A/N: Guys, I am so sorry for the delay in updating. This story is kicking my butt.


Vanessa and Artie packed up the day after Christmas, and while the tears Artie shed over the leaving the only home he'd known for over forty years were completely expected, it was almost a relief to see Claudia cry, and finally show some emotion, when Artie finally said goodbye. Her sudden sentimental display, however, kicked Myka's maternal worry into high gear.

"Maybe we should wait," Myka murmured uneasily, twisting her new wedding ring around her finger as she watched Steve and Pete load the last of the overstuffed suitcases into the back of Myka's SUV. Pete's car, and a U-Haul trailer attached to it, was sitting in the driveway, already loaded with the rest of the Lattimer family's belongings.

"We could stay a little longer," Myka continued, concern written all over her face.

"This says otherwise," Pete quipped, patting his wife's rounded belly with his hand. Myka grimaced, and Pete kissed her cheek reassuringly before loping off to start rounding up his children. Letting out a sigh, Myka walked over to where Steve was leaning against the back of her car, and kicked at the snow on the ground with the toe of her boot. Steve was gazing up at the B&B, where Claudia could be seen sitting at her window. She was strumming at her guitar, a pencil clamped between her teeth, but every once in a while she'd glance down at the yard to check on the happenings below.

"Now I feel like the one who's abandoning her," Myka mumbled guiltily, following Steve's gaze to the window as she leaned back on her car. Steve glanced over at her.

"You know, it's ok to be upset about leaving," he said. "You don't have to make excuses."

Myka gasped out a small laugh as she used a finger to wipe at the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"I was never this emotional with the other kids," she sniffled. Steve nudged her shoulder affectionately with his own, and together they shared a quiet moment of reflection, Myka resting her head on Steve's shoulder as she sighed softly. Their moment ended when Pete stepped out of the B&B with George perched on his hip. Melody followed behind him carrying Scout in a piggyback, and Claudia brought up with rear with Holden tucked under her arm like a squealing, wriggling football.

"This is the last of our stuff," Pete joked, opening the back door of his car so that he could start the process of loading his children into their car seats. Myka went to help him, and Steve watched Claudia for a moment, as had become his habit whenever she was near, before joining Melody and Scout at the back door of Myka's car. Melody barely had to help Scout with the buckles on her car seat, and Steve watched as the little girl and the young agent shared a cheeky goodbye. As Melody scampered away to say her farewells to Pete and the boys, Steve leaned into Myka's car to get as close as he could to Scout. Scout studied him solemnly.

"You're going to be OK, right, Uncle Jinks?" she asked, and Steve's lips curved into a soft smile.

"Don't you worry about me, short stuff," he murmured, reaching out to tweak Scout's nose. "I can look after myself. But you and I need to make a deal, OK?"

Scout blinked at Steve in trepidation. Steve's heart swelled with love for the little girl.

"It's your job to look after everyone, you understand?" he said to Scout. "Your mom and dad might be smart, but everyone knows you're the brains of the operation. Can I count on you to make sure everyone's all right?"

A cocky grin spread over Scout's features.

"No problem," she told him confidently, giving Steve a thumbs up. Steve chuckled as he pressed a kiss to Scout's forehead.

"Love you, kid," he murmured, and Scout giggled as she wrapped her arms around Steve's neck for a final hug. Swallowing at the lump in his throat, Steve gave Scout's hair one last ruffle before hurrying over to Pete's car, where the twins were bellowing at each other from their respective car seats.

"Hey!" Steve barked authoritatively, and George and Holden immediately snapped to attention, though not before Holden managed to spit a raisin at his brother. Steve rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Stay out of trouble," Steve lectured. "Be kind to each other. Look after the new baby. Try to behave. And remember, your sister is in charge, got it?"

The twins blinked at him for a moment, and then put on identical cheesy innocent grins that were inherited directly from Pete.

"Got it," they chorused in unison, and then George threw a raisin at Holden, and the hollering started up all over again. Shaking his head in even as he grinned, Steve turned to Pete, who was already perched in the driver's seat, his keys dangling from his fingers.

"Never have two kids been more like their father," Steve quipped, and Pete chuckled.

"A juice box each and a movie and they'll be asleep," he commented, and Steve couldn't help but laugh.

"I rest my case," he chuckled, holding his hand out for a fist bump. Pete returned the gesture as he gave Steve a rueful smile.

"I know I don't need to say it, but take care of Myka," Steve said gruffly. Pete nodded.

"All over it," he murmured, his voice cracking as he tried to mask his emotion. The two men shared a nod of recognition, and then Pete slid his keys into the ignition of his car. Steve quickly stepped over to Myka's car, where the woman in question sat waiting, her elbows rested on the open window frame.

"It's not goodbye, Steve," Myka said forcefully, before Steve even had a chance to speak. "If you make me cry, I swear to God..."

Steve shook his head, and glanced over towards the B&B, where Claudia stood with Melody on the front steps. Myka followed his gaze.

"Let her come to you," she murmured, her words an echo of their conversation nights before. "You're meant to be, Steve."

Steve cleared his throat loudly as he fought to stop to stop his voice from cracking.

"Call when you get to Denver," he said gruffly. "And every day after that too."

Myka smirked as she blinked rapidly to fight back her tears, and she leaned up to kiss Steve on the cheek. Her move to start her car however was interrupted by a shriek from the backseat.

"No, wait!" Scout howled. Myka craned her neck in panic.

"Baby?" she asked worriedly.

"Aunty Claud!" Scout bellowed, and Claudia hurried over to the car from where she had been standing with Melody.

"Short stuff, we already said goodbye," Claudia frowned, leaning into the car window. Scout huffed out a sigh as she pulled off her cat ear headband and handed it to Claudia. Confusion crossed Claudia's face.

"You're giving me your ears?"

"Uncle Jinks needs a new best girl," Scout stated firmly, her eyes flicking towards Steve for a moment before concentrating on Claudia again. "Can you be that?"

Steve watched curiously as Claudia twisted the headband around between her fingers, but his breath caught in his throat when she reached up and perched the cat ears on her head. She gave Scout a crooked grin.

"Yeah, I can be that," Claudia murmured reassuringly to Scout. The little girl looked both grateful and relieved, and she leaned back in her seat as she sucked on the end of one of her pigtails. Claudia winked at her, but she shot a cautious glance at Steve before she backed away from the car. Myka glanced into the rearview mirror to meet her daughter's eyes.

"Everything ok now?" she asked, and Scout nodded her reply. Shaking her head fondly, Myka started the engine of her car. Leaving one hand resting on the steering wheel, she placed her other hand on the arm Steve was still leaning against the window frame. She opened her mouth to speak, but Steve cut her off with a head shake and a gentle smile.

"It's ok to let go," he murmured to her, and Myka gave him a wobbly smile.

"You never really let go of what you love," she whispered, and the pair shared a final smile before Myka withdrew her hand from his arm. Steve winked at her as he stepped back, and Myka paused just for a moment before she shifted the car into gear. Scout waved at Steve as the car started down the drive, her pigtail still clamped firmly in her mouth, and Steve made sure that he waved back until he was sure Scout couldn't see him anymore. He sighed as the car disappeared from sight, and folded his arms across his chest as he stepped back through the thin snow to where Claudia and Melody stood on the front stoop of the B&B. Claudia tilted her head, the cat ears perched in her hair making the move look almost comical.

"Why so glum, chum?" she quipped, pulling a radio monitor out of her pocket and flipping it open. "No time for sad faces. We've got pings."

"The Warehouse never rests," Melody intoned seriously, but there was an excited grin on her face as she turned and followed Claudia back into the B&B. Almost immediately a shriek of excited surprise filtered back outside. Shaking his head as the realisation that he was suddenly in charge of this ramshackle team dawned on him, Steve perched himself on the front stoop. He sat for a long while, not quite in a meditative state, but mulling over his thoughts all the same, and it was only when his nose started to go numb that he got to his feet to head inside. His action, however, was paused when the sound of car tyres crunching over the thin snow caused Steve to turn back towards the yard, where he watched with mild caution as a small sedan rolled slowly up the driveway. Folding his arms across his chest, Steve watched as a man of a similar age to his own emerged from the vehicle, running a hand through a head of shaggy brown hair as he stared up at the B&B.

"I'm sorry, we're actually fully occupied," Steve called, taking a step forward. The other man swung a satchel onto his shoulder as he pushed the car door closed.

"Are you Steven Jinks?" he asked as he took a few steps towards the front door. Steve looked taken aback.

"I am," he said slowly, furrowing his brow. "Can I help you?"

"Good to meet you," the other man said, offering a hand out for a shake as he gazed distractedly over Steve's shoulder. "Huh, not what I was expecting, but it'll work."

"I'm sorry, should I know you?" Steve asked in confusion, his question finally earning the attention of the new guy.

"Wait, she didn't tell you I was coming?" he asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. Steve stared back at him in disbelief.

"Who didn't tell me what?" he questioned.

"Mrs Frederic," came the reply. "I'm Ethan Rothschild. The Regents sent me. I'm your new Warehouse agent."


Ethan Rothschild turned out to be Mrs Frederic's parting gift before she handed over the Caretaker reins. A member of the IT division of the Secret Service, Ethan was something of a technological genius, and had spent most of his working hours surfing through Secret Service data pages that were far beyond his actual clearance. He'd stumbled across the Warehouse files and come up against Claudia's almost unbreakable firewalls, but the resistance had only served to peak his interest.

"I almost had that first firewall down when Mrs Frederic turned up at my desk," Ethan commented as he recounted the story to the Warehouse team a few days after his arrival at the B&B. "Your tech guy is good, but I almost had him."

"I'm the tech guy," Claudia said dryly, glaring at him from over her coffee mug. "Trust me, you did not almost have anyone."

Ethan winced sheepishly. Beside him, Melody folded her arms across her chest and glowered at the new arrival.

"Why do the Regents think that I need a babysitter?" she complained, directing her question at Claudia.

"Come again?" Claudia asked, the fact that she was completely unimpressed lost on the Warehouse agent in front of her, though Steve could read it loud and clear.

"He's, like, Steve's age!" Melody whined. "I've been here longer! I'm supposed to be the senior agent!"

If it hadn't been for the fact that Claudia looked ready to smack someone down, Steve would have laughed at just how much Melody reminded him of the Claudia he'd had to deal with in his first days at the Warehouse. Instead, he watched as Claudia huffed out a cranky breath and rose from her seat at the table.

"Where are you off to?" he asked cautiously. Claudia looked up from shoving a sheath of documents into her satchel.

"Regent Headquarters," she said nonchalantly. "It's handover day. Time to become a Caretaker, and all that jazz."

Steve shot to his feet so fast that his chair tipped over and hit the floor. Claudia raised her eyebrows at him, a challenge for Steve to open his mouth.

"Going somewhere?" she enquired, and Steve gave her a dumbfounded look.

"I'm coming with you," he stated.

"Uh, no you're not," Claudia shot back, slinging the strap of her satchel over her shoulder.

"Claudia, this is a big deal," Steve said to her, but his protest was already faltering.

"Steve, it's really not," Claudia told him bluntly. "It's not a formal ceremony or anything. Mrs F steps down, I step up. Whole thing's over in five minutes."

"Claud, don't you think you should have a friend with you?" Steve tried weakly. Claudia was already pulling her car keys out of her pocket.

"You have enough to deal with here," she said, indicating Melody and Ethan, who had lost interest in Claudia and Steve and were instead goading each other like small children that needed to be separated. Steve huffed out an exasperated breath. Claudia gave him a wry grin as she paused in the doorway.

"Just remember, you've got a whole Warehouse catalogue to memorise," she quipped. "Big day for you too, Special Agent in Charge Jinks."

Before Steve had the chance to respond, Claudia slipped out of the doorway, once again leaving Steve staring dumbfounded at her retreating back. Steve was starting to get frustrated. Every time he felt like he'd had a breakthrough with Claudia, it was like she sensed it, and she withdrew all over again. Unfortunately for him, Claudia was right about the fact that he had other things to deal with. Melody and Ethan required training, and as would soon become apparent, constant supervision. Ethan may have been brilliant, but that brilliance meant that he grew bored easily, and Melody, with her eagerness to please combined with her need to be recognised as competent, provided a perfect target for terrorising. It was impossible to send them out in the field alone together, and Steve began to realise just how much patience Artie had needed to harness when it came to dealing with the previous team. To top it all off, the enormity that was the Warehouse seemed to be on a mission to overwhelm Steve at every turn. As the member of the previous team that had spent the least amount of time in the Warehouse, it seemed almost ludicrous that Steve would end up as the agent left to run it all. Steve kicked himself mentally for not showing more interest while Artie had been schooling Myka. He went to bed at night, when he got to bed at all, both physically and mentally exhausted. The worst part was, he felt further away from Claudia than he ever had before. She was in the Warehouse every day, connecting with her charge, but it was like she found the farthest corners and the darkest quadrants to hide in, and Steve could still go days without seeing her. A breakthrough seemed impossible, and after a while, even though he couldn't say he was ready to give up, Steve put his focus on other things, because it felt like it was the only way that he'd ever get through.


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