Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: This chapter sends us into the second half of season four. Episode eleven sent Pete and Myka off to save the world from the orchid while Steve and Claudia fought to convince Artie to come back to reality before his mind completely shut down. While Claudia did succeed in saving Artie, he was less than happy about being forced to live with what he had done under the sway of the astrolabe. He refused to even look at her, much less talk to her. This chapter was inspired by my need to see Claudia deal with that, as well as with stabbing Artie and with the harsh things he said to her just prior to his stabbing. I also felt like we never got to see the team trying to work through what happened with Leena, and I really wanted to see Artie's four agents pulling together to comfort each other. So while this chapter is a bit angsty, there is a little fluff at the end. But enough of me talking. Enjoy the chapter!

After the Storm

Myka's room was completely dark when she opened her eyes. She rolled over to look at the clock on her bedside table. It was almost three in the morning. Myka let out a heavy sigh. After dreaming about flying daggers and carnivorous flowers that killed people, she had a feeling it would be a while before she was able to get back to sleep. Maybe a drink of water would help. At the very least, it would give her something else to think about.

She lifted her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed her bath robe, pulling it on as she stumbled sleepily over to her door. She opened it into a dark hallway. Apparently everyone else had finally managed to fall asleep.

And then she noticed that Claudia's door was open. That was odd. After pulling Artie back to reality, Claudia had locked herself in her room for the rest of the night. She had refused to let anyone into her room. But apparently she had decided to break her seclusion.

Concerned, Myka crossed the hallway over to the door and carefully stuck her head into the room. She could just make out Claudia's bed in the darkness. It was empty.

Immediately Myka was on high alert. It wasn't unusual for Claudia to have trouble sleeping. But after Steve died she had disappeared in the middle of the night to try and bring him back. When MacPherson framed her, she had run away to CERN. It was entirely possible that the stress of the last few days had caused her to bolt again.

After checking that the bathroom was empty, Myka made her way to the top of the stairs. She had lived at the B&B for long enough to know which boards creaked, so her sock-covered feet made barely a sound as she crept down the stairs. The ground floor was silent when she reached it. She looked in the living room to see if maybe Claudia had taken refuge on the couch, but the room was empty.

On an impulse, Myka tiptoed over to Leena's room. She carefully pushed the door open to find that it too was empty. But the sight of Leena's things was enough to freeze Myka in her tracks. It struck her then that she would never again enter this room seeking advice from the empathetic innkeeper. A lump rose in Myka's throat and she had to close the door before it became too much.

And still there was no sign of Claudia. Myka was seriously considering calling the younger agent's phone when she heard a soft noise. She strained her ears against the silence, trying to tell if it had just been in her head. But then she heard it again. There was definitely someone on the ground floor. It sounded like they were in the kitchen.

Myka carefully crept across the living and dining room into the kitchen. The first thing she noticed upon entering was that the pantry was standing open. Everything inside had been rifled through. Several food items were in the wrong place, and a few packaged ones were even on the floor.

"Leena would have an aneurysm if she saw that," a scratchy voice said.

Myka turned around to see that Claudia was sitting on the tile floor against the kitchen cabinets. The younger agent was wearing a pair of faded sweatpants and a sweatshirt that Pete had given to her for Christmas. There was an open bottle of wine resting atop her outstretched legs. Myka recognized it as the one Leena used sometimes for cooking. She always hid it in the back of the pantry on the bottom shelf so Pete wouldn't know it was there. But apparently Claudia had found it. And by the looks of things, she had already made a pretty solid dent in its contents.

Claudia followed Myka's gaze to the bottle and shrugged weakly.

"I couldn't find any vodka," she said by way of explanation. Normally it would have been a joke, but her heavy tone caused it to fall flat.

Myka pulled her robe further around herself as she walked across the cold tile. Then she carefully lowered herself to sit on the floor beside Claudia.

"What are you doing down here?" she asked in concern. Claudia looked down at the bottle in her hands as a way of avoiding Myka's gaze.

"We're out of oats," she said quietly.

It took Myka a moment to figure out what the younger agent was talking about. Claudia had always been clear about hating the texture of oatmeal, and the only other thing they ever used oats for was... Scotchies. Which Leena and Claudia always made together when they were both having trouble sleeping. With Leena gone, Claudia had probably attempted to find comfort in the familiar ritual only to have that too taken away from her.

"Claude..." Myka began. But she really didn't know what to say.

Claudia picked up the wine bottle and held it out to her.

"Here," she said without looking at Myka. "Supposedly alcohol makes things hurt less, but it doesn't seem to be working."

Myka took the bottle from her and stared down at it. She wasn't really much for drinking. But it certainly couldn't hurt things. She raised the bottle and took a long drink. Then she carefully set it down on the tile beside her.

"Artie hates me," Claudia said softly. Myka looked over at her, mildly surprised that she had spoken.

"Artie doesn't hate you," she told her.

"In Germany he called me 'an insolent, annoying child'," Claudia said. There was a tremor in her voice as she said it. "He said he didn't love me. And I know in my head that it wasn't really Artie, but..."

"It still hurts," Myka finished quietly. She swallowed hard. "He told me I was condescending and arrogant. And that I would spend the rest of my life alone."

"That's not true," Claudia said. Myka looked over to see that Claudia was looking at her for the first time since she had sat down. The sureness in her eyes warmed Myka's heart, quietly silencing all of the fears Artie's description had raised in her mind.

"Neither is what he said to you," she told Claudia firmly. The younger agent looked away again. She seemed to be struggling with something. Finally she sighed.

"He didn't want to come back," she said quietly. "He would rather have stayed in his head and died than faced what he did. Myka, this broke him. And I just made it worse."

"You saved him," Myka said in an effort to reassure her.

"I stabbed him with a knife," Claudia choked. There was anger in her voice now. It only grew as she continued. "And then when he hid in his own head because he was too scared to face reality, I dragged him out and made him rub his face in it. And now he won't even look at me." She sniffed and reached up to wipe her eyes. "I hurt him bad, Myka, and he is never going to forgive me."

"Yes, he will," Myka said. She reached down and took Claudia's hand in her own. "Artie is hurting and he's putting up a wall to try and protect himself. But that does not mean that he hates you. You mean the world to him. And in time he'll remember that."

Claudia chuckled and reached up to wipe her wet eyes.

"What's so funny?" Myka asked in confusion.

"You sound just like Leena," Claudia said quietly. She looked over at Myka with a watery smile that Myka somehow managed to return. Then the older agent leaned her head back against the wooden cabinets.

"I still can't believe she's gone," she said quietly.

"I keep expecting her to walk in and start yelling at me for messing up her pantry," Claudia admitted. A hint of a grin pulled at her mouth. "'Claudia Donovan! What have you done to my kitchen?'"

Myka chuckled a little in spite of herself. Claudia's smile faded as she looked down at her sweatpants. The kitchen fell silent as they both tried to imagine life without Leena in it. After a moment Claudia leaned over and rested her head against Myka's shoulder. Myka let her head tilt to rest against Claudia's. With everything that had happened, they both needed the silent reassurance that they weren't alone.

"What are we gonna do without her?" Claudia asked quietly.

"I don't know," Myka admitted.

Silence fell again, and this time they let it last. The kitchen was Leena's place. It always had been. The room felt horribly empty without her in it, and yet there was also some strange comfort to be derived from sitting in the room where she had so often been. It was almost as it some small part of her lingered in the kitchen like fading mist on a mirror.

Finally Myka lifted her head so she could look down at Claudia.

"We should probably try to get some sleep," she said.

"I'm not sure I can sleep right now," Claudia told her.

"Me either," Myka admitted. "But I need to get off this hard floor."

"You know," Claudia said as she pushed herself into a sitting position, "there's a perfectly good couch in the other room."

"Migrate?" Myka asked.

"Migrate," Claudia agreed. She looked over at the wine bottle sitting beside Myka. "I should probably put that back in case Pete comes down for a sandwich."

"Probably," Myka agreed.

She passed the bottle back to Claudia, who then took hold of the cabinet and pulled herself to her feet. The younger agent crossed over to the pantry and bent down to stash the bottle in the back. When she turned back around, Myka was already on her feet.

"Guys?" a voice called. Myka and Claudia both turned to see Pete standing in the living room rubbing at his eyes. "Why are you down here?"

"Speak of the devil," Claudia said so quietly only Myka could her. Together she and Myka stepped into the living room.

"We couldn't sleep," Myka explained.

"Me either," Pete admitted. "You'd think after all this crazy we'd all be out."

"You would think," Myka agreed.

"Any suggestions?" Claudia asked.

"We can make Mykes tell us a story," Pete suggested with a childish glint in his eyes.

"Works for me," Claudia said. She walked around to the couch and plopped herself down on the end.

"Why me?" Myka asked.

"Because you know the most stories," Claudia explained as she hugged a couch cushion to her chest. "And because I'm no good at it and Pete's will get him slapped. Now sit."

Myka shrugged her shoulders in surrender. Then she walked over to the middle of the couch and sat down. Pete followed suit, taking up the remaining seat on the other side of her.

The sound of another set of feet caused them all to look towards the stairs. A moment later Steve shuffled into the living room.

"What's going on?" he asked around a yawn.

"Insomniac convention," Claudia explained. "Also known as story time with Myka."

"Can I join?" Steve asked.

"The more the merrier," Pete told him.

Steve shuffled over to the couch and sat down on the floor so he could lean against the piece of furniture. Claudia handed him a pillow which he then placed between his back and the couch.

"Everybody good?" Myka asked.

"All set," Claudia confirmed.

"Okay," Myka said as she leaned back into the couch to get comfortable. "What kind of story am I telling?"

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

It was still early in the morning when Jane Latimer pulled up outside the B&B. She had spent the night in the lone hotel in Univille to give the Warehouse team some time alone. But she figured they probably weren't in any condition to cook for themselves, so she had picked up some food at the local grocery store. With a bit of luck, she could get breakfast ready before any of them were awake.

She took the spare key from its hiding place in the tiny fir tree on the porch and quietly opened the front door. The B&B was quiet, so it was a safe bet that everyone was still asleep. Jane quietly closed the door and tiptoed into the living room where she promptly froze in her tracks. The sight that met her caused her throat to tighten up a bit.

All four Warehouse agents were gathered in the living room together. Pete was sitting on the far end of the couch. His head had fallen back against the back of the couch and his mouth was open, emitting a light snoring sound. Myka was sitting beside him, and she had slumped over so that her head was resting on his shoulder. The rest of the couch was taken up by Claudia, who was curled into a ball and whose head was resting on a pillow in Myka's lap. Steve was lying on the floor directly in front of the couch. A pillow rested under his head. One of Claudia's arms had hung down over the edge of the couch, and her hand was entwined with one of Steve's. All four of them were fast asleep.

Jane felt a smile crossing her face. She had been really worried about them the night before, but apparently it hadn't been necessary. They had pulled together as a team and found comfort in each other. In that moment, she knew without a doubt that they really were going to be okay.

She turned around and quietly crept back out onto the porch, carefully shutting the door behind her. Breakfast could wait. Right now it was best to let them all sleep. The world of their dreams was probably far kinder than the one they would soon awaken to.

Hopefully this chapter was enjoyable despite the angst. Also, thanks to the two readers who have been messaging back and forth with me. You guys are awesome. :) As for the rest of my readers, I'm sure you guys are awesome too. But you'd be even more awesome if you'd leave me a review.