FF: All Your Faithless Loyalties 5/5 NC-17 Myka/HG
After lying for months in the chamber existing in suspended animation, Helena is in no hurry to sleep, despite the comfort and warmth of Myka’s bed and the lure of the beautiful woman in it. When her stomach growls loudly enough to wake half the household she carefully extracts herself from Myka and looks around for something to wear. To her utter surprise she finds one of her oversized shirts, rumpled but wearable. It doesn’t take much to guess that Myka had kept it as a memento and for a moment she is overcome once again by the enormity of not only her own actions, but those of her lover’s as well.
She pads silently down to the kitchen, intent to riffle through the cupboards for something edible, when she stops short just inside the door.
“Hello, HG.”
“Hello, Arthur.”
“I had a feeling you’d be the first one up.”
Helena’s eyes narrow, scrutinizing him. “Are you sure it’s not because you planted a camera in Myka’s room?”
“I don’t need to spy on my agents,” Artie retorts. Even if he had thought of it several times before.
“How is the shoulder,” Helena asks pointedly, baiting him. It’s something she just can’t help.
“Good as new,” Artie answers, too easily swayed into the old game between them. “How are your homicidal tendencies?”
“Growing stronger every moment of this conversation,” she answers icily.
They stare at each other in silence, assessing each other openly.
“I know it wasn’t entirely your fault,” Artie finally says, his words clipped short, as if each word brings a bad taste to his mouth. It is as close to an apology as he will ever get and he hates every second of it.
“But you still blame me.”
“You killed him… I’m not sure I can ever forgive you for that,” he admits softly, “even if I understand why you did it.”
Helena nods slowly. This she can understand and accept. “I know when they took me away you all assumed I would be swept off to some super maximum security Warehouse prison, but in truth, that chamber was more of a… laboratory.” She takes a breath, recounting the explanation Mrs. Frederic gave to her when she had finally been awoken from her suspended state. “You see, the imprinting MacPherson had done to my mind was so deeply woven into my psyche that it actually altered my brain wave patterns. He literally changed the way I thought. The Regents put me in that chamber to study what had been done, and… reset the programming. I had to be stripped of every emotion in order to undo what he had done to me.”
“I’m not making excuses for him.”
“And I’m not making excuses for myself,” Helena replies. “Stripped of my emotions I saw the things I had done in a new light. There was no justification for them. No excuses. I am sorry for killing MacPherson but I don’t expect you to forgive me. Just as I don’t expect Pete to forgive me for what I did to Kelly. But I will not stand by and watch Myka be punished for my actions, so if there are matters that need to be settled between us Arthur, let’s settle them now.” She takes a breath, her voice growing softer. “I’ve caused her more than enough pain for this lifetime. I won’t cause her more.”
Artie stands up slowly, gathering his ever-present bag as he walks past her. “Good. Because next time? I won’t miss.”
Helena waits for the door to shut before calling back, “Lovely chatting with you as well Arthur.” She starts across the kitchen for the kettle on the stove, stopping when she senses someone else’s breathing. She turns back to find Pete lingering in the doorway. “How much of that did you hear?”
“Sometime before he threatened to kill you,” Pete smiles sardonically.
“Well, I did threaten to kill him as well, so I suppose I deserved it.”
“Nice way to start your first day back.”
Helena rolls her eyes, annoyed at herself. There was just something too delightful about needling Arthur on a regular basis that she couldn’t turn down. “Old habits and all that.” She gives him a look, setting the kettle to boil. “You’re not going to start in on me as well, are you? Because I haven’t had a proper cup of tea in months and I’d really appreciate if you would wait until after I’ve had one.”
“I’m not going to yell at you.”
“No?”
“I was with Myka when she figured out what MacPherson did to you… I sort of know what you went through.”
“You do?”
Pete nods and sits down on a kitchen bar stool across from her. “It happened before you came back. There was this artifact,” he laughed softly, “I mean, when isn’t there an artifact right? But this one did a number on me, totally messed me up. Everyone thought I was drinking again. I saw enemies around every corner, completely paranoid. Almost killed a regent. If it hadn’t been for Myka and Artie… I probably would have. And done a whole lot worse.”
“So you understand,” Helena asks softly, almost pleading for recognition from this man who means so much to Myka.
“I understand,” Pete nods. “It’s gonna take a while for you to forgive yourself for everything - both the stuff you did on your own and the stuff you had no real choice in. But it comes, eventually. And it helps when you have someone like Mykes backing you up.” He grins now, laughing, “that woman does not like to give up.”
“Agreed,” Helena laughs, turning to the stove as the kettle whistles.
“Oh, and HG?” When she turns back, Pete’s grin has disappeared completely. “If you hurt her again, Artie won’t get the chance to shoot you.”
She nods, not so much frightened as impressed by his loyalty. “Also agreed.”
“Good,” Pete nods, as if that settles everything. A blink and he’s back to his usual goofy self. “Now, the important question… do you like pancakes?”
*
Myka wakes alone in bed and for a moment she panics, convinced the last few days, Helena’s return, are all a dream. But the sheets are mussed, and her body is sore in ways only a night of making love can make it, and she can still smell Helena on her pillows. She glances at the clock, frowns at how late she slept in, and pulls on some pajamas and a robe before following her nose down to the kitchen. To her utter amazement she finds Pete making pancakes while Helena pours out fresh cups of coffee for Claudia and Leena.
“How long did I sleep,” she asks incredulously, the sheer domesticity of the entire scene throwing her for a loop.
Pete laughs and tosses a pancake in the air, catching it behind his back in the pan. “Hotcakes! Get ‘em while they’re fresh!”
Grinning, Helena comes around the counter and hands her a fresh cup of coffee. “First, we need to get some decent tea in this house. Second, I need to find some pants-”
“I told her pantsless-Wednesdays were totally a thing around here but she doesn’t believe me Mykes!”
“-and third,” Helena smiles before leaning in to kiss Myka, “good morning, love.”
“Good morning.” And just like that everything clicks back into place, all the puzzle pieces of Myka’s life, askew and shoved into places they didn’t belong, are righted. It is as if she has been waiting her entire life for this moment, to find her place, to make it all fit.
As the others grab their plates and head into the sunroom, Helena waits, pulling Myka to her more firmly when they are out of sight. “Yesterday I was trapped in nothingness and this morning I have fresh pancakes. The universe is a wonderful and mysterious place and because of you I get to see it all again.”
“And I can’t wait to see it with you,” Myka smiles, taking Helena’s hand as they walk to the table.
*
Outside the house Artie leans against a black town car, drinking luke-warm coffee. There’s no surprise when Mrs. Frederic walks out the front door, the orb in her hands.
“Arthur.”
“Mrs. Frederic.” He takes a sip, grimacing at the taste. “Retrieving an artifact?”
“It’s served its purpose.”
“Never pictured you as a matchmaker.”
She smiles, ever so slightly, and opens up the door as Artie pushes himself off the car. “The Warehouse takes too much sometimes. Every once in a while it needs to give back.”
“Do you really think we can trust her?”
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Frederic admits, “but at least this time I’m certain of who we’re dealing with. And this H.G. Wells loves Myka too much to ever try and end the world again.” She slides into the car, adding as an afterthought, “But I wouldn’t put it past her to peruse the Warehouse for something interesting. Make sure the security system is up to date, will you?”
Finis.