Title: Empire of the Sun: Chapter 4
Rating: R just in case (K+)
Summary: The agents are sent to the ancient ruins of Machu Pichu for a possible Warehouse emergency. (I suck at summaries)
Pairings: Myka/H.G.
Disclaimer 1: Warehouse 13 and characters are not mine, just playing around with them.
Disclaimer 2: To anyone who is from Peru, I apologize for making some stuff up. I did do some research but for story purposes, I had to use my imagination :) I've been there once a few years ago and completely fell in love with the country.
Disclaimer 3: First fan fic so any feedback and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.
Author's note: The events here take place aprox. one year after Helena joins the Warehouse and assume she decided not to go along with the whole blowing up the world incident. So, no Steve Jinks (for now).
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to read and also to everyone who sent me feedback...you're awesome! :)
…..
To call the 'San Rafael Estate' huge was an understatement to say the least. It seemed to be bigger than the town they had first arrived at although there were considerably less people living here. The first area they were ushered to was a large courtyard surrounded by small but pleasant looking living quarters. These were the rooms that were rented out to tourists, although at the moment they seemed to be vacant.
They were each shown to their rooms by Marcos, one of the farmers who had opened the gates when they had first arrived.
Myka smiled gratefully at the young farmer when he opened the door to her room and handed her the key.
"Gracias" She said as she walked in and settled her bag on the bed. The room was small, with a single bed opposite the window, a small night stand next to it, a door leading to what she assumed was the bathroom and a stone chimney on the far corner. It was simple yet cozy and inviting. She placed her bag on a large wooden chest at the foot of the bed and stared longingly at the dark blue sheets as she heard her partner brusquely open her door.
"I cannot believe there's no tv here" He complained as he plunked down on the bed and rested his upper body against the headboard as he took out his iPhone from his pocket. "No internet either" He mumbled dejectedly.
Myka simply raised an eyebrow at her friend while she opened her bag and started organizing her clothes on the bed.
"You know what I can't believe? We are in a country we've never been to before, surrounded by beautiful landscapes, interesting people; we barely escaped being shredded to pieces by some mythical forest creature yet, all you can think about is television?" She reprimanded the sour looking agent.
"What? There's a game on tonight" He explained pathetically.
Before she could give him one of her patented eye rolls, there was a knock on the partially opened door. Both agents looked up to see a small, beady eyed man impishly smiling at them while he almost comically clapped his hands together in delight. His big, blue eyes darted skittishly from Myka to Pete and back again making both agents practically squirm under the slightly off kilter gaze.
"Hello,hello?…you must be the agents Dr. Amaru has been talking none stop about…come here, come here" He waved them over with small hands. Pete awkwardly got up from the bed and made his way over to the shorter man as he extended an uneasy hand towards what he assumed was their host, Gustavo.
"Er, hi, I'm -"
"Agent Peter Lattimer yes, yes" The older man interrupted as he enthusiastically grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a hug.
"Whoa" Pete groaned as he felt his lungs being crushed. The short man patted Pete on the shoulder and turned his unusual blue eyes to Myka who in turn gave him a helpless wide-eyed look.
"Ah, and you must be Agent Myka Bering." He said as he approached the tall woman and gave her a hug of her own. "I am Gustavo Bingham, ever at your service."
Myka extricated herself as politely as possible from the man's death grip and gave him an unsure smile.
"How is my dear friend Arthur these days? Still the same ray of sunshine he's always been, I gather". He said as he plucked non-existent lint from Myka's collar with delicate fingers.
That garnered him a smirk from the curly haired agent and a full blown grin from her partner. "You're friends with Artie?" Pete asked disbelievingly, incapable of imagining this flamboyant, extrovert together with his grim, antisocial boss.
"Yes, well, I wouldn't call us friends exactly but we do have a…a history of sorts. I used to help him once in a while; back when he was in the Secret Service…Oh, I do have fond memories of those days…I'm afraid Arthur isn't of the same mind set. I believe he thought I was a bit too odd" Gustavo mused, staring into space. Pete and Myka looked at each other, and then back at the strange man, opening their mouths to say something and fill the awkward silence that followed his last statement, when Gustavo made a humming noise that apparently snapped him back to reality. Both agents jumped at the sudden change in his demeanor.
"Well now, shall we head out to the bar area…I believe the others are waiting for us. We don't want to keep anyone waiting, especially not Soraya" He exclaimed gleefully as he turned without a glance back and headed out.
Myka mouthed an inaudible 'Wow', as Pete scratched his head and stared after their host.
"If this guy was too weird for Artie, then we're in trouble" He said as he ushered his partner out.
"Yeap, you better keep an eye on him" Myka suggested as she closed the door to her room.
"Me? What happened to the 'us' in this partnership?" He protested.
"Nuh-uh, I had to babysit crazy bird lady last time; remember? She literally thought she was a bird…so, now you get Gollum" She murmured under her breath as they approached the bar which was under a canopy at the far side of the courtyard.
Claudia, H.G., Roberto and Adriana were being served drinks. The partners watched as Gustavo practically leaped into Adriana's and Roberto's arms, giving them each a warm hug. From where they were, he looked like an excited twelve year old boy finally being allowed out to play with his friends.
Gustavo was immediately handed a blue drink from the man behind the bar and without missing a beat, he gave a surprised looking Claudia a kiss on both cheeks and then stood in front of a dour looking H.G. Wells.
"Oh,oh" Pete and Myka both exclaimed as they hurried to catch up to Gustavo who appeared to be having a minor stroke.
"This, you, you...this is truly miraculous" He remarked as he stared in wonderment at the inventor who in turn raised a skeptic eyebrow.
"I've seen my share of remarkable things…but, to meet the H.G. Wells…This is truly a day to remember. I have been forever a fan of yours...ever since I was a small boy" He confessed as he practically jumped in his spot.
H.G. closely observed the sixty something year old man and couldn't help but feel anything but ancient. She abruptly shot out her hand when she saw the strange man make a move to hug her. Gustavo stared at the hand as if perplexed at its meaning but smiled graciously as he took it and sloppily kissed it.
"Charmed" H.G. greeted wryly, almost regretting not accepting the hug.
She heard a small snort from somewhere to her left and saw Pete obviously trying to hold in a laughing fit, while Myka was covering a smile and looking at something to her right.
"Yes, well, shall we get on with business? I dare say we are on a tight schedule" Helena encouraged as she not so gracefully took back her hand from Gustavo and took a calming drink of her lemonade.
"Of course, of course...you are absolutely right Agent Wells. We mustn't keep Soraya waiting." Gustavo agreed.
"Who's this Soraya?" Claudia asked as she twirled her straw and finished her drink.
"Why, she is the reason you are all here of course. I think she's been expecting you…we can't get near her without her getting all riled up. We had to lock her up down in the catacombs a few weeks ago" Gustavo explained with nonchalance.
"What?!" Was the collective reaction.
"It is not what you think" Adriana quickly interjected.
"Soraya is Hiram Bingham's rifle…Gustavo just likes to name the artifacts he gets to keep" She finished.
"And why shouldn't I? They each have a personality of their own. And right now I'm so terribly afraid for Soraya." He finished dejectedly as he placed his untouched drink on the counter and buried his face in his hands, sighing dramatically and making all the agents roll their eyes in response.
"So, where can we find er- Soraya?" Pete asked as he placed his lemonade on the counter beside Gustavo's.
"Ah yes!" Gustavo raised his head quickly and walked over to H.G. before unceremoniously linking their arms together and guiding her out of the courtyard.
H.G. looked back at the others, giving them an uncharacteristic helpless look before taking a deep breath and allowing herself to be directed to the rifle.
They walked for about twenty minutes, passing by the main house which was in essence, a large manor which seemed deserted and in need of a good clean.
"Does Gustavo actually live in there?" Myka questioned Adriana as she looked at the broken windows and decaying pillars.
"Yes, it is the only place in the entire estate that is off limits to anyone but him. He spends most of his time in there, doing God knows what." She explained and seeing the dubious look on the agent's face continued.
"He really is a sweet man…he has never been comfortable around people and no one really understands him…he has led a difficult life and he is a lonely man. I think he used to be relatively normal but, who can stay normal living the life we live?" Adriana mused as way of explanation.
Myka felt a shiver run up her spine at their guide's statement and looked over at Gustavo who was standing beside a rickety old shack, holding Helena's hand like a small child and looking for something on the ground.
When they finally caught up to them, Myka saw that he had actually been searching for a wooden door which was well hidden in the brush. The old man reverently brushed away the grass and stared up at Roberto with an expectant look. The archeologist simply stretched and took off his jacket, handing it to Adriana.
"Now that's what I'm talking about" Claudia mumbled and felt Myka bump shoulders with her.
"Focus" Myka whispered, her impish smile belying the warning tone.
"I am focusing" Claudia protested.
"On the artifact" Myka corrected.
"Oh, right…gotcha" She smiled knowingly at Myka who squinted in mock anger and proceeded to walk over to the rest of the group.
After a few seconds of pulling, Roberto, with Pete's help, finally got the door to open. The agents looked straight down into a narrow pitch black hole. There were wooden stairs that were embedded into the rock and which were necessary to climb straight down into the darkness.
"We'll have to climb down one at a time" Roberto stated after a few seconds, taking back his jacket from Adriana and removing a flashlight from one of its pockets, handing it to H.G. who was closest to him.
Myka saw the almost imperceptible shake of the inventor's hand as she was handed the flashlight.
"Is it necessary for all of us to go down there?" Myka questioned, knowing how the inventor hated dark, confined spaces.
"We don't know what's down there Myka, I say the more the merrier" Helena chimed in a little too eagerly for Myka.
The inventor turned on her flashlight and crouched down, directing the light into the narrow tunnel. "How far down is it?" She questioned when she couldn't make out the end of the passage.
"The tunnels start at about 10 feet from ground level…uh, but I asked my men to take Soraya down as far down as they could…she's been acting up so" Gustavo explained as he handed Adriana and Pete flashlights of their own.
"And how deep is that?" Pete asked as he crouched down beside the author.
At Pete's question, Adriana turned to Manuel who had been following them and translated Pete's question. After he finished replying, Adriana turned around slowly; none of them liked the expression on her face.
"He says that they took the rifle about 30 feet under, to one of the deepest chambers that they know of" She translated for the agents.
"How lovely" Helena murmured to herself as she took a deep breath and turned to get her right foot on the first step.
"Well, there's no point in dawdling" She said as she took one step and then another until all she could see was the light from her flashlight reflecting off the stone wall in front of her. She felt her back touch the other side of the wall and couldn't help but be transported back to the bronze coffin which had been her prison for more than a century. She forced herself to take deep breaths, remembering Claudia's exercises from the previous night. It seemed an eternity before her feet finally touched the ground and as soon as they did, she turned and saw that the tunnel in which she was now in led into even more pitch blackness. She leaned her frame against the cool stone and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the others coming down the steps.
"Hey, Helena, you okay?" The inventor smiled to herself at the sound of the other woman's voice. She felt a tentative hand on her back, making slow, calming circles. She had directed her flashlight towards the ground and it appeared that Myka had not yet turned hers on, so she could barely make out the agent's face but she could most certainly feel her worry. Not wanting to alarm the younger agent, she took another calming breath and stepped back from the wall and gave the other woman a weak albeit genuine smile.
"Are we friends once more?" She questioned playfully, although Myka could see the hopefulness behind the façade.
"We never stopped" Myka assured with her own smile, resigning herself to the writer's charm. The situation they had been in did not help anyone and they were on a mission right now and she needed her partner back; her brooding and heart break could wait.
"Then all is right with the world and I couldn't be better" She remarked happily as she walked past her friend and into the tunnel, leaving a smiling Myka to stare after her retreating form and before she could convince herself otherwise, she called out.
"Helena?"
"Yes Myka?" Helena turned, directing her light towards the younger woman.
"You can ask for help, you know?-you can ask me for help." Myka rephrased her statement at the last second.
Helena immediately knew she was referring to her little stunt in the woods and felt instantly abashed at her actions.
"If something were to happen to you…you don't have to run off and leave us behind, that's all" Myka finished and nervously waited for the author to reply.
"Ow! Pete, my foot!" Myka heard Claudia complain behind her and the moment was broken.
"Sorry" Pete apologized as he brushed passed Myka and made room for Amaru, Manuel and Adriana.
"Where's Gustavo, Is he not coming?" She asked when she noticed his absence.
"Yeah, Gustavo isn't one for climbing into dark holes and getting dirty" Adriana explained as she helped Manuel down.
"Surprise, surprise" was Pete's dry response as he made room for the farmer who would be guiding them to their destination.
The catacombs, besides being dark and confined, also appeared to be endless. There was the main corridor, which branched out into a dozen other smaller tunnels and chambers which in return led way to a network of other tunnels. Pete was keeping himself busy by shining a light into every annexed chamber and making fun of the graffiti some of the local teenagers had drawn on the walls. It seemed that this sector of the catacombs was a choice drinking spot for some of the bolder kids.
"The catacombs used to lead all the way to the coast and were how they got the newly arrived slaves to the Hacienda. About 50 years ago there was a landslide and now the passage is blocked" Adriana explained more to distract them from the claustrophobia than anything else.
"Manuel, Si no le importa que le pregunte; ¿Por qué decidieron traer el rifle acá? ¿No hubiera sido más fácil y práctico guardarlo en otro lugar…digamos, en la superficie?" Helena asked in a perfect accent, stunning just about everyone. Manuel turned around and smiled appreciatively at the inventor.
"You speak Spanish? When were you going to let us in on that?" Claudia asked from behind her.
"We must never reveal all our secrets at once my dear Claudia; where's the fun in that?" She playfully jested before continuing. "I used to spend my childhood summers at my aunt's summer home in Madrid. Charles used to loath going there so, I naturally came to love it. The people, the food, the language.." She left the sentence hanging, a nostalgic look taking over her features.
Manuel waited for them to finish as he looked on with an indugent smile. When he surmised the conversation had ended, he went on to answer the writer's previously asked question.
"Well, it appears Soraya has gone stark raving mad and has tried to escape the Hacienda several times, injuring a few of its employees. It is one of the most powerful artifacts they have here and Gustavo decided to stow it away using Francisco Chavelilla's chains" Helena translated.
"Who's Francisco Chavelilla?" Myka asked.
Adriana answered from the back of the line, "He was one of the first slaves to organize a revolt against the priests. His attempts weren't very successful and he was caught more than once. He managed to escape many times over until the priests decided to cut one of his feet and make special chains just for him, imprisoning him in one of the chambers down here. He lived for many more years but he never escaped again and he died in here in darkness and alone. His attempt at an uprising prompted a more organized and supported movement by the slaves though." She finished, purposefully ending the tale on a more positive note.
"What's so special about these chains?" Pete was the one to ask this time.
"Well, once you get them around anything; it immobilizes it and forces it into submission; it literally takes away ones will to live and fight back" Roberto explained.
"So Francisco spent half his life stuck in this place? Whoa, that's-that's awful - I can't even imagine what that'd be like." Claudia mused, taking a deep breath and fighting the claustrophobia the tight tunnels prompted in her.
Manuel stopped and turned left where they were met with a narrow hole in the wall. Myka, who was behind Helena, placed a delicate hand on her friend's stiff back and leaned closer to her. "Are we all good here?" She whispered.
H.G. shook her head almost imperceptibly and turned dejected eyes toward her friend. "I'm afraid I can imagine all too well what Francisco went through; although his despair must have been much greater, I imagine" She whispered back, grabbing onto the younger woman's hand and using it as a tether to the here and now.
Myka scowled at the inventor's words, "Why would you say that?" She asked.
"Because he didn't deserve this" She replied giving her a mirthless smile as she squeezed the hand in her own and reluctantly let go as she turned and started to speak to Manuel as Myka looked disbelievingly at her.
"It appears we must climb through this hole in the wall" H.G. stated with little enthusiasm; although, her previous mood was nowhere to be found.
Manuel was the first to go in and the rest soon followed. They had to crawl on their hands and knees but thankfully, it appeared that the tunnel wasn't too long. They were soon standing in one of the biggest chambers they had been in so far. Pete was helping Adriana out of the hole when they heard a low moan coming from somewhere within the other tunnels.
"Pete?"
"Yeah, Claude?"
"Please tell me that was your stomach"
All seven of them were motionless, trying to discern where the noise was coming from; Roberto had not even come out of the small tunnel, his head sticking out of the hole in an almost comical manner.
After a few seconds, they heard the moan again, mingled with the sound of chains being smashed against the wall and then it seemed like something was dragging itself across the floor. All the noises intensified as they echoed against the walls around them.
"Whatever that it is, it sounds pissed." Claudia exclaimed.
"Where's the rifle?" Pete asked Manuel, who turned to look at Adriana.
"It's in one of these chambers ahead" She answered after listening to the farmer.
The dragging noise soon led way to despaired pounding and whaling. Manuel leaped in surprise and started to ramble in Spanish as he headed for the tunnel entrance. Roberto stopped him, grabbing him by shoulders and tried to settle him down.
Myka looked over at Pete and they simultaneously took out their Tesla's from their holsters. "We need to get to the rifle" Myka proclaimed. Adriana nodded and turned to ask Manuel for instructions, not wanting to force the obviously scared young man anywhere he didn't want to go.
"Okay, Manuel is going to head out and look for help in case we need it. More men will be coming down just in case." Adriana announced as she proceeded to lead them all deeper into the tunnels.
Adriana took a series of short tunnels and as they delved deeper into the darkness the moans and pounding kept getting louder, shaking the foundation around them. Adriana was the only one who had left her flashlight on and as they neared a small door-like opening she wisely turned it off. They were now in complete darkness; all they could hear was the thrash of the chains against the wall and an inhuman wailing. Myka grabbed Pete by the forearm as he did the same with Helena. Myka led them to the front of the line and squeezed her partner's arm three times. The curly haired agent then turned on her flashlight and immediately turned the corner to shine light in the small room. All three agents stepped in at the same time - their Teslas at the ready - to find themselves face to face with some sort of creature which appeared to form part of the darkness enveloping them. Feeling someone in the chamber with it, the shadow creature turned and gave a horrendous and piercing screech, forcing the agents to cover their ears to protect them from the unbearable sound.
"What the hell is that?!" Screamed Pete over the loud shrieking.
Bracing herself, Myka uncovered her ears and shone her light on the dark figure. It seemed to have several eyes and mouths, but as it moved effortlessly across the walls, it changed shape and altered its features, never staying the same. First two heads, then one, five arms, then three. It appear to be grinning and snarling at them at the same time. As the light hit it, it screamed yet again in fury and thrashed against the wall, grabbing the rifle which was still held safely within the chains. Taking advantage of the light Pete and H.G. aimed for the creature and fired their Tesla's at it. The shadow gave one final excruciating scream and disappeared through one of the walls.
"Where'd it go, where'd it go?!" A flustered Pete asked as he moved his head in every direction searching for the creature.
"Come, we must get the rifle before it decides to return" Helena prompted as she headed for the far wall.
Claudia, Amaru and Adriana ran into the room, having heard everything that went on. Claudia armed with her Tesla walked up to Myka and took a stance as Adriana jogged up to H.G. and unclasped a necklace from around her neck.
Helena grabbed the chains, using her jacket to hold them and immediately saw the lock and presented it to the Latina who inserted the small key hanging from her necklace. The lock opened with ease but, the rifle instantly struggled against Adriana's grasp and it took both women to wrap it in the small blanket Adriana had packed with her. Helena smiled proudly and directed her gaze at the others to prompt them to leave the dreadful place when from behind Pete she saw the shadow creature lurch out of the darkness and grab the unsuspecting agent.
Pete yelled out in surprise as he felt himself being lifted off the ground, and then catapulted through the air.
"Pete!" Myka called out her partner's name as she once again aimed her Tesla at the creature which was crawling on the ceiling above them, dragging Pete with claw like hands. As the group pointed their flashlights at it, it quickly moved away from the light and rushed through a wall. Unfortunately, Pete had not assimilated the beings ability to travel through solid matter and he decidedly hit the rock wall with a loud thud. He fell to the floor and gave a long, painful groan.
Myka and Claudia ran up to the hurt agent and gently turned him over. "Pete, Pete, say something" Claudia pleaded as she saw blood gushing from a wound on her friend's head.
Myka proceeded to take off her jacket and rip the inner layer, using the fabric to apply pressure to the cut.
Hearing his friend's fearful voices, Pete forced himself to open a painfully heavy eyelid. "Claude? Mykes?" He questioned groggily.
"Yes, hey it's us" Myka gently whispered, trying to keep her tears at bay. Claudia wasn't having any luck though; her cheeks now completely tearstained after the relief at seeing the agent open his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Myka inquired as she brushed back some of the damp hair from his forehead and continued to apply pressure to the wound.
"I think I hit my head" He exclaimed as he placed his hand over the cut on his head.
"Ow!" He hissed when he applied pressure to it.
The other two agents grinned inanely at their complaining friend. "You'll be fine…you have a hard head on you" Myka lightly teased as she guided the agent's hand to the fabric over his head and wordlessly encouraged him to take a hold of it.
"Come on, let's get you on your feet" she said as she encircled his waist with her arm.
"How's Peter?" Helena asked as she and Adriana were trying to strap the rifle onto Roberto's backpack.
"It's Pete, remember? And I'm fine…let's get outta here."
"Just one more second" Adriana said with frustration as she attached the last strap over the rifle. Before being able to lock it in place, the rifle tried one final time to escape, hitting Adriana square in the face and propelling her and H.G. backwards. The writer hit the wall and as she got up to tend to the other woman, the chains shot out and wrapped around her wrist. She immediately fell to her knees and looked up in despair.
"Helena!" Adriana sat up, trying to make eye contact with the hazy-eyed woman.
Myka had seen everything as if in slow motion and she found herself running across the room to the inventor's side. Amaru got there first and gently moved Adriana out of the way. She was bleeding profusely through what appeared to be a broken nose.
Myka kneeled down and cupped Helena's face, gazing up at empty eyes. "No,no,no…Helena?"
…
Helena felt a prickling sensation at her wrist; it wasn't necessarily a disagreeable feeling, but as it spread through her arm and chest, she felt the first pangs of inconsolable despair claim her. She had thought she had no more light left in her but as the effects of the chains started to pulse their way into her body and mind, she was coming to realize how dreadfully wrong she had been. Images of Christina, her parents, her brother and friends flashed across her mind's eye and then were ripped apart and in their place unknown faces -deformed, bloodied and despaired- were shown to her. As she looked up, she saw that she was surrounded by these nameless people, each confessing in a crazed, delirious manner, some horrible deed they had committed in their life time. She was at once victim and victimizer, reliving each horrible scene. One crime mingled with another until her senses and her mind could not take it anymore.
…..
Only a few seconds had gone by since Myka had gone to Helena's aid. Her heart clenched and her stomach dropped to see how quickly the artifact was taking a hold of her friend. She was pale and sweat-soaked; her breathing was coming out erratically and her unfocused eyes were at once pained and panicked.
Amaru was at the moment trying to stem the flow of blood coming from Adriana's nose with a handkerchief but the Latina hastily swatted Amaru's hand out of the way. She proceeded to grab her flashlight and look down, frantically searching for something on the ground.
Myka turned to look at the woman, her eyes widening in realization.
"The key! Where's the key Adriana?!" She forcefully asked.
"I-I-I dropped it" She stammered, as she knelt on the ground and started to search with her hands as well.
Amaru dropped the handkerchief as he turned on his own flashlight and dropped down on hands and knees. "Talk to her Myka" He stated decisively.
Pete ran up to the two Peruvians and without a word, started searching for the key as an armed Claudia made her way over to the two female agents and knelt in front of them, keeping an eye out for the shadow creature which was still on the loose.
"Helena, look at me" Myka encouraged as she gingerly guided the author's head up so that they could be at eye level. "We're getting you out, just…just fight this, please" She almost begged the agent.
Through the torment that was surrounding her, Helena thought she heard an echo of an echo. Some wondrous memory she had thought lost in the centuries she had been trapped in this hell. She took a deep breath in, what felt like, the first time in forever and a warm, tender yet powerful feeling passed through her like a light breeze. It was then she remembered: Myka, Claudia, Pete, Lena, Artie, Warehouse 13 and her new life there. She looked up and even though she was still surrounded by her tormentors, the anguish was more bearable now, and she could block out most of the torturous images.
A flash of a shadow in the corner of the room suddenly caught her eye and as she turned, she saw a young woman, devoid of legs, drag herself towards her. As she came closer, Helena could see that she had been severely burned. The little hair she had left, was falling in clumps to the floor, leaving behind a bleeding and puss ridden scalp. Her nose was almost none existent and her upper lip was split in two, showing off rotting teeth. None of this frightened Helena more than the tears that were falling down the woman's scarred face. She moaned and whaled and cried in pain and as she grabbed onto Helena's shin, the writer could just make out a woeful plea through all the indiscernible sounds: "Help me".
Terror shot through her for even though the face before her was unrecognizable; those dark eyes - so hopeful and perceptive - so very similar to her own when she had been a young girl – were impossible to forget.
"Claudia?"
…..
"Find the key now!" Myka barked at the group behind her. Helena's body, it seemed, had lost all its energy and had simply slid down unto the floor, her arm still held up by the chain. Myka, with Claudia's help, gently placed the woman's head on her thighs. A horror filled gasp escaped both the Warehouse agent and the young tech as they saw a small trickle of blood coming out of the inventor's nose and mouth.
"Here" Claudia whispered as she cleaned away the blood with one of the clean shreds of fabric Myka had used on Pete. "She'd kill us if we let her clothes get stained" She offered hoarsely, not allowing herself to think of any other alternative then getting their friend back, safe and sound.
"Helena, come on. Wake up, wake up…Wake up!" Myka had lost all pretense of keeping it together.
Helena's dark eyes obliged and shot open. The writer gasped and coughed, choking on her blood. She forced herself to spit out what was left and then, still breathing heavily, leaned her head back onto Myka's thighs as she looked up. Myka - not for the first time that day - cried tears of relief. She smiled down at Helena, tenderly smoothing the inventor's tousled hair. Helena's eyes softened at the sight of the disheveled agent but, the moment was broken as soon as she remembered where she had been; the horrific images of the young redhead flashing through her mind and overwhelming her once more. "Claudia!" She called out as she sat up and searched for her young friend.
The tech, who had been privy to the interaction between the two women and who had been swimming in relief, started at Helena's desperate tone. She saw Helena sit up to search for her but before she could appease the agitated woman's worries, she felt two rough, icecold hands encircle her upper body and drag her violently into the maze of tunnels, her friend's terror stricken faces were the last thing she saw before darkness engulfed her.
...
Thanks guys!