In case you forgot Helena's last line to Tracy - I'll include it so the beginning of this chapter makes sense - "Madam," Helena said leaning across the table towards the guest, "You are flirting with danger, and I'm willing to bet you sorely lack the seduction skills to see it through."

As always, thank you for reading along.

Friends in Strange Places

Helena was threatening Tracy on more levels than the younger woman could imagine, but her older sister had no difficulty deciphering the danger. This side of Tracy that wanted to help may have been a little new to Myka, but the side of Helena that was about to lose it was very familiar to her. Myka couldn't help but want to protect her sister from that.

Myka grew up in the Bering household honing her skills of noting disturbances in the force. There was only one person who did it better, and he was a fictional character in a movie. Her skills had been perfected in her role in the Bering family as the first-born. Regardless of who was upset, Myka's job was the Peacemaker. If Jeannie was upset about the store not doing well, Myka would make her tea and assure her they'd think of something. If Warren was arguing with vendors, Myka would intercede and assure them her father wasn't crazy. If Tracy was fighting with her parents about having to help in the store, Myka worked extra hours so everyone was happy.

Everyone maybe - except Myka.

Tracy was trying to understand Helena. Between the accent and the thinly veiled messages, she was having trouble. She thought Helena's comment really had to do with flirting and seduction and so she responded by saying;

"Then Myka didn't tell you – I was quite the debutante in Colorado Springs," Tracy assured the Brit thinking she really meant her skills of persuasion. "How do you think I got all those boys to date my older sister?"

Myka had already taken her shoe off and was running her foot up and down Helena's calf in a soothing gesture when suddenly the sting of that comment made her stop. Helena immediately looked to see the expression on Myka's face and knew what happened. Helena was done being nice. She started to say something when Myka put her hand on Helena's and patted it.

"I have this," Myka said softly. In spite of the quiet way Myka said it, Helena felt as if she had been pushed back in the chair.

Was Myka really telling her not to interfere? Not to defend her honor while this ignorant woman insulted her in her own home? Helena searched those emerald pools and found her answer – Yes, she was. Helena was dressed for battle and Myka wanted to negotiate a treaty. Defending Myka's honor was one of Helena's fortes. They obviously didn't see eye to eye on this.

So, Helena did something that she only did with Myka – she acquiesced - in a slightly dramatic way. Helena let out the deep breath she had taken in to blast Tracy and crossed her arms in front of her. Just because Helena was giving in didn't mean she liked the taste of it in her mouth.

"Well, if you will excuse me," Helena said standing up, and then pushing her chair back in its place, "I think I need to go for a run."

"Now?" both Bering siblings asked.

"Oh yes, now, right now," Helena said directly to Myka.

"It's so dark and cold," Tracy said, looking out the window.

"A little like your….," and the next word out of Helena's mouth was going to be heart. Myka was still recovering from her sister's barbs; she didn't need anymore, even indirectly. "…Your suit," Helena said instead.

"You think navy is cold?" Tracy asked of her Ann Taylor ensemble.

"Like deep waters," Helena said slowly, as Tracy rechecked the color.

Helena begged their forgiveness for not finishing dinner and left. Myka was behind her as she got to the stairs.

"Please don't go out," Myka implored her.

"Darling, I think it best if I exert some of this pent-up emotion," Helena explained. She smiled at Myka, her eyes softening as she put her hand on Myka's cheek. Myka instantly leaned into the warmth of that touch.

"I can think of other ways you can release some of the energy," Myka said softly and she purposely played with the zipper on the front of Helena's dress.

"Yes, but you apparently don't want me to hurt your ….….oh," Helena said finally switching verbal gears when the zipper went lower. "Oh yes, I rather like that idea," she said, leaning in to kiss Myka's lips.

"I'll just …finish up….," Myka said, looking back at the dining room. They both knew it would take Myka awhile to get her sister settled in.

"Why don't you spend some time with your sister, I'll go running and we'll rendezvous at ten?" Helena suggested.

"I love it when you say rendezvous," Myka said, watching the lips that just spoke.

"I love it when you say release some of that energy," Helena said and made Myka laugh.

Myka waited as Helena walked upstairs, watching the sway of her hips and the way her hair fell perfectly in place even after Helena pushed her hands through it. Myka unconsciously bit the bended finger she placed in her mouth.

"Are you okay?" Tracy asked from behind her, having come into the hallway, wondering where her sister was.

Like a dream, the vision of Helena was gone. "What? Oh yes, Helena is going to run….in the park…..now," Myka said. She was so taken with that picture, that her verbal skills were still a little off-line.

"Won't she be all sweaty later?" the younger woman asked.

"I'm planning on it," Myka said to herself.

"OK can we get some coffee or something?" Tracy asked. Myka walked her to the kitchen and placed the pod in the coffee machine. "Where did you get that dress? Is Helena picking out all your clothes now?"

"Helena has wonderful taste in clothing, but I pick out my own clothes," Myka said trying to sound calm. She didn't feel it necessary to say she picked them from Helena's own collection.

Tracy leaned over to touch the Carolina Herrera suit jacket sleeve. "This is very expensive I bet," Tracy said.

"Yes," was all Myka could manage.

"How much?" Tracy asked. Myka slid the cup of coffee over to her and got out the milk.

"I don't remember. Tracy, let's talk about what you're doing here," Myka said, cutting to the chase. "I've had a few conversations with Mommy and Daddy and dad seemed pretty settled when he left here last time, so what gives?"

Tracy held the warm beverage in her hand. "Myka, I read a lot about your boss in there," Tracy started.

"Tracy, she's my girlfriend," Myka corrected her.

"Oh yeah, okay I guess that works," Tracy said. "Look Myka, what you want to do is your business, but you're my sister and I look out for you. I always have. You know that, don't you?

Those words stopped Myka in her tracks. She thought about that statement, and was struck by how sincerely Tracy said them. While Myka was trying to dress up her answer in a way that wouldn't insult her sister, Helena was upstairs throwing her clothes off with a vengeance, doubting the women were even related.

"I will ask her to submit to a DNA test. Or better yet," Helena said out loud to herself, "….I will take the glass from the table and test it. It's possible they're not even siblings. I wonder if Myka ever suspected she was adopted," the Brit theorized. The scientist had to search for the explanation of why the women, who said they were sisters, were so different.

While Helena changed into running clothes, Myka dealt with Tracy. "Trac, I know you try to look out for me," Myka said, trying to be honest.

"Try to? You make it sound like I haven't been doing it practically all my life," Tracy said, stopping mid sip of her coffee.

"No, I know you think you have," Myka tried again, but she heard Helena coming down the stairs. "I'll be right back," she said and left the kitchen.

"I don't just think I have Myka," Tracy yelled out as her sister left the room abruptly. "It's like she runs after her," she muttered.

"Hey you," Myka said as Helena did push ups against the wall. She moved right into Helena's space when she stood up straight.

"Hey you," Helena said, moving even closer.

"Please be careful running. If you're not back in an hour, I'm coming after you," Myka said, pulling at Helena's sweatshirt jacket.

"Send your sister instead," Helena said and thought it was a great idea.

"Right," Myka said already aware of what those dark eyes were thinking about.

"Is it at all possible that you were adopted?" Helena asked seriously and Myka spit out her laugh.

"What?" Myka asked.

"I think it's very possible that the woman inside is not really your sister. I think there might be scientific evidence that …"

When Myka realized that Helena was serious, she leaned in and kissed her lips. "I was not adopted and neither was Tracy," she said.

"OK," Helena said unconvinced.

"Now enjoy your run, but please Helena, don't go for too long. You'll want to take a shower, and I'll want to take a shower ….," Myka said softly, playing with the ends of Helena's hair.

"MYKA?" Tracy yelled from the kitchen. "Where are you? We were in the middle of talking." The younger Bering found her way back to the hallway. "That's what you're wearing? Aren't you going to freeze? Myka, make her wear something warmer," Tracy directed all in one breath.

Myka held onto Helena's hands now and could feel the muscles in her arms go stiff. "She's ok," Myka said, and she wasn't referring to Helena's state of dress.

"I will be drawing blood soon," Helena said directly to Myka and meant if she had to bite her tongue anymore.

"Tell her, Myka. Aren't you like the man in this relationship?" Tracy asked.

"Tracy!" Myka said angrily.

"What? I don't know how it works. I'm trying to figure it out," Tracy said defensively, walking back into the kitchen.

"Please let me educate her," Helena pleaded as Myka continued to hold her hands.

"Let me try to talk to her first," Myka said, now kissing Helena gently. "Enjoy your run."

"You'll be okay here?" Helena asked. Nothing would have pleased the Brit more than to stay and take care of the uninvited guest.

"Yes, I am fine," Myka said. Helena decided she would follow Myka's lead on this – for now.

Helena was at the door when she yelled back to Myka. "Darling, would you leave the dishes. I'd like to get them tonight. You enjoy your time with Tracy."

Myka should have found any one of those sentences suspicious, but Tracy was yelling for her again.

Helena went outside, continued her stretching, and slowly jogged across the street to Central Park. The air was crisp, but not as cold as it had been in the dining room. She felt torn about leaving Myka with her uncouth sibling, but knew if she stayed, she would not be able to tolerate her. How could Myka be so patient?

Helena may have been jogging alone, but Tracy was along for the ride in her head. The more Helena thought about the things she said, the more she wanted to run home and throttle her. The negative thoughts were in direct contrast to the calming affects the jog was supposed to have and Helena lost track of her speed. She was running so quickly at one point, she bumped right into the runner in front of her on the walkway and knocked her down.

"What the hell is your problem?" the woman barked as she rolled back and sat on her derriere. Helena immediately stopped and offered her hand down to the fallen runner.

"I do apologize," Helena said as the woman grabbed her hand.

"Gee thanks," the woman said pulling hard on Helena's hand to get up. "You need to slow it down a bit there ok?"

Helena knew it was her fault because she was so distracted with thoughts of Myka's sister. "Yes indeed, I am sorry, I have a lot on my mind and….," Helena uncharacteristically rambled.

"Yeah? You wanna talk about it?" the woman asked and now Helena got a good look at her face.

"Detective Tierney? What the devil are you doing in my park?" Helena asked.

"No shortage of ego there," Jane said, wiping the dirt off herself. "You seem a little more distracted than usual, Wells."

"No, well yes, perhaps," Helena said, completely flustered now. "Well, good evening Detective. Again, I do apologize." With that, Helena turned and started her jog again. Within minutes, Helena was back to her pace and back to her thoughts.

Suddenly a voice came from behind her. "You said if I ever wanted to talk, I could call you," Jane said, catching up to Helena.

"Oh Detective, not now, please," Helena implored her. "Myka's sister is at the house and I have a good mind to go back there and strangle her."

"I love that my being a cop and all never deters you from sharing you inner most thoughts of doing bodily harm," Jane said, keeping up now. "Is she that bad?"

"That bad does not begin to describe her, Detective," Helena said sincerely.

Jane was a trained cop. She knew a lot about human behavior. She knew how to get people to talk. It was part of her job. "What's she like?" she asked Helena.

Maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through the Brit's veins, or the overload of thoughts in her head that made her go on the diatribe. "She didn't call, she just showed up. At first, I thought that disgusted look on Myka's face was because you called her," Helena started.

"Why would I call her?" Jane asked, trying to slow down their pace.

"Because I was afraid you would make good on that threat to share your feelings with me and so I instructed Ms. Sullivan to tell you to call Ms. Bering. She's…better with that… stuff," Helena explained, waving her hand at the last word.

"So you offered to listen to me, but were passing me along to Myka?" Jane asked and tried to sound serious. She found the whole thing funny.

"Yes, I can't listen …I mean …I don't have time to play therapist, Detective. You understand that, yes?" Helena said, wondering why they were spending so much time on Jane.

"Oh yeah, no I totally get it. It's just you have such a calling for it," Jane teased. Helena didn't get this woman's sense of humor.

"But you called me at the office," Helena noted.

"Yes, to thank you for – you know – taking such an interest in Pete and all," Jane said.

"Oh," Helena said. "You're welcome."

"Yeah so let's get back to Myka's sister," Jane said not wanting to spoil the moment. It was like flipping the verbal switch to the on position.

"Apparently, the younger sibling took it upon herself to come here and check things out for herself. She is insisting on staying over and at our place! I truly was going to let her have it, but Myka asked me not to do anything. The way she speaks to Myka, the condescending tone. I really am not convinced that they are blood relatives. I am going to conduct tests tomorrow, but you're not to say anything," Helena said.

"Hey, you want to slow down there," Jane said, now trying to keep up with Helena's quickened pace. She could tell that the more upset Helena got, the faster she ran. At this pace, Helena was going to collapse.

"I have a good mind to go back …there….and….give….her ….a piece…..of …..my ….mind," Helena said, losing her breath as her breathing rhythm was thrown off.

"Hey Wells, take it easy," Jane tried to tell her, but Helena was speeding up now …and still talking as she emerged from the park. Jane followed her across the broad avenue as Helena made a bee line for the townhouse. "Helena!" Jane called out to slow down and shut up.

"I don't…. know…. how….. Myka …does it, but I….. think….. she's being …too… kind. If…. I …get …in…. there …and …she's …upset…Myka," and the thought was enough to make the Brit start hyperventilating. "I …will."

Jane ran up the front steps and was right there to grab Helena as she bent over, trying to catch her breath. Jane banged on the door as she shouted at Helena to breathe through her nose and purse her lips. Myka answered the door and Jane pushed Helena through.

"What happened?" Myka asked, kneeling down in front of Helena when Jane got her to sit down.

"She's hyperventilating," Jane said and knelt, too. "Purse your lips, Helena. Like you're whistling. We got to slow your breathing."

The more Helena tried, the harder it seemed. Until Myka put her hands on her cheeks. "Look at me, Helena. Slowly," Myka said demonstrating it by slowing her own breathing down. She put one of Helena's hands on her chest so she could feel Myka's breathing in and out. Helena locked eyes with Myka, feeling her chest rise and fall, and slowly matched the pace with her breathing.

"What happened?" Myka asked when Helena's breathing was back to normal.

"You have to teach her to speak in short sentences and not paragraphs," Jane said, relieved the Brit was okay. "Would a contraction here and there kill you, Wells?"

"Maybe she's too old," a voice said and all three women turned to the speaker.

"Your sister?" Jane asked Myka who nodded her head.

"Tracy Bering-Benson," Tracy said introducing herself.

"Jane Tierney," the cop said back. "You're married?" Jane asked and it was more out of surprise than anything else.

"Oh yes, sorry I'm not available if that's what you mean," Tracy said mistaking Jane's interest. "I don't switch teams like Myka does."

Jane looked at the woman and understood Helena's speech now. She knelt in front of Helena who was breathing fine now. "Can I talk to you?" Jane asked and pointed to the library.

"CJ, could you just let Helena," Myka was saying, but Jane had Helena up on her feet.

"Are you okay?" Jane asked Helena.

"Yes, I'm okay," Helena said now that she caught her breath.

"Just give me a minute with her, ok?" Jane said and Myka looked at Helena to see if it was okay. Helena nodded and walked to the library with Jane in tow.

Once the door was closed, Jane turned to Helena. "You want to know why I broke up with Pete?" Jane asked and Helena couldn't believe how poorly timed this woman's confessions were.

"Not entirely," Helena said.

"He's a wonderful guy. I've never met anyone like him," Jane said. Helena rolled her eyes thinking this was going to take forever. "He's kind, he's sweet and thoughtful," Jane continued.

"Is there a point here?" Helena asked, anxious to take a shower.

"Yes, the point is Helena, he came with a lot of baggage," Jane said.

"Many people have baggage," Helena pointed out, using the cop's vernacular.

"I mean …you. You're his baggage," Jane said directly. She grimaced at the thought of having to spell this out to the otherwise seemingly bright woman.

"I beg your pardon! How the bloody hell am I Mr. Lattimer's baggage," Helena said indignantly.

"Helena, do you not get that you're like family to Pete? He's totally taken with you and Myka. You're like the family he never had. He tells me stories about what a great couple you are," Jane explained.

"Oh," Helena said, trying to take that in. "I hardly think of us as baggage."

"Well, you're part of the deal. If I want Pete, I get you two. And the other Wellsians, too," Jane said. Hard as it was for Jane to admit it, she really was sharing her feelings with the last person on earth she ever thought she would. "All he seemed to care about was work and working for you. I felt like I was going out with a crowd. It was too much, you know?" Jane said.

Helena tried to understand, but still couldn't figure out why the cop was defying her order of not sharing her feelings with her. It showed on her face.

"Helena, my point is – when you're with someone, someone serious that you care about, you kind of have to accept their baggage and remember that it means something to them," Jane tried again.

"So …you are going to go back with Mr. Lattimer?" Helena tried.

"Wow, the rumors of your brilliance are greatly exaggerated," Jane said and put her hand up before Helena could scream. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Listen, here's my point – if I have to accept you as part of Pete's family because it's really important to him, then maybe you can try to accept that woman in there because it's important to Myka."

So this really wasn't about Jane, the Brit finally got. "Oh, so you are suggesting I accept the baggage?" Helena said, trying the concept on for size.

"Yes, for Myka's sake. I mean, now that I've met the woman. I wouldn't even press charges if you …well, never mind," Jane said hoping this little pep talk was over.

"OK Detective, thank you," Helena said, thinking it took her an awfully long time to make the point, but thought it was a nice gesture just the same.

"You're welcome," Jane said.

The two women stepped outside where Myka was waiting. "Everything ok?" she asked Helena who seemed remarkably calm.

"Yes, Detective Tierney has explained everything to me," Helena said.

"OK ladies, I'd appreciate not being called back here in any official capacity," Jane smiled and said good night.

Myka smiled and couldn't help but wonder what that conversation was all about.

"Myka?" Helena said and when Myka turned to her – added, "I accept your baggage."