Warehouse 13
"Burning My Shadow"
By A. Rhea King
From day one he heard things, but could only see blackness.
"Wakey, wakey," he heard Claudia call and her voice faded away. It was followed by Steve coming close, telling him, "Ah, Pete, you are not going to believe who won the Super Bowl!" He droned on, telling Pete about the game. It was interrupted by crunching of food and Steve drinking something until it faded away. He was startled awake when he heard Myka talking to him about her last assignment. She was going over notes and 'bouncing ideas off him' as she tried to figure out where the artifact was. Suddenly she figured it out. It felt like a very light hug and she was gone. He heard his mother's voice several times as she told him about current events and people they knew back home.
The only voice he never heard was Artie. Not until this moment – with no concept of time he wasn't even sure when the moment was.
"Pete," Artie's voice said but then there was a long pause. "The others believe you can hear us. Look, we're… we're getting close to figuring out what they are. It's promising actually. I just… I don't want you to give up, okay? I… Well, you're living in my house right now and I'd like you to leave. I like my space."
Pete could only feel the smile in his head.
"Doctor Carter is coming tomorrow to check on you and the other bronzed people. She wants… She was looking forward to spending time with you, she said. So don't give up. There are people who care about you out here and, well…" Artie stopped talking and time went back to passing with no sense of how long it had been.
Day 39
Artie walked down the aisle with Claudia. He carried a basket of bagged artifacts. Claudia was able to use the Feng Shui Spiral, and knew the Warehouse inside out, but Artie had found that with Evil Pete and his cloud of goons in the Warehouse she rarely would go anywhere in it alone. So he finally gave into her whining and agree to help her place artifacts. Referencing a sheet of paper she turned down an aisle.
"I think… I saw a spot down—"
Both stopped dead in their tracks when they heard a song being whistled. Artie looked up, then behind him. Evil Pete and his evil buddies had been haunting the entire team since Pete was bronzed. He would whistle the same song from time to time or let out a long-winded maniacal laugh.
"I used to really like that song," Claudia said between gritted teeth.
Artie looked at her. The artifact, a metal box of spoons, was slowly caving under her tight grip. Artie quickly saved it from her. She watched him try pressing the dents out.
"I hate that thing, Artie. I hate everything about it."
"Well, it is pure evil. That feeling sort of works in this situation." He offered a smile.
"You're joking? About this?" She shook her head. "Pete is frozen in time and it gets to run loose. That isn't fair!"
Artie sighed, handing her back the dented box. "When has our work ever been fair? Shelf this."
She started walking again and he followed.
She looked at him. "I don't think that you can really hide things from whatever that is."
Artie shrugged. "What are you talking about?"
She whispered, "I saw the control panel yesterday."
"Then you shouldn't talk about it, should you?" Artie whispered back.
She stopped talking, but not without making a face about it.
