Early November 2012: Leena's B&B/The Warehouse

[damncompass]

It was a long night, but an amazing one. In an effort to spend more time with Helena, instead of just talking about it, Joshua took her out to a new restaurant in Featherhead, and then to a movie, and by the time they got home, it was late.

Flopping into bed, Joshua heard the usual chaos of about eleven PM at the B&B. Guess it's just a normal night.

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[timelessinventor]

It's not long after they get to bed that Helena's sound asleep.



Unfortunately, it's not long after that that an unfamiliar alarm sounds.

"...the bloody hell is that?"

[damncompass]

"The shit?" Joshua sits up, blearily. "Are we on fucking fire or something? I don't smell smoke."

[timelessinventor]

"Go ask someone? I'm sure we're not the only ones that woke up." As there seems to be no immediate danger, Helena's entirely in favor of going back to sleep - but not until they know what the alarm is.

[damncompass]

"Ok." He kisses her on the cheek and gets out of bed, poking his head out of the door. "Hey... Claud? Are we on fire?"

[claudiometer]

"No, Artie had us put in some motion detectors in the Warehouse after the MacPherson bullshit and they went off." She's willing to bet it's just Artie skulking around in the dark, but.
"Go back to bed, sleepyhead. I think the rest of us can handle this."

[damncompass]

"oh, ok. Probably better to have trained agents who are awake than a scientist. 'm kinda useless anyway. I'm keeping the Victorian, though."

[claudiometer]

"You do that, brother dear."
With one last eyeroll, Claudia heads downstairs.

[damncompass]

"I will. Be careful, little sister." With that, he goes back into the bedroom and flops into bed. "'s ok. They've got it. Alarms in the Warehouse, and there's four agents going after it."

[timelessinventor]

"If it's any worse than that, they'll call us." Helena rolls over to snuggle Joshua. "We'll be fine. Love you."

[damncompass]

"Love you too."

Joshua grins, and falls asleep fairly quickly.

The hours pass, and at about ten-thirty, Joshua's backup alarm beeps quietly a few times. Ergh.

[timelessinventor]

Eventually, it breaks through Helena's sleep as well.

"At least we know what this alarm is for."

[damncompass]

"Yeah, we do." Joshua stretches. "mmmmm. What do you want for breakfast?"

[timelessinventor]

"I can't say I've thought that far ahead, other than 'not cereal.' What do we have?"

She's not really in any hurry to let go of Joshua, but one does what one must, and now she's well-rested.

[damncompass]

"We do have some of the blueberries left over from yesterday, if you're interested." He smiles at her, and pushes some of her hair away from her face.

"Although, I do think someone picked up corn flakes the other day. I know you're always so interested in corn flakes."

[timelessinventor]

"Threaten me with corn flakes, Mr. Donovan, and you'll go the weekend without sex." Helena smiles. "The blueberries sound like they'd be a fantastic addition to something else, though."

[damncompass]

"Pancakes, maybe?" He kisses her on the cheek. "And don't worry, I won't subject you to corn flakes. Not just because I want to get laid. I was just teasing."

[timelessinventor]

She turns her head to make it a proper kiss. "Pancakes sound lovely, darling. Shall we?"

After all, if they don't get out of bed soon, they're liable to stay there all day.

[damncompass]

"Sounds good to me." Joshua gets up and finds some pants and a t-shirt. "I'll be back in a moment." He slips out of the room, then returns about five minutes later. "Helena? Can you do me a favour? I... well, Claud's door was open, and her traveling stuff is gone. Steve's door was open a crack, and he's not here either, but his badge and gun are still here."

[timelessinventor]

"...oh, dear. Just a moment." Helena grabs her own Tesla before heading down the hall.

"Myka's not here either. Badge and gun present and accounted for, but her Tesla's gone as well."

[damncompass]

Joshua comes back down the hall from Pete's room. "Pete's not here either. Shit." He sighs. "I... think I need to call Claudia."

He goes back into the bedroom, and grabs his Farnsworth. "She's going to hate me, but I need to know what's going on."

[timelessinventor]

"I'm sure she'll forgive you eventually. Shall I start looking into breakfast, or should we put the blueberry plans on hold?"

[damncompass]

"We might want to hold up. It might end up being a Dunkin day."

He opens the Farnsworth and buzzes his sister.

[claudiometer]

It's several more buzzes than usual before Claudia answers.
"wha?"

[damncompass]

"Hey, sleepyface, can you pull yourself back to the world for a moment, I need to know what's up."

[claudiometer]

"'m in the world. not my fault we got here at fuck o'clock."

[damncompass]

"Where is here? And who's we?"

[claudiometer]

Claudia sighs. "Salt Lake. Dr. Vanessa called Artie with a ping and he was going to try to skulk off by himself until I pointed out hospitals mean blood. It's just us right now - we got the bare bones of the ping last night and he called Hugo, but that was too late to get much else done. Too early. Thing."

[damncompass]

"It's just you and Artie? What about everyone else? Where are they?" His face is concerned, and he's becoming slightly more animated.

[claudiometer]

"...They didn't come back from the Warehouse? Maybe something in-building came up. Artie did say something about someone needing to teach Steve to aim a Tesla."

[damncompass]

"Teaching Steve to aim a Tesla shouldn't be an overnight experience. I mean, he's not me after all." Joshua sighs. "Wait. Why'd Artie call Hugo? Don't you have enough computer XP?"

[claudiometer]

"Dammit, Jim, I'm a hacker, not a programmer. Someone's giving people a computer virus - yes, I'm being careful - and we're gonna need somebody to program an antivirus."
Claudia rolls her eyes. "Twenty bucks says Hugo lets himself get infected with the damn thing before we crack the case, though."

[damncompass]

"Yeah, I'm not taking that bet. Guess I'm going to the Warehouse. You know I have to say it. Be careful, little sister. Love you."

[claudiometer]

"Wasn't expecting you to take it. Love you too."

[damncompass]

"Go back to sleep, sleepybutt. Make sure you get enough coffee when you get up." He hangs up and calls out for Helena.

"Hey, Helena? I think we need to go. Claud says it's just her and Artie on the ping."

[timelessinventor]

Helena frowns. "Oh, dear. I wonder what faff entangled everyone else."

[damncompass]

"I know. I'm kinda worried." He grabs his bag and a sweatshirt. "Let's get going. We can grab doughnuts on the way. We might also bring some as a peace offering."

[timelessinventor]

"Or we could turn the tables on Pete and eat all but two. For Myka and Steve, of course."

A stop at Dunkin' later, they enter the Warehouse; as soon as Helena sees the computers, which are showing at least five Artifact disturbances in the stacks, she frowns. "Oh, bollocks. What on earth did they get up to last night?"

[damncompass]

"Fuck." Joshua looks at the computer, and hears some noise from upstairs. "I... think I need to go upstairs and see what's going on. Can you run a biometric on where everyone is?" He's halfway up the stairs as he says it.

[timelessinventor]

"Steve's still on the Warehouse floor somewhere, and... oh, dear. I think you're about to find a very interesting sight, darling."

[damncompass]

Joshua doesn't hear the second sentence as he's already upstairs. "Uh, guys? What the fuck is actually going on?"

Somewhere, a tiny static ball snickers across the Warehouse. She's been amused for hours.