Helena Wells has "disappeared" with the Astrolabe (ismellapples) wrote in wariscoming, @ 2012-12-16 15:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | helena g. wells, svetlana sergievsky |
Who: Svetlana and Helena
What: The Seal kidnaps Helena again, and after taking care of a few priorities, she goes to see Svetlana first.
When: This afternoon
Where: Random place in Lawrence, then outskirts of Lawrence, then the complex
Warnings: Some spoilers for Season 4 of Warehouse 13, otherwise pretty low
Status: Incomplete
"You can trust no one." Mrs. Frederic's last words to her were echoing in her head. It struck a chord with her, being cast out alone into the modern world where she still felt so very out of place in. But at the same time, she had a job. Magellan's Astrolabe was tucked within her satchel, and it was her job to keep it well out of the reach of the Brotherhood. In disappearing with the artifact, she knew she was protecting not only Artie, but everyone else within the Warehouse. The effects of the Astrolabe could not be undone, the cost was too great. A world without hope was not one that should exist. Even though she hated not telling any of this to Artie, or even being able to communicate with any of the agents to let them know she was okay, she wouldn't go against her orders. She wouldn't go against her duty, not again.
Her hand resting on the satchel, she drew in a steadying breath and tried to decide where exactly she should hide. She had the entire world to choose from. Hiding in plain sight might be too obvious. She needed a place that wasn't connected to the Warehouse or the Brotherhood. Some place remote and incredibly difficult to get to in the event the Brotherhood picked up her trail. Not that she'd leave one, of course. If there was anyone in the world who was an expert at not being found when she didn't want to be, it was H. G. Wells. She needed to approach this smartly. The Victorian woman was going to take a roundabout way of getting to some place that just popped into her mind. It would mean spending a couple days doing nothing but getting jetlagged, but she had to make the effort.
And just as she was going to make travel arrangements, the scenery shifted around her. And it was colder than where she’d just been. Disoriented, Helena turned around, wondering where the hell she was. At least until she saw a familiar sight. Or rather, a sight she'd seen in her dreams.
"Lawrence," she breathed, eyes widening in realization. While she'd had a moment of realizing that they hadn't only been dreams, she hadn't exactly had time to properly think about them before now. So okay, Lawrence, Kansas wasn't connected to the Warehouse or the Brotherhood because neither existed here. All right. Not exactly the place she'd planned to go, but it would do. Then in a rush, she remembered her friends, her daughter, her house. Were they still here? How much time had elapsed in her absence? But before setting off to discover the answers to these questions, Helena had a far more pressing matter to deal with.
She needed to hide the Astrolabe.
Helena quickly got her bearings on where exactly in the city she was. Once that was done, she made her way out to the outskirts, finding a remote, undeveloped place that she felt relatively safe in hiding the Astrolabe. She inspected for a place to hide it, for she was not about to keep this dangerous artifact on her or inside her home, not with the others there. Providing her house and the other agents were still here. As much as she would worry about the Astrolabe being separated from her, this was the better route. Though as she found a spot and began to dig a hole just large enough to hide the artifact, she wondered if Loki would be able to ward the area, able to keep anyone from accidentally finding it and taking it. She would ask him about that later. Once she’d sufficiently buried the artifact, Helena decided to first head to complex to get a new amulet. She should definitely not be outside for too long without one. The very last thing she needed was to get possessed. Helena then made her way through the city to the complex. Once there, she grabbed an amulet for herself and slipped it on. Also knowing she needed a contingency plan for the Astrolabe lest something happen to her, Helena found a piece of paper and a pen, and she wrote down the location of the Astrolabe. Setting the pen aside, she folded the piece of paper up and glanced at the elevator and spent only a moment’s hesitation before she went over and pressed it. Loki knowing where the Astrolabe was, if he could indeed help her, would be well enough, but what if something happened to him as well? Helena knew she could tell the other Warehouse agents, but she didn’t exactly trust that they wouldn’t demand to see it. And really, it was her job to protect them as well, and it was better for them to not know about that little fact for the meantime. For all Helena knew, the artifact could be completely powerless in this world, but she was not about to risk it. No, she was long past risking things. Helena was going to continue to protect this world from the Astrolabe, and she was going to do that at all costs.
For right now, the only other person she could entrust the location to was Svetlana. She knew the woman would never use it or even seek it out for the sake of curiosity. The Russian woman wasn’t like that. Yes, things had been bad between them before the Seal had seen fit to return Helena to her own world, but Helena needed to reach out. The words from her dream...no, it hadn’t been a dream, it had actually happened, still echoed in her mind. Helena had been in the wrong, she knew that, and she needed to make amends. But at least she could tell Svetlana not to read what was written on the piece of paper unless something happened to both herself and to Loki.
Arriving on the floor where the Sergievskys lived, Helena walked over to their door, drawing in a breath for a moment before knocking on the door. She hoped she wasn’t interrupting something, but she would take any opportunity not to go back outside just yet.
With Emily down for a nap and Anatoly having headed back to the medbay, Svetlana had been about to make some tea when she heard a knock at the door. Which was... very unexpected. There really wasn’t anyone who visited, Dick just showed up at random and there was no scheduled visit with Emily for the others. Had Anatoly left something? It was the only thing that made sense, that and obviously he had forgotten his keys. Because safe as the apartment could be, Svetlana was still paranoid and still preferred the door locked.
As such, the blond made her way to the door, opening it with a quirked brow.
“What’d you forget?”
The question was in Russian, figuring she was going to see her husband on the other side of the door. Instead, it was Helena. She knew it was Helena for a number of reasons. One, Gaia had no reason to go there nor did she know where she was, the way the Victorian woman held herself was another, the outfit she wore was from the episode where she had gone off to hide the Astrolabe and.. well, who knocked on a door and just happened to be a face twin?
All of her calculations were made in a second, Svetlana folding her arms across her chest.
“I really hope you are not here to ask me to hide the Astrolabe, Helena.”
Should she have been shocked to see the other woman after her disappearance? Perhaps. And in a way, she was, but Svetlana was also guarding herself. She had to. The weeks had been long and her patience was worn thin. The only thing she knew how to do was go into ice queen mode, and while she knew Anatoly was trying to get her to stop, it was reflex. Especially in the face of the woman who had proven that, yet again, no matter what was said, no matter how much one said they valued your input and knew you only spoke purposefully, still ignored the advice, still lied and still left in the end. It had only been a matter of time if the Seal hadn’t acted up.
Helena did have an idea of what to expect upon seeing Svetlana again, and she did deserve every ounce of it. That was not something she was going to fight about, she just accepted it. At hearing the question in Russian, Helena was momentarily confused. Obviously Svetlana was expecting someone else, Anatoly perhaps? Or one of the other Russian speakers? And if she’d been expecting Anatoly, Helena briefly wondered what had happened between him and Svetlana in the time she’d been gone. In fact, how long had she been gone? In her determination to hide the Astrolabe and get a new amulet, she hadn’t exactly taken the time to find out what the date was. For all she knew, it could be a year in the future from when she’d left.
The second statement in English further puzzled Helena. While she did indeed remember this place and the people she’d been close to, details were still fuzzy. Well, more than fuzzy, really. However, her confusion and puzzlement was only momentary and she shook her head.
“No, I all ready hid it. But how did you know I had it?” She did remember that Svetlana was observant, but even Helena knew Svetlana couldn’t be that observant. It wasn’t as though the satchel on her shoulder had an imprint of the artifact in it. And even if there was, that didn’t exactly lend itself to Svetlana knowing precisely what had made the trip here with her. One of the fuzzy details in this matter was, of course, that she’d told Svetlana she could watch Warehouse 13. That was still something swimming around in the haze in her mind regarding this place.
It had been a month and that was more than enough time. But also, Svetlana was paranoid, more so thanks to the events a fews previous. Though Helena wouldn’t know about that, nor Svetlana’s concerns that something would happen. Her children, Emily... even if she was wary of the woman before her, Emily’s well being had never been at risk while in Svetlana’s care. But the question caught the blond woman off guard briefly.
“Well, you did give me permission to watch the show to better understand the artifacts of your world.”
And that was all there was to it. But, well, she should probably let Helena in. It was cold out, though nowhere near as cold as she was used to and standing in the door where anyone could overhear was not exactly Svetlana’s favorite past time.
“I was about to make tea. I imagine you have questions as it seems you at least remember being here.”
Which was a good thing. Svetlana didn’t know how she would handle a Helena who didn’t remember. Dealing with Myka was hard enough, she hadn’t been close to the other agent, not as she had with Helena and while she was hurt by what had transpired, Helena forgetting? Well, it would cause serious damage to Svetlana’s attempts at opening up, issues not withstanding.
With most people the Russian woman was polite, but with those who knew her, she was a bit more free with her actions, less reserved. It was why she then turned and started to the kitchen to start the water for the tea. She had it on good authority that Helena would follow suit.
“But good, it is undoubtedly better you hide it.”
Not that Svetlana would have been a bad choice. Goodness knew she was invisible to those who would want the artifact, they wouldn’t even consider her to have it should they know it showed up. But there was too much at risk, even knowing what she knew of it.
While Helena couldn’t read Svetlana as well as Anatoly could, she could tell there was something there. Something more than the pain Helena herself had inflicted on her. Svetlana seemed far more guarded, which only made Helena want to know what she had missed in her absence. She was doing her best to ignore Mrs. Frederic’s voice that was still echoing in her mind. When Svetlana had revealed the detail about Helena saying she could watch the show, that memory suddenly came back to her.
“Oh yes, I did. My memory of details from here are still a bit hazy.” But she did remember. Helena, while not all the memories were good ones, was glad she did remember. She didn’t want to forget about her friends, her daughter. Not remembering any of them or what they had been through would have been a horrible fate. No doubt if Helena showed up with no memory of having been here, she would have felt much like Emily Lake had when Myka and Pete had found her or when Sykes had gotten hold of her.
“You are correct, I do.” Of those she had many, but she would keep them simple for starters. Following suit, Helena stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind her. It was both comfortable yet completely surreal to her to be here again. Though the irony of Mrs. Frederic having told her to disappear and the fact that she had disappeared and appeared in this world was not lost on her. Stepping further into the apartment, she stood in the doorway of the kitchen as Svetlana went about making tea.
“Precisely. I am to keep it safe, and I am to keep the rest of the world safe from it. I have no idea if it still retains its abilities here, but that is not a risk I am willing to take.” And it was back to the double meanings behind words, but Helena knew Svetlana would easily understand. Helena was not wanting to risk things any more, not just the lives and well being of others, but also of herself. “If Loki is still here, I will be enlisting his help in this matter. Though there is one thing I would ask of you. In the event something happens to both myself and Loki in this world, there should be someone to ensure that the Astrolabe does not fall into the wrong hands.” Pulling the folded piece of paper out of her jacket pocket, she looked down at it for some moments. “You only need to read it if such a scenario occurs, and I trust you with this.” She looked back up at Svetlana. While Helena had no idea whether Myka and Steve had learned about the Astrolabe from the television show, it was not a topic she was going to bring up on her own. It dug up too many other things along with it, and Helena wasn’t precisely certain what she should divulge to them in this world.
“How long have I been gone?” Might as well get a frame of reference for herself. It was obvious that it was sometime during the winter due to the temperature outside, but beyond that, Helena had no concept of time that had elapsed. “Is Emily well?” That question came out without Helena fully realizing she’d voiced it. Part of her was wondering if Emily was even still here or if the Seal had sent her back home when it had sent Helena back. But she truly hoped the girl was still here, she did miss her tremendously.
Helena was met with a slight nod at the request, Svetlana taking the paper from her. She didn’t even let her gaze flicker to it, truthfully, she really didn’t want to know the location unless absolutely necessary. With the kettle on the stove, the blond moved to where she kept her chessboard, the one from home, opening it and slipping the paper with the trinkets she had kept in it before once again closing it and returning to the kitchen.
The question on how long she had been gone gave Svetlana pause. With the week or so of attacks, time had sped by quickly, all the while dredging on slowly. It was complicated but Chanukah was over, and Helena had left before Thanksgiving, not that the Sergievskys had celebrated that particular holiday.
“A month, I would say.”
She had heard of people gone for much longer only to return in an insanely short amount of time for them, and vice versa. Time was hard to tell in terms of the show, Svetlana simply knew when she was from, the mission she had been entrusted with and that the Seal had brought the Astrolabe with her. But then there was the question on Emily, and Svetlana’s gaze flickered down the hall to where she was sleeping.
“She is, yes.”
Not for lack of trying and headaches. But Emily was well, and that was all that mattered on that front. Svetlana was used to finding people annoying when they stopped thinking rationally and instead focused on their own selfish desires, no matter how they themselves saw it.
“She will be happy to see you, she has missed you.”
So had Svetlana, closed off or not. So had those that had grown to call Helena friend. But for now, it was Emily who mattered, Emily who had missed her. And that was fine.
Helena well knew what she was asking of Svetlana, of the burden that the location on the piece of paper would put on the blonde woman’s shoulders if there ever came a time that she needed to read it. But the fact of the matter was, the Astrolabe was dangerous, and Helena would ensure that the world was protected from it any way she could. It also never hurt to have a contingency plan in the event she died or something else happened to her where the Astrolabe didn’t leave with her. Contingency plans would be something the brunette would be investing strongly in this time around. The memories of the things she had been through, even though hazy, insisted she take extreme precautions to protect those that mattered to her.
A month. Only a month had passed here? Helena blinked, obviously startled by that. While she hadn’t exactly kept track of time right after returning back to her world, or rather after the Astrolabe was used, Helena had thought a couple months had passed for her. Brushing a hand through her hair, Helena let that information sink in. Only a month here, that was a good thing, right? There was less to adjust to in terms of what she’d missed. But right now, she was hoping that it hadn’t been enough time for Svetlana to have let go of their friendship, even with the rocky ground it had been on prior to the Seal sending Helena back home.
Hearing that Emily was well allowed Helena to relax slightly. That was good news. She did notice the look Svetlana had cast down the hallway, which told her that Emily was here. Good, this was where Helena would want Emily to be if something happened to her. A gentle smile crossed her face.
“I have missed her as well.” Then she paused, looking at Svetlana. “I have missed you as well. How are you?” Helena didn’t expect Svetlana to just open up to her, not after what she had done. But she did still care and she wanted to convey that. Helena wasn’t the same woman she’d been. The experience of her world had changed her. In the timeline she was now from, she had never sacrificed her life for those she loved. No, she was not as free with her emotions if only because she simply hadn’t had anyone to talk to about them. Again, her own doing and her following orders for once, but she had spent much time alone which she really didn’t like. So right now, being there with Svetlana was more than refreshing, but neither was she about to just dump everything on the other woman. Svetlana had seen the show so she would know the highlights. There were other matters to tend to right now anyway.
Was it so hard to believe that only a month could have passed? After all, Darcy had been gone a month while for her it had been four years. It was Lawrence, the Seal, nothing made sense and people just had to grasp onto the things that did so that they didn’t completely lose it in the end. At least, that was how Svetlana saw it. Don’t try to make sense of what the Seal does because it will lead to headaches and confusion, but hold onto the things you do know. Her family had been what saved Svetlana, chess, tea. Constants. But people weren’t constant, they never were. Even Anatoly hadn’t been a constant.
The comment on missing Emily as well as her earned Helena a quizzical look. Most people said they didn’t remember Lawrence while they were back home, though, well, again Darcy had. And there had been moments where it seemed Helena might have known, or at least had an inkling from the show. So maybe not so hard to believe. At least in terms of Emily. As for Svetlana? She wasn’t nearly so certain on that one given the way things had been going, the proof once again right there to see. Made even more obvious after Helena’s disappearance.
“I have been well enough, I suppose.”
The kettle going off, Svetlana turned her attention to the stove, turning it off before pulling out the tea blend she’d finished the day previous for a cinnamon flavor, letting it steep before handing the tea glass to Helena. People in the West may use mugs, but Svetlana still preferred her tea glasses and glass holders from Russia. Familiar. Comforting. A part of her.
Making sense out of the Seal never really got one very far, so Helena just ended up going with the fact she’d been gone for a month or so. Clearly time moved at different speeds between her world and this one, which was a topic that did entice part of her mind, but she quickly brushed that aside. It was mostly because of the fact that time wasn’t exactly a safe subject for her. Time travel had been an unhealthy obsession once upon a time, and she tried to stay away from such things now. Though Helena was far less susceptible to descending onto that path again. Her emotions were more stable than they had been before the Seal had sent her back home.
Back to death, although a temporary one.
For a moment, a slight frown creased her brow as she could remember that moment in the Warehouse as though she’d lived it when she hadn’t. That must’ve been courtesy of the Seal giving her her memories again. As if it wasn’t confusing enough to know Artie had altered the timeline, she now had two timelines in her head. Shaking her head briefly, she pushed that aside and turned her full attention back to Svetlana. That answer made Helena think because Svetlana had that habit of it was sometimes the things she didn’t say.
“Well enough? What have I missed?”
Accepting the cup with a word of thanks, Helena cradled it in her hands for a couple moments before she took a sip of the tea, savoring the taste and the warmth. This is what she needed right now, a good cup of tea and a friend. Because the fact she’d been alone in her world, then ordered to not talk to anyone at the Warehouse and to not trust anyone was pressing on her.
While Helena was making sense of how long she had been gone, the ramifications of the memories on top of her new set of memories, it made sense when her brow creased for a moment. It had felt slightly odd to watch the show, but with Helena having given her permission and the fact it calmed Emily, Svetlana had gotten over that quickly. She wasn’t the type to bring it up in conversation for those who were still there from that world. But it at least helped her make sense of the present reactions Helena was giving her, silent or not.
And then the question and what a question it was. Because this was Lawrence and there could be peace for months or insanity. And for once, Svetlana was thankful Helena hadn’t been around as undoubtedly it would have meant the battle between her and Emily for the same body. No. Emily at least had the chance to be herself, even if she’d been trying to make sense of what that meant.
“Lucifer is the running theory. All the wishes were reversed, magic, special abilities. There was a week of chaos, demons overrunning the city, different creatures of this land.. by the end, the Complex was under siege. A handful of people died temporarily though one person remained dead.... the rebuilding is going well, though...”
Svetlana managed to keep her voice neutral before taking a sip of her tea, but it was a practiced skill, one she had done for years and given her present state of mind, where she was in terms of being open with people, it was expected and normal if one knew it was happening. Remain calm. Polite. Straight to the point. There was no need to go into the issues going on, not unless asked. Nor was it like Svetlana to just state such things openly.
It was overwhelming in a way to have memories coming back, but what was starting to get to her were the emotions that came with some of the memories. Just because Helena had dreamt about Lawrence nearly every night since the Seal had sent her back didn’t mean it was something that wouldn’t overwhelm her. So she tried to keep herself focused on one thing at a time as her memories and emotions came back to her and settled. It was incredibly disorienting, but to have the vocal conversation to focus on was good. Helena didn’t exactly need to talk about the memories and emotions coming back, Svetlana all ready knew about those. No, this was more of her allowing them to find their own place within her.
Now from the memories she had, Helena knew this place could go insane. But even with that knowledge, Helena wasn’t exactly expecting to hear what Svetlana told her. No magic, no special abilities, no wishes. That would’ve left them all as sitting ducks, but adding the assault on the complex itself to it? Helena’s jaw nearly hit the floor in shock. Not exactly knowing how to react, her instincts took over for her.
“Emily? What happened to her?” Helena knew magic had been responsible for putting Emily in the baby’s body, and she was more than worried that the girl had disappeared. Helena didn’t exactly like the thought of something having happened to Emily. She was very much a mother, and while she knew Svetlana would keep Emily protected and cared for, there was nothing Svetlana could do if magic had been taken away.
“What about you, Anatoly and your daughters? Were you all safe during that?” Priorities. Helena had them. Sipping her tea, Helena was letting this news sink in. Part of her was glad that she missed that particular round of crazy. No doubt that it seemed to have been a very difficult time for people here. “Wait, you said the wishes were reversed, which means my house was taken. What happened to Myka and Steve?” Helena had no idea what she was getting herself into by asking that particular question, but she had been bound to ask sooner or later.
And so came the flood of questions in terms of what had happened. Thankfully they were all fairly easy to answer. Or at least the first two.
“Emily was full grown again. She came to the Complex when it happened as she knew it was safe, even though she was confused as to why she was an adult again.... she ended up staying with us. But Anatoly, the girls and I remained safe. Anatoly was in the medbay most of it and I was up on the eighth floor with the younger children who have come through along with Emily.”
As was often the case, there was just as much information in the things Svetlana didn’t say as there was within the words she used to explain what happened. It was not intentional, but it was honest. Of course then there was the question about the house, along with Myka and Steve, which would need to be addressed.
“The house vanished, which was why Emily came here. Myka apparently decided to leave town and Steve was here helping to defend the complex.”
It wasn’t even judging so much as Svetlana not really knowing for certain what had happened. Filtered against and everything. She only knew what she could infer from what she had seen and been told. Either way though, Myka and Svetlana were far from being on friendly terms which maybe should have bothered the Russian woman more, but really didn’t as she had no inclination on opening up to people and making those connections again.
At hearing Emily hadn’t disappeared, but had simply reverted back to being an adult, Helena relaxed. That was a good thing. And even better that Emily had come to the complex for safety. It was difficult to think of Emily as part of herself, the persona the Janus Coin had created. It was easier to think of Emily as her daughter. Things were less confusing, less painful that way. Of course, Helena well knew she was responsible for what had happened in that situation, but she had accepted it. All actions had consequences, and she paid the price for hers. But at least now she was collected, no longer in the throes of emotion one way or the other. She was balanced currently, even if she was guarded because of what Mrs. Frederic had tasked her with.
Hearing Svetlana’s response about Emily and her own family, Helena was able to see the information given, both spoken and unspoken. Even as she was trying to give herself some orientation with her memories, she found she could still follow Svetlana’s method of speaking.
“I am glad she came here.” Though it also sparked the question of why Emily hadn’t stayed with Myka and Steve. Well, granted Myka was different than the one Emily would be more familiar with that wasn’t so difficult to figure out. Steve was a bit more familiar to her, but Helena wasn’t surprised that Emily would’ve come here. Though when Svetlana mentioned that Myka left town, Helena was briefly puzzled by that. After all, Myka was a defender and wouldn’t just leave in the middle of a crisis. Though upon remembering Myka was pregnant, that did make sense that she would have left.
“Is my house back now? Did Myka come back?” Both pertinent questions. Helena wasn’t certain she’d want to take a room in the complex again. Not because she didn’t like the place, but she had gotten used to having a house, for Emily to have plenty of room to move around and grow up in. And more than anything, Helena hoped her house was back because she needed that familiarity right now.
And so questions on things Svetlana only briefly had information on. She knew that the house was back as Steve was staying there again and not the complex. As for Myka? She hadn’t actually been told about that. Just that she had left and that she was being filtered against. Not that Svetlana had really pushed for information on what Myka had said. She was being judged against and misread, which really wasn’t all that uncommon for the Russian woman.
“From my understanding, the house is back. I can only assume that Myka has returned though I do not know for certain one way or the other.”
Okay, so, perhaps she should elaborate on that. But she really didn’t want to get into it. She wasn’t certain just where Helena’s feelings were in regards to Myka anymore because of the erased time and elapsed time, but she also didn’t want to get in the middle of that, because hearing about an argument from someone involved would always be biased.
“If you want, you can use the computer and see for yourself. I have not been privy to such information from Myka myself.”
And that was all there was on that matter, Svetlana sipping her tea. Helena knew how to work the boards, she knew how to look up posts that one person had commented on so that she could see what Svetlana herself hadn’t seen, as well as the Emily issue in its full.
Nodding a bit, Helena was glad that her house was back. At least she would have that familiarity again. She did rather need it after the events she’d been through in her world. Far too much time spent on her own or under extreme close watch by the Regents. There had been a time before Artie had tasked her with finding the dagger that she was certain she would be taken back into custody. Though the comment about not knowing whether Myka had come back caught Helena by surprise. That didn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t Svetlana know if Myka had come back or not?
The second statement only made Helena wonder what exactly had happened. Nodding again, Helena went over to the computer, setting her tea aside as she got onto the boards, sifting through the posts. She didn’t yet post to make her presence known to others, instead focused on finding posts Myka both made and commented on. She quickly found the one that was filtered against Svetlana, which made the Victorian woman frown in confusion. Continuing to read on, she found the reason why. The post Svetlana had made about Emily and having her for the long term care. Reading Myka’s reaction, and having seen the comments on the filtered post Myka had made to Steve and Florence put it all together. Though she kept reading through posts, finding the one Emily had made. All right so it all made sense. Helena rubbed her forehead a bit and closed her eyes, letting out an inaudible sigh. That was a headache and a half, and not what she expected of Myka. And really, who even filtered against Svetlana?
After having read all of that, she quit out of the browser, picked her tea back up and sipped it as she went back over to where she’d been before. “It rather seems I missed quite a bit. Thank you for looking after Emily. You were right, I would have wanted her to stay with you.” This was not something she would delve deeply into, the situation with Myka, but there was obvious irritation towards the other agent. Well, obvious to Svetlana given how observant she was. It would be a conversation for another time when Helena wasn’t dealing with returning memories. This was all going to be confusing for a little while, but she hoped the memories and emotions would settle within her soon enough.
Svetlana hadn’t expected Helena to want to go into the details on the matter, so she simply gave a small nod.
“That is one way of putting it.”
She also had a feeling what it meant, Helena coming here first instead of seeing if the house was still there, but she also wasn’t about to let herself believe that too much. It meant she would be open to connections again which she wasn’t. Which meant that as she finished her tea, Svetlana stood up to place the tea glass in the kitchen.
“Obviously you are more than willing to take Emily now, or she can stay until you re-settle. Whatever works best for you and you feel will be best for Emily.”
Because Svetlana had a feeling that Helena would want to take her daughter back home now, but she also knew how jarring this place could be, to settle, even for those who showed up more than once with their memories, so she knew the Victorian woman would also take into account what was best for Emily, just as she had when she had lost it during Moriarty, trusting Svetlana to know when it was best to return the child home.
What had happened between Svetlana and Myka was definitely not something Helena had the patience to delve into right now. She would leave it for another time if one of them brought it up, but as it stood right now, she was leaving it. Helena at least knew there was bad blood between them, and she also knew that Svetlana never would trust Myka after that. Finishing off her tea, she drew in a breath and took her glass to the kitchen.
At the statement Svetlana posed, Helena looked at her, then looked down the hall where Svetlana had glanced earlier. More than anything, she wanted to have Emily back, but as she thought about it, and still heard Mrs. Frederic’s words echoing in her head, she knew what had to be done.
“It would be best for Emily to remain here. I am not fit to take care of her yet.” Helena really wasn’t. She’d been alone and isolated for most of the time she’d been back in her world. She also had the secret of the Astrolabe she had to keep, and she needed to ensure she could settle back into the life she’d had here before. But that was the question, wasn’t it? Helena couldn’t exactly just pick up where she’d left off with her life here. She was different. Perhaps the differences were subtle, but to Helena they were enough to tell her she would have difficulty connecting to people again, just given what she’d experienced. And until she could settle into things, Emily should remain here. She knew Svetlana would take care of her, and would know when it would be safe to return the child. Svetlana had done it once before when Moriarty had been after Helena and succeeded in making her snap.
There was also the little fact that Helena was very much in protection mode. She was the unknown protector, the one who was keeping everyone safe by taking the Astrolabe into hiding. That sense of keeping people safe also extended to Emily. Obviously she wouldn’t put the girl in harm’s way or anything of the sort, but Helena was not going to risk it. She didn’t know how she would react to people again, and she couldn’t put Emily in the middle of that. So as much as it did hurt, Helena would leave her here with Svetlana. The Victorian woman also felt it would be best if she didn’t see Emily until she had settled in again. The last thing she wanted was to upset Emily by saying hello, and then leaving without her. While she didn’t like it, it was necessary. It was what she’d done in her own world, not made her presence known because it was better that no one knew what she was doing.