Front 1/3
Title: Front 1/3
Fandom: Warehouse 13
Pairing: Myka/Claudia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through the entire first season
Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13 or its characters
A/N: Oh my good lord. This was supposed to be a short story I was going to toss off, but now it's this multi-part epic monstrosity. I haven't even really gotten to the slashy part yet! Anyway, I hope somebody reads the damn thing. Also, it takes place immediately after the Season 1 finale. And while [Speculation spoiler] I think everyone can be pretty sure Artie made it, let's pretend for the sake of angst that he didn't.
After two weeks, they finally find her.
Two weeks of hacking into nation-wide surveillance cameras, sifting through personal files to try to determine a possible hideout, monitoring unusual activity involving government and particularly Warehouse business. In the end, they don't find her through any technological means, because even at 22, Claudia Donovan can best the top technical analysts the Warehouse has to offer. In the end, it's an artifact that finds her. An artifact, and the man who holds it.
A man Myka Bering does not like. He showed up two days after the explosion, one day after Mrs. Frederic managed to extract Myka and Pete from their cubbyhole in the side of the Warehouse. He introduced himself as Agent X, and Pete had immediately laughed at him, which was probably the first time Pete had laughed in two days. Agent X was of average height, mid-forties, thin, and unquestionably sinister. Myka hated thinking of him like that, because she felt like it gave him power, but there was no denying that the man was dangerous. It wasn't so much in his stature, but in the way he carried himself-self-assured and strangely graceful and as if he had never once concerned himself with the pain of others. Pete, of course, had immediately asked him who the hell he was.
"I'm the one they send in when things go wrong," he had replied, letting his gaze glide over them in a way that made Myka shiver. Pete just rolled his eyes.
"Then why haven't we heard of you? We're Warehouse agents."
"Because you might have been the thing that went wrong," Agent X had said with the faint trace of an utterly mirthless smile. Pete and Myka had turned to Mrs. Frederic, who had a look of distaste on her face.
"He's telling the truth. He's something of a…contracted agent. He does certain things for the Warehouse, but he's not officially one of us." Mrs. Frederic sighed. "And, unfortunately, he currently outranks you in this investigation. I'm sorry-I wish it were another way."
"None of them like me," the man had said bluntly, "but they need me. And so do you."
And Myka supposes they had, because while Agent X had spent a week and a half doing God knows what with that sphere he kept in a pouch by his side, Myka and Pete had spent countless hours on a futile quest to find out just where Claudia had disappeared to. Of course, the ultimate goal in finding Claudia was to find MacPherson, but as Myka and Pete had learned all too well, MacPherson by himself was not so easy to find. That is, unless he wanted to be found.
So when Agent X had reappeared ten days later, a barely-masked look of triumph on his face and a baseball-sized orb that glowed golden in his hand, Myka had sighed and resigned herself to following this man's lead if it would help them find Claudia. And she knew that part of her hated this man because he succeeded where they had failed, because part of her never wants to find Claudia Donovan.
Agent X had briefly and somewhat contemptuously explained how the orb worked, as if Pete and Myka were ignorant children pestering him about things they could never understand.
"It's the Orb of St. Anthony of Padua. It hones in on a person's aura and tracks that person, but it's been corrupted over the years, so it's very delicate. It used to take nothing more than a prayer and a pure heart to find what you wanted. But because of certain interferences over the years, it…turned." There's an almost loving expression on his face as he looks into the orb's flickering surface. "It now requires certain sacrifices, none of which I'm sure would interest you, and a great deal of skill, concentration, and time." He broke his gaze away to look once more at Myka and Pete. "But it's ready now, and I can tell you where the girl is."
They find her in a B&B in Boulder, Colorado, which makes a bizarre sort of symmetrical sense. Mrs. Danvers, the elderly caretaker of the place, lets them in with a delighted smile, informing them that yes, indeed, there is a lovely young woman with red hair who is currently staying at the home. In fact, she just returned twenty minutes ago and should be in her room, ready to see her friends. Myka thanks the woman, tells her she has a lovely home, and precedes Pete and Agent X up the stairs, waiting until she's out of the old woman's sight before drawing her service weapon. She doesn't want to draw her gun, because she doesn't want to use her gun. And she doesn't want to be here.
When Myka nudges the slightly-ajar door open with the nose of her gun, the first thing she sees is Claudia's thin back hunched over some papers scattered on top of her bed's rustic quilt. Her hair is a little unkempt, her clothing wrinkled, and she's humming something almost inaudible as she sorts through the sheets. It takes all of Myka's willpower not to rush to her, check that she's ok, force her to tell them that this is all a mistake. Instead, she turns to Pete and X and gives them a brief nod, then steps into the room, gun trained on Claudia.
"Claudia, don't move." At the sound of her voice, Claudia whips her head around, and her eyes light up the moment she sees Myka. Then she registers the gun and her expression becomes one of fear and confusion.
"Myka?" she asks tentatively. "What's going on?"
"Do what she says, Claudia," Pete says, following Myka into the room. He keeps his voice firm, but Myka knows this is ripping him up just as much as it is her. They had both seen the evidence-weeks of artifact removals and network tampering, subtle viruses and stolen codes, and that blatant, gleeful little wave she had made at the camera after helping MacPherson escape and leaving Artie to die. They had seen enough strange things to know that Claudia might not even know what she had done, might still think she's the surrogate little sibling in their motley Warehouse family. But they also can't forget that if something is controlling her, she's damned dangerous. And their surrogate family no longer has a father as a result.
"Claudia, just stay calm," Pete's saying. "We'll explain everything, but we just need you to cooperate."
"Stay calm?" Claudia squeaks, looking at them both as if they've just grown horns. "Dude, you're pointing guns at me. It's kinda hard to stay calm."
"I know-" Pete begins, before Claudia interrupts him.
"And who's the creeper with the golden ball?" she asks nervously, raising her eyebrows and nodding towards Agent X, who's been silent this whole time. "He is seriously not helping with the calming vibe."
"Claudia," Myka begins, taking a small step towards her.
"Agent Bering," comes Agent X's voice, its sudden sinister authority sending ripples of command through the room. "We came here for a purpose. Don't let your history impair your judgment, or I'll have to take over this arrest."
"Arrest?" Claudia asks, her gaze flickering anxiously between Pete and Myka. Myka takes a shaky breath, then forces her voice to stay even.
"Claudia Donovan, you are under arrest for stealing artifacts from the Warehouse, sabotaging its infrastructure, assisting James MacPherson in his escape, and-" Myka swallows, "-your complicity in the death of Arthur Nielsen." She watches the color drain from Claudia's already-pale face.
"Artie-Artie's dead?" The words come out like a child's plea, begging for contradiction, and suddenly Myka realizes they've made a terrible mistake. She turns to Pete to tell him, but then she hears a shriek of pain. She turns back to see Claudia writhing on the floor, clutching her head where a golden glow is just beginning to dissipate. Agent X is standing over her, holding the Orb of St. Anthony in his outstretched hand.
"What did you do?" Pete shouts angrily, and he and Myka move towards Agent X to take him down. But they both suddenly feel a sensation like a lead hammer slamming into their bodies, and they're tossed against the patterned walls, momentarily stunned. Myka's limbs have temporarily stopped working, so she can only stare helplessly at Agent X, who turns his attention back to Claudia. He raises the Orb and golden light shoots from it to hit Claudia, who wails in agony for what feels like an eternity before finally going limp. Myka wants to smash Agent X's face into a wall, but right now the most she can muster is a twitch of her left hand.
Agent X, now with a satisfied smirk on his face, turns back to Pete and Myka.
"You didn't think this Orb was just a glorified dowser, did you? I've made certain modifications to it over the years." He looks down at the two moaning agents and gives a light tut-tutting sound. "And you didn't think they would put someone in charge who couldn't take care of himself, did you? Trust me when I say that you've only had a taste of the power I wield." He sighs, and his tone takes on the metre of a teacher lecturing small children. "Claudia Donovan is dangerous, and she must be taken in and questioned about the whereabouts of MacPherson. Now, you can either comply with my methods and accompany us back to headquarters, or you can continue to let your feelings get in the way and enjoy the hospitality of Mrs. Danvers downstairs while I take care of Ms. Donovan on my own."
"You are one megalomaniacal son of a bitch, you know that?" Pete groans as he uses the wall to slowly draw himself to his feet. Myka is in the process of doing the same thing. She glares at Agent X, then lets her gaze move to Claudia, who's sprawled limply on the floor, but whose chest is still rising and falling evenly. Myka looks Pete's way, and what she reads in his face is the same thing she's thinking. Practically spitting the words, she turns to Agent X and says,
"We'll do it your way."
Luckily, Mrs. Danvers is puttering around in her garden and doesn't see them as they half carry, half drag the unconscious Claudia downstairs. When they reach the SUV, Agent X insists on securing Claudia's arms with some sort of plastic-like material that molds and solidifies once it hits skin. X activates the material using the Orb, which Myka is beginning to think of as an evil version of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.
Pete helps Agent X place Claudia in the backseat, not because her weight requires two people, but because it's the only way to ensure that she gets a soft landing. Pete takes the front seat and Myka climbs in the back with Claudia, ignoring X's disapprovingly-raised eyebrows when she gently places Claudia's head on her lap. As Agent X pulls out of the B&B lot, Myka looks down at Claudia's face. Usually when people sleep, they look young, and Claudia does-too young, almost. But her face doesn't hold the normal peace of sleep; occasionally her head twitches and her brow crinkles, and once or twice she makes small sounds of distress. Myka murmurs comforting words to her when this happens, and she gently smoothes the strands of coppery hair away from Claudia's temples, waiting for her to calm.
Myka has known Pete long enough to sense when he's seething, but she's also known him long enough to recognize two of his favorite tactics for coping: flippancy and sarcasm. As Agent X focuses on the road in front of them, Pete glances back at Claudia, then turns to the other man.
"Man, I sure am glad you secured her with that silly putty stuff. She's terrifying. I don't know what we would do if she suddenly woke up." Myka can see Agent X consider ignoring Pete, but he's too smart to think that would be a solution.
"What you would hate to do is spend another ten days trying to find her if she escapes," the man responds with a sneer in his voice.
"Who, Claudia? I know she looks like a runner, but the girl is slow, man. I'm pretty sure I could tackle her even if she had a head start. And couldn't you just use your big golden ball to find her again if she got away?" Agent X's jaw tightens.
"If by 'big golden ball,' you mean the seven-hundred-and-fifty-year-old priceless Orb of St. Anthony, then yes, I could. But as I said before, it would take another ten days or so. Now that we've found her, the Orb's connection to her aura has dissipated, and I would need to perform the ritual all over again."
"Huh," Pete says, scrunching up his forehead. "So your golden ball is basically a rechargeable battery." Through gritted teeth, Agent X replies,
"If that is the only way your pathetically juvenile mind can imagine it, then yes, the Orb of St. Anthony is like a…rechargeable battery." The last words are dripping with disdain.
"Hey man, I'm not knocking it," Pete says with his hands raised defensively. "I've seen what it can do. The Energizer Bunny ain't got nothing on you." Agent X does not deign to respond, but Myka catches the almost imperceptible look Pete casts her way, and she lets him know through her own eyes that she understands.
Four hours later and just across the Nebraska state line, they finally arrive, but Myka's not completely sure where it is they've arrived to. On the outside, it looks like a small medical clinic. Once they get inside and past the first security check-point, still half-dragging Claudia, Myka realizes that this is Warehouse-issue. She sees several pairs of purple gloves, a couple of objects she's sure are artifacts, and she gets an inexplicable Warehouse-vibe. But it's not the Warehouse, because instead of rows upon rows of labeled mysteries, there are rooms with medical equipment and people in lab coats and far, far too many unhappy faces.
"What is this place?" Myka asks.
"Many things," Agent X replies, grunting slightly as he lowers Claudia onto a gurney. "I see you noticed some of the artifacts. You didn't think all the artifacts go directly to you, did you? Four people handling all the most priceless and wonderful objects in the world?"
"Well-" Pete begins before Agent X steamrolls over him.
"Artifacts come here, at least some of them. But mostly, this is where we bring people who have handled or been affected by artifacts. Tests are performed, judgments about containment are made, and dangers are assessed."
"So what is Claudia doing here?" Myka asks suspiciously.
"She's a danger. She needs to be assessed." Pete and Myka exchange a look. "Now wait here while I deal with the paperwork. And trust me when I say, here is not the place to do anything foolish." He gives them a pointed look, and Pete returns a beatifically innocent smile. When X moves away to speak to an official-looking woman with a key card attached to her lab coat, Myka turns to Pete.
"What are we going to do?" she asks in an urgent whisper.
"I don't know," Pete almost snaps back, the easy-going front he's been putting up for X dissolving in an instant. "That damn Orb of his kicked our asses, and this place strikes me as the high-security type. I think we may just have to wait and get more information."
Myka grits her teeth in frustration. Then she hears Claudia make a small moaning noise, and she's at her side in an instant, reaching over to squeeze her hand.
"You don't think the Orb did any permanent damage, do you?" she asks Pete anxiously, tucking a strand of Claudia's hair behind her ear.
"I doubt it," Pete replies, though his tone is worried. "I think they need her too much to do anything really bad." Myka nods, but the words aren't very comforting.
Just then, X returns, the same woman at his side.
"I'm Doctor Secet," she says with no preamble.
"I'm Myka-" Myka begins, before Secet cuts her off with an abrupt,
"I know who you are." She moves over the Claudia and pulls out a small flashlight. She peels back Claudia's eyelids and shines light in her pupils, then puts her fingers to her wrist and measures Claudia's pulse. She has a slight frown on her face when she finishes.
"How much force from the Orb did you use?" she asks X. Agent X shrugs.
"Enough. I didn't want to take any chances. She'll be fine."
"Yes, well, I would prefer if you limit the intensity of your blasts in the future. She'll be difficult to wake." X just shrugs again and ignores the glares Pete and Myka cast his way. Secet nods at an orderly passing by and points to the gurney.
"Now if you'll follow me, we can head to the Security Wing."
The Security Wing looks a lot like the wing they were just in, though the orderlies do seem a bit bulkier and more numerous. They arrive at a door with an electronic lock, and the door opens as Secet swipes her card across it. They pass through the door, the orderly wheeling Claudia in front. Inside is a small room with a desk, some chairs, and a tv monitor. One entire wall is taken up by a window that looks into an equally small room in which rests a single bed and not much else.
When Secet swipes her card against the lock for the next door, the orderly wheels Claudia in. Myka's fists clench, but she manages to hold her tongue. Blandly, Secet turns to them and says,
"I know it looks sparse, but it's perfectly humane. We're not monsters here-she'll have everything she needs."
"I'm sure she will," Myka responds sardonically, but Secet doesn't seem to notice her tone. "What are you going to do with her?"
"I'm not going to do anything with her, other than monitor her health. I understand she has information about an extremely dangerous criminal-learning about that's really more Agent X's territory." X sees the look of trepidation on Myka's face.
"Don't worry," he says mildly. "This isn't the American government-there are restrictions on what we can do to even the most dangerous prisoners. And I have sophisticated methods of getting information."
"Don't ever consider counseling-you are the least reassuring person I've ever met," Pete replies acerbically. Agent X smiles.
"My job is not to be reassuring." He glances at Claudia, who the orderly has now placed on the bed, then steps into the other room. He raises the Orb, which glows bright for a moment, and then the putty-like material falls from Claudia's arms. X and the orderly step out of the room and into the monitoring room, shutting the door behind them.
"There are far more protections against getting out than just this lock," he says by way of explanation. "She won't be needing the cuffs. Now, should we retire to the other room and wait for our little criminal to wake up?"
Though Agent X had said "we," Myka and Pete immediately separate from the other two when they go to get vending machine coffee. It seems strange that this hub of mystical and technological mystery has things as mundane as vending machines, but Myka supposes caffeine fixes are universal.
As they sip on the barely palatable beverages, they converse furtively.
"This sucks," Pete says eloquently.
"I know," Myka responds miserably. "God, there are so many people here! Where were all these people when we were hunting down the Spine of the Saracen or fending off MacPherson by ourselves?"
"I don't know, but this is really making me question all that 'top secret' bullshit they fed us."
"I don't think we can talk our way out of this," Myka says in frustration, watching over the rim of her cup as X and Secet review a file. "You saw the look on Claudia's face-she had no idea Artie was dead. She had nothing to do with this; she was set up."
"Maybe," Pete says, hesitating. "Or maybe she was a sleeper and didn't know what she was doing."
"It doesn't matter if she did something without knowing it," Myka snaps. "Our Claudia didn't do anything wrong, and whether or not something inside her made her sabotage the Warehouse, these bastards are not going to stop until they get every bit of information out of her. And since she doesn't know anything, she's going to be here for a very long time."
"I know, ok?" Pete responds defensively. "I'm not saying we leave her here. I'm saying that no matter how innocent she seems, they're not going to buy it. We need to prove she didn't do it."
"And we need to get her away from Captain Powertrip over there. Which is going to be nearly impossible because he doesn’t trust us. He knows how much we care about Claudia."
"But he also knows how much we care about our responsibilities to the Warehouse," Pete muses.
"And he knows how much we cared about Artie." Myka swallows painfully at the use of the past tense.
"I think we can use that," Pete says, his voice contemplative. "I have an idea, but it's really going to suck." He turns to Myka, a serious look on his face. "Can you be heartless?"
It's almost three hours later when Secet appears out of nowhere to speak to them. Agent X had disappeared two hours ago without Myka and Pete even noticing his absence.
"Ms. Donovan is awake," Secet tells them abruptly.
"Really?" Pete says excitedly, springing up from his chair. Myka forces herself to rise more calmly, not allowing her face to display the desperate feeling of relief that washes over her.
"Did she just wake up?" she asks.
"No," Secet replies. "She's been awake for about an hour and a half. Agent X has been speaking to her."
"What?" Pete exclaims in anger. "And you didn't tell us?" Secet shrugs.
"I don't answer to you. Now, would you like to see her or not?" Grumbling, Pete follows the doctor to the locked door, Myka trailing behind.
When they enter the monitoring room, they have a full view of the inner chamber. Claudia is sitting on the bed, her back to the corner, her arms wrapped around the knees she has drawn up to her chest. She's glaring balefully at Agent X, who's lounging on a hard metal chair next to the bed. Claudia says something sharp to him, something Myka is sure is biting and impertinent and sarcastic. X simply smiles and rises from his chair. He walks towards Claudia, who almost suppresses her involuntary flinch, and whispers something in her ear. Her eyes go wide and she looks at Agent X with horror.
"What's he saying?" Pete says frantically, moving to the monitors. "Aren't these supposed to have sound?"
"It doesn't matter," Myka says softly, nodding towards the room. X has left Claudia and is now exiting the inner room.
"What did you say to her?" Pete asks aggressively. X quirks one eyebrow.
"I told you, we have sophisticated means of getting information out of people. Now, would you like to give your own interrogation methods a try?" Pete doesn't respond, but instead pushes past X into the other room, Myka following.
When Claudia looks up at them, Myka thinks her heart might break from the raw mixture of doubt and fear and sadness bare on Claudia's face. Claudia doesn't relax her grip around her knees, and she looks at Myka and Pete with deep distrust.
"What do you want?" she says bluntly, her harsh tone not quite masking the slight wobble in her voice.
"We just want to talk," Pete says gently, edging cautiously towards Claudia.
"Yeah?" Claudia says, her eyebrow raised. "You sure you don't want to pull your guns on me, accuse me of murder, electrocute me, and toss me in the set of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? Oh, wait." And she gives a bitter, mocking little smile.
"That wasn't us," Myka protests, pushing forward against Claudia's searing glare. "Agent X outranks us-he's in charge of figuring out what happened. We tried to stop him from using that orb thing-we're doing everything we can."
"Well, if you were following orders," Claudia says, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Look, Claude," Pete says with a sigh. "We just need to know what happened. One moment you get accused of helping MacPherson, the next he's escaped, blown up part of the Warehouse, and you've disappeared. You have to understand why we have questions."
"I do," Claudia says. "I don't know why you have to ask them here."
"Agent X-" Myka begins, before Claudia dismisses her words with a wave.
"Yeah, yeah, 'higher power' and all that." Then she hesitates. "So…were you telling the truth? About Artie? Is he…" she trails off, looking fearfully between Myka and Pete.
"Yeah," Myka says softly, throat constricting. "He was in the escape hallway when MacPherson blew it up." Claudia nods and stares down at her hands, which are clenched tightly around each other. She draws a shaky breath and wipes a hand roughly across her eyes.
"Well, then you're idiots if you think I helped MacPherson," she says, voice raw. "The Warehouse was my home. And Artie is-was…I would never hurt Artie."
"We know that," Pete says gently. "We don't think you meant to. But MacPherson had ways of getting people to do things."
"I know," Claudia interrupts. "That's what Leena said." She blinks. "Where is Leena?"
"Albuquerque," Myka replies. "She couldn't handle Artie's death. Went to stay with some relatives." Claudia nods again.
"Well, I didn't do it, whatever you think. Not even under some hinky hypnotic mumbo jumbo. I was at Leena's B&B when all this happened, and I was on the road to Boulder by the time of the explosion."
"I wish we could verify that, I really do," Myka says sadly. "But all we really know is that you left without telling anyone where you were going, and you did it at about the same time everything went wrong at the Warehouse. And Claudia…we have footage of you. Waving to the camera after letting MacPherson escape."
"It's not me!" Claudia says desperately, unwinding her legs as she looks back and forth between the two agents. "There are ways of disguising yourself to look like other people-the Harriet Tubman's thimble! Someone could have just put that on!"
"We know," Pete says solemnly. "But there's a lot of other evidence that points towards you-removed artifacts and software tampering, weeks of it. It doesn't look good."
"Why don't you just tell us why you were leaving," Myka interjects. Claudia bites her lip and looks up with them with pleading eyes.
"I did it because of this. Because I didn't want to endanger you guys if I really was a sleeper agent. That's why I ran-so none of this could ever happen." Pete nods.
"Look, Claudia. We're going to do everything we can to get you out of here. It doesn't matter if you are a sleeper agent-you don't belong here."
"Well-" Myka says, before she stops herself.
"What?" Pete asks, turning to her with a look of consternation on his face.
"Nothing," Myka says, shaking her head.
"No, what were you going to say?" Claudia says, edging to the side of her bed expectantly. Myka looks back and forth between the other two.
"It's just, we don’t know. What MacPhersen did, I mean. Claudia could be dangerous. Maybe this is the best place for her."
"Are you serious?" Pete asks incredulously, as Claudia just sits in stunned silence.
"Look, Artie's dead," Myka says harshly, "and we damn near died too. MacPhersen's still out there, and he's dangerous, and we need to know where he is. Claudia might be the only way for us to find out."
"I can't believe you," Pete says, shaking his head. "God, you haven't changed a bit. Still trying to be straightlaced and fit with the system. This isn't right."
"Just let me talk to Claudia alone," Myka says pleadingly. "Then we can talk this over."
"Fine," Pete says, arms raised in defeat. "You ok with that, Claudia?"
"Yeah," Claudia says, voice shaky and eyes not quite able to meet Myka's. Pete sighs and heads towards the door, giving them one last look before exiting.
Claudia scuffs her shoe against the ceramic tiles. She's wearing the grey Chucks she was wearing when they caught her. Myka finds it reassuring that she's been allowed to keep her clothes, though she's not sure how long that will last.
"You really want to leave me here?" Claudia says in a subdued voice.
"I just think it might be best," Myka says quietly. "They have the resources to handle this. We don't."
"By 'they,' do you mean Agent X?" Claudia says, still watching her shoe.
"And others," Myka says, trying to keep her voice light. "He can get to whatever it is that MacPhersen left behind." Claudia's shaking her head. She finally looks up at Myka, and there's fear in her eyes.
"Don't leave me here, Myka. Agent X-he's not right in the head. The things he says…" she swallows. "And that Orb. It hurt. It still hurts. Myka, this is worse than when I checked myself into the psych ward. Way, gigantically, epically worse." Her voice has begun to take on a begging tone. "You can't leave me here. They'll do things, turn me into one of their experiments. I've read about this place, in the Warehouse files. People go in here and they don't come back, or they come out wrong. They're never going to find what they're looking for, and I can't stay locked in here forever." She reaches out and grabs Myka's hand, giving it a squeeze as she looks up into her eyes. "Myka, please," she whispers.
Myka's face is as still as stone.
"I'm sorry, Claudia. I can't help you." And she drops Claudia's suddenly stiff hand, turning her back on the girl as she walks towards the door. As Myka passes through the monitoring room to the outer door, past Agent X who has a contemplative, appreciative look on his face, she chances one glance back. Claudia is curled up in a ball on the bed, utterly still.
Forty-five minutes later, after Pete has very loudly and publicly chewed her out for being a cold-hearted bitch, for putting duty in front of common decency, she abruptly leaves the center, telling Agent X that she needs a stiff drink. He doesn't have any objections.
"I think you're making the right decision," he says, acting as if his benediction is the greatest gift she could ask for.
"That's very comforting," Myka says, the trace of bitterness in her voice unmistakable. X just shrugs and gives that nasty, condescending smile of his.
Thirty minutes after that, Myka meets Pete in the dim corner of one of the seedy bars along the main strip. He sits down beside her where she's nursing a gin and tonic. Without looking at him, Myka says,
"We have to get her out of there."
"I know," Pete says grimly. "How?"
To be continued...in Part 2!
Fandom: Warehouse 13
Pairing: Myka/Claudia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through the entire first season
Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13 or its characters
A/N: Oh my good lord. This was supposed to be a short story I was going to toss off, but now it's this multi-part epic monstrosity. I haven't even really gotten to the slashy part yet! Anyway, I hope somebody reads the damn thing. Also, it takes place immediately after the Season 1 finale. And while [Speculation spoiler] I think everyone can be pretty sure Artie made it, let's pretend for the sake of angst that he didn't.
After two weeks, they finally find her.
Two weeks of hacking into nation-wide surveillance cameras, sifting through personal files to try to determine a possible hideout, monitoring unusual activity involving government and particularly Warehouse business. In the end, they don't find her through any technological means, because even at 22, Claudia Donovan can best the top technical analysts the Warehouse has to offer. In the end, it's an artifact that finds her. An artifact, and the man who holds it.
A man Myka Bering does not like. He showed up two days after the explosion, one day after Mrs. Frederic managed to extract Myka and Pete from their cubbyhole in the side of the Warehouse. He introduced himself as Agent X, and Pete had immediately laughed at him, which was probably the first time Pete had laughed in two days. Agent X was of average height, mid-forties, thin, and unquestionably sinister. Myka hated thinking of him like that, because she felt like it gave him power, but there was no denying that the man was dangerous. It wasn't so much in his stature, but in the way he carried himself-self-assured and strangely graceful and as if he had never once concerned himself with the pain of others. Pete, of course, had immediately asked him who the hell he was.
"I'm the one they send in when things go wrong," he had replied, letting his gaze glide over them in a way that made Myka shiver. Pete just rolled his eyes.
"Then why haven't we heard of you? We're Warehouse agents."
"Because you might have been the thing that went wrong," Agent X had said with the faint trace of an utterly mirthless smile. Pete and Myka had turned to Mrs. Frederic, who had a look of distaste on her face.
"He's telling the truth. He's something of a…contracted agent. He does certain things for the Warehouse, but he's not officially one of us." Mrs. Frederic sighed. "And, unfortunately, he currently outranks you in this investigation. I'm sorry-I wish it were another way."
"None of them like me," the man had said bluntly, "but they need me. And so do you."
And Myka supposes they had, because while Agent X had spent a week and a half doing God knows what with that sphere he kept in a pouch by his side, Myka and Pete had spent countless hours on a futile quest to find out just where Claudia had disappeared to. Of course, the ultimate goal in finding Claudia was to find MacPherson, but as Myka and Pete had learned all too well, MacPherson by himself was not so easy to find. That is, unless he wanted to be found.
So when Agent X had reappeared ten days later, a barely-masked look of triumph on his face and a baseball-sized orb that glowed golden in his hand, Myka had sighed and resigned herself to following this man's lead if it would help them find Claudia. And she knew that part of her hated this man because he succeeded where they had failed, because part of her never wants to find Claudia Donovan.
Agent X had briefly and somewhat contemptuously explained how the orb worked, as if Pete and Myka were ignorant children pestering him about things they could never understand.
"It's the Orb of St. Anthony of Padua. It hones in on a person's aura and tracks that person, but it's been corrupted over the years, so it's very delicate. It used to take nothing more than a prayer and a pure heart to find what you wanted. But because of certain interferences over the years, it…turned." There's an almost loving expression on his face as he looks into the orb's flickering surface. "It now requires certain sacrifices, none of which I'm sure would interest you, and a great deal of skill, concentration, and time." He broke his gaze away to look once more at Myka and Pete. "But it's ready now, and I can tell you where the girl is."
They find her in a B&B in Boulder, Colorado, which makes a bizarre sort of symmetrical sense. Mrs. Danvers, the elderly caretaker of the place, lets them in with a delighted smile, informing them that yes, indeed, there is a lovely young woman with red hair who is currently staying at the home. In fact, she just returned twenty minutes ago and should be in her room, ready to see her friends. Myka thanks the woman, tells her she has a lovely home, and precedes Pete and Agent X up the stairs, waiting until she's out of the old woman's sight before drawing her service weapon. She doesn't want to draw her gun, because she doesn't want to use her gun. And she doesn't want to be here.
When Myka nudges the slightly-ajar door open with the nose of her gun, the first thing she sees is Claudia's thin back hunched over some papers scattered on top of her bed's rustic quilt. Her hair is a little unkempt, her clothing wrinkled, and she's humming something almost inaudible as she sorts through the sheets. It takes all of Myka's willpower not to rush to her, check that she's ok, force her to tell them that this is all a mistake. Instead, she turns to Pete and X and gives them a brief nod, then steps into the room, gun trained on Claudia.
"Claudia, don't move." At the sound of her voice, Claudia whips her head around, and her eyes light up the moment she sees Myka. Then she registers the gun and her expression becomes one of fear and confusion.
"Myka?" she asks tentatively. "What's going on?"
"Do what she says, Claudia," Pete says, following Myka into the room. He keeps his voice firm, but Myka knows this is ripping him up just as much as it is her. They had both seen the evidence-weeks of artifact removals and network tampering, subtle viruses and stolen codes, and that blatant, gleeful little wave she had made at the camera after helping MacPherson escape and leaving Artie to die. They had seen enough strange things to know that Claudia might not even know what she had done, might still think she's the surrogate little sibling in their motley Warehouse family. But they also can't forget that if something is controlling her, she's damned dangerous. And their surrogate family no longer has a father as a result.
"Claudia, just stay calm," Pete's saying. "We'll explain everything, but we just need you to cooperate."
"Stay calm?" Claudia squeaks, looking at them both as if they've just grown horns. "Dude, you're pointing guns at me. It's kinda hard to stay calm."
"I know-" Pete begins, before Claudia interrupts him.
"And who's the creeper with the golden ball?" she asks nervously, raising her eyebrows and nodding towards Agent X, who's been silent this whole time. "He is seriously not helping with the calming vibe."
"Claudia," Myka begins, taking a small step towards her.
"Agent Bering," comes Agent X's voice, its sudden sinister authority sending ripples of command through the room. "We came here for a purpose. Don't let your history impair your judgment, or I'll have to take over this arrest."
"Arrest?" Claudia asks, her gaze flickering anxiously between Pete and Myka. Myka takes a shaky breath, then forces her voice to stay even.
"Claudia Donovan, you are under arrest for stealing artifacts from the Warehouse, sabotaging its infrastructure, assisting James MacPherson in his escape, and-" Myka swallows, "-your complicity in the death of Arthur Nielsen." She watches the color drain from Claudia's already-pale face.
"Artie-Artie's dead?" The words come out like a child's plea, begging for contradiction, and suddenly Myka realizes they've made a terrible mistake. She turns to Pete to tell him, but then she hears a shriek of pain. She turns back to see Claudia writhing on the floor, clutching her head where a golden glow is just beginning to dissipate. Agent X is standing over her, holding the Orb of St. Anthony in his outstretched hand.
"What did you do?" Pete shouts angrily, and he and Myka move towards Agent X to take him down. But they both suddenly feel a sensation like a lead hammer slamming into their bodies, and they're tossed against the patterned walls, momentarily stunned. Myka's limbs have temporarily stopped working, so she can only stare helplessly at Agent X, who turns his attention back to Claudia. He raises the Orb and golden light shoots from it to hit Claudia, who wails in agony for what feels like an eternity before finally going limp. Myka wants to smash Agent X's face into a wall, but right now the most she can muster is a twitch of her left hand.
Agent X, now with a satisfied smirk on his face, turns back to Pete and Myka.
"You didn't think this Orb was just a glorified dowser, did you? I've made certain modifications to it over the years." He looks down at the two moaning agents and gives a light tut-tutting sound. "And you didn't think they would put someone in charge who couldn't take care of himself, did you? Trust me when I say that you've only had a taste of the power I wield." He sighs, and his tone takes on the metre of a teacher lecturing small children. "Claudia Donovan is dangerous, and she must be taken in and questioned about the whereabouts of MacPherson. Now, you can either comply with my methods and accompany us back to headquarters, or you can continue to let your feelings get in the way and enjoy the hospitality of Mrs. Danvers downstairs while I take care of Ms. Donovan on my own."
"You are one megalomaniacal son of a bitch, you know that?" Pete groans as he uses the wall to slowly draw himself to his feet. Myka is in the process of doing the same thing. She glares at Agent X, then lets her gaze move to Claudia, who's sprawled limply on the floor, but whose chest is still rising and falling evenly. Myka looks Pete's way, and what she reads in his face is the same thing she's thinking. Practically spitting the words, she turns to Agent X and says,
"We'll do it your way."
Luckily, Mrs. Danvers is puttering around in her garden and doesn't see them as they half carry, half drag the unconscious Claudia downstairs. When they reach the SUV, Agent X insists on securing Claudia's arms with some sort of plastic-like material that molds and solidifies once it hits skin. X activates the material using the Orb, which Myka is beginning to think of as an evil version of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.
Pete helps Agent X place Claudia in the backseat, not because her weight requires two people, but because it's the only way to ensure that she gets a soft landing. Pete takes the front seat and Myka climbs in the back with Claudia, ignoring X's disapprovingly-raised eyebrows when she gently places Claudia's head on her lap. As Agent X pulls out of the B&B lot, Myka looks down at Claudia's face. Usually when people sleep, they look young, and Claudia does-too young, almost. But her face doesn't hold the normal peace of sleep; occasionally her head twitches and her brow crinkles, and once or twice she makes small sounds of distress. Myka murmurs comforting words to her when this happens, and she gently smoothes the strands of coppery hair away from Claudia's temples, waiting for her to calm.
Myka has known Pete long enough to sense when he's seething, but she's also known him long enough to recognize two of his favorite tactics for coping: flippancy and sarcasm. As Agent X focuses on the road in front of them, Pete glances back at Claudia, then turns to the other man.
"Man, I sure am glad you secured her with that silly putty stuff. She's terrifying. I don't know what we would do if she suddenly woke up." Myka can see Agent X consider ignoring Pete, but he's too smart to think that would be a solution.
"What you would hate to do is spend another ten days trying to find her if she escapes," the man responds with a sneer in his voice.
"Who, Claudia? I know she looks like a runner, but the girl is slow, man. I'm pretty sure I could tackle her even if she had a head start. And couldn't you just use your big golden ball to find her again if she got away?" Agent X's jaw tightens.
"If by 'big golden ball,' you mean the seven-hundred-and-fifty-year-old priceless Orb of St. Anthony, then yes, I could. But as I said before, it would take another ten days or so. Now that we've found her, the Orb's connection to her aura has dissipated, and I would need to perform the ritual all over again."
"Huh," Pete says, scrunching up his forehead. "So your golden ball is basically a rechargeable battery." Through gritted teeth, Agent X replies,
"If that is the only way your pathetically juvenile mind can imagine it, then yes, the Orb of St. Anthony is like a…rechargeable battery." The last words are dripping with disdain.
"Hey man, I'm not knocking it," Pete says with his hands raised defensively. "I've seen what it can do. The Energizer Bunny ain't got nothing on you." Agent X does not deign to respond, but Myka catches the almost imperceptible look Pete casts her way, and she lets him know through her own eyes that she understands.
Four hours later and just across the Nebraska state line, they finally arrive, but Myka's not completely sure where it is they've arrived to. On the outside, it looks like a small medical clinic. Once they get inside and past the first security check-point, still half-dragging Claudia, Myka realizes that this is Warehouse-issue. She sees several pairs of purple gloves, a couple of objects she's sure are artifacts, and she gets an inexplicable Warehouse-vibe. But it's not the Warehouse, because instead of rows upon rows of labeled mysteries, there are rooms with medical equipment and people in lab coats and far, far too many unhappy faces.
"What is this place?" Myka asks.
"Many things," Agent X replies, grunting slightly as he lowers Claudia onto a gurney. "I see you noticed some of the artifacts. You didn't think all the artifacts go directly to you, did you? Four people handling all the most priceless and wonderful objects in the world?"
"Well-" Pete begins before Agent X steamrolls over him.
"Artifacts come here, at least some of them. But mostly, this is where we bring people who have handled or been affected by artifacts. Tests are performed, judgments about containment are made, and dangers are assessed."
"So what is Claudia doing here?" Myka asks suspiciously.
"She's a danger. She needs to be assessed." Pete and Myka exchange a look. "Now wait here while I deal with the paperwork. And trust me when I say, here is not the place to do anything foolish." He gives them a pointed look, and Pete returns a beatifically innocent smile. When X moves away to speak to an official-looking woman with a key card attached to her lab coat, Myka turns to Pete.
"What are we going to do?" she asks in an urgent whisper.
"I don't know," Pete almost snaps back, the easy-going front he's been putting up for X dissolving in an instant. "That damn Orb of his kicked our asses, and this place strikes me as the high-security type. I think we may just have to wait and get more information."
Myka grits her teeth in frustration. Then she hears Claudia make a small moaning noise, and she's at her side in an instant, reaching over to squeeze her hand.
"You don't think the Orb did any permanent damage, do you?" she asks Pete anxiously, tucking a strand of Claudia's hair behind her ear.
"I doubt it," Pete replies, though his tone is worried. "I think they need her too much to do anything really bad." Myka nods, but the words aren't very comforting.
Just then, X returns, the same woman at his side.
"I'm Doctor Secet," she says with no preamble.
"I'm Myka-" Myka begins, before Secet cuts her off with an abrupt,
"I know who you are." She moves over the Claudia and pulls out a small flashlight. She peels back Claudia's eyelids and shines light in her pupils, then puts her fingers to her wrist and measures Claudia's pulse. She has a slight frown on her face when she finishes.
"How much force from the Orb did you use?" she asks X. Agent X shrugs.
"Enough. I didn't want to take any chances. She'll be fine."
"Yes, well, I would prefer if you limit the intensity of your blasts in the future. She'll be difficult to wake." X just shrugs again and ignores the glares Pete and Myka cast his way. Secet nods at an orderly passing by and points to the gurney.
"Now if you'll follow me, we can head to the Security Wing."
The Security Wing looks a lot like the wing they were just in, though the orderlies do seem a bit bulkier and more numerous. They arrive at a door with an electronic lock, and the door opens as Secet swipes her card across it. They pass through the door, the orderly wheeling Claudia in front. Inside is a small room with a desk, some chairs, and a tv monitor. One entire wall is taken up by a window that looks into an equally small room in which rests a single bed and not much else.
When Secet swipes her card against the lock for the next door, the orderly wheels Claudia in. Myka's fists clench, but she manages to hold her tongue. Blandly, Secet turns to them and says,
"I know it looks sparse, but it's perfectly humane. We're not monsters here-she'll have everything she needs."
"I'm sure she will," Myka responds sardonically, but Secet doesn't seem to notice her tone. "What are you going to do with her?"
"I'm not going to do anything with her, other than monitor her health. I understand she has information about an extremely dangerous criminal-learning about that's really more Agent X's territory." X sees the look of trepidation on Myka's face.
"Don't worry," he says mildly. "This isn't the American government-there are restrictions on what we can do to even the most dangerous prisoners. And I have sophisticated methods of getting information."
"Don't ever consider counseling-you are the least reassuring person I've ever met," Pete replies acerbically. Agent X smiles.
"My job is not to be reassuring." He glances at Claudia, who the orderly has now placed on the bed, then steps into the other room. He raises the Orb, which glows bright for a moment, and then the putty-like material falls from Claudia's arms. X and the orderly step out of the room and into the monitoring room, shutting the door behind them.
"There are far more protections against getting out than just this lock," he says by way of explanation. "She won't be needing the cuffs. Now, should we retire to the other room and wait for our little criminal to wake up?"
Though Agent X had said "we," Myka and Pete immediately separate from the other two when they go to get vending machine coffee. It seems strange that this hub of mystical and technological mystery has things as mundane as vending machines, but Myka supposes caffeine fixes are universal.
As they sip on the barely palatable beverages, they converse furtively.
"This sucks," Pete says eloquently.
"I know," Myka responds miserably. "God, there are so many people here! Where were all these people when we were hunting down the Spine of the Saracen or fending off MacPherson by ourselves?"
"I don't know, but this is really making me question all that 'top secret' bullshit they fed us."
"I don't think we can talk our way out of this," Myka says in frustration, watching over the rim of her cup as X and Secet review a file. "You saw the look on Claudia's face-she had no idea Artie was dead. She had nothing to do with this; she was set up."
"Maybe," Pete says, hesitating. "Or maybe she was a sleeper and didn't know what she was doing."
"It doesn't matter if she did something without knowing it," Myka snaps. "Our Claudia didn't do anything wrong, and whether or not something inside her made her sabotage the Warehouse, these bastards are not going to stop until they get every bit of information out of her. And since she doesn't know anything, she's going to be here for a very long time."
"I know, ok?" Pete responds defensively. "I'm not saying we leave her here. I'm saying that no matter how innocent she seems, they're not going to buy it. We need to prove she didn't do it."
"And we need to get her away from Captain Powertrip over there. Which is going to be nearly impossible because he doesn’t trust us. He knows how much we care about Claudia."
"But he also knows how much we care about our responsibilities to the Warehouse," Pete muses.
"And he knows how much we cared about Artie." Myka swallows painfully at the use of the past tense.
"I think we can use that," Pete says, his voice contemplative. "I have an idea, but it's really going to suck." He turns to Myka, a serious look on his face. "Can you be heartless?"
It's almost three hours later when Secet appears out of nowhere to speak to them. Agent X had disappeared two hours ago without Myka and Pete even noticing his absence.
"Ms. Donovan is awake," Secet tells them abruptly.
"Really?" Pete says excitedly, springing up from his chair. Myka forces herself to rise more calmly, not allowing her face to display the desperate feeling of relief that washes over her.
"Did she just wake up?" she asks.
"No," Secet replies. "She's been awake for about an hour and a half. Agent X has been speaking to her."
"What?" Pete exclaims in anger. "And you didn't tell us?" Secet shrugs.
"I don't answer to you. Now, would you like to see her or not?" Grumbling, Pete follows the doctor to the locked door, Myka trailing behind.
When they enter the monitoring room, they have a full view of the inner chamber. Claudia is sitting on the bed, her back to the corner, her arms wrapped around the knees she has drawn up to her chest. She's glaring balefully at Agent X, who's lounging on a hard metal chair next to the bed. Claudia says something sharp to him, something Myka is sure is biting and impertinent and sarcastic. X simply smiles and rises from his chair. He walks towards Claudia, who almost suppresses her involuntary flinch, and whispers something in her ear. Her eyes go wide and she looks at Agent X with horror.
"What's he saying?" Pete says frantically, moving to the monitors. "Aren't these supposed to have sound?"
"It doesn't matter," Myka says softly, nodding towards the room. X has left Claudia and is now exiting the inner room.
"What did you say to her?" Pete asks aggressively. X quirks one eyebrow.
"I told you, we have sophisticated means of getting information out of people. Now, would you like to give your own interrogation methods a try?" Pete doesn't respond, but instead pushes past X into the other room, Myka following.
When Claudia looks up at them, Myka thinks her heart might break from the raw mixture of doubt and fear and sadness bare on Claudia's face. Claudia doesn't relax her grip around her knees, and she looks at Myka and Pete with deep distrust.
"What do you want?" she says bluntly, her harsh tone not quite masking the slight wobble in her voice.
"We just want to talk," Pete says gently, edging cautiously towards Claudia.
"Yeah?" Claudia says, her eyebrow raised. "You sure you don't want to pull your guns on me, accuse me of murder, electrocute me, and toss me in the set of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? Oh, wait." And she gives a bitter, mocking little smile.
"That wasn't us," Myka protests, pushing forward against Claudia's searing glare. "Agent X outranks us-he's in charge of figuring out what happened. We tried to stop him from using that orb thing-we're doing everything we can."
"Well, if you were following orders," Claudia says, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Look, Claude," Pete says with a sigh. "We just need to know what happened. One moment you get accused of helping MacPherson, the next he's escaped, blown up part of the Warehouse, and you've disappeared. You have to understand why we have questions."
"I do," Claudia says. "I don't know why you have to ask them here."
"Agent X-" Myka begins, before Claudia dismisses her words with a wave.
"Yeah, yeah, 'higher power' and all that." Then she hesitates. "So…were you telling the truth? About Artie? Is he…" she trails off, looking fearfully between Myka and Pete.
"Yeah," Myka says softly, throat constricting. "He was in the escape hallway when MacPherson blew it up." Claudia nods and stares down at her hands, which are clenched tightly around each other. She draws a shaky breath and wipes a hand roughly across her eyes.
"Well, then you're idiots if you think I helped MacPherson," she says, voice raw. "The Warehouse was my home. And Artie is-was…I would never hurt Artie."
"We know that," Pete says gently. "We don't think you meant to. But MacPherson had ways of getting people to do things."
"I know," Claudia interrupts. "That's what Leena said." She blinks. "Where is Leena?"
"Albuquerque," Myka replies. "She couldn't handle Artie's death. Went to stay with some relatives." Claudia nods again.
"Well, I didn't do it, whatever you think. Not even under some hinky hypnotic mumbo jumbo. I was at Leena's B&B when all this happened, and I was on the road to Boulder by the time of the explosion."
"I wish we could verify that, I really do," Myka says sadly. "But all we really know is that you left without telling anyone where you were going, and you did it at about the same time everything went wrong at the Warehouse. And Claudia…we have footage of you. Waving to the camera after letting MacPherson escape."
"It's not me!" Claudia says desperately, unwinding her legs as she looks back and forth between the two agents. "There are ways of disguising yourself to look like other people-the Harriet Tubman's thimble! Someone could have just put that on!"
"We know," Pete says solemnly. "But there's a lot of other evidence that points towards you-removed artifacts and software tampering, weeks of it. It doesn't look good."
"Why don't you just tell us why you were leaving," Myka interjects. Claudia bites her lip and looks up with them with pleading eyes.
"I did it because of this. Because I didn't want to endanger you guys if I really was a sleeper agent. That's why I ran-so none of this could ever happen." Pete nods.
"Look, Claudia. We're going to do everything we can to get you out of here. It doesn't matter if you are a sleeper agent-you don't belong here."
"Well-" Myka says, before she stops herself.
"What?" Pete asks, turning to her with a look of consternation on his face.
"Nothing," Myka says, shaking her head.
"No, what were you going to say?" Claudia says, edging to the side of her bed expectantly. Myka looks back and forth between the other two.
"It's just, we don’t know. What MacPhersen did, I mean. Claudia could be dangerous. Maybe this is the best place for her."
"Are you serious?" Pete asks incredulously, as Claudia just sits in stunned silence.
"Look, Artie's dead," Myka says harshly, "and we damn near died too. MacPhersen's still out there, and he's dangerous, and we need to know where he is. Claudia might be the only way for us to find out."
"I can't believe you," Pete says, shaking his head. "God, you haven't changed a bit. Still trying to be straightlaced and fit with the system. This isn't right."
"Just let me talk to Claudia alone," Myka says pleadingly. "Then we can talk this over."
"Fine," Pete says, arms raised in defeat. "You ok with that, Claudia?"
"Yeah," Claudia says, voice shaky and eyes not quite able to meet Myka's. Pete sighs and heads towards the door, giving them one last look before exiting.
Claudia scuffs her shoe against the ceramic tiles. She's wearing the grey Chucks she was wearing when they caught her. Myka finds it reassuring that she's been allowed to keep her clothes, though she's not sure how long that will last.
"You really want to leave me here?" Claudia says in a subdued voice.
"I just think it might be best," Myka says quietly. "They have the resources to handle this. We don't."
"By 'they,' do you mean Agent X?" Claudia says, still watching her shoe.
"And others," Myka says, trying to keep her voice light. "He can get to whatever it is that MacPhersen left behind." Claudia's shaking her head. She finally looks up at Myka, and there's fear in her eyes.
"Don't leave me here, Myka. Agent X-he's not right in the head. The things he says…" she swallows. "And that Orb. It hurt. It still hurts. Myka, this is worse than when I checked myself into the psych ward. Way, gigantically, epically worse." Her voice has begun to take on a begging tone. "You can't leave me here. They'll do things, turn me into one of their experiments. I've read about this place, in the Warehouse files. People go in here and they don't come back, or they come out wrong. They're never going to find what they're looking for, and I can't stay locked in here forever." She reaches out and grabs Myka's hand, giving it a squeeze as she looks up into her eyes. "Myka, please," she whispers.
Myka's face is as still as stone.
"I'm sorry, Claudia. I can't help you." And she drops Claudia's suddenly stiff hand, turning her back on the girl as she walks towards the door. As Myka passes through the monitoring room to the outer door, past Agent X who has a contemplative, appreciative look on his face, she chances one glance back. Claudia is curled up in a ball on the bed, utterly still.
Forty-five minutes later, after Pete has very loudly and publicly chewed her out for being a cold-hearted bitch, for putting duty in front of common decency, she abruptly leaves the center, telling Agent X that she needs a stiff drink. He doesn't have any objections.
"I think you're making the right decision," he says, acting as if his benediction is the greatest gift she could ask for.
"That's very comforting," Myka says, the trace of bitterness in her voice unmistakable. X just shrugs and gives that nasty, condescending smile of his.
Thirty minutes after that, Myka meets Pete in the dim corner of one of the seedy bars along the main strip. He sits down beside her where she's nursing a gin and tonic. Without looking at him, Myka says,
"We have to get her out of there."
"I know," Pete says grimly. "How?"
To be continued...in Part 2!