Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: This chapter covers the second half of the season three finale. Sykes forces HG (now with memories restored) to help him uncover a secret way into the Warehouse. After retrieving the Collodi Bracelet, he exits the Warehouse and leaves behind a bomb. HG manages to crate a forcefield around Artie, Myka, and Pete, but she herself is killed in the blast. It destroys the Warehouse, which also kills Mrs. Frederic who had gone to the B&B to save Leena from Marcus. The first part of this chapter takes place directly after the team leave the hanger where Steve died, the second is when Claudia heads to the B&B to help save Leena, and the third is a slight extension on the ending scene where Mrs. Frederic dies. Enjoy!
Let the Sky Fall
No one said a word during the long drive back to the Warehouse. They were all too busy trying to cope with Steve's death. It had been a brutal shock. Claudia had refused to leave his side until the men finally arrived to pick up the body. Even then she had stayed within eyesight of him until they loaded him into a truck and drove away. Then she had climbed back into Pete's car and let herself drown in her own numbness. Pete and Myka were both too shaken themselves to bother trying to pull her out of it.
The drive passed in a blur. Claudia had completely shut down for its entirety, her eyes staring out at landscape that her brain didn't bother to register. The next thing she knew they were pulling off the road toward the Warehouse.
The Warehouse. It had been hard to be there in the midst of Steve's sudden absence. But as Claudia caught sight of the building, the knowledge that he was dead suddenly hit her with all the force of a speeding semi-truck. Her best friend was gone forever. There would be no more hunting down artifacts together, no more teasing attempts to fool his lie detector, no more laughing together over secret jokes that no one else understood. No more Jinksy. Period. The Regents had sent him undercover and it had gotten him killed. She was never going to see his stupid smiling face again.
Suddenly the thought of the Warehouse without him was just too much.
"Stop the car," Claudia choked. Her voice was hoarse from crying at the hanger.
"What?" Pete asked in surprise.
"Stop the car!" Claudia repeated, this time with force. Pete slammed his brakes so hard Myka nearly hit the dashboard.
The car had barely even come to a stop before Claudia opened the door and dove out. Myka was calling her name, but she ignored her. She only made it a few feet before she dropped to her knees. Almost immediately her last two meals both came straight back up. Claudia knelt helplessly in the dirt as her stomach heaved it all up. Someone knelt beside her and a hand carefully pulled back her hair while another came to rest on her back. Claudia was too busy throwing up to notice who it was.
Finally her stomach had nothing left to give. She curled into a ball and let herself fall into the lap of whoever was beside her. Two arms caught her, holding her tightly. Myka's arms. Claudia instinctively burrowed into them as she started to shake.
Suddenly Pete was there as well. He reached out and wrapped his arms around both of them. No one said a word. They simply sat there in the dirt, holding on to each other for all they were worth. They had no more tears to give, but that didn't mean their hearts weren't still breaking. They had lost one of their own and they were going to have to find a way to live with that. But right then, none of them quite knew how. So instead they did the only thing they could think of: they held on to each and hoped that when they let go the world would somehow be a better place.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Claudia drove far above the speed limit all the way to the B&B. There were never any cops on that road anyway. Artie and G.I. Jane had been far too preoccupied with the computer screen to notice her leaving. Their primary concern might be the Warehouse, but Claudia was not about to lose someone else to Marcus. She was going to save Leena and then she was going to kill the son of a bitch who had dared come after her family.
The car skidded to a halt in front of the B&B. Claudia climbed out and headed for the door, fully intending to head inside and bash Marcus' head in. But halfway to the door, a sudden voice stopped her.
"Claudia."
Claudia jerked around to see Mrs. Frederic standing behind her.
"Mrs. F!" she gasped. "Leena's in trouble-"
"I know," Mrs. Frederic said. She took two steps forward so she was directly in front of Claudia. "And if you want to save her, you must do exactly as I say. Marcus Diamond cannot be killed by conventional means. He is being kept alive by an artifact: Johann Maelzel's metronome. As long as the metronome is ticking, his heart will continue to beat. Fortunately for us, the metronome is currently inside."
"He brought it with him?" Claudia interrupted skeptically.
"Marcus is not the sort of man known for his intellect," Mrs. Frederic said drily. "The metronome currently rests in a box on the dining table."
"How do you know that?" Claudia asked. Mrs. Frederic gave her a look. "Right. Because you're you and you have some mad connection to the Force."
"I will go through the front and distract Marcus," Mrs. Frederic continued, ignoring Claudia's last comment. "You will enter through the back. Find the metronome and stop it."
"You got it," Claudia said.
She turned and headed toward the side of the B&B. Once she reached it, she broke into a run across the neatly mowed grass. She made a high jump over Leena's rose bush before making a sharp left turn around the side of the B&B and then another around to the back porch.
She took the short set of steps two at a time, skidding to a halt at the top to avoid crashing into the porch table. The back door refused to open when she tugged the handle. Of course Leena had locked it. Fortunately, one of the many benefits of the frequent nerf wars at the B&B was that Claudia had learned long ago how to jimmy it open.
The door eased open without a sound. There were voices coming from the living room. It sounded like Mrs. Frederic and Marcus. Claudia crept forward into the dining room, careful to avoid the creaking spot on the wooden floor. There was a small carrying case resting on the table. She undid the latch and raised the lid. Inside rested a ticking metronome.
Claudia lifted the object in her hands and carefully stepped over to the living room entrance. Marcus was standing a short distance away with his back to her. Leena was sitting in a chair behind him. A closer look revealed that she was handcuffed to it. Claudia's jaw tightened in anger. The bastard was going to pay for this.
Mrs. Frederic was standing across the room near the door with her fearless gaze locked on Marcus. She gave no indication that she had seen Claudia.
"You know," Marcus said coolly, "I think we're beyond needing to make your death look like an accident."
Suddenly everything happened all at once. Marcus moved. A knife flashed. Leena screamed.
Claudia stopped the metronome.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Leena looked from Claudia to Mrs. Frederic and back again. She had never seen either one of them like this. They continued to stare each there down, carrying out a silent power struggle. Leena gulped. The only way this could end was badly.
But before World War 3 could commence, the entire B&B suddenly began to shake. It felt as if the ground was about to split in half. Pieces of plaster and other debris began to reign down from the ceiling. Lamps, vases, cups, and other breakables fell to the ground and shattered. Claudia threw herself to the floor, using her hands to cover her head. Leena caught hold of the shaking table in an attempt to hold herself steady. A giant piece of wood fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing Claudia's head.
And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the shaking stopped. Leena held on to the table for a second longer just to be sure it was over. Then her heart dropped down to her toes as she realized what the shaking meant.
"Claudia, the Warehouse!" she cried. When Claudia didn't respond, Leena turned around. Claudia was staring in shock at the floor. Leena followed her gaze and gasped aloud as she saw what Claudia was looking at. "Mrs. Frederic!"
Leena moved to help her, but she hadn't made it more than a step when Mrs. Frederic's skin began to wrinkle and darken. The impact of her extended life seemed to catch up with her in a matter of seconds. Leena and Claudia could do nothing but stare as Mrs. Frederic's body transformed into little more than a mummified skeleton covered in dried skin.
Claudia's hand flew to her mouth as she stared down at Mrs. Frederic. Then her heart stopped cold. Mrs. Frederic was connected to the Warehouse. Her death could only mean one thing: the Warehouse had been destroyed.
Suddenly a small gust of wind seemed to rush along the floor. What remained of Mrs. Frederic's body dissolved into ash and then blew away. Leena sank down into a chair, tears now running unchecked down her face.
"She's gone," Claudia choked weakly. "That means... the Warehouse is gone too."
Her heart froze in her chest as she remembered everyone trapped inside the Warehouse. They hadn't been able to find a way out in time.
"They're all gone," Claudia said. Leena's quiet sobs intensified as she too figured it out. Artie, Myka, Pete, HG... They were all gone. Claudia suddenly felt completely numb. She and Leena were alone. It was as if her brain couldn't even wrap itself around the concept.
Only then it did. Her family was gone. And it was all because of Walter Sykes. The bastard had taken everything.
"Damn in!" Claudia yelled. She kicked the couch as hard as she could. Leena jumped visibly at the sudden outburst. Claudia didn't care. She caught the edge of the coffee table and jerked upward, effectively flipping it over.
"Claudia," Leena said nervously, trying to calm her down. Claudia ignored her. She gave the upturned coffee table a violent kick as tears welled in her eyes. She kicked it again and again. Her vision was blurring to the point that she couldn't see anymore.
"Claudia!" Leena repeated. She hurried over and caught the younger girl's arm in an effort to get her attention. Claudia jerked away and instead sank down on the couch. She buried her face in her hands as the silent tears continued to fall. Leena hesitated for a moment before sitting down beside her. Neither of them said a word as they silently wept for everything they had lost.
Finally Claudia lifted her head, her face streaked with tearstains.
"What do we do now?" she asked hoarsely. Leena shook her head.
"I don't know," she whispered.
As they huddled together on the couch drowning in their shock and pain, all Claudia could think of was listening to Myka read T.S. Eliot on the same couch only a few days before. Writer Man had gotten it wrong. The world had ended in a bang after all.
Only the Christmas episode remains for season three. Craziness. I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!