I really shouldn't be posting this because I've got so much work to do, but I have a little motto that if the inspiration comes, I've got to go with it. So here we are, I'm being naughty. There are about 5 chapters left of this story. It's an epic love tale, and I'm a hopeless romantic so it will end well. Please, if you enjoy the story, or you've got some criticism, tell me so because I'm like a shaky little leaf as I'm posting this - I think because it's such a tiny, tiny little ship that I completely lack confidence. And I know it's cheap practically begging for comments or whatever but like I said… even if you want to whack me on the head for putting the girls through hell or gif!stab me on tumblr, do so. Anyway, on with the story, enjoy…

oxoxo

The paramedics arrived exactly 17 minutes later. Claudia had timed it on her watch as she held her mute friend in her arms. Would have been too late anyway. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips against the top of Leena's head. She answered the questions they'd asked. She'd told them about the phone call, about the time of death. She told them she'd give a statement of what she'd seen.

Leena's face scrunched up, staying quiet. She'd been focusing on Melissa's body, waiting for her to move. With Mrs. Frederic, she knew she'd been dead. Her body had shriveled into itself in a sickening way. Now though, Melissa's eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. Any minute now, she'd open her eyes and smile at Leena, the paramedics would take her away and she'd get better in hospital.

The gentle rubbing to her back told her that it wasn't going to happen. She turned and felt thin yet strong arms wrap around her once more, this time around her middle. Burying herself into Claudia's shoulder, she closed her eyes, not wanting to see anymore. She heard Claudia hush in her ear, and kiss the top of her head again but it didn't make her feel any better. If only she'd said it back. Even if she wasn't truly in love with the bookseller, she could have been, she would have been in the long run, and she could have at least said it. A last thing for Melissa to hear.

"Shhh…" Claudia heard the crying begin again, covering Leena's face with a hand as they began to place the body in a bag on the stretcher.

"I'm here," Myka's harried voice came from the front door as she dashed into the house, flashing her badge to the authorities. At first she'd been unsure about the address but the ambulance told her that something was very, very wrong. When her eyes focused on the young woman about to be zipped up into a body bag, her heart dropped. She took out her phone and quickly snapped a quick, "stay in the car," to Helena before hanging up hastily. Sat next to a pool of blood was Claudia, gently rocking and soothing the older woman in her arms. "Oh god…Leena," she ran over to where they were sat. "Hey…" Claudia looked over the woman's shoulder and shook her head sadly.

"Artifact?" Myka mouthed, then looked over to where Claudia pointed, the static bag lying on the table. Myka nodded and approached the table, lifting it off and discreetly placing it into her bag. She sat down and kneeled beside the women. "Leena? Sweetie, we're going to have to leave. I'm gonna take you home, okay? And Claud's gonna stay here and answer some questions for the police…" She tried to pry the woman away from Claudia's chest but she wouldn't budge. "Honey… come on, let's go home." Leena just stayed quiet and shook her head. Claudia sighed and shared a worried look with her friend. "Okay, tell you what… We're all gonna go home, and the police can come talk to us later, okay?" Myka reached out and gently pulled at Leena's chin until the innkeeper peered at her despairingly. "Hey…hi," Myka soothed, wiping tears from the woman's face. "We're gonna get you warm and safe, okay?"

The woman still hadn't spoken, and her lip quivered, guilt mounting up and compressing against her chest. More tears rolled down her eyes. "I know…" Myka nodded gently. "It's okay, come on…" She held out her hand and was surprised when Leena took it. Claudia eased them both up off the floor and shuffled over to the front door, a firm arm still wrapped around her middle.

Myka strode up to the police officer in charge and flashed her badge. "Agent Myka Bering."

The man peered strangely at the official brand, but he nodded. "Those two see who did it?" The man squinted at the women who stood in the doorframe.

"No," Myka shook her head. Even though she wasn't sure, she needed Leena out of the house. "They'll give a statement but they're in shock. You'll leave it alone until they recover."

"Yes, ma'am." The officer blinked at her, nodding slowly. Myka's glare caused him to stand down. She took out her notepad from her pocket and jotted the address down of Leena's B&B, then turned towards the door.

"Hey…" Myka wrapped her arm around Leena's other side, "come on, let's get you in the car," she whispered. Leena didn't nod, didn't even look at them, but let herself be guided over to the SUV where Helena sat waiting. The sad shake of the head was all Helena needed to understand the situation. She watched with eyes full of remorse as Myka opened the door, letting Claudia and Leena in the back of the car.

Leena hadn't spoken a word for half a day. When they had brought her home, Claudia stuck by her friend's side. With the authorities long gone and after crying for two hours, the innkeeper had finally collapsed on the couch. Pete, Myka and Artie surrounded Claudia, who teased her fingers through Leena's hair. Leena was completely out, her head cushioned by the redhead's thighs.

Myka looked down at the utility bill in her hand that Claudia had snagged on the way out. "Melissa Spotted Elk." She shook her head. "Goddamn."

Artie sighed. "Spotted Elk wore it in honor of his family. I assume his peaceful outlook on life and unfairness surrounding his death caused the bracelet to become an artifact."

Myka looked down at her hands. "There was a broken lamp in the corner of the room and a stapler on the floor."

"Must have gotten angry and it set off the bracelet" Artie shook his head. "Leena should have told me. If only we knew a little more about her, if…"

"No," Myka growled. "We respected her, and we gave her the privacy she wanted. We were not to blame, and neither was she. We've got the bracelet, we put it away, let's just leave it." she said. Artie was about to bite again but she shook her head. "Leave it."

Artie finally threw up his hands and gathered his things. "This," he pointed to the grief-stricken woman sleeping soundly on the couch. "This, is why people tell me things. This is why I'm in charge, because we could have tracked her. We could have stopped this from happening, but you are all stubborn and so self assured, you think you're invincible." He made his way to the door, "You know if I could, I'd fire the lot of you." And with that, the man stormed out of the old boarding house.

Helena bit her lip and brought over a tray of tea and coffee, offering each person their preferred mug before sitting down on the floor next to Myka.

"She should have protected her." Claudia mumbled.

Myka scowled. "She did all she could given the cir-"

"Not Leena," Claudia's hands never ceased their stroking through the tightly curled hair. They waited for her to continue. "Mrs. F."

Pete frowned. "What does Mrs. Frederic have to do with all of this?"

Claudia bit her lip and looked down at the frown etched across Leena's face. "I can't…"

"Can't what?" Myka asked gently, shuffling over on the floor to place a hand on Claudia's knee.

Claudia covered her face with her hands. She pinched her nose and let out a breath. "Leena is an orphan," she confessed irritably. "When she was about five, Mrs. F took her in as her own."

"What?" Myka tried to keep her voice down but it was getting a little hard with all these revelations and conflicts. Claudia suddenly became very quiet and continued to stare down at Leena's face. "Hey, Pete?" the brunette suddenly murmured.

"Yeah…" The man looked up from his cup.

"Bring her upstairs?" Pete nodded and though Claudia was uncomfortable with letting her friend go, she knew she was in safe hands. The man bent down and gently lifted Leena into his arms, glad he'd been working on his upper strength. She groaned a little, but fell slack as he made his way up the stairs. He opened Claudia's door, the closest bedroom, with his knee then walked in and lowered the woman to the bed. He took the corner of the rest of the duvet and folded it over her body.

Downstairs, Claudia fidgeted, fingers wrapping around each other anxiously. When Pete came back, Claudia was just about ready to talk. "She's her daughter," she finally whispered.

"I don't understand," Myka began to prod. "When…when did she tell you this?"

Claudia licked her lips nervously. "Leena doesn't know I know. Mrs. Frederic warned me that we needed to solve our feud…that," she felt strange discussing this with Pete around, and she hated it. She wasn't blind. She knew she'd developed feelings for the innkeeper, and to discuss that while the never-ending joke teller was in the room was a little difficult. By the look of his face, though, he was solemn, and ready to listen. "She told me that if we didn't sort things out, not only would the Warehouse become vulnerable, but… but you guys..." She brushed tears from her eyes.

"That explains why the Warehouse was having a paddy," Helena murmured gently.

Claudia looked down, her lip quivering. She nodded slowly. Myka leaned over to hold her hand. "It's okay."

Claudia shook her head and felt her chest ache for the pain Leena must be going through. "It won't be okay for a long time." They all fell silent at the comment. She redhead stood up on shaky legs, unable to deal with the situation. "I'm uhh…I'm gonna go to bed."

"No, wait… Claudia," Myka sighed. "Come on, let's talk about this."

Claudia shook her head and thought of Leena upstairs. Forty-five year old Leena. Somebody had some explaining to do. "She needs me," she shrugged and left the room swiftly.

Pete looked at the empty space, his mouth wide open. "What did I just miss?"

"Oh Pete," Myka shook her head… She was going to tell him, but truthfully it wasn't her business. "You'll find out soon enough. Claud'll tell you when she's ready."

Claudia crept into her bedroom and found Leena looking a little like a hotdog, her head sticking out of the roll of duvet Pete had put her in. Under other circumstances, she would have smiled, but instead, she merely got into a sleeping vest, a pair of pajama bottoms and unraveled her friend. She shifted the duvet, watching as Leena rested her head on her fist, her face still etched with a tormented expression, even as she slept. Slipping into bed, Claudia let herself feel a small amount of satisfaction when the older woman… much older woman, snuggled close. Though nobody knew her 'age', everybody had guessed that Leena was nearly thirty. Leena suddenly startled herself awake as she felt Claudia's body next to hers. "Hi, it's just me." Claudia whispered.

"Claudia…" Leena swallowed and rubbed her eyes with some fingers. A flashflood of memories ambushed her and she felt like she was about to be sick. They were silent, looking at each other for a long while, taking in each others' noses, eyes… freckles. Lips. Then, Leena spoke. "It was my fault," she croaked.

"What?" Claudia's mouth hung open. "Leena, no-"

"I could have saved her." Leena sniffed, hissing out as she began to cry. Her eyes stung to such a high degree that strangely only tears could soothe them. "She'd been calling me for half a day, Claudia. Half a day! She was asking f-for help…she could still be alive."

Claudia held the woman's hand and gripped the fingers tightly. "I'm sorry, but none of this was your fault."
Leena's face scrunched up as she tried to stop more tears falling. They were quiet for a good few minutes until Claudia said the one thing that had been haunting her. She wanted to wait, but her brain forced the words out of her mouth. "Leena… Mrs. Frederic told me."

"Told you what?" Leena asked dully.

Claudia bit her lip. "Told me that she's your mom. That you're older than you look."

Leena frowned and pulled back with a betrayed expression fluttering across her face. "She told you?"

The younger woman bit her lip. "She paid me a visit, told me we needed to stop fighting…before… before Melissa…"

Leena growled and lay on her back, forcing the anger back as more sobs shook her frame. "What do you want to know?" She tried to collect her breath, but the anger and pain continued to soar.

Claudia rested her chin on Leena's shoulder softly, knowing the action would calm her friend down. It did and Leena's breathing evened out. "Where are you from? I mean… how old are you, I don't-"

Leena turned to her with a sigh and finished for her. "Technically I'm 45."

"Technically?" Claudia pushed herself up, feeling her heart beat raise considerably until the sound thumped in her ear. "What do you mean, technically?"

Leena sat up with her. "As in… I was born in 1967...at least, I think I was." Every word she said was dull, monotonous and lacking personality.

"You…you think!" Claudia pinched her nose. "Please start talking. Please…"

Leena looked down and took Claudia's hand in hers. "When Mrs. Frederic found me, they think I was about 5 years old, maybe 6."

"You didn't know who your mother and father were?"

"I didn't know their names," Leena shrugged, glad of the distraction. "They were mama and papa."

"I'm sorry," Claudia said gently, her finger making swirls on the back of her friend's hand.

"Mrs. Frederic brought me up, gave me shelter, a place to live." she paused and took a breath, an overwhelming feeling of grief clenching her heart. "So I lived where she lived."

"Where's that?" Claudia asked anxiously.

"I have no idea," Leena shrugged. "I can't remember. But it was grand, and very…"

"Mrs. F-y." the redhead finished for her.

Leena would have grinned had the sudden sadness left her. She nodded. "I moved here when I was 13."

"13? Wh… that's a little young."

"I had people looking after me," Leena shrugged.

"Leena…" Claudia was obviously having trouble coping with this bit of news. "You are not 45. You can't be," she growled.

Leena shrugged. "Round about that age." She saw the dark eyes in front of her darken some more and sighed knowing she needed to come clean. "Okay… You remember Artie lecturing you about nearly every artifact under the sun?"

Claudia groaned and nodded. "Don't remind me… Took two weeks for him to shut up."

Leena lay on her side again and gulped. She took a breath. "It wasn't just the two agents."

"What?" Claudia followed her and took her pillow, stuffing it under her head as she gazed at her friend.
Leena's lip shook. This was another reminder of her doomed life. That she'd never be happy. "It wasn't just the two agents whose clocks stopped."

"Clocks stopped? Wh…what do you mean?"

Leena pointed a glare at her. "The Mayan calendar, Claudia."

Claudia looked at her in confusion. She felt a little sick as the muddiness cleared and her eyebrows rose considerably. The innkeeper across from her nodded in defeat. "Oh god, Leena…"

The woman in question brushed unruly tears from her eyes. "I was twenty-eight. I'd…I'd been running the B&B for three years…when…" She couldn't say the last bit and Claudia shuffled closer, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Your body-clock froze." Claudia finished for her. Leena nodded slowly, letting the other woman brush more tears from her face. "Shh… it's okay."

Leena shook her head. "I've been stuck at twenty-eight for seventeen years, Claudia." The redhead gulped in answer.

"And the calendar?"

"It got destroyed. I'm stuck, so are the other two agents. Th-they were Artie's friends. " Leena felt herself lose it, and was hastily wrapped up in the redhead's strong arms. "And…and I just found someone." The computer nerd felt the woman shake. "I just found her, and she's gone now," the words were muffled into her chest but Claudia understood them. She kept silent, stroking the woman's back. She had so many more questions for Leena but now was obviously not the time.

A thought came to her and she had to roll onto her back for a second and mull it over. She counted to five. "You know," she tried to rewet her mouth from its parch. "We can use HG's time machine. Jus…Just in case. Incase it works." She risked taking a look at the quietly crying woman next to her. "It might work." Leena stayed deathly quiet and still. Claudia turned to her and grasped the older woman's hand in hers. "I can do it, I can save Melissa…" she urged. "I can go back as you, and answer the phone."

Fresh tears ran down Leena's cheeks. It was so, so tempting. The guilt still pressed against her chest and she suddenly shook her head. "You know I can't let you do that. What if you get stuck? Then what… I'd lose you too? What's the point?" Distress raised her voice an octave. "Don't you see? There is no point in me finding anybody, ever, because they won't understand. I don't get my life, and they never will." she gasped through the pain.

"Please," Claudia sniffed. "Let me do something." She squeezed Leena's hand tight and begged. "Please."

Leena whimpered. She tried to think, she really did. Then, she did the only thing she could think of that would help her. She reached forward with her free hand and pulled Claudia to her, their lips meeting for the second time in a week.

Time felt like it had stopped. It took a second for Claudia to react, but when she did, her squeak of protest was half-hearted, and she leaned back, pulling Leena on top of her as she kissed her back tasting the salty tears that mingled between them. Her head swam with an overwhelming amount of desire. This was so wrong, but she couldn't say no. Her body wouldn't let her, and her mind didn't want it to.

Leena pulled away for a second, looking down at Claudia's lips in fascination, more tears sprinkling down her cheeks. She needed more, and tugged at the younger woman's neck until their lips touched again. It was as if she was forced to sit in a room and watch herself on CCTV. Everything about this was wrong, yet she couldn't stop herself from letting it happen.

The sudden desire coursing through Leena shocked her. Claudia's lips never left hers, and she growled a little when her best friend's tongue asked for and gained entrance. "Fuck…" She pulled back and rolled them over, pulling the younger woman on top of her. Claudia pressed each of her hands in Leena's and pinned them gently to the bed, breaking the contact briefly to pull the covers over them. Leena's forced herself free, grasping at breasts, hips, shoulders… whatever she could get her hands on. She arched her back and let out a shaky moan.

Their kisses were warm, and fuzzy and Claudia couldn't handle the way it made her feel. Conscience suddenly won out and Claudia pulled back from her friend's lips with a smack when she heard the mumbled gasp for more.

She shook violently and got off the bed, brushing a hand roughly through her hair. "I…I can't do that." Claudia took a heaving breath. "Can't do that for you." she hugged her arms around herself and shook her head.

"Claudia…" Leena sat up with haunted eyes. "Please…"

Claudia shook her head with force. "I'm sorry. I can't…" She watched the usually composed woman break down, soft sobs filling the air as Leena hung her head low. Hastily, she approached the bed and bent down on her knees, each hand holding the tortured woman's thighs tenderly. "You are grieving," she swallowed heavily, "and you're upset, but I can't do that with you. Not now," her voice broke. She wanted to. She really did, so badly, but Melissa's face flashed up in her head, her lips covered in blood, her proclamation of love playing itself over and over again. "I'm sorry."

Leena's next words were said with surprising venom. "Get out."

Claudia flinched, but understood. The Leena in front of her wasn't the woman she knew and loved. She was overwhelmed with grief. She sounded different, looked different and she didn't smile. Claudia had been there. She'd acted in a similar way when Steve had been taken from her. "Leena…I'm sorr-"

The innkeeper gave her a hard push until Claudia's knees gave out and she landed on her backside on the wooden floor. "I said get out."

The look of animosity and the violence caught Claudia off guard. She got up and in anger, gave the woman a hard push back against the bed before dashing out of the room. She hadn't thought this bit through, her chest constricting as she tried to force the tears back. Tiptoeing into the laundry room, she took out some clothes that were barely wearable and stuffed them into the holdall bag she'd snagged on the way out. Pulling herself into some sweatpants, she found a sweater that had a tiny bit of purple goo on the sleeve. It would do. She finally began to cry after making her way downstairs. She stood in the middle of the living room with hooded eyes and shaky hands. "Can someone drive me to the Warehouse?" Tears rushed down her cheeks and she didn't even bother to wipe them away.

Pete sat up the quickest. Myka had been resting in Helena's arms and was afraid that if she moved, she would give her lover a broken nose. He nodded and got up to put his shoes on. He wasn't dumb - something had transpired between the two friends and Claudia needed his help. She stormed out the house, not bothering to wait for him to get ready - she just needed to be out of this godforsaken place.