"What really matters is what you do with what you have."
- H. G. Wells
As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.
Chapter 2 Examinations
The Conference Room
The conference room had dark wood panels all around it. There were large paned glass windows in the front of the conference room. The view to the outside was not clear. The windows were frosted and the outside was only a blur. One wall did have a fireplace with marble around it and a larger wood mantle. The fireplace looked like it could have burned wood in it long ago but now had a glassed-in gas heater. The conference table was a large wood oval table and had fifteen chairs around it. Five had people in them.
Claudia just had an examination by Dr. Calder. The doctor had been very thorough. She had taken a blood sample and within the time of the examination the results were available. Vanessa told Claudia she was in perfect health. Claudia had attempted several times to ask questions during the examination but each had been deflected or interrupted by another probe. After Vanessa finished she led Claudia to the conference room. She pointed to a chair and said before she turned to leave, "These are the Regents. They will likely have a few questions. Afterward, come see me."
Claudia was at the table in the chair three down from the head chair. That chair was empty.
Opposite Claudia were five people, the Regents. In the first chair off the head position was an older man with long brown hair about Artie's age. He had a drawn long face that seemed to match his hair. He was wearing a golf shirt and seemed to want to get done soon. She thought for sure he was going to say something about grasshoppers.
Next there was a younger, a lot younger woman who looked a little like a thin Leena. She had her black hair in tight braids that hung down passed her shoulders. She was wearing a dark business suit. She had a tablet in front of her and pen in her hand. She did not look too pleased.
Then there was a chubby man with black hair that look like he could use a tan. He wore glasses that were a bit out of date with a black sports coat and pin-stripped shirt.
Next to him was a lady that looked like she could be Pete's grandma. She had straight blond almost grey, white hair with a sweater blouse. She wore glasses that were likely reading glasses.
Finally, there was another younger girl, likely younger than Myka, with dark almost black hair and white blouse. She began, "Please recount the events from the time you put the ribbon on your hands."
Claudia was about to say something nasty. She thought about it for a second. Since Artie called and told her and Leena about the events at the Warehouse, she had done what she thought were the right things to do. If the Regents did not want her, that was fine with her. She did not ask for this. Trying to control herself, Claudia said in reply, "Leena placed the ribbon on my hand and Mrs. Frederic's per instructions from Artie. The Warehouse had been destroyed. Artie, Myka and Pete had survived the blast in an energy dome that Helena made from an anomaly in the energy dome covering the Warehouse. Artie had the artifact called the White Rabbit's watch. It allowed him to go back in time. He was going to use that to go back and have Helena put the smaller dome over the bomb. I suggested that he get her to hook up the smaller dome to the Tesla power generator, which was in a nearby aisle. It would give the smaller dome more power and allow it to hold the bomb blast. For the details on what happened at the Warehouse, you had better ask Artie or the others."
The man with the black hair asked, "Was that before or after you put on the ribbon?"
Claudia blinked. How many times was it going to take before they understood? She did not put the ribbon on. Leena did it. Claudia wondered, 'It wasn't like I was trying to take Mrs. Frederic away or make sure she stayed dead. Was that the one thing that really mattered to them?' Claudia looked at the man and stared him in the eye, "Before Leena put on the ribbon and while we were still talking with Artie, I suggested using another artifact, the Tesla generator, to increase the power to the smaller dome."
The young lady with the note pad followed-up and asked, "Please explain your actions after that."
"I waited. Nothing was happening with Mrs. Frederic. I wanted it to." She looked at the girl, "I mean I was praying for it to happen. But she did not come back." Claudia paused remembering what the onslaught was like. "Then it happened. I was connected to the Warehouse. It all seemed to come at once. Well, I guess it was a little longer than at once. Leena said I just stood there almost in a trance for a few minutes. I woke when Artie called. They had made it. He said they were okay, including Helena. I remember Pete interrupting saying I would be in the Warehouse for weeks cleaning up the mess. He said it was covered in dust and a lot of the artifacts had fallen off their shelves and some selves had fallen over."
Claudia paused, the next part still hurt. She thought, 'I liked Mrs. Frederic. Yeah, I did not think what she did to Steve was right, and to send him out without any backup was more than stupid.' She looked back at the girl, "Artie asked what happened to Mrs. Frederic. Leena was a mess by then, I answered that Mrs. Frederic did not come back. I also knew at that point that the metronome would not work on her."
The older lady asked, "You said you knew? How is that?"
Claudia shook her head, "It was like it was a part of the Warehouse information. I knew looking at her that it was too late." She paused, "I now know that had our little plan to boost the energy of the dome not worked, I'd be no better off than Mrs. Frederic." It made her shutter. "At that point I knew what I needed to do next."
The man next to the head seat spoke up, "You know we can't use artifacts."
Claudia looked right at him and then down the line, "You know, you all know that's not the fact. We all do what we think is right." She looked back at the guy, "I for one am tried of arbitrary rules." She knew this was right, 'Steve is in the hospital. He is going through dialysis to remove all of the poison Sykes used. I'll never have to use the metronome to keep him alive. He is going to get better. Artie was right too. He used an artifact to bring back HG and the Warehouse.' She smiled at them. Suddenly she knew what Mrs. Frederic always knew and what everyone always did. "You know I told Steve once, that we don't go after bad guys in our job. We go after artifacts. But that doesn't mean we can't stop bad guys from doing bad things. Or fix them when we need to." She paused and then said, "We did the right thing."
The older lady asked, "So, what do you think about Miss Wells? What should be done?"
"Oh wow," Claudia looked at her in the eyes, "you're not kidding are you?" Claudia looked at her hands, "She gave her life for Artie, Myka and Pete. I can't think of any other way to say it. She is a Warehouse Agent and needs to stay one. She needs to be with us." She looked up at the Regent, "I mean I don't exactly have that good of a record. My life was robbed from me. I made bad choices. But I came back. And I think Helena has too."
The young lady with the note pad asked, "Do you have anything else to say?"
Claudia was surprised it was over so quickly, "So what? Do I keep this?" She pointed to her head. "What happens next?"
The older lady answered after getting a nod from her fellow Regents, "We pass our recommendation along to Mr. Kosan. He makes the final decision. Thank you."
Claudia looked at them and decided then that she never wanted to play a game of poker with these folks. Their faces never changed. She got up and left the room.
A/N Okay, this is likely going AU from here. Probably not what will happen next season. Please leave a review.
Fixed the Italics.