So, this comes before my story 'Touch.' Although you don't have to read that to understand anything here, please read it if you haven't. This will eventually be Bering and Wells.
I own nothing

She had gone from feeling absolutely nothing to feeling nothing but pain in less than a day. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened. She had no idea where she was, and had no way of figuring it out.

All she knew was she was sitting on the side of a road, forced to keep her eyes closed and painfully aware of every movement against her skin.

If she dared to open her eyes light would flood in, painfully. Every time she tried, she could only withstand seconds before it overwhelmed her and she closed them again. Not that it completely eased the pain; even the light visible through her eyelids was nearly too much to bear.

It wasn't just her eyes that had been over sensitized. It felt as though her entire body had been.

She could feel every single rock beneath her. She could feel the light wind pressing her clothes into her skin. She could feel the sunburn on the back of her neck intensifying. Even the pressure of her own elbows pressed into her legs was uncomfortable.

She flinched when a bug landed on her arm. She could feel it moving around, even through her shirt. Each step it took reverberated through her skin. She moved to swat it away, only to feel the sharp pain of a stinger. She let out a cry, and slapped the insect. Its body crushed between her hand and arm. Her arm ached from the impact.

She wiped the residue off of her palm, then pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She let her head fall onto her knees, and tried to hold back the tears.

Nothing had been the way she had thought it would be after being debronzed. First, it had obviously not been Warehouse approved, meaning the Regents had still had no plans to release her. Then, the man had the gall to expect her to instantly bend to his whim.

She could have handled it had those been the only annoyances. Instead, everything turned out to be much worse.

The man had removed the cloth that had covered her head, and she had instantly cried out in pain. Tears had sprung to her eyes as she doubled over, trying to hide from the light.

The man had been disgruntled when she had voiced her concerns, but had agreed to stay at a hotel not far from the airport in the hopes that it would not be quite so bad the next day.

She had spent the entire night sitting on an uncomfortable bed with her eyes closed and covered with blankets. She had been hyperaware of every noise, every scent, every movement around her. The man had tried to start conversations, but she shut him down each time. Her senses were already overloading, she didn't need to add anything else.

When morning had come, she had not slept at all, and nothing had improved.

The man, obviously frustrated, had grabbed her forearm, and pulled her to his side. He had held her uncomfortably tight as he moved them through the hotel and to the automobile they had ridden in the previous day.

She had curled up in her seat, trying to hide from the light, until the movement had stopped.

Moments later, she had found herself collapsed on the ground after the man pulled her from the automobile.

It hadn't taken long for her to figure out that the man had left her. Left her to die.

"I still can't believe HG Wells is a woman," Pete said, again.

"I still can't believe you pulled the mustache off of that guy," Myka groaned. Her head rested against the window. The past few days had been hard on all of them, and all she wanted was to sleep.

Myka zoned out Pete's reply as the thing that she had assumed was a bush on the side of the road became clear.

"Pete, it that what I think it is?" she asked.

"If you think it's a person, I think so."

He slowed the car down, and stopped a few feet away from the person; a woman, if the long hair meant anything. She had pulled her knees to her chest, and hidden her face.

They both climbed out of the car, and slowly approached her.

"Excuse us," Myka said.

The woman jumped slightly and her head shot up. Her eyes opened for a moment, then slammed shut again. She let her head fall forward slightly, her hair hiding her face. Her entire body was tense.

Myka crouched in front of her. The woman seemed to sense her presence and leaned away from her.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Myka softly told her. "Do you need help?"

The woman just sat for a moment, then her voice spilled out from behind her hair.

"I'm afraid I have no idea where I am."

The voice was slow, but strong and thick with an English accent. Myka glanced back at Pete, who already had his hand on the Tesla.

"Can you tell us your name?"

The woman tilted her head slightly in Myka's direction. Her hair parted slightly, letting Myka see her profile.

"Helena," she said. "Helena Wells."

Myka heard Pete pull the Tesla from its holster. The woman must have as well; she tensed up even more.

"You're HG Wells," Myka stated more than asked.

HG's head briefly shot up again. Myka caught the black in her eyes before they closed. She caught the pain on her face before it was hidden behind her hair again.

"Where's MacPherson?" Pete demanded, stepping closer to them with the Tesla held out.

"Not now, Pete," Myka told him before HG could answer. She kept her eyes on the woman in front of her.

"What do you mean, not now? We have to find him."

"We will, but it will have to wait. Call Artie, tell him we found her and are taking her to Leena's."

"What?"

She turned to face him. "She's in pain, Pete. Just call Artie."

"Fine, fine, I'll call Artie."

She started to turn back to HG, but thought of something.

"Ask him to call the Warehouse doctor."

"We have a doctor?"

"Pete!"

"All right, calling Artie."

Myka rolled her eyes as she turned back to HG.

"Can you move? We need to get you into the car."

She could see the hesitation on HG's face through a gap in her hair.

"We aren't going to hurt you."

"Just return me to the bronze sector."

Myka paused. There almost seemed to be fear in HG's voice.

"I can't let you die out here."

HG tilted her head slightly in Myka's direction. She nodded after a moment. Myka reached out and laid a hand on her arm to help her up, but she was shrugged away.

HG slowly pushed herself to her feet, only to stumble slightly. Myka leapt forward to help steady her. The woman flinched at the contact, and Myka quickly withdrew her hands.

She silently took in the woman before her. HG kept her head down, her hair continuing to hide her face. Her body seemed to shake slightly, and her breaths were ragged. She didn't seem to be visibly hurt, however.

"Let me at least help you to the car."

The nod was minute, but Myka caught it.

"I'm going to take your hand and put my other hand on your shoulder, okay?"

This nod was more noticeable. Myka lightly wrapped her fingers around HGs, and rested the other on her shoulder. She flinched slightly, but Myka didn't remove her hands.

"It's not far, just a few meters."

Myka slowly took her first step. HG quickly copied. It didn't take long for them to find a steady pace.

"Artie said the doctor will be here as soon as possible, and to not take an eye off of her," Pete said when he walked up. The women were just over halfway to the car. Myka felt HG flinch slightly at Pete's voice, but there was no other reaction.

"Go start the car. I'm going to sit with her in the back," Myka told him. Pete cast a sideways glance at HG, then took off towards the car.

Before too long, they were driving down the road. None of them talked, and Pete didn't turn the radio on. Myka was closely watching HG. Pete kept glance back in the rearview mirror.

They were about ten minutes from the B&B when Myka broke the silence.

"Can you tell us how you're hurt?"

Once again, HG's head tilted in her direction, as if letting her know she had been heard.

"If you tell us," Myka continued. "We can let the doctor know before she gets here, and can start to think about it."

"Side effects," HG said after a moment. "From being bronzed so long, I would assume."

Myka watched her for a second and thought about every reaction she had had. "Your pupils haven't dilated yet, and your skin is ultra-sensitive."

HG nodded slightly. Myka let her eyes linger on the woman for a moment, then looked up at Pete, who was watching them in the mirror.

"Toss me the Farnsworth," she said. Pete reached over to grab the device from the passenger's seat, then passed it back to her.

Myka spent the rest of the trip talking to Artie, who was with Claudia on a plane. Before hanging up, he promised to call the doctor, a Vanessa Calder, and tell her what the problem seemed to be.

Leena was waiting for them outside the B&B. When she saw HG being led by Myka, a flash of pain crossed her face.

"Artie called and told me what's going on," she told them when they reached the stairs. "You can put her on the couch."

"Actually, Leena," Myka said, "I was thinking of piling some pillows and blankets in the downstairs half bath and setting her up there."

Helena sat in a hallway with her back a few inches off of a wall. She could feel the agents' moving as they gathered what seemed to be every extra pillow in the building.

She had nearly balked at Myka's, as she had learnt the woman's name was, suggestion. After hearing her reasons, however, she could see how keeping her in the restroom did make sense.

"We need to get her somewhere dark, somewhere with no light at all. That bathroom doesn't have a window. If we keep the light off, and turn the hall light off, there will be no light in there."

There had been no arguments against the idea, so Myka had sat her in the hallway and told her that they would gather everything as quickly as they could. She had tried to lean against the wall, but the pressure had quickly become too much.

She felt Myka crouch next to her before the agent had said a word.

"It's ready."

She nodded, and allowed the other woman to help her stand. She had rebuffed the help earlier, but could feel her legs growing more and more exhausted and did not fully trust them to carry her. From the miniscule distance Myka kept between them, the agent had obviously noticed as well.

Myka guided her into the restroom and sat her on the collection the agents had gathered. Helena nearly moaned. There was no painful pressure, no hard points, nothing.

A moment later, even more relief arrived when the door was closed. She was thrown into near darkness. The pain in her eyes lessened. Only the light streaming from beneath the door prevented her from opening them.

She curled up on the pillows, facing away from the light. She could hear the agents' discus something through the door, but couldn't pay attention as sleep finally took her.

"I just don't understand why you want to sit in there with her."

"She's scared, Pete. You didn't see it. I barely saw it, but it's there. She's scared, and she's in pain. We shouldn't leave her alone."

"So you go sit in the dark with her?"

Myka glanced at the bathroom door. "If we leave the hall light on, I'll be able to see somewhat. Okay?"

"Fine," Pete grumbled.

Myka moved to the door and cracked it open. She peaked inside and couldn't help but smile.

"What?" Pete questioned.

"She's asleep," Myka told him, but keeping her eyes on the woman in the bathroom to ensure they didn't wake her.

"So there's no need to sit in there."

"I can't let her wake up alone."

"Why not?"

"Because she has been alone in the dark for the past century, and I will not let her go through that anymore."

"They are going to bronze her again, Myka."

Myka looked at him, an odd expression in her eyes. "Then I can be there for her until then."

Pete grimaced slightly, but nodded. Myka slipped into the bathroom, and closed herself in the darkness.

She could just make out the sleeping form on the pillows through the light coming from under the door. She sat back against the door, and pulled her phone out, finally glad that Claudia had uploaded some eBooks.

She was almost halfway through some revamped Cinderella story Claudia had suggested when someone knocked on the door. She stood up, her muscles protesting after being still for so long. She cracked the door open to see Claudia on the other side.

"I've come to relieve you for a bit," the red head whispered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I got sleep on the plane. Go catch a few winks."

Myka glanced behind her quickly, her eyes lingering on the woman, then nodded, and let Claudia slip past her to take her place.

"Come get me if she wakes up," she ordered Claudia, who nodded and closed the door.

Myka meandered to her room, changed into some pajamas, and was asleep as soon as she climbed onto the mattress.