Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: And so begin the chapters for season 5. In this episode Paracelsus traveled back in time to Warehouse 9 to kill the regents and shape the Warehouse into what he wanted it to be. Needless to say, the Warehouse he creates is not a good place. The gang manages to get into the new timeline and attempts to fix the past. The first part of this chapter takes place when Claudia and Pete are trying to determine when Paracelsus went back to. In the episode they go from finding Abigail as a super computer to suddenly knowing the right date, so I wanted to show how they got there. And Pete gets to be the smart one for once, so that's fun. The second part of this chapter takes place at the end of the episode after the gang has fixed the timeline and disassembled the hodgepodge time machine Paracelsus made. It just brings a bit of closure to the storyline I've created with Claudia knowing about Myka's cancer as well as setting up her determination to figure out what happened to Claire. Enjoy!

No Timeline Like the Present

"Okay," Pete said, reentering the room where Abigail was serving as a human computer. "I told Artie where to find the artifacts we need. Any luck with the F.I.S.H.?"

"It is officially hacked... now," Claudia said, pressing a final key. "We should be able to reconstruct the time machine without triggering an alarm."

"But we still don't know where we're traveling to," Pete pointed out.

"Or how to figure it out," Claudia said. She looked over at Pete as her fingers idly tapped the side of the keyboard. "Got any bright ideas, Watson?"

"Not really," Pete admitted. His head jerked up and he looked over at Claudia as something occurred to him. "Hey, why am I Watson?"

"Because I'm the smart one," Claudia informed him. "That makes me Holmes."

"Yeah, well, he's also a psychopath," Pete said.

"High functioning sociopath," Claudia corrected. "And that's only in 'Sherlock'. And if we're going by those standards, Watson marries a psychopath. So there."

"My ex-wife was a little nutty," Pete said as he crossed his arms.

"Can we get back to saving the world now?" Claudia asked, giving him an incredulous look. Pete jumped a bit as if he had completely forgotten she was even there.

"Oh, right," he said. He looked back at the projected screen, and his forehead scrunched up as he thought hard. Then he shook his head and looked back at Claudia. "I got nothing. You sure you can't just hack it?"

"This isn't just a computer," Claudia said in frustration. "It's Abigail's brain. I don't even know how to begin to work around that. We're just gonna have to figure out another way to find the information."

"Okay," Pete said slowly. "Well, if we want to fix the timeline, we have to know what day Paracelsus went back to."

"If he wanted to avoid a paradox, he would have to go back to after his younger self was already bronzed," Claudia said thoughtfully.

"So when was he bronzed?" Pete asked.

"Let's find out," Claudia said. She typed a search into the computer and then looked up at Abigail expectantly.

"I'm sorry," the robotic voice said. "There is no record of this event occurring."

"Well, that's just craptastic," Claudia muttered. "History really is written by the victors."

"Hang on," Pete said suddenly. "Paracelsus was bronzed by the regents."

"So?" Claudia said skeptically.

"So if I had the power to time travel, the first thing I'd do is go back to elementary and knock Ralph Brunksy around," Pete explained. He paused as an idea struck him. "That or go back to when Pancake Palace still gave you free pancakes for solving that puzzle."

"First of all, do you ever not think about food?" Claudia asked. Pete shook his head. "And second, what does this have to do with your grade school nemesis?"

"Ralph Brunksy was not just my nemesis," Pete said strongly. "He made my life a living hell. Just like the regents did for Paracelsus."

"Still not following," Claudia said.

"Ralph Brunsky shut me in a locker once for five minutes and I was ready to kill him," Pete told her. "The regents put Paracelsus in bronze for five hundred years."

"You think he wanted revenge," Claudia said in understanding.

"I would've," Pete said.

"And if we can figure out what he did and when, then we know when he went back to," Claudia said with a grin. "Pete, you're a genius."

"Elementary, my dear Watson," Pete said in his best British accent.

Claudia turned her attention back to the computer and rapidly typed in another search string. Abigail thought it over for a moment before answering.

"The regents of Warehouse 9 were killed in an accident," she said in the same flat voice.

"All of them?" Claudia asked curiously.

"Yes," Abigail answered.

"That M.O. sound familiar to you?" Claudia asked with a sideways glance at Pete.

"Oh, yeah," he said.

"When was the accident?" Claudia asked, looking back at Abigail.

"The accident occurred on June 10, 1541," Abigail said.

Claudia pumped her fist in triumph. Pete held up his hand, and she slapped him a high-five that made him cringe and flex his fist.

"Were there anymore regents appointed?" Claudia asked curiously.

"No," Abigail informed her. "Dr. Paracelsus has been the sole leader of the Warehouse since the death of the regents of Warehouse 9."

"Sounds like Perry's been running this show all by his lonesome," Pete said.

"Time to crash his party," Claudia said with a grin. She turned around and headed for the door. She only made it two steps toward the door before Pete stopped her.

"What about her?" he said, motioning at Abigail. "We can't just leave her."

"If we stop Paracelsus, none of this will have even happened," Claudia pointed out over her shoulder.

"Good point," Pete said. But he still seemed reluctant to leave.

"Besides," Claudia said, pulling open the door, "didn't you leave Mrs. F in bronze in an alternate reality? You didn't seem to have a problem with that."

Pete's eyes widened at the memory.

"No, but she sure did when she found out," he said nervously.

"Well, I have a feeling Abigail won't mind too much as long as we fix the timeline," Claudia said insistently. "But to do that, we have to go. Now."

"Right," Pete said. He looked over at Abigail and shrugged. "Sorry."

Claudia rolled her eyes before heading out of the room. Pete caught the closing door and hurried after her. It swung shut behind him, leaving Abigail's seated form alone.

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

Claudia was headed back through the Warehouse toward the main office when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, wait up!"

She turned around to see Myka and Abigail coming toward her. Claudia stayed put for a moment, waiting for them to catch up.

"Did you get the time machine taken apart?" she asked when they reached her.

"Everything is back where it belongs," Myka said. "No more crazy timeline shifting."

"I still can't believe I missed that," Abigail said with a shake of her head.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Claudia said as they began to walk, "alternate you did play a pretty important part."

"How so?" Abigail asked with interest.

"You helped Pete and I figure out what date Paracelsus went back to," Claudia said.

"I thought you got that from the computer," Myka said in confusion.

"Funny story," Claudia said, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. "Abigail sort of... was... the computer."

"What?" Abigail said. Her nose wrinkled a bit as she tried to make sense of the idea.

"Well, Paracelsus had you wired into the system," Claudia explained. "He was using your brain for computer power. It's actually a pretty cool idea, considering how powerful the human brain is."

"So I was a human computer," Abigail said skeptically.

"Pretty much," Claudia agreed.

"Weird," Abigail said.

"It could've been worse," Claudia told her. "Valda, this guy that used to be a regent a couple years ago, was basically a glorified security guard. And Dr. Vanessa and Hugo were being forced to perform artifact experiments because Paracelsus was holding their kids hostage."

"Wow," Abigail said, shaking her head.

"I am definitely happier with this timeline," Myka confirmed.

The trio had now reached the stairs leading up to the office. Abigail started up them with Myka close behind. Claudia hesitated momentarily at the bottom.

"Hey, Myka?" she said. Both Myka and Abigail turned on the stairs. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure," Myka said. She looked up at Abigail, who was three steps above her. "We'll catch up."

"Okay," Abigail said agreeably. "I'll see you two back at the B&B."

"So what's up?" Myka asked, stepping back down to the ground where Claudia stood. Claudia looked up the stairs to make sure Abigail really was continuing on before returning her attention to Myka.

"How did your surgery go earlier?" she asked awkwardly. "I mean, you're here, so it must've been okay. I just... never had the chance to ask."

"It was okay," Myka told her with a smile. "They got the cist out without any problems. And they ran some tests, and it turns out the cist was benign."

"So you're okay?" Claudia asked for the sake of clarification.

"I'm okay," Myka confirmed.

"That's awesome," Claudia said with a giant grin. Myka couldn't help grinning back at her. "You had me worried for a while there."

"It was definitely a wake-up call," Myka admitted. "But the doctor said I'm gonna be fine." She winced and laid a hand on her lower stomach. "Although I should probably go sit down for a while."

"Somehow I don't think running around alternate timelines is part of the recommended recovery," Claudia joked.

"Probably not," Myka agreed. "But since apparently nobody else reads the addendums to the manual, I really didn't have much choice."

"That's true," Claudia said. "If you hadn't helped, Artie would still be trying to hotwire his way through a nonexistent shield."

"Speaking of Artie," Myka said curiously. "What's going on between you two?"

Claudia smiled immediately faded.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

"Really?" Myka asked, raising an eyebrow. "You guys have been tense ever since I got back. And what was that thing about dead relatives back in the other Warehouse?"

Claudia looked away and sighed.

"Artie... Artie's been lying to me," she said. She reached out and laid her hand on the end of the stairs railing, tapping out a subconscious rhythm against the metal.

"About what?" Myka asked curiously.

"About my sister," Claudia said. She looked up and Myka was shocked at the amount of hurt in her eyes. "Claire's alive."

"What?!" Myka said in surprise. "I thought she died in the crash with your parents."

"So did I," Claudia muttered. "But apparently she's been alive this whole time. And Artie knew. In fact, he knew it when he first met Josh and I right before the whole compass fiasco. He knew this whole time, and he never once said anything. He just let me go right on believing she was dead."

"Well, did he say why?" Myka asked.

"Just that he was trying to protect me," Claudia said in a voice that made it quite clear she didn't believe that sentiment. "He said she's dangerous or whatever."

"Claude, if Artie didn't tell you, it's because he cares about you," Myka said gently.

"I know," Claudia admitted grudgingly. "But he still lied to me and I'm still pissed. I'm going to figure out what happened to her. And if Artie won't tell me, then I'll find another way to figure it out."

"Fair enough," Myka said. "But maybe it can wait until tomorrow. I think saving the timeline is enough for today."

"Don't forget the whole Paracelsus-taking-over-the-Warehouse thing," Claudia reminded her. "Plus you did have surgery a few hours ago."

"There is that," Myka said.

Suddenly Claudia reached out and wrapped her arms around Myka's neck. It happened so fast that for a second Myka just stood there in surprise. But then she managed to get her arms up and wrap them around Claudia.

"I'm really glad you're okay," Claudia said. Myka smiled.

"I told you I would be," she reminded her.

Claudia let go and Myka allowed her to pull away.

"We should get going," Claudia said, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. "The lasagna's almost gone, so if the boys beat us back, we're out of luck."

"Actually, Pete ate some of it for his snack last night," Myka told her. "So now there's really only enough for one person."

The two of them looked at each other with widened eyes as they realized what that meant. Then Claudia dove for the stairs.

"Last one back has to eat Abigail's tofu!" she yelled, taking the stairs two at a time.

"You are such a cheater!" Myka yelled as she hurried up after the younger agent.

Claudia's only response was a laugh.

You know the drill. Leave a review and let me know your thoughts. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. It makes me day.