Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: This chapter brings us to the season four finale. After Myka and Pete successfully capture Paracelsus, Myka heads to the hospital for surgery. She has a teary good-bye with Pete, the only one who knows about her cancer, during which she assures him that she will be okay. Artie walks out into the middle of this, but quickly realizes something is up and heads back inside. The first part of this chapter takes place immediately after his exit and then leaves off as Claudia heads upstairs for Artie to reveal that her supposedly dead sister is in fact alive. Shortly after that, Paracelsus tricks Pete into releasing him and ends up taking full control of the Warehouse. The rest of the gang flees through the secret exit, but Claudia remains behind on the belief that the Warehouse wants her to fight Paracelsus and will do its best to protect her. The second part of this chapter covers the few minutes between everyone else leaving and the episode's ending shot of Claudia coming around a corner to see Paracelsus in front of her. In the final episode of the show the creators used the artifact table to show a sort of highlight reel, and I decided I wanted to try and do one of those specifically for Claudia. So the italicized chunk in the second part of the chapter is a series of quotes from the show placed in chronological order to show how Claudia has grown from her first episode up to this point. And now I'm going to shut up and let you read the chapter already. It's far longer than most of the others, so enjoy!

Viva la Resistance

Claudia was still hard at work on the computer when Artie came back through the umbilicus. She looked over her shoulder to see a confused look on his face.

"What's with the face?" she asked.

"What?" Artie said distractedly. He looked up, seeming to see her for the first time. "Oh, um... Pete and Myka are just... they seemed... They were having a moment."

"What kind of moment?" Claudia asked curiously.

"Don't you have work to be doing?" Artie said strongly.

"Working on it, Señor Castro," Claudia said. She pointed at her computer screen, which currently held a loading bar.

"Well, work faster," Artie grumped. He stomped up the stairs to his room where Mrs. Frederic currently was. Claudia rolled her eyes and turned back to the screen.

A moment later the door to the office opened again. Claudia turned her chair around in time to see Pete come in. He looked as if he had just watched someone run over a puppy.

"You okay?" Claudia asked in concern.

"Fine," Pete mumbled. Claudia gave him a look.

"That was convincing," she said drily. She looked over his shoulder at the closed door. "Where's Myka?"

"She had a... a thing to go do," Pete said.

"Right now?" Claudia asked in surprise. "Couldn't it wait until we're not in the middle of saving Mrs. F?"

"Not really," Pete said. He sounded drained of all energy. Claudia looked him up and down from the sad eyes to the hunched shoulders. Something was definitely wrong.

"What's going on?" she asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Pete said weakly.

"You're a terrible liar," Claudia told him. "What gives? Is it Myka? I know something's up with her."

Pete fell silent, suddenly looking everywhere but Claudia. She had definitely hit the nail on the head. With a quick look up at the stairs, Claudia got out of her chair and walked over to Pete. She could tell as she got closer that his eyes were red as if he had been crying.

"Pete, you gotta tell me," she said in concern. "I know she's been doing research on cancer. Is somebody in her family sick? Is that why she had to leave? Is her mom dying?"

"It's not her mom," Pete said quietly. He looked up and Claudia saw a terribly finality in his eyes. In that instant she suddenly knew.

"No," she said, shaking her head.

"Mykes has cancer," Pete said. His voice shook as he said it. "Her doctor's worried the cist might be spreading, so he wants to operate today."

"Right now?" Claudia asked in shock.

"It's just a precaution," Pete said quickly. "She's gonna be fine."

"I can't believe this is happening," Claudia said, running a hand through her hair. "Why didn't she say anything?"

"She didn't want everybody to freak out," Pete explained.

"That's why you didn't want her to go into the field today," Claudia said in sudden understanding. "You knew. How long have you known?"

"Not long," Pete told her. "I think she's only known for a few days. But the doctors caught it and she's gonna get treatment, so she's gonna be fine."

"You can't know that," Claudia said.

"No," Pete admitted. "But I believe it. And I need you to believe it too."

"Okay," Claudia said softly. Pete nodded before taking a breath and letting it out to help rein in his own emotions.

"This needs to stay between us," he said. "Myka wouldn't want everybody worrying about her right now."

"You're right," Claudia said. She looked over her shoulder at her computer. "I should get back to work."

"Okay," Pete said. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear something."

He headed toward the stairs and began making his way up toward Artie's bedroom. Claudia shook herself out of her own thoughts, forcing herself to walk back to the computer. She sat back down in the chair and rested her hands on the keys. It took a supreme amount of effort to refocus her mind on the task at hand. No matter how she tried, her mind kept coming back to Myka.

She had finally managed to get her brain back in gear when Pete came back down the stairs. He was suddenly looking far more determined than he had been a few minutes ago.

"Where's the fire?" Claudia asked as he strode past her to the door.

"I'm about to light one under Paracelsus," Pete said fiercely.

He pushed open the door, letting it slam shut behind him as he stormed out onto the balcony. Claudia watched in mild surprise as he strode across the landing and pounded down the stairs out of sight. She almost felt sorry for Paracelsus. Almost. But not quite.

She turned her attention once more to her screen, but it was too late. Her train of thought had completely derailed. Clearly she wasn't going to get anywhere. Not when she was worried about Myka. With a glance upstairs to make sure no one else was coming down, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and headed out of the office.

She crossed the landing outside and made her way down the stairs. Once on the ground floor, she stepped through a nearby door on her right. There was a small room inside that served as a storage area of sorts for old files that had no official place. Claudia quickly closed the door behind her. Then she typed a number into her phone and brought it to her ear.

The phone rang four times before it was answered.

"Hey, Claude," Myka's voice said. "What's up?"

Claudia nearly panicked then. She hadn't really planned out what she was going to say. To be perfectly honest, she hadn't even planned on calling. It had just sort of happened.

"Hey," she said with false cheer. "Sorry, I was trying to call Josh and must've hit your number on accident. My bad."

"No problem," Myka said. Her voice sounded just as falsely cheerful.

"Well, I'll just... um... let you get back to... whatever you're doing," Claudia said.

"Okay," Myka said. "Bye."

"Bye," Claudia said. She could hear Myka pulling away from the phone, and suddenly she really did panic. "Myka, wait!"

"What's wrong?" Myka asked. The concern in her voice made it clear she had heard the panic in Claudia's. The younger agent could have kicked herself. But it was too late now.

"I..." she began. She swallowed hard. It was now or never. "Myka, I know."

There was a long silence on the other end. Claudia held her breath, waiting to see what the older agent would say.

"Did Pete tell you?" Myka asked finally.

"Sort of," Claudia admitted. "I found some of your notes the other day. I wasn't snooping or anything! You left some paper on the porch, and I picked it up, and from that I figured out somebody in your family had cancer. I just bullied Pete into telling me who. He said you're about to have surgery, so I... I guess I just wanted to hear your voice. I mean, I know you're gonna be fine. They'll just take the cist out, and it probably hasn't even spread yet, and even if it has, treatments are getting better every day, so your chances are amazing, really. But I'm sure it's all gonna be fine. And you'll probably be home in time for dinner, and by then we'll have saved Mrs. Frederic and everything will be back to normal-"

"Claudia," Myka said, interrupting her nervous rant.

"Yeah?" Claudia asked.

"I'm glad you called," Myka admitted. She sounded like she was about to cry. Claudia sat down on top of a small filing cabinet and pressed her fingers against her eyelids in an attempt to stop the burning in her eyes.

"Me too," she said softly.

"You should go see what you can do about Mrs. Frederic," Myka told her in a lighter tone. "I want to hear all about your heroics at dinner."

"Okay," Claudia said with a hint of a smile. She blinked her eyes rapidly to clear the moisture that had begun to gather. "I'll give you the play-by-play."

"Good," Myka said. "Keep an eye on everybody for me, okay?"

"I will," Claudia assured her. Her throat was beginning to tighten up.

"And try to keep Pete out of trouble," Myka joked. Claudia swallowed hard. This was beginning to sound far too much like a good-bye.

"Myka?" she choked. She cursed the tremor in her voice, but she couldn't seem to make it stop.

"Yeah?" Myka asked softly. The older agent was definitely on the verge of tears now.

"Tell me you're gonna be okay," Claudia said. She felt like such a child for asking, especially when Myka was the one who was sick, but she desperately needed a reason to believe it. "I've already lost one sister, and now with Leena..." She swallowed hard. "Just tell me you're gonna be okay."

She heard a sniff on Myka's end and immediately had to squeeze her eyes shut against a sudden flood of moisture.

"I'm gonna be okay," Myka managed. Her voice was shaking, and the sound of it very nearly made Claudia lose her own composure.

"Okay," she said. She took a deep breath and let it out. "You better be. Because if you're not, I will drive over to that hospital and tear your doctor to pieces."

Myka gave a watery laugh on the other end of the phone.

"Thanks," she said. Claudia could tell from her tone that she was talking about far more than just the joke.

"You're gonna be okay," Claudia said firmly. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Myka or herself.

"I know," Myka whispered.

"You, um... you should get going," Claudia said as she mentally pulled herself together.

"I should," Myka agreed regretfully. "I'm almost into town. I'll call you when I'm out of surgery."

"You better," Claudia threatened. "Take care."

"You too," Myka said.

The line clicked and then went dead. Claudia pulled the phone away from her ear, slipping it back into her pocket. Then she reached up and rubbed her eyes. She had to believe that Myka would be okay. It was her only option.

Once she was sure she was under control, she pushed herself off of the filing cabinet and stepped over to the door. She opened it just as Steve reached the bottom of the stairs.

"There you are," he said. His brow furrowed a bit. "What were you doing in there?"

"Just looking for something," Claudia said quickly. "What's up?"

"Artie's looking for you," Steve said. "He wants to talk to you about something."

"Great," Claudia muttered. She stepped past Steve and started up the stairs. "What did I do now?"

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

As the others headed up the stairs, Claudia turned around and surveyed the Warehouse. There were lightning strikes occurring everywhere. Artifacts were going crazy on the shelves as Paracelsus showed off his new power. But he wasn't the only person with a connection to the Warehouse.

Claudia set her teeth and squared her shoulders before she began making her way down the stairs. She could feel the Warehouse inside her head giving her strength. Somehow she knew exactly where Paracelsus was. It was as if the Warehouse wanted her to fight him. And it wanted her to win.

Lightning flashed all around her as she strode down the aisles, but none of it struck her. Artifacts were flying left and right, but they always stopped a safe distance away as if striking an invisible shield. Claudia had been right. The Warehouse had chosen its champion, and it was going to protect her as best it could.

"This may be your house," Claudia said defiantly as another quake shook the Warehouse, "but it's my home. And I am not going to let you take it."

It struck her then how far she had come. She had arrived at the Warehouse as a lonely orphan seeking a family. She had never expected to stay. Nor had she expected to become the future caretaker. When the idea had first been introduced, she had backpedaled as fast as was humanly possible. And now here she was willing stepping out in defense of the place she had come to love. She had grown up a lot in the last two years. She had grown from a scared girl into a strong young woman. And that was all due to the Warehouse and the family it had given her. It was time to pay that favor back.

Claudia Donovan had never believed in fate, but in that instant she couldn't help the feeling that all of her time at the Warehouse had been building up to this one moment. All of the lessons and trials and missions had been steadily preparing her for this task. Suddenly it was like a movie playing through her head as she finally saw so clearly how each moment had built upon the next to bring her to this point.

"Knock knock."

"At least here, you know, there's a challenge." "You up for it?"

"Claudia Donovan. Warehouse 13 next generation."

"You're not going anywhere, Claude. You're gonna stay put."

"This is my home too."

"Suicide mission with the team! How exciting!"

"You're good. No, you're really good."

"I just sometimes forget that underneath the talented computer programmer and fearless junior Warehouse agent there beats the heart of a teenage girl."

"My first official assignment as an agent?" "As an apprentice."

"Thanks for being so hard on me out there." "Turns out you can take it."

"If the Warehouse is to survive, then a new Caretaker must be in place before I die."

"I'm really not ready for that."

"You will live the life that you want, and I will make sure of that."

"I wish I could be there to see you grow into the amazing woman you're gonna become."

"I get my own mission?"

"You've got this. I trust you."

"I think it's time you had a glimpse."

"That was a pretty good glimpse."

"We are not the B team. Fool, we are the second A team."

"I just barely realized I want to be Caretaker. I want it a lot!"

"If you want to be caretaker so badly, then go caretake!"

"Now that's a caretaker."

"The Warehouse needs me. I have to stay and fight Paracelsus."

Claudia Donovan had been certain of a lot of things in her life. But as she walked purposefully through the Warehouse toward Paracelsus, she suddenly knew with absolute clarity that this was where she was supposed to be. She had fought to save the world before, but this battle was different. This time she was fighting for the very soul of the Warehouse. After all of the learning and growing, her moment had finally come.

She stepped out around the edge of a shelf, and there was Paracelsus right in front of her. He slowly turned around, his usual creepy smile crossing his face as he saw her. Claudia planted her feet in preparation for whatever he decided to throw at her. There was no backing down now, no running away. Training was over. It was time to fight back.

Leave a review and let me know what you thought about this chapter. And be sure to come back in two days for the first of the season five chapters. =)