It wasn't just that she felt wrong, it was that everything felt wrong. It felt like Artie was skimping on details, and while relief affected the team every time they saved the world… this time it was different.
Usually the sounds of Helena and Myka making love would have distracted Claudia, and she'd have stopped. But she didn't. And while Leena wanted to hold the woman in her arms and never let her go, she noticed the deadened aura, the faraway looks as the younger woman thrust mercilessly inside her. A lust for revenge was often confused with sexual desire after a big battle, or an even larger loss… but Leena knew Claudia's heart wasn't in it. Leena squeezed her eyes shut and dragged her nails down the woman's back, biting back the occasional yelp of pain before the pleasure overtook. This was her drug.
Claudia was grieving. God damn it, she was grieving too. Everybody was… and though when Claudia found her release after rubbing herself against Leena's thigh, there were no tears. Nothing. Not even a kiss. Rolling off of her and gently pulling out, Claudia didn't wait for Leena's climax. She merely pulled up the covers and with tensed shoulders facing the innkeeper, closed her eyes to sleep.
Leena rolled onto her back and straightened out her nightdress, frowning. She tiredly wiped the sweat from her chest with her hand and blinked. She looked at the ceiling, as if trying to find hidden answers and when nothing sprung to her mind, she let out an annoyed huff. There wasn't much she could do. She couldn't exactly ring Artie and say "Hey, Claudia and I were having sex and she seemed weird." She couldn't cry either… it was like something was blocking her from feeling anything, really.
Rolling onto her side, she stared through the gloominess of the room at Claudia's naked back. Shuffling forward, she grabbed hold of Claudia's hip. "Get off." came the murmur but Leena shook her head and pulled her closer.
"No." Leena whispered hoarsely.
Claudia's eyes closed tightly and she gripped at the hand that lay on her breast for dear life. The bittersweet moment ended abruptly when Claudia pulled away and sat up, scrubbing her face.
"Claudia…"
"I need to just…" Claudia's voice caught. "I need to…" she mumbled, and stood up, pulling on her clothes.
"Claudia, come back to bed."
Claudia shook her head adamantly, pulling a t-shirt over her head. "I need to get some water." she said, excusing herself. Pausing at the door, her shoulders slumped and she turned back to the bed, approaching slowly. Bending down, she pressed her thumb to Leena's cheek and next, her lips to the innkeeper's. The kiss was sweet, but too quick and before Leena knew it, Claudia had scuttled off out of the bedroom and down the hall.
Leena closed her eyes. Myka and Helena were obviously still celebrating life, and she pressed a pillow against her face to block out the sounds. She just hoped Claudia would come back soon.
They'd only recently started to sleep together. It was all very hush-hush, and Claudia had insisted she didn't want anything labeled, or anything monogamous or anything serious because that was just too much shitfuckery for her to deal with right now.
She waited for the bed to warm up again, dozing in and out of a fitful, vision filled sleep. It was 3am. But the bed was stone cold, her bed partner hadn't come back, and she could hear creaking out on the landing. Frowning, she grabbed her nightgown, trod into her slippers and crept out of the bedroom. By now the moans and groans next door had died down, and Leena watched Claudia's shadowy silhouette walk purposefully down the stairs, her lithe figure clad in leather, her usual skinny jeans, a hood… and a box.
The box.
At first, she had wondered why she'd hid from the woman. But analyzing closer, she realized that her own protective mechanism had repelled her from pursuing the agent. Not with an angry, vengeful and excruciatingly dark aura like that, not on her life. Or maybe that was the scariest thought - maybe she would give her life to spare Claudia's pain.
"Artie?" Leena found herself speaking into the Farnsworth, both her hands and voice shaking. "Claudia's gone," she whimpered solemnly. "She disappeared in the middle of the night." Artie's reaction had been hard to take. He just stared into space and no matter what she said, she couldn't bring him back.
Hanging up, she walked into the living room and sat on the couch, hugging a pillow close. She could still smell her in the furniture. Kicking up her feet, she lay down on her side and before the innkeeper could prepare herself, she cried. She cried for Steve, she cried for Claudia, for a soul so unbelievably broken that it hurt her chest. And she cried for the fact that nothing was right. Everything seemed unbelievably wrong and if Claudia was going to bring Steve back with the metronome? It'd stay that way for a long time.