Disclaimer: I still don't own any part of Warehouse 13 and honestly, I really don't want to. It's much more fun to play with the toys and put them back to play with later.

A/N: Thanks to all comments and reviews. Always appreciated and considered. Keep crying, keep laughing. Without one, you can't have the other.

Myka burst through the front door of the B & B dropping her bag on the floor. "Claudia, are you here?"

"In the kitchen, Myka. Want some coffee? I just started a pot." She raised her head at the rush through the door. "Whoa. Slow down. She's okay and seeing you like that is not going to help. So sit down and have some coffee. Artie is giving her a cooking lesson at the cottage." Claudia held up her hands before Myka had a chance to interrupt. "Myka, I mean it. Slow down and sit. You are not supposed to know about the cooking lessons because she has some sort of surprise for you. Not that I like to give secrets away, but it is distracting her and the doc thought that would be a good idea, and we figured out a way for her to move about safely. So chill, right now."

"It took longer to get here. How was she last night?"

"The same, but Steve and I put her little fanny in place and both spent the night there so we could jump on it right away. Steve took a later flight. The ankle is fine. We made her have a recheck today. PT is continuing as scheduled. Dr. Calder is doing a little research and should be here tonight. Now, about that coffee." Claudia placed the steaming cup of dark liquid in front of her. "And it's decaf, because you don't need any more winding up."

Myka took a deep drink of the coffee, not thinking, coughing as it burned down her throat.

"Myka, it's hot."

"I noticed. So, no change? What happened exactly? When I left everything was pretty normal or I would have passed it on to Steve. I haven't been out since her surgery and was feeling guilty."

"We know that. They just got progressively worse after you left. She wouldn't let me stay so I kept my windows open. The first night I was okay when I got over there, but called Steve to help me get her changed and take care of the sheets and all. The second night, Steve came over with me and he had to restrain her. I couldn't do it on my own. It took a lot to talk her out of it. She only responds to Helena, by the way, not HG. Must be the connection to you. We couldn't convince her to let us sleep over there or her here, so we got a system. Steve would grab her from behind and hold her arms down while I grabbed the leg and talked her down. After that smooth sailing for the rest of the night. She was better the night I stayed, but it was still rough. She doesn't remember anything about the dreams, so nothing to talk about. That's why I wanted your permission to call Dr. Calder. Maybe it'll be different now that you're home."

"What time is Dr. Calder getting here?"

"Sometime before dinner, of course. Artie is dining with her." Myka laughed now.

"Of course. Like I needed to ask. Did Steve get there okay? I hated leaving Pete like that."

"Yeah. They think they got the lead and hope to snag soon. No worries. Pete's been bugging me for updates on your wi…girlfriend since you left."

Claudia's phone vibrated on the table. She laughed reading the text. "Artie's lesson is over and all cleaned up. They are on their way over. Artie didn't want any paths crossing."

"Artie, you make a terrible doorman. Honestly, this would be much easier on my own."

Myka and Claudia started laughing at the conversation coming from the back door.

"Like I'll take that chance. You're a pretty cranky, old broad sometimes."

"I'd be careful whom is calling who old and cranky."

Myka sat back in her chair observing the two. "Someone might actually think the two of you like each other if you're not careful."

"Myka, he is completely incompetent. He can't even hold a door properly for a lady."

"Show me a lady and I'll show you how to hold a door."

Claudia snorted coffee out her nose. "Oh, gross." She grabbed a bunch of napkins. "It's not funny."

Myka grabbed a towel throwing it to her on her way to greet her girlfriend. "Yeah, it really is, Claud. Artie get your hands off my girlfriend or I'll tell Vanessa you really are just a dirty, old man. Don't you need to get ready for dinner?"

"Fine. I'm very under-appreciated by all of you until I save your sorry butts out there. I'll be by to pick her up at six. Ingrates."

"Will do gramps."

"Claudia…"he warned on his way out the door.

"She should be here soon if you guys want to go into the living room. You both look tired." Claudia offered.

"Yeah. Thanks for the coffee, Claud. Come on, Hopalong." Myka walked slowly beside Helena's quickly increasing skill with the crutches.

"Hopalong? What does that mean?" Helena gave her a strange look that often happened with 21st century references.

"Ask Pete. Hopalong Cassidy. Fictional cowboy. Better yet, don't ask. It's not important."

Helena elevated her foot on the end before settling into Myka's side. "You are much more comfortable than Claudia. She still elbows ribs too, even in a big bed."

"And you're becoming a bigger bed hog when left alone for a few days." Myka played with her fingers. Frowning when she found the right hand naked. "Helena, where is your ring?"

"Hmm? Oh, it needed some repair work. Claudia found an antique jeweler for me."

"It looked fine when you gave it to me for your surgery." She couldn't remember anything wrong with it. She was careful to keep the ring and locket together in the wooden box, but she'd been preoccupied and had returned the box the first night they were home.

"It was a minor issue I wanted fixed before it got worse." Helena pulled her hand away, reversing the process to play with Myka's instead. "Now, what did you do? You've got a big gash on your palm. Have Dr. Calder examine that when she's here."

"Fine. Tell me about the nightmares you are doing a good job of avoiding."

"I thought I was doing such a good job, too." She leaned back into Myka, tired from Artie's secret lesson. "There's not much to tell. Just the same thing, but much worse. I don't remember them being this bad since being debronzed. I don't remember anything, just the emotions after."

"Well, that's part of my job done," Dr. Calder spoke from behind them, making Myka jump.

"Sorry, Myka, I didn't think I was that quiet, and nothing to even be guilty about this time." She smiled, sitting across from them. "So, Claudia has filled me in with what's been going on the past few days. Sounds like she and Steve gotten the brunt of it so far. I've being doing some research and read through your surgery report and I have some ideas, but I want a quick exam first. No panicking, HG, it's not as bad as the last one." She started her exam as she talked to Myka.

"What can you tell me about before you left? Anything unusual? Any known triggers? Any events you can think of?"

"No. Just the normal. Well, normal for us. You know what we go through, we talk about it enough. They go through waves, sometimes we can connect a trigger, sometimes not. We ride it out and life goes on. She's still visiting the therapist periodically or when they become worse than usual, but nothing like Claudia was describing. They started maybe a week after the surgery, but that in itself could have been a normal trigger so we never thought much about it. I asked Claudia to keep an eye open just as a precaution, but that kind of goes unsaid anyway."

The doctor sat back, finished with the exam. "What about you, Helena, anything you can think of?"

"No. I just don't remember anything. When I'm aware again I'm filled with dread, panic, fear. Everything you can think of that is horrifying all at once. Unfocused. Then it's over and I sleep through the rest of the night. I'm sorry, that's all I remember."

"I have a theory, but it isn't going to necessarily solve the issue right away. I don't want to drug you up, but I'm going to give you a medication to help treat nightmares and recommend you see the therapist. I'll send over a report tomorrow. Rarely, some patients can have nightmares after surgery. The good news is they go away. Part of my theory has to do with your specific abnormalities, shall we say. You are unique, HG. You did experience some unusual adverse reactions to the anesthesia, and we discussed this before you left the hospital. Not only your metabolism may have experienced some changes from the bronzing process, which could have been partially responsible for the anomalies during surgery, but you're also predisposed to nightmares for many reasons and have numerous triggers, some of which we don't know and probably never will. Your brain has gotten hard wired, you could say, in how it interprets and reacts to situations. You both have accepted as normal for you two what is not necessarily normal. You just get through the bad nights and move on. I really admire you both for your attitude and I know it's not easy. Because of your already periodic condition, the anesthesia may have just boosted it a little. Does that make sense?"

Myka frowned at Helena before answering. "Oddly enough, it really does. There is no such thing as normal in this job, why should we be any different?"

Helena sighed. "This is getting very bothersome; all because of an ankle. Now, what do we do?"

"What you always do, ride it out and keep me posted. Hopefully the medication will help, and Myka is home now and that usually makes a difference I think. You'll be more relaxed, too. That is another thing you're familiar with. Try to relax at night. Honestly, when it comes to nightmares, you two pretty much know all the techniques. I should do a case study on you. I expect it'll run its course and they are just really, really bad right now. If things don't change, call me. Make that appointment, both of you, with the therapist. You've had a lot of personal stress lately and we'll take it from there. I'll draw some blood tomorrow and run some labs, but I don't expect anything." She gave them a sympathetic smile. "I mean it when I say you two do a great job in dealing with the nightmares. If only all my patients accepted it so completely, but then, as you pointed out, you're not really my normal patients. Go eat dinner with Claudia. Sounds like you could all use a good family night. Oh, and Steve and Pete are on their way home, too. If you have no other concerns it seems I've been spoken for. I'll check in on you tomorrow." Smiling, she got up to greet Artie on the way out the door.

Claudia walked in with two pizzas. "Okay, I'm not cooking tonight 'cause I don't feel like eggs or cereal, and I say we have a girlie night. Well, as girlie as any of us get."

Helena turned off the last light next to the bed, laughing. "I can't believe Claudia talked us into watching Tomb Raider. She has an evil side to her beneath that childish exterior of hers I forget about. I'm not sure who laughed more, you or her. It's really not that funny, you know." She rolled into Myka's arms. "So what shall we do to relax?"

"I thought we were relaxing? Did you take your medication?"

"Yes. Now about this relaxation thing. I had some ideas." Helena's hand started creeping under Myka's shirt.

Myka grabbed her hand. "I don't think that's exactly what the doctor was talking about. Besides, your ankle is in a cast."

With unexpected speed, Helena was on top of Myka holding her down. Staring down into the surprised face, she addressed her seriously, "Now, Myka, that is not what the doctor said and as I recall we were given a go ahead as long as it was progressively healing, and it was just checked, and pain was not an issue. I assure you pain is very tolerable. I am not going to wait to make love to you until this blasted cast is off. That is just not acceptable. I can be very creative and have no difficulty in accommodating most anything, especially a cast on my leg. Do I need to pull out some journals? I am very determined, so I recommend that you merely give up and finally let me have my way with you. It's been too long already. Explain to me why, after all this time, you still feel you must wear clothes to bed when we are alone? Unless you prefer the process of my undressing you, and I don't argue that I find that just as alluring, in general I enjoy sleeping naked next to your equally naked body."

Myka pulled her arms free to bring the inviting lips down to her own. "I give up. I'll keep that sleeping naked thing in mind, but I kind of like the undressing part, too."

They passed the night with the expected nightmare. Helena admitted the severity did seem decreased and insisted it was from their newly devised relaxation technique, but was happier being held in Myka's arms again for the remainder of the evening.

Myka woke up to the smell of coffee and what smelled like breakfast. She sat up straight, jumping out of bed instantly realizing Helena was not beside her.

"Helena!"

"Downstairs, dear," a voice responded from downstairs.

Without thought Myka ran down the stairs, jumping the last three, and into the kitchen.

Helena calmly looked her up and down appreciatively, eyes narrowing. "Darling, as much as I enjoy gazing upon your naked body, you may want to consider putting some clothes on before we sit down to breakfast."

She shook her head, staring at the set table. "Huh? You're making breakfast?"

"Not making, made. Now go get dressed. Your coffee is waiting for you."

Myka blindly retreated upstairs to search for her clothes from the night before, returning to a meal of scrambled eggs and waffles.

"Sit here." Helena indicated a chair.

"You made all of this?" she asked sitting in a daze.

"Yes, I did. Artie is teaching me how to cook. One of us needs to learn how to feed ourselves. The coffee came from the house, so have no fear for your blessed machine."

Myka reached for her coffee hoping for a jolt of caffeine to clear her head when she noticed the velvet box next to the handle of the mug. "Helena? What's this?"

"You'll just have to open it to find out."

Cautiously, Myka opened the box. "Helena, this is your ring. I thought you said..."

"I did. I was having it resized. I want you to have it. It's really all I've kept besides my locket. I meant it when I said I'd like to exchange rings. More accurately, I want you to have this ring. I don't need one from you. I've already got you."

"But Helena...I don't know what to say."

"Myka, I love you. There is nothing for you to say. All you need to do is put it on your finger, you dolt."

"Well, that was certainly romantic, Wells."

"Darling, this is who we are." She took the ring out of Myka's reluctant hands placing it on her finger. "I do love you. And, I made you breakfast. Quite an accomplishment for me." Helena beamed over her success.

"I couldn't ask for more. I love you, Helena Wells. Thank you...Feel like relaxing some more later?"

"Oh, most definitely. I may need to make you more eggs, though. I think you'll need them."