Author's Note: Hey guys. This is my first Sanctuary story so I hope it's alright. This is a three parter so please review and tell me what you think. Thank you.

Journey Home

Chapter 1 –

The sun peeped over the horizon, throwing a few shafts of light down into the oil rig. Magnus looked up wearily and closed her eyes for a few seconds, allowing the sunlight to warm her face. She opened them a second later, intent on not falling asleep and readjusted her grip on Will and the piece of rubble that was keeping her afloat. It was now probably around five in the morning, given the amount of light and they'd been inside the oil rig for about eleven hours. Eleven hours of hanging onto a floating crate in freezing cold water with no food, water or indication of rescue. Will hadn't been able to stay conscious after the ninth hour and so for the last two, Magnus had been doing her best to keep his head above water. She was exhausted, light-headed and had been battling with serious cramping in her legs for the last forty minutes.

Despite the successful radio signal and the explosion, nobody had appeared to help them and at the earliest, Kate wouldn't start to be concerned for the next seventeen hours. And Magnus wasn't sure she could hold on for two more hours let alone seventeen. She could no longer feel her fingers or feet until she moved them, and then she felt agonizing waves of pain emanating from whichever extremity had been moved.

The one thing that had been in their favour was, perhaps, that the squid and scorpion had not reappeared in the time the pair had been floating. Magnus was convinced that, had they resurfaced, neither she nor Will would've had the strength to fight them off. Nor had she anymore ideas of how to get rid of them.

Magnus blinked fiercely, trying to fight off sleep. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd skipped the night's sleep. In fact, she'd missed several consecutive nights before now. But, having skipped the night before they'd flown out to pick up the squid, in addition to fighting off said squid and the scorpion and then treading water for ten hours was not something she'd experienced before.

There was a clanging from above and Magnus looked up. She was blinded but the light and wanted desperately to shield her face with her hand but that would mean letting go of her life raft or letting go of Will. And there was no way she was doing either.

"Help! Help us!" She shouted as loud as she could, until her throat hurt. "Help! Help us please!"

There was silence again as soon as her voice stopped reverberating around the oil rig. There was no sound. No indication that there had been any sound at all.

As she felt another wave of helplessness wash over her and for a moment, she honestly felt like crying. She had no idea what to do. She was exhausted and she could see her fingers slipping. She would drown if she let go, Will would drown. But, honestly, she was struggling to care right now. Nothing seemed important anymore.

"Hello?" A voice echoed down.

Magnus' head jerked up, causing her to bob in the water. "Help! Help us!" She yelled.

"We're coming. Just hold on."

Magnus was tempted to roll her eyes at that statement but restrained herself; she was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth when rescue was so imminent. She flexed her fingers, gritted her teeth against the pain and tightened her grip.

There was silence for about ten minutes. Then, "Can you swim to the side? I'm going to throw down a walkie."

Magnus attempted to move her legs and pull Will with her but her muscles screamed and she was panting by the time the pain subsided. "Not looking good."

"What quadrant of the rig are you in?" Came the next question.

Magnus glanced up, working out where the sun was. "South East."

There was a sudden sound of whistling and then a loud smack as the package hit the water, small waves rippling out from the point of impact. Magnus thought for a moment before hauling Will's arm further over her shoulder and letting go of the piece of plastic. She immediately sunk and thrashed for the surface, pain running through each muscle. When she broke the surface, she took a deep breath and slowly swam across the water to where the package bobbed.

Using her teeth and her free hand, she ripped off the plastic while attempting to stay above water. Inside, was a waterproof walkie talkie. She pushed the plastic away.

"This is Dr Helen Magnus and I have Dr Will Zimmerman with me, over." She coughed as she sunk a little.

"Dr Magnus, this is Jason Miller. I've got a chopper here but it may take some time to get you out of there. How you holding up? Over."

"Well, you, sooner is better and all that. We have been here for eleven hours." Magnus was grinding her teeth as another jolt of pain shot through her leg as she pushed herself further above the water. "How long do you think it's going to take? Over."

"Anything above thirty minutes." Jason sounded apologetic. "Anything I can get for you while you wait? Over."

Magnus snorted. "A four poster bed would be nice. Over."

"It's on its way. Over." Jason joked and then Helen was left alone with the radio silence.

She swam painfully back to her piece of rubble and grabbed hold of it, hanging on for dear life. An end in sight did make it easier but, the idea of holding on for much longer made the notion of letting go very appealing.

Time passed slowly. When the radio crackled to life again, Magnus was almost unconscious.

"Dr Magnus? Are you there? Over."

Magnus pulled the walkie talkie closer to her face. "Just about. Over."

"I'm going to be lowered from the helicopter in a harness with an additional one attached. We'll have to do this one at a time. Over."

"Alright. Over."

There was a faint whirring noise from above and a few minutes later, a figure was lowered into view. He stopped about a foot above the water.

"It's nice to meet you in person, Dr Magnus." Jason Miller. "I'd shake your hand but we have more pressing issues at hand, don't you agree?"

Magnus was almost unconscious but she nodded. "Take Will first." She ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." Jason mock saluted and reached down. Magnus removed Will's arm from her shoulder and attempted to lift him, kicking urgently at the water. Having been moving around for a while now, the pain was less intense but there remained a whisper of it on the peripheries of her mind. She was dunked completely in her effort to lift Will and the cold water renewed her shivering. Jason managed to clip Will into the harness and was holding him against his chest as he began to ascend. "I'll be back momentarily."

"Take your time," Magnus shouted up to him. She felt strangely light, a feeling she attributed to the lack of Will's body weighing her down. He wasn't particularly heavy but a soaking wet, dead weight on your back with no solid ground beneath your feet was enough to do anyone in. She closed her eyes, exhausted. Just a few more minutes... just a bit longer...

Jason was back a few minutes later. He grabbed her wrists and lifted her gently up to his level. He placed her arms around his neck while he buckled her into the harness and she was only too happy to comply. When she was secure, Jason disentangled himself from Magnus' arms and smiled at her. He held out his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Magnus shook his hand but raised an eyebrow.

"I've been following your work." Jason clarified. "My brother has been a resident of the New York Sanctuary for the last three years. I can't thank you enough."

Magnus' smile warmed. "I'd love to talk to you more about it but in the interests of remaining polite, I have to warn you that I may pass out any minute. Treading water for eleven hours will do that." Magnus was watching the rig spin as her brain finally gave up.

The last thing she heard was, "I'll see you at the hospital when you wake up."

A/N 2: I know the cramp seems extreme but anyone who has had really bad cramps due to exhaustion will tell you how painful they are. I've had several and they are honestly the most painful thing I've ever experienced.