"Claud, I'm home!" Dr. Douglas Fargo called out as he entered his dark house.

He had been at Global Dynamics until late tonight, because of another flesh-eating bacteria sample getting loose.

"Babe, where are you?" he whined. They were still in the honeymoon stage, even though they had already been married for about five months now. Normally, as soon as he got home, he would find Claudia Donovan-Fargo (even after all this time, hearing that gave him the chills), they would kiss for a while, and then they would sit down and play Call of Duty or another video game, or Claudia would help him with some sort of technical problem at work.

Not tonight, though.

Fargo walked into their bedroom, hoping that she was just in the shower, or already asleep in their bed.

Neither was the case.

Instead, he found a note laying in the middle of their king-sized bed.

Faargonator –

I have to go home. I'm not coming back. I love you, I always have and I always will. But Eureka isn't safe anymore. I need my family right now, badly. Please don't come looking for me.

Love,

Your red-headed techie,

Claudia

Once he had finished reading the note, he collapsed, tears in his eyes. Claudia, his world, had left him, without even explaining why. With shaking hands, he picked up his phone and dialed the first number that he could think of – that wasn't Claudia's.

"Yeah?" a sleepy voice, male, answered on the second ring.

"Zane, she left." He said, trying to keep the tears from spilling over.

"What the hell are you talking about, Fargo?" Zane snapped, sounding more awake now.

"Claudia's….. Claudia's gone, Zane. She left."

"I'll be there in 10."

. . .

7 miles outside of Univille, South Dakota

12:30 a.m.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong.

The door was flung open, and Claudia Donovan-Fargo found herself staring down the barrel of one of her own creations.

Steve Jinks immeadiatly lowered his mini-tesla once he recognized the tear-stained face of his best friend.

"Claude? Claude, what's wrong?" he asked, putting an arm around his now-sobbing B.F.F.E.W.Y.L.I.O.N.

He led her inside, sitting her down on the couch before running to the stairs.

"ARTIE! PETE! MYKA! ABIGAIL!" he shouted, and was rewarded moments later by the sound of stomping feet coming down the stairs.

"Jinksy! What is it?" Pete called, as he raced down. "It's almost time for my 3:00 am sandwich!"

"I don't know. I was going to the bathroom when the bell rang, and Claude – "

"Claudia?!" Artie asked, cutting Steve off and making the rest of the team go quiet.

"In here." She managed to croak out.

Within seconds, she was throuwing herself into Artie's arms, bawling, as the rest of her adoptive family settled in around them.

"Claudia, my dear, what's wrong?" Artie asked, surprisingly gentle. "Did you and Fargo have a fight? Because I would be happy to bronze –"

"Artie!" Myka scolded.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Claudia, what's wrong?" Abigail asked. "C'mon, let's talk."

"C-c-c-can I move back in?" Claudia finally asked. "Please?"

"Of course you can, Claude!" Pete broke in, worried about the girl he thought of as a younger sister. "But why? Isn't that geek of yours treating you right?"

"No that's not it." She began, drying her tears. "It's – "

"Is Fargo okay? Did something happen to him?" Myka cried out frantically. Finally, Claudia couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm pregnant!" she cried, & it was like she had dropped a nuclear bomb. Everyone became silent, even Trailer, who had been barking frantically in the corner.

"You're… what?" Artie whispered, his face pale, as everyone else hugged and congratulated the girl.

"I'm pregnant, Artie." She said, taking the hand of her father figure in her own.

. . .

Eureka

8:00 a.m.

Next day

"I-I…. I just don't understand…" Fargo said, heartbroken.

"Have you two been fighting or something?" Allison asked him gently.

"No! Of course not!" Fargo said, shocked. "How could you even think that?" He asked, before burying his head in his hands again.

Meanwhile, Jo & Zoey had been talking in the corner, coming over just in time to see Fargo showing defeat.

"Ok, that's it!" Jo said, causing Fargo to look up. "Man up, Fargo!"

"She's right." Zoe chimed in. "If you miss Claudia that badly, Fargo, go after her! Show her you love her!"

Fargo stood up. "You're right! Allison, you're in charge of GD until I get back – unofficially." He said as he walked away.

"What about officially?" Jack asked, and Fargo turned, a gleam in his eye.

"Officially? Officially, I never even left." He said, then marched out of the room.

"Wow." Zoey commented a minute later. "She really has rubbed off on him."

-line break-

1:00 p.m.

The Bed & Breakfast

Now that Fargo had gotten there, he was really nervous.

Knock-knock.

The door flew open, & Fargo was faced with a smiling Asian women.

"Oh, do you finally have my package?" she asked distractedly, then seemed to focus. "You aren't the UPS guy."

"Uh…. No, no I'm not. I'm sorry, I must have the wrong address, I was just looking for –"

He was cut off from his awful rambling by feet clomping down the stairs.

"Fargo." Steve said, stopping short when he saw who their unexpected visitor was.

"Steve! Hi!" Fargo said, happy to see a familiar face. Maybe now he could find out why Claudia had left.

"Oh, so you're Fargo." The Asian woman said. "Claudia's told me a lot about you."

"Right." Steve said, shaking off his original shock at seeing Fargo. "You've never met. Abigail, this is Dr. Fargo, Claude's husband. Fargo, this is Abigail Cho. She's the new owner of the B&B."

"Speaking of Claudia, is she here? She just left last night for no reason, just left a note saying not to come after her." Fargo asked hopefully.

"No, she's actually at the Warehouse right now. You can go talk to her there, though. I'll take you there, let's just get out of here before Artie sees you, he's really ticked off."

"Before Artie sees who?" a cranky voice called out from in the kitchen.

"Steve followed Fargo to his car, as Abigail called out, "Nobody, Artie. Let's just finish making those scotchies!"

"You know, it would be easier if somebody would stop eating all the batter!"

"Sor-ry!" Pete retorted.

. . .

"Great. She's in the Vault." Steve said, as he looked at the computer screens in Artie's Office.

It was only Fargo's second time in the Warehouse, and just the sheer size of the place still astounded him.

"What's the Vault?" he asked.

"The Dark Vault. It's where the most dangerous artifacts are kept. Kind of the Warehouse version of Section 5." Steve explained.

"What's she doing down there?!"

"Just finishing up. Look, she's leaving there now."

10 minutes later, in the Ovoid Quarantine

"She should be in here." Steve said, before backing away awkwardly. "I'll leave you guys alone."

"Thanks, Steve." Fargo said gratefully, before curiously walking into the Ovoid Quarantine.

"Claudia?"

The redhead froze, bent over a large wooden crate. She cautiously turned around, before grinning weakly at her husband.

"Hey, Dougie."

He rushed at her, pulling her into a bone cushing hug, before pulling away & just looking at her for a second.

"What happened, baby? Why'd you leave?"

She pulled away, and looked up at him with tear-streaked cheeks. That in itself was slightly terrifying. Claudia never cried.

"Douglas," she started, scaring him. That was another thing she never did – calling him by his given name. Not ever.

"Holy crap. Are you okay? You don't have, like, cancer, or something, do you?" he started, frantically checking her over.

She laughed slightly. "No, Doug. I'm okay. It's just…. Eureka isn't safe anymore."

"What?!" he asked, shocked. "Of course it's safe! Sheriff Carter is the best law official possible, we have top-of-the-line security – "

"How many times has something threatened to destroy the town by now?" she asked him innocently.

"Besides the point." Fargo said quickly, making her laugh slightly. "Eureka has been plenty safe for you for the last 5 months, baby. What changed?"

She placed her hand gently on his chest.

"It's not my safety I'm worried about."

He just looked at her, confused. "Then whose….?"

"Dougie, I'm pregnant."

. . .

He just stared at her in shock for a minute or so.

"Oh." He finally said, before pulling her in for a long, passionate kiss.

"Now do you see why I have to stay at the Warehouse?" Claudia Donovan-Fargo asked her husband, after they had both pulled away for some much-needed air.

"No, actually." He said, getting a little irritated. "The Warehouse has just as many deadly objects as Eureka has, if not more!" Claudia started to walk out of the Ovoid Quarantine, with her husband following angrily behind her.

"Watch your temper, Dougie." She warned. "Most of these artifacts can be triggered by emotions."

"Exactly my point!" he stormed. "Nothing like that could possibly happen to you in Eureka."

"And it can't happen to me here, either."

"Um, Claudia? I'm pretty sure you can still be afftected by artifacts while you're pregnant." Fargo said bluntly, making Claudia laugh.

"No, Doug, that's not what I meant." She said. " Remember, I'm future Caretaker. The Warehouse will protect me."

Fargo started to protest again, but was cut off by Claudia.

"Doug, please don't make me choose. I love you. I can't stay in Eureka and worry about you constantly, it will drive me mad. I've already lost too many people…. My parents, my sister, Joshua, Leena, Steve….." she trailed off, staring at the ground, before looking back up at her husband, a single tear making it's way down her cheek.

"I…. I can't lose you, too….. or the baby. Just give me a few weeks, okay?" she finished softly, laying her head on his chest, smiling when he pulled her closer and just held her tight.

"All right." He finally agreed, pressing his lips to her forehead.