13

Miss. Donovan

Warehouse 13, South Dakota Badlands

Claudia Donovan was alone in Artie's Office, spinning around in her computer chair, trying to decipher the intense feeling of foreboding that had its hooks in her. Down in the stacks, Pete and Myka were shelving Mary Magdalene's Wedding Band, and Artie was with Steve in the goo-ery, cleaning out the pipes. It was an annual task that often had the agents smelling of, well, goo. It was her turn next year.

Her feelings of foreboding were shelved for a few seconds when she noticed the picture of Leena up on Artie's balcony. A few years ago, a man named Walter Sykes had, according to Artie, blown up the Warehouse, leaving the world without hope. Artie had been forced to locate Ferdinand Magellan's Astrolabe and use it to rewind time, stopping the bomb before it went off. This had in turn sent him insane, and when Leena, the woman he vowed to protect, had tried to help him, he had killed her. Claudia worried how the guilt weighed on him. Of course, he was not responsible for his actions, but he was still eternally tormented by the fact that he had been the last person she had seen before she was shot down.

Damn, that foreboding was back. Claudia stood and began to pace, still trying to understand what was happening. Somewhere in the Warehouse, something was...off. She couldn't place it and it was killing her. She hoped being Caretaker wasn't this frustrating.

Claudia was destined to become Caretaker of Warehouse 13; the person with a connection, a person that can feel with the Warehouse. The job comes with a few perks: the person will be ageless, for one. But there are also a few downsides, like the fact it's a lifetime commitment. It's a scary prospect for a 25 year-old woman.

She couldn't stand it any longer. Claudia grabbed her jacket and marched out of the office, letting her feelings guide her. She had often used her connection to Warehouse 13 to their advantage, like when Paracelsus took it over back in 2013. The Warehouse hadn't let him hurt her, though he had taken control of her body and used her to build a time machine that would allow him to go back in time and take over all the Warehouses. But there's always a downside.

The feeling was building up in the pit of her stomach, forcing her to head down very familiar aisles, aisles she hadn't really walked down since 2009, when they were following James MacPherson and H.G Wells to...The Escher Vault.

Suddenly everything became clear. She rounded a corner and came to the door, the spot where MacPherson had died. The Escher Vault was the problem. Something was wrong. She took out her Farnsworth and called Artie.

"What?" he had goo all over him. Claudia would usually laugh, but the feeling deep inside was restricting her amusement.

"There's something wrong with The Escher Vault. I can feel it, Artie."

He nodded, "Get back to the office and call Mrs. Frederic. She'll be able to take a look..."

He was interrupted by a pinging sound and Claudia rummaged in her pocket, pulling out another device, "Oh, and we've got a ping from London. Massive cracks opening up in the ground."

"Well, you might be able to see I'm a little busy right now. Get back to the office, send Pete and Myka on their way and call Mrs. F."

Claudia was baffled, "You trust me to do that?"

"You're old and mature enough aren't you?"

Claudia coughed, "Right, yeah. On it."

She closed her Farnsworth and took off back to the office.