Author's Note: I'm getting into the groove of this now! I picked up the NaNoWriMo challenge on a dare, and things are coming along quite nicely for this story. :0) Hope to have a new chapter finished and ready for posting later this week. We'll see.

Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed/favorited/made this an alert. You make me feel all warm and fuzzy!

Standard disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, the creation of any plot and/or characters for Warehouse 13. That remains in the currently capable hands of the SyFy Network.

BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz.

An arm snaked out from under the duvet on the bed and smacked at the clock on the bedside table. There was silence and Claudia rolled over, pulling the duvet tightly around her shoulders.

BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz.

Claudia groaned and reached for her clock again. She hated forgetting to turn off the alarm when she had the day off. She hit the alarm button three times to ensure that the alarm symbol was no longer highlighted on the clock's face. Satisfied, she tossed the clock on the floor and wiggled under the duvet again, rearranging herself to a more comfortable position.

BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz.

"What in the frak –" Claudia sat up, agitated that she kept being disturbed. The clock's batteries were coming out this time. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. She picked the clock up off the floor and was surprised to find it silent and blinking 3:58am. Come to think of it, that sounded less like her alarm clock and more like her…Farnsworth! "Frak. Frak, frak, frakfrakfrak."

BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. Claudia dove off the bed and started searching for the messenger bag that she'd left her Farnsworth in yesterday. Shirts went left and pants went right. A Farnsworth call at four in the morning could only lead to bad things, a DEFCON 3 or higher type situation. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBzzz. Where had she left that bag? She was certain that Artie was going postal over at the Warehouse, waiting for her to answer. She was going to be in so much trouble.

Her hands closed over the messenger bag and she heaved a sigh of relief, ripping it open and pulling out the buzzing Farnsworth and the notepad that always remained with it. BzzzBzzz. BzzzBz—"I'm here, I'm here," she said, pulling the Farnsworth open and reaching for her laptop at the same time. "Getting system access right now, what do you need?"

"Check on Myka."

"I don't know if I've heard of a—wait, what?" Claudia looked at the screen. "Pete?"

"Check. On. Myka." When Claudia still didn't move off her floor, Pete hissed a forceful breath between his teeth and added, "Please, Claud."

Claudia started to stand and then stopped, hovering inches off the ground. "You're sure nothing's about to explode and blow the world to bits?" she asked warily, raising an eyebrow. "This isn't some last minute, pour out your heart and soul bit, is it?"

"Cross my heart and stay in one piece," Pete said. "You don't have to wake her if she's sleeping. Just…make sure she's okay for me."

"And then you'll tell me what's going on?" When Pete nodded, Claudia hefted herself into a standing position and shuffled out into the hallway. Carefully overstepping the squeaky board outside Leena's door, she padded to Myka's room and peeked inside. Seeing an empty bed, she whispered to Pete, "I think she's taken to sleeping in your room again." Crossing the hall, she pushed open the door slightly, just enough to see Myka curled underneath Pete's duvet, her stuffed bunny tucked up under her chin. She was sound asleep, her face relaxed and mouth slightly open, not even twitching as a sliver of light from the hallway crossed over her face.

Claudia turned the Farnsworth so Pete could see for himself that Myka was sleeping peacefully, then softly closed the door and headed back to her room again, carefully sidestepping the squeaky floorboards once more. Closing the door behind her, she settled under her comforter, notebook on one side, laptop on the other, and glared at Pete. "So. What was that all about?"

"I need your help," Pete said quietly, leaning into the Farnsworth.

"No frak, really?" Claudia snarked at him. "Even Joshua doesn't have enough of a death wish to wake me up at –" she glanced at her clock – "quarter past 4 IN THE MORNING just to say hello."

"Have you talked to Joshua lately?" Pete asked curiously.

"Last night and now is not the time to change the subject, Ferret Face. What is going on?"

Pete sighed. "I need you to do some research for me while I'm handling this case. And don't tell Artie about it." Claudia raised an eyebrow at him. "It's related to…you know, the other thing. And he'll just yell again if he thinks I don't have all my concentration on what's going on over here." Claudia cocked her head to one side and gave him a small smirk. "Which I definitely do, 210%," Pete hastily added.

"Alright, covert research on top of double inventory and regular research for your case and any pings that come in. I can totally handle it. What am I looking for?" Claudia reached for her notebook.

"I don't know."

Claudia made a noise that sounded to Pete like she was swallowing the urge to verbally rip his head off. "I need a little more information than THAT. I'm a genius and a miracle worker, not a magician."

"No, I really don't know," Pete sighed. "Myka left me a message a few hours ago on my cell. It's pretty garbled but she said some things that might be a starting point. Something about a watch and Kentucky?" He shook his head. "I saved it, so you can hack into my voicemail – you can do that right? – and listen to it."

She laughed a little and shook her head. "No hacking necessary. Do you forget who sets up your voicemail for you every time you manage to break another phone?" Claudia waved her hand around. "I know your password by heart, bro."

Pete peered at her suspiciously. "Is that why some of the voicemails from Kelly that I would have sworn I had saved disappeared suddenly?" Claudia turned red and shrugged. "Ah. Good to know."

Clearing her throat, Claudia quickly scratched some notes out onto her pad. "Okay, so I have to pull the voicemail and get what I can, but I'm probably going to be pulling all our files on watches and downloading any previous pings from Kentucky. 'Zat sound about right?" Pete nodded. "Alright. And you're going to relax now?"

"Relax? What does relax mean?"

"Pete." Claudia sighed. "Have you tried talking to Steve about any of this?"

Pete shifted uncomfortably. "Not really. I mean, why?"

Claudia glared at him. "Because were trying to be more like a team, here. He's my partner, like Myka is yours. He's sticking around, Pete. Come on."

"But he doesn't really know Myka and—"

"That's not his fault!" Claudia retorted. "You two haven't really given him much of a chance, you know. Bronzing him and all." At Pete's startled look, she laughed. "Yeah, I know how to hack the camera footage, remember? You forgot to erase that."

He sighed. "I know, I know, you're right. Look, let's make a deal. You do my research and I'll consider talking to Jinksy."

"Oh, you'll do more than consider if I'm doing your dirty work. Hey." Claudia tried to see around the corner of the screen. "Where is my partner anyway?

Pete leaned his head back until it hit the wall behind him. "Sleeping. Slacker."

"Oh sleep. I remember it fondly," Claudia rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "So. I do your dirty, covert research. You talk to Steve. Deal?"

"And we're not telling Artie," Pete reminded.

"Pssh, as if."

"Then deal."

"Okay then." Claudia yawned. "Myka is going to be up in approximately…" she glanced at her clock again. "…Two and a half hours and I promised the library this morning, so I'm going to crash out for another hour. Kirk out."

"Hey!" Pete looked startled. "That's supposed to be my line."

"Too bad, so sad." Claudia stuck her tongue out at him, pleased with herself when Pete finally managed a real smile. "Now go, Ferret Face."

"Fine, Spazz." Pete laughed and quickly added, "The REAL Kirk out!" and slammed his Farnsworth closed. He closed his eyes tightly and leaned his head against the wall again, taking a few deep breaths in and out to calm himself. Myka's voicemail had shaken him up more than he wanted to admit, and he cursed Artie once more for sending him to Florida when he should have been at home, taking care of her.

He sighed and then pushed himself away from the wall. Time to go wake up Jinksy and get on with the day. He vowed to himself that they would make quick work of this mission. He had some place more important to be – back with the partner who needed him.