Whatever It Takes

He had found the perfect ring. He had the perfect woman to give it to. What he need to know, was the perfect way to give it to her. It had to be right, where it would be one of the most memorable events in her life. He knew the one person to ask to make certain he could get it as perfect as perfect could be. Unfortunately, Jonathan was wary that that man would even allow such a thing to happen. Even if mother and father weren't together, Jon didn't know if Morgan would be willing to give her up indefinitely.

Pacing the teacher's lounger, hands constantly raking through the brown locks of hair, his head jerked upwards at the sound of the door opening. He was tense, worried deep to his core. But the man that step through the threshold was not the one Jon had been expecting.

"Sebastian?"

The older man paused with his hand on the door handle, a half eaten home-baked cookie held in his front teeth, files and folders tucked under his arm. Deep dark brown, almost black eyes, regarded the chemistry professor, wondering just what it was he had walked into. Releasing the door handle, he removed the cookie from his mouth in order to speak. "Not disturbing you am I?"

Jonathan quickly shook his head. "Oh, no, no, not at all, Sebastian. I just wasn't expecting you, to be honest,"

Sebastian moved from the door, slipping the cookie back into his mouth so that he could carefully place his workload down on the table. Biting into the crumbly biscuit, he couldn't help but feel the anxiety radiating from the thirty year old. "Are you sure I'm not disturbing you?" Seb asked, swallowing the contents of his mouth. "You seem awfully uneasy."

"Have you ever asked someone to marry you?" Jon suddenly blurted out, to fast to even retract his question.

"I'm assuming, that since I'm forty and single, you think I should have at least asked someone to marry at least once?" the historian replied, arranging his things on the table, among them being a clear plastic tub containing more cookies. He was still having difficulties with his daughter, although she was settling much more now. He was still baking to calm his nerves. Kelsea had said that she was starting to like the apartment smelling of freshly baked cookies.

Jon felt terrible for his quick question that came with little thought behind it. Sebastian, however, was acting unfazed by such a question, even with his own explanation behind why he believed Jon to have asked him.

"Do not be so cautious, Jon," he replied, offering the tub of cookies to his fellow teacher. "Infact, I have never had the chance to ask someone such a question. I take it, you are planning on asking Madeline?"

The Scot took one of the cookies, examining the baked good while the older male settled himself down to engage in his work. "Never? What about Kelsea's mother?"

Seb shook his head. "Summer was little more than sexual gratification," he responded, leaning back in his seat, dark eyes focused on the worried, soon-to-be-engaged man. "There was not even a phone call to say she was leaving for a different life, and although I found myself missing her, I soon realized that we had little as a couple. I missed her, yes, but I don't think I ever truly loved her to ask her such a deep and meaningful question."

"I see..." He was rotating the cookie in his fingers now, listening intently to the older man speak. Jon was a listener, not a talker. It had taken a while for him to get to know the man that had been hired to lessen Madeline's workload. She talked so highly of him that Jon had taken time to seek him out and get to know the man now teaching Ancient History. They didn't have too much in common, but Sebastian was rather friendly and willing to overlook differences to find out more about Jon. They weren't exactly best of friends, but Jon felt comfortable talking about more than just work with him.

"Since coming to this school, I have noticed that Madeline and yourself have an interesting relationship. It is not the asking her that is bothering you so much, is it Jon?" he asked, ignoring his work in favor of talking with the other man. "I do not know details so much as some of the older teachers, but what I have gathered, and from what she herself has told me, it is more the father of her children that you are worried about, right?"

Jon admired how Sebastian could read people. He knew the right things to say, and he was honest with his words. T.K. had a much similar respect of words, refusing to sugar coat, but Sebastian had a way with those truthful words. He nodded in response.

"I am nothing like Reid, with his psychological theories as to why people do things, but from what I can gather, I am sure he would be thrilled, if not a little jealous."

"Jealous?"

"Madeline is the mother of his children. Those children which you get to be more of a father too than he. Summer took Kelsea away before I even had chance to get to know she existed. I was never there when she was born, I could not be the man to hold her when she had a nightmare. They may not be your children, but in the eyes of Morgan, you are more their father than he is," he explained, taking another cookie for himself and happily munching away. He spoke softly, not condescending, and was merely giving his own opinions on how he saw things. "He has all rights to be jealous of you."

"Are you sure you're not Reid in disguise?" Jon asked, moving to the table and sitting down beside the other man, finally taking a bite of the cookie.

Sebastian laughed. "He is quite something to deal with. I'm hoping to break him into more social situations. I think I irritate him though, with my constant 'Don't start on the headspace shit, just smile and eat your cookie'. Ween him off the need to cling to a twelve year old just because she's comfortable, because she's familiar. He's got to learn that not everyone is a genius, and people are and will be stupid."

"You make it sound like you don't like him?" Jon and Mr. Gray had a liking for similar things, and they bonded over their love for Sci Fi programs. Morgan, however, was constantly being sent to apologize to the young teacher by Madeline. T.K. disliked him, and Morgan seemed to be siding with him.

"I admire him because he is unique. I dislike him because he has a ten foot pole rammed so far up his own arse you could hang a flag from where it came out his mouth,"

"Lovely image, Sebastian," Jon groaned.

The man laughed again. Soft, musical, his French side seeping through. "But we're not talking about Reid here, we're talking about you, and Morgan."

"I was hoping to talk with him about it today." Madeline was being kept busy by two expertly deployed secret agents that went by the names of Gwen and Zephyr who were under orders to make sure she stayed clear of the teacher's lounge.

"When he comes, would you like me to leave?"

"I think I'd like a witness if he tries to punch me in the gut for wanting to marry his Madeline,"

Sebastian picked a chocolate chip from his cookie. With all the cooking the man did, it was amazing he managed to stay in shape. "I don't have him pegged as a violent man," Sebastian replied. "Protective to the point of appearing violent, yes, but never physically violent. It's his presence that intimidates and keeps others from pushing his limit. Its what makes him seem like a bully to Reid, too. Smart, but quite the Neanderthal to someone like Reid."

Jonathan chuckled softly, imaging Morgan as some form of hairy man from ancient times.

"So would you like me to leave?"

"No, there's no need," Jon replied quickly, finishing his cookies and brushing the crumbs from his pants. "Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Sebastian. I'll keep them in mind, perhaps even tell Madeline that the father of her children is a caveman."

As if on cue, the drama teacher entered the room, blue eyes moving from one man to the other and back again. "Mother's meeting?"

"I was asking Jon if we should omit you from the single parent's club," Sebastian retorted wittily, a cheerful yet cheeky grin on his face. "Since technically you're not single. We would refuse you membership due to the fact your children live with their mother, but that wouldn't be fair to Alastar. Although, I hear two of the single men are being not single together."

Morgan chuckled. "Next thing you know, Sabby, Aidan hooks up and it's just you, with Derek."

"I'm waiting for news of Cillian's illegitimate child," he responded quickly, flashing a toothy smile.

"Morgan, while I enjoy watching you two interact so fondly together, there's something I'd like to ask you," Jon cut in, before the other two teachers could continue insulting one another. Morgan genuinely liked Sebastian, but the two men seemed to thoroughly enjoy taking jabs at one another.

"Sure, Jon. What is it?" Morgan asked, stealing himself one of Seb's cookies.

Swallowing the lump that had built up in his throat, he looked Morgan square in the eyes. "I want to ask Madeline to marry me."