Here's to hoping the rumors of Pyka are just that and nothing more.

The Tempest

The car pulled up to the townhouse and the three women were greeted by paparazzi. "Ms. Wells? Is it true your worker here had a heart attack and now you're going to let her live with you?" was the poor wording the neophyte reporter chose when he pushed ahead of the photographers and into Helena's face.

Helena was tired and worried and in no mood for the rest of humanity. So she did what she always did – she reminded them of why she was still worth waiting for. She leaned in and grabbed him by his jacket until his face was very close to hers and said – "Never refer to Mrs. Frederic as my worker." And with that she let him go. Flashes went off so fast that Myka had to shield her eyes so she could see where to walk with Irene. Pete walked with Helena as they entered the townhouse.

"Oh Helena," Irene tried to gently chastise her boss for taking the bait. "You know they eat it up when you do that. Why do you let them get to you like that?"

Helena didn't answer – because she had no answer.

"Irene, it is good to see you although I was sorry to hear about this morning," Leena said to the woman she thought could be her mother-in-law one day if things continued with Gerald.

"I'm fine really and thank you, Leena," Irene said, as the door was closed behind them and the shouting died down.

"They've been here all afternoon," Leena said of the press.

"Well, they would get tired if Ms. Wells didn't put on a show for them," Irene said, smiling when Helena huffed in the background.

"Can I get you tea?" Leena asked and Helena looked directly at Myka. Myka gave her a look warning her not to say anything about Leena's tea. Myka had explained that everyone calls it tea whether or not Helena reserved that word for her definition only.

"That would be fine, if you don't mind," Irene said.

"Not at all and I have chicken and potatoes, if that's okay for dinner?" Leena asked their guest.

Helena again looked at Myka -"Well, I can see we no longer have a say in any of this."

"Boss, I'm going now," Pete said to Helena who walked him to the door.

"All you need to do is to gather information, yes?" Helena reminded Pete. She knew the ex-marine thrived on reconnaissance missions.

"Yes," Pete affirmed. "Project Rabbit Ears is a go." Helena looked at him quizzically. "We're working….on…ahem," Pete said pulling up his pants and puffing his chest out, "…some code names, you know …..secret names."

Helena continued to stare at him, trying to see the significance of this aspect of this job that needed to be done. "Just get me what I want, yes Mr. Lattimer?" Helena said.

"You got it, Eagle, boss, I meant boss," Pete said and ducking out the door. "I knew we should have worked this all out before," he muttered to himself.

Inside, Irene was sitting with Myka in the dining room. "Myka, it's very sweet of you to go along with this," Irene said, sipping on the delicious tea. It had been a long day for the woman.

"Oh Irene, it's not a bother at all. I actually enjoy seeing Helena with you," Myka said, in a low voice.

"Well, I don't think you'll enjoy this because quite frankly dear, I don't intend to be a very good houseguest. If I am, she'll never let me leave and I don't intend on overstaying my welcome. I'm going home tomorrow," Irene said and Myka pulled back in horror.

"Oh Irene, no – Helena won't …she wants you to …..here, she wants you here," Myka said all in one breath.

"Myka, I'm sure the woman who came up with a way to save my life, can come up with a way to monitor it from a distance. I intend to be a terrible houseguest so she begs me to leave," Irene said, thinking she was being very clever.

Myka wasn't so sure. Annoying Helena was easy, outsmarting her - impossible.

Across town, someone else thought they were outsmarting Helena Wells. Adelaide had an 8 o'clock appointment with Ted Grayson at the Waldorf Astoria bar and restaurant.

That afternoon, before Pete brought the patient home, Claudia mapped out the table arrangements and figured out the best place for Pete and Steve to sit.

"OK Batman, this is the best table for you to sit at," Claudia pointed out in the late afternoon meeting.

"Wait. You're Batman? What does that make me, Robin? No way," Steve protested.

"What's wrong with Robin? You want to be Alfred?" Pete asked, serious about working this detail out.

"No, I don't want to be Alfred," Steve said. He had ignored the whole code name suggestion until now.

"See? This is why we can't have code names," Claudia pointed out to Pete.

"No, we need them. OK, who do you want to be?" Pete asked.

"Well, let me see….," Steve said, suddenly giving it serious consideration. Claudia groaned and threw her hands up. "Wolverine," Steve finally said.

"Good! That's good," Pete said with enthusiasm.

"Right?" Steve said and Pete fist bumped him. Pete even pulled back faking an injury.

"Watch the blades, dude," Pete said kidding.

"Are you two done now or do we have to wait until you pick out costumes," Claudia said annoyed.

Pete and Steve looked at each other - a glimmer in their eyes as they momentarily entertained how cool it would be. "Nah," they said in unison.

"I think we should call this Mission Comic Con with you two," Claudia said.

"No, it's Project Rabbit Ears," Pete said because he had given this a great deal of thought.

"Project what?" the techie said, feeling as if she was left in charge of the daycare center.

"We're using a parabolic device and ear pieces so – Project Bunny Ears – cause they can hear well," Pete explained.

"Is that true? I didn't know…." Steve tried but Claudia slammed the map on the table.

"OK we got it. Now could you two superheroes manage to remember that THIS is the table you need to sit at with your equipment?" Claudia said exasperated.

"They have excellent burgers," Steve said of the restaurant.

"Listen to me," Claudia said leaning over the table. "The boss wants you to record what goes on. Record it and relay it here and we're done. Don't touch anything or anyone and for God's sakes, please don't be obvious or cause attention to yourselves," Claudia begged.

"Seriously Claud?" Pete said and Steve nodded in agreement.

Now the two men were decked out in suits and hidden ear pieces and were seated at the table at the far end of the restaurant from where Adelaide sat. The room was large enough that Steve and Pete couldn't be seen by their coworker who could easily recognize them. The parabolic device had been carefully concealed behind a vase on a podium that was against the wall near the table that was always reserved for Ted Grayson. A little after eight, he sat down at the table where Adelaide waited armed with what she felt would secure her future. Pete adjusted the volume remotely on the device and Steve turned on the recording mechanism and sat back and waited.

Adelaide's latest scoop made her a bit more brazen. "Ted, the proof I have is significant. It will have a huge impact on Wells Corp and by giving it to you, you could potentially gain a substantial amount. I'd like to iron out the details of our arrangements now," Adelaide said.

"You must feel confident that this news, as you call it, couldn't be attained through other sources," Ted said, sipping on his scotch and water. He had decided this was the last rendezvous he was affording the woman who had wasted so much of his time.

"I used advanced software to get into a private group within Wells Corp to get the info," the traitor said. "So let's talk. What do I get in exchange?"

"Depending on how useful this actually is to me, we can talk heading up one of our labs in London," Ted said unfazed.

"London? What happened to New York?" Adelaide demanded clearly.

"Dr. Nathanson, let me make sure you're dealing with a full deck. You do understand whom you are messing with?" Ted asked leaning in now.

He didn't look threatening nor did he sound it. "Are you threatening me?" Adelaide asked confused.

"I'm not talking about me, Doctor. When the woman you work for finds out that you've given me information and that then you're working for me, Manhattan isn't the place you'll want to be. In fact, I'm not sure London will be safe, but it's the only place I have an opening," Ted said nonchalantly.

Adelaide didn't care. As far as she was concerned, Helena Wells and Wells Corp didn't recognize her talents and contributions. "Fine, I accept," the woman said.

"It hasn't been offered yet," Ted pointed out.

"It will be when you see this," Adelaide said and showed Ted the internal announcement.

"So that's who her heir is, eh?" Ted said reading the memo and quickly doing a search of the name. "Well what do you know; she really does have a relative."

"Yes, and word has it that Helena is already passing along projects to the inexperienced imp," Adelaide said, disgusted. "She's a secretary for God's sake!"

Steve looked over at Pete and grimaced. They both knew Helena would not take kindly to that remark.

"What kind of projects?" Ted asked. He sat back and rubbed his pointy chin. He wasn't an unattractive man, but his features were slightly misaligned and it kept him from being a dead ringer for an older Christian Bale.

"Well, she's already in charge of some television production about HG Wells, and Helena is taking her around with her now to meetings and internal luncheons," the woman reported smugly.

"Ha! Helena Wells doing staff luncheons?" Ted laughed out loud. "The damn Brit has gone soft."

Each time one of them insulted Helena, Pete and Steve looked at each other.

"Have they broken this to the news?" Ted asked, finishing his drink.

"No, it's being kept a secret among an inner group at Wells," Adelaide said.

"OK Dr. Nathanson, you've delivered. The job in London is yours. But first, I get to break this to the news. That way, it will look like the great Helena Wells is holding back info. Her trust rating goes down the drain," Ted said trying to make as much out of this as he could.

"Well, what do I do?" the woman sitting opposite him asked.

"You my dear better go home and pack. And quickly. I'll have a jet waiting for you at Kennedy Airport tonight to take you to London. You might not want to be here when this breaks and they figure out who the messenger was," Ted advised her.

"I have a non-compete clause you know. I can't work in Nanotechnology for you," Adelaide said.

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Ted said, no longer worried about what department his HR Director put the woman in charge of. They were seriously considering closing the London lab within the next year.

Pete and Steve ordered their dinner since they had to wait around and collect the equipment. As Ted and Adelaide ironed out the details of her contract, the two men texted Claudia.

"How the frack did I become Raven?" Claudia said annoyed as she read the text addressed to her as such.

"Raven?" Eileen asked.

"Pete and his stupid code names," Claudia mocked.

"Oh like Edgar Allen Poe? Or the adorable Olivia on The Cosby Show?" Eileen mused.

"What? No, Raven from Teen Titans, the morose Goth like character in the comic," Claudia huffed.

"Really? That's kind of funny," Eileen said.

"Yeah well that makes you Starfire, missy," Claudia said, laughing now at the thought of Eileen as a Teen Titan character.

"Oh that is funny," Eileen laughed a little too hard.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" Claudia said looking right into those azure eyes.

"I…..," Eileen hesitated, and finally said, "…have no idea."

This confession and look of guilt made Claudia laugh and pull her girlfriend into her. "We are so going to have work on your badassery."

Irene did her best to make a fuss over everything, including asking Helena to get the ketchup after they were seated for dinner. Then she changed her mind, and asked if Helena had any Dijon mustard and then said she would eat the chicken plain. She even tried to refuse the first two bedrooms offered to her because of the mattress firmness. Then she asked for a room where the sun wouldn't shine through the windows. Each time, Helena took a deep breath, locked eyes with Myka for patience, and did as she was asked.

By nine o'clock, the HR Director was too tired to play the game anymore and finally settled into one of the rooms.

Myka was amused by the game and bit her lip more than once to keep from laughing. She understood Irene's dilemma of not wanting to stay, but Myka's money was on Helena. She knew who would win in the end.

"Want me to rub your back?" Myka asked certain that it was their bedtime, too.

"Myka, would you mind if I worked on something downstairs? I need to check on a few things now that Irene is on ….her new…medicine," Helena asked, choosing her words carefully.

"You still haven't explained that entirely to me, Helena," Myka reminded her.

"Yes, I will darling. It's stem cells that have regenerated with her own cells. Brilliant actually," Helena said, proud of her invention.

"And do you have syringes filled with stem cells for everyone?" Myka asked, her eyebrows questioning the scientist before her.

"Not everyone. Irene in particular because I know her history and her age. It was more likely that she would need it before …anyone else," Helena said.

"OK, but please don't stay up too late. You know how you get when you're working on something in that lab," Myka reminded her.

"Not more than an hour, I promise and I will be back," Helena said, kissing the lips she missed all day. Just touching them made Helena hesitate. And she went back in to kiss them again. "You do make it hard for me to work," Helena said in a breathy tone.

"Maybe you can work on it in the morning," Myka said, running the tip of her tongue over her top lip. This action alone usually caused Helena to open her mouth and stare.

"I can't …there's a timing element to this…and," Helena said slowly.

Myka didn't mind teasing Helena, but she knew what she was working on was important. "When you come back then," Myka said and kissed Helena quickly.

If it weren't for the fact that Helena needed to do something within a certain timeframe, she would have given in to the temptation of Myka. Now she was even more annoyed as she stamped her feet down the stairs to her laboratory. She grabbed her shoes from the hallway and a coat and went down to the lab. A few presses of the keypad and she went behind the door that Leena wondered more and more about.

Adelaide took a cab back to her apartment, almost giddy with delight at what she had accomplished. She was going to get her things together and pack. She walked to her apartment door, put the two different keys into the locks, and unlocked them. Then she entered and pressed in the security code on the alarm. She went directly to her bedroom where she decided to gather her more personal belongings – her jewelry. She turned on the bedroom light and went straight for the safe in her walk-in closet. She turned the knob to the right combination and pulled opened the safe door. Much to her horror, it was empty. Her diamond necklace and 18K gold watch were missing. So was her passport. She pushed papers around hoping to find them, but they were missing. Adelaide could only assume she had been robbed, but how?

She walked back into her bedroom in a state of confusion.

"Looking for these?" the woman in the chair said to Adelaide and shocked her.

There dangling off of Helena's fingers were the necklace and watch that had been secured in the safe. Helena watched as the woman fainted – and fell to the carpeted floor. Then she sat there waiting for her to come to.

Helena hoped it didn't take too long, because she had promised Myka she'd be back in an hour and she only had thirty minutes left.