Helen took a deep breath to calm down. This conversation was not going in any productive direction and she was only becoming frustrated with the other Head's. Will was standing next to her silently, letting her handle the situation how she saw fit.
"Magnus you cannot ignore the situation." Declan was firm and unwavering in his conviction.
"I'm not—" she stopped as she realized her voice was a force to be reckoned with and sought to lower it. She felt fingers on her arm in reassurance. "I'm not ignoring the situation. I have teams out looking for Whitcomb as we speak, but I cannot ignore the fact that she is my daughter."
"That is exactly our point," Pili spoke. "You are ignoring certain aspects of the situation. Your judgment is being clouded by her mere presence. Action must be taken."
"What does that mean?"
Jephthah finally spoke up, until this point the man had been utterly silent. "We have had a vote. You will remand the girl into the custody of the London Sanctuary; you will also have no contact with the girl in order that her safety and the safety of the network are preserved. Declan will arrive tomorrow morning to retrieve her."
"Sara is my daughter, whether or not I gave birth to her and you have no right—no right to remove her from my care."
"The vote was unanimous, Magnus. You will comply with this directive or you will lose your standing."
"This is ridiculous." She made eye contact with Declan who gave her a wary and fearful look. He had known she would not agree, but had hoped since it was him taking care of the girl that Helen would give in to the Heads' demands.
Pili spoke next, "We don't want this to sound like a threat, Magnus, but we do feel as though you have been compromised and need to rectify that situation. Secondly, the girl needs to be kept secure. We still do not yet know her purpose or the purpose Whitcomb had intended for her use. And quite frankly, after the way you handled Terrence Wexford, we are not sure you can handle this situation."
Magnus only shook her head shoving the tablet in her hands onto a desk and stalked out of the room. She held the radio to her mouth speaking rapidly. "Henry, lower the EM shield immediately." She ran to the nursery where she knew John would be and began packing diapers, clothes, formula and all manner of other necessities into a baby bag and duffle.
"Helen, what is it?" She didn't answer only continued her movements. "Helen. What happened?" Growing frustrated with her silence he set Sara down in the crib before taking hold of Helen's upper arms and turning her to face him. She had tears in her eyes that she was fighting to keep at bay.
"I need you to take her, John. I need you to take her and not come back until I tell you to. Alright?" He nodded in agreement.
"Just tell me what happened."
"There isn't time, I need you to hide; no one is allowed near her except you and me. Understood?"
"Yes." She shoved the duffle at him after zipping it closed and handed him the baby bag. He swung them over his shoulder as she leaned into the crib and picked up her daughter. Kissing her soft skin Helen handed her over to John.
"Take care of her." His head jerked down as he teleported from the room.
"You shouldn't have done that." She took a shuddering breath as she heard his voice from the doorway.
"Don't start, Will." She moved a hand in a sharp motion in front of her body letting out her frustration.
"There will be serious consequences for it."
She only gave him a look; she knew exactly what the consequences were going to be. She was going to be removed as head of the Sanctuary network and most likely as Head of House in Old City as well. Declan would arrive in the morning and throw a fit and she did not want to deal with Will and his problems in the meantime.
Shoving past him she made for the door, but he was faster and slammed it shut, barely missing her fingers. "What were you thinking?"
"She is my daughter, Will. I will not have her imprisoned or experimented on because of the nature surrounding her birth. She deserves better than that."
"So you send her off with the Ripper? Oh that's so much better than sending her with Declan."
"I don't need your approval."
"No, you don't Magnus, but you do need to have faith in those that work for you."
She stopped at that. Looking him directly in the eye, "I do have faith in you, Will. More than you can ever know. This, however, is not an issue for the Heads of House to even discuss, it is a private matter."
"No, this one is not. This one warrants discussion, no matter the actions decided, which should have included your input, but this is a matter that needs discussion with the Heads. The Cabal were thought to be done, over, a dead organization and now we find out that their leader isn't really dead. This girl, your daughter, Sara: shouldn't be alive. Face it—she is a miracle and a paradox. What are you supposed to do with her? They were right about one thing; you cannot ignore the entire situation, Magnus."
She gave him a lasting look before bristling past him and out the door that was no longer being blocked. He had said his part; he had got her thinking that was all he needed. Will returned to his office to work on paperwork and attempt to take his mind off her. Magnus worked through the night putting all her files in order for Will. She would try to help him as much as possible by doing this before she lost her standing.
After finishing everything in the office she moved to the lab to work on some long overdue research, she was still there when Declan arrived. She would let Will handle the situation with him and hide out in her lab until Declan sought her. She was in no mood to deal with him even though she wasn't one for standing down or hiding when in the line of fire.
Declan found her with her face in a microscope, her hair falling around her face. "You didn't have to do that you know." She didn't answer, only continued to look at the slide she had prepared. He was very quiet when he spoke, he didn't want to be angry with her. He actually understood her choices; Watson had been kind enough to enlighten him in the ways of Helen Magnus before passing on. "Sara would have been safe with me."
"You can't guarantee that." She didn't dare look at him. Switching slides she moved back to the microscope.
"And Druitt can?"
She did look at him then; he looked tired, his eyes swollen from lack of sleep. "He would never harm her."
"Druitt wouldn't, no." He agreed readily. "But the creature? I'm not so sure. Do you trust him to keep it at bay?"
She thought deeply, attempting to reason out her decision. "Yes, but only where it concerns her."
"Not even you?" She shook her head. "Even James thought John could never harm you and I believe Tesla agreed with him on the matter."
She shrugged and quietly spoke, "What is unknown to them never hurts anyone."
Declan gave her an odd look before changing the subject, she didn't want to continue and he wasn't about to ask her to. "Come on then, it's time for afternoon tea. Will kept me busy far too long this morning." He held out his arm for her.
"I thought you would be angry with me." She slid up to him and hooked her arm through his.
"Can't say I didn't expect something like this, although Will believes I'm furious."
She patted his hand lightly, "We'll just let him think that." She paused, "I've written my resignation." He looked at her in shock. "You knew it would happen one day. It's just happening sooner than we thought."
"You don't have to do this. They aren't going to relieve you, even though that's how it sounded."
"I know, but I think it's time. You are next in line; I've requested that I stay a week to finish this week's paperwork that I have here and send the rest to you from now on. Will can take over for me here, he's ready for it. I would like to stay on and be able to continue my research and contribute where I can."
"I'm sure that can be arranged. Don't you think you'll miss it though?"
"Yes, I will. Maybe when everything calms down I'll start leading again."
She was lying quietly in his warm embrace running fingers over his chest in a post-sexual haze. Her fingers moved, but her mind and heart were not in the caress. Will was staring at the ceiling, one hand around her shoulders and the other behind his head. She was being distant. It wasn't a sudden withdrawal as he had expected, but gradual and slow over the past few weeks. She found herself lingering less and less in the lab and more often than not she could be found on the north tower or in her rooms with a book in hand. What this woman must be going through, to have one daughter taken in death and the other forced away in life. Not the loss of one daughter, but two: even though they were one in the same.
"She's probably walking by now." He knew she was referring to Sara, but he had nothing to give her to make the loneliness and hurt go away.
Instead, he decided to try and lighten the mood, "Probably running circles around Druitt at this point." It was in reference to Ashley's feistiness, they both knew it, but let the comment hang in the stagnant air for moments on end.
"Ashley used to do that." He waited for her to continue and to his surprise, she did. "When she wanted my attention, or had learned something she was really excited about, or even when she found something she knew she shouldn't have discovered. She taught Henry how to do it." She smiled into his chest and he looked down to catch the pleasure on her face. "Try having a conversation with the UN liaison with two children running in circles around your desk. I found it amusing. The UN liaison I was speaking with, however, did not."
His fingers found their way into her hair and curled the locks over his fingers. "Henry must miss her more than I realized."
"Yes, but I think with Ashley gone he's been able to grow up a little more. Even though he was older, she definitely played the role of overbearing and protective sister in his life. Like when his first girlfriend cheated on him. Ashley went and broke the poor girl's nose."
"I thought you didn't condone violence, Helen." He teased.
"Condone, no. But appreciate, yes. After Ashley was done being grounded she took Henry out for a night of clubbing. I refused to let them sleep in the next morning much to their dislike. Needless to say, neither was happy with me for weeks but that night helped lift Henry's spirits dearly." He waited out the silence, trying to imagine what it would have been like to grow up here, with Magnus. He probably wouldn't be lying naked in her bed for starters, but it also might have been a much more pleasant upbringing, at least far more adventurous.
"She probably won't even recognize me when I see her next." Her voice was soft again.
Will dropped a kiss on her head, "I'm sure she will, Druitt has a picture of you and I'm fairly certain he will show it to her."
"He doesn't have a picture of me, Will, don't be absurd. The man burned them all the night I gave back the ring."
"Interesting, but I know for a fact that Druitt has a picture of you." She lifted her head away from his skin to look him in the eye. Silently she compelled him to continue and explain. "Ashley saw it, before she met you in Rome. It was one of the few things that convinced her he was telling the truth."
"You're serious." He nodded in response. Laying her head back down she spoke, "Bloody Hell, he would keep one wouldn't he?" The question was rhetorical, not to be answered by a man who barely knew her. They let the quiet wash over them, allowing their bodies to succumb to sleep.
Four months had passed, with no new information on the Cabal and no leads on the whereabouts of Dana Whitcomb. The Heads of House were worried about Declan, claiming he was beginning to flounder in his responsibilities. Traveling to London was not on her priority list, but Declan had practically begged for help and the Heads of House had insisted she would be allowed. Perhaps they were frustrated with his floundering and only wanted to find the quickest solution. Still not feeling as though it was the time for her to enter back into the political world of the Sanctuary she agreed that it would do more harm than good if she remained at home.
She was just arriving on the landing strip when John teleported into the plane with her. "Something's wrong." Were the first and only words out of his mouth.
"What do you mean? What happened?" He was alone; Sara was not in sight as Helen stood up and walked over to him. She held his arm as he swayed in order to steady him.
"Lower the EM shield in London." She nodded not thinking and only acting. Grabbing hold of her phone she called Declan and made the arrangements as he teleported out of the machine. She hung up just as John teleported back, only his arm materialized as he grabbed hold of her hand and moved them both.