I kind of hate myself for writing this because its so... yeah. But anway...
I don't own Warehouse 13 or any of its characters and am not making money from this story.
No. I can't do this now. I have to act like everything's okay. They can't know.
Claudia was sitting on the floor in an aisle of the warehouse, trying to rally herself; trying to be normal; trying to hide how she was feeling. But when Steve walked up on her unannounced, she wasn't sure she continue holding herself together.
"Claude, why are you on the floor?"
"What? Oh... uh, no reason. I was just.. uh... sitting! Sitting is important, you know. I think everyone should sit more. You know?" She mentally kicked herself.
"Okay... So what's up?"
"Nothing! I'm fine, Jinksy." She was fiercely clutching onto the last bits of lucidity quickly slipping out of the terrifying wilderness of her brain.
"No you're not."
"Yes I am!" She could feel her rational thought fading fast, and got up from the ground, knowing she shouldn't be around all these artifacts in this state of mind.
He pointed at himself and said, "Human lie detector," then pointed at her, saying, "girl who is not fine."
"Please... please just drop it," Claudia said, voice wavering, as she began walking away.
Now Steve was definitely not leaving her alone, and followed her, asking, "Claudia, what is it?"
"Please, just leave me alone," she whimpered, breaking into a sprint.
"Claude, stop!" Steve tore after her.
"No!" Claudia stopped abruptly, and sat down on the ground, unleashing a shrieking sob that chilled Steve to the bone. She was clawing at her hair with two shaking hands, and letting out horrible screams.
"Claudia!" He ran over to her, and she shrunk away from him, covering her head with her arms and whimpering.
"What's wrong?"
"No! No! Leave me alone!"
Steve called Artie on his Farnsworth.
"What is it?" Artie glared at Steve, annoyed, but then Claudia's shrieks came through the microphone. "What happened? What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know! I found her sitting on the floor and I knew something was wrong, but then she started running, and now she's in hysterics."
"I'll be there in a minute." Artie hung up.
The girl was curled up in a ball, whimpering over and over, "I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy."
"Claudia, it's me. It's Steve. Can you tell me what's wrong?" He approached her and put a hand on her shoulder.
The girl yelped, and reflexively punched him in the eye, scrambling up and hiding behind a shelf.
Steve shook off the punch, which began to swell immediately, and called, "Claude, can you hear me?" The redhead had quite a right hook.
"No! Please! Leave me alone!" her voice was unrecognizable, and Steve had no idea what to do. Suddenly, the redhead emerged from behind the shelf wielding an ax. The former ATF agent jumped back and took cover behind a shelf as the girl began swinging the weapon around. It was clear she was seeing things that Steve couldn't see.
Artie walked up behind Steve.
"Artie, she's swinging around a weapon! I don't know what's wrong with her, but she could hurt herself or us."
Artie sighed and pulled out his tesla.
"You're not actually going to tesla her, are you?" Steve was horrified.
"Not unless I have to." The man walked out from behind the shelf and slowly approached Claudia, his tesla raised.
"Hey there, kiddo."
Claudia's face changed slightly.
"P-professor?"
"Yeah, it's me. You're okay. You're safe," he murmured gently.
"What happened?"
"Joshua's safe too. Do you want to talk with him?"
"What? Yes!" She started walking toward him.
"Okay. But first you've got to put down that ax, alright?"
Claudia stared at the object in her hand, as if she didn't remember she was holding it.
"Wait," the girl said, face scrunched up in puzzlement. "This… this isn't real, is it?"
"Yes it is, Claudia. I'm real. I'm right here."
"No. No, you're not real. The doctor told me I've been having delusions. This isn't real. He told me I have to fight." The girl's shaky voice was rising in pitch.
"No Claudia, that's not true. I'm not a hallucination. I'm real, and I'm here."
"No you're not! No you're not!" The girl shrieked and swung the ax toward Artie, but froze as a bolt of electricity from the tesla hit her, and she crumpled to the ground, dropping the weapon.
"I'm sorry, Claudia," Artie said to the unconscious girl.
Please review and let me know your thoughts on my story!