Disclaimer: I wish, but no, I don't own the characters/show.
Author's Note: Because Season 3 is just asking for fanfic, particularly the familial kind, specifically Claudia and Artie. Enjoy!
She was his.
He never changed her diapers, never tucked her in at night, never taught her how to ride a bike, never scared off potential suitors with his scowl alone, but she was his.
He knew because looking at that face, those big eyes begging, wanting so much for him to believe that what she was doing, what she wanted to do was for the greater good, that he was calling the kettle black.
But he knew the ramifications, he knew the risks, or at least he thought he knew them, and it scared the hell out of him to think that she would share in such consequences, that she already was part of events that were spinning out of his control. If they'd ever been in his control at all.
Please God, not her, anyone but her.
But she's brought Steve back, the damage is done, and he's left staring at a digital dagger. A dagger that could, quite feasibly would, soon find its way into his very real heart. The rest of his days; it was never said that those days were numerous. And to think of the person he's seen holding that dagger fills him with even more dread.
Because she's his, and should he fall by her hand and whatever evil that grips her should loosen, and she realizes her actions, she will do whatever it takes to right her mistake, because he was hers as much as she was his.
And he can't have that, because it's exactly what he would do, has already done. He will do his damndest to save them, save them all, and if not all then just his family, just her, because that's what parents do.
Time to get to work.
