Chapter One

Claudia: Never Knowing

She spent a lot of time alone now, and it wasn't the easiest thing to do. Artie was trying to figure out how to perfectly time the stopwatch to bring back the Warehouse right before Sykes went into the portal so they could throw the bomb in after him while Pete, Myka, and Leena all tried to occupy their time with repairing the B&B. Claudia knew she wasn't very helpful with the whole repair effort, but she also acknowledged that she wasn't really fit to do much.

The destruction of the Warehouse was hard on all of them, especially Claudia, but due to their extreme personality differences they all missed different parts of it. Artie missed his office, Myka missed the ancient archives, and Pete definitely missed the Pete Cave. What Claudia missed most she hadn't actually been to see since it was moved to the Warehouse, however. While the loss of her whole life, as the Warehouse had become, was hard to come to grips with, what Claudia regretted most was the destruction of Steve's room. It had been her last real reminder of him, and then she had to watch it burn. Now how would he be remembered? Now who would look back and think about what a great partner, what a great man he had been?

Oh sure, she had the metronome, but she wasn't sure how to work it; wasn't sure how to bring someone back, and wasn't sure how to ensure the person she brought back was indeed Steve. Most days she would grab the metronome, her laptop, and the small memory card that Steve had hidden in the lighter and walk a few miles to a secluded place (they weren't that hard to come by after all) and sit with the metronome next to her and her laptop playing the message Steve had left.

Sure, it was painful to watch, but not as painful as knowing if she didn't figure out the metronome, she would never see Steve again. He had been taken from her so suddenly, so unfairly, that Claudia could not just let herself accept it. Besides, her grief had gotten to the point where she just couldn't cry anymore. Her eyes didn't even get blurry; they simply turned cold instead when Steve was mentioned. Only the sight of the metronome, her one chance, the one thing everything depended on, could soften her expression. The young techie was actually amazed, in a wry, humorless way that the Regents hadn't stepped in to take the metronome from her yet. Maybe they realized that taking it would only make Claudia angry, and they didn't want to make her mad when they were counting on her to become the next caretaker. Or maybe, she thought, Jane had told the other's to back off after Claudia's outburst about the connection between Steve's death and the Regents. Either way, she was secretly gratefully.

Claudia lay down in her bed at Leena's late one evening, gazing up at the ceiling with a blank look. She didn't want to sleep because of the nightmares, but then again, she had the same dreams when she was awake. She just couldn't get the memory of Steve's lifeless eyes staring back at her when she had ran into that room out of her head; his skin pale and clammy, the man she loved so much and so deeply murdered, his corpse left behind to taunt her. The mere recollection of the feeling of utter and complete pain, sharper than any physical or emotional trauma she had previously experienced washing over her at the sight still made her shiver.

"Claude?"

Turning her head slightly, Claudia saw Pete's tall form standing in the doorway. In her head, she heard Steve's nervous voice telling her about Pete's reaction to hearing he was gay.

"It was so awkward," Steve said with a shudder. "My legs are still shaking. Do they really think that just because I'm gay I'm attracted to every other man?"

A small smile creased Claudia's lips at the memory. "Yeah, Pete?" He had tried to protect her from seeing Steve's body, tried even at a moment when he was reeling in shock to defend her from harm.

"Well, all of us were sort of wondering," Pete said uncomfortably, standing hesitantly in the doorway. "If you were doing alright. You haven't been yourself since…you know."

"Do you expect me to be the same," Claudia snapped, sitting bolt upright with a sneer. "My best friend was just murdered in cold blood by a psychopathic killer your mother created! How am I supposed to be okay?"

Pete took a step towards her, his hands raised in front of him defensively. "You don't have to be, none of us expect you to be," he blurted quickly. "But Claude…we're still a family, and we still need you to be here with us. Right now none of us know where you are."

The innocent, concerned look on his face hit Claudia like a good right hook to the jaw, and the tears welled up in her eyes, starting to fall from the corners.

"I can't deal with this," she said shakily, taking a shuddering breath as Pete quickly crossed the room and enveloped her in his arms. "I can't do it, Pete."

"I know," he said softly, holding her tightly to him. "But you can change things, Claude. You will change things."

Claudia looked at him and then gestured to the metronome on her bedside. Pete handed it to her and she pressed the artifact to her lips.

"Bring back Steven Jinks," she breathed. Nothing happened. The tears flowed faster. "Bring him back," she said, shaking the metronome. "Bring him back!" she screamed it before dropping the metronome and burying her head in Pete's shoulder once again.

"Shh," Pete whispered to her comfortingly, trying not to let the tears in his own eyes fall. "Shh, Claude. We're all right here."

"Not all of you," Claudia said blearily. "One of you is missing."