A/N: Thank you to E, applesandcherries and Forevercharmed01 for your lovely reviews.
Five and a half hours later found Myka in the bathroom, splashing water on her face as she surveyed her rather haggard, albeit less tired, appearance in the bathroom. She looked down at the rope burns bright red on her wrists and hissed slightly, rubbing them to try to relieve the ache.
Unsuccessful, she continued dressing, emerging from the bathroom and wandering back down the richly appointed hallway. She supposed someone would come looking for her when Artie and Claudia arrived—but she had grown restless waiting in the tastefully furnished guest room Magnus had shown her to. She walked back towards Magnus's office, trying to navigate by the paintings she had seen last night as she attempted not to get lost in the labyrinthine building.
She eventually found her way back to Magnus's office, where the door was open, and Magnus and Zimmerman were within, sitting on the couches and discussing something about the diet of one of the creatures that Myka supposed lived below. They looked up as Myka appeared in the doorway and greeted her.
"Good morning Agent Bering, I trust you slept well," Dr. Magnus looked sounded tired, despite her cheerfully greeting.
"Dr. Magnus, Dr. Zimmerman." Myka nodded in response.
"Please, call me Will." Zimmerman said, smiling slightly, his eyes bright as he looked Myka up and down. It took all of Myka's power of restraint not to roll her eyes; still she shot him a look that clearly said "As if, pretty boy."
"Doc," Henry walked in, holding a tablet in his hands.
"Yes Henry?" Magnus answered expectantly.
Henry scratched his head, looking slightly puzzled. "There's a couple of people outside the front door waiting for you—look sort of like a hobbit and a punk rock star."
Myka brightened. "That would be my escort."
"Show them in please, Henry," Magnus ordered.
"Gotcha."
Claudia wasn't sure how a Gothic style cathedral got transplanted into the middle of a city, but she was enjoying the witchy, old school vibe it was throwing off. She and Artie stood outside a rather imposing set of doors while Artie knocked, impatient as ever.
The large wood doors swung open, revealing a slender yet well built man, pale but smiling at them. "Hello," he greeted them "I'm Henry Foss, welcome to the Sanctuary."
"Yes, yes, this isn't my first trip to the rodeo" Artie grumped. "Now let us in so I can see if my agent is in one piece."
Henry seemed slightly taken back. Claudia smiled winningly at him, saying, "What he means is hi, we're Claudia and Artie and we believe you have our Myka."
Henry smiled back at her. "Right this way please."
He led them into the entry hall, Claudia gawking unabashed at the sheer size of the structure. "This place is like a freaking castle," she stage whispered to Artie. He ignored her, bustling after Henry.
They followed Henry up a flight of stairs and down several winding hallways, until they reached an open doorway that opened into a spacious office, richly decorated with relics from around the world.
Myka stood up from where she was sitting on the couch with a dazzling smile.
"Myka," Claudia squealed, flinging herself into her friends arms. Myka caught her with an unf, burying her face into the smaller woman's hair. Claudia pulled back slightly, looking Myka in the face, as if checking for damage.
"Arthur, how wonderful to see you again," the woman sitting on the opposite couch said warmly, standing up to shake Artie's hand.
Artie gave a small smile saying, "Doctor Magnus, you haven't aged a day." He gestured towards Claudia, "The colorful one is Junior Agent Claudia Donovan. As you can see, she's been rather worried about Myka."
"I don't blame her at all," Magnus chuckled.
"Did she hurt you?" Claudia demanded, her face set.
"Did who hurt me?" Myka was confused, her eyes flicking to Magnus, the only other woman in the room.
"HG Wells." Artie said, his face drawn. "Don't worry Myka, we sent Pete and Steve to apprehend her."
"You did what?" Myka yelped.
"Well, we thought she still had you!" Artie exclaimed.
"Artie, she never had me in the first place!" Myka said hotly. "Why would you think that in the first place, she's off robbing banks and god knows what in California!"
"Alright, just hold a moment," Magnus cut in, "Arthur, Will and I rescued Agent Bering from where she was being held by Adam Worth, a madman who recently has been generating millions of dollars in funds—we were putting a stop to his operation when we stumbled upon her."
"But, but, but" Claudia broke in. "Your backdoor."
"Yeah, it was broken before I left," Myka raised an eyebrow.
"Myka, your backdoor was propped open with a copy of The Time Machine. We thought HG was leaving her calling card." Claudia's eyes narrowed. "Maybe it was just a coincidence…"
Will's eyebrows rose, "Or that's what Worth wanted you to think."
"That question is why." Artie said.
"He knew you would immediately chase Agent Bering if you thought that Helena had taken her," Magnus said quietly. "Why were your agents in the area in the first place?"
"Chasing an artifact that was killing people using Shakespeare in the area…" Artie trailed off as it hit him. "The perfect artifact that they knew we would need to consult Myka on."
Magnus and Artie exchanged heavy glances—but Claudia had already figured it out. "They are working together aren't they. Helena, Worth and that other man. Whatever they need all that money for." She looked at Myka, stricken.
Magnus suddenly looked alarmed. "Bloody hell." She stood, walking to her computer behind the desk. "Will, run and fetch Nikolai. He's going to need to hear this."
Will started to say "Do you think they are trying to build-" before Magnus cut him off.
"Not now Will, just go." He nodded and left.
Magnus continued "Henry, I need you to try to trace the money—where Helena and John's stolen goods are going and where Adam's money is traveling."
Henry said "I need my lab." Magnus nodded sharply and he left.
Claudia looked more closely at Magnus. She was one of the prettiest women Claudia had ever seen; but there was something deeper there that made her intriguing. Then Claudia added:
"But we've tricked them right?" She looked back and forth between Magnus and Artie. "HG and her buddies, they were looking for the Rod of Nebuchadnezzar, but we still have it. Steve and Pete didn't even take it with them."
"Tell me about the Rod's properties." Magnus ordered.
Artie blinked at her, then complied "Well, I don't exactly know, but the ancient texts seem to suggest a certain amount of, er, smiting involved. "
Magnus blinked. "Hmmm, I wouldn't think the three of them needed to be more deadly-" she was cut off by her phone ringing. "Yes?, Alright, I'm on my way." Will walked back into the room as Magnus hung up. "Excuse me everyone, Henry needs my assistance." She walked out of the room, leaving the Warehouse team alone with Will.
"Now, what was your name again?" Artie peered at up at Will through his glasses.
"Doctor Will Zimmerman" Will answered, "Good to meet you Agent..?"
"Arthur Nielson." Artie folded his arms. "Now tell me Dr. Zimmerman, who exactly is Adam Worth?"
Will sighed then said "Well like everything with Magnus, it's a long story." He looked around rather shiftily. "I really shouldn't be telling you this."
"Please Will," Myka said, unashamed to be fluttering her eyes at him "We have to know in order to stop them."
Claudia tried not to giggle as Will fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Will took a deep breath and began to explain the Five, and their fates: Jack the Ripper, forever running from the law, Nikolai Tesla, the last vampire, James Watson, dead and frozen beneath the Sanctuary, Nigel Griffin, the Invisible Man who disappeared off the face of the Earth and Helen Magnus, the Immortal Woman. And the final piece: Adam Worth, Jekyll and Hyde, rejected from the Five, his twisted mind tore in two by the untimely death of his daughter.
"Now that doesn't sound familiar at all" Claudia muttered.
Will continued, saying that the Five thought that they had taken care of Worth in 1898, but last week he had re-emerged, and using some sort of device trapped Magnus in a time dilation field. They had "beaten the crap out of each other" until finally Magnus was able to use that same device to escape, Worth in tow.
She brought Worth to the Sanctuary, but no sooner had she strapped him to the hospital bed and walked out of the room, he disappeared. Magnus still couldn't understand how he circumvented the security measures around the Sanctuary, simply vanishing without a trace.
"That was when Magnus decided to test herself to see if she was drugged or something, anything really" Will said grimly. "She wasn't but she did discover that the thing Worth was using to teleport had exposed her to massive levels of radiation."
Myka blinked. "That's why her hands were shaking so badly, wasn't it?" she said. "Doctor Magnus is dying from the exposure."
Will nodded briefly "Yes, but we are doing everything we can to stop it." He looked saddened as he continued," Magnus herself cooked up a serum to slow it down, but even she has no idea how much longer she has left."
Artie's perpetual frown deepened. "This is all very disturbing news Doctor Zimmerman. Do you think that Jack the Ripper helped Worth escape from this facility?"
"No way, we have shields that block his teleportation."
"But-" Claudia said hesitantly "Didn't this all happened around the same time that Jack broke out HG?" She looked at Artie for confirmation.
"Yes" he said shortly.
"Helena must have figured out a way around it. And your security" Myka looked grim.
Will's cell phone began to ring. "Excuse me a moment." He called as he left the room.
"I can't believe Helena never mentioned the Five to me." Myka muttered.
"Why would she? " Claudia shrugged. "She probably thought they were dead. They never told her about the vampire blood or anything. And really, did she ever talk about England?"
"No" Myka said, shaking her head. "Too much pain there."
Artie said nothing, merely folding his arms over.
The doorway to the office was darkened once more as suddenly Pete appeared, grinning in relief as he saw Myka. Steve followed more sedately, still unsure about the woman he had just chased across the continent.
"Mykes!" Pete swept Myka up in a hug almost as enthusiastic as Claudia's.
"Pete, I can't breathe!" she laughed, pounding on his back. She looked over his shoulder at Steve and said "You must be the new guy."
"Hi" he waved "I'm Steve Jinks"
"Nice to meet you." Myka smiled at him as she said "Pete, get off me, jeez."
Pete stepped back looking sheepish, but still put his arm around his best friend's shoulders.
"What are you people doing here?" Artie grumped. "You were supposed to go back to the Warehouse."
"Well, we ran into some of Doctor Magnus's people at the warehouse coordinates and when we heard where Myka was, they offered to give us a lift." Steve shrugged.
"And you just trusted them?!" Artie sputtered.
"Human lie detector, hellloooo" Pete singsonged, his arm still around Myka's shoulders. Claudia giggled at that and at the look on Artie's face.
Myka and Pete started laughing too, followed by Steve and even Artie let out a chuckle. They were so relieved at having Myka back, safe and relatively sane that the giddiness simply washed over them suddenly, the laughter a balm to the stress of the last day.
That was, until Claudia pulled up short. No one left at the Warehouse, save Leena, unarmed. Demands from unknown kidnappers, villains from Victorian London, including the one person on Earth who could hack the Warehouse, other than Claudia herself. "Wait, wait" she said, "If you're here, who's at the Warehouse?"
"Just Leena I think" Artie said, frowning. "Why?"
But Claudia had already pulled her smartphone out of her pocket and begun accessing her remote Warehouse programs, entering her key codes and accessing Warehouse security feeds.
There was nothing on the screen.
Claudia felt her giddiness burst like a bubble. She rewound the feed, nothing for the last ten, fifteen, twenty minutes, then there in the very last frame of video before the cameras were shot out, was a single glimpse of HG's face.
Claudia kept the panic out of her voice as she said "If these people could take down this place's security, what makes you think that they couldn't take down ours?" And she held up the screen.
Silence fell.
A/N: Reviews make my day, thank you!