A/N: So hi, we all know that Helen learned of abnormals from her father but how did he discover them? Here's just a possible explanation I imagined up and then wrote down and now you're reading it. Dunno whether or not to expect reviews, its my first fanfic that I've posted so any feedback is most welcome. For the record I do not own Sanctuary or Gregory Magnus (Caleb is completely made up by me btw) and I make no financial profit from this (that a good enough disclaimer?) So yeah read on!
-Writey
"Caleb!" a young Gregory Magnus bellowed from his bedroom, "I've finished my soup, come and take it away now!"
The ten year old glanced at the door expecting the servant to come running instantly, after all he was in charge and he was sick which meant people should be especially nice to you, especially people who were in your father's employ. He sighed impatiently and began strumming his fingers on the bedside desk, much to his irritation the new manservant was being slow to attend to his needs.
"Caleb!" Gregory screeched louder, "you're supposed to be obeying me! Obeying me faster! Or I shall tell Father on you!"
He glared angrily at the empty doorway, the silence grating on his nerves. He had at least expected the man to care about losing his job, in truth he wasn't even bothered about the empty tray of soup or the lack of speed to his request, he was merely bored and needed an excuse to talk to the only person around for miles, which happened to be the servant supposed to be watching him.
"Caleb!" Gregory cried again and the sound of footsteps racing up the stairs could be heard.
Feeling triumphant that someone was finally listening to him, Gregory positioned himself more upright as the bedraggled Caleb appeared in the doorway, he was a fairly young man in his early twenties if Gregory had to guess with slick black hair he kept tied back and amazingly light blue eyes that reminded him of his Mother's crystal wears, the servant's appearance looked more unkempt than usual and he was noticeably out of breath.
"Yes Master Magnus?" Caleb questioned politely inclining his head respectfully.
"I've been calling you for hours and hours Caleb," Gregory complained with exaggeration as he folded his arms crossly as he had seen his Father do on occasion, "you're supposed to be taking care of me, not doing whatever useless task you were doing."
"Master Magnus, you cannot have been calling me for hours because I brought that soup less than an hour ago," Caleb pointed out calmly, "and also chopping the firewood is not a useless task, would you rather freeze to death?"
"I guess not," Gregory sighed before shooting a dark glance at the servant, "but that's still no excuse for not coming when I call you, I'm sick."
"Are you sure you're not just avoiding going to school?" Caleb asked slyly retrieving the tray with the soup on it.
"Of course not!" Gregory snapped glaring at the servant who merely raised an eyebrow, "well maybe but I can't help it! Country kids are so stupid. I want to be a doctor, not... a useless... what do people in the country actually do except be boring? I miss the city."
"It's not all bad Master Magnus," Caleb offered gently, "maybe if you just gave it a chance, there's a great many things to be seen in this world, extraordinary things."
"And these things are in the country?" Gregory asked as he stubbornly shook his head, "I don't think so."
"Well I'm sorry you feel that way Master Magnus," Caleb told him with a sigh as he headed for the exit.
"Wait!" Gregory called out desperately and the man stopped in his tracks, "where are you going? Don't leave me, I'm all alone and I have nothing to do."
"I'm sorry Master Magnus but I do actually have work to do," Caleb informed him.
"If you don't stay and talk to me then I will have Father fire you," Gregory announced threateningly.
"You realize that if I don't do this work then your Father will fire me anyway?" Caleb pointed out, "so your threat is slightly unfair. If you're really that bored than get dressed and come outside with me, you can help me collect the firewood."
"Oh yes because that sounds like so much fun," Gregory snorted sarcastically, "I'd rather stay here and be bored."
"Very well," Caleb shrugged, "enjoy yourself Master Magnus."
With that the servant made his exit with the tray and Gregory was alone once more, sighing in frustration he scanned around the room for anything even remotely interesting but most of his things were still in London and the few books he had with him had already been read and re-read to the point of exhaustion. He let his head fall back onto the pillow miserably pondering his situation, his eyes trailed to wardrobe housing his clothes before angrily darting back to the ceiling. There had to be something more fun to do than search for firewood. But he couldn't think of it.
"Caleb wait," he called out scampering out of bed.
He selected his clothes and dressed himself quickly before rushing down the stairs in search of his servant, judging by the lack of noise or movement from the rest of the house Gregory assumed Caleb had already gone back outside. Sighing again he made his way to the door and peered out into the landscape, marred by the thick trunks of the trees, such ugly looking trees in his opinion.
"Caleb?" he questioned moving out into the woods, "Caleb? I want to help now, where are you? Caleb?"
He couldn't see any sign of the servant even as he wandered deeper into the dense undergrowth of the forest, becoming ever wary of his parents warning to not go in there but he saw no choice since he had to find Caleb. Despite growing more nervous with each step he also found it excitingly fascinating, he was exploring into the unknown like some of the characters in his books. As time passed so did his fear, it was amazing really seeing so many different colored plants everywhere he looked and then there were the beautiful birds and even the bugs looked vastly superior to the ones in London. Everything seemed so much brighter than in the city, despite the brightness of the afternoon.
He was just beginning to think that maybe it wasn't so bad being in the country after all when he noticed the ground was becoming increasingly steeper, he just had time to wonder why before one false step sent him spinning. Gregory cried out in surprise as he lost his footing and found himself falling down the slope faster than he could think, he desperate tried to grab onto something, anything to stop his descent before he found himself at the edge of a ravine.
He screamed out in terror as he failed to stop himself from falling over the edge where he finally manged to grab onto something, a choked sob escaped him as he saw the distant ground below him as he held tightly onto what looked like an overgrown root of a tree. He clutched at it tightly, gripping it so hard it hurt his hands as he kicked his legs desperate to try get closed to the edge but he was too far out to ever have any hope of climbing back up. Tears streamed from his eyes as the horrific realization sunk in, he was going to die there and he was helpless to stop it.
"Help me!" Gregory screamed so loud his throat hurt, "Caleb! Anyone! I don't want to die, I don't want to die! Help!"
He found himself crying harder as only silence met his pleas, his palms were becoming slick with sweat and he could already feel his grasp slipping. Tearfully he squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look at the scene at the scene of his death, he didn't want to die, he wasn't supposed to die now and he silently prayed that God would save him, surely he was too young for God to want him to die.
Finally he couldn't hold on anymore and another scream tore from his body as he started to plunge to his death before shockingly something grabbed him, his descent became ascent as he was carried back to the safety of solid ground beside the ravine. He blinked open his confused eyes to see Caleb was holding him, for a second he didn't care how he had survived instead simply clinging to his savior tightly.
"It's alright Master Magnus," Caleb told him soothingly, "you're safe now."
"Thank you," he sobbed into his shoulder, "thank you so much for saving me, thank you."
"Anytime Master Magnus," Caleb offered gently.
"I'm- I'm sorry I was so mean to you earlier," Gregory told him in between sobs, "I'm sorry."
"It's alright Master Magnus," Caleb repeated, "you don't have anything to apologize for."
"You saved my life Caleb," Gregory stated feeling slightly calmer, "my actual life."
"I know," Caleb said with a resigned sigh as Gregory untangled himself and began wiping his eyes.
It was only then that he noticed why he was alive, Caleb had wings. They sprouted from his back looking caught somewhere between birdlike and batlike as well surprisingly seeming scarred and burnt. Gregory could only stare for a moment, digesting the amazing discovery.
"You have wings," Gregory pointed out the obvious wanting to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"Yes," Caleb said simply looking away ashamed as the wings folded back.
"That's incredible," Gregory gasped gazing at him in awe, "you can fly!"
"I try not to," Caleb answered sadly, suddenly refusing to meet his eyes.
"Why not?" Gregory asked feeling puzzled.
"Master Magnus I'm a freak of nature," Caleb explained darkly, "if anyone finds out I have wings then they will kill me, flying around increases the risk of being seen."
"I guess I didn't think of that," Gregory sighed leaning back against a tree.
"Come on, we need to get you back home," Caleb announced standing up and offering his hand to help him up which Gregory gratefully took as they started to the journey back in silence.
"I'm not going to tell anyone about that you have wings if that's what you're worried about," Gregory informed him sincerely, disliking the suddenly awkward silence.
"Thank you Master Magnus," Caleb nodded appreciatively.
"You can call me Gregory, you know," he pointed out, "I don't mind."
"If that is what you wish," Caleb answered but smiled slightly nonetheless.
"That is what I wish," Gregory confirmed, "you saved my life Caleb, you can have anything in the world you want."
"I'll keep that in mind," Caleb said slowly.
"Caleb can I ask you a question?" Gregory asked nervously, he was desperate to ask him about his wings but was unsure if it was polite to ask about them.
"Err... Yes," Caleb cautiously agreed.
"Where you born with your wings? Or did you get them somehow?" Gregory questioned curiously.
"I was born with them," Caleb sighed, "like I said, I'm a freak of nature."
"No you're not," Gregory told him firmly noting how the shame returned to his eyes, "you shouldn't look at it like a bad thing, its amazing you can fly, you're special. A little... abnormal yes but its not a bad thing Caleb, don't look so sad."
"As you wish," Caleb sighed again but no longer looked ashamed.
"So are there others like you? People who are different?" Gregory asked still fascinated.
"Yes," Caleb answered swiftly before meeting his eyes for the first time since the rescue, "like I told you, there's extraordinary things in this world Gregory, you're only 10 and you've seen virtually nothing of it. So far."
"You say that like you're 100 years old," Gregory pointed out jokingly but secretly eating up his words, the world suddenly seemed so much bigger and better than London.
"Try 50," Caleb countered with a smirk and Gregory's jaw dropped in shock, "yes, part of my... difference is I don't age as quickly as most people. Now please walk faster, we need to get back before your parents return and see me like this."
"It's sad you have to worry about people trying to kill you," Gregory sighed sadly but increased his pace regardless, "that's how your wings got burned, isn't it?"
"Yes," Caleb answered quietly seeming to recall something painful, "people are always afraid of what they don't understand."
"I'm not afraid," Gregory offered.
"Maybe not of me," Caleb said glancing at him, "I look basically human, some don't and they're the ones who are called out as monsters, they're the ones who die because they have nowhere to go."
"That's sad," Gregory sighed solemnly wondering how many abnormal beings were out there devoid of sanctuary.
"I know," Caleb agreed sadly.