Disclaimer: I do not lay claim to anything from the show, only my own work and creations. Mostly just Dr. Telares and the accolo-nexum. Oh, and the Oolues, which don't actually exist.

Survival of the Fittest

Part One: Things Hidden

Will stared at her. Helen Magnus, the Helen Magnus hadn't just asked him that, had she?

"Will?" She questioned impatiently.

"K. I got ya." He gulped. Nervously he came up close behind her, laying his hands on her hips. His heartbeat quickened. Her shirt was soft, the edge of her pants riding low. He was amazed to feel just how much muscle she had beneath her clothing.

"Ready?" She questioned.

"Yeah." He answered breathlessly.

"On the count of three." She said. "One, two, three."

He lifted on the count of three, even as she hopped up, her agile hands finding handholds he couldn't even see. His hands moved down her legs to her feet and held her. She hoisted herself up after only a gentle pressure on his fingers and disappeared into the hole she'd been unable to reach on her own. His body tingled at the absence of contact with hers. He cleared his throat. "Find anything?" He called up to her.

"There's a residue on the wall up here, perhaps a secretion of the creatures. However, as far as I can see, there is no other indication that it came this way." Her head stuck over the edge. "Circle around the other side, down the left tunnel. Hopefully if it did go this way we'll be able to flush it out for capture."

"Alright." He brought his tranq gun up with his flashlight and proceeded down the indicated tunnel. The smell of damp mold assaulted his nose, making him shake his head to clear it. Finally, he came around to where the hole let out. He pointed his gun and flashlight at it and waited. He heard what sounded like a cry of pain, making his heart skip a beat. Then his flashlight glinted off bright green eyes. He barely managed to fire before the creature could attack him. It went down in a pile of skin and fur. "Magnus?" He called. There was no answer. "Magnus?" He repeated.

"Here." Her weak voice came out. He heard her clear her throat and when she spoke next it was in her normal British timbre. "Well, that went rather well."

"How rare did you say this thing was?" He asked, nudging it with his foot as she climbed from the hole, her feet landing gently beside him.

"Extremely. Dr. Telares has been studying the creatures for years. She has the only social group ever kept alive in captivity. Accolo-Nexum. In latin, it means to dwell near and to bind together. Without all it's members, the groups young will not survive and the group will slowly die out."

"So how did it escape? Shouldn't something that important be guarded?"

"Dr. Telares recently acquired a new grant for her research and purchased one of the habitats we originally created for the Oolues. When the habitat was vacated, she inquired. She was in the process of moving the creatures when one panicked and escaped."

"So that's why she called us." He said in understanding.

"She was aware we are far better equipped for retrieval and asked for our help." She said succinctly. "We best get the poor thing back before the sedation wears off."

"Yeah." He looked her up and down. "You alright? I heard-"

"That was the creature. I'm fine."

He doubted that, otherwise her voice wouldn't have sounded so weak when she'd first answered, but dropped the issue when they faced the daunting task of hauling the creature from the tunnels.

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Once back at the Sanctuary after returning the creature to a very grateful Dr. Telares, he showered and changed his clothes. When he went downstairs, Kate and the Big Guy were back from their trip to see one of Kate's contacts for information. "Get anything?" He asked jovially.

"Nothing." Big Guy grumbled.

"Diddly squat." Kate growled beside him.

"Shame." He shrugged.

"Will." Magnus came into the main lab. "I need you and Henry to help me to deliver a crate down at the docks, immediately."

"Aw, Magnus, we just got back." He whined at her.

"And now we have other work to accomplish." She said, a sharp edge to her voice. "Henry is in his lab. I'll see you outside." She shook her head as she walked away.

"Tough break dude." Kate said, not unsympathetically.

"Good luck." Big Guy said.

"Thanks." Will turned with a halfhearted wave, sighing before heading glumly for Henry's lab. When he arrived, Henry was still packing a light bag of emergency things. They quickly finished and got the van to meet Magnus at the loading platform where she awaited them with the crate beside her. Almost right off the bat he noticed she looked a little peaked but didn't comment. She usually ran herself at least a little ragged with all her responsibilities and her willingness to put everyone before herself. It took them all of ten minutes to load the crate and set out. The dock was only a fifteen to twenty-five minute drive, depending on who was behind the wheel. Soon they were pulling the crate out of the back of the van and handing it over to some men who looked like they might be Thai, or perhaps Korean.

Of course, Magnus spoke to them in their native tongue, if a little haltingly. Damn, how many languages did she know? He'd already heard her speak at least half a dozen. One of the men accepting the crate bowed to her and she returned the gesture unconsciously. Her face froze in a mask he recognized as her I'm-in-pain-but-not-willing-to-show-it look as she almost fell forward, stumbling slightly as she regained her balance. The man didn't even notice.

"Hey Doc, you okay?" Henry asked, having seen her stumble.

"Fine, Henry, thank you. Just a little tired." Magnus answered quickly, straightening up and heading back for the van. Not being as good as Will was at reading people, Henry accepted this and followed.

Will kept quiet all the way back to the Sanctuary, but was right on Magnus' heels as she strode purposefully toward her office. Distracted, she obviously didn't notice him as she almost slammed the door on his nose.

"Oh, Will!" She said, startled into turning his way when the door remained open. She went around to the other side of her desk and clicked a few times on the mouse of her computer. "Did you want something?"

"How bad are you hurt?" He asked without preamble.

She blinked at him. "Hurt?"

"I heard that cry from the crawl space. Then at the docks you stumbled not because you were tired but because you were hurting and trying not to lose your balance. How bad is it?"

She sighed a little bit, then chuckled. "Trust you to notice the minutia. It's barely a scratch, a little bruising, something I can easily treat myself. I'll be fine."

"Will be." He said, nodding angrily. "Can I see it?"

"Will." She rolled her eyes. "I'm perfectly all right-"

"Can I see it or do I need to tell the Big Guy so he'll make you get treated?" He said, crossing his arms over his chest, his anger getting the better of him.

She narrowed her eyes at the implied threat.

"Look," He began in a placating voice. "I'm concerned, and if you aren't going to take care of yourself, I'll do it for you."

Her eyes narrowed even further in irritation but she lifted the edge of her shirt to show him the side of her stomach where a gash made it's way from her ribs in a slight curve toward her navel. "Satisfied?"

Before she could let down her shirt again he rushed forward and held it in place, taking a longer minute to examine the wound. It wasn't that long and it's depth didn't appear to be something to worry over either. Three butterfly bandages held the edges tightly together. The bruising around it appeared worse than she'd let on. He suspected she might have even broken a rib but a broken rib wasn't injury enough for him to be willing to start an argument. It was, as she said, something she could treat herself.

"Thank you." He said quietly, looking up into her frowning face.

Magnus blinked, then cleared her throat awkwardly and pulled her shirt down, which he released so she could do so. "Yes, well, do not mention this to the others please. I'm more than capable of treating myself and as I said, it's nothing to worry over."

"I didn't notice your clothes were torn, or any blood." He said thoughtfully, backing up a few steps.

"My clothing wasn't torn." She said, sitting with a slight wince. "The creature pinned me. In my struggle my shirt rode up a little. As for the blood, my injury really didn't bleed very much. It didn't even require stitches."

"I can see that." He remarked. "Listen, just next time, tell me when you get hurt so I can at least not worry over it. I know you can take care of yourself, but I need to know if it was bad, you would tell me. Us." He gestured around to indicate the entire Sanctuary.

"You know that I would. And yes, next time I get injured while on a mission with you, I will tell you. You would undoubtedly notice anyway." She said the last a little sullenly.

He laughed and left her office to go find the Big Guy and ask him to be sure Magnus didn't skip any meals for a time while she was healing. Sure, he wasn't going to tell the guy why, but he needed to be sure the Sasquatch who doubled as Magnus' butler at times kept an eye on her. A very close eye.

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