Belief & Betrayal Chapter 9

[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


CHAPTER 9

Claudia was sitting on the horns of a dilemma, and they were sharper than she'd ever imagined. It sucked to be at cross purposes with everyone around her, but this was Myka and to think that Myka had gone rogue was laughable. As hard as it was to imagine, there had to be some reason why Myka trusted H.G. and because of that, Claudia was inclined to give the woman the benefit of the doubt.

With that in mind, she began to pursue a couple of tiny anomalies she'd noticed in the warehouse computer system. They could have been nothing, but maybe - maybe they were footprints that would lead to a clue.

Pete was still at Stokes County Memorial. He was supposed to call soon – the surgery on the Jane Doe should be almost done. It would turn out to be a bust, as Claudia well knew, but those few extra minutes would buy a little more time to dig up the evidence they needed to prove Helena's innocence.

Involved with her search, Claudia didn't notice when Leena walked into the bedroom.

"You missed breakfast. But that's not surprising since I don't think you even slept last night. What's going on?" Leena gazed intently at the hacker, reading a cesspool of shifting colors in her aura. Glancing quickly away, she tried to ignore the sudden onset of queasiness in her stomach. Something was happening, that much was clear, but whatever it was, she wasn't at all sure that it was worth investigating. As long as Leena had been involved with the warehouse, she'd learned that there were some things not worth pursuing.

"Oh yeah, been working on something for Mrs. F. You know how it goes - first they don't want you messing with their stuff, next thing you know, you're fixing everything in the place." Claudia shrugged nonchalantly, hoping that Leena wouldn't somehow pick up on her nervousness.

"I see." Clearly, Claudia had never dealt with someone who could read auras, because at the moment, Leena could very nearly see the words, "Liar-liar pants on fire," swimming around the other woman's head. However, there was no tinge of dangerous intent to the lies, so Leena let it go. Given Claudia's reaction to Myka's departure, it was easy to deduce that the young woman had probably spent the entire night trying to find her friend.

"So you didn't stay up all night looking for Myka then? I'm impressed." Leena couldn't help but tease Claudia a little. What she wasn't expecting was the look of utter shock that flickered across the young woman's face.

"What? N-no, of course not!" The stammered refusal was so patently untrue that Leena began to worry.

"Claudia, it's okay. Myka's your friend. I understand that it's hard to let her go, but maybe she just needs some time alone right now." Leena moved over to the bed, sat down next to Claudia and started rubbing the younger woman's back.

Deflating a little, Claudia sighed and said, "You know, I just never thought anyone could get Myka so down." She shook her head sorrowfully. "It seems so crazy that Myka couldn't see that H.G. was bad news. I mean, you could, right?"

Leena smiled sadly. "Ah, but you see, I didn't see anything bad in her. While she was here, Helena seemed a little aloof maybe, definitely sad, and sometimes, once in a while, pretty nice. We had tea a couple of times and talked about her adventures. She was quiet and proud of her accomplishments.” With a one-armed shrug, she added, “I guess she must have been better at masking her aura than most people."

"Yeah, I guess; I didn't see it either." Wistfully, Claudia smiled. "She did save my life, so she couldn't have been all bad, right?"

Claudia's phone rang and she practically leapt from the bed. Leena just snickered over the ring tone and left the room. "Yeah?" Claudia answered with a forced casualness, grateful that Pete couldn't see her face.

"It's not her. Back to square one, I guess." Pete sounded exhausted. "How about you? Find anything?"

"Yeah, I found the car. The signal's stationary. It's coming from a place about two and a half hours northeast of here. I can send the coordinates to your cell if you want."

"No, I'll get them later. It's probably time to bring the big guy up to speed. Give Mrs. F a holler and then meet me at the warehouse."

Inwardly, Claudia cringed. If she was under too much scrutiny, she wouldn't be able to do much to help Myka and H.G. On the other hand, she'd have first hand knowledge of just how close they were to catching them. "Decisions, decisions," she murmured under her breath. Louder, she said, "All right, give me two shakes and a twirl and I'll be there."

Pete signed off and Claudia turned back to her computer to see if her little worms had dug up anything useful. Tiny bits of data were compiling, the shape of which she was almost able to decipher, but there were just too many unknown variables to have a clear picture yet. Putting the laptop on standby, she gathered her things and headed for the car. Once inside, she flipped open her cell and tried Myka's number. Remarkably, the other woman picked up. "Hey, you gotta ditch this phone pronto. Things are about to shift gears around here."

"Understood. I'll contact you some other way," said Myka shortly. They hung up and Claudia quickly opened her phone, jerked out the SIM card and replaced it with an untraceable backup. Next, she pulled out her Farnsworth, called Mrs. Fredric and related what they knew.

Frowning, Mrs. Fredric said, "I find it hard to believe that an agent of Myka Bering's caliber could so easily turn her back on her career. I have suspicions that more is going on here than meets the eye. It's time to inform Arthur of the events of last night."

"Oh boy, you know he's gonna lose it, right? He's got a real hate-on for H.G."

"I am aware of Agent Nielsen's bias toward Miss Wells and I realize that it could cloud his judgment with regard to this situation. However, he is the most qualified to lead the search for Agent Bering and Miss Wells."

Claudia had serious reservations about that; however, she was only a junior agent, hardly more than an apprentice, so she held her tongue, and instead, asked, "So what do you want me to do?"

"Once Arthur has been apprised of the situation, I want you to go over Lattimer and Bering's reports for the Warehouse 2 incident, as well as the subsequent events in Wyoming. Take your time; revisit the entire thing. Somewhere in there are the answers we need. There may be something that tells us what to expect next."

There was something in Mrs. Fredric's expression – something that an observant viewer might suppose was concern. If Artie had been there, he might have been able to detect the stray emotion tightening the corners of the caretaker's eyes, but since it was Claudia who was on the other end of the Farnsworth, all that mattered was hearing the words that filled her with glee.

To do what Mrs. Fredric was asking meant that she would need unfettered access to the warehouse archives, and with that, she might be able to hunt down larger chunks of data pertaining to the “footprints” she'd been collecting. She had a hunch that particular information might help Myka and H.G. "I'll need access codes to get into those reports," she said as calmly as she could manage.

"Get them from Agent Lattimer. His clearance level should be enough to get you what you need. If you require further information, call me. Do not," she said, frowning deeply, "abuse my trust, Miss Donovan."

Saluting, Claudia said, "Yes ma'am. I mean, no ma'am. Of course not. Would I do that? I'll be good, I promise."

The last thing Claudia saw as the Farnsworth's screen went blank was Mrs. Fredric's smirking face.

**

"What!?"

Of all the times they'd seen Artie angry, this was closing in on the top five of the worst. His face was so scarlet, Claudia was actually afraid he might keel over. Meanwhile, Pete was making pacifying motions and trying to get the older man to sit down.

"No, I will not sit down, Pete, that woman is a menace! I warned you. I warned you all and did you listen to me? No, of course not. Let this be a lesson to you: Artie knows best. Artie is always right. Artie should not be mocked!"

With each statement, Artie shook his finger in Pete's face, forcing the younger agent to backpedal until he was brought up short by the solid presence of a wall behind him.

"Um, okay, well, there's kind of - really, I think you should sit down, Artie. It would really be best if you could do that," said Pete weakly.

Still ranting, Artie barely paused in his pontifications on how much better he was than them, but he did allow Claudia to drag him over to a couch where he pretty much collapsed in a heap.

Once he was seated, Pete quickly said, "H.G. escaping isn't the only news - Myka's with her and, I really hate to say this, but I think she's helping her."

Artie actually looked like someone had slapped him. His jaw hung slack and his hands dropped into his lap. Tiny, inarticulate sounds gurgled in his throat, but he seemed quite unable to process the information.

"In her defense," Pete added while shooting a glance at Claudia, who nodded and ran over to get a glass of water, "it did look as though she was helping because H.G. was injured and not because she was, you know, going over to the dark side of the Force."

"It's so comforting to know that you've gone and decided - without the benefit of actual evidence - that Myka - our Myka - was acting innocently. When you know very well that she was the one who pushed that abomination on us in the first place. No - no, I just can't accept that she's innocent in this. Her culpability is clear. Myka Bering is no longer an agent of the warehouse - she is one of them. As such, she will be treated as hostile at all times. You are to have no contact with her unless you can be assured of a capture. Otherwise, our task will be to apprehend both Bering and Wells and make sure they're shoved so far into the Bronze sector, no one will ever find them!"

The more Artie ranted, the angrier Claudia got. She knew he was wrong and she couldn't do anything to prove it. Infuriated, she shouted, "How can you be so certain of Myka's guilt? Do you always jump to conclusions like this? No wonder my brother got trapped the way he did - every time he tried to talk to you about it, you were too busy behaving like an ass!" Shoving the glass of water at him, Claudia stormed off.

"Claudia? Claudia, you get back here, young lady! If you so much as even think about trying to warn Myka we're on to her, I swear I'll -" He started to stand, but was stopped by Pete's hand on his chest.

Throwing a two-finger salute over her shoulder, Claudia called out, "Keep your shirt on, Artie. I've got work to do for Mrs. F. You go on ahead and enjoy your witch hunt. I've got better things to do than to waste my time listening to a bitter old man."

Pete was sure he was about to witness World War III, but instead, Artie seemed to just run out of steam. Awkwardly, he patted Artie's shoulder and said, "She's just a kid, man. Don't let her get to you."

Cradling his head in his hands, Artie whispered, "This is why I don't let people get close. They always hurt you, Pete. Always." He looked up and his expression was resolute. "I know at times it seems like I don't care, but I do. I really do. You don't think the knowledge that Myka has betrayed us hurts me deeply? Well it does. It always hurts when it happens, but I get over it because I have a job to do, and so do you. We cannot allow people like Myka and H.G., with their dangerous knowledge, to run free in this world. You understand, don't you?"

Pete could only gaze sympathetically at the older agent. However he felt about the situation, he knew that he could never do anything to hurt Myka. They were partners, and that meant something to him. Whatever was going on with H.G., Pete knew that Myka had her reasons for acting as she had. He only hoped he'd have the chance to hear them before Artie shuffled her off to the Bronze sector.

A few minutes later, Claudia reappeared, a piece of paper in hand. "Here," she said, thrusting it at Pete. "The GPS coordinates I promised you. Happy hunting." She sneered the last two words dramatically.

Artie stood and snatched the paper from Pete. "Good. Let's go get them before they have a chance to run."

Grabbing his little black bag, Artie jammed on his hat and headed for the exit.

Throwing an apologetic glance at Claudia, Pete followed, calling out, "Hey man, wait up. I'm driving!"

TBC