A/N: Continually blown away by the support. Thank you! This is my first time ever attempting to capture characters that are not Myka/Helena/Claudia. Not totally confident in how it turned out, so would LOVE LOVE LOVE constructive feedback. Thank you for sticking with me!

Chapter 5: The Family

Myka made her way downstairs and took a quick note on the location of the other B&B occupants. Claudia was in the dining room, laptop open, headphones on, head down, completely focused on the task before her. Steve and Pete were in the living room engaged in some sort of shoot em up video game. For all they saw in their daily lives, Myka could not understand how it was possible for the two of them to "relax" by blowing things up on the tv, but it seemed to work for them. Obviously they'd had no pings, or the house wouldn't have been so full. It appeared as though Artie was holding down the fort at the Warehouse, giving the agents a day off, as Abigail was also home and outside watering the various flower pots and plants around the garden. Looking to her friends, Myka easily decided to let them be a while longer and headed out the door to say hi to Abigail first.

She walked out onto the patio and down into the garden, relishing the smell of fresh air on this hot summer day. Abigail noticed her approach and greeted her with a smile.

"How are the plants surviving this heat?" Myka inquired.

"Well, Mrs Frederick failed to inform me that having a green thumb was going to be part of my new job. I'm more of a... chia pet kind of person. But I suppose like anything around here, we adjust to new circumstances and move on." Abigail was not one to beat around the bush about anything. "So how are you adjusting to having Helena here?"

Myka laughed at the not so discreet segue. "Well, you definitely have the direct approach down." She paused before formulating the answer to the actual question in her head. She was learning to trust Abigail as a part of their Warehouse family, but the fact that she was a psychologist still left her feeling the need to filter her answers on a regular basis.

"I'm glad she's back." She was a little guarded in her response, but opted to continue when Abigail said nothing. "We have so much history, God knows it's never been easy between us, but I need her here right now. Contrary to our track record... her and I together... it's a good thing. A really good thing." She shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, nervous about her own response, although she wasn't sure why.

She was more than relieved to have Helena back in her life, but she wasn't sure how the rest of the team would take to the new state of their relationship. Obviously they had Claudia's full support, but that left her to wonder about the others. She figured Steve would be fine. He hadn't experienced the first time Helena was in their life, and reading something in a report wasn't the same. She knew Artie would be, well, Artie. After the last year they'd had together he seemed to soften a bit. Maybe it was Vanessa's influence. Maybe it was the work he was doing with Abigail. But whatever it was, she felt he would grumble and say it didn't matter, but that they would secretly have his support.

And then there was Pete. She knew he was going to be fiercely protective of her, and she loved him for it. They had never talked about her feelings for Helena, but he obviously knew they existed. Especially after she left the Warehouse the first time Helena broke her heart. But in Helena's defense, Pete also knew she was the reason Myka came back. The reason he got his partner back. It seemed like after the Sykes incident he was willing to forgive her, but after watching Myka breakdown in the car on the way out of Boone, she couldn't be so sure again. Only time would tell.

She turned back to Abigail realizing that she had been completely wrapped up in her own thoughts and that the new inn keeper simply let her be, returning her own attention to watering the plants.

"Sorry, I guess I zoned out there for a bit." she said, acknowledging her prolonged silence.

Abigail smiled in response before speaking. "Well, you know, it's not like you don't have a few things on your mind these days. I'm pretty sure you're entitled to zone out on occasion. But please don't forget, if you ever want to talk, it's part of why I'm here."

"Part of?" Myka was curious since she was pretty much brought on as their live-in shrink.

"You know, the other part being 'don't kill the plants.'" she joked, gesturing with the hose as she moved it to the next round of pots.

Before Myka could respond she continued. "But seriously, for what it's worth. I think if Helena being here makes you happy, than it is the right thing. And you shouldn't worry about the rest of the team. They want you to be happy too. Especially Pete."

Myka was a little taken aback at Abigail's insight into her thoughts, but couldn't help but acknowledge the truth in her statement. "Thank you. I hope you're right."

Nodding back towards the sliding glass door, Abigail replied "I guess we're about to find out, huh?"

Myka followed the woman's gaze to the glass door, where she saw Helena turn the corner and head into the living room. She watched Pete rise and approach Helena with a bit of caution. He extended his hand out "Hey HG, it's good to have you back." he stated as she took his offered hand.

Helena willed herself to not look as nervous as she felt, meeting Pete's eyes in a level stare. "Thanks Pete, I'm grateful Claudia got in touch with me." She winced at her own words, hoping he didn't think that she meant he should have called her instead. It wasn't her intention to rock whatever peace they could find between them.

Myka made her way back into the house, noticing that the others quickly joined around Pete and Helena. She over heard Pete talking as she approached the group, but hung back out of sight just a little.

"Yeah, it's good she got you back here. I mean you are back, right? To stay?" All he could focus on was how crushed Myka would be if Helena left again. "Because if you're not, then you better..."

"Pete." she interrupted. "I assure you, I am here to stay." She tried to calm his big brother speech a bit. "Even if the Regents decide I will not be working for the Warehouse again, I am not going anywhere." Looking at Pete he was not convinced. "I hear Univille is a great little town to settle down in." she tried to lighten the mood a bit, but also hoped that she could say something that would indicate to Pete she would do whatever it takes to be near Myka.

Unfortunately Pete wasn't up for light comments right now. This was Myka. This was serious. "So for sure. You're staying." he clarified one more time, an edge to his voice.

Helena placed a hand on Pete's arm before responding. "Pete, I swear to you, I'm not going to hurt her again. I will do everything in my power to keep her safe and to make sure that she is happy and loved."

"She is loved, Helena. She has a family here who loves her. And who has her back. And who has been here the whole time." Pete stated a bit more defensively than he intended.

"I know." Helena's head dropped as she continued. "As I told Myka, if there was anything I could do to make up for my foolish absence, I would. I'm sorry I was gone. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. But all I can do is be here now."

She looked up at Pete one more time before stepping back and addressing not just him but Claudia and Steve who she had momentarily forgotten were also in the room. "I realize that I don't have to just earn Myka's trust back, I have to earn all of yours. You are her family. And if I thought for a moment that my presence here would cause her any harm, I... I wouldn't put her through that again. I swear to you. At some point, I hope you will believe me."

Helena trailed off and Myka took that moment to rejoin the group. Maybe she should have come to Helena's defense earlier, but she knew Pete needed to hear the words from Helena, not her. And she knew Helena needed to have a voice where the group was concerned.

As she approached them Helena's back was to her so she wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and pulled her in close to her from behind. Helena's arms instantly wrapped over hers, squeezing tightly. Placing her head on the other woman's shoulder Myka took a calming breath soaking in the other woman's sweet sent before speaking. "I believe you." she whispered into the other woman's ear.

Helena turned her head slightly and brushed a kiss over Myka's lips. "Thank you."

It was Steve who broke the tension in the room. "For what it's worth H.G., I know you're telling the truth. And it's good to have you here."

Helena smiled at the statement, realizing that she was simply speaking from her heart, completely forgetting there was a human lie detector in the room.

Pete took a moment to take in the sight of the two women before him. More importantly, to take in Myka, and how calm and relaxed she looked. The woman was about to have surgery tomorrow and then had to undergo God knows what kind of treatment in the coming months. But standing there, wrapped around the woman she loves, because there was no doubt they completely loved each other, she looked happy. And as protective as he wanted to be, and as angry as he felt for past actions, her current happiness had to count for something. He owed it to her to to allow her every moment of it she could find, because she deserved it, and because none of them knew how many more opportunities would be coming her way.

"Ok." he finally conceded. "Good enough for me. Welcome home HG." He said. He walked past them, patting Helena's arm, before turning to Abigail and not so gracefully changing the topic. "Abigail, I know you've been hiding the rest of the cookies around here somewhere. Time to come clean!"

Pete and the others made their way towards the kitchen, giving the women a moment to themselves.

Myka turned Helena around in her arms, kissed her firmly, and then pulled back to speak. "Looks to me like you handled Pete pretty well there." she smiled.

"He loves you." She sighed, secretly feeling an ounce of jealousy over just how much Pete had been there for, all of which she had missed. "I must admit I completely understand where he's coming from. If our roles were reversed I don't believe I would have been as understanding."

"He will always be my partner, and with that comes all of his over protective big brother qualities. But he gets it Helena. He gets that I need you. And he will be ok." she reassured, having sensed the acceptance coming from Pete by the end of their discussion.

Helena was not as convinced. "And if he doesn't believe me?"

"He will." she stated absolutely. Smiling she added "But if he doesn't, I'll hide all his comic books and take away all his cookies until he does."

Helena couldn't help but laugh, and then leaned forward to peck Myka on the lips.

"Alright love birds, break it up." She heard Pete call out as he re-entered the room, cookies in hand. Myka laughed and the two took a step apart. "So Mykes, about your appointment later..." Pete started to speak as he took a seat in the living room. Myka and Helena kept their hands locked as they made their way to the couch.

"Right," Myka sighed. "Appointment." She wanted nothing more than to ignore the reality of the rest of the day a little longer, but that was not going to happen.

Pete heard Myka's hesitation in her voice and continued. "Look, I know now that I was going to... You know... If you want Helena too...:"

Myka took a deep breath and cut off Pete. "Pete, I would appreciate if you would take us to the appointment. Yes, Helena is going to come along too, but seriously, I want you to be there, if you'll go?"

Pete sighed in relief at still being allowed to support Myka, even though Helena was around now. He nodded "Yeah, Mykes, of course I'll take you guys."

"Thanks." Myka smiled over at him. "We should leave soon. I just need to run upstairs and grab my stuff."

B&W~~B&W~~B&W~~B&W~~B&W

Upstairs Helena followed Myka into her bedroom and quietly closed the door behind her, quickly wrapping the other woman in a hug from behind. "Darling, as much as I want to be there for you, I will understand if you want to just go with Pete..."

Myka turned around kissing Helena softly to stop her from speaking. "No. I really need you to be there. Both of you."

"Alright then." Helena said and the women disengaged from each other to gather their things together. "So what type of appointment is this?"

Myka let out a long breath before speaking. She should have told Helena where she was at with her treatment sooner, but given the whirlwind of emotions over less than 24 hours, she really hadn't wanted to bring it up. She put her bag on her shoulder and turned to face Helena before speaking. "I have ovarian cancer. The first step in my treatment plan is for me to have a hysterectomy. Today's appointment is my pre-op check in. If all is what they expect, I have to have surgery tomorrow. They also want to talk about post surgery treatment options, radiation, chemo..." she let out a long shaky breath as her sentence trailed off.

Helena was a little shocked at the reality of the situation, but did her best to take it in stride. "Ok. One step at a time, my love. Surgery tomorrow is enough to focus on for now." she placed a comforting hand on Myka's arm.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It wasn't that I didn't want to. I was just enjoying being with you. I didn't want to ruin it with awful details of everything that was coming up." Myka confessed.

"It's fine. I can't even imagine the amount of information you must have running through that brain of yours." She commented as she pushed a lock of curly hair behind Myka's ear. "Whatever you need to tell me, whenever you need to tell me, is fine. You don't owe me explanations." Helena spoke in a reassuring tone, letting Myka know that she wasn't upset about the 11th hour news.

The calmness in Helena's voice allowed Myka to continue. "My surgeon is Dr. Ashley Moore. Vanessa will be there as well, but she's not operating. I just figured with the amount of whammying that has happened, it'd be good to have her around."

Helena smiled. "That seems logical. I'm glad she'll be there. Shall we go see the good Doctor then?" She extended her hand out to Myka and they made their way back downstairs, knowing if they didn't head out soon they would be late.

Pete was patiently waiting for them by the door. "All set?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Myka replied, but failed to take a step forward.

Pete turned to head out while Helena placed a hand on her lower back and guided her forward. "We'll be right there the whole time darling. I promise. One step at a time."

Myka didn't respond, letting herself be led out the door. She had been happy the last day. Really freakin happy. She had Helena and her family around her. Everything hurt a little less. Everything made her smile a little more. Now reality burst through her bubble and the upcoming chaos was all she could focus on. She was terrified. Of surgery. Of treatment. Of being weak. Of letting Helena down.

She tried to focus on Helena's words. One step at a time, with Helena by her side the entire way. She could do this. She had to do this.

She slid into the backseat next to Helena, Pete not commenting on the abandoned passenger side seat. He could tell Helena's physical connection to Myka was the only thing motivating her to go through with this appointment. He was pretty sure if Helena hadn't showed, she would have come up with a hundred excuses to put it off one more time. But the reality was she'd put off treatment long enough, and whatever it took to get her healthy, he would support it. He glanced at the two women in the rear view mirror as he headed out from the B&B, hands locked, Myka's head resting on Helena's shoulder. And for the first time since Myka told him the news, he really, truly, believed she was going to be ok. Those two had overcome so damn much to be together. They would get through this as well. No doubt.