kleenemaus8459 - In this chapter, we'll see how Claudia handles Steve's pain, including his being unconscious. I'm glad you like the fic so much!
Chinagirl18 - Thank you! I hope you like this chapter!
Guest - I'm glad you like the story!
atn - Thank you! Hope you continue to like this story!
tmmdeathwishraven - Thank you! I'm glad you like the story! And of course you can add it to your community!
mlw217 - Here is another chapter! Hope you enjoy it!
Hero Memory - I'm glad you think it's so creepy, because that's exactly what I was going for. The people that kidnapped Steve...are not in their right minds, to say it mildly. And yes, Steve's going to be concerned for Claudia's safety, due to the fact that they're linked. It's going to be a huge issue for him in this story.
Thanks for the reviews everybody!
Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13, and this disclaimer goes for the entire story.
"So...one point for me for getting the pig trough." Pete said, waving the list of artifacts through the air. "And that makes me...10 points ahead." He danced around Claudia, who was trying very hard to resist the urge to trip him.
"Hey, there are still two more artifacts out there." Claudia smirked at him, picking up the neutralizer bucket and carrying it back to the car. "And more missions."
"Artifact Hunter" as Claudia and Pete put it, was their game to play whenever they were on missions. The game had started on their first mission with the marbles, and would end...whenever Jinksy decided he wanted to go on missions again.
Claudia knew she shouldn't hold it against Steve for wanting to stay at the Warehouse and recoup after his return from the dead. And for the most part, she really didn't. But there was still a small part of her that wondered how many missions Jinks would skip. Would Claudia be playing Artifact Hunter a few months from now?
She briskly shook her head, trying to stop her thoughts. This wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, not when Steve was going through much worse. She knew it wasn't a cake walk to rise from the dead and stay risen. Jinksy was going through some hard times, and he needed her. To listen, to understand. Not to whine about how missions were less fun without him. (And not just because she was losing at Artifact Hunter).
"Yoo hoo. Earth to Claudia." Pete waved his hand in front of her face, still laughing about his win. "Are we getting a bit of loser's angst over here? Ready to admit defeat?"
"You wish." Claudia snorted and dropped the neutralizer in the trunk. "Where to next?"
"Looks like...Utah." Pete's brow furrowed. "To get a bathtub?"
"Oh, that'll be fun." Claudia slammed the trunk shut and walked around to the front of the car.
"Technically, we didn't have to find the tub - the owners are holding it for us. Artie said they're muttering about it being possessed. Do I get a point for reading the artifact off the lis - Claudia?"
Claudia stood up, spitting out the gravel that she had gotten in her mouth when she had face planted into the ground.
"Claud?" Pete raced around to her side of the car and hauled her up. "Are you okay? Do you think it was an artifact?"
"Nah." Claudia shook her head. "My knees just went wobbly for a minute there. Probably just been sitting in the car for too long."
"Well, get ready to sit for another eight hours." Reassured that the danger had passed, Pete left her side to start up the car. As they drove, Pete began to talk about haunted tubs and how the heck they were going to get it back to the Warehouse. Claudia listened at first, but stopped when she felt a biting pain in her back. She resisted the urge to wince, knowing it would only worry Pete.
She turned her face to the window, and let out a small sigh as the pain in her back passed. Only to be replaced by a stinging on her wrists. It felt like her bracelets had suddenly grown two sizes too small. She ripped them off, but the stinging still didn't go away.
"Claud? What are the directions to the airport again?"
But Claudia didn't hear Pete, because her head had suddenly exploded into agonizing pain. She threw it forward into her hands, but that didn't give her any relief. It felt like her brain was being smashed apart with a sledgehammer. Every skill, every memory, every thought in her head was being ripped apart with her brain.
Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop...
"Claudia!" Pete stopped the car and ran over to her side. He pulled her out of the car, but it was too late. With one last agonizing burst of pain, Claudia's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she went still.
"I'm telling you, keep looking!" Claudia woke up to the sounds of Artie yelling much too close to her ears.
"Artie, we've searched everything. Her suitcase, her backpack, her clothes..." Well, Pete was there too. Good to see Artie hadn't completely killed his ass for letting her pass out on the road. There wasn't anything Pete could have done, but try telling that to protective papa bear Artie.
Wait, they were searching her clothes?
"There's no sign of a black diamond anywhere!" And there was Myka.
"No...I know they're behind this." Claudia felt Artie's hand close around one of her limp ones. "They're trying to punish me." The sentence came out in a sob.
"Who's trying to punish you?" Myka asked gently.
"I...You...Nobody." Artie said. "Go look in her room."
"Artie!"
"I said go look!"
There was footsteps, mutterings, the sound of Artie's office door opening and closing, and then there was silence. Artie stayed with her for an hour, holding her hand. He didn't say anything during that time except "I'm sorry" over and over. Finally, he left her side to go work. Claudia heard papers shuffling, Artie muttering, and the keyboard clicking. It was oddly comforting.
For a short while, Claudia lay there, hearing nothing but the keyboard.
"What's going on?"
"Steve!" Claudia didn't open her eyes, but she smiled at hearing her friend's voice.
"Claud? They got you too?"
Claudia realized that Steve must have been attacked by whoever had wounded her. How badly was he hurt? She felt a rush of fear go through her until she realized that he wouldn't be at her bedside if he was in a lot of pain.
"Yeah, they got me."
"No." She could hear the panic in Steve's voice. "It's going to be okay Claud. I won't let them hurt you."
"That's kind of too late, isn't it?" Claudia gave a weak laugh. "My head fells like it was busted open with a crowbar. And my wrists are killing me."
There was a long pause, and when Steve spoke again, his voice sounded guiltier than Claudia had ever heard it. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault -"
"Yes it is -"
"I was with Pete! If the agent that gets vibes couldn't see that this was about to happen, then you really can't blame yourself."
"Sure." Steve muttered, sounding completely unconvinced.
"Steve..." Claudia sighed and opened her eyes, only to see nothing. "Steve?"
"What?" Artie looked up from his work to rush over to her side. "Are you hurt? Who attacked you? What's the last thing you remember?"
"Artie!" Claudia rose up from the cot that she was lying on. "I'm fine. Nobody attacked me. All that happened was that I started to feel weird in the car with Pete and got the headache from hell. Then I woke up back here." She looked around. "Where's Steve?"
Artie sat down, rubbing his eyes and looking very tired. "Steve's missing."
Claudia felt her stomach lurch; she suddenly felt like she was going to vomit. "What?"
"We came back to the B&B and couldn't find him. We used the Durational Spectrometer," Artie sighed, "he was dragged out of here by a group of people. We're currently trying to find out, who they are and why they wanted him."
Steve looked around, curious as to why Claudia wasn't speaking to him anymore. Stupid blindfold. Steve gave an angry tug to the handcuffs that were preventing him from ripping off the blindfold and finding Claudia.
He had gotten her captured. She was imprisoned by a group of psychopaths, thanks to him. All he had ever wanted to do was protect her, and all he had ever done was the complete opposite.
Steve heard footsteps, slow and steady, coming towards him. A few seconds later, his blindfold was untied and he could see. He whipped his head left and right, trying to figure out his surroundings.
He was in what looked like a warehouse: there were boxes and packing equipment everywhere, with gray light flooding through the grimy windows. Poles were scattered throughout the warehouse, two of which he was standing between. His right hand was cuffed to one, and his left hand was cuffed to another. Steve looked around, expecting to see his partner cuffed to a similar set of poles. But he couldn't see Claudia anywhere. Which meant that she had been taken away to...to who knew what. Torture, death...
"Hello Steve." Steve turned his head, coming face to face with one of his captors. The man - the one with the fanatic eyes - smiled calmly at him.
"Where is she?" Steve asked, furious. He tugged against the handcuffs, scrapping his wrists red. "Where is Claudia?"
"Who?"
"I know you have her." Steve said in a low voice, trying to sound as threatening as he possibly could while captive. He threw himself against the handcuffs once more, this time scrapping his wrists so badly they bled. Another injury Claudia would have to suffer. He stopped for a second, feeling defeated. Everything he was doing was hurting Claudia. "I know you're keeping her somewhere. Just tell me where she is."
The man stared at him for a second before turning around and walking away. He began to speak to a woman next to him, who was scribbling on a clipboard. "Subject is delusional and possibly paranoid. Might be a psychological side effect of being resurrected."
Steve stopped fighting the handcuffs for a second, feeling horror sweep through his veins. "What?"
"Excellent hearing, though." The man continued, still walking away.
What's going on? How do they know I was dead?
Steve tried to fight back the fear to think about the most important question that was eating away at him.
Where's Claudia?