Thanks for the lovely welcome back and new faves/follows. On with the next chapter...
Chapter Two
After a night of exhausted, broken sleep, Myka fell out of slumber to the sound of loud purring and the feeling of being watched. She cursed her decision to allow the cat free rein at first but then remembered with a jolt where she was and panicked at the thought that the family… her family… could be home. It was with a mixture of relief and disappointment that she discovered the house to be just as empty as when she'd arrived and, before she could examine her actions or feelings too closely, she finished packing her bag, checked that her furry companion had enough food and water, and picked up the set of keys she'd used the previous night.
It didn't occur to her that she'd actually chosen a destination until she was on the highway, heading out of Denver and towards Colorado Springs.
She'd asked Claudia about her parents, fearing that with almost two decades missed that there was a good chance they had passed on. While she'd been momentarily alarmed by the news that they no longer lived at the bookshop, there was something surprisingly gratifying about the knowledge that she and Helena now co-owned it. 'Bering and Wells Books' thrilled and terrified her all at the same time - a confusing sensation that she was quickly becoming accustomed to. As she entered her home town almost two hours later and passed far too many commercial and residential buildings that she didn't recognise, she felt the beginnings of a headache forming.
The tinkling of an old bell above her head brought momentary relief to her bewildered state of mind, but as she moved further into the shop and began to admire her surroundings, too many eyes centred on her and she froze.
From behind the counter, a lanky figure pushed politely through the curious shoppers and approached. "Myka," he greeted her with a slight squeeze to her arm. "I didn't expect to see you in the shop today." He exerted the tiniest amount of pressure and, without seeming to do so, led her towards the 'staff only' area. "Haley, will you please take the counter?" he asked a young woman as they left the shop and began to ascend towards the upstairs apartment.
At the top of the stairs, Myka regained her faculties and rounded on the young man. "Who are you?" she demanded as she became aware of the discomfort of having a stranger wandering casually around her childhood home.
"Jason," he replied softly. "You employ me to organise and manage the shop when neither you nor HG is working. I was also, briefly, an agent with you at Warehouse 13."
Myka's frown deepened and she released a sigh of frustration. Just go away! "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't know you and I just want to be left alone, alright?" She felt immediately guilty for snapping at this stranger but as he smiled, nodded and returned below, she breathed with relief and turned cautiously to her old room.
After the last forty-eight hours of surprises, she was beginning to expect the changes that waited behind every closed door. She turned the handle to her old bedroom and held her breath. The sight of her late grandmother's hand-stitched quilt and most of her old furniture released a weight from her shoulders and she closed the door behind her, blocking out the rest of the world for the time being. Her bag fell to the floor at the foot of the bed and she flopped down onto its welcome surface with a grunt of satisfaction. She knew immediately that the mattress was new, but as it enveloped her body like it was tailor made for her, she couldn't help but smile.
The expression was short lived as her raging thoughts brought her back down to Earth. Before long, her restlessness dragged her from the cosy bed and she began to wander around the room. Her hands picked up knickknacks and played with the corners of photo frames, while her eyes drank the information therein. More images of Helena and their family assaulted her vision. Perhaps it was the ever-present smell of books or the comforting familiarity of her childhood room, but for some reason she found it easy in that moment to reach out and pull the pictures closer.
She began with the ones of the children, studying their features to find the inventor and herself. Their joyous expressions placed a tender smile back on her own face and for the first time since she'd woken to this future, she considered the possibility of it all being real. Perhaps it wasn't so farfetched, her and Helena falling in love and not just in lust. She had been feeling more permanent stirrings before the events in Egypt, and despite her anger, she knew that those feelings still lingered deep down, ready to resurface when the time was right. She was definitely gullible enough to let herself trust again and forgiving enough to give HG a second chance. Could that have really happened? It was certainly possible.
But was it likely? Three children of their creation, one of whom she had left with Helena in Victorian England? An ancient villain with a grudge against the Warehouse and a prophesy close to being fulfilled? Every one of her hopes for recognition from her parents and sister come to life? The woman of her dreams sworn to stand by her side? It all seemed so fantastical. How could she trust any of it?
Reluctantly returning the pictures of the children to their positions, Myka plucked a photo of her and Helena from the top of the chest of drawers and sank back onto the bed. She glanced at her own laughing face briefly but lingered on the Brit's. Helena's eyes were locked on photo-Myka's happy features with a depth of reverence that couldn't possibly be real. Surely no one is ever thatmuch in love, the brunette thought dismissively. In a movie maybe. But through her scepticism, a flicker of excitement tingled. If HG loved her that much, maybe they had found the strength to work past Helena's darkness; there was a light in those mahogany depths that glowed through the inventor's smile. Myka's fingers traced the curve of a cheek and jaw, and then ghosted over glossed lips. Lips that had kissed her with furious passion, whispered the sweetest nothings… And uttered the most elaborate lies!
The thought came without warning and Myka shoved the frame non-too-carefully back on top of the drawers, face down. Her hand shook as she pulled it back and tears sprang to her eyes.
Needing a distraction, she left the room to explore the rest of the apartment, spent some time studying pictures of her sister's family and ended up in the kitchen where she remained for the rest of the afternoon, stubbornly refusing to see or talk to anyone, though her hand hovered several times over the pocket of her jeans where her phone waited.
Hours passed before she heard footsteps on the stairs. With her elbows on the table and head held in the palms of her hands, she listened. Her heart hammered in her chest for a few seconds until she realised that the gait was too heavy to be any of the women she knew. It's not Helena, her instincts told her, and she experienced another jolt of disappointed relief. By the time the visitor reached the landing, she knew who had come to see her and before he even found the kitchen, she felt her body react, feet finding the floor as she launched from the chair.
Tears streamed down her face as she fell into Pete's strong arms and wrapped hers around his torso. She listened to the comforting cadence of his voice and breathed him in.
"I'm here, Mykes. I've got you," he told her repeatedly.
She remembered the very first mission they'd taken together after being thrown into the Warehouse and the instant, if surprising, trust she'd had in his ability to have her back. Not taking into account how much he'd irritated her. "Stay," she pleaded into a damp shirt. "Don't leave me."
Pete's mind took him back to the day that the regents had taken HG away in handcuffs and the sound of Mrs Fredrick's voice as she read his partner's farewell letter. He should have hugged her like this back then, before she had a chance to hide and bury her hurt. He wasn't going to leave Myka to wallow in her own thoughts this time. He made his voice firm and reassuring as he squeezed his friend tighter, "I'm not going anywhere."
Helena was hovering by the window of her son's hospital room, staring blankly out at the patient courtyard, when a change in the teen's breathing alerted her and she turned to watch his eyes fluttering open. In a blink, the fraught mother appeared next to the hospital bed and began fussing over the prone figure.
"Fredrick?" she asked gently. "Love, can you hear me?" Her hands hovered as her eyes flicked between the monitors and her son's face.
Freddy groaned as he properly regained consciousness and squinted at the shadow above him. His stomach twisted with anxiety at the memory of being prey to a hunter, but his mother's voice soothed him enough that he managed to fight the feeling. "Mum?" he groaned aloud, needing to confirm what he thought he'd heard.
"Yes, darling, I'm here," HG answered and captured a drunkenly flailing arm between her two hands. For the first few minutes, she simply held his hand and waited for him to regain awareness of his surroundings. She had no idea what he remembered from his ordeal or how much distress he was in, so didn't want to push him too quickly. When he eventually stopped twitching though and opened his eyes to focus on her, she allowed a teary smile to light up her face and offered a small 'hello there'. "How are you feeling?"
Such a simple question should have prompted a simple answer, the boy thought, but his body felt like it no longer belonged to him. The dryness in his mouth and throat were at least one thing that he knew how to cure. "Thirsty," he responded with a voice like gravel.
"Easily fixed," Helena said in an overly bright manner.
The relief at seeing him awake made her want to cry with joy, but the fact that she could no longer delay telling him and Catherine about Myka's absence filled her with dread. How were either of them going to cope with losing the mother they'd known all their lives and finding out that they were strangers to her? Was it not enough that her son had almost died by the hands of a mad man? Didn't her youngest have enough to deal with in trying to find a place for herself within a social hierarchy that was designed to keep her out?
Such is life, she decried and helped the teen to sit up enough that he could drink from his straw. "Better?"
"Yeah," he sighed as he slumped limply back into his pillow. "How did I get here?"
Helena pulled her chair closer and leant forward so that she could continue to fuss over her little boy. It had been difficult hearing the story from Christina and it wasn't going to be any easier retelling it. "You had everyone out looking for you," she reassured him. "Even Grandpa Artie dragged himself out of his chair to join the search." She watched him smile and ran her fingers through his hair. "They eventually found you in the woods and Christina was able to pin-point your location. You were very lucky and very brave, my prince."
Freddy nodded stiffly. "What about Hugh?" he wondered anxiously. There had been two gun-shots and a woman's face. Was the man still out there, looking to finish his hunt? You're dead, kid. The words still echoed through his thoughts.
"Hugh?" HG asked as grain of anticipation rose from within. "Who is that, darling?"
"Him, the hunter," the teen confirmed his mother's suspicion. "I saw it in one of his bags." He recalled the cabin with its dirt floor and abandoned smell. A rucksack with protein bars in the bottom and a name written in scruffy print on the label inside. He hadn't thought it significant at the time, but it reminded him of a child's backpack. "Hugh Parker."
"Uncle Pete is leading the investigation, with your sister and Thomas helping. I will let them know that we might have a name for him. You need not worry though, love; he's dead."
"How d'you know?" he asked, his words slurred slightly from the effects of the painkillers he was on.
"Thomas used the glasses that I made to track your journey through the woods." At her son's somewhat blank expression, she elaborated, "There are times when we arrive too late to use the durational spectrometer. The glasses are based on the same design but use a similar principal to my time machine; they allow a person to witness events of the past but not directly interfere." Deciding that the how was not so necessary at present, she returned to the story. "They highlight different people with distinctive colours. They were able to extrapolate your path and distinguish it from your pursuer. As your confrontation came to a head, another group of people entered the vicinity and, I believe, you were shot at the same time as Mr Parker. As his signal faded rather rapidly to nothing, it is apparent that his wound was fatal."
Freddy nodded mutedly and studied a spot on the far wall, his eyes unblinking in an effort to hold in his feelings. "Right… That should make me feel safe, shouldn't it," he observed. It was evident from his tone that he felt nothing of the sort.
"Oh, love," Helena lamented as she grasped a hand tighter with her own. "It is perfectly normal to still be afraid. No one expects you to jump back up and pretend that all is as normal."
"I want to be brave," he declared sharply, his tone somewhere between angry and determined.
"You are brave," HG insisted. "You attempted to save a classmate, escaped from danger and fought off your attacker. You are facing months of physical and mental therapy. Bravery is not achieved in the absence of fear but in its presence."
At the word 'classmate', Fredrick recalled another concern, "Holly! What happened to her? Is she ok?" He panicked. He'd had training all of his life for this kind of situation. What could the average person do in the face of a man like Hugh Parker?
"Shh," Helena soothed in an attempt to get the teen to stop dislodging the tubes and wires that were attached to him. "She is well, do not fret." She watched as his expression relaxed and his body sank lethargically into the bed. Their conversation was taking its toll on him and she hadn't even begun to tell him about Myka. "I really should call the nurse to let him know that you're awake," she told him and rose reluctantly from her chair. "Will you be alright by yourself for a minute?"
The teen nodded but there was a definite hint of fear behind his eyes as he did. As if summoned by the shared hesitance, a hand hit the door and pushed it wide open, allowing two new figures into the room. A smile crept up onto Freddy's features as he recognised his sisters, replacing any lingering worry and he turned to his mother with his answer. "I'll be fine," he grinned.
HG squeezed his hand again before stepping away from the bed and opening her arms to allow her youngest into a hug. She reached a hand out for the bedframe to brace against the impact. "Oomph, goodness Catherine!" She had only been gone a week, but she was sure that her daughter had grown in that short time. "Your exuberance continues to know no bounds I see." She wound her arms around the girl and dropped a kiss against her temple. "Mmm, I missed you."
"I missed you, times infinity." Cat's reply was muffled by her mother's tight hold but instead of pulling away, she just burrowed further into the inventor's arms.
Helena eventually released the pre-teen and leant back far enough to look down into warm hazel. Out of the three, Catherine's eyes were closest in colour to Myka's and they served as a reminder that her wife was still very much an integral part of their family. "Could you look after your brother while Christina and I talk to the nurse?" she asked with a furtive glance at her eldest.
Fredrick narrowed his eyes slightly as his mother and twin left the room, but neither stopped to explain their secretive behaviour. He turned to his younger sister, fully expecting her to be oblivious to the subtle communication between the Victorians, but he found his own expression mirrored in hers. "You don't know what they're up to either?"
"No," Cat replied shortly. "Chrissy didn't sleep much last night. I think she had a nightmare." Her frown darkened for a moment and she sighed in irritation. "Nobody ever tells me anything. They think I'm a baby."
"They don't," Fredrick responded automatically. He watched a sardonic look pass over his sister's face and knew that she didn't believe him. He couldn't blame her; he'd thought the same thing only a few days ago. "It changes things… when you know about the horrible stuff that happens to people. Once you know, you can't go back. They just want us to enjoy being kids a bit longer."
"I'd rather know what's happening," Catherine insisted stubbornly. "I hate it when I don't understand what's going on – it makes my insides squirmy."
Freddy could sympathise on both sides. He was stuck between being a child and being an adult. It sucked to be left out, but after his recent ordeal, he understood why his parents and older sister had tried to shield him from the horrors of the world. He wasn't sure that he'd ever be able to close his eyes again without seeing The Hunter's cruel gaze staring back at him. "It's easy to say when you haven't been through it, Cat," he said with kindness.
"I'm part of this family too," the girl replied. "You're my brother and you almost died. Chrissy should've told me!"
"And what would you have done? 'Cause getting all hot-headed doesn't help anyone," he told her in no uncertain terms. They both knew that he was referring to her quick temper.
Catherine had the presence of mind to appear sheepish. Yes, she might have flown off at the handle, but they would never know unless they gave her a chance. Plus, there was another matter on her mind, "I took the Farnsworth, Freddy. I wanted to talk to Mum and Mama so badly." She dropped her head and watched her hands fiddle with the buckle of her belt. "It's my fault that they didn't know about you sooner, and my fault that Chrissy didn't have it when she needed it." She looked up to find her brother's patented 'disapproving' face and realised that the lightness she felt at confessing could be easily suffocated by yet more guilt. Honesty sucks!
At his friend's instruction, Pete removed all the photos from Myka's old room and hid them away. He then took it upon himself to do a bit of innocent snooping to check for anything else that might unhinge the brunette. He half hoped to find something incriminating that he could use to tease her about at a later date, when their lives eventually returned to their own brand of normal, but he came up empty handed. Since the shop's upper apartment was sometimes used by other family members when they stayed overnight, he supposed it wasn't so shocking that Myka was careful not to leave anything private lying around.
"Shame," he mumbled under his breath. "It's been too long since I managed to embarrass her."
Ever since the conversation he'd had with Claudia, while waiting at the hospital for news about Freddy, he'd been worrying about his best friend. He had hoped that she would seek him out, but when more than a day passed as she had yet to appear, he knew that it would be up to him. The old Myka (the one he'd known seventeen years ago), had been fiercely independent and proud. Her first instinct after stopping HG's rampage of destruction had been to remove herself from the scene and run home to her parents' shop, so he hadn't needed Jason's concerned call to know where to find her. She wanted time to process and he'd already called for the backup she needed.
Ticking off his best friend duties, he called for take-out, poured a glass of wine for Myka and made sure there was plenty of soda in the fridge before coercing the regent into an arm chair in the living room.
She grumbled at being pulled from her impulsive cleaning session and accepted the wine with reluctance. "Pete, I don't think alcohol is the best choice right now," she told him before taking a tentative sip. Mmm, that is nice though. Did I pick this out? she thought to herself.
"Alcohol is never the answer," he agreed as he pulled the ring on his root beer. "But you usually want a glass when we have one of these deep convos, so I figured, why not? I won't let you drink too much."
"Ok." She nodded and took another sip before resting it in her lap. Her eyes drifted around the room, not landing on anything in particular while her brain organised her thoughts into order of priority. "What happened in Egypt?"
Pete winced, though he'd known that this was coming. "Well, I beat you – two clues to three," he gloated and performed a chair-wiggle-dance as she rolled her eyes.
After her exasperated smile faded, she fixed him with a hard stare. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah… HG had her own pimped-tesla and she shot us." He watched a myriad of emotion cross his friend's features but at her 'get on with it' wave, he soldiered bravely onward. "We used Dedalus' wings to escape the desert that was trying to drown us, and Artie helped by opening the escape hatch…"
"How was Artie there?" Myka interrupted.
"He figured out that something was wrong when the Farnsworth went on the fritz, and Claude was being whizzy with the tech, finding HG's dirty-money trail…" He paused to see if she wanted to add anything but at the pained expression on her face, he filled in the rest of the blanks like ripping off a band-aid.
It pained him too, to see her going through this experience again. Not that she remembered it actually happening. But this time he didn't just suspect that she was heartbroken, he knew that the star-crossed lovers were destined to be together and that depth of feeling could only make his friend's pain more agonising. Still, he didn't pull any punches or try to paint the Brit as a victim while he narrated her crimes. There were tears in his companion's eyes, the like that he'd seen when the regents had taken HG away for real, and he had to force himself to keep going to the point that he had chased after her when she'd left the Warehouse.
Myka choked back her tears and tried to draw breath. Helena had wanted to end the world. How could she have missed that? How could she have been blind to that level of grief and anger? Artie had seen it. Or at least, he'd seen enough not to trust that the Victorian was stable. Why hadn't she listened to him? Had Pete known?
"Did you see it?" she asked abruptly. "Did you know that she could fall so far?"
Pete hesitated and then nodded. "I trusted you, Mykes. I wasn't sure about her, but if anyone could reach her, it was going to be you."
"I failed," she hissed, her anger now directed inward.
Pete sighed. "You didn't."
"She betrayed us all and I let it happen!"
"You talked her down," he insisted calmly but firmly.
Not yet ready to forgive herself, Myka's voice rose as she almost shouted, "After practically giving her access to the Warehouse on a silver platter!"
Holding up his hands as a sign of surrender, the Warehouse veteran decided to change tactics. "HG was wrong to do what she did," he began and immediately knew that he was back on track when his companion slumped back into her chair. "She had her reasons, but she was wrong. For the longest time, I couldn't forgive her and most of that was because she hurt my best friend to the point that you abandoned me."
Myka swallowed hard, feeling the hurt in her friend's voice as if that abandonment was taking place there and then. "I…"
But he was getting into his stride now and wasn't prepared to let her take over. "We all do stupid things when we're heartbroken. And I kinda think that smarter people are stupider with their stupid things. You were stupid to think that you were to blame, and HG was beyond stupid to think that starting another ice-age was going to make up for CJ's death."
The brunette stared at her companion, her mouth slightly open in surprise. Of the multitude of questions rattling around her brain, only one seemed to want to surface, "CJ?"
"Christina," he clarified before deciding to keep going. "I know that you're trapped in that place where the person you love most has just torn your heart out. And yeah, maybe it seems like nothing can be real if it's not making you feel like crap, but nothing went from a pile of poop to rainbows and sparkles overnight. It took effort for all of us, but she, HG… She worked harder than any of us to get to where she is now."
Myka's face contorted and tried on several emotions before it settled on stubborn refusal. "So, I should just forgive and forget?"
"Nah, that's not what I'm saying," Pete argued, his tone full of frustration. "Just, while you're having your space and thinking things through, remember that we've all come a long way. We may not be bosom buddies or anything, but HG is family now and I don't want you to hurt her any more than I want her to hurt you." He shrugged at her look of surprise and moved swiftly onto his next point, "More importantly: HG will wait an eternity for you if she has to, so take your time if you need it, but don't shut the kids out, Myka. They don't deserve to suffer because some ass-hat stole half your life from you."
"If any of this is even real," she responded and threw her hands in the air.
"Ok yeah, I get that. If it is all baloney and you get invested, it's gonna hurt you all over again. But Mykes, if it's real and you shut everybody out, your kids are gonna be the ones hurtin' the most, and that's gonna damn near kill you." He watched as understanding and realisation settled on her face. Tears gathered in her eyes again. "Is it time to switch to water," he nodded towards her glass, "or do you want something stronger?"
It was a test, of sorts. What was her state of mind? Could she open it to believe that the impossible might be possible, or was she going to remain numb to love and close down the part of her that wanted to take a chance? She shut her eyes and looked at the anger that swam closest to her thoughts. It wasn't all for Helena. After Pete's story, she realised how much she hated herself for being weak, for letting the inventor get under her skin and for not taking more opportunities to probe deeper into her lover's psyche. It was all too raw right now and she couldn't envisage a time that she would be able to let go of her ire, but maybe… someday… In the meantime, she conjured the images of the children whose photos she'd studied. There was a pull there. Whether from a longing to believe or a spiritual connection. Pete was right though, she couldn't ignore the innocents.
"I'll have water," she answered after a heavy pause and watched a smile creep along her friend's mouth.
"Atta girl," he said and as he collected her empty glass, leant down to kiss her forehead. "You won't regret it. I'm gonna grab another soda and then I'm gonna show you my little rug-rats."
Myka cracked a smile of her own. "I can't believe you actually let one woman tie you down."
Pete's eyebrows danced predictably at that statement. "Yeah, but what a woman!"
Green eyes rolled in their sockets and a hand reached out to smack the man's slight paunch. "Go, get your soda. I want to see what happens when Pete Lattimer breeds."
"You're in for a treat!" he yelled behind him as he left the room.
Myka grinned and shook her head. Much as he drove her crazy, she couldn't imagine not having Pete in her life. Not anymore. Maybe she could get through this after all.
Standing outside her son's hospital room, Helena scanned the vicinity for the nurse and let him know that Freddy was awake. She then relayed to Christina the titbits of information she'd learned about Hugh and sent her eldest off to re-join the investigation at the site of the shooting. Once alone, she took a deep breath and went in search of the doctor.
When she returned to her son's room, it felt like no time had passed at all and suddenly she was forced into the moment that she'd been dreading since boarding the plane in Adelaide: telling her children that one of their mothers no longer knew them. As she quietly pushed the door open and stood for a moment on the threshold, she watched Catherine's wildly gesticulating hands, Fredrick's amused but tired smile and listened to the eleven-year-old's animated anecdote about a classmate who'd opened a bottle of soda under his desk and hadn't realised that his friend had shaken it up. She hated the fact that she had to burst their bubble and felt a new layer of resolve to hunt down Lloyd Spenser-Chapman.
She allowed the door to shut, rounded the bed and pulled a chair closer so that she could sit between brother and sister. "That story reminds me of your third birthday," she jumped in as she turned a smile on her son. "You tried to carry the two litre bottles of carbonated pop from the kitchen to the table outside and didn't know to tell anyone that you dropped each of them several times in the process. The result was rather amusing. It took Pete and Myka half an hour to mop it all up."
"You didn't help, Mum?" Catherine asked, her arms folded accusingly over her torso.
Helena's eyes narrowed in mock offence. She swatted the pre-teen's nose with the top of her finger and felt a body-wide tingle of pure affection at the resulting expression. "You were a babe-in-arms at that point and quite intent on your own lunch. I dread to think what might have happened had I tried to interrupt your feeding time." She laughed as both children pulled a face. Taking a double look at Freddy's drooping eyelids, she quickly sobered. "Look, my darlings, I need to be serious with both of you for a few moments." She paused to check that she had their undivided attention before pushing on. "It's about your mother."
Fredrick's eyes widened as Catherine stiffened in her seat. "What's wrong with Ma?" the girl asked sharply.
"Physically, nothing is wrong with her," the inventor assured her children calmly. "Jason called me this morning to tell me that Myka is there. I think perhaps she might choose to stay at the shop for a while."
"Why? What happened?" Cat continued, her tone a little less panicked. Until her brother asked if they were getting a divorce, and then she looked horrified. "You're getting divorced!?"
"No!" Helena said vehemently, her own heart picking up an unusual rhythm at the mere notion of being permanently separated from her soul mate. She hastened to explain, not wanting to give her children chance to jump to more conclusions. "Myka came into contact with an artefact while we were away. It affected her memory so she is going to need some time before she's ready to come home."
"How much of her memory? Does she think she's a kid again or something?" the teen asked slowly, his brain working through several scenarios at once.
Helena coughed nervously. "Not quite that far, my darling. However…"
Freddy took one look at the hesitation in his mother's eyes and cringed. "She doesn't remember us, does she?"
"No, love," the Victorian confirmed with regret. "She remembers working at the Warehouse with me, but not rescuing your sister from Limbo or anything after that."
Catherine's face froze, her eyes filling with tears briefly before her expression hardened. She slid off the bed, stomped across the room, pushed forcefully through the door and disappeared into the corridor beyond. HG rose from her seat to follow after her daughter but hesitated as she glanced toward her son.
Freddy smiled at her in sympathy. "It's ok, Mum. I'm pretty tired anyway. We can talk about it when I'm awake again."
Helena leant over him carefully to kiss his forehead. "Thank you, love. Try not to worry too much. Your Mama won't be away forever."
She left the room, knowing that her son would be unable to do anything but worry about his American mother, but knowing that she had no choice. Fredrick was immobile for now but Catherine could be anywhere if given enough time to wander.
Thankfully, the eleven-year-old had not managed to make it past the nurse's station and was being held up by the young nurse called Javier, who'd been looking after Freddy. He shot the inventor a small smile before excusing himself to get back to his duties. At the abrupt departure, Catherine turned, her frown instantly giving way to a scowl.
Helena crouched down to sit on her haunches and looked up into eyes that were a mixture of confused, angry and crushed. "I know you're upset, Catherine, but I need you not to run off like that. It terrifies me when I don't know where you are." She tucked a lock of hair behind an ear, keeping her tone soft. "Especially after what happened with your brother this week."
Hazel eyes tempered gradually until the girl managed to appear somewhat contrite. "I'm sorry, Mum. I swear, I wasn't going to go far. I wasn't going to leave the ward."
"You needed space," HG nodded her understanding and lifted both hands to squeeze her daughter's shoulders. "It's ok. Your mother and I have been advising you for years now to take refuge when you feel overwhelmed. I'm proud of you, darling. I know how devastating this must be."
"Mama really doesn't remember me?" Catherine asked in a small voice.
Helena reluctantly shook her head. "We are searching for the artefact that took her memories in the hope that we can reverse the process, but for now, we simply have to give Myka time to come to terms with everything. Ok?"
The girl scrutinised her mother for a moment. "Mama's careful with artefacts; she doesn't touch them by accident. Did someone try to hurt her?"
Though part of Helena was proud of the pre-teen's quick deductions, she was more concerned by the thunderous emotion in her daughter's gaze. She sighed before nodding slowly. "I believe that it was a deliberate act, yes. But the important thing to remember is that Myka is not hurt and that we can help her."
Cat shrugged and nodded as she took her mother's arm and followed her back to her brother's room. She wasn't completely satisfied with the conversation but knew from the Brit's expression that she wouldn't get any answers about the villains who were hurting her family. She'd just have to keep her ear to the ground – someone would let something slip eventually.