Voices 1/1
Myka smiled in her sleep. She felt warm and safe as slender arms pulled her close.
“Helena,” she whispered softly.
“I’m right here darling,” came the eerie response.
Myka’s eyes popped open and she sat up, looking around the dark room. There were no arms around her, no one touching her, just cool sheets sliding against her skin. She sighed and fell back down on the bed again, pressing her fist against her forehead, eyes closed.
“Myka.” The voice a faint whisper in her head.
“What?” Myka whimpered. “Am I going mad too?”
“Darling, can you really hear me?”
“Yeah.”
Myka felt tears in her eyes. She was hearing voices. This was not good. She had just spent the early evening convincing Mr. Kosan and two of the Regents that she was fit for duty - and now this. A silent tear slipped down her soft cheek. She did not even bother to wipe it away.
“You’re not going mad, love,” the voice said with an amused little chuckle.
“I must be,” Myka mumbled. “I’m hearing a voice that belongs to someone who is far away from here and probably not even conscious.”
“Myka, you made this possible,” Helena’s voice said oh so softly.
“How?” Myka whimpered.
“You touched me.”
Myka’s eyes popped open again as she remembered the tingling feeling she had experienced when touching Helena’s hologram, or whatever that projection was. Could it really be? No. she shook her head. This was impossible.
“Myka,” Helena’s voice said in her head, louder now. “I can assure you that this is indeed possible. I don’t know how long it will be before they figure it out, but for now… we are linked, darling.”
Myka groaned. “My mind is linked to that of a psychotic woman who wants to end the world. Great. It will look so good on my resume.”
A teasing chuckle echoed in Myka’s head and she pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes.
“Go away!” she growled.
“Darling, I miss you so much,” Helena’s voice whispered. “I fear that I will truly go insane here if they don’t allow me to talk to someone. Anyone!”
“Why are you doing this?” Myka asked, ignoring the comment.
“I miss you, love,” Helena said.
Myka could almost hear the smile in Helena’s voice. She smiled.
“Okay, so I’m barely awake and I have flirty HG Wells in my head,” she muttered. “This is just fantastic.”
Helena laughed and Myka pressed her hands harder against her eyes.
“I can’t begin to describe the feeling your touch caused. It felt like you were inside me, completely. It was so amazing. Warm, comforting, familiar,” the last three words whispered softly.
“Oh Helena,” Myka whispered.
“Your touch has always been divine, Myka. I don’t think you know how much your touch affected me when we were together, and how I fought not to cross the line,” Helena said seriously.
“Helena?” Myka said confused and her brows furrowed.
“I cannot say the words Myka. I don’t deserve to do that. If I someday miraculously find myself in your presence again, in the flesh - then I will tell you, but not until then.”
Myka whimpered. She too had felt what Helena was hinting to.
“I was a coward Helena,” she admitted softly. “If I had not stuck my head in the sand, perhaps you would be here with me, and Yellowstone and Paris would never have happened.”
“Perhaps darling, but it did and you are not to be blamed for that. I did what I did because of my own actions, not because of your inactions.”
Myka nodded and bit her lip. She was so close to crying her head started to hurt.
“In the end darling, you did stop me. You were the only one who could. I didn’t know it until you confronted me there on that riverbed in Yellowstone under the searing sun. I could feel again. It felt as if my body was coming to life after having been asleep for a very long time. I could feel every pebble under my feet and the heat from the trident burning against my palms. My sweaty hand that closed around the gun. The gun I pointed at your head. No matter how many centuries I live, I will never forget the agony I felt when realizing that I had let you down, that I had almost taken your life.”
“Helena, it’s in the past. You need to move on. You can’t change it, but you can change who you will become.”
There was silence for a long moment and Myka almost started to believe that she had imagined it all, or that it had been one hell of a wacky dream.
“It is very hard to do when you have no future,” came the eerie whispered answer in her head.
Myka flinched. She could almost see the hopelessness on Helena’s face and it rattled her to the core. That this strong, intelligent woman had been brought to her knees by fate and a life she had never been meant to have, was so incredibly sad.
“You do,” Myka said out loud. The sound of her voice was odd in the quiet night.
“No Myka. I gave that up when I plunged the trident into the ground in Yellowstone.”
“What are they doing to you?” Myka asked concerned.
“I don’t really know. I’m not awake much. They make me wash and exercise. I’m inside a building somewhere, but there are no windows so I can’t really say much more than that. They take me from my room to the shower and to the exercise room. The only thing I know is that there are no other people here, except for my captors.”
“Don’t they talk to you?”
“No.”
Myka stared up at the ceiling unsure of what to say.
“You have spent too much time in darkness already Helena.”
“Darling, if you are here to share it with me, it will never truly be dark.”
Myka smiled at that. Even through all the traumatic events that had happened, Helena still had not lost her sweet side, the part that Myka had fallen hard for.
“You say the sweetest things Helena. This is the part of you that needs to survive, the part they need to see.”
“Darling, you are the only one who matters to me anymore. I have no need for a sweeter side as you say during these, the last days of my life.”
“Helena, please don’t say that. If they wanted to kill you, they would’ve done it already.”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps they’re trying to find a way of capturing my thoughts before they dispose of the body? A way of separating the madness and keeping the rest?”
Myka shivered. “Please Helena. If I can forgive you, then I think that they will be able to.”
“If I were released from here and allowed back, would you really be able to say that to me, face-to-face?”
“Yes,” Myka said without hesitation. “I have forgiven you. I haven’t forgotten what happened, but I can see it more clearly in context now.”
“Then you are truly a greater person than I am, love.”
“Helena, you have got to forgive yourself.”
“Why? What I did was at a magnitude that truly does not deserve forgiveness.”
“Nothing is that bad. You never hurt anyone. Not now. So many years have passed since you went into the bronzer. You have more than earned your parole.”
Again there was complete silence in her head. Myka chewed her lip, worried that she had lost the connection.
“You are very dangerous Myka. You are giving me something that no one else could and it has the power to destroy me.”
“What? What did I do?” Myka trembled in the bed, scared of what she had done to upset Helena so.
“Hope. You give me hope my darling. And that is the single thing that can drive a person to madness.”
“Tell me where you are, and I will speak on your behalf.”
Laughter. Silence.
“Only hours ago you screamed at me, questioning why I was there, and now you want to see me in the flesh?”
“I do, damn it!”
More laughter.
“You are beautiful when you are angry, do you know that?”
Myka closed her mouth so fast her teeth almost rattled. She pursed her lips unsure how to respond.
“Your hair looks like mine.”
“I wanted a change.”
“I miss the curls.”
Myka sighed and sank deeper into the softness of her bed. She tugged the comforter closer.
“Still, I will take credit for the new look. Surely my hair must have been the inspiration, even though I do not really do much to my hair more than wash it and brush it.”
Myka smiled. Helena’s hair was beautiful, magical. The perfect hair she had always desired, but knew that she could never have without a lot of help from a talented hair stylist.
“We aren’t all that lucky, Helena.”
“I always wished for curls. As a young girl I adored this older girl. She had beautiful blond hair that curled around my finger when I touched it.”
Myka chuckled. She could easily envision Helena as a curious child, laughing and teasing as she played with the other girl’s hair.
“I noticed that they did not cut your hair. I’m glad. It would have been a crime to do that.”
“I am pleased too. I’ve only sported a short haircut once and it was not all that flattering on me.”
Myka smiled. She knew Helena was wrong. They could shave her head and she would still rival Nefertiti in beauty.
“If they do cut your hair I’m sure we’ll need to store it in the Warehouse. Your hair has power over people.”
That comment caused a genuine laugh from Helena and Myka felt it like a warm blanket as it echoed in her head. She sighed and closed her eyes. She was fighting sleep. As much as she wanted to hear Helena’s voice, she knew it was only a matter of time before she would succumb to sleep.
“Helena, I don’t know how much longer I can stay awake.”
“That’s all right darling. I should try to rest too. I am sure that they are monitoring my brain waves and know that something is up. I wish you pleasant dreams, love. Hopefully we can do this again soon.”
Myka smiled and nodded. “I’d really like that.”
Myka could actually feel it physically when Helena withdrew from her. She whimpered softly and pulled the comforter closer as she felt cold. She turned over in the bed and pulled her knees up, almost ending up in a fetal position. Her mind was quiet and her heart ached. She sighed heavily.
The woman watched Myka sleeping from her hidden spot in the darkness. She smiled as Myka hugged the pillow closer and mumbled a name in her sleep. She moved closer and gently caressed a lock of Myka’s hair away from her soft cheek. She glanced down at the blinking device in her hand. A single green light blinked three times before it lit up steadily.
“Download complete,” she whispered and then again withdrew into the shadows. Mrs. Frederic smiled at the sleeping agent as she glanced at her one last time over her shoulder before slipping out of the room as silently as she had appeared.
*** *** ***
Helena G Wells flinched as the connection was severed and the needle monitoring her brain functions spiked on the readout. She moaned softly and her brow furrowed, but otherwise she lay just as still as she had moments ago. A modern day drug induced sleeping beauty.
A light flashed, then another one before all three lit up bright green in the otherwise dim room. A single long beep finalized the transaction sending it to the computer screen at the guard’s station outside. The guard jumped in his seat and almost dropped his coffee mug. Staring at the screen he fumbled for the phone. Not bothering dialing a number he just pressed the red button.
*** *** ***
“Agent Bering.”
Myka jumped and made a face before turning to face the woman calling her name.
“Mrs. Frederic, what a pleasure.”
“I’m sure it’s not, but that is irrelevant,” Mrs. Frederic said and smiled. “Your presence is needed.”
“Where?” Myka said and frowned. “We just got back from Cleveland last night.”
“I am aware of that, and trust me if it wasn’t important you would be getting your time to rest.”
“Fine. Where am I going? Does Pete know yet?”
“Where you are going is on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know… yet. As for Agent Lattimer, he’s not going with you.”
Now Myka was really confused. Her eyebrows shot up and she just stared at Mrs. Frederic waiting for an explanation.
“I’m confused.”
“All will be revealed in good time. Pack a bag Myka. You will be gone for a few days.”
*** *** ***
In a secluded location, miles away from South Dakota, Helena Wells blinked a couple of times as she slowly woke up. She sat up when she noticed the difference. Instantly alert she glanced around the room that for the first time was not in almost darkness, but bathed in a soft, warm light coming from the open window on her right.
Helena ran her hand through her hair and then stilled when she realized what really was different. Her head was clear. There was no trace of the numbing drugs in her system. She felt like herself for the first time in a very long time. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with warm summer air. She could almost taste the freshly cut grass outside as the breeze brought with it various scents of summer: freshly cut grass, flowers, the ocean. A bird chirped and another one launched into a long serenade singing his little heart out for Helena. She giggled, a sound that sounded strange even to her ears. Helena swung her legs over the side of the bed and carefully stood up. She stopped and looked at her arms. The ever present IVs were gone. She ran her fingers over her bruised skin and sighed, relieved. It had been the source for her only form of sustenance during the weeks or months that she had been held in captivity. After one unsuccessful attempt to pull them out early on, she had resigned and allowed them to pump her full of nutrition and drugs, keeping her alive, but numb. She swallowed. Her throat was dry. She glanced around, spotting a pitcher of water sitting on a nearby table. Beads of water slowly dripped down the side of it as the condensation adjusted to the warmer air in the room. A single glass sat next to it. Helena reached out with slightly shaking hands and grabbed the pitcher, pouring herself a glass. She eagerly brought it to her lips and took a sip. Her eyes fluttered shut as the cold water caressed the inside of her throat. She cradled the glass in both her hands as she took one small sip after the other, cherishing the taste of the cold water.
The door opening behind her almost made her drop the glass. Her head snapped around and she started to shake.
“Myka.”
Myka rushed across the room and grabbed the glass from Helena’s hands just as it slipped from her shaking fingers. Putting it down on the table she turned back to Helena, pulling her against her in a comforting hug.
“Everything will be fine Helena. I’m not letting you go again. Ever.”
Helena held on to Myka like a drowning person, fearing that she was nothing more than a fabric of her imagination. Not until she felt Myka’s soft lips brush against hers did she finally realize that Myka was really there.
“I love you, my darling sweet Myka,” she whispered. “I will never leave you again.”
Mrs. Frederic watched the two through the double sided mirror. She nodded and smiled as the two kissed.
“Program complete.”
Behind her the five Regents and Mr. Kosan watched silently as the two women sat down on the bed. Myka held Helena protectively in her arms as she cried. Helena’s shoulders shook and her knuckles turned white as her fingers gripped Myka’s jacket. When Myka leaned down on the bed pulling Helena with her, Helena jerked away and jumped off the bed shaking her head. Myka got up and gently approached her until she could again wrap her arms around Helena.
One of the Regents pressed a button on the wall and a speaker crackled for a second before Myka’s voice came through as clear as if she had been in the room with them.
“You are not staying one more day in this room Helena,” she assured the distraught woman.
“I just can’t Myka,” Helena whimpered. “I’ve been a living corpse in that bed for God only knows how long.”
“I know sweetheart,” Myka said and smiled. “You are not going to be alone ever again. Not as long as I have something to say about it.”
“And you do?” Helen asked in a small voice.
“I do,” Myka said seriously.
“I feel different,” Helena mumbled and grabbed her head. She looked up at Myka and frowned. “Something has changed.”
“I know. They fixed it.”
“What did they do?” Helena exclaimed and grabbed Myka by the shoulders. She shook her when Myka didn’t answer.
“They did something to you before bronzing you, Helena,” Myka whispered.
Helena just stared at her. Her hands fell from Myka’s shoulders. “What did they do?”
“We don’t know exactly, just that it was meant as a precaution should you ever escape.”
“They shocked me, didn’t they?” Helena spat. She started to pace back and forth.
“Yes,” Myka whispered.
“How come I don’t remember?”
“I’ve been told that most of the time people don’t remember it.”
“They could have killed me!” Helena wailed. “Or worse, turned me into a sodding crazy person. They damn well succeeded with that, actually.”
“Helena,” Myka said softly. “Artie finally located your file and we found out what happened to you. He didn’t tell us right away, which he is very sorry about.”
“Of course he wouldn’t,” Helena muttered. “He always wanted me dead.”
“He was hurting, Helena. You caused the death of his best friend.”
“McPherson would’ve killed you all!”
“I know that, and so does Artie, but McPherson was still his friend. He needs time, just like you did.”
Helena nodded. “We cause pain to others when we are in deep pain.”
“We do. I’m guilty too. I hurt Pete when I left. I didn’t realize just how much until I returned.” She chuckled and then smiled sadly at Helena. “It took an artifact to turn Pete into a little boy to make him actually tell me.”
“I didn’t know that was possible to regress him any further,” Helena mumbled.
“Helena,” Myka said and rolled her eyes.
Helena bit her lip and glanced at Myka out of the corner of her eye. “Sorry.”
“Agent Wells.”
They both turned around and faced Mrs. Frederic.
“What did you do to me?” Helena demanded to know.
“We healed you. Actually you have Agent Bering to thank for most of it. Without her help I’m not sure if we could’ve done it.”
Helena turned to Myka who nodded. She took a step closer and put her hands on Myka’s hips. She kissed Myka on the cheek and rested her head on Myka’s shoulder.
“They did something very wrong to you Helena,” Mrs. Frederic said in a gentle tone. “All I can say in their defense is that they didn’t know what they were doing. I’m just so incredibly relieved that they didn’t cause more harm.”
“I almost destroyed the world,” Helena whispered.
“True, but the failsafe kicked in when Myka confronted you. And that was all you, Helena.”
“What failsafe?” Helena asked and frowned.
“Love,” Mrs. Frederic said and smiled.
Myka blushed and nodded when Helena turned her way. “We’ve healed your mind Helena. You are free to leave.”
“Free?” Helena whispered.
“You’re still a Warehouse Agent, Helena,” Mrs. Frederic pointed out. “We expect you back on duty again in the near future.”
Helena just stared at her and then at Myka.
“I’d hoped that you’d come with me,” Myka whispered.
Helena nodded. “I will. I always will.”
Behind the mirrored wall the Regents watched in silence. Mr. Kosan’s voice seemed surprisingly loud when he finally broke the silence.
“It is done. An agent has been given restitution. The Warehouse takes care of its own. In the end we did not fail Agent Wells.”
A chorus of mumbled agreements followed by nods solidified his claim. One by one they quietly left the observation room, allowing the two women some well-earned privacy.
THE END
“Helena,” she whispered softly.
“I’m right here darling,” came the eerie response.
Myka’s eyes popped open and she sat up, looking around the dark room. There were no arms around her, no one touching her, just cool sheets sliding against her skin. She sighed and fell back down on the bed again, pressing her fist against her forehead, eyes closed.
“Myka.” The voice a faint whisper in her head.
“What?” Myka whimpered. “Am I going mad too?”
“Darling, can you really hear me?”
“Yeah.”
Myka felt tears in her eyes. She was hearing voices. This was not good. She had just spent the early evening convincing Mr. Kosan and two of the Regents that she was fit for duty - and now this. A silent tear slipped down her soft cheek. She did not even bother to wipe it away.
“You’re not going mad, love,” the voice said with an amused little chuckle.
“I must be,” Myka mumbled. “I’m hearing a voice that belongs to someone who is far away from here and probably not even conscious.”
“Myka, you made this possible,” Helena’s voice said oh so softly.
“How?” Myka whimpered.
“You touched me.”
Myka’s eyes popped open again as she remembered the tingling feeling she had experienced when touching Helena’s hologram, or whatever that projection was. Could it really be? No. she shook her head. This was impossible.
“Myka,” Helena’s voice said in her head, louder now. “I can assure you that this is indeed possible. I don’t know how long it will be before they figure it out, but for now… we are linked, darling.”
Myka groaned. “My mind is linked to that of a psychotic woman who wants to end the world. Great. It will look so good on my resume.”
A teasing chuckle echoed in Myka’s head and she pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes.
“Go away!” she growled.
“Darling, I miss you so much,” Helena’s voice whispered. “I fear that I will truly go insane here if they don’t allow me to talk to someone. Anyone!”
“Why are you doing this?” Myka asked, ignoring the comment.
“I miss you, love,” Helena said.
Myka could almost hear the smile in Helena’s voice. She smiled.
“Okay, so I’m barely awake and I have flirty HG Wells in my head,” she muttered. “This is just fantastic.”
Helena laughed and Myka pressed her hands harder against her eyes.
“I can’t begin to describe the feeling your touch caused. It felt like you were inside me, completely. It was so amazing. Warm, comforting, familiar,” the last three words whispered softly.
“Oh Helena,” Myka whispered.
“Your touch has always been divine, Myka. I don’t think you know how much your touch affected me when we were together, and how I fought not to cross the line,” Helena said seriously.
“Helena?” Myka said confused and her brows furrowed.
“I cannot say the words Myka. I don’t deserve to do that. If I someday miraculously find myself in your presence again, in the flesh - then I will tell you, but not until then.”
Myka whimpered. She too had felt what Helena was hinting to.
“I was a coward Helena,” she admitted softly. “If I had not stuck my head in the sand, perhaps you would be here with me, and Yellowstone and Paris would never have happened.”
“Perhaps darling, but it did and you are not to be blamed for that. I did what I did because of my own actions, not because of your inactions.”
Myka nodded and bit her lip. She was so close to crying her head started to hurt.
“In the end darling, you did stop me. You were the only one who could. I didn’t know it until you confronted me there on that riverbed in Yellowstone under the searing sun. I could feel again. It felt as if my body was coming to life after having been asleep for a very long time. I could feel every pebble under my feet and the heat from the trident burning against my palms. My sweaty hand that closed around the gun. The gun I pointed at your head. No matter how many centuries I live, I will never forget the agony I felt when realizing that I had let you down, that I had almost taken your life.”
“Helena, it’s in the past. You need to move on. You can’t change it, but you can change who you will become.”
There was silence for a long moment and Myka almost started to believe that she had imagined it all, or that it had been one hell of a wacky dream.
“It is very hard to do when you have no future,” came the eerie whispered answer in her head.
Myka flinched. She could almost see the hopelessness on Helena’s face and it rattled her to the core. That this strong, intelligent woman had been brought to her knees by fate and a life she had never been meant to have, was so incredibly sad.
“You do,” Myka said out loud. The sound of her voice was odd in the quiet night.
“No Myka. I gave that up when I plunged the trident into the ground in Yellowstone.”
“What are they doing to you?” Myka asked concerned.
“I don’t really know. I’m not awake much. They make me wash and exercise. I’m inside a building somewhere, but there are no windows so I can’t really say much more than that. They take me from my room to the shower and to the exercise room. The only thing I know is that there are no other people here, except for my captors.”
“Don’t they talk to you?”
“No.”
Myka stared up at the ceiling unsure of what to say.
“You have spent too much time in darkness already Helena.”
“Darling, if you are here to share it with me, it will never truly be dark.”
Myka smiled at that. Even through all the traumatic events that had happened, Helena still had not lost her sweet side, the part that Myka had fallen hard for.
“You say the sweetest things Helena. This is the part of you that needs to survive, the part they need to see.”
“Darling, you are the only one who matters to me anymore. I have no need for a sweeter side as you say during these, the last days of my life.”
“Helena, please don’t say that. If they wanted to kill you, they would’ve done it already.”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps they’re trying to find a way of capturing my thoughts before they dispose of the body? A way of separating the madness and keeping the rest?”
Myka shivered. “Please Helena. If I can forgive you, then I think that they will be able to.”
“If I were released from here and allowed back, would you really be able to say that to me, face-to-face?”
“Yes,” Myka said without hesitation. “I have forgiven you. I haven’t forgotten what happened, but I can see it more clearly in context now.”
“Then you are truly a greater person than I am, love.”
“Helena, you have got to forgive yourself.”
“Why? What I did was at a magnitude that truly does not deserve forgiveness.”
“Nothing is that bad. You never hurt anyone. Not now. So many years have passed since you went into the bronzer. You have more than earned your parole.”
Again there was complete silence in her head. Myka chewed her lip, worried that she had lost the connection.
“You are very dangerous Myka. You are giving me something that no one else could and it has the power to destroy me.”
“What? What did I do?” Myka trembled in the bed, scared of what she had done to upset Helena so.
“Hope. You give me hope my darling. And that is the single thing that can drive a person to madness.”
“Tell me where you are, and I will speak on your behalf.”
Laughter. Silence.
“Only hours ago you screamed at me, questioning why I was there, and now you want to see me in the flesh?”
“I do, damn it!”
More laughter.
“You are beautiful when you are angry, do you know that?”
Myka closed her mouth so fast her teeth almost rattled. She pursed her lips unsure how to respond.
“Your hair looks like mine.”
“I wanted a change.”
“I miss the curls.”
Myka sighed and sank deeper into the softness of her bed. She tugged the comforter closer.
“Still, I will take credit for the new look. Surely my hair must have been the inspiration, even though I do not really do much to my hair more than wash it and brush it.”
Myka smiled. Helena’s hair was beautiful, magical. The perfect hair she had always desired, but knew that she could never have without a lot of help from a talented hair stylist.
“We aren’t all that lucky, Helena.”
“I always wished for curls. As a young girl I adored this older girl. She had beautiful blond hair that curled around my finger when I touched it.”
Myka chuckled. She could easily envision Helena as a curious child, laughing and teasing as she played with the other girl’s hair.
“I noticed that they did not cut your hair. I’m glad. It would have been a crime to do that.”
“I am pleased too. I’ve only sported a short haircut once and it was not all that flattering on me.”
Myka smiled. She knew Helena was wrong. They could shave her head and she would still rival Nefertiti in beauty.
“If they do cut your hair I’m sure we’ll need to store it in the Warehouse. Your hair has power over people.”
That comment caused a genuine laugh from Helena and Myka felt it like a warm blanket as it echoed in her head. She sighed and closed her eyes. She was fighting sleep. As much as she wanted to hear Helena’s voice, she knew it was only a matter of time before she would succumb to sleep.
“Helena, I don’t know how much longer I can stay awake.”
“That’s all right darling. I should try to rest too. I am sure that they are monitoring my brain waves and know that something is up. I wish you pleasant dreams, love. Hopefully we can do this again soon.”
Myka smiled and nodded. “I’d really like that.”
Myka could actually feel it physically when Helena withdrew from her. She whimpered softly and pulled the comforter closer as she felt cold. She turned over in the bed and pulled her knees up, almost ending up in a fetal position. Her mind was quiet and her heart ached. She sighed heavily.
The woman watched Myka sleeping from her hidden spot in the darkness. She smiled as Myka hugged the pillow closer and mumbled a name in her sleep. She moved closer and gently caressed a lock of Myka’s hair away from her soft cheek. She glanced down at the blinking device in her hand. A single green light blinked three times before it lit up steadily.
“Download complete,” she whispered and then again withdrew into the shadows. Mrs. Frederic smiled at the sleeping agent as she glanced at her one last time over her shoulder before slipping out of the room as silently as she had appeared.
*** *** ***
Helena G Wells flinched as the connection was severed and the needle monitoring her brain functions spiked on the readout. She moaned softly and her brow furrowed, but otherwise she lay just as still as she had moments ago. A modern day drug induced sleeping beauty.
A light flashed, then another one before all three lit up bright green in the otherwise dim room. A single long beep finalized the transaction sending it to the computer screen at the guard’s station outside. The guard jumped in his seat and almost dropped his coffee mug. Staring at the screen he fumbled for the phone. Not bothering dialing a number he just pressed the red button.
*** *** ***
“Agent Bering.”
Myka jumped and made a face before turning to face the woman calling her name.
“Mrs. Frederic, what a pleasure.”
“I’m sure it’s not, but that is irrelevant,” Mrs. Frederic said and smiled. “Your presence is needed.”
“Where?” Myka said and frowned. “We just got back from Cleveland last night.”
“I am aware of that, and trust me if it wasn’t important you would be getting your time to rest.”
“Fine. Where am I going? Does Pete know yet?”
“Where you are going is on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know… yet. As for Agent Lattimer, he’s not going with you.”
Now Myka was really confused. Her eyebrows shot up and she just stared at Mrs. Frederic waiting for an explanation.
“I’m confused.”
“All will be revealed in good time. Pack a bag Myka. You will be gone for a few days.”
*** *** ***
In a secluded location, miles away from South Dakota, Helena Wells blinked a couple of times as she slowly woke up. She sat up when she noticed the difference. Instantly alert she glanced around the room that for the first time was not in almost darkness, but bathed in a soft, warm light coming from the open window on her right.
Helena ran her hand through her hair and then stilled when she realized what really was different. Her head was clear. There was no trace of the numbing drugs in her system. She felt like herself for the first time in a very long time. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with warm summer air. She could almost taste the freshly cut grass outside as the breeze brought with it various scents of summer: freshly cut grass, flowers, the ocean. A bird chirped and another one launched into a long serenade singing his little heart out for Helena. She giggled, a sound that sounded strange even to her ears. Helena swung her legs over the side of the bed and carefully stood up. She stopped and looked at her arms. The ever present IVs were gone. She ran her fingers over her bruised skin and sighed, relieved. It had been the source for her only form of sustenance during the weeks or months that she had been held in captivity. After one unsuccessful attempt to pull them out early on, she had resigned and allowed them to pump her full of nutrition and drugs, keeping her alive, but numb. She swallowed. Her throat was dry. She glanced around, spotting a pitcher of water sitting on a nearby table. Beads of water slowly dripped down the side of it as the condensation adjusted to the warmer air in the room. A single glass sat next to it. Helena reached out with slightly shaking hands and grabbed the pitcher, pouring herself a glass. She eagerly brought it to her lips and took a sip. Her eyes fluttered shut as the cold water caressed the inside of her throat. She cradled the glass in both her hands as she took one small sip after the other, cherishing the taste of the cold water.
The door opening behind her almost made her drop the glass. Her head snapped around and she started to shake.
“Myka.”
Myka rushed across the room and grabbed the glass from Helena’s hands just as it slipped from her shaking fingers. Putting it down on the table she turned back to Helena, pulling her against her in a comforting hug.
“Everything will be fine Helena. I’m not letting you go again. Ever.”
Helena held on to Myka like a drowning person, fearing that she was nothing more than a fabric of her imagination. Not until she felt Myka’s soft lips brush against hers did she finally realize that Myka was really there.
“I love you, my darling sweet Myka,” she whispered. “I will never leave you again.”
Mrs. Frederic watched the two through the double sided mirror. She nodded and smiled as the two kissed.
“Program complete.”
Behind her the five Regents and Mr. Kosan watched silently as the two women sat down on the bed. Myka held Helena protectively in her arms as she cried. Helena’s shoulders shook and her knuckles turned white as her fingers gripped Myka’s jacket. When Myka leaned down on the bed pulling Helena with her, Helena jerked away and jumped off the bed shaking her head. Myka got up and gently approached her until she could again wrap her arms around Helena.
One of the Regents pressed a button on the wall and a speaker crackled for a second before Myka’s voice came through as clear as if she had been in the room with them.
“You are not staying one more day in this room Helena,” she assured the distraught woman.
“I just can’t Myka,” Helena whimpered. “I’ve been a living corpse in that bed for God only knows how long.”
“I know sweetheart,” Myka said and smiled. “You are not going to be alone ever again. Not as long as I have something to say about it.”
“And you do?” Helen asked in a small voice.
“I do,” Myka said seriously.
“I feel different,” Helena mumbled and grabbed her head. She looked up at Myka and frowned. “Something has changed.”
“I know. They fixed it.”
“What did they do?” Helena exclaimed and grabbed Myka by the shoulders. She shook her when Myka didn’t answer.
“They did something to you before bronzing you, Helena,” Myka whispered.
Helena just stared at her. Her hands fell from Myka’s shoulders. “What did they do?”
“We don’t know exactly, just that it was meant as a precaution should you ever escape.”
“They shocked me, didn’t they?” Helena spat. She started to pace back and forth.
“Yes,” Myka whispered.
“How come I don’t remember?”
“I’ve been told that most of the time people don’t remember it.”
“They could have killed me!” Helena wailed. “Or worse, turned me into a sodding crazy person. They damn well succeeded with that, actually.”
“Helena,” Myka said softly. “Artie finally located your file and we found out what happened to you. He didn’t tell us right away, which he is very sorry about.”
“Of course he wouldn’t,” Helena muttered. “He always wanted me dead.”
“He was hurting, Helena. You caused the death of his best friend.”
“McPherson would’ve killed you all!”
“I know that, and so does Artie, but McPherson was still his friend. He needs time, just like you did.”
Helena nodded. “We cause pain to others when we are in deep pain.”
“We do. I’m guilty too. I hurt Pete when I left. I didn’t realize just how much until I returned.” She chuckled and then smiled sadly at Helena. “It took an artifact to turn Pete into a little boy to make him actually tell me.”
“I didn’t know that was possible to regress him any further,” Helena mumbled.
“Helena,” Myka said and rolled her eyes.
Helena bit her lip and glanced at Myka out of the corner of her eye. “Sorry.”
“Agent Wells.”
They both turned around and faced Mrs. Frederic.
“What did you do to me?” Helena demanded to know.
“We healed you. Actually you have Agent Bering to thank for most of it. Without her help I’m not sure if we could’ve done it.”
Helena turned to Myka who nodded. She took a step closer and put her hands on Myka’s hips. She kissed Myka on the cheek and rested her head on Myka’s shoulder.
“They did something very wrong to you Helena,” Mrs. Frederic said in a gentle tone. “All I can say in their defense is that they didn’t know what they were doing. I’m just so incredibly relieved that they didn’t cause more harm.”
“I almost destroyed the world,” Helena whispered.
“True, but the failsafe kicked in when Myka confronted you. And that was all you, Helena.”
“What failsafe?” Helena asked and frowned.
“Love,” Mrs. Frederic said and smiled.
Myka blushed and nodded when Helena turned her way. “We’ve healed your mind Helena. You are free to leave.”
“Free?” Helena whispered.
“You’re still a Warehouse Agent, Helena,” Mrs. Frederic pointed out. “We expect you back on duty again in the near future.”
Helena just stared at her and then at Myka.
“I’d hoped that you’d come with me,” Myka whispered.
Helena nodded. “I will. I always will.”
Behind the mirrored wall the Regents watched in silence. Mr. Kosan’s voice seemed surprisingly loud when he finally broke the silence.
“It is done. An agent has been given restitution. The Warehouse takes care of its own. In the end we did not fail Agent Wells.”
A chorus of mumbled agreements followed by nods solidified his claim. One by one they quietly left the observation room, allowing the two women some well-earned privacy.
THE END