She noticed something was different about Claudia the minute she stepped out of her car. Not just the lack of confidence In her stride, but her inability to keep her fingers still and her mind at ease. Leena slowly walked towards the girl. Claudia refused to look Leena in the eyes, and when she did it was for no longer than a second. She felt irrelevant in the older woman's presence. Even though Claudia tried to keep from making eye contact with the innkeeper, she did not intend on keeping her eyes off her. Leena is an above average sized woman with a sleek body and brown, curly hair that accentuated her green eyes. Claudia, on the other hand, is noticeably shorter, with short red hair and a green streak. She takes pride in her differences from everybody else, wearing leather and denim waistcoats and lace up boots or dark, worn down converse.
Every agent in the place they worked had a…specialty. Myka can speak and understand over 30 different languages and has a soft spot for old English literature. Pete gets 'vibes'. Basically, he gets feelings that tell him when something is about to happen. Claudia is a computer genius who has the ability to build a mainframe computer in just under a day using limited resources and can successfully hack the American government. Leena can read auras. She can tell what you're feeling at a particular time. She can tell whether or not you like a person and how much you do if you do. She understands the emotions of all living beings and uses that to her advantage.
Claudia works at a peculiar place called Warehouse 13. A place where magic comes to life. The impossible becomes possible. A world of endless wonder. Often people will do wondrous things, things that changed the fate of somebody's life. Brave and courageous acts, tragic or violent deaths, and acts of unconditional love- these occurrences created…objects. Objects that had the power to save lives. Or, in turn, take them, too. For instance; the 148 year old father of science fiction? Well, turns out he is a she, and this she happens to be H.G. Wells. 'She' is also still alive and kicking. Helena Wells once wrote about a time machine and so attempted to build one. It refused to work, as time machines do, and her everlasting will for it to function was unnervingly strong. And so the time machine, imprinted with Helena's strong will, worked perfectly. This shows how much power one has over objects in the world. She has once, if not, twice, tried to destroy the world on occasion, but failed to do so thanks to Pete and Myka, secret service agents working at the Warehouse alongside Claudia. Myka is a lot like Helena, except for the 'blowing up the entire world' phase. In fact, the two are very similar. Both share an unbroken love of and for the English language. Kindred spirits, one would say. Literature and Prose come very high on their lists of things to look out for in a person. In the time Myka and Pete were chasing and attempting to capture H.G. Wells, Myka found that they are, in fact, very similar. Helena is a beautiful woman. She hasn't aged since she was in her twenties and Myka is around the same age. Helena is openly bisexual and admits she enjoys making Myka nervous with her endless comments about how beautiful Myka is and how much she would enjoy living with the woman. But Myka is a stickler for rules. Helena is a villain, and rules are rules. She is a very straightforward person- she likes peace and quiet and unlike her immature partner Pete, she is very serious.
Pete on the other hand, is…well, less 'kindred'. Pete is the kind of person who enjoys taco stands in the park and candlelit evenings watching Iron Man or The Avengers. Less of a stickler for rules, I should say. Pete is a man-child. He reads comics and his phone's ringtone is the theme of Yogi Bear. Aside from his trips to the comic book store, he doesn't do much. That's pretty good seeing as he works a job that is more unpredictable than a nuclear reactor. The team is a family. They look out for each other, but the person who does the most looking out is Artie. Arthur Neilson, actually. But they just call him Artie. He's the boss- and the family's father figure. Every family needs a father figure. He is (most of the time) a grumpy, bossy, hilariously cute-when-he's-angry person. The team love pushing his buttons. Especially Claudia. They're all happy at the warehouse. At the moment, they're all sitting at Leena's Bed and Breakfast. It's their home and often a cover up for working at the secret warehouse in the middle of South Dakota. Claudia and Leena are outside, though. Claudia had just arrived from Switzerland from seeing her brother Joshua at CERN.
"Claudia, are you okay, sweetie?" Leena seemed concerned and slightly confused. Claudia had just spoken to her brother over her feelings towards Leena. It only happened about 4 years ago when Claudia had just hacked her way into the Warehouse, capturing Artie in the process in order to free her brother from an inter-dimensional space in which he was trapped. She needed Artie's help to get him out. Claudia had just gotten back to the warehouse after hacking it in order to fix what she damaged. Leena walked into the room through the umbilicus and Claudia, with her back still facing Leena shouted for Artie to stop watching her because she'd be fine. Hearing no answer, she turned around to see Leena, shoulder on the doorframe, lightly giggling at Claudia's antics. The techie instantly froze. That was the first time she saw Leena- her first crush. But back to the present.
"Claudia, honey, answer me, I've been worried sick! You didn't tell anybody you were leaving and I thought you weren't coming back." Leena read Claudia's aura immediately. Claudia seemed to be fine. In fact, she seemed to be happier than when she left. Leena was well aware Claudia had a crush. She just didn't know who yet.
"I-I just went to visit Joshua, I didn't know you cared I was gone. I'm happy to be back, though." Claudia smiled and let out a deep sigh of relief. She was happy Leena had noticed her absence. She stepped in and gave Leena a huge hug- which Claudia never does. Not to Myka, not to Pete, not to anybody.
"Gosh Claud, I didn't know you gave hugs anymore" Leena giggled and wrapped her arms around Claudia tighter than she had held anybody before. She stepped back to admire Claudia's choice of clothing-which always amused the team. Claudia has a colourful aura and Leena loved reading it. She gestured for Claudia to follow her into the B&B where the rest of the team were seated around the table eating Breakfast. Before anybody could celebrate Claudia's arrival, Artie burst into the room.
"WE'VE GOT A PING! A big one, while we're on the topic! And has anyone seen Claudia? We need her for this one."
Claudia cleared her throat.
"Ah! Good! The team is assembled! Let us begin. Man piloting a Boeing 737 loses complete memory of graduating with a degree in aeronautical engineering. Claims he's still 19 and in college. His mind is slowly slipping away, doctors say. He's currently in a hospital in Washington state."
"Seems like the curious case of Benjamin Button, but with his brain" Pete blurts out.
"Yes! Exactly! But the problem is, this has happened before. Not too long ago actually. Two days ago- Raleigh, North Carolina. Experienced heart surgeon lost her memory in the middle of a quadruple bypass and two other doctors had to step in for her. Name is Arizona Robbins. "
"Artie, you realize there are only two qualified field agents, right? No offence, guys" Myka gestured to Claudia and Leena.
"None taken, I agree with Mykes, Artie. What are you gonna do, send me and Leena?" Claudia asked jokingly.
"Yes! Exactly! Now, Pete and Myka, you're flying to Washington, and Claudia and Leena, you're driving to Raleigh. Take the Camino; I don't know where my car is again. The Warehouse is way too big to keep track of something with wheels." Artie joked. Claudia almost fell off her chair and choked on her apple. She couldn't believe she was driving halfway across the country with the one person she was most scared of being around.
"Um, I'm gonna go pack." Claudia bolted upstairs with a smile on her face and fell onto her bed with a squeal of laughter.
"Wait a minute. What if she knows I like her? I mean when I was fixing the stuff I hacked I was like 'it's okay if I don't like you, right' and she was like 'but you do'. OMG. What if she knows? Wait. Who's gonna drive? I've never seen Leena drive. Does she even have a licence? Of course she does! She's older than you, genius! What happens if we kiss? I mean-"
"Claud? Is that you? I'm coming in." Leena slowly pushed the door open. She looked around the room before entering. Settling her gaze upon Claudia, she smiled and sat on the bed next to her and placed her hand on the techie's thigh.
"Claudia, you're not nervous about coming with me to North Carolina, are you? Because if you are, there's no need to be. I know I'm the senior agent on this mission, but we're still friends. Are you feeling any better?" Leena rubbed Claudia's leg with a look of concern on her face.
"Uh…I'm…I just…Look, Leena, you being the senior agent on the mission is not what I'm nervous about, believe me."
"Then what?" Leena asked. Claudia sighed and looked into Leena's eyes. Leena took a deep breath and realised why Claudia had been acting so weird. Her aura was always intact when she spoke to Myka and Pete and HG. But it was when Leena was around that Claudia's aura seemed to change. Her colours got brighter, and her attitude towards everything became more positive. She radiated love whenever Leena walked into a room.
"Leena I'm so sorry, I was going to tell you but I got too nervous and it's just that when I see you I blank out an-" Leena put her hand on Claudia's cheek and pulled her into a deep kiss. For what seemed like hours, they sat on Claudia's bed and discussed their feelings towards each other.
"Agent Donovan and innkeeper Leena." Mrs Frederick appeared.
"Oh jeez I forgot about that." Claudia looked at Leena.
"It seems we must discuss the terms of your relationship at the Warehouse now that you are…together" Mrs Frederick turned and walked out of the room before either could say anything.
