It was about three o'clock when a familiar tune blared out of Pete's pocket. Pete dove his hand into his pocket, holding up a finger for his partner to pause in their ping pong game in the sun room of Leena's Bed and Breakfast. He opened his phone and held it to his ear, "Hello?"

Then everything melted away.

"Hold on, what?" Pete asked, dread knotting his stomach and panic gripping his heart, "What's wrong? Are you okay? Dammit, Jessie, talk to me!"

Myka Bering set down her ping pong paddle in concern, Pete never cussed over the phone with anybody or had that frightened tone of voice either.

"A box? Fused to the floor causing earthquakes?" Pete frowned, walking over to the couch a few feet behind him and grabbing his jacket, "The building is going to collapse? Jessie, Jessie, I can't understand you when you talk fast!"

Myka rounded the table to stand beside her partner and mouthed: what's going on?

Pete shook his head toward her as he listened on the phone and then said to the recipient Jessie, "Okay, hold on, I'll be there as soon as I can--wait, Jessie!"

Pete lowered the phone away from his ear in bewilderment and then said to Myka, "My sister is in trouble. Something is in her office building in Dallas and she thinks it's an artifact."

"We should tell Artie then," Myka answered immediately, knowing by the look on Pete's face that it was bad.

"Absolutely not," Artie answered darkly to Pete's speech.

Pete's mouth dropped open for a moment in shock, "Artie--why not?"

"Because you have no proof that's an artifact," the older man replied, "You said that it was a box that was causing earthquakes in your sister's office building? That could easily be a trap set by MacPherson and you'll fall right into it. I wouldn't put it past him to concoct something like this."

"It can't be MacPherson because that was my sister's voice!" Pete argued, "It was a clear as day Jessie's voice."

"You should know better by now that there are artifacts that can mimic voices, that could be simply a recreation of your sister's voice."

"I'm willing to take the risk," Pete stared Artie down stubbornly.

"Well, I'm not!" Artie shot back.

"Artie, you should let Pete do this," Myka jumped into the conversation that was being held in the office of the Warehouse, "This is his sister we're talking about, she's his family and he won't forgive you if you make him stay and something happens to her."

"There's not going to be anybody making me stay," Pete said with more conviction and resolve than ever before turning away, "I'm going. You'll have to kill me if you want to stop me."

Then he was gone.

A/N: Should I continue? I'm trying to produce a darkly protective side of Pete where he defends both his family and Myka. He does have his moments of seriousness in the midst of his easy-going nature, I think. Oh, and I'll explain how Jessie knows about Pete's occupation and dealing with the artifacts.