Title: House Rules
Author: ADeclanFan
Rating: T for language
Spoilers: Sanctuary season 2 Episode Veritas
Summary: Missing scene that has been bugging me for months. Declan is persona non-grata in the Old City Sanctuary while Magnus recovers, but Magnus isn't going to let him lay low.
Disclaimers: Not mine. No profit.
Notes: Looking for someone to beta for next story which is Helen/Kate and mature. If you like this, please review. I'm rusty.
Lost in a mountain of files and folders and various bits of unfinished business, Declan didn't hear the soft footsteps as Helen Magnus entered her office. It wasn't until she was standing over his shoulder reading the email that was currently causing Declan's head to ache that he looked up and gave an embarrassed start. "Magnus," he frowned, cheeks burning. "Shouldn't you still be in bed? You've only just come out of a coma." Declan knew there were probably a hundred valid reasons she could dress him down right now, like taking over her desk, and that is precisely why he's spent the last two days in her office getting caught up on two Sanctuaries worth of paperwork and not taken a turn keeping a vigil at her bedside with the others. It's cowardly and he knows it; hates it.
The tired smile Magnus gives him makes his heart hurt. "I'm well enough, Declan."
Declan nods. She was notorious for not wanting people to fuss over her. Although, her statement would carry more weight if she weren't in flannels and fuzzy slippers, looking for all the world like a refugee from a girls' slumber party. The thought evokes images of the pair of giggling teenage telepaths he's got under his charge in London, and it makes him homesick for the first time of the day. At least they would speak to him, even yell at him when they got upset, not like Magnus' people who were still silently brooding and avoiding him like he had some contagious disease... No, if he were diseased at least they'd show some sympathy for his plight.
Declan realized Magnus was studying his face intently. He turned his attention to the piles of folders, a lump forming in his throat at how close he'd come, hell they'd all come, to losing Helen Magnus for good. He'd just done that dance with James and Declan couldn't go through it all again so soon without losing pieces of his sanity along the way. He didn't want her bloody Sanctuary. What he wanted desperately was for Magnus to get better quickly, so he could go deal with all the problems that were waiting for him back home. He had a Sanctuary to rebuild, residents to rescue from temporary housing, work orders to sign...
"Declan." The tone is much kinder than he deserved. "Are you hiding in here?"
"I've finished to quarterly reports for you. And the new intake evaluations for this week. You may need to..." He gestured to the computer.
"Declan." Magnus held up a hand, "Stop. Just look at me. Look at me." Reluctantly, he did. She was smiling that tired smile again, but there was a light in her eyes, like she'd come to some conclusion and it amused her. "Would it be possible for you to stick around a while longer? Frankly, I could use a few more days rest."
"You want me to stay on?" Declan gaped at her.
"I can imagine you're getting homesick, and you have the rebuilding of your own Sanctuary to manage, but it would be good of you to stay on. The choice would be yours, of course. "
"That wouldn't be a very good idea, Magnus." Declan sighed, "your people aren't thrilled with me right now, and I can hardly blame them."
"None of what happened was your fault, Declan." Magnus reassured him.
"You think I don't know that?" He huffed. "Everything I did and every choice I made was by the book. I followed the Charter. The protocols that you created for handling situations just like this."
"You did exactly what was expected of you as a Head of House. I never doubted that you would conduct a proper investigation, manage two Sanctuaries and keep my team safe while I was not available."
Declan scowled. "Not available? Bloody fucking hell Magnus! Not available implies you were skiing in the Alps, or tanning on a beach in some tropical clime covered in coconut oil. You were mad as a hatter!" Floodgates Declan hadn't realized he had opened up and out poured all the anger he'd kept locked down since he learned Magnus had done this to herself. She'd gone undercover to plug a leak in the network and very nearly got herself killed in the process. "You put a red list abnormal into your brain and became paranoid, delusional... completely mental. I had to spy on your team, get a team armed and hunt you down when you escaped, and when I brought you back home, you almost died!" If James had ever done this to him, he'd have punched him.
"A poor choice of words on my part. I'm sorry, Declan. If I could have told you, you have to believe I would have." She sighed. "It needed to be real. We had a telepath gone bad. The timing was just right to lay this mess in your lap. Everyone knew it would take time for the London Sanctuary to be back up to speed, so it made the perfect cover for you to come here, step up when you were needed and conduct the investigation. In a way, it was a final exam for your position as Head of the UK House. James chose you, he trained you to be his replacement because he knew his days were numbered. James trusted you implicitly, but I needed to see for myself he made the right choice. As exams go, you aced it. Acting Head of House no longer, you've earned your place. "
It all sounded so bloody logical and well thought out in hindsight, and what was done was done. "If you need me here, of course I'll stay on. I can handle work orders and supply requests just as easily here as anywhere."
"Thank you." He could tell Magnus was truly grateful. Her smile reached her eyes, this time.
"Someone needs to have a chat with your team. I've bollixed up whatever credibility I had with them."
"I'll have a talk with them."
"Good. It will be nice to not be treated like I just killed Dumbledore." The Harry Potter reference made Magnus grin. The smile reminded Declan just how lovely Helen Magnus was. That was dangerous. "Would you like your desk returned to you?" He closed his laptop and started shuffling papers.
Magnus shook her head. "Keep the desk for now. I'll give you advanced notice before I come storming in to reclaim my throne. What I would like is help to my rooms, if you don't mind."
"Not the infirmary?"
"I want my own bed."
Declan nodded, "I know what you mean."
When he had a supporting arm around her, Magnus turned and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry, Declan, we'll have you back to Gryffindor House before the next Quidditch match." That made him chuckle.