Disclaimer: I do not own Warehouse 13
A/N: Oh my God! I need to start writing fics for popular(ish) shows more often! I've never had this kind of response! Nearly 400 visitors in just one day? That's nearly my entire student population and my school! Thank you SO much for reading, especially to those of you who have reviewed, favorited, followed, etc. It is so incredibly appreciated. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, and please don't forget to tell me what you think!
MiDushiNoSushi: Thank you so much for your review. Her disappearance has been pretty upsetting for me too, so I may have helped Myka's reaction ever so slightly here haha.
Jan: Thank you so much for reading!
MissLaamaa: Thank you! :D
Nighthawk: Thank's for reading!
Xenite: Haha thanks for the imput! I definitely agree, and I'd love to skip straight to some TLC, but that'd be a bit too sloppy, even for me. In the meantime, we'll see how stubborn Myka wants to be. Honestly, I don't even know what's going to happen yet.
A shadow in the dark: Thanks! I'm excited to have you reading!
Chitara: Thank you so much! You know, originally, I wrote this as a one shot, then as a three shot, then it turned into an entire story. If there's anything you should know about me, it's that I don't know limits when it comes to writing haha.
Tracy: Welcome to the fandom! It's a great show, and the characters are just brilliant. I've been watching the show since the beginning, but my love for Berring and Wells has only recently gotten to be this strong. I'm so glad you like the show, and I'm even happier you like my story! It really does mean a lot to me! I can't wait either! I basically took the same line of action before I started writing this. I've yet to find a story that included Myka and HG trying to retrieve an artifact, so I combined that lack with my anger at HG's absence, and produced this!
Chapter Two
HG stared at the door, which had slammed shut in her face nearly a minute prior. Suddenly, she spun around, meeting her colleagues with wild eyes. "I need to talk to her." She stated, shrugging Pete's arm off her shoulder and stepping toward the door.
"Whoa! Uh uh, bad idea, Dude." Claudia cried, grabbing her arm and stopping her in her tracks. HG spun around with such force that Claudia jumped back a little, her grip loosening for just a second before Pete came to her rescue.
"Cross a woman once and she'll tear you to pieces, cross her twice and she'll kill you." He explained, his nose crinkled in a way that told everyone not to ask about his experiences with angry women.
"B-but she-,"
After a couple years, Warehouse agents had danced with death so many times, they could practically be called lovers. They had their fair share of insanity and terror in a business week, but this was a different kind of fear. HG Wells, literary genius, was stuttering over her words. If anything screamed hopelessness, this was it.
"I think this one's mine, guys." Claudia stated, shrugging past her team, making eye contact with Leena on her way toward the door.
Leena nodded, understanding, and launching into mother mode. "Right, I think Claudia stands the best chance at talking Myka down right now. Artie, why don't you and Steve head over to the Warehouse? I'll send everyone else over when, um, they're ready."
For a moment, everyone held their breath, expecting Artie to shut down the plan and insist that everyone get to work. Claudia quickly slipped through the door, knowing she needed to eliminate the possibility of being sent to the Warehouse before she could get to Myka, Leena right behind her. Artie's answered just as she closed the door behind her. "I think that's the best line of action, at the moment." He answered his voice a little groggy from all that had happened in the five minutes prior.
Steve quickly came to Artie's side, making his way toward the Jaguar.
"Pete," Artie called from behind him, "I expect all of you at the Warehouse within the next hour, understood?"
"You got it, boss." Pete called, tearing his eyes off HG for a second to eye the front door, remembering how Myka had slammed it, wondering if she'd be even remotely calm in an hour.
Leena immediately made a run for the stairs as Claudia shuffled her way to the living room. There, Myka was pacing in front of the fireplace, her head in her hands, fingers pulling at her long hair.
"Myka?" Claudia asked, seeing more stability in the psych hospital.
Myka looked up, her hands dropping to her side as she stared at her friend, who was peeking out from behind the door frame, waiting for permission to enter. "I'm fine, Claud." She insisted, her voice betraying her words.
Claudia offered a sad smirk. "Liar."
Myka gave Claudia a defiant look, which melted as soon as they hit the girl's dark eyes. Claudia wasn't letting her out of this one, and Myka knew it.
"It's just, who does she think she is?" she asked, her voice rising with every syllable. "She can't saunter in and out of people's lives and expect everyone to greet her with open arms whenever she decides to come home!"
Myka looked at Claudia, her eyes testing her to pick a side. "I know," Claudia agreed, picking the correct choice, letting anger drip into her voice. She had a completely different relationship with HG than Myka, but the Brit's disappearance had affected her too. "It's completely unfair!"
"It is!" Myka agreed, taking a step closer to Claudia. "And she does it over and over again, and I keep thinking next time will be different. Next time, she'll stay. Next time, she won't go out and try to" Myka trailed off, her eyes frantic, "bring another ice age! I just keep putting my faith in her. And she keeps throwing it away. It's just…I'm tired, Claud. I'm fucking tired of it."
Myka Berring was dropping f bombs. Claudia was beginning to think they had two homicidal maniacs on the team.
Pete looked at HG, forcing mock confidence and tranquility into his voice. "Don't worry about Mykes," he began, "she's always a bit, uh, barbaric before her morning coffee." He stuttered, praying she hadn't heard his adjective of choice. He looked down at HG, who still looked like she had been slapped in the face and punched in the gut, and continued. "It's just, you're important to her, HG. Myka can act tough, she can mock apathy, but that woman gets attached to people. You can't weave in and out of her life and think it won't take a toll on her."
HG looked down and stayed silent for a moment, her voice soft and innocent when she did respond. "I never intended to hurt Agent Berring." She whispered, completely honest.
"I know." Pete said, nodding. "It's okay, just let her cool off."
"It's like she's…," Claudia struggled to find the right words for a moment, before regaining herself and continuing, "incapable of taking other people's emotions into account!"
"Exactly!" Myka cried, taking a step closer to Claudia. "I don't care where she was. I know that she was with the Regents, I mean, I didn't know that before, but now I do. I-, I get it. But it's beside point!"
"I know!" Claudia cried. She had never been anyone's 'bff' in school, but she figured this was similar to the kind of post-break up experience she was supposed to get her best friends through as teenagers. It was scary, how Myka, always the calm one, always the one who thought things through, had turned into a babbling teenager, too emotional for her own good, but Claudia understood. It wasn't about personality right now, it was about emotions. Claudia found herself wrapped up in it, beginning to feel the anger Myka felt, feeling her own adrenaline run.
"I know she's trying to do the right thing, but she keeps messing it up. It's like she can't do the right thing, like she'll never actually be 'good', she'll always be dangerous. I'm starting to believe that she'll always cut someone else's throat if it means she'll get what she wants."
As soon as Myka tasted the words on her tongue, the anger drained out of her expression and she felt repulsive. They seemed to have a similar effect on Claudia, who had come out from her place in the doorframe since the start of the conversation, and was now standing by the couch, a little shocked.
"Myka," she began, her voice half the volume they had been using, sounding like a whisper. Myka had faith in HG when no one else did. She saw a human being, tortured, maybe, but still human, when everyone else saw a de-bronzed, homicidal maniac. From the beginning, she believed in the Brit, believed in her heart, in the good in her soul. Myka Berring had watched the woman take two steps toward the end of the world, and still found it in herself to believe in her goodness afterward. Whether Myka's faith was inhuman, or the epitome of humanity, Claudia didn't know, but it was more than inspirational, it was practically alive. To denounce that faith, after all it had been through, felt foreign, dangerous. It felt as though Myka's words could shatter everything anyone had ever based their beliefs on.
"No," Myka whispered. "That's not true." She wasn't trying to reassure herself or Claudia, she was stating a fact, sheepishly offering up the truth after having been caught lying, like a child. "She's, she's just…"
Myka trailed off, feeling her eyes well up so suddenly it scared her, and collapsed on the couch, her body like a rag doll.
"Myka," Claudia offered, sitting beside her and putting her hand on her knee, reassuring.
"I couldn't get over this feeling that something was wrong," Myka whispered, not looking up from the ground. She couldn't explain it. She didn't get vibes like Pete. It was worse than a feeling, it felt like knowing.
Claudia stayed quiet, waiting for Myka to say what she needed to say, her grip on her knee tight. She was well aware of the girls' friendship. She had taken note of the difference HG's presence had on Myka, the comfort that came with it. She knew how close they were, but Myka was reminding her of the day she left the Warehouse, and Claudia felt sick.
Myka never straightened her gaze, and when Claudia noticed her shoulders shaking slightly, she jumped. "Oh, god," she cried, "Oh, god. She really tore you apart?"
Myka couldn't keep her lips tight any more, and she gave out, her back hunching as she dropped her neck. Claudia reached out and grabbed the brunette by the shoulders, pulling her onto her lap. Myka didn't have the energy to worry about the consequences, to think about the fact she was on the lap of a girl ten years younger than her, crying into her shoulder. Myka needed to cry, and was tired of holding it back.
Claudia held her close, wrapping her arms around Myka's shaking shoulders, not caring about the puddle that was forming on her own shoulder. "She's back now, Myka. She's okay."
They sat like that for a little while in silence, letting Myka's sobs cry themselves out enough so she could speak. "I know, I just, I felt like something had gone wrong with her. And I wasn't there, or she wasn't here. And I didn't know what was happening. She was just…gone. And I…" Myka stopped, reminding herself to breathe. "It felt like I was never going to see her again."
Claudia just held her for a moment, and Myka tried to remember the words she had spoken, tried to remember if they were even slightly coherent. "God," Claudia breathed, "you really love her."
It wasn't quite a question, and it wasn't quite a statement. Claudia knew that Myka loved HG, they all knew it. She loved HG like she loved Pete, like she loved Claudia, herself. They all loved each other at the Warehouse; it was hard not to get attached to the people you face death with. Even HG had forced herself pass hatred and made a small place for herself at the hearts of the agents. Maybe the friendship wasn't as strong with the rest of them as it was with Myka, but it was there. Still, this realization felt revolutionary to Claudia, even if she had known it all along. She tried to understand why the realization of their friendship felt this way to her, and concluded it was the faith; the realization that Myka still believed in HG, still knew she was capable of so much good. It was beautiful to Claudia, but, as she held her friend, she was that it was also slowly breaking her, tearing her to pieces.
"I'm tired." Myka answered, bitterly, sadly. She couldn't explain it, so she left it at that. She was tired.
"How long will it take her to 'cool off'?" HG asked. This was irrational. She now understood that she should have said goodbye, but if her absence upset Myka so, her return should bring comfort. Remaining angry would only take away from what Myka seemed to be longing for, what HG no doubt had been. Of all people, Myka was the last she expected to be upset by her return, and she desperately wanted her to come back.
"I don't know." Pete answered, looking back at the closed door. The expression her face had morphed into when she slammed it was something he had never seen in his partner. After a moment, he shrugged. "We'll just pray Leena or Claud gets her some coffee and we'll see where that takes us."
Pete watched HG, her eyes still anxious, but also defeated. It was a rare sight, but it was comforting to see that HG wasn't going to try to challenge Myka's emotional state. It seemed like even she knew better than to try that.
"Come on, Agent Wells," he said, pulling at her arm and leading her to the SUV. "You don't want to be too late for your first day back at work."
HG let him drag her along, just a step behind as she watched the ground, her voice tight. "Righty-ho then."
Thanks for reading! Please, please, please review. I'm pretty sure you don't even need to have an account to review. It means so much to me, and always motivates me to update quickly, which is important if your an impatient reader. My classes have already started for the year, and I'm already facing a few hours of homework every night... and it's only the first couple of days. Between schoolwork, the meetings that scatter my schedule for the next month, and some other person things, my life is more than a little hectic right now, and, unfortunately, this isn't exactly my number one priority. If my phone keeps ringing to tell me that you guys are reviewing, it'll definitely improve the chances of more speedy updates.
-G
