Author's Note: I don't own Warehouse, but If I did...I'd be so damn proud.
This is a weird style for me. I like it though. I was rewatching the finale with a friend and I really can't believe just how tragic it was. There was so much going on. My hat's off to the actors. There was so much little subtlety it was amazing. Hopefully I did it some kind of justice.
"Pete? What is it? What's wrong?"
Myka could take it, he knew. He knew Myka could take it. His Mykes could do anything. She would be hurt. She would be confused. But she was his Myka and she would pull through - she would pull him through and they would be together, partners, until the end.
"Nothing. They're gone. Let's get back to the car."
"What's wrong?"
But Claudia - she has lost too much, seen too much, was too young, too old, too innocent, too jaded. He doesn't want to be the one to tell her. Doesn't want to watch her face crumble and her whole world collapse. He doesn't want to be the one who took away that last piece of her innocence. His quirky girl. He can't take away that bit of happiness she had just minutes before.
He couldn't do it. Not to Claudia.
"Claudia, I said get back to the car!"
Myka knows. Before he makes it down the steps. She knows. She always knows. He never raises his voice at them if he could help it. They were his girls. They were his family. His life.
"Pete. What is it?"
He can't. He can't do it to her. Not again.
"Please get back to the car."
He would die for them, a thousand times over. He would kill for them. Do anything possible or impossible to save them. But he can't save her from this. He can just hide her, a little bit longer. Keep her safe, just a little bit longer. Keep her innocent and sweet. Protect her from the reality of their world just a little bit longer.
"Pete."
He just doesn't want her to see. Doesn't want to be the one responsible. Even Myka can't fix him then. He knows she wants to. But Claudia will need her and he hates it when she sees him fail. He wants to tell her. Tell her everything and nothing in that second. That he loves her. That he would die for her, kill for her. For Claudia.
She knows. Myka always knows. She stays with him, just for a second. That's all he needs. It's all they need. They both know how it ends.
"No!"
He couldn't save Steve. He didn't know, until the end. That hardly mattered. They were friends. They were family. Brothers, almost. What kind of man couldn't save his brother?
"Claudia. Claudia!"
He can't protect Claudia. He had made peace with not being her hero anymore. He can be her playmate. But he would always be her protector, too. He just doesn't know how. He knows what this will do to her. He couldn't stop it.
"...So you need to help me."
He wants to be angry. To yell and scream and kick things until his throat is raw and he's done his damage. He wants to cry and run and kill Sykes all at the same time. But Myka needs him. Needs him to do his job. To cajole Claudia. To support her. She needs him to carry their little misfit, lopsided family through this.
"This was for nothing."
He can't save Steve. But he can finish what he started. And that, Pete thinks, is going to have to be enough.
I hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!