The crunch of boots on white stone alerted her that her welcoming party was almost upon her. Rising and wiping dust off of her trousers, H.G. left her hands curled into loose fists at her sides. No sense in giving them any reason to distrust her. She let out a long, cool sigh; she was ready as she'd ever be.

In an almost ironic mocking gesture, Myka and Pete walked the same path Myka and Artie had the year before. Not surprised in the least to see them with their Teslas already drawn and trained on her, H.G. closed her eyes as a sweeping gust of wind blew past her from behind. Blinking in time to catch dark strands of hair flow around Myka's face, she turned her gaze to Pete. He was closest.

"For my welcoming party," she smiled blandly, "You two don't look very welcoming."

"Shut up," Pete snarled, "You're lucky we're not shooting first, asking questions later."

H.G. turned her attention to Myka. Heart squeezing at the betrayed expression on her face, H.G. lightly shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose I am. Thank you for the courtesy. I hope the trip here wasn't too difficult."

Myka's jaw clenched. "What do you want, H.G.? Why are you here? We know the Regents didn't authorize your release."

"Yeah, and whatever world-ending or murdering artifacts you have, hand them over," Pete added, drawing H.G.'s eyes to him.

Her lips quirked. "I'm afraid I do not have any artifacts this time around. As for the Regents, I was hoping you could put in a good word for me." Feeling another gust of wind coming upon them, she raised her hand to cover her face. "After all," she dropped her hand, shifting with the effort it had taken to keep the wind out of her body, "It's partly their fault that I am here."

"I don't know what game you're playing, H.G., but it's going to end now – "

"Wait." Throwing her arm out to silence her partner, Myka straightened a little. Eyes wide, she scanned up and down H.G.'s body before stopping on H.G.'s face. "Your hair."

Pete rolled his eyes. "Oh my god. What is it with women and their hair? Myka!" he threw up his hand, "This is not the time to exchange beauty tips."

"I'm not – " Stopping herself and shaking her head, Myka jerked her head in H.G.'s direction as she looked at Pete, "Throw something at her."

"What?"

"Throw something at her!"

Pete made a very obvious 'what is going on?' face. "I'm not throwing something at H.G.! Don't you remember what happened when Artie threw a bullet at her?"

H.G. tried to keep the smile off of her face. "Ah, I believe he shot that at me, dear. And besides," she moved her hands up and down to indicate her body, "I am not wearing the Corsican Vest." Not that that matters.

He made a face at her. "So you say. You could have some other evil artifact that we don't know about." Turning to Myka, he shook his head. "I'm still not throwing anything at her."

Myka grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Oh, you coward," before stooping to the ground and picking up one of the white stones H.G. had been admiring earlier. But before she could straighten, H.G. called out helpfully, "Grab two."

"Two? Why two…?" Questioning her but doing so anyway, Myka stood up again. Holstering her Tesla after making sure Pete was still covering her, Myka met H.G.'s eyes.

Appreciating the reluctant determination in her gaze, H.G. gave her a small smile and nodded. Myka tensed, drew back her arm, and then tossed the stone in H.G.'s direction. With a ripple and uncomfortably stretchy feeling, it soared through H.G.'s stomach. She couldn't help grimacing at the feeling.

Myka stared at her with a perplexed expression on her face, the line in between her eyebrows starting to become a deeper crease. Pete's reaction was completely different: "Alright!" he exclaimed, dropping one of his hands to his jacket pocket to pull out the hologram device, "That means this'll work on you! Goodbye, H.G. Can't say it's been a pleasure."

"Wait – " Myka stared at Pete in alarm, snapping her head to look at H.G. again. "Helena – "

With a twist, bright light shot out, heading straight for H.G. Closing her eyes, she allowed the tingling energy to wash over her.

After fifteen seconds and nothing seemed to be happening, Pete slapped the sides of the orb. "Why aren't you working?" he demanded, snapping his head up to stare pointedly at H.G. "You did something to it, didn't you?"

"If you please," H.G. blinked her eyes open, starting to feel a little light headed from the combination of energy and flashing lights, "Would you cease your endeavor? It really isn't that comfortable." Coughing a bit as she felt herself wavering, H.G. sent some of her own energy to firm up the area. She knew she could keep up her wards as long as she needed to, but she'd rather not.

Myka had, by then, dropped her Tesla, her mind obviously working behind her eyes. "Pete…" she started, holstering her Tesla without looking away from H.G., "Shut it down."

"Why? I'm sure if we just wait a bit longer – "

H.G. grunted from the impact. "Ouch, dear. Novel shot." Tensing her jaw, she knelt and picked up the second of Myka's stones that had just been thrown at her midsection. Watching the streaming blue and gold energy completely flow around its body in her palm, she started moving it around with her fingers. "Well, this really is quite interesting." Looking up, she grinned at Myka and Pete, "I must study this at some time."

Schlinksh.

The energy flowed back into the sphere. Letting out a relieved smile, H.G. ran a hand through her hair after smoothing down her clothing and slipping the stone into her pocket. "Thank you. You would not understand how unpleasant that feels."

Pete slowly turned to Myka, a slack jawed, furrowed brow expression on his face. "You sure we can't bring Artie in on this?"

"I don't know…" Myka looked at H.G. out of the corner of her eye, and H.G. averted her gaze and put her hands into her pockets to give them a semblance of privacy. It wasn't her desire to force them into a problematic position; she just needed their help.

"H.G.," H.G. mentally winced at the resurgence of her initials, but she nodded to illustrate she was listening, "You must understand our unease." Myka sighed, throwing her head back and staring up at the sky. "God, what is going on here?" She lowered her chin, "Can you swear you have no… No master plan," she flicked her hand at H.G., "To start another Armageddon?"

H.G.'s eyes flickered in shame, but she met her eyes squarely and nodded, firming her lips. "I swear I have no malevolent – by any definition of the word – intentions of any kind."

Pete took a step towards her. Keeping the Tesla in one hand but relaxed against his leg, he pointed at her, "If we do this – trust you," his expression became more intense, "You damn well not make us regret it." Pausing, he straightened, holstered his Tesla, and crossed his arms, "And tell us what the hell is going on."

One side of H.G.'s lips curved up in everything but amusement. "I'll tell you what I know on our way back to the Warehouse." Shrugging her shoulders a little, she moved her foot forwards. Waiting to see if either Myka or Pete would react negatively, she met Myka's gaze for an endless second until she slid away and both agents fell in step behind her. "If you'd feel better," she offered over her shoulder, "I will submit to a search.

"I do have to warn you, though," she sighed, closing her eyes against the wind again, "I shall not be the warmest individual you have ever encountered."

"'Warmest'?" Pete muttered to Myka, "What does that mean?"

Myka's answering deep exhale was full of unspoken, heavy emotions, "I think that's something we'll just have to find out, Pete. We'll just have to find out."