Belief & Betrayal Chapter 8

[grumpybear1031]

+ Title: Belief & Betrayal
+ Authors: grumpybear1031  and shaych_03 
+ Fandom: Warehouse 13
+ Pairing: H.G./Myka
+ Notes: Ladies lovin’ ladies ahead… and angst, and action, and well, just read it – we promise you a happy ending. Takes place where 2X12 Reset leaves off, possible spoilers for both seasons. Some liberties taken with certain events, as we don't have actual dates for H.G.'s bronzing etc...  We are finally finished and doing a second round of edits...whooo hooo.
+ Rating: We'll play it safe and say R throughout NC-17 Chapters will be clearly marked.
+ Disclaimer: Warehouse 13 and it's characters belongs to Syfy. We're just borrowing them for a while and promise to give them back.
Thanks to taterc  for help with a quick beta.

Author's Note: Shay, I hope you can forgive me for dragging you into this mess. My obsession with H.G. Wells blinded me, and a need to correct the total mess that was “Reset” kind of made me crazy. I'm not much of a writer so your help in getting this from inside my head to down on paper is very much appreciated. I'd also like to say a big thanks todarandkerry  for being an amazing beta. Your suggestions and punctuation help are invaluable.

Author's Note: Jen, you may have dragged me into watching Warehouse 13 kicking and screaming, but I've had more fun working on this story with you than I have in a long time. Your ideas are great; you have a natural ability to kick start my muse and keep her chugging along happily. Should I even bother to mention how good you are at calling me on BS characterizations or reinterpreting the sometimes cornball melodrama that my muse creates? Anyway, I'm glad you got me into this. I would also like to add my thanks todarandkerry , for her spot on beta skills. I hope we didn't kill you with all the missing commas.


PREVIOUS CHAPTERS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3 & 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

There were two things about Helena's current situation that were driving her close to the edge of insanity. One, she had to use the loo and, two, Myka was wrapped around her like a limpet. Now the one she could ignore, but the other, well, that had a secondary set of complications that had the potential to erupt into something she wasn't prepared to handle.

At some point, Myka had crawled into the bed, which wasn't the problem at all. No, in fact, she didn't even mind that she was cradled in Myka's arms. The pressing issue, as far as Helena was concerned, was that Myka's hand was quite distractingly cupping her breast.

For the last several heartbeats, Helena had held herself perfectly still, silently praying the other woman's fingers wouldn't twitch. Yet, at the same time, she was secretly hoping they would. Therein lay the sanity warping nature of the conundrum.

Then the room phone rang and Helena’s internal debate came to a screeching halt when Myka shot up like she'd been poked in the ass with a cattle prod.

"I didn't schedule a wake up call," she grumbled blearily.

Helena didn't respond because she was too busy thanking God and cursing fate.

The phone continued to ring.

Tentatively, Myka reached over Helena and lifted the receiver. Holding it as though it might suddenly turn into a snake, she gingerly raised it and said, "Hello?"

"Yes!" Claudia's excited tone was loud enough that Helena could hear it. "Myka! Myka, listen, just listen okay? Whatever's going on, you gotta come back, all right? Just, come home."

Thrusting the receiver away, Myka stared at it as if it had bitten her. Her heart was pounding, her head was spinning, and to make it just that much harder to concentrate, she realized Helena was breathtakingly beautiful first thing in the morning.

The desire to drop the phone, lean down and kiss the other woman senseless settled in the pit of Myka's stomach and burned with the ferocity of a thousand suns.

"Myka, please? Myka, it's me, Claudia. Say something? Please? Wait, maybe you're being mind controlled or something. Damn, this sucks without a Farnsworth. Look, H.G. if you're evil and have Myka at your mercy, just ignore this call, okay? Yeah, I'm going to just go now, and bye." The phone went dead.

Myka was so lost in the beauty and splendor that was Helena that she didn't even notice until the other woman cleared her throat and spoke.

"Don't you think you should be calling her back? After all, you will need to turn me in, won't you?" Helena asked archly, even as she tried to contain her mirth over Claudia's babbled words.

“Huh?” Myka mumbled, causing Helena to glance up at her inquiringly.

The way Myka was looking at her was almost as distracting as waking up with the other woman's hand on her breast, and it was taking all of Helena's willpower not to answer the desire she could see filling Myka's gaze.

"Why did you kiss me?" The question was so out of left field, it might as well have come from Venus.

"What?"

"In Cairo, that night, you kissed me. Why?" Myka let the phone fall and repositioned herself so that she was sitting cross-legged next to Helena.

Sighing, Helena replied, "Because if I'd gone one more second without doing so, I'd have gone insane. I thought - hoped, even - that you'd welcome my touch." She glanced away, letting her gaze be captured by the blank slate of the television screen. "I understand that's no longer an option, now."

The answer sent Myka's thoughts whirling. All that she could cling to was the phrase, "Turn me in," and how much the very idea of watching Helena vanish forever into whatever rabbit hole the regents had planned for her hurt.

"I can't do that," said Myka softly.

"Like I said, I understand." Helena shrugged and tried not to let the hurt she felt show. "I'm not the girl you take home to Mummy and Daddy."

"No, I meant that I can't turn you in." Taking a deep breath, Myka ignored the chaos in her head and said, "Someone used the Pearl of Wisdom on you, and that means that what happened wasn't your fault. That also means that there's someone out there who knows you're innocent - and they probably tried to kill you last night." The clues fell together like dominoes in Myka's thoughts. Leaping to conclusions wasn't something Myka was fond of, but in this case, she was relatively certain that there was malice aforethought involved in the wrecking of the regent's security vehicle.

Looking quite taken aback by Myka's sudden support, Helena said, "I don't understand. Now you actually believe me?"

"I believe the evidence. There's no way you could have gotten the Pearl and stuck it in your own ear. Nor could you have arranged for the accident that killed the guards. No, someone else is involved. What I can't figure out is if you voluntarily went along with them, or if you're as innocent as you claim."

"Myka, I swear that I could never willingly do anything to hurt you. Don't you see? You're all I've got. Why would I jeopardize that?" Realizing how what she had said sounded, she added, "What possible reason would I have for endangering the only people who understand and accept who I am?"

Myka wanted to believe her. Everything was telling her that the words were nothing but truth, but still, it was hard to measure the heartfelt words against the depth of Helena's actions. The sting of betrayal still made Myka's gut ache. Despite that, Myka was willing to give Helena a chance. Maybe it would bite her in the ass - hell, it probably would, but at least this way, she'd know, for absolute certain, the truth. That was all Myka wanted.

Rubbing her temple, Myka grimaced. This wasn't getting any easier. "I don't know, Helena. All I can do is follow the evidence. I'm not Pete. I don't get vibes about stuff. I have to trust the things I can see, and right now, what I see is someone who's in a lot of trouble – and possibly danger."

"All right. Are you going to call the warehouse? They are equipped to deal with a variety of situations." No matter how the staff at the warehouse might feel about her, Helena knew that they were the best when it came to circumstances that might involve artifacts.

Myka shook her head. "No, not yet. Artie - Artie wouldn't understand, and I don't think Pete would either." Then she remembered what had woken her. "But maybe..." She leaned over, picked up the phone, and dialed.

It was answered in less than two rings. "Hey, Claudia. Yeah, it's me. No, I'm not a mindless automaton. No, I'm not being held at gunpoint.” She and Helena exchanged knowing grins. “Yes, I'm okay. Helena's okay, too. No, no, wait, listen - she didn't do it, Claudia. Trust me, okay? I don't have a lot of time, so here goes: someone used the Pearl of Wisdom on H.G. Yes, I know Mrs. Fredric supposedly had it last. No, I don't know how it got into Helena's head. I just know that it was there, and we both know what that means."

Helena listened raptly as Myka first reasoned with and then cajoled Claudia into going along with a very rough plan to stall Pete until they could gather more evidence in support of Helena's innocence. She was, quite frankly, impressed with Myka, and if it was possible, just that much more sick over the fact that any relationship they might have had was surely lost to the vagaries of chance.

Then she heard Myka say something about money and realized that she could finally contribute something worthwhile. "I've got money. I remember putting a very large bag of cash into a locker at a bus depot just outside of Chicago.”

Myka covered the receiver and whispered, "Chicago? What the hell were you doing in Chicago?"

Helena shook her head. "I think I was there to -" She frowned. "I remember going to a restaurant and ordering something to eat, but instead of a meal, I was handed an envelope containing instructions on where I was to go with the Minoan Trident."

"Oh." Myka shivered. The idea that something as tiny as a pearl could cause a woman as intelligent, courageous, and beautiful as Helena to just blithely set about the task of destroying the world made Myka feel just a little bit ill.

"What? No, Claudia, I'm still here. Yeah, okay. Right, money's covered. So, you'll stall them? Just until we have some real evidence, okay? No, no, don't do anything that'll get you into a lot of trouble. You still work for them, remember?"

She smiled at whatever Claudia said in response. "I don't know. Maybe. Look, I have to get going. And Claudia? Thanks. I owe you one."

The phone had barely landed in its cradle when Myka suddenly became a whirlwind of activity. Gathering their things, she ducked into the bathroom, dressed, and returned to the room. By then, Helena had managed to sit up and was struggling to stand.

"Here, let me help you."

"Thank you."

They made it to the commode, where Myka left Helena to complete her ablutions.

"Do you think there might be enough time for me to have a bit of a wash? I'm afraid I feel quite dreadful," Helena called out from behind a partially closed door.

As pressed for time as they were, Myka knew that sometimes being clean made all the difference when one had been injured. However, there was no way Helena would be able to get her hair washed without getting her stitches wet or aggravating her shoulder injury. Of course, now that meant she had to come up with a way to help Helena without having to resort to the most obvious, and completely out of the question, idea of taking a shower with the beautiful woman.

That left the only other choice: bathing, but that was almost as bad.  However - "Okay, can you get out of that shirt and wrap a towel around your shoulders?"

"I can certainly make the attempt," Helena replied, though she didn't sound at all sure of herself. "There is the very small issue of the fact that I cannot lift my arm over my head without wanting to scream in agony," she voiced her uncertainty aloud.

"Oh, yeah." Myka had dragged the chair from the center of the room over to the vanity sink just outside the bathroom door by then. "Okay, well, I guess I'll just come in and help with that, then."

Putting action to words, she resolutely turned and stepped into the bathroom. Helena was waiting for her, holding a towel in her left hand and pointing at her shoulder with the other.

"As you can see, I'm a bit banged up."

Myka smiled. "Yeah, you are kind of a flightless bird right now, aren't you?”

"I assure you, I neither look, sound, nor smell anything like an emu," Helena said as Myka assisted her out of the t-shirt.

Clad only in a lacy scrap of fabric masquerading as a bra, a pair of silk, lace-edged, boy-cut panties and Ace wraps, Helena still managed to look as regal as though she were dripping in diamonds and dressed to attend the Queen.

For her part, Myka kept her gaze firmly pinned on all points north of Helena's collarbone. Once they had draped a towel over her shoulders, they went out to the vanity, where Myka had the other woman sit with her back to the sink.

"I don't know how hot you like the water, so if it's too much, just let me know, okay?"

Helena settled into the seat, closed her eyes and sighed. "Of course."

It had been quite some time since she'd had someone's hands running through her hair and the sensation of it was like sucking on a spoonful of warm honey - richly sweet, and oh, so decadent. It didn't at all hurt that while she was enjoying the shampooing, she also had free rein to gaze up at Myka's enchanting assets. She was actually quite fascinated by the shift and play of the muscles in Myka's arms, but also found that she was drawn to the smooth line of her throat as well as the voluptuous curves hidden beneath the slightly wrinkled fabric of the cerulean blue shirt Myka was wearing.

Not entirely unaware of the scrutiny, Myka felt the tips of her ears warm the longer Helena stared. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer. "Did my nose suddenly turn green or something?"

"Excuse me, what?" Helena actually had to bite back a laugh.

"You're staring." Now Myka was blushing.

"Can you blame a girl? You are a very fetching example of the feminine form and it has been an extremely long time." Helena mock-leered at her, taking a moment to give Myka a very thorough once-over.

Both flattered and outraged, Myka rolled her eyes and said, "What am I going to do with you?"

Helena had to bite her tongue to keep from saying the very first thing that came to mind. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and coyly said, "What would you like to do with me?"

Myka's fingers stilled as just exactly what she would like to do unfolded in her mind. Casting aside the thought, she vigorously set to rinsing Helena's hair.

"Right now? I'll settle for getting you cleaned up and us out of here before Pete finds out Claudia's giving him the runaround."

Helena pursed her lips into an adorable pout. "Well you're just no fun today."

Sighing aggrievedly, Myka said, "What is it that you want me to say, Helena?"

All the playfulness vanished from Helena's expression. "I -" She looked away, unable to find the courage to say what was in her heart.

"Helena?" Myka slowed her strokes into feather light caresses. "What is it?"

Helena's eyes closed. "Please, don't - don't pretend that you want anything more than justice from me, Myka. I don't think I can handle it."

The naked need in Helena's eyes overwhelmed any objections Myka might have conjured in the face of both their desires. Lightning quick, Myka bent down and brushed her lips over Helena's and whispered, "Justice is not the only thing I want from you, Helena. I just can't accept anything else until I know the truth."

Gasping slightly, Helena replied, "I can accept that, on one condition."

"And that is?"

"Kiss me again. Give me something to hold on to until you're mine forever."

Forever. The word was a key slipping into the lock of Myka's heart. She could almost feel the tumblers spin as emotions erupted, spilling out and filling her with a wild combination of pure joy and heart-stopping fear.

Breathless, Myka brushed her lips over Helena's again and again, deepening her caresses until she could no longer deny the need to fuse their mouths together in a deep, melting kiss.

**

After checking out of the motel and locking their meager belongings in Myka's car, they walked over to the diner for breakfast.

On the way in, Myka spotted something very interesting. An older model minivan of an indeterminate shade of gray bore a weathered sign proclaiming that it was for sale. Both women stopped to look the vehicle over.

"Well, it isn't a Bentley, but it has its charms, I'm sure," said Helena as she fussed with the slightly ragged edges of the fabric now enshrouding her left arm. On the way out of the room, she'd grabbed a sheet from the cleaning cart and, after persuading Myka to help, fashioned a makeshift sling for her arm.

"Six hundred's a bit much for it, though. It's at least fifteen years old, maybe older."

Myka had the money - she'd pulled three hundred out of her account the day before in preparation for her original plan to leave, and she could easily get another five hundred from the ATM inside the convenience store, but she was fairly certain that her account would be frozen soon. After all, Claudia couldn't stall Pete and Artie forever, and Myka knew that as soon as Artie discovered her involvement, she'd become persona non grata to the older agent.

Unfortunately, there was nothing else they could do other than play the cards they'd been dealt. She'd try to talk the owner down in price - if it was a guy, she could turn on a little sex appeal, and if it was a woman... well, Myka wasn't above garnering a bit of sympathy for Helena's injuries.

Once inside the diner, Myka asked the waitress if she knew who owned the minivan.

"Why sure, sugar, it's my old beater. Been tryin' to sell that thing for a dog's age. Why, you need a car?"

Smiling and putting on a slightly nervous air, Myka said, "Actually yeah, I do. You see, my sister here is trying to get away from her husband - he's a mean bastard when he's drunk and last night was the last time she was going to let him hit her. I got us this far, but he knows my car, and I have got to get her to a safe place before he realizes she's gone."

As she'd spoken, the waitress' expression grew more and more sympathetic. "Oh honey, tell you what, you all go on over there and sit down and have yourself some breakfast."

"So you'll sell us the car, then?" Myka winced slightly, as though she was a little ashamed. "I'm afraid I don't have six hundred dollars."

"Oh don't you worry about a thing, honey. I'm sure we can work it out. That old thing ain't worth six hundred bucks anyway. My boy's just got his heart set on a newfangled computer system is all."

As she escorted them to a booth, Helena glanced up at Myka and whispered, “Your sister?”

Myka grinned sheepishly and then shrugged apologetically, causing Helena to smirk.

The waitress brought them coffee, and they quickly ordered pancakes and one very rare hamburger.

Over breakfast, they discussed wildly random, but extremely normal subjects like the weather, recent news events, and possible places where “Helen” might hide from her abusive 'husband'.

After they'd eaten and paid the tab, Myka stopped at the diner’s ATM, then they met the waitress, whose name they'd discovered was Gladys, out by the van. Gladys happily accepted the proffered four hundred dollars and turned over the key.

Just before they got into the van, Myka turned and said, "And if my future former brother-in-law, Pete, should come looking for us-"

Gladys smiled grimly. "Don't you even spend one minute thinking about it, dear. We know exactly how to handle his kind around here."

Inwardly, Myka winced and hoped that Pete would forgive her, eventually.

**

As they set off toward Chicago, Helena turned to Myka and said, "I actually feel quite sorry for Agent Lattimer. I expect he's not going to get a very warm reception should he venture into that diner."

Myka couldn't help but chuckle. "You're probably right. I just hope they don't hurt him too badly. He's a good guy and shouldn't have to suffer because I have trust issues."

Flinching slightly, Helena said, "I can't help thinking that I'll never be able to apologize enough for what I did. The words just seem empty of all meaning when I can still close my eyes and see the expressions on your faces as I shot you and Pete.

Giving Helena a troubled look, Myka said, "I thought you were under the control of the Pearl by then?"

"I shot you; I should think that the answer is a given," said Helena wryly. "It doesn't absolve me of the guilt I feel. Even though my intentions toward you have never been anything but honorable, my actions put you in mortal danger. I don't know if that's forgivable."

"Perhaps you should just let me be the judge of that, hmm? I've seen a lot of things since working at the warehouse, and have had my share of troubles that required someone's forgiveness too." Myka grimaced and added, "Maybe you'll get the chance to ask Pete about Alice sometime."

Intrigued, Helena drawled, "You didn't by chance have trouble with Lewis Carroll's mirror, did you?

"If I take the fifth, the point would be lost, so yes, I did. And yes, it caused a lot of havoc. No, I didn't try to destroy the world, but damage was done, and there were a few people who were hurt as a result of my actions - or rather, Alice's actions. It took me awhile to understand that it wasn't my fault. I had help. You will, too."

As she spoke, Myka realized that she no longer believed that Helena was guilty. She was now only looking at the case as if Helena were also a victim. Any reservations had fled - perhaps because of, although she wanted to believe, in spite of - the glorious kiss that they had shared. "We'll figure this out, Helena. Why don't we go over what you remember, and maybe we can determine when it all started."

Settling into her seat, Helena absently toyed with the fringe of fabric along the edge of her sling. "Where should we begin?"

"At the beginning, of course. How about – What do you remember about Cairo?" Outside the van, the terrain whizzed by; sometimes another car passed them, but for the most part, the country through which they traveled was empty, flat, featureless grassland.

“Cairo. Such a grand city – it changes little and, yet still it shifts. There were parts of it that looked as though I’d just arrived by steamship, and then there were places that were as alien to me as if I’d never before stepped foot outside my own door. However, mostly what I recall about Cairo is kissing you. Seeing you in the moonlight like that, I just had to act.” She smiled wistfully. “I remember you tasted of expensive cognac and honeyed dates. I remember wanting, more than anything, to lose myself in you, because you were warm, and bright, and strong, and all the things that I am not."

She went on, but the remainder of her answer was lost as Myka fought the urge to turn the van around, pull back into the motel parking lot and spend the next year proving to Helena that she truly was worthy of the love she so earnestly craved.

"Helena, you can't say things like that to me and expect me to be able to concentrate," Myka said softly. "You are a wonderful person; one I am honored to know. That said, perhaps we should focus on realities and not romanticism?"

"As you will. I recall, presumably the things you do. Meeting up with Mr. Valda in the marketplace, locating Warehouse 2, you mocking my attire – really Myka how was I supposed to know? I remember that it was Pete's love for pancakes that solved the Mind challenge, and Valda sacrificing himself to get us through the Body challenge." Her expression grew melancholy. "I remember holding my daughter; she was alive and whole and then, once again, having that ripped away from me by cruel reality."

"I'm sorry that I had to do that to you; we couldn't leave you behind." Myka still felt bad about that. If there was one thing she would use an artifact for, it would be to give Helena back her daughter, if nothing else because that one event had so utterly defined the broken path the other woman had followed.

"No, you were right to act as you did." Helena smiled sadly. "I remember how comforting it was to have you there - and that it was your touch calling me back to the present, soothing away my tears, proving that there were still good things in the world. That I still had something worth fighting for."

"And there you go with the mushy stuff again," Myka said, smiling to take the sting out of her words. “Seriously, Helena - it sounds like you were you throughout most of what I remember. What happened when we split up?"

Helena frowned as she tried to make sense of the jumbled images in her head. "I ran out onto the warehouse floor. The orb drew me; I seem to recall thinking that maybe there was some type of generator that I could bollox up. Then, I heard a sound - like footsteps. I turned to look and - nothing. I remember very little of the next several minutes. The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of that orb, mesmerized by the lights. When you and Pete approached, I knew exactly what I had to do, so I did it. After that, the days seem to rush together. The next truly clear memory I have is fighting with you in Yellowstone. You were pleading with me and then, suddenly, you put a gun in my hand and tried to make me kill you. That's when my world shifted - that's when I was able to push aside the insidious whispers in my head."

Covering her face with her hand, Helena shivered. "I cannot even begin to describe the sensation of those whispers. Oily, caustic, slimy, and yet, sensual, like pure silk - they told me things; they promised me miracles. I was enchanted, caught betwixt my desire to have my daughter back and an oddly external command to bring about the destruction of the world."

With a soft sob, Helena pulled her hand away, revealing glassy, tear-filled eyes. "Even then, the wretched whispers did not cease. They just pulled back, planning horrible things. I was to escape, you see, and make my way back into the warehouse and wreak whatever havoc I could - starting with you. Oh they wanted you dead, Myka. You were such a threat to them. I can remember entertaining visions of tying you up and performing bizarre rituals upon your flesh. It was utterly sickening, and yet, I could not turn away from the siren's lure - every horrible act, every terrible cost was justified by the promise they gave me. I would have my daughter back. But Christina does not live, and will never live again. Instead, all I have done is sullied her memory and permanently stained the fabric of our future with darkness.” The long-held tears spilled over, streaming down her cheeks in an unchecked avalanche.

Myka reached over and brushed her knuckles across Helena’s cheek, wiping away her tears. “You aren’t to blame, Helena. That person is not you. I know this now. And you know, I think Christina would be proud of you – because you fought the influence of the Pearl and you won. You didn't destroy the world and now you’re going to prove your innocence and get justice against whoever hurt you.”

Tearfully, Helena smiled as she wiped at her face. “That’s good of you to say, Myka, but the truth is that we have no idea who did this to me. The fact that we know about the Pearl at all is a pure fluke of fate. Had there not been that accident, I doubt I could have fought the effects of the artifact for long.”

Myka frowned. “I'm not entirely certain that it was an accident. It seems far too convenient, don't you think? So, why don't you tell me what you can remember. I've got a few ideas of my own, and maybe together, we can figure some of it out.”

There was so much more to address, and Myka knew she could not allow Helena to wallow in the guilt for long. It was far more important to establish a time line as well as gather what facts they could, if they were to discover who it was that had caused all the trouble in the first place.


TBC