Vengeful, Venomous Pain
Part Two: Resign

Helena sat in perfect silence as she looked around the untouched room. Perched on the floor beside the bed, she had a clear view of the bookshelf which had collected a thin layer of dust. None of the books had been touched in at least three weeks. Against the adjacent wall sat a desk, with the contents on top neatly organized. In fact, aside from the bed which Helena leaned against, all of the room had been cleaned and put away, then left to sit in stillness.

Helena thought it was the least she could do for Myka. She knew she would have wanted her room organized since she was not a disorganized person in the slightest. Helena smiled just so slightly as a fond memory made its way to her mind's eye.

She was striding past Myka's door – and it seemed like a lifetime ago – when she stopped and stared at the alarming state of her room. Books were scattered all over the floor, and Myka sat in the middle of them. Pete thought it would be a funny prank to move around all of Myka's books in the bookshelf and see how long it would take her to notice. She noticed as soon as she stepped foot in her room. And in a need to satisfy her inner compulsive organizer, she pulled every single book out the bookshelf and set about reorganizing them as she had before.

Oh dear Myka...Helena missed watching her concentrate over a new case as she nibbled away at a Twizzler. She missed the smile that Myka would give her whenever she walked in the room, taking a bit of guilty pleasure in the knowledge that Pete didn't get the same smile. She even missed the rare occasion when Myka would join Claudia in making "grandma" jokes at her. Most of all, she missed Myka's laughter that would fill this very room, whether they were talking the night away about any manner of things, or when the whole gang would gather and just have a great time.

But there was hardly any of that anymore. There hadn't been for a month now. Helena sighed slowly as she came back to reality.

"You don't always have to sit on the floor, you know."

Helena looked towards the door to see the tall, curly haired woman come shuffling into the room, dressed in Winnie The Pooh pajamas and her favorite fuzzy slippers. She climbed on top of the bed and, grabbing her white teddy bear, lay down with her head resting next to Helena's.

"But see how much better I can keep an eye on you from right here?" Helena replied, noting the mere two inches of space between the two women's faces.

"Yeah," Myka said with a very small coy smile as she averted her eyes from the dark eyes that watched her.

"How are you feeling?" Helena asked as she did not hesitate to place a gentle hand on Myka's face, stroking her cheek slowly.

"Better," Myka answered slowly as she closed her eyes, absorbing the comfort that H.G gave her. "I think I can say for certain that I'm past the vomiting."

"So still on the up and up," Helena said hopefully.

"Definitely." It wasn't until about 3 days ago that Myka Bering finally started to seem more like herself and less like a battered woman clinging to life. When they first brought Myka back to the Bed & Breakfast from the hospital, there was little more that the agent had the strength to do besides cry in misery from the pain she was in, or sleep away the long hours. Her body suffered from what the doctors called universal bruising, finding only the bottom of her hands and feet free from the purple and blue bruises. To date, she was still sore in several places. Along with this, many of her internal organs seemed stretched and strained in a way that frightened the examiners. When the doctor had come into the room with Myka's results from tests and x-rays, he was actually sweating.

He had no explanation for how someone could come to such a life threatening state and still be alive. He said that it was a miracle her heart was even beating. But Helena, Pete, and Claudia knew exactly what had happened. They were sure that Ivan the Terrible's Beetle had done it's job and killed their closest friend. Claudia had fallen to her knees sobbing along with Helena, though the older woman cried silently. Pete stood clenching his fists, tears streaking down his face, as he looked between Myka and Artie, stuck in the middle of grief and rage. Artie's face was a picture of pure shock. His mind may have very well shut down, unable to handle what he saw before him.

Helena finally had to force herself to look away from Myka, look anywhere else but at the beloved friend who lay dead in her arms. She opened her mouth to possibly say something when Myka's body lurched forward, and the woman started spitting up thick dark gobs of blood. Claudia screamed and fell back on her butt. Everyone's heart raced from the sudden disturbance of the solemn quiet that had befallen them, but they quickly raced back to hope. She was still alive! Somehow, by some miracle, Myka was still alive!

On the bright side, the doctors said that there were signs of accelerated healing and regeneration in Myka's body. Again, the doctor couldn't explain it. Everyone figured it had something to do with the beetle. But she would certainly need all the unexplained help she could get if she was to even make it through the night. The days crept by as everyone stood on pins and needles, completely forgetting about collecting artifacts. And after a week, the doctors felt confident that Myka would be able to pull through at home. But they were given strict instructions to bring her back if there was even the slightest change.

A knock sounded on Myka's door as Pete stepped through the already open threshold, a bright yellow banana in his hand.

"Hey Myka and H.G. Or should I say, Myka's conjoined twin?" he said as he came over and pulled up a chair.

"Hey Pete," both women replied with a small smirk at Pete's joke. It was true. The whole time Myka was in the hospital and after she had returned to the Bed & Breakfast, one would have needed a crowbar, a court order, and a beefy bodyguard to try and pry Helena from Myka's side.

"So, today's the big day," Pete said as he drew in a deep breath. "No more putting it off since you're up and about a little more."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if I even wanna go," Myka replied somberly as she sat up in bed, giving H.G room to sit beside her.

"No getting around it though," Helena explained. "Our esteemed Regents demand all of our presence." All three fell into silence as they thought ahead to what may occur during Artie's trial. It was sure to be a very tense and stressful day. Helena had done a fine job of demanding it be postponed, but only for Myka's sake. Since all members of Warehouse 13 had to be in attendance for this trail, it would mean that Myka would have to be there and give her account of everything she could remember from that horrifying day. Helena protested without rest, affirming that she was far too sick to be able to sit through the proceedings. Where H.G found the courage to stand up to Mrs. Fredricks, no-one will ever know, not even herself. After the Warehouse 13 caretaker performed her famous vanishing act, H.G proclaimed that she could use a good stiff drink.

But now there was no getting around it. Myka's body was healing, so life had to continue.

"Got an appetite yet?" Pete asked as he held forward the banana. Myka shook her head.

"But thanks anyways. Helena already forced a few spoon fulls of oatmeal down me," Myka said with a little pique, even though she was extremely grateful for Helena's never-failing aide and company. She had even stopped sleeping in her own room so that she would be right by Myka's side if something were to happen in the night. "Hey don't worry Pete, I'm getting better," Myka said, noticing Pete's concerned face.

"Yeah, I know you are..." He let his words trial off for a minute as he looked down at the banana in his hand.

"Pete, what is it?" Helena asked.

"It's just..." He looked up at the two women, his brow furrowed with concern. "Are you guys sure about this? I mean, I don't know...maybe there's a way we could work things out." But even as he said that he knew that there was no hope of that. Even as he hoped that maybe the relationship with Artie and Myka would heal, or that the relationship between Artie and H.G would at least lose some of it's sting, his own relationship with Artie was awkward and strained. Neither he nor Claudia knew what to do around him. Myka didn't want to see him, even though he came to her room a few times to apologize. But Myka was never without Helena – who Artie still blamed for the entire ordeal – and Pete, Claudia, and even Leena, were quick to not leave H.G alone with him. Life was stranger than any artifact could have ever hoped to make it.

"Pete...I can't," Myka started. "He tried to kill Helena. He nearly did kill me. I mean...I honestly don't even know why I'm alive right now. And he put me through hell. I love the Warehouse but...there's no way I can stay here." Myka's eyes watered a little at the thought of leaving the place that she had come to call home.

"And there's no way I can leave you," Helena added as she took Myka's hand into her own. Myka smiled through her watery eyes at Helena's unending support.

"And there's no way we can let you leave us," came Claudia's voice from the door. She was leaned against the door frame, a backpack slung over one shoulder, and her eyes red from a very recent cry. Myka and Helena wore the same look of confusion. "What can I say? We're family. All of us," she added with a nod in Helena's direction.

"And if you're sure," Pete said as he stood up, leaving the banana behind in the chair, "then we're sure."

"Now hurry up and get dressed so we can get this over with," Claudia said before both she and Pete left Myka's room, closing the door behind them. Myka was so touched that she even felt a warm tingle in her chest. Helena wiped away tears before they had a chance to run down her face.

"They're extraordinary, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they're really great," Myka said. She turned to look at Helena, hoping to soak up some of the confidence that the older woman seemed to have in never-ending abundance. Always knowing how to read Myka, H.G scooted closer and pulled her into an embrace, careful not to squeeze too hard and irritate some of Myka's sore spots. Myka buried her face into Helena's neck for a few minutes, enjoying the comfort and safety of the woman she had become so amazingly close to.

"Are you ready for this?" Helena asked.

"Do you promise to hold my hand the whole time?" Myka asked in a shy whisper. Helena kissed Myka on the forehead, then between the eyes, and finally amorously on the lips.

"I'll never let it go."

(End)