Her name was Helena and she worked for the government, the same agency and department as Myka and Pete, which is how she truly knew them. They were her friends. She had a daughter, Christina, who died when she was eight years old while staying with cousins for the summer. Her daughter's death hit her hard and she'd struggled to come to grips with that grief. It was still the basic truth of who she really was, but at least it was the truth about Helena and not a story about Emily Lake. Nate seemed to accept what she was willing to tell him. She could tell he still had doubts, that he was still questioning his judgment about letting her into his life, into his daughter's life, but he hadn't thrown her out so maybe this could still work. She could still try for the normal life she'd told Myka she wanted.
Myka's face flashed in Helena's memory and her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. The look of hurt on Myka's face when she'd told her she'd wanted a life away from the Warehouse was not a look Helena would soon forget. Myka had looked as if Helena had struck her and it wasn't until days later that Helena realized that Myka must have heard, I wanted a life away from you. That had never been Helena's intention. If she could have found a way to have Myka in her life without the Warehouse she would have gone down that path, but there was no Myka without the Warehouse. She had no choice but to sacrifice one to distance her self from the other. Or so she kept telling herself every time she would see Myka's face that night as they said goodbye and she drove off.
It was a slow process but life after the artifact went back to normal. Helena continued working forensics as Emily Lake. Nate would drop her off nearly every morning, and she would walk over to Adelaide's school and pick her up every afternoon. She would help with homework and take the girl to her Kempo lessons; they would have dinner together and watch television, and at night after tucking Adelaide into bed Emily would slip in beside Nate while Helena wondered what the hell she was doing.
Things weren't any better in South Dakota. Myka had always had unexplainable reactions to H.G. and this time wasn't any different. The first time they met face to face in London at Atlas House, when Artie first told her H.G. Wells was a woman she'd felt a rush of excitement. She'd grown up on Wells' books and to find out that the brilliant mind behind them was a woman? How could that not excite her? Of course that excitement would pass when she walked in on H.G. holding a Tesla under Pete's chin, but even then a tingle of fangirl admiration lingered even as she drew her gun. That admiration for a woman who'd done remarkable things during a time when she would have been nothing more than her husband's property if she'd played by society's rules, seeded itself in Myka and grew with each new run in. Straight laced by the book Myka Bering started going off script when it came to H.G. Wells. She chose to believe in her when no one else would or could. And she liked to think that Helena believed in her too, because of all the people who had tried to get her to come back, it had been Helena who'd succeed. Of course it had been Helena's fault she left in the first place but that just added fuel to the fire. If Helena didn't affect Myka in the way she did, Myka would have never left in the first place.
Don't walk away from your truth, that's what Helena had told her that day in her father's bookstore. It's what Myka had wanted to say to Helena that night in the driveway of the two-car garage in suburban Wisconsin, but what came out of her mouth was fight for this hole in the sand you have your head stuck in. Helena had been an inventor, an author, and a single mother by choice in Victoria England, as much as Myka wished her nothing but happiness, she knew deep down Helena was no stepford wife. But what could she do? It was Helena's life, and Helena had a right to do whatever she pleased with it. Even if that choice was to stay with a "good man, a normal man" she didn't love just because Helena had gotten attached to his daughter.
"Wow Mykes you look like a girl!" Pete said as he watched Myka coming down the stairs at the B&B. She had on a little black dress and heels. Her hair was half pulled back and half wavy curls, and her make up was done perfectly.
Myka rolled her eyes. "You do know I am a girl, right?"
"Na, you're not a girl, you're Myka." Pete teased with a boyish grin
"Sooo," Claudia said while coming around Pete to see Myka. "Hot date?"
"Meeting an old acquaintance for drinks." Myka answered as she walked over to the coat closest to find her fancy coat. It wasn't in her own closet so she thought she might have left it downstairs. Reaching in to look for it she remembered the last time she wore it. She and Helena had gone to the symphony.
Claudia's face lit up as she asked, "Has H.G. come to her senses?"
Pete shot the young woman a look and shook his head.
Myka counted to ten before turning and saying, "Mike Madden is in Rapid City for a charity hockey game and gave me a call."
"Oh." Claudia said, not even bothering to hide her disappointment. "Well, have fun, don't do anything I'd do."
She gave her friends a smile while putting her coat on and then slipped out of the house before anything more could be said about whom she was seeing or should be seeing. Besides, Claudia was seeing what she wanted to see. Yes Myka cared about Helena, she was one of her best friends, but there was nothing to Claudia's Bering and Wells fantasies. Helena was in Wisconsin sharing someone else's life and someone else's bed.
He was sound asleep at her side. He was lying on his back, which is how he always slept, but for some reason she suddenly found it annoying. Slipping out of bed Helena picked up her dressing gown and slipped it on while creeping out of their bedroom. She went down to the kitchen and filled her electric kettle. A flicker of a smile played at her lips as she flipped the switch on it to set it to boil. Myka had been so amused the first time Helena discovered the kettle in Leena's kitchen and all it's fancy settings to boil at perfect temperatures for different teas. Helena felt a pain in her chest at the thought of their lost friend. The fact that the Warehouse could take the life of a sweet soul like Leena was just further proof that staying away was the right thing to do.
Once she had her tea Helena settled in on the sofa with an Anthony Bishop novel. She'd started reading them while in hiding with the Astrolabe because she recalled how fondly Myka had spoke of them, and discovered she rather enjoyed them. She'd actually been doing a lot of her catch up reading based on what Myka had said about this book or that author. They did seem to have a lot of similar tastes; it really shouldn't have been surprising they'd become so close so quickly.
There was a soft creak on the stairs. Helena looked up from her reading and waited. The creak was too soft to be Nate, which meant it had to be Adelaide. When the girl appeared she smiled softly. "What are you doing up sweetheart? Did I wake you?"
Adelaide shook her head as she walked over to join Helena on the sofa. "I couldn't sleep."
Helena set her book aside and wrapped her arms around the girl as Adelaide snuggled into her side. When Nate had first mentioned his daughter Helena had felt an icy cold fear run through her veins. She wasn't sure she could deal with having any kind of relationship with a child, especially a little girl who just happened to be around Christina's age. Then she'd met her, this beautiful little girl who'd lost a mother. It almost seemed like fate. "Why couldn't you sleep, sweetheart?"
"I can't stop thinking." Adelaide said honestly.
"Ahh, yes, the mind can often get away from us." Helena said as she played with the girl's hair in a soothing way. "What can't you stop thinking about?"
Adelaide was quite for a few long moments, unsure if she should say or even if she could. It took another prompt from Helena before she finally admitted, "You."
Helena's dark eyes went wide. "Me?"
"I've been going over the evidence." Adelaide said as she sat up so she could look at Helena eye to eye.
"Oh?" Helena question. "What evidence?"
Adelaide began to lay it all out. She'd noticed subtle changes in how Helena acted, and recalled moments before her friends showed up when things seemed a bit off. She even noticed things that no one else would think of like Helena, who'd complained that American sweets were to sweet for her, had sudden become rather fond of Twizzlers. She really was an observant and clever girl. Finally after laying out her observations she said, "You're sad because you miss your friend."
Helena was rather stunned. She hadn't realized she'd been showing outward signs of any kind of emotional conflict. At least not around Adelaide, but clearly she'd been mistaken. She took a moment to think about what to say to the girl before nodding her agreement. "I do miss them."
"Agent Bering means a lot to you." The girl said in a way that made it clear it wasn't a question but a statement of fact.
"She is." Helena agreed.
"You miss her most." Adelaide stated next.
Helena was getting a little uncomfortable with this conversation but she nodded. "Yes, I suppose I do."
Adelaide grew quiet and snuggled back into Helena's embrace. She closed her eyes and soaked in Helena's presence, the smell of her soap and shampoo, the sound of her heart beat, the strength and warmth of her arms. Then after several minutes of silence she spoke up again, "I really like having you here, Helena. I really wish you could stay forever."
Helena's heart was quivering on the verge of breaking. "I love being here with you, Adelaide. I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart."
The girl looked up at her and smiled. "I know you care a lot about me." But then her smile faded. "But you're not happy, Helena." Tears glimmered in Adelaide's eyes as she said, "I want you to stay even though I know you aren't completely happy here, and that makes me a bad friend."
"Oh Adelaide." Helena said softly, her voice quivering with emotion. "You could never be a bad friend to me. You're to wonderful to be anything but good."
Adelaide threw her arms around Helena and buried her face in her chest. "I want you to be happy." She said softly. "I wish you could be happy with us."
"I'm trying sweetheart." Helena said before she could edit her words.
Sad eyes looked up at her as Adelaide said, "You shouldn't have to try you should just be."
Helena didn't know what to say to that so she just held Adelaide in her arms. She had been content in her little bubble as Emily Lake, and a part of her wished that artifact had never shown up in her life. But there was another part of her, the part that had gotten excited at the thought of a possible curiosity, the part that felt a jolt of pleasure at seeing Myka again, the part that thrilled at the chase, that she wasn't sure she could keep as dormant as she first thought she could. Jane had warned her. When she'd asked for this chance at a normal life, Jane had said it wouldn't be easy. Even she hadn't been able to turn her back on the Warehouse, no matter how hard she tried for the sake of her children, she'd been sucked back in time and time again. Jane hadn't outright said having a normal life was impossible for someone like Helena who thrived off the challenges the Warehouse offered, but she'd hinted that it would take a lot of work, and a lot of heartache to find the right balance that would allow Helena the happiness and peace she so strongly desired.
Just be happy. Helena didn't know how. She'd had happy once, no, she'd had happy twice. She had known happiness in life with Christina and working at Warehouse 12 with her beloved Caturanga. And she had known happiness in the days she'd spent with Myka, in those moments when Myka's smile or laugh made her forget about ulterior motives and existence in a coin controlled by a magic eight ball.
Following her talk with Adelaide Helena tried harder to get back the content charade her life had been before the artifact, before Myka, but it was no use. Nate was starting to notice things had changed and that it went beyond no longer having sex. Then one evening while Adelaide was at a friend's they finally decided that it just wasn't working anymore. They promised to stay in each other's lives for Adelaide's sake, but Helena couldn't use them any longer to hide from where ever it was her life truly needed to be. Saying goodbye to Adelaide was one of the hardest things Helena had ever done. At one point she had to pull over because the tears were so bad she couldn't see to drive. Her heart was broken, she was lost and alone yet again, and she was afraid. She couldn't hide from her truth but she wasn't ready or willing to fully embrace it either. Snatching up her phone she dialed a number. "Hello Jane, it's Helena, maybe you were right about things after all."
"Come on Claud!" Myka called out with a chuckle from the center of the ice. "You're never going to learn if you don't let go of the wall!"
"Why are we doing this?" Claudia asked while clinging for dear life to the wall around the ice rink.
"Because we're Myka's family." Steve answered. "And she wants us to like Mike."
Claudia made a face. "I don't want to like him."
"Claudia." Steve replied. He gave her a look that said to just let it drop.
"No." Claudia shook her head. "The only reason she's dating that loser is because H.G. is playing desperate housewife in Wisconsin."
Steve rolled his eyes. "You do realize Myka isn't even…"
"That doesn't mean anything." Claudia insisted. "You love who you love, it's about the heart, not the va-jay-jay." She tried letting go of the wall only to wobble and nearly fall. Steve caught her and sighed. "You didn't know them together, Jinks. You never saw it. You wouldn't even be here if Myka didn't have feelings for H.G."
"How do you figure that?" Steve asked as he helped her to get steady on her skates.
"Myka only left because H.G. broke her heart." Claudia told him. "And she only came back because H.G. talked to her about coming back. You don't have that kind of pull with a person unless there's some deep emotional shit going on."
He couldn't argue with that. "It's their lives, Claud. All we can do is be their friends; they have to actually do the living. There's nothing you can do."
The smirk on Claudia's lips said to hell with that. She would do something; she just needed to work out what first.