TITLE: Little Lotte
PAIRING: HG/Myka
RATING: M...eventually…at some point…I PROMISE.
WARNINGS: Eventual spoilers for Emily Lake/Stand, A New Hope, a little for Duped.
SUMMARY: The team gets some help from the future in their newest case. Established HG/Myka
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anyone or anything to do with Warehouse 13, or syfy, or Greece, or really anything of these awesome people, except the person's name you don't recognize from the show! I am not doing this for monetary profit, I just need to get this out before my head explodes!
NOTES: I don't have a Beta, so if there are mistakes, they are my silly faults, and have no problems to them being pointed out!
Adwin Kosan set his focus on the girl sitting opposite him. He realizes that the worry he feels stems from his affection for her, coupled with the risk of an untested artifact. Though nor an official agent, or even an apprentice, Charlotte knew about the artifact they were after and the problem it was already creating. There was a new dictator in town working his way through Europe and had his eyes set on the Americas. The past was the answer.
"You understand the risks?" He asked.
She smiled at him warmly and answered with a slight nod.
"And you understand your mission?"
"Use the artifact to travel back to December 2012 and retrieve the lyre before it falls into Koychev's hands," she relayed back to him in a soft English accent.
After a short nod, Kosan stood up and made his way to the door, closely followed by Charlotte.
"Are you sure it has to be her?" said a concerned voice almost immediately. "I mean she's just a kid."
Charlotte walked over to her mother, holding her face in her hands. "I'll be fine mom. I'm 23."
"You're still my baby."
Charlotte pulled her mother into a tight hug, drawing comfort for them both. Myka took a deep breath and stepped away from her daughter, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Be careful," she whispered before placing a small kiss on the tip of Charlotte's nose receiving a nod and a reassuring smile in return.
They turned to see Kosan pulling on the standard issue purple gloves, then taking a necklace out of a small wooden box.
"Research conducted on this artifact leads us to believe that you will be in the past for eighteen days, nine hours and one minute," Kosan stated.
"One minute?" Charlotte asked, chuckling.
"We think the date 1891 holds a significant meaning for this particular piece," Jane responded. Charlotte nodded her understanding, being quite familiar with the necklace.
"Above all, you must be sure to keep your true identity to yourself," Claudia said seriously.
"What if I slip?" Charlotte asked. "We all know how my mouth tends to escape me at times," she finished with a grin, though there was an underlying seriousness in her tone.
"Should you expose you identity, you may show this," Mr. Kosan said, handing her a DVD in a jewel case. "But be absolutely sure to keep it a private viewing."
Charlotte nodded, placing the DVD in her bag. Taking a deep breath, she gave Myka one last hug before turning back to Kosan.
"To use the artifact, put it around your neck, and think of where you want to travel to. You must remember to never take it off; it must remain on your person at all times."
She nodded, taking the necklace and pulling it over her head. She held the pendant in both hands, picturing the calendar date in her mind. She took a low, calming breath and shut her eyes, saying the desired arrival date in her mind over and over: December 15, 2012.
When she opened her eyes she was standing in the warehouse office in front of a younger version of her mother, along with Mr. Kosan, looking exactly the same, and a woman she knew from her childhood teachings to be Mrs. Fredric.
"I trust your journey was free of complications?" Mr. Kosan asked.
"Everything seems to be in order," Charlotte answered as she was patting herself down, then wiggling her fingers.
"Agent Bering, this is Charlotte Bell. She will be assisting the warehouse in the search for Orpheus's Lyre," Mrs. Fredric began, turning to Myka. "She has a unique insight to the effects of this particular artifact. You two will be working closely due to your mutual literary knowledge," she finished, shooting Charlotte with her best "don't screw this up" look.
Charlotte stepped forward presenting an outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you Agent Bering, I'm sure we'll get on fabulously," shaking Myka's hand.
"Nice to meet you as well, can't wait to get started, Myka responded.
"Shall we then?" Charlotte asked enthusiastically.
Unable to hold back her smile, Myka simply nodded, turned toward the table littered with books, and random scattered papers, gesturing for Charlotte to join her.
"We'll leave you to it," Mrs. Fredric said to the two women who had already begun working, before vanishing with Mr. Kosan.
Two hours later found the table in further disarray, though slowly falling into a sense of controlled chaos. They had gone through the various books and documents learning as much as they could about the lyre, its history and its whereabouts throughout history, compiling them into different categories and piles, so they could inform the rest of the team.
Just as Myka put the last paper in its proper place and Charlotte pulled off her glasses to rub her eyes, Pete, Claudia, and Steve stepped out of the umbilicus. Charlotte groaned, pulling her curly hair out of a messy bun and launched herself forward from the back of the chair, while rubbing her sore scalp. Her deeply engrained manners getting the better of her, she replaced her glasses, offering her hand to the newcomers.
"Hello everyone, I'm Charlotte Bell," she said shaking everyone's hand. "I'm here to help you find this nasty artifact."
"Well hello there," Pete said with the flirtiest voice in his repertoire. "Perhaps we could get together and discuss the wonders of the future."
"And nope," Charlotte said almost immediately. "Sorry Pete, business only."
"So you're from the future?" Claudia asked her sheer giddiness overpowering Pete's sulking. "What's it like? Androids? Flying cars? Please tell me there are at least robots."
Charlotte smiled, happy to know that Claudia had not changed much, despite her position as Caretaker. "Unfortunately Claudia, I'm afraid there is not much I am at liberty to divulge, but I'd love to sit down with you to discuss the gadgets you frequently use on missions."
"Oh you'll 'sit down' with her," Pete mumbled, still sulking.
Charlotte turned to Pete with a gentle smile, knowing the one way to get him out of a funk almost immediately. "I'm sorry darling, what if I bake you some cookies when we snag this thing, hmm?"
Pete's eyes lit up at the prospect of fresh baked cookies and nodded with a boyish smile. "Yeah, I could work with that."
Both Pete and Claudia seemed pleased with these prospective outcomes, and sat down at the table. With everyone seated, Charlotte noticed an empty seat and glanced at Myka questioningly.
"She's always late," Myka explained. "We can start without her." Turning to address the other three, she began. "So we're looking for Orpheus's Lyre."
"Who's this Orpheus guy?" Pete interrupted.
"He's the – "
"Son of –," Myka and Charlotte answered simultaneously. Myka chuckled and signaled for Charlotte to go on.
"He is the song of King Oeagrus and the muse Calliope. The muses gave him a lyre and taught him how to use it."
"The lyre was said to have certain special properties," Myka continued. "The myth states that trees, rocks and all types of nature would move to the will of the lyre."
It was then, when HG decided to walk in, having the decency to look the slightest bit guilty while making her way to the empty seat.
"How nice of you to join us, HG," Myka said more amused than annoyed.
"So sorry darling, I was working on something and time escaped me," HG apologized, displaying her most charming of smiles.
Myka grinned slightly, and then carried on. "The legend goes on to tell the story of Orpheus rescuing his wife Eurydice from the Underworld. Hades allowed this only if Orpheus never looked at his wife behind him. As he played the lyre, she followed him through the Underworld, once he was through the gates, he looked back, but Eurydice hadn't made it to the gates left and he lost her forever. This leads us to believe that it may hold a sway over humans as well."
"Wait. Zombies?!" Pete asked with a mixture of excitement and fear.
"Fortunately…or unfortunately, it may seem," Charlotte interceded, chuckling at Pete's reaction. "Not in the sense you're thinking, more along the lines of mindless drones, without the flesh eating aspect."
"We know the lyre started in Greece, making its way to Lesbos," this caused Pete to giggle, Myka to glare, and the other four to promptly cover their grins. "Anyway, Orpheus's death led to the lyre ending up in Lesbos. After that, the trail gets a little fuzzy. We know it found its way to Germany in the 1930's."
"Hitler?" Claudia asked slightly astonished.
"How else do you think a scrawny twerp could gain control over an entire country?" Pete answered.
"It would appear the lyre is drawn to charismatic personalities," Charlotte explained further.
"Where is it now?" HG asked, finally joining the conversation.
"We believe it's on its way to Russia, if it isn't there already," Myka answered, turning to Charlotte, allowing her to take the floor for the rest of the briefing.
"The man we're looking for is Alexi Koychev," Charlotte began, her tone turning serious. "Presently, he is merely your average middle aged soldier. In my time, he rules most of Europe, parts of Africa, and has set his sights on America. He started his rule this Christmas, in Paris.
"So we have ten days to stop this," Pete said unenthusiastically.
"Essentially," Charlotte responded in matched tone. "But we have the upper hand."
"C'mon Pete," HG pepped up, obviously excited. "We've solved harder tasks in half the time!"
"Let's not waste anymore," Myka added.