Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: This brings us into season two. Craziness. The season two opener shows the defeat of MacPherson and the introduction of H.G. Wells. When I was rewatching the episode, I noticed that Myka goes from being completely convinced by the evidence of Claudia's guilt to readily accepting her innocence only a few scenes later. I feel like something must have happened in that time to change her mind. Hence the last chapter with Claudia leaving a video recording. This chapter picks up from there. Enjoy!

Guide You Home

Myka shook her head again as Pete parked his car outside the B&B.

"We have been working this job for six months," she said, "and you still don't carry your passport with you?"

"If I did carry it everywhere, I would lose it," Pete pointed out as he put the car in park. "It'll only take a sec. We still have plenty of time to get to the airport."

He climbed out of the car and shut the door behind him. After a moment's hesitation, Myka did the same. Pete eyed her curiously as he unlocked the door to the B&B.

"What'd you forget?" he asked.

"Nothing," Myka said defensively. "I'm just getting a book for the road."

"Six months on this job and you still don't carry books with you?" he asked smugly. Myka stuck her tongue out in response. Pete grinned and started up the stairs. Myka rolled her eyes before following suit.

Pete reached the top first and headed into his room.

"Give me just a sec!" he called.

Myka could hear him rifling through his desk as she reached the top. He probably didn't even know where his passport was. She shook her head and entered her own room.

The first thing she noticed was that there was something on her bed. Curious, Myka walked over to investigate. Upon closer inspection, she recognized the image as a picture of her, Pete, and Claudia. It had been taken two weeks before by Leena. But what was it doing in her room?

She noticed then that the picture has been resting against a phone. Claudia's phone. Myka picked it up to see a still frame of Claudia staring up at her. It was a video. Now Myka was intrigued. She pressed the button to start the video.

"Hey," Claudia's image said. She seemed a bit uncomfortable. "So, um, obviously if you guys are watching this, then you know that I'm gone. Well, not gone gone. Just... not here."

She shook her head to stop the rambling. Her short hair ruffled a bit in the process.

"I don't really know what happened," Claudia admitted. She looked far more serious than Myka had ever seen her. She also seemed terribly nervous and fidgety. "Leena and Mrs. Frederic think that I'm helping MacPherson. But you know that I would never betray the Warehouse like that. I would never do anything to hurt any of you. Not on purpose."

Claudia nervously bit her bottom lip. When she raised her gaze, she looked as if she had just lost her best friend.

"Maybe they're right," Claudia said softly. She seemed to have completely deflated, all fight gone out of her. "Maybe MacPherson brainwashed me somehow and I've been working for him in my sleep or something. Or maybe I'm just crazy. I don't know. But I can't stay here anymore. If I really am a mole, then it's too dangerous for all of you. And if I'm not... Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. Everybody already thinks it's me anyway."

There was another brief pause. She looked so small and alone. Suddenly Myka just wanted to reach through the phone and hug her. Then Claudia's shoulders stiffened and a hard resolve entered her eyes.

"When you find MacPherson, kick his teeth in for me. Claudia out."

The video stopped and reset to the beginning, signaling that it was over. Myka just stared at the phone. She didn't know what to say.

"Found it!" Pete yelled, coming into her room with his passport held triumphantly aloft. He lowered his arm when he saw her face. "Mykes?"

"You were right," Myka said softly. "Claudia's not working with MacPherson."

She handed the phone over to Pete. He gave her a worried look before pressing the play button. Myka stood in silence as he watched the short video. When it finished, Pete looked back up at her.

"I should have believed you," Myka said guiltily. "I should have known it wasn't her."

"The evidence is pretty convincing," Pete pointed out. "You couldn't have known."

"But I should have," Myka insisted. This time there was anger in her voice as she pointed at the phone. "Look at her, Pete! She's scared. We're her family. We should have believed her. But we didn't. And now she's out there alone."

"Artie's gonna find her," Pete assured her. He rested his hands on his shoulders to be sure he had her attention. "And when he does, we'll get this whole thing sorted out. The best way for us to help Claudia is to figure out what MacPherson was planning so we can prove she wasn't involved."

"You're right," Myka said, giving in.

"Can I get that in writing?" Pete asked. Myka grinned a little in spite of herself.

"Don't push it," she said. She glanced down at her watch. "We need to go. Our plane leaves in two hours."

Pete gave a dramatic bow.

"Your carriage awaits, my lady," he said in his best posh British accent.

Myka shook her head as she headed for the stairs.

"Come along, Jeeves," she said, mimicking his accent.

"Yes, milady," Pete said with a grin. He turned and followed her down the stairs.

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

It was late by the time they got back to the B&B. Artie had stayed at the Warehouse, saying that he needed some time alone. Myka didn't blame him. There was a time when MacPherson had been his closest friend. That loss would take time to get over.

Dinner consisted of takeout, something that almost never happened at the B&B. No one seemed to mind though. Everyone was exhausted. It had been a crazy few days.

After dinner, they all retreated to their respective rooms. Myka sat down her bed with a stack of reports and set to work. It was around nine o'clock when she heard a knock at her door. She looked up from the papers in front of her to see Claudia standing there.

"Hey, Claude," she said with a smile. "What's up?"

"I, uh, wanted to return this," Claudia said. She walked over to the bed and held out a book. It was Myka's copy The Time Machine. "I sort of borrowed it when I... left."

Myka made no move to take the book. Instead she looked up and said, "You keep it."

"Are you sure?" Claudia asked skeptically. Myka nodded.

"I can always buy another copy," she said. "Besides, I want you to have it."

Claudia looked from Myka to the book and back again. Then she slowly retracted her arms so she was holding the book against her chest as if it were a precious treasure.

"Thanks," she said seriously.

"You're welcome," Myka said with a smile. "But there's one condition. Next time you get framed for something, give us a chance to figure it out before you run off. That way Artie doesn't have to chase you all the way to Switzerland. He hates flying."

"I can do that," Claudia said with a small smile. Then she looked down at the toes of her shoes. "I just... didn't think anyone would believe me, you know?"

"Pete did," Myka told her. "He never doubted you. Neither did Artie really."

"What about you?" Claudia asked carefully. She seemed to be holding her breath as she waited for the answer.

"I didn't at first," Myka admitted. "But I should have. Sometimes I get so caught up in the evidence that I can't see the people behind it. But I know that you would never hurt the Warehouse. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"It's okay," Claudia said, shrugging it off. "For a while there, I didn't believe me either."

"Well, next time I will," Myka said firmly. "That's a promise. You're not crazy, Claude."

"You sure about that?" Claudia asked teasingly.

"Maybe just a little," Myka amended. Claudia grinned.

"You know," she said hesitantly, looking down at the book in her arms, "we never really finished that chapter."

Myka looked down at the papers spread out on her bed and then back up.

"I'm not doing anything," she said emphatically. Claudia grinned.

She climbed up onto the bed, adjusting a pillow so she could lean against it. Myka swept the mess of papers into a stack and pushed it to the end of her bed before joining the younger girl. Claudia handed the book over to her. Myka flipped through to the bookmark and located a line she deemed a fair starting place. Then she paused and looked over at Claudia.

"Hey Claude?" she said.

"Yeah?" Claudia said, looking up at her.

"I'm glad you came back," Myka said sincerely. Claudia smiled then. It was one of the biggest smiles Myka had ever seen from the younger girl.

"Well, you know what they say," she said. "There's no place like home."

"I'm pretty sure Dorothy meant Kansas," Myka said teasingly.

"Kansas, South Dakota, same thing," Claudia said with a shrug. "Now read. I want to know what happens."

Myka laughed. For the first time since the whole MacPherson thing began, she suddenly knew they were going to be okay.

You guys know the drill with reviews by now. I've had some comments about maybe seeing more of a tougher Claudia, so I decided I'd address that. Most of the story is going to be exactly this: humor, adding closure/clarification to specific plot lines, and further developing certain relationships. There will be some tougher Claudia later on as it starts to come back out in the show, but for the time being it's mostly going to be more of the same. If that's not really your cup of tea, then this may not be the story for you. I just wanted to clarify that to be sure we're all on the same page here. Thanks again to everyone who is reading this story and everyone who has reviewed it. I hope you'll continue to follow it as we head into season two. :)