Chapter Four
The light filtered in through the shades like it had every day for the past nine months she had lived there. Helena quietly slips out from under the heavy arm and wraps her robe around her. Turning on the kettle and retrieving the newspaper from the doorstep, Helena goes through her morning routine. Although she would always bring it inside, Helena had stopped reading the paper. Instead, she spent her mornings trying to decide on a type of ceremony to have. Helena wanted something intimate but Nate wanted Helena to have the whole experience. Although nearly a month had passed the two had still not set a date for their upcoming nuptials. Helena sat at the bay window watching the sunrise. A ray of sunlight hit her hand just right and a spectrum of light played across her face. Slipping the ring from her finger, Helena gazed into the beautiful stone. She had always seen diamonds as being such a complex stone, at first it appears to be reflecting light from a single spot but upon closer inspection, the diamond was reflecting off each of it's surfaces. In a way, she understood it. She was happy but it was more complex than that. There were all these things happening beneath the surface that she wasn't sure how to explain or what to call them. She loved her new family but… she felt a longing she had failed to shake.
Ever since that day at the jewelry store, Helena had been thinking about picking up the phone and calling Myka for that cup of coffee but there was always something to distract her from it; Adelaide would ask for a story or Nate would ask her about dinner. Helena always found something to keep her from calling. Helena wondered what she would even say, how do you explain to the family you left behind that you're happy but not? How do you tell them that you miss them but can't leave? How do you listen to the listen to the words but not the emotions behi…
"HELENA!" Nate yelled over the screeching of the kettle, he quickly turned the burner off and removed the kettle from the stove.
Helena snapped out of her thoughts and jumped to her feet, "are you ok? Is something wrong?"
Nate's hair was standing up and his clothes were disheveled. His face was filled with fear and concern as Helena met his worried eyes.
"I..uh…I'm so sorry, darling. Just a little out of it, I suppose. A cup of tea and I'll be ship shape."
Helena stumbled across the words as she took the kettle from his hands and filled her cup with the boiling water. Nate's eyes remained on her as she fixed her cup of tea and took her place at the window. He had noticed that his fiancé had become more distant as the days passed, her physical presence never changed but her mind seemed to wander more.
"Where were you just now?" Nate asked noticing Helena's eye beginning to glaze over once more.
"Myk…my team back at the warehouse" Helena quickly changed the course of her response.
"You miss them don't you? It's ok if you do. Why don't you take a weekend and go visit them. Share our exciting news with them." Nate said sportingly. Maybe all she needed as a getaway to spend time with her old friends.
"Oh that's not necessary" Helena quipped back "I'm just… in over my head with the wedding planning".
Helena pondered the thought of seeing the team again, it has been all too long and she missed the bickering at the breakfast table each morning. Perhaps a trip would do her some good but not the trip Nate had in mind.
After Nate had left with Adelaide, Helena called into work and requested the day off. Seeing as how "Emily Lake" was actually weeks ahead of schedule, the lab had no issues with her absence. Helena walked out to her workshop and released the padlock from the door. Nate had installed the lock after Adelaide had wondered in the small shack and was found playing with one of Helena's metal grinders. Placing the lock in the pocket of her jacket, Helena began sorting through cardboard boxes that she had brought with her when she left the warehouse. Her books, papers, and stable inventions were just as she had left them. At the opening of each box, the smell bed and breakfast came wafting out sending her on a trip down memory lane. Running her fingers over the edges of her books, Helena noticed the dozens of folded pages in each of her books. Myka would often borrow novels from her collection and would doggy ear parts of the book she had questions about. Helena could expect Myka to wonder in the room with one of her books and a curious smile across her face.
"What do I have the pleasure of explaining today?" Helena would greet her.
They would spend hours discussing plot twists, character development, and perfect cliffhangers. Sometimes Myka would agree with Helena's interpretations but other times she stood in stark contrast. Myka always saw the good in the characters whereas Helena could only humanity. On occasion there discussions would turn into debates leaving both the women breathless and exhausted. Each were too stubborn to completely fold although they did see merit in the other's argument.
She set the box of books aside and opened another. This one filled with newspaper wrapping. She grasped at the top mass and began unraveling a frame from its paper. It was a photo of Charles, his mustache being terribly pronounced as usual. She missed his smiling eyes; he would laugh to see her playing house in the middle of the United States. He had taken such good care of her and her daughter when they needed him. She sighed and traced the lines of his face wishing he could be here now. If anyone was going to give Helena away, Charles would jokingly throw her at the poor groom.
Helena set the photo aside with a laugh and began unwrapping the rest of the frames. She found a photo of Pete that he had given her as a joke for her birthday one year; he was shirtless and flexing on a beach. Helena pretended to be grateful for the gift but mostly admired it for capturing Pete's spirit perfectly. There were a few photos of her partners from Warehouse 12 in the box as well but the photograph that caught her attention was one of the team. Lena had been adamant that such a picture needed to be taken. Artie, Claudia, Jinks, Pete, Myka, and Helena were all standing in front of the breakfast table. Helena had attempted to step out of the photo only resorting in Myka pulling her back into frame.
Myka wrapped her arm around Helena's small waist and pulled her close, "You're a part of this team now so deal with it." She said through her smiling teeth. A smirk grew across Helena's face and a bright flash blinded them all.
Myka always seemed to notice when Helena would start to drift away and she always found a way to pull her back in. It was embarrassing really, Helena shook her head at all the things the pair had been through. She would have destroyed the world had it not been for curly haired agent and her overly confident attitude that she knew Helena better than she knew herself. The memory of holding a gun to Myka's head as her finger grasped the trigger still gave Helena sick to her stomach.
Searching for a more pleasant memory, Helena began sorting through a box of clothing and knick-knacks she had stored away. Not finding much of significance she dug to the bottom of the box and pulled out a brown leather jacket.
"Ah, that's where you'd been hiding" Helena said out loud as she pulled on the jacket. It was no secret that she has quite the collection of leather jackets but this one had gone missing during the move. Standing up and trying the jacket on, Helena tried to remember the last time she had worn the garment.
"It had to be… the day Artie diffused the bomb in the warehouse with Ghandi's dhoti."
Yet another time Helena had almost shot Myka, in her defense that was out of her control quite literally. It was also the day Myka had put Helena in her place.
"Get of your cross." Helena laughed.
That day turned everything around for them, Bering and Wells was back on track. Helena couldn't decide if Artie was too happy to have her stay, after she confronted him about using the astrolade to go back in time. Helena had certainly earned his respect by supposedly sacrificing herself for the team, a part of her wish she could remember what had happened. After putting their lives in danger many times before, Helena knew she would go to any length to protect the team. Artie didn't explain much; the threat of uncertain evil was too great a threat. After getting rid of the astrolade, Helena had decided to leave the past where it longed.
A knock on the workshop door startled Helena and she cautiously opened peeked through the crack in the frame.
"Nate?" Helena asked, uncertain why he would be home. Simultaneously throwing the jacket back into the boxes, Helena opened the door.
"I forgot to tell you that I would be working late tonight and Adelaide is spending the night with a friend so the house is all your this evening." He said as he leaned in and kissed Helena on the top of her head.
"Alright darling, do be good." Helena said with a smirk, "and let me know when to expect you, I'd hate for you to have a run-in with the pool boy."
"Nice try, Helena, we don't have a pool." Nate laughed as he walked around the house to his waiting car, it was nice to see his fiancé seeming more like herself.
Nate had been working longer shifts at work to save money for wedding. Although Helena appreciated his efforts to give her the fairy tale ceremony, what she really cared more for was their time together. With Nate gone so often, Helena was able to spend more time with Adelaide. They had made quite the team. Helena would wake up seeing that Nate had already left so she began sleeping in. This meant that she and Adelaide would sit at the bay window with cups of tea reading through bridal magazines and wedding announcements.
Once Helena left work for the day she would pick up Adelaide from school, deposit her back at the martial arts studio, and head home to start dinner for the two of them. Helena had been trying to expand her culinary skills and had sought out the recipes given to her in the cooking class. They would polish off the dishes and cuddle up on the couch watching the history channel before bed. Helena loved catching up on what she had missed and Adelaide found Helena's take on the events fascinating, she had been present for quite a few of them. Often Adelaide would fall asleep strewn across Helena's lap, she would sit and enjoy the closeness they shared. Christina would do the very same thing when they lived with Charles. The little girl would ask her mother to read her a story and they would lie on the chaise lounge and explore forests with dangerous beasts, castles with beautiful princesses, and laboratories with made scientists. Helena would pet the young girls hair and watch her chest rise and lower with each sweet breath.
There is nothing more precious than the innocence of a child, Helena thought as she ran her fingers through Adelaide's hair.
The pair had become inseparable which would make this evening especially interesting. The girls would be spending the night at the zoo and would not return until the following day. As Helena helped Adelaide carry her sleeping bag and pillow past the zoo gates she realized that for the first time in a long while she would be alone. Adelaide had offered to stay with Helena in case she became too lonely but Helena comforted the young girl saying that she was all grown up and could certainly spend a night by herself. With a kiss to Adelaide's forehead, Helena left.
The house seemed so much larger when it was empty. She decided that she would spend the evening indulging herself. She drew a bath and fished out a few candles from under the kitchen sink, placing them around the tub and lighting them Helena was actually quite excited to have a soak. After snatching a book from one of the shelves in the library, Helena settled herself into the hot water.
"Ahhhhhhhh" Helena breathed out a sigh of satisfaction.
She picked up the book from the floor and began flipping through the pages, It's vane to read the books one has written, Helena thought to herself, but not when there isn't a soul to witness it! She loved reading her old words, often she would stop to chuckle at her own wit.
"That's a good one there, H.G.", Helena would speak aloud when an incredible plot twist would take place.
After awhile her arms grew tired and cold and she set the book aside, removed the towel from behind her neck and allowed herself to sink down into the warm water. The sound of the water swooshed around her head and she quickly lost herself in the silence, taking deep breaths, Helena could feel her entire body relax with ease. Not a thought in her head, not a care in the world.
Slowly Helena found herself being pulled from her nirvana by the painstakingly high-pitched screech from a smoke detector. Lunging forward out of the now lukewarm water, Helena was instantly faced with a small wall of fire licking that the edge of the tub. It appeared as though a towel had fallen down onto the candle and her copy of The Time Machine was now roaring with flames.
Well I suppose I had that one coming, Helena thought to herself as she took in the growing flames.
With a pout to her lip, Helena slashed an arm into the water creating a miniature title wave to stifle the fire. The burn marks on the bathtub would be hard to explain but besides having to replace the floor mat, that's all damage the small fire had done.
"Well I thought I'd be alright." Helena said to herself as she remembered Adelaide's parting offer.