Belief & Betrayal Chapter 17

[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  CHAPTER 10  CHAPTER 11  CHAPTER 12  CHAPTER 13  CHAPTER 14  CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16


CHAPTER 17

A good night's sleep had done wonders for Pete's outlook, but Artie had only grown more irritated and short-tempered. Adwin Kosan's reminder about doing what was needed in this dire situation had settled in his mind like a stone, weighing his thoughts down and pushing against the tiny, burgeoning desire to give Myka a chance to explain her actions. Ever since H.G. Wells had been set free, Myka had acted as though the woman was just a misunderstood victim of circumstance, instead of the murderous harpy who'd killed a man without batting an eye. No, no, Adwin Kosan was right. He had to do what was needed.

"Come on, come on, we don't have all day! Those two are out there, and we need to bring them in soon before they do something terrible!" After his conversation with Kosan, Artie felt driven, more than ever, to hunt down the women that had dared to jeopardize the warehouse.

Pete finished brushing his teeth, rinsed and spat. "Patience, my man. We'll get them. Why don't you see if Claudia's found anything? It'd be nice to have a direction to head in, instead of running around like a couple of chickens with our heads cut off."

Grimacing, Artie retrieved his Farnsworth and thumbed the button that would connect him to Claudia. It rang for several minutes before the bleary-eyed visage of the warehouse's youngest agent appeared on the screen.

"Yo, dude, really? It's like, six-thirty. You think you could let a girl sleep in some?" she said groggily.

"You can sleep when Bering and Wells are in custody. Now, tell me you found them."

"I found them. They're in Wells, Minnesota. There's a campground there, and apparently, they keep a log of the license plates of all vehicles that enter and exit the park." She yawned as she reached down to the floor to retrieve her laptop. "According to what I've found, Myka and H.G. checked in some time around eight last night and are still there as of six this morning."

"Wells! Of course! I should have known they would do something as obvious as that!" thundered Artie as he wildly gesticulated with his good arm. "Get those park people on the phone! Have them take Myka and H.G. into custody right away! Tell them that they're wanted for drug smuggling or something, I don't care, just get them now, before they're gone again!"

"Drug smuggling, Artie? Really? Please, Myka'd have more class than that. And H.G. looks more like she'd be the type to be involved with high stakes art theft rather than something as dangerous as drugs," said Pete as he walked back into the room. Freshly shaven, dressed in clean clothes, he looked like he was ready to handle anything.

"I'm improvising. Deal with it. Now, Claudia, if - and that's a very big if - Myka and H.G. manage to slip through the net, I want to you freeze Myka's bank accounts. I happen to know she's got more than enough saved up that would allow her and Wells to vanish for a very long time."

Claudia frowned, but grudgingly said, "You got it, Boss." Glad you had one last chance to hit the ATM yesterday, thought Claudia as she looked over Myka's bank statement before freezing access to the assets in the account.

Out of view of the Farnsworth, she hurriedly texted Myka. The message was short and very much to the point: GET OUT NOW.

"Good, now, is there anything else you need to tell me?"

Grimly, Claudia said, "Yeah, Mrs. F said to tell you that an explosive device caused the tires on the Hummer to blow out and that there was a secondary device set to destroy the gas tank, but it didn't work. Also, I found something odd in the warehouse financials - I'm tracking it down now, but I think the terminal used to hack the accounts is somewhere in Chicago."

Waving his hand, Artie said, "Never mind about the accounts - the bean counters will handle that. Focus on the bomb." He shook his head ruefully and began to pace. Thinking aloud, he muttered, "She must not have counted on the terrain being a factor in the accident. No, no, why would she think that? Of course, of course, she must have had a partner – perhaps one of MacPherson's men – yes, yes. Exactly! He was delayed in reaching them and when Myka showed up, all her plans had to change. Damn her, damn her to hell! Two good agents died because of that woman. It's utterly unconscionable how H.G. has turned a fine agent like Myka Bering into a traitor!” Coming to a halt, Artie gruffly said, “This is it – this is the proof that H.G. is a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to get what she wants! Luck's been with her so far, but not anymore. Now, we're going to see to it that her luck comes to an end.”

Across the room, Pete had looked up when Claudia mentioned the bomb. I knew it. His attention was further drawn when she mentioned the hack to the warehouse accounts. For some reason, that made his "vibes" jangle quite loudly. However, he knew that if he tried to ask about it now, Artie would only override his curiosity with the need to get Myka and H.G. into custody. Maybe once that was done, he and Claudia could have a discussion about it. He frowned and rubbed his stomach. Something just felt really off about the whole situation, and it was starting to make his gut ache.

Ignoring Artie's muttering and ranting, Claudia said, "I don't really have too much more to report. Mrs. F wasn't exactly full of the big details and long reports when I talked to her. You could always call her and ask for yourself. I've still got a lot of work to do." She grinned a bit sheepishly. "I guess Mrs. F seems to think I'm her personal hacker now. She's got me chasing down a bunch of stuff back here and if I don't come up with something soon, I'm afraid she's actually going to be mad at me."

"But I need you on this case, Claudia! You've got to focus on what's important, here! And catching Bering and Wells. should be the only thing you think about." He sighed, his face taking on a saddened, hang-dog expression. "I really don't want to think about what could happen if either those two suddenly decided to expose what they know about the warehouse to the world."

"Oh come on, Artie!" Pete said at the same time as Claudia said, "Do you really think Myka would go that far?"

"I really can't say. Yesterday, I wouldn't have said Myka would have given two seconds of her time to H.G. and now look at where we are. Who's to say what that woman's thinking now? All I know is that she's acting like a traitor, and traitors shouldn't be allowed to walk free."

Pete's stomach grew even more sour at the comment, and he had to restrain himself from mentioning Artie's own status as a traitor – and the fact that he continued to remain free. Myka, I wish you'd told me what was going on. I'd have helped. He sighed. I just can't believe that this is all some big conspiracy between Myka and H.G. Myka's not like that. She plans things down to the last detail and this has the feeling of something thrown together at the last minute. No, I don't buy it. The more he thought about it, the more he began to believe that he was right. Still, there was nothing he could do but follow Artie's orders. However, if he had a chance, he was definitely going to talk to Claudia and have her do a little digging around just for his own peace of mind. If H.G.'s somehow involved, there'll be a trail somewhere – maybe even something back at Leena's. Maybe Claudia can contact Leena and have her look around H.G.'s room.

In the background behind Claudia, something made a very loud, very annoying sound. "Oh! That's one of my things for Mrs. F. I gotta go. I'll call you back in a bit after I get in touch with the folks in Wells. Hopefully, I'll have good news for you.

Pete looked at Artie, smiled and said, "So, we're going to Wells?"

"No, we're off to Timbuktu. Of course we're going to Wells!" Muttering something about stupid questions, he gathered up his bag and headed out to the car.

"You know, after this is all over, I think I am going to need a nice, long vacation someplace very sunny, with lots of beaches and babes in skimpy bikinis," said Pete as he followed Artie outside.

**

Claudia's text message couldn't have come at a less opportune moment for Myka and Helena. The jangling buzz of the phone's silent mode was lost in the scramble as they attempted to dress without becoming distracted by each other's naked bodies that were now fully illuminated by the morning sun.

"Oh, this is impossible!" Myka grumbled bitterly as she finally forced herself to turn away from Helena. "Now, get your pants on before I'm tempted to forget all about our need to ditch this van!"

"You are supposing that I have the forbearance to abstain from appreciating the absolutely exquisite view I currently have of your very lovely backside," said Helena laconically. "I find that I simply lack the motivation to dress."

"Helena! Don't make me turn around! I won't be held responsible for my actions if I turn around, and you know we can't afford to linger here too much longer." Myka's tone was both outraged and pleading as she maintained her position.

Surely God wouldn't be so cruel as to bring so much joy into Helena's life, only to rip it away from her by forcing her to spend the rest of her days locked away in the Farm? Shivering, Helena pushed away any thoughts dealing with the place for those whose punishment required something infinitely more severe than simple bronzing and concentrated on wiggling into the clean clothes that Myka had so kindly purchased for her. Once that was done, she said, "You are free to look; I am no longer indecently exposed."

Turning, Myka smirked and said, "What a shame." Leaning down, she captured Helena's lips in several long, lingering kisses. "My turn, I guess." Pulling back slightly, she whispered, "Close your eyes and no peeking." Grinning Helena acquiesced to Myka's plea and received one last, lingering kiss for her efforts as Myka quickly shimmied into her pants and top.

Adequately dressed, they both headed for the restrooms that were located some distance from their actual campsite. There, they washed up, brushed their teeth and hair, and generally made themselves look less like they'd spent the night in the back of a shag van and more like traveling vacationers. It took a considerable amount of makeup to hide their bruises, and the result left them both looking like they were a couple of promising apprentices in the Tammy Faye Baker school of cosmetics. By the time she was done applying the last of her concealer to Helena's brow, Myka was more than thankful for all the tips she'd picked up in New York on the Man Ray case.

Once back at the van, Myka busied herself with cleaning up camp while Helena walked around, taking in the quiet, subtle beauty of the campground.

"We should return to this place when we've more time to enjoy it," she said as she rejoined Myka.

Smiling, Myka took a moment to enjoy the privilege of stepping into Helena's personal space for the express purpose of stealing a kiss. She eased away and smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that. We'll rent a Winnebago and do it in style."

Helena laughed and replied, "What, you're not interested in sleeping under the stars?"

"As long as sleeping under the stars includes bugs, rain, wandering forest critters, and the possibility of drunken frat boys crashing through camp, then no, I'm not interested." Myka wrinkled her nose and then said, "However, I am very much interested in spending several days holed up in a very comfy camper with you, several bottles of good wine, and nothing to wear but our birthday suits!"

Helena laughed brightly and said, "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

Myka's smile turned shy. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to hearing that." She raked her fingers through the hair that was brushing Helena's brow. "You are wonderful and I love you madly." Kissing Helena's cheek, she whispered, "We have to go."

Helena turned her head so that she could nuzzle Myka's ear. "I know. Our idyll must end, no matter how much I wish it not to." She smiled and pressed a soft, delicate kiss against the place where Myka's ear met her cheek. "Perhaps tonight, we'll find a new Eden to explore."

Distractedly, Myka said, "Uh huh. Eden. Explore...” Her mind drifted off into a realm of wonderful dreams until suddenly, she was struck by a random thought that made everything about the moment completely and magically surreal. ”Dear God, I just realized that I'm being romanced by H.G. freaking Wells! Holy shit." Blinking dazedly, she smiled goofily and said, "My dad is going to freak out when he hears this."

Never before had Helena felt such apprehension at the idea of someone's parent learning of her involvement in their child's life. "Why do I fear that this is somehow worse than trying to convince Artie that I am innocent?" Then she shook her head. "Wait - wouldn't they begin to question your sanity should you attempt to introduce me as who I truly am?" As she spoke, she turned to head to the passenger side of the van.

Myka shrugged. "Not really. I mean, it might take them a few minutes to get over the fact that you're a woman - but other than that, no, my parents actually know and mostly understand what I do. They sort of had to, after my dad fell victim to Poe's Notebook last year." They got into the car, buckled up, and got ready to leave. That was when Myka noticed the blinking light on her cell phone.

Reaching for it, she thumbed it on, read the text, noted the time it had come in, checked the current time and then cursed softly.

"What is it?" asked Helena. Myka handed her the phone. Checking the times, Helena added her own curses to Myka's.

"Well, if they haven't hauled us away by now, then we've still got time to get out of here." Resolutely, Myka started the engine and pointed the front end toward the exit. "Chicago, here we come!"

**

Sitting in the car outside of a small, dingy gas station, Pete tapped an air drum solo along with the music on the radio while he waited for Artie to return. As the music came to an end, he realized that his Farnsworth was ringing. Killing the radio, he opened it, revealing Claudia's worried face.

"Hey! Is everything okay? I can't get Artie to answer his Farnsworth."

"Everything's a-okay, except for a massive case of too many antibiotics," said Pete, making a face and pinching his nose in an unsubtle indication of Artie's gastronomic troubles.

"Oh, well, I wanted to let him know that I haven't been able to get anyone on the phone at the campground. So far, it's just been a recording listing rental rates. Since we're not supposed to involve the local authorities, I wasn't sure what to do.”

Pete pondered the idea and tried to intuit what Artie might want in this case. It was important that Myka and H.G. be apprehended - that wasn't in doubt - however, it was also necessary to keep the warehouse and its actions as under wraps as possible. Finally, he said, "You did the right thing. Just try to track them as they leave the campsite. Hopefully, we'll get a break soon."

"Okay." She sighed glumly. "I still can't believe that Myka's supposedly a bad guy."

Pete nodded. "I know. It doesn't feel right. Hey, what was that about the warehouse accounts you mentioned earlier?”

"Oh, that? Well, as per Mrs. F's instructions, I started digging through all the recent reports and I kept finding these odd little traces and half-hidden trails. Anyway, when I put them all together, I realized that there was just no way that H.G. could have been the one to hack the warehouse accounts. On the day that it happened, she was here, with me, watching over you and Myka while you guys were off enjoying the Kennedy era."

Pete frowned. "So? Couldn't she have just hired a hacker to do her dirty work?"

Claudia shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not even sure she'd know what that was. Don't you remember that I had to teach her how to surf stuff like Google and eBay? And, that hacker would have to be damned good to get through all the stuff Fargo and I installed." She scratched her head and then added, "Honestly, I just don't see it happening."

Pete rubbed his chin and murmured, "That fits with the vibes I've been having, too. Damn. What is going on here?" Silently he wondered if anything in the last few days could be taken at face value. Even H.G.'s actions, as much as I'd prefer to just think of the crazy bitch as a crazy bitch, she just didn't act like someone who was in the middle of carrying out a grand scheme to destroy the world before we left for Egypt. Hell, if I had to say what I thought about H.G., it'd be that she was finally allowing herself to be happy!

"I don't know, but Mrs. F's been on the warpath about something, that's for sure," said Claudia.

“I bet. Hey, have you or Leena checked out H.G's room? Maybe there's something in there that'll tell us more about what's going on.”

Claudia looked completely surprised by the idea. “No, but you know what, I'll call Leena and have her check into it. Anyway, right now, I should really get back to work. Tell Artie I hope he feels better.”

Nodding slowly, Pete cracked a crooked grin and said, "Sure. Have fun. Let us know if anything breaks." He closed the Farnsworth and sat there, lost in thought, until Artie rejoined him.

As they got back on the road, Pete relayed Claudia's information about the campground, which caused the older agent to go on a ten minute rant about how insane it was that a place like that was allowed to operate without twenty-four hour, seven day a week personnel on duty and available to give personalized customer service at a moment's notice.

Pete snorted. "Hey, it's the economy. No one has any money for anything extra right now."

"It's not extra, it's vital. Vital! Oh well, there's nothing we can do about it now. Just keep on the highway. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll get a flat tire."

Pete started the car and headed for the freeway entrance. "You're the boss, Artie."

"Exactly. I am the boss. Remember that, and we'll catch them in no time.”

**

Claudia was doing the greatest dance of geek joy she'd ever done. Not only had her hastily cobbled little ICE program sniffed out the physical location of the terminal that had hacked into the warehouse, she'd managed to grab a partial user ID. The warehouse records had all been doctored to show that it was H.G.'s login that had been used to break in, but the complicated set of alphanumerics displayed on her screen was something in a league far beyond H.G.'s computer skills.

Now, if she could just match the partial ID with a name in the warehouse records, she might just have something she could take to Mrs. Fredric and Artie.

Texting the address to Myka, she wasn't surprised when her phone rang a moment later.

"Hey, yeah, that's where the computer is. I've no idea what's there, so be careful. What?" Claudia grinned as Myka made a request. "Oh, you mean you didn't have one of those in high school? I did, still do, too. It's great for getting in to see some pretty kick-ass bands. I know, I know - I shouldn't be doing that. Hey, it's not like I'm going on benders and drinking myself stupid or anything! Yeah, yeah, fine, yeah, I know a guy." Quickly, she related where to find a good ID counterfeiter in Chicago and how to get past his security. "Bring a bag of krispy M&M's with you. Give it to the guy at the counter and tell him that you're looking for Dave. When he asks you why, tell him that Claudia sends her love."

She grinned at something Myka said and then chuckled. "Yep, that's it. No secret handshakes, no special pass phrases. You will, of course, need to have a couple hundred for the good stuff, but you got that covered, right?... Cool." She paused, listening as Myka spoke. "Yeah, Artie's pretty cheesed off. I think Pete might be starting to wonder, though... I know. I wish we could tell him too. Do you know what else you're going to do besides looking into that address I sent you?... Oh, that's a good idea. Yeah, I'll let Mrs. F know... Okay, good luck... Later."

As soon as she hung up the phone, Claudia danced over to her stereo, kicked up the volume to ear-shattering levels, and started singing along with the music. A few songs later, she turned down the sound, composed herself and then settled in front of her laptop. After sending Dave an email warning him that she was diverting some business his way, and not so subtly implying that said business was to be treated right 'or else', she then put in a call to Mrs. Fredric.

"Miss Donovan?" For the first time since Claudia had met the elegant black woman, Mrs. Fredric looked highly frazzled. "Be quick, please."

"Oh, well, I just wanted to let you know that Myka and H.G. are in Chicago and that they're planning to visit the restaurant where H.G. remembers getting instructions. I guess they're hoping it'll trigger something else in her memory. Um, are you okay? You look like you've been ten rounds with Mike Tyson."

Mrs. Fredric smiled grimly. "My appearance is merely evidence of a long day spent attempting to discover the answers we seek. And to answer your next question - no, my searches did not bear fruit. Whoever we are dealing with is very good at hiding their tracks."

"Ooo, if I get my hands on them, I swear I'm gonna kick their asses so hard they taste shoelaces!" Rubbing her temples, Claudia groaned and then said, "I've been chasing shadows all over the network. Fragments of code that look harmless enough, but once I knit them together, I can see that the eventual result is some kind of black ICE program. It's a good one - and frighteningly familiar in design."

Mrs. Fredric looked very interested in that. "How so?"

Claudia shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I guess if I had to speculate, I'd say it looked almost like the program I designed to break into the warehouse the first time, except it's different in ways I'd never have thought to try. For one thing, the code's far too intricate for just a simple B and E program. This thing has so many little extras that I'll be spending the next six months unscrambling it before I can really parse it all down to brass tacks."

"When you say that it is similar to what you designed, do you mean that it is the same kind of program?"

"No," said Claudia emphatically. "No, this is more - there's actual code strings in this that are virtually identical to what I wrote..." she trailed off and then covered her mouth. "Oh my God."

"What is it, Claudia?" Mrs. Fredric leaned closer to the screen as if trying to reach out to the hacker.

"I think I know what it is," replied Claudia numbly.

"Go on."

"It's MacPherson - or his code, anyway. It's the exact same code he gave me to help break into the warehouse."

"You're certain of this?" Mrs. Fredric looked as though a ghost had just danced across her grave.

“Yeah, I'm as certain as I can be without having all the code to compare,” said Claudia.

Nodding, Mrs. Fredric said, "Well, that certainly gives me another avenue to explore. Good work, Claudia. Keep searching - answers are bound to be revealed soon."

Claudia sighed and said, "Right. Will do." The Farnsworth went black.

Setting the device aside, Claudia picked up her cell and called Leena. “Hey, Pete had a great idea...” In as few words as possible, she outlined the plan to search H.G.'s's room for evidence. The innkeeper agreed with the idea and even mentioned that this was the perefect opportunity to search H.G.'s room, since no one had yet come to place everything into storage. Grinning, Claudia knew that nothing would be found to implicate Helena, and that was something that Artie was going to have a hard time ignoring when it came time to reveal H.G.'s and Myka's innocence. “Great! Hopefully you'll find something so I can give Pete and Artie better leads.” She hung up and then turned back to her laptop.

"Okay, if I were a string of malicious code, where would I hide?" Hunching over her keyboard, she began rapidly typing.

She'd already found as much as she could within the financial database. Now, she was starting the process of digging through the warehouse inventory. Someone had already taken the Pearl of Wisdom. Who knew what else might be missing?

TBC