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girlsoloWill takes Kate to see Magnus. Magnus is still larger than life, and Kate both is and isn't the woman Magnus remembers.
Continued from: And if we've come a long way, then I suspect it sideways.
Helen had been working at the vet's office for a few hours, mostly organizing and cataloging, and she didn't have any of her young proteges about. It seemed strange to think of them that way when Will was always her protege but he was so much more now.
Of course, work was more playing Bejeweled and she cursed lightly under her breath when she had no more moves. Damn, but Nikola was better than she was.
Will carried the plate of ravioli and bread because somehow along the way, Roy had attached himself to Kate and was nuzzling her hair. Kate didn't particularly appreciate Roy's brand of slothy affection and was complaining very loudly about it, loudly enough that Will was pretty sure Magnus could hear her a mile away. Despite that, he made sure to knock before sticking his head in her office. "Hey, Magnus," he said, and put the plate down on her desk. "Found somebody you might want to see."
"Listen you, little furball, I don't care how cute you are. Don't smile at me. Just let go of my hair--hey!" The damned sloth has burrowed so deep in her hair that all you can see of him is one little arm, the same little arm that has just-- "Let go of my earring, that hurts! Will, get your sloth off of--" She blinks at the sight of Magnus cursing at a computer and just sort of...stops.
Stops moving, stops talking, somehow the sight of Magnus really drives it all home that this isn't...might not be...just something in her head. She could never imagine Magnus this...happy. Suddenly she's nervous again, like she hasn't been around Magnus since the first time she asked if Kate would stay. "Hey, doc," she says softly, with a glance at Will and a deep desire to melt away.
Helen's breath caught and when she moved to stand, her hands were shaking slightly. Kate. Kate. How many times had she wished for Kate or Henry to show up here, for Declan, for James...so many of her friends that this island could give her and she'd been blessed to have another.
It was quick, coming around the desk, and her arms were around her before she could really check herself.
Kate glances frantically over at Will, not sure what to do with a Magnus who wants to hug her. Not sure what to do with her hands, not sure what to do with any of this. But then there's Magnus, always herself, in Kate's space, so solid and so real, so Magnus, that everything drops out for Kate except the woman who's been sister, mother, mentor for three years now and never once held her like this. She chokes back a sob and curls into Magnus, forgetting for a minute that this Magnus doesn't really know her.
It made Will choke up a little, watching them, and he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and tried not to get too sentimental. They'd probably both hate him for it a little if he did. Then he reached over and carefully extracted Roy from Kate's hair, figuring he'd give her a little break. "Come here, you," he said, laughing softly.
Helen rubbed Kate's back lightly, just trying to immerse herself in the fact that she was here and she was alive and well. Strange, that she'd worried, but she suspected it had some to do with the fact that the jar from the Mayan tomb had shown up and she knew that in that universe, in that life, Kate was no longer with them.
"I missed you, Kate. So much."
Kate inhales and tries not to feel awkward about the fact she's holding onto Magnus like someone might take her away again. She's not sure what to say, or do, or think, and she's not doing much of any of them. If she doesn't think she doesn't have to remember that Magnus doesn't know that Kate would do literally anything for her now.
"Sorry, Magnus," she finally says softly, and the hell of it is, she is. She's sorry she kept the boss waiting. "I...Will says...you don't really even know me. Not like now, my now, but..." She doesn't let go, she hasn't let go. "Um. I guess you probably want to know that you got cured, of the radiation sickness. You're okay." But she won't tell her about Will, no way. Not if Magnus is hugging her. Hearing Will might be dying at home and knowing there's nothing she can do? Nuh uh. That stays between her and Will.
It was comforting to know she wasn't dying, at least not yet, and at least one burden she'd been carrying was lifted. Helen couldn't help but smile, though, so wide that the dimple flashed in her cheek.
"Thank God for that. I'm done here, if you wanted to go catch up?"
Magnus steps back and she's smiling brighter than Kate has ever seen. She's so gorgeous, Kate can't believe the smile's even partway for her. "Um, yeah sure," she says, not scuffing her toes but feeling a little like it. "It's...I'm really glad you're here." Wherever or whatever here is. Kate glances back at Will, and that steadies her out a little. "Both of you."
"So am I. I know it's not exactly a Sanctuary, but we've tried to make a home here as best we can. I...you will always have a home with me, as far as I'm concerned." Perhaps it was a bit much to say but she'd missed her terribly. "Will you tell me what's happened since Will and I got lost in the Gulf of Mexico?"
Will's got the sloth and the food, and Magnus seems to want her to go with her, for a walk or something. It's habit now to follow Magnus when she walks and talks so Kate does, but there's part of her that doesn't want to let Will out of her sight. If she walks away with Magnus now, he might be gone. She still doesn't believe in this, not completely, and if she's dreaming and wakes up and Will's gone, she's never going to forgive herself for not taking this one last chance to tell him...
"Will?"
"It's okay, Kate," Will said, seeing that look on her face, that look that wasn't quite panic and wasn't quite something he was used to seeing from Kate. "Roy and I are just going to chill right here till you get back. We're not going anywhere, promise."
Kate shrugs apologetically at Magnus - Will's her boyfriend now and that's incredibly weird - but he's Kate's touchstone. She turns back from Magnus, tries to put some swagger in her walk when she goes back to Will, but it all sort of evaporates when she puts her hand on his shoulder and leans up to kiss his cheek. "I know I'm not...whatever to you, but we've been through a lot together and you're really important to me. Just...don't disappear, okay?"
That surprised Will. It wasn't that he hadn't seen Kate care about someone, because when Magnus pulled her ozone beetle stunt Kate had been just as concerned as he had himself, but to have that concern turned on him was totally different, and it made him wonder just what the hell was going on in her time. With him, and with her, and everything.
"I'm not going anywhere," he promised her, with a little grin.
"Good." Kate's chin comes up, mask slides back into place. The Kate he knows is easy to see in her sharp dark eyes as she squares her shoulders. "Because if you do, I'm just going to have to find you and haul you back here to kick your ass for making me and Magnus worry."
She tells herself the lie that this is all fine and normal, that Will's not dying, that this weird place is real but that's fine because both Will and Magnus are here and Tesla, too, and they'll all get out, but right now Magnus has a job for her. In the four steps it takes her to get from Will to Magnus, Kate convinces herself to believe it (for now).
"Sorry," she tells Magnus. "It's been a really hard couple of years."
Helen had been afraid of that, had been afraid this Kate had come from the world where she'd taken the elixir and unleashed a plague on all life. She touched Kate's wrist lightly, unsure of how to tactfully bring up the idea of Kate and Will in a relationship and deciding to just rip off the bandage.
"Kate? There's no delicate way to approach this but...the world, where you're from? Is there a plague there that turns men into living corpses? Were you with Will, did you have a son? I dreamed of a place like that, once."
Kate blinks and stops, turning to face her. Magnus is talking and Kate knows the words, but they're being put together in ways that make no sense. "Me and Will?" she asks, eyes soft and wide. She should be smirking, laughing the idea off completely, but the way she's felt every time they've almost lost Will, she can almost believe it. "A son?"
Of all of the impossible things that have happened to Kate, all of the weird things she's lived through and imagined, having a son... she shakes her head. "No. No it's nothing like that."
Helen sighed, relieved, and laughed a little to try and dispel some of the awkward tension in the room. Kate didn't threaten her romantically, she and Will had been together long enough that Helen was confident he'd never leave her, but knowing that the future hadn't been altered by poor choices on her own part was immensely comforting.
"Sorry, I just had to get that...I was afraid I might have destroyed the world, somehow. Long story, and I'd rather just have the time to catch up with you than explain it just yet."
She and Will fuck and have a kid because somehow Magnus destroyed the world? Kate shakes her head again. It doesn't make sense, but she's not sure she wants to know. This place is weird, Magnus dreaming something like that is weirder, and dreaming it and worrying it might've been true is even weirder than that. It all feels a lot like a bad trip, actually, and the Gilligan's island setting isn't helping.
Kate shrugs and starts walking again. "Can I ask you something else first?"
Helen nodded, sort of relieved that Kate seemed confused about the idea of she and Will together. Helen didn't think that would have affected her relationship on the island, Will was hopelessly in love with her and she with him, but she was glad to know that the world hadn't been destroyed because of her own selfish desires.
"You can ask me anything, Kate."
Kate smirks, feeling almost herself again for a minute. "That's not what you said when I asked if you were on the beach in..." Oh. This Magnus hadn't been there, when Kate asked that, she doesn't think. She sighs, glances past Magnus out to the palm trees and sky. "How do I know this is real, doc? How do I know this isn't some kind of Abnormal headtrip or something else? Why do you believe it?" Because Tesla might be smarter, but she trusts Magnus. Completely.
"There's no way to know, Kate," Helen said, tone laced with regret. She'd tried to get off the island, at first, but there hadn't been any success. "The only thing I do know is that if it's a dream, it's an incredibly detailed one and I've found no holes in the logical framework of it. You might want to ask Will what he thinks, but I think we're honestly stuck here, for the time being anyway."
"Okay," Kate says because if Magnus has convinced herself, there's no way Kate's going to think of anything to poke holes in that. Will seems to believe it too. She bets Tesla doesn't, so she'll ask him. She doesn't like him, but he's smart, a lot smarter than Kate, and he'll have ideas. If he believes it too...well, she'll cross that bridge when she gets to it.
"What do you want to know? About home, I mean."
"I want to know how my Sanctuary's doing," Helen said quickly, unashamed to admit that. "I need to know that all the Abnormals are still safe and we're still running. Anything aside from that, I don't need to know, unless you need to tell me, yes?"
Kate pushes her hair back and squares her shoulders. "We're busy, busier than ever. Even though Ranna and the Council aren't talking to us much, it's changed a lot of how we think about things. Ranna and the Council, they're from Praxis, in Hollow Earth. Will says Tesla knew about that?" She's not sure how to tell most of this. There's so much history, so much she doesn't know. "They cured you. And...oh." Her eyes widen a little bit and she smiles. "Your dad's there. With Ranna. He's doing great."
She'd known about Hollow Earth and her illness from Nikola but he'd never mentioned her father. Her father, alive and well and with someone called Ranna. Helen turned her head slightly to stave off crying. "And Henry and Declan and the rest? I feel like I've missed so much, Kate, and I know we won't be able to catch up all in one day."
"Everyone's pretty okay." Except, well, Will, but...Maybe Will should tell her that they don't know whether he's going to make it or not. "Biggie's... he's doing okay. Father Jensen got killed and that's been hard. Will and Henry found a bunch of HAPs in the UK and Henry's dating one of them, Erika. She seems nice from the few times I've answered the phone. Will likes her, so she must be all right." Abby, something else not to talk to her about. Kate's not a fan anyway. "Declan's good." Kate kind of wishes he was here. They make a good team. "He's been around more, helping me and Will with tac stuff."
It was all a little much to process all at once and Helen simply nodded before touching Kate's elbow lightly. "I'm glad you've told me, even if it's going to take me a little while to wrap my head around it all. I needed to know that my life was still going on without me there to direct it, if that makes sense? Though I suppose I'm not missing at all, am I?"
"No." Kate's voice is soft again, softer than she wants it to be. "You're fine. You're you. This is weird, telling you about you." She should have something snarky to say about it, but it's Magnus and...it's Magnus. And Kate wants her to know...even if they haven't been through all of it together... "It's a lot for me too. I don't...Will told me about the island, but I don't know...what you want me to do. I know you don't really know this, but I never left. The Sanctuary is..."
Kate has to stop, she has to stop talking or she's going to cry and Kate Freelander doesn't cry. "Just tell me what you want me to do, Magnus, and I'll do it."
"I need someone to help me in the vet's office," Helen said after a few long moments, unsure if Kate would allow her to put her arm around her. Perhaps, but she didn't want to overstep. "I lost my most seasoned apprentice a few months ago and I could really use someone I don't have to train as much. Will you help me there, then, just to start? It would be regular hours, at least."
"Yeah, of course. I mean, I won't be good with the people, but you know that." She hates feeling this dependent on someone else. It's frustrating and scary, even if it is Magnus. "I'll talk to Tesla too, and see if he needs help or Will. I'm...pretty used to being busy now. And I'll find somewhere to stay, so that you and Will..." Kate makes a face. "Can have some privacy. I'm sure Tesla will put me up for a little while for some ridiculous favor or other."
"Kate Freelander," Helen said sternly, watching her. "You are my first choice in an assistant and you have a home with Will and I for as long as you want it. I won't hear of you running off on my account. If you would like your own place to live, Will and I will help you find one, but not because we want you out. Far from it."
Kate's breathing hitches and her bravado falls. Magnus is still Magnus, even if she doesn't know anything, and she can still cut Kate down to size with a look. "Okay," she answers, softer than this Magnus has probably ever heard and choking back the flood of tears that aren't hers to cry. Even at home she has a long way to go to be worthy of Helen Magnus's loyalty, and sometimes she resents the fuck out of that, but today she's just grateful. Whatever this place is, she's just grateful Magnus and Will are here with her. She tries to pull it back together with a put-on smirk. "But if you're loud, I'm leaving."
"If we're loud, come and offer to join us and I can imagine we'll shut up quite quickly," Helen tossed back, smirking herself. It's not a serious offer, by any stretch, but Kate brings out a snarkier sense of humor in Helen and she has always liked that about her. It was good to laugh, especially at nearly 160.
Never one to be out-snarked, Kate's glad for the distraction. She smirks. "Got the order on that wrong, boss. It's offer first and coming after, and if I joined you, you'd both be doing a lot of it."
* * *
Lyrics for title and cut tag from Dessa's Mineshaft.
Continued from: And if we've come a long way, then I suspect it sideways.
Helen had been working at the vet's office for a few hours, mostly organizing and cataloging, and she didn't have any of her young proteges about. It seemed strange to think of them that way when Will was always her protege but he was so much more now.
Of course, work was more playing Bejeweled and she cursed lightly under her breath when she had no more moves. Damn, but Nikola was better than she was.
Will carried the plate of ravioli and bread because somehow along the way, Roy had attached himself to Kate and was nuzzling her hair. Kate didn't particularly appreciate Roy's brand of slothy affection and was complaining very loudly about it, loudly enough that Will was pretty sure Magnus could hear her a mile away. Despite that, he made sure to knock before sticking his head in her office. "Hey, Magnus," he said, and put the plate down on her desk. "Found somebody you might want to see."
"Listen you, little furball, I don't care how cute you are. Don't smile at me. Just let go of my hair--hey!" The damned sloth has burrowed so deep in her hair that all you can see of him is one little arm, the same little arm that has just-- "Let go of my earring, that hurts! Will, get your sloth off of--" She blinks at the sight of Magnus cursing at a computer and just sort of...stops.
Stops moving, stops talking, somehow the sight of Magnus really drives it all home that this isn't...might not be...just something in her head. She could never imagine Magnus this...happy. Suddenly she's nervous again, like she hasn't been around Magnus since the first time she asked if Kate would stay. "Hey, doc," she says softly, with a glance at Will and a deep desire to melt away.
Helen's breath caught and when she moved to stand, her hands were shaking slightly. Kate. Kate. How many times had she wished for Kate or Henry to show up here, for Declan, for James...so many of her friends that this island could give her and she'd been blessed to have another.
It was quick, coming around the desk, and her arms were around her before she could really check herself.
Kate glances frantically over at Will, not sure what to do with a Magnus who wants to hug her. Not sure what to do with her hands, not sure what to do with any of this. But then there's Magnus, always herself, in Kate's space, so solid and so real, so Magnus, that everything drops out for Kate except the woman who's been sister, mother, mentor for three years now and never once held her like this. She chokes back a sob and curls into Magnus, forgetting for a minute that this Magnus doesn't really know her.
It made Will choke up a little, watching them, and he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and tried not to get too sentimental. They'd probably both hate him for it a little if he did. Then he reached over and carefully extracted Roy from Kate's hair, figuring he'd give her a little break. "Come here, you," he said, laughing softly.
Helen rubbed Kate's back lightly, just trying to immerse herself in the fact that she was here and she was alive and well. Strange, that she'd worried, but she suspected it had some to do with the fact that the jar from the Mayan tomb had shown up and she knew that in that universe, in that life, Kate was no longer with them.
"I missed you, Kate. So much."
Kate inhales and tries not to feel awkward about the fact she's holding onto Magnus like someone might take her away again. She's not sure what to say, or do, or think, and she's not doing much of any of them. If she doesn't think she doesn't have to remember that Magnus doesn't know that Kate would do literally anything for her now.
"Sorry, Magnus," she finally says softly, and the hell of it is, she is. She's sorry she kept the boss waiting. "I...Will says...you don't really even know me. Not like now, my now, but..." She doesn't let go, she hasn't let go. "Um. I guess you probably want to know that you got cured, of the radiation sickness. You're okay." But she won't tell her about Will, no way. Not if Magnus is hugging her. Hearing Will might be dying at home and knowing there's nothing she can do? Nuh uh. That stays between her and Will.
It was comforting to know she wasn't dying, at least not yet, and at least one burden she'd been carrying was lifted. Helen couldn't help but smile, though, so wide that the dimple flashed in her cheek.
"Thank God for that. I'm done here, if you wanted to go catch up?"
Magnus steps back and she's smiling brighter than Kate has ever seen. She's so gorgeous, Kate can't believe the smile's even partway for her. "Um, yeah sure," she says, not scuffing her toes but feeling a little like it. "It's...I'm really glad you're here." Wherever or whatever here is. Kate glances back at Will, and that steadies her out a little. "Both of you."
"So am I. I know it's not exactly a Sanctuary, but we've tried to make a home here as best we can. I...you will always have a home with me, as far as I'm concerned." Perhaps it was a bit much to say but she'd missed her terribly. "Will you tell me what's happened since Will and I got lost in the Gulf of Mexico?"
Will's got the sloth and the food, and Magnus seems to want her to go with her, for a walk or something. It's habit now to follow Magnus when she walks and talks so Kate does, but there's part of her that doesn't want to let Will out of her sight. If she walks away with Magnus now, he might be gone. She still doesn't believe in this, not completely, and if she's dreaming and wakes up and Will's gone, she's never going to forgive herself for not taking this one last chance to tell him...
"Will?"
"It's okay, Kate," Will said, seeing that look on her face, that look that wasn't quite panic and wasn't quite something he was used to seeing from Kate. "Roy and I are just going to chill right here till you get back. We're not going anywhere, promise."
Kate shrugs apologetically at Magnus - Will's her boyfriend now and that's incredibly weird - but he's Kate's touchstone. She turns back from Magnus, tries to put some swagger in her walk when she goes back to Will, but it all sort of evaporates when she puts her hand on his shoulder and leans up to kiss his cheek. "I know I'm not...whatever to you, but we've been through a lot together and you're really important to me. Just...don't disappear, okay?"
That surprised Will. It wasn't that he hadn't seen Kate care about someone, because when Magnus pulled her ozone beetle stunt Kate had been just as concerned as he had himself, but to have that concern turned on him was totally different, and it made him wonder just what the hell was going on in her time. With him, and with her, and everything.
"I'm not going anywhere," he promised her, with a little grin.
"Good." Kate's chin comes up, mask slides back into place. The Kate he knows is easy to see in her sharp dark eyes as she squares her shoulders. "Because if you do, I'm just going to have to find you and haul you back here to kick your ass for making me and Magnus worry."
She tells herself the lie that this is all fine and normal, that Will's not dying, that this weird place is real but that's fine because both Will and Magnus are here and Tesla, too, and they'll all get out, but right now Magnus has a job for her. In the four steps it takes her to get from Will to Magnus, Kate convinces herself to believe it (for now).
"Sorry," she tells Magnus. "It's been a really hard couple of years."
Helen had been afraid of that, had been afraid this Kate had come from the world where she'd taken the elixir and unleashed a plague on all life. She touched Kate's wrist lightly, unsure of how to tactfully bring up the idea of Kate and Will in a relationship and deciding to just rip off the bandage.
"Kate? There's no delicate way to approach this but...the world, where you're from? Is there a plague there that turns men into living corpses? Were you with Will, did you have a son? I dreamed of a place like that, once."
Kate blinks and stops, turning to face her. Magnus is talking and Kate knows the words, but they're being put together in ways that make no sense. "Me and Will?" she asks, eyes soft and wide. She should be smirking, laughing the idea off completely, but the way she's felt every time they've almost lost Will, she can almost believe it. "A son?"
Of all of the impossible things that have happened to Kate, all of the weird things she's lived through and imagined, having a son... she shakes her head. "No. No it's nothing like that."
Helen sighed, relieved, and laughed a little to try and dispel some of the awkward tension in the room. Kate didn't threaten her romantically, she and Will had been together long enough that Helen was confident he'd never leave her, but knowing that the future hadn't been altered by poor choices on her own part was immensely comforting.
"Sorry, I just had to get that...I was afraid I might have destroyed the world, somehow. Long story, and I'd rather just have the time to catch up with you than explain it just yet."
She and Will fuck and have a kid because somehow Magnus destroyed the world? Kate shakes her head again. It doesn't make sense, but she's not sure she wants to know. This place is weird, Magnus dreaming something like that is weirder, and dreaming it and worrying it might've been true is even weirder than that. It all feels a lot like a bad trip, actually, and the Gilligan's island setting isn't helping.
Kate shrugs and starts walking again. "Can I ask you something else first?"
Helen nodded, sort of relieved that Kate seemed confused about the idea of she and Will together. Helen didn't think that would have affected her relationship on the island, Will was hopelessly in love with her and she with him, but she was glad to know that the world hadn't been destroyed because of her own selfish desires.
"You can ask me anything, Kate."
Kate smirks, feeling almost herself again for a minute. "That's not what you said when I asked if you were on the beach in..." Oh. This Magnus hadn't been there, when Kate asked that, she doesn't think. She sighs, glances past Magnus out to the palm trees and sky. "How do I know this is real, doc? How do I know this isn't some kind of Abnormal headtrip or something else? Why do you believe it?" Because Tesla might be smarter, but she trusts Magnus. Completely.
"There's no way to know, Kate," Helen said, tone laced with regret. She'd tried to get off the island, at first, but there hadn't been any success. "The only thing I do know is that if it's a dream, it's an incredibly detailed one and I've found no holes in the logical framework of it. You might want to ask Will what he thinks, but I think we're honestly stuck here, for the time being anyway."
"Okay," Kate says because if Magnus has convinced herself, there's no way Kate's going to think of anything to poke holes in that. Will seems to believe it too. She bets Tesla doesn't, so she'll ask him. She doesn't like him, but he's smart, a lot smarter than Kate, and he'll have ideas. If he believes it too...well, she'll cross that bridge when she gets to it.
"What do you want to know? About home, I mean."
"I want to know how my Sanctuary's doing," Helen said quickly, unashamed to admit that. "I need to know that all the Abnormals are still safe and we're still running. Anything aside from that, I don't need to know, unless you need to tell me, yes?"
Kate pushes her hair back and squares her shoulders. "We're busy, busier than ever. Even though Ranna and the Council aren't talking to us much, it's changed a lot of how we think about things. Ranna and the Council, they're from Praxis, in Hollow Earth. Will says Tesla knew about that?" She's not sure how to tell most of this. There's so much history, so much she doesn't know. "They cured you. And...oh." Her eyes widen a little bit and she smiles. "Your dad's there. With Ranna. He's doing great."
She'd known about Hollow Earth and her illness from Nikola but he'd never mentioned her father. Her father, alive and well and with someone called Ranna. Helen turned her head slightly to stave off crying. "And Henry and Declan and the rest? I feel like I've missed so much, Kate, and I know we won't be able to catch up all in one day."
"Everyone's pretty okay." Except, well, Will, but...Maybe Will should tell her that they don't know whether he's going to make it or not. "Biggie's... he's doing okay. Father Jensen got killed and that's been hard. Will and Henry found a bunch of HAPs in the UK and Henry's dating one of them, Erika. She seems nice from the few times I've answered the phone. Will likes her, so she must be all right." Abby, something else not to talk to her about. Kate's not a fan anyway. "Declan's good." Kate kind of wishes he was here. They make a good team. "He's been around more, helping me and Will with tac stuff."
It was all a little much to process all at once and Helen simply nodded before touching Kate's elbow lightly. "I'm glad you've told me, even if it's going to take me a little while to wrap my head around it all. I needed to know that my life was still going on without me there to direct it, if that makes sense? Though I suppose I'm not missing at all, am I?"
"No." Kate's voice is soft again, softer than she wants it to be. "You're fine. You're you. This is weird, telling you about you." She should have something snarky to say about it, but it's Magnus and...it's Magnus. And Kate wants her to know...even if they haven't been through all of it together... "It's a lot for me too. I don't...Will told me about the island, but I don't know...what you want me to do. I know you don't really know this, but I never left. The Sanctuary is..."
Kate has to stop, she has to stop talking or she's going to cry and Kate Freelander doesn't cry. "Just tell me what you want me to do, Magnus, and I'll do it."
"I need someone to help me in the vet's office," Helen said after a few long moments, unsure if Kate would allow her to put her arm around her. Perhaps, but she didn't want to overstep. "I lost my most seasoned apprentice a few months ago and I could really use someone I don't have to train as much. Will you help me there, then, just to start? It would be regular hours, at least."
"Yeah, of course. I mean, I won't be good with the people, but you know that." She hates feeling this dependent on someone else. It's frustrating and scary, even if it is Magnus. "I'll talk to Tesla too, and see if he needs help or Will. I'm...pretty used to being busy now. And I'll find somewhere to stay, so that you and Will..." Kate makes a face. "Can have some privacy. I'm sure Tesla will put me up for a little while for some ridiculous favor or other."
"Kate Freelander," Helen said sternly, watching her. "You are my first choice in an assistant and you have a home with Will and I for as long as you want it. I won't hear of you running off on my account. If you would like your own place to live, Will and I will help you find one, but not because we want you out. Far from it."
Kate's breathing hitches and her bravado falls. Magnus is still Magnus, even if she doesn't know anything, and she can still cut Kate down to size with a look. "Okay," she answers, softer than this Magnus has probably ever heard and choking back the flood of tears that aren't hers to cry. Even at home she has a long way to go to be worthy of Helen Magnus's loyalty, and sometimes she resents the fuck out of that, but today she's just grateful. Whatever this place is, she's just grateful Magnus and Will are here with her. She tries to pull it back together with a put-on smirk. "But if you're loud, I'm leaving."
"If we're loud, come and offer to join us and I can imagine we'll shut up quite quickly," Helen tossed back, smirking herself. It's not a serious offer, by any stretch, but Kate brings out a snarkier sense of humor in Helen and she has always liked that about her. It was good to laugh, especially at nearly 160.
Never one to be out-snarked, Kate's glad for the distraction. She smirks. "Got the order on that wrong, boss. It's offer first and coming after, and if I joined you, you'd both be doing a lot of it."
Lyrics for title and cut tag from Dessa's Mineshaft.
