A/N: This is written for MajorSam and GateWorldRocky who started a conversation on twitter about Wet!Magnus and we all decided a story needed to be written.
Enjoy!
~~Arones
"No offense, Helen, but you look exhausted… and very wet."
The smooth tones warmed over Helen's body as she entered through the back doors of the garage into the main Sanctuary. They were like butter being slowly churned in a warm bowl just waiting for the sugar to be added and the baking to begin. Helen closed her eyes and let them wash over her body, savoring the noise. When she finally reached the smiling figure she grinned and shook her head. "Let's just say that today began forever ago and it has been one hell of a ride." She set the small bag that she was carrying against the wall and gave a broad grin.
"Did you forget I was coming?"
"Oh not at all." Helen would have reached forward but as was stated, she was drenched through to the bone. The water droplets were falling below to her feet and making a small circle under her figure, like a shadow just at noontime sun. The jeans she had changed into for the fourth time that day, were drenched through. She could feel her skin pucker into chicken flesh and the shiver run up her spine.
The dark eyes regarded Helen curiously, wandering over the curve of her hips and legs where the fabric clung and pulled as they were weighted down with the weight of the added water. "Wanna tell me what happened?" Again the soft voice was soothing to her. She couldn't quite figure out why it was so calming but it was. Taking a deep breath Helen began to think back on the day that she was so hoping would end soon and tried to decide the best place to start.
Eighteen hours earlier…
She noticed the series of malfunctions fairly early in the morning and was far more displeased to note that they were back than that Henry had not completely fixed the issue in the first place. She was sure that he wouldn't be fully awake at that hour so she decided to at least take care of the main issue that was the biggest backset in her day before waking him to resolve the rest. Standing she brushed her hands down her skirt front and walked carefully to the door. Grabbing a radio suddenly, as an afterthought, she headed out the door and down the hallway until she reached a nearby storage closet. Wouldn't do to not have the proper tools with her when she headed down.
Everything was so quiet that early in the morning that she was enjoying it, minus the slight malfunction that she was heading out the deal with, she was hoping for a relatively quiet day. They had intakes and regular maintenance. She had a scheduled interview for a new assistant head of house in London and was planning on not being delayed for once.
The air outside was cold when she stepped through the front doors. There was a slight chill to it that had her shivering a bit before she knew it. She'd forgotten her jacket, not bothering to look out the window before she left her office. Shuddering again she made it to the gate that was slightly ajar and most definitely stuck. She had tried to reboot the system from her office and get the metal to swing shut on its own but it didn't happen, so there she was. The early morning sun just rising, tool box in her right hand, and the gate that wouldn't close in front of her.
Fiddling with the thing only took her thirty minutes to get it shut, although Henry would have to head back out there later that day to completely fix the metal barrier she was sure it would stay as was until that happened. Sliding the lock on the front of the tool box she stood and took a step, her heel clacking on the ground when she heard the dreaded sound that no one wants to hear that early in the morning. It was the start of the spray, the water being forced through the underground hoses into the sprays that would water the grass.
Air slowly entered her lungs while she waited with eyes closed for the sprinklers to completely turn on. They weren't supposed to go off on Tuesdays and it was a Tuesday and she was fairly certain that it was the same glitch that had messed with the gate. She held her breath until the cold spray hit her side and splashed up her leg and skirt to hit her face. Helen opened her eyes and glared at the offending piece of black plastic that was continuing to spray water directly on her. Of all places for her to stand and to have the one broken sprinkler hit.
Glancing further down the sidewalk that lead to the front doors she saw that it was not just one sprinkler that was constantly spinning in a rapid fire and unidirectional circle. It was all of them. There was no way that she would remain any drier than she was as she went on her way. Huffing out another breath she took a slow step and let the spray hit her face and legs and sides as she moved onward toward the front door. She was planning on taking it slowly, but halfway down the walkway she gave up and started at a slow jog.
Her old friend was standing in the doorway holding it open for her and she shuddered visibly in front of him as he pulled it closed behind her. His eyes scanned her body, the drenched clothes, the soaked hair and the mascara blurring in the corner of her eyes. He grunted and lifted his chin at her. "Couldn't turn them off could you?"
"Tried."
"I want Henry awake and working on this now. The front gate as well." She handed over the metal tool box to him and watched as a few droplets of water slid over the silver steel and onto the floor below. "I'm going to change."
He grunted a few times and took a few steps following her. "Good idea."
His comment made her stop for a moment before she trudged up the stairs to her room. Slipping out of her wet and squishy heels Magnus shoved them to the side. Pulling the zipper she shimmied out of her skirt and jacket looking down. She sighed heavily realizing that she would need new undergarments and a towel down as well.
Helen interrupted the stifled giggling from the thin body walking next to her and finished up her tale of the wayward sprinklers that really didn't know who was boss. "Right, so I put on a pair of slacks because I needed to get back quickly." The two of them were walking down the corridor and they could hear the water slosh through Helen's boots with each step she took. Her socks were sopping wet and rubbing against her feet.
There was a quiet hum and look that the two exchanged before the second spoke. "And how did you end up in this…" the eyes wandered over Helen's sleek form again and her body began to heat even under the wet cloth, "predicament?"
"Oh it gets better."
Fifteen hours earlier…
Henry was bending over his work bench typing furiously on the computer as she came in and she was anything but a happy camper and he could see it. She was stalking down the hallway of the Sanctuary her clothes drenched, her hair plastered down her back and her eyes almost raving like a lunatic. He hadn't seen her that put off in a long time and he had a great feeling that the anger might be aimed towards him.
Magnus had been in the intake room going over one of the new abnormals that Henry had brought back from the docks. He'd been preoccupied with the malfunctions and she'd given him the break necessary in order to solve said malfunctions. She was giving the small little birdlike creature a once over, gloves on her hands, hair pulled back in a quick bun at the nape of her neck. She was bending down low to study a small injury on one of the four wings that the creature had. Its wings were colorful and bright green with dark crimson red spots that ran along the feathers creating what looked like a face: four to be exact, one on each wing.
She had been in that exact position when the overhead fire suppression system had gone off and sprayed freezing cold water down the back of her neck. She jerked forward and down toward the abnormal that reared back when the spray hit it and squawked loudly before bringing its wings and claws up as it flapped into the air. It struck across her shoulder ripping her blouse and carving long scratches into her skin.
"Damn it!" She shouted and jumped back, the abnormal flying loose from the box it had been calmly sitting it. Grasping her shoulder and the blood pooling around her fingers she looked to the door just as the pipe above her head completely burst and splattered in her face. Stepping out of the immediate spray she looked around the room. "Henry!" She knew that he couldn't hear her, he was far down the hallway and on a different floor but that didn't mean she couldn't yell at him. Moving quickly she walked back into the spray of water to look at the break in the pipe. It was huge.
Rapidly taking steps she left the room and went down the hallway until she found the water main for that floor. Taking hold of the knob she started to turn it slowly with as much force as she could muster until all the water for the floor was turned off. Running a hand over her face she moved the stray strands of hair that were plastered to her cheeks and neck. The cold water droplets were running from the tips of her hair over her chest and down her cleavage pooling where her shirt and skin met. Not that anyone could see the pool of water as she was completely drenched for the second time that morning.
Air was pulled into her lungs and held there for a second until she let it out with pursed lips. This day was certainly not going as planned. She stalked down the hallway to Henry's lab to find him leaning over his computer typing furiously. "Henry…"
"Yeah, on it Doc." He tried not to look up, but he had to and tried his hardest to hold back the chuckle that was threatening to leave his chest.
Helen drew in another slow breath. "Henry… I want this fixed, today." She ignored the leering look that he was giving her. "Tell Will that the intake got loose and make sure he finds it. I'm going to change." She started to stalk out of the room. "Oh and there's a pipe burst."
"Burst?"
"Yeah, almost completely in half. You'll need to fix that as well."
"What about the feedings, Doc? I'm supposed to do those today."
He watched as she stopped in her tracks and slid in her shoes almost falling backwards had she not caught herself on the doorframe. "I'll talk to Kate." The words left from her mouth and she went on her way before she did slip and fall in her own puddle.
"Really?"
"Yeah." They were waiting for the elevator to reach them and Helen was leaning against the wall. "Burst pipe of all things. Henry fixed it right away though, had to. Some of the enclosures were affected." She drew in a deep breath looking over at where the light indicated what level the elevator was on and waited for it to reach theirs. The material over her chest stretched as she breathed and the dark chocolate eyes across from her saw the hardened nipples peek out from the chill of being wet and cold.
There was a deep swallow before the words were voiced. "So you got wet twice today?"
"Oh far more than twice! You've only heard half of it!"
Eleven hours earlier…
She was walking along the corridor with Kate who was complaining about now having to do the feedings when it was supposed to be her week off. Helen really wasn't listening to the young woman so she remained silent and let the monologue continue while only half paying attention. She was bringing her up to Sally's enclosure as the mermaid needed to be fed and Helen needed to check on the pipes leading into the habitat. She wanted to make sure that in all of the malfunctions that they were having, which apparently were mostly limited to water-type things, that none of the filtering systems in Sally's enclosure had been affected.
Kneeling down at the top of the giant pool of water that was Sally's home she waited for the mermaid to swim up and greet her. They had a quiet conversation while Kate looked over Helen's shoulder and watched entranced at their ability to speak mentally with each other. She could tell they were like old friends from what Helen was saying aloud. Helen leaned back on her haunches and startled the young woman with the suddenness of her move. Kate had been so distracted and focused on what the two of them were doing that she hadn't been expecting the body to be coming back towards her. She stepped back and slipped landing on her butt and crying out.
She rolled and turned on her side when Helen glanced back at her. "You alright?"
"Yeah… just… ouch." She said starting to stand once again, slowly. "Didn't plan that."
"Didn't think you did." Magnus stood on her own two feet and made her way over to some of the pipes on the far wall. Sally swam away and Kate stepped closer to the edge looking down. The mermaid had always intrigued her. She wasn't paying attention to what Magnus was doing until she heard the pop and she didn't have a second to look over because the water from the newly burst pipe hit her full force in the face and she slipped and fell into the pool below.
Magnus turned when she heard the loud bang that was Kate's head smashing into the corner of the grate that was over the top of the water tank and into the deep water below. "Kate!" Magnus stepped forward before jumping into the water and finding the woman who was unconscious and floating. She flipped Kate's head on her shoulder and slowly stroked her way back to the edge of the grate. There was blood dripping down the side of Kate's face from the open wound just above her temple. Sally swam up quickly feeling the panic in Magnus and the disturbance in her tank. She helped push Kate onto the grate and stayed close by while Magnus pulled herself up checking over her new patient. She was breathing, her eyes unfocussed, she was still unconscious, but at least Magnus had her out of the water.
She stood and stumbled when her wet skirt clung to her legs but she reached the wall and intercom quickly. "Will, I need you in Sally's enclosure and bring a med kit."
"Oh my God, was she ok?" The voice was filled with worry and surprise.
"Yeah, just a concussion and a few stitches. But yet again… I was drenched to the bone." Helen's eyebrows gave a quick quirk and she sighed heavily. They were in the elevator waiting to get to the residential wing. Helen gave a quick shiver as she tried to stave off the cold from her wet clothes. "But because of Kate's injury and the malfunctions I had to go with Will when there was a sighting of the bird that had escaped earlier in the day, when the pipe burst."
"Oh yeah… did you find it?"
Three hours earlier…
Helen shot Will an incredulous look as his eyes raked over her body one last time. "Stop it." She ordered quickly and his eyes snapped back up to her face. He couldn't help himself honestly. They'd been out on a mission in the back woods maybe thirty miles out of town and it had been raining cats and dogs of the three hours they'd been searching for a bird. He was biting his lip and scanning her body again, the leather jacket she had been wearing had been dispatched when she'd fallen into the creek as the mud beneath her feet had given out.
Actually, he had fallen into the creek but she had the unfortunate chance of standing between him and the water and so they both landed heavily in the cold water. They'd gone back to the van and she'd left her jacket there and going forth with great determination to get the bird. She wasn't going to leave without the thing. He'd made the sarcastic comment about birds not frolicking in the rain and she'd glared him down until he'd looked at his toes. "Come on Magnus, it's not that bad…"
Her eyes darted in his direction before she moved forward with her stunner in hand. "Please explain to me how it's 'not that bad.'" She mimicked his voice, her head tilting side to side as she spoke his words.
"Um…" He moved behind her trying to come up with a reason or two but he couldn't think of anything. "Never mind." The rain was falling on his head so hard that it was getting in his eyes and he couldn't see more than ten feet in front of him. He could tell that her mood had been on a downslide since early that morning and after dealing with Kate she'd left strict instructions to only disturb her if absolutely necessary. He was walking slowly behind her and his eyes slipped over her body. Her hips were fantastic in the tight jeans and because her shirt was drenched it made the flair down to her hips from her breasts deliciously curvy. He stopped short when he ran into her back and she tried very hard to hold in the laugh bubbling from her throat.
"Will, could not try to leer so much. I'm afraid it'll hurt your head." His cheeks flashed red in an instant and remained that way until they returned to the Sanctuary with said bird abnormal in the back of the van. He had turned the heater on full blast and watched as the heat took residence on her chest and on her cheeks. He had pulled into the garage and couldn't take his eyes off her when she extricated herself from the vehicle. Henry had met them there and was working on the intake while the two of them moved into the hallway and Helen stopped short just as she noticed Will's eyes leering at her again. Heaving a heavy sigh she issued a quick "Stop it," in his direction and turned to face the woman who was waiting patiently in the corridor.
Smiling at the chocolate brown eyes she felt Will leave her side as she and the woman began to make their way to her room so that she could change. "That really all happened just today?"
"Yeah." Helen shed her jacket and tossed it in the laundry basket that was already filled with still damp wear. Her back was turned and she didn't see when the warm arms wrapped around her from behind. Helen drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes leaning back into the very warm body. Fingers attached themselves to Helen's shirt and slowly started on the buttons. "Charlotte, what are you doing?"
"Exactly what I came here to do."