Timing

Helena is sitting in the DC subway, heading to a meeting with a publisher. After Myka's visit in Boone, she started to realize that her hiding needed to end. She was projecting the life she pictured for her and Christina into Nathan and his daughter Adelaide and it wasn't fair to them. She decided to start a new life, a healthier one. So she moved to New York a few months ago where she found her first and lost love again : writing. And more specifically, science fiction. Now, a publisher in DC called her two days ago to tell her that he liked her manuscript and wanted to meet her. Her appointment is at 5pm and it's already half past five but she's only four stations away and the publisher office is just in front of the subway exit so, she's going to make it easily.

Or not. The train suddenly stop between the second and the third station before her destination. All the passengers start mumbling and protesting but everyone fall silent when the wagon's micro starts to crackle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry for the traffic interruption. There was a power cut on the metro line. We're trying to fix the problem as soon as possible. Thank you for your attention."

After the driver's announcement, everyone start occupying themselves with their phones, newspaper or simply talking but Helena looks panicked at her watch, then at the few stations left on the wagon's board, then at her watch again. She will never be in time for her meeting. She takes her phone out of her trench's pocket to inform the publisher of her lateness but notices she doesn't have any reception. She sighs loudly, puts away her phone, and leans back in her seat. She can't help but think : "why now?". She had finally her life back on track and now she's maybe about to have a novel published under her name for the first time. Well, under Emily Lake pseudonym but still. It will be her work and recognized as such.

Helena always had a conflicted relationship with timing. For starters, she was ahead of her time when she become the first woman to write a science fiction novel. She had the ideas, the talent but the world wasn't ready for it. Then, she found the perfect job for her. Hunt beautiful artefacts scattered all over the world, lot of adventures, a job of endless wonder. But Christina died. Just when she was away. For the first time. For only 2 days. She can't help but clench her teeth and fists at the memory.

It could have stopped there but after she got debronzed, her relationship with timing just got worse. Especially when it concerned a certain Warehouse agent. She always seems to screw up beautifully when Myka is involved. She could have had it all when Myka managed to get her reinstated as a Warehouse agent. The job she always loved and the best partner she could ask for. However, after being debronzed, she might have felt free, but she was still in a wrong place. She was so full of rage and despair that when she has to choose between Myka and her revenge on the world, she chose the latter.

Then Mrs Frederick allowed her to make things right when the caretaker asked her to convince Myka that she belonged to the Warehouse. But just when things got better between her and the beautiful agent, well as better as it can be with an immaterial body, she had to die so Sykes couldn't use her. When that didn't work and she reunited her mind and body again, well, she had to die again. For real this time. She doesn't remember it of course, but it seems that every encounters she had with Myka must take place when the world is on the verge of ending. Perfect timing indeed.

Finally, there had been Boone. She was hiding like Mrs Frederick asked her to while Artie was dealing with the Astrolabe and, if she's being honest, hiding from herself, too. It wasn't a very problematic situation for her relationship with Myka until she had to call her. Of course, fate, coincidence, timing, it doesn't really matter anymore, had to put an artefact in her path and allow Myka to witness her pathetic attempt at a normal life.

Helena is still so caught up with her memories of Myka's beautiful face that she doesn't feel the train moving immediately. It's only when she sees people getting off at the next station that she realize it. She looks at her watch. She's 45 minutes late. Bollocks.

When she exits the subway, she takes her phone and proceeds to listen to the five messages the publisher had left her while she was stuck. After listening to the first one where the man yells at her for wasting his precious time, Helena decide she doesn't have the strength to go through the four others left. So she tucks her phone away in her pocket and walks toward an Irish pub at the corner of the street. She definitely needs a drink.

She's about to reach for the pub's door when someone opens it just before her and bump into her. She says sorry without looking at the person and heads for the bar when she hears : "Helena ?" She stops dead in her tracks. She would recognize this voice anywhere.

"Myka ? What are you doing here ?" she asks surprised.

"I'm on vacation so I decided to have a few drinks with ex-co-workers from the Secret services, and you ?" Myka replies, her eyes open wide as if she has trouble believing Helena is really here.

"It's... uhm... Quite a long story I'm afraid" Helena says and scolds herself internally for her poor elocution. She seems to always have trouble expressing herself when Myka is looking at her this closely.

"Good thing I'm on vacation then" the Warehouse's agent says smiling. "Maybe you can tell me all about it over a long-awaited coffee ?" she adds rubbing the back of her neck and looking at Helena expectantly.

"Yes, I would like that very much" Helena answers and thinks that maybe, her relationship with timing is not so bad after all.

The End