Claudia was about to explode with anger as she watched Harper asleep in the office, muttering curses to herself as she balled her hands into fists and finally walked away and back towards the archives.
Pete picked up the bagged artifact up off the floor "I'm just gonna go process this." He muttered before leaving the office and going back out into the warehouse.
Myka sat at the computer, watching Claudia pull index cards out of the drawers one by one.
"I know it's probably not a good time to ask, but are you okay?" Myka asked.
Claudia huffed "Do you know what she did yesterday? She stood in front of the door and waited, she waited for Steve." She said, looking up at Myka.
Mykas' face went soft, beginning to coo at Harper before turning back to Claudia "Have you told Steve?" she asked.
Claudia shook her head "No."
"Why not?" Myka asked.
Claudia shrugged "Because…" she said.
"Because why?"
Claudia huffed "Myka, I don't want to talk about this right now! I have to find an artifact that can give someone the power to STEAL all the sand in Africa."
"Who even STEALS all the sand in Africa?" Claudia asked.
Myka smiled "I don't know, a crazy person?"
Claudia smirked as she put all the cards back in the drawer and put it back in its place in the archive drawer.
Myka sighed "You don't have to prove anything to anybody, if you need help you can tell me…or Pete." She said.
The young woman shook her head "No, I have to do this on my own! I'm her mother; I have to be able to take care of her on my own!" Claudia remarked.
Claudia turned to Myka "…if I can't take care of her when it's just me and her, then I will feel like a huge failure as a mom."
Myka stood up from her seat "You won't fail her." She said.
Claudia turned to Myka, beginning to tear up "But what if I do? What if Steve bails and it's just me?" she asked.
"It'll never just be you." Myka said, pulling Claudia in for a hug.
Claudia hugged back "Are you sure?"
"Yes!" Myka said, pulling away from the hug "And Steve won't bail on you…Pete and I won't let him. Besides, it's Steve; you really think he'd do something like that?" she asked.
Claudia shrugged "I don't know." She said.
Myka smiled "He won't. He can't. He's stuck here for eternity, just like the rest of us!"
"Just what like the rest of us?" Pete asked, coming back up the office.
Claudia brushed away forming tears, but it was too late as Pete gasped and walked up to Claudia "What's wrong?" he asked.
Myka turned to Pete "It's okay, we're handling it."
"No, you're not! Otherwise she wouldn't be crying." Pete said, pushing Myka out of the way "What is it, what's the matter?" he asked.
Claudia shook her head "It's nothing, it's just Harper and me…and Steve-"
"Let me tell you something," he said, interrupting Claudia "You and Steve are going to be fine! Making mistakes—it's just part of the process; we all do it, especially when we're parents."
Claudia nodded, Pete huffed "And if you're not sure about something, you talk to Steve about it…because you two are in this together; for the long haul."
Pete smiled before giving Claudia a hug, squeezing her tightly before letting her go "…so you lost track of her, you'll probably lose her another several more times. But that's okay, cause I have no problem running down every isle of this place looking for her!" he said.
Claudia smiled as she brushed away another tear, Pete smiled "…and if all else fails, I'm here…and Myka too." He assured her.
"Ok." She said, adjusting herself, stroking her outer thighs before she nodded and smiled to the both of them.
The silence was good, the three agents at ease when Claudias' Farnsworth began to go off by the computer.
Claudia huffed "Crap." She muttered, walking towards the Farnsworth and answered it "Yeah, Artie."
"Anything?" he asked in a rush.
Claudia shook her head "No…nothing yet." She responded.
"How? It's been nearly four hours!" Artie replied.
Claudia huffed "I'm having to go through every archive shelf, it's taking awhile…plus I had an incident with Harper, so…that held me up for about thirty minutes." She muttered.
Artie grumbled "Fine! Just keep looking!" he said before hanging up.
Claudia sighed heavily as she hung up the conversation and put her Farnsworth back up against the computer.
"…it's going to take me days at the rate I'm going. I can't find anything!" she mumbled as she walked back to the archives shelf and began pulling more off.
Pete and Myka didn't waste any time as they pulled drawers out from the shelf and began looking for artifacts.
"I still can't find anything Artie!" Claudia nearly hissed.
Arties' frustration was beginning to come to the surface "Myka and Pete are helping me, and we've gone through every database we can think of and we've got nothing…I think you're dealing with a new artifact." She suggested.
"A new artifact?" Artie asked.
Claudia nodded "It's bound to happen. I'm sure." She said, almost trying to comfort herself.
Artie nodded "Very well," he said, looking in front of him for a moment before sighing and looking back into the Farnsworth "Steve would like to have a word." He said before passing her over to Steve.
Claudia sighed as Steve smiled "Hey BFFWYLION!" he said optimistically.
There were no words that could come out of her mouth as Steve lost his smile "Hey, so, you told Artie there was an incident earlier with Harp?" he asked.
"Yeah, I lost her, but Pete and Myka found her; so it's no big deal." Claudia said.
Steve nodded "How is she?" he asked.
Claudia looked at the office door where Harper was now sitting in front of, she sighed as she looked back at Steve, then back at Harper "Hey, Harp, you want a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich?" she asked before showing Steve where Harper was.
"No." Harper said.
"You sure?" Claudia asked.
"Yes." Harper said again.
Claudia faced the Farnsworth back at herself "She's been like that since yesterday…" she said.
Steve had a slight panic look on his face "O-kay." He managed to get out.
Claudia sighed "Do you want to talk to her?" she asked.
He shook his head "Artie is giving me his look, so I'll call back when I get a chance." He said.
Claudia nodded "Okay." She said.
"But tell her that I love her, and that I'll be home soon." Steve said.
"Okay." Claudia said again.
"And hey," Steve said "Hang in there!"
"I will." She said before hanging up her Farnsworth.
Claudia turned to Harper, putting the Farnsworth down and getting up from the computer towards Harper.
"Daddy called. He says he loves you." She said, pecking her daughters' cheek "And he said he'll be home soon." She said.
Harper nodded as she continued watching the door, Claudia gave up and sat down next to Harper, watching the door with her until it was 'closing time'.