Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13 or any of its characters. Warehouse 13 is the property of Jack Kenney and NBC Univeral. No money has exchanged hands with regards to this story.
Thank you to Dogshowgirl for her writing/beta reading!
Thanks for your patience guys, I'll be posting the next chapter sometime very shortly.
Trigger Warning for brief mentions of cutting and descriptions of abuse.
Claudia's heartbeat sped up as she awoke later that evening. She looked around, trying to calm herself down.
"Ar-" Her voice caught, and she cleared her throat and tried again, a bit louder. "Artie?"
Within a moment, someone walked through the door. It was Joshua.
"Hey." He sounded a bit choked.
"Hi." Claudia shifted in bed, feeling weak and agitated. The man leaned in for a hug, and she could feel him trying to hold back his emotion.
"How are you feeling?" The pain in his voice put Claudia on-edge.
"Fine," she replied a bit sharply.
"So… do you wanna talk?" The man pulled away from her. "About what happened, I mean."
"I don't really know what happened. Everything's all fuzzy..."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the last thing I remember is going back to sleep after a nightmare."
"So you don't remember doing that at all?" He gestured toward her bandaged arms.
"Seriously, you think I did this? Why in the hell would I do this?"
"Claudia… you had a rough day yesterday. I get it, it's okay."
"Josh, I didn't try to hurt myself!" She raised her voice, becoming visibly upset. "I know I'm not always the most stable, but I'm not some kind of suicidal basket case! I don't know what happened, but I didn't do this!" The young woman was furious.
"Jeez, Claudia! I'm just trying to keep you safe and make sure you're okay. Do you know how hard it is to never know if you're going to be okay? I mean, I lost you for two years!"
"How hard it is for you?"
"Claudia-"
"No, how hard it is for you? I was imprisoned for over two fracking years. It takes so much energy just to go about day-to-day tasks and not freak out, and you're complaining about how hard it is for you?"
"Claude, I'm sorry, that was the wrong-"
"Get out!"
"What?"
"Get OUT. Now!" Joshua left, and Claudia sat back, huffing angrily. She felt light-headed and worn out.
Around a half-hour later, Steve came in. He was far more calm than Joshua had been.
"Hey," he said with a small smile. Despite her bandaged arms, IV, and pale face, she looked far better than she had when Steve had seen her still on the bed a few hours before.
"Jinksy, I don't know what happened. Josh said that I did this, but I can't remember." She twisted her mouth around, trying to contain her tears.
"Hey, it's okay Claude." Steve opened his arms, and she carefully moved into the embrace, not hugging him back because of her injured arms. After a moment, she pulled away. "It's like there's a hole in my memory. The last thing I remember is trying to fall asleep after I had a nightmare. And then I woke up here. It's so frakking weird. I just... feel so tired and gross and confused."
"We'll figure it out, Claude. Don't worry. And Vanessa says your body will feel better in a couple of days."
"Wait, you believe me? That I don't remember?"
"Of course. I know you're not lying."
"Josh thinks I'm crazy."
"No he doesn't, Claude. He's just worried about you. I'll try to talk some sense into him, okay?"
The woman nodded, then sighed. "They're really bad, Jinsky."
"What are?"
"The cuts…. I saw them earlier. They're definitely going to scar." She ran a hand through her hair.
"Yeah, Myka said they were pretty bad."
"Wait, why did Myka see them?"
"She's the one who found you after-"
"Oh. What did I..."
"She said you were barely coherent when she found you, and a couple of minutes later you passed out. You lost a lot of blood. Vanessa actually had to give you a transfusion."
"Wh-what did I use? Did she find me with something?"
"She said there was a chef knife next to you."
"Oh." A look of realization crossed the woman's face before she closed her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead.
"Why did you have that in your room, anyway?"
"I um… I haven't been feeling very safe. I mean, pretty much ever since you rescued me I've felt like someone is going to take me away again. A lot of my nightmares are of Marcus or someone else taking me from my bedroom. So a few weeks ago I brought a knife up with me to bed. It makes me feel safer. I guess… I must have used it… But I honestly can't remember anything!"
"It's okay. We're going to figure this all out." The man put a hand on Claudia's shoulder, and she shut her eyes, relaxing slightly.
"You tired, Claude?"
"Mhm. I feel like all my energy got zapped."
"Vanessa said you would be pretty tired. Wanna get some sleep?"
"Yeah, but will you stay? This room is way too psych-ward for me." Steve sat down on the hospital bed next to Claudia, and the woman curled into him. Her arms were stretched out awkwardly in front of her, to keep from putting any pressure on the wounds.
"Claude, I'm so glad you're okay." The woman nodded into his chest. "If we had lost you, I-"
"Shh."
"Did you just shush me, Claudia Donovan?"
"Yah, I'm trying to sleep."
The man chuckled slightly, seeing a glint of the old Claudia. "I just-"
"I know, Jinksy. I love you too."
The next morning, Claudia woke up to an empty room. She was about to panic when she noticed that the purple fleece blanket which usually was on her bed now was draped over her. A a sticky note and her Farnsworth resided on the table next to her. The note read:
Claude, call me when you wake up and I'll bring you some breakfast. -Myka
The redhead opened the Farnsworth and found Myka's frequency.
"Hey Claude, how did you sleep?" The curly-headed woman was walking as she talked.
"Like a rock. I swear, Vanessa must have drugged me."
"Well, that's blood-loss for you. Also, you're still on a low dose of demerol."
"Yeah… about that. Sorry you had to be the one to find me… like that."
"It's okay, Claude. Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'll be there in a couple of minutes, and we can talk in person." The woman hung up, and as promised, showed up in the medical procedure room a few minutes later. She was carrying a plate of scones and a thermos. Unscrewing the cap-which doubled as a cup- Myka poured Claudia a cup of coffee and handed it to her.
"Ugh, thank god." She gulped the coffee down.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like crap on toast."
"Emotionally, or physically?"
"Physically. Emotionally… I'm just really confused."
"Steve talked to all of us about what you said. We believe you that you don't remember things."
"Even Josh?"
"Even Josh. I thought we might talk to Dr. Bahar just to ask her opinion on everything, but I've also been checking on any artifacts that could cause something like this."
There was a knock on the door, and Vanessa came in. "Hello Claudia. Good to see you awake."
"Hi."
"Mind if I take a look at your arms?"
The woman nodded a bit timidly and held out her bandaged arms. Vanessa carefully unwound the bandages, and Claudia stared at the cuts for the second time.
"No signs of infection; that's good." The woman pulled some anti-bacterial cream from a drawer and began applying it with a q-tip to Claudia's cuts. The young woman winced slightly at the contact with her sensitive wounds.
"I'm going to keep these wrapped for a week or so to avoid infection. That's when we'll take out the stitches as well."
Claudia nodded as Vanessa put gauze pads over the cuts again and wrapped her arms back up.
"Why don't you go home with Myka tonight? There's really no need for you to sit here, when there's a nice comfortable couch with a tv back at the B&B."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I'll let you go home as long as you promise to take it easy. Your body needs to recover. I want you in bed tomorrow, and only light activity the next day."
"It's not like I'm that active anyway."
"True. Just rest today. Is there anything you want?"
"Maybe my laptop?"
"Sure. I'll go get it for you."
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Claudia messed around on her laptop and napped, and Myka worked in the Warehouse, looking up artifacts.
That evening, Claudia arrived at the B&B, leaning heavily on Myka. The brunette brought her into the living room, where her Claudia's psychiatrist was sitting.
"Holy out of place! Doctor Bahar..." Claudia exclaimed as Myka helped her sit down on the couch.
"Hello Claudia," the middle eastern woman greeted her.
"You're in the B&B."
"Yes I am."
"Um… Why?"
"Myka called me and asked me to come down to talk with you."
Myka nodded and left the room. Dr. Bahar asked Claudia about what had happened, and listened intently.
"Claudia, I believe your sleeping medication may have been what triggered you to hurt yourself."
"Really?"
"Yes. You see, you have a natural fight or flight mode to any physical stressors or danger, but when the danger and stress is in your mind, your body doesn't know what to do. The natural impulse would be to get rid of the stressor. If you were conscious, your mind would realize that trying to end your life isn't the best solution to your problem, but when you are running purely on instinct, that may seem like the best solution. The sleeping pills tend to enhance preset instincts in sleeping people. Some people sleep-eat, or do the dishes. Your case is more extreme."
"Uh, yeah it is. So how do I… not do that? I mean what if someone isn't there to save me if that happens again?"
"Here's what I recommend. Go off the sleeping pills for four days. Give me a call if there are problems, otherwise call me after four days and we'll discuss how to proceed. How does that sound?"
"I can't sleep without them."
"Yes, and that is another reason to get you off of them."
"No, I mean I have nightmares and night terrors that keep me up all night."
"Just try your best. You can take ativan to try to combat your panic, but I'd like you to go off of the sleeping pills for at least four days. You're on a low enough dose that you don't need to wean off of it."
"Okay. I guess I'll try it."
The doctor went over a few tips to help Claudia relax and get some sleep. She then went to the kitchen to talk with Leena, Myka, Steve, and Artie. (Pete was holding down the fort at the Warehouse.)
When it was nearing bedtime, Claudia got up from the couch where she had been lounging for the last couple of hours. She was feeling a bit light-headed as she stepped into the kitchen, searching for a snack. She spotted a platter of freshly-baked cookies and picked one up, savoring the taste. Opening her eyes, she noticed that the wooden knife block had disappeared from the counter. She pulled opened the silverware drawer and saw that all the table knives had been removed as well. Just then, Leena walked into the kitchen and Claudia raised her eyebrows.
"Really, Leena? Hiding the knives?"
"Dr. Bahar suggested it. We know that you're not going to do anything while you're awake, but if you can hurt yourself in your sleep, we need to make sure it's not easy to do so."
The redhead sighed and swallowed the rest of the Oatmeal Scotchie. "I get it. Doesn't mean I have to like it..." Claudia trailed off as she walked out of the kitchen and made her way to the stairs, bidding Leena goodnight. She opened her room door and quickly crossed the threshold, shutting the door behind her. Shimmying out of her jeans, she crawled into her bed, pulling the purple blankets over her. Her head hit the pillow and soon she was asleep, the nightmares beginning almost immediately.
She was drinking her second rum and coke of the night at the small bar in Univille, when she began to feel dizzy. The crowded room seemed to spin as she stumbled toward the bathroom, knowing she was either going to pass out or throw up. But before she made it to the door, she tripped over her feet and began to fall. She felt hands grab her upper arms, not allowing her to hit the ground.
"Hey, easy there. You want me to call a cab for you?"
"Um... sure." She answered, words slurring together. She was having trouble staying focused as the man helped her out of the bar and into a van.
"S'not a cab..." she stated drunkenly. She noticed someone roughly pulling off her favorite leather jacket and grabbing her bag from her loose grip. She felt hands around her waist as the world went black.
When she woke next, she had a splitting headache. She jerked forward only to be held firmly in place. It seemed that she was chained to a wall by her wrists. She was sitting on a cold concrete floor and it was too dark to really see anything. She began to shake. She turned her head from side to side, trying to determine where she was. The events of the night before were fuzzy. She had no idea how long she had sat there for, but her legs were cramping beneath her. It was cold, she desperately needed water, and there were goosebumps rising on her skin. Time dragged on and she yelled for help, but no one came. What seemed like an eternity later she needed to use the bathroom, and she said so, but still no one came. At some point, she fell asleep, but awoke again when she heard keys jangling. A door slid open, scraping the concrete floor, letting in a stream of blinding light. She hadn't yet regained her eyesight when she felt someone unlocking the cold steel cuffs around her wrists. Once the chains were removed, she slumped to the floor, too weak to keep herself up.
"Hello Claudia." "Who are you?" she said hoarsely, the words scraping her throat.
"That doesn't matter right now." the voice said, chuckling wryly.
Something pierced the skin on her neck and she felt a rushing sensation, and then the world went black.
I love constructive criticism, comments, questions, and ideas, so please review!
