He woke to the sound of someone murmuring in his ear. It took him only a few seconds to recognise Magnus' voice. The next thing he realised – he was using her shoulder as a cushion. He sat up abruptly. He always fell asleep when flying! Why was it when he wanted to sleep he couldn't, but when he was on an airplane he could sleep for hours on end? Poor Magnus she virtually never slept on the plane and she always allowed him to use her as a pillow which can't exactly be comfortable after the first hour or so.

"What was that?" He asked and ran a hand over his mouth tiredly.

"I said: they are preparing to land now." She smiled and ruffled his hair. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," he mumbled.

Almost to Wellington, brilliant! He was really looking forward to this trip with Magnus. They were coming to check out an abnormal species that Magnus has never actually seen before – she knew of them but a situation where she could observe them had never arisen until now. A small group of Kaldis were spotted on Mt. Ruapehu and Magnus jumped at the chance to come and do some research of her own.

"Sorry, I always end up using you as a pillow."

"That's quite alright, Will." Magnus told him with a small smile on her face. "Now while you were sleeping they said to expect a fair bit of turb-" but she didn't finish her sentence because the plane suddenly lurched to one side and they bounced in their seats.

"Turbulence," he finished for her. He gripped the arms of his seat tightly. He had always been calm in the face of turbulence… that was until he met Helen Magnus. He had been in too many plane and helicopter crashes since meeting her – now even slight turbulence made him nervous.

"Landing in Wellington almost always means turbulence," she told him calmly he looked down at her hands resting calmly in her lap and then at his own white knuckled hands… He loosened his grip, slightly. "This is New Zealand's capital and it's affectionately known as Windy Wellington. For good reason the wind speeds recorded here are much higher than anywhere else in the country."

"Right," he wished Turangi had an airport – that was where Mt. Ruapehu was situated but apparently they had to fly to Wellington and then drive the five hours up to Turangi. He hoped Magnus would let him drive… While she was perfectly capable of driving she took every chance she could to speed and he usually spent his trip telling her to slow down.

"I think I'll drive us up to Turangi," sometimes he thought she could read his mind.

"Can't I?" He frowned as he realised how incredibly whiny his voice had just sounded. She answered with a frown, her eyebrows drawn together.

"No Will, I know where we are going." She paused and he caught her trying to hide a smile. "Plus we won't be there until next week if I let you drive." The plane bounced again and he chose not to answer her, she was definitely trying to get a rise out of him. He gritted his teeth as the plane bounced on the tarmac and squeezed his eyes closed. They had made it in one piece thankfully but his nerves were still on edge.

…

"How about I let you drive half way?" Wow. Magnus was compromising with him.

"Alright…" He answered slowly. He was waiting for the catch. She just smiled and opened the rental car door for him to sit in the passenger seat. "Why?" He asked as she settled herself into the driver's seat.

"Do I need a reason? Apart from the fact that you want to drive…?"

"No I suppose not." The psychologist part of his brain mulled things over but as they set off he still couldn't come to a conclusion so decided to just make the most of the fact that he only had to sit here watching the road like a hawk for two and a half hours making sure she wasn't going to speed them straight into a truck or something.

The drive went smoothly and at half way they stopped at a petrol station to re-fuel and as they returned to the car Magnus silently slipped into the passenger seat. He sighed with relief and took the wheel.

"Mm," she said appreciatively biting into a chocolate bar. He watched her lick her lips out of the corner of his eye. Sometimes he wondered if she realised the effect she had on him. She was very self-aware after being alive for so long so he was fairly certain she did.

"Good?" He asked, though he knew the answer.

"Of course," she pursed her lips as if thinking on something.

"I think I'd like to stop for lunch in the city before we head out to The Dell." The Dell was her house in Pukawa, a suburb very close to Turangi. She had opted for them to stay there rather than a motel for the first night. They would be traveling on foot from the base of Mt. Ruapehu the following morning so she thought she'd let them have a rest at The Dell for the night. He had stayed in a couple of her properties over the years and they had always been beautiful so he had no doubt The Dell would be too.

"Sure, is there somewhere in particular you want us to stop?"

"The truck stop off the state highway," he just about swerved as she told him this. She wanted to have lunch at a truck stop? He shook his head in confusion. He could not picture her sitting in a dirty truck stop eating greasy food and chugging down beer.

"Er… why…?"

"A friend of mine works there," she smiled obviously enjoying his shock.

"Okay," he answered slowly hoping she would elaborate. A friend…? Was it her source? She turned to look out the window. Conversation over. He supposed he would just have to wait and see. She did so enjoy keeping him guessing.

TBC.