Many thanks to everyone who is reading along and especially to those who are posting. I enjoy all of your feedback and know it takes time. Given the length of my stories, you can tell I'm easily encouraged.

Thank you to AsgardianBlade (Once Upon a Time) - one of the most disciplined writers I have the pleasure of knowing - for her guidance with this chapter in particular.

Love hearing from you all.

To Heir is Human, To Forgive Divine

Myka was - in a word, a – mess. The one thing she always counted on to help her was her Oneness with Helena. It connected them on a level most people would never experience with anyone in their lives. Myka took that gift very seriously and never toyed with it. When Helena was hurting, she could feel it. When Helena was happy, she felt joy inside her heart. When Helena cut her off, and that was rare since explaining how awful it was, Myka sensed it immediately.

What Myka felt was none of those things. What Myka sensed was – nothing. She was connected, but it was like a tunnel with nothing coming through, but wind.

She wiped the tears and dabbed the black mascara from under her eyes with a tissue. She was so confused by this that she wasn't sure what her options were. Rant? Helena wasn't even listening to her when she was calm. Plead? She'd been doing that and it was falling on deaf ears. Just when the pain expressed itself in tears, anger rose in her chest. Where did the answer lie?

Then she remembered Helena's book. Surely, the genius thought of everything, hadn't she? Myka had read the book from front to back and remembered – something Helena wrote. Her eidetic memory told her exactly where to find the passage.

"No matter how close you are, there will be differences between you. Do not be afraid of your differences; embrace them. They can be part of what attracted you in the first place. But also be aware that at certain times, those variations might add to the stress of a situation. Be flexible and be honest."

Myka slammed Helena's book shut and bobbed her head. She was going to go home and give Helena a piece of her honesty.

Upstairs at Wells Corp, another woman had just reached her limit with Helena. "That's it!" Eileen Sullivan shouted and Sui Generis stared at her. He quickly calculated that this was a new level of frustration being expressed by the young executive. "Do I have any meetings after 5?" she asked her assistant android. "Of course I do!" she answered. "Well, cancel them because I am going to pay my boss a visit. Leave everything for me to handle. How many arms do I have?" she ranted and Sui answered correctly; two.

"I'm going right to the source!" Eileen said, telling Sui to rearrange her meetings.

On her way to the elevator, Morgan Styles, the ink barely dry on his business cards, tried to catch Eileen before she left. When she pointedly asked him if she looked like she had time for a meeting right now, he let the elevator doors close. "She sounded remarkable like …," Morgan said, taken aback. "Yes, very much," Sui agreed having done an analysis of the woman's tone.

Eileen grabbed Claudia on the way out and told her about her plan. "You're going to give Helena a piece of your mind?" the techie asked slowly.

"Absolutely!" Eileen said, her confidence waning just a bit when she heard her girlfriend ask. The silence made her ask – "You think it's a mistake?"

Claudia thought about it and knew that everyone was feeling the effects of Helena's absence and no one more that the woman whose lap everything dropped into. Except Myka of course.

"We'll do it together," Claudia said, pulling the woman she loved into her.

"Let's go, Sarah," Bridget said, grabbing her pocketbook. "It's either going to be dinner with Myka ….or a bloodbath. Either way, the makings of a fun evening," she laughed.

The friends were approaching the Townhouse from different points of the city. Jane and Bell from the East Side, Eileen and Claudia from the South, Pete came through the park after asking Andrew to cover for him, and Bridget and Sarah from the North. The only thing missing were the torches as they stormed their way up the stairs.

"Myka won't like us actually kidnapping her," Pete pointed out.

"Kidnapping? Who said anything about kidnapping?" Claudia asked concerned.

"You didn't get Bridget's memo?" Jane asked, coming up the steps behind them. "Everyone, you know Officer Bell," Jane said to the group.

"More police?" Sarah whispered to Bridget.

"Think of it as crowd control," Jane said. "Now, I need to clarify something. You're not actually going to kidnap her, are you?"

"We can't kidnap her!" Eileen said, afraid they'd take Helena out before she got to talk some sense into her.

"Yeah, people?" Bridget said, trying to get their attention. "Myka was the one who suggested this. It doesn't have to come to an actual kidnapping. Our other option is a taser, right Jane?"

"We're going to taser her?" Claudia all but cried. "No way am I doing that."

"You people take everything so seriously. Okay, listen up," Bridget said getting on the top step. "We just want to get Helena to listen. She's gone all mad scientist which apparently is her thing, but we just want to point out that she's wreaking havoc – especially with Myka. Anyone not okay with that?"

One hand went up in the back. "Put your hand down, Bell. Think of this as field work. Like you've never seen before," Jane explained to the young cop.

"Now here's what I think we should do…," Bridget was telling the group when the front door opened and Irene stood there, looking at them.

"Really?" Irene asked. "What do you propose to do? Storm the basement, carry her up here, and talk until you're blue in the faces?"

"Well, we….," most of them said.

Just then, Irene saw Myka's car coming down the block. "Oh, for Pete's sake, get in here," Irene said, not wanting Myka to see this crowd. Irene pushed them into the dining room. "Myka is on her way in. Now, I'll go out and tell her that the lot of you thought you were helping, but have thought better of it and we're all leaving."

"I just came here to give Helena a piece of my mind," Eileen confessed.

"I love it when you're assertive," Claudia gushed and then remembered they were surrounded by a crowd of people and turned beet red.

Someone said shush when they heard Myka coming up the front steps.

Deep inside the bowels of the mansion was everyone's person of interest. Helena's mind was on her latest attempt to merge the necessary genetic material inside the capsule as it was complete. She looked into the microscope as she gently encased it in a fluid substance. Then, she painstakingly placed the minute cylindrical biosphere and placed it in the bio mesh glove. Only then, did Helena place the glove in a tiny container set at the perfect temperature. After days and days of trying, she finally managed to accomplish what she set out to do. Now all she needed was Myka.

Helena's head swung around quickly as if she expected Myka to be there. Without any sense of date or time, she actually was a little surprised not to see her there. After all, where else would she be? No matter, Helena thought. She would find her straight away and tell her the good news.

Just as Irene closed the door on the uninvited group, Myka came through the front door.

"Don't you dare!" she said directly to Irene and the woman retreated just a little. She most definitely heard a yelp and knew Pete was the first to curl up in a ball on the other side of the door.

"Myka, I was…," Irene started, but didn't want to give the concerned friends away.

"I know what you are trying to do," Myka said, as she threw her coat off and cast it aside much like her wife did on a daily basis.

"You do?" Irene asked, stalling for time.

"You came here to talk sense into that thick headed woman. You thought, if you softened her up, she'd see what a mess she made and I'd go easier on her. Well," Myka ranted as she stuck her hand in the belt of her pants and started to walk in circles. "….I've been too easy long enough. Oh, you want to lock yourself in the basement, Helena and ignore me? Oh, sure Pumpkin, after all you are a freaking genius. Who am I to question?" Myka seethed.

"She calls her….Pumpkin?" Jane asked and only then noticed she didn't think Bell was breathing.

"Myka, could we…," Irene tried to direct Myka into the living room across the hall…and away from what she was sure was an eavesdropping group of people.

"Oh no, don't try to convince me to go easy. I read her book! Well, I reread her book," the lawyer clarified.

"Her book!" Pete said, snapping his fingers. "What does it say in there about …..this?"

"Oh, let's see if there's a chapter on making your spouse insane," Bridget whispered.

"Actually Myka, I think …," Irene tried, but was cut off again.

"Three weeks, Irene! I think I've been patient enough! And our Oneness? That keeps us connected? Empty! Nothing. I'm connected and I can't feel anything. I am going to wring her British neck!" Myka said, the anger really surging inside now. Her breathing was fast and her face was flushed and she couldn't remember ever being this angry. Or hurt.

Helena pushed her hair back and felt the oddest sensation when her fingers got caught in her mangled hair. She didn't stop to question it as she was off to fetch Myka and give her the good news.

Fetching Myka right now was like trying to touch lightning bolts.

Irene did her best to keep her away from the dining room door, but Myka was moving all over the place. "This time she's really done it!" Myka said as Helena appeared down the hallway.

Leena had just come into the dining room with a tray of – what she called – Intervention hors d'oeuvres.

"For strength?" Sarah laughed.

"Your last meal," Leena said seriously. As much as she admired the friends' courageousness, she knew tangling with Helena – especially now – was a death wish.

And then they heard it – Helena's voice greeting Myka – and it was so tender and loving, that Bridget let out a long 'Oo-oohhhh'.

"There you are, Darling," Helena said as if her brain had just returned to its body.

"Here I am, Darl-ing?" Myka said and Irene stepped out of the way.

"I missed you," Helena said and it was quite evident to Irene that the damn genius was – clueless.

"Myka, I don't think she…," Irene started to share, but Myka wasn't having any of it.

"No, she doesn't get off," Myka growled.

It occurred to Irene that the irony of the situation was that Myka, though justified, was acting more like Helena and Helena, was sounding sweet like Myka.

This wasn't going to end well.

"Helena?" Irene tried, but Helena had some urgent business at hand. "I think Myka needs an explanation," Irene said to her friend, as she covered her mouth and prayed Helena got the message.

"Oh, I will," Helena said and Irene thanked God for answering her prayers. "First, I need to know if you took your temperature this morning."

"Excuse me?" Myka said, having trouble understanding how Helena could be so nonchalant.

"Is she being incredibly nonchalant out there?" Sarah asked.

"You know I have to jump in between them if she goes for Helena, right?" Pete asked Jane who practically swooned at his heroic nature.

Helena had walked the length of the hallway now and was so happy to see Myka, but there was urgency to what they had to do. "We need to check your luteinizing hormone level," the scientist explained and smiled at Irene.

"You want me to …," Myka said slowly.

"Pee on a stick?" Helena explained, wondering why Myka wasn't getting the importance of acting quickly.

"Oh, dear God," Irene let out and tried to open the dining room door, but too many people were leaning on it.

"That's not very romantic," Eileen cringed at the scientific instructions.

"Are you out of your mind?" Myka yelled and startled Helena.

The Brit turned and looked at Irene to interpret what was going on. Then Helena did what she had been doing for the last three weeks – she applied the scientific method to the situation. She asked herself what was going on with Myka. Her experience told her that Myka only acted erratic when she was very upset. Helena constructed her first hypothesis; someone did something to upset Myka. Now, she tested it by asking Irene what she had done. The data – in the form of both women's reaction of shouting their combined disbelief – was carefully analyzed and Helena concluded that her hypothesis was wrong. Now all she had to do was communicate her findings.

"I …don't understand," she stated and her head swung back and forth between the two women who always explained things to her.

"Aaarrggg!" Myka shouted and Irene wished she could interpret for Helena because she truly believed Helena didn't know. "Do you feel it, Helena? Our Oneness? Tell me what you feel?" she demanded.

"Oh! Okay…..I …. I …feel…..," Helena stalled as she checked into her feelings. It wasn't a one step process for the woman and it took a second. "I feel your warmth," Helena said, smiling and checking into the warm sensation that seemed to ….steadily and quickly increase in temperature. Her hand shot to her chest. It was ….hot.

"Feel that, Helena?" Myka asked, knowing that her wife did. "That's the feeling of being alone for three weeks. That's the feeling of being locked out for three weeks. That's what you get when YOU decided to solve puzzles all by yourself!" Myka shouted.

"She was doing puzzles this whole time? That must have been one big mother puzzle," Pete said.

"I think we should go," Bridget said, but Sarah pointed out that their escape was right through the boxing ring.

"Well, then the least we should do is not listen," Eileen suggested, but when she walked away, no one followed.

"Three? Myka, darling, after last month, when you didn't ..," Helena said, suddenly careful about choosing her words. "I went back to the drawing board to build us a better…..way."

"I really…should….go," Irene all but whispered as she decided to try and make her way to the front door.

"Helena, you locked yourself downstairs in your lab. You didn't go to work, you ignored calls, meetings. You just left everything. Tell her, Irene," Myka said, and the HR Director stopped in her tracks.

"I think …you two need to talk…alone," Irene said, wishing she could help Helena, but afraid if she did, it would only make things worse.

"I had to leave everything else, Myka. I had to do this for you," Helena pleaded.

"You didn't have to leave me in the process, Helena. You didn't have to decide on your own the way this would be done. You left me out, Helena. You never explained it, you never discussed it. You decided. Is that how it's going to be, Helena? You'll let me handle the grocery list, but you'll handle the really important things, like getting pregnant!" Myka yelled, her real feelings coming up faster than she could censor them.

"Oh, I don't think….," Bridget said feeling the weight of her decision ….her well intentioned, wrong decision. The group practically moved in unison as they backed away from the door.

"No, Myka. I was just so sure that it would work that when it didn't, I ….," Helena said, looking at the basement door to explain she felt it necessary to retreat to her lab.

"Our vows said through the good times and the bad, through the happy times and the tough ones, Helena. You can't leave me when it suits you," Myka said, more slowly, calmer.

"I…," Helena started, just now getting the impact of her actions. How could she have been so out of touch with what was going on? How did she retreat so far that she lost sight of the one thing that mattered most to her? She wasn't sure of the answers yet, but she was sure of one thing. "Myka, I am so sorry. You're right, you're absolutely right. And in spite of my good intentions, I hurt you. I am truly sorry," Helena said, bravely taking a few steps closer. "I lost track ….of everything."

Irene backed up and tried the door, this time it opened and she slipped inside, holding her breath.

How Myka longed for Helena these past weeks. She was so upset, so angry and yet she wanted to hold her, to be held. "We promised to do everything together," she said, and the hurt pushed the tears down her cheeks.

Her words hit Helena like arrows to the heart. "How could I have been so blind?" she asked and rushed to touch Myka. "I am so sorry, Myka."

Hearing Helena speak so sweetly was almost too much for Myka in spite of the fact it was what she longed for. "You said we would do everything together," Myka said, the tears flowing down her cheeks now. "You didn't even explain to me…what you needed to do."

"Oh, Myka! I caused you such pain. I was so caught up in finding the solution – for us – that I ...," and the genius stopped.

"How is she doing?" Pete asked, still wondering if he would have to go out and protect his boss.

"Helena is going to do just fine," said the woman who had an abundance of faith in her. "Better than all of you are doing to do if she finds you here."

"Myka," Helena said, taking her hands, - "This is not an excuse, I promise you, but I never really had anyone by my side when I was conducting my early experiments. No one believed in the fact that a woman could produce such wonderful things."

"What, was she born in the 1920's?" Bridget said, unable not to hear the conversation that was taking place right outside the door.

"Earlier than…," Pete started to say and Claudia slammed hard down on his foot, while Eileen put a pillow up to his mouth to muffle the scream.

"I think I got so focused….," Helena continued her explanation.

"Obsessed," Myka corrected her and was right.

"Obsessed," Helena repeated, "That I lost sight of everything else."

"We're not supposed to ever lost sight of one another, Helena. Ever," Myka said, speaking her mind and heart.

Each time Myka made a point, Helena flinched just a little under its piercing truthfulness. Helena almost couldn't account for how it happened since she never intended to be so withdrawn. It worried her that it seemed to happen outside her own awareness. Her drive and determination to give Myka what she thought she wanted had upset Myka terrible. Helena had no idea there was a roomful of people whom she had upset.

"Everything you said is right, Myka. I am sorry. Can you ever forgive me?" the disheveled woman asked.

Myka stared deep into Helena's dark eyes, the swollen blood vessels nearly obliterating any white. God, how she missed being near this woman. Her heart and soul, not to mention her whole body, longed to be with her.

"Don't ever leave me, Helena. What we have – in our Oneness – is a gift and we must never take that for granted."

"You're right, Darling," Helena said, the words drenched in her accent that made Myka weak. "In my zealous fervor to provide us with something, I forgot what was truly important. Not just our futures, but our moments here and now. I am sorry that I filled any of yours with pain," Helena said, slowly sinking down on one knee in front of Myka.

"Oh my God, is she down on her knees?" Bridget all but keeled over.

"She has to forgive her!" Eileen said, clutching the anxious feeling in her chest.

If Helena's charm and sincerity were slow to work on Myka, they were already getting the group's consensus that she deserved to be exonerated. It seemed no one was breathing as they waited for the answer.

"I forgive you, Helena," Myka said, pulling Helena straight up to kiss her. "God, Helena, I have missed you so much. Every part of me has ached for you."

"I'll never ….," Helena started to say, but Myka grabbed her behind her head and pulled her in to kiss her hard.

The only noise in the house was the distinct – loud – sound of - THUD – coming from the dining room.

"Bell?" Jane said as she bent down to help the young officer.

Myka's warm smile returned when she released Helena. "I've never seen you… like this."

"I need to shower," Helena said, painfully aware now of her present state.

"Give me a minute and I'll join you," Myka whispered in Helena's ear now that she was aware of the presence of others in the dining room. "First, let me assure our friends that everything is okay."

"In there?" Helena asked, surprised that they were in there. "I should apologize…," she started to say, but Myka wasn't going to delay their makeup time for a minute.

"You can apologize tomorrow. I don't want to wait a minute more than we have to, Helena." Myka explained.

"Thank you, Myka. I will make it up to you," Helena promised and then ran up the stairs.

Myka opened the door to the dining room where her friends all tried to act surprised by her intrusion. "Oh, hi Myka," Bridget said, taking the lead. "So, raincheck for dinner?" she asked already knowing the answer.

Myka smiled and shook her head. "I think so," she said.

Pete was the first to clear his throat several times. "Okay, so we'll just….we're going to …..," he said as he passed Myka and then stopped. "Thanks, Myka."

"For what, Pete?" Myka asked, taken with how sincere he was.

"For bringing her back to us," the man who adored his boss said.

"It's a good thing you're not the jealous type," Bridget said to Jane, who accepted a long time ago that she would always have to share Pete.

"Will she …be there tomorrow? Can we talk to her then?" Eileen asked Myka.

"Yes, I believe she'll be there," Myka said and Eileen let out a big sigh of relief.

"Good!" Claudia said, not ready to give up the fact that she was protecting her girlfriend. "Because – we – have – to – talk," she said slowly and then added, "You know, unless Helena's busy. She'll probably be busy, so it can wait."

Everyone made their way out to the front door, as Irene lingered a few steps behind. "I'm sorry we were all witness to that, Myka," the woman who was usually good at crowd control said.

"It's okay. We appreciate that everyone was so concerned," Myka said, helping Irene on with her coat.

"Thank you," Irene said, her voice cracking as she leaned in and hugged Myka. "Take good care of her," she said even though it was Myka who was the injured party.

Irene would always be concerned for Myka, but she would never stop worrying about Helena.

For those of you who are new to this story, many of the clothes Helena and Myka wear as well as pictures of what the Townhouse might look like, as well as readers' suggestions of what the OC's might look like - can be found on Pinterest at ManhattaniteNYC. Please stop by and enjoy.