While Myka, Artie, and Leena stood in the front hallway of the B&B, Pete came down the stairs carrying a big black garbage bag. His hair was wet and he had changed clothes.
"One bag of smoky ruined clothes, headed to the dumpster." Pete went out the front door.
"Myka, you can claim the next hot shower," Leena said. "I need more time to find clothes for Artie." She crossed her arms and sized up Artie.
He sighed in exasperation.
"Leena, I need to tell you something, about Pete," Myka said.
Leena nodded. "Pete told us he's tempted to drink," she said. "We didn't have much alcohol here anyway, just a few wine coolers you bought for Claudia. I poured them down the sink so I could reassure Pete. There's no alcohol in the house right now."
"Thank you," Myka said.
Pete came back through the front door. "You guys need to get rid of your smoky clothes. You stink."
Artie frowned at him.
Pete stopped. "Oh, man, all your personal stuff was in the Warehouse. Sorry."
"Go ahead, Myka," Leena said. "We'll work on Artie." She handed Myka a black garbage bag, the first-aid kit, and a bottle of peroxide.
As Myka showered, she realized her hair was too long and would only get in her way. Time for a trim, she thought. She washed her hair a second time, hoping to remove the smoky smell.
With the first-aid supplies, she cleaned the gash on her arm again, and put on another bandage.
Myka dressed, combed out her long wet hair, and went looking for Claudia. She saw the bedroom door, partly opened.
"Claudia?" Myka opened the door a bit more and peeked in.
Claudia sat on her bed, cross-legged. In tears, she hugged several framed photos.
Myka saw part of one photo -Steve and Claudia in their Civil War uniforms.
"Claudia, I'm so sorry." She sat down in the office chair at Claudia's desk, next to the bed. "About Steve. About everything."
"Mrs. Frederic refused to bring back Steve with the Metronome Artifact." Claudia clenched her jaw. "If she were alive, we would be fighting about it right now. I don't care what Mrs. Frederic or the Regents think. I would use the Metronome, or anything else I could get my hands on, to bring back Steve and H.G." She sighed in frustration. "Then probably I'd get fired from the Warehouse."
I would do almost anything to bring them back, Myka thought. I'm not going to keep the Pocketwatch Artifact a secret, either.
Claudia's eyes were red, and her nose ran.
From the box on the desk, Myka pulled out tissues for herself, and handed the box to Claudia.
Say something reassuring that's not Top Secret, she thought.
"I can't imagine a scenario where you could be fired," she said. "I don't know how Artie kept Warehouse 13 going before you arrived. We could never manage without you now. Plus you've only just started your career as a field agent."
"I'm not cut out to be a Warehouse agent," Claudia said. "Or any other kind of agent where we have such dangerous jobs. Not when the people I care about keep dying."
"Oh, Claude," she said. "None of us are cut out for this, not really. Warnings about death are scary enough when they're printed in our job descriptions. But losing a partner is devastating. After I lost Sam, my partner from Denver Secret Service, I carried the pain and sadness for a long time."
"Sadness?" Claudia glared and clenched her jaw. "Mainly, I'm furious. Myka, why aren't you furious?"
"I am furious. I'm also heartbroken." Myka wiped her eyes. "All this crying is exhausting, too."
"I'm angry because we should not have lost the war against Sykes," she said hoarsely. "I'm angry about how the Regents kept secrets from us. They kept us in the dark and didn't let us fight in our own war. I keep thinking, if things had gone even a little differently, we could have stopped Sykes and stopped the bomb."
"We could have stopped Steve from going on his undercover mission," Claudia said. "Artie knew I was upset about Steve leaving the Warehouse. How could he not tell me the truth?"
"Oh, no," Myka said. "Even Artie didn't know why Steve left. He didn't know Steve went undercover, either. Mrs. Frederic kept it a secret from Artie, until it was too late."
"The key word is 'late,'" Claudia said. "The truth is pretty useless now."
"When I drove Artie in the SUV, I gave him a long speech about Regents keeping secrets. I told him, one of our new rules must be, 'No more secrets.' We will never be blind-sided by Bad Guys again. Not as long as I work at Warehouse 13."
Myka wanted to tell Claudia about the Pocketwatch Artifact, and how she hoped they could fix everything that had gone wrong. But she looked at the grief-stricken young woman.
Maybe I should wait until this particular emotional tidal wave passes, she thought. Claudia doesn't need all of my far-fetched hopes thrown at her, not all at once. Start with some smaller piece of information.
"Maybe it's not too late, for the truth, I mean," Myka said. "We discovered some vital information about Sykes. Unfortunately, we learned it at the last minute. Armed with more of the truth, maybe we can do something."
Claudia looked puzzled.
"Vague, I know," Myka said. "Artie had one idea, but he was reluctant to explain. I'm going to insist Artie give all of us an update, together. We need to see where we stand. In the meantime, I'm going back to work on this case."
"What case?" Claudia asked. "The Bad Guy is dead and all the artifacts are gone."
"But I still have questions about what happened," Myka said. "How did Sykes know so much about Warehouse 13? Where did he get so many artifacts? We can still do a lot of digging into his past. Also, I've got to develop a plan for what we do next."
"What kind of plan? I don't see the point," Claudia said.
"Some small plans at least. We take the next steps. Those steps add up to a bigger plan," she said. "For example, I'm going to need paper, to write out all my plans. We can go into Univille for supplies."
Claudia shifted the stack of photos in her arms, but said nothing.
"My first step is small, but I need your help," Myka said. "Would you trim a couple of inches off the length of my hair?"
Claudia was a bit surprised. But she set the photo-frames on the other side of her bed and stood up. She found some scissors, and moved her trashcan to catch the hair.
Myka sat in the chair, facing the desk.
Claudia only agreed to cut Myka's hair if she could cut slowly, one small section at a time. After Myka described her desired length at the top of her shoulders, Claudia cautiously began to cut the long wet hair.
Myka sat still and surveyed Claudia's desk. She stared at the old photo of young Claudia, smiling beside her older brother, Joshua. The first time she saw the photo wasthree years ago.
A desperate young woman kidnapped Artie from Warehouse 13. When Myka and Pete traced the woman to her apartment, they found an office crammed with physics books. Her research covered the walls - notes, diagrams, charts, and photos. The young woman was Claudia Donovan, the amateur physicist who rescued her own brother after he was trapped in a dimensional rift.
Claudia the genius physicist, she thought.
After Claudia finished her careful work, she stood back and released the breath she was holding.
"Claudia, you're a genius," Myka said.
"All I did was cut in a straight line," Claudia said skeptically. "I'm not cut out to be a hairdresser, either."
Myka turned around in the office chair. "I meant generally, you're brilliant." She picked up the photo. "The brilliant girl who grew up to be this genius young woman." She pointed at Claudia.
"I'd like you to consult on a scientific matter. I have a serious physics problem. Specifically, a problem with an extremely powerful explosive device. I'll bet that you, Claudia Donovan, can help me solve my problem."