Sorry for the wait.
Claudia sat with Myka's head in her lap. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gently stroked Myka's forehead. She was surrounded by the biggest snag, bag and tag in centuries, but all Claudia could focus on was the red smudges her fingers left on the pale skin.
They had managed to slow the blood flowing from Myka's leg, and Pete had put himself in charge of holding the pressure. His face was set, but silent tears fell from his eyes.
Valda had checked Helena's injuries – Claudia did feel a slight twang of guilt that she had focused immediately on Myka – then had vanished further into the Warehouse without telling them anything.
Myka gave a shuddering breath. Pete and Claudia's slight movements froze.
"Pete?" Claudia whispered.
He didn't respond.
"Tell me they're going to be okay." She let out a sob when he still didn't say anything. "Please. Tell me."
"They are going to be okay," Valda said as he walked up. "There is a medical helicopter on its way; they will be transported to the nearest hospital."
Neither of them noticed when he froze, bent down, and picked something up. He inspected it, then slipped it into his pocket.
-oOo-
Pete had not stopped pacing since walking into the waiting room. The doctors had already cleared his head injury as a minor concussion and given him some meds. They had told him that the pills might make him drowsy, but he was too focused to notice anything.
Claudia was curled up in a chair, hovering just on ledge of sleep. Her Farnsworth rested in her lap, Leena's face just visible on the screen.
They had been in the room for hours, since the airlift had landed at the Alexandria hospital. Not a single person in the hospital staff had been in to talk to them.
Claudia had been with Leena on the Farnsworth as long as they had been there. The women had hardly spoken since Leena had told them that Mrs. Fredric was fine, but both Claudia and Pete took comfort in having the connection to their home.
Pete stopped pacing when Artie walked into the room with Vanessa. Pete looked at them for a moment, then walked over and roused Claudia.
"Any news?" she grumbled.
He nodded towards the couple. She sat up in the chair.
"Have you talked to the doctors?" Pete asked them.
"I have," Vanessa replied.
"And?"
"Myka's almost out of surgery. The bullet thankfully missed her femoral artery, but it still did a lot of damage. She should make a full recovery. You will be able to see her once she wakes up."
Slight relief settled over Pete and Claudia.
"What about HG?" Claudia asked slowly.
"She's in ICU in a medically induced coma," Vanessa said. "They are going to keep her under until at least her sunburns heal."
"And after that?" Claudia pushed. Her voice was small and shook slightly.
"They don't know."
Claudia collapsed back in her chair.
-oOo-
Myka woke nearly five hours later. Claudia had finally given into sleep, and Vanessa and Artie had gone to get food, so Pete walked into her room alone.
"Hey," she rasped. She was propped up in a half sitting position. Her eyes were wide and slightly glazed. Her smile was lopsided.
"Hey," he said through a lump in his throat. He sat in the chair next to her.
"How's your head?" she asked.
He gave a short laugh. "You're the one in the hospital bed, and you're worried about my head?"
"He did hit you pretty hard."
"Not as hard as he hit you." He gave a deep sigh. "I thought we established that when we go out, we go out together."
She chuckled and grabbed his hand. "I didn't go out, did I?"
He laughed as well – a slightly forced laugh that, even in her dazed state, she saw through instantly. They fell into silence.
"How's Helena?" she quietly asked.
He took a deep breath, and looked down.
"Please, Pete. They won't tell me anything."
He looked back up. "She's in a medically induced coma, and Doctor V isn't sure if she'll come through."
Myka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pete could see her trying to hold herself together. Emotions flitted across her face.
"She's strong, Myka. You know that," he said. He slipped his hand into hers, and lightly rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. "She'll pull through."
A light knocking came from the door. They looked towards it to see Artie and Vanessa.
"Hey," Myka said with a smile. Her eyes had cleared slightly, but her grin was still as crooked as ever.
"It's good to see you up," Vanessa said, returning the smile. She walked to Myka's side and started to check her vitals.
"It's good to be up," Myka responded. "How's Mrs. Fredric?"
Pete shook his head and smiled slightly.
"She's perfectly fine," Vanessa told her.
"Good," Myka said with a nod.
"How are you feeling?"
"Everything below my waist has been numbed, and the world's kinda blurry, but I'm fine."
"Are you up to telling us what happened?" Artie asked her.
"Now?" Pete questioned. "Can't it wait?"
"It's fine, Pete," Myka told him. "The sooner I do this, the fresher the memory will be."
"All of your memories are fresh," he said. "You're freaky that way."
She rolled her eyes and turned to Artie and Vanessa. "Where do you want me to start?"
"When you arrived at the camp with Pete," Artie told her.
She nodded and started talking.
The words came slowly as the events ran through her mind again.
Pete gave a triumphant cry and teased her slightly when she explained how she solved the mind task, then tensed as she moved into the body task and MacPherson's threats.
She squeezed his hand lightly. "I'm here, Pete."
He nodded, and she continued.
She quickly finished the body task, then skirted around the soul task.
"What do you mean it took you somewhere?" Artie asked.
"Mentally. We were still in the room, but our minds went somewhere else – to our happiest place."
"So what, you went to some library or something?" Pete tried to joke.
"Yeah, or something," Myka mumbled. She could still practically feel Helena's arms wrapped around her, and the entire sequence still confused her. At the same time, however, it made perfect sense.
She could tell that Pete was restraining himself from asking exactly where she had gone, for the time being at least. She squeezed his hand again in thanks.
"How did you break the trance?" Artie pushed.
"Helena did. She fell, and took me down with her. I guess the jolt did it."
"So what, you two were just going to stand there until you died?" Pete asked.
"The floor was, uh, breaking away," she told him. "We would have fallen."
"Oh."
"Did it stop when the trances broke?" Artie asked.
"No, I had to break the medusa. It lifted away, and the Warehouse was on the other side. I carried Helena in, and then I guess we both passed out." She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to pull up more details, but everything was clouded.
"You don't remember anything else?"
"There were no exits, I remember that. And all I really felt was the fear that I wouldn't get Helena out in time."
"The brick artifact you mentioned, can you describe it?" Vanessa asked.
Myka brought the image of the artifact to the front of her mind.
"Small, old, had a 'W' carved on one side. There isn't much else to say about it."
Artie nodded, then pulled a static bag out of his bag. "Was it this?" he asked as he handed it to her.
She took the bag and inspected the artifact inside.
"Yeah. He had me hold it to her temple. It, uh, it took her pain away."
"How many times did you use it?" Vanessa asked.
"I used it twice, but I think MacPherson used it a few times. What is it?"
"A piece of brick from Dr. Thomas Wynne's house in Philadelphia," Artie explained.
"City of brotherly love," Pete spoke up. "Shouldn't be too bad then."
"Initially, it isn't. It removes pain, but uses the life force of the person it is used on to do so."
"What does that mean?" Myka asked in a small voice.
"If it was used too many times, she might not wake up," Vanessa softly told her.
"I… I could of…"
"No," Vanessa cut her off. "Twice would not have been enough."
"But if he used it enough, I could of…she might…"
"Myka," Pete said. "You did nothing wrong. The only person to blame here is MacPherson, and he's gone."
She looked at him, and nodded after a moment. He could see the hesitance, however, and a bad vibe hit him hard.
Artie took the artifact back from her.
"How long it will take her to wake up depends on how many times it was used," Vanessa explained further.
"If she wakes up," Myka muttered. The words were quiet, but they could all hear the fear and anger in them.
"Hey," Pete said. "She'll wake up. She'll pull through."
The vibe intensified as she lowered her eyes. If they lost Helena, the realization hit him, they would lose Myka as well.
-oOo-
Myka fell asleep before they left, but they were all gone when she woke.
Instead, Claudia was curled up in the chair against the wall. Her clothes were rumpled, and her hair was starting to take a greasy shine, but her eyes were alert.
"You okay?" Myka softly asked.
Claudia nodded, but didn't say anything.
"Claudia."
"I was so scared," Claudia whispered. "I… I am scared."
Myka didn't say anything. Claudia moved so her feet were planted on the ground, and her face in her hands.
"What if she doesn't wake up?" Her voice was muffled, through her fear and hands.
Myka wanted to comfort her, but fear was settled deep in her own essence as well.
"I don't know," she told the girl.
