Disclaimer

The original characters and plot line belong to those who wrote and created the amazing fictional universes. I do not own any of it. I only own my own characters and plots. Some of the dialogue within this story is identical to the original/ canon product. I claim no part of that and its entire purpose is to ensure that the characters stay as canon as possible.

Story

Will was walking quickly down the halls of the Sanctuary, his arms laden with reports and briefings for his weekly meeting with Magnus. In his peripheral vision, he saw a fast moving blur race down the corridor and almost collide with him. He dodged to the left, avoiding a small, furry, knee-high Abnormal and almost dropped the files in his arms. A few moments of frantic juggling and he managed to prevent the reports from spilling onto the floor. For what felt like the hundredth time, he cursed Magnus' insistence that reports had to be on paper for their weekly meetings.

Arriving at Magnus' office, he was surprised to find that her door was firmly closed. Normally, the door to Magnus' office was wide open in anticipation of his arrival and Magnus was waiting at her desk, ready for their weekly meeting. Will shuffled the papers in his arms again, freeing up one hand to knock on the heavy oaken door. He waited for a moment, but didn't hear anything from within the office. Will frowned and, glancing at his watch, confirmed that he had arrived at the correct time. The last time that he had arrived for a meeting with Magnus and she wasn't waiting for him, he had been so sleep deprived from the latest catastrophe that he had turned up three hours before the meeting was meant to begin. Knocking on the door again, Will waited for a moment before opening the door and entering the office, intending to get himself organised and wait for Magnus to return from whatever incident had delayed her.

The scene that he walked in upon took him completely by surprise and he froze in the doorway. Magnus and a woman he didn't recognise were leaning against Magnus' desk, engaged in a passionate kiss. At his faint gasp of embarrassment, the unknown woman turned around, her blond curly hair swirling around her head and she pulled a gun from the holster on her hips and centred the barrel of the gun directly between Will's eyes. Will gulped as he stared at the weapon, which appeared to be even more futuristic than the Sanctuary's stun guns. Magnus glanced over the stranger's shoulder and Will found himself pinned under the glare of the two beautiful women. Magnus' brown eyes softened as she saw who it was, whilst the unknown woman's blue-green eyes remained hostile.

Will smiled sheepishly at Magnus and took a step back. "Sorry, Magnus," Will said apologetically. "I didn't know that you had company. It's just, we had a meeting …" he trailed off. At his stuttering, the blonde-haired woman lowered her gun and holstered it, still looking annoyed at Will for interrupting. "You know what," Will said, reading the room. "Never mind, I'll leave you two alone."

"It's all right, Will," Magnus said. "In the future though, do wait until I give you permission before you enter my office."

"Sure, Magnus," Will agreed apologetically, as he turned to leave.

"Wait," called the unknown woman to Will. Smiling at Magnus, she gave her a quick kiss and stepped back. "Well, Sweetie," she said flirtatiously to Magnus. "It seems that you are busy right now. We'll continue this later tonight."

"We will indeed," Magnus flirted back in a throaty voice that Will had never hear her use before. Magnus leant in and gave the curly-haired woman a kiss.

The woman smirked at Magnus and with a "See you tonight Sweetie", vanished with a puff of smoke and a zapping noise.

Will stared at the place where the woman had been, his brain frantically trying to process what had happened. He had known that Magnus had had lovers, it was obvious, what with her being almost 150 years old. But it was different to see it play out directly in front of him. Even after having been with the Sanctuary for a year, he still regarded Magnus as something larger than human and seeing her with someone, romantically, was strange.

"Will," Magnus' voice broke through his thoughts and he blinked as he looked at Magnus. She had moved from leaning against the desk to sitting behind it, look as proper as she normally did. "Shall we get the meeting started?"

"Sure, Magnus," Will said, chagrined, as he sat down in his usual seat and lay down his reports.

The meeting progressed normally, with Will and Magnus discussing the day-to-day operation of the Sanctuary and the minor problems that they had encountered that week. The budgetary concerns about the renovations of the third residential wing took the better part of an hour as they debated what amenities would be needed to accommodate the air elementals that would be arriving in a month. The final item on the agenda was Will's report on how the new clan of hippocampi were settling in. At the conclusion of the meeting, Will smiled at Magnus and gathered his paper work and stood to leave, before pausing.

"Magnus," he began and then stopped, wondering if what he wanted to ask was appropriate. Magnus was his boss, he had no right to delve into her personal life, but he was curious.

"Yes, Will?" asked Magnus, with a note of amusement in her voice.

The lack of hostility in her answer gave Will the courage to ask his questions. "I didn't know that you were seeing someone," Will said hesitantly, trying to read Magnus' expression to see if this line of conversation was acceptable. Seeing that she wasn't closing in upon herself, Will continued, "Who is she?"

"Her name is River Song," Magnus said with a soft smile. "We have known each other for a long time."

Will wondered what Magnus meant by a long time; giver her age, it could be anywhere up to a hundred years. He didn't get around to asking though, as a thought crossed his mind. In a slightly worried tone, he asked "Is the EM shield working?"

Magnus looked confused at his non-sequitur but answered anyway. "Yes, of course," she said with a slight frown. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that she teleported out of here," Will said, relieved that the shield was still operational. His next question was filled with curiosity. "What kind of Abnormal is River? If she can teleport whilst the EM shield is up, she must be pretty special."

"Oh, River is not an Abnormal," Magnus answered conversationally and smiled at the frown that crossed Will's face at her answer. "She is an alien."

Will's expression changed from confusion to flabbergasted disbelief. He stared at Magnus in shock before shaking his head, laughing. "Good one, Magnus," he said as his chuckling died down. "But seriously, what kind of Abnormal is she?"

Now it was Magnus who looked surprise. "I assure you Will," she answered in a firmer tone. "River is an alien. She wasn't born on Earth."

All traces of amusement fled from Will's face as he heard Magnus' statement. "Wait, you're telling me that aliens, as in little green men from space, are real?"

"That is quiet disrespectful Will," Magnus chided. "Surely by now you should know better than to subscribe to the stereotypes perpetrated by the masses."

"Gods, Magnus!" Will vented. "You're serious aren't you? Aliens are real and you didn't think to mention it earlier?!. What happened to our no-secrets agreement?"

Magnus bristled at his tone. "I wasn't keeping it from you Will," she said sternly, then relented slightly as she continued her explanation. "It simply hadn't been relevant until now. We rarely deal with aliens, here at the Sanctuary. Occasionally, an extra-terrestrial will come to us seeking sanctuary, but usually, the alien taskforces hand all off-worlders."

"There are alien taskforces?" asked Will faintly.

"Yes, UNIT and Torchwood," Magnus answered. "The world governments have known about aliens for decades. Torchwood was founded in 1879 by her majesty Queen Victoria and UNIT was created in late 1960s. The Sanctuary has a standing non-interference agreement with both organisations; we stay within our own spheres of influence, but still maintain lines of communication. In the event that they encounter an Abnormal, they will inform us and vice versa." As she finished her explanation, Magnus rose and smiled at Will, "Now, I'm afraid that I have an appointment with one of residents in 10 minutes."

Will nodded distractedly. "It's a lot to take in," he said.

Magnus paused in the doorway and looked back at Will, who was clearly processing all the information that had been revealed during their conversation. "Oh, and Will," she said conversationally, "In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably tell you that River is also a time traveller." And with that final comment, Magnus exited the office, leaving a shell-shocked Will to collapse back into his chair.