"Copier…"

Summary: Paracelsus is leaving a little gift for Arthur and the gang…

Disclaimer: No copywrite infringement intended.

Part XXI…

Original Warehouseverse…

Section 1…

Where a somewhat puffing Artie, followed by a concerned Pete… "Artie, take it easy…" were now entering, lugging the deceased Paracelsus between them. Claudia and Sutton staring as they came in and set the body down.

"Whoa…Lovely addition to the décor, Nielson." Claudia noted.

"I…" huff…" …wanted a chance to get a closer look at him. And to have Sutton take a look."

"Why, thank you." Sutton blinked.

"Please." Artie, puffing a bit…

"Have a seat, short, dark, and loveably rotund…Artie? Sit." Claudia, insistent. Eyeing Pete for support.

"…Just confirm it really is your brother…" Artie finished, standing by the body as Sutton came over.

"Short of some modern test like DNA fingerprinting or whatever, yeah." Sutton sighed. "Poor fellow…Unless of course he's faking in which case, goddamn you, you insane maniac."

"Claudia?" Artie turned to her…Hmmn?

"Claudia?" he looked for her.

"Here." She handed him a glass of water. "Drink. Sit. This is the Caretaker speaking, Agent Nielsen."

"Fine." He sighed, sipping and moving to the chair she'd pushed to him.

"Do you sense anything from him? Anything at all?"

"He's starting to smell a little." She noted, sniffing… "But if you mean some kind of aural thingy, no. And no to any sign of the Stone's aura either. If he's the Paracelsus we know, he's lost the gift somehow."

"Ok…" he frowned. "I guess the next thing is follow Professor Sutton's advice and try a DNA test. We have the Suttons to compare, plus some of his things from his own time. And we'll need to do research to see if the Stone's effect could be countered by Warehouse energy…"

"Computer geek, ready for duty." Claudia saluted.

Buzz on Artie's Farnsworth… he peered.

"Vanessa and her team are here to see to Mrs. Fredericks." He noted. Starting to rise.

"Oh, no…The Caretaker will play hostess." Claudia, firmly. "Pete, keep him in that chair till I get back. Nhhht." She put up a finger to Artie's glare. "Stay or no more geek work or aural sweeps by the Caretaker. I'll do the gracious stuff, it's fine. Pete, don't let him out of that chair till he can breathe, I mean it. Artie, Pete can take the DNA sample…It's just a swab of the mouth, right?"

Pete nodding…Guess so…

"Fine." Artie frowned. Pete smiling…Claud the Caretaker…

Hmmn…He rubbed cheek a bit.

Somehow that thought triggers something…Just a vibe…

Well…Natch, one is nervous for the poor kid…And things are still antsy with Mykes.

Mykes…Neat as it is to have her so…Willing to try a new level of our relationship?...I'm getting the slight twinge there, too.

Maybe just the realization some of this press for closeness is fear-driven. Well, talk it out later.

Listen to me…"Talk it out"…New and improved Peter Lattimer…Well, just don't blow it, Pete. This one I do not want to get wrong…How long it takes.

...

Ok…Wouldn't want dear Vanessa to have slipped out of her current mindset and raise some warning flags, Claudia thought, hurrying to the office section.

Not going too bad…Just let the boys muck around with a few Mr. Science tests on ole Paray's corpse, help find a plausible explanation for why our nemesis became less nemesis and more pathetic loser, get the comatose ex-Caretaker settled outside my Warehouse, and keep dear ole Vanessa delirious about her new boyfriend till I can find a suitable stand-in and mc program him. Yeah. This is gonna work out just fine. And with Caretaker Claudia in charge, Warehouse 13 will be going proactive as to new threats.

Cause no way is this Caretaker sittin' around waiting for her rivals to come at her…And maybe break her consort.

Which reminds me…First order of business is to get the two halves of that Philosopher's Stone back together from my world and confer a little immortal invulnerability on yours truly…And her Niely…

Accidentally, of course…Artifact accidents happen all the time, right? And once the thing is likewise accidentally destroyed so as to prevent any reversal of the effect…Or any dangerous fellow like Paray from grabbing the Immortality ring…I'm sure over time Artie will see the upside of spending all time with his Claudia…The Eternal Guardians of Warehouse 13 benevolently protecting Humanity forever.

And at last I'll finally be the person Arthur Nielsen always believed I could be…For him, for my Arthur, truest light of my life, I'll be so good, so perfect…Beatrice to his Benedict…Marianne to his Colonel Brandon…Abigail to his John Adams…Eleanor to his (Faithful!) Franklin…

After I do a few more little somewhat underhanded things…Just to get it all set.

Oooh and I need to know if I should have our kids before Immortality or after…Should nail that down while researching the Stone.

And of course…Getting the Stone itself back…Still, my world's guys have no idea Paracelsus smuggled a replacement half of the Stone from this world to ours before he had the misfortune to stumble into their trap and lose his Immortality…It can be a bit dangerous jumping back and forth via that strange mix of artifacts that is the modified "Hooke copier"…Apart from having to trust someone like me or him to operate it. You lose track of which world knows you only too well. Much better to stay put when you can…As I will once I have the Stone to keep Arthur with me always…As he always should have been.

The other reason he needed me besides my link to the Warehouse after he failed to seize it…I having hid both the replacement and our undestroyed halves of the Stone for him.

Just a shame he brought me over without a chance to go and grab them…But considering I was about to be bronzed…

"Hey." She beamed at a somewhat uncertain Vanessa and the neuro team with her, at the front door of the B&B. "Nice to see you back, Van. Welcome brain-guys!" she smiled, waving.

I'm sure you'll do your unavailing best to help our good lady…

It seems strange, Nick noted. As he, Charlotte, Jinks, and Myka eyed the at-last located holographic transmitter…

"Uncle falling like that…How could he have lost his Immortality without the Stone? And there's no sign of it."

"Artie didn't seem all that puzzled by Paracelsus dying." Jinks noted. "Maybe he's got an idea and just wanted to check it out."

"Unless he thinks it's not Brother either…" Charlotte eyed Jinks.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Countess." Jinks shrugged.

"Maybe all that power-tossing with Mrs. F pooped his Immortality battery…?" Myka offered.

"Again…" Jinks waved hands. "Lets see what Artie says…Anyway…" he turned the transmitter over. "There doesn't seem anything fancy about this except…"

"Except when did Uncle have time to learn about such things…" Nick noted. "I only passed what I knew to him and frankly I'm no expert on technology. This device required expertise."

"He had time to learn a few things…" Myka tried. "And he probably could have bought it somewhere, like his bunny. Didn't Artie say the bunny was a Radio Shack item?"

"He must've…" Jinks agreed… "Well, lets take it in and let Artie and Claud try to figure things out. Maybe we're just lucky for once and it all worked out well, assuming we can get Mrs. F back ok."

"Exactly." Myka beamed. "Lets not look good news in the mouth…Or any other wrong place. We should probably be celebrating."

"I'd prefer to know for sure about Uncle." Nick sighed. "Not meaning to rain on the parade, Agent Bering." He noted apologetically to her frown.

Kid, some people should just take the award and leave the podium…She thought.

Still, long as Jinks agrees all could be well and nothing seems to be tripping us up. After all, killing people didn't really solve much in my world.

…..

"So how's the boyfriend, Vanessa?" Claudia, pleasant smile as the neuro team set up its equipment in the bedroom selected for Mrs. Fredericks.

"Boyfriend?" Vanessa stared… Uh…

Yes…You remember your new boyfriend…Don't you, sweetheart? Claudia, concentrating…

"Oh, he's very good…Great." Vanessa beamed. "Yeah…Ummn…I spoke…To him just before we came back…He's…Great. I can't wait to get home and see him…." Her voice trailing a bit…

"Terrific." Claudia nodded…

Hey, compared to what I would've done to her without the Warehouse backing me up mc-wise…This is utter benevolence…She thought.

Though…Lets back off and not give the good doctor a cerebral hemorrhage pressing too hard. She's settling into the groove just fine.

"Well, we should get Mrs. F set to rights in here and then you can do your exam and be on your merry way, eh?" she noted to Vanessa pleasantly. "If these two fellas will come along to help us get her in, I'll have her brought right over, ok?"

"Uh…Sure…" Vanessa nodded…Blinking…

Someone here I'd like to see…? Besides my patient…? Well, no matter…She went to assist the tech setting up monitoring equipment. Claudia leading the two males with their stretcher out the door…

Yep…Alls going just fine. Just gotta see about tyin' the loose ends…

Startin' with the Regents' upcomin' visit…

And including my rather unreliable junior partner…After she assists me one last time…

The only question being whether I trust her with the location of the Stone halves or in sending me over and back to get them…But, it's not like she's smart enough to know how to perform the Immortality ritual and she'd be too terrified once over there to risk staying to learn it there. After all, she has some chance here for a life and no chance at all there, poor thing.

Though, sadly, once she fetches me the pieces…She's about less than useless to me…

Sorry, Petey…But once I've got things reasonably secure, the Myka I brought over is not the best person to have around with something on me. And I can't rely on mind-control 24/7 in the close quarters of the Warehouse.

Think of it as an act of kindness, preventing you from making a terrible, believe you me, relationship choice…

Sadly, though, given the generous and tolerant nature of my world's Lattimer, by now your own true should be solid bronze…But c'est la vie and a nice fella like you'll find someone neat soon enough. Hey, I could get your ex- back for you if you like? I love to see couples reunite like that...According to the records I scanned as well as Paray's memory dumping, she seems a lot nicer than the murderous bitch partnered with MacPherson we had to kill on my world years ago…And you've made so much progress, I understand. Of course she'd dump her current hubby but hey…You're family and she was your wife first, right?

Lets see now as to Myka…Tragic accident, causality during the last attack of that fiend Paracelsus on the regents, or should I consider making use of that cancer thing? Surely there are many artifacts here that can induce it or have cancerous side effects. A health hazard that as caretaker I shall put right…

Later…

….

Alternate Warehouseverse…

Where a half-dozen more agents had emerged to join the group with Agent Lattimer…

"Mr. Lattimer, at least hear Agent Bering out." Mrs. Fredericks noted.

"Mrs. Fredericks…I'm afraid I must charge you with violating security protocols set down and agreed to by your own Regents and aiding and abetting a dangerous criminal." Peter noted coolly. "Agent Jinks, place Mrs. Fredericks under arrest. Professor Sutton, you and your family are also under arrest, but if you've been taken as prisoners, I assure you, you'll come to no harm. " Jinks moving to Mrs. Fredericks with an agent in support as she eyed him.

"Mr. Lattimer…You do know I can resist successfully." Mrs. Fredericks eyed him.

"Here, Jinks…" Leena handed Jinks what Myka saw immediately was the detachment ribbon…Jinks placing it on Mrs. Fredericks wrist before she could move. She swayed…

"Well done, Leena…" Lattimer nodded.

"Pete?!" Myka stared. "Are you insane? That's Mrs. Fredericks, you can't take the Warehouse from her. Who'll be Caretaker?"

"Leena…How could you?" Mrs. Fredericks, gasping at Leena who eyed her coolly.

"It's time to choose sides, Mrs. Fredericks…And I've chosen." Leena noted. "You can't be allowed to jeopardize this place and the world any more."

"As for the Caretaker…We have our own candidate, Ms. Bering." Peter nodded. Leena, faint smile.

"Leena?" Myka stared.

"At last someone who can appreciate the need for order and security here." Lattimer nodded. "Bring them along."

"You set this up?" Myka stared. "You knew Mrs. Fredericks would believe me? And you had Leena pretend to go along with her, so she could take the Warehouse…For you?"

"The Regents…Will never agree…" Mrs. Fredericks gasped…Fainting.

"Get her back to the office, see she's taken care of." Peter ordered…Two more agents emerging from the shadows to assist Jinks.

"Lattimer…" Sutton shook his head… "As a historian I tell you a grab for power like this is futile…And the Regents will back Mrs. Fredericks…"

"Professor, lets leave that decision to the Regents. Leena?" Peter eyed her.

"Come on, Professor. Countess? Nicholas? We're going back too." She waved to two of the agents who pulling weapons urged the Suttons to follow.

"If Ms. Bering is harmed…!" Sutton began.

"Her sentence will be carried out as demanded by the decision of the Regents." Lattimer, calmly.

"Lets go…" he waved the remaining group on…Two now on either side of Myka holding guns trained on her.

"You know don't you?" she frowned at Peter as they walked. "You know I'm telling the truth…That I'm not your Myka."

"She stopped being my Myka years ago, Agent Bering." He noted, briefly.

"And to cover all this up…Leena taking over the Warehouse from Mrs. Fredericks, you getting to use her to run it? You'll worse than kill me, an innocent person? And what, kill Mrs. Fredericks before the Regents learn the truth? The Suttons, too? You…You're worse than your Claudia or Paracelsus."

"Mrs. Fredericks won't be harmed, naturally. Nor will the civilians…Though I'm sure Sutton will protest, I think he'll accept a deal to avoid prosecution after you and Claudia escape." Lattimer eyed her.

"What?" Myka stared.

"Assuming of course it is your Claudia in the bronzer…" Lattimer eyed her. "Myka…" he eyed her. "I lost the person I loved more than anything in this world…Saw Claudia and you…Your counterparts…Corrupted by this place…Though to be honest neither of you here were fit for such a duty. And all because the Regents refuse to see the danger of letting things stay as they are. Mrs. Fredericks is a kind-hearted, wonderful person…And quite brilliant in her way…But her mistakes as Caretaker led us to the brink of disaster. That has to end. And you, Agent Bering, are my way to end it."

She stared…Shaking head… "If we escape…Mrs. Fredericks can be blamed for trusting me. And the Regents will agree to what you and Leena have done…Oh, Pete?" she sighed. "Can't you see you're as corrupted as your Claudia? Maybe worse, since you still believe you're doing the right thing…?"

"You have your world to guard, Myka…We have ours. Let me do my job and you do yours. Here we are." The group had reached the bronzer area.

"Get Ms. Donovan out…And we'll see what we have…I agree with your theory about Paracelsus, Myka." He eyed her glaring face as an agent began activating the de-bronzing sequence. "There was no reason for the bronzer to fail, it must have been sabotaged to kill the true Paracelsus, the real Caretaker of Warehouse 9. He and maybe your Paracelsus must have been held by the other and killed, probably to keep him from warning us about the other, most likely, Claudia's work."

The bronzer cycling along...

"Pete…This is wrong, what you're doing. You can't take power from the Regents here." Myka tried.

"No one is depriving them of control here, Myka." He eyed her. "But we need a stronger hand at the wheel and now we have a chance to convince them, I think this incident on top of recent events will do the trick. I'm sorry, Agent…But you aren't from here, you've no idea what we've been through. Just be glad I'm willing to believe your story and give you a chance, so long as it holds true."

"What about us? Do you really plan to send us back? How?"

"I've no idea how you got here or how Claudia and your counterpart, let alone Paracelsus, travelled to your world. That I'll leave up to you. If you don't do anything foolish…" he eyed her.

The bronzer door opened…Claudia, gasping… "No..no…You don't understand…" she mumbled. Nearly falling…

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''