A/N: So here it is... the homecoming chapter. May not be all fluff and fun, or any fluff and fun, but we're getting there. Introducing an artifact seems to have come with it's own set of problems for me. haha. We'll be back on the fluff track in no time so hang in there... PLEASE.

Every single, agonizing mistake is mine. I take full responsibility for every word or phrase butchered, as well as every poorly written piece of dialogue.

Had a hard time with this one... that's why it took so long so I am very sorry about that. I hope you guys enjoy it. I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly so we can get back to the fun stuff. :)

"They're here!" Sarah jumped off the porch of the B&B, Claudia and Leena walking down after her; just as anxious and excited to have their friends home again. "Mom!" The young Bering-Wells ran straight into Myka's arms as soon as she stepped out of the car.

"Ow." Myka said through clenched teeth, trying to hide as much of the pain from her daughter as she could. She quickly glanced at Helena who almost bolted forward to check on her. The bruises were really bad the night before, but Myka lied to her wife, saying it looked worse than it felt. Pete dropped the luggage that he had just gotten out of the SUV and stood there like a statue.

"I'm sorry!" Sarah pulled away carefully, but was instantly stopped by her mother's loving grasp and pulled back into the hug. "I don't want to hurt you mom."

"It's okay sweetie, you can't hurt me. I'm happy to be home and I want as many hugs as I can get." Myka looked her daughter straight in her eyes, thankful to be home in one piece; even if that piece was covered with some bumps and bruises.

"May I cut in then?" Claudia cleared her throat, hugging Myka gently when Sarah stepped out of her mother's embrace. "I'm so happy you're back." She whispered into the taller woman's ear.

"Me too Claude." Myka whispered back, kissing her young friends cheek. "I'm a little tired. I had a hard time sleeping last night so, I'll just head home and take a nap. See you all for lunch?"

"I'll come with you. I'm a bit tired myself." Helena was suddenly right next to Myka, her arm around her waist.

"You don't have to do that Helena, you should stay and spend some time with Sarah." Myka said, leaning further into her wife's body.

"It's okay mom. I can hang out with Aunty Leena." She looked over to the woman who kept watch over her most days when her mother's were both at the warehouse working. Leena walked over to her and put an arm around the her shoulder.

"Yeah, you guys go ahead, Sarah's been keeping me company in the garden. She has a green thumb that I love using." She turned around with Sarah under her arm, walking to the garden. "You sure she's yours?" The two laughed as they left the group.

When they were out of sight, Helena turned to myka. "You said it wasn't that bad." She cupped Myka's face in her hands. "Darling on a scale of one to ten?"

"It's not that bad. Just um... when he squeezed my arm I may have felt a little crack, but it's okay. I'll go to the doctors tomorrow I promise." Myka tried to reassure Helena, whos face fell instantly. "Helena..."

Claudia took a few steps back, drawing the attention of her friends. "Sorry... I'll just go away and let you guys do your thing. Pete! Why don't you help me finish off the cookies Leena made this morning?"

"Oooh. Don't have to ask me twice." Pete and Claudia raced to the front door, leaving Myka and Helena to stand there in silence.

"Myka, you told me it didn't hurt that much." Helena pulled away slightly. "You lied to me."

"I didn't want to worry you. Baby I saw how mad you were, you almost killed Carlos and you didn't even see what happened when he grabbed me. If you had seen it, you would have killed him. So I hid the pain a little." She closed her eyes, afraid that Helena would walk away or be angry, but was surprised when she felt the Brit's soft lips against her forehead.

"Let's get some rest my love." They walked back to the cottage in silence. Helena thought about her past, about the things she had done after Christina was killed. She thought that part of herself was dead. Since meeting and falling in love with Myka and having the agent love her in return, she truly felt healed and whole; but seeing Myka in danger, being used by the regents... all those feelings came flooding back and she was afraid.

They got to the cottage and Myka broke the silence. "I'm sorry I lied to you last night. I promise I'll tell you the truth next time." She paused, taking in Helena's smile and nod, both of which told her that she was forgiven. "Will you hold me?"

"Of course my love." Helena followed Myka into their home and to their bedroom. Myka was so exhausted, she shed her clothes as she walked, leaving a trail from the front door to their bed, just before collapsing on the soft matress.

"So much better." She sighed, smelling the familiar scent of their room, their sheets, the smell of Helena on her pillow. She felt her wife's hands on her back, unclasping her bra. Myka let the straps fall off her shoulders, tossing the garment to the side.

Helena got off the bed and retrieved a large t-shirt from the dresser, helping Myka sit up and put it on. As soon as she was also out of her clothes and into a tank top, Helena snuggled in behind her, pulling Myka's body into her own. "Yes, much better." She smiled against Myka's shoulder and both women were able to drift off to sleep.

...

Myka woke up to use the bathroom. Helena was still asleep, so she decided to take a minute and jump in the shower. When she got out, she wrapped herself in a towel, wiping the steam off the mirror so she could brush her hair out.

Something happened, there was something wrong with her reflection and something about the way she looked caused her to snap. She knew what was happening when she hit the mirror the first time, but knowing what was happening didn't mean she had any control over it. There was just some force, making her do it, a force she couldn't understand.

By the fifth blow, she bruised her right hand against the image of herself there; distorted and mocking her relentlessy. By the sixth one, the glass had finally shattered; the mirror breaking into shards around her, cutting her hands, her arms and legs as she slid to the floor in tears.

...

Sarah was just opening the front door when she heard a crash and a scream. "Mom!" She rushed into the house, making her way to her parents room.

"Myka!" Helena bolted out of bed and ran to the bathroom to see Myka sitting on the ground, surrounded by pieces of their now broken mirror. "Myka?" Helena cautiously, but swiftly approached, kneeling down next to her wife. There was blood everywhere, dripping down Myka's wrists and staining the towel she wore. Helena knelt on the broken shards, not caring if she was getting cut up in the process.

"Mom!" Sarah bolted through the bathroom door and froze when she saw her mothers there.

"Sarah, run to the B&B and get help. Tell them to call Dr. Calder right now and get a hold of Artie, I think he's at the Warehouse with Claudia." Sarah nodded and took off to do as her mother told her. Helena turned back to her wife, holding her in her arms. "Myka?" She waited for a response that she wasn't getting. "My darling, I'm going to help you up now and we're going to the bed okay?"

Myka nodded, looking at Helena with an almost empty gaze. It was like she was fighting a battle, but no one else could see it. Helena did as she said she would, getting her wife to the bed and sitting her down carefully. She got some supplies from the bathroom shelf and started cleaning Myka up as best she could, the woman flinching a little but hardly moving.

"Mykes!" Pete ran into the room, looking his best friend over. "What happened?" He asked Helena, but his gaze never left his partner.

"I don't know. We were sleeping, and I woke up because I heard a crash and then she was screaming. I didn't see what happened." Helena said coldly, cleaning Myka up in a daze.

"Hey..." Pete noticed the change in HG as well. "You okay?" HG didn't answer him, her gaze fixed on the open wound she was picking glass out of. "HG?" She looked at him, worry painfully etched on her face. She shook her head.

The Farnsworth went off, pulling them back to the moment. Pete opened it up.

"Pete! HG! What happened?"

"We don't know yet Artie, Mykes freaked out in the bathroom and broke the mirror. Seven years of you know what..." He almost laughed, but Helena's glare told him to shut it. "Sorry... bad joke." He turned back to the farnsworth about to say something...

"The mirror!" Claudia popped onto the screen. "Myka said something about mirrors from the novel."

"The mask? But we bagged it Claude."

"Pete, you know that bagging an artifact doesn't always mean the effects don't linger. They are mysterious objects that we don't know that much about. So what if there are residual effects?"

"I'm on it." Artie said, tossing index cards all over the place. "Damn I just made the card for this artifact this morning!"

"Maybe if you were a little more tidy... or if you'd learn to use the computer I set up for you..." Claudia said under her breath.

"Got it!" Artie read what he had written down to the group. "Could be the thing about taking on the weight of what the character felt about himself. In his reflection, he would have seen himself as a monster, distorted and well quite frankly... ugly. And that could drive someone mad... I mean, he was mad, he probably thought he would never be loved again, accepted..."

"Is that what it is Myka?" Helena looked into hazel eyes, desperate to see the life spark in them. Myka nodded, she wanted so badly to say something, but nothing would come out just yet.

"Did she touch the mask?" Claudia asked from behind Artie. "I mean, Myka doesn't do that kind of thing; you know... touching artifacts... no glove no love."

"No?" Pete said, looking at Helena for confirmation.

"She did. She touched it when she lifted it to... to kiss him. She knew that was her only chance to get the thing away from him and she took it." Helena brushed her fingertips over Myka's cheek.

"Vanessa is on her way and so are we. We'll be there in ten." Artie shut the farnsworth, the screen went blank.

"HG, how long do you think this is gonna last?"

"I'm not sure Pete." Helena felt a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder and looked over to see his wife's partner, her friend comforting her and giving her strength and hope. "Thank you." She whispered, returning her attention to Myka's wounds.

A little while later Dr. Calder came in, followed closely by Leena, Claudia, Artie and Sarah. Helena and Pete managed to clean Myka up and get her in a t-shirt and shorts, she was laying in bed staring up at the ceiling.

"Dr. Calder." Helena stood up, making a space for the doctor to check on Myka. Sarah was immediately in her mother's arms, burying her face in Helena's neck.

"Is mom gonna be okay?" Sarah wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"She'll be fine darling. We'll figure this out and she'll be back to normal very soon." She kissed the top of her daughters head, cradling the girl like she had done so many times before when an artifact retrieval had gone wrong; but no artifact had ever followed them home. This was a difficult situation for all of them, but especially for Sarah.

"Well." Dr. Calder turned around to face the family. "Looks like she's been cleaned up nicely and she won't need stitches."

"But?" Helena's been examined by the good doctor many times after she was debronzed to know that there was more the woman needed to say.

Vanessa gestured for Helena to follow her into another room for a more private conversation. When they got into the living room, Vanessa sat down, pulling Helena to sit next to her.

"Artie told me about the artifact. He told me that she would be feeling a little..."

"Ugly." Helena finished.

"Yes and unlovable, undesireable, she won't believe that she is anything more than a monster that can't be reached, can't be touched. She will pull away, physically and emotionally." Vanessa reached forward, taking Helena's hands. "They can't find a solution, but Claudia managed to track down some of the people who have experienced the same effects..."

"And what happened to them!?" Helena squeezed her hands instinctually, causing Vanessa to jump a little. "Sorry." She loosened her grip.

"Some of them went mad... and by some of them I mean all of them Helena. No one has found a way to fix this."

"So we figure out a way to fix it and until then, Myka will stay inside, we'll cover up every mirror in the house and she'll be fine until we figure it out." Helena rambled on, only realizing she had been crying when Vanessa handed her a box of tissues. "How do we fix this?"

"Um... I think I know how." Claudia cautiously entered the living room, sitting across the two older women.

"Please Claudia, any idea is welcome at this point." Helena pleaded.

"This is really uncomfortable, but um... I think that you might need to actually show her that you love her." The young woman wrung her fingers together, fidgeting in her seat.

"I do love her, she knows that..."

"No, I mean you might have to force her to realize it. The artifact is telling her that she is worthless and can't be loved, we all know that already... She's fighting with herself. Leena can see it with all her mystical oooh's and aaah's, and I think since I'm growing closer to the warehouse I can see it too. Our Myka is buried in there; she can see everything happening but the artifact is stronger than her, it... it's controlling her. But I don't think it's stronger than the two of you together." The future caretaker paused, allowing what she just said to sink in. "I think you need to SHOW her that you love her and somehow make her believe it in order to reverse the artifacts effect."

"So I need to have sex with her?" Helena said awkwardly.

"You need to... I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but you need to make love to Myka." A shiver ran down her spine at the thought. "Serious, passionate love dude. Prove to her that she is more than the artifact and I think it'll work. She'll be our Myka again."

"There might be more to it than that." Vanessa cut in.

"What else?"

"She'll try to keep to herself, she'll avoid being touched. You will have to take it slow, one day at a time. You should wait a couple weeks while she heals, you two should stay out of the field and you can work on it together. Bring Sarah into the mix as well, I think seeing you two will help Myka fight. It'll be a difficult process for all of you."

Everyone silently agreed that they would try this unconventional plan, hoping that it would work.

"When do we start this rehabilitation process?" Helena asked, anxious to get her wife back and willing to do whatever she had to do for however long she needed to do it.

"Let Myka rest tonight, we'll see how she's doing in the morning."

...

After cleaning up, everyone left; Claudia volunteered to watch over Sarah so Helena could have some time to figure things out. Everyone urged Helena to get some rest but she refused. She vowed that she would keep Myka in her sights until the effects of the artifact were gone and even after that.

Sorry... another abrupt ending, but believe me I was babbling trying to tie this chapter up so yeah... thought I better just stop. This was not the best... truly. It is a little sloppy and runs on in parts. I knew that I wanted the solution to be something having to do with intimacy so the process might be more fluffy than smutty.

Please feel free to comment and if you hated this chapter, no problem... I kind of had a hard time writing it, so I'm sure you had a hard time reading it.

I still love you all for getting to the end of it. I'll try to make the rest of the story better. XO