Just for Tonight by Marcia Gaines
"Just for Tonight"
A Warehouse 13 fanfiction by
Marcia Gaines
Chapter One
Myka Bering sat in her room at Leena's Bed and Breakfast. The locket belonging to H.G. Wells lay open on her desk, and she stared at it lost in thought. How many times had she watched H.G. touch the locket as it hung from her neck? Myka could not recall, but the familiar images ran through her mind and she smiled softly as she reminisced.
Three months passed since they lost the Warehouse, and just this morning Artie and Claudia presented yet another theory for how they might bring everything back. Currently, they were operating out of a makeshift base of operations near the Warehouse's location. The sturdy temporary building wasn't a replacement, but it was serving its purpose. Artie continued to remain positive, as did Claudia, that they would find a way to fix everything, but so far nothing they tried worked. The first few attempts were exciting, and she was hopeful they would work, but after so many tries she could no longer afford the repeated disappointments. She was sitting this one out, and resigned herself to the ever-increasing probability that all was lost.
The sound of her Farnsworth stirred her from her thoughts. It was probably Artie. Pete took some time off and was spending it with his mother, Jane. He was having second thoughts about staying with the team and Jane suggested they make the effort to talk through recent events in the hopes she could convince him to stay. The Farnsworth bellowed for her attention. She ignored it. She just was not in the mood to hear yet another reason for why whatever they tried did not work and how Claudia and Artie had a new idea they would attempt in the morning.
Rising from her desk, Myka let out a sigh. Her empty stomach proclaimed the approaching hour for supper. She was tired as well as hungry. Leena would have dinner waiting, and it gave her an excuse to have missed Artie's call. She rose from her desk and strode toward the door. The sound of Artie's and Claudia's voices met her as she descended the stairs. That was odd. If they were here, who was that on the Farnsworth? Myka scrunched her eyebrows and scanned the room as she reached the landing. The voices came from the other room. She could hear Leena talking.
"But, how?" Leena asked.
"It's a long story, we can discuss details a little later. Right now, I've got to call the Regents and let Pete and Myka know," came Artie's voice. He sounded far away.
"She's upstairs. In her room," replied Leena.
"No," Myka said as she walked into the room, "I'm… I'm right here…" she looked around expectantly but found only Leena present. The inn-keeper stood hunched over her desk staring into the monitor. Leena glanced up and smiled.
"Myka!" she exclaimed and pointed at the monitor, "They did it! They brought the Warehouse back!" Her eyes gleamed with excitement.
Myka was stunned. The Warehouse was back? How? When? She rushed to the desk to see for herself. There, on the webcamera, were Artie and Claudia standing in the Warehouse office. Claudia was dressed in lab-gear and looked to be spraying neutralizer on something that was moving around rather rapidly in the background. There was no visible sign of the building's destructive explosion. "Artie," she started, "how did you get it back? When? Is everything okay?" Her own excitement showed. She could hardly believe it. Claudia crowded into the camera's lens at the sound of Myka's voice.
"Myka! We did it!" Claudia beamed. Neutralizer dripped from her forehead and shoulders.
"I can see that!" replied Myka with a grin. "That's amazing. I want to hear all about it. It looks like you could use some help, though. I'm on my way!" She turned to leave, but was brought up short by Artie's voice.
"Uh, Myka! Actually, no, we're good. We're fine. Claudia and I still need to run some diagnostics and until we do the Warehouse is probably best left off-limits," Artie stated. "Security precaution," he offered as an explanation. Myka looked dejected. The thought of returning to the Warehouse filled her with happiness for the first time in three months. All she wanted to do was feel some level of normalcy. Being back at the Warehouse would provide that.
"Well, we're not entirely sure everything is as it was. In fact, no, we know it's not like it was," Artie's voice trailed off as he handed Claudia a paper towel. She was dripping the purple neutralizer fluid everywhere. Claudia glanced at the paper towel and promptly ignored it – something behind Artie had her attention and she moved off to investigate it. Artie used the paper towel to wipe a drop she left on his arm.
"I don't understand," said Myka.
"No, no, neither do I." responded Artie. He waved his hand as he continued, "There are… anomalies we've encountered. Small things. Minor things. Little differences. So far we've found a few artifacts acting up, but for the most part things are under control." He turned towards Claudia who just flew backwards behind him and landed with a loud crashing thud.
"I'm okay," came Claudia's pained voice a moment later.
"So…" Artie said as he turned back to the webcam, "I think before we get back to business it's best to check things out and do a proper security sweep." Of course, thought Myka. It would make sense things could not return just exactly as they had been – to do otherwise would have been too good to be true. She decided a long time ago most artifacts took every opportunity to be inconvenient. Still, she wondered what sorts of anomalies Artie meant. He did not sound overly concerned and nothing in Claudia's mood indicated danger – although her artifact-wrangling did not seem to be going well.
"How long until you finish with the diagnostics?" asked Myka. Artie looked at Claudia, then back at the camera.
"It's going to be a while. I need to call Pete and get him on a plane back here. We should be back up and ready to go in the morning. I'll check in with you then," he said and signed off in his typically abrupt fashion.
Myka looked thoughtful. So the Warehouse was back. Nothing could make her happier than that thought, except perhaps the idea of none of it ever happening in the first place. She would give anything for the Warehouse never to have exploded – for H.G. to still be alive. She missed her. The death of H.G. Wells hit Myka harder than most of the others knew. The shock of losing Steve, finding out Mrs. Frederick died as a result of the explosion, and the loss of the entire Warehouse – all of these were difficult for Myka to bear, but eclipsing all of them was the loss of Helena.
She missed her smile, her impish grin, her laugh... Myka sighed. She missed everything about Helena, including the way she felt whenever they were near each other. Helena made her feel, for the first time, like she was not alone in the world. They were kindred spirits in a way; both were fiercely intelligent and independent while being emotionally fragile. They shared a love of literature, and indeed H.G. Wells was a lifelong favorite of Myka's. The thought brought a smile to the corners of her mouth. Oh the irony, she mused. For all "his" genius and insight, the legendary writer turned out to be none other than Helena G. Wells, sister of the man whose face was synonymous with the name that graced the cover to all her favorite stories. Charles Wells may have been an inventive author, but it was his sister who had been the visionary and who had fed him all the details, research, and knowledge from her own life. It may have been his pen, but it was her hand that moved it to words.
She let the thoughts of H.G. Wells fall to her mind's background as she sat to eat her evening meal with Leena. Over a lovely eggplant parmesan they spoke excitedly of the Warehouse's return and reminisced about Helena. Leena was the only person associated with the Warehouse who knew Myka's true feelings. The first few weeks after the destruction of the Warehouse Myka was inconsolable and only Leena determined the cause. Myka was heartbroken, having lost the love of her life, and suffered in silence until Leena finally broached the topic with her. Thereafter, whenever Myka's pain was too much to bear alone, she and Leena would talk, and it always seemed to help for a little while. Myka's only real regret was that she never told Helena how she really felt. But this evening, the only thing topic of discussion was the Warehouse itself. While neither of them understood how the return was accomplished, they both felt like they finally found some footing again. It was nice to share a joyous moment with a good friend, she thought. Tomorrow would be a welcome day.
"Okay, Leena," said Myka as she stood. "I'm going to read a bit before bed. If I don't see you again tonight, I'll be up early to head to the Warehouse." She said with a smile.
"Me too," agreed Leena. "Have a good night." Leena cleared the table and headed for the kitchen.
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