Author's Notes: (I think I wrote this around Christmas time? Maybe... It could also be the first Warehouse 13 thing I wrote. Possibly 2 years ago. I don't remember.) I wrote this in a car on my iPod. I ended up transcribing it onto my computer. It was all inspired by the song Running up that Hill by Track and Field. You guys are smart and probably know where the song's from. Yeah. I have to say that Steve's death scene is probably one of the most beautifully written and tragic parts of the show. Claudia's scream at the end of the episode... I can still hear it clearly in my head. I'm dedicating this one-shot to Claudia and Steve because they are so fabulous together. I hope that you... enjoy(?) this. -S.R. Wells
Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13 or its characters. I just like to watch it in all of its angsty glory and try to replicate the same effect.
Claudia had been through some horrible circumstances in her life. She lost both of her parents in a car crash when she was just a little kid. Her brother, Joshua, had to raise her himself. He was all that she had had. The one person who didn't completely ostracize her for being many years more intelligent than her peers. She had lost him for years of her life because he had foolishly messed around with an artifact. She spent long, hard years in mental health wards, where she had been treated like an animal because she had kept on seeing Joshua. She had finally managed to save him with the help of Artie. And then she had become a member of the Warehouse 13 family, much to her surprise and joy.
They had become her everything, her family. Artie was the father figure she always wished she had. Pete was like the annoying brother that Joshua had never been to Claudia. Myka was the sister Claudia always wished she had. Myka was awesome beyond belief. Claudia always had wished she could be as good of an agent that Myka was. Yet, Myka was the one who reassured her that she could be just as good of an agent while still being herself. Even H.G. was awesome. HG was totally Claudia's role model, as she was an amazing inventor, just like Claudia was.
Claudia couldn't fully express the grief she felt after the Warehouse 2 incident. H.G. had become the bad guy and had to be taken care of, as in, thrown into some top secret Regent prison. That was the root of the grief that had grown thanks to Myka departure. Though Myka really couldn't be blamed. Poor Myka. Claudia's heart truly ached for her. She wasn't sure if H.G. or Myka had admitted it to each other, but the two of them were clearly soulmates.
Myka had been more than distraught by H.G.'s actions. So distraught that she had decided to leave the Warehouse. Claudia was more broken after that then Artie or Pete knew of. She suspected that Leena knew what she went through during that time. She barely managed to keep up hope that one day Myka would return. Somewhere, deep down inside of her, she knew that the Warehouse and H.G. had broken Myka so deeply that it was unlikely that she would ever be the same again. A risk that could happen to any of them.
Months later after Myka left, was when they had got a new agent… Agent… Agent… Steve. Steve Jinks. Jinksy. The man that Pete had whined about having as a new partner because of his last name which could almost insure something bad to happen. Of course, one mission later, Myka had returned much to Claudia's delight. Since Pete didn't need Steve to be his partner any more, Artie relegated Steve to be Claudia's partner. Sooner than was expected, Steve became a part of their family. There were a few incidents before then… Like the one time she totally thought that he was hitting on her, but he wasn't because he was gay. That was soo embarrassing! But Steve was a really awesome guy. He became her BFF. Her friend that would never leave her.
But now… Her throat clenched up. He was gone. He was… He was… She gulped. Dead. Her Jinksy, who had gone undercover to help save lives, was dead. It couldn't be. It had to be impossible. There was no way his bright, kind hearted, Buddhist soul could be extinguished. More so, she needed him. They were Yin and Yang. It couldn't just be Yang now. It couldn't be. She prayed to God that it wouldn't be.
It couldn't end like this- H.G. captured by Sykes for some nefarious plan and her Jinksy dead.
Something in her broke when she let out that scream of anguish. The light exterior that she had cultivated and believed in was torn away to reveal her darker side. The side that was willing to do whatever was necessary to achieve the ends she wanted to accomplish. The side of her that would save Steve. The side that would watch with gleeful delight when Sykes and Marcus screamed in pain and die at her feet just like they deserved.
Nothing and nobody would be able to stand in her way. Not the Regents. Not Mrs. Frederic. Not Artie. Not Pete or Myka Not even Leena.
She would have her vengeance, and she would save Steve.