Chapter Ten
"Pete you are the most irritating person I have ever met", Myka said as she wiped the tears from her face as she attempted to regain control of herself.
"That's because you haven't met my cousin Freddie. That guy, that guy is the worst. One minute you're talking about getting a promotion at work and the next he's showing you his mint collection of figurines and won't even let you touch them" Pete said as he folded the leather jacket and threw it onto the bed.
"Pete, really…" Myka said turning to glare at him.
"Really, Mykes. It's the worst. He's all 'You'll break Spok'…" Pete rambled.
"No, are you REALLY talking about this now?!" Myka asked waving her arms towards the boxes.
"I get chatty when I'm hungry. How about I go make us sandwiches?" Pete said rubbing his belly and motioned out the door.
"Go, Pete." Myka said in a more than annoyed voice. She knew her tone was unnecessarily harsh but her emotions had the best of her at the moment. Pete threw his hands in the air in surrender and left the room.
Myka looked over at Pete's box and noticed a pile of books carelessly tossed aside. Reaching over for the books, Myka smiled when she noticed the bent corners of some of the books. Finding her way to the corner of the bed, she opened the books to the doggy-eared pages remembering the long arguments and conversations she and Helena had shared in their down time. Myka loved Helena's take on the stories and characters. Her eye for details was impeccable and she often alerted Myka to the little clues along the way that the agent had missed in her haste to devour each page. Helena couldn't refuse a good talk about literature and Myka knew it. Sometimes, she would ask Helena questions about a metaphor she long had known the answer to. She loved the pride that spread across the other woman's face when she was able to explain the beauty of the words used. Myka laid back onto the bed her mind swimming in fond memories of the woman's brilliant smile and cunning wit. She had never met anyone quite like Helena G. Wells and she knew she never would. Myka felt a pressure on her lower back and adjusted to relieve the discomfort. In her attempt, Myka's hand brushes against soft leather and she wrapped her fingers around the material and held it above her.
Helena was known for her extensive leather jacket collection, Myka often envied the clothing but knew it only looked so good because it was draped on Helena's gorgeous figure. Sitting up slightly to glimpse at the boxes, Myka noticed that this was the only piece of clothing in the boxes.
"What's so special about you?", Myka whispered to the jacket. She knew Helena did few things without distinct purpose. Myka fell back onto the bed running though the last couple of outfits she had seen the other woman in. It had been a while and it was hard to tell which brown jacket was which to be honest. Scrunching her brow, Myka thought harder, she held the fabric to her nose and breathed in deeply. Helena's perfume was still woven in to the threads of the lining. A grin spread across her lips and Myka held the jacket up to her nose once more.
"Yuuu ow see lof hm, don yu?" Pete's food-filled mouth ruined the moment.
"Yes, I'm aware. Helena is very happy with her life with Nate. I'm happy for them." Myka recited painfully as she sat up and folded the jacket in her lap.
"That's sweet, Myka, but that's not what I said." Pete corrected her as he leaned against the desk across from her.
Myka puffed her cheeks up in embarrassment and bowed her head; she was in no place to jab at Pete's horrible manners when she had been caught fawning over a jacket like a teenage girl.
"I said, 'You know she left him, don't you?'" Pete said looking straight the almost pouting woman.
Myka's head shot up and her eyes searched for a sign of joking in Pete's face. "She…" Myka began but the words were too hard to fathom.
"Left him." Pete said taking a large bite out off Myka's sandwich.
The words hit Myka like a brick wall she could feel her jaw drop but she felt frozen in place.
"Okay so not so much" Pete replied noticing his partners' complete shock at his words, "Mykes… Earth to Myka, paging Myka Bering. Do you read?" Pete called hoping to break through the glazed look on her face.
"I uh… Yeah, at a higher reading level than you ever will." Myka replied as she snapped back into the reality, "So she left him, as in 'left-left' him. Okay. How do you know?" she asked attempting to piece it all together.
"She told me this morning, I wanted to let Nate know that she was ok." Pete offered as he gestured to the Bed & Breakfast.
"Oh." Myka said as her lips pursed and her eyes fell to the jacket in her lap.
Pete took another bite of Myka's sandwiched and grinned; he could already see the wheels turning in the woman's head.
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"If it's not the astrolade, then what could it be?!" Claudia asked stressfully running her fingers through her hair."Sykes is dead, Evil Artie is gone… I think!" Claudia's eyes squinted and he slowly reached for her Farnsworth.
"We've seen the last of him, Ms. Donovan." The cold voice was all too familiar to the team.
"Mrs. Frederick!" Steve announced nearly jumping out of his skin by her close and unannounced proximity to him.
"This is unlike anything the Warehouse has ever seen. The regents are greatly concerned for Agent Wells' safety but this has become a much larger issue. At this rate, the fire will burn through the quarantine in the next hour. At that time, the fire will be unstoppable. Whatever artifact that is causing it must be located and diffused before all is lost." Mrs. Frederick explained.
Artie, Claudia, Helena, and Steve all looked at each other in sheer panic.
"Is there anyway to buy us some time with one of these artifacts?" Claudia asked pointing to the items on the floor. Her question, however, remained unanswered when her eyes failed to find Mrs. Frederick amongst them. "Seriously!" She yelled.
"You heard Mrs. Frederick, our efforts have to go toward finding what's causing the fires. I'll call Pete and Myka and see if they have found any clues."
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"Nothing here, Artie." Myka said craning her neck to see his face on the Farnsworth, "We've gone through the boxes but nothing is sparking. Is it possible she has something on her?"
"No, no. Vanessa checked her this morning and she's wearing your clothes, right?" Artie responded, "We think this may be linked back to the astrolade. A new fire has erupted and is being contained in quarantine, the same location as when Syke's bomb destroyed the warehouse." His voice for once was clueless.
"Okay we have to think back to when you used it then." Myka said determined to solve the puzzle, "You said it was in the quarantine. Could one of incoming artifacts be affected by the bomb and cause this?"
"No, no we diffused and shelved all those items besides no activity is showing on the computers." Artie replied disgruntled.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Claudia yelled, "Artifacts are made! Artifacts can be created when a great or powerful deed has been done! I saw it once before!" Claudia had nearly jumped Artie and was not shoving her face into the screen.
"You mean you think this is a new artifact?" Pete asked taking the Farnsworth from Myka, "How are we supposed to find a new artifact?! That could be anything!"
"If Claudia is right, the artifact would have to be something we came into contact that day." Artie clarified.
"Okay well I'm officially off the hook then. I was dead at the time!" Jinks yelled as he leaned against a shelf in the background.
"Way to not be a DEAD WEIGHT." Pete yelled in return as he tried high fiving Jinks through the screen.
"Seriously?" Myka asked as she snatched the Farnsworth back, "What do you mean IF Claudia is right?" Myka asked confused.
"I know the theory not the practice. Mrs. Frederick only passes down knowledge that is specific to your purpose." Artie explained.
"What he's trying to say is that I know something he doesn't!" Claudia boasted, she wouldn't be able to say that again for a while.
"Way to go, Claudia!" Pete yelled, "How the student becomes the teacher! Teach us your ways, oh wise grasshopper!"
Artie was not happy about the turn of power but he handed the Farnsworth to the younger girl.
"Mrs. Frederick took me to a jewelry store that was about to be robbed. I was drawn to a woman and I watched as she took a bullet to save a baby's life. When I ran to check to see if she was ok, her bracelet shimmered, like a warehouse-esque shimmer. It became an artifact!" Claudia excitedly explained.
"Ok so it's something we came into contact but we need to narrow this down. When the astrolade reversed time, when did it return you to?"
"Uhh…. Myka, you and H.G. were being constricted by the pulley block from the Mary Celeste." Artie remembered motioning for Helena to join him.
When she stepped into view, Helena's face was notably flushed even on black and white screen, "I remember it well, Artie." Helena replied with a smile.
"Alright so everything we touched before that moment could have become an artifact." Myka concluded feeling herself blushing as well. Being held together by ropes had pushed her and Helena physically closer than they had allowed themselves to become; had it not been for the threat of death, Myka would have almost welcomed it.
"It's the meeting of a person, an object, and a moment." Claudia mumbled to herself remembering what Mrs. Frederick had said, "It's not just anything any time! It's a person, an object, and a moment!" Claudia exclaimed.
"Well obviously the person is H.G. " Jinks said trying to be as helpful as possible, "but what about the other two?"
"Helena, can you remember anything you came into contact that day?" Myka asked liking the way her name tasted on her lips.
"Unfortunately no, nothing out of the usual." Helena replied sadly.
"So it's the moment. The moment is what's going to help us figure this out." Claudia said, "but Artie you're the only one who was there for the whole thing. What could have created an artifact?"
Myka and Pete huddled around the Farnsworth waiting for his reply.
"I uhhh… let me get back to you." Artie said before closing the Farnsworth.
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"H.G. I have to tell them. It's the only thing that makes sense." Artie said turning to Helena. When Helena became curious of Artie's use of time travel, he confessed to using the astrolade and explained sacrifice that was made on the team's behalf. Realizing how vulnerable the team had made her, Helena swore Artie to secrecy. The less they knew, the easier it would be for her to leave them.
"It seems it's about that time." Helena said with a nod. Artie opened the Farnsworth once more and waited for Pete or Myka to answer.
"Sykes had hid the bomb in his wheelchair but it took much longer to find. We scrambled to diffuse bomb but nothing could break the case. Pete you even tried using a blowtorch but the case was impenetrable." Artie began to explain, "Helena had wondered off, I noticed she was messing with the electrical box but I thought she had come to a dead end as we had. Instead, she found an anomaly in the circuit that allowed her to reroute part of the barrier to the spot where Pete, Myka, and I were standing."
"But that would have meant…" Myka began to see where this was going.
"She sacrificed herself. Helena knew that the barrier had to be activated from outside and she…" Artie's voice trailed off at the memory of the explosion and the disappearance of H.G.'s face in a storm of fire.
"You saved us." Pete said shocked as he looked to a silent H.G. Wells on the screen.
Helena and Myka hadn't said a word, since Artie had begun his tale. Both women seemed to be lost in a world of contemplation.
"Helena…" Myka began unsure of what to say to the person willing to give up their life for your safety.
"It's quite alright, darling. I'd do it all again." Helena said conjuring up a smile.
"Well hopefully you won't have to H.G." Artie said interrupting the sentimental moment.
"So we have the moment!" Claudia decided, "H.G. were you touching anything when…when you.. when the bomb went off?"
"I don't know, I don't have memories of it just what Artie has said. Artie?" Helena asked feeling less that useful.
"No nothing she just stood there." Artie explained.
"So you had to be wearing it like the bracelet!" Claudia said, "It had to be something on you! Oh no, no, no, no.. " Claudia had begun to make progress when the fire burst from the quarantine tent and had quickly approaching the team.
"H.G. it wants you! You have to run!" Jinks yelled leaping in front of her while throwing her his Farnsworth, "RUN!".
Helena took off sprinting down the aisle. The fire was being slowed by Steve, Claudia, and Artie who had joined arms to create a blockade against the fire. The flames quickly surpassed them and began to crawl down corresponding aisles chasing Helena through the warehouse.
"Claudia, is she ok?" Myka asked once the team had regrouped.
"She's alright for now, I'm tracking Jink's Farnsworth through the warehouse. She's surprisingly quick for her age." Claudia joked and then realized the seriousness of the situation. "It had to be something she was wearing. Her sacrifice had to have turn something she was wearing into an artifact!" Claudia explained. Pete and Myka looked at each other and then to the leather jacket on the bed.
"Got it!" they yelled in unison.
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The fire was not just a few meters behind Helena and her lungs had begun struggle. The effects of the previous fires were showing and her pace slowed. She could hear the fire ripping through the warehouse behind her. Running out of options, Helena flung open the Farnsworth mid sprint.
"Myka, darling, I don't think I can outrun any longer." she gasped between haggard breaths, "You should know…" Helena had begun to say her goodbyes but was interrupted by Myka.
"WE FOUND IT! Pete, bag the jacket!" Myka yelled. Pete dove towards the bed, grabbed the leather jacket, and shoved it into a bag.
Instantly the fire around Helena dissipated. Her legs carried her further down the aisle before collapsing on her completely. Her lungs were now wheezing and failing to fill, the very last words Helena heard before closing her eyes were from Myka's lips, "It's going to be alright, Helena."