Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: This episode began the two part season finale. Pete, Myka, and HG headed off to Egypt to find and shutdown the lost Warehouse 2 to keep it from destroying Mrs. Frederic. The first part of this chapter occurs at the beginning of the episode when Pete goes to the girls for advice on Kelly and Mrs. Frederic randomly shows up during the discussion. The second part picks up right as Claudia and Mrs. Frederic discover that HG was the mysterious benefactor who hired the young archeologists to find Warehouse 2, thereby making her a villain. Enjoy!

My Illusion, My Mistake

"You're in love."

The voice caused them all to jump a little. Mrs. Frederic had suddenly appeared and was standing behind Pete.

"How does she do that?" Claudia muttered.

"Oh, hi Mrs. F," Pete said awkwardly. He started over to Mrs. Frederic, trying to nonchalantly explain away what she must have overheard. They could all tell it was a conversation that was going to get very awkward very fast.

"We should go," Myka said quietly.

"Agreed," HG said.

Claudia slid the papers she was holding back into their drawer while Myka and HG set theirs on the table. Then the three of them tiptoed over to the archive room as quickly as they could. Once they were in, Claudia carefully eased the door shut behind them.

"That was close," Myka said.

"I feel kinda bad for leaving him out there alone," Claudia admitted. "Maybe we should go help him."

The three of them looked at each other for a moment before all shaking their heads.

"Nah," Claudia said.

"Maybe not," HG agreed.

"Nope," Myka added. "I'm sure he can take care of himself."

"I don't know, man," Claudia said. "Mrs. F. is pretty scary."

"She does seem rather intimidating," HG admitted.

"It didn't look like he was in any trouble," Myka said, trying to convince herself that she had not, in fact, just thrown her partner to the wolves.

"You think she's giving him relationship advice?" Claudia asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Mrs. Frederic?" HG asked incredulously. There was a second of silence as they all let that idea sink in. Then Myka snorted.

"I doubt it," she said drily.

HG suddenly sniffed the air.

"It smells in here," she said.

"I like the smell of old books," Myka said defensively.

"As do I," HG assured her. "But I believe these particular volumes may have passed their expiration date."

"Tell me about it," Claudia said. "I keep telling Artie it's time to join the twenty-first century and go digital, but you know how he is about change."

"Hey, guys!" Pete's voice suddenly yelled. "I need help in here!"

"That sounds legit," Claudia said seriously.

She grabbed the door and pulled it open, dashing out of the archive room. Myka and HG were right behind her.

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

Claudia stared at the computer screen in shock.

"That can't be right," she said in confusion. "The money that was used to hire those students. It's from..."

"It's from Warehouse 13," Mrs. Frederic finished.

Claudia pulled away from the computer as she saw the name at the bottom of the screen. HG Wells. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be.

"Where's Arthur?" Mrs. Frederic asked.

"I don't know," Claudia admitted, turning to look around his office. "He said he'd be right back. But that was hours ago."

She turned back to Mrs. Frederic with wide eyes.

"You don't think something happened to him, do you?" she asked.

"Call his Farnsworth," Mrs. Frederic ordered.

Claudia grabbed up her own Farnsworth and placed the call. The only answer she received was static.

"There's no signal," Claudia said worriedly. "Something is definitely wrong."

"Can you track the signal on his Farnsworth?" Mrs. Frederic asked. Claudia nodded.

"Yeah, give me a sec," she said. She bent over the keyboard and set to work. A moment later a frown crossed her face. "Seriously? Come on!"

"What is it?" Mrs. Frederic asked.

"I'm not getting a signal," Claudia said in frustration.

"Interference?" Mrs. Frederic asked. Claudia shook her head.

"No, even then there should be some small wave to pick up on," she explained. "Right now there is literally nothing. It's like he turned his Farnsworth off."

"As if he doesn't want to be found," Mrs. Frederic surmised with an irritated frown.

"Found," Claudia said suddenly, her eyes widening. "That's it! Lost and found!"

"Explain," Mrs. Frederic ordered.

"Artie kept losing his glasses case," Claudia explained as her fingers flew across the keyboard, "so I rigged his glasses with a locator to help find them. If I can lock onto the signal in his glasses, then I can... There!"

Her eyes widened in surprise as she realized what the screen was telling her.

"This says he's in Egypt," she said, her eyes widening in surprise. She looked over at Mrs. Frederic in confusion.

"He went after Ms. Wells," Mrs. Frederic explained. "He must have figured it out."

"I still don't get it," Claudia said. "Why would HG betray us?"

"I am not sure," Mrs. Frederic admitted. "But it is clear that Arthur was right. Ms. Wells is no friend of the Warehouse."

"That doesn't make sense," Claudia told her. "She's been with the Warehouse for almost two months now. If she was gonna betray us, why would she wait this long?"

"I don't know," Mrs. Frederic said quietly. "But betray us she has."

"No," Claudia said firmly. She shook her head and stepped away from the computer. "No, there's gotta be another explanation. HG is not a villain, okay? She's saved all of our lives! Why would she do that if she was just going to betray us?"

"I don't want to believe it either," Mrs. Frederic assured her. "But the evidence is clear and irrefutable."

"Yeah, well, the evidence said I was a traitor too," Claudia reminded her. "And it was wrong. Maybe HG's being framed."

"By whom?" Mrs. Frederic asked.

"I don't know," Claudia admitted. "But it's at least a possibility, right?"

"Before MacPherson died," Mrs. Frederic said, "he was preparing to tell you something, was he not?"

"He said he was gonna tell us his plan," Claudia said slowly.

"At which point Ms. Wells destroyed the paladium necklace and thereby ended his life," Mrs. Frederic continued.

"He would've killed all of us if he'd had half a chance," Claudia said, automatically jumping to HG's defense.

"Is it not possible," Mrs. Frederic continued, "that Ms. Wells chose to destroy MacPherson so he could not reveal their plan to you?"

"Well..." Claudia trailed off. Now that it had been said out loud, it did seem far too coincidental. "I guess."

"And is it not also possible that she worked her way into Warehouse 13 to secure her way to Warehouse 2 so that she could finish what she and MacPherson started?"

Claudia slowly sank down into the unoccupied desk chair as all of the pieces began to fall into place. It was all beginning to make sense now. HG hadn't cared about any of them. It had all been about getting to Warehouse 2.

"She played us," Claudia said softly. "I can't believe it. This whole time she was just using us."

"As hard as this is," Mrs. Frederic told her, "we have bigger fish. Agents Latimer and Bering are out there now with Ms. Wells. It is imperative that we alert them to her true nature before she has a chance to betray them as well."

Claudia took a deep breath and let it out.

"Okay," she said, pushing down her emotions. "What do we do?"

"Call Agent Latimer again," Mrs. Frederic said. "I will contact the Regents and brief them on what we know. With a bit of luck, we will be able to find Ms. Wells and stop her before she has a chance to finish her plans. I hate to think what her endgame might be."

Mrs. Frederic got to her feet and headed across the room to the table her handbag was currently resting atop. Claudia flipped her Farnsworth back open and sent out another call.

"Come on, Pete," she muttered. "Pick up."

I can't believe how fast the season two chapters have gone by! Almost time for season three. In the meantime, how about a review? :)