Takes place in the middle of season 3.

Lies

"That's a lie." All heads turned to face Steve Jinks. Pete had just been going on about his new girlfriend, extolling her virtues (especially the physical ones), when Steve walked in. "She was never in a Victoria's Secret ad."

Pete flushed, and stammered to cover it up. Myka and Artie looked at him sympathetically. This wasn't the first time Steve had caught Pete in a lie and felt the need to announce it to everyone. In fact, Steve did it to everyone in the Warehouse. Claudia took her partner by the arm and gently lead him from the room.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked when they were out of earshot from the others.

"Listen up, Jinksy. You know when people lie, but do you know why people lie?"

Steve shrugged. "To keep from getting in trouble, I guess. To show off. And to be mean."

Claudia was shaking her head before he even finished. "The reason people lie is to protect themselves, to keep others from seeing their flaws and weaknesses."

He gave her a skeptical look. "I find that hard to believe."

"Let's take Pete for example. He's still hurting over losing Dr. Kelly. He really cared for her, and he's trying to keep his mind off the hurt by concentrating on someone else. When you pointed out his lie, you were exposing the fact that his relationship with this girl is probably not going to last."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about that."

"The first time you came to the Warehouse? Pete said he was looking forward to working with you, and you said he was lying. He didn't want to say the truth- that he was intimidated by you, and felt uncomfortable with you around, besides the fact that he missed Myka ... And all that would show weakness. See, people don't lie to hurt you, they're trying to protect themselves."

"But they know I can tell that they're lying, so why would they do it anyway?" Jinks wondered.

"Believe it or not, Jinksy, not everyone has your superpower. In fact, most people don't. Everyone gets in the habit of lying. They don't turn it off just because you're in the room." There was silence for a minute as Steve processed that. "Do you want to know the lie that I tell the most?"

"What?" Steve asked, trying to think back.

"I'm fine." Steve gave her a curious look. "That's the lie I tell the most. People ask, 'How are you? What's up? Are you okay?' I answer, I'm fine, I'm fine. I say it even when I'm not. When I was a kid, I was an orphan whose brother had vanished mysteriously, and no one would believe me when I talked about where Joshua was. I had no family, no friends, no one I could trust. I was alone and a freak. I wasn't fine, but I said it because I didn't want anyone to see the truth- that I was vulnerable and hurting. So the next time you hear someone lie, instead of instantly calling them out, think about the reason why." Steve looked so sad that Claudia gave him a hug. "Cheer up, Jinksy. I really am fine now. I've got good people around me, including you. Just remember to cut us some slack, especially Pete. Okay?"

"Okay." Claudia clapped him on the shoulder and left.

Over the next few days, Steve thought about what Claudia said. When Pete asked Myka why she wasn't wearing their matching "Pete and Myka: Artifact Snatchers" t-shirts, and Myka said it was in the wash, Steve knew it was a lie. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. He realized that Myka didn't want to hurt Pete's feelings.

When Pete said he never had nightmares about dying from an artifact, Steve knew it was a lie. He tilted his head, but didn't say anything. He thought about all the times Pete had come very close to death, and decided Pete didn't want to dwell on his own mortality and the limited life span most Warehouse agents had.

When Artie said that he was going home early to rest and read a book even though Steve had seen him slip a few artifacts in his bag minutes earlier, Steve knew it was a lie. He drew his eyebrows together, but didn't say anything. Artie had been on the Farnsworth with Mrs. Frederic earlier, so Artie was probably going to do something for her that was above Steve's pay grade to know about.

And when, after a hard day of chasing artifacts, Claudia said she was fine, and she clearly wasn't, Steve didn't call her out on it. Instead he gave her a hug and whispered, "I'm here for you if you need me."

Claudia smiled. "You're learning, Jinksy."

-End-