Disclaimer: I own nothing and profit none.

A/N: One weekend of sleep + One course of antibiotics = One new chapter. I'm back! :) (Well, almost. Still a half-chapter is a step in the right direction!)

Total Word Count: 17,184

After his dreams the night before, it was perhaps more surprising than it should have been for Will to walk into the dining room and realize that yes, indeed, he was quite attracted to Declan. Responding to the man's open smile with a small one of his own, he spent the walk to the table locating his dream fedora and firmly stuffing his attraction underneath. He'd look under that hat later. Maybe much later.

"Good morning," Will smiled, while thinking decidedly non-suspender type thoughts.

"Morning," Declan frowned and Will wondered desperately for a moment if his thoughts were escaping his fedora and plastering themselves across his face. "Going to take on the route downwards in that?"

He blanked for a moment before following Declan's gesture to his clothing. Oh. Right.

"No," he motioned to his grungier than normal clothes. "I was helping out with the feedings this morning. I'll get something a bit sturdier for travel. Actually," he glanced towards the clock, "I should probably pack at some point too." Letting his face twist slightly at the notion, he reached for the carafe of coffee.

It got a laugh out of Declan before the conversation turned to last minute wrap-ups of the last two weeks projects and coordination details for more ongoing efforts. It wasn't until the dining room had cleared completely and they'd ran out of coffee that Declan finally stood to leave.

"I've got a meeting starting about the time you leave," he said apologetically. "I'd arrive a bit late, but Yoda gets testy about that."

"Yoda?" Will snorted. "She told you about that?" The incredulous tone was entirely deserved.

"Told?" Declan scoffed. "Vented, more like. Why would you tell any woman that she reminded you of a wrinkly, green, male creature?"

"It wasn't that part that made me think of it," Will protested. "It's just the whole Council thing and she's definitely the head of it all, so, you know, Yoda?" He faltered in his defense. "Did you at least tell her that he kicked ass in the prequels?" he finished weakly.

Declan shook his head, smirking, "My role was mainly a listening capacity." Will hung his head. "Hey, if the Heads are the Council members, then who am I?"

"I'll tell you if you help me out with her?" he tried his most winning smile.

"Nope," the answer came without a moment of hesitation. So much for that smile. "You're gonna have to dig your way out of this one on your own." Will stumbled a little at the hearty whack between the shoulder blades.

"Fine. Dooku," he mumbled. Then lurched sideways away from the finger at his ribs. Damn him for ever letting Declan figure out that he was ticklish.

"Go pack, young Skywalker," he intoned, proving that Magnus talked too much. "Let me know when you make it back Underground and tell Magnus," his voice trailed off for a moment until Will stopped in the middle of the hallway to look over at him curiously.

"Uh, that it's not quite the same only seeing her via telecon," he shrugged sideways, avoiding Will's eyes. "I always know where all my staff members are now that she doesn't sweep in and purloin them on a semi-regular basis. It's eerie."

Will grinned at the cover. In some respects, Magnus had never quite separated herself from the London Sanctuary and took liberties there she wouldn't imagine elsewhere. Such as relaying orders herself and not through the resident Head of House. Who might then bluster about interfering bosses and never actually get around to telling his staff not to follow her orders implicitly. Will had always enjoyed watching them happily bicker, with each of them perfectly aware that the exact same thing would play out the next time.

This humor did not, however, distract him from the pertinent bit in Declan's statement. Namely, that he missed Magnus. And, Will would bet the farm that he didn't mean in a completely professional sense. After all, the man had apparently convinced her to drink ale at some point.

"I'll pass that on," he said simply, "and then you can deal with her accusations about maligning her character."

At that, they exchanged grins. It hadn't taken either of them too long to figure out that Magnus loved few things more than a good argument. Particularly one that was fairly pointless and didn't really require winning. Will figured it was that rock solid competitive streak that she tried to pretend didn't exist.

When they reached the staircase, Will turned to head up to the inevitable packing and Declan held out his hand. Confused, Will took it and was pulled into a bro-hug that ended with a thump on the back and a fedora about ready to self-combust.

"Don't stay down there too long," Declan said and waved before heading down the hallway towards his office.

"What and miss all of London's wonderful weather?" Will called after him, reacting to the returned gesture with a cheeky grin before heading up to his suitcase.

The trip Down Under was peacefully uneventful, which gave Will plenty of time to contemplate his dream - and a certain incendiary fedora - at length.

Okay, obviously he had feelings for Declan. Or at least a strong desire to see the man in fewer clothes once more. Before he went further down the path where lay a fedora and suspenders, however, he really needed to take a step back.

Abby was still very much in his thoughts. Actually, thinking about Abby hurt, so he was in a tug-of-war between thinking about Abby and not-thinking about Abby, which was even more confusing.

So, as far as timing went, his pretty much sucked.

He needed time to heal from her, time to figure out if he wanted Declan because the man was amazing or because he knew that his feelings were, at least in some way, reciprocated. Time to puzzle out to what extent they were reciprocated and how he felt about Declan without the Abby-situation looming and what exactly he wanted out of this... thing. Some fun? His mind shied away from thoughts of anything more. Not exactly a sign of a healthy mental state.

So, yeah, some time would be good.

Magnus would probably let him stay Underground for awhile. He'd been bouncing around pretty much non-stop for months now and, truthfully, even without this hiccup, he could use some down time. Just not having to pack every couple of weeks would be a relief.

Right, he breathed out slowly. Just take some time away from Declan and the temptation to ignore all of his problems in exchange for a night or two. Declan certainly deserved better than that. Although if he just wanted some fun. Will frowned and stopped his thought mid-track. Bad fedora.

With a sense of relief, he approached the bio scanner and let himself back into the labyrinth. Maybe too much time alone with his thoughts was something to be avoided as well.