Half a day after Will Lennox had walked into the Warehouse, Artie worriedly looked through the binoculars, but he found no trace of the man. He wasn't so much worried about Lennox than about the artifacts that might be damaged or activated or would get more pissed off than they already were. Nothing could stop the man from playing around with whatever interested him; aside from Artie or Claudia, who were both stuck in the office to help DeMarco.
Artie huffed. Okay, so it wasn't his job to help, but he wanted to keep an eye on matters. Lieutenant Colonel Trent DeMarco was nice enough and he had a very good grasp on logistics and archiving and files. But Claudia was too enthusiastic to be careful around the man. Artie just wanted to make sure nothing happened here.
The whole matter with some other secret organization pushing into his territory, trying to take over his work, making his life hell, didn't sit well with Artie. Okay, his life wasn't hell yet, but he suspected the more this military crap continued, the deeper they would be involved in matters that really shouldn't involve them. The artifacts might be influenced by this Allspark and they might have traces of alien tech, but it was no reason to take over his job.
Claudia called him a dinosaur and to accept the help, go with the flow, and only kick hard when necessary, not when someone just twitched. So far everything that had happened had helped them understand the Warehouse and the past events a lot better.
"It's cool, Artie," she had told him again and again.
As someone who didn't handle authority all that well, especially one that came from the outside of the Warehouse, Arthur Nielsen didn't see it that way.
But he reluctantly gave them all the benefit of a doubt, especially since Mrs. Frederic had approved everything. And she protected her Warehouse even more fiercely than anyone else. As the Caretaker she had a single job and she did that with determination.
Walking back into the office, looking over the chaos that had taken over, he allowed himself a smile. Claudia was talking to DeMarco, gesturing excitedly as they studied a list, and finally she grinned brightly. He knew that grin. It was a challenge accepted.
"Your friend seems to be lost," Artie remarked.
DeMarco looked up, shrugging. "He can take care of himself."
"The Warehouse is different."
"He knows that, Mr. Nielsen. And if something had happened, we would have noticed."
Artie frowned. It was reassuring and worrying in one.
"According to your standards, Lennox is half an artifact. I think he's right at home here."
So not reassuring. Artifacts were dangerous and one that was merged with a human being, able to walk and talk and exist like this, was very dark in Artie's eyes.
"Only you would see this as reassuring," he answered.
"Artie, chill," Claudia piped. "It's okay, it's fine, it's all under control."
"That's what they all say. Haven't you learned anything?"
"I've learned that you can be such a grump," she replied. "Be nice. We have company."
Artie grumbled under his breath and went back to his watch post. She didn't understand the real dangers of this place, despite the fact that Claudia had worked here for so long. She saw the wonder in the danger. She saw the excitement. Claudia had been involved in accidents and life-threatening events, she had retrieved deadly and dark artifacts. The Warehouse was her self-proclaimed home; Myka, Pete, Leena, him… they were family.
And Artie understood the danger better than anyone, aside from Mrs. Frederic. He had faced the accumulated energy of this place countless times and he knew, he knew, it could destroy you – sentient entity or not. He knew never to underestimate the power of an artifact. Or a collection of them. Energy built up, things happened. Bad things.
And then people ended up dead or worse.
Artie sighed.
Claudia was young. They all were. In time they would understand and hopefully it wouldn't be too late.
x x x x x x x x x
Twenty-four hours later there was still no sign. There hadn't been an explosion either, so that was good. But the fact that Lennox was somewhere in the Warehouse and there hadn't been a life sign made Artie itchy.
So he looked at the grid, hunting for anomalies – other than the usual blips and spikes – but everything was silent. He even drove a few rounds, just to be sure, and he checked on the Dark Vault and the Bronze Sector.
Nothing was amiss. All worked within norms and parameters.
But Lennox remained somewhere, position unknown, in the maze.
x x x x x x x x x
It took Will almost forty-eight hours to reappear in the command center that looked tiny and lost in the vastness of the Warehouse. Claudia shot him a frown.
"Finally! Artie was ready to send in the cavalry. That's me, by the way."
Will gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, but thanks for worrying."
"I think he was more worried about the Warehouse than you."
Trent, who sat at one of the computers, chuckled. He was surrounded by stacks of paper and strange devices, and it looked like he hadn't slept much in the past two days either; for different reasons.
"You know how hard it is to track something unregistered down in that maze?" Claudia went on. "And I don't want to go in there and find you dead body because you got zapped or worse. You have no idea what's down there. One wrong move and you're history. Then again, you could have starved to death."
"I'm rather… immune to hunger and thirst for a while," Lennox told her. "As for the rest, I was careful."
"Told ya," Trent muttered and typed something. "He either eats for two or not at all. Freaky."
Claudia frowned more. Lennox just shrugged.
"Got a muffin?" he asked with a light smile.
She rolled her eyes and actually dug up some donuts, though the large bag only contained two. From the crumbs left inside, there had been more.
"So, communed with the spirits?" she finally asked.
"In a way. I explored."
The frown deepened. "This isn't Adventure Land XXL."
"I was careful. And Thirteen kept me from the bad stuff."
"You can talk to it?" she exclaimed, eyes lighting up.
"No. I can sense it."
"So you're finally back," Artie commented as he walked into the main room and dumped a large, ancient looking folder onto Trent's already overloaded desk. "Found your answers?"
Will looked into the bearded, round face, suddenly seeing beyond the mask. The alert, knowing expression said more than any words.
"I found enough," he replied calmly.
"Good. Good. Can we get back to normal operations now?"
"I never wanted to interfere."
Nielsen gestured at Trent. "He's the one who's in the way."
"Artie, be nice," Claudia scolded. "Trent's our guest."
"He's a disruptive presence."
"And I'm right here and can hear you," Trent shot back. "Don't worry, Mr. Nielsen. Almost done. I'll be haunting Leena's for the rest of the week."
"Cool. I'll make hot cocoa!" Claudia declared.
"But you'll be back," the older man said, ignoring her.
"My assignment is indefinitely."
"I'm sure they miss you at home," Artie grumbled.
Trent just gave him an even smile. Will knew that DeMarco wasn't easily unsettled. After working with Prowl for so long, nothing could really throw the man off.
Lennox perched himself on the desk, meeting Artie's eyes. "I'll stay out of your way, just give me a bit more time around here, too."
Artie regarded him silently, then shrugged. "Not much I can do about it. But this isn't a rehab center."
"I'm not here for any kind of rehab, fun or relaxation."
"Good."
"I promise not to disappear again."
Artie scowled. "Don't make promises you can't keep. The Warehouse isn't the place for it."
Will smiled. "I think Mrs. Frederic mentioned something along those lines too. Then she disappeared."
"You talked to Mrs. Frederic?" Artie snapped.
"She was down there. We had a chat, then she was suddenly gone."
The older man stared at him, hard. Then he shrugged. "She does that. She also comes back. Make sure you don't get lost forever down there. Paperwork's a mess."
He turned and walked into the depths of the building.
"Cookies and milk," Claudia only commented and peered over Trent's shoulder. "Hey, I have an idea how you can get a short-cut to that." And she hit several keys.
Trent let her and winked at Will. Those two were having fun. He walked back through the umbilical cord and out of the Warehouse. The Badlands were as dusty and dry and inhospitable as two days ago. A crow sitting on a metal beam protruding from the roof cawed, then took off.
It was a seven mile trip to Leena's, but Lennox didn't mind the walk. It did good to stretch his legs.
Two miles down the dusty road a red oldtimer convertible stopped next to him. It was Artie Nielsen, eyes hidden behind small round sun glasses.
"Get in."
"You don't have to play taxi."
"As was pointed out to me, it's good behavior. Now get in."
Will slid into the car, smiling. "Thank you, Mr. Nielsen."
"Don't get used to it."
And they were off.
x x x x x x x x x
Only a short trip later Lennox got out in front of the restored Victorian mansion. Artie grabbed his bag and brushed past him, disappearing inside.
"Hello, Will," a female voice said.
He turned and smiled at Leena, the owner of Leena's Bed & Breakfast.
"Coffee?" she offered, unfazed by Artie's behavior. "If you're hungry, and I can make you a late breakfast."
"I'd like that, thank you."
"Don't mind Artie."
"Haven't so far."
It got him another smile. Lennox followed her into the house, smelling coffee.
"Do you require a room?" Leena asked as she led him into the sunny breakfast room that apparently doubled as a common room, too.
"Seems like I'll be here for a while."
"I'll set you up," Leena answered with a nod.
"Thanks."
She walked into the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with a sandwich platter and a lot of coffee. Will discovered that he was rather hungry all of a sudden.
"You have an interesting aura," Leena said as she sat with him, interrupting the food-filled silence.
Will shot her a quizzical look. He had read the files on the agents and the people associated with the Warehouse. He knew Leena was what could be called psychic, though not in a mind-reading way. She could see auras.
"Interesting as in good or bad?" he wanted to know.
"Different from everything I have seen before. Very strong and healthy, but unlike any of the others." Leena tilted her head a little. "I can see you sharing it with someone else. I can see there are shields and deeper layers. I can see that the core is strong and protected."
Lennox wiped his fingers on a napkin.
"I can also see the power within, the energy licking at the surface, and it moves." She gestured at the faint runes that looked like scar tissue on his temple, running down his face. "You are a very interesting man, Will."
He leaned back, coffee mug in hand. "Thanks, I think."
She smiled more. "It is a compliment. How about I'll show you your room before you head back to the Warehouse?"
"You think Mr. Nielsen will give me a ride back?"
"If you ask nicely."
Will smiled sweetly. "I'm generally a very nice man."
Leena laughed. "I don't doubt it."
His room turned out to be a very spacious king-sized bed affair with a view of the garden. He had an en suite with a modern shower and a tub, and the thick pillows looked soft and fluffed.
"Do you have bags?" Leena asked.
"Back at the Warehouse. One reason to go back there. Might be late if I get stuck on something." Lennox shrugged.
She handed him a key. "Welcome to Leena's," she said. "Stay as long as you want."
x x x x x x x x x
Like Trent, Will ended up staying a lot longer than planned. DeMarco was actually reassigned as liaison to the Warehouse. Artie was slowly warming up to the military man in their midst. Trent wasn't going out to gather artifacts, but he went on long walks throughout the Warehouse, mostly accompanied by Claudia, to categorize and file.
Lennox did the same; mostly unsupervised. Thirteen took to him in its own way, showing him the 'sights' by guiding the human hybrid with gentle pressure and suggestions.
The first time he touched the tendrils of energy, the net that was everywhere, with his own energy activated, it was like fireworks and Christmas lights. The second time he had it under control and he could grasp the vastness of the Warehouse system itself.
It was when he finally met up with Optimus and they talked at length about the first twelve Warehouses that came before Thirteen that a real plan was hatched. Jolt was already watching and guarding the site where Two was buried, but all the others had yet to be explored. Thirteen was neither a copy nor a clone. It was based on the first entity and the site of Warehouse 1 might give them all an answer as to where the first entity had come from, who it had been.
"You want me to look for it?"
Prime nodded. "If it has ceased to exist, we go to the next ones. Two is dangerous because it is so very much aware, but we might be able to calm the mind enough for us to talk to it without another death."
"Or without having it try to log onto Mrs. Frederic." And that was the bigger problem. The moment they reawakened Two to talk to it, it would try and find a Caretaker.
Lennox frowned.
"You think we could bond it to another Caretaker?"
"Considering that it wanted Mrs. Frederic, we might not be able to, unless we discover the reason why and how the entities bond."
Will nodded thoughtfully. Having two Warehouses online at the same moment might be tricky for other, not yet discovered reasons, too.
"Two is currently buried under a mountain of sand anyway. We'd have to dig our way in. One was located in the ancient kingdom of Macedonia, which is a big, big place to search."
"Blaster and Perceptor have already started to rearrange an array of sensors to help you in your search. We will scan first, find possible locations, then send in a team." Prime smiled. "Your team, Will."
He would be heading a team again, a unit. It gave Lennox a strange kind of thrill to think of a mission, his own mission, where he could move freely.
"Sounds good, Optimus."
Very, very good.
x x x x x x x x x
Three months later an unmarked military flight was heading out of Nevada and toward Greece.
fin!