Author's Note: This is my first post in the Warehouse 13-verse, so be gentle, and review, please!

Helena resisted the urge to walk in.

It had been a long time since she and Leena's old bed and breakfast had crossed paths; long enough, in fact, that she had to remind herself that Leena no longer played host to the quaint inn of Warehouse 13.

So instead of walking in, she stared at the door, and took a deep breath. She stood, with the vain hope of calming her trembling nerves and hands – at least long enough to form a fist and knock. Although she'd lived there once, she'd left it for what she'd imagined to be more normal things. Better things. But she'd been wrong, and wrong was something that Helena Wells hated to be.

Another moment, then, Helena thought to herself, before shaking her head at her own cowardice. But even with that admission of weakness, Helena couldn't fight it, and she remained frozen just outside the door.

Until it opened, anyway.

"I still think the Mustang's the way to go," Steve argued, then stopped short at the door when he laid eyes on their guest.

Helena tried to smile.

"No way, dude! Artie's already put so much work into Scarlet, she could beat the Mustang by a freakin' mile!" Claudia argued, grabbing her coat and charging directly into Steve's back. "Ouch! What the hell, Jinksy?"

Then she peeked around him, and tried to conceal a grimace before she said, "Oh. 'Sup, HG."

"Hello, Claudia," Helena did smile this time. She'd always found the young redhead amusing, and she felt very affectionate toward her.

"So," Claudia cleared her throat and exchanged a look with Steve, before awkwardly continuing, "what brings you here? Death? Mayhem? Chaos? Unpleasant and destructive combination of the three?"

"Oh, no, nothing of the sort, this time" Helena replied, a short laugh touching the ends of her words. Although the British woman could never really be described as awkward, per se, it was clear that she was uncomfortable as well. "I just ah – fancied a visit."

"Right," Claudia said, pulling that unpleasant face that she'd tried to mask when she'd first appeared at the door. "Well, c'mon then, Warehouse is this a'way! You can ride with us!"

Helena detected her false enthusiasm and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She was getting the distinct impression that Claudia didn't want her here. Not that she could blame her, she supposed; she had left without much of a goodbye, and although she never understood, she knew that Claudia had, at times, admired her and her work.

"I thought I might step in for a moment. Maybe see if I can't find Pete and Myka," Helena said, making a move forward.

She briefly watched Claudia shake her head urgently at Steve, and while he threw a sort of 'Well, what am I supposed to do?' look back at her, he stepped into Helena's path to block the doorway.

"Uh… Pete's at the Warehouse, and Myka just stepped into town. She's kinda grumpy," Steve said, but quickly changed subjects after a sharp elbow to the gut from Claudia. "Plus, Claude's got this new gazooka toy and she's been dying to show everyone, and she keeps telling me how much you'd love it, so…" He gestured with his hand in the direction of the car, while Claudia nodded with a large, fake grin.

Helena wasn't entirely sure of what was going on, but she was certain that if she asked, she'd be shut down immediately and quite possibly stolen away by The Regents. And she'd seen quite enough of them lately, thank you very much.

"Righty-ho," she replied, smiling. If they could plaster on a cheerful façade, she certainly wouldn't be outdone. "After you, then."

The short ride to the Warehouse was just shy of painful. Claudia and Steve kept the conversation moving, and Helena participated when it was clear that they were choosing to include her, but she still sensed that something was off and was very eager to remove herself from this damn silver automobile.

When they arrived, however, she couldn't help but to smile when she saw that, indeed, Myka's car was parked in front of the unassuming, wondrous structure. She didn't miss the almost panicked expression on Claudia's face when she laid eyes on it, clearly not expecting the vehicle to be there, but Helena chose to ignore it.

Myka was the one thing about this initial situation that she was looking forward to. After all that she'd done, she couldn't be surprised at Jinks and Claudia's discomfort, but she wouldn't let that or whatever they were hiding from her keep her from being thrilled to see her friend again, even if she had seen her just three days prior.

She followed behind the suddenly quiet agents as they opened the door and walked in.

"Artie!" Claudia called loudly.

"What?" The grouchy man snapped. "I'm right here, you little imp. Lower your voice, if you please." The sarcasm that coated his request was almost comforting to Helena.

"Look who we found," Steve said, shifting his body slightly to reveal HG.

Artie rolled around in his chair and immediately frowned. "Oh no."

Unable to help herself, Helena tossed her hands into the air and asked, "Why is it that no one seems at all pleased to see me?"

"I'm pleased to see you!" Claudia disputed, and hugged the woman in an overly friendly manner. "See? Pleased as punch! And all that…" Then she pulled away and shook her head at herself, frowning as she realized she'd overdone it.

"I see," Helena replied, squinting dubiously.

"We are," Artie said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile that was not forced, but Helena could see that it was reluctant. "Happy to see you, I mean. It's just that – no. Well – nevermind. What are you doing here?"

"I had imagined that The Regents would have at least spoken with you," Helena said disbelievingly.

"They did. They have. Yesterday. But I wasn't expecting you until next week," Artie informed.

"Regents?" Steve perked up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Artie replied, frustrated.

"Regents," Claudia repeated, staring him down. "They never chip in when things are good, so what's the bad, Artie?"

"It isn't bad," Artie all but growled back, warning the diminutive redhead to quit badgering. "HG's just coming back to work with us, that's all."

"Uh oh," Steve said, covering his ears as he anticipated –

"You can't be freakin' serious!" Claudia burst. "I know we've all forgiven her for trying to destroy the world and all its inhabitants, and that's she's, y'know, brilliant and all, but have you seen Myka lately, because she's – "

"Claude," Steve stepped in quietly and shook his head.

"Myka?" Helena asked softly, now urgently concerned as a horrible feeling descended upon her. "What's wrong with Myka? Is she alright?"

"No. You know what, no, she isn't," Claudia whirled on her and took a step forward.

"Claudia!" Steve and Artie shouted her name this time, all but demanding her to shut up.

The girl's mouth shut and she huffed angrily for a moment, before snatching her laptop off the desk and stomping down the steps.

"Artie, is Myka alright?" Helena asked again, this time moving forward to look over the Warehouse and see if she couldn't spot her dear friend through the window.

"Yes," Artie said. "She's fine."

"Well, not fine, exactly," Steve murmured.

Helena turned to face him, fully expecting an answer, but she didn't receive one.

"For God's sake," Helena hissed. "Just tell me where she is and I'll see that she's fine for myself."

But neither of the boys answered, so Helena urged her feet to move from their frozen state of terror and hurried down the steps into the Warehouse. She knew that Myka was here, but it would have been infinitely easier if they would have just spoken to her and told her where she could find Myka, because this place was, simply put, massive.

Helena tried to focus her senses, but she couldn't see anything that indicated Myka's presence, and all that she could hear was the quickening drum of her heart in her ears.

Then, through her fog, she heard the unmistakable and familiar sound of Claudia's fingers tip-tapping on the keyboard. Helena could clearly observe that the girl was furious with her, and she was very curious as to why, but her curiosity and simultaneous reluctance to step into Claudia's path of rage were seconded only by her now overwhelming fear for Myka's safety.

So she followed the noise to find the Warehouse's future caretaker, and the feverish patter of her fingers.

"Claudia," she called quietly.

The redhead looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes, before resuming whatever it was that she'd been doing before Helena's interruption.

"Listen, I see that you're upset with me – " Claudia scoffed, but Helena ignored her own irritation at the sound and continued as calmly as she could, "but I'm very worried about Myka at the moment, as no one will tell me what's wrong with her or where I can find her, so if you could… well, if you could help me with that, I'd be very grateful."

Claudia frowned and looked over her shoulder again. "Why is it that you're never worried about Myka when it matters?"

"Well, I'm worried about her now, alright?" Helena snapped.

"Whatever's wrong with Myka, it's your fault," Claudia replied angrily, standing to face the older woman with her hands on her hips.

"My fault? But how?"

"Because you hurt her!" Claudia exploded.

Urgent footsteps descended upon them until Pete slid to a halt, gun drawn. "Claudia? What's wrong? I heard shouting," he demanded, looking around the corner. He slowly lowered his gun, however, when he set eyes on Helena.

"Oh. HG. What are you doing here?" He asked, looking to Claudia, who had reseated herself in front of her laptop and was smashing the keys with a new vengeance. "I thought you were staying in Wisconsin. With Nate."

Helena didn't miss the tinge of distaste as he uttered her former lover's name, but that was a conversation for later.

"I'm here to work. But everyone seems on edge and no one will tell me why, and all I've thus far gathered is that something's wrong with Myka, and I can't seem to find her," Helena rushed, her cheeks flushing with frustration and worry.

Pete sighed. "HG, Myka's fine. She's… you know, Myka. She's a little upset right now, but she isn't hurt."

"Yes she is," Claudia argued passionately. "She's hurt a lot."

"She's not hurt like that," Pete amended, glaring at Claudia. "She just needs some time, that's all. And she'll be fine."

"Pete," Helena's voice fell out on a broken, concerned whisper, and although 'please' never touched her lips, Pete could hear that she was, indeed, pleading with him.

But before Pete had decided whether to help Helena or not, Helena heard, with great relief, Myka's voice call out.

"Pete? Is everything okay? I heard shouting."

"Everything's fine, Mykes!" Pete called back. "It's just… Well, HG is here."

Myka rounded the corner as well, and Helena was so pleased to see her that she jolted forward and wrapped her in a hug.

"Myka!" Helena exclaimed, then whispered into the startled agent's ear as she pulled her tightly against her. "I thought something terrible had happened."

"Something terrible did happen," Claudia murmured not-so-quietly, refusing to face the pair.

Ignoring her, Helena continued, "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright."

"Of course I am," Myka said, loosely circling her arms around the slightly smaller woman. "Why wouldn't I be?"

As Helena's relief ebbed away, she could hear the scrape of Myka's voice. When she separated herself from the other Warehouse agent, just enough to touch her shoulders and get a decent look at her, she noticed Myka's flushed face and mussed hair. And, although she wasn't certain, she thought that the other woman's eyes were watered.

"No reason," Helena tried to smile softly, pulling her close again. "No reason at all."

"Claude, I think we should go check on Artie," Pete said, leaning down beside her and nudging her with his arm. "See if he needs some help," he urged more insistently, when Claudia ignored his suggestion.

"Really? Because I think we should stay here and make sure – "

"Claudia," Pete said quietly, "Myka needs this."

The redhead looked up at them unhappily, but eventually subsided and grabbed her laptop. They could hear, in the distance, the small girl grumbling about being forced to relocate herself all morning so that other people could take over her space and upset her friends.

"Helena?" Myka asked softly. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

"I've been reinstated," Helena said, pulling away again, but sliding her fingers down Myka's arm until she reached her hand. Then her fingers gripped those of her friend's and pulled her to sit beside her on the ground. "Or, re-reinstated, I suppose."

Myka frowned. Helena had seen a lot of those this morning, and she found she wasn't very fond of them. "Why?"

"Oh, you know," Helena shrugged carefully, "same song, different tune. The Warehouse is my home."

Myka was quiet for a moment, and Helena, although she didn't realize it, held her breath as Myka scrutinized her. "I thought your home was in Wisconsin, now. With Nate and Adelaide?"

Helena sighed. "Yes, well, as it turns out, Nate wasn't thrilled with finding out about who I am or what I did. And Adelaide… She's a lovely girl, but you were right. She wasn't – she isn't my Christina."

Myka's eyes turned sad. Or, sadder, Helena mentally amended. "No," Myka said, shaking her head. "I told you, I was wrong to have said that."

"I recall," Helena smiled gently, ducking her head to pull Myka's gaze to hers. "Something about losing a friend," she smiled again, but was confused as she watched Myka turn her face away. "But you were also right. I didn't intend it when I met them, but I had been searching for replacements for my family. And although I miss her very much," Helena sighed sadly, "Adelaide was not my family, nor was Nate. My family is here."

When Myka said nothing, still, and didn't shift her gaze again, Helena squeezed her fingers tightly.

"Myka," she whispered, "I thought – well, I'd hoped that you'd be happy to see me."

"I am," Myka looked up, finally, but her eyes were hazy and Helena could see that wherever her friend's mind was, it wasn't in a cheerful place. "I just – you were supposed to fight for him. I told you to fight for him."

"I wasn't going to fight for someone I didn't love," Helena replied softly, growing more baffled with each word that Myka spoke, and the tearing of her eyes didn't help matters.

Helena saw guilt then, before Myka nodded and stood up. The younger woman extended her hand to HG, and Helena accepted it with some hesitation. She wasn't done speaking with Myka yet, and she hoped that this wasn't the end of their reunion, but it was obvious that something was wrong with her friend, so she elected to follow her lead.

"So you're staying?" Myka asked, dusting herself off.

It wasn't until she looked up, though, that Helena noted the hope in her eyes and voice.

"Well, that's the plan, anyway," Helena shrugged. "Although, perhaps not, if I can't make things right with the others."

Guilt again. "We'll fix it," Myka said, wandering down another aisle. Helena found, then, that Myka had no destination for them.

"I'm not sure how," Helena laughed a bit. "I'm not even certain what I did."

Myka looked over at her again, but didn't say anything. They walked a bit further before the agent spoke again.

"I really am happy to see you, Helena."