New chapter coming soon guys!


"Hey Claudia, I just told Pete all about what happened to us," Claudia looked up.

"Did you give him the address?" she asked as she stood up from the floor and brushed off the knees of her jeans. "You called it the Burrow?"

"I...um..." Harry scratched his head as he began to unpack another box. "I don't actually know the address. I never needed it when I was younger."

"I'll find it on my laptop," Claudia made to turn to get past Harry, but he blocked her. He could see how her energy was fading.

"Sit down, I'll get it," he hesitated a moment to let Claudia sit on his bed.

Harry turned and furrowed his brow, letting his face show the concern he had been hiding. The color was fading from her face, bags were forming under her eyes as though she hadn't slept for days.

He entered her room and glanced around, His eyes caught onto a few framed pictures. One of the pictures was an image of her with a man that looked similar to her (he figured it was her brother), another where she was smiling and laughing with Pete and who Harry thought had to be Myka, and the third one; an image of a man and a woman, a small Claudia sitting on the lap of the woman, her brother sitting on the man's lap, and a girl that looked about 7 years older than her brother sitting on floor in front of the rest of the people.

Her family. She looked so happy in all these pictures, but it was the one with her family that made him linger. He looked closer at it. The man and woman were her father and mother, the boy her brother, and the girl her sister but- Harry's eyes flicked over to the picture of Claudia and her brother.

It dawned on Harry that the girl- her sister- was probably dead. He repelled violently from the picture when he realized how long he had spent in there. He quickly turned and grabbed the laptop off of her bed.

"Claudia," he re-entered his room and set the laptop down in front of her. He studied her as she took it and opened it. He raised his eyebrows as he noticed that her brown eyes were turning grey.

"Do you have any idea of the general time you were there?" Claudia asked as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Harry's eyes followed her hand. Wherever her fingers had touched, her brilliant red hair instantly lost its color. Harry drew his eyes away and counted.

"Three days ago."

Claudia nodded. She wasn't showing it, but she could feel Harry's eyes on her. She could also feel that he was concerned. And she could understand why, having caught a glimpse of her reflection in her laptop's screen. Claudia was literally losing her color but that wasn't even the oddest part. She didn't feel tired.

"I got it." Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she copied and pasted the link to the website with direction a quick note to Pete. She sent the email and shifted her weight so that she could pull the Farnsworth out of her back pocket.

"Pete," she said as he picked up.

"Claude, hey. So I got the address and we're heading there." Claudia heard the sound of a motor turning on.

"Do you have anything else?" Harry dropped next to Claudia and a confused look took over Pete's face.

"Are you okay?" Pete asked her.

"Yes, I am losing my color. Yes, I'm gray. No I'm not tired." Claudia looked annoyed.

"But do you feel okay?" She rolled her eyes at his brotherly concern.

"Look," Harry said, changing the topic back, "the house should be empty. From the way it looked, there's no way anyone could be living in it."

"Alright." Pete's face vanished from the screen momentarily then popped back in. "We're about five minutes away. I'll call back when we get there." Claudia nodded and shut the Farnsworth.

"What do we do now?" Harry asked, feeling the awkwardness beginning to set in. Claudia looked around and saw the serious state of disarray his room was in.

"Let's just finish unpacking your stuff." Claudia rolled off of the bed and landed on the floor. She scooted over until she was sitting in front of the bookshelf again and started to place books in random. Harry's brow furrowed in annoyance at the thought of having to rearrange his bookshelf later.

He was just opening his mouth to say something when he heard footsteps. He motioned for Claudia to turn around.

"Claudia, Harry, are you guys almost done?" Leena's voice rang out. She opened the door and saw Harry hanging posters and Claudia's back as she put books on the bookshelf.

"You guys seem close to finishing in here. Don't forget to set up your stuff in the bathroom." Harry nodded. As Leena turned, she affirmed that her concerns had been confirmed. She was suspicious. They had been quiet for almost an hour aside from minor dialouge back and forth. That was odd because she had seen their interactions; they had trouble going even five minutes without bursting into yelling.

Leena descended the stairs and and entered the kitchen. She sat down at the table and picked up her book. It was one Myka had suggested she read, back when Myka had been a new agent. Leena had become slightly attached to the book since Myka's departure, she missed having her around. Leena looked at the open book in her hands, not really reading it.

What was is that she was missing? What little detail had she- oh. Leena hadn't actually seen Claudia, just her back. Claudia hadn't complained. And then Leena knew what she didn't see. Claudia had been affected by an artifact.

Pete unbuckled as Steve shifted the car into park.

"Oh." Was all that came out when Steve got out and stood next to Pete in front of the car.

"Claudia, Harry?" Pete opened the Farnsworth. Steve caught a glimpse of Claudia sitting next to Harry.

"Woah! What happened to you?" He reacted accordingly.

"Who are you?" Claudia got a strange look. "Who is he?" She directed at Pete.

"The new guy-" Steve cleared his throat and nodded in the direction of the house to get Pete back on track. "Right. So we're at the 'house'," Pete used his left hand to over exaggerate air quotes.

"And?" Harry prompted.

"Well..." Pete flipped the Farnsworth around in order to give them a view of it.

"What happened?" Claudia asked.

"It burned." Harry was silent for a moment. "Just like the houses we were at with the grumpy police." He was right. Everything was violently charred and misshapen. If anyone was in there, they were dead.

"You said you guys went somewhere earlier where it looked similar. What's the address?" Pete asked. Claudia told him.

"Alright so we'll look for connections and stuff. You guys should get some sleep." Pete suggested.

"That's probably a good idea. We have been up for over 18 hours." Harry nodded and shut the Farnsworth.


Pete rubbed his shoulder, sore from having broken down the front door. Steve came in behind him, immediately starting to scan the room

Something caught Pete's eye. Something that probably used to be a tree and brushed some of the ash off of it. Underneath, it was gray.


Claudia woke up to the Farnsworth ringing and vibrating on her night stand. She sat up and opened it. She ran a tired hand through her hair as she looked around.

"Harry!" She whispered. Steve was opening his mouth to say something but Claudia put a finger to her lips. She set the Farnsworth down and quietly opened the door to the bathroom.

Claudia glanced around for something to throw through the bathroom at Harry's sleeping form. She leaned across her bed and shifted around for a moment, then remembered the rubber ball underneath her bed. She leaned down to grab it. Then she saw it.

Gray. It was all over her. And her bed. As soon as her fingers came into contact with the rubber ball, it was gray too. She gasped and heard Steve sigh through the Farnsworth.

Claudia studied the ball for a moment then pelted it at Harry.

Harry woke with a start. He looked around for the culprit then saw the ball on the floor.

He studied it just as Claudia did then glanced up. They made eye contact and she violently motioned for him to get up.

Harry squinted in her direction to make out what her hand was doing. He ruffled his hair about as he patted the night stand for where he'd put his glasses before he'd fallen asleep. His fingers grasped the thin metal arm and brought them to his face. He closed his eyes and reopened them a couple of times. Claudia was talking on the Farnsworth, but Harry wasn't sure who to. He continued to run his fingers through his hair as he made his way through the bathroom and into Claudia's room.

Harry's eyes went wide when he saw the state of her and her bed. Gray. She and her bed were the same solid color. Gray.

"What-erm? Er . . . What happened to- to your- you?" Harry stuttered.

Claudia glanced up at him then looked back down at the Farnsworth. "One second, Agent Jinks." Her voice had an edge to it, and Harry got the feeling she was really annoyed. He made to sit on her bed but she shook her head violently.

"Did you touch the ball?" She asked him. He nodded.

"You're not gray so it must only be direct contact that can affect you." Harry took her words as a queue to sit down.

"So, Agent Jinks said that Pete is out for coffee and will be back soon." Steve nodded in agreement. She shut the Farnsworth with a loud sigh.

"I'm gonna go- uh . . . fix my hair," Harry said, getting up before the awkwardness set in. He looked at himself in the mirror, unsure of what exactly was wrong. He felt off.

Harry stared at his reflection, he looked like his father, but with his mother's eyes. His eyes closed tightly to keep any tears from coming out.

It was hard for him, knowing so much about his parents, looking so much like them, but never really having met them. He wasn't sure why this felt so important right now, when he'd not thought of his parents for nearly a month.

Claudia put on a pair of socks and walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, standing rather strangely; what with not being able to touch anything.

Harry took a deep breath then shook his head. He took off his mask, the emotional one and the magical one. Huge bags appeared under his eyes.

"Have you been using magic to hide that?" Claudia asked incredulously.

Harry rolled his eyes as he turned to face her. He lifted up his bangs.

"Holy crap! Is that a scar?" Her finger was already reaching up to poke it before either of them even thought about it. The instant her finger made contact with his forehead, gray began to take over his face and spread into his hair.

"Bloody hell." He turned to face himself in the mirror and watched as the gray hit his t-shirt. Harry stared at his feet as the color was eaten by the gray. The gray didn't stop spreading until it had fully taken over the bath mat he was standing on.

"Sorry!" Claudia gasped in surprise. "I'm so sorry," she swore under her breath.

He made his way over to Claudia's bed and sat down on the carpet in front of it. He carefully removed his mobile from his back pocket. It was almost 2 in the morning.

The Farnsworth began to ring again. Claudia quickly opened it and saw Pete's face.

He sounded out of breath. "I figured it out."