Disclaimer: I own nothing and profit none.
A/N: This is the sequel to Reluctance that I promised about a month ago. I don't think it's strictly necessary to read that one first - I tried to make this one understandable all on it's own - but things might be a bit clearer if you have. Enjoy!
"I understand your concerns," was as far as Magnus got before the voice Will couldn't quite hear on the other end broke through again.
"Understood, but," and whoever was over there must have balls of steel to interrupt Magnus twice in one conversation.
"Our best people are on it, I assure you," finally, a full sentence; hopefully that would reassure them, why wouldn't it? Their team was awesome. Given the renewed burst of chatter from the far side, however, this was apparently not a universal sentiment.
"I beg your pardon?" Ouch, whatever they said must have been way off to earn the ice queen tone, "No, it is a reasonable request, but you realize that…"
Off went the merry chatterers again; Will had only been in here a handful of minutes and they were already on his last nerve. How had Magnus put up with an hour of them so far?
"Fine, I'll agree on two conditions. One, my representative has full authority over the investigation," quite a loud burst of talking, there, Will mused, "and two," this time Magnus kept talking right over them, "you forward us the data you currently have and make no further moves until we are in place," Magnus stopped to listen in to the argument brewing on the other side of her computer screen. "I'm sorry, but either you need backup on the situation and want us to intervene or you only need peripheral support and not personnel. You cannot have it both ways."
Will thought about sneaking back out, as it sounded like she had everything well in hand, but reconsidered on the thought of the possible forthcoming squabble over who would have control of which pieces. He might have to spell her after all. Joy.
"Forward us the data and I'll send you more specific allocations of resources, provided you can agree to my terms," actually, this sounded like a wrap-up. A final burst of talk that sounded like a question, "Ah," Magnus seemed to hesitate for a moment, which made him take notice, before coming to a decision, "I'll send you Will."
Well, wouldn't this just be the funnest trip ever? At least the chatter over the line sounded vaguely pleased. Will hoped that he wasn't just projecting that, in fear of their imminent working relationship.
"I'll keep an eye out for it," Magnus promised before ending the call.
"So, what, I'm a parcel post now?" he wasn't sure if she knew he had entered the room, but it was never too early in the day to catch your boss off guard.
"Will," she turned towards him with a smile, so that he couldn't tell if his question was unexpected or not, "Give us some credit. We'll at least send you priority."
"Well, that's a relief," Will returned the grin before nodding towards the blank computer screen, "So, where am I shipping off to and why?"
"The call came from the Asuncion Sanctuary, as I believe you are aware?" At his nod, she continued, "The callers, however, hail from a small, independent outpost along the Rio Paraguay. The facility is running into problems getting off the ground and they require our sort of help."
"They aren't part of the Sanctuary network?" he clarified
"No, an independent refuge," Magnus stood and motioned him towards the seating around the fireplace where a tea service languished in solitude. Clearly, the Big Guy had been trying to give a subtle hint that she had missed lunch yet again. "A small group of abnormals desirous of creating a safe house of sorts for the region founded the project."
"And they didn't want to become a part of the network because…" Will prompted, taking a seat on the sofa and trying to hide his pleased smile when Magnus took the seat beside him before leaning forward to pour the tea. Ever since he had given in and admitted to a few minor insecurities regarding his permanence as a member of the Sanctuary network, Magnus had been working overtime in the reassurance department. As it happened, he calmed best through touch and proximity – one of his more embarrassing weaknesses and how she had found out still eluded him, annoyingly – which meant he had suddenly gained a new seatmate whenever they happened to be in a room together. Not that Will was complaining. Though he would never say it aloud, it did work and the psychiatrist in him deemed it a good thing. The regular old human inside of him thought it was, too, just in a more grumbling manner.
"They had a number of technicalities regarding the manner in which they ran their operation, but at bottom I suspect it was a distrust of those from outside their region," she passed him a cup of tea, heavy on the cream and sugar, before taking up her own unadulterated cup.
"Not promising," Will commented absent-mindedly, trying to plan out the best way to work with people who presumably already didn't like him, "What prompted them to reach out to us then?"
"The same problems that always seem to surround a new Sanctuary - or Haven, as they're choosing to call their facility. How to work around the police, when to involve the authorities, where to house abnormals while building progresses, all of the usual suspects." Magnus paused to take a sip of tea. When the silence stretched past the time one could reasonably take to drink tea, Will looked up to find her watching him carefully.
"Is there something more?" he asked, trying not to sound anxious.
"No," she shook her head as though shaking a thought out of it, before continuing, "It should be no more problematic than opening a new Sanctuary and they know the region well enough to be an asset in avoiding any major problems that could arise."
Will couldn't help but note that Magnus sounded like she was trying to convince the both of them. The question was: should he call her on it?
"You don't sound convinced," and of course he should. Will was pretty sure there was a section covering that in his employee handbook, "Seriously, anything I should be prepared for?"
"No," Magnus sighed and smiled at him ruefully, "It's nothing of the sort, simply one straightforward, small haven. They also seemed to be genuinely glad that you would be assisting them in this endeavor. Apparently your reputation precedes you, Will," she teased gently, with a small salute of her tea cup.
"Oh good, those rumors I've been bribing people to spread are paying off then," Will smirked when he caught her out with a mouthful of tea and received a mock-glare in return. While she managed to swallow, he gave her his own assessing gaze. She was being honest: the job didn't worry her, which meant that sending him did. Will wondered if he should be offended. "Are you worried that I'll scar them for life down there or something?"
Her eyes immediately went wide and he could tell that wasn't the problem at all, which was annoying in that now he would have to press further.
"No, Will, of coursenot."
He spoke in her slight pause – he knew that wasn't her concern, he didn't need to hear it refuted, "I have done this before, you know."
Except, Will realized as he spoke, that he hadn't done it lately. Not since… early fall. Shortly before he and Magnus had a very awkward and confusing series of arguments about his slight insecurities. Great.
"But you've been keeping me here recently," Will continued as though it were not a sudden revelation, "I didn't realize, but… why? Maybe I'm a little screwed up, but…"
"No, Will," and apparently it was Magnus' turn to interrupt, "I won't say that I don't think that staying local for the time being hasn't been good for you, but it was not deliberate. We simply haven't had a situation like this one that needed you. I just," she hesitated for a moment, "I suppose I've grown accustomed to your being here and this will be quite a time commitment. Most likely six to eight weeks to set things on a sustainable path for them."
Will half-smiled at her; it was a good explanation even if he suspected that Magnus had reworked a few of those 'situations' so that someone else would be needed instead of him. That she was sending him to Paraguay, however, meant that she was at least starting to feel less protective, so Will suspected it was too late to worry about the previous months now. If he had noticed at the time, it would have been an entirely different kettle of fish – or extremely loud argument, as the case might be – but at this point he decided it would be best to just let it go. Besides, she just admitted that she liked me being here.
"I'll miss you, too," Will said in answer to her unspoken sentiment, grinning when Magnus looked caught out.
"Don't let it go to your head," she said, looking down her nose at him and trying not to grin back, "If I get desperate, I can always go chat for a while with a different monkey down at the zoo."
"Ah, I see," he tried to paste a morose expression onto his face, "I'm simply convenient. Hey," Will switched to a fake light-bulb-going-off expression, "I'll bet if you show them your birth certificate they'll give you the senior discount!"
"Cheeky," Magnus decided, not hiding her grin any longer, "Be careful or I'll talk the zookeeper into switching your habitat with my new friend's. He'll undoubtedly know better than to call his boss 'old.'"
Before Will could work out a reply, Magnus' computer softly chimed and she moved to return to her desk.
"This will probably be the current information on the Paraguay haven," she remarked over her shoulder as she rounded the desk. "I'll forward a copy to you, so you'll know what you'll have to work with."
"Or against," Will added with a resigned smile, recalling several instances in the past.
"As you say," Magnus gave him a similar smile back before settling behind her desk to peruse the documents.
Seeing that she was immersed, Will freshened her tea and decided to be quite cheeky and add a small cut sandwich and cookie to the saucer. Treats arranged, he walked over to her desk and set them at her elbow with a deliberate clink. Distracted, Magnus looked up.
"I'm just going to go pack, then run through the documents. I'll see about catching the soonest flight out. Don't forget about your tea," with a wicked smile, he headed for the door.
Will heard the suppressed snort as Magnus looked at the tea cup and it's bounty for the first time.
"On the subject," she called and he stopped in the doorway to look back at her. "Don't forget to eat something. I know we were busy through most of the morning."
"Yes, said the pot to the kettle," he smiled as he finished leaving the room. Yes, she had definitely been saying things like that more often in the past few months, a sign of hovering that he should have caught before now. Perhaps it was progress that he had taken it in stride. Certainly, it was far better than spending way too much time trying to decide if it meant that she didn't trust him. Plus, it gave him the perfect excuse to hover a bit in return. Sometimes it seemed to him that she let her 'unique physiology' do too much of the heavy lifting and neglected herself on the assumption that it would pick up the slack.
In any case, her hovering was going to have to take a break now. Maybe by the time he returned she would be more confident that the events of a few months back were an aberration, not something she needed to guard against.
After all, it was his one area of weakness that he'd certainly shored up by now. Duty called and he was ready to put his skills back into practice. He would be perfectly fine. What was the worst that could happen?