Chapter Three – The Blind Leading the Blind
Agent Pete Lattimer wasn't usually in the habit of knocking on women's doors – at least not for strictly platonic purposes anyway. The first strike of his knuckles was tentative, just a mere brush as opposed to a knock. He drew in a breath and rapped harder – but not so hard as to seem overly insistent. Silence was his only answer for a few seconds, however he soon heard a tired voice call out from within, inviting him in.
He found Claudia Donovan in much the same pose as she had remained at work all day - sitting at her computer, typing sporadically and looking morosely pensive the rest of the time. She swivelled in her chair and raised her eyebrows when she saw it was Pete.
"Oh hey," she said, obviously trying to inject a current of enthusiasm into her voice. "I thought you might have been Myka. What can I do ya for?"
Pete jammed his hands in his pockets in an effort to stave off feeling incredibly awkward. "I was just in the building and-"
"Pete, you live in the building. Why would you not be in the building?" Claudia asked sceptically.
"Well I was just upstairs and I thought I'd come say hi, you know, because I haven't seen you for a while," Pete said, inviting himself to take a seat on the couch beside the desk.
"You haven't seen me for a grand total of about three hours. "Oh no, wait, I saw you when I was downstairs grabbing a banana half an hour ago. You were sticking your finger in that cheesecake in the fridge. You know, the one Leena told you to leave alone because it wasn't ready yet?"
Pete winced. "You wouldn't tell on me would you?"
"Only if you don't tell me why we're having this awesomely vague conversation," Claudia said pointedly.
As Claudia waited for her answer and tapped her foot absent-mindedly against her desk, Pete's gaze drifted to the picture sitting by her computer. It was a picture of her and Steve, hamming it up for the camera with broad grins on their faces. Steven Jinks had been both Pete's partner and Claudia's best friend before being murdered by Marcus Diamond - a henchman of Walter Sykes – while undercover. While the death of the gregarious young agent had hit everyone at the Warehouse hard, Claudia was obviously affected the most. With Myka struggling with private demons of her own, Pete did not want the young woman to feel as though she did not have anyone she could talk to. The role of counsellor wasn't exactly one he relished, but his family was important to him.
Before he could open his mouth again, Claudia noticed the direction of his stare. The corners of her mouth curved upwards into a sad smile. "I still expect him to walk through the door at any moment. Then I remember that he's never coming back. It sucks and it feels as though the world has ended, or at least I want it to end -"
"Claudia," Pete interrupted in a worried tone, reading into Claudia's words that she had been contemplating suicide.
"Pete, let me finish," Claudia insisted. "Then I realise that I have people all around me, people who love me. I'll never stop missing Steve, but his death has made me realise how lucky I am. I mean, look at you Mr in-touch-with-your-feelings."
"Hey, I never said anything about touching no feelings!" Pete held up his hands in protest. His expression softened and he too smiled, just a little. "I miss Jinksy too, I guess we'll get through this together."
Claudia nodded appreciatively. A slight misty film had appeared across her eyes, and a few moments later large tears formed. She dashed them away with a swipe of her palm. "Thanks for stopping by, Pete. You should do it more often you know. I have a totally awesome couch and-" Claudia swivelled back around in her chair and shifted through an assortment of gadgets until she found what she was looking for, "-Milk Duds!" She tossed the packet to Pete who snatched it out of the air.
"Thanks, Clauds, but I'm trying to watch my figure," Pete said at first. A few moments later he grinned in response to Claudia's disbelieving expression. "Who the hell am I kidding?" Pete opened the box and poured a generous amount of candy into his palm before handing them back to Claudia. "Fanks," he said whilst munching happily.
They polished off the box of Milk Duds in companionable silence. As they chewed, Claudia couldn't help but notice that Pete continually cocked his head to one side as though listening out for someone in the hallway. Her suspicions were definitely aroused – she had a few theories as to why he was behaving in an odd manner. On one hand, Pete could have filched a slice of cheesecake and he was listening out for Leena. However the obvious theft of a dessert was far too amateur for someone of Pete's talents. Another thought was that he had done something to earn the wrath of either Artie or Mrs Frederic. That hypothesis was dismissed as well, the working day had passed without incident and Claudia was pretty sure she had heard Artie's bedroom door shut an hour ago. The only remaining possibility was that he was listening out for Myka. Now that she thought about it, Claudia didn't recall seeing the agent at all that evening – not since they had left work.
"Whatcha doin', Pete?" Claudia asked, throwing her last piece of candy into her mouth.
"Um, I'm sitting on your couch. What else am I supposed to be doing?" he asked.
Claudia narrowed her eyes. "You're looking all furtive. Something is up. Go on, spill, you know you want to."
"Myka is out...on a date, an actual date," Pete admitted relatively quickly. Given that he sounded incredibly pleased with himself, it was a secret he definitely felt the need to share. "Well, it's a blind date, which still counts as a date."
Claudia's jaw dropped. "You did what? Myka…blind date? Holy sweet mother of god, who the hell did you find in Univille to set Myka up with?"
"Owen Vincent, you know, the guy who brought out old Hank Holden's law practice a few months ago."
An image of a serious man with perfectly parted hair and kind eyes floated in Claudia's mind. She remembered meeting him at the drugstore a few weeks after he had arrived in town. She hadn't gleaned much from the brief introduction, but the gossip currently doing the round was that he had fled Minneapolis after a particularly messy divorce and was looking for a quiet life. Just about all of Univille's single women (and more than a few who weren't single) had been trying to get to know the lawyer better. Although that was the extent of her knowledge about the guy, Claudia supposed that he was a reasonable dating prospect for Myka.
"Did you bribe Myka to go on a blind date? She's not exactly the dating type, let alone a blind date...and one set up by you," Claudia pointed out.
"Hey, what do you take me for?" Pete protested. "On one hand - incredibly eligible young woman, and the other, good-looking lawyer. I was sort of surprised that she agreed, I did expect her to throw something at me when I suggested it – like she did the other day – but she said yes. Well, her exact words were 'why not' but I'll take that as a yes."
Pete cut himself short when he heard footsteps in the hallway outside. Both he and Claudia looked at each other and froze, listening intently as they tried to work out exactly who it was. Whoever it was wore heels, which ruled out Leena...and the footsteps were far too tentative to be the assertive strides of Mrs Frederic. As both came to the realisation that it could only be Myka, they scrambled to their feet and rushed for the door.
In the hallway, Myka yelped almost toppled backwards in fright when both Pete and Claudia came tumbling out of the door to Claudia's room. The agent had made an effort for her date, she was wearing an actual dress as opposed to a suit. It was plain but stunning. However the expression on her face was anything but elated. It was tired and even slightly depressed.
"Um, hi," Myka said uncertainly after straightening herself out. "Were you two lurking until I came home?"
"No," Pete shook his head.
"I was most certainly not," Claudia added. "Pete was though."
"Yeah, I was a little," Pete admitted seeing as he was sprung. "How was your date with the dashing Mr Vincent?"
Myka shrugged half-heartedly as she stopped by the door to her own room. "Fine, as far as blind dates go. Thanks, Pete."
"Don't mention it. And will you be seeing him again?" Pete prodded. Claudia elbowed him sharply in the ribs.
"He's a little...boring," Myka explained tactfully. "Which wasn't his fault at all. I guess when you hang out with scientists and secret agents everyone else just pales in comparison. Poor Owen, it wasn't his fault. He was a really nice guy, just really nice but...not really my type." Myka stifled a yawn. "I'm kind of tired, I'll catch you guys in the morning."
When Myka closed her bedroom door behind her, Pete turned to Claudia and gave her a long steady look. "I guess thinking that a date would cheer her up was a little presumptive on my part."
Claudia slapped him on the shoulder. "You tried buddy, you tried."
Myka stood with her back to the door and sagged wearily against it. She heard muffled snatches of conversation between Pete and Claudia but she wasn't really eavesdropping. When Pete had brought up the suggestion of a blind date, she had initially balked at such a ridiculous suggestion. However, as she resisted the urge to throw something at Pete again, she had soon realised that it could possibly be the first step in getting a certain Victorian inventor out of her system.
The events of the evening played out in her head like a film. It had been a text book perfect date. Owen was inquisitive when it came to asking about the sorts of things she liked and polite enough not to press when she steered the conversation away from talking about her line of work. However, as the date progressed Myka had slowly come to the realisation that no matter how well it went, it would do nothing to take away her seemingly irrational longing for Helena G. Wells.
Maybe it's too soon, Myka thought as she finally peeled herself away from the door. She let out an exasperated sigh. Seriously, you're acting as though you've just been through a break-up. New-flash, Bering, you were never dating Helena or anything remotely close. The closest you've ever come was momentarily getting all hot and bothered when you were tied up by the rope from the Mary Celeste. And that was strictly one-way traffic.
Myka stripped the heels from her feet and, with some degree of finality, found a place for them at the very back of her closet.
Much to everyone's surprise, nothing remotely exciting happened at the Warehouse for several weeks. There were pings, but the recovered objects were relatively mundane and harmless. Both Myka and Pete were starting to suspect that they were glorified FedEx agents or that there was some sort of conspiracy in place to keep them safe, but bored.
"I kind of miss the days when the artifacts tried to kill me," Pete commented wistfully as he paused in the midst of making an annotation in the catalogue.
"I know what you mean," Myka agreed as she carefully folded a delicate Hermès scarf into a storage box. "Although I can think of a number of people, myself included, who could really benefit from borrowing Audrey Hepburn's scarf for a day."
"You don't need an impeccable dress sense, Mykes, you're an Agent, you're supposed to look boring and dowdy. If you suddenly showed up looking all glamorous then we'd know something was up."
"Hey-" Myka protested indignantly.
"Kidding!" Pete interrupted quickly. "You're perfect the way you are...although you could flash a bit of leg every now and then."
Myka laughed. She was still surprised at how easy it was to respond light-heartedly to one of Pete's comments. However, over the past few weeks she had managed to return to a semblance of normality. A veil of sadness still hung over everything they did and Claudia could still be observed staring longingly at Jinks' picture, but for the most part the rest of the affair with Walter Sykes had been consigned to the past. Myka had thrown herself into her work, tagging and bagging with enthusiasm - as though it was the only thing that mattered to her. In truth it was – the Warehouse was everything to her. Her work, her family, her life revolved around it. She didn't have the time for anything else – certainly not pining over an absent Englishwoman.
"Hey, Mykes?" Pete called out as they made their way back towards the office.
Myka looked over her shoulder. "Yes, Pete?"
"Nothing has tried to kill us for over a month, I'm beginning to feel a little unloved," he commented.
"I kinda like being alive," was Myka's practical response. "I'm much happier that way. And it's not as though we're not travelling – Switzerland to pick up Audrey's scarf, Australia the week before."
"Hot country, hot girls," Pete mused absently.
Like the gentleman he occasionally was, Pete opened the office door and held it for Myka. The office at the Warehouse was almost never completely empty – either Claudia was at her computer, Artie was fussing over papers on his desk or Pete was helping himself to the largest slice of cake from the lunch hamper. Myka, however, was surprised to find the office practically teeming with life. Claudia was still at her computer and Artie was standing near his desk, but they were both flanked by four other people. She immediately recognised Mrs Frederic, Pete's mother, Jane Lattimer, and Mr Kosan – one of the Warehouse's Regents. However the fourth person - a tall, well-dressed man - she did not know.
"Hi, Mom!" Pete greeted Jane warmly. As he reached in for a hug he continued, "You didn't tell me you were going to be in town."
"Short notice I'm afraid," Jane replied in her distinctive, gravelly voice. "I hope you haven't been misbehaving?"
"Of course not!" Pete protested.
"Although if I wanted a truthful answer to that, I should really just ask Myka," Jane said, arching an eyebrow.
"He's been pretty good," Myka readily agreed, looking at Pete. She remembered his patience and perseverance in trying to bring her out of her depression and smiled. "Awesome actually."
Pete grinned in return. As they exchanged polite greetings with Mrs Frederic and Mr Kosan, they were all really just waiting to be introduced to the stranger in their midst. Claudia had already fixed him with a discreet but unwavering stare and, following a cursory glance, Myka had to agree that he was quite handsome. There was nothing odd about him - he had textbook good looks from his elegantly chiseled nose to his fashionable, slightly tousled haircut. He caught her sizing him up and, before she could turn away, flashed her a smile with a dazzling set of white teeth.
Of course his teeth are perfect, she thought to herself. Her gaze had inadvertently switched from the mystery man to Pete. She cocked her head slightly in amusement as she saw her partner stand a little straighter than he normally did, with his chest puffed out in an effort to look...well, something, Myka couldn't really figure it out.
Thankfully Artie spoke up before "Pete, Myka, I'd like you to meet Jonathan Cain –"
"It's about time, Artie," Cain himself spoke up, interrupting Artie as he surged forward to shake Pete's hand. "No doubt you were wondering who the bloody hell I was!"
Perfect, Myka thought as soon as Cain opened his mouth and she heard a very familiar accent. "You're British?" it slipped out before she could stop herself – sounding both blunt and rude.
"Guilty as charged, Ms Bering!" Cain did not seem fazed by her statement. Instead he moved from Pete's side to hers, shaking her hand in a warm, firm grip. "Sorry if I'm overly familiar, I studied your files on the way across the Atlantic so I feel as though I know you already."
Mrs Frederic coughed. "Now that we have the pleasantries over, can we get down to business please?"
Although the pleasantries had hardly even begun, everyone obediently turned to face Mrs Frederic. The imposing Caretaker faced each in turn, as though to ensure they were paying full attention. Myka settled down on a nearby chair, with Pete perching on a table opposite. She immediately recognised the confused, slightly interested expression on his face. When he raised his eyebrows at her as though to ask 'do you know what the hell is going on?' she discreetly shrugged. Claudia caught her gaze next and there was just one word on her lips 'smokin' – directed of course at Jonathan Cain. This opinion merely received a second shrug from Myka although, given that Cain was leaning against the wall right next to her, it was an exceptionally discreet shrug. She was still trying to recover from the unpleasant shock of hearing the first British accent since Helena suddenly left the Warehouse. On a lighter note, she could already imagine Pete trying to imitate it when they were back at the B & B and the thought had her threatening to grin at a rather inappropriate moment.
"I don't need to tell you that the acquisition and safe storage of dangerous artifacts is the very reason for the existence of the Warehouse," Mrs Frederic intoned, looking at each of them in turn.
"We know that," Pete added. "But does he?"
As Pete inclined his head towards Jonathan Cain, Mrs Frederic gave him a glacially cold stare for daring to speak up before her briefing had even begun properly. Myka shrugged in sympathy, Pete had a good point. They didn't know the first thing about Jonathan Cain – although the fact that he had the support of both Mrs Frederic and The Regents did lend him a fair amount of credibility.
"I have had the opportunity to read your files, it's only fair that you should be able to see mine," Cain offered.
"I assure you, Mr Cain's credentials have been thoroughly endorsed by The Regents, otherwise he would not be standing in the Warehouse," Mr Kosan spoke up. "Now if you're finished, Mr Lattimer, we need to get this briefing underway."
Between the combined scrutiny of both Mrs Frederic and Mr Kosan – not to mention his mother - Pete clamped his mouth shut. He did however maintain a suspicious sideways glance at the apologetic visage of Jonathan Cain. Myka did feel somewhat badly for the handsome Englishman. He was the one stepping into a new environment and probably exceptionally nervous, no matter how confident he appeared on the outside. Still, she stopped short of offering him a reassuring smile. She shared her partner's concerns, they know nothing about Cain and until they did, she was going to keep him at arm's length.
"Mrs Frederic, if you will allow me?" Cain asked. Much to the surprise of the Warehouse agents, she responded with a small nod. "Pete, Myka, you want to know what my credentials are? I have spent the three years undercover at the behest of The Regents attempting to infiltrate an underground auction house - a Sotheby's for artifacts if you will."
"Mr Cain would have been our first choice to replace Ms. Bering when she resigned as Agent," Kosan added. "However he could not be taken out of his cover and we recruited Steve Jinks instead. The auction house has supposedly been in existence for hundreds of years, however only ever encounter in rumour and hearsay by actual Warehouse agents…until very recently we could not confirm its existence. Mr Cain's primary goal was to gain the trust of the people who run this auction, and from there, determine the extent of their operation."
Cain nodded. "I have only managed to scratch the surface of the various cells in operation. If my opinion was taken into account, I would spend another year fully mapping their organisation in order to bring it down more effectively. Unfortunately the situation dictates that we act sooner. I have recently begun to hear rumours of an upcoming auction unlike any other – that of an entire cache of objects stolen from Warehouse 12 in the 1870s. Following discussions with The Regents, we believe it to be the Cecil-Gibson cache."
"Acton Cecil-Gibson?" Myka asked, at Cain's nod she continued, "I was reading something in passing about him last week. He was essentially the Artie of Warehouse 12. He used his position to steal a number of artifacts throughout the 1870s – forty-three to be exact. He died of a mysterious illness before he could be made to divulge what he had done with the artifacts he stole. It was suspected initially that he had stolen each to order and sold them off, however when he died his estate was virtually penniless, indicating that he didn't sell them at all."
"How can you remember all of that from something you read in passing…last week?" Pete asked incredulously. "I mean I know you're super memory woman and all but that is ridiculous. And while we're at it…there's another agent who turned to the dark side? Do you people even check the references of the staff you hire?"
As Pete spoke, Myka brushed a finger against JA Larsen's ring. She didn't offer Pete an answer and was grateful when Jane Lattimer spoke up.
"We are all personally aware that, despite the rigour of the selection process, agents sometimes act for their own benefit as opposed to that of the Warehouse. There have been a number of cases throughout the years-"
Pete coughed, Myka clearly heard 'H.G.' in the midst of his less than discreet interruption. She immediately thought that this was slightly unfair. There were many agents who had weak moments throughout their career – it just happened that in her 'weak moment,' Helena had tried to destroy the civilised world. Okay, I fully admit that I am biased when it comes to that particular ex-agent, Myka thought. Regardless of her current feelings towards Helena, she would continue to believe that she was inherently a good person – regardless of what her fear drove her to do. Myka only needed to shut her eyes to remember the feel of the barrel of her own gun against her forehead. Not to mention watching the determination in Helena's eyes slowly give way to desperation in the moments before she crumpled to the ground.
Mrs Frederic grunted impatiently. "Agents Lattimer and Bering, The Regents have decided that you are both going to England to help Mr Cain recover the stolen artifacts and return them to their rightful home. You'll be leaving within the week."
"Righty-ho!" Pete replied in his best imitation of an English accent…which was terrible. He also sounded more than a little sarcastic.
"Don't worry, Pete," Cain said jovially. "I'll give you and Ms Bering a thorough briefing before we leave. Shall we start things off with a tour around Warehouse 13?"
Pete's expression said he was less than pleased at playing tour guide, it was left to Myka to stand up and take over. For obvious reasons, Claudia very quickly volunteered to assist with the tour.
Artie closed the door behind them on the way out and turned to face the two Regents and Mrs Frederic with a worried look on his face. "I would think that the sort of people who run this operation would be very dangerous characters indeed. What assurance do I have that you aren't sending my people into a situation that could wind up with them dead? I just lost one agent."
"I can give you no such assurances," Mrs Frederic replied. There was a pained expressed on Jane Lattimer's face. "We all know that it is a risk you take every day when dealing with artifacts. Agent Jink's death was tragic, but we cannot continue to wrap Lattimer and Bering in cotton wool. We need to retrieve those artifacts before they are sold and we lose them forever."
"You're sending Pete and Myka, along with someone they've only just met, up against an organisation you know very little about. Three people against how many? There may be dozens of them!"
"Four people," Mr Kosan pointed out.
Artie frowned. "Four?"
"H.G. Wells will be joining them," Kosan admitted. "Although she was not an employee of Warehouse 12 at the same time as Cecil-Gibson, The Regents feel that her insight will nevertheless be valuable."
It was Mrs Frederic's turn to frown. "I was under the impression that Ms. Wells wanted no further involvement with Warehouse 13?"
"Ms. Wells will remain linked to the Warehouse for the rest of her life," Kosan said firmly – his tone unwavering. "She is a resource of the Warehouse, and the moment she ceases to be that resource, she will be re-consigned to the Bronzer. If she is labouring under the false impression that she will be left to her own devices, then she is sadly mistaken. This time tomorrow, I expect Ms Wells to either be assisting with the case at hand…or back in Bronze."