Author note: I know I've taken a break for a few months, but this has never been about pleasing people.
Warning: Sex, pseudo-science, Henry being emotional.
Pair: William Zimmerman and Henry Foss.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sanctuary, because if I did the ending would be more of an ending, rather than just stopping like it did. Stupid cancellations...

PART 3

Monster

The doorbell was ringing. Or rather, the gate-bell, as the intercom was on the main gates. Bigfoot looked blankly at the harried looking man hovering near the gates. He looked human. He wasn't a Sanctuary employee. Will had been sent off to Marrakech to deal with a 'minor' issue involving Tesla (everyone was almost hoping to be rid of the vampire this time, but he was proving annoyingly resilient once again), while Magnus herself was off in London helping Declan deal with a problem in his branch of the Sanctuary. With Bigfoot, Henry, and Kate left in the building, there wasn't really a problem in keeping the place running, but sometimes they forgot to allow for unexpected incidents.

An unknown human male turning up on the doorstep with two kids in tow in the pouring rain, for example.

"Should I let them in?" Bigfoot sounded as baffled as he looked. Random humans didn't just turn up at the Sanctuary. They just didn't. Kate shrugged; she was just as confused by this sudden turn of event as her co-worker.

"I have no idea. We may as well find out who they are before setting the dogs on them." She leant forward and hit the intercom button. "Hey there! Who is this?" the man's image on the screen jumped nervously.

"Um. Hi. My name's Richard... Uh... Richard McCord? I'm a friend of Will's. That is, William Zimmerman? And Henry Foss? Um, look-"

"Hey, it's alright." Kate cut him off. "You can wait in the entrance hall until we can get your identity verified." She hit the button to open the gate, and watched as he chivvied the kids through and up to the door. Kate let them in.

"Thank you." Richard kept his arm around the girl, a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Is Will Zimmerman here?" he gave Bigfoot a wary look, keeping the twins close. Bigfoot understood his unease and headed toward the lab to check their identities with Henry.

"No." Kate shook her head. "Will's away on business right now." Richard's shoulders drooped as his face fell. "Hank... uh, Henry's down in the lab though, if he can be of any help?" She waved them towards sofa. Richard sat, but his children – both in their mid teens – chose to wander around the room, examining the books and strange artefacts on the table. The girl seemed both drawn and repulsed by the Abnormal skull in a glass case on one of the desks.

"Lou, don't touch anything." Richard told her gently. "I don't know if Henry would... I think I need Will for this. He always used to be able to spot things other people couldn't." Kate nodded.

"Yeah, I know. That was one of the reasons he got a job here, apparently, and having seen him in action, I'm not surprised." She held out a hand, professional smile in place. "The name's Kate Freelander, I work with Will and Henry."

"Richard McCord." He introduced himself again. "These are my kids, Louise and Chris." Kate nodded a greeting to the kids just as her radio squawked. "Hold that thought." She plucked the gadget from her belt. "Talk to me."

"Kate, it's me." Henry's voice responded. "I'm on my way up."

"Thanks Hank." She glanced towards the visitors. "You guys want food? You kids look dead on your feet from the cold and rain." Louise nodded shyly. Chris kicked his heels briefly, before agreeing. "Hey, Biggie, could you bring something up to eat? These guys are starved." Bigfoot's agreeable grunt replied before she holstered the radio.

"Ms Freelander? That... man who answered the door with you. Is he-?"

"All you really need to know is that we're here to help, no matter who you might be." Kate cut him off. "We're kind of specialists."

"Yeah... Henry said something about working with 'people with differences'." Richard recalled.

"Just like me." Henry waltzed in. "Well, maybe not just like me; we're not quite the same, but we are both different to usual people." He shot Richard a grin. "What can I do for you, man?"

"Our mom." Chris piped up. "She's gone missing."

"Chris." Louise hit her brother. "Let dad deal with it." Henry tilted his head.

"Your mom? That'll be your wife, Richard?" he checked. Richard nodded.

"Emily went missing a week ago. She was meant to be going to an aerobics class, and never made it. No sign of a struggle, nothing to say she was taken. The police say she must have just run away. Apparently it's pretty common for 'unhappy women' to just up and leave their families." Richard drew his children to him. "It's our anniversary soon. The twins' birthday is next month. She wouldn't leave us like this – I know she wouldn't. Emily isn't unhappy with us; she always says her family mean the world to her."

"So why come here?" Bigfoot asked, setting down a tray of sandwiches and retreating to a more reassuring distance. Richard eyed him warily for a moment, but didn't comment as his kids attacked the food.

"This is the kind of thing Will's always been good at. I was hoping that he could take a look around, maybe find something the police missed. I just can't believe that she'd abandon the kids, and I want to find her."

TBC