Slowly, Will crept around the corner, stunner outstretched. They had reports of 9 separate deaths in this area in the past month and each time the killings were brutal but without even a skerrick of evidence left behind. The ease with which the murders were committed had made Magnus worried and so now, at 7:53pm here they were, stalking through the long since abandoned docks in search of an abnormal that no contact had any information on.

Some Christmas this is gonna be, he thought dejectedly. Surely the Hollow Earth abnormals could take a little time off from making their lives hell. They were two weeks away from the holiday and as much as Abby had begged him to take time off, he just couldn't. He didn't resent his job in that respect, it needed to be done but part of him couldn't help but think that if Magnus would actually listen to any of his advice, things might be a little less crazy. Sighing, he rounded another corner, trying not to think about how damn cold he was and focus instead on the possible discovery of whichever nasty was up to no good now.

"Will?" came Henry's voice through his walkie. "Any visual yet?"

"Nothing," Will hissed back. "I thought you said you found some life signs out here."

"I did," Henry replied, confusion clear even over the less than stellar transmission.

"Will, where are you?" came Magnus, cutting in with an urgent quality to her voice. "I've got tracks and what appears to be fresh blood."

"Other side of the building to you," Will replied, picking up the pace. In a second his thoughts of the chill in the air were gone, replaced by the thud of adrenaline in his veins. He paused for a moment, listening. It took a moment but soon enough he picked up the sound of another person's breathing. It wasn't Magnus, he was sure. Carefully he began to move again, hoping his boots made as little noise as possible against the wet concrete of the car park.

"You guys are on either side of it," Henry whispered over the walkie and Will swallowed, trying not to imagine what could be around the corner.

"Magnus?" he breathed into the mouth piece.

"On my signal," she replied quietly. "One, two..."

Will took another deep breath.

"Three."

On her mark, he sprung around the corner, stunner outstretched and heart beating wildly.

Only to find nothing.

An expanse of snow, a few muddied footsteps and nothing. He could see Magnus across the way, looking just as confused as he felt. He opened his mouth to call out to her but shut it quickly as a soft groan filled the air.

In a second Magnus was off, running full pelt towards him and the source of the sound. Floundering for his torch, Will headed off too, searching through the various discarded items against the back wall of the building until he saw a bare foot twitch beneath an old pizza box.

"Magnus!" he yelled, gesturing to her as he frantically began to pull at the debris to expose more of the foot. Another soft groan emanated from beneath the rubbish and he picked up the pace, trying not to freak out at the amount of blood he could see. He may not have been a medical doctor but even he knew a person couldn't survive after losing that much blood.

"Oh God," Magnus breathed as they heaved a sheet of metal from the body they were slowly uncovering. "How the hell is this poor creature still alive?"

"Henry?" Will barked into his walkie, hands shaking. "We need medical supplies. There's someone here and they're hurt. I-."

He broke off abruptly as the near nude female body was finally exposed to them fully, the extent of her injuries finally becoming apparent. She was clothed, just, in little more than the final rags of what appeared to be a summer dress. Her long, black hair was matted, sticking to her face and shoulders in great wads, leaving behind bloody smears on her already bloodied skin. Her entire torso appeared to be slashed as well as her thighs, great red gashes marring expanses of golden tanned skin.

"Give me your jacket," Magnus ordered, her voice cutting into Will's thoughts abruptly. She had already shed her own, helping the limp woman before them to sit up as she wrapped the leather around her shoulders. Will complied quickly, tossing the jacket over her exposed legs.

"How the hell is she alive?" he breathed, echoing her previous statement.

"Only just," Magnus corrected tightly, her fingers gingerly brushing over the girls face to come to a rest on her pulse. After a moment she closed her eyes, letting her hand curl into a ball on the shoulder of the young woman. Turning, she looked to Will, shaking her head ever so slightly.

"There's no way she'd make it back to the Sanctuary?" Will asked, his heart clenching painfully at the thought of this woman who could be no more than 20 years old dying in this manner.

"Too much blood," Magnus replied quietly, a bitter tone he recognized encroaching on the words. Will dropped to the ground, sitting next to the young woman as she gave a small, feeble moan, her head lolling backwards as she continued to take shallow, laboured breaths.

She was dying.

Barely an hour later when they made it back to the Sanctuary, no one was talking, a tense silence settling over them. Magnus was striding around with that determined set to her jaw and Will knew he was brooding but he couldn't help it. Henry was bouncing between them uncertainly, offering to help with this and that but receiving nothing but the silent treatment in response. He didn't deserve it but as Magnus strode away to perform an autopsy on the dead woman, Will couldn't find it in himself to listen to Henry's babble.

Silently he made his way to the observation deck, watching as Magnus carefully examined the corpse. He hated watching autopsies and normally avoided it at all costs but tonight something in him that needed to see this, needed to see their blatant failure to protect this woman from whatever beast was out there, stalking through the night and killing without rhyme or reason.

As far as they could tell, there was no connection between the people turning up dead, some were men and others women, some abnormal and others not. They varied in age too, the first victim had been an elderly woman, her body frail. Not that he'd seen any of the other victims, only police reports managed to end up on his desk, Magnus performing the secondary autopsies at the various hospitals the bodies were taken to rather than taking them back to the Sanctuary. Though she probably could have; each of the bodies remained unclaimed in various morgues around the city.

The press were having a field day with it, spouting stories of everything from gangs to cults but none of it seemed to stick. The police were equally as lost it seemed, each report was painfully skint when it came to leads. There was no evidence, no DNA, no witnesses. They were certain the murders took place where the bodies were found but other than that and an approximate time of death they had nothing solid.

Even Magnus' investigations had turned up very little. The abnormal community knew nothing, or if they didn't they weren't telling. Occasionally they'd get a report of a new abnormal walking the streets around the times of the murders but the abnormals of these stories were never found, stuck as shadows of the night.

Of course, tonight's tip was much more accurate than previous though Will couldn't help but think Magnus should have made them go the second they got the intel rather than waiting as they had. Maybe then the girl wouldn't be lying on the cold steel of the gurney. Maybe she'd be alive. Maybe they wouldn't have failed so spectacularly.

"She's human," Magnus announced, not turning to face Will though he wasn't surprised she knew he was there. Damn woman was all but telepathic.

"Anything else of interest?" he asked into the small microphone mounted on the wall.

"Not that I can tell," she replied, her voice tinny and distorted through the speakers but he could still hear the bitter disappointment in her tone. "I've collected a few samples though I don't have high hopes."

Will said nothing, simply watching as she went about sewing the woman back together.

"Doc? Will?" Henry's voice called over the walkies. "I just spoke to the police and they'll send by someone to pick up the body in an hour or so. Wallace also passed on his thanks for taking this one off his hands though I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not."

Another perk of being on the outs, Will thought, scowling as Magnus relayed instructions to Henry. He knew she had her reasons, knew she had a plan but that didn't make being shut out by everyone and anyone easier to handle. And she wasn't telling him anything. So much for trust...

"And Will?" she asked, turning to look over her shoulder at him. "I'd like you to have another go at talking to some of the authorities, see if there's anything we haven't been told."

He was tempted to tell her where she could shove it, if only to see if she'd spill something in the heat of anger but decided not to, instead pursing what she had to know was a pointless task.

Oooh, here we go! Chapter one! Y'all know the drill by now, one update a week until I finish the next story and then we might speed things up a little. This one is shorter than WMA buy about 20,000 words but I feel I should warn now that it's a little gory and bloody in parts. And there are romantic moments. And Rose.

Must point out that this is set maybe a week after the events of season 4's Fugue so there might be vague spoilers up to that point.

If you haven't read WMA, I think you'll be able to follow along with this one but if you have any questions, chuck 'em my way or head over and read it :P

Anyway, feedback will make me grin, adding to my elation that JONATHON YOUNG IS COMING TO MY CITY IN DECEMBER!

xx