Death Becomes Him
Death Becomes Him
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters; too bad, so sad.
Spoilers: Through S2
Pairings/Characters: Will, Helen, Kate
Summary: Will spends entirely too much time in morgues.
A/N: Written for sanctuary_bingo , for the prompt “The Morgue”
1. The Hospital
Will followed Magnus down the hall to the hospital morgue. “What are we doing here again?”
“A friend called me,” Magnus replied briskly. “There’s been a very interesting case brought in, and I want first crack at it.”
Will frowned. “This is how you found out about Alexei, isn’t it?”
“This is how I find out about all kinds of things.” She tossed a grin at him over her shoulder. “Buck up. This is all part of the job.”
“You know, this isn’t really my thing,” Will began. “I deal with the living, not the dead.”
Magnus led him through the swinging doors. “Sometimes the dead have as much to tell us as the living. You just have to know how to read the signs.”
“Yeah…” Will sighed as she led him inside. “These aren’t the kinds of signs I’m good at reading.”
Magnus raised her eyebrows. “You’re a forensic psychiatrist. Don’t tell me you’re squeamish.”
“I’m not squeamish!” he protested. “But I’m not a pathologist. There’s a difference between live bodies and dead ones.”
“Will.”
He’d already learned not to argue with Magnus when she used that tone of voice. “I’m coming.”
Will thought he’d braced himself, but the smell in the morgue hit him hard, and he swallowed back bile furiously. “Oh, God. What is that?”
“That, my friend, is an adult Moravian czart. What you smell is a bog.” Magnus smiled. “I suggest you breathe through your mouth.”
Will swallowed again. “That’s not helping, but thanks for the advice.”
“Steady now, Will. This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Will just barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes. “Great. I can’t wait.”
2. London Sanctuary
Will hated morgues. Actually, he wasn’t a big fan of dead bodies in general, but he felt like he owed Clara this much.
He stepped up to the slab hesitantly. He’d already seen the body, of course, but Declan had informed Will that they were going to cremate her-it?-to install the ashes in the same columbarium where her family’s remains rested.
Clara had been the last of the Griffins, the last of a legacy.
Will wondered if there was some kind of bad luck that followed the offspring of the Five. Clara was dead, Ashley was dead, and maybe there would never be any others.
He pulled back the sheet that covered Clara’s face and ran his thumb along her cheekbone. She was still beautiful, even in death, although the fierce spirit that had enchanted him was gone.
Will had known for a long time that the body was nothing but a shell. When the soul-the person-was gone, nothing remained behind.
He’d never had the chance to say goodbye to his mom. The funeral had been closed casket, and they hadn’t let him see her body after her death. He wanted a chance to say his farewell this time around.
“Goodbye,” Will murmured, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I hope you’re happy, wherever you are.”
3. Old City Sanctuary
Will stepped into the morgue, feeling the chill air against his skin. He had bad memories associated with this place, and he wanted to remember it without the Big Guy on a slab.
God, the thought of losing him, of losing any of them…
They had just lost Ashley; they couldn’t afford another blow like that one.
“Will.”
He didn’t turn to look at Magnus as she entered. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“I couldn’t tell you.”
“You don’t think I know that?” Will demanded. “You think I don’t know what was at stake? Do me the courtesy of acknowledging that I’m not an idiot.”
“I don’t think you’re an idiot,” Magnus said softly. “Far from it.”
Will shook his head. “We grieved, Magnus. We thought he was dead. You being crazy? That we could live with. You’re crazy half the time anyway. But we thought we’d lost a friend.”
“I know.”
She didn’t apologize, which was telling. Magnus pretty much never apologized, and in one sense Will could appreciate that. He didn’t much like saying he was sorry either.
But there were crazy plans, and then there were mind fucks, and Will knew the difference by now.
“I’m okay,” he said wearily. “I just need a minute.”
He felt the change in the air as Magnus slipped out, but Will kept his eye on the slab where the Big Guy had been, trying to block out the images in his brain.
The morgue was empty right now; that’s how he wanted to remember it.
4. The Mumbai Sanctuary Morgue
Will found Kate in the morgue. No one had seen her in a while, and he’d started a systematic search of all the places where she might be. If Kate were Magnus, he probably would have started with the morgue, but she wasn’t.
He knew the place was full; they’d done good work, but a lot of people had still died. Will thought that maybe he’d been at the Sanctuary too long when he thought it was a good day when none of his friends had been killed.
Although that probably just made him human.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
Kate glanced up, one corner of her lips quirking up in a smile. “Hey.”
“You okay?”
She shrugged. “Weird day, you know? Weird couple of days.”
Will leaned against the wall next to her, looking at the covered corpses, wishing they were anywhere but here. “What are you doing down here?”
“I don’t know.” Kate shook her head. “I guess I’m reminding myself that you’re not here.”
Will nodded slowly. “No, I guess I’m not. Thanks.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You did a lot.”
Kate turned and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. “You okay?”
Will looked at the bodies, and thought of his friends who were still living, and he decided that he had more than he had any right to expect given their line of work.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m okay.”