Author note: I know feck all about guns except how to use one at the firing range. We don't have the right to bear arms except in the context of short sleeves.
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...

"Oh Jesus..." Richard whispered as Henry led him into the cave network. Henry shushed him immediately.

"Look, dude, I want to get in, get Emily, and get out. These things are wicked scary when they're in a good mood, so just think on what they're like pissed off because we broke in and stole its dinner." Richard clamped his mouth shut, but Henry could practically smell his fear. "Just stay calm." Maybe mentioning that the wendigo wanted to eat Emily was a bad idea...

"Okay." Richard took a calming breath. "Okay. Honestly, I have my reservations about whatever it is you think is happening here. Obviously you have your...HAP thing, and whatever happened to Emily, if she's been kidnapped, then whoever it is who brought her here needs to be stopped, human or otherwise. I just want to get my wife and go home with our kids." He gave Henry a shaky smile. "Having said that... I really don't like being underground." Henry groaned.

"I did not anticipate this." He sighed. "Do you want to wait out here? I can go in a fetch her."

"No. I need to see that she's alright." I need to fetch her myself went unsaid, but Henry could hear it in his voice – he trusted Henry to help find her because Will said he could trust him, but Richard had to be there... if anything went wrong, he would never have been able to forgive himself.

"If you're going to freak out on me the second we get underground, then you're just going to be in my way." Henry allowed just a tiny bit of his inner wolf show, trying to make Richard understand just how serious he was about this. In the almost perfect darkness, the fangs would be lost on the human, but the growl in his voice was clear. "I'm a techie, not a soldier, but I can fight if I have to, and I'm armed. You'll be nothing but a hindrance if you have a meltdown in the middle of a wendigo nest. You can see she's alright when I bring her out to you."

"I won't have a break down." Richard insisted, and his resolve made Henry feel a little bit better about taking him in.

"Good." He let the wolf subside, keeping only the night-vision going. "Now, I'm going to call back to base and let them know what's going on. With any luck, Biggie can organise some backup."

"Wait, did you say that you're armed?" Richard squeaked, then coughed and lowered his tone. "You have a permit to carry concealed, right?" Henry blinked at him, once, twice, then snorted. That was what Richard was worrying about?

"Yeah, yeah, we're all licensed and everything. Mind you..." he looked uncomfortable. "I thought we were dealing with a standard kidnapping at most, so I didn't bring extra ammo. I've got eight rounds in a .45, and that probably won't be enough to deal with this thing. Magnus can say what she likes about protecting Abnormals like the wendigo, but I'll probably want a bigger gun if we have to face that thing." Richard cursed quietly. "Yeah, I know."

"I can't believe you're carrying a gun and I didn't even notice." Henry stared for a second, then shook his head in disbelief.

"Your priorities, dude." He flipped open his phone and dialled the Sanctuary. No answer. Shit. "Hey guys, this is Henry. I'm out with Richard and I think we found his wife. Problem is, I'm pretty sure it's a wendigo that's taken her. I'm probably going to need at least transport out of here, so give us a hand, yeah?" he gave a rough estimate of their coordinates, and hung up. "That's as good as we're going to get, Rich. You ready to head in there?"

"Not really." Richard admitted, still trying to master his phobia. "But to help Emily, I'll do it."

"Good man."

Richard's breathing was ragged and laboured as Henry led him further into to network of caves, out of the safety of what little daylight was left, and the technician could feel his own tension levels rising in response. It was cold, and dark, but at least it was mostly dry, and Henry's sharp hearing didn't pick up any sounds echoing through the tunnels that he wouldn't have expected. The rustle of small animals disturbed from their homes. Quiet echoes of their footsteps and breathing. The occasional drip of water from the roof. No movement of anything bigger than a rat aside from themselves.

Maybe we will survive this, Henry mused. We've gotten this far at least.

He sniffed.

"Does Emily wear perfume?" he asked quietly. Richard nodded. "Good. This way."

TBC