Sorry for the delay.

Chapter 9

Claudia hesitated at the bedroom door; her hand hanging loosely on the doorknob as she tried to convince herself to open it and go out there. The night had dragged slowly with the girl waking from several dreams with a gasp caught in her throat and her hands grasping tightly at the sheets.

In a lot of them she was back in the basement, reliving different stages of her captivity. In some of them, however, she was at the campus with Joshua. It was one she'd had multiple times over the years; it was her last memory of him and it had never made sense to her. He was standing in the middle of the room, working on his experiment; something he said would have the two of them set for life if he could make it work. There was wind and noise and she was shouting his name, he tried to tell her something and then a bright flash of light blinded her.

That's when she always woke up; always snapping her eyes open with a desire to shout her brother's name.

She'd done her best, like she had at every house, room and occasional street corner she'd slept in, to keep from making any noise. However despite all of her precautions, there wasn't much she could do to stop herself while she slept. She must've made enough noise to wake someone else up last night. Almost each time she woke, footsteps would soon follow in the hall and come to her room.

They would open the door and look in on her, but Claudia had no idea who it was; each time they got near, she would turn her back to the door and pretend to be asleep. It was unsettling to feel eyes on her, to know someone was standing there while she was in such a vulnerable position. She used all her willpower to force herself to appear calm and peacefully sleeping.

It was the smells that finally brought her to the moment of considering actually walking out and facing everyone. She didn't know what was being made, but if the scent was anything to go by it was probably the first real meal she'd have a chance at in a long time. She wished she could ignore it, but she was so damn hungry. Putting her ear to the door, she checked for signs of life in the hallway.

They worked, right?

Maybe she could at least hold off until they all left. She had her computer and some work she'd been literally taken away from that she could do. She could go a bit longer without the food; it would be nothing new.

Just as she decided that's what she'd do, a sharp knock came on the door causing the girl to jerk back from it just as a voice came through the barrier.

"Claudia?"

It was Helena.

"Yeah," she answered after a moment.

"Breakfast is ready," she declared, "Come on down, join us."

"Just a second," she replied.

She waited until she heard her walk away again and went over to the mirror above the dresser. Taking a quick look at herself, she smoothed out her shirt and ran through her hair. She realized that she looked like hell. She needed a shower, she was well aware of that; whatever weirdo sponge bath she may have gotten when she was first admitted to the hospital wasn't doing her any favors.

She knew she needed to, but the last time she tried she'd ended up having some sort of breakdown and just the idea of going under the spray was enough to make her heart race. She couldn't help it; the hose, the freezing water, that maniac's laugh…it all kept coming at her when she even thought about the water.

Shaking those thoughts away, she continued to make herself as presentable as possible before deciding it was as good as it would get and left the room after a deep breath.

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"Yes, bacon! Come to Papa," Pete declared happily, putting a good helping on his plate and then reaching for more.

Before he could get his extra helping, Myka slapped his hand sharply to stop him.

"Ow, hey!" he complained pulling his hand back and shaking it, "What was that for?"

"Eat what you've already got before you get more," she scolded.

"What? If I'm gonna get it anyway, why can't I have it now while it's still fresh? You never cared before."

"Well before we didn't have an extra person at breakfast, did we?" she argued back, "Wait until Claudia has had some."

He nodded, properly chastised, and went to piling scrambled egg on top of his gravy covered biscuits.

Myka almost made another comment when Helena came back into the dining area. At Myka's prompting look the Englishwoman spoke, "She'll be down in a minute."

She took her usual seat beside Myka and was happy to see a cup of tea already waiting for her; no doubt it would already have been made to her preference. She gave a smirk Myka's way, the woman scrunching her nose up in a way that Helena always found adorably immature.

"Hey," Pete's voice erupted just as she began to lean towards her, "What's the rule? No cutesy couple stuff while Pete eats."

"What? Something like this?" Helena asked as she brushed the dark curls away from Myka's neck and leaned in to press her lips against the skin there, making Myka giggle a bit.

"Ugh, come on!" he complained.

Myka laughed at his discomfort, "Pete if we followed your little rule, we'd never get to do anything, would we? You're always eating."

Helena chuckled at the true statement and took her first sip of tea, Claudia coming into the room just as she was putting her cup back down. The girl hovered a split second outside the room's entrance before preparing to face the day and the people who would be in it.

"Morning," she said to the room, forcing some life into her voice.

A chorus of 'Good morning's' returned to her and something muffled from Pete's full mouth.

She fiddled with the splints on her fingers for a second. There were two empty chairs and she wasn't sure where she should sit. Her first thought was to go to the one by Helena but she didn't want to seem like she was crowding her. The woman had pretty much been at her side non-stop for days; Claudia didn't want to interrupt what looked like a nice morning with her girlfriend.

She began to move towards the seat beside Pete, who looked too absorbed in eating as much and as fast as possible to pay her any real attention. Just as she went to it, a short, frizzy haired man came shuffling in quickly. He nearly shoved her out of his way as he practically flew into the seat beside the other man, slapping folders onto the table as he sat.

"Whoa, Artemis, easy," Pete said in exclamation, moving his food away from the area his boss sat in, "There's plenty to go around, you don't have to hurt yourself. Fair warning though, Myka is playing bacon police so brace yourself."

Myka made a face at him while Claudia took the seat beside Helena after all.

"We've got more important this- bacon? There's bacon?" he interrupted himself, looking at the plate on the table a second before shaking his head and continuing, "Never mind. Like I was saying, we have more important things going on."

He held up the file once more and asked Pete, "Do the words 'little bastard' mean anything to you?"

"Oh sure, my wrestling coach-"

"No-no-no. Shut up, shut up," Artie demanded, not even letting him finish whatever irrelevant story he was about to share and then looked to the female agents at the other end of the table, "Anyone? Any historical significance ringing bells?"

Myka's brow furrowed as she sorted through her memory of information for anything like Artie was talking about. Coming up with nothing she looked to her girlfriend who gave a slight shrug indicating that she also was without the answer Artie was apparently seeking.

Claudia had been sitting quietly, doing her best not to draw any attention from anyone. Her eyes travelled over the others at the table as the question was asked. When no one answered she spoke up.

"James Dean."

All eyes moved to her at the words, prompting the girl to wish she hadn't said anything.

"The actor?" Myka asked.

"The car he was driving, the one he wrecked that killed him, he called it Little Bastard," Claudia elaborated, "Supposedly it's haunted if you believe that stuff."

She stopped talking for a second, feeling uncomfortable under their attention, specifically the overweight man down the table. His stare unnerved her for some reason. She hid her nerves by reaching for a slice of toast.

"Is that what you're talking about?"

Artie stared at her a minute longer, as if he'd only realized she was in the room when she started talking. He stood up suddenly, causing the chair to screech.

"Right, yes," he spoke quickly, "We'll discuss the rest at the …office."

He nodded again before grabbing up his file and hurrying out of the room as quickly as he'd come in. Claudia ran a hand through her hair and sighed at the clear message. He wanted to talk to them and she was in the way. Again. She wasn't wanted. Again.

"I'm out of here," she mumbled, moving to stand but was stopped by a hand on her thigh.

"You stay and eat," Helen declared, standing up herself and following the same exit path that their boss had taken.

Leena entered then with a plate of fresh bacon, causing Pete's eyes to light up. As he gleefully put some on his plate, he caught Myka's eyes at the end of the table. She nodded to the young girl and he cleared his throat.

"So James Dean's car is haunted, huh?" he asked, trying to get the girl to relax a bit and maybe get comfortable talking to them, "Like, gets out and drives on his own? Stephen King style?"

"You've actually read a book?" Myka commented.

"They make a lot of movies out of his books," he replied, "So? Does the Little Bastard go all Christine when the moon is full or what?"

"More like it's cursed, I guess," she explained, "The guy who bought it broke his legs when the car fell off the tow. Parts were sold off of it and bad luck followed them. The engine went to one guy and he lost control of it and was killed in a wreck. Tires went somewhere else and blew simultaneously. Stuff like that."

"That's so cool!" Pete voiced excited.

"How do you know that?" Myka asked curiously.

Claudia shrugged, "I read a book about Hollywood urban legends once when I was younger."

Pete slapped the table and pointed at his partner.

"See Mykes, that's the kind of reading I can get behind. That's cool stuff," he declared, "Myka here is all about big boring books a thousand pages long written by old dead dudes."

"Hey they're called classics, first of all," Myka defended herself, "and I read plenty of modern stuff too."

"Oh that's right," he said with a snap of his fingers, "She's read Harry Potter. I will give her that."

Claudia grinned a bit at that and took a bite.

"So that guy who scurried out of here," Claudia began, remembering what Leena had called him the night before, "Artie? What's his deal? Is he some kind of agent too?"

"Yep," Pete answered, "Old Artie, he kinda holds down the fort while we go out in the field."

"The field work that has something to do with James Dean's car?" she questioned.

Myka and Pete shared a glance before she answered, "It looks like today it might."

"I guess I'm not allowed to know details though, right? That's why he took off like that," she thought out loud, "That or he really isn't happy that I'm here."

"Artie isn't the best at human things," Pete remarked, "but once you get used to him, he's sort of like a big old teddy bear."

"Right."

Claudia looked in the direction Artie disappeared in. Her mind itching at something she couldn't completely get a hold on. Like something familiar she couldn't actually remember. Something was just out of reach. It was irritating.

She scratched at her arm over her sleeve; the more she tried to figure it out the worse that feeling became.

Her eyes roamed over the room, not really sure what she was looking for; but they searched nonetheless. On the other side of Helena's vacant seat, Myka picked up her phone and turned on the screen. When she did, Claudia turned that way instinctively and looked at it; seeing the large digital numbers across the top.

Reading the time made her feel a little better. She now knew I had been about 21 minutes since she left her room. Ok.

"So Claudia," a voice asked, "Is there anything you'd like to do today?"

Claudia looked over, surprised to see that Leena was now sitting across from her.

"Like what?" she replied with a bit of a scoff; like she had any idea what she was supposed to be doing.

"We could go into town," Leena suggested, "Go to some of the shops, pick up some clothes for you."

Claudia bristled at the suggestion, thinking of her backpack tucked away upstairs, "I have clothes."

The defensive tone wasn't missed by those around her, but Leena didn't allow it to faze her. Though she saw the sharp dark edges of her trouble aura, Leena continued undeterred.

"There's plenty of other places, or could just walk around and get to know the area."

"Yeah, maybe," the girl made herself reply, really not sure what she was meant to be doing with her time while she was staying there. All she cared about was on her computer.

Would it be rude to them if she stayed upstairs all day?

She'd never had much in that way to care about in previous homes. Then again, none of the families she stayed with ever actually wanted her around, so it worked out nicely for everyone.

As uncomfortable as it felt, these people here actually seemed to be making an effort. So she should probably do the same. Clearing her throat and pushing her eggs around with her fork, she looked up for a second."

"Thanks," she muttered and then sat up straighter, "for breakfast."

"Of course," Leena returned with a smile.

X

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"We need to talk," Helena demanded; catching up to Artie as he was about to get into his car.

"Yes, and we'll talk at the warehouse, like I said," he replied throwing his bag in the car and mumbled an additional, "away from little ears."

"Not about the missions," she told him; wanting to make it clear to him that he wasn't to do anything to make the girl inside feel unwelcome, "We need to talk about Claudia."

The man let out a sigh and dropped his head back. He took off the dark lenses attached to his glasses in the bright sun and looked at his agent.

"No, we don't," he disagreed, "She's here; that's enough. You wanted her here, you got what you wanted. We still have work to do; work that cannot be discussed in front of your little guest."

"Artie-"she began.

"Tell Pete and Myka to pack for California," he interrupted, putting his sunglasses back on, "They can call me for details on the way to their plane, which leaves in two hours. So tell them to get a move on."

"Just Pete and Myka?"

"Well I figured you'd like to stay behind with your new friend," he remarked, "after some inventory of course."

"Of course," she muttered to herself as he got in the car and drove off.

The cherry red sports car- the one luxury Artie afforded himself – peeled away literally leaving her in the dust.

With a sigh she returned to the house to deliver the message. So much for the bit of time she was hoping to get with Myka after the craziness of the last mission. Speaking of their last outing, Helena took her seat beside Claudia once more and tried to get an idea of how she was doing.

"Everything ok?" Myka asked her.

She gave her a smile and slipped her hand over hers, lacing their fingers together.

"Everything's wonderful; just getting a few details about the new assignment for you and Pete."

"Assignment?" Pete groaned a bit, "We just got back. Where to now?"

"Not sure exactly, all he said was California and you have two hours to catch your flight. He suggests calling him on the way for details of the case."

"California?" he repeated and then clapped his hands together, "Woohoohoo! Why didn't you say so? Beaches, beauties and land of celebrity. Hey maybe I'll get discovered, what do you think?"

Myka couldn't help the small snort that came as the man raised an eyebrow and seemed to pose for an imaginary camera. He looked offended at his partner.

"What? It could happen. Harrison Ford was discovered while he was installing cabinets, you know."

"Is that true?" Myka asked in a tone she reserved just for Pete's antics.

"Who?" Helena asked as well.

"I think so," he answered Myka and then pointed at her girlfriend and dramatically spoke, "and how dare you? Myka I know you think it's adorable how out of touch she is but, please, educate your woman. Better yet, let me educate her or she'll never know truly awesome cinema magic."

"Pete, shut up and go pack."

Pete grabbed one more biscuit as he stood up, taking a huge bite and speaking with a full mouth as he walked away.

"I'm serious; we're watching Star Wars as soon as we get back!"

He continued to say more as he made his way upstairs but the distance as well as the food he was eating made it impossible to tell what else he was saying.

"You're not coming?"

"Inventory," she said simply, "At least that was the excuse."

"Excuse for wha-" Myka stopped herself and looked at Leena who purposefully moved her eyes towards Claudia, knowing Myka would understand; reminding her of the young girl's presence. She tried to recover before the girl could catch on that Helena doing inventory was likely Artie's punishment for insisting on Claudia coming with them, "I'm sure if he asked for your help, it's because he needs it."

Myka cleared her throat, questions coming to mind that she wanted to ask the other woman about the conversation she'd had with Artie. On top of that, Myka had felt each time the night before that Helena had gotten up to go check on the girl after what had to have been a nightmare.

"Well, I should pack too," she stated, setting a hand on Helena's shoulder, "Come with me?"

"Sure," she said with a smile, setting her hand over the one on her shoulder, "I'll be up in a minute."

At these words, the girl who'd once again become quiet and withdrawn as conversation had gone on around her, spoke again.

"You want to talk, talk," Claudia said, "It's your house; you don't have to make excuses for privacy."

"Claudia that's not it."

"We aren't-"

The two spoke at the same time but the girl already stood up, leaving the room without looking back.

"Whatever."

X

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Claudia shut herself in the room once more; part of her cursing herself for acting like a baby and throwing her fit, but the other part couldn't care less. She meant to try. She really did, but she couldn't focus on anything except that feeling. Ever since Artie came in the room and started talking, it was there. It calmed down a bit after looking at the time, but it didn't silence.

The feeling that she was missing something…she hated it. She hated it.

It had something to do with Artie; it had to. As sure as she was that it involved him, for some reason she kept coming back to Joshua and that flash of light.

Pacing back and forth a few times, she then moved quickly to her laptop and opened it up. She swiped her bangs away from her face as she sat down and went back to the work she'd been doing before that crazy bastard found her walking home.

She'd finally found the hole she needed to get into the campus security archives. There had to be closed circuit footage; it was a long time ago, but it had to be there somewhere. She didn't know how long they kept the footage, but she was convinced there was a way to find it and she was the one who could do it.

She needed to know what happened before that light, what really happened afterwards.

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