Guardian: Chapter 11
Summery: When a threat on her life appears, Claudia is forced to leave the Warehouse and go to the small town of Haven, where she will be safe - if she isn’t killed by the odd, supernatural occurrences around the town, of course. However, once at Haven she realizes that the town and its inhabitants - especially Audrey Parker - might have more of a hand in her destiny - and true purpose to the Warehouse - than she thought.
Rating: PG-13 for violence and swearing.
Pairings: Audrey/Nathan (romantic), Artie/Claudia (father & daughter)
Spoilers: For Season 1 of Haven and all 2 seasons of Warehouse 13.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Haven or Warehouse 13.
Credit for banner: This awesome banner was made for me by the great dandilandi22!
Recaps: Read this quick recap to find out what’s currently happening on both shows!
Previous Chapters: Chapter Index
Chapter 11: Caretakers and Guardians
“I’m the Caretaker of Haven?” Audrey said in a whisper.
“We...we wanted to find the right time to tell you.” Dave said, having the grace to look ashamed of keeping this from her for so long.
“And right now seemed like a good time?” Audrey asked. “With a killer after Claudia?”
“Yes. Because that killer’s aim is to destroy the future Caretaker of the Warehouse. And if she dies, then that means that none of the Caretakers are safe. The legendary status that has been protecting you, the rumors, the stories, that make your job so sacred will be gone. And you will look like a regular human being with extraordinary powers. Just another Troubled, which you aren’t. Soon, any person that dislikes Caretakers will be trying to hunt and kill them. The Caretakers need that status of invulnerability, of extraordinary power, because if they don’t have that, then their job - and the world - will be in danger.”
“I’m sorry, the world?” Audrey asked in disbelief. “I just make sure nobody dies in a town that isn’t even on most maps!”
“You’ve seen Haven do amazing things. But it hasn’t even reached a particle of its strength yet. And you, you haven’t even begun to tap into a fraction of your powers.” Dave said.
“Haven is powerful - and if the Caretakers of Haven are destroyed, if the Caretakers of the Warehouse are destroyed, the supernatural elements of these places will overtake our world as there will be no one left to control these places.” Vince added.
“The world needs places like Haven and Warehouse 13 in order to be able to have a balance - a balance between the so-called “normal” and the supernatural.” Dave chimed in. “These places control and harness whatever the supernatural is, in order to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”
“I think I need a minute to understand what’s happening.” Audrey said, looking around for a place to sit down - it felt like the world was spinning. Duke was shaking his head in disbelief, Claudia was simply staring at her in shock, Dave and Vince were looking at her with a mixture of awe and respect. Only Nathan knew what she needed, and grabbed a chair for her to sit down in.
“Thanks.” Audrey said, sitting down and running her hands through her hair. She put her palms to her temples and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and then opened her them. “So, what exactly does being a Caretaker involve?”
“You’re already doing it.” Vince said, smiling down at her. “You’re protecting Haven and its citizens, you’re caring for them.”
“But...Mrs. F - I mean, our current Caretaker,” Claudia started, looking around at the room, not sure how much she should tell them about the Warehouse’s Caretaker since they were in so much danger now, “she’s always seemed...tapped into the Warehouse somehow. She knows how it feels, she knows where everything is, she communicates with it.”
“Every Caretaker communicates with its...place...somehow. But they do it in different ways. What worked for the Warehouse might not work for Haven.” Dave said. “Especially considering Guardians.”
“Guardians?” Nathan said.
“For as long as Caretakers have existed for Haven, there have been Guardians.”
“What are these Guardians?” Audrey asked. Some thought was tugging on her mind, some memory in the back of her head that she just couldn’t reach...
“When Haven was created, a group of people...downloaded, you might say, a great deal of Haven’s...magic, supernatural abilities...whatever you want to call it, into a Caretaker. Using an artifact from your Warehouse, in fact.” Vince said, nodding to Claudia, who flashed back to the green piece of ribbon that had almost been used to transfer the title of Caretaker from Mrs. Fredric to her. Did Haven use that same artifact? Or did they use something different, something that had some meaning to their town? If that artifact was destroyed, did it mean the end of Caretakers in Haven?
“But when the First Caretaker received that power, the people - the very first settlers of Haven, actually - began to worry. All that power in one human being - what happened if they were killed and could not transfer their power to the next Caretaker? So, as a fail safe, the elders created a Guardian for the Caretaker.”
“A Guardian’s job was to live. A link was established between the Guardian and Caretaker of Haven. So long as the Guardian was alive, the Caretaker was alive as well. But when the Guardian died, so did the Caretaker - after a short period of time. The settlers told themselves that this was a smart idea, so that they could keep the Guardian nearby and allow the Caretaker to keep protecting Haven. The short amount of time that passed between the Guardian's death and the Caretaker’s was another fail safe -”
“These guys were paranoid, weren’t they?” Duke interjected. The tone of the story was too much for him - he was having trouble wrapping his head around the first idea - that his snaky waitress and closest friend were the heiresses to an enormous legacy and amount of power.
“It was used so that the Caretaker would be able to transfer their power even in the occurrence that their Guardian died.” Vince said, annoyed that he had been interrupted.
“What happens if the Caretaker gets hurt beyond all repair?” Nathan asked. “Stabbed in the heart, shot in the head, drowned...”
“Nothing can hurt the Caretaker. They would simply regenerate the form that their Guardian had.” Vince said. When he noticed everyone’s confused looks, he sighed. “A long time ago, a Caretaker rushed into a fire to save a little girl who could manipulate the elements. The Caretaker was badly burned and died in her Guardian’s arms. But after a few hours, the burns healed and the Caretaker began to breathe again. She took the unscarred appearance that she had before the fire because her Guardian was unharmed.”
“So if the Guardian is safe, then so is the Caretaker.” Audrey said. “But if the Guardian is harmed...”
“Then so is the Caretaker.” Nathan finished.
“Exactly. In another occasion, a Guardian lost an eye rescuing his Caretaker from a citizen who could control wild animals. He took control of the wolves surrounding Haven and attempted to attack the town. The Caretaker stopped him, but was badly scratched. The scratches heeled, but the right eye of the Caretaker - which had not been hurt at all - was permanently blind after the Guardian's right eye was lost.”
“Wow.” Claudia said, sitting down herself. Then something occurred to her. “Wait, you said that the Guardians were a fail safe to keep the Caretakers alive while they went out and did their world - Haven saving job.
“Yes.” Vince said, nodding.
“Then why would the Guardian put himself in danger just to make sure that the Caretaker was safe, if the Caretaker would just regenerate and be fine?”
“Because your artifact had an unexpected consequence.” Dave said.
Everyone turned to star at Claudia, who slouched in her chair. “Even when it happens before I’m born, everything at the Warehouse is always my fault.” She grouched.
“The artifact allowed for a Guardian to be created along with a Caretaker created the Guardian as a part of the Caretaker. The Guardian is the Caretaker's perfect half.” Dave said.
“In layman’s terms, a soulmate.” Vince added.
“Wow.” Claudia said, eyes wide.
Audrey felt herself going numb, the world seemed to be spinning...
“That’s how your survived as Lucy, Audrey.” Vince said. “Your Guardian was still alive so you were regenerate and you lived on.”
“But then, wouldn’t her Guardian, be like, 60?” Claudia said, wrinkling her nose.
“No. You see, even though they are each other’s perfect half, the ways they find each other can be difficult. It is part of the process of bonding themselves to each other, another side effect of your artifact.”
“We believe that the power that bonded the Guardian and Caretaker worked in that way to the benefit of Lucy.”
“You see, a few years after Lucy learned that she was the Caretaker, she still hadn’t found her Guardian yet. She was desperate to find him - nervous that she hadn’t. But one day, there was a Troubled person that couldn’t control their powers - they had the power to become an element they were touching.
It was just a little girl, she couldn’t have been anymore than 13. She was trying to stop herself, but whatever she would touch - fire, wood, water, metal, her body would take on that element. She could literally turn herself into a body of steel, then one touch and she could make herself pure gold. Lucy tried to help her - but the girl was too scared. Lucy went into home of the girl - Sara, I believe it was - and spoke to her. She calmed Sara down, but before she could help her learn to control her powers, Sara stood up to walk over to Lucy, and tripped on the carpet: right into the family’s fireplace, which was burning at the time.
Sara was not hurt by the flames that her body became, but in desperation she reached out to touch Lucy - whose body caught on fire. If she had had her Guardian with her, Lucy might have been able to resist the power of the Troubled, but her powers weren’t at full capacity because her Guardian wasn’t with her - another fail safe that the Elders built in. Lucy burned to death with Sara screamed hysterically, reaching out to her, trying to help, but only making the death worse.
“Shit.” Claudia whispered, a sick feeling spreading throughout her stomach.
“Lucy disintegrated into nothing but ashes - but we all thought something would rise from those ashes. Nothing did. We realized that Lucy couldn’t be the Caretaker without her Guardian somewhere, so we thought that because her body had been destroyed, the powers that were connected with her had simply regenerated her someplace else. We thought she would come back to us soon - but she didn’t. She stayed away. We knew nothing would ever keep Lucy away from helping us - except if she didn’t remember. But why would she not remember - none of the other Caretakers had had amnesia after regenerating. Unless, we thought, she was too young to remember, or maybe she thought it was too impossible, that it was -”
“A fantasy she made up in the orphanages and foster homes to keep her company.” Audrey whispered. Claudia looked at her sympathetically, knowing only too well the isolation she had felt in those places.
There was a long silence, and then, finally, Claudia spoke up again.
“What happened to the girl, Sara?” Claudia asked.
“She grew up, and eventually learned to control her powers. But she grew severely depressed as the years passed, blaming herself for Audrey’s death. When she was 20, she went to the beach with her family. Her younger sister saw her slide into Haven’s waters for a swim, saw her body turn into water - but never saw her come out.” Vince said.
“And no one ever has.” Dave added solemnly.
“Well, thanks for giving me a legitimate reason to never go swimming in Haven again.” Duke said, getting up from his chair. “But what does this mean?”
“It means that Claudia is in danger, as well as Audrey and her Guardian.”
“So what do we do now?” Claudia asked.
Dave sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bride of his nose, eyes closed in determination - or exhaustion.
“We can either run...or stay and fight.”
Rating: PG-13 for violence and swearing.
Pairings: Audrey/Nathan (romantic), Artie/Claudia (father & daughter)
Spoilers: For Season 1 of Haven and all 2 seasons of Warehouse 13.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Haven or Warehouse 13.
Credit for banner: This awesome banner was made for me by the great dandilandi22!
Recaps: Read this quick recap to find out what’s currently happening on both shows!
Previous Chapters: Chapter Index
Chapter 11: Caretakers and Guardians
“I’m the Caretaker of Haven?” Audrey said in a whisper.
“We...we wanted to find the right time to tell you.” Dave said, having the grace to look ashamed of keeping this from her for so long.
“And right now seemed like a good time?” Audrey asked. “With a killer after Claudia?”
“Yes. Because that killer’s aim is to destroy the future Caretaker of the Warehouse. And if she dies, then that means that none of the Caretakers are safe. The legendary status that has been protecting you, the rumors, the stories, that make your job so sacred will be gone. And you will look like a regular human being with extraordinary powers. Just another Troubled, which you aren’t. Soon, any person that dislikes Caretakers will be trying to hunt and kill them. The Caretakers need that status of invulnerability, of extraordinary power, because if they don’t have that, then their job - and the world - will be in danger.”
“I’m sorry, the world?” Audrey asked in disbelief. “I just make sure nobody dies in a town that isn’t even on most maps!”
“You’ve seen Haven do amazing things. But it hasn’t even reached a particle of its strength yet. And you, you haven’t even begun to tap into a fraction of your powers.” Dave said.
“Haven is powerful - and if the Caretakers of Haven are destroyed, if the Caretakers of the Warehouse are destroyed, the supernatural elements of these places will overtake our world as there will be no one left to control these places.” Vince added.
“The world needs places like Haven and Warehouse 13 in order to be able to have a balance - a balance between the so-called “normal” and the supernatural.” Dave chimed in. “These places control and harness whatever the supernatural is, in order to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”
“I think I need a minute to understand what’s happening.” Audrey said, looking around for a place to sit down - it felt like the world was spinning. Duke was shaking his head in disbelief, Claudia was simply staring at her in shock, Dave and Vince were looking at her with a mixture of awe and respect. Only Nathan knew what she needed, and grabbed a chair for her to sit down in.
“Thanks.” Audrey said, sitting down and running her hands through her hair. She put her palms to her temples and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and then opened her them. “So, what exactly does being a Caretaker involve?”
“You’re already doing it.” Vince said, smiling down at her. “You’re protecting Haven and its citizens, you’re caring for them.”
“But...Mrs. F - I mean, our current Caretaker,” Claudia started, looking around at the room, not sure how much she should tell them about the Warehouse’s Caretaker since they were in so much danger now, “she’s always seemed...tapped into the Warehouse somehow. She knows how it feels, she knows where everything is, she communicates with it.”
“Every Caretaker communicates with its...place...somehow. But they do it in different ways. What worked for the Warehouse might not work for Haven.” Dave said. “Especially considering Guardians.”
“Guardians?” Nathan said.
“For as long as Caretakers have existed for Haven, there have been Guardians.”
“What are these Guardians?” Audrey asked. Some thought was tugging on her mind, some memory in the back of her head that she just couldn’t reach...
“When Haven was created, a group of people...downloaded, you might say, a great deal of Haven’s...magic, supernatural abilities...whatever you want to call it, into a Caretaker. Using an artifact from your Warehouse, in fact.” Vince said, nodding to Claudia, who flashed back to the green piece of ribbon that had almost been used to transfer the title of Caretaker from Mrs. Fredric to her. Did Haven use that same artifact? Or did they use something different, something that had some meaning to their town? If that artifact was destroyed, did it mean the end of Caretakers in Haven?
“But when the First Caretaker received that power, the people - the very first settlers of Haven, actually - began to worry. All that power in one human being - what happened if they were killed and could not transfer their power to the next Caretaker? So, as a fail safe, the elders created a Guardian for the Caretaker.”
“A Guardian’s job was to live. A link was established between the Guardian and Caretaker of Haven. So long as the Guardian was alive, the Caretaker was alive as well. But when the Guardian died, so did the Caretaker - after a short period of time. The settlers told themselves that this was a smart idea, so that they could keep the Guardian nearby and allow the Caretaker to keep protecting Haven. The short amount of time that passed between the Guardian's death and the Caretaker’s was another fail safe -”
“These guys were paranoid, weren’t they?” Duke interjected. The tone of the story was too much for him - he was having trouble wrapping his head around the first idea - that his snaky waitress and closest friend were the heiresses to an enormous legacy and amount of power.
“It was used so that the Caretaker would be able to transfer their power even in the occurrence that their Guardian died.” Vince said, annoyed that he had been interrupted.
“What happens if the Caretaker gets hurt beyond all repair?” Nathan asked. “Stabbed in the heart, shot in the head, drowned...”
“Nothing can hurt the Caretaker. They would simply regenerate the form that their Guardian had.” Vince said. When he noticed everyone’s confused looks, he sighed. “A long time ago, a Caretaker rushed into a fire to save a little girl who could manipulate the elements. The Caretaker was badly burned and died in her Guardian’s arms. But after a few hours, the burns healed and the Caretaker began to breathe again. She took the unscarred appearance that she had before the fire because her Guardian was unharmed.”
“So if the Guardian is safe, then so is the Caretaker.” Audrey said. “But if the Guardian is harmed...”
“Then so is the Caretaker.” Nathan finished.
“Exactly. In another occasion, a Guardian lost an eye rescuing his Caretaker from a citizen who could control wild animals. He took control of the wolves surrounding Haven and attempted to attack the town. The Caretaker stopped him, but was badly scratched. The scratches heeled, but the right eye of the Caretaker - which had not been hurt at all - was permanently blind after the Guardian's right eye was lost.”
“Wow.” Claudia said, sitting down herself. Then something occurred to her. “Wait, you said that the Guardians were a fail safe to keep the Caretakers alive while they went out and did their world - Haven saving job.
“Yes.” Vince said, nodding.
“Then why would the Guardian put himself in danger just to make sure that the Caretaker was safe, if the Caretaker would just regenerate and be fine?”
“Because your artifact had an unexpected consequence.” Dave said.
Everyone turned to star at Claudia, who slouched in her chair. “Even when it happens before I’m born, everything at the Warehouse is always my fault.” She grouched.
“The artifact allowed for a Guardian to be created along with a Caretaker created the Guardian as a part of the Caretaker. The Guardian is the Caretaker's perfect half.” Dave said.
“In layman’s terms, a soulmate.” Vince added.
“Wow.” Claudia said, eyes wide.
Audrey felt herself going numb, the world seemed to be spinning...
“That’s how your survived as Lucy, Audrey.” Vince said. “Your Guardian was still alive so you were regenerate and you lived on.”
“But then, wouldn’t her Guardian, be like, 60?” Claudia said, wrinkling her nose.
“No. You see, even though they are each other’s perfect half, the ways they find each other can be difficult. It is part of the process of bonding themselves to each other, another side effect of your artifact.”
“We believe that the power that bonded the Guardian and Caretaker worked in that way to the benefit of Lucy.”
“You see, a few years after Lucy learned that she was the Caretaker, she still hadn’t found her Guardian yet. She was desperate to find him - nervous that she hadn’t. But one day, there was a Troubled person that couldn’t control their powers - they had the power to become an element they were touching.
It was just a little girl, she couldn’t have been anymore than 13. She was trying to stop herself, but whatever she would touch - fire, wood, water, metal, her body would take on that element. She could literally turn herself into a body of steel, then one touch and she could make herself pure gold. Lucy tried to help her - but the girl was too scared. Lucy went into home of the girl - Sara, I believe it was - and spoke to her. She calmed Sara down, but before she could help her learn to control her powers, Sara stood up to walk over to Lucy, and tripped on the carpet: right into the family’s fireplace, which was burning at the time.
Sara was not hurt by the flames that her body became, but in desperation she reached out to touch Lucy - whose body caught on fire. If she had had her Guardian with her, Lucy might have been able to resist the power of the Troubled, but her powers weren’t at full capacity because her Guardian wasn’t with her - another fail safe that the Elders built in. Lucy burned to death with Sara screamed hysterically, reaching out to her, trying to help, but only making the death worse.
“Shit.” Claudia whispered, a sick feeling spreading throughout her stomach.
“Lucy disintegrated into nothing but ashes - but we all thought something would rise from those ashes. Nothing did. We realized that Lucy couldn’t be the Caretaker without her Guardian somewhere, so we thought that because her body had been destroyed, the powers that were connected with her had simply regenerated her someplace else. We thought she would come back to us soon - but she didn’t. She stayed away. We knew nothing would ever keep Lucy away from helping us - except if she didn’t remember. But why would she not remember - none of the other Caretakers had had amnesia after regenerating. Unless, we thought, she was too young to remember, or maybe she thought it was too impossible, that it was -”
“A fantasy she made up in the orphanages and foster homes to keep her company.” Audrey whispered. Claudia looked at her sympathetically, knowing only too well the isolation she had felt in those places.
There was a long silence, and then, finally, Claudia spoke up again.
“What happened to the girl, Sara?” Claudia asked.
“She grew up, and eventually learned to control her powers. But she grew severely depressed as the years passed, blaming herself for Audrey’s death. When she was 20, she went to the beach with her family. Her younger sister saw her slide into Haven’s waters for a swim, saw her body turn into water - but never saw her come out.” Vince said.
“And no one ever has.” Dave added solemnly.
“Well, thanks for giving me a legitimate reason to never go swimming in Haven again.” Duke said, getting up from his chair. “But what does this mean?”
“It means that Claudia is in danger, as well as Audrey and her Guardian.”
“So what do we do now?” Claudia asked.
Dave sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bride of his nose, eyes closed in determination - or exhaustion.
“We can either run...or stay and fight.”