Pete walked into the B in Myka's absence it had become quieter than normal. Claudia was typing away furiously on her computer in the corner, and Steve was taking a few days off visit a friend or relative or something.
Pete himself had just come from the hospital. He enjoyed visiting Myka, but only when she was asleep. He told himself that he would visit her when she was awake if he could ever figure out what to say.
Pete hated to go to Myka and say things like "it will be ok", "don't worry", or especially "when this is done things will go back to the way they used to be". All of these statements were lies. He knew this, and he could not lie to Myka, the one person he truly cared about.
He knew that this cancer had taken everything from her. There was no guarantee that Myka would live, and if she did there was no chance of her ever starting her own family. Pete had seen the way Myka looked when she saw, or even just talked about her niece. He wanted her to have that look all the time, but now that didn't seem possible.
During his last excursion to the hospital Pete had witnessed this look briefly cross Myka's face in her sleep. He was glad that she could at least have some moments of happiness in her dreams.
Pete had been spending all his spare time looking for an artifact to help Myka that had manageable consequences. Unfortunately spare time and artifacts with manageable consequences have not been easy for Pete to find in abundance recently.
In Myka's absences artifact hunting has taken more time, and Pete has had to cover jobs within the warehouse that would normally be Myka's task. Pete knew that any of the other agents would quickly help him cover Myka's workload, but he felt that as Myka's partner he should be the one to make up for her absence.
Pete wandered aimlessly around the B&B, grabbing a sandwich in the kitchen, and after several minutes finally ending up in his room.
Pete sought comfort and stability of mind in his vast collection of comic books. Normally the witty and inspiringly heroic characters would ignite a new flame of hope or happiness in him, but tonight no superhero could distract Pete from the gritty and harsh reality of the real world.
Pete's worries may have been hounding him, and keeping him awake, but there was only so much he could take. Within minutes of sitting down on his bed a restless sleep took hold of Pete.