AN: Simply because i'm having a really crappy day! Total crack!fic (now that someone kind splained to me what crack!fic is)
Set around the timeline of "Vendetta"- Although I changed a few small things for the purposes of my absurd plot. HG Wells is suspected of killing Dickinson and finds herself re-bronzed.
A few small technical errors- 1/ How far exactly is it to the Warehouse from the B&B? I do not know. For example- if the Warehouse was on fire, could you see it from the B&B? My answer is yes.
2/ Does Leena have strange mystical medical diagnostic powers? Again my answer (for the purposes of this fic) is yes.
Really not any particular ship. If you want to look hard enough I suppose it flickers between Myka/Pete and Myka/HG in subtext, but i can't claim that it falls decisively either way, so please yourself :)
The characters are twisted I realise- Mostly Pete who was actually a lot more understanding of Myka/HG in the show than I depict him here. Artie however is a bit nicer in the fic, perhaps because he got his way and HG is re-bronzed. Myka is just totally insane- I love her a little like that. And i'm afraid to mention Claudia now I find out just how much my favourite W13 friend hates her (you know who you are!).
This is written in total fun and not seriousness- because if I wrote a serious fic about HG being re bronzed I think Myka would break my heart into little pieces, and I have enough broken hearted Myka fics. All in total fun and amusement and no offence intended. This came from god knows where and is going nowhere. But if you still want to read it, then do so :) Enjoy :)
Chapter 1
The bang is deafening, shaking the foundations of the B&B. Artie Nielson is rudely jolted from his sleep, and he is far from pleased.
Seconds later, he stands on the verandah, horror struck. The cool night air chills him to the bone as he surveys the sight before his eyes. The gigantic red-orange flames leaping into the sky. The eerie glow the only source of illumination in the middle of nowhere at 3am.
One unshakable thought crosses his mind- Mrs Frederic is going to be VERY unhappy about this.
Within seconds the red haired girl is at his side. "Holy Shit, what happened?' She stands gaping at the sight. "Is that the warehouse? On fire?"
Artie only shakes his head. They aren't close enough to get an accurate picture of the damage, but it's fairly obvious that the warehouse is engulfed in flames. "Another one bites the dust." He mumbles.
"Where are Pete and Myka?" Claudia adds looking over her shoulder. "Not even Pete could sleep through an explosion like that."
It's then that the sinking feeling creeps over Artie, just where are Pete and Myka?
Earlier that day
"You ok?" Pete asked.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Myka demanded to know.
He raised his hands in defeat. He was only trying to help. He didn't deserve the way she was treating him. None of this was his fault. He almost walked away but he couldn't stand the way things had disintegrated between them. "You've been kind of quiet lately." He told her, concerned.
"Get a life, Pete." She responded coldly.
It's not that he entirely approved of the principle of bronzing in general, or in particular the regents decision to re-bronze HG Wells. But he had to trust Artie. There must have been a reason. Myka didn't really think HG Wells could walk back into her old job, just like that? Surely. Not even Myka could be that naïve. Whether he thought it right or wrong, Pete absolves himself of responsibility. It wasn't his call. And he had more than a little trouble understanding Myka's total devastation over the situation, or why she would want to start a war with Artie over it. It was pointless. HG was back where she belonged. End of story. But Myka couldn't quite let it go.
"It had to be done Myka. It was out of Artie's hands. She was a danger. She killed Dickinson for crying out loud." Pete knew it was futile to engage Myka in a conversation about HG Wells. He was only banging his head against a brick wall. But he still held that hope that he could get through to her as he always did, that he could snap her out of it. He felt the need to stick up for Artie- after all Artie had a point, Myka shouldn't have gone behind his back, colluding with the enemy. It surprised Pete totally. He thought of her as a rule follower. It frightened him more than a little to realise how little he knew her. He though he knew her better than that.
"She was framed." Myka answered assuredly. "Why would she kill Dickinson? What possible motive could she have?" Myka argued.
"She is a crazy murderer who's been bronzed for a hundred years. Myka, open your eyes."
"Open YOUR eyes, Pete." She replied to him. "This is barbaric, unconscionable. She is a human being."
"It's not my decision. It's not Artie's. I don't know what has gotten into you, but you need to get the hell over it, Myka. Make peace with Artie, and let it go. You're acting crazy and it scares me. I can't work like this."
"You don't trust me, Pete? You don't want to work with me anymore? Fine."
"That isn't what I said." He mumbled , but she was already long gone.
They spoke little after that, and never about HG Wells. Pete learned his lesson that it was better to keep well out of it. Let Myka hate Artie for it, Let Artie resent her for keeping the secret in the first place. He only wanted a quiet life. But it disturbed him greatly when he realised just how successfully HG Wells had managed to drive a wedge of mistrust and animosity between him and his partner.
It was partly his desire to make things right with Myka that led him to follow her when he heard her stir in the middle of the night. Partly it was sheer curiosity. He followed her, undetected, down the stairs, out into the night, and all the way to the Warehouse. Specifically, all the way right to the bronze sector.
Back to the Present
The scene is even more devastating up close. The entire warehouse reduced to smouldering ashes. Everything is still, quiet, all but for the crackling flames. Seconds go by before Artie catches sight of the movement in his peripheral vision. As he approaches, he makes the sight out before him. Pete, dragging Myka's limp lifeless body from the wreckage. For a fleeting moment he is convinced she is dead. He stops in his tracks, as Leena and Claudia rush past him to reach her.
"She hit her head. I tried to stop the bleeding." Pete manages to choke out over the smoke filling his lungs.
As Artie nears the scene, he sees her chest rising and falling with each breath. His own heart starts beating again. His head is filled suddenly with all the things they had said to one another this past week. All the harsh words he would have cause to regret if they turned out to be the last words he ever spoke to her.
"Should we take her to a hospital?" Claudia asks.
"She'll be fine." Lenna says, surveying the damage. "It's just a nasty concussion. We need to get her back to the B&B."
No one questions just how Leena can tell that Myka will be fine. Everyone wants to believe it, and so it is.
It's Artie who reaches down and takes Myka in his arms, as Pete is still gasping for air after inhaling all that smoke. She is limp in his arms, lifeless, like a doll. Ash and soot marring her complexion. She looks so vulnerable, so innocent. He longs to lean down and whisper to her that he is sorry. That he can see that she was close to HG Wells, that the way things turned out was out of his hands. He wants to tell her he was only so angry because he cares so much about his team, because he has lost so many people, because he doesn't want to count her among them. But he says nothing as he places her gently in the car. She never stirs. And hastily the group make their way back to the B&B.