Small Fandom BB: Warehouse 13/Eureka Fic - Ties That Bind 1/2
Title: Ties That Bind 1/2
Author: princess_vevay
Artist: sunsetsinthewes // Link to Art: Fanmix
Fandom: Warehouse 13/Eureka
Characters/Pairings: Claudia, Pete, Myka, Artie, Mrs. Frederic, Jane Lattimer, Leena, Dr. Douglas Fargo, Dr. Vanessa Calder, Dwayne, Kosan, original character Joe; Claudia/Fargo, hints of Artie/Vanessa, references to past Fargo/Holly, Claudia/Dwayne
Rating/Category: PG-13/Gen
Genre: Drama, Angst, Family/Friendship, with touches of Fluff and Romance
Word Count: 17,025
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: With the exception of Joe, all characters are property of the Syfy Channel series Warehouse 13 and Eureka and their respective creators and owners. This fic was written purely for entertainment purposes.
Note: Thanks so much to lionessvalenti for stepping up and taking over as my beta when real life prevented my original beta Gabiroba from being able to continue!
Written for smallfandombang
Summary: Claudia Donovan may be done with the Warehouse and the Regents but they are far from being through with her. Years and miles may pass but the Warehouse will get her back.
Four years have passed since the murder of Steve Jinks, the destruction (and subsequent resurrection) of Warehouse 13, and Claudia’s decision to leave her home and her family of friends. The time has come for her to make peace with all that she has lost, all that she has given up, and all that the Warehouse still has in store for her.
Prologue
The death count is high, much too high when Walter Sykes’ senseless war against the Warehouse is over. If either side can be deemed the winner, their victory is a Pyrrhic one. Everyone who fought for Sykes is dead. Steve is dead, Mrs. Frederic is dead, H.G. is dead, and the Warehouse has been obliterated. The Regents are in a panic, they’re all mourning, they’re all devastated and shaken to their cores. Everyone but Claudia is debating what to do, what their first priority should be.
Claudia has had a one-track mind ever since she picked up Johann Maelzel’s metronome. It takes no time for her to pack a couple of bags: clothes, her laptop, and the metronome. She tucks her Farnsworth and mini-Tesla into her pockets. Fight or flight.
She’s been using Steve’s Prius ever since he was fired-no, not fired, but sent undercover on a suicide mission. It wasn’t like he could come back to Univille to reclaim it with the story that was fabricated. Claudia waits until after Myka checks on her, her own eyes bloodshot and swollen, filling with another round of tears to shed for the ones they’ve lost, and tells her that dinner is ready. She lies on her bed, staring at the wall and tells Myka that she’s not hungry; Myka just nods and says that they’ll check on her after dinner before leaving the room.
Claudia listens to Myka’s footsteps retreat and waits thirteen minutes before grabbing Steve’s keys off of her dresser and her bags out of her closet. In all the shock and confusion following the destruction of the Warehouse and the death of Mrs. Frederic, the metronome was the last thing on anyone’s mind other than hers. She knows Artie has some sort of plan formulating in his mind, one that could reverse the fate of Warehouse 13 and Mrs. Frederic, but it’s not enough for her if it doesn’t bring Steve back. She cannot just let him go.
******
Claudia's not sure how she ended up in this place. Stuck somewhere between running and hiding. She can't deal with everything that's happened over the past year-it's too much. She doesn't want to deal with it. She clutches the metronome and stares at Steve's corpse. She's afraid to release the pendulum rod because she's terrified that it won't work. That his heart will not resume beating in time with rhythm of the metronome.
It's an overwhelming sense of desperation and desolation that fills her. She knows it's only a matter of time before the Regents or Artie, Myka, and Pete find her. If she doesn't do this now, then she'll probably never have another chance and Steve will be gone for good. She's lost him but he's not gone, and yet he is. She wants him back. She needs him back. He is the Shirley to her Laverne. He is the best friend she has ever had and, gay or not, he just may have been her soul mate. She doesn't want to live without him. She wants to wake up and find out that the past couple of months have been a nightmare-that Jinks was never sent undercover, that he never died, that her heart hadn't been ripped out, torn apart, put back together again only to be blown to pieces.
The fingers on her left hand dance along the wooden side of the metronome as the right hand rests on top of Steve's. Claudia can do this; she wants to do this she tells herself as her fingers hover over the pendulum rod. All she has to do is remove the latch and set the rod swinging at a steady rhythm, a strong healthy beat for Steve’s heart to keep time with. If she just sets the rod free, it will start ticking out the beats for Steve’s heart to follow and he’ll be alive again. Her hand moves to the base of the metronome. She wants Steve to live. She knows that he would want-not this. Claudia’s conviction and determination wanes because Steve wouldn't want this. Deep down she knows that he knew that his death was a distinct possibility and yet he willingly walked into the fire. So that he could protect her. It’s not that she’s ungrateful, but with all the casualties his sacrifice seems in vain. What would he say if she brought him back?
He would be so disappointed in her. He would be honored that she cared so much but he’d be quick to point out, as gently as he could, how misguided she was in bringing him back; her intentions are not pure because they are selfish. He would tell her that she has her whole life ahead of her, that she shouldn’t be afraid to live it and to love. Then he would ask her to let him go, beg her even, and let him rest in peace.
Let go.
Claudia exhales, setting the metronome down. He’s gone and she’s not going to bring him back. She can hear Jinks’ voice in her head, “So brave,” and she feels like she could breakdown at any moment. She grips his hand tighter, gathering her strength from him; he is still her rock. She closes her eyes and remembers his smile, remembers his eyes, remembers him full of life. Taking a deep breath, she opens her eyes before squeezing his hand one last time. She lets go, places a kiss on Steve’s temple, and whispers goodbye. She has to make herself walk away. She doesn’t look back because if she does, she just might change her mind.
She exits the building and there’s Pete’s damn mom, the grand high Regent herself, leaning against Steve’s-no, her car. She’s in no mood to exchange pleasantries or engage in small talk. “What?”
The older woman stares at her, trying to figure her out. “You didn’t use the metronome?”
Claudia looks around. “Does it look like I used it? Do you see Steve Jinks? Alive?”
Jane’s chest rises and falls. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you made the right choice, Claudia. If you’d chosen differently-it’s a path that it would have been very difficult to come back from. It would have changed Agent Jinks if you had brought him back. He would not have been the same. It’s going to take time, but you will heal. If you need to take some time off-”
“Oh, I will be doing more than taking some time off. I quit.”
Jane’s eyes widen. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that I heard you correctly.”
“I think you did, but, I’ll elaborate just so that there’s no misunderstanding: I am tired of all of this. Do you know how many artifacts have tried to kill every single person that I care about since I joined the Warehouse? In two years, do you know how many relationships I’ve watched that place destroy? I’m sick of it, all of it. I’m done. Find someone else to do inventory and filing.”
Jane is on Claudia’s heels as she walks around to the driver’s side of the car. “Ms. Donovan-Claudia, you do not fully understand how important you are or the full extent of your purpose at the Warehouse.”
She spins around, furious. “My purpose? No, no, no. If this is about me being front-runner for the position of Caretaker, I think I’ve made myself perfectly clear: I am not interested.”
“You are not just the front-runner, you are it. There is no one else. The Warehouse has chosen you. It chose you long before you were aware of its existence.”
“Well, it’s just going to have to get used to the disappointment like everyone else has and choose someone else.”
“Claudia, please, wait-”
“No. It’s over. Don’t call me, I’ll call you.” She yanks open the driver’s door of the Prius then hesitates a moment before fishing the Farnsworth out of her back pocket. She stares at it for a moment, letting her resolve build, then she shoves the communicator at Jane. “Tell Artie that I’m sorry. And that I said thanks.”
Jane starts to shake her head slowly, “I will not.”
“Take it!” Claudia barks, jabbing the Farnsworth at her.
The older woman jumps, looking frightened, and she reluctantly takes the object, her hands shaking ever so slightly. “Whenever you’re ready to come back...”
“Oh, go to Hell,” Claudia spits, pulling her mini-Tesla from of her front pocket. Jane jolts, expecting Claudia to fire at her. Instead, Claudia throws the weapon to the ground at Jane’s feet before climbing into the car and roughly pulling the door shut.
Jane watches as Claudia pulls into traffic and speeds away. She collects herself, regains her composure, sighs and opens the Farnsworth. “We have a problem. The situation has escalated. Ms. Donovan was less than cooperative. Do whatever is in your power to delay the transfer.”
******
Pete shoves himself away from the table and stands. “So that’s it? We just let Claudia take off to God knows where and we don’t go after her?”
Myka speaks calmly, “Pete, she’s in mourning and we have to let her deal with this her own way and in her own time.”
“I’m not saying that we should forcibly bring her back here, but we can’t not keep an eye on her.” He looks to Artie. “Can we?”
Artie adjusts his glasses, carefully measuring his words. “Our orders are to let the Regents handle the situation and apparently they have a plan. Oh, and a timetable. It seems that they always do.”
“The Regents are going to handle it? What are they going to do except upset her even more?”
“Pete-”
“Artie, you know-”
“Agent Lattimer,” Mrs. Frederic begins, appearing out of nowhere, still looking a little worse for wear since her and the Warehouse’s recent resurrections, but her voice and presence still carry the same power and intimidation as before. “You are under no circumstances to initiate contact with Ms. Donovan. You are not to search for her, and you will not disobey these orders. Is that clear?”
Pete swallows. “What if she-”
“If Ms. Donovan were to contact you, then please, by all means, feel free to converse with her as you would with any other friend and former colleague. What has happened has happened and what will happen, well, that is not up to you. It is not for any of you to bring Ms. Donovan back here. There is a plan, trust in it.”
“Like Jinks trusted in my mother’s plan?” Pete’s words taste as bitter on his tongue as they sound.
Myka shakes her head and walks out of the room. She doesn’t agree with how the Regents always choose to handle certain situations, but she respects their authority and their level of ignorance. The Regents must protect the Warehouse at all costs, but they don’t understand what it is to have and lose a partner. They observe, stepping in when they feel it is necessary; to them, dying for the Warehouse is a noble sacrifice, one that should be made with little to no hesitation. Myka would die for the Warehouse but she would rather risk her life to save Pete, Claudia, and Artie first-the Regents do not and cannot understand the bond of a team and the family that they make up.
“Agent Lattimer, Ms. Donovan has always been able to fight her own battles. She does not need you to speak on her behalf simply because she is not here to do so. We are all quite aware of her current feelings regarding the Regents, the Warehouse, and her future role. In time, she will come to accept all these things and she will return.”
Pete does not notice the way that Artie tenses when Mrs. Frederic mentions Claudia’s future role. Artie had promised her that it would be up to her. He’d only been trying to protect Claudia and to reassure her, to comfort her; he can only hope that one day she’ll be able to forgive him for continually letting her down and lying to her. Perhaps if he’d been honest with her and told her the brutal truth that she didn’t want to hear, she wouldn’t be running now, not when she needs them and they need her the most.
******
Part 1
Claudia spends the first two years away from the Warehouse living as a nomad, never staying in one town more than two or three months. She takes various temp jobs or side jobs working on and fixing up computers and other electronics. It never matters how long she’s been in town-two hours, two days, two weeks, or two months-a Regent always finds her and reminds her of her duties to the Warehouse. They tell her that Mrs. Frederic is weak and so is the Warehouse. The first time they inform her of Mrs. Frederic and the Warehouse’s status, she’s relieved. It must mean that whatever Artie had been up to when she left was a success. They always tell her that they’ll see her again and she always responds with venom and sarcasm. She knows that she’s good at staying under the radar, off the grid, and covering her tracks and she sometimes wonders if they implanted a tracking device in her; knowing the Regents and their wacked out ways of thinking, she wouldn’t put it pass them.
She calls Joshua and video chats with him on a semi-regular basis; it’s the most contact that they’ve had with one another since she rescued him from the inter-dimensional space. He never mentions the Warehouse and she never asks. He invites Claudia to come and stay with him in Switzerland and she wants to, she really does, but it would be far too easy for Artie and the others to find her. (She wonders how hard they’re searching; sometimes she’s afraid that they’ve given up on her or that they will. She needs them to keep the faith that she has not been able to.) She can say no to the Regents all too easily but she knows that if Artie, Pete, or Myka were to ask her to come back to the Warehouse she’d say yes before she could even blink.
But they don’t. It’s always one Regent or another, never Jane Lattimer or Mrs. Frederic. They never say much, they never even try that hard to convince Claudia to come back, they just ask and condescendingly say that she’ll come around in time.
In her third year of running, trying to forget, trying to move past it all, she arrives in Nashville. She’s been there about a month when she runs into Dwayne and a couple guys from the band. She spends more and more time at the house that the guys share and eventually she decides to stay in town for a while and moves in with them because the rent is cheaper and it’s nice to be around people that she knows, even though they will never truly know her. She gets a steady job on the technical support staff at a multimedia company.
Not too long after she moves in, she’s sitting outside having a laidback jam session with Dwayne. They finish singing “Crimson and Clover” and the Joan Jett connection takes them both back to when they first met.
He has always wondered how Claudia with her punk-rock attitude and style ended up in the Middle of Nowhere, South Dakota and working for the government. “I still can’t believe you worked for the IRS.”
She shrugs. “It was a job and I needed something to do. And I liked the people a lot. We clicked.”
“You’ve never gone back.”
“I can’t go back. I don’t want to go back. I thought that I loved my job but then one day…” she swallows and tries to come up with a way to phrase what happened because revealing that her partner was killed in a work-related incident is only going to lead to more questions and more lies. “One day I realized that it wasn’t worth it and that upper management sucked and did not give a damn about anything other than getting the job done. I had to get out of there.”
“Yeah, they claim that they really care and you can come to them with your problems but in the end it’s all about saving time and making money,” Dwayne says with a nod.
He can tell that this part of her past is a painful topic for whatever reason and he lets it drop. He readily accepts the vague details and explanations that she gives regarding her time in Univille and why she left so abruptly.
There are times when Claudia manages to convince herself that it was all a dream, a horrible, fantastic nightmare. There are mornings when she first wakes and she doesn’t remember the Warehouse exists. She forgets that she ever lost Joshua and that her sanity was ever in question. She forgets what it feels like to experience the whammy from an artifact, to almost die, to watch everyone she cares about walk alongside Death and almost not make it. She forgets seeing Steve’s dead body, his open eyes not seeing her, not seeing anything; she forgets clutching his cold, stiff hand. She does remember that Steve was her best friend, she won’t forget that. She remembers that she cares about Artie, Pete, Myka, and Leena, but she does not want to remember how or why. Her selective amnesia works well as long as the Regents keep their distance but they never do, not for long, never long enough.
In the space and time of four years, Claudia has become skilled in denying that a part of her soul is desperate to go back to the Warehouse and never leave again. She’s tried to burn her bridges and now she’s too afraid to admit to herself that she’s scared to ever go back. She’s terrified that if she does, they will all be gone. She cannot go back. So, she stays with Dwayne and the guys and she works, she indulges in her music in the evenings, making her rounds at various open mic nights.
She can’t explain it but she feels apprehensive about performing this night. She’s felt a little off the whole day, a bit twitchy, kind of paranoid. She peeks over her shoulder while out, expecting to see the imposing and irritating figure of a Regent trailing behind her but she doesn’t; it is about time for them to resume their regularly scheduled harassing of her again.
*******
Dr. Douglas Fargo is a man on a mission. He’s spent the past day shadowing Claudia Donovan, waiting for the right moment to approach her and make his presence known. Watching her from a distance, slipping out of her line of vision whenever she starts to turn, he feels like a stalker, and not like a highly educated man following orders. Surely, she must sense that someone is following her but he’s been trained well these last few months, he knows how to stay inconspicuous and hidden until the time is right.
He fiddles around down the block from Claudia’s residence; he’s not sure what he’s waiting for but then she’s walking out the front door with her guitar case and getting into her car. He follows her to a small bar. Fargo has never actually heard her sing or play before and she had always referred to her musical abilities as amateurish and a hobby that she wouldn’t quit her day job for. He had assumed that she was better at it than she said and she is. She’s rather good in fact and appears as comfortable strumming her guitar as she does typing on a computer. It revives a bit of his old guilt and regret that music was the only thing that had been real in Princess Claudia and he wishes once again that the prototype had been truer to his inspiration.
When she’s riding the euphoric high after performing, he deems it the perfect time to initiate contact. Plus, he is on a time crunch now. He really should have considered “running into” her a little earlier in the evening. He makes his way through the crowd towards the backside of the stage where Claudia’s securing her guitar in its case. Her back is to him and he clears his throat to get her attention. “Claudia Donovan.”
She stiffens; she knows that sound, that nervous clearing of the throat and that voice. She spins around, looking equal parts shocked and confused for a few seconds before a grin brightens her face.
“Doug!” Claudia throws her arms around his neck, hugging him. Over this last year, she hasn’t thought of the Warehouse and its associations often, finally achieving the emotional distance she’s been longing for, but every once in a while a name or a face will pop into her head, and then a Regent will find her and try to convince her to come back. She’s relieved, and maybe a little giddy, to see a familiar face whose connection to the Warehouse has always been a superficial one. She pulls back, still grinning. “It’s good to see you. How are things in Eureka and at GD?”
His eyes sparkle as he takes her in, making note of the ways she has changed. She’s forgone dying her hair, letting the naturally light brown hue (a few shades too dark to be considered dirty blonde) see the light of day. He misses the violent red accompanied by a colorful stripe because it was so quintessentially Claudia. He’s not comfortable with the thought that it was a part of her personality tied to her youth. He needs-he wants-her to still be that girl, only older and wiser so that she can confidently and successfully take on the role of Warehouse Caretaker.
He clears his throat, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Good, they’re good. I actually stepped down as head of GD recently; I’ve had more pressing matters to attend to.”
“Get out! Are you a family man now?”
He chuckles. “No, not yet. Holly and I-well, relationships need a certain amount of openness and honesty to thrive and there were some things that I just couldn’t tell her.”
“What? Like about your little day trip to 1947?”
“How did you-”
“Between the zoetrope-induced sepia-toned memories with period clothing and the way the Sheriff was not only freaking out by items from 1947 Eureka popping up but he recognized them-wasn’t too hard to put two and two together and get five. Plus, I did have to deal with weird shit kind of like that on a daily basis.”
“Right. Well, that was one of the big ones.”
“Geez, Dougie, what kind of skeletons are you keeping in your closet?” The playful question is barely out of her mouth when her eye catches something. On the collar of Fargo’s shirt is a golden Eye of Horus pin. Her eyes harden and narrow as she takes a step back. All warmth is gone from her voice, “Oh, you have got to be kidding me. This is bullshit.”
“Claudia-”
“What the hell, Doug? You know what that place did to me. You know everything it took from me. How could you? Why? I mean...why?”
He shrugs. “Mrs. Frederic and the Regents are scary and persistent; they can be quite persuasive.”
“Yeah, well, you can go back and tell them the same thing that I’ve told every single one of them: There is no way in hell that I am coming back. Oh, and for good measure, ‘Fuck off.’” She spins around and storms out the bar.
“Crap,” Fargo mutters before chasing after her into the parking lot. “Claudia!”
She stops and turns around, irritated. “What?”
“That last part…was that directed toward me or the other Regents?”
“Little of both,” she snaps. She takes a deep breath. “Why don’t any of you understand? I do not want anything to do with the Warehouse anymore. It’s not some phase that I’m going through, these years that I’ve spent away-as well as all that will surely follow-will not be chalked up to youthful folly or rebellion, and there will not be a morning when I wake up and regret breaking up with the Warehouse.”
“The Warehouse needs you, Claudia.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t need it. And someone should tell it that co-dependent relationships are not healthy.”
“There are things that you don’t know, that you don’t understand...”
She rolls her eyes. “Here we go again. The last time I heard that, my best friend had been sent on a suicide mission by your co-workers. I think we both know how that ended.”
There is a pleading look in Fargo’s eyes and a touch of desperation in his voice. “Can you just give us twenty-four hours to convince you?”
“Why should I? I’ve spent the past four years trying to separate myself from that place. This is my life-”
“No, it’s not!” Claudia’s completely taken aback by his tone and the steely look in his eyes. “Gloves off: You have always been connected to the Warehouse and you know it. The Regents are in place to protect the Warehouse, and, in that vein, its Caretaker. Mrs. Frederic has been growing weaker and weaker since the reversal of the Warehouse’s destruction. She’s ready to relinquish her position.”
“Yeah, well, I am just as uninterested in it now as I was the first time it was almost forced on me.”
A wry chuckle slips past his lips. “That doesn’t matter. Claudia, this has always been in your future.”
“I don’t care!”
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter,” he says with a shrug, giving her a sad smile. “I’ve done what I was supposed to do, I’ve said my piece.”
She closes her eyes for a moment, willing the tears that are welling up to subside. “How can you be okay with us just being pawns with no control? I don’t want this. I just want to be able to live my life and have some sort of peace and happiness! I don’t want to have to keep secrets from the people that I care about! It’s not fair.”
“I know but we all have to make concessions and sacrifices; some more than others. Do you know how lucky you are that the people you have been closest to have been privy to the existence of Warehouse 13? The people you considered your family as well as your brother all know; the rest of us have only one person that we can share this with our entire lives.”
She scoffs, “So, what? That’s supposed to somehow make this all better?”
“Not at all, but it is meant to help put a few things in perspective. Most of us get no warning whatsoever. As much as you have tried to deny it, you’ve had years to prepare for this.”
“Gotta say, I’m really not digging this new Regent you, Doug. You’re kinda pissing me off.”
“I can’t say that they didn’t warn me. Although, I was kind of hoping that you’d be a little more receptive.”
“Yeah, because being blindsided and bitch slapped by both karma and fate, in the form of someone you thought was a friend, normally warrants open arms and sunshine. Sorry I haven’t pulled out the welcome wagon.”
“Claudia….”
“Plane, train, or automobile?”
Fargo tries not to smile, the corners of his mouth twitching upward slightly. “You’re coming?”
“You say that as if I’ve ever really had a choice in the matter, which, according to you and the rest of the all-knowing Regents, I never have.”
“Claudia, I know this is difficult for you-”
“Okay, that’s going to have to stop. Do not talk to me like we’re still friends because we’re not; I really dislike you right now. If I hadn’t gotten rid of everything Warehouse related when I left that godforsaken place, I would have Tesla’d your ass by now.”
He looks down at his shoes. Fargo had known that this was going to be a difficult assignment and he had been told that Claudia would be furious and more than likely remain obstinate, just as she had been every other time she had been accosted by the Regents. He hadn’t been given the option to decline and he wouldn’t have taken it if he had. The reasoning behind him becoming a Regent had been made obvious to him from day one; they needed a person who had a connection to Claudia, who could be convinced that it would not be a betrayal, who would protect the secrets of the Warehouse, someone who she wouldn’t be as quick to rebuff. He was their final option, their only option.
“As I said, such was expected.” Fargo swallows and looks up at her, clearing his throat. “Arrangements have already been made; someone will pick you up at six a.m. sharp.”
“Whoa, slow down, I need some time to take care of a few things.”
“Tell everyone that there’s a family emergency.”
“Seriously? I don’t even get a day?”
“Well, we can’t have you changing your mind, now can we, Cl-Ms. Donovan? The wheels have already been set in motion, preparations have been made, and the only piece of the puzzle that is missing is you.”
She snorts, “Care to toss in a few more clichéd phrases?”
“Six a.m. I’ll see you on the plane,” he says before turning away and walking across the street.
She watches him retreat, a flurry of emotions and thoughts running through her. She groans loudly, “Frak!” and sighs before walking back into the bar to grab her guitar before driving back to the house that she shares with the rest of the band.
The guys are still in various states of being awake when she gets home. Home. She drops her purse on the kitchen counter and sets her guitar down by the sofa. Dwayne’s on the deck, with a beer and his guitar; Claudia slides the door open and steps outside. “Hey.”
“Hey. How was open mic night?”
She sits on the lawn chair across from his. “It was good. I ran into an old friend, got some bad news.”
Dwayne sets his guitar down and leans forward. “What’s wrong?”
“A family friend is dying. I’m leaving in the morning and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. I’ll be fine.” She rises. “You should probably sleep in your room tonight; I have an early flight.”
She tells the others and leaves a message for her supervisor. She is one of many minions in the IT department so it shouldn’t be a big deal. She doesn’t know if she should really pack or how much if she does. Taking her laptop is a no brainer, always is. She eventually decides to pack a duffle with a couple of changes of clothing and some toiletries. She lays down and tries desperately to fall asleep. She tosses and turns, her mind still racing. It’s almost three a.m. when she finally gives up all hope of falling sleep. She makes a pot of coffee and sits in her nightshirt and pajama shorts on the deck. She reclines in one of the lawn chairs, searching for constellations.
As she mentally traces the stars that Andromeda is comprised of, Claudia begins to realize that she is absolutely beyond belief terrified about returning to the Warehouse, the place she had once called home, the markings of which she still feels etched beneath her skin. She continues to stare at the sky, the stars blurring to form lines that she once knew so well, the countless aisles in the Warehouse. She’s always felt its pull, the Warehouse whispering its long and well-guarded secrets.
A deep voice rouses her. “Ms. Donovan?”
It takes several seconds for her vision to focus when she opens her eyes. She blinks a few times. “Yeah?”
“It’s six a.m. I’m here to take you to the airport.”
“Okay.” She makes no move to get up.
“Ma’am, perhaps you should get dressed. I can take your things to the car.”
She raises her eyebrows and she slowly pushes herself up. “You’re a lot more vocal than Mrs. Frederic’s old bodyguard.”
“We’re chosen to suit the personality of the one we serve.”
“O-kay.” She’s more than a little creeped out by him shadowing her to her room. He grabs her duffle and laptop bag off of her bed, informing her that he will be waiting outside. She pulls on a pair of worn out jeans. She replaces her nightshirt with a tank top and a jacket. She grabs her purse from the kitchen counter and slides her sunglasses onto her head as she walks out of the house, pulling the door closed behind her. The bodyguard is standing by a black Lincoln Towncar; he pulls the back driver’s side door open for her as she approaches. She stops short, next to the red car she’s spent the past four years driving.
“Can we take my car instead?” The bodyguard examines the Prius before responding with a “Yes, Ma’am.” He opens the door for her and she hands him the keys-it’s too early and she’s too tired to argue over who’s going to drive and where she’s going to sit-and he closes the door once she’s seated then he transfers her bags from the Towncar’s trunk to that of the Prius. The ride to the airport is short and silent; the car stops outside of a hanger near a small jet.
The bodyguard opens the door for her. As he grabs her bags out of the trunk she asks, “Hey, do you have a name?”
“Joe.”
“Well, Joe, if you keep getting my bags, I’m gonna feel the need to tip you and I really can’t afford to.”
He reluctantly sets the duffle and laptop bags by her feet. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Please don’t call me ‘ma’am.’”
“Yes, Ms. Donovan.”
“Yeah, I’m not feeling that either. Let’s just try ‘Claudia.’”
“No, Ms. Donovan.”
She sighs. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
Fargo steps into the view, framed by the jet’s door, and taps the face of his watch. “Time is of the essence.”
Joe closes the trunk and opens the driver side door.
Claudia spins around. “Wait, aren’t you going?”
“Yes, Ms. Donovan, but the car has to be loaded onto another plane. My flight should land shortly after yours then I will drive you and Dr. Fargo to Univille.”
“Oh.”
“Have a nice flight, Ms. Donovan.”
She boards the plane; Fargo is already buckled into his seat. “So what is this, Regent Air?”
“Unless in a time of crisis, these accommodations are specifically intended to be used by the Caretaker, occasionally the Head Regent, and sometimes by the Warehouse Guardian.” His voice is even and it’s clear that he’s taken her words from the previous night to heart. She can see hints of the same old Fargonator underneath the stick-up-the-ass Regent mask.
She sits down across the aisle from him. “So, what’s the in-flight movie?”
“Ms. Donovan-”
“Doug-”
“You were quite clear last night when you informed me that we are no longer friends. I assume that our relationship should now be approached as a civil and professional one.”
“Or you could pull your head out of your ass and maybe let me get a few words in so that I can apologize. See, you actually get a choice.”
Fargo opens his mouth, shocked, then closes it, opens it again, and closes it again. His lips purse and he looks a little perplexed. He sort of nods and makes a gesture with his hand, indicating that she should continue.
“I realize that I may have been a little more abrasive with you than I should have been. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but I can be a little rough around the edges sometimes.” There is humor in her voice.
“You’ve always been quite the enigma.”
Just like the Warehouse, she thinks and Claudia can feel the ice in the air surrounding them begin to thaw. “I just have a thing against Regents, which I thought you understood. So, yeah, not a fan of Regent you by default, but you as you, Dougie, Doug, Fargonator, I’d kinda like to keep as a friend.”
“It’s just another hat,” he says with a shrug. “I’m really not any different except for when it comes to the Warehouse.”
The air grows warmer and she grins, “Oh, God, Artie must hate that you’re a Regent!”
“Yeah, he doesn’t know yet. I actually haven’t been a Regent that long, only six months. None of the agents know that I’m-”
“Technically one of their bosses?”
“Yeah.” He’s quiet for a couple of minutes, debating whether he should broach the next topic or not. What the hell. “You’ll still get to have a life outside of the Warehouse. Being the Caretaker is going to be consuming but you’ll have the time to devote yourself to having friends and a family. You can stay in Nashville; you don’t have to have to move back to Univille. It’s better than the chances if you were just an agent.”
“I suppose.”
“You still haven’t told your one.”
“Are you asking or...”
“We know these things. We keep track. I was kind of wondering though.”
“Wondering what? Why I haven’t told Dwayne? We had barely started dating just before I left the Warehouse. When he and I reconnected last year, I didn’t really think there was a need to.”
“Are you going to?”
“I’ve barely processed that I’m semi-willingly returning to a life of madcap and endless wonder and Dwayne and I have been in fluctuating states of “It’s Complicated” ever since we started dating, so I can’t say that I’ve got him pegged as my ‘one.’ And, you know, speaking of my not quite unwilling return, if this flight was planned, what was that whole ‘give us twenty-four hours’ ploy about?”
“Deception. I was ordered to get you to the Warehouse today by any means necessary.”
“And if I hadn’t budged?”
“There may have been a syringe in my pocket primed with a mild sedative,” he says sheepishly.
She looks at him in disbelief. “I’m sorry; you were going to drug me?”
“And abduct you, if you want to go into semantics,” he adds, as if it were no big deal.
Her look of disbelief turns into one more resembling curiosity. “Okay, I know that I’m not the most adept at interacting with people and there are times when I question my sanity, but seriously, you Regents are so not right in the head.”
“I’ve started coming to a similar conclusion myself.”
She smiles at how nonchalant and accepting he is about it. “I gotta admit, Doug, I have missed having people around that I could really talk to about my past. And not just my time at the Warehouse. If I can’t bring myself to tell Dwayne about my time in a psychiatric facility, what are the odds that I’ll ever be able to tell him about the Warehouse?”
“You never know.”
“It seemed like you and Holly were a lot more serious than Dwayne and I and you couldn’t tell her about your time travel hijinks or the Warehouse. What does that mean for me?”
He unbuckles his seat belt, rises, and prepares himself a drink. “I did tell her. About 1947. I just waited too long to tell her. When I told her who else knew outside of the five of us that went back, how long they’d known…. She felt that it meant that it took all that time for me to trust her and that hurt her. It also meant that I wasn’t the man that she thought I was. The funny thing is that I was preparing to tell her about the Warehouse too. She was going to be my one.”
“The Warehouse has a nasty habit of ruining relationships.”
“You can’t blame the Warehouse for all the bad things, Claudia. As much as you say it’s taken from you, don’t you think that it’s given you even more? And, you know, if it weren’t for it, you and I would never have met.”
“Maybe. But it’s been a lot easier not to remember any of the good things.”
“You wouldn’t have gotten your brother back.”
“If not for an artifact and the intrusions of MacPherson and Artie, I never would have lost Joshua in the first place,” she says pointedly. Claudia doesn’t buy into destiny so the thought that she was always destined to find the Warehouse and that it was destined to find her never occurs to her.
Fargo finishes his drink. Holly and their break-up are still sore subjects. He’d been in love with her and not the same way he’d been infatuated with Claudia or Jo before her and it was more than his relationship with Julia had been. He had only discussed it with Zane, but he had even been contemplating marriage. He shakes away the longing and clears his throat as she stands beside him, mixing a drink of her own, probably to calm her nerves. “So, just how ‘complicated’ are things with Dwayne?”
“Well, sometimes we sleep together, sometimes we don’t; we’re sort of like friends with benefits. There are feelings but whenever we try to talk things out, there’s too much that I don’t think that I can tell him and it’s just this vicious cycle of me being closed off so we call it quits but several weeks later, we’re back to dinner and a movie and the mattress mambo.” Her tendency to ramble and inadvertently over share have not waned over the years. Her lack of a filter has always endeared Fargo but it is a concern for the other Regents.
“You deserve better than that.”
She takes a sip of her drink and raises an eyebrow. “You say that like you’re interested.”
“I’m not,” he responds firmly and quickly.
Her eyes widen. “Oh, wow. I was just kidding. That was harsh, Doug. Learn how to let a girl down easy.”
“Claudia, I didn’t mean-it’s not-I just…” He closes his eyes and takes a deep, cleansing breath before looking at her. “I haven’t quite hit the rebound stage.”
“Newsflash, Doug, even if I wasn’t just joshing you, no girl wants to be the rebound girl; and if she is, she doesn’t want to know.”
He leans over, nudging her with his elbow. “You deserve better than that too.” She’s relaxed and softened so much since the night before. She once again resembles the girl he’d instantly fallen for at the Warehouse and had tried so desperately to woo during her too brief visit to Eureka. She was the dream girl, ideal perfection that he had been clinging to when Holly had first entered his life.
She chuckles, “Yeah, our love lives would still be so much easier if we could just find people-”
“Who were like us. I know. You’re still young, though, so who knows?”
“Well, you’re hardly living in a retirement community.”
Something in the air changes, shifting and blurring the lines of professionalism, friendship, and what Claudia and Fargo almost had the potential to be to one another. It’s a combination of being caught up in the moment, memories, and alcohol on empty stomachs. His lips are on hers and his body pressing into her, pinning her against the wall. She whimpers slightly, her fingers curling around the fabric of his suit jacket. His tongue slides into her mouth and she angles her hips, not quite grinding them against his. It takes a second or two, but once the shock of that pleasurable sensation registers in the rational part of his brain, it brings Fargo back to reality and he pulls himself away from Claudia. They both stare at each other for a moment, wide-eyed, waiting for their breathing to return to normal.
Fargo goes back to his seat and sits. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
“No, don’t be.” She starts grasping at straws, anything to explain what just happened. “We have history and chemistry and we’ve been reminiscing. Didn’t mean anything because you are still head over heels for Holly and I’ve got a good enough thing going with Dwayne.”
“Right. And there are protocols and regulations regarding relationships and fraternizing between Regents and Warehouse agents.”
“I’m not an agent anymore,” she reminds him.
“Right.”
It’s a thought that crosses both of their minds yet neither of them says anything about how there are probably even stricter protocols and regulations regarding relationships between the Warehouse Caretaker and Regents.
She attempts to lighten the atmosphere, a strained chuckle accompanying her words, “Well, this isn’t at all awkward, is it?”
He can’t bring himself to look at her at first, because there are memories and desires from years past floating around in his head and the added heat of their most recent kiss is going to take a while to dissipate. On top of that are thoughts of and feelings for Holly. And then there’s a little voice in his head telling him that one of the reasons he cared for Holly in the first place were the things about her, even the tiniest ones sometimes, that reminded him of Claudia. So maybe he is in rebound territory; or maybe he never completely got over Claudia in the first place.
Claudia bites her lip. There’s always been something between her and Doug, sparks that ignited before they had even introduced themselves to one another. There’s something about this kiss that throws her completely and it takes a moment for her to realize what it is. Impulsive and yet timid, shadowed by inexperience and bravado, she had always been the one to initiate the few kisses that they had shared before. She had attracted him like a magnet, pulling him to her and he had allowed her to, barely having the time to respond before the kiss was over.
The flight attendant, who has been doing a horrible job, enters the cabin with a yawn. “Can I offer you some coffee or orange juice? Waffles? Some toast?”
“Coffee,” the both chime. The attendant retreats, assuring them that she’ll be back shortly after she finds out their preferences.
Fargo looks at Claudia for the first time, really looks at her, since he’d been assigned this mission. The dim lighting of the bar and the darkness of the night before had prevented him from fully examining the changes in her appearance. There are the faintest of etchings of lines on her face and peek-a-boo strands of grey in her hair that you have to look for to see them. The texture of her hair appears different; his fingertips itch to reach out and take a few strands of her hair between his fingers to see if he can feel a difference. But to do so would be a continual of his already overstepped boundaries.
Claudia traces the rim of her empty glass with a finger before setting the glass down. She keeps her eyes cast downward, avoiding meeting Fargo’s eyes. She can feel him watching her, scrutinizing her. It’s always been too easy for her to run and hide. It’s never been fight or flight, always just flight, as far and as fast as possible. The skin she is most comfortable in is that of the socially awkward ugly pretty girl who’s too much of a weird techno-geek and certifiably insane to fit in even with the losers or the outsiders. Part of her is still so surprised whenever someone hits on her, once she realizes that she is indeed being hit on. She doesn’t know that she carries an alluring mystique about her that is a combination of her own secrets as well as the Warehouse’s.
The rest of the flight is tense and awkward. It’s not just because of the kiss that Claudia and Fargo shared but because she’s going home. She had never really intended to go back to the Warehouse when she left and now she is consumed with the thoughts that she will forever be bound to it for the rest of her life as long as Warehouse 13 stands. It’s a harrowing thought that causes a hollow feeling inside of her, knowing that she will have to continue watching the people around her, people who mean the world to her, die. She hates the thought that she will always be left behind; that everyone will leave her because she will have no choice but to stay.
Claudia stares out the window. They are flying over the border and into South Dakota. She’s so close and yet she has never felt further away from the life that used to be hers. "Do they know that I'm coming back?"
Fargo looks up. "Oh, yes, the Warehouse agents will have been informed of your return prior to our arrival. Dr. Calder should be arriving in Univille any minute now to make sure that everything is in place in order to ensure a quick and painless transition of power."
"You just keep throwing things at me."
"It's like I said last night, Claudia. You have had time to prepare for this and now that time is coming to an end. Mrs. Frederic is ready to, how shall I put it: retire."
Claudia starts fiddling with the strap on her bag. "Do you think that they'll be happy to see me?"
"Why wouldn't they be?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I left without a trace and haven't bothered trying to contact them over the past four years. I'd be a little pissed at me if I were them."
He shrugs and tries to reassure her. “Well, I’m sure that they’ll just be happy to see you safe and sound once again.”
******
“And so it was the Regents’ decision that none of you be informed until they knew for certain that Ms. Donovan would be returning and what her return ultimately entails.”
Myka's eyes are wide. The likelihood of the possibility of Claudia’ return becoming actuality had dwindled for her as the weeks had turned into months and then into years. "She's coming back? When?"
Mrs. Frederic stands before the group gathered in the dining room at Leena's Bed and Breakfast. "Her flight is due to arrive within the hour and then she will be brought here post haste."
"Claudia's coming back?"
"Yes, Agent Bering, Ms. Donovan is returning."
"Why? I mean, why now? Why is this time any different than all the other attempts to bring her home?"
"Because none of those times was the right time, Agent Bering. Nothing has changed since Ms. Donovan left. Everything had to happen in its own time. She might not think that she is ready but she is. She wouldn't be on her way here if she wasn't."
Pete's face is screwed up in consternation. "You said that she's taking your place. What exactly does that mean?"
Mrs. Frederic takes a deep breath. "Well, Mr. Lattimer, it means that I will finally get a well deserved break. Ms. Donovan will be the new Director and Caretaker; all of my duties will become hers. The connection that I share with the Warehouse will be severed and replaced with a connection to its new Caretaker."
"Yeah, but, what are you going to do? No offense, but you don't strike me as the bingo or bridge type."
"I have always preferred higher stakes, Mr. Lattimer, like baccarat." It's the strangest thing, a sight and sound unfamiliar, but Mrs. Frederic actually appears to be amused. "I have lived a long life; I am weary and ready for sleep."
"Oh."
"Do not fret for me. I have been looking forward to this for some time now. All of my affairs are in order and I have made my peace. The only thing left is the transfer of power once Ms. Donovan and Dr. Calder arrive."
Artie has been silent this entire time. "Vanessa's coming?"
"Well, of course, she is, after all, still the Warehouse physician. Who else would you expect to oversee this?"
Artie sort of shrugs. "I don't know."
"She was as unaware of Ms. Donovan's impending return as you were, Arthur. She was notified as soon as we received confirmation that Ms. Donovan had boarded her flight so that she could make all of the necessary arrangements." Mrs. Frederic pauses. "I know that this is a great deal for you to all process and not much time to process it in, but whatever unresolved issues any of you may have with Ms. Donovan and her actions, will need to be resolved quickly. The transfer is scheduled for sundown and we do not need her questioning whether or not she can handle the responsibility or if she is doing the right thing. The Warehouse needs her and it needs her now, as do you all."
Myka looks up, her eyes watery, ready to protest, only to see that Mrs. Frederic has vanished.
"Seriously, the woman's about ready to breathe her last breath and she still has ninja moves."
Myka rolls her eyes. "Pete."
"What? I'm just sayin'.”
Artie pushes himself away from the table and rises. “I’m going to head over to the Warehouse. Make sure the artifacts are behaving themselves and not getting…antsy.”
“Why would they-never mind,” Pete cuts himself off abruptly at the impatient look that Artie gives him as he gathers his bag. Artie leaves and Leena goes upstairs to finish preparing the rooms.
Myka’s staring blankly at the table’s centerpiece.
“Hey, do you suppose that Claudia will be able to do that thing that Mrs. Frederic does?"
Myka scoffs. "I don't know the first thing about what Claudia will be able to do once she's the Caretaker. Well, that's not entirely true. I suppose it will be easier for her to disappear from our lives when she feels like it."
"Myks..."
"Pete." Her nostrils flair and every muscle in her face tightens. "She has never once tried to reach out to us since she left, so don't act like I'm just supposed to forget that and welcome her with open arms. Working at the Warehouse has been hard on all of us. She is not the only one who felt lost and absolutely devastated."
"You left too, Myka."
Her tone and her eyes are full of indignation. "And I left a letter and you all knew where I went. She just left us, Pete; she deserted us. We were her family and she left us. You know, maybe I could understand if she had gone to Switzerland to be with Joshua but she didn’t. She decided that she would rather be alone in the world than with the people who cared about her. How can you so easily forgive her?"
"How can you not, Myka? You said it, we were, and we still are, her family. Besides, you were the one who said that she needed to deal with Steve’s death in her own time, that she didn’t need us pushing her."
“I know what I said, Pete, four years ago. She was still a kid when she left, we don’t know who she is now. For all we know, the Claudia Donovan that’s coming here might be a completely different person than the one that we knew and cared about. And she probably is, because our Claudia would not have stayed away for so long, she wouldn’t have been able too. Just like I wasn’t able to.”
“Yeah, but we were able to come after you and consult. You were reminded of how much you loved the Warehouse and that you belong here. We couldn’t do that with Claudia, you know that. Look, Myks, the only thing that should count right now is that she’s back, or, she will be soon, and like Mrs. F said, she’s going to need all the support that we can give her. You’re gonna have to look past her running away, just for a little while, until she gets her feet beneath her. Then, you know, you two can hug it out, huh?”
Myka shakes her head, frowning. “It’s not going to be that simple, Pete. I will do what’s best for the Warehouse, but I can’t just let it all go. I get that you don’t see it the way that I do but her complete disregard for us and the Warehouse these last few years, it’s a kind of betrayal and it’s going to take some time for me to get over it. We all lost so much then, Pete; we shouldn’t have had to lose Claudia too but that was the choice that she made. It wasn’t fair to us; now, she’s going to have to deal with the consequences just like we’ve had to.”
Pete understands where Myka’s coming from but he doesn’t get why she can’t forgive Claudia when she was able to forgive H.G.. Claudia never tried to take out all of humanity in response to all the pain and suffering she had endured in her short time on earth. Instead of homicide and destruction, Claudia had chosen solitude and denial, and Pete gets that and to him that is much easier to forgive than H.G.’s courses of action.
Continue...
Author: princess_vevay
Artist: sunsetsinthewes // Link to Art: Fanmix
Fandom: Warehouse 13/Eureka
Characters/Pairings: Claudia, Pete, Myka, Artie, Mrs. Frederic, Jane Lattimer, Leena, Dr. Douglas Fargo, Dr. Vanessa Calder, Dwayne, Kosan, original character Joe; Claudia/Fargo, hints of Artie/Vanessa, references to past Fargo/Holly, Claudia/Dwayne
Rating/Category: PG-13/Gen
Genre: Drama, Angst, Family/Friendship, with touches of Fluff and Romance
Word Count: 17,025
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: With the exception of Joe, all characters are property of the Syfy Channel series Warehouse 13 and Eureka and their respective creators and owners. This fic was written purely for entertainment purposes.
Note: Thanks so much to lionessvalenti for stepping up and taking over as my beta when real life prevented my original beta Gabiroba from being able to continue!
Written for smallfandombang
Summary: Claudia Donovan may be done with the Warehouse and the Regents but they are far from being through with her. Years and miles may pass but the Warehouse will get her back.
Four years have passed since the murder of Steve Jinks, the destruction (and subsequent resurrection) of Warehouse 13, and Claudia’s decision to leave her home and her family of friends. The time has come for her to make peace with all that she has lost, all that she has given up, and all that the Warehouse still has in store for her.
Prologue
The death count is high, much too high when Walter Sykes’ senseless war against the Warehouse is over. If either side can be deemed the winner, their victory is a Pyrrhic one. Everyone who fought for Sykes is dead. Steve is dead, Mrs. Frederic is dead, H.G. is dead, and the Warehouse has been obliterated. The Regents are in a panic, they’re all mourning, they’re all devastated and shaken to their cores. Everyone but Claudia is debating what to do, what their first priority should be.
Claudia has had a one-track mind ever since she picked up Johann Maelzel’s metronome. It takes no time for her to pack a couple of bags: clothes, her laptop, and the metronome. She tucks her Farnsworth and mini-Tesla into her pockets. Fight or flight.
She’s been using Steve’s Prius ever since he was fired-no, not fired, but sent undercover on a suicide mission. It wasn’t like he could come back to Univille to reclaim it with the story that was fabricated. Claudia waits until after Myka checks on her, her own eyes bloodshot and swollen, filling with another round of tears to shed for the ones they’ve lost, and tells her that dinner is ready. She lies on her bed, staring at the wall and tells Myka that she’s not hungry; Myka just nods and says that they’ll check on her after dinner before leaving the room.
Claudia listens to Myka’s footsteps retreat and waits thirteen minutes before grabbing Steve’s keys off of her dresser and her bags out of her closet. In all the shock and confusion following the destruction of the Warehouse and the death of Mrs. Frederic, the metronome was the last thing on anyone’s mind other than hers. She knows Artie has some sort of plan formulating in his mind, one that could reverse the fate of Warehouse 13 and Mrs. Frederic, but it’s not enough for her if it doesn’t bring Steve back. She cannot just let him go.
******
Claudia's not sure how she ended up in this place. Stuck somewhere between running and hiding. She can't deal with everything that's happened over the past year-it's too much. She doesn't want to deal with it. She clutches the metronome and stares at Steve's corpse. She's afraid to release the pendulum rod because she's terrified that it won't work. That his heart will not resume beating in time with rhythm of the metronome.
It's an overwhelming sense of desperation and desolation that fills her. She knows it's only a matter of time before the Regents or Artie, Myka, and Pete find her. If she doesn't do this now, then she'll probably never have another chance and Steve will be gone for good. She's lost him but he's not gone, and yet he is. She wants him back. She needs him back. He is the Shirley to her Laverne. He is the best friend she has ever had and, gay or not, he just may have been her soul mate. She doesn't want to live without him. She wants to wake up and find out that the past couple of months have been a nightmare-that Jinks was never sent undercover, that he never died, that her heart hadn't been ripped out, torn apart, put back together again only to be blown to pieces.
The fingers on her left hand dance along the wooden side of the metronome as the right hand rests on top of Steve's. Claudia can do this; she wants to do this she tells herself as her fingers hover over the pendulum rod. All she has to do is remove the latch and set the rod swinging at a steady rhythm, a strong healthy beat for Steve’s heart to keep time with. If she just sets the rod free, it will start ticking out the beats for Steve’s heart to follow and he’ll be alive again. Her hand moves to the base of the metronome. She wants Steve to live. She knows that he would want-not this. Claudia’s conviction and determination wanes because Steve wouldn't want this. Deep down she knows that he knew that his death was a distinct possibility and yet he willingly walked into the fire. So that he could protect her. It’s not that she’s ungrateful, but with all the casualties his sacrifice seems in vain. What would he say if she brought him back?
He would be so disappointed in her. He would be honored that she cared so much but he’d be quick to point out, as gently as he could, how misguided she was in bringing him back; her intentions are not pure because they are selfish. He would tell her that she has her whole life ahead of her, that she shouldn’t be afraid to live it and to love. Then he would ask her to let him go, beg her even, and let him rest in peace.
Let go.
Claudia exhales, setting the metronome down. He’s gone and she’s not going to bring him back. She can hear Jinks’ voice in her head, “So brave,” and she feels like she could breakdown at any moment. She grips his hand tighter, gathering her strength from him; he is still her rock. She closes her eyes and remembers his smile, remembers his eyes, remembers him full of life. Taking a deep breath, she opens her eyes before squeezing his hand one last time. She lets go, places a kiss on Steve’s temple, and whispers goodbye. She has to make herself walk away. She doesn’t look back because if she does, she just might change her mind.
She exits the building and there’s Pete’s damn mom, the grand high Regent herself, leaning against Steve’s-no, her car. She’s in no mood to exchange pleasantries or engage in small talk. “What?”
The older woman stares at her, trying to figure her out. “You didn’t use the metronome?”
Claudia looks around. “Does it look like I used it? Do you see Steve Jinks? Alive?”
Jane’s chest rises and falls. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you made the right choice, Claudia. If you’d chosen differently-it’s a path that it would have been very difficult to come back from. It would have changed Agent Jinks if you had brought him back. He would not have been the same. It’s going to take time, but you will heal. If you need to take some time off-”
“Oh, I will be doing more than taking some time off. I quit.”
Jane’s eyes widen. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that I heard you correctly.”
“I think you did, but, I’ll elaborate just so that there’s no misunderstanding: I am tired of all of this. Do you know how many artifacts have tried to kill every single person that I care about since I joined the Warehouse? In two years, do you know how many relationships I’ve watched that place destroy? I’m sick of it, all of it. I’m done. Find someone else to do inventory and filing.”
Jane is on Claudia’s heels as she walks around to the driver’s side of the car. “Ms. Donovan-Claudia, you do not fully understand how important you are or the full extent of your purpose at the Warehouse.”
She spins around, furious. “My purpose? No, no, no. If this is about me being front-runner for the position of Caretaker, I think I’ve made myself perfectly clear: I am not interested.”
“You are not just the front-runner, you are it. There is no one else. The Warehouse has chosen you. It chose you long before you were aware of its existence.”
“Well, it’s just going to have to get used to the disappointment like everyone else has and choose someone else.”
“Claudia, please, wait-”
“No. It’s over. Don’t call me, I’ll call you.” She yanks open the driver’s door of the Prius then hesitates a moment before fishing the Farnsworth out of her back pocket. She stares at it for a moment, letting her resolve build, then she shoves the communicator at Jane. “Tell Artie that I’m sorry. And that I said thanks.”
Jane starts to shake her head slowly, “I will not.”
“Take it!” Claudia barks, jabbing the Farnsworth at her.
The older woman jumps, looking frightened, and she reluctantly takes the object, her hands shaking ever so slightly. “Whenever you’re ready to come back...”
“Oh, go to Hell,” Claudia spits, pulling her mini-Tesla from of her front pocket. Jane jolts, expecting Claudia to fire at her. Instead, Claudia throws the weapon to the ground at Jane’s feet before climbing into the car and roughly pulling the door shut.
Jane watches as Claudia pulls into traffic and speeds away. She collects herself, regains her composure, sighs and opens the Farnsworth. “We have a problem. The situation has escalated. Ms. Donovan was less than cooperative. Do whatever is in your power to delay the transfer.”
******
Pete shoves himself away from the table and stands. “So that’s it? We just let Claudia take off to God knows where and we don’t go after her?”
Myka speaks calmly, “Pete, she’s in mourning and we have to let her deal with this her own way and in her own time.”
“I’m not saying that we should forcibly bring her back here, but we can’t not keep an eye on her.” He looks to Artie. “Can we?”
Artie adjusts his glasses, carefully measuring his words. “Our orders are to let the Regents handle the situation and apparently they have a plan. Oh, and a timetable. It seems that they always do.”
“The Regents are going to handle it? What are they going to do except upset her even more?”
“Pete-”
“Artie, you know-”
“Agent Lattimer,” Mrs. Frederic begins, appearing out of nowhere, still looking a little worse for wear since her and the Warehouse’s recent resurrections, but her voice and presence still carry the same power and intimidation as before. “You are under no circumstances to initiate contact with Ms. Donovan. You are not to search for her, and you will not disobey these orders. Is that clear?”
Pete swallows. “What if she-”
“If Ms. Donovan were to contact you, then please, by all means, feel free to converse with her as you would with any other friend and former colleague. What has happened has happened and what will happen, well, that is not up to you. It is not for any of you to bring Ms. Donovan back here. There is a plan, trust in it.”
“Like Jinks trusted in my mother’s plan?” Pete’s words taste as bitter on his tongue as they sound.
Myka shakes her head and walks out of the room. She doesn’t agree with how the Regents always choose to handle certain situations, but she respects their authority and their level of ignorance. The Regents must protect the Warehouse at all costs, but they don’t understand what it is to have and lose a partner. They observe, stepping in when they feel it is necessary; to them, dying for the Warehouse is a noble sacrifice, one that should be made with little to no hesitation. Myka would die for the Warehouse but she would rather risk her life to save Pete, Claudia, and Artie first-the Regents do not and cannot understand the bond of a team and the family that they make up.
“Agent Lattimer, Ms. Donovan has always been able to fight her own battles. She does not need you to speak on her behalf simply because she is not here to do so. We are all quite aware of her current feelings regarding the Regents, the Warehouse, and her future role. In time, she will come to accept all these things and she will return.”
Pete does not notice the way that Artie tenses when Mrs. Frederic mentions Claudia’s future role. Artie had promised her that it would be up to her. He’d only been trying to protect Claudia and to reassure her, to comfort her; he can only hope that one day she’ll be able to forgive him for continually letting her down and lying to her. Perhaps if he’d been honest with her and told her the brutal truth that she didn’t want to hear, she wouldn’t be running now, not when she needs them and they need her the most.
******
Part 1
Claudia spends the first two years away from the Warehouse living as a nomad, never staying in one town more than two or three months. She takes various temp jobs or side jobs working on and fixing up computers and other electronics. It never matters how long she’s been in town-two hours, two days, two weeks, or two months-a Regent always finds her and reminds her of her duties to the Warehouse. They tell her that Mrs. Frederic is weak and so is the Warehouse. The first time they inform her of Mrs. Frederic and the Warehouse’s status, she’s relieved. It must mean that whatever Artie had been up to when she left was a success. They always tell her that they’ll see her again and she always responds with venom and sarcasm. She knows that she’s good at staying under the radar, off the grid, and covering her tracks and she sometimes wonders if they implanted a tracking device in her; knowing the Regents and their wacked out ways of thinking, she wouldn’t put it pass them.
She calls Joshua and video chats with him on a semi-regular basis; it’s the most contact that they’ve had with one another since she rescued him from the inter-dimensional space. He never mentions the Warehouse and she never asks. He invites Claudia to come and stay with him in Switzerland and she wants to, she really does, but it would be far too easy for Artie and the others to find her. (She wonders how hard they’re searching; sometimes she’s afraid that they’ve given up on her or that they will. She needs them to keep the faith that she has not been able to.) She can say no to the Regents all too easily but she knows that if Artie, Pete, or Myka were to ask her to come back to the Warehouse she’d say yes before she could even blink.
But they don’t. It’s always one Regent or another, never Jane Lattimer or Mrs. Frederic. They never say much, they never even try that hard to convince Claudia to come back, they just ask and condescendingly say that she’ll come around in time.
In her third year of running, trying to forget, trying to move past it all, she arrives in Nashville. She’s been there about a month when she runs into Dwayne and a couple guys from the band. She spends more and more time at the house that the guys share and eventually she decides to stay in town for a while and moves in with them because the rent is cheaper and it’s nice to be around people that she knows, even though they will never truly know her. She gets a steady job on the technical support staff at a multimedia company.
Not too long after she moves in, she’s sitting outside having a laidback jam session with Dwayne. They finish singing “Crimson and Clover” and the Joan Jett connection takes them both back to when they first met.
He has always wondered how Claudia with her punk-rock attitude and style ended up in the Middle of Nowhere, South Dakota and working for the government. “I still can’t believe you worked for the IRS.”
She shrugs. “It was a job and I needed something to do. And I liked the people a lot. We clicked.”
“You’ve never gone back.”
“I can’t go back. I don’t want to go back. I thought that I loved my job but then one day…” she swallows and tries to come up with a way to phrase what happened because revealing that her partner was killed in a work-related incident is only going to lead to more questions and more lies. “One day I realized that it wasn’t worth it and that upper management sucked and did not give a damn about anything other than getting the job done. I had to get out of there.”
“Yeah, they claim that they really care and you can come to them with your problems but in the end it’s all about saving time and making money,” Dwayne says with a nod.
He can tell that this part of her past is a painful topic for whatever reason and he lets it drop. He readily accepts the vague details and explanations that she gives regarding her time in Univille and why she left so abruptly.
There are times when Claudia manages to convince herself that it was all a dream, a horrible, fantastic nightmare. There are mornings when she first wakes and she doesn’t remember the Warehouse exists. She forgets that she ever lost Joshua and that her sanity was ever in question. She forgets what it feels like to experience the whammy from an artifact, to almost die, to watch everyone she cares about walk alongside Death and almost not make it. She forgets seeing Steve’s dead body, his open eyes not seeing her, not seeing anything; she forgets clutching his cold, stiff hand. She does remember that Steve was her best friend, she won’t forget that. She remembers that she cares about Artie, Pete, Myka, and Leena, but she does not want to remember how or why. Her selective amnesia works well as long as the Regents keep their distance but they never do, not for long, never long enough.
In the space and time of four years, Claudia has become skilled in denying that a part of her soul is desperate to go back to the Warehouse and never leave again. She’s tried to burn her bridges and now she’s too afraid to admit to herself that she’s scared to ever go back. She’s terrified that if she does, they will all be gone. She cannot go back. So, she stays with Dwayne and the guys and she works, she indulges in her music in the evenings, making her rounds at various open mic nights.
She can’t explain it but she feels apprehensive about performing this night. She’s felt a little off the whole day, a bit twitchy, kind of paranoid. She peeks over her shoulder while out, expecting to see the imposing and irritating figure of a Regent trailing behind her but she doesn’t; it is about time for them to resume their regularly scheduled harassing of her again.
*******
Dr. Douglas Fargo is a man on a mission. He’s spent the past day shadowing Claudia Donovan, waiting for the right moment to approach her and make his presence known. Watching her from a distance, slipping out of her line of vision whenever she starts to turn, he feels like a stalker, and not like a highly educated man following orders. Surely, she must sense that someone is following her but he’s been trained well these last few months, he knows how to stay inconspicuous and hidden until the time is right.
He fiddles around down the block from Claudia’s residence; he’s not sure what he’s waiting for but then she’s walking out the front door with her guitar case and getting into her car. He follows her to a small bar. Fargo has never actually heard her sing or play before and she had always referred to her musical abilities as amateurish and a hobby that she wouldn’t quit her day job for. He had assumed that she was better at it than she said and she is. She’s rather good in fact and appears as comfortable strumming her guitar as she does typing on a computer. It revives a bit of his old guilt and regret that music was the only thing that had been real in Princess Claudia and he wishes once again that the prototype had been truer to his inspiration.
When she’s riding the euphoric high after performing, he deems it the perfect time to initiate contact. Plus, he is on a time crunch now. He really should have considered “running into” her a little earlier in the evening. He makes his way through the crowd towards the backside of the stage where Claudia’s securing her guitar in its case. Her back is to him and he clears his throat to get her attention. “Claudia Donovan.”
She stiffens; she knows that sound, that nervous clearing of the throat and that voice. She spins around, looking equal parts shocked and confused for a few seconds before a grin brightens her face.
“Doug!” Claudia throws her arms around his neck, hugging him. Over this last year, she hasn’t thought of the Warehouse and its associations often, finally achieving the emotional distance she’s been longing for, but every once in a while a name or a face will pop into her head, and then a Regent will find her and try to convince her to come back. She’s relieved, and maybe a little giddy, to see a familiar face whose connection to the Warehouse has always been a superficial one. She pulls back, still grinning. “It’s good to see you. How are things in Eureka and at GD?”
His eyes sparkle as he takes her in, making note of the ways she has changed. She’s forgone dying her hair, letting the naturally light brown hue (a few shades too dark to be considered dirty blonde) see the light of day. He misses the violent red accompanied by a colorful stripe because it was so quintessentially Claudia. He’s not comfortable with the thought that it was a part of her personality tied to her youth. He needs-he wants-her to still be that girl, only older and wiser so that she can confidently and successfully take on the role of Warehouse Caretaker.
He clears his throat, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Good, they’re good. I actually stepped down as head of GD recently; I’ve had more pressing matters to attend to.”
“Get out! Are you a family man now?”
He chuckles. “No, not yet. Holly and I-well, relationships need a certain amount of openness and honesty to thrive and there were some things that I just couldn’t tell her.”
“What? Like about your little day trip to 1947?”
“How did you-”
“Between the zoetrope-induced sepia-toned memories with period clothing and the way the Sheriff was not only freaking out by items from 1947 Eureka popping up but he recognized them-wasn’t too hard to put two and two together and get five. Plus, I did have to deal with weird shit kind of like that on a daily basis.”
“Right. Well, that was one of the big ones.”
“Geez, Dougie, what kind of skeletons are you keeping in your closet?” The playful question is barely out of her mouth when her eye catches something. On the collar of Fargo’s shirt is a golden Eye of Horus pin. Her eyes harden and narrow as she takes a step back. All warmth is gone from her voice, “Oh, you have got to be kidding me. This is bullshit.”
“Claudia-”
“What the hell, Doug? You know what that place did to me. You know everything it took from me. How could you? Why? I mean...why?”
He shrugs. “Mrs. Frederic and the Regents are scary and persistent; they can be quite persuasive.”
“Yeah, well, you can go back and tell them the same thing that I’ve told every single one of them: There is no way in hell that I am coming back. Oh, and for good measure, ‘Fuck off.’” She spins around and storms out the bar.
“Crap,” Fargo mutters before chasing after her into the parking lot. “Claudia!”
She stops and turns around, irritated. “What?”
“That last part…was that directed toward me or the other Regents?”
“Little of both,” she snaps. She takes a deep breath. “Why don’t any of you understand? I do not want anything to do with the Warehouse anymore. It’s not some phase that I’m going through, these years that I’ve spent away-as well as all that will surely follow-will not be chalked up to youthful folly or rebellion, and there will not be a morning when I wake up and regret breaking up with the Warehouse.”
“The Warehouse needs you, Claudia.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t need it. And someone should tell it that co-dependent relationships are not healthy.”
“There are things that you don’t know, that you don’t understand...”
She rolls her eyes. “Here we go again. The last time I heard that, my best friend had been sent on a suicide mission by your co-workers. I think we both know how that ended.”
There is a pleading look in Fargo’s eyes and a touch of desperation in his voice. “Can you just give us twenty-four hours to convince you?”
“Why should I? I’ve spent the past four years trying to separate myself from that place. This is my life-”
“No, it’s not!” Claudia’s completely taken aback by his tone and the steely look in his eyes. “Gloves off: You have always been connected to the Warehouse and you know it. The Regents are in place to protect the Warehouse, and, in that vein, its Caretaker. Mrs. Frederic has been growing weaker and weaker since the reversal of the Warehouse’s destruction. She’s ready to relinquish her position.”
“Yeah, well, I am just as uninterested in it now as I was the first time it was almost forced on me.”
A wry chuckle slips past his lips. “That doesn’t matter. Claudia, this has always been in your future.”
“I don’t care!”
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter,” he says with a shrug, giving her a sad smile. “I’ve done what I was supposed to do, I’ve said my piece.”
She closes her eyes for a moment, willing the tears that are welling up to subside. “How can you be okay with us just being pawns with no control? I don’t want this. I just want to be able to live my life and have some sort of peace and happiness! I don’t want to have to keep secrets from the people that I care about! It’s not fair.”
“I know but we all have to make concessions and sacrifices; some more than others. Do you know how lucky you are that the people you have been closest to have been privy to the existence of Warehouse 13? The people you considered your family as well as your brother all know; the rest of us have only one person that we can share this with our entire lives.”
She scoffs, “So, what? That’s supposed to somehow make this all better?”
“Not at all, but it is meant to help put a few things in perspective. Most of us get no warning whatsoever. As much as you have tried to deny it, you’ve had years to prepare for this.”
“Gotta say, I’m really not digging this new Regent you, Doug. You’re kinda pissing me off.”
“I can’t say that they didn’t warn me. Although, I was kind of hoping that you’d be a little more receptive.”
“Yeah, because being blindsided and bitch slapped by both karma and fate, in the form of someone you thought was a friend, normally warrants open arms and sunshine. Sorry I haven’t pulled out the welcome wagon.”
“Claudia….”
“Plane, train, or automobile?”
Fargo tries not to smile, the corners of his mouth twitching upward slightly. “You’re coming?”
“You say that as if I’ve ever really had a choice in the matter, which, according to you and the rest of the all-knowing Regents, I never have.”
“Claudia, I know this is difficult for you-”
“Okay, that’s going to have to stop. Do not talk to me like we’re still friends because we’re not; I really dislike you right now. If I hadn’t gotten rid of everything Warehouse related when I left that godforsaken place, I would have Tesla’d your ass by now.”
He looks down at his shoes. Fargo had known that this was going to be a difficult assignment and he had been told that Claudia would be furious and more than likely remain obstinate, just as she had been every other time she had been accosted by the Regents. He hadn’t been given the option to decline and he wouldn’t have taken it if he had. The reasoning behind him becoming a Regent had been made obvious to him from day one; they needed a person who had a connection to Claudia, who could be convinced that it would not be a betrayal, who would protect the secrets of the Warehouse, someone who she wouldn’t be as quick to rebuff. He was their final option, their only option.
“As I said, such was expected.” Fargo swallows and looks up at her, clearing his throat. “Arrangements have already been made; someone will pick you up at six a.m. sharp.”
“Whoa, slow down, I need some time to take care of a few things.”
“Tell everyone that there’s a family emergency.”
“Seriously? I don’t even get a day?”
“Well, we can’t have you changing your mind, now can we, Cl-Ms. Donovan? The wheels have already been set in motion, preparations have been made, and the only piece of the puzzle that is missing is you.”
She snorts, “Care to toss in a few more clichéd phrases?”
“Six a.m. I’ll see you on the plane,” he says before turning away and walking across the street.
She watches him retreat, a flurry of emotions and thoughts running through her. She groans loudly, “Frak!” and sighs before walking back into the bar to grab her guitar before driving back to the house that she shares with the rest of the band.
The guys are still in various states of being awake when she gets home. Home. She drops her purse on the kitchen counter and sets her guitar down by the sofa. Dwayne’s on the deck, with a beer and his guitar; Claudia slides the door open and steps outside. “Hey.”
“Hey. How was open mic night?”
She sits on the lawn chair across from his. “It was good. I ran into an old friend, got some bad news.”
Dwayne sets his guitar down and leans forward. “What’s wrong?”
“A family friend is dying. I’m leaving in the morning and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. I’ll be fine.” She rises. “You should probably sleep in your room tonight; I have an early flight.”
She tells the others and leaves a message for her supervisor. She is one of many minions in the IT department so it shouldn’t be a big deal. She doesn’t know if she should really pack or how much if she does. Taking her laptop is a no brainer, always is. She eventually decides to pack a duffle with a couple of changes of clothing and some toiletries. She lays down and tries desperately to fall asleep. She tosses and turns, her mind still racing. It’s almost three a.m. when she finally gives up all hope of falling sleep. She makes a pot of coffee and sits in her nightshirt and pajama shorts on the deck. She reclines in one of the lawn chairs, searching for constellations.
As she mentally traces the stars that Andromeda is comprised of, Claudia begins to realize that she is absolutely beyond belief terrified about returning to the Warehouse, the place she had once called home, the markings of which she still feels etched beneath her skin. She continues to stare at the sky, the stars blurring to form lines that she once knew so well, the countless aisles in the Warehouse. She’s always felt its pull, the Warehouse whispering its long and well-guarded secrets.
A deep voice rouses her. “Ms. Donovan?”
It takes several seconds for her vision to focus when she opens her eyes. She blinks a few times. “Yeah?”
“It’s six a.m. I’m here to take you to the airport.”
“Okay.” She makes no move to get up.
“Ma’am, perhaps you should get dressed. I can take your things to the car.”
She raises her eyebrows and she slowly pushes herself up. “You’re a lot more vocal than Mrs. Frederic’s old bodyguard.”
“We’re chosen to suit the personality of the one we serve.”
“O-kay.” She’s more than a little creeped out by him shadowing her to her room. He grabs her duffle and laptop bag off of her bed, informing her that he will be waiting outside. She pulls on a pair of worn out jeans. She replaces her nightshirt with a tank top and a jacket. She grabs her purse from the kitchen counter and slides her sunglasses onto her head as she walks out of the house, pulling the door closed behind her. The bodyguard is standing by a black Lincoln Towncar; he pulls the back driver’s side door open for her as she approaches. She stops short, next to the red car she’s spent the past four years driving.
“Can we take my car instead?” The bodyguard examines the Prius before responding with a “Yes, Ma’am.” He opens the door for her and she hands him the keys-it’s too early and she’s too tired to argue over who’s going to drive and where she’s going to sit-and he closes the door once she’s seated then he transfers her bags from the Towncar’s trunk to that of the Prius. The ride to the airport is short and silent; the car stops outside of a hanger near a small jet.
The bodyguard opens the door for her. As he grabs her bags out of the trunk she asks, “Hey, do you have a name?”
“Joe.”
“Well, Joe, if you keep getting my bags, I’m gonna feel the need to tip you and I really can’t afford to.”
He reluctantly sets the duffle and laptop bags by her feet. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Please don’t call me ‘ma’am.’”
“Yes, Ms. Donovan.”
“Yeah, I’m not feeling that either. Let’s just try ‘Claudia.’”
“No, Ms. Donovan.”
She sighs. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
Fargo steps into the view, framed by the jet’s door, and taps the face of his watch. “Time is of the essence.”
Joe closes the trunk and opens the driver side door.
Claudia spins around. “Wait, aren’t you going?”
“Yes, Ms. Donovan, but the car has to be loaded onto another plane. My flight should land shortly after yours then I will drive you and Dr. Fargo to Univille.”
“Oh.”
“Have a nice flight, Ms. Donovan.”
She boards the plane; Fargo is already buckled into his seat. “So what is this, Regent Air?”
“Unless in a time of crisis, these accommodations are specifically intended to be used by the Caretaker, occasionally the Head Regent, and sometimes by the Warehouse Guardian.” His voice is even and it’s clear that he’s taken her words from the previous night to heart. She can see hints of the same old Fargonator underneath the stick-up-the-ass Regent mask.
She sits down across the aisle from him. “So, what’s the in-flight movie?”
“Ms. Donovan-”
“Doug-”
“You were quite clear last night when you informed me that we are no longer friends. I assume that our relationship should now be approached as a civil and professional one.”
“Or you could pull your head out of your ass and maybe let me get a few words in so that I can apologize. See, you actually get a choice.”
Fargo opens his mouth, shocked, then closes it, opens it again, and closes it again. His lips purse and he looks a little perplexed. He sort of nods and makes a gesture with his hand, indicating that she should continue.
“I realize that I may have been a little more abrasive with you than I should have been. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but I can be a little rough around the edges sometimes.” There is humor in her voice.
“You’ve always been quite the enigma.”
Just like the Warehouse, she thinks and Claudia can feel the ice in the air surrounding them begin to thaw. “I just have a thing against Regents, which I thought you understood. So, yeah, not a fan of Regent you by default, but you as you, Dougie, Doug, Fargonator, I’d kinda like to keep as a friend.”
“It’s just another hat,” he says with a shrug. “I’m really not any different except for when it comes to the Warehouse.”
The air grows warmer and she grins, “Oh, God, Artie must hate that you’re a Regent!”
“Yeah, he doesn’t know yet. I actually haven’t been a Regent that long, only six months. None of the agents know that I’m-”
“Technically one of their bosses?”
“Yeah.” He’s quiet for a couple of minutes, debating whether he should broach the next topic or not. What the hell. “You’ll still get to have a life outside of the Warehouse. Being the Caretaker is going to be consuming but you’ll have the time to devote yourself to having friends and a family. You can stay in Nashville; you don’t have to have to move back to Univille. It’s better than the chances if you were just an agent.”
“I suppose.”
“You still haven’t told your one.”
“Are you asking or...”
“We know these things. We keep track. I was kind of wondering though.”
“Wondering what? Why I haven’t told Dwayne? We had barely started dating just before I left the Warehouse. When he and I reconnected last year, I didn’t really think there was a need to.”
“Are you going to?”
“I’ve barely processed that I’m semi-willingly returning to a life of madcap and endless wonder and Dwayne and I have been in fluctuating states of “It’s Complicated” ever since we started dating, so I can’t say that I’ve got him pegged as my ‘one.’ And, you know, speaking of my not quite unwilling return, if this flight was planned, what was that whole ‘give us twenty-four hours’ ploy about?”
“Deception. I was ordered to get you to the Warehouse today by any means necessary.”
“And if I hadn’t budged?”
“There may have been a syringe in my pocket primed with a mild sedative,” he says sheepishly.
She looks at him in disbelief. “I’m sorry; you were going to drug me?”
“And abduct you, if you want to go into semantics,” he adds, as if it were no big deal.
Her look of disbelief turns into one more resembling curiosity. “Okay, I know that I’m not the most adept at interacting with people and there are times when I question my sanity, but seriously, you Regents are so not right in the head.”
“I’ve started coming to a similar conclusion myself.”
She smiles at how nonchalant and accepting he is about it. “I gotta admit, Doug, I have missed having people around that I could really talk to about my past. And not just my time at the Warehouse. If I can’t bring myself to tell Dwayne about my time in a psychiatric facility, what are the odds that I’ll ever be able to tell him about the Warehouse?”
“You never know.”
“It seemed like you and Holly were a lot more serious than Dwayne and I and you couldn’t tell her about your time travel hijinks or the Warehouse. What does that mean for me?”
He unbuckles his seat belt, rises, and prepares himself a drink. “I did tell her. About 1947. I just waited too long to tell her. When I told her who else knew outside of the five of us that went back, how long they’d known…. She felt that it meant that it took all that time for me to trust her and that hurt her. It also meant that I wasn’t the man that she thought I was. The funny thing is that I was preparing to tell her about the Warehouse too. She was going to be my one.”
“The Warehouse has a nasty habit of ruining relationships.”
“You can’t blame the Warehouse for all the bad things, Claudia. As much as you say it’s taken from you, don’t you think that it’s given you even more? And, you know, if it weren’t for it, you and I would never have met.”
“Maybe. But it’s been a lot easier not to remember any of the good things.”
“You wouldn’t have gotten your brother back.”
“If not for an artifact and the intrusions of MacPherson and Artie, I never would have lost Joshua in the first place,” she says pointedly. Claudia doesn’t buy into destiny so the thought that she was always destined to find the Warehouse and that it was destined to find her never occurs to her.
Fargo finishes his drink. Holly and their break-up are still sore subjects. He’d been in love with her and not the same way he’d been infatuated with Claudia or Jo before her and it was more than his relationship with Julia had been. He had only discussed it with Zane, but he had even been contemplating marriage. He shakes away the longing and clears his throat as she stands beside him, mixing a drink of her own, probably to calm her nerves. “So, just how ‘complicated’ are things with Dwayne?”
“Well, sometimes we sleep together, sometimes we don’t; we’re sort of like friends with benefits. There are feelings but whenever we try to talk things out, there’s too much that I don’t think that I can tell him and it’s just this vicious cycle of me being closed off so we call it quits but several weeks later, we’re back to dinner and a movie and the mattress mambo.” Her tendency to ramble and inadvertently over share have not waned over the years. Her lack of a filter has always endeared Fargo but it is a concern for the other Regents.
“You deserve better than that.”
She takes a sip of her drink and raises an eyebrow. “You say that like you’re interested.”
“I’m not,” he responds firmly and quickly.
Her eyes widen. “Oh, wow. I was just kidding. That was harsh, Doug. Learn how to let a girl down easy.”
“Claudia, I didn’t mean-it’s not-I just…” He closes his eyes and takes a deep, cleansing breath before looking at her. “I haven’t quite hit the rebound stage.”
“Newsflash, Doug, even if I wasn’t just joshing you, no girl wants to be the rebound girl; and if she is, she doesn’t want to know.”
He leans over, nudging her with his elbow. “You deserve better than that too.” She’s relaxed and softened so much since the night before. She once again resembles the girl he’d instantly fallen for at the Warehouse and had tried so desperately to woo during her too brief visit to Eureka. She was the dream girl, ideal perfection that he had been clinging to when Holly had first entered his life.
She chuckles, “Yeah, our love lives would still be so much easier if we could just find people-”
“Who were like us. I know. You’re still young, though, so who knows?”
“Well, you’re hardly living in a retirement community.”
Something in the air changes, shifting and blurring the lines of professionalism, friendship, and what Claudia and Fargo almost had the potential to be to one another. It’s a combination of being caught up in the moment, memories, and alcohol on empty stomachs. His lips are on hers and his body pressing into her, pinning her against the wall. She whimpers slightly, her fingers curling around the fabric of his suit jacket. His tongue slides into her mouth and she angles her hips, not quite grinding them against his. It takes a second or two, but once the shock of that pleasurable sensation registers in the rational part of his brain, it brings Fargo back to reality and he pulls himself away from Claudia. They both stare at each other for a moment, wide-eyed, waiting for their breathing to return to normal.
Fargo goes back to his seat and sits. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
“No, don’t be.” She starts grasping at straws, anything to explain what just happened. “We have history and chemistry and we’ve been reminiscing. Didn’t mean anything because you are still head over heels for Holly and I’ve got a good enough thing going with Dwayne.”
“Right. And there are protocols and regulations regarding relationships and fraternizing between Regents and Warehouse agents.”
“I’m not an agent anymore,” she reminds him.
“Right.”
It’s a thought that crosses both of their minds yet neither of them says anything about how there are probably even stricter protocols and regulations regarding relationships between the Warehouse Caretaker and Regents.
She attempts to lighten the atmosphere, a strained chuckle accompanying her words, “Well, this isn’t at all awkward, is it?”
He can’t bring himself to look at her at first, because there are memories and desires from years past floating around in his head and the added heat of their most recent kiss is going to take a while to dissipate. On top of that are thoughts of and feelings for Holly. And then there’s a little voice in his head telling him that one of the reasons he cared for Holly in the first place were the things about her, even the tiniest ones sometimes, that reminded him of Claudia. So maybe he is in rebound territory; or maybe he never completely got over Claudia in the first place.
Claudia bites her lip. There’s always been something between her and Doug, sparks that ignited before they had even introduced themselves to one another. There’s something about this kiss that throws her completely and it takes a moment for her to realize what it is. Impulsive and yet timid, shadowed by inexperience and bravado, she had always been the one to initiate the few kisses that they had shared before. She had attracted him like a magnet, pulling him to her and he had allowed her to, barely having the time to respond before the kiss was over.
The flight attendant, who has been doing a horrible job, enters the cabin with a yawn. “Can I offer you some coffee or orange juice? Waffles? Some toast?”
“Coffee,” the both chime. The attendant retreats, assuring them that she’ll be back shortly after she finds out their preferences.
Fargo looks at Claudia for the first time, really looks at her, since he’d been assigned this mission. The dim lighting of the bar and the darkness of the night before had prevented him from fully examining the changes in her appearance. There are the faintest of etchings of lines on her face and peek-a-boo strands of grey in her hair that you have to look for to see them. The texture of her hair appears different; his fingertips itch to reach out and take a few strands of her hair between his fingers to see if he can feel a difference. But to do so would be a continual of his already overstepped boundaries.
Claudia traces the rim of her empty glass with a finger before setting the glass down. She keeps her eyes cast downward, avoiding meeting Fargo’s eyes. She can feel him watching her, scrutinizing her. It’s always been too easy for her to run and hide. It’s never been fight or flight, always just flight, as far and as fast as possible. The skin she is most comfortable in is that of the socially awkward ugly pretty girl who’s too much of a weird techno-geek and certifiably insane to fit in even with the losers or the outsiders. Part of her is still so surprised whenever someone hits on her, once she realizes that she is indeed being hit on. She doesn’t know that she carries an alluring mystique about her that is a combination of her own secrets as well as the Warehouse’s.
The rest of the flight is tense and awkward. It’s not just because of the kiss that Claudia and Fargo shared but because she’s going home. She had never really intended to go back to the Warehouse when she left and now she is consumed with the thoughts that she will forever be bound to it for the rest of her life as long as Warehouse 13 stands. It’s a harrowing thought that causes a hollow feeling inside of her, knowing that she will have to continue watching the people around her, people who mean the world to her, die. She hates the thought that she will always be left behind; that everyone will leave her because she will have no choice but to stay.
Claudia stares out the window. They are flying over the border and into South Dakota. She’s so close and yet she has never felt further away from the life that used to be hers. "Do they know that I'm coming back?"
Fargo looks up. "Oh, yes, the Warehouse agents will have been informed of your return prior to our arrival. Dr. Calder should be arriving in Univille any minute now to make sure that everything is in place in order to ensure a quick and painless transition of power."
"You just keep throwing things at me."
"It's like I said last night, Claudia. You have had time to prepare for this and now that time is coming to an end. Mrs. Frederic is ready to, how shall I put it: retire."
Claudia starts fiddling with the strap on her bag. "Do you think that they'll be happy to see me?"
"Why wouldn't they be?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I left without a trace and haven't bothered trying to contact them over the past four years. I'd be a little pissed at me if I were them."
He shrugs and tries to reassure her. “Well, I’m sure that they’ll just be happy to see you safe and sound once again.”
******
“And so it was the Regents’ decision that none of you be informed until they knew for certain that Ms. Donovan would be returning and what her return ultimately entails.”
Myka's eyes are wide. The likelihood of the possibility of Claudia’ return becoming actuality had dwindled for her as the weeks had turned into months and then into years. "She's coming back? When?"
Mrs. Frederic stands before the group gathered in the dining room at Leena's Bed and Breakfast. "Her flight is due to arrive within the hour and then she will be brought here post haste."
"Claudia's coming back?"
"Yes, Agent Bering, Ms. Donovan is returning."
"Why? I mean, why now? Why is this time any different than all the other attempts to bring her home?"
"Because none of those times was the right time, Agent Bering. Nothing has changed since Ms. Donovan left. Everything had to happen in its own time. She might not think that she is ready but she is. She wouldn't be on her way here if she wasn't."
Pete's face is screwed up in consternation. "You said that she's taking your place. What exactly does that mean?"
Mrs. Frederic takes a deep breath. "Well, Mr. Lattimer, it means that I will finally get a well deserved break. Ms. Donovan will be the new Director and Caretaker; all of my duties will become hers. The connection that I share with the Warehouse will be severed and replaced with a connection to its new Caretaker."
"Yeah, but, what are you going to do? No offense, but you don't strike me as the bingo or bridge type."
"I have always preferred higher stakes, Mr. Lattimer, like baccarat." It's the strangest thing, a sight and sound unfamiliar, but Mrs. Frederic actually appears to be amused. "I have lived a long life; I am weary and ready for sleep."
"Oh."
"Do not fret for me. I have been looking forward to this for some time now. All of my affairs are in order and I have made my peace. The only thing left is the transfer of power once Ms. Donovan and Dr. Calder arrive."
Artie has been silent this entire time. "Vanessa's coming?"
"Well, of course, she is, after all, still the Warehouse physician. Who else would you expect to oversee this?"
Artie sort of shrugs. "I don't know."
"She was as unaware of Ms. Donovan's impending return as you were, Arthur. She was notified as soon as we received confirmation that Ms. Donovan had boarded her flight so that she could make all of the necessary arrangements." Mrs. Frederic pauses. "I know that this is a great deal for you to all process and not much time to process it in, but whatever unresolved issues any of you may have with Ms. Donovan and her actions, will need to be resolved quickly. The transfer is scheduled for sundown and we do not need her questioning whether or not she can handle the responsibility or if she is doing the right thing. The Warehouse needs her and it needs her now, as do you all."
Myka looks up, her eyes watery, ready to protest, only to see that Mrs. Frederic has vanished.
"Seriously, the woman's about ready to breathe her last breath and she still has ninja moves."
Myka rolls her eyes. "Pete."
"What? I'm just sayin'.”
Artie pushes himself away from the table and rises. “I’m going to head over to the Warehouse. Make sure the artifacts are behaving themselves and not getting…antsy.”
“Why would they-never mind,” Pete cuts himself off abruptly at the impatient look that Artie gives him as he gathers his bag. Artie leaves and Leena goes upstairs to finish preparing the rooms.
Myka’s staring blankly at the table’s centerpiece.
“Hey, do you suppose that Claudia will be able to do that thing that Mrs. Frederic does?"
Myka scoffs. "I don't know the first thing about what Claudia will be able to do once she's the Caretaker. Well, that's not entirely true. I suppose it will be easier for her to disappear from our lives when she feels like it."
"Myks..."
"Pete." Her nostrils flair and every muscle in her face tightens. "She has never once tried to reach out to us since she left, so don't act like I'm just supposed to forget that and welcome her with open arms. Working at the Warehouse has been hard on all of us. She is not the only one who felt lost and absolutely devastated."
"You left too, Myka."
Her tone and her eyes are full of indignation. "And I left a letter and you all knew where I went. She just left us, Pete; she deserted us. We were her family and she left us. You know, maybe I could understand if she had gone to Switzerland to be with Joshua but she didn’t. She decided that she would rather be alone in the world than with the people who cared about her. How can you so easily forgive her?"
"How can you not, Myka? You said it, we were, and we still are, her family. Besides, you were the one who said that she needed to deal with Steve’s death in her own time, that she didn’t need us pushing her."
“I know what I said, Pete, four years ago. She was still a kid when she left, we don’t know who she is now. For all we know, the Claudia Donovan that’s coming here might be a completely different person than the one that we knew and cared about. And she probably is, because our Claudia would not have stayed away for so long, she wouldn’t have been able too. Just like I wasn’t able to.”
“Yeah, but we were able to come after you and consult. You were reminded of how much you loved the Warehouse and that you belong here. We couldn’t do that with Claudia, you know that. Look, Myks, the only thing that should count right now is that she’s back, or, she will be soon, and like Mrs. F said, she’s going to need all the support that we can give her. You’re gonna have to look past her running away, just for a little while, until she gets her feet beneath her. Then, you know, you two can hug it out, huh?”
Myka shakes her head, frowning. “It’s not going to be that simple, Pete. I will do what’s best for the Warehouse, but I can’t just let it all go. I get that you don’t see it the way that I do but her complete disregard for us and the Warehouse these last few years, it’s a kind of betrayal and it’s going to take some time for me to get over it. We all lost so much then, Pete; we shouldn’t have had to lose Claudia too but that was the choice that she made. It wasn’t fair to us; now, she’s going to have to deal with the consequences just like we’ve had to.”
Pete understands where Myka’s coming from but he doesn’t get why she can’t forgive Claudia when she was able to forgive H.G.. Claudia never tried to take out all of humanity in response to all the pain and suffering she had endured in her short time on earth. Instead of homicide and destruction, Claudia had chosen solitude and denial, and Pete gets that and to him that is much easier to forgive than H.G.’s courses of action.
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