Title: Empire of the Sun

Rating: R just in case (K+)

Summary: The agents continue on their quest to find a long lost artifact in Machu Picchu.

Pairings: Myka/H.G., Myka/Roberto

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 critcism 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).

Important: This fanfic has not been beta'd so, I'm sorry for any mistakes (big or small).

As always, I love me some feedback.

/

Liquid ice down her throat, up her nose, through her eyes and in her ears…there was nothing else but the feel of the dark matter invading her immobilized body, yet some small part of her mind was aware that even though paralyzed, she was being pushed forward (or was it upward?) by some invisible force. She felt like screaming but that only made the substance press deeper into her body. And just like that, a new worry hit her: Vomiting in a suspended state whilst teleporting through C.S. Lewis' actual wardrobe.

'Will this job ever cease to amaze me?' She thought almost absentmindedly. 'Probably not' she immediately answered her own question as she concentrated on the arm linked with her own - H.G. Wells' arm to be exact. Her fear doubled as her thoughts turned to the woman – the incredibly claustrophobic woman - beside her. Was this how it had been like for the time traveler in the bronze prison? It was enough to make anyone go stark raven mad, she was sure…and she had only been here a couple of minutes…or so she hoped. There was no real way of telling how long they had been trapped in the world between the wardrobes. Even though logically she knew she could hold her breath only for so long, time seemed to stand still in this place. Just as she felt herself about to succumb to her panic, her black stained eyes surmised a bright orange light up ahead. She also noticed that they were picking up speed and it seemed the faster they went the more her body appeared to rid itself of the wardrobe's effects. She felt H.G.'s arm squeeze hers ever so lightly and she could now somewhat move the fingers of her right hand. Her relief was short lived though since the speed at which they were traveling at was bordering on breakneck. Before she knew it, they had reached the orange glow which she noted was really an open doorway. She barely had time to process all this before the wardrobe practically spit them out into a cold winter afternoon. She tried as best she could to break hers and Helena's fall, but to no avail. Her reflexes were sluggish at best and as she hit the floor with a loud thud she lost hold of Helena who fell a few feet beside her. She turned towards the smaller woman and grabbed her by the jacket as she started coughing up the remaining liquid from her lungs but before she could take her first real breath, a freezing pale of ice cold water hit her square in the face.

"Gaaaaaah!" She yelled from the shock as she sputtered up the water, gasping for breath and shivering from the cold.

"What…the…bloody…hell?!" She heard H.G. protest between strained gasps beside her.

"Settle down…it's just a bit of water, you big babies…If I don't get this filth of you now you'll be leaking black snot for weeks to come." A low, barely feminine voice warned as she felt another splash of water hit her. Then came unintelligible Spanish and the sound of someone turning a knob. Myka had her eyes closed but she was pretty sure that a hose had just been turned on. She was not happy to have her suspicions confirmed as she felt high pressured water hit her directly in the chest. She thought she heard children laughing but was distracted by a loud yelp and a sharp pain caused by an elbow to the ribs. Claudia had just been expelled from the wardrobe and had landed directly on top of her. She heard the young tech cough and then the inevitable surprised shriek triggered by the glacial water.

"Wait!" Myka almost pleaded as she carefully moved Claudia off of her and forced herself to her knees. The water kept on its assault though. She squinted bleary eyes towards her friends and saw that Helena had also gotten to her knees. The two women looked at each other and in silent agreement grabbed Claudia by the arms and with great effort, pulled her back a few feet, just in time to save her from being crushed by Pete and Roberto who practically flew out of the wardrobe and landed in a tangle of arms and legs.

The women turned to the sounds of delighted squealing and saw two little girls of about five and seven and a boy of around ten turn on another hose and spray the groaning men with water. Then their attention turned to a large, elderly woman who had just finished filling up a metal bucket with water and then proceeded to unceremoniously empty its contents over the two men, one of whom squealed like a little girl…making the children burst into laughter once more.

It was obvious that Roberto had done this before for all he did was give a dumbfounded looking Pete - who was under him - an encouraging pat on the chest and push himself to a sitting position. He clumsily took off his pack, jacket, socks and shoes and looked guiltily at the three women who were staring daggers at him.

"Nice to see you again, Pequeño." The old woman greeted as she poured water over the archeologist's head and proceeded to run rough fingers through his matted hair. She began to speak in Spanish as she helped him get rid of some of the goo from his face and hair and Roberto laughed at something she said as he rinsed out his mouth with some of the water from the almost empty bucket and spit it out a few seconds later.

"Everyone…this is Rosa Rivera, the owner of this lovely Bed and Breakfast. Over there is Pablo and Sofia and I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you, little one." He remarked as he stood and walked up to the youngest child, dropping to one knee in front of her; "My name is Roberto." He introduced himself with a friendly grin. The little girl's eyes opened wide and for a moment everyone thought she would bolt, but Rosa cleared her throat and raised an expectant eyebrow when the child looked doubtfully her way. Squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath, the young girl looked directly at the kneeling man and extended her hand. "My name is Amanda." She greeted in almost perfect English, giving his hand three decisive shakes.

"That's right…no child of mine is going to be afraid of looking someone in the eye." Rosa grumbled as she walked over to the women and handed them some clean rags. "Get yourselves cleaned up...you can use the showers upstairs after you've removed all that gunk of off you." She instructed as she ushered the two girls into the house without a backwards glance.

"Arrg…I think that was the grossest thing that's ever happened to me…and I've been locked in a car with a gassy Pete." Claudia grumbled as she removed her gear and jacket discarding them on the ground with disgust.

"Umm, is there anywhere we can go clean up?" Myka asked as she saw Roberto remove his shirt. Pete, who was also shirtless and had started to unbuckle his belt -obviously intending to remove his pants regardless of who was watching- thought the remark was due to him and couldn't help try to make Myka squirm.

"Oh come on Mykes…it's not like you haven't seen me in my tighty whities before." Pete reminded his partner, giving her a mischievous grin.

Roberto looked up at the comment, his stunned expression apparent for all to see.

"Oh…no,no,no…Pete and I..we,we-" Myka tried to explain, but only managed to flail her arms lamely at the perturbing images Pete's words evoked. Claudia and Helena stared at their flustered friend and then looked questioningly at each other. Helena felt a pang of something not unlike jealousy faced with the fact that Myka found it necessary to explain away a romantic relationship to Roberto. It was blaringly clear to her that Myka's attraction to the older man was more than a passing infatuation.

"Ewww! Me and Mykes? No way!" Pete jumped in as soon as he realized what his joke had led Roberto to believe. "It was artifact related…we woke up together in the same bed with no memory of what happened…I thought I'd boinked Myka…it was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life." Pete assured.

"Hey!" An offended Myka protested.

"What? It's true" Her partner offered lamely.

Roberto smiled at the partners' banter, more relieved than he cared to admit, before directing his gaze to the far end of the large garden; "Well…umm…ladies, you can go behind the shack. You'll find another hose there and you can take a bucket with you, if you'd like." He proposed as he pointed behind the women.

"Lovely. Off we go then." H.G. cheered with a smile as she grabbed her gear and an empty bucket and headed towards the small shack. As soon as she turned though, the smile faded quickly and she looked up at the clear afternoon sky and closed her eyes in defeat. She knew all this was her doing; she had wanted this to happen, had she not? She reminded herself as she steadily walked on. Granted, Roberto did peeve her to no end but he seemed to be a good man and he was clearly fond of Myka. This was the best thing that could happen to all of them the time traveler assured herself as she turned the corner and placed the bucket on the ground while removing her gear. She crouched down to look at the contents in her bag and sighed profusely when she saw that her sword was covered in black matter despite the sheath's protection.

"What's up?" Myka inquired, startling the writer from her thoughts. H.G. stood and turned with a raised eyebrow. "You had your 'I'm not happy but I'm sure as hell not going to show it' smile on you" The taller woman carried on with a knowing smile of her own at seeing H.G.'s questioning expression.

The time traveler simply lifted the soiled sheath and sword, trying to wordlessly explain away her ill temper and not wanting Myka to realize the real reason behind it.

Before the unconvinced agent could question her friend further, Claudia rounded the corner. "Guys, can you come and take a look at my wrist? I think I sprained it." She groaned as she rubbed her wrist lightly.

"Let us take a look at it, shall we love?" A worried Helena walked passed Myka, relieved by the small distraction her young friend provided. She guided Claudia to a small wooden table that was pushed up against the shack and, after making sure it was stable, helped the Warehouse tech onto it.

"So, did anyone notice Amaru's mini stroke back there? Man, Mykes…I know you don't get much action - being married to the Warehouse and all - but when you lock and load you sure do aim high." Claudia joked.

Myka's attention shot to the two women to her left, the bucket she had been filling, completely forgotten. The redhead sitting on the table was giving her a mischievous grin while the brunette only gave her a fleeting glance before focusing once again on the young tech's wrist. The curly haired agent felt herself turn ten shades of red so she cleared her throat and bent to turn the water off; using the time to compose herself and to imagine all the ways she was going to make Claudia pay for her little joke.

"Claudia, there is nothing going on between Roberto and me." Myka assured as offhandedly as she could muster as she discarded her jacket.

"Oh please, you can cut the sexual tension with a knife….not to mention that the guy needs a drool bucket placed under him every time you walk by. It's kinda cute actually…plus he has the body of an Incan god!... Just saying you could do worse. He's totally going to ask you out after this is over, you know that right?" The redhead predicted, achieving her goal of making Myka turn impossibly redder.

Claudia had had preconceptions about Amaru when they had first met him but, these had faded the more she had gotten to know the older man. More importantly, she liked how Myka was around him. She seemed to be in a better mood and she smiled more, though (she had to admit) not as often or as earnestly as when she was in the presence of H.G….before they had fallen into their current funk, that is.

Claudia looked down at the strangely quiet time traveler. She was delicately and absentmindedly rubbing her aching wrist, her thoughts clearly somewhere far away. Claudia had become aware of the feelings Myka had developed for the Victorian writer some time ago but she could never seem to understand Helena where Myka was concerned. Claudia was sure the older woman cared fiercely and deeply for their friend yet, she could sometimes act so aloof and unyielding when faced with the curly haired woman's obvious feelings. Claudia wondered at this, not knowing if the time traveler did this to spare Myka's feelings or her own, she had no way of knowing…that is until she carefully extricated her wrist from the woman's gentle hold and moved it so that now she was the one holding Helena's hand gently in her own, giving it a tender squeeze. The time traveler looked up at this unexpected show of affection and Claudia's doubt disappeared in the span of a moment: Helena was undeniably, irrevocably and profoundly in love with Myka. "Shit, H.G.…" Claudia whispered in surprise as realization dawned on her. "You stupid, stupid woman." The apprentice couldn't help but scold her mentor as she grabbed her by the collar with her good hand and pulled at it twice to try and get her point across; making sure Myka (who was scrubbing the bracelet H.G. had given her clean) was out of earshot.

At Claudia's words, the author seemed to snap out of wherever she had retreated to and a dry, humorless laugh escaped her lips. Myka looked up from her crouching position then to hear Helena's next remark; "How right you are my dear Claudia…Ah well, I see my ploy to make you all think I'm at least mildly intelligent has come to an end." She joked wryly as she squeezed her friends hand and slowly backed up. "Your wrist seems to be fine…we'll ask Rosa for some ice and a painkiller and you'll be good as new come tomorrow morning." The inventor assured, confident that whatever had transpired between herself and her protégé would remain between them….although she knew she would have to talk to Claudia sooner or later.

Aware of two pairs of eyes on her, the time traveler casually walked up to the hose hanging from a hook on the side of the shack and wordlessly opened the rusty knob. Putting her finger on the hose's opening to keep most of the water from escaping, she turned to look at her friends who were giving her warning stares.

"Helenaaaa….don't you dare." Myka spoke in a low, warning tone but, a ghost of a smile and the small glimmer in her eye took away any real threat to her words.

"Well, you did hear Mrs. Rivera, did you not? We must get clean before we go in." She exclaimed in a singsong voice and directed the hose at Claudia who had jumped out of the table and was ready to take flight; although it was all for not, since Helena was too quick for the younger woman. The girl yelped meekly as soon as the spray of water hit her but after taking a few seconds to get used to the chill, decided to make the best of it. She took a clean cloth she had placed in her waistband and started to scrub her arms, neck and face; all the while Helena continued to spray her. Taking advantage of H.G.'s distraction, Myka grabbed the bucket and came up behind the inventor, easily pouring its contents directly over the shorter woman's head. The time traveler gasped loudly and did a very un-Helena like thing then, giving them an ear-full of English Victorian expletives as she dropped the hose and swerved around to face Myka while hugging herself against the cold, a look between shock and mock anger set on her face. Claudia in the meantime could be heard almost choking with laughter behind them.

"You started it" Myka - who was wearing a triumphant smile - reminded the dark haired woman before she could get a word out.

"I wa-was be-being proactive, dar-darling. Thi-this…was just…cruel" Helena protested between chattering teeth. Myka simply rolled her eyes at the remark as she took a step closer to Helena, reaching behind her to waistband in order to grab her cloth.

"I can't believe you know so many swear words…and I thought you were a proper Victorian lady." The green eyed agent reproached teasingly as she placed the cloth on Helena's temple and lightly wiped away the remaining goo from her face. How H.G. managed to look simultaneously abashed and out right proud of herself, was beyond the younger agent, but she couldn't help but laugh at the expression.

"How little you know me Myka Bering; I most certainly am not a proper Victorian lady…I bloody well know my way around a curse word or two." Helena continued with the banter, watching Myka's hands gently scrub her forearm with the cloth; the taller woman's playful demeanor making her feel at ease despite her closeness and the distracting, erratic beating of her heart.

"More like twenty" Myka corrected with a raised eyebrow.

Claudia looked on at the scene playing out before her as she walked towards the table and picked up her bag, searching through it to see if anything had spoiled on her inter-dimensional trip. She couldn't make out what they were saying but they were both wearing goofy grins. The time traveler was speaking while gesticulating excitedly and as she scrunched up her face, Myka burst into laughter. The taller woman shook her head in delighted disbelief as she took a step back and playfully grabbed Helena's hand, depositing the dirty cloth in it before turning and heading towards the bucket to finish washing up.

Helena turned and walked towards the redhead. Her head was bent as she concentrated on getting the black substance out of her hands, a whimsical smile slowly forming on her face.

"I can't believe one of the most brilliant minds on Earth –one of my personal heroes, mind you - is also actually the dumbest person on it." Claudia admonished once more, half serious, half in gest; and then tried to dodge the dirty cloth that was flung her way, but again H.G. Wells was too quick for her.

/

It was early evening when the team finished taking showers and cleaning out their gear; thankfully, none of which had been affected by the goo. Pete, Myka, H.G. and Roberto were waiting for their things to dry and would be heading out for Machu Picchu that very night while Claudia's plane to Lima was scheduled to depart late the next morning. Needless to say the young tech was in a dour mood; she had thought she would at least be staying the night with her friends.

They were seated around a table in the kitchen of 'Rosa's Bed and Breakfast' in front of a low burning hearth. The Peruvian government had cancelled most of the flights to Cusco and had closed off entrance to Machu Picchu under the guise of threat due to earthquakes so, business was slow to nonexistent in the city. Rosa placed a steaming plate of chicken-stuffed tamales and some cornbread on the table and Pete and the two eldest children practically jumped at the food. Before they could reach anything though, a large spoon whacked the table, making everyone jump in surprise.

"Have we forgotten our prayers all of a sudden?" Rosa's stern voice questioned.

"No, Señora"

"No, Mama Rosa"

"No, Ma'am"

The children and Pete replied in unison, giving her chagrined gazes. Where Gustavo had been cheerful and almost annoyingly talkative, Mrs. Rivera was surly and appeared to never say more than needed.

As the old woman sat and began to make the cross sign, she eyed everyone, making sure they all followed suit. Helena almost laughed at the notion of being intimidated into participating in any type of ritual she didn't believe in. She had been raised in a very Christian environment but - always being of a logical and scientific mind - she had struggled with her faith ever since she was a little girl. She remembered feeling guilty whenever she questioned the existence of her family's God and used to ask Him for forgiveness and guidance whenever the world seemed to turn on her. That had all changed the second she had lost her daughter. Now, as Rosa's stern yet kind eyes landed on her, she squirmed in her sit and found herself raising her right hand, her muscles remembering movements they had not performed in over a century and a half. As the dark skinned woman recited a familiar prayer, Helena's thoughts flashed back to her parents, her brothers, her Christina; all of them reciting the same lines, all of them being thankful and happy…all of them gone.

As soon as they finished the prayer, the table was a whirlwind of movement and sound. Arms flew to the food while the children laughed and chatted around them. The grown-ups were a little more quiet and tightly wound; the day's events having exhausted them and the night's unknown destination, making them tense. Always one to want to ease the tension, Roberto told the story of how he had met Rosa.

He had been a young boy of about eight when his parents' marriage started to fall apart. Angry and hurt, he would lose himself in the city for days on end and his parents would be none the wiser for the most part. It was around this time he met a group of boys a few years older than himself and it was then he started to get into real trouble. One fateful day, the boys had decided to break into the very same Bed and Breakfast they were now at, figuring they would steal from the foreigners staying there.

"That is when I met my kindred spirit, my savior…at the end of a gun." He laughed recalling how a crazed, elderly woman had jumped out of the darkness, screaming; making the other boys scatter in fear and grabbing the young Roberto by the scruff of his shirt, turning him around and pointing a gun directly between his eyes.

At the archeologist's words, Helena turned to discreetly glance at Myka who was seated on the other side of the rectangular table, next to Roberto. The writer mentally shook her head, and quickly directed her attention back to the laughing man; completely oblivious to Myka's own lingering gaze.

"Tell how Tío Roberto did pee pee because he was so scared, Mama Rosa" Sofia prompted with a giggle, clearly having heard this story many times before.

The old woman gave what could only be described as a crazed cackle. Claudia and Pete raised their eyebrows in shock and immediately looked over at each other from across the table. That was proof enough for them they were having dinner with a real life witch, with kids to eat and all. Knowing exactly what the other was thinking, both of them joined Rosa and burst into laughter.

"I've never seen anyone so scared in my life. The funny thing is you peed all over yourself after I had put away the gun. I told you you were going to stay for dinner and that was all your body could take." She cackled again. "He-He thought I was some kind of witch and that I was going to eat him!…can you believe that?!" She exclaimed in delight, her voice getting louder with each word spoken as she banged on the table with her hand. Her high, eerie cackle mingled with the rest of the group's laughter Even Helena found it impossible not to find the anecdote amusing.

"Well, thank you very much to the both of you…I was actually trying to steer away from that particular memory." Roberto lightly chided Rosa and Sofia who only laughed louder as he tentatively looked at a chuckling Myka. "Oh come on! That was the best part of the whole story!" Myka affirmed as she placed a supportive hand on his forearm, not wanting him to think she was making fun of him. This seemed to appease the older man as he grinned at her and grabbed another loaf of bread.

"So, that was that…Rosa was the bravest, most entertaining and surreal person I had ever met. She gave me a job as an errand boy and I was here after school every day since. One of the saddest moments of my childhood was leaving Cusco a few years later. I knew I was going to miss my dad but I wasn't sure I would survive without my Rosa." He said as he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, stop that." The grouchy woman protested the kiss while almost affectionately patting the smiling Doctor on the cheek several times

"Oh look, we're having dinner with future H.G." Claudia joked under her breath after seeing the older woman become uncomfortable with the open demonstration of affection. This earned her a raised eyebrow from her mentor who was seating beside her and who the remark was clearly intended for.

"I came to visit my father every summer for the next ten years; I spent most of my time here and that kept me from getting into too much trouble. She saved me and many others like me." He explained while his gaze went to the three children to Rosa's left. "Many years later, after accepting the Warehouse's offer to become a contact, I asked for permission to share my secret with Rosa." He finished with a shrug of his shoulders. "I wasn't surprised when they told me she had been a very important recourse for them for over thirty years." He smiled proudly once more.

The older woman stood suddenly and started clearing the table with the three children in tow. "They're here for you." She stated absentmindedly. The agents turned and after a few seconds of silence, they heard honking; lights from a car shown through the closed curtains and blinded H.G and Claudia who used their hands to try and cover their eyes.

"They're early" A dismayed sounding Claudia stated.

"Go upstairs and start packing…I'll take some tea out and ask them to wait." Rosa offered the group.

/

A few hours later, Claudia found herself in a strange bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. She was sure that sleep would elude her the rest of the night. She couldn't believe she was heading back to the Warehouse the next day while her friends were headed to god knows where. She breathed heavily and decided to pull out her ipod, figuring some music would at least distract her from the unfairness of it all. She got up and kneeled on the floor, bending over to grab her sack which was under her bed. She rummaged around in the dark until she felt the ipod's familiar form. Just as she was about to pull herself up, she heard the door to her room slowly open. She made herself hold her breath as she looked under the bed. The door was on the other side of the room, the bed was the only thing separating her from whoever (or whatever, she thought with dread) just came in. She heard heavy breathing and soft footsteps quickly heading towards her. She cursed herself for having given Pete her tesla…sure she wasn't going to be needing it any longer. She instinctively held her ipod tighter, intending on using it as a weapon if need be. The footsteps stopped and Claudia could barely discern a pair of feet. The bottom half of the bed was too low for her to go under it and attack the intruder from below so it would have to be a surprise attack from above, Claudia decided quickly, her heart about to burst from her chest. She heard the sheets being pulled back and then thrown to the floor followed by her pillow. Whoever was there was going to check the other side of the room at any moment, so Claudia braced herself before quickly jumping on the bed. With a warrior cry (or at least she hoped that was what it sounded like) she jumped on the dark figure and tackled it to the ground; just as she was going to hit it with her ipod, she heard a familiar voice crying out her name. "Claudia, Claudia, please, it's me..it's Adriana." Showing great restraint, Claudia held her fist in the air, inches away from its mark and quickly turned on her ipod, illuminating the face under her. Sure enough, it was Adriana covered in wardrobe goo and clearly terrified about something.

"You - you must help me little one…I am in great trouble." The dark haired woman pleaded right before someone turned on the room's lights, scaring the living hell out of the Warehouse apprentice for the second time that night.