Hi everyone! So I've slacked off a little bit when it comes to uploading new chapters so I figured I would give you two in one day. Chapter 6 was posted just before this one so if you haven't read that one then go do that :) As usual, I don't any of the characters besides Kat. Enjoy!
"So I got an interesting call from Mrs. Frederic this morning," Artie said. Kat was helping him with the filing in the office and was up to her ears in dusty cardboard boxes.
"What did she have to say?" Kat asked.
"She told me that you're going to be testifying in your uncle's trial in a few weeks," Artie said nonchalantly.
"Okay?"
"She wanted to know if someone was going with you." Kat put down the file she was looking over and stared at Artie.
"Is this your way of asking if I need you to go with me?" she asked with a grin.
"I just thought you would take it better if you knew Mrs. Frederic was asking on your behalf. And I offered to go in her stead, by the way. She's not the only one who is worried about you," Artie said defensively. Kat smiled at the rough way Artie showed his affection.
"Yes please," she said. Artie looked ready to defend himself again until he realized what she said.
"That's it? You're not going to fight me on it?" he asked. Kat left her file and went to lean on Artie's desk, reaching out to hold his hand.
"Artie, you found me the day of the explosion and you know that I get overly emotional with anything involving my uncle. I don't think I can handle this without you," Kat said.
"I thought you would want Leena to go with you," Artie said uncertainly.
"Sure, it would be nice for Leena to be there too, but I really want you to be there," Kat said with a small smile. Artie smiled back and squeezed her hand tightly before letting go at the sound of an alarm going off.
"What's that?" Kat asked in confusion.
"A reminder. I have to give all the mission reports to the Regents' courier today and I set myself an alarm so that I would remember to stop working and leave on time," Artie said as he rushed around to tidy up his desk. Kat scrunched up her nose as she remembered the reports she spent all night writing.
"Do the Regents even read those? Or do they have someone to read them aloud?" she asked.
"Who knows? I need to get going. Claudia will be by in a little while to do some chores. Pete and Myka are still at the B&B so I need to swing by and pick up their reports…" Artie said, mumbling to himself as he left through the umbilicus. Kat shook her head and sat at Artie's desk to print out the next set of inventory lists. After labeling who should take what stack, she went to the floor and started on her own list. Kat danced her way through the shelves, marking off each item one by one as she listened to music from her iPod. All of a sudden Kat heard a loud crash and paused her music to look around. Seeing nothing, she put her headphones back in and pressed play. A little while later her Farnsworth went off and she paused the music again to answer the call.
"Hey Kat. Have you seen Claudia?" Myka asked.
"Nope. I didn't even realize you guys were in yet. Last I heard, Artie said Claudia was on her way and you guys were still at the B&B," Kat said with a frown.
"Okay. I'm a little worried because the zip line is down and Claudia wasn't in the office when Pete and I got. And Artie's computer said that there were multiple artifact disturbances," Myka said.
"I did hear a crash some time ago. I hope she's alright, wherever she is," Kat said with a frown. There was some mumbling on the other line and Pete's face replaced Myka's.
"Myka and I are following the zip line to see if that leads us to Claudia. Why don't you try doing the same and maybe we'll meet up somewhere along the way," he said.
"Good idea. We'd better get to her before anything bad happens," Kat said. She hung up and left the inventory list at the end of the row she had been working on. She turned in the direction of the office and tried positioning herself close to where she remembered the zip line to be. Moving a couple of aisles over, she spotted the line and started walking towards it, calling out Claudia's name as she walked through the aisle. Several minutes later Kat saw a large chain of electricity coming towards her and ducked to get out of the way.
"Ow!" Kat said as the ball touched her shoulder. She rubbed her shoulder as she stood and kept walking, hearing voices getting closer. She turned the corner and saw Pete and Myka standing in front of a huge replica of Leena's B&B.
"Welcome to the Dollhouse," Kat said as she got closer.
"You knew this was here?" Myka asked.
"Yup. When I first got my bike, I would ride it here from the B&B and leave it outside because Artie didn't want me tracking dirt in the office. I brought it inside one day when it was raining and rode it all the way down here to help cut down my inventory time. I almost rode the bike through the living room window," Kat said.
"It would have paired nicely with the Claudia-shaped hole in the roof," Pete said wryly. Myka opened the door and hesitantly called out Claudia's name. The girl in question ran down the stairs a second later.
"Don't close the door!" she said right as the door closed shut.
"Thank God you're okay," Kat said, running forward to hug the girl.
"Yeah I'm good. We're stuck here for eternity, but otherwise I'm solid," Claudia said sarcastically. Pete left through the front door and reappeared through a different hallway, looking back and forth in confusion.
"That's new," Kat said with wide eyes.
"You mean you didn't know about that? I thought you said you ran into this place," Pete said.
"I said I almost crashed into it. I never once came inside," Kat said. The ladies watched as Pete kept trying to leave out the front door a few more times before they all moved into the living room. Kat sat in the armchair and watched as Pete and Myka processed the news that they couldn't leave in different ways. Claudia stepped out for a minute and came back in right as Pete dove out one window and reappeared through the other.
"Pete is that really the best way to use your energy right now?" Kat asked with a heavy sigh. She shook her head as the three of them sat down on the loveseat and thought of new ways to leave the house.
"So this version of the B&B is here because…?" Myka started.
"It's an artifact," Pete finished.
"Can this whole place be an artifact? Is that even possible?" Claudia asked in frustration.
"Yes and yes," Kat said, rubbing at her temples as she felt the beginnings of a headache forming.
"Kat what else do you know about this house?" Myka asked.
"All I know is that the house had to be moved and rebuilt because of an artifact," Kat said.
"So we look for anything that's different from our B&B," Myka suggested.
"That's easy," Kat said. She stood and walked to a frame holding a painting of the living room. Pete tried taking it off and the frame wouldn't budge. Claudia put down the lamp she had been holding and walked over to the painting with Myka.
"This is it. Do you think the painting's keeping us here?" Pete said.
"Maybe. Wait, the painting changed when Claudia put the lamp on the couch," Kat said, pointing to the couch in the painting. Pete took a pen and drew a door on the painting and the four of them looked to the wall in question to see the same door from the painting. They went to the door only to find that walking through it yielded the same result as before.
"This thing is useless," Pete said, throwing the pen at the painting. The pen bounced off the painting and the walls of the house shook in reflection of the motion. "Did I do that?"
"None of us did," Myka said, indicating to Kat and Claudia as well as herself. Pete ran to the painting and used his nail to make a tear in the canvas. A crack appeared in the wall a second later and Claudia ran to it.
"I can see the Warehouse," Claudia said as she looked through the crack. Myka took a letter opener and kept making cracks until the four of them were able to escape the house.
"Maybe we should have stayed inside," Myka said as they looked up at a huge storm cloud.
"That's not good," Kat said, feeling her stomach drop to the floor.
"We need to get back to the office," Myka said. Claudia instead ran to the nearest computer terminal and pulled up a page with a map of the Warehouse, showing one section flashing red.
"It looks like the problem is in the gooery," Claudia said.
"What's a gooery?" Pete asked.
"It's where the neutralizer fluid gets made and dispersed to the Warehouse so that artifacts don't come out to play," Kat summarized. Pete looked at her in confusion and Kat shook her head at him. "You really need to read the manual."
"So the gooery needs to go back online," Pete said decisively. Thunder was heard overhead and Kat jumped at the sound.
"That needs to happen now."
"What happens if we don't get to it in time?"
"I don't want to find out so let's just get there quickly and get it back online," Kat said.
"What's the fastest way there?" Pete asked. Claudia pulled up a map and pointed out a route that went up and around a dark shape in the middle.
"Why don't we go straight through here?" Pete asked. He pointed out a straight path from their position through the dark shape and to the gooery on the other side. Kat paled and shook her head rapidly.
"No, absolutely not. That's the Dark Vault. Only the really dangerous stuff is kept there. We can't just pass through," she said.
"But we can't just loop around either so I say we take the risk," Pete said.
"I agree," Myka said. Kat stared in surprise as they bickered over if Claudia would stay or go along.
"Guys we don't have a lot of time. If we're going to do this, it has to be done now so let's just go," Kat snapped.
"Me too please?" Claudia pleaded.
"Okay fine, but you stick close and do exactly as we say," Pete said. Claudia smiled in excitement and Kat shook her head again.
"Don't look so happy. You've never been inside the Dark Vault before," she said quietly. She trailed behind the three as they jogged to the entrance of the vault and hacked open the door.
"Man, this place is creep-tastic," Claudia said as the door closed on them.
"Don't look, don't touch. Just keep moving," Myka said. Kat stayed close to her as they made their way around the purple fields containing the artifacts.
"Why are the neutralizer systems still working in here?" Pete asked.
"There are backup generators in place since everything is so dangerous. Don't worry. They should hold out long enough for us to…" Claudia said as the lights started going out. "Realize my karma sucks."
"Just keep moving," Kat said. As Claudia started hacking their way out of the vault, Kat heard keys clacking behind her and turned to find the source of the sound. Pete was standing in a containment field staring at a very familiar black typewriter.
"Pete get away from there," Kat said, walking to the edge of the containment field. Claudia got the door open and had walked out with Myka, who looked back at the two of them in confusion. The door closed on them before they could come back and Kat ran to the door, banging on it furiously.
"Claudia, open this door!" Kat heard the other girl typing and turned back to Pete.
"Pete, can you hear me?" she asked, trying to stay calm. Pete frowned and kept staring at the typewriter.
"Pete, look at me," Kat pleaded. Pete sighed and cocked his head to the side, his focus never leaving the typewriter.
"Pete we need to leave. You have to step away from the typewriter," Kat said, her voice rising in hysteria. Pete didn't move and Kat stepped to the very edge of the containment field circle.
"Pete this thing is dangerous. It will kill you if you don't get away from it," she said, her eyes filling with tears. The door opened up and Claudia rushed in towards Pete.
"Claudia stay where you are," Kat said, putting her hand out to get Claudia to stop. Kat kept her eyes on Pete as Myka pointed out the circle to Claudia.
"Pete, whatcha doing?" Myka asked.
"Oh, nothing," came the slow response.
"He's looking at a typewriter," Claudia stated.
"It's not just any typewriter. It belonged to Sylvia Plath," Myka said, reading the sign next to the typewriter.
"What's that thing doing to him?" Claudia asked.
"It's sucking the life out of him," Kat said hoarsely. Myka looked at her and noticed the tears threatening to fall.
"Kat, are you okay?" she asked. Kat ran forward suddenly and pushed Pete out of the circle, taking his place as she did so.
"What did you do that for?" Claudia asked as Myka caught a stumbling Pete.
"Get out of here," Kat said, her voice slowing losing its energy. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as the whispers started coming to her. Disgrace. Everyone hates you. You'll always be alone. No one wants you. There's no point. Waste of space. You're not good enough. Why Are You Here? YOU ARE WORTHLESS.
Suddenly Kat was pushed out of the circle and the whispers stopped. She felt hands gently grab her arms and lift her up.
"Kat can you hear me?" Myka asked. Kat felt them move her body into a standing position, but couldn't respond.
"Myka she's shaking. We need to get her out of here," Pete said. Kat looked at him in confusion and looked at the shelves around them.
"When did we get here?' she asked.
"I'll explain later. We need to get to help Myka and Claudia," Pete said. Kat nodded sluggishly and let Pete drag her to the gooery without a fight. Seeing that Kat was still out of it, Pete sat her down at the top of the stairs and went down to get Myka and Claudia away from the silly string artifact that was gluing the gears together. Kat watched numbly as Pete froze the silly string with a snow globe artifact Claudia had in her tool belt and break the string with a hammer, allowing the gears to return to normal.
"Kat are you okay?" Claudia asked as the trio came up the stairs. Kat sluggishly turned to look at her.
"Did you fix it?" Kat asked. Myka kneeled next to her and helped her to stand.
"Guys she's in bad shape. We need to get her to the office," Myka said.
"You two take her up there. I'm going to clean up around here and get the zip line back to normal," Pete said. Myka and Claudia grabbed an arm and helped Kat out of the gooery. The three women slowly made their way back through the aisles and up the stairs into the office. Myka went to find a blanket as Claudia eased Kat down onto an armchair by the umbilicus.
"Is Pete okay?" Kat asked as she curled up on the chair.
"Yeah he's fine. I'm worried about you, though. What's going on?" Claudia asked. Kat didn't answer, letting her eyes close and her body relax against the armchair. Claudia tried shaking Kat to wake her up and looked up at the sound of Myka coming back into the room.
"Should she be asleep?" Claudia asked.
"It's fine for now. There's not much we can do for her since her body is trying to recover from what that typewriter did," Myka said, covering Kat with a thick white blanket.
"I cleaned up the mess," Pete said as he came back into the office.
"I bet Artie won't even notice," Myka said.
"Won't notice what?" Artie walked into the office and the trio stared at him in brief hesitation.
"Your welcome back surprise party!" Claudia said. They yelled surprise and tried to act like nothing happened.
"Tell me," Artie said. Pete, Myka, and Claudia all looked at each other and started talking all at once about what happened before promising Artie that everything was okay. Artie calmly sat at his desk as he deduced that the Warehouse almost exploded.
"Are we not in trouble?" Claudia asked.
"It looks like you guys had everything under control," Artie said. The three agents looked at each other nervously and Artie frowned. "You did have everything under control, right?"
"Artie, we had to go through the Dark Vault to get to the gooery in time," Myka said. Artie's frown deepened and his eyes look at Kat's sleeping figure before settling on Myka's face.
"I assume it didn't go well," Artie said.
"Not really," Myka said quietly. Artie nodded and sighed deeply.
"I'll make sure she gets back to Leena's when she wakes up. You all can take off," Artie said, getting up to tuck the blanket around Kat's feet. Pete led the ladies out of the Warehouse with promises to bring Artie back tacos for dinner.
"You can stop faking, they left," Artie said as soon as their voices were out of range. He sat in his chair and watched as Kat untangled herself from the blanket and stretched languorously.
"I thought they would never leave me alone," Kat said with a yawn.
"They were worried about you," Artie pointed out. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "What happened?"
"We had to get to the neutralizer center before the Warehouse exploded and the quickest way was to go through the Dark Vault. I was in favor of sprinting around the Vault, but I was overruled and we went in anyway. We got through it and Sylvia Plath's typewriter trapped Pete as Claudia was getting us out. I pushed him out of the containment field," Kat said, rubbing her face tiredly.
"And you took Pete's place."
"I know it was stupid, but was I supposed to do? He had no idea what the thing could do and I didn't want anyone else to suffer because of it," Kat said defensively.
"I'm just shocked, given your history with the typewriter. What did you was brave. Stupid and reckless, but brave," Artie said. Kat shrugged.
"Are you going to lecture me?" she asked.
"No, but I have to insist that you tell the others. I don't know what specifically happened, but that typewriter almost killed you once so I can imagine today's encounter wasn't pretty," Artie said wryly.
"You're right. I just didn't think I would need to have this conversation yet," Kat said. She stood and folded the blanket before giving Artie a hug. "Thank you."
"Yup," Artie said, hugging her back. He released her and smiled. "I guess it would be too much to have you ask Pete if he saved me a taco."
"You know as well as I do that there is no taco waiting for you at the B&B," Kat said with a smirk.
"It was worth a shot," Artie said with a shrug. Kat grabbed her keys and drove back to the B&B. When she arrived, she sat and stared into space for a long time. Seeing movement in the window, Kat got out and walked inside slowly. There was nobody in sight, but she knew that Leena would be waiting for her somewhere. She walked into the sitting room and saw Leena sitting at the table with a stern look on her face. Kat sighed and took a seat across from the woman.
"What did they tell you?"
"Nothing. They wanted to wait until you got home," Leena said. Kat covered Leena's hand with her own.
"It was bad, but I am fine now," Kat said. Leena squeezed her hand tightly.
"Don't do any more stupid things, Kat." Kat smiled slightly.
"I can't really promise that. Doing stupid things comes with the job," she said.
"Then don't make it a habit," came Claudia's voice. She came into the room with Pete and Myka on her heels.
"You okay?" Myka asked, rubbing Kat's back gently.
"I'm fine now. I'm sorry you guys had to see that," Kat said.
"What happened? How come I didn't get affected the same way you did?" Pete asked.
"Because that was your first contact with the typewriter," Kat said.
"You mean you've been affected by it before?" Myka asked. Kat stood and went upstairs to her room. She went into her closet and pushed away shoes to reveal an old wooden box the size of a briefcase. She brushed off the dust and took it downstairs to the sitting room. She put it on the table and let the others open it.
"The typewriter is a fairly recent addition to the Warehouse. Artie found it about five years ago in New Orleans, Louisiana. In my father's house, to be more specific," Kat said, watching Pete and Myka take out old files.
"You told me that your parents are dead," Claudia said.
"They are. My uncle killed them and made it look like an accident so that he could have the house." The explanation was met with dead silence and horrified stares. Kat rifled through the stack of files and pulled out one with a Scotland Yard logo on it.
"This is the file on my parents' murder. You know that my family is Russian. My great-grandfather owned a shipping company in the early 1900s and grew wealthy from it. As such, his children and grandchildren received a massive inheritance that included international properties and several millions of rubles in today's economy. My father inherited his share of the money, an apartment in London, and a house here in the States, which had been bought on the whim of my great-grandmother," Kat explained as Myka looked through the file with Pete and Claudia digging through the rest of the box. More files came out, this time with the logo of Interpol stamped on the front. Leena came to stand behind Kat and rubbed the young woman's shoulders in an attempt to soothe her.
"Kat who is this?" Pete asked. In his hand was her uncle's mug shot.
"That is Ivan Petrokovich, my uncle. He and several of his associates disappeared after a fire destroyed my father's house. He was assumed to be dead until the NYPD caught him by accident during the take down of an illegal gambling ring several weeks ago," Kat responded.
"How did the fire happen?" Pete asked.
"The explosion was caused by a gas leak," Myka said for Kat. She was reading a file from the New Orleans Police Department. "It says here that the gas leak was caused by a hole that seemed to have been made with some sort of blade. It also says…that your uncle was suspected to have been managing a prostitution ring out of the house."
"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Claudia asked as she took the file from Myka's hands.
"It's embarrassing and inhumane. I didn't want you to think differently of me because of this," Kat said, blankly staring at the table. She was fiddling with the hem of her shirt.
"How does Sylvia Plath's typewriter fit into this?" Myka asked as she put down another file.
"My uncle had a fondness for old things and found it in a pawnshop. You now know that the typewriter sucks out your will to live. The owner of the shop told him that death followed the typewriter, but my uncle didn't listen. I found it in the closet of the room that he kept me during the six months of my capture. It had been collecting dust there since my uncle had forgotten about it," Kat explained.
"Please tell me you didn't use it," Pete said fearfully. Kat weakly shrugged at him.
"I found it and almost immediately succumbed to its power. It took me a week to plan my suicide and carry it out. I was supposed to die in the fire along with my uncle and his associates, but Artie pulled me and the typewriter away from the house just in time to see it blow up."
"How come it took you a week?" Pete asked in confusion. Kat's hands had turned to fists and tears started welling up in her eyes.
"Uncle Ivan was a big fan of prostitutes, but only ones that he brought into the country. Whenever they were in between shipments of girls, he would visit me in my room. I don't think I have to tell you what he did once let himself in," Kat said emotionlessly. Claudia looked at Kat in surprise. Kat's face was blank, but her eyes were full of pain and hatred.
"That same week, Interpol had intercepted Ivan's men in Spain and had sent the girls back to their families. For days, Uncle was pissed and took out his anger on me. One day he left to go out for a drink and that's when I stabbed the gas main," Kat continued. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Artie had snuck into the house when I wasn't looking and had grabbed the typewriter by the time I had started running. He neutralized the typewriter and the depressed haze that I was under went away. Artie took me to the police and they sent me to the hospital for a psych evaluation. I was sent back to the station after being diagnosed with depression and severe PTSD. That's where Mrs. Frederic found me. The NOPD didn't know what to do with me so they let her take me. She became my legal guardian and I've lived here ever since." Everyone was silent for a long time. Myka and Claudia had tears running down their faces and Claudia went to sit next to Kat.
"I'm sorry that you had to go through so much pain. I just wish you would have told me," she said as she put her hand on Kat's knee.
"It takes me a while to open up to anybody. I had the hardest time opening up to Artie and Leena, but Mrs. Frederic knows everything because she's my guardian and she needed to understand where my issues come from. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid to bring it up," Kat said, pleading with her eyes for Claudia to understand.
"Kat none of this changes how I see you. Or how Pete and Myka see you. We love you for who you are, not what your past was like," Claudia said with a tiny smile.
"You've never judged us for what we did before we came to the Warehouse. Why would we judge you for the same thing?" Myka said, taking the seat on Kat's other side. Pete put the case files back in the box and leaned against the table.
"Listen to me Kat. It's going to take a lot more than old case files to change how we see you or act around you. We can't hate you for what you didn't do. I doubt it's possible for us to hate you at all," he said seriously. Kat's tears stopped and she studied Pete's face. He was totally serious and he completely believed what he was saying. Kat rubbed her face and took a deep sigh.
"I get what you guys are saying and I believe you. I just don't want you guys to be my friends or give me attention out of pity," she said in stronger voice than before. They all nodded in agreement and Claudia held her hand tightly as she calmed down some more. Kat squeezed her hand gratefully once she had calmed down and wiped her face dry.
"I'm a mess," she joked, earning laughter from Claudia and Myka. "I can only imagine how it'll be when I go and give my testimony at my uncle's trial."
"Yeah it's going to be nothing but waterworks," Claudia said. They all laughed and sat in silence for a while.
"I should put this away, but I don't want to look at it right now," Kat said as she stared at the box. Pete took the box from her and stood up.
"I'll hide it somewhere upstairs and then we'll go get ice cream," he said. He was running upstairs before Kat could protest.
"That's a good idea. It'll help take your mind off things," Leena said as she hugged Kat's shoulders. Kat nodded reluctantly and stood with Myka and Claudia.
"Don't leave without me. I forgot my phone in my room," Claudia said as she ran to the stairs. Kat smirked and shook her head at Claudia's retreating figure. She turned to the door and saw Pete and Myka looking at her with knowing grins.
"Can I help you?" Kat asked, the smirk leaving her face.
"You should tell her," Pete said vaguely.
"Tell her what?"
"How you feel," Myka said. Kat raised an eyebrow at her.
"If you think she's clueless now, can you imagine how awkward she's going to feel when she finds out that Mommy and Daddy were trying to set us up," Kat said, pointing between the two agents. They protested the titles, but quickly shut up when Claudia came downstairs. Kat smiled at the reaction and knew that that line of questioning had been put on hold for the time being. She knew that eventually she would not be able to keep her feelings secret and she would have to tell Claudia, but this was not that time.
A note about this chapter: I don't actually know how the typewriter works. The show wasn't too clear on that so I came up with something that I thought would fit the description. And Kat's reaction is how I would think somebody with PTSD would react when coming into contact with the source of their trauma. I am not an expert in this field by any means and I would never say anything to purposefully discredit the struggles of those with PTSD so my apologies if this offends somebody. I wrote that because I thought it fit in with the overall arc I have planned for Kat.