood by the piano putting down the top and unlocking the wheels to move it. Will followed me though he looked skeptical about the width of the piano and I giggled out loud then. "This building has a lot of secrets you still have yet to learn William." I looked at him and together we slipped the piano through the panel in the wall and past my bed and vanity. I stopped just before the door to the sitting room and pressed another panel in the wall and the door way slid apart to make room for the piano to go through. I looked at will and he looked at me like I was bonkers. "I like to plan ahead for moving rather large items." I allowed myself to smile at him before we moved on to the next door way and on down the halls.
We repeated the process with the other instruments and by the time we were done breakfast had been nibbled down as we walked by with instruments in arms. Will reset the doors to their original size and we made our way to the new music room on the main floor. Henry and Kate were standing in the open doorway; both had looks of utter shock and amazement on their faces. Will and I looked at each other and smiled. I coughed lightly to get their attention and they both jumped turning around. "Doc, I didn't know you and Will were keeping secrets from us." Henry said looking at me his adoptive mother. I looked at him and smiled. "Henry I assure you it's just me keeping the secrets from you all and by the way keep your night clear the both of you, we are all going out for a bit of fun." I said turning to Kate remembering that we both had plans for a shopping trip together. "Kate are you ready to go?" I looked at her and she nodded."Yeah lets go Doc." She smiled and we walked down to the garage and got into one of the cars.
The drive was short as we were only going to the mall in New City. I parked the car and got out Kate looked at me with a curious look. "Why do you want us to clear our night to go have 'fun'?" She asked. My response was simple as we entered the mall. "I'm taking you all out clubbing, Will gave me the idea saying I needed to 'let loose' for once."I smiled at her shocked look. "Wow okay, I didn't know you did the club scene at all." I looked at her with a mock hurt look. "I had a twenty-three year old kick ass daughter, Kate, I went once when she dragged me out for her birthday, then again for mine in the same year." I looked at Kate and she shrugged.
We spent the afternoon shopping and looking around planning the night and joking about some of the outfits we saw in the shops. "Oh, Magnus, you need this for tonight!" Kate pulled a very short black strapless dress off of a rack in my size as we had reverted to picking the others clothes out. It was a 'girl' thing. I looked at the scrap of material and then at Kate. "Ha, very funny Kate, I don't think I'd look good in it at all." I looked at her with a daring expression. She grinned and dragged me to the dressing rooms. I looked at her as she undid the hooks that lined the dress all the way down one side. She looked at me quirking one brow up expectantly. "Kate, if I try this one on then you have to try it on because I grabbed one in your size too." I smiled as her eyes went wide. We undressed and tried the dresses on not looking at each other or the mirrors in the giant dressing room. I turned around and looked at Kate and then at the mirror in front of me and gasped. "Bloody hell… I look…" "Like a great woman looking to have a good time." Kate finished the sentence for me. I then looked Kate up and down. "Kate we are dressing as twins tonight. The boys won't know what hit them." I smiled at her. We purchased the dresses and decided it was time to head home.
A few hours had gone buy and Will and Henry went to get ready to go out. Kate and I headed up to my rooms to get ready. We both donned our matching dresses and I handed her a matching trench coat to the one I was going to wear that night. Twenty minutes later we all met in the foyer and headed out the door. The boys dressed in leather, and me and Kate in our dresses and coats. Big Guy drove us to the club. I walked up to the bouncer with the other three in tow and we were nodded in.
We found a table and sat down on the plush cushions content to watch the gyrating bodies on the dance floor while ordering the first round of drinks for the night. I got a little warm with all the bodies in the room and nodded at Kate signaling to remove our coats. As we both stood up we undid the hooks down the front of the coats and took them off. Will and Henry had been talking about a new abnormal that we had brought in while we did this. Will stopped mid -sentence jaw dropping to the floor and eyes going wide. Henry saw his reaction and turned to look at us and showing much the same impression. I was wearing something that wouldn't be put past Kate so naturally they were both staring at me. "Eyes up top, the both of you." I said sternly, while smiling at Kate.
A few drinks later we were all loose enough to brave the dance floor and thus dragged our prospective dates out onto the floor. I looked at Kate as she and Henry started to dance. Will fixed on me with fear in his eyes as I prowled towards him. The others being in a daze from two or three drinks was an interesting sight for me because I was a only little buzzed, alcohol having to do a lot more work on someone with vampire blood running through their veins. At one hundred and sixty I could hold quite the amount of liquor. Will was clearly waiting for me to make the first move and I did. I walked up to him and turned quickly putting my back into him and gently sliding down in front of him in a very provocative way. I could feel his eyes on me combing over my back and down my long legs as I went down and came back up looking over my shoulder at him. He was clearly shocked at my provocative moves. "Magnus you do realize this is really hot, right?" he asked into my ear and I smiled, turning around to face him. "Hmm, William you do realize that the fact that you said that tells me you want more." I stated as I started to drag him towards one of the poles on the floor. Kate and Henry were busy locked in a heated kiss on the floor. I had plans and they were going smoothly. Will looked at me then the pole and gaped at me with wide eyes." Yes William, I am going to dance for you and you may or may not like it." I giggled at him while he visibly gulped. "Magnus are you drunk?" He looked at me with concern. "No Will I just want to have fun and you are quite buzzed." I smiled at him and he smiled back at I grabbed the pole. Using my upper body I pulled myself up to the top and flipped over using my legs to hang upside down. I looked around and found that there was a little crowd gathered around, including Henry and Kate, as I moved around the pole. I smirked at them and continued the show for a little while before I got down and went to finish off my drink. The others followed and then we left and went home.
We all got comfortable and went to the media room put on a movie and fell asleep. At some point during the night we all woke up and clambered to our own rooms only to fall back asleep. I woke the next morning knowing full well that no one else was awake because they would all have worse hangovers than me. I showered and dressed for the work day ahead and went to my office knowing that despite the previous night they would all clamber in at nine for the briefing.
Will was the first to show up with the distinct look of a headache on his face. I smiled and handed him naproxen sodium and he took them gladly. Soon after the others followed and received the same treatment. The day started off without a problem and continued until I received a call from Detective Joe Cavanaugh.
"Detective I'm sorry but I can't speak for William on any matter other than his health as I am his primary physician." I said getting a little irritated. "I'm sorry but Amanda wanted me to ask you if we could borrow someone to get into a club and gather some intelligence on the owners, she doesn't care if it's male or female. We just need to get someone not with the force currently to go in there for a night." He said. "Why don't you come by the Sanctuary for lunch and we'll gather volunteers alright. Bring Amanda as well I'd like to see her again." I looked at an email that had just popped up. "Sure thing Dr. Magnus, bye." He hung up and I put my phone back in my black blazer pocket. I sat back at my desk to take care of the e-mail. It was from Amanda oddly enough about the case Joe had been referring to. She was asking me if I would do the job for her.
Dinner was a group thing everyone attended every night, even me, though sometimes I wanted nothing more than a sandwich in my office and sometimes we got that. So when everyone showed up at seven we sat down and I began the briefing with Amanda at my side. "Alright everyone, Joe and Amanda have brought something to my attention. They need help on a case it is possibly related to our work." They all looked at me with an odd look on their faces because it was not usually Sanctuary practice to work with law enforcement on things like this. "Dr. Magnus I would like to ask you if you would do the infiltration." Amanda looked at me hope in her eyes. "Before I agree, what exactly would I be doing in this?" I looked at her and she looked down. "You would only have to do it for twenty minutes to an hour, but its pole dancing, with clothes on of course." Amanda said staring at her toes. I looked at her and smiled." I'm in I can do it." I grinned mischievously. Showing off some of my more personal secrets was turning out to be slightly easier than I had thought but still hard so music and pole dancing abilities were going to be the only ones for now.
As we all finished discussing the finer points of the mission coming up and dinner being finished with the others went to settle for the rest of the night. I finished and took my dishes to the sink where Big Guy was doing the dishes. I pulled up my sleeves to help him finish. It was never often that I actually was allowed to help him. Every time I tried he usually sent me off to sleep. "You're actually going to let me help you for once?" I asked a little surprised as he simply shifted to the other side of the sink to take on rinsing while I plunged my hands in to scrub the dishes clean. "I think you are getting comfortable with more people in your house, becoming a family together." He replied gruffly. I smiled. "Yes I think you are right, perhaps I am it just feels right I suppose." I scrubbed the last dish and he finished rinsing as I moved around him to dry them and put them away with a towel. "You know we do have a dishwasher, Magnus?" a voice sounded from the doorway. I spun around only to see Will and the others staring at us with raised eyebrows. "Yes, well aware but I find that it is sometimes nice to do them by hand when trying to relax." I smiled putting away the last plate in the cupboard. "Was there something you all wanted?" I asked them. "We were wondering if you would play something for us on the piano. You don't have to we were just wondering." Kate said. "What would you like to hear?" I said looking at them. "Surprise us you haven't played for us since I was a kid." Henry said. Though I had adopted him shortly after he came to the Sanctuary he never referred to me as his mother unless we were alone.
Ten minutes later I sat in front of the grand piano thinking about what to play. I decided on something more modern. I started to play "Lithium" by Evanescence. Kate started singing the words to it in a beautiful voice as she walked over and sat on the bench beside me. I stopped and turned to look at her. We looked at each other both surprised at the other as the boys looked shocked and sat down on the sofa. I smiled at Kate. "Together?" and she nodded in agreement. I started over and began singing with Kate.
When I finished the last note Kate and I turned around and saw Henry and Will sitting on the sofa looking at us like we were totally different people with snake heads. "What?" I asked looking at them and smiling. "Magnus, you never told us that you could play or sing you are really good and how do you know Evanescence, I thought you would be more of a Chopin or Beethoven person?" Will said. "Will, girls are entitled to their secrets." Kate laughed and went over to the cello. "May I?" she looked at me and I nodded. "Of course, need a piano to accompany?" Kate smiled. "Bach's Bouree symphony?" I smiled in agreement. "Alright, though I haven't played it since before you were born." I laughed.
We started and the boys decided to get up a waltz across the floor between the instruments making us laugh as we watched and played at the same time. When we finished I decided that I was finished and made my way to the bedroom with a bottle of wine. I made it to my room and put the bottle in the cooler opened to breathe while I changed for bed. Halfway through undressing there was a knock on my door. Deciding I wasn't in any danger I just went to the sitting room door and cracked it open enough to see who was disturbing me. It was Will.
"Can I help you with something Will." I asked slightly annoyed. "Sorry Magnus I just wanted to say thank you for sharing what you did with us today." He said apologetically. I took in his appearance, his shirt was unbuttoned showing a chiseled chest and toned stomach that made my mind a little cloudy and I hadn't even touched the wine yet,"Awkward " I thought. I opened the door and motioned for him to come inside. "Can I offer you a glass of wine?" I asked knowing full well he was staring at my less- than-halfway-dressed body. "Uh are you sure?" he asked gesturing to my state of dress. I smiled at him "Of course Will, despite my upbringing I have to say I've never been shy. You learn not to be when your maid won't let you put on your own corset and petticoats." Will looked shocked and immediately turned around as I pulled the rest of my clothes off in my closet and donned a short silk night gown that was lavender with a matching robe. I distinctly heard Will gasp as I walked out leaving my robe open wanting to tease him ever so slightly. He turned back around as I climbed onto my king sized bed and motion for him to join me as I pulled out a deck of playing cards. He did though it was with great restraint I suspect, that he didn't linger on my cleavage as much as I had thought he would. Damn. I thought. My seduction techniques were rusty, or he was nervous. "What do you want to do?" I asked him sincerely as I didn't want to scare him off…yet. He looked startled that I had asked him what he wanted to do. "I usually just want to talk but I see you have your own television and DVDs in here though they haven't been used in awhile, and you obviously have stuff on your mind, so as you say 'penny for your thoughts?'" I looked at him quite astonished as he hit the spot in less than thirty seconds whilst he subconsciously had moved to sit directly in front of me on the bed. "I'm impressed Will you catch on quickly I don't let anyone in this room I don't trust. You are the first besides Kate in nearly eighty years that have even seen me in my night clothes; I didn't let you in lightly." I looked at him seriously and he nodded in thought. "Alright Magnus, it's okay, but why do you trust me?" he looked at me so sincerely as I poured two glasses of wine I had to smile. "Because Will, unlike everyone else you challenge me and I still get to keep my personal life." I told him. He looked at me with eyes a little darker and I saw something I never did before in his eyes. I didn't really want to think about that but I couldn't help the butterflies in my stomach as I watched his eyes analyze me looking for what I was thinking. It didn't appear that he was making heads or tales of me because he's never seen me like this, ever. There was a different air about this.
What will Helen do with Will? Review please! oh.. this is my first ever fic and I'd like to hear what everyone thinks!
Thanks- Andria