Chapter 4

Warehouse 13
South Dakota

Pete parked the SUV and stared at the Warehouse. A scream only he heard made him turn his head, watching the sky. He looked at Myka.

She had fallen asleep almost as soon as they'd gotten on the highway. He mused how peaceful she looked, not knowing that he already knew Genna was dead and that he had to do something he was reluctant to do.

Pete reached inside his coat and pulled out a piece of paper. He folded it and slid it into her coat pocket. He moved his hand up to lay it gently on her head. Pete leaned across the middle console, placing a soft kiss on her temple.

"I'm sorry, Mykes," Pete whispered.

Pete turned off the dome light so the door opening wouldn't turn it on. Pete pulled out the keys out and quietly placed them in the cup holder. Then he slipped out of the SUV, silently shut the door, and headed inside.

He found Claudia asleep at her computer in the office.

Pete walked into the back of the office and came back with two devices the size and look of hockey pucks. He stopped and crouched next to Claudia. He pushed her bangs back, smiling at her. When a tear slid down his cheek, Pete let it.

He whispered to her, "I expect you to find some crazy, thirteenth hour solution, Claudia. Don't let me down."

He slipped out of the office and down the stairs. Silently he made his way to Artie's bedroom. Pete walked up to the bed and pulled out a piece of paper. He folded it into a tent and sat it over Artie's glasses.

In large letters the note read: DON'T PANIC –PETE, followed by smaller letters: Myka's note explains everything.

He paused, watching his boss sleep. Having nothing enlightening to tell Artie in his sleep, Pete slipped silently away.

#

Pete walked into the bronze section. He stopped, listening to the screaming. It was closer and sounded like wind going through a pipe. It was still too far away to make out what the scream was saying. He walked around to the back of the bronze chamber and climbed up to the top. He pulled out one of the hockey pucks. He tapped the surface and a keypad and LCD screen with glowing red letters appeared. He entered eight and started the timer. He slapped the puck onto the top of the chamber, and then slid back to the floor. He walked over to the console and woke it up. Pete set up a bronze session. The machinery behind the chamber whirred to life. The door of the chamber slid open. Pete set it to begin bronzing in one minute. He pulled out the second hockey puck and entered five, then slapped it onto the controls. His finger stopped, shaking as it hovered over the cancel button. Pete closed his eyes, feeling his will teetering.

The scream tore through his concentration. He realized it was his name being screamed. Pete looked up at the ceiling. He let a few tears fall and pulled himself together. He walked into the bronze chamber and turned to face the Warehouse. He drew in a long, deep breath. With his will and courage back in place, Pete took off his coat and suit jacket. He tossed them out. He stood for a few seconds and grinned. He stripped down to his underwear.

"I could be here awhile. May as well get comfortable," Pete told the Warehouse.

An alarm went off and the chamber door slid shut. The chamber filled with steam. The countdown to complete the process began. It finished one minute and twenty seconds ahead of the hockey puck timer on the controls.

#

An explosion ripped Artie out of his sleep. He scrambled out of bed and fumbled for his glasses, smashing the tent paper over them. Another explosion reverberated through the Warehouse. Artie pulled on his glasses, looking down at the paper as it fell. He snatched it up, reading the message.

"What did you do?" Artie gasped.

He grabbed the Farnsworth next to his bed when it started buzzing. He flipped it open, finding Claudia. Artie wrestled to put on shoes.

"What's going on?" she asked. "I just heard two explosions. What's happening?"

"Find out where they came from."

Claudia turned away and he heard her typing. "The bronze section."

"Find Myka."

"Did she—"

"Just do it!" Artie slapped the Farnsworth shut and ran across the Warehouse.

Artie began coming across debris, followed by smoke that was clearing from the bronze section. Then the bronzer was in view. He stopped, staring at the destruction. The control panel was in pieces and of the chamber was in ribbons of metal. Steam poured from one of the ruptured pipes and water gushed from another.

Pete stood at the bottom of the steps, staring at whoever was inside the chamber.

"Pete, what have you done?" Artie asked Pete.

Pete's head cocked to the side. He turned it just slightly. These actions told Artie something was very, very wrong with Pete.

"Fix it," he told Artie, pointing at the control panel.

"You destroyed it! I can't fix it! Why? Why did you do this, Pete?"

"Fix it, Artie," Pete ordered.

Artie hesitated. What was wrong with Pete? He could see for himself that he had destroyed the bronzer. Why was he being so insistent about Artie fixing it? Had Evil Pete found him and possessed him already?

More quietly Artie told him, "The bronzer is destroyed, Pete. And explain this note. What is in Myka's note?"

Pete condensed to a cloud that rushed up on Artie and formed back into Pete right before him. Artie stared at Evil Pete's lunatic grin, black eyes, white skin with black veins. Very slowly, he took his eyes off Evil Pete and looked at the bronzed person in the chamber. The person was his agent Pete, the one who couldn't keep his hands off artifacts and caused trouble, the one who saved genies, and loved pop culture. The one who never would have done this if he didn't have a damn good reason.

"Artie," Myka said from behind him.

"Fix. It." Evil Pete ordered.

"I can't," Artie growled. "Pete destroyed it and something tells me that is stopping you from using him to destroy the planet. Kind of sucks to be you, doesn't it?"

Evil Pete moved in on Artie. He grabbed his face between his hands in a painful squeeze.

"Fix the bronzer, Artie, or I will squeeze you like a tomato."

"I can't fix it instantaneously, do you understand?" Artie insisted. "There is no way to fix it like that!"

"With all the artifacts here, you're telling me you cannot just fix it? I don't believe you."

"Too bad! It's the truth. If it were that simple, Pete never would have bothered destroying it. How does it feel to be outsmarted by your good side?"

Evil Pete growled. It was a frightening sound, like a hungry lion. He shoved Artie away, turned back to a cloud and shot up overhead. Artie stared. There was a huge cloud mass overhead. Were these all the evil souls that Pete had released? The mass moved up, disappearing behind the lights of the Warehouse. He heard someone walk behind him. Myka walked up the three short steps to Pete, staring at him. He heard a soft sob and turned his head. Claudia stood behind him, crying. He looked back at Myka.

"Pete said you have a letter, Myka."

She pulled the paper from her pocket and handed it to him, not taking her eyes off her partner. "I knew there was something wrong," Myka told him. "He acted like nothing happen; as if he didn't know she was dead. He made me believe it…"

"He didn't want you or any of us to stop him." Artie unfolded it and began reading.

"What does it say?" Claudia asked.

He was half-way through the letter and almost fell trying to sit down. Claudia walked up and knelt next to him.

Quieter she repeated, "What does it say, Artie?"

Artie smeared a rebel tear across his cheek and began reading. "Myka, please read this to everyone. Help them understand. I'm sorry I had to handle things this way. That evil thing we call Evil Pete, he kidnapped Genna and he found a way to break our bond. He murdered her, and I think it was because she somehow stood between him using me to destroy the world. We already know these things like destruction for the sake of destruction. You know I never would have come up with a way to stop him, so I did the next best thing. I bronzed myself and destroyed it so he can't get to me. Artie, please don't be too angry about the mess I made and the whole blowing up the bronzer. I love you guys too much to let that thing use me to hurt you and you of all people, Artie and Claudia, should understand that after. You've used artifacts to save all of us; I'm using the bronzer to save all of you." Artie's voice cracked. "H.G. told me once that when she was bronzed she could hear people and felt people touch her sometimes. Please keep me company, guys. Maybe put a radio or TV nearby? I need a favor too. Someone has to explain this to my mother. She'll worry and she will probably try living at the warehouse. Artie, Regent or not, you can't let her do that. Make her get on with life and convince her this is just a moment, not forever. I know you guys just need time to figure this out and I have given you all the time you need. I have faith in you guys and I'll miss you. Your best yard ornament ever, Pete."

The gravity of the situation quashed Pete's attempt of humor. Artie crushed the letter in his fist, letting the tears go. Claudia moved to a chair, staring at the floor.

That was how Abigail and Steve found them.

"Who bronzed Pete?" Steve asked. "Who blew up the bronzer?"

"Pete did." Myka answered barely loud enough to be heard. She stepped into the chamber with him, hugging Pete. She didn't want the others to see her tears

"He did it to," Artie added. "To keep Evil Pete from getting to him. To… Protect us."

Abigail sat on the stairs next to Artie.

Steve sat down next to the fence, staring at Pete and Myka.

People protect what they love.

—Jacques Yves Cousteau

The End