Author's Note: Wow, okay. This took a lot more time that I thought. I've had some major life changes (all good ones!) and haven't been around or writing as much as I would have liked. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I'm so sorry I didn't get around to answering everyone. I'm grateful for all the support and will try to be better in the future. H.G. is once again m.i.a. in this chapter but I'm trying to work through all of Myka's emotions and that's taking some time. The next chapter will have quite a bit of H.G….maybe not in the way that you think! I'm really excited to write it. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Warehouse 13 or any of its characters or plot lines. All mistakes are my own.

What H.G. Did: Chapter III

Myka wishes that the moment between asleep and awake could go on forever. That, or her haunted dreams could extend into her conscious state so she could entirely avoid the brief and groggy respite that occurs right before the reality of the yesterday slams into her. As it is, when she blinks her eyes open, it only takes a moment before hard and sharp desperation makes her heart speed erratically and her stomach clench in horror. In the pale, yellow light that filters through her window and onto her bed, Myka Bering sits up and realizes that this new day is a sunset on the dream she's clung to for the past two years. In daylight, the last flicker of a future with H.G. is gone. And it crushes her.

The minutes and hours and days (days that had turned into weeks, and weeks into months) that H.G. has been gone have been filled with a certainty that one day she will show up, all jet-black hair and pale skin, with gentle eyes and a cocky smile. And she will offer up a "Hello, Myka" in a voice that thrills Myka to the center of her heart. And based on a million tiny moments from the past, more numerous than the twinkle of lights in a star streaked sky, Myka has been sure that when H.G. comes home, she'll be coming home to Myka. And so Myka has waited.

It's the dream of a return that's more than a reunion; it's a return that is the start of something Myka burns for. It has been her most private yearning for longer than even she can trace. Myka knows that after everything with the Janis Coin and the Chess Lock she would have forgiven H.G. for past wrongs. She always does. She always did.

All that is gone now and she cannot recall how to live without that hope. How to breathe without H.G. in her back of her mind. How to plan a future without her in it.

Myka lets out a shaky breath and presses her fingers against her swollen eyes. You're going to get up now. You're going to walk to the dresser. You're going to get dressed. You're not going to think. You're not going to feel. You thought she felt the same. She didn't. She doesn't. Now suck it up, Bering. Get moving.

Myka swings her legs out of bed and moves towards her bureau. Her body feels heavy and sluggish but she slowly dresses. By the time she makes it downstairs she is exhausted from the continuous effort of closing her mind against the memories of H.G. that tear through her like fire.

Laughter sounds from the kitchen and she takes a deep breath, enters, and makes a bee-line for the coffee. Due to the late night everyone has had there are only dregs left. Myka huffs.

"Ack, sorry Myka, I'm on my third cup." Claudia, who had been laughing over the rate of Pete's muffin consumption, unhunches from over her coffee mug and joins Myka at the counter. "I can make more – unless you want tea. I think there's still some of H.G.'s in the cupboard –"

Myka's insides run cold. She crosses to the table and swipes Claudia's half full mug, gazing at Claudia challengingly over the rim as she chugs it fast. Claudia always uses too much sugar, but it's the only way for Myka to channel the aggression she feels at the mention of H.G.'s brief but memorable stay in the house.

It works – "Hey!" – but not for long – "No fair, you slept late and missed out! Speaking of H.G., where is she?"

Myka reaches the bottom of the mug and slams it back down on the table with more force than she means too. She picks it back up and heads to scrub it vigorously at the sink, her back to the room.

Pete reads her well and manages to speak around his latest muffin, albeit with some difficultly. "Thee didthen wan thu come bath –" He swallows and Myka can't help role her eyes over his antics and his words. "I think she's playing house or something."

"Playing house?"

"Yeah…" There's a pause and Myka knows Pete's eyeing her back, silently gauging how to word this in a way that will upset her least. Myka switches to scouring the frying pans.

"…house, picket fence, day job, Man Friend with a 10 year old kid –"

"Man Friend?!"

"Normal life –"

"Normal life?! She's H.G. Freaking Wells, the 147 year old, Time-Travelling-Inventor-of-Time-Travel – "

"Yeah, I know right? One-time-hologrammed, rocket building, H.G. –"

Myka has to stop her sponge and count to ten. It takes everything not to turn around and contribute to their list of just how preposterous H.G.'s new life is.

Pete raises his voice so Myka will pointedly hear his support of her "- She's making a huge mistake if you ask me – "

Myka makes it to seven before releasing the sponge and rounding on them.

"She's made her choice. It makes her happy." She meets Pete's gaze and knows he's not buying any of her act this morning. Claudia finishes pouring herself a mug of freshly made coffee and gazes sadly down into it. "That sucks. You know, I always thought everything was more fun when H.G. was around."

Apparently, Claudia has bought her act and that's all Myka can ask for right now. She swallows her "Me too" and feels a rush of anger towards H.G. that she can't seem to help.

"I'm going for a run."

She's lets the backdoor bang shut behind her and Pete grimaces. "Yeah, Clauds, me too."

Sometimes it seems like not so long ago that they all sat around the breakfast table: Leena, with her easy, beautiful smile, and Artie, basking in the spread before him. Claudia's casual posture and the way she teased their new addition, Steve. Pete remembers this moment so clearly, the way Myka returned from being cleared by the Regents and took her seat with a quiet grace while those at the table argued about dessert. He remembers how Leena joshed Myka for who she used to be before the Warehouse became her home, uptight and never eating sweats. He recalls grinning across the table at his partner and her smiling back because with her there, they were all home.

And he remembers catching a glimpse of the haunted look that has not left her eyes since H.G.'s first betrayal. It has only grown in the weeks since they have lost H.G. yet again.

Because Myka has changed in the months that have passed since they drove away from H.G. and her Normal Life. She's more like that woman he first met in the Secret Service: buttoned up, sugar deprived, and slightly angry. She hides it well but he knows her, and he knows that it's how she copes with loss. But it hurts to see her so unhappy, and hurts twice as much to see her struggle to hide it from them all.

Not even Artie can help notice the way Myka's features have become gaunt and strained, the deep bags beneath her eyes, the way her clothes hang far too loosely on her already slim frame. He nags at her to eat and Myka doesn't react well. Pete knows that it summons further emotions for Myka of the relationship she used to have with her own father, and he tries to diffuse these situations with varying degrees of success.

They don't talk about it. They don't mention her name or discuss how Myka is struggling. She's doing her job well – better than well – and Pete focuses on that. He guesses Myka does too.

Until one day after they grab, bag, and tag Mike Tyson's Boxing Glove. It's imbued the wearer with unnatural strength that could kill a target in a single blow. Pete is exhausted from dodging and spinning while trying to neutralize the artifact, and he gladly defers the car keys to Myka, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes in preparation for the trip back to the B&B.

But Myka doesn't start the car.

He cracks an eye open and see's that she's staring at him, her forehead furrowed.

"Do I have something on my face?" He dramatically runs his hand over his checks.

She bits her lip and her frown deepens.

"Still there? Did I get it?"

"Pete –"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, you know I get embarrassed –" He makes a show of opening the mirror in the visor and scrutinizing his features.

"Pete!"

Her tone leaves no question that they're about to have a serious conversation and he forces himself to drop his clowning. He braces himself, flips the mirror closed, and turns towards her.

"Hmmm?"

"Pete – you know how – um –" Myka's voice is trembling and she blinks down at her hands that tightly grip the steering wheel. "You know how when we got back from Warehouse 2, and… um…then…"

Pete saves her from having to say it. "H.G. tried to blow up the world and everybody in it?"

"Yeah…that."

She's quiet for a moment and Pete searches for something to say. He wonders if he should go on an H.G. tirade or if he should emphasize that she didn't actually end up blowing up the entire world and killing everyone in it. Because of Myka. This conversation is a dangerous one. Before he can decide which option is safest Myka speaks again.

"When we were in Egypt you realized that Kelly was your One."

The change of topic baffles him and he mentally flails to follow whatever it is she's not saying.

Myka's twisting her hands on the wheel now and she turns to him, sadness, anxiety, and sincerity written all over her face.

"I left you, Pete. I just left. I didn't even think –" Myka's voice is hiccupping now "—think about what you were going through or you losing someone you loved. I wasn't there for you. I was so – so – selfish and I should have been there because nothing is worse than losing someone you love. And I h-hate that I d-did that too you - that I left you when you needed a f-friend the m-most."

Myka's body shudders but she manages to suppress the majority of her tears. Pete stares at her and the sighs, gazing out the front window at the yellow cliffs around them.

"Mykes. I don't know what to say –"He runs his hand through his hair and sighs again. "It was - you know - I get it. I do. And for what it's worth, I think you were going through your own heartbreak too."

"I was? No I wasn't –"

"Uh, Mykes? The way I see it, you had the hots for H.G. from the moment you met her."

"What?! Please. Don't be redic-"

"I knew you'd slipped that into my pocket -I thought you'd know - I knew you'd think I knew – Ooooooh, H.G.!" Pete mimics.

"Okay! Enough. Jesus, Pete."

"What?"

"It's just how could I fall for a, I don't know, a freaking genius-time-traveler? How could I fall for someone who has left over and over again? I know. I know. What I felt for her…What I feel for her…" Myka searches for the words and can't quite voice them.

"Mykes. I think you were happy to have someone…on your own level."

"Pete."

"No, I'm serious. Who has read as much as you? H.G. Who knows as many languages, if not more than you? H.G. Who finishes your sentences? H.G. Who embodies everything you love in life from books to defensive arts to the Warehouse? She's smart. She's beautiful. And for what it's worth…she's a really good kisser—"

"PETE."

"Okay! Okay…sorry."

Myka glares at him and for a moment the woman he used to know shines through. "You are the worst. I did not need to think about…" Her voice catches and she begins to blink rapidly. "This seriously got off topic."

She sniffs and turns towards him. "I'm sorry, Pete. I'm sorry I wasn't here for you about Kelly. Honestly, I don't know how you were so strong. I'm – I'm such a mess, Pete. I'm being so weak –"

"No. No, Myka, you're not. Sure, Kelly broke my heart. I really thought she was the One. I was really happy."

"But you didn't fall to pieces –"

"Sure I did."

"But not where everyone could see it."

"Well, you weren't here to." Myka's chin trembles. "I didn't mean it that way. All I mean is that…I think it was easier for me to deal with."

"Because as a man you're pressured to hide your feelings?"

"No, Jesus, Mykes, because maybe Kelly was a One but maybe not the One. And maybe because I'd been divorced and hit rock bottom then. And maybe because I hope that there's someone else out there for me."

Pete watches as Myka takes in this information. "But H.G. already knows about the Warehouse –"

"That's not the point. The point is I don't think there's just one person, one…special person…for me. And I loved Kelly, still love Kelly, but I know that maybe someday I could love someone else that way too. I just have to find her."

"Pete. I'm sorry."

"No, Myka, listen to me. What you had with H.G., what you feel for her, I think it matters so much because no one else you've ever met has made you feel the way she did. Even Sam."

"Because Sam was a man?"

"Look, I don't know, Mykes. Love is love. And yeah, maybe. But maybe not." Pete laughs and shrugs. "Really, maybe you should talk to Steve about this."

Myka shakes her head vehemently. "Nope. Nope. No. This –" She gestures between them, "does not leave this car."

She leans into her seat and sighs. "You know, looking back I think I was more infatuated with Sam than in love – I just – he was suave and handsome and, at the end of the day, unavailable. But he talked down to me. He called me Bunny." Myka wrinkles her nose and glances over at Pete. His nose is wrinkled too. "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have liked him. And after meeting H.G…"

"You're not sure you ever liked him like that too?"

Myka huffs. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

Pete shakes his head. "Not if you don't want it too." She toys with the steering wheel.

"Look, Mykes, I…hang on. Turn and look out the window."

"What?"

"Just do it, Mykes, okay?"

"Fine."

Pete turns to look out his own window.

"The thing is Mykes, you are insanely special. You are smart, driven, brave, beautiful and a really bad ass…you're…one in a million. And I think it's…fitting…that it took a time traveling genius to catch your eye. That's all that matters…it matters that you found someone just as special as you are. Although she is a damn fool for watching you drive away. And, Myka, that's the truth."

Pete can feel himself blushing, his honesty feels awkward and too personal but he knows that Myka needs to hear this.

Myka turns back around and gives him a watery smile.

"I didn't say you could turn back around."

She laughs, sniffs twice, and leans down to start the engine.

"Thanks, Pete. Really."

"I'm hungry."

"I know."

Author's Note: Well, another chapter finished! I'm excited for the next one so I hope you'll stick with me! (I hope it lives up to expectations as well!) ;)