Disclaimer: I own nothing but the spoon.

Author's Note: This chapter finally begins Claudia's interactions with the rest of the Warehouse team. From here on the pieces should begin to get a little longer now that I actually have solid material to work with. This piece takes place the night after episode 5 during Claudia's first night as an official member of the Warehouse team. Enjoy!

***Special thanks to adelaidybug for actually taking time to review the last chapter. You're awesome.***

Of Insomnia and Scotchies

It was official. Claudia was staying at Warehouse 13. She wasn't old enough to be a field agent so it was more as a sort of intern, but still. It felt strange to have a permanent place of residence. True, she'd been living in her rented apartment for four years, but that had started as a temporary thing and somehow in her mind it had just stayed that way. And now she had a real place. She couldn't really call it home yet. She had only been there for a few days. But it was a definite start.

She also had a real job. That was new. She had been fifteen when she had hacked the foster system and changed her file so she was legally emancipated. Finding legal work for a fifteen-year-old had been tricky, so that had also caused her first journey into the world of fake IDs. Even then, most of the jobs she landed hadn't been exactly honest.

She had worked a few "real" jobs in the last four years, but none of them had lasted. Either she had quit because the job was too boring or been fired because she wasn't boring enough. Eventually she had given up. Then she had started seeing Joshua again and she had turned to hacking to pay the bills while she tried to figure out what exactly had happened to her brother.

Who was now off working a job in CERN. Claudia had initially taken that as her cue to leave. She had gotten what she needed from Warehouse 13 and it was time to part ways. Why not test her skills in Vegas? A girl could always use a little pocket money. It would be fun to see how far she could go without getting caught. At least, that was what she had told herself.

In reality, Vegas had been boring at best. It was too easy. Card counting was kid stuff. The tricks that had seemed almost magical in middle school were nothing compared to having hacked into one of the most secure facilities in the United States. Claudia had tasted a true challenge, and now all lesser things were officially ruined. That left her with two choices. She could either go back to Warehouse 13 or she could spend the rest of her life making due with boredom. And Claudia had never been good with boredom.

That was how she had come to be sitting on the downstairs couch in the B&B at three in the morning. The chronic insomnia she had developed over the last two years had once again decided to rear its ugly head. A week ago Claudia would have reacted by returning to work on what she had mentally dubbed the Joshua Problem. But now Josh was safe and she had no idea what to do with herself.

"Can't sleep?" a voice asked. Claudia looked up to see Leena standing in the doorway.

"Haven't you heard?" Claudia asked in a joking tone. "Genius whiz kids don't sleep. We're all circuit boards and wires."

"I see," Leena said with a smile. She came over to the couch and sat down beside Claudia. "I remember my first week here. I couldn't sleep either. Everything was so new and big. It was all so overwhelming."

"You could say that again," Claudia agreed.

"You'll get used to it," Leena assured her. Claudia shrugged. Leena waited a moment to see if Claudia would say anything. When she didn't, Leena decided to take another angle.

"So Joshua's off to CERN," she said. Claudia nodded.

"Yup," she said. "He's off smashing atoms with the other smart kids."

"That must be hard," Leena said sympathetically.

"He's a big boy," Claudia said, intentionally misinterpreting the question. "He'll be fine."

"I'm sure he will," Leena agreed. "And so will you."

Claudia shrugged half-heartedly. When she had first walked through the doors of the B&B she had been all laughter and sarcasm. But now she just looked lonely.

"I know we're not Joshua," Leena said seriously, "but we're all here for you. Yes, we're a little crazy at times-"

"A little?" Claudia asked drily. But there was warmth her eyes.

"Okay, maybe very crazy," Leena agreed with a smile. "But we're a family. And you're a part of it now. You're not alone anymore, Claudia."

"That was pretty good," Claudia said, trying to look impressed. "Did you practice that little spiel?"

"Maybe," Leena said vaguely. Claudia grinned. Leena turned to look in the direction of the kitchen, an idea forming in her mind. When she turned back, there was a twinkle in her eyes. "Do you like cookies?"

"Is that seriously even a question?" Claudia asked. "Of course I like cookies. Who doesn't?"

"Good," Leena said conspiratorially. "Because late-night baking just so happens to be the perfect cure for insomnia."

"Does it, now?" Claudia said, a grin forming on her face.

"Yes," Leena confirmed. She was also grinning. "I think a batch of Oatmeal Scotchies should do the trick, don't you?"

"I think you might be right," Claudia agreed.

"Shall we?" Leena asked, standing up and motioning at the kitchen.

"Take me to your kitchen, earthling," Claudia said robotically. Leena laughed.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

In the end, neither one of them went back to bed. Once the cookies were finished, they sat on the porch and talked while they waited for the sunrise. Then they headed inside for coffee. They were already on their second cups by the time Myka came down.

"Good morning," Leena said warmly.

"Good morning," Myka said, pulling back a chair so she could join them at the table. "You're up early."

"Late, actually," Claudia corrected.

A loud yawn caused them all to turn as Pete come stumbling in, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He was still in the sweatpants and college T-shirt he always slept in.

"I smell Scotchies," he said through a yawn.

"Courtesy of Claudia," Leena told him.

"Leena did all the work," Claudia told him. "I just supervised. And licked the spoon."

"Hey," Pete said, sitting down at the table. "I wanted to lick the spoon."

"Then ya should've been up earlier," Claudia said with a shrug.

"The early bird gets the worm," Myka added, grinning.

"And the spoon," Pete pouted.

The front door swung open and Artie came in, already talking about something. Claudia had discovered quickly that Artie Neilsen woke up far earlier and was alert much quicker than any normal human being had a right to be. Sometimes Claudia wondered if it was simply because he took joy in being the irritating morning person that drove everyone else crazy.

"Good morning," he said cheerily as he came into the dining room. "Ah, good, you're all up. I have a- Wait." He stopped suddenly and held up his pointer finger, sniffing the air. "Do I smell Scotchies?"

"Breakfast first," Leena said, a smile playing across her face.

As Pete and Artie both began to argue pleadingly with her over why they couldn't just have Scotchies for breakfast, Claudia decided that maybe Leena was right. Life at Warehouse 13 wasn't making omelets with Joshua or listening to him read Maria Looney on the Red Planet. But it had a set of perks all its own that just might make it a very close second.

She could learn to live with that.

Imaginary Scotchies for anyone who leaves a review. First reviewer gets to lick the imaginary spoon. :)