Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: I am officially back on track with regular updates. We'll see how long that holds for. Anyway. This episode involved Lewis Carol's mirror getting out of the dark vault and a body-jumping Alice running around lose trying to find a way to kill Artie. At the very end Claudia and Steve are talking about their pain connection caused by the metronome, but we don't actually get the see the scene where Steve admits it all to her. This chapter is what I think that scene might have looked like. Enjoy!
No Pain, No Gain
"Geez!" Claudia said as she rolled her shoulder. "What did you guys do to me?"
"Maybe you should ask Steve," Myka said pointedly.
"Ah!" Claudia yelped. She pulled back her sleeve to check for bruising, but there was none. "Did he hit me with a truck or something?"
"Actually," Steve said, coming to stand beside her, "you sort of... hit yourself."
"I hit myself?" Claudia asked in obvious disbelief.
"Sort of," Steve said awkwardly.
"Either I did or I didn't," Claudia told him.
"It's a bit of a long story," Steve said.
"I think it's time you two had a talk," Myka said.
"About what?" Claudia asked.
Myka looked around the hotel room without answering. Artie and Vanessa had stepped into the hall for a moment of privacy. Pete was standing near the door looking at an old lamp on the table.
"Pete, how about we step outside," Myka told him.
"Why?" Pete asked in confusion as Myka walked toward him.
"Just come on," Myka said. She grabbed his sleeve as she passed, dragging him to the door with her.
"Ow!" Pete cried as he stumbled after her. "Okay, okay, I'm coming!"
The door shut loudly behind them, leaving Steve and Claudia alone in the room.
"What was that all about?" Claudia asked suspiciously.
"There's something we need to talk about," Steve said awkwardly.
"I don't like that tone," Claudia said, narrowing her eyes.
"I recently discovered something about the metronome," Steve said. He reached up to rub the back of his neck in a nervous gesture.
"Okay..." Claudia said slowly. "And?"
"Apparently when you used it to bring me back you somehow... linked us."
"Meaning what?" Claudia pressed.
"Meaning that now anytime I feel pain, you feel it too," Steve admitted. Claudia's eyes widened in surprise.
"Are you serious?" she asked. Steve nodded. Claudia's eyes fell on his bloodied shoulder and widened even further. "So my shoulder..."
"You, well, Alice came at me with the shard, and…"
"Ouch," Claudia said as she rubbed her stinging shoulder. "Talk about instant karma."
"Yeah," Steve said sympathetically. "So all the phantom pains you've been having-"
"Were really your pain," Claudia finished. Steve nodded. "So does it work the other way too?"
"Nope," Steve said. "If you slam your finger in a door, I don't feel anything."
"Oh," Claudia said in disappointment. "Cause if you did, then we'd be like those psychically connected twins that always know when the other one's in trouble. Come to think of it, maybe that's how they do it..."
"I doubt it," Steve said drily. "None of that stuff is real anyway."
"Fine, Poopy Pants," Claudia told him. "Don't believe in science."
She moved to cross her arms and immediately hissed as pain shot down her arm.
"Okay," she winced. "Maybe this isn't so cool after all."
"This is why I've been trying to stay out of the field," Steve admitted. "I didn't want to risk you getting hurt because of me."
"It's not so bad," Claudia said. She waved him off with her hand and just barely covered up another wince. "I can handle it."
"You can handle this," Steve told her. "But what if I get blown up or set on fire or any number of other things? Could you handle that?"
"You'll just have to be careful, that's all," Claudia said nonchalantly.
"I'm serious, Claude," Steve said firmly. "This job can be dangerous. I might not be able to die, but you can. And I refuse to be the cause of that. Which is why I have to get myself off the metronome."
"Are you crazy?" Claudia protested. "Taking you off the metronome could kill you!"
"And staying on it could kill you," Steve countered. "I couldn't live with myself if you got seriously injured because of me."
"And I couldn't live if you died again!" Claudia cried. "I've already been down that road once, Jinxy. I'm not going there again."
"That won't happen," Steve assured her. "I'm not just gonna go out and smash the metronome. I've been doing some research in the Warehouse library for a way to get myself off the metronome without dying. There's got to be something in there. I just have to find it. And until then, I'll just take it easy."
"You better," Claudia muttered. She pulled back her fist to lightly sock his shoulder, but Steve quickly held up his hands to stop her.
"I wouldn't do that," he told her. Claudia looked from her fist in the air to his bloody shoulder and then over to her own shoulder.
"Right," she said, letting her fist fall. Then her eyes narrowed. "Does this mean I have to start being nice to you?"
"It means you probably shouldn't hit me," Steve clarified. "Or push me around. Or throw things at me. Or slam your brakes to try and make me hit your dashboard. Or-"
"Okay, okay, I get it," Claudia interrupted. She held up her pointer finger as an idea struck. "But I can still call you names."
Steve opened his mouth to argue and then closed it again.
"That's true," he agreed in defeat.
"Don't worry, Poopy Pants," Claudia told him. "We'll sort this out and then everything will go back to normal."
She clapped a hand on his shoulder in what was meant to be a reassuring gesture, but it only made them both yelp in pain.
"We need to figure this out quick," Steve said, holding his shoulder.
"Yeah," Claudia groaned. "Let's get back to the Warehouse. Then we can put our heads together." She winced as she rolled her shoulder. "And maybe we can pick up some Tylenol on the way back."
"I would be okay with that," Steve agreed.
"You know this is all your fault, right?" Claudia told him.
"How is it my fault?" Steve asked as he started walking toward the door.
"You jumped in front of me and got us both stabbed," Claudia accused.
"Because you tried to kill Artie," Steve countered.
"I was possessed by Lady Cray Cray," Claudia argued, stopping in front of the door.
"True," Steve agreed. "But you used the artifact that caused us to be linked."
"Only because you were stupid enough to get yourself dead," Claudia pointed out.
"I was trying to save the Warehouse from a psychopath," Steve said. Claudia's eyes narrowed.
"I really hate it when you're noble," she said. Steve smiled widely and pulled open the door, gesturing for her to go ahead. Claudia rolled her eyes as she walked through it.
Pete and Myka were standing right outside the door. They both looked up as Steve and Claudia came out. Artie and Vanessa were a few steps away engaged in conversation.
"Did you guys sort everything out?" Myka asked. Steve nodded.
"Yeah," he said, glancing over at Claudia. "We're good."
"Well, except for the whole telepathy thing," Pete added.
"It's not telepathy, Pete," Myka said. She gave him a look that said she couldn't believe he had said that out loud. "Telepathy is the ability to communicate with your mind."
"This is more like telepain," Claudia said drily. "Worst. Superpower. Ever."
"Speaking of pain," Myka said, looking over at Steve. "We should probably go to the hospital first and get your shoulder looked at."
"It's not as bad as it looks," Steve said. "It really doesn't even hurt."
"He's lying, isn't he?" Myka asked with a pointed look at Claudia. The younger agent immediately nodded.
"Oh yeah," she said, reaching up to gingerly rub her shoulder.
"So this is what it feels like to have people know when you're lying," Steve said in sudden interest.
"Welcome to my world," Claudia told him.
"You really should get that should looked at," Myka told him. "That shard went in pretty deep. You might need stitches"
"Oh, come on, Mykes," Pete said. "Steve's a big boy. He'll be fine. Right, Steve-o?"
He clapped a heavy hand on Steve's shoulder to prove his point. Immediately both Steve and Claudia's faces twisted in pain.
"Ow!" they yelled together. Pete quickly withdrew his hand.
"Sorry," he said with a wince.
"I'm going to kill you," Claudia said through clenched teeth. She flashed Pete a dangerous glare that made him gulp.
"Oh-kay," Myka said, quickly stepping in before Claudia decided to hurt Pete. "Let's start moving toward the car."
She took hold of Claudia's uninjured arm and steered her purposefully toward the stairs. Pete stared after them with wide eyes.
"Are you sure Alice came out of her?" he asked nervously as Myka and Claudia started down the stairs.
"Mostly," Steve said with a carefully straight face. He started walking toward the top of the stairs without looking back.
"Haha, real funny," Pete said drily. Steve just shrugged as he started down the stairs. Pete's eyes widened a bit. "Wait, you were kidding, right? Right? Steve? Steve!"
Thoughts? If you took the time to read this chapter, please spare a few seconds to write me a quick review. My life is pretty crazy right now, so squeezing in time for this story takes some doing. And I'm much more likely to do it if I know people actually care. So if you could spare one minute to send a quick review, it would make my day. Thanks!