Disclaimer: I still don't own any part of Warehouse 13 and honestly, I really don't want to. It's much more fun to play with the toys and put them back to play with later.
A/N: Thanks to all comments and reviews. Always appreciated and considered. Keep crying, keep laughing. Without one, you can't have the other.
Myka ran down the stairs. The knocking had to stop. She violently flung open the door making it slam into the wall to a surprised Claudia, backing off the front porch.
"What?" Myka snapped as Claudia made it to the top of the steps.
"Sorry, Myka. We think we just got a lead and I wanted to tell you in person, but I can come back," she stammered.
Myka closed her eyes, breathing deeply as she leaned against the door drained of all energy.
"Whoa, Myka." Claudia grabbed her before she hit the floor. "Let's get you to the sofa." Claudia maneuvered her to her seat before turning the stereo down. She picked up the CD before turning her eyes up at the woman on the sofa. "Did you eat today?"
Myka shook her head slightly. Claudia went into the kitchen grabbing a banana, and made some toast. She placed it in front of Myka. "Eat. What's up with the Gorecki, Third Symphony? Not completely depressing, but still."
"Just how I feel. It can be cathartic." Myka ate the toast slowly, her stomach growling as hunger set in.
"That seems a little over kill, but okay. Still a good piece. Helena always liked it…Ah, right…Okay…got it. You did hear I said we might have a lead, right?"
Myka shrugged. "It's getting weaker. I'm losing her…"
Claudia turned off the music. "No more of that. Only Mahler Two. She's coming back. Don't look at me like that. She told me once. Whole redemption/resurrection thing. We did talk you know when you weren't around. Eat the banana and then follow me upstairs."
Myka complied following her up the stairs and into the office. "What are we doing in here?"
"She said I'd know when. I didn't understand, and I'm not sure I do now, but it doesn't matter." Claudia rambled on, "She was right. How she was right, I don't know. When is now. We're surrounded by weird. Why should this be any different? I don't ask anymore. It just happens. I'm now living in a whole world of freaky. How I got caught up in freaky, I don't know. Oh, wait, I'm a freak too, just like everyone else in this…Oh, my, God, I'm starting to talk like Artie."
Claudia went to Helena's desk as Myka looked on in confusion. She pulled out the second drawer dumping its contents on the floor. "Man, she's got a lot of junk," Claudia said in surprise at the mess. Pulling out the back panel she pulled out the key from its resting place.
"The key?" Myka asked, shocked not only by the knowledge that Claudia knew and she didn't, but by the plain fact it remained in its original location. "She never moved the key?"
"Yeah. One of her little jokes. She knew everyone thought she'd find a new place and said the best place to hide something is sometimes by not hiding it at all."
Myka actually laughed. In her mind she could hear Helena exactly saying that with a half smirk on her face. "Sometimes, Claudia, I think you married her, not me." Myka stopped laughing abruptly and her face turned white, eyes wide. "I didn't just say that, did I?"
"What? The being married thing? The last thing I knew, that hadn't happened, or was ever going to happen, but Freud might say when we get her back you might want to reconsider that idea." Claudia gave Myka a half smile before shaking her head. "You two really are clueless sometimes."
Myka ignored her, getting defensive. "Why did she show you and not me? Why didn't you tell me when we were searching?"
"I promised. She said I'd know when the time was right. This is the time."
Claudia went to one of the book cases and ran her fingers down the bridges of the books on the third row until she landed on Bridge to Terabithia. She pulled the book out and reached her hand in feeling for the catch on the bottom of the shelf. A panel below popped open, exposing the lock.
"There you go." She handed her the key. "Somehow, I don't think I'm supposed to stay for this. I'll wait for you downstairs and make you a PB & J."
Myka hesitantly shuffled into the room over to the panel, kneeled on the floor and carefully opened it. Turning the key, a second panel opened above. The carved, wooden box sat in the darkness of the inner sanctum. Myka hadn't even realized it wasn't in her dresser. That was unusual in itself. She pulled it out with great reverence, anticipating the significance that sat within. Taking a deep breath she took off the top to find a piece of velvet wrapped around an object and a note underneath. Unwrapping it, she was struck back to find the ring she had given Helena the night before she had left so many weeks ago. She hadn't taken it with her. Myka fought a war with the tears springing from her heart, anger fighting desolation. She opened the thick, crisp paper. The distinct handwriting anointed her eyes.
My dearest, sweet Myka,
This is the one material object that means more to me than anything else. I will not leave to chance it being lost. I fear the risk is too great this trip. I kiss it one last time before placing it here. If you have found it, than Claudia has sensed your need. She knows not what this space holds. She is more attuned to us than she herself yet knows. Have faith.
Remember, 'The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart'.
I can feel you. Always.
-Helena
Myka dropped the box on the floor and slammed the panels shut. Rushing into the bedroom, she grabbed a chain from her jewelry box before slipping the ring around her neck to rest beside the locket.
"Claudia!" She ran down the stairs. Claudia came rushing out panic stricken, sandwich in hand. Myka grabbed the sandwich, stuffing it in her mouth greedily. "Waf da yead?"
"Uh, you might want to consider swallowing a bite or two once in awhile there. We got something in the mail. It's at the warehouse, but part of it we think only you can understand because we don't."
Myka gave her a strange look. "Come on. I'm losing her. She doesn't have much time." She grabbed Claudia's hand pulling her out the door to the car, slamming the unlocked door behind them.
"This is it? A piece of paper?"
"Look at it, Myka." Pete pointed to the numbers. "What do they look like?"
She cocked her head to the side staring at the numbers. She jerked her head around at them. "Huh? 46:6:35.40, -70:41:8.49. What is this supposed to mean?"
Pete dropped his jaw. "Myka, even I know what those numbers are. GPS coordinates. Latitude and longitude. Claudia's already got them pin pointed to one of the hospitals in Saint-Georges, Quebec."
Myka surveyed the faces around her, confused by the new development. "Who sent this and how do you know it has anything to do with Helena?"
"We don't know. It's the rest we don't get. That's your job. We're really hoping someone sent us our bone," Steve added smiling with anticipation.
"Look on the other side, Myka. That's why I got you. It sounded familiar to me."
Myka read it to herself. "The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart." – for us. She took a big breath. "It's Helena. She's leaving Quebec."
"How do you know? What does it mean?" Claudia pushed.
"It's a little personal, Claud. Trust me on this. It's this other part I don't get. 'Not till we are completely lost or turned around... do we begin to find ourselves.' It's from Thoreau's Walden, but I don't understand the significance of it." Her face was screwed up in thought, and then suddenly cleared.
"Pete?"
"Yeah, Mykes?"
"Why are those coordinates specifically for the hospital?"
"I don't know. Claudia's hacking in to see if she can find any records. Don't panic yet. We have our first clue, Myka, finally."
Claudia trotted into the office. "Guys, I think I've got something. I searched all the hospitals in Saint-Georges. Nothing came up with any form of Helena Wells or anything else we'd know her by, but, thanks to one of Myka's little tricks, I started searching for any anagrams and came up with this." She turned the laptop around to show the three anxious faces crowding around her.
"Gesal H. Newell. Yeah, I know. A little stretch on the first name, huh? Think the Regents could have done better than that. Female, Caucasian, age 36, is that really her biological age, Myka?" Claudia turned to the woman.
"Claudia…" Steve pressed on.
"Sorry, I've never asked. Geez, I was just wondering. Anyway, US passport, not British, physical description fits. Sound like anyone we know? She was admitted two weeks ago for a deep laceration of her right forearm."
"Who was the attending doctor?" Myka shoved forward to look at the screen.
"It doesn't say. Just says visiting doctor from special services. Sounds kind of Regenty to me, how about you guys? Anything else in Saint-Georges leads nowhere. She must have dropped off the grid quickly. She had to go somewhere."
Pete smacked his hands down on her shoulders making her flinch. "Awesome, Claud. Now we just need to figure out where she went from there. That's got to be hidden in those quotes, and we need to get out there. You're the book expert, Myka…"
Myka stared back at them. "I don't know. I really don't. I think her book is still on the night stand. Give me the note and I'll start reading. Maybe it will trigger something. Claudia, can you call the hospital and see what you can find out?"
"On it. Uh, do we want to clue Artie in on this?" Claudia tuned around in the chair.
"Maybe not just yet. Let him finish up his errands in Univille."
The darkness never ended. When there was no pain, there was sleep. When there was sleep, there were nightmares. Time only had meaning when dim light seeped through the cracks. The ties had been taken off her wrists, but she was too weak to fight back. Questions were relentless. Constant shouting, followed by more pain. Each day the attacks intensified. Pain became meaningless. It didn't matter. She didn't have the answers they wanted to hear. The job was finished and the artifact sent to its final destination. One she didn't know.
Shoved back into the small space, she fell. She heard the crack as she landed on her shoulder trying to protect her ribs. Water was scarce, food more so. She focused on reciting what she remembered of The Little Prince. Had they really read it so many times? More accurately, Myka read it to her. She concentrated on hearing the soft voice Myka recited within the warm alcove of their bed at night, safely wrapped in the protective long arms. She could almost feel the softness of her breast beneath her head and hear the comforting, steady beat of her heart. "The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart." She could still feel her. That was good.
She leaned against the corner closing her eyes. Listening to the sounds of the night, she repeated her favorite words until she passed out from the pain returning with each difficult breath.
Claudia swiveled around in the chair hearing the umbilicus doors open. "Myka. Steve and I have been making calls through the hospital with no new information. No one remembers the name of the visiting doctor or even has record of one. As far as Gesal Newell is concerned, let's just say the medical file is in transit. Sounds pretty Regenty to me. Artie is on his way. I told him we had some info and get here pronto. That's all I said."
"I thought we were holding off?"
"Yeah, I know, but we've got a place to start and we need to move. You said so yourself. What was it? Something about 'losing her'…whatever that means. You're getting freakier. Kind of scary, Myka."
"Sorry. You're right. I just can't explain it. It's weird. At first I just knew she was still out there, but now…I'm losing that feeling. Something is getting weaker and I think it's her."
"Well, the gang is coming together and Pete and Steve have been strategizing and gone all military. Kind of creepy."
"What's kind of creepy?" a new voice boomed.
"Hey, Artie, we were just talking about you. Not the creepy part, though that sometimes does…"
"Claudia…"
"Okay, Okay. We got a lead on our favorite Victorian. Actually, are there anymore out there? I mean she is the only one, right?"
"Claudia…" he pushed, getting her back on track.
"Yeah, right. So we have a starting point for HG. We got an anonymous tip, I guess you could call it, and we've been working on it while you were out gallivanting around Univille."
"What do you mean an anonymous tip?"
"Well, you know the kind where someone drops info but you don't know from who?"
"And…" he pushed again.
"It seems valid, Artie. Claudia's been confirming information. It points to Saint-Georges, Quebec."
"What the Hell was she doing there?" he asked, perplexed.
"Artie, I pretty much ask her the same thing every time she comes home from doing this shit and I don't even find out where she was!" Myka was losing her patience. Finally, everyone seemed to be catching on to what she lived with. She couldn't understand why it took Helena getting lost to bring it home to those around her.
Artie stepped back from her outburst, glancing at Claudia, her eyes wide open. "Okay, Myka. You're right. Where are the guys?"
"The guys are right here." Pete bounced in, Steve following behind shaking his head. "Did you come up with anything, Myka?"
"Not yet. It's nagging at me though. I can't fit it in yet." She shrugged.
"Well, Steve and I have done some talking. We've got a moral kind of ethical issue on our hands."
Paterson, Katherine, Bridge to Terabithia
"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart" - The Little Prince, -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
