This was going to be a long trip and Pete knew it. They hadn't even left South Dakota yet and already Myka was sulking because she was sent on a mission that was taking her five hundred miles away from her wife and daughter. Pete could have dealt with Myka easily if it were just the guilt and heartbreak of leaving Charlie for the first time, but in typical female fashion it wasn't just that set of emotions he had to wade through. There was also Myka's excitement over being on the trail of an artifact again, her happiness over being back to work. The emotional storm in Myka was what was making this a rough start to their assignment. Pete didn't know which Myka he was getting from minute to the next and it was making him seasick.

Pete sat in the waiting area near their gate with his attention on his iPad. He was on his seventh attempt at level one hundred thirteen on Candy Crush when movement on his right side made him glance over. Two seats over a woman with long red hair had settled in to wait out the hour they had before they could board their plane. In the quick glance over Pete could tell she was pretty but what took his attention away from his game wasn't that she was pretty it was what she was wearing.

"Are you a Browns fan?" He asked her with a look of surprise on his face.

The woman looked up at Pete and blinked her lovely hazel eyes. She looked down at the fitted Cleveland Browns jersey she had on for a moment and then back up at Pete with a bit of grin. "Would I be wearing this in public if I weren't?"

Pete laughed. He set aside his iPad so he could use both hands to pull up his pant legs while raising his feet so he could show her the brown and orange Browns socks he had on. "I'm technically on the clock so socks were all I could get away with." He let go of his pant's legs and shifted so he was facing her. "Are you from Cleveland? I grew up in the West Park area myself."

She gave him a full smile as she answered. "Kind of. I was born in Cleveland but my Mom was in the army, so we went where she went."

"Ahh, army brat." Pete teased. He tapped the Got Your 6 pin on his lapel. "Former Marine." Holding out his hand he said, "My name's Pete by the way."

"Clara." The pretty redhead said as she took Pete's hand in her own.

Walking up to where she'd left Pete while she went to the restroom and called Helena to check in on her and their six-month-old daughter Charlotte, Myka over heard him talking about football and groaned. He'd been on about the NFL draft for weeks and normally she ignored it, but her nerves were frazzled and she just couldn't tune him out. She was about to say something to him when he spotted her and smiled. That boyish smile defused whatever sour thing she was going to say. It wasn't his fault she was feeling guilty about being eager to get back into the field.

"See Mykes," Pete said with a grin. "I'm not the only one who thinks the Browns might actually have a chance this season."

Myka raised and eyebrow and smirked. "You say that every season, Pete, and at the end of every season you whimper and say, there's always next year."

Pete huffed and turned to Clara. "Don't mind her. She's grumpy because this is her first time traveling since her kid was born."

Clara gave Myka a sympatric look. "It's alright. I hear that's a hard thing to do the first time."

Myka gave the woman a soft smile that said thanks. Pete introduced them and for the next hour they chatted. Because they were federal agents on official business they were among the first to board so they said goodbye to Clara and headed for the plane. Myka could feel the anxiety building to near panic levels. Leaving town for the city to get to the airport was one thing, but now she was about to get on a plane and leave the state! Just as she was about to freak out she felt Pete's hand on her back. She turned to look at him; he smiled in that sweet it'll be all right way of his and sure enough she felt herself starting to relax. She boarded the plane after taking a deep breath and then once she was settled in her seat she distracted herself by working on ideas for the book she was thinking of writing.

After checking into their hotel Pete and Myka headed for the source of the ping, The Mall of America. Stepping into the mega mall Pete looked around with wide child like eyes. It was huge and according to the website full of awesome cool meganerdy things like a theme park, an aquarium, Star Trek, and, "LEGO!"

"Not now Pete." Myka said firmly. "Artifact first. Legos later."

Pete pouted. "Don't use your mom voice on me, Mykes."

Myka smiled sweetly. "Why do you think I learned mom voice, Pete? Charlie isn't old enough for mom voice yet."

Since they didn't really know what they were looking for the pair began walking around hoping to see something or smell something that would give them a clue. Pulling out her iPad Myka did a search on the mall to see if that would lead anywhere. She was able to discover that the mall had lost a number of its larger anchor stores awhile back and had been tittering between the red and black for a while now. Then recently there'd been a major and very sudden upswing that had gone against all the business predictions. Given the size of the place and the variety of its attractions outside of shopping, it would be easy to hide the fact that perhaps an artifact was being used. Who would second-guess a turn for the better for a place like this during an economic upswing?

It wasn't easy but Pete and Myka managed to work their way into the executive branch of the company. They both disliked working with corporate types. Something about working with money this high up the ladder does something to people, even good people, and it always left Myka with a headache. As the daughter of small business owners, corporate commerce left a bad taste in her mouth to begin with. Getting the run around from the soulless suits just made the whole thing that much worse. It took two days but Pete and Myka were finally able to discover that the man who'd been coming up with all the brilliant new ideas had gotten Harry Gordon Selfridge's pocket watch at an auction while in London. It took another full day to find the guy because just like Selfridge a downward spiral had followed the wealth and riches of success. After neutralizing the pocket watch Pete promised not to tell the man's wife about the twin hookers in Vegas while Myka looked on in disgust.

When they got back to South Dakota Helena was waiting on them with a giggling Charlie in her arms. Pete watched as his best friend practically ran to her family. Myka took Charlie from Helena and cuddled her, kissed her chubby little cheeks, and then kissed Helena hello.

"We couldn't wait a moment longer to see you." Helena said softly as she beamed at Myka. "So we decided to surprise you with a welcome home lunch in the city."

"I missed you too." Myka replied before kissing Helena again.

Pete watched and despite how happy he was for his friends he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever have that. The Warehouse made him a better man and he would never leave it or the family he'd made there, but would he ever get the chance to have what Myka had? He put on his boyish smile as he walked over tothe women to tell them to go enjoy themselves. He would take the artifact back to the Warehouse and see them at home later. When he got to the Warehouse he was still wondering if he would ever have the kind of love Myka had, that once in a lifetime connection with someone who knew you better than you knew yourself, who was friend, lover, partner and more all rolled into one pretty package.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that Pete didn't even notice that as he turned the corner he bumped into the stacks, dislodging an artifact that tumbled to the floor. The display that gave the details for Schrodinger's Cat Box began flashing red.