Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: Per request, I will now be attempting to update this story every other day. Although my next few weeks are going to be ridiculously hectic, so we'll see how long I can keep that up. Anyway. This episode had Steve and Claudia coaxing Artie into the field in an effort to pull him out of the funk he's been in seen Leena's death. They manage to successfully snag the artifact, but Artie rushes into possible danger more than once over the course of the mission. The worst incident comes when he uses an artifact to drive through a wall in pursuit of a suspect without back-up and then proceeds to play chicken with the suspect. He wins, but Claudia is visibly rattled. The episode ends with Steve reporting on the mission to Kosan, who then informs him that the regents have decided to take action. This chapter takes place at the B&B just after that meeting occurs. Enjoy!

How the Scotchie Crumbles

Late morning found Claudia in the kitchen pulling ingredients out of the pantry. Pete and Myka were busy with a snag, and Steve had gone off to run an errand. Claudia had decided to take advantage of the empty B&B to finally make some Scotchies. She had been staying away from the pantry ever since Myka found her in there that night. It just hadn't felt right making the cookies alone. But Leena had been gone for over a month now, and Claudia felt like it was time to finally let her go. So now she was laying out ingredients to make the cookies by herself, her own personal way of trying to start moving on.

She had just started measuring out the first of the ingredients when a voice spoke up from behind her.

"What are you making?"

Claudia jumped, nearly spilling the oats all over the counter. She turned around to find Artie watching her with amusement in his eyes.

"Geez, Artie!" she said irritably. "Don't do that."

"For the record, I did make quite a bit of noise on the way in," Artie informed her. He crossed the kitchen and came over to where she was standing. His eyes scanned the counter, taking a quick inventory of the ingredients. "Cookies?"

"Scotchies," Claudia clarified. Artie's gaze fell a bit in response, but Claudia was too busy narrowing her own eyes to notice. "And you don't get any. Not after that stunt you pulled last night."

"You're angry," Artie said in understanding.

"Angry doesn't begin to cover it," Claudia informed him. She banged the bag of oats down on the counter. "If that trick with the car hadn't worked-"

"It did," Artie pointed out with infuriating calmness.

"What if it hadn't?" Claudia pressed angrily. "What is she hadn't stopped?"

"I knew she would," Artie told her.

"No, you didn't," Claudia said. "You guessed. And then there's the fact that you just took off after her without any back-up. What if something had happened to you, and Steve and I were still stuck in the garage?"

"I'm fine," Artie assured her.

"That's not the point!" Claudia cried.

"That's entirely the point," Artie countered.

"Damn it, Artie!" Claudia said angrily. She looked down at the counter as she tried to get her emotions under control. Finally she ran a hand through her hair and looked up. "I don't know if you just think that you're invincible, which is completely stupid, or if you just don't care what happens to you. But either way, it's not cool."

"Claudia," Artie said calmly. "I'm fine."

"You could have died," Claudia told him. Her voice was deeply pained. "I just got you back, Artie. And now you're running around like a maniac trying to get yourself killed again. And to be perfectly honest, it scares the hell out of me."

Understanding dawned in Artie's eyes and his expression immediately softened.

"You're right," he said quietly. "I haven't been in the field in a while and I let the thrill go to my head. And I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It better not," Claudia retorted.

"But that's not why you're upset," Artie said gently. "You're upset about Germany."

"And how do you figure that, Doctor Freud?" Claudia asked, crossing her arms and leaning back against the counter.

"Wisdom comes with age, youngling," Artie teased. Claudia grinned a bit in spite of herself. Artie reached up and scratched the side of his head. "You know, we... um... we never really... talked... about what happened."

"There isn't anything to say," Claudia said quickly.

"Well, you know... if there was... something you wanted to say... you could always tell me," Artie reminded her awkwardly.

Claudia looked down at her crossed arms as she toyed with the idea. Artie waited in patient silence.

"It's just..." Claudia sighed before continuing on. "You almost died, Artie. And it was my fault."

"It was not your fault," Artie assured her, taking a step forward. "You saved me from the astrolabe."

"Everybody keeps saying that!" Claudia cried. "But that doesn't make it any easier! You're the closest thing I have to a father, and I stabbed you with a knife! And I know that I had to do it and that I saved your life. But I keep seeing it happening over and over again. And when you go running around playing chicken in hotrods-"

"It scares you," Artie finished.

"You almost died," Claudia repeated. "And then you didn't want to come back. I had to make you come back. And then you go and pull a stunt like that like you're trying to get yourself killed..."

Artie reached out and laid his hands on Claudia's shoulders to stop her train of thought and bring her focus back to him.

"Not wanting to come back had nothing to do with you," he said gently. "I was hurting so badly that I couldn't think of anything but how much pain I was in. And yesterday in that car I just felt so exhilarated. It was the best I've felt since... since Leena died. Which I assume is why you and Steve worked so hard to convince me to go."

"You knew?" Claudia asked sheepishly.

"Of course I knew," Artie told her. He released her shoulders, giving her a look that said she was crazy to have thought she had gotten away with it. "I'm not senile yet."

"Then why'd you go along with it?" Claudia asked curiously.

"Because you wanted me to go," Artie told her. "And because you were right. It was good for me to get out. But I let myself get carried away. But that has nothing to do with you. I am not trying to get myself killed. I'm glad that you brought me back, Claudia. I really am. And I am so sorry that you had to go through that. But I'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. You're stuck with me, kiddo. And it's gonna stay that way for a long time."

Claudia smiled, and Artie swore there were tears in her eyes. Then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Normally Artie wasn't a huge fan of the constant hugging that went on among his agents, but right then it was a welcome gesture. So he smiled and wrapped his arms around Claudia.

She pulled away after a moment and smiled up at him.

"You okay?" Artie asked. Claudia nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "Are you?"

"I will be," Artie said honestly.

"You know," Claudia told him, "if you ever want to talk... I mean, I know that I'm a basically kid and everything, but..."

"I'll let you know," Artie told her with a smile. He looked over her shoulder at the ingredients on the counter. "Want some help with those?"

Claudia looked from Artie to the ingredients, visibly weighing the options. Scotchies had always been something she and Leena did together. But Artie had to be missing the innkeeper as much as she was. Maybe sharing the ritual would bring them both some level of closure.

"Okay," she said with a nod.

"Alright," Artie said, putting his hands together in anticipation. "What do we do first?"

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

It was just after noon when Steve got back to the B&B. He probably should have gone straight to the Warehouse, but his meeting with Kosan was weighing on his mind. When they had asked him to keep an eye on Artie, he had assumed they just wanted to be sure he was alright. But the way Kosan had talked was worrying. What were the Regents planning to do?

His line of thought was interrupted by the smell of Scotchies as he pushed open the front door. It was a smell that hadn't graced the B&B since Leena's death, and for a moment it stopped him in his tracks. Claudia must have made them. That was a good sign. She was slowly starting to move on.

"Marco?" Steve called as he stepped into the entryway.

"Polo!" Claudia's voice answered.

Steve headed into the living room and caught sight of Claudia sitting at the dining room table. A plate of cookies was sitting on the table. And sitting across from Claudia was Artie. Once again Steve's guilt reared its ugly head. What had he done?

"How were the errands?" Claudia asked as Steve came over to the table.

"Okay," he said vaguely. Claudia's eyes narrowed.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Steve said, pasting on a smile. "All good."

Claudia studied him a moment before shrugging in acceptance. She picked up the plate of cookies and held it out.

"Cookie?" she asked. "Artie and I made them."

Steve picked up one of the cookies and took a bite. Then he nodded approvingly.

"These are good," he said.

Claudia grinned proudly over at Artie, who returned the expression.

"Have a seat," Artie said, motioning to one of the empty chairs.

Steve pulled out the chair and sat down. Claudia immediately began to fill them in on what she and Artie had been talking about when he arrived. Steve nodded along, but in truth he was only half listening. The rest of his attention was focused on Artie. He looked so normal as he sat there interjecting into Claudia's story. Maybe Steve had been wrong. Maybe he really was okay. Of course, it was far too late for that now. The Regents had clearly made a decision. Steve could only hope it was one he would be able to live with.

Imaginary Scotchies for those who review. (As you can see, I am not above bribery.)