This story was inspired by "Return" by CSlvHP11

Warehouse 13 is the property of the Syfy network. No copyright infringement intended.

Claudia lay there hoping praying that Artie would use the fracking astrolabe soon. While the team had been with her, she had tried not to mention her discomfort, but as soon as the cellar became silent she began to notice the the pain in her legs. She was trapped face down, and was doing her best to keep dirt out of her mouth and lungs. She wished she could reach for her Farnsworth and at least talk with Leena as she sat there. Time dragged on, and she began to grow sleepy. She realized it was getting harder to breathe, and she tried not to panic. She shut her eyes tightly against the thick darkness of the cellar and waited, waited, waited. Consciousness slipped in and out of her, and at some point she thought she could hear her name being called. She thought maybe it was Steve calling her to deadland, or wherever she would end up. But then she felt a slight breeze. The huge, heavy rocks around her shifted slightly, and then suddenly they were tumbling off the pile on her legs and onto her back. She let out a shriek at the pain, and heard her name shouted again. Soon, she saw a patch of light, and felt someone pulling the rocks off from her body.. Her senses were overwhelmed with the dusty air and the pain and the light, and she blacked out. Her eyes wouldn't open when she felt someone pulling her as gently as possible from the rubble. She was in loads of pain, but any response seemed like far too much work. Someone murmured to her. She tried to make out what they were saying but it was all too much, and soon retreated further back into her mind.

When she shook off the heaviest layers of unconsciousness, she felt as if the whole world were spinning violently. Something was covering her mouth and nose. She grimaced and tried to open her eyes, but it hurt. Everything hurt. She felt a hand slide through her hair.

"It's okay. We're air-lifting you to a hospital. You're going to be okay."

She let sleep take her again.

Awareness evaded her for quite some time before she finally awoke again. She could tell she was on heavy painkillers because of the near out-of-body sensation she was encountering. A noise left her lips. It was a croaking, choking moan, and soon someone was by her side. Everything felt fuzzy and surreal. There was a murmuring noise, and Claudia tried to figure out who it was and what they were saying. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking for a few minute before things came into focus. Finally, she realized that it was Leena's gentle presence beside her. She tried to say something, but dryness caught at her throat. She tried to cough, then choked and tried to sit up, but only her shoulders would move. Leena gently pushed her back down. She reached up clumsily, and realized one of her arms was in a brace, and the other was in a cast that went past her elbow and covered 3 of her fingers.

"Just calm down, Claudia. It's okay."

Leena put a straw to her lips, and Claudia drank quickly, relishing in the cool water. Oxygen tubes tickled in her nose as she sipped. When she was done, she let go of the straw and spoke. Though her voice was hoarse, and her words slurred together, Leena understood her. "Astrolaa... din…. 'ork." It wasn't a question, but Leena answered anyway.

"No, it didn't work."

She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, and drifted back to sleep.

She reluctantly woke up some time later and stared for nearly an hour at her IV drip-drip-dripping. A hand touched her shoulder and she painfully moved her neck to see Leena.

"Hi."

"Whatheyhameonn?"

"What? Oh, what do they have you on?"

She barely nodded, but it sent shooting pain to her head.

"Tons of morphine. Are you still in pain?"

"Alil…"

"I'm sorry. Are you thirsty?"

"Mhm."

Leena held the water for her as she drank again.

"The doctor has seen you a few times. He says you're going to be okay."

"Wha… Whathhh…" She gave up and drifted back to sleep.

She awoke a few hours later, and she was in immense pain. Her arms both seemed to scream at her, and she didn't even try to move her neck.

"Owww."

"Hey Claude. The doctor is lowering your pain meds so she can run some tests."

Claudia grimaced.

Just then the doctor came in.

"Hello Claudia. I'm Doctor Cipriani," the man said in a thick Italian accent. "How are you feeling?"

"Hurts. Erything… Excccept… Legs."

"When your body was crushed by the rocks it severely injured your spinal cord at the T7 vertebra. A severe injury of your spine can cause partial or full paralysis, so I'm going to run some tests to assess your sensory and mobile ability."

"What?" Leena's voice piped up sharply.

"We don't know anything yet. She may be fine. I'm going to start with a pinprick test. Claudia, I'm going to prick your skin with a pin, and you tell me when you feel it, okay? I'm going to have you close your eyes for this, so you can focus on the sensation."

"Okkkay."

The doctor pulled the blanket off of Claudia's lower body. Her legs were both broken, and had been splinted, but not casted because the doctor wanted to do these tests. The doctor carefully unwrapped Claudia's legs from the splints. They were horribly bruised and scabbed and looked like they shouldn't still be attached to her. It seemed like they should hurt, but she couldn't feel anything. The doctor reclined the bed back, and Claudia shut her eyes. There was a long pause.

"Just let us know when you feel something, okay?"

"Mhm…"

She waited and waited.

"Gon' start?"

She heard a gasp from Leena.

"Wha?" She opened her eyes and looked toward the doctor, but she couldn't sit up.

"Claudia, shut your eyes again. I want to try a couple more times."

She shut her eyes and waited to feel something. But there was nothing; No sensation besides the pain in her arms and head and neck.

"Don' feel anything."

"Okay, can you try wiggling your toes for me?"

The young woman tried and failed to do anything.

"How about lifting your leg up?"

Again, she stayed stationary.

"Wha… 's happening?"

"It appears that right now you don't have any sensory or mobile ability in your legs. I'm going to bring the pin up your body slowly, and you tell me when you feel it, okay? Can you close your eyes for me again?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, fighting against her pain and fear. She waited and waited, but finally she felt a dull sensation on her ribs. She opened her eyes and saw him poking the pin through her gown.

"There."

"Okay. It seems as though your sensory ability starts at your upper torso. You should know this might improve eventually. We'll have to work more to see how much of your stomach muscles you will be able to use, but it's a good sign that you're breathing on your own."

She tried not to think too hard, because nothing quite made sense. Why couldn't she feel him poking her legs? Why was Leena crying? Her head was clouded with pain.

"Morphine," she managed semi-clearly.

"Yes, of course."

Claudia was given more pain killers, and things fuzzed in and out. When she woke again, Artie was there.

"Claudia…"

"Whyyy din work?"

"I don't know. I'm… I'm so sorry."

"Eryone… Alive?"

Artie's face fell, and Claudia broke down in tears.

"Who?"

"Pete. He… he got stabbed. I tried to use the astrolabe, and it didn't work."

She shut her eyes and sobbed.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what went wrong."

She closed her eyes, letting the tears take over until she fell asleep once again.

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