Author note: Henry's instincts are sometimes more violent than he's happy with.
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...
"Still okay back there?" Henry asked. They were deep in the tunnels now, and as much as Henry was sure he remembered the way they had come, he was grateful he had the option of following their own scent trails out. Richard was consciously monitoring his own breathing, keeping the depth and rhythm constant to keep his panic in check, but Henry could smell the fear on him, so strong he could literally taste it, hot and bitter on his tongue. He didn't want to admit it, but Richard's fear was putting him on edge, making it harder for him to remain calm. He was tense, and his fight-or-flight response leant towards fight, and Richard. Wasn't. Helping.
"Fine. Do you think it's much further?" the words were clipped and precise, probably an effect of regulated breathing.
"I don't think so." He reassured the other man, but in reality he didn't have a clue. The smell of Emily's perfume that he was following was getting stronger, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. He couldn't judge the distance from the strength of the smell unless he knew how much of the perfume she wore, and even then they could just find an abandoned pile of clothes or a smashed scent bottle.
"You're a shitty liar, Henry." Richard snorted, surprising the werewolf.
"Yeah... I'm really not. You're just so fuck-off scared that you're picking up on it." He shot a teasing grin over his shoulder at the other man, even though Richard wouldn't see it through the darkness. "That's good. It'll help keep us going."
"Don't say stuff like that."
"It's the truth. We're going to need everything we've got to get Emily out of here. With any luck, she'll be unharmed and we can just walk out, but if it comes to it, you need to carry her, because for one, she'll probably be as terrified as you are and fight me, and for another I need to keep my hands free just in case." The seemed to be the final straw for Richard's fraying nerves, and the poor man snapped.
"Son of a fucking bitch! I should rip your eyes out for bringing me down here!" he had his hands around Henry's throat before the technician realised what was happening. A struggle so brief it was barely worth mentioning ended with Richard pressed face first against the rocky wall, Henry gripping his wrists high up his back and pressing one elongated claw to his carotid.
"Listen to me, you stupid bastard." Henry growled, more wolf than he was fully comfortable with under these situations. "I am down here, risking my life, for you. I am not some helpless little pup to be chastised and controlled when you get cold feet. I can and will walk out of here, and leave not only your precious wife, but you as well."
"W-Will-"
"All I have to tell is tell Will that I couldn't get you or Emily out." Henry threatened. "He understands how these creatures work. He also understands how I work. I'm not the only one of my kind, but I am the only one who will deal with humans. Now. Are you calm enough and/or frightened enough of me that if I let you go, you won't do anything stupid?"
"Yes." Henry let go, and let Henry turn to face him. "You said you were human." Richard's tone was half fear, half reproach. Henry shrugged.
"I said 'unless you listen to my boss'. Magnus is the only one who makes any reference to what I am. No-one else pays it any attention." He sheathed the claw easily. Pissed off and under stress, his control over his wolfish side had to be perfect, and having a mate had stabilised the strange urges and pressures he'd experienced before. Will made it easier for him to focus and control the change.
"Will knows?"
"It's kind of the reason we're together." Let him believe what he wanted – judging from the look of shock it was better than anything Henry could have told him. "Now, we've made enough noise that if the damn thing is down here – which it probably is by now – it's heard us. Our chances of getting out of here just halved, and maybe I was too blunt about the danger we're in, but as we've just proven, you should have waited outside." Richard was ghost white in the darkness. "You said you could handle it."
"Who's there?!" A faint echo of a voice reached them. Henry slammed a hand over Richard's mouth and dragged him to the floor, HAP strength overpowering the larger man with ease. "Help me, please! It's coming back! Please, help me! I have a family!" broken hearted, frightened sobs followed.
"Emily?" Henry breathed into Richard's ear, barely loud enough to be heard, but the other man nodded. "Wait here. Don't move."
He left Richard cowered in the tunnel and crept forward, all but fully transformed he was using so much of his latent abilities. He weighed less as a human, and with the lupine agility he kept the noise of his movement to a minimum. His night-vision was perfect, keeping him upright on the treacherously uneven floors and avoiding the occasional sharp outcropping on the wall – the last thing they needed was the smell of fresh-drawn blood to attract the wendigo.
A brief glance around the corner was all he needed. He raced back to Richard, and hauled him up.
"I think it's her."
Henry kept watch which Richard calmed his wife and cut her down. Emily was bruised and bleeding and terrified, but mostly unharmed.
"I've got you, honey." Richard murmured. "Keep quiet, okay? This is Henry, we're getting you out of here." He kept up the quiet reassurances as he half-carried her along the tunnel they came down.
"Shut up." Henry hissed. "If we don't survive getting out of here, I'm going to kill you myself." Emily choked out a breath – too frightened to laugh, too tense not to.
TBC