Where there's a Will…

Summary: ... there's trouble! New lives are started, the new Underground Sanctuary is ready to start business. But as with all endeavours, something puts a spanner in the works... a little bit of history comes looking for Will, and the team are hard pressed to fight it. Especially now that they're on their own.

Disclaimer: This is a fan-fiction story of the TV show; Sanctuary and is in no way affiliated with the actual show. All characters and other materials related to the show that are used are not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. Elemental-Zer0 takes sole responsibility for any mistakes or offence that may be taken but truly not meant. However, any characters that are not related to any copyrights are copyrighted to Elemental-Zer0 as is any variations to the plot set out in the show.

Authors Note: This chapter has morphed several times through the editing process. I felt like I was giving away too much to begin with. Several changes and tweaks of the timeline had to undergo editor's surgery. Hopefully this version satisfies.

Be sure to let me know your thoughts, and if you have any criticism to make, please do it politely.


Chapter One:

Helen Magnus stood before an array of large flat-screen monitors with a narrowed brow on her forehead. Each screen was reporting a different weather alert for various countries around the word and most were concerningly out of season, or just plainly wrong for the area in question. There were hurricane risks for Europe; monsoon warnings for the mid Arabian deserts; and snow fall in northern Africa, in the middle of its summer season. Add to the various low frequency quakes that had been rumbling all around the globe too, and Helen was certain that something big was shifting and stirring underneath it all.

She was sure it was all linked in some way, and her first port-of-call had been to check for any 'abnormal' behaviours and patterns, but so far, she couldn't identify any viable causes.

"It must be abnormal in origin, Will. What else can cause a worldwide weather shift of this magnitude?" She argued with absolute confidence she was correct. Will gave a deep sigh as he stood from behind a desk stacked high with reports, dossiers, and fact files on every abnormal species that could affect the weather like this.

"I don't know, Magnus." He admitted, sounding tired and frustrated. "But we still need evidence in order to act. What if we make things worse? We need to gather field evidence, send a team…" He began and he was right; any action made without factual evidence to work with could make the whole issue much more dangerous than it was and by sending teams out to investigate, they would at least be able to tick some boxes off, but Helen interrupted him before he could finish.

"I've already sent as many as I dare. I can't send anyone else, not even you." She said, sounding almost defeated. "There are too many risks involved. The FBI, the UN, and all their allies will be looking for abnormal phenomenon too, and if they catch you or Kate or anyone they knew to be involved with the old Sanctuary Network near anything abnormal related, they'll know we're still operational and they'll stop at nothing to find us. You of all people should understand…" She lectured and Will was beginning to memorise the script.

"I know, 'I of all people should understand because I worked in the FBI. I know that when you quit the FBI, you're on their radar for years afterward. And yes, the Sanctuary Network above ground no longer exists so if I'm seen near an abnormal, their questions become missions and I'd never see the light of day again…' I know, Magnus." He replied, with an irritated demeanour. "But the teams you have out there barely know what they're looking for. How can we investigate this without experienced teams looking into the data?" He asked, feeling a little overwhelmed by the seemingly impossible task. Though his tone was calm, inside he was chomping at the bit to get out there and do his job.

"I know this is frustrating for you Will. It is for me too." Helen placated, "But New Praxis is finalising their application to become a recognised country of its own in the greater world, China, India, Malta, France, Russia and the UK have recognised us as a country. The US is the last in the list of required recognitions. And once they do, the UN will have no choice but to recognise us as an independent and legitimate country of our own. It will give them some peace of mind if we're subject to the same rules as they are and will help us to appear less threatening." She said in a tone she hoped was soothing but honestly couldn't be sure with the grimace Will still had on his features. "Then as citizens and higher members of the New Praxian governing body," she continued nonetheless, "we will have the diplomatic immunity we need to go above ground and not be questioned or harassed." She knew she sounded like a tired and broken record, but it was imperative that this play out as she'd planned despite the frustrating turn of events. "Until then, we need to rely on our external sources above ground to gather the Intel we need to solve this. And we can solve this Will, we just need to find the missing piece of the puzzle." She added, her gaze still resting on her second in command as she finished her reasoning. His head was bowed facing the desk, his shoulders hunched and weighted. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. She winced sympathetically; one of his headaches was forming, she could tell. He gave himself a quick shake and lifted his head to stare at the screens but caught her gaze instead.

"What?" he asked, a little off kilter with finding her staring at him. He stood up straighter in an attempt to appear less beaten, but it didn't hide the bags forming under his eyes, nor the hollowed look he was developing.

"You're tired, Will." She said. It wasn't a question. "Why don't you stop for the night?" She suggested but Will shook his head.

"I'm fine." He dismissed before gesturing back to the screens. "Have we managed to trace the first anomaly yet?" He asked, distracting her from his wellbeing check, but his tone was still tired and overwhelmed. Helen's medical warrior instincts immediately picked up on the unusual lack lustrous tone. She could see and hear it; Will was exhausted. Now that she took him in visually, she could see that his hair was unkempt, his shirt creased and ruffled, and the hunch he had straightened from was already returning.

"Not yet." She answered honestly, "Henry's working on it though. Will please, you need rest." She pleaded, this time hoping that by begging him he might listen to reason. He gave a long sigh at her request.

"I will, just… not yet. Please." He replied, unable to face her when he said it. This only made Helen's worry levels rise. "The Praxian Library was recently recovered from the debris. We've had a shipment of some recovered books and files. It's possible this is the work of a species we don't know about yet. I'll go see if I can find anything new that might help us." He suggested and stood to leave the room, but Helen quickly stood in his path.

"You've been at this all day." She quipped.

"So have you." He fired back.

"Yes, but I have longevity on my side and I'm not the one suffering frequent migraines either." She countered and Will couldn't argue that one, even though he wanted to.

"I'm fine…" He began but Helen cut him off.

"Bullshit. You're not fine Will. You're exhausted and you're getting petty with me over something that needn't be an argument." She retorted firmly. She then softened her tone. "Is it that you still can't sleep?" She asked and she knew she'd hit the nail on the head when he gave another sigh and looked away. "Talk to me Will. This whole truth thing needs to go both ways." She prompted and while she didn't want to use their renewed deal as a guilt-trip tool, she wasn't above it if it helped her find out what was eating at her friend.

"No. I can't sleep. It's strange being down here. The headaches aren't helping either." Will finally admitted and pinched the bridge of his nose again to ward off another spike in his current headache. "It's just a new place, and new stresses, Magnus. I just need to keep busy for a few days and it'll pass." He added, hoping to stave her off for a bit longer.

"Will it pass?" Helen asked, her tone was calm, but she was still calling his bluff. "You've had these migraines ever since you moved down here permanently. That was two months ago. Another few days will still see you in this position if you don't let me help you sleep. Are the sleeping pills not working?" She asked concerned. Last time she'd prescribed him sleeping pills, he'd been experiencing severe after-effects of the 'return-to-life' miracle he'd been gifted after he'd died to beg for mercy for all of humanity from a trio of god-like abnormals. He'd then been hunted by a strange species of hollow earth abnormals for his memories of the Avatar Council room by orders of Adam Wentworth which had made sleeping matters worse for him. Helen wasn't one to make parallels unnecessarily, but their track record hadn't exactly been peaceful in that area. If something was up with Will, she needed to know about it.

"They work fine, but the headaches really wipe me out. I feel like they're getting worse every time I wake up." He finally confessed, "And…" he trailed off at this point. Hesitant to admit the next bit.

"And?" Helen prompted softly. She hated cornering him like this, but she needed to know. Will squirmed a little.

"And… the dreams are… getting weird." He finally managed to voice. "I mean, I know that sleeping pills can have an effect on them, I just… I don't know. I just need a small distraction for a while." He added, and Helen could tell he was being honest. "If I promise to only skim read the files, for about an hour, and then go to bed, will you let me go down there?" He asked, still bargaining for extra work to stave off the inevitable. Helen scrutinised him critically, he was dead on his feet but his eyes were clear and his mind was sharp enough to hold his own in a debate with her over something so trivial.

"Half an hour and I'll be down to check on you too." She negotiated. "I'd really hate for Abby to see you this worn down, Will. Why don't you come by the lab tomorrow and we'll run some scans and tests? Let me help you find out what's going on." She suggested. She hated using Abby as a means to get Will to listen, but the man could be as stubborn as a mule at times.

"Sure." He replied after a brief pause. He knew better than to argue the case with her on this one, especially when she'd brought Abby's name into play. That was a low blow.

"Will, I just want to help." Helen defended, knowing that Will was not completely onboard with the idea. "From all accounts I've heard, you've had some really bad ones recently. This isn't getting better on its own." She coaxed, hoping to bring him around to the idea of help.

"I know. I'm sorry." Will replied and he meant it, he was sorry he'd kept her at bay with his headaches, but he'd honestly believed they were just a transitional stress phase that he'd get over eventually. Now he wasn't so sure. "I take it Henry told you about the one I had in the tech-lab?" he asked, knowing full well the computer magician would tattle.

"Yes, caused a nosebleed if I'm not mistaken." She replied, beginning to rethink her idea of letting him down to the library after that reminder. "Were you suffering with these headaches before you moved down here?" She asked, wondering if it was an environmental reaction or if it was a new underlying biological development.

"No, nothing like they are now at least." He responded, "You think something down here could be triggering them?" he asked, curiously.

"I can't be one hundred percent sure, but it certainly looks to be the case." Helen admitted, "Can you remember where you were when they were at their worst?" She asked, hoping to narrow down the field of external stimuli.

"Not really. They seem so random." Will confessed, "Though the tech-lab was one place. And storage bay four was a nasty one too. Other than those, I'd be guessing." He said honestly and found himself pinching the bridge of his nose again.

"And this room too, it seems." Helen observed. "What would you rate this one as, on a scale of one to five?" She asked, moving around the desk to examine his head for any trauma or signs of ill health. Will knew better than to swat her away, she would get to his head one way or another.

"Uh… honestly, I think this one is a two point five, going into a three." He answered, and it was the truth; this was mild compared to some of the brain-scramblers he'd been having recently but it also wasn't exactly one he could ignore either. He felt her fingers thread through his hair, feeling his scalp for any anomalies or ill-begotten bumps. He'd tell her there weren't any, but she'd insist on checking anyway so he didn't bother. The feel of fingers running over his scalp was actually kind of soothing. He could feel some of the tension slip away already.

Out of curiosity he did start to scan the room for anything that might be causing said headaches, though he couldn't really see anything that the tech-lab or the storage bay had in common.

"Well I can't see anything topically, and I can't feel anything underneath the epidermis either." Helen remarked as she let his scalp go and gave the room a quick scan, no doubt looking for something that might be affecting Will's headaches too. "I'll schedule you an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, and we'll see if we can't get to the bottom of this." She finished with, and gave him a pat on the shoulder as she made her way back round to the set of monitors, her attention remained focused on Will though. "And if you could keep a note of where and when you get headaches it might help us narrow down the areas to look into. Oh, but give them a rating too, that way we'll be able to rule out some areas. We can follow up on the results, and check if its an allergy to a plant spore or dust from a specific rock…" She started but at his patient grin she stopped suddenly and looked at him with a sheepish wince. "I'm going on again, aren't I?" She asked, rhetorically, and Will couldn't help but give a soft laugh.

"Yeah, but its good to know you care." He said with a grateful grin. "Plus, who else can boast they have a worldwide renowned miracle worker as their personal doctor?" He added jovially.

"It's the least I can do after all I put you through." She replied with a hint of regret. "All those secrets and mysteries, especially right at the end." She added, and Will stopped her in her tracks.

"I know Magnus, I forgave you remember?" He said quickly. "You had your reasons, and a very specific set of circumstances to deal with." He justified for her and she reluctantly sat herself down on a random chair near the monitors. He'd forgiven her almost immediately when she'd fully explained what she'd been protecting. There were elements involved that had to be handled with the utmost secrecy and precision or it would all come undone in seconds, with disastrous results.

"Hey Mom." One of those delicate secrets greeted as she walked into the room. Ashley Magnus had been a welcome surprise, Will was certain of that. Helen had explained that during her trip through time, she'd managed to save Ashley from her apparent death. It turned out that the 'glitch' in the EM field that had lead 'past' Helen to believed her daughter had gotten herself stuck inside the EM field, was actually the 'present day' Helen who had remotely dropped the EM field for a fraction of a second to allow Ashley to pass through unharmed.

During their emotional reunion, and it was emotional despite what Ashley would have everyone believe, the young woman had admitted to Will that she'd genuinely believed he'd hate her for what happened to Clara. Will was quick to assure her that he didn't blame her for Clara's death and that Ashley was as much a victim of the Cabal as they all were during that time. She'd also admitted that the had wanted so badly to reach out and help several times during their isolation, but Helen kept having to remind her that if the world found out about Ashley's survival, there was a very big possibility that the events leading up to Helen going back in time would not have played out, thus creating a paradox that hurt Will's brain just thinking about it. Whether Will understood it or not, he was glad Ashley had been saved. It was a secret he could forgive.

He had asked Helen why she couldn't have saved Clara too, though. But Helen had already anticipated his question and was ready with an answer. If she'd saved Clara, Will wouldn't be with Abby now. If Abby hadn't entered the picture when she did, and if Will hadn't gotten as close as he did to her, would Helen have risked going back in time at all? Possibly not. And if that didn't happen, where would they be now? He didn't enjoy being told that one of his lovers had to die for the greater good, but he understood it, nonetheless.

"The Gavoyellas are in their new home as we speak." Ashley reported as she placed a transfer report on a side table that was sat next to the monitor display. "There was a concern that the mother was going to miss the third triasm, but Henry hooked up a manual lighting rig for the transfer." She added as an afterthought.

The Gavoyella species is a plant-based insectoid that relies on the passing of daylight to mate or give birth. Despite their insectoid traits, they were not egg layers, their pregnancies were mammalistic in nature. The Gavoyella bodies are unable to count days based on feeling, and their gestation periods are manually monitored; something to do with having to physically make changes or add certain hormones from the male to the female at critical points during the pregnancy. These were called triasms. Without a day to night light factor, the Gavoyella risk missing key points in their pregnancies and the young would die off in the womb. This was something Helen had Henry work on in the new habitation area, considering Hollow Earth had no sunlight. An automated system had been set up in their habitation field, and it had worked so well that Helen had extended the system to the whole of the Sanctuary area (except those that needed dark or alternative lighting systems).

"Oh, hey Will." She greeted as she spotted him standing behind the desk.

"Hi Ash." He greeted back as he shifted to leave the room, "I'm just heading to the library, would you like me to file that for you?" He asked, indicating the report she'd put on the side-table in front of her mother.

"Would you?" Ashley pleaded as she picked up the report again. "It would save me a trip." She added as she moved to hand the report over to him.

Will watched as Ashley approached him with the report but something suddenly felt… off. The pain in his head seemed to spike drastically and everything seemed to slow down. The room blurred in and out of focus and the colours faded to dull monotone. Sounds became faint and distorted as though he was under water, and his equilibrium was off kilter. He swayed as a wash of fatigue threatened to topple him.

"Will?" Ashley's uncertain voice filtered through belatedly and Will struggled to focus on her. "You ok?" She asked but her voice was muffled. Then gravity seemed to grow stronger. He felt his knees buckle and knew he was going down. He braced himself mentally for the pain, but a strong set of arms were suddenly slowing his fall. He was guided down to the floor safely and he could feel another body settle on the floor beside him. His vision tunnelled to a small pin prick and sound had left him almost completely. He knew the two women were talking to him and that he should be responding but his entire world had just slipped from underneath him. Sense and sensibility were gone.

He felt warm fingers pressed against his throat and could feel his own heartbeat pulse against them. A bright light invaded his eyes soon after, and on some level he knew Helen was there, checking his bpm and pupil responses. His thoughts were sluggish, but they were cognisant. He felt trapped in his own mind while his body took a vacation.

And then suddenly he could see and hear properly again. He was back in control.

"Will?" He heard Helen call and he was able to turn and look at her.

"Yeah…" He managed softly. His hand automatically reached for his head, but Helen held it down.

"Stay still Will, at least until I've looked you over." She said with no room for argument in her tone. Will complied and settled himself a little more comfortably against the floorboards as he tried to process what had just happened. "Can you alert the infirmary Ashley, get them to prep the MRI for me." He heard Helen say and was a little alarmed at the sudden extreme lengths but then his attention was suddenly taken with the very floor he was laid on.

"Magnus…" He tried but she was too busy worrying over a stretcher for him. "Magnus, the floor…" he tried again but she did not hear him. The floor beneath him vibrated beneath him with a soft rumble. Then the rumbling grew rapidly and suddenly. In seconds, the vibrations turned violent as a level three tremor shook the whole Sanctuary. A few monitors fell from their perches, a painting fell from the wall, its frame breaking at the corners. Dust and small fragments of debris fell from the ceiling as many more items were dislodged.

The tremor didn't last long. It was over just as quickly as it had started. Eventually Helen sat back on her haunches as she looked around the room. Ashley stirred from her crouch over Will. She looked to Helen for their next move. Will laid still for a moment, the shock still numbing his senses. That is until a familiar trickling sensation took his attention. His nose was bleeding again. He could feel it running down the back of his throat. He needed to sit up.

"Was that…?" Ashley asked but almost didn't want to voice it.

"Yes, that was stronger than the last few trembles." Helen confirmed, unafraid to admit she was worried about the increasing strengths and frequencies of the tremors.

"I tried to warn you." Will said as he struggled to sit up. Helen immediately turned her attention back to Will who brushed off her attempts to get him to lie down.

"Will…" She started but then noticed the blood that had started to dribble down from his nose. "You're bleeding again." She stated, though she knew she didn't need to. "Ashley, grab the tissues." She quickly barked before helping him to sit up properly against the wall. Ashley wasted no time in fetching the box of tissues from the desk and tossing them to her mother.

"I'm going to find out the damage and see if I can't find a wheelchair or something." She said as she ventured out into the hallway. Helen remained by Will's side and pulled a handful of tissues out. Will took them from her before she could offer them to him though, feeling perfectly capable of doing at least that much.

"I'm ok Magnus. Go see what needs fixing." He said as he bunched the tissues up to his nose.

"Right now, Will, you are my priority that needs fixing." She said as she started taking his vitals again with rudimentary visual and physical checks. "The Sanctuary has a sufficient enough crisis response practice. And the staff are trained well enough. You and I need to be concerned with your loss of consciousness just now." She continued as she placed herself in front of the ailing second-in-command. And Will couldn't argue with her logic. And to be honest, he was a little concerned with his most recent headache attack. That had been something scary.

"Right…" He managed to mumble through his building fear. This caught Helen's attention and her doctor side picked up on the concern in his eyes and his tone of voice.

"Don't worry, there's no point in panicking over things we don't know about yet. Let's focus on getting those tests done. We'll deal with whatever comes after that in due course." She reassured him as she put a hand on his shoulder in a supportive gesture. "I won't let anything happen to you Will.

Will wanted to believe her, and to a great degree he did. But something was telling him that this new development was only going to complicate his life in ways he had yet to even fathom.