Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the creation or production of Warehouse 13.

AN: So my tattoo guy is letting me write this as he marks me up, I was determined to get you guys a new chapter today, I hope the constricted time doesn't show.

AN2: Sorry, I almost forgot to tell you more about Helena's tendency to invade people's privacy.


Chapter Eight: Tests

For the first time ever, Myka Bering was running late.

She had grown up with this idea that being five minutes early was on time, and on time was late. She always woke up early and had gotten her book bag and outfit ready the night before, her notes left out so that she could study a little more on the way.

That clearly was not happening on Monday.

Helena and Claudia hadn't left until almost three in the morning, the group having got so caught up in talking about the possibilities and impossibility's all held in one tiny key. Helena and Claudia had resisted Pete's explanation on the key's powers, but had yet to come up with a better answer. Myka was uncomfortable with it, but she had yet to see Pete be wrong about a vibe. Steve shrugged, figuring there were things they wouldn't ever be able to fully understand.

They stayed arguing for hours, until someone bothered to look up at the clock and realize the time.

"You could always stay here," Myka had offered as she walked her guests to the door, trying to stifle a yawn.

A smirk and a quirked eyebrow was Helena's initial response, an innuendo forming on her tongue, but she held back, "Another time perhaps." She said instead with a wink. She loved the blush it caused in the other woman.

Oh yes, Helena could have fun with this if she wanted to.

Claudia saved Myka from further harm by shoving her roommate out the door, demanding either her bed or coffee.

That left Myka to lay in bed awake, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out just what was going on inside her chest, why her heart was thumping against her ribcage, why she couldn't seem to stop smiling despite berating herself for acting like a total fool every time she got around Helena.

She fell asleep at a quarter to five. She hit the snooze button on her alarm at five thirty. Again at six. At six thirty it finally registered in her head that she was actually supposed to be getting up when that god awful noise came blaring out of the small speakers.

Myka cursed as she stumbled out of bed, tripping on the tangled sheets, and asked no one in particular whose great idea it was to have a seven am class in college. She yanked on jeans and pulled an old hoodie on over her tank top.

As she tugged a brush through her curls with one hand and struggled into her sneakers with the other, she looked around for her contacts case, but quickly gave up.

She shook Pete awake, well mostly awake, and asked where the keys to his truck were. He mumbled some nonsense, and Myka snapped, "PETE! Where. Are. The. Keys!?"

He finally came around enough to tell her they were on the bookshelf and to be back by three so he could go to his own midterm of the day.

She swore as the clock quickly approached Seven and she couldn't find a decent parking spot in the student lot. When she finally did park, she had to run to the other side of the campus. She burst through the door to her literature class just in time to hear the professor finish giving his instructions. Though he would not repeat them, not even for his brightest student, he did allow her to sit and take the test with everyone else.

She was having difficulty figuring out just what to do with the prompt that had been handed to her.

And though Helena was sitting in her own literature class across the hall way, it wasn't the essay that occupied her mind. Her mind was far too busy trying to figure out who had been in her room the previous night while she was out.

It wasn't as if it had been ransacked, things lying strewn about the room. No it was subtle. Anyone else may not have noticed. Helena almost didn't notice when she and Claudia came stumbling over the threshold.

She was too busy thinking over the night, going over the facts of the curiosity in her pocket as well as the mystery that held her gazing into the dazzling green eyes of Myka Bering. She had hoped that on their invasion of the trio's personal space they would solve both puzzles. But the key remained a mystery in its powers and ability, and she found herself even more intrigued by the other woman.

While Claudia had Myka distracted on the computer and Peter and Steven were more interested in the pizza she dangled in front of them, HG had slipped away on the pretense of finding the restroom.

She opened each door in turn, quickly closing the door when it wasn't what she was looking for. The very last door in the hall was Myka's and when she finally opened it, she rolled her eyes. She should have tried the back bedroom first.

A glance over her shoulder showed that no one had noticed her wandering yet.

HG closed the door before she flipped on the light. She was relived to finally find evidence of the girl somewhere in her home. Photos scattered randomly, featuring primarily Myka and Peter, a few of Myka and another girl who appeared to be her sister. An older gentlemen and woman whom she guessed must be her parents. Myka standing with her arm around a boy she didn't recognize.

The photos didn't hold her attention for long. The bookshelf against the left wall pulled her in. Its shelves bowed under the weight of so many books resting on them. Helena smiled as she ran a hand over the spines that spoke of the amount of times they had been read. Shakespeare and HG Wells were apparent favorites, showing the most wear in the spines. Helena felt a spark of joy upon seeing her great-great grandfathers works among the girls favorites.

She wandered to the desk, without touching anything, she read the notebook that was left open, feeling slight guilt at the act, but it was nothing she could understand regardless. Her writing was beautiful, but it seemed to be an excerpt from some longer work the girl was working on.

She sighed, wishing she could flip through the notebook and understand this girl better, but she knew she was out of time, so she quickly backed out of the room. Her curiosity not sated, but at least she had a quick peak into Myka Bering's world.

When they got back to the dorm room, Claudia immediately found her desk and began typing madly away on her computer. Helena knew better to ask what it was the girl was working on right now, she wouldn't get an answer until it was done. Not because Claudia didn't want to talk about it, but because when she was this deep into her work zone, nothing would reach her.

It left Helena mostly alone to realize something was off about her room. It was never really tidy, because there were more important things usually going on that being sure her bed had military corners. But she still knew exactly how she had left things. Her mattress was no longer skewed slightly to the right, which was how she left it when she lost her phone between her bed and wall. Her notes on the desk were in a straighter pile, and when she opened the drawer, it was obvious someone had rifled through it.

She didn't know how they had done it, Claudia had set up an airtight system to guard their room while they were out, but she had a pretty good idea what they were looking for. The key felt very heavy in her pocket as she wrote on a sticky note to her friend that she was heading out and stuck it to the side of her laptop.

Helena sighed as she changed into dark jeans and a black sweater. She didn't want to be noticed if whoever was in her room was still watching, she locked the deadbolt behind her, something she often forgot to do.

She stuck to the shadows, took a winding route, making sure no one was following her. When she finally slipped into her lab, she breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing felt off here, so whoever know about the key, didn't know about the lab. She tried to figure out who knew. Claudia, Peter, Steven, Helena herself. But also Walter Sykes and Professor Neilson.

She didn't think it was the Professor, she trusted the grumpy old man. Walter Sykes didn't have the proper intellect to bypass a system created by her friend.

But that didn't mean he hadn't told someone about it. That didn't mean other people hadn't already known about the key's existence. She needed to keep the thing safe, because while she didn't understand how it got its power, she knew it could be misused if it fell into the wrong hands.

She went to Claudia's work table and dug around for her notes.

She stared at the equation for the 'magic bag', as Peter had so eloquently called it, and tried to figure out a better, more permanent way to deal with the power the key emanated. She wanted to keep the key on her, or at least safe to touch without keeping it in the bag.

She gave an exasperated groan as she turned the bag up and let the key fall to the desk. Without hesitation, she grabbed the key in her left hand and held it. The rush of power she felt nearly overwhelmed her senses. But she focused it as static cracked in her closed fist.

The wrote without stopping to think about it, she only allowed herself to stay focused on the problem at hand, a way to neutralize the key.

It was all a bit of a blur after that. When she finally came to, she was standing over a small vat of purpleish goo. Her hand was out stretched, but had stalled in the act of dropping the thing. She pulled back and slammed the key down on to the desk.

She mumbled to herself as she ran a hand through her dark locks. "Get it together, girl." She ordered herself, "You don't need that key, this is ridiculous."

But think of all you could accomplish with its help. A smooth voice interjected.

"No, no," she shook her head, "I don't need it." She thought of the insane look in Walter Sykes eyes, and wondered if that was how she looked. What if that was how someone found her? One of her friends? Her family?

Her hand gripped the locket around her neck, and that seemed to push the dark thoughts back as its familiar weight erased the feeling of the key in her hand.

She took a steadying breath. She donned the googles, not knowing yet how the key would react to the neutralization liquid. She grabbed tongs, not trusting herself to touch the cold surface of the key again. She slowly dipped the key past the surface, blue sparks erupting rather violently. She lifted the key and repeated the action. Until it no longer reacted and the key was coated in hardening purple material.

She thought to add a rubber cement quality to it. Thin enough that the features of the key were still distinguishable, it looked as if she simply painted it dark purple.

With a sigh, she dropped the key into the palm of her hand, relieved that she no longer felt its addictive effects.

She found a long chain in her own desk, strung it through the hole at the top of the key and let it fall over her shoulders. It was long enough to be hidden beneath most of her shirts as it fell past the locket that usually adorned her neck.

She turned out the lights and locked the door as she left, feeling as if some weight had left her shoulders in the course of the night. The sun was already rising, and she cursed as she looked down at her watch and found she had five minutes to get to her classroom.

If you asked her, she would be unable to tell you anything that was on the test, or her responses to the questions. All she knows for certain, she was the first one done out of the fifty other students in the postmodern literature class.

She walked out of the class in a daze, gripping the locket tightly in her hand, trying to chase the shadows from her mind. Perhaps if she hadn't been so lost in thought, she wouldn't have run directly into another equally distracted student.

They fell in a tangle of limbs and swear words.

"Bloody hell," HG complained as she rolled her wrist.

"I'm so sorry," Myka replied as she reached for her glasses that had been knocked from her face.

Both women looked up in shock as the voices registered in their ears. A grin spread slowly across HG's face, and Myka's face turned bright red as a blush spread from her neck.

Helena's laugh broke the tension quickly, "It's quite alright, darling. I was a bit distracted I'm afraid." She was more distracted now, however, with how adorable Myka looked wearing her glasses as she bit her lip and her eyebrows pulled together.

Myka smiled at the sound as she struggled to her feet, pulling HG with her, "I think I fell asleep was I was walking… are you okay?"

"I assure you, I am quite alright." Helena was more concerned with the shadows beneath Myka's eyes as the taller woman tried to stifle a yawn. She realized that not everyone was as used to going a few days without sleep as Claudia an HG were.

HG felt guilty for keeping the girl up half the night, "Would you like to get coffee with me?" She asked before she realized what she was doing, "It's the least I can do for knocking you over."

Myka appeared conflicted as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.

"Do you have another test?" HG tilted her head.

"Not until this afternoon." Myka admitted, and it wasn't one she had to study for. She was expected to write a short story to show how far they had developed in her creative writing class.

"It would make me happy, then, if you join me in the student coffee shop." Helena's voice was low and insistent, her deep eyes sparking but mostly unreadable, and Myka found herself nodding.

"Aces," Helena smiled, "Shall we?"

Myka was still mostly in shock when she found herself sitting across from the Brit in the coffee shop a few minutes later. Helena was searching for something in Myka's eyes, causing the other girl to become self-conscious.

She took a sip of her coffee, ignoring that it was still too hot to drink. The pain serving to distract from the whirl of emotions over taking her exhausted mind.

"What?" she finally asked when she figured she had enough control over her voice.

"I didn't think you had any brothers." Helena said lightly, recalling the pictures she had seen as well as her comment on her and Peter's relationship.

"I don't?" Myka's statement became a question as her voice rose an octave.

HG pointed a finger at Myka's attire, "Bering and Sons?"

Myka realized she was wearing the sweater with her father's bookshop logo on it.

"I don't have any brothers," Myka shook her head, her mouth frowning slightly at the corners, "Just parents with wishful thinking."

"Well, brothers aren't all that great anyhow," Helena smirked as she brought her tea cup to her lips, "Far more trouble than they are worth if you ask me."

"You have a brother?" Myka rested her chin on her hand, her curiosity never took much probing to wake up, and she was very much interested in the woman sitting across from her now. Smart, beautiful, self-assured, and yet she kept up a mask of passiveness for nearly the entire time Myka had known her.

"Yes, Charles," she nodded, "The apple of my parents' eye. He could do no wrong as far as they are concerned. They were quite disappointed when I announced I would be studying engineering in America."

"They didn't want you to leave?" Myka asked, unconsciously leaning forward.

HG didn't know why she felt so compelled to tell this woman she barely knew so much, it was a miracle she didn't blurt out her entire life story under that gaze of hers. She wondered if Myka knew the effect she was having on her.

"They would have preferred me to stay in London, yes. Studied something more akin to what their socialite friends deemed reasonable for a woman of my stature. Perhaps just settled down straight away, start a family."

"Well, I for one am glad you decided to be rebellious." Myka smiled as she ran a finger around the lid of her coffee, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"

Darling, you can ask me whatever you want, HG bit the inside of her cheek to stop those words from tumbling past her lips. Instead she merely nodded.

"I heard Claudia call you HG," Myka suddenly became very preoccupied fixing the draw strings on her hood, "So that would make your name HG Wells, would it not?"

"Yes," HG rolled her eyes internally at her silly parents, "My great-great grandfather was the father of science fiction," she began explaining though Myka hadn't asked, "My parents thought themselves quite clever in naming me."

"I like your name," Myka said with a blush, "And at least your parents didn't name you out of stubbornness."

HG rose an eyebrow, encouraging Myka to explain her statement.

Myka sighed, "The doctors told my mother I was going to be a boy, so they picked the name Myka. And when I was born and disappointed them, they stuck to their name choice."

"Well, regardless of your parents' obstinacy, I too find I like your name, Myka." HG smiled, letting a bit of her mask fall as she did so.

And Myka liked it too, as long as it was said by Helena in that melodic voice of hers, "Yeah, it's grown on me over the last twenty years."

That earned an unladylike snort from Helena, and they began talking for hours, ignoring the clock, about literature and majors and goals. It was by far, one of the most enjoyable conversations that either woman could remember having. Both were sorely disappointed when the time came for them to part, tests calling for the students to take them.

"Would you meet me here again?" Helena asked as they prepared to go their separate ways, "Tomorrow perhaps?"

Myka nodded with a smile she couldn't seem to rid herself of, "I have another test at ten, I'll be here after."

"It's a date." HG smiled and walked away, perfectly aware of the effect her choice of words had on the other girl. She had to keep herself from skipping her way back to her dorm room, the key around her neck and the conflicting feelings it caused all but forgotten.


EDIT AN: any ideas what the name of the coffee shop should be? Because we will be visiting it more i think, but it needs a better name than the coffee shop