Yes, this is the shortest yet but I was in a bad mood and I don't fancy Will at the best of times so be thankful he didn't end up smushed under a piano :P

Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story as well as those who have been reading :) This is the first time I've written anything that's not Teslen-based so trying to be unbiased when it came to certain boys *ahem, yes, you know who* was a bit of a trick... Let me know if I've succeeded :)

The sequel to this "Her Girl" will be up in the next day or two so keep your eyes peeled kiddies!

Enjoy

xx

Will was like all her other protégés, completely different to all the others who had come before him. That was the one thing they always had in common. Although Will was particularly different. He respected her, yes, but he also called her on bad choices. He wasn't afraid of the history she was able to wield over him. He treated has as both a mentor and a friend. While some days she couldn't stand his attitude, mostly she was glad for it. He was brave, willing to fight for her and against her, listening to her advice but willing to ignore it too.

He had saved her more times than she'd thought possible. He was strong and capable and she knew that, if the time came, he'd be a capable leader for the Sanctuary. With a few more years training, he might even be able to be head of the network.

Sometimes he pushed his luck, sticking his nose in places it had no business but he was young and he still had an enthusiasm that had been replaced in Helen but sheer determination to keep going. She couldn't hold it against him because she knew one day he'd get to the same point as her and she dreaded it. The longer he managed to be impetuous, the more time he spent prying, the more time he spent disagreeing with her, the better because the second that ended, he'd be just like her. He disagreed with her because he questioned all courses of action, weighing up the pros and cons before making a decision, something Helen had stopped doing decades ago. Now she automatically knew what to do, very rarely did she second guess herself. It was a confidence not bred of arrogance but of history, of experience that taught her to trust her first instincts. While it might save her some time, Will's slower, methodical approach almost always came up with results she never even considered.

And, on top of that, he was a friend. He was closer to her than any of the other protégés had been and she wasn't sure why but she was grateful that he was. He was her boy, strong and capable and not yet acting like her.

He wasn't her carbon copy yet and she was glad, for his sake.