[item post]

[inabmovie]

Will found that teaching three classes in the island school was keeping him busy. That wasn't to say he didn't like it, because he definitely did. It was just kind of time-consuming coming up with enough material to keep the classes interesting. After all, people took classes here because they wanted to, not because they had to, and he didn't want

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[starchilde_lost]

Rachel was hoping for some quiet-ish time in the Rec room, just an hour or two where she could study before heading back to her hut. Quietly, she walked in, looking for the quietest corner when she realized her teacher and therapist was already in there, shuffling through what looked like a stack of typed documents.

"Hey, Doc, something wrong?" There was an expression on his face that she didn't quite like.

[inabmovie]

"Hey, Rachel." He looked at the papers and shrugged, then back up to her. "No, nothing's wrong. It's just one of those days where the island has a crappy sense of humor. Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't make you guys take that really hard test I was going to plan for you, huh?" It was a joke, but it fell a little flat.

[starchilde_lost]

"Damn, I'm sorry. At least yours is small and easily concealed. I got a big sword." Belonged to her ex, he might remember her mentioning it in her sessions, she certainly thought about it often enough. It hung on her wall, a reminder of someone she cared for, occasionally thought she loved, but always was close to her heart.

"And if you were planning on a test, bring it, I've been studying."

[inabmovie]

"Just for that, I'll give everyone else open-book and you get essays," he said, grinning to show he was just kidding. Will's tests were usually pretty easy, since they were just to give him an idea of what people had learned and not really to give anyone a grade or anything. "A sword would be cool," he added. He figured she meant the one she'd talked about in their sessions sometimes. "This is just something of my dad's," he said with a nod to the papers. "It's funny how you think this kind of stuff you'll never see again and then poof, here it is."

[lastof_five]

Admittedly, Helen had been a bit distracted of late. Election season was in full swing and while the official candidates hadn't been announced yet, she had her own signatures to present to the officials and would, presumably, need to have a speech prepared she hadn't exactly organized her thoughts and written anything out.

"Will, do you think you have a moment to help me with my..."

Helen paused and looked up, frowning a bit at the sheaf of papers he held. "Will? What's that?"

[inabmovie]

Weirdly enough, as much as Magnus knew about his life, he wasn't really sure she knew anything about his dad, because they never, ever talked about him. This wasn't so much because Will was trying to hide it (he wasn't) as that he had zero interest in talking about him. So he wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "Oh, you know, one of those island things," he said, and handed her the stack of papers. It was pretty clear from the topmost paper what it was and who it was about. "The thing where it drops something from your past in your lap."

[lastof_five]

"This was part of an official FBI file, based on the formatting," Helen said quietly, paging through the first few sheets of paper. "And evidence of multiple counts of fraud."

The name was familiar too, surname the same as Will's, and she looked up to meet his eyes.

"Will?"

[inabmovie]

"My dad's file," he said, though he was pretty sure Magnus had figured that out already. "He was arrested when I was at Quantico. It was a long time coming, really. I was kind of surprised it didn't happen earlier."

It hadn't been too long after his mother died that Will had learned that "business" was a synonym for "scam" where his father was concerned.

[misanthrope_md]

House knew who he was, of course. He couldn't be paying as much attention as he did to Magnus and not know who it was that she was with. Cream puff, as Kate had called him. Though House was really just seeing boy scout.

It wasn't jealousy, not really. More just irritation, fueled by Magnus repeatedly pointing out that House was so much more her type, if it wasn't for Will... blah, blah. Though to be fair, the irritation was tempered a little by the fact that he'd finally gotten laid properly for the first time since last year.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder what this guy was like. House had been sitting on the other side of the room, but finally he looked up from his book and said, "I know that look."

[inabmovie]

"What, the 'screw you, stupid island' look? I think we all get it once in a while," Will answered. He was pretty sure it was Dr. House, given that Will had been here going on a year and a half and knew most people by sight even if he hadn't actually met them. He was good at putting things together. "Would be great if we could do without it, wouldn't it?"

[misanthrope_md]

"Without the screw you? Sure." House couldn't see what was written on the papers from where he was, but he stretched his neck a little anyway. "So what is it... commitment papers? DNA test? Marriage certificate?"

[inabmovie]

"They're not mine, actually," Will said. "My dad's. He was arrested a while back. The culmination of a very long string of stupendously bad choices. This is just the tip of a huge pile of evidence against him."

[justsookie]

Since her arrival on the island a year and a half ago, Sookie had come across people caught in any number of situations. She'd witnessed the falling of a space station, the melding of nightmares, the discovery of worlds where one was no more than a pretty face on the screen. But there was very little which seemed to stand out on the whole more than watching someone receive a gift from the island, something from home. Only having recently obtained the scrapbook of Box Tunnel 20 articles, and Bill's folder before that, Sookie knew that the tendency of the island to drop such surprises on its unknowing citizens as one of her most hated aspects at the moment. And when she saw Will holding a stack of papers with that expression on her face, she just knew.

Suspected, at least. That something wasn't quite right.

"Hey," she greeted, walking over to nudge him with her shoulder.

[inabmovie]

"Hey, Sookie," he said, and nudged her right back. Somehow he wasn't surprised (and was glad, definitely) to see Sookie. She had this way of turning up and usually cheering him up whenever he got broody, or at least pointing him in the direction of common sense. "They let you off work for a little while?"

[justsookie]

"Didn't hear? I'm nothing more than a lame duck now," she replied, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder amiably, glad that he didn't seem so perturbed by the folder in his hands that he couldn't at least welcome attention from a friend. Feeling more confident about having made the decision to interrupt what he'd been doing, she shook her head, curls settling around her shoulders as she heaved a sigh. "Decided not to run for the Council a third time while I sort out... my life and personal priorities, and it's close enough to the new term that I'm not gonna start and finish a project in so short a time. So now I get to wander around during my office hours. Say hello to people, for once, and it's not a bad feeling."

Resting her head on his shoulder, Sookie pursed her lips. "So, is this something I should be asking about? Or are we better off just finding a distraction?"

[inabmovie]

"Nothing wrong with that," Will said easily. "It's good to take time off from things, get a different perspective. You can always run again next time if you decide you miss it."

He nodded at the papers and shifted them over so she could see. "You can ask," he said, trying to make it sound like no-big-deal. "You know how things from your past show up when you least expect it? It's one of those things."

[new_ophelia]

Sam is very, very excited. He's finally old enough to remember people who aren't his immediate family and that guy has the strange kitty.

"Hey!" he shouts, scurrying into the room ahead of his mother. "Kitty? It here?"

[inabmovie]

Oh, it was the cute kid he'd met the day he found Roy. Sam. Seriously cute kid. "Hey, Sam," he said, and grinned. "He's not here, he's at home sleeping. He's got a cool little box and everything--it's got this little thing across the top he can hang on to, like this." Will tilted his head up to the ceiling, made an exaggerated sleepy face, and held his arms and curled them like Roy hanging on to the bar in his box.

[new_ophelia]

Kate smiles as she scoops Sam up, always grateful when people can handle Sam well. Sam giggles, squirming in Kate's grasp. "Sorry to interrupt," Kate says, kissing the top of Sam's curly haired head. "He's really pumped about animals right now. Especially ones within reach."

[inabmovie]

"Oh no," Will said, waving a hand. "He's not interrupting anything, seriously. OH--I think I saw something on the shelf earlier, he might like it, hang on--" Will got up and zipped over to the shelf, in a section where some kids' books were, and made a little aha! when he found the little board book he'd seen earlier. He had almost taken it, but he'd felt kind of stupid taking a kid's board book from the shelf, so now that there was an actual kid here he had the perfect excuse.

"Check it out," he said, handing the book to Sam and his mom. "He's just like Roy, now you can look at him whenever you want."