Claudia Donovan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notmyownage) wrote2011-02-20 11:11 am
notmyownage) wrote2011-02-20 11:11 am
Entry tags:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Sunday
Claudia lead the way into the lab, leaving Jake standing watch outside. Artie, adjusted his glasses, staring around in awe.
“It really is Joshua’s lab.”
“That’s what I told you, genius.” Claudia rolled her eyes, heading for the center of the room. “Come on, let’s do this.”
“Do what, Claudia? Without the compass, the only thing you have any hope of accomplishing is accidentally killing us both!”
“You know, it’d be really nice if you showed a little faith in me.” Claudia rubbed her forehead, hunching her shoulders in. She felt a little . . . off, like she was coming down with something.
Last time she’d felt this, Joshua’s glowy little ghost form thing had come to visit.
“Claudia.” Artie stepped towards her, and she backed up a step instinctually. “You’re not well.”
She waved him off. “I’ve just been pushing myself. You know how that goes. You always get a little sick.” Joshua was here, she knew he was. Was it Artie? Did Joshua blame him for what happened? Was he hiding?
“You tried the experiment, didn’t you.”
“Someone had to. I wasn’t just going to . . . leave it alone, Artie. Some of us didn’t get to forget.”
“I never forgot.”
“Yeah, well, you sure didn’t do much about it.” Claudia leaned back against one of the lab tables and rubbed her head. “I couldn’t -- ignore --” She couldn’t breathe. This had definitely happened before. He was here. “He’s coming!”
A wind picked up through the lab, whipping Claudia’s hair into her face. Artie spun in place, staring around again. “What? Claudia, what’s wrong? What’s happening?”
Claudia wasn’t listening. A haze of reddish gold had wrapped around her head, extending out into a glowing, amorphous form. “Joshua!”
The form smacked Artie in the side of the head, nearly sending him tumbling. “Claudia, that can’t --” And then the form resolved itself into a young man, floating in mid air, his face open and terrified, his hands reaching towards Artie.
“Joshua?” Artie slipped backwards a step. His eyes went wide. “Joshua!”
The form faded as suddenly as it came, leaving Claudia drained and gasping, slumped harder against the table. She peered at Artie through her hair as she tried to catch her breath.
“Told you.” She stumbled, the lab table doing most of the work holding her up. Artie stepped closer.
“Hey, sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
“Right. And the nosebleed?”
Claudia put her hand to her nose. Sure enough, she felt blood. “It’s nothing. It’s been a crazy week. Random kids and train heists and jaunty sea shanties.”
By the look on Artie’s face, he was pretty sure she was delirious. “Yeah, let me guess. You felt worse the minute you walked in here. You’re so close to it you can’t see, Claudia, but it’s your connection to this experiment that’s making you sick.”
“It’s not, it’s just -- it’s. . . .” Claudia trailed off, not looking at Artie. She’d refused to admit it, that Jake and Scully were probably right, that she really was hurting herself with this. She had to do it. They understood that part, at least. Why couldn’t Artie?
“It’s just,” Artie agreed, his tone soft. “You shouldn’t have done this, Claudia. I’m shutting you down.”
“No, no, you said you’d help me!”
“What I said was I would look. Which I have. And believe me, shutting you down? That is helping you. Your wolf friend’ll probably even agree.”
“Okay, okay, fine.” Claudia folded her arms. “Fine, shut me down. Go ahead. You abandoned him once, why shouldn’t you do it again?”
“It isn’t like that.”
“Oh no, it’s exactly like that. Joshua and me, on our own, again. It’s a good thing I’m used to it.”
Artie stared at her, lifting one hand consolingly. “I know that . . . it hasn’t been easy.”
Claudia laughed. “No. No it hasn’t been easy. He was all I had after our parents died, and then he was gone, too. He spent his fun years sewing campfire girl patches and reading Maria Looney on the Red Planet to me every night. He was a genius who put his life on hold for me.”
Artie swallowed. “None of that’s your fault.”
Claudia closed her eyes. “I opened a door to wherever he is, and now he’s in pain. You saw his face. That is my fault. Me. I’m the epic fail.”
“Claudia, it is making you sick.”
“I owe him. And so do you. And we’re running out of time. Dammit, Artie!” She swallowed hard, her eyes burning. “Please. Help me save Joshua.”
Artie nodded.
* * *
”Lattimer.”
“Pete. How are you? How you doing?”
”Artie! Artie, hey man, are you alright?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m okay, I’m okay. I’m just here with a few old friends, that’s all.”
”Claudia Donovan. And a couple other teenagers.”
“Very good. You read my lips using the durational spectrometer, didn’t you?”
”Where is he? Wait, wait, he probably doesn’t know.”
“Right. Artie, do you hear anything? Like a, freeway? Machinery?”
”Train whistles! Ask him if he hears any train whistles.”
“Hey. Hey! Hey! Look, uh, the truth is that I’m helping her, alright?”
”You’re . . . helping her?”
”He’s helping her? You’re helping her, Artie?”
“I figured that you’d be halfway towards finding us, but you can stop now, you hear me? You can stop.”
”No, Artie, she’s dangerous! Do you know how many foster homes she destroyed? Social services sent her out of state to control her!”
“Oh. I - I - poor kid. I didn’t know.”
”No, no, not poor kid, poor Artie! She’s obsessed with you, she’s obsessed with the Warehouse, and I’m not letting you stay with her.”
“Ha, you’re not letting me? That’s really cute, Myka.”
”Cute. CUTE. Does she have a gun on you?”
“Okay, look. These kids’ lives were messed up, but -- they’re in trouble, I can help, that’s all you need to know.”
”Well, let us come and help you.”
“No, no! Bad enough she’s got her tall friend hanging out outside, no! We have everything we need to make this work, and I’m telling you I am fine.”
“Artie, Artie, wait -- wait, Artie --”
*click*
* * *
Artie strode back into the lab, carrying a briefcase, looking over his shoulder to make sure Jake hadn’t followed him all the way in. “You’re lucky I had my emergency kit in the trunk of my car.”
“Well, Serendipity is my stripper name.”
Artie stared at her blankly. Claudia shrugged. Artie shook his head and started pulling artifacts from his bag. “Ben Franklin’s lightning rod.”
“I thought his thing was a key.”
“No no no. Everyone fixates on the key. This is much better, trust me.” Artie continued to pull things out, handing Claudia the horn from an old phonograph. “Listen. I heard about the foster homes. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, well. It’s not as bad as it sounds.” Claudia shrugged. “It’s how I met the crew.”
Somehow, Artie didn’t look like he found that very reassuring. There was no time to dwell on it, though, as Claudia felt like she’d been punched in the gut as the wind kicked up, gasping for breath all over again.
Only this time, the breath just wasn’t coming.
“Claudia? Claudia!”
Claudia clung tighter to the phonograph horn. “He’s -- he’s back,” she managed, and then slumped down onto her side, losing consciousness and leaving Artie alone with Joshua for the first time in more than five years.
“You don’t have to hide it, Artie. I’m stuck.”
“No, Joshua, I can help you.”
”Claudia’s tied to this now, and it’s killing her. You’re tied to it, too.”
“It’s Claudia I’m worried about. Joshua, you come back twice more, I can hold you here. Save you both!”
”Would you look at her? This place is growing increasingly unstable and it’s getting worse. Next time I show up here, it’ll kill her. You have to cut the tether. That conducter you’re using? Just blow it up. Use that.”
“No, that’ll destroy the whole -- it’ll kill you, Joshua.”
”I know. You can’t save us both. To save her, you have to kill me.”
And then he was gone. Claudia woke with a gasp. “Joshua . . . come and gone already? Craptastic.”
Artie helped her to sit leaning against the desk. “You alright?”
Claudia nodded, smiling. “Listen. Thank you.”
Artie leaned his head against hers, knowing she wouldn’t be thanking him, once this was all over. He pulled away.
“I made a promise,” he said. “To Joshua. That I’d look out for you.” Claudia frowned, watching from the floor as Artie went to clip leads into the lightning rod. “That’s why I’m going to blow this up.”
“What?” Claudia tried to push to her feet, but only slid back to the ground. “No, Artie, that’ll kill him!”
“If we keep going it’ll kill you. I don’t care if you hate me, I’m not letting that happen.”
Claudia glared at him, still trying to push herself up. “I do hate you. I’ll never --” She heaved in a breath. “I’ll never forgive --”
Joshua was on his way back, and she was still reeling from the last time. She couldn’t let Artie kill him. She had to. . . . She lost consciousness again.
“Claudia, I’m sorry.” Artie looked over her slumped form sadly. “But I’ve got to save one of you.” He looked back towards the lightning rod. “Show time.”
Then the door slammed open, and Pete and Myka came barrelling in to let him know the final, essential, missing detail, the one thing that could possibly save both of the Donovans.
He just needed the compass. There was only one thing to do.
He gathered Claudia in his arms, and went to the middle of the electrical field. “Claudia!” Her head wobbled -- she was waking up. “I think I can save him. It’s not over. Joshua!” He stretched out his free hand. “Joshua, touch my hand!”
Joshua touched him, and the room exploded into light.
Two minutes, some name calling, a bit of confusion, and a missing latinate rule later, and Claudia and Artie reappeared in the middle of the lab, with a whole, hearty, and unaged Joshua Donovan.
Claudia’s squeeing probably reached dog whistle decibels.
They’d done it. They had her brother back.
[ooc: muchly riffed from Warehouse 13 ep 1x04, aptly named "Claudia". NFB, locked to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
need_no_moon or those in the know enough to place phone calls.]
“It really is Joshua’s lab.”
“That’s what I told you, genius.” Claudia rolled her eyes, heading for the center of the room. “Come on, let’s do this.”
“Do what, Claudia? Without the compass, the only thing you have any hope of accomplishing is accidentally killing us both!”
“You know, it’d be really nice if you showed a little faith in me.” Claudia rubbed her forehead, hunching her shoulders in. She felt a little . . . off, like she was coming down with something.
Last time she’d felt this, Joshua’s glowy little ghost form thing had come to visit.
“Claudia.” Artie stepped towards her, and she backed up a step instinctually. “You’re not well.”
She waved him off. “I’ve just been pushing myself. You know how that goes. You always get a little sick.” Joshua was here, she knew he was. Was it Artie? Did Joshua blame him for what happened? Was he hiding?
“You tried the experiment, didn’t you.”
“Someone had to. I wasn’t just going to . . . leave it alone, Artie. Some of us didn’t get to forget.”
“I never forgot.”
“Yeah, well, you sure didn’t do much about it.” Claudia leaned back against one of the lab tables and rubbed her head. “I couldn’t -- ignore --” She couldn’t breathe. This had definitely happened before. He was here. “He’s coming!”
A wind picked up through the lab, whipping Claudia’s hair into her face. Artie spun in place, staring around again. “What? Claudia, what’s wrong? What’s happening?”
Claudia wasn’t listening. A haze of reddish gold had wrapped around her head, extending out into a glowing, amorphous form. “Joshua!”
The form smacked Artie in the side of the head, nearly sending him tumbling. “Claudia, that can’t --” And then the form resolved itself into a young man, floating in mid air, his face open and terrified, his hands reaching towards Artie.
“Joshua?” Artie slipped backwards a step. His eyes went wide. “Joshua!”
The form faded as suddenly as it came, leaving Claudia drained and gasping, slumped harder against the table. She peered at Artie through her hair as she tried to catch her breath.
“Told you.” She stumbled, the lab table doing most of the work holding her up. Artie stepped closer.
“Hey, sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
“Right. And the nosebleed?”
Claudia put her hand to her nose. Sure enough, she felt blood. “It’s nothing. It’s been a crazy week. Random kids and train heists and jaunty sea shanties.”
By the look on Artie’s face, he was pretty sure she was delirious. “Yeah, let me guess. You felt worse the minute you walked in here. You’re so close to it you can’t see, Claudia, but it’s your connection to this experiment that’s making you sick.”
“It’s not, it’s just -- it’s. . . .” Claudia trailed off, not looking at Artie. She’d refused to admit it, that Jake and Scully were probably right, that she really was hurting herself with this. She had to do it. They understood that part, at least. Why couldn’t Artie?
“It’s just,” Artie agreed, his tone soft. “You shouldn’t have done this, Claudia. I’m shutting you down.”
“No, no, you said you’d help me!”
“What I said was I would look. Which I have. And believe me, shutting you down? That is helping you. Your wolf friend’ll probably even agree.”
“Okay, okay, fine.” Claudia folded her arms. “Fine, shut me down. Go ahead. You abandoned him once, why shouldn’t you do it again?”
“It isn’t like that.”
“Oh no, it’s exactly like that. Joshua and me, on our own, again. It’s a good thing I’m used to it.”
Artie stared at her, lifting one hand consolingly. “I know that . . . it hasn’t been easy.”
Claudia laughed. “No. No it hasn’t been easy. He was all I had after our parents died, and then he was gone, too. He spent his fun years sewing campfire girl patches and reading Maria Looney on the Red Planet to me every night. He was a genius who put his life on hold for me.”
Artie swallowed. “None of that’s your fault.”
Claudia closed her eyes. “I opened a door to wherever he is, and now he’s in pain. You saw his face. That is my fault. Me. I’m the epic fail.”
“Claudia, it is making you sick.”
“I owe him. And so do you. And we’re running out of time. Dammit, Artie!” She swallowed hard, her eyes burning. “Please. Help me save Joshua.”
Artie nodded.
”Lattimer.”
“Pete. How are you? How you doing?”
”Artie! Artie, hey man, are you alright?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m okay, I’m okay. I’m just here with a few old friends, that’s all.”
”Claudia Donovan. And a couple other teenagers.”
“Very good. You read my lips using the durational spectrometer, didn’t you?”
”Where is he? Wait, wait, he probably doesn’t know.”
“Right. Artie, do you hear anything? Like a, freeway? Machinery?”
”Train whistles! Ask him if he hears any train whistles.”
“Hey. Hey! Hey! Look, uh, the truth is that I’m helping her, alright?”
”You’re . . . helping her?”
”He’s helping her? You’re helping her, Artie?”
“I figured that you’d be halfway towards finding us, but you can stop now, you hear me? You can stop.”
”No, Artie, she’s dangerous! Do you know how many foster homes she destroyed? Social services sent her out of state to control her!”
“Oh. I - I - poor kid. I didn’t know.”
”No, no, not poor kid, poor Artie! She’s obsessed with you, she’s obsessed with the Warehouse, and I’m not letting you stay with her.”
“Ha, you’re not letting me? That’s really cute, Myka.”
”Cute. CUTE. Does she have a gun on you?”
“Okay, look. These kids’ lives were messed up, but -- they’re in trouble, I can help, that’s all you need to know.”
”Well, let us come and help you.”
“No, no! Bad enough she’s got her tall friend hanging out outside, no! We have everything we need to make this work, and I’m telling you I am fine.”
“Artie, Artie, wait -- wait, Artie --”
*click*
Artie strode back into the lab, carrying a briefcase, looking over his shoulder to make sure Jake hadn’t followed him all the way in. “You’re lucky I had my emergency kit in the trunk of my car.”
“Well, Serendipity is my stripper name.”
Artie stared at her blankly. Claudia shrugged. Artie shook his head and started pulling artifacts from his bag. “Ben Franklin’s lightning rod.”
“I thought his thing was a key.”
“No no no. Everyone fixates on the key. This is much better, trust me.” Artie continued to pull things out, handing Claudia the horn from an old phonograph. “Listen. I heard about the foster homes. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, well. It’s not as bad as it sounds.” Claudia shrugged. “It’s how I met the crew.”
Somehow, Artie didn’t look like he found that very reassuring. There was no time to dwell on it, though, as Claudia felt like she’d been punched in the gut as the wind kicked up, gasping for breath all over again.
Only this time, the breath just wasn’t coming.
“Claudia? Claudia!”
Claudia clung tighter to the phonograph horn. “He’s -- he’s back,” she managed, and then slumped down onto her side, losing consciousness and leaving Artie alone with Joshua for the first time in more than five years.
“You don’t have to hide it, Artie. I’m stuck.”
“No, Joshua, I can help you.”
”Claudia’s tied to this now, and it’s killing her. You’re tied to it, too.”
“It’s Claudia I’m worried about. Joshua, you come back twice more, I can hold you here. Save you both!”
”Would you look at her? This place is growing increasingly unstable and it’s getting worse. Next time I show up here, it’ll kill her. You have to cut the tether. That conducter you’re using? Just blow it up. Use that.”
“No, that’ll destroy the whole -- it’ll kill you, Joshua.”
”I know. You can’t save us both. To save her, you have to kill me.”
And then he was gone. Claudia woke with a gasp. “Joshua . . . come and gone already? Craptastic.”
Artie helped her to sit leaning against the desk. “You alright?”
Claudia nodded, smiling. “Listen. Thank you.”
Artie leaned his head against hers, knowing she wouldn’t be thanking him, once this was all over. He pulled away.
“I made a promise,” he said. “To Joshua. That I’d look out for you.” Claudia frowned, watching from the floor as Artie went to clip leads into the lightning rod. “That’s why I’m going to blow this up.”
“What?” Claudia tried to push to her feet, but only slid back to the ground. “No, Artie, that’ll kill him!”
“If we keep going it’ll kill you. I don’t care if you hate me, I’m not letting that happen.”
Claudia glared at him, still trying to push herself up. “I do hate you. I’ll never --” She heaved in a breath. “I’ll never forgive --”
Joshua was on his way back, and she was still reeling from the last time. She couldn’t let Artie kill him. She had to. . . . She lost consciousness again.
“Claudia, I’m sorry.” Artie looked over her slumped form sadly. “But I’ve got to save one of you.” He looked back towards the lightning rod. “Show time.”
Then the door slammed open, and Pete and Myka came barrelling in to let him know the final, essential, missing detail, the one thing that could possibly save both of the Donovans.
He just needed the compass. There was only one thing to do.
He gathered Claudia in his arms, and went to the middle of the electrical field. “Claudia!” Her head wobbled -- she was waking up. “I think I can save him. It’s not over. Joshua!” He stretched out his free hand. “Joshua, touch my hand!”
Joshua touched him, and the room exploded into light.
Two minutes, some name calling, a bit of confusion, and a missing latinate rule later, and Claudia and Artie reappeared in the middle of the lab, with a whole, hearty, and unaged Joshua Donovan.
Claudia’s squeeing probably reached dog whistle decibels.
They’d done it. They had her brother back.
[ooc: muchly riffed from Warehouse 13 ep 1x04, aptly named "Claudia". NFB, locked to
need_no_moon or those in the know enough to place phone calls.]
Re: From Hawaii, after sleeps.
Re: From Hawaii, after sleeps.
Re: From Hawaii, after sleeps.